Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

MY RATING: 5/5

BLURB:

'And what's this about you and your friends driving around Bondi Junction half-dressed last week?'

'Who told you that?'

'Signora Formosa saw you. She said you and your friends almost ran her over. She rang Zia Patrizia's next-door neighbour and it got back to Nonna.' 

Telecom would go broke if it weren't for the Italians. 

Josephine Alibrandi is seventeen, illegitimate, and in her final year at a wealthy Catholic school. This is the year her father comes back into her life, the year she falls in love, the year she discovers the secrets of her family's past and the year she sets herself free. 

I'll run one day. Run for my life. To be free and think for myself. Not as an Australian and not as an Italian and not as an in between. I'll run to be emancipated. 

Multi-award-winning and hugely popular, Looking for Alibrandi has become a classic of modern YA literature. 

REVIEW: 

Looking for Alibrandi is the second book by Melina Marchetta that I have read. My first was On the Jellicoe Road, which is one of my favourite books. I was really looking forward to reading more of Marchetta's books and am glad that this one lived up to my expectations :) I loved it, but not as much as I love On the Jellicoe Road. 

Josephine Alibrandi is in her last year of high school. A lot of things happen in Josie's life this year, she meets her father for the first time in her life, falls in love and learns the secrets of her family's past. As always Marchetta creates a beautifully realistic world with characters that have realistic flaws and ambitions. 

I love the characters in this story. Jacob Coote reminded me a lot of Judd Nelson from The Breakfast Club :P If you haven't seen it, I recommend you do. Fantastic movie. I personally think that Marchetta writes very crush worthy guys in her books, of the two that  I have read so far anyway :P I love Jacob, he's sweet and wonderful and he has that whole bad boy thing going on. Love it. Sera annoyed me a little, but I guess that was kind of the idea. Once we got to know her more, I loved Nonna. 

I can foresee myself becoming a big Melina Marchetta fan :P I loved this book. I am really glad that I read it. I look forward to reading Saving Francesca, and other books by her. If you haven't read this book or On the Jellicoe Road I would highly recommend you give them a go. I love them both. 

Jammie the Book Nerd 
xxoo

You Against Me by Jenny Downham

MY RATING: 3/5

BLURB: 

If someone hurts your sister and you're any kind of man, you seek revenge, right? 

When Mikey's sister claims a boy assaulted her, his world begins to fall apart. 

If you're brother's accused of a terrible crime but says he didn't do it, you defend him, don't you? 

When Ellie's brother is charged with the offence, her world begins to unravel. 

When Mikey and Ellie meet, two worlds collide. 

This is a brave and unflinching novel from the best selling author of Before I Die. It's a book about loyalty and the choices that come with it. But above all it's a book about love. 

REVIEW: 

When I picked this book up from the library (it was on my TBR list) I didn't actually realise that it was by the same author as Before I Die until I picked it up to read a few days ago. When I realised this I was a little worried. I didn't like Before I Die very much. It just wasn't for me. But I liked You Against Me. You can see my mini review of before I die here.

You Against Me is a story about a the brother of a young girl that was raped, and the sister of the boy who was accused. Mikey meets Ellie at a party and has the intentions of getting her to fall for him. She does. But what Mikey doesn't intend to happen is for him to fall for her. 

I like Mikey and Ellie. I liked that parts that they were together most in the book. They were just so cute. Shy and innocent Ellie and man whore Mikey who had never felt this way about anyone before. They are so opposite yet so perfect together. Mikey is the kind of guy that has a new girl friend every week; Ellie is the kind of girl that has never had a boyfriend before. So the two of them seem the most unlikely couple, but they work so well together. 

I am not personally a big fan of Jenny Downham's style of writing. I don't know how to explain how she writes. In Before I Die Tessa was a very strange and sort of morbid character. Some of the things that she thought disturbed me sometimes. It isn't as bad in this story, but there is one part in the book where Mikey is sitting on the toilet and she writes about how he grabs a wad of toilet paper and wipes himself. I personally don't like that style of writing. 

