Trailer Thursday

Under the Never Sky

by Veronica Rossi 

Release Date: 01/03/2012

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Thoughts from an Acute Triangle: Book to Movie Adaptations

Thoughts from an Acute Triangle is a feature I started where I discuss things related to books, authors, reading, or just me.  This is a place for me to be a little brainy or a little silly.  The conversation is always open for comments and if there is ever a topic you want me to discuss, please leave a comment!

Let me know what adaptations, or just movies, you're looking forward to!

Where I got my shirt - http://teeraiders.com/
Unfortunately it was one of those limited time/limited printing deals, but they are always having awesome shirts up, so I'd still check it out!

CHECK OUT MY GIVEAWAY OF STARTERS BY LISSA PRICE - http://bit.ly/GzFZX9
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Movies Listed:
The Hunger Games
Goodreads -- http://bit.ly/GFjIdT
IMDB -- http://imdb.to/GFiwHu

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Goodreads -- http://bit.ly/GJnb4A
IMDB - http://imdb.to/GJnfRO

The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Goodreads -- http://bit.ly/GFlls0
IMDB -- http://imdb.to/GFl4Fq

Mirror, Mirror
Goodreads - http://bit.ly/GJmxE5
IMDB - http://imdb.to/GJmJTY

Snow White and the Huntsman
Goodreads - http://bit.ly/GJmxE5
IMDB - http://imdb.to/GJmSqt

The Great Gatsby
Goodreads -- http://bit.ly/GFkBD7
IMDB -- http://imdb.to/GFkMOK

On the Road
Goodreads -- http://bit.ly/GFkXcU
IMDB -- http://imdb.to/GFkWFX

The Hobbit
Goodreads -- http://bit.ly/GFlqvN
IMDB -- http://imdb.to/GFm2Br

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters
Goodreads -- http://bit.ly/GFmLTj
IMDB -- http://imdb.to/GFmOyq

The Forest of Hands and Teeth
Goodreads -- http://bit.ly/GFn1BL
IMDB -- http://imdb.to/GFmWy2

Ender's Game
Goodreads -- http://bit.ly/GFmksa
IMDB -- http://imdb.to/GFmzmY

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Waiting on Wednesday (31)

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we seriously can’t wait for.

 Here's my pick for the week, that I seriously can't wait for:

Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig

Publication Date: March 13, 3012

Willa’s secret plan seems all too simple: take from the rich kids at Valley Prep and give to the poor ones.

Yet Willa’s turn as Robin Hood at her ultra-exclusive high school is anything but. Bilking her “friends”-known to everyone as the Glitterati-without them suspecting a thing, is far from easy. Learning how to pick pockets and break into lockers is as difficult as she’d thought it’d be. Delivering care packages to the scholarship girls, who are ostracized just for being from the “wrong” side of town, is way more fun than she’d expected.

The complication Willa didn’t expect, though, is Aidan Murphy, Valley Prep’s most notorious (and gorgeous) ace-degenerate. His mere existence is distracting Willa from what matters most to her-evening the social playing field between the have and have-nots. There’s no time for crushes and flirting with boys, especially conceited and obnoxious trust-funders like Aidan.

But when the cops start investigating the string of burglaries at Valley Prep and the Glitterati begin to seek revenge, could he wind up being the person that Willa trusts most?

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I love the premise of the book, a modern-day Robin Hood mixed with Gossip Girl, helping out the ostracized victims at her school.  This sounds like such a fun book, and it's already out!  Excellent; now I only have to wait for payday!  I do love a good flirt, and the cover looks super fun.  Let me know if you've read it, and what you thought!

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Top Ten Tuesday (11)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because they are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. They'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week they will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of their bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All they ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND post a comment on our post with a link to your Top Ten Tuesday post to share with us and all those who are participating. If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

The topic this week is: Top Ten Books On My Spring To-Be-Read List

Books Mentioned:
Shatter Me
Dust & Decay
Revived
The Last Princess
Purity
Dearly, Departed
Clockwork Prince
Everything You Need to Survive the Apocalypse
Fever
Pandemonium

CHECK OUT MY GIVEAWAY OF STARTERS BY LISSA PRICE -http://bit.ly/GzFZX9

(Also I am red because I have a sunburn...awesome.)

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Teaser Tuesday (32)

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 a few teaser sentences from somewhere on that page.
• MAKE SURE NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (you don't want to give too much away and ruin the book for other readers)

Share the title and author too, so that other readers can add your book to their TBR list if they like your teaser!

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Hunted
by Cheryl Rainfield

Publication Date: December 15, 2011

         "Well what didja come here for?"
         . . . Gotcha now. Nobody comes here for a good time. They come to repent, or to visit their love ones in Parajail, or to find others who wanna bring back the lynchings . . . but nobody ever comes here for a holiday–'cept for the Para Cleansing, but that's days away . . . "You here for Para Cleansing Day?"

