THE RAVEN BOYS Book Trailer

For all the other Maggie Stiefvater fans out there, she released the trailer for her newest upcoming book, THE RAVEN BOYS yesterday. Check it out here!

Divergent Signing Wrapup

This Tuesday I had the wonderful oppertunity to meet Veronica Roth, author of the upcoming YA dystopian thriller Divergent, curtoesty of Anderson's Bookshop. Only librarians, teachers, booksellers, and students were invite to this Pre-Publishing event and it was Veronica's first event with readers. After leaving the event, she had this to say on her Twitter account.

I love the people I write for. Especially tonight. #sappywritermoments

The place was packed. According to the organizer, more people showed up than people registered. Everyone was excited to see Veronica and she too seemed truly happy to see all of us, as if her Twitter quote doesn't prove that. It was a great time to meet her and, though she was a bit shy at first, she warmed up the group and I genuinely enjoyed being a part of her first book event.

In case you have yet to see it, you're welcome to check out my Divergent Review. I highly recommend reading it. It was good from beginning to end and promises an exciting series.

DeniseMadness, myself, Veronica Roth, Rosio, and Samantha.

LOCKDOWN Review

Furnace Penitentiary: the world’s most secure prison for young offenders, buried a mile beneath the earth’s surface. Convicted of a murder he didn’t commit, sentenced to life without parole, “new fish” Alex Sawyer knows he has two choices: find a way out, or resign himself to a death behind bars, in the darkness at the bottom of the world. Except in Furnace, death is the least of his worries. Soon Alex discovers that the prison is a place of pure evil, where inhuman creatures in gas masks stalk the corridors at night, where giants in black suits drag screaming inmates into the shadows, where deformed beasts can be heard howling from the blood-drenched tunnels below. And behind everything is the mysterious, all-powerful warden, a man as cruel and dangerous as the devil himself, whose unthinkable acts have consequences that stretch far beyond the walls of the prison.

Together with a bunch of inmates—some innocent kids who have been framed, others cold-blooded killers—Alex plans an escape. But as he starts to uncover the truth about Furnace’s deeper, darker purpose, Alex’s actions grow ever more dangerous, and he must risk everything to expose this nightmare that’s hidden from the eyes of the world.
From Goodreads.com

Let me begin with how I got my hands on this book. I was at Borders and they had buy two paperbacks, get the third free sale. I'd picked up two paperbacks I'd been wanting to read for a while when I stumbled upon Lockdown. I love finding books I haven't heard about and reading them. New series books are even better. Lockdown was both and, after reading the little bit of information given on the back cover (I didn't have the summary that's listed above to go off of) I bought the book, figuring if I didn't like it, I could pass it on in a contest or something.

Sorry guys, but this is a book I fell head over heels for so there will be no contest. On the up side, I'm hoping I can encourage some of you to head out and purchase a copy of Lockdown for yourselves. Here are several reasons why.

If you haven't already been able to tell by the cover, this book is creepy. I mean, beyond creepy. It makes your skin crawl and your stomach twist in the best way possible. The details described of Furnace and the men in gas masks is enough to chill you so that you don't get a very easy night of sleep. I don't usually get this feeling from books, but Lockdown did it for me.

And here's another thing. The situation of Furnace, of children serving life sentences, though a bit far fetched, is terrifying in its own way. Thing you'd ever mess up knowing you could be sent there? Nuh-uh. No thanks. I will live a perfect life and not mess with the law again, thank you.

Though the idea of it seems a bit off, the rest of it is done wonderfully. Smith creates a world within Furnace that appears real as the ground beneath your feel. Every terrifying aspect from the layered floors to the red rock walls seems real. Through his descriptions, I myself felt claustrophobic while reading it as if I too were trapped within the recesses of the earth, serving a life sentence.

Want to know what shocked me, though? The book is written in first person, male perspective without any female characters in the book. I can only name one other series with a male main character that I enjoyed and that would have to be The Maze Runner by James Dashner. Lockdown was written perfectly and I didn't find myself rolling my eyes because the main character was a guy and I couldn't relate. The best thing about the book is that it plays on your emotions and emotions are the same regardless of gender.

And speaking of emotions, the entire book is one massive thriller wrapped with a sheet of horror and tied up with adventure. I found myself flipping through chapters faster and faster in order to find out what happened. In fact, I needed to pause in the middle of a chapter rather than at the end of one because all the ends left me wanting to read another chapter.