That aside I did enjoy You Against Me, the love story was sweet and Mikey was amazing. Very fictional crush worthy material :P I am glad that I liked it, I was a little worried as I didn't like Downham's other book very much. Although I know that it is very popular. So I would definitely recommend them both, you may like them more than me :) 

Jammie the Book Nerd 

xxoo

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

MY RATING: 4/5

BLURB: 

BLOOD DOESN'T LIE. . .

Sydney's blood is special. That's because she's an alchemist - one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets - and human lives. But the last encounter Sydney had with vampire got her in deep trouble with the other alchemists. And now with her allegiances in question, her future is on the line. 

When Sydney is torn from her bed in the middle of the night, at first she thinks she's still being punished for her complicated alliance with dhampir Rose Hathaway. But what unfolds is far worse. Jill Dragomir - the sister of Moroi Queen Lissa Dragomir - is in mortal danger, and the Moroi must send her into hiding. To avoid a civil war, Sydney is called upon to act as Jill's guardian and protector, posing as her roommate in the unlikeliest of places: a human boarding school in Palm Springs, California. The last thing Sydney wants is to be accused of sympathizing with vampires. And now she has to live with one. 

The Moroi court believe Jill and Sydney will be safe at Amberwood Prep, but threats, distractions and forbidden romance lurk both outside - and within - the school grounds. Now that they're in hiding, the drama is only just beginning. 

REVIEW: 

I didn't know whether this book was a 4 or a 5 for me. I have been so excited for this book for quite a while, and I have to say that it definitely lived up to all of my expectations. 

Bloodlines is Richelle Mead's second series in the same world. We follow a few familiar characters, but a very different story. Bloodlines follows the story of alchemist, Sydney, who we met in the Vampire Academy series. Sydney isn't the only familiar face along the way. We also get to see some more of Adrian ;), Eddie, and Jill. Sydney is pulled from the comfort of her bed in the middle of the night to go into hiding with Jill. 

I love Mead's writing. I loved the Vampire Academy series, so I was really excited for Bloodlines. Whenever I mention Vampire Academy to anyone, I get the standard groan about annoying vampire books, but then I have to explain that this is nothing like any of those other vampire books! They are amazing, unique, so different and original. Mead creates a beautifully written world and characters. They are so much fun to read about and be with. 

When we met Sydney in Vampire Academy I loved her. I found her a really interesting person, I wanted to know more. Who was this girl that ate basically nothing, and could disintegrate dead strigoi bodies. It was really awsome getting to know her more, and seeing how much she had developed as a character. Throughout the course of this book we get to know Sydney a lot more than we ever did in Vampire Academy, when we first met her, Sydney was a little mysterious, we didn't really know anything about her. But fans be assured. If you were intrigued by Sydney, then you definitely won't be disappointed. 

We also get to see how things are going for some of the other characters. How Eddie is dealing after the events that may turn his life around, how that will impact his future career as a Guardian. How Jill is coping with suddenly being royal and related to the new Queen at that. 

I thoroughly enjoyed Bloodlines, I always enjoy Mead's writing. Fans of the Vampire Academy series will not be disappointed. I am already looking forward to the next book in the series, titled The Golden Lily. 

Jammie the Book Nerd
xxoo

How did you find me?

Hey guys, 

So how are my reviews going? Hope I'm not an epic fail at this :P Oh well, I don't mind if I am, I just enjoy writing them :) Well, I hope you's are enjoying them though. I would hate to have 13 (!!) followers now and be disappointing all of you :D Haha. 

So, I was just thinking about how awsome it is when you find a really good new blog. And then I got onto thinking how you guys found me. So, purely out of curiosity, I was wondering if you would leave me a comment and let me know how you found my blog :) A few of you guys I know, but there are quite a few that I don't. 

