Sidekick Saturday

Sidekick Saturday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted here by Jaclyn at JC's Book Haven. There are many secondary characters that are as great as the primaries. In some cases, the sidekicks actually steal the show and you like them better than the heroine or hero. Maybe they didn't have enough page time for how great they were. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Choose a sidekick *or someone other than the hero or heroine* that you would like to put in the spotlight
• Share a picture and information about the character
• Give the title and author of a book the character can be found in
• Please don't include too many spoilers when describing why the character is such a great sidekick

My Sidekick this week is:

Rue from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

She is a 12 year old from District 11 who is overlooked as not being a threat. She is adept at keeping to the trees and is a fierce friend. She uses a whistle call to let the workers in the orchard know that the end of the day has come that has a four note melody.

I chose Rue because she stands out for me in this series even though she is not featured long. If you have read the books, you most likely know why she is such a star.

Who is your SkS?

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Sidekick Saturday post, or share your ‘sidekicks’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

{The link for the comments is at the BOTTOM of this post.}

Feature & Follow [2]

This is a weekly blog meme hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read.

Here are the general rules to Follow Friday:
1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. Follow our Featured Bloggers
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
8. If your new to the follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

This week's question is: Activity! Who do you want to be? If you could choose any character from a book. What do you think that character looks like and what do you have in common?

MY ANSWER: This one was so difficult because even though it seems like it would be grand to be one of the characters in the book, I remembered all the angst that they had to go through. In the end, I actually chose a minor character that served as a point of inspiration and love.

By Gregor Roffalski (user:Sigismond in Tolkien Gateway) (http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Image:Arwen.jpg) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

Arwen Undómiel 

My reasons: Besides the fact that she is a gorgeous magical elf and she has the love of Aragorn, she is part of an epic story and brings the Fellowship much help in their quest from her faraway minor role. It was easy to go with what she looks like because I have movie references for this one, and I adore Liv Tyler. I'm not sure what we have in common other than knowing that love really is the most important thing.

Quotes from the movie: 

"What's this? A Ranger caught off his guard?"

"If you want him, come and claim him!"

What about you?

"Waiting on" Wednesday [2]

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:
Ever After (The Hollows #11) by Kim Harrison

Publisher: Harper Voyager
Genre: Paranormal, Urban Fantasy

Goodreads Summary
The ever after, the demonic realm that parallels the human world, is shrinking. If it disappears completely, so does all magic. It's up to witch-turned-daywalking-demon Rachel Morgan to avert catastrophe and keep life from changing... for the worse.

While saving the world is important, it isn't Rachel's only motivation. There's also the small fact that she caused the ley line to rip in the first place, setting off a chain reaction of unfortunate events. That little mistake has made her life forfeit unless she can fix it. It's also made her more than a few enemies, including the most powerful demon in the ever after—a terrifying entity who eats souls and now has an insatiable appetite for her. He's already kidnapped her friend and goddaughter to lure her out, and if Rachel doesn't give herself up soon, they'll die.

But Rachel has more than a few impressive and frightening skillls of her own, and she isn't going to hand over her soul and her life without one hell of a fight. She's also got a surpise: elven tycoon Trent Kalamack. With this unlikely ally beside her—a prospect both thrilling and unnerving—she's going to return to the ever after, kick some demon butt, rescue her loved ones... and prevent an apocalypse before it's too late. Or, at least that's the plan...

Teaser Tuesdays [2]

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

Teaser:

"Like making people think you're more beautiful than you really are?"

"Precisely. Or..." He gestured at Cinder's hands. "Making a person see skin where there is really metal."

Cinder self-consciously rubbed her cyborg hand through the glove.

Goodreads Summary:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Review - Delirium: The Special Edition by Lauren Oliver

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc. (August 2011)
Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Fantasy
Format: Kindle: Special Edition
Source: Purchased

Goodreads Summary
Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

Initial Impressions

I was looking for something to read after The Hunger Games that was thought-provoking and inspired discussions among readers because of varying opinions of the subject matter. When I read the synopsis for this book, I knew I wanted to give it a shot.

The Summary

Lena Holoway has had a life filled with pain and is looking forward to the day when it will be taken away for good...the day of her procedure. The procedure will rid her of the amor deliria nervosa and will leave her future safe, happy, and healthy. When her best friend Hana starts behaving strangely, it throws Lena off balance and she answers all the questions that she knows the right answer to in the wrong way during her evaluation. Afterwards, Lena's life takes a turn that is decidedly different than the one she imagined.

The Good

The whole concept for this book is something new and wonderful and had me constantly asking myself how I would act in the same situation. Love as something evil, a disease to be eradicated, seems like it would be hard to make believable, but Lauren Oliver does the job. You truly follow the rational thinking of the characters and how they come to their conclusions. The main character, who often calls herself 'in-between', is an every girl who becomes the book's heroine through choices and actions. Conflict and hope in equal measure make for an excellent reading experience.

The Bad

The only drawback was that the beginning was a little slow, but you know that it's to provide you with necessary information to hook you into the story. Although slow, I found the background information extremely relevant and interesting.

The Romance

This is a YA series, but there are situations implied. Even though this is a story about love being a disease, there are circumstances of love presenting itself. The love of a mother for her child, the love of a cousin for their cousin, the love of best friends, and other examples are found in the book.  Every type of love mentioned in these pages is like finding a treasure.

