In My Mailbox #30 (Vlog #23)

Why hello there. It sure has been a while. I have a few wonderful goodies to share with you this week. I hope you enjoy them all, and my hodge podge of a video. Thanks for watching.  In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren, and the button comes from Laura from All of Everything.

** I am participating in IMM this week, however I don't know if this is something I will continue to do. There has been a whole lot of controversy regarding Kristi and her blog. I am still not sure how I feel about the way she handled things, so we'll see.**

The Library:

When the Sea is Rising Red by Cat Hellisen

Fracture by Megan Miranda
Delicious by Shayla Black
Deeper Than Midnight by Lara Adrian

Bought:

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L James
Jane by April Lindner
Lover Reborn by JR Ward

For You:

The Taker by Alma Katsu

That's all for me, what did you get in your mailbox? 

My Thoughts: Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

Galen is the prince of the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he’s heard can communicate with fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach. When she runs into Galen—literally, ouch!—both teens sense a connection. But it will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for Galen to be convinced of Emma’s gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma that she holds the key to his kingdom . . . 






**Review Copy Received from Raincoast Books**














I don't know about you, but there is something totally cool about having the ability to communicate with fish. Super cool. So when I read the synopsis of Anna Banks' debut Of Poseidon I was SUPER excited. This is a little funny, because I am terrified of deep water. Like totally. If I can't see the bottom or feel it, it is not likely that I am getting in. No way. But reading about water and fish in a fun loving kind of way seemed like a good idea. EXCEPT... this freaking books begins with a shark attack! Uh huh, a freaking shark attack. I almost had a heart attack reading. Anywho... I really really enjoyed this book. Like a lot. It was so good. It was intense and funny, the characters were funny, and the premise was pretty original. Banks did a good job with this one.


So, as I mentioned earlier, Of Poseidon starts off with a bang- well a shark attack. This is a pretty intense scene. Our protagonist Emma and her bestie are hanging out on a surf board when a shark attacks them. Things do not end well for Emma's friend, but that was to be expected. Our male lead Galen (whose name I just love), who we have already met briefly, shows up and sees Emma unknowingly tell the shark to piss off go away.  This is something that Galen is very curious about and naturally does the stalker-y thing and moves to the town where Emma lives and forces himself into her life.

The concept of this book is fun. This is not your run of the mill mermaid novel. The Syrena aren't really mermaids at all- they actually find the term offensive. They can survive on land (and yes they do so with legs). There are two kingdoms: The Titans and The Poseidons. Those who have the rare gift to speak to fish have what the Syrena's call the gift of Poseidon. But only decedents of Poseidon (the royal heir) can have this gift. So why does Emma, a human girl have this ability? Dun dun dun.

What I liked the most about this book were the characters and the way the interacted with one another. It was a pleasure to read. Emma was a fantastic protag. She was strong girl, who dealt with her grief well. Even when she felt like she wanted to let it take over her life she never let it. She over came it. She handled Galen and his bossyness hysterically, I would be laughing out loud at times because of their interactions. Galen was a riot. He just did not get human life at all. Human emotions and their loyalties were so completely foreign to him. He was also royalty and had the attitude of one. He expected everyone to adhere to his wishes and was completely baffled when they wouldn't. This was very amusing to me.  Obviously there is a little romance that goes on between Galen and Emma, but that's nothing to write home about. It's sweet but it's pretty typical, there's nothing terribly special there.

What I really enjoyed reading about was the relationship between Emma and Galen's sister, Rayna. That was fun. Rayna was not a fan of Emma, therefore Emma was not a fan of Rayna, and they had no qualms about sharing that with one another. They were both so blunt and matter of fact. At one point they got into a pretty serious physical fight and minutes later they were basically best friends. Rayna was great character. She could have easily been my favourite if Toraf didn't already hold that spot. At the risk of sounding redundant- Toraf rocked! He was hilarious!