Hope to hear from you :) I am off to write my review of Bloodlines now. Will post shortly. 

Jammie the Book Nerd 

xxoo

Fury by Shirley Marr

MY RATING: 4/5

BLURB: 
Let me tell you my story. 
Not just the facts I know you want to hear. 
If I'm going to tell you my story, 
I'm telling it my way. 

Strap yourself in. . . 

Eliza Boans has everything. 
A big House. 
A great education. 
A bright future. 

So why is she sitting in a police station confessing to murder? 

REVIEW: 

I loved this book. The ending was amazing. I didn't see it coming at all! I wasn't sure about this book when I first started reading it; I was just eager to know what had happened to Eliza and wanted to find out more quickly. But back story is important. 

Eliza is a spoilt, rich girl who has everything she could ever wish for. She is stubborn and very controlling. As horrible as she is to her friends sometimes, she loves them to death and would do anything for them. I didn't like Eliza very much at the beginning of the story, she was just so horrible to her friends and bossy and controlling and I didn't like that. But throughout the course of the story, as you learned more about her character, she became more likable, you could understand why she is the way that she is. 

I really enjoyed this book. I don't know what else to say about it. It was well written, switching between the events that have lead Eliza to where she is now, and her present where she is telling Dr Fadden her story. This was a great debut and I would definitely recommend this book, it was very interesting :) 

Jammie the Book Nerd

xxoo

Who's Excited For Bloodlines!! :D

Hey guys, 

So who's excited for the release of Bloodlines by Richelle Mead next Tuesday!!! :D I know I am. I cannot wait! I am going straight to the book store after Uni to go and get my copy. Haha. I have been so excited for this book for so long. I don't know what else to say about it. Except rant about how excited I am :D Haha. 

Anyway, is anybody else as excited as I am!? What do you think is going to happen? If you haven't seen them yet, I recommend going and checking out the teaser trailers at the Bloodlines facebook page. They are awsome. They did a great job with the casting. Well, I hope someone is as excited as I am. Well, I will stop babbling now. 

Here's the Blurb:  

I wasn’t free of my past, not yet.

Sydney’s blood is special. That’s because she’s an alchemist—one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of human and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives. But the last encounter Sydney had with vampires got her in deep trouble with the other alchemists. And now with her allegiances in question, her future is on the line.

When Sydney is torn from her bed in the middle of the night, at first she thinks she’s still being punished for her complicated alliance with dhampir Rose Hathaway. But what unfolds is far worse.  Jill Dragomir—the sister of Moroi Queen Lissa Dragomir—is in mortal danger, and the Moroi must send her into hiding. To avoid a civil war, Sydney is called upon to act as Jill’s guardian and protector, posing as her roommate in the unlikeliest of places—a human boarding school in Palm Springs, California. The last thing Sydney wants is to be accused of sympathizing with vampires. And now she has to live with one.

The Moroi court believe Jill and Sydney will be safe at Amberwood Prep, but threats, distractions, and forbidden romance lurk both outside—and within—the school grounds. Now that they’re in hiding, the drama is only just beginning.

Jammie the Book Nerd

xxoo

Burn Bright by Marianne de Pierres

MY RATING: 4/5

BLURB:

Retra doesn't want to go to Ixion, the island of ever-night. Retra is a Seal - sealed minds, sealed community. She doesn't crave parties and pleasure like all the others. But her brother left for Ixion two years ago, and Retra is determined to find him. 

Braving the pain of her obedience strip to escape the only home she's ever known, Retra finds herself drawn deeper into the intoxicating world of Ixion. Come to me, whispers a voice in her head. Who are the Ripers, the mysterious guardians of Ixion? What are the night creatures Retra can see in the shadows? And what happens to those too old for Ixion? 

Retra will find that Ixion has it's pleasure - but it's secrets are deadly. 

REVIEW: 

I loved Burn Bright. It was a well written and very believable world.

