June 7th book releases I'm excited for!

So its late at night but I can't help but be excited for June 7th. Which is 1 week away! Here are the 2 books I'm excited about. Everlasting by Alyson Noel
Why I'm excited: Okay I admit I still have to read books 4 and 5 in this series. But Everlasting is the FINAL book in the series. Anyways the reason why I'm behind in this series is because the third book was not that great. So I decided to take a break from the series and read other books. Now I'm ready to dive back in and have an Immortals marathon. Judging from the book cover its going to be a great ending to The Immortals series. I have major cover love for Everlasting.

He's So Not Worth It by Kieran Scott

Why I'm excited: Hello its by Kieran Scott also known as Kate Brian! Kieran has not failed me yet. She writes the best books! The first book to this triology, She's So Dead to Us, was excellent. He's So Not Worth It is definitely going to be super awesome. Gosh can I just sneak into Barnes and Noble's inventory room, if such a thing exists, and grab myself a copy and leave the money? Seriously. Can. Not. Wait. For. This. Book. Its going to be SO WORTH IT. Hahaha yeah sorry had to throw that pun in there.

Review: The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard

Synopsis:Take Romeo and Juliet. Add The Outsiders. Mix thoroughly.

Colt and Julia were secretly together for an entire year, and no one—not even Julia’s boyfriend— knew. They had nothing in common, with Julia in her country club world on Black Mountain and Colt from down on the flats, but it never mattered. Until Julia dies in a car accident, and Colt learns the price of secrecy. He can’t mourn Julia openly, and he’s tormented that he might have played a part in her death. When Julia’s journal ends up in his hands, Colt relives their year together at the same time that he’s desperately trying to forget her. But how do you get over someone who was never yours in the first place?

Book Details:

Publisher: Speak

Pub. Date: Feb. 17, 2011 (for Paperback)

Format: Paperback

Pages: 192

My Review:

The first thing I would like to mention is that the title drew me into this book when I first saw it online last year. One of the major factors that kept me from buying The Secret Year in hardback was that the story was just 192 pages long. In my opinion that means that its not worth paying 16 or 17 dollars for a quick read. So when the paperback came out I went to the bookstore. Now I don’t really like either of the two covers for this book but dang when I felt the velvety softness of the paperback I just had to get it. Okay I feel like a freak for saying that, but don’t you love soft book covers too? Even cool textured covers?

Anyway with all that aside I somewhat enjoyed the Secret Year. Personally, I did not get emotionally involved with the main character Colt. He was sort of a jerk. But I could only imagine how it would feel to have to grieve alone without the support of friends and family to get you through. How Colt handled situations were not always great. There was a lot of sexual situations in this book. While they were all not explicit but rather mentioned it was still too much for my taste. Truthfully I probably would have stopped reading at some point, but I was very curious to see how this book would go. What was the plot? What is going to happen to Colt? How will this book end? Were some questions floating in my mind while I read that had me continuing to read. I may be blind or something but I didn’t see a plot. The book was just a story that goes from day to day, month to month with what goes on in Colt’s life. As to what happens to Colt, well nothing really happens to him. He didn’t really change from where he started in the book. And the ending let me tell you it felt unfinished to me. I seriously turned the page expecting there to be more.

Almost all the characters were immature. The whole rich and poor war and hate situation was just silly. It was like well I’m rich and too good to hang out and be nice to you poor people. And because you are trash you are not allowed to come on our territory. Hey lets all go around and ruin each others property. That is basically part of the book in a nutshell. The only characters who were the best out of any of the characters of the novel were Michael, Kirby, and Colt’s brother.

To end the review on a good note I will say that there are surprises that were really good in The Secret Year. I liked reading Julia’s letters or should I say diary entires. I really like how Jennifer Hubbard shows readers that someone that meant something will always be with you and you will always have a place for them in your heart. Its okay to move on in life and realize that there are still good things for you after loss. Another theme is that just because someone comes from a rich family doesn’t mean that they are always happy. Everyone feels the same feelings at one time or another. Regardless of my uncertainty towards this debut novel I’m excited to see what Jennifer comes out with next.

