Wonderfully Wacky Winner!

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The winner of The Secret To Lying, by Todd Mitchell is...


Melo!! Congratulations Melo! Please email your shipping info to redraindrops66(at)yahoo(dot)com. Thanks so much to everyone who entered!

Really Ravishing Review (The Monstrumologist))

Review of The Monstrumologist, by Rick Yancey.

Quickie: Not for the squeamish, but definitely good.

Full: Where to begin?? I suppose I'll start with the blurb on the front cover, since I think it most adequately describes the book: "A cross between Mary Shelley and Stephen King." - VOYA. That little blurb right there tells you a lot about The Monstrumologist; it's dark, it's creepy, it's gory, and it's more than a little disturbing. But you can't stop reading it.

Will Henry has the unfortunate role of being apprentice to Dr. Warthrop, a man with a sinister calling. Will is a boy of a mere twelve years, orphaned and living with the only man who he's ever really known outside of his parents- the hermit and genius, Doctor Pellinore Warthrop, Monstrumologist. Dr. Warthrop is a seemingly cold, almost cruel man who is brisk and clipped with poor Will, always yelling at him to "Step lively" and get to work. Will is an obedient boy, and he does what the man says, even if it means getting no sleep and no food for days at a time. He does it all though, because the doctor is all he has, all he knows, and he has a inexplicable affection for the man. Not love, no, but something.

One night as the boy is sleeping in his tiny loft, a man comes calling in the night bearing a mysterious something wrapped in burlap in the back of his carriage. The man, Erasmus Gray, is worked up and asks for the doctor. He tells Dr. Warthrop that he has "an abomination" and "a crime" in that burlap, and it's urgent that the doctor take a look. You see, Erasmus Gray is a grave robber, and he's found something that has shocked and appalled even a man with such a morbid career. There's a body of a young girl, but she's not alone. Something is clinging to her... feeding off of her. Its appendages are wrapped about her body in a macabre embrace. Human, it's not, that much is clear. But what is it? A monster of course. Dr. Warthrop's speciality.

This unfortunate find leads Will and Dr. Warthrop on a spine-tingling, stomach-rolling adventure. Monsters are out there, and they must be found. Monsters aren't all that they find though, as the story unfolds, Dr. Warthrop uncovers secrets about his own family, and specifically, his own father. Will, too, discovers a few things about the doctor, and in turn, his own parents.

I don't know what I was expecting when I cracked open The Monstrumologist, but I was pleasantly surprised with what I found. Immediately the tone of the book was set, not by the words, but by the book design. In the edition I have, there are little illustrations of historic medical supplies every few pages. Hooks and forceps and scissors and things I don't even know the names for. Along with the medical supplies were body parts, drawn like they would be in a textbook, with numbers and arrows. Old medicine creeps me out, so the illustrations totally worked for me. I was on edge before even starting. And then I started reading, and my apprehension grew. The prologue sets you up for the 'why' of the story, and then chapter one takes you back in time, to the Spring of 1888, where you meet young Will Henry and his horrific journey begins.

I'm not entirely sure I have anything bad to say about this book. I was sucked in from the start, and I was spit out dazed and a bit disturbed at the end, but pleasantly so. It's not for the overly squeamish, as Yancey doesn't give you rose-colored glasses when the monsters attack, but those who appreciate honesty and can deal with some blood, they'll eat it up.

5 out of 5 stars.

Really Ravishing Review (Beautiful Darkness)

Review of Beautiful Darkness, by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. 

Quickie: Perfectly dark. It kept me guessing and had my stomach in knots.

Full: Lena's Sixteenth Moon has passed, but she has not yet been Claimed. Terrible things happened at her Sixteenth Moon, things beyond her control and yet they were a result of her actions. Lena is full of guilt, of conflicting emotions, and pain. She's grieving the loss of her Uncle, possibly the only person to truly understand her or be on her side.