Conclusion

I immensely enjoyed reading this book, and by the end immediately wanted to dive into the next one. I am already hooked and will be reading the 2nd in the series, Pandemonium.

I would recommend this book to YA readers that like Science Fiction and Dystopia.

Excerpts

"It has been sixty-four years since the president and the Consortium identified love as a disease, and forty-three since the scientists perfected a cure."

"Many people are afraid of the procedure. Some people even resist. But I'm not afraid. I can't wait."

"The deadliest of all deadly things. It kills you when you have it and when you don't."

"It's so strange how life works: You want something and you wait and wait and feel like it's taking forever to come. Then it happens and it's over and all you want to do is curl back up in that moment before things changed."

"Snapshots, moments, mere seconds: as fragile and beautiful and hopeless as a single butterfly  flapping on against a gathering wind."

Top 5 Sundays

Top 5 Sundays is a weekly blog meme created by Larissa at Larissa's Bookish Life. 

From Larissa: "Every Sunday I will post a TOP 5 list on the blog. It can be about anything and every week I'll have a new theme {You can vote on next week’s theme on my left sidebar!} and I will add the Mr.Linky bellow the post so you can do a list with the theme and add you link to it.

Rules:
1 - Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme I chose (or was chosen on a poll) for the week.
2 - Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it.
3 - Feel free to use the Feature's image (there is a smaller size version of it bellow)
4 - After you've finished your post, add you link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post.
5 – If you don’t have a blog to post, just leave your list in the comments =)

This week's topic is: BOOKS/SERIES YOU HAVE READ MORE THAN ONCE!

*in no particular order"

My Answer:

I re-read very often. Every time one of my favorite series comes out with a new book, I will re-read the series to get reacquainted. So this one is really hard for me and I have a ton more that I could put. The following series are ones that I have read more times than I can count.

The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

The Hollows Series by Kim Harrison

The Jaz Parks Series by Jennifer Rardin

The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

Review: Initiation - Bonfire Academy #1 (Bonfire Chronicles) by Imogen Rose

Publisher: Imogen Rose (November 2011)

Genre: YA, Paranormal, Fantasy
Format: Kindle Edition
Source: Purchased

Summary
Welcome to Bonfire Academy. Set in the foothills of the alpine mountains in St.Moritz, this exclusive private school caters to a special kind of student. Enter at your own risk... but if you are human, you may not want to enter at all.

This is part one of the prequel series (Bonfire Academy) in the Bonfire Chronicles. Book two, INTEGRATION, will be released summer 2012.

Initial Impressions

I read and enjoyed Imogen Rose's Portal Series so when I saw this cover, I admit that I was intrigued. Then I investigated more and found that this book is filled with supernaturals and had to give it a shot.

The Summary

Cordelia, a demon princess, returns to the Bonfire Academy for her 3rd year after a fire ravaged it 3 months ago. She is tasked to mentor a new Initiate, a hybrid-demon, Faustine who is half human. After a group of shifters attacks the two of them, there follows a series of trial, punishment, and rule-breaking while Cordelia, Faustine, and friends try to find justice.

The Good

Imogen Rose is great at getting you to really see what her characters are seeing, and I enjoyed the imagery provided.  I had no trouble feeling like I could see the world she created for this book. I laughed out loud multiple times while reading, generally surrounding the character of Jagger who is a winter faery. The dialogue, both internal and with other characters, is witty and engaging. The story itself was interesting, and there was constant movement. I don't think Cordelia could sit still for long so I wasn't bored at all while reading.

The Bad

Even though you could see the world clearly, the characters weren't as sharply defined so I had a hard time imagining what they looked like. The way a couple of the characters were introduced had me going back a few pages to see if I missed something because they just appeared and were already important so it seemed like I should know them. I am wondering if it seemed this way to me because I haven't read the Bonfire Chronicles and this is a prequel.

The Romance

This is a YA series, but there are sexual situations implied. The love interests for the characters have a lot of promise and could easily be book crushes. Cordelia tells us that supernaturals do not have the same morals as humans do and you can definitely tell that in the way they handle their romantic relationships. I don't think they really understand love at all but they have lust down pat.

Conclusion

For the most part, I enjoyed reading Initiation and will most likely find the others in the Bonfire Chronicles to read them as well.  Cordelia, Faustine, Jagger, and Ryker have already gotten their claws into me and I want to know more about them.

However, I was not happy with the ending which didn't conclude anything in the plot and left me hanging. Not only that, but it has a hook at the end that really makes you want the next one.

I would recommend this book to YA readers that like Fantasy and Paranormal.

Excerpts

"The first Golden Rule is you do not talk about the Academy with outsiders."

"The second Golden Rule is trust no one."

"Now for the third Golden Rule: Never miss a meal."

"Jagger gave her his look. I could see Melissa eating it all up, giving in to his thick, sexy aura. I was overcome with jealousy. 'Anytime, Jagger. You're always welcome. Will you be at Frau Smelder's dinner tonight?' she purred."

"I was totally drowning in epic fail moments, last night having been the blockbuster."

"I don't blame you. It's weird how her human blood is even more aromatic than regular human blood. I had a hard time not going up to her and sniffing. That would have freaked her out."