Sunday, December 30, 2012

The best YA books of 2012-mini review

Seeing as it is the end of the year, I feel like its only appropriate to write book reviews about my favorite reads of the year. This year I have read a lot more ya books than normal. Reading has become my official source of procrastination, I have effectively avoided graduate school tests, paying bills, packing clothes, laundry, and moving by becoming- what I call- a world class reading procrastinator. It's been hard work. So in honor of me and my fellow procrastinators, I'm going to catalog all of the books, I remember reading this year and pick out my favorites and review them.

For the upcoming year, I will write book reviews as I read the books, like a sane person.  But as for now, I needed a new source of procrastination. Looks like I found it.

Feel free to agree or disagree with my book reviews, I will not post bad reviews because I know the amount of energy that goes into writing these books, so if I don't like a book I have read I will remain mute. But you are free to do and post whatever you like.

I'm also going to dedicate one post to the two best books of the year. But for now this page will be my ongoing project.

1.  A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix

2.  A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony

3.  Angelfall by Susan EE - although this book was released in 2011, I didn't read it until 2012, so it counts for this year.

Book Description
"It’s been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels’ stronghold in San Francisco where she’ll risk everything to rescue her sister and he’ll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again"


Mini Review

 I loved this book, it was wonderfully written, the language flowed and each character was well defined. The heroine was strong and there was no insta-love. I also loved the character's devotion to her family and the way that her relationship built between her and the angel, Raffe.

This is one of the rare heroine's who wasn't dysfunctional. She had one goal and no one could deter her. The goal centered focus of the book made everything very coherent, which is frequently missing in YA fiction. I am dying to read the sequel. A really good start to a series.

An amazing book, 5 stars.

4.  Ascend by Amanda Hocking

5.  Auracle by Gina Rosati this book was so very different. It was about a girl who had been displaced from her body and another girl, Taylor, had taken it over. It was more character driven than plot driven, but I loved it. I think I loved how real the character's were and how much Rei loved his friends and was willing to do anything to protect them.

 An amazing book, 4.25 stars

6.  Before I Wake by Rachel Vincent I love all of Rachel Vincent's books. I can't say that I remember this one individually, since I sat down and read the whole series all in row. It took a grand total of two days to read 5 and a half of them. They were all really good stories about a banshee and her relationship with two sidhe (male banshee) brothers. The author didn't pull any punches and never let you feel as though she wouldn't kill off a character or destroy a relationship that you loved. It made the entire experience distressing and amusing. She did a good job of making me addicted to the story line. Overall, a great read for those who have the stomach for it.

An amazing series 4.25 (This was the synopsis for all the books in this series)

7.  Black Heart by Holly Black was really original. It was about an alternate world where people can have special powers. The powers are all very basic though, so its not like a super hero, but more like one ability (transformation, controlling of dreams, erasing memories). The powers are less than fascinating, but its the writing that makes this story impressive.
                         Black has created an amazing world where the mob has powers and canvases for other people with power. The biggest crime bosses daughter is missing and the protagonist (whose name escapes me) believes he killed her. The story unrolls in little twists and turns, some that are predictable and some that are not, until we arrive at an interesting conclusion that leaves the reader wanting to delve into the complex world once more.

An interesting and original series 4.0   

8.  Boyfriend From Hell by E. Van Lowe

9.  Breathe By Sarah Crossan
10.Cursed by Jennifer L. Armentrout
11.Daimon by Jennifer L. Armentrout
12.Deity by Jennifer L. Armentrout
13.Delirium by Lauren Oliver
14.Demons at Deadnight by A & E Kirk
15.Earth Angel by E. Van Lowe
16.Elemental by Brigid Kemmerer
17.Elixir by Jennifer L ArmenTrout
18. Endlessly by Kiersten White
19. Existence by Abbi Glines
20. False Memory by Dan Krokos
21. Flutter by Melissa Andrea
22.Glimmer by Phoebe Kitanidis
23. Gravity by Melissa West
24. Half Blood by Jennifer L Armentrout
25. Hallowed by Cynthia Hand
26. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
27. If I Die by Rachel Vincent
28. Insurgent By Veronica Roth
29. Intertwined by Gena Showalter
30. My Soul to keep by Rachel Vincent
31. My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent
32. My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent
33. My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent
34. Obsidian by Jennifer L Armentrout
35. Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Midway through this exercise, I realized how daunting this is. I procrastinated way more than I initially thought. So, I will divide this extremely long list, which rivals Santa's list of naughty children, into two parts. I am also only going to review my absolute favorites and anyone who LOVED one I didn't review can write their own review in the comment log.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Deleted post?-The Exemeus Synopsis

Apparently a post has up and disappeared. I am not tech savvy enough to figure out what happened, but here is the post again:

Book Description

I just received and approved the FINAL back cover copy. I know there have been many changes to it over the books time online, but this is IT. I'm also waiting for the designer to hand over the rights to my cover, but until it gets here you can read the back.

Hyalee Smith is dead, she just doesn’t know it yet.

Her short life was devoted to love and hate. Love of the man who stole her heart, hate for the man who stole the world. Murdered by the government she swore to destroy, fate has given her another chance. But to save the planet, she needs the help of the most powerful mystic the world has ever seen—unfortunately he hasn’t been born yet.

In a world where fear is the only currency, Dephon has committed the ultimate crime: inspiring hope.

His only goal is to make it safely through ninth grade, but on a post-apocalyptic Earth run by the Treptonian government, it isn’t that simple. Heir to a legendary power, Dephon Johnson is the only threat to the government’s rule. And on Trepton, all threats must be eliminated. When hundreds of assassins are dispatched to neutralize him, Dephon is forced to fight back. His only chance of survival is to enlist the aid of the greatest warrior the world has ever known. The only problem is, she's been dead for 13 years.

0 comments • like • Published on December 11, 2012 20:21

It's all coming together-The Exemeus blog update.

As the launch date for The Exemeus draws nearer, I've learned so much about publishing, books, and connecting with fans. I've also learned a lot about myself nad what I love and what I hate. I'm starting to realize that my avesion to continuously blogging has been, because I don't have enough to talk about. Everything in the publishing world moves at a snail pace and just because, I ogt briefed on the ins and outs of advertising an ebook, doesn't mean I want to talk about it. And it definitely doesn't mean you want to hear about it.

With that being said, I've decided to alter the scope of my blog. I will spend most of my time talking about other ya books that I like, what's new in the world of Hyalee and Dephon, and important tour and radio dates for The Exemeus. This will also be where I list giveaways first and where I talk about new ideas I'm brainstorming.

Updates for the month of December:

The Exemeus Cover




The official Exemeus Banner:


The Exemeus book trailer- draft


Friday, November 30, 2012

Release date! Finally.

A year since my last post, the Exemeus has been fully edited and reviewed a million times. It is currently being formatted and awaiting a cover art that doesn't irritate me. It should be finished by the end of the year and published on December 31, 2012. I'm so thrilled for the release of 10 arcs on goodreads. I hope you all love it as much as I have. Tell me what you think.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Exemeus by Folami Morris

The Exemeus

by Folami Morris

Giveaway ends March 02, 2013.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win