Burn Bright is a story of a girl, Retra, who decides to leave her home and seek out her brother, Joel. Joel left for Ixion two years ago, desperate to get away from everything and seek the pleasure that everyone does to Ixion. Retra encounters more complications than she was expecting once she arrives to Ixion. The Ripers, the night creatures, even the other people in Ixion can be a worry some times. But Retra is determined. She will find her brother and convince him to leave with her. 

I loved the characters in the story so much. Retra was interesting; so afraid of everything, scared to have people see her or touch her, I guess that is what it would have been like being a Seal. Even though she seemed so afraid of everyone she always speaks her mind, sticks up for what she believes in and does anything she can to protect the ones that she loves. I hated Cal, but I think I was meant to. Brand and some of the other Ripers really creeped me out, but they were interesting characters. I liked Lenoir. I don't really know why, he is mysterious and confusing. It is very intriguing to me, I want to find out more. I instantly liked Suki and Rollo grew on me eventually. 

Some parts of the story were a little confusing at times, as there wasn't much explanation behind Retra's world. But I really enjoyed the way that it was written. There was no long stories behind everything that Retra was doing, it jumped straight into everything and you learned along the way. Sometimes long descriptions of the world that characters live in can get annoying and boring, so I really enjoyed the way that you were just thrown into it and had to learn things throughout the story. 

I really liked this book and look forward to reading Angel Arias. There were lots of questions raised in Burn Bright, but in a way that the first book is just establishing the story still, so it wasn't annoying. But I am looking forward to having some of those questions answered. 

There was some mature content in this books I would probably recommend for 15+

For other reviews of Burn Bright check out: 
The Tales Compendium
Irresistible Reads
Ink Crush

Jammie the Book Nerd 

xxoo

Possible TMI/ID Convention

Hello!

I am a bit of a huge The Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare fan :P I love them. So I am a part of the Google Group for The Mortal Instruments. Recently there has been a bit of talk about possibly trying to organise a convention type thing for fans of the series in NYC to attend. I personally wouldn't be able to attend this time (hopefully if it is successful they will be able to hold it again :)) as I am a full tie university student, so I don't have much time or money. But I am more than willing to help try and spread the word and see how many people would be interested in something like this. So if any of you are fans, or know people that are fans and you think they would be interested please help us spread the word and give any ideas for what you think. 

Here is the post about it on Google Groups: 

Hello Everyone, 
I've been talking with Mina Blak, and we came up with a crazy idea for
starting a convention for all people who are interested in Cassandra
Clare's TMI/ID Universe.  We were thinking of holding it in New York
City sometime next year, hopefully around the time that City of Lost
Souls is being published.  

We'd like to see how many people would be legitimately interested in
an endeavor like this.  We'd like to know if you're interested in
attending, organizing, or anything of the sort.  Any feedback is
really appreciated, since if we were to actually come up with
something, we'd have to start working very soon.  

I currently live in Wisconsin, USA.  This means that organizing
something on the East Coast wouldn't be the easiest thing for me, but
I'd be willing to try if there's enough expressed interest in
something like this.  

I'm asking everyone to make this go viral.  Post something about this
on your Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and anywhere else you can think to
see what kind of feedback we could get.
If you're interested in getting a hold of me personally, here's my
contact information.  Please no spam, just legitimate questions and
feedback only, and put something in the subject line about
"convention" here:  

thewisepenseuse(at)hotmail(dot)com
cornerchairseat.tumblr.com
https://twitter.com/#!/thewisepenseuse  

Thank you
~Eileen Kelm

So if you are interested, please spread the word and if you have any ideas please e-mail Eileen. I hope to see good things come from this. So good luck to Eileen and Mina and everyone else that is willing to help!  

Jammie the Book Nerd

xxoo

Matched by Ally Condie

MY RATING: 3/5


BLURB: 

On her seventeenth birthday Cassie meet her match. Society dictates he is her perfect partner for life. 

