Mundie Moms

Saturday, September 3, 2011

September's CP Teaser!

Thank you Cassie for giving us the September teaser for Clockwork Prince. It's almost 3 months till release day and we can't wait!! Here's what Cassie just tweeted:


“Must he be here?” Gabriel growled to Tessa the second time he nearly dropped a knife while handing it to her. He put a hand on her shoulder, showing her the sight line for the target she was aiming at, a black circle drawn on the wall. She knew how much he would rather she were aiming at Will. “Can’t you tell him to go away?”

“Now, why would I do that?” Tessa asked reasonably. “Will is my friend, and you are someone whom I do not even like.”
She threw the knife. It missed its target by several feet, striking low in the wall near the floor.“No, you’re still weighting the point too much—and what do you mean, you don’t like me?” Gabriel demanded.

LOL, I love this teaser. Well really I enjoy all of Cassie's teasers. I for some reason find it humorous that Gabriel had to ask Tessa why she doesn't like him.

In My Mailbox #88- Penguin Edition

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren, where bloggers post about they've received the previous week to review, what books they've purchased, won, received as a gift or traded.

This week I received some fabulous goodies. I'm so excited to share some of the awesomeness books that arrived from Penguin which includes some upcoming goodies for you guys!!! Here's some of the goodies I received this week:



For Review:

* The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann, published by Simon & Schuster, released on August 30th, 2011, via Kismet Blog Tours

* The Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon, published by Harper Teen, to be released on October 4th, 2011

* CROSSED by Ally Condie, published by Penguin Teen, to be released on November 1st, 2011, I received a few copies of this along with some swag that I'll be giving away soon!

* Dragonswood by Janet Lee Carey, published by Dial/Penguin, to be released on January 5th, 2012

* Truth by Julia Karr, published by Speak/Penguin, to be released on January 19th, 2012

* The Castrophic History of You & Me by Jess Rothenberg, published by Dial/Penguin, to be released on February 21st, 2012

* Harbringer by Sara Wilson Etienne, published by Putnam/Penguin, to be released on February 2nd, 2012

* Beneath a Meth Moon by Jaqueline Woodson, published by Nancy Paulsen books/Penguin, to be released on February 2nd, 2012

* A Temptation of Angels by Michelle Zink, published by Dial/Penguin, to be released on March 20th, 2012

* Time Snatchers by Richard Ungar, published by Putnam/Penguin, to be released on March 15th, 2012

* Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin, published by Putnam/Penguin, to be released on March 1st, 2012

* My Family for the War by Anne C. Voorhoeve, published by Dial/Penguin, to be released on February 16th, 2012

* Immortal City by Scott Speer, published by Razorbill/Penguin, to be released on April 3rd, 2012

* Thou Shalt Not Road Trip by Anthony John, published by Dial/Penguin, to be released on April 12th, 2012

* Reckless by Cornelia Funke, published by Little Brown, to be released on September 5th, 2011

* Fateful by Cheri Schmidt, published by self pub, released on April 7th, 2011

* Descended by Blood by Angeline Kace, published by Accendo Press LLC, released on July 28th, 2011

* If I Die by Rachel Vincent, published by Harlequin Teen, to be released on September 27th, 2011, from Kismet Blog Tours

* Witchlanders by Lena Coakley, published Simon & Schuster, released on August 30th, 2011

* Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi, published by Scholastic, released on September 1st, 2011


Won:

* Wherever You Go by Heather Davis, published by Harcourt, to be released on November 15th, 2011, from Fiktshun


Giveaway:

* I'm so excited about our upcoming giveaway for CROSSED! Thank you to Ally Condie & Penguin, I've got few ARCS and a lot of swag we'll be giving away in the coming weeks on Mundie Moms. Stay tuned for more information to be posted soon.


Purchased:

* I didn't buy an YA books this week, but I did purchased some children's books. I'm trying to use some self control with book buy this month, because next month is the Austin Teen Book Festival and I'm planning on getting more than a few books there.



Thank you to Penguin, Ally Condie, Simon & Schuster, Harper Teen, Scholastic, Little Brown, Harlequin Teen, Kismet Blog Tours, Fiktshun, Cheri Schmidt, and Angeline Kace for this week's awesome reads!

What goodies did you receive?

Book Review: The Shattering


To Be Released on: September 5th, 2011
Source: ARC from publisher to review
2.5 stars- I Wanted To Like It More Than I Did
Purchase from: Amazon

Seventeen-year-old Keri likes to plan for every possibility. She knows what to do if you break an arm, or get caught in an earthquake or fire. But she wasn't prepared for her brother's suicide, and his death has left her shattered with grief. When her childhood friend Janna tells her it was murder, not suicide, Keri wants to believe her. After all, Janna's brother died under similar circumstances years ago, and Janna insists a visiting tourist, Sione, who also lost a brother to apparent suicide that year, has helped her find some answers.

As the three dig deeper, disturbing facts begin to pile up: one boy killed every year; all older brothers; all had spent New Year's Eve in the idyllic town of Summerton. But when their search for the serial killer takes an unexpected turn, suspicion is cast on those they trust the most.As secrets shatter around them, can they save the next victim? Or will they become victims themselves?

A dark, intense book that blends reality and dark magic to create a story that is at times horrifying and other times relatable. The Shattering is a story that explores the lives of three teens from New Zealand whom are all coping with the loss of their older brothers who have supposedly died from committing suicide. I say supposedly, because that's what it's suppose to appear like, but for the teens who's siblings died, they know that's the furthest thing from the truth.

I liked that Karen wrote a story from three different points of views, and that all three of the characters are brought together to solve the mystery behind the deaths of their loved ones. In working secretly together, not only do Keri, Janna and Sione start to form strong relationships, but they try to piece together the overlooked evidence to find out what really happened to their brothers. One of the things I admired about the three characters is they're are not afraid to ask questions or to find their answers. This is definitely a hard subject to tackle and Karen has three great characters she uses to do so.

I loved the setting. I've always wanted to visit New Zealand and now I feel like I've gotten to have a little peak into this beautiful, vast country. Karen even includes some of her story's terminology at the end of the book, which I found to be extremely helpful. Karen incorporates a few different elements into her storyline with her folklore, murder-mystery, suspense, a little bit of romance, and a dash of humor, and then gives it's a twists by adding a paranormal element like magic to it. This isn't just any magic, it's dark magic.

Even though I loved the setting and enjoyed getting to know the characters, I struggled with the book itself. I had such a hard time with the flow of the book and the over all plot line. I couldn't get into the story like I had hoped to at all, and there's not one exact thing I can point to to say why. In the end The Shattering ended up being a book that wasn't my cup of tea, but I think it's one a lot of fans of Karen's will enjoy. This is a book I'd definitely recommend to older YA readers. There's a lot of themes discussed or mentioned through out the book, some of which are suicide, racism, and bullying that may be sensitive to younger readers.

I commend Karen for including a letter at the very end of her book to her readers about suicide prevention and along with hot line numbers. I really admire authors who are going above and beyond to reach out to their readers.

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