Review: Dreamland Social Club by Tara Altebrando

Synopsis:Jane has traveled the world with her father and twin brother, but it's not until her fractured family–still silently suffering from the loss of Jane's mother many years before–inherits a house and a history in Coney Island that she finally begins to find a home. With the help of a new community of friends, a mermaid's secrets, and a tattooed love interest with traffic-stopping good looks, the once plain Jane begins to blossom and gains the courage to explore the secrets of her mother's past.

Colorful characters, beautiful writing, and a vibrant, embattled beachfront backdrop make this the perfect summer read for anyone who has ever tried to find true love or a place to call home.

Book Details:

Publisher:Dutton Juvenile

Pub. Date: May 12, 2011

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 304

My Review:

Dreamland Social Club is one of those books where you read it and have mixed feelings about it. At least that is the case for me. I had no idea what I was getting into when I started Dreamland Social Club. While this is a lovely book about a girl, Jane, discovering who she is and where she belongs its also a story of Coney Island. I learned so much about Coney’s history than I did before, which I have to say my knowledge about Coney was about as much as a rock’s knowledge. Hey, I even learned other things, besides Coney, from this book that I didn’t know before.

Jane comes to Coney Island after her grandfather passes away and Jane and her brother inherit his house. Only his house is more like a museum. Here Jane finds some things of her mother’s who had passed away when Jane was very young. Which goes to say that Jane barely remembers or knew her mother. So Jane then goes on an adventure to find out more about her mother. Along the way she meets Leo who has a familiar tattoo. As she gets to know Leo, they discover there is something that can bring them together. I also want to point out that Jane and Leo’s relationship besides the many questions this book brings is the only thing that kept me reading.

With that said, Dreamland Social Club was boring or for better words slow. The plot didn’t really pick up until the end. Things overall didn’t start to get interesting or exciting until the end. But all that aside this book did manage to hold enough of my attention to continue reading. Don’t get me wrong I don’t hate this book; I only like it. Dreamland Social Club starts out like a first book to a series. Where they start out slow to introduce the world and the characters to the readers and then in future books they start to get better. But this is not a series as far as I know it is just a stand alone novel. Nevertheless Tara Altebrando couldn’t have written this book any other way. It just wouldn’t work out in my opinion. Despite the pace of the book Dreamland Social Club is an excellent novel of self-discovery, truth, mystery, secrets, and so much more.

Before I end this review I want to say that I loved all the supporting characters. They were all so different from each other and other book characters. Dreamland Social Club’s one theme is to not judge others by their looks. This is so true with these characters. Jane’s first impressions of them were that they were freaks. As she got to know them better she found out that they are actually great people and friends.

If you like self-discovery books with adventure and a little bit of mystery then this is the book for you. By the end of this book you’ll be sure to fall in love with all the characters, and Coney.

A Quick Announcement

Well hello there fellow bloggers and followers. I must say this year so far has been nothing but a whirlwind of craziness. While taking over four weeks away from blogger to catch up with school work and deal with final exams I dearly missed the book blogging world. I barely had time to read a single page of a book. It was so hard for me, as any book lover would know. But this whole situation has made me come up with another game plan for dealing with time. So hopefully this time around will work out better with school, reading, writing reviews, and just blogging the latest updates in the book world. This summer I will be taking two college courses but other than that I should have a lot more time than I used to to blog and review books.

At the moment I have TONS of books that need to be reviewed. I'm not joking when I say tons. So all this week I will be working determinedly to write a lot of reviews and posting them here and other book websites.

There is also another book topic I would like to write a post about. Which may or may not cause a lot of discussion. But it has been nagging at me and I would really love to put in my 2 cents.

I have also been heavily thinking about for my big return to make a vlog, but as you can see did not happen. But as soon I feel comfortable and presentable I will make a vlog. Maybe for my massive In My Mailbox post.

So huge hugs for all of you guys. I've really missed you all and blogging.

:) Mallory