(Page 23)

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I'm part of the book tour for Hunted through A Novel Outing, and it is a really interesting dystopic paranormal novel.  It is also a departure from her first book Scars, which is realistic fiction about self-harm.  Both are fantastic, but what's interesting is that Hunted, while being paranormal also has a real world situation in it involving ritual abuse.  This detail that Cheryl included comes from experiences in her own life, and I think that adds so much to the book. 

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STARTERS (Review)

Title: STARTERS

Author(s): Lissa Price

Edition: ARC, 386 pages

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: March 13, 2012

Source: Received from the Ambuzzador Program through Random Buzzers

Buy: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository

The Summary

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HER WORLD IS CHANGED FOREVER 

Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie's only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man. 

He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie's head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator's grandson. It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations' plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined. . . .

(Goodreads)

My Opinion

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As an Ambuzzador, I help promote specific books for Random House through Random Buzzers (this is their awesome YA book site).  This time around I was able to have the opportunity to help promote a great debut novel, STARTERS by Lissa Price.  Unfortunately, with my life being so very hectic recently, I didn't get my review up in time for the release, which was on March 13, but better late than never.

STARTERS is set in a United States ravaged by biological warfare.  The young and the old were inoculated against the threat, leaving everyone else in between susceptible to the spores.  Unfortunately, this course of action leaves millions dead, children parentless, and grandparents responsible for their grandchildren, creating the two definitive groups, Starters and Enders.  Scary right?  This is a great premise for a dystopian book.  This procedure is the exact course of action which the United States takes now, for example with the Swine Flu.  So it is very likely that this could one day happen, which makes the book that much more menacing.

But what really makes this epidemic even more jarring was the fact that medically, this society is very advanced.  The Enders (the elderly of the book) are living well into their hundreds.  To think that the government didn't do anything to prevent such a large chunk of the population from dying out makes me wonder what Price has up her sleeve for the sequel novel ENDERS (coming out December 2012).  This combination of mystery, thriller, and dystopia is really what made me gravitate towards the book in the first place.

Callie is a great protagonist to have guiding you through what's happening.  She is strong, full of heart and fierce protection of her younger brother Tyler, but at the same time she is still only a teenager.  Because of this there are moments of confusion and vulnerability.  This adds a needed layer of humanity because, for me, if a character is too strong or capable it often reads as false.  Every one has something that scares them or makes them feel vulnerable, but being able to push through it is what matters.

The antagonist of this story is multi-layered: there is Prime Destinations, the Old Man himself, and the police who round up the children who have no guardians.  Each, in their own way, work to hurt Callie and other Starters like her.  It is a great use of layering because it shows the complexity of the world, and how there isn't just one person with the title "Villain".  Of course the most compelling one was the Old Man, and the way Price wrote this character makes you even more intrigued and terrified.

Overall, STARTERS was one book I couldn't put down once started to read it.  The writing was fast-pace, the plot compelling, and the tone pitch-perfect.  This is an amazing debut for Lissa Price, and definitely deserves to be up there with Divergent, The Hunger Games, and Delirium.  I can't wait to read ENDERS, and am excited to read the first short story of three, The Portrait of a Starter, that fleshes out Callie's life  If you love fast-pace thrillers with a great mix of dystopia, love, and murder then you really need to grab a copy of STARTERS by Lissa Price!!

(PSST - I'm holding a giveaway for a finished copy of STARTERS: enter HERE)

Extras

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SHORT STORY: The Portrait of a Starter - Learn about Callie and Michael before STARTERS
Amazon, Barnes and Noble

Final Rating

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Book Cover: 3/5
Book Title: 5/5
Plot: 9.5/10
Characters: 9/10
Writing: 9/10
Ending: 9/10
Overall: 44.5/50: B+

Disclaimer: I received a copy of STARTERS by Lissa Price from Random House as a part of their Random Buzzers' Ambuzzador program.  I am not getting paid for either the review, or subsequent giveaway, and all views are my own

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Giveaway of STARTERS by Lissa Price

STARTERS by Lissa Price is one great book!  I had the chance to read it, and I couldn't put it down.  

I loved it so much, that I want to share it with my followers!  

And what better way than to give away a finished copy?

Here's the dealio, fill out the rafflecopter below.

The giveaway ends on March 31st.

The winner will be emailed, and have 48 hours to respond.
This is INTERNATIONAL, so that's fun.

I'm using The Book Depository, so they must deliver to your country.

Please check out my review of the book because it was so so great!

HAPPY READING!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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HOT OFF THE PRESS: Starters by Lissa Price

Yesterday, March 13, 2012, Lissa Price's debut novel, Starters went on sale.  

It is an amazing dystopia that sucked me right in.  It will do the same for you!  

As a teaser to wet your appetite, I offer you the book trailer!

Wasn't that crazy?  Can you imagine renting your body out?  

To find out what happens to Callie, you need to check out Starters by Lissa Price!

Places to purchase:

Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Book Depository - Indiebound

(P.S.: Check back on Friday for an opportunity to win your own copy of Starters!)

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Sparkling Reviews Giveaway

Okay, I'm not fully back from hiatus yet, but I couldn't help but want to post about this!