Except he's not. 

In Cassia's society, Officials decide who people love. How many children they have. Where they work. When they Die. 

But Cassie finds herself falling in love with another boy, she is determined to make some choices of her own. 

And that's when her whole world begins to unravel . . .

REVIEW: 

This is only the third ever dystopian series that I have read. So it kinda had a lot to live up to with me; I have only read The Hunger Games series and Divergent. Both of which I absolutely loved. I wasn't expecting a lot, so it mostly lived up to my expectations. I did enjoy this book though, it's a very interesting idea. 

The story takes place in a world where everything is controlled by the government. The people are told what they eat, who they will marry and have children with, where they will work, even when they will die. Everyone believes that the system is for the best, everyone lives healthy and happy lives, no ever gets hurt and everyone is content. Cassia, like everyone else, believes in the society, that what they do is for the better. She believes that she will be happy with Xander, her best friend and match. But as  Cassia begins to fall in love with Ky, she begins to question her government. Is what they do really better for everyone, never getting to make any decisions of their own? 

I couldn't really get into the relationships in the book. I liked all of the characters, but I couldn't feel the relationship between Cassia and Ky or Cassia and Xander. There were some really sweet moment between Cassia and Ky that had me going aww, but it still felt weird, like it wasn't real enough. I really liked Cassia's family, Bram and her mother and father and Grandfather. 

Some parts of the book felt a little boring, like they were dragging on a bit. The story wasn't fast enough for me. Personally I like a book that gets straight into the action and has lots of it. I am not a big love story person. But I did like this book, it is always a very interesting to experience the worlds that people live in in stories like this one. I am eager to see where the author takes the story in the next book. 

I also really liked the cover. Mostly only after I had seen the second one. I like the idea that she is trapped in her world in the first book. But in the next one it is like she is trying to break free of the grasp that society has on her. I am looking forward to reading it. 

Jammie the Book Nerd 

xxoo

Giveaway at Gripped Into Books

Hey guys, 


Check out the amazing 1000+ followers giveaway over at Gripped into Books! Awsome giveaway, heaps of cool books to win! Head on over. 
There's a button in my sidebar thingy that should lead you there too :) 


Jammie the Book Nerd
xxoo

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

MY RATING: 4/5


BLURB: 

A GIRL WITH A MORBID ABILITY. 

When a murder is committed it leaves a unique echo. . . on both the victim and the killer. Most people are unaware of these echos but Violet Ambrose has always been able to sense them. 

A SERIAL KILLER ON THE LOOSE. 

Now that Violet's town is in the thralls of serial killer the echos of the local girls he has murdered are haunting her. 

AND THE BOY WHO WOULD NEVER LET ANYTHING HAPPEN TO HER. 

the only shinning light is Violet's best friend Jay. She's started falling for him and his fierce protectiveness gives her hope that he may feel the same. . .

With the police at a loss, can Violet use her ability to stop the killer or is she in danger of becoming her next victim? 

REVIEW: 

I loved this book :D I'm not sure is it is a 4 or a 5 for me. And I don't want to do the whole .5 thing :/ It had a beautiful balance of the creepiness, with the serial killer, and romance. It was well written and very intriguing. I only recently posted about how much I love people who have been best friends forever that fall for each other. 

Violet has an unusual gift. She can (for lack of better word) sense when there is a body somewhere near her. The ones that have been brutally murdered give off the strongest echos. When Violet finds a girls body and another is found just the weekend after it becomes apparent that there is a serial killer on the loose. Because of her ability, Violet feels as though she is the only one that can find the killer. 

As I said before I only just posted about how much I love the kind of romance that this book has. Over the summer Jay grew out of his childish looks and into a man, everyone has noticed, and that includes his best friend Violet. Violet tries to hide the way she feels from Jay afraid that he won't feel the same way back. Well, I guess you could imagine how all of that turns out :) The characters were all very likable. The secondary characters didn't play very much of a role in the story, but that was alright as the story was more about Violet trying to find the serial killer. I liked Chelsea and Jules, but Claire was a little annoying at times. 

