Mundie Moms

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Ed Westick & The Mortal Instruments Series
















What does Ed Westick and The Mortal Instruments Series have in common?

Well.... you'll have to wait and see on Friday. Believe me, this is something Ed Westick & TMI fans will WANT to find out. We've got a FABULOUS giveaway in store thank you to Simon and Schuster. We'd love to hear what you think it might be. Please leave us your guess in the comments below. I will say I don't watch Gossip Girl and I even want to enter this giveaway.

Be sure to visit us tomorrow to hear a little something from Ed.

Book Review- Notes from the Blender

By Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin
Published by Egmont USA
Released Date: May 24, 2011
Source: ARC from publisher via The Austin Teen Book Festival
Rating: 3.5 Stars- I enjoyed it!

Synopsis (From Egmont): Declan loves death metal--particularly from Finland. And video games--violent ones. And internet porn--any kind, really. He goes to school with Neilly Foster and spends most of his classroom time wondering what it might be like to know her, to talk to her, maybe even to graze against her sweater in the hallway. Neilly is an accomplished gymnast, naturally beautiful, and a constant presence at all the best parties (to which Declan is never invited). She's the queen of cool, the princess of poker face, and her rule is uncontested-- or it was until today, when she's dumped by her boyfriend, betrayed by her former BFF Lulu, and then informed she's getting a new brother--of the freaky fellow classmate variety. Declan's dad is marrying Neilly's mom. Soon. Which means they'll be moving in together.

Once again I found myself thinking while reading this novel how I wished I had read these type of books when I was in high school. I think that teens today can really relate to the two main characters in this one, I would've loved to have read and connect with both Declan and Neilly when I was sixteen. They are both characters filled with a turmoil of emotions and very confused which is how I felt many times when I was younger, and these two authors have done a great job in adding the humor that makes Notes from the Blender a lighthearted fun read.


I've been enjoying reading books written by a collaboration of a male and female author, it’s actually a lot of fun seeing the different voices in these characters and really being able to tell the difference between the two. Declan was very much like a teen guy, realistic, very awkward and hormonal, Neilly was the beautiful popular girl that falls in love for the wrong reasons with the wrong person and is a bit shallow, they are both complete opposites but they come together in this novel and end up helping each other grow and change throuought the story. While reading Notes from the Blender I found that I was liking Declan a lot more, he seemed more my type of character, very confused and definitely clueless about girls, it was extremely funny to read the situations he got himself into. Neilly seemed to me to be a little self-centered at the beginning and she did take a bit longer to grow on me, but by the end I understood that I would’ve probably felt like the world was against me back when I was a teenager after finding out all the unexpected surprises she gets at the begining of the novel, it would have been extremely overwhelming. I ended up loving both!

I really loved that we get to see a few good parents in this one, which we hardly ever see in YA fiction. The parents, even though not always understanding, they are supportive and involved in the lives of these teeganers, they were also pretty funny and brought a few smiles to my face while reading this novel. Notes from the Blender is a well written contemporary story with flawed, angry and confused characters that touches on heavy topics like divorce, grief, heartbreak, first love and the difficulty about dealing with bullies and teasing about homosexuality. It’s all mixed into the lives of these two characters but in a way that is not intense or uncomfortable, we see them grow and become a family together and find a great underlying message in a story that will appeal to both male and female teen readers.

Hollywood Crush Interview's Cassandra Clare


In case you missed it this week, Hollywood Crush has posted not only their interview with Cassie, but a great video in which Holly Black is asking Cassie questions about the TMI movie. Here's a quote from the interview with Cassie-

"I love Lily Collins," Cassandra gushed right off the bat about the actress cast as heroine Clary. But she wasn't so forthcoming when asked about her preference for who should play sarcastic, demon-battling hottie Jace. What does she think of the fans' favorites?

"Well, the fans love Alex Pettyfer, and at this point I feel like I know him, though we've never spoken," she laughed. "He'd be a great Jace, but I know that he's got a lot of projects on his plate, so it sounds like he's choosing what would be the best fit for him. There's definitely other fan favorites for Jace, too." (text quoted from Hollywood Crush's site here)

Please be sure to go visit Hollywood Crush's site here to read the rest of their interview and to watch the interview between Holly Black and Cassandra Clare.

Waiting On Wednesday- Falling for Hamlet

By Michelle Ray
Published by Poppy
To Be Released on July 5th, 2011

Meet Ophelia: a blonde, beautiful high-school senior and long-time girlfriend of Prince Hamlet of Denmark. Her life is dominated not only by her boyfriend's fame and his overbearing family, but also by the paparazzi who hound them wherever they go. As the devastatingly handsome Hamlet spirals into madness after the mysterious death of his father, the King, Ophelia rides out his crazy roller coaster life, and lives to tell about it. In live television interviews, of course.

Passion, romance, drama, humor, and tragedy intertwine in this compulsively readable debut novel, told by a strong-willed, modern-day Ophelia (quoted from Goodreads)

I'm totally sold on this story! I love that there's a strong willed, modern day Ophelia at the heart of it. I'm really looking forward to reading this book when it's out.


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