I don't know if any of you follow Mary at Sparkling Reviews (which you should), but she is having an amazingly generous giveaway!  Like seriously generous!  Ready for it....

YOU COULD WIN A $500 AMAZON GIFTCARD!!!!

WHAT?  CRAZY, RIGHT?

So I wanted to give my followers the 411 on this awesome giveaway because who couldn't use $500 on Amazon, am I right?  So head over to her giveaway and enter to win!!

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Mini Reviews

Deadline

by Chris Crutcher

5 stars

Summary:
Ben Wolf is dying; not exactly the news he wanted going into his senior year of high school. In light of the situation, Ben decides to grab the reins on his life. With only a year left to live, he faces new challenges: football, history, and girls. Ben also faces one of the scariest: keeping his illness from the ones he loves. As his health declines can Ben keep up his charade, or will his secret ruin what time he has left? Delving into the complexities of life, death, love, sacrifice, and family Deadline is a book that tests how you see the world and how you experience it.

Evaluation:
This is probably one of the most intense books I have read. Dealing with the realization of his death, Ben is one of the most real characters I’ve read. Chris Crutcher does an amazing job capturing the spectrum of feelings and reactions that each character experiences. The part that makes the writing real is the humor and romance interlaced throughout. Ben is living the life he has left; that includes ragging on his brother and falling for the girl. This is definitely not a feel good, light read, and may upset some more sensitive teens. I would suggest older teens read this, and doing a parent-child read with younger teens.

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Hard Love

by Ellen Wittlinger

5 stars

Summary: 

John is detached: from family, from friends, from life. The only thing that sparks any interest in him is zines, particularly Escape Velocity. John, inspired, writes his own zine and plans to meet the mysterious Marisol, Escape Velocity’s mysterious author. As John gets to know Marisol he starts to develop feelings for her. Unfortunately, Marisol is not the girl he wants her to be. Finally, on a trip to Province Town, Massachusetts John comes to terms with his relationships: to his parents, to his friends, and ultimately to Marisol. Wittlinger explores love and loss in a funny and gut-wrenching tale that teenagers the world over can relate to.

Evaluation:
This book is an intense look at detachment from one’s self and one’s family. John is a child caught in the middle of a divorce, where both parents are hands off, physically and mentally. This affects how he approaches his own sense of self and sense of others. GLBT issues and sexual discovery is also a main topic looked at through the developing friendship between Marisol and John. John is figuring out who he is, but at the same time is fixated on Marisol and wondering if she might be lying to herself. Finally, the aspect of zines within the book is an amazing creative outlet that was similar to blogs popular now. This book really has a lot to say about the issues and expressions teenagers go through, allowing many teens, straight and gay alike, to relate to it.

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The Last Book in the Universe

by Rodman Philbrick

4 stars 

Summary:
The Big Shake changed the whole world. Spaz, a 14-year-old living in the epicenter of destruction and poverty caused by the shake, must steal to survive. Part of one the many gangs living in The Urb, Spaz must do as Billy Bizmo commands. Billy’s latest “errand” has Spaz meeting the one person who will change his life forever. In a world where there aren’t any books, there isn’t a written language, and almost everyone is hopped up on mindprobes, Spaz must find a way to save not only himself and his companions, but also the last book in the universe.

Evaluation:
Imagine a world where almost no one knows how to read and there is no written language. That is the world Philbrick creates in the book. In this dystopia there is nothing but despair, and every one is cutthroat, looking out for themselves. A boy like Spaz can’t survive long without being clever, but his cleverness is also what gets him into trouble. The writing paints a bleak picture without it becoming too sad. Actually the reader becomes slightly numb just as the characters in the book are. This is where there is a weird discrepancy in the believability of the world. While there may be a loss of written language, there is still tons of technology out in the world, including mindprobes (which is numbing the populace). It is an interesting way to have gone with the world Philbrick created, but occasionally didn’t read as very believable, even in a dystopia.

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grl2grl

by Julie Anne Peters

4 stars

Summary:

 In grl2grl Julie Anne Peters, through a collection of short fiction, explores the relationships between young girls falling in and out of love.  The tumultuous break ups, the butterfly-filled first loves, and the horrific realities.  Each friendship and each relationship is an exhilarating and scary adventure, with each girl coming out to terms with who she is as a person.  This “coming out” stories aren’t just about a sexual awakening, but a personal awakening

Evaluation:

The best part of this collection of stories is that it focuses on situations that are relatable and familiar to both GLBT and straight teens alike.  While at the beginning, the differences might stand out, each story is one which teens can read and have speak for them.  Do you remember a negative relationship in which you couldn’t get out of?  Or getting up the courage to go to a meeting filled with strangers?  How about finding the perfect way to tell someone you love them?  Or fighting to protect yourself against an attacker?  These are the stories that need to be told, and in grl2grl Peters does an amazing job telling them.  The only issue would be the focus on GLBT stories; readers should be aware of this, as it may offend them or their families.

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