The story was beautifully written. The small looks into the serial killers mind were so realistic it was scary. It was all exactly how a serial killer would think, how they would act. It was haunting and beautiful at the same time. There was a part at the end of the story where the writing was so well written and deceiving. I so sure that something had happened, it was horrible. So convincing. I was thinking to myself the entire time reading it that if it was really happening that it would have ruined the entire book for me, if it had of happened, I don't think that I would have been able to read the next book in the series. 

So in the end, I loved this book. I am definitely going to try and get my hands on Desires of the Dead as soon as I can :D A beautifully written debut and I would definitely recommend it if you are interested in anything to do with serial killers and the dead :D 

Jammie the Book Nerd 

xxoo

Giveaway at Bookish blog

Hey guys, 

Check out this awsome Best Summer Releases giveaway over at Bookish, heaps of awsome titles to win. There's Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer, Bloodlines by Richelle Mead, Supernaturally by Kiersten White, Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris, Blindsided by Priscilla Cummings and heaps more! Head over and check it out! :D 

Jammie the Book Nerd 

xxoo

Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

MY RATING: 4/5


BLURB: 

Naomi and Ely live in the same apartment block. They've been soul mates since forever, sharing clothes, music, in-jokes, adventures - they even have a 'no kiss' list of people who are absolutely off-limits for kissing (an insurance policy against a Naomi Ely bust-up). But what if they don't love each other in quite the same way, or play by the same rules? When Ely kisses Naomi's current boyfriend, the fault lines in their relationship begin to crack.

REVIEW:

Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan is a story of friendship and love, overcoming your problems and finding what matters most in life. When Naomi's gay best friend since forever, Ely, kisses her boyfriend all the problems that they have which they usually just choose to ignore begin to rise to the surface and causes a break-up between the best of friends. 

Naomi is this hottest-girl-in-the-school type chick who has some serious problems caused by some hard family problems that have happened in her life. Ely is the gay guy that everyone loves, the guy that everyone adores and wants to be friends with, and a total man-whore of course. At first I didn't like Naomi and Ely, they both really annoyed me. But by the end of the book they could pick out their own flaws and tried to change them and turn their lives around. 

"It is not easy. Things that matter are not. Feelings of happiness are easy. Happiness is not. Flirting is easy. Love is not. Saying you're friends is easy. Being friends is not." - Ely, page. 199

At the beginning of the book I started getting a little annoyed and confused with getting the background story of all the minor characters, like Robin and Robin, Bruce the First, Gabriel, etc. But I realised that everyone's story was important. You need to know their story to know how they fit into Naomi and Ely's story. 

There was one thing about the book that I really loved. I don't know why, i guess I just love when you get cross overs in books that no-one but those who has read all of their books will get. I am going to be vague cause I don't want to ruin it for anyone, it was nice to read it not knowing it was going to be there. But those of you who have read the book will know what I am talking about. My favourite part was when Bruce went into the toilet and wrote on the wall. I was like, Oh My Llama!! That is so cool! :D I liked it :P  It makes me want to read Dash and Lily's Book of Dares right now to see if there is anything like that in there :) 

I really enjoyed this story. Friendship (especially one like Naomi and Ely's) is a special thing, it should be cherished and enjoyed. I could really relate to these characters. I lost my best friend in the entire world at the beginning of this year, it is hard to have the one person in the world that you love more than anything just up and leave you (speaking figuratively). I am over it now, I know that it wasn't my fault and I don't care any more. But friendship (especially one like what Naomi and Ely share) should always be enjoyed and cherished. It is a beautiful thing. Their story really makes you appreciate all of the friends that you have. Don't let them go! I would definitely recommend this book :) 

Jammie the Book Nerd

xxoo

Please vote Jace!!