Buckle your seat belts and press your head against the back of your seat because Lockdown will give you whiplash before you can even think the word escape.

Rating: A+

Teaser Tuesday ~ THREE BLACK SWANS

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 & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


Three Black Swans by Caroline B. Cooney
From page 24

"There were gasps from the studens behind Claire, who were manning cameras and control panels. "How did you find each other?" demanded one of them. "It's like a miracle," whispered another."

SAPPHIQUE Review

WARNING: This review is the review of the sequel to the book Incarceron and should not be read unless the first book has been read or else it will contain spoilers for the first book.

Finn has escaped from the terrible living Prison of Incarceron, but its memory torments him, because his brother Keiro is still inside. Outside, Claudia insists he must be king, but Finn doubts even his own identity. Is he the lost prince Giles? Or are his memories no more than another construct of his imprisonment? And can you be free if your friends are still captive? Can you be free if your world is frozen in time? Can you be free if you don't even know who you are? Inside Incarceron, has the crazy sorcerer Rix really found the Glove of Sapphique, the only man the Prison ever loved. Sapphique, whose image fires Incarceron with the desire to escape its own nature. If Keiro steals the glove, will he bring destruction to the world? Inside. Outside. All seeking freedom. Like Sapphique.
From goodreads.com

Let me begin with a brief summary of what I liked about Incarceron. I'm a huge dystopian fan and this book was no exception. I loved the characters who seemed to come to life and the dark depths of Incarceron itself. I especially loved the parallels with the legends Sapphique to religion and society today. I'm not a person who enjoys religion in books because books should take you away from every day life, not preach religion to you, but Incarceron did it lightly in a way that didn't feel like religion, that felt more like legend and I loved it.

Another thing that I loved was carried over into the second book. I love the little quotes that open each chapter. Quotes from Sapphique's legends that tell his tale and quotes from the king that detail things that happened before. More in Sapphique than in Incarceron I noticed relations between the quotes and the events that happened in the chapters which was great to read.

As with the first book, the characters continued to seem life-like and I constantly felt compassion towards them. Even Keiro who I would rather kick between the legs than talk to held some degree of respect from me. What I truly enjoy about the set up of these books is that all characters are motivated by different things. Whereas Keiro is motivated by self preservation, Finn is more motivated by what's happening in the situation and that alters constantly. This is one of the most important things when having a character become life-like. They must be constant on some degree. They can't skip around and suddenly change their mind over things and I feel as if Catherine Fisher embodies this well.

One thing I notice that happens a lot with YA novels and sequels is that they tend to have a similar plot to the first book. Sapphique was far from that and held up a plot of its own that I marvelled at. Yes, some things were the same such as the search for an escape from Incarceron, but they were twisted. Rather than Finn on the inside searching for a way out while communicating with Claudia on the outside, Finn is on the outside now which proposes a huge amount of twists to the story.

And, as you may have guessed from the title, Sapphique and his legends play a huge role which is exciting to read as someone who enjoyed hearing of his tales from the first book.

Overall, I loved Sapphique though I'm confused as to if it's the final book in the series, which it could be, or if there's more. If you thought Incarceron was dark, watch out for Sapphique because the walls come tumbling quite literally in this book. Great action, great plot, and great characters, this is a book I highly recommend readers of Incarceron pick up.

Rating: A

Lovely Loves ~ Improv Everywhere

Ever need a really good laugh? Whenever I do, I flip over to Improv Everywhere's Channel on Youtube and watch their latest video. Improv Everywhere is a group who's solitary goal is to make a scene, and have fun doing it. Ever seen those flash mobs on Youtube? Improv Everywhere is like that, only on a grand scale.

So here's the rundown. Improv Everywhere posts an idea about what they want to do like freeze in the middle of Grand Central Station or create a human mirror on a subway car, and people from around the New York area reply and join the group, planning a date and time for the event. Though some, like the food court musical, are done by people who can sing and dance, the majority of them are done by what Improv Everywhere calls Undercover Agents, average people who come out and join them for the fun. It's always good laughs to watch and I would love to be a part of them one day. Check them out on their Youtube Channel or by clicking any of the links to their videos.

Teaser Tuesday ~ SOLITARY

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 & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


Solitary: Escape from Lockdown 2 by Alexander Gordon Smith
From page 38

"The sound of screams, and the clatter of rocks being thrown, snapped me to attention. I cast a sightless look back into the cavern, which sounded like it was home to a full-blown riot, then focused on the light, letting its warm touch pull me forward."