In My Mailbox (1)

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi over at The Story Siren! In My Mailbox is a way to share the books you received each week.

This week I got:

 

I brought a lot of books this week, I've already read 'The Time-Traveling Fashionista' by Bianca Turetsky you can find the review here: http://shiverdownthespine.blogspot.com/2011/06/time-traveling-fashionista-by-bianca.html

I cannot wait to get stuck in to them all! I'm currently reading 'A Touch Of Mortal' by Leah Clifford.

Well here is what I got, starting from the top:

Losing Faith by Denise Jaden

You Wish by Mandy Hubbard

Innocents by Cathy Coote

Wake Unto Me by Lisa Cach

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick

The Time-Traveling Fashionista by Bianca Turetsky

A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

Abandon by Meg Cabot (Out in October for the UK, but I couldn't wait so brought from a different seller in the UK from Amazon)

Teach Me by R. A. Nelson

Personal Demons by Lisa DeRochers

Love Lessons by David Belbin

Well that's it from me, what did you get this week?

The Time-Traveling Fashionista by Bianca Turetsky

Published: 5th May 2011
Publisher: Poppy
Pages: 272
Buy: Amazon

Rating: ★★★

When Louise Lambert receives a mysterious invitation to a travelling vintage fashion sale in the mail, her normal life in suburban Connecticut is magically transformed into a time-travelling adventure.

After a brief encounter with two witchy salesladies and donning an evening gown that once belonged to a beautiful silent film star, Louise suddenly finds herself onboard a luxurious cruise ship in 1912. As Alice Baxter, the silent film star, Louise enjoys her access to an extensive closet of gorgeous vintage gowns and begins to get a feel for the challenges and the glamour of life during this decadent era. Until she realizes that she's not just on any ship - she's on the Titanic!

Will Louise be able to save herself and change the course of history, or are she and her film star alter ego destined to go down with a sinking ship in the most infamous sea disaster of the 20th century? 

I was quite excited for this book, I really loved the whole plot idea of going back in time to the Titanic disater, which isn't like any other book that I've read before. I opened up the book and was quite surprised that there was coloured drawings with the story, which I haven't seen since I've read childrens books. I thought the drawings were a nice touch to the story, that you get to see for yourself what the author is conveying.

I'll be honest this book did not live up to my expectations, I felt as if I was on some sort of novel conveyor belt and that there was not much background and detail to the story. I found the book difficult to get into, because the writing was quite simplistic which put me off. This defintily wasn't a book that captivated me and had me hooked, although it certainly was a quick read.

I would recomend this book for anyone who loves fashion, or just wants a simple summer read.

Waiting On Wednesday (1) - Possess by Gretchen McNeil

Waiting on Wednesday is a topic brought to life by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. With Waiting On Wednesday you get to introduce to everyone upcoming books you're excited about!

Possess by Gretchen McMeil. 

Release Date: 23rd August 2011

Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her mom, by the cute son of a local police sergeant, and by the eerie voices she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Unfortunately for Bridget, it turns out the voices are demons – and Bridget has the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from.

Terrified to tell people about her new power, Bridget confides in a local priest who enlists her help in increasingly dangerous cases of demonic possession. But just as she is starting to come to terms with her new power, Bridget receives a startling message from one of the demons. Now Bridget must unlock the secret to the demons' plan before someone close to her winds up dead – or worse, the human vessel of a demon king.

 So I'm looking forward to this book, because I've recently started to get into YA fiction that involve Demons (plus I'm a huge lover of Supernatural so ever since watching the show anything with Angels or Demons really appeals). 
I watched the trailer on Gretchen McNeil's website and I'm really curious about the whole "don't trust the priest" concept.  
The book by description certainly seems like an intreging story. 


Here is the trailer for the book:

The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

Published: 31st March 2011
Publisher: Harper
Pages: 400
Buy: Amazon

Rating: ★★★.5

Sutton Mercer had a life anyone would kill for – and someone did. But thanks to a view from the afterlife and Emma Paxton, her long-lost twin sister, Sutton has a chance to solve her own murder. Emma slips into Sutton’s old life to piece together her disappearance. But can Emma keep up the charade long enough to discover what really happened to Sutton…or will she become the next victim?
Let the lying games begin.