The best thing about Rayna and Toraf was how good they were at making the two protags better (does that make sense?), they were definitely supporting characters and they were really good supporting characters. Banks knows how to write great characters that is for sure.

Of Poseidon gave me everything I wanted and more. I got a great story, fantastic characters and a crazy cliffhanger! Whoa.  You don't want to miss this one boys and girls!

Of Poseidon is due to hit stores May 22nd. I would like to thank Raincoast Books and Feiwel and Friends for the ARC.




~Happy Reading Everyone!

My Thoughts: Tempest by Julie Cross

The year is 2009. Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.
That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.
Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.
But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler. Recruit… or kill him.
Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.




Before it's release, Tempest by Julie Cross received a lot of publicity. A LOT.  It was one of the most anticipated books for the new year. So naturally I was eager to read it, especially with all the positive reviews it was getting. I didn't immediately go out and buy it, I instead borrowed it from the library. Having now read it, I don't think that I will be buying it in the near future.

I was a little disappointed with Tempest. I approached this novel with high expectations, mostly because of all the great reviews I had been reading. But when I finally began reading, I found that I would get confused in regards to what was going on. Julie Cross had a fantastic concept- a nineteen year old boy who can jump time. I'm not sure if you know this, but I love time travel. Especially if it's done right. The Time Traveler's Wife, Collide, are some of my favourite time travelling books. Both were done right. I don't think that Tempest was done right. It was almost bad. It could have been great though, it had a lot of potential and I am hopeful that the future books in the series will be better.

I was confused in terms of the whole time jumping theory- there were two kinds of jumping: half jumping and a full jump. I wasn't completely certain what the difference was. Also, when a person would jump, what they did in that time would not affect the future. That just does not make sense to me! At all. I think there were a lot of really cool aspects in the book, but nothing was ever explained well; the CIA connection, the role of Jackson- the protagonist, His relationship with Holly, it was all very convoluted. This being an introduction to a trilogy, Tempest was lacking as it didn't set the foundation for the story well.

The characters in the book weren't even that great. However, they were where you got to see the best elements of Cross' writing. They were likable and for the most part you could relate to them easily. Jackson was a good protagonist, however I would sometimes get annoyed with him when it came to Holly. I didn't really believe their love story, so when Jackson would get all protective and start to feel guilty about certain things regarding Holly, I would be like "why? You don't even know how you feel about her." I think that the romance between then could have gone a little deeper. I felt like Jackson acted out of guilt a lot of the time, instead of genuine affection. Holly was a very bland character for me. There was nothing to her, and that bothered me. I wanted to like her, but I couldn't. I also didn't hate her. She was so boring and seemingly unimportant. I really liked Adam though, and the role he played in the novel. He was a grounding force for Jackson and it was fun reading about him. I also kind of liked Jackson's dad. I felt like I experienced the most genuine emotion from him. He was confused and conflicted and that really came through for me in this novel.

Over all, Tempest was an okay book. I am hoping that the next couple of books will be better.

~Happy Reading Everyone!

My Thoughts: Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral (Video Review)

After her mother died, Glory retreated into herself and her music. Her single father raised her as a piano prodigy, with a rigid schedule and the goal of playing sold-out shows across the globe. Now, as a teenager, Glory has disappeared. As readers flash back to the events leading up to her disappearance, they see a girl on the precipice of disaster.

I am sorry for the rambling and the abrupt ending. My memory card decided it was full at that exact moment. I hope you enjoy. 

~Happy Reading Everyone! 

A Mini Hiatus!

Hi Everyone!

I just now realized that I need to take a break from the blog for the next couple weeks. I have a mountain of school work that needs to get done and just as many exams that I need to study for. I don't have time really to read all that much.

I will be back in a couple weeks with a giveaway of epic proportions (haha, sorta). Thanks so much for sticking with me, and for understanding. Once school is done (April 13th, whoop whoop), I will have a more regular schedule.


Thanks everyone!