Ethan, Lena's boyfriend, is quickly being shut out of Lena's life. He's getting mixed signals that with the flip of a switch turn into plain rejection. Confused and hurt, he tries to let her go, to do her own thing, but finds that he can't. He's been hearing an eerie song, one about the Seventeenth Moon, and he knows that cannot bode well for Lena. She must make a choice, Light or Dark, and no matter what she chooses, people will die. The stress of the impending choice and the overwhelming grief over her beloved uncle are driving Lena to the edge, and only Ethan can save her.

But how do you save someone when they don't even want to see you? When they are forcefully pushing you away, hurting you?

Ethan, Link, and their new found friend, Liv, embark on a mysterious and perilous journey to track down and hopefully rescue Lena- without dying themselves of course.

Beautiful Darkness was better than I expected. There was so much hype, everyone was dying to read it and squeeing over it... so I decided to wait to read it myself. I'm not sure why, I'm just weird I guess. Anyhow, I read it in a day and a half, because I couldn't stop thinking about what might happen next. (I love that)

One of the most charming and endearing aspects of the book for me was the Southern ladies. They cracked me up! They were so funny, so quirky, and so interesting. I loved all the etiquette lessons and interesting tidbits of information because they really helped solidify that good ole' Southern feel. It's rare that I feel so at home in a book setting, but I did in Beautiful Darkness.

It was nice to see the story from Ethan's point of view, since we saw it from Lena's in Beautiful Creatures. I always enjoy getting a different perspective and getting to know other characters on another level.

On the whole, I thought Beautiful Darkness was fabulous. Loved the writing, loved the feel, loved the whole thing. The Caster world is getting more and more interesting as each page is turned, and I can't wait to dive back in.

4 out of 5 stars.

Fabulous Free Fiction

It's that time again!! It's been a while since I've done a giveaway on my own, not a blog hop, but I'm in the mood. Without further ado...

What You Get:

 

The Secret To Lying, by Todd Mitchell.

From the back cover of the ARC: James was the guy no one noticed- a fifteen-year-old living in a small town with his repairman father and ex-beauty queen mother. So when he gets into the American Science and Mathematics Academy (or ASMA), a public boarding school, James decides that it's time to leave the past behind. In a student body made up of nerds and geeks, being cool is easy. All it takes is a few harmless lies to invent the new James: rebel, punk, street fighter. Everyone's impressed, except for the beautiful Ellie Frost, whose icy demeanor holds an inexplicable attraction for James, and the mysterious Ghost44, an IM presence who sees right through his new identity. 


But James is riding high- playing pranks and hooking up with the luscious Jessica Keen. Things seem perfect until he begins having strange and vivid dreams that pull him into a dark city haunted by demons. As the line between dreams and reality blurs, James begins to wonder, what's the price for being the coolest guy around?


Funny and real, Todd Mitchell's debut YA novel takes readers into a school for the intellectually gifted and socially awkward, as readers discover through James the secret - and consequences- to lying.

How To Enter:

*Comment on this post.

*Leave your email in the post so I can contact you if you win.

*Tell me one of your most memorable lies, good or bad.

*Follow this blog (it's easy, I promise)

*One extra entry for Tweeting about this contest, leave a link please.

Contest is open from Friday, February 18th - midnight on Friday, February 25th, 2011. Winner will be announced shortly after the contest closes and winner will be notified by email. 

US & Canada only please.

Good luck, and thanks for entering!

Really Ravishing Review (My Soul To Save)

Review of My Soul To Save, by Rachel Vincent. 

Quickie: Delightful. I had forgotten how much I liked this series.

Full: Kaylee Cavanaugh is a bean sidhe, or banshee as you may know them. Whatever the spelling (and bean sidhe is the correct one, props Rachel) their purpose is the same: to guide the souls of the dead safely to the next world. The other option is for a female bean side to catch the soul as it leaves the body and hold it, allowing a male bean sidhe to return the soul to the body, but only for a price.