So I'm a big fan of Sara Shepard since her debut 'Pretty Little Liars' I loved that book so much and it took me ages to find its sequal 'Flawless', anyway I was very happy when I came across this novel from her in my local Waterstones the other month. I thought the plot sounded intriguing enough and liked the idea of a murder mystery type plot.
However I can't help but feel that Shepard is recyling her plotline from her 'Pretty Little Liars' series, I know the plotline isn't identical but you can certainly draw comparisons which sort of bugged me a bit.

I found Emma's character a tad annoying, I just thought she needed to lighten up a little (yes I know the whole experience is meant to be traumatic for her, but she's meant to be fitting into Sutton's life). I like how the mystery unravels and in true Sara Shepard style she leaves you wanting more at the end of the book.
I just hope with this series, she doesn't drag it on for too long. I did find that her 'Pretty Little Liars' series just went on for too long and when they were meant to be finished she decides to write another two books! *sigh*

Anyway if you're into light glossy teen murder mysteries then I recommened you this book or anyone who is a fan of 'Pretty Little Liars'. I wouldn't say this book is a miss as it was a good read, and I managed to finish it in just under two days so it did keep me hooked, but its nothing too complex and thrilling.

I just hope future novels from Sara Shepard are a bit more original.

Skin by A.M. Vrettos

Published: January 2006
Publisher: Egmont Books Ltd
Pages: 288
Buy: Amazon



Rating: ★★★★★

Donnie: 'I think back on things that happened. And I think about how if you were to tell stories about us, about our family, you might raise up your eyebrows and you might say, 'Well, no wonder.' I bet you think you could pinpoint where it started for her. It's easy to think that, when you can look back as something as a whole. But when you're living it, day by day, it's like you're in the belly of something and you can't see its whole shape from the inside.' Our summer by the lake was perfect. Then we came home. And that's when it all started to go wrong. 'SKIN is Donnie's story. It was Donnie who came first, when I was remembering an acneriddled classmate in high school who, despite being ostracized and discounted, seemed to have a pretty amazing life outside of school. I remembered seeing this kid with his friends, his girlfriend, his band, and I began to think about why this kid had had no problem opting out of the school cool chain to find his happiness somewhere else. He just didn't seem to care what the kids at school thought of him. When I was a kid, on the other hand, I cared a whole lot. A distance had spread between me and my junior high friends, and as high school began, I found myself adrift. Of course, now, it's obvious that everyone feels adrift at some point in high school, but at the time, the pain was very real for me, and there was no friend I could flop down beside on the couch and say, "I'm so lonely!" and be reassured.' 

I've had this book for many years now, it is one of my favourites. The story deals with 14 year old misfit Donnie and how he feels he is dissapearing. His home life has broken down, what with his dad leaving and his sister battling with anorexia. At school he is one of the most unpopular kids and his two best friends have ditched him.
The book opens with the death of his sister Karen and Donnie trying to revive her, which is quite an interesting opening, because the first chapter starts from the beginning of his story, when his parents are still together and his sister hasn't really developed anorexia yet.

I'll be honest the book always makes me cry when you get to the chapter where Karen dies and Donnie tries to revive her, even though this is shown at the beginning of the book the beginning doesn't make me cry because you don't know anything about the characters, but because A.M. Vrettos has developed the characters so beautifuly you can't help but feel as if you were Donnie this time round.

The author is very talented in making you feel as if you are experiecing Donnie's life yourself and I like how the author conveys a message of experiecing anorexia not from the person who is anorexic but from someone in your family who loves you.

I would recommened this book to anyone.
Becca

Day 1

Hey there!
I thought I would do a little introductory post about me and my blog. I love reading so much, it has always been a passion of mine, I believe there is nothing better than emersing yourself into a good story and not being able to put the book down.
I wanted to create this blog so I could share with you some books that I love, meet new people and have suggestions for new books for me to read.
As you'll see in the about me section on your right, I'm a 19 year old student from the UK. I love reading young adult books simply because I relate to them so much more than an adult fiction novel.
I hope one day my blog can become sucessful and that I can publish at least one story in my lifetime. I feel that publishing my own story would be such a big achievement, and it will probably never happen because I'm on a course doing Criminology which is not exactly English Literature or Creative Writing. However I've finished uni now for 4 months so I'm hoping to crack on with some storyboarding and perhaps get started on writing a first draft.
Well anyway I hope you like my blog, I apologize for the rubish 'graphic' at the top of my page, hopefuly I can master some photoshops skills and spruce the blog up at bit!
If you want to chat or have any questions feel free to email me at rebeccabookreview@hotmail.co.uk

Becca x