My Very 1st In My Mailbox! (1)

In My Mailbox was inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie and created by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Okay, this is my first IMM so bear with me. I plan on doing these once a month, maybe more if this works out...

So, here's what I got for the month of March:

Bought

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Torn by Amanda Hocking

Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

The Savage Grace by Bree Despain

Illuminate by Aimee Agresti

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins

Wings by Aprilynne Pike

The Darkest Seduction by Gena Showalter

Forbidden by Syrie and Ryan M. James

Won

The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton (Thank you Unabridged Bookshelf!)

Harbinger by Sara Wilson Etienne (Thanks Elizabeth Norris!)

For Review

Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

Underworld by Meg Cabot

Unafraid by Michael Griffo (not pictured)

Traded

Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr (Thanks to Krystal @ Live to Read)

RAK

Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston (Thanks to Elizabeth!)

*Note: Netgalley copies aren't posted because I can't remember which month I got them in.

Obsidian Review

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don't kill him first, that is.

My Review:

Daemon Black is like my perfect guy, he's sexy, he's snarky and he's totally swoon-worthy! I love you Daemon!

Okay, now that my total fan-girl moment is over, let's get to the actual review.

Katy Swartz is not your typical paranormal romance main character. She blogs! About books! Yep, that's right, she's a book nerd like the rest of us! Not only did Armentrout immediately suck me in with that little tidbit, she also hooked me with Katy's humor type. She reminded me of myself and my sarcastic mouth. I just wish that it was my sarcastic mouth and not Katy's that ended up on a certain alien's lips. Sigh.

The plot of this book went FAST. I was practically bawling by the end of this book, totally not ready for any of the alien-goodness to end. The world was so fascinating that despite all of the things I have learned from alien movies and books, like how they can sometimes be scary, best friends, world-threatening or even mailmen, Armentrout had me forgetting all of that. No more would I associate the word "alien" with little green men. From now on it means Daemon Black.

Katy, Daemon and Dee are hilarious characters that will have you busting a gut and sucking in your breath all at the same time. Just heed my words of caution: You will not be able to stop once you have started this fantastic book. And Onyx, book #2 in the Lux trilogy, doesn't come out until August. Basically, read at your own risk of addiction and then some serious withdrawal symptoms.

5/5 stars

*Note: I purchased a copy of this book via Kindle. All opinions expressed in this review are mine.

LOOK AT IT!

This cover is absolutely AMAZING! I've never seen anything like it in YA Paranormal and I'm just super excited! Me waaants...

The Dark Light by Sara Walsh

Mysterious lights have flickered above Crownsville for as long as Mia can remember. And as far as she’s concerned, that’s about the only interesting thing to happen in her small town.That is, until Sol arrives. Mia’s not one to fall for just any guy, but she can’t get intense Sol—or the brilliant tattoo on his back—out of her mind.Then Mia’s brother goes missing, and Mia’s convinced that Sol knows more than he’s sharing. But getting closer to Sol means reevaluating everything she once believed to be true. Because Sol’s not who Mia thought he was—and neither is she.

THE CALLING Book Trailer

ARC Bonanza Giveaway Winner

The winner of the ARC Bonanza Giveaway is...

Latisha!

I've already e-mailed her and she has 72 hours to contact me before I choose another winner.

Thanks to everyone who entered!

Partials Review

Partials by Dan Wells

The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials—engineered
organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to only
tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity
is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island
while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is
still imminent, but, worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a
decade. Our time is running out.

Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic-in-training, is on the front lines of this
battle, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws

have pushed what's left of humanity to the brink of civil war, and she's not content to stand by and watch. But as she makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race, she will find that the survival of humans and Partials alike rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them—connections that humanity has forgotten, or perhaps never even knew were there.

My Review:

Partials was different from other dystopian YA books out there. It's a book that would appeal to any gender and wasn't full of mushy romance. (Not that I'm against mushy romance.)

Kira is a strong character. She's smart and serious and doesn't take no for an answer. Her introduction in the book doesn't exactly have you sympathizing with her character, but that's okay, she doesn't need your sympathy. She knows what she believes, she stands up for what she believes and she will make what she wants to happen, happen or she will die trying. Kira leads a completely crazy quest to save everyone she loves and despite some people not believing in her, she refuses to break down.

Some of the secondary characters were easy to read about while others kind of fell a little flat. An easy to read about character included a certain new addition to Kira's group and the not-so-easy included a very friendly friend of Kira's.

If you truly wish to read this book just be prepared that it is LONG. It's about 500 pages and you can tell it. It's not a quick read at all due to the slightly less action-packed scenes. Also at times during this story the dialogue was a bit...different.

The world-building was interesting and I hope Wells will be able to explain more about the Partials and what they are, as well as give us some more insight into their abilities.

3/5 stars

*Note: I received an ARC of this book to review from the publisher. This did not alter my review/opinion.