Kaylee, her boyfriend Nash, and his undead Reaper brother Tod uncover a nasty deal between the biggest entertainment empire and demons. Rising teen stars are literally selling their souls for fame, fortune, and success. Tod becomes invested in uncovering the identity of the demon making the deals, and Kaylee & Nash can't let him do it alone. Kaylee couldn't live with herself if she allowed those souls to be tortured eternally without even trying to help. And Nash, well, he's in it for Kaylee.

Stopping the trafficking of souls is hard, but it's even harder when your father sets and enforces a strict curfew, sets up mandatory family dinners, and tries to make up for years of lost time all at once. How are you supposed to track down demon scum when your papa takes your keys?

I love Rachel's writing. I've said it before, and I'm saying it again. It rocks my fuzzy socks off. I love how detailed Kaylee's world is, how no question about it goes unanswered. Everything feels very complete.

Kaylee has made some wonderful progress personally, and I was glad to see it. She's taking bean sidhe lessons from Harmony Hudson (I love that name), Nash's mom, to harness her wail and make it work for her, rather than the other way around. 


The Netherworld was completely creepy and cool and I loved getting glimpses of it. As nervous as it made me having Kaylee there, I wanted her to stay longer so I could see more of the wonders it held. Okay, yeah, so she almost died.... but maybe later?

All in all, I loved the book. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

4 out of 5 stars.

My Magnificent Mailbox #23

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme brought to you by The Story Siren.

Well, this is going to be an annoyingly big post, because I've been completely lazy and haven't done an IMM post since around Christmas. I have a big problem remembering what day of the week it is. Also, my hubby volunteered to display my books for me, but then got all shy when the time came. Make sure you give him some comment love and let him know that he did a good job. (Even if his football game distracted him) ;-)

These past few weeks I've gotten:

From Catie (Thanks Catie!!) over at Book Bound:
Matched, by Ally Condie (signed)
The Lost Saint, by Bree Despain (signed)
The Maze Runner, by James Dashner (signed)
Beautiful Darkness, by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (signed)
Crescendo, by Becca Fitzpatrick

From Sandy (Thanks Sandy!!) over at Scribing Shadows:
We Hear The Dead, by Dianna K. Salerni

From my hubby for my birthday:
Going Bovine, by Libba Bray

Police Procedure & Invenstigation: A Guide For Writers, by Lee Lofland
Forensics: A Guide For Writers, by D. P. Lyle, M.D.

From my hubby for Christmas:
Last Sacrifice, by Richelle Mead
Matched, by Ally Condie

Won a $10 Amazon Gift Certificate From Angela over at Reading Angel:
The Monstrumologist, by Rick Yancey

From Nantucket Bookworks:
ARC of Dust City, by Robert Paul Weston

ARC of Pushing Past the Night: A Memoir, by Mario Calabresi
ARC of Red Moon Rising, by Peter Moore
ARC of Death Cloud, by Andrew Lane
ARC of After The Golden Age, by Carrie Vaughn
Pieta, by William Zink
ARC of Witches on the Road Tonight, by Sheri Holman
ARC of A Lonely Death, by Charles Todd

For Review (Not pictured because I had them in a separate pile and forgot to have him display them for me):
Kevin's Point of View, by Del Shannon
Zan-Gah, by Allan Richard Shickman
Zan-Gah And The Beautiful Country, by Allan Richard Shickman

What did you get?

Really Ravishing Review (Kevin's Point of View)

Review of Kevin's Point of View, by Del Shannon. (Awesome last name, by the way)

Quickie: A fun middle grade adventure. Perfect for a boy (or girl) needing an escape from the world for a bit.

Full: Kevin Tobin has lost his father. Kevin is only twelve years old and the loss of his father has left him lost and wandering, trying to make sense of his father's death and life without him. It's too much, too fast for poor Kevin, so he utilizes the only weapon he has- his imagination. He escapes his reality by creating multiple personas, usually a superhero or ship captain or some other very capable person. With these personas he can take on the world. The problem is that sometimes the world doesn't need to be taken on, and this lands him in trouble... or the front lawn when he jumps out of the bathroom window naked. His mother is at a loss and his sister is a typical older sister, involved in her own life and disinterested in her dorky little brother.