Hey,

I know i dont have many followers so i'll try and make this short and sweet. But if you love mortal instruments or just wanna do this for me you should head on over to The YA Sisterhood and vote Jace on the poll. If you are a mortal instruments fan there are heaps of extras that Cassie is going to release if Jace wins. This is the final leg of the Crush Tourney. We want our man to win! So head on over and vote and spread the word! Get as many voters as you can!

This is what cassie poseted about what she will post if Jace wins.

And this is why you should vote for Jace! Cause I've got a lotta stuff and I
want to give it away to you. :)

Thanks to all of
you, Jace won his semifinal round in the YA Crush Tourney against that
devious ice price, Ash! And as a celebratory
prize I posted the Jace POV Manor House scene from City of Glass.

Today Jace is up against sexy Scot Zachary Moore from the excellent Shift
and Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready. If you haven't read the books, I recommend
them, and Jeri — who I met briefly at Romantic Times — is a doll. So if you
gotta go Team Kilt, I understand. But since this is the last round of the
Tourney, which means whoever wins the round wins the entire contest, it's
time to pull out the big guns.

1) TMI fans, I want you out spreading the word! Link to the Tourney on
Twitter any time after 8am tomorrow (use the #teamjace hashtag ) on
Facebook, on your blog, on Tumblr — anywhere! Go here and leave
a link to your post and you'll be entered into a contest to win all sorts of
awesome things like a set of personalized books, TMI jewelry, signed
posters, chapter samplers for upcoming books, and other coolness. Yes, you
can post an entry more than once if you posted more than one link, but keep
the entries separate.

2) So I took a poll (a short one)http://twtpoll.com/1646lfand here's the
special content that won. It's what I'll post if Jace wins.

a) The unedited version of the Dirty Sexy Club scene (a Jace and, well,
guess who but it starts with C, scene from City of Lost Souls) . . . before
I toned it down.

I will also throw in the second runner up:

b) A substantial teaser of a *spicy* scene from CP. Tessa & ..someone. ;)
Because why should ID be left out?

Bonus: If Jace wins by more than a thousand votes, I'll post one of
Magnus&Alec's romantic scenes from CoLS. ;)

Thank you guys! I love you all :D

Jammie the Book Nerd
xxoo

Mary's Song (Oh My My My) - Taylor Swift

Hey all, 

So over the past like. . . Month or so, probably two or three months to be honest :P, I have been going through this huge Taylor Swift thing. I had been meaning to get all of her songs on my iPod for ages, and when I finally got around to doing it I just went through this huge thing with all of her songs. As I had never heard most of her songs before and I loved most of them I had this whole playlist for just Taylor Swift songs that I listened to for ages *^^* Because I am a cool Book Nerd like that :D 

Anyway, now that we have the back ground story established on to the actual point of my ranting post. I couldn't find some of the songs that were on her albums when I first did this whole downloading thing a few months back and I have just been listening to a bunch of them on Youtube. I just came across this song called Mary's Song (Oh My My My), you guys might have heard it before. I hadn't, I know that's kind of weird because of how much I obviously love her and it's from her first album and all. But her songs didn't actually come over to Australia until her second album Fearless. 

But yes, this song. It is amazing to me! It is the story of best friends that grow up together and fall in love! It is so adorable!! I absolutely love it. For me the story of best friends that grow up their entire lives together and fall in love is like the best love story ever! I know it's probably a little cliched, but I don't care. It's what gets me all warm and fuzzy inside *^^* So I love it. My love of Taylor Swift paired with my love of the "best friends falling in love and living happily ever after" story are going to make it my current favourite song. 

Well, I am done ranting about how much I love it now :) As you can probably see I am a huge Taylor Swift love at the moment. I officially have 48 of her songs on my iPod. And I love 98% of them :D I have only heard this new favourite song of mine only once. So I will leave this rant her and go and listen to it again. LOVE IT!! 