Kevin's whole world changes when a strange package arrive at his door, addressed to him- sort of. The address was marred and the original writing isn't complete, but the postman assumed it was meant for Kevin. Inside this mysterious box is something even more mysterious: a remote-like device with blinking lights and "Influxitron" lettered on the side. Being a twelve year old boy with a big imagination, Kevin of course hits one of the buttons... and blows a hole through his bedroom wall. He calls his best friend Tony over and thus starts their adventure.

The boys are intercepted on their way to camp by men in black vans, who apparently have no problem hurting even killing two children if need be. With the help of Kevin's alternate personalities, Tony, and a few extra folks, Kevin must keep the Influxitron out of the hands of the wrong people, discover its purpose, and of course, not die.

What a cute story. Kevin was adorable and funny and I wish I could have seen him when he was being Captain Disaster.

The story of the Influxitron was interesting and sinister and a wonderful element to the story. Kevin was cute, but the mystery of the Influxitron was what kept me reading. I wish I could talk more about the Influxitron itself, but I won't spoil you.  It was very cool, and definitely something to think about. Also, very powerful and definitely scary.

The ending has a delightful twist that I highly doubt you will expect. There is a convenient opening for a sequel, and I hope there is one. I wouldn't mind spending more time with the Tobin family and seeing more of the Influxitron and its mysteries.

Lots of action and plenty of adventure, I especially recommend this book to younger readers. Particularly boys, but girls will love it too.

4 out of 5 stars.

Really Ravishing Review (Eternal Kiss of Darkness)

 Review of Eternal Kiss of Darkness, by Jeaniene Frost.

Quickie: Such a sweet, romantic story, even if one of the characters is a creepy old guy.

Full: I've always kind of liked Mencheres. Call me crazy, but he's cool in that creepy-old-dude-with-too-much-power-for-his-own-good kind of way. He's always been one of the most interesting and mysterious characters in the Night Huntress world, and I was really glad to get a insiders look at him.

Mencheres is old. Really, really old. He claims to be older than dirt, and in his case, it's nearly true. He's a Master Vampire and has an unprecedented amount of power. (You learn this in the Cat and Bones books, but you really get a taste for the vastness of his power in Eternal Kiss of Darkness.) Being so old and living through so much has made Mencheres tired. His visions of the future have dried up and all he sees is darkness looming. His centuries-old war with Radjedef, another powerful vamp has been rekindled and Mencheres knows this will be their final battle.

Mencheres has something sinister planned to thwart Radjedef, when in walks Kira, gun drawn. Kira is a human, who chances upon Mencheres and a group of ghouls as they are tearing Mencheres to bits. Kira calls the police, but before they get there, Kira is fatally wounded by the ghouls. Mencheres is touched by her bravery- a human saving his life. He swoops her up and flies her away before the police can see them and takes her back to one of his houses to heal her. He plans to heal her body, erase her memory of him and his kind, and return to normal. But things don't go exactly according to plan.

Suddenly Mencheres and Kira find themselves on the run from Radjedef and his powerful allies, and amidst all the terror and confusion, they might even find love.

I'll say it outright- I love Jeaniene's books. The romances are always slow and passionate but not excessive or obnoxious.

Mencheres has always fascinated me, and I wanted to know his history. I got that wish fulfilled in Eternal Kiss of Darkness. (yay!) Melissa Marr has said that you never really know the full story until you see it from multiple points of view, and that point is proven here. In the Night Huntress novels we see Mencheres as Cat sees him- old, intimidating, and cold. But that's just how one person views him, and it's completely different from how Kira sees him, which is guarded, but gentle and good and loving.

Kira. Loved her! She was smart, funny, and able to kick serious butt without being manly. She was a woman and not afraid to say so. I can't help but love heroines like her!

4 out of 5 stars.