Jammie the Book Nerd 

xxoo

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

MY RATING: 3/5

BLURB: (GOODREADS)

So you're a guy; you're at a band show and your ex, the girl who dumped you, walks in with the new guy. Looking for a safe exit, you ask the girl you happen to be sitting with to be your girl friend for the next five minutes. 

You're a girl; you're at a get together and your least favourite female strolls in. The stranger sitting next to you asks you to be his five-minute date. So what do you do? You lock lips. 

Nick and Nora's instant connect begins a roller coaster "first date" that takes them through Manhattan and into themselves. A novel concept that works. 

REVIEW: 

I liked this book. I didn't love it, but I am glad that I read it. I don't know what else to say about it that the blurb doesn't tell you. Nick and Nora meet under very strange circumstances in the bar that Nick's band is playing at. There feelings for each other and the ex's that they are trying to leave behind lead them both on an emotional roller coaster of a first date, if that's what you would call it. 

There are few things that annoyed me a little about this book. The amount of swearing in it, is a major turn off for me. Sometimes it seemed like the characters trains of thought went off on the most unrelated and random tangents, which at times made it a little boring for me. Other than those things, I thought it was a really interesting story. It was really sweet. Sometimes Norah really got on my nerves with her being all into it one second and then not being able to get away from Nick fast enough the next. I liked Nick's character, he is sweet and loyal and totally more than a bitch like Tris deserves. 

Rachel Cohn and David Levithan write really well together. Although with this one I felt that at some points the switching from Norah and Nick was a little rocky, I have read Dash and Lily's Book of Dares and have just started read Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List, and I think that they have a really nice flow. Hopefully they will write more books together in the future that I can look forward to. I will post a review of Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List when I finish it :)

Jammie the Book Nerd 

xxoo

The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

MY RATING: 3/5


BLURB: (GOODREADS)

In 1897 England, sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne has no one except the "thing" inside her 

When a young lord tries to take advantage of Finley, she fight back. And wins. But no normal Victorian girl has a darker side that makes her capable of knocking out a full grown man with one punch . . . 

Only Griffin King sees the magical darkness inside her that says she's special, says she's one of them. The orphaned duke takes her in from the gaslit street against the wishes of his band of misfits. Emily, who has her own special abilities and an unrequited love for Sam, who is part robot; and Jasper and American cowboy with a shadowy secret. 

Griffin's investigating a criminal called The Machinist, the mastermind behind several recent crimes by automatons. Finley thinks she can help-and finally be a part of something, finally fit in. 

But The Machinist wants to tear Griff's little company of strays apart, and it isn't long before trust is tested on all sides. At least Finley knows whose side she's on, even if it seems no one believes her. 

MY REVIEW: 

The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross was my second ever steampunk book. I wasn't sure about buying it, as the blurb on the back on my copy of the book was not the above and was very vague. I bought the book based on the fact that it was steampunk :P 

The characters throughout the story were very strong, I like strong and complicated characters, it makes them more interesting and relatable. I enjoyed reading from everyone perspective and that the story wasn't just about Finley and Griffin, it was also about Sam and Emily and Jasper and Jack. 

Finley is a very strong female lead, something I also enjoy very much. She is strong and independent and always sticks up for herself. 

This book is sort of like X-men meets Batman meets Dr. Jekel and Mr. Hyde set in the 1800's. X-men because of the powers, Batman because Griffin is out for revenge on the people who killed his parents and trying to rid the world of evil, and Dr. Jekel and Mr. Hyde because of the very interesting Finley Jayne. So if that sounds like your cup of tea then you should definitely go and pick it up :)

Jammie the Book Nerd

xxoo

I won a competition!! :D

Hey, 

I am so very excited today. For the first time, like ever, I actually won a competition that I entered. I enter so many competitions on blogs and stuff, but I never win anything. So I was so very excited to receive an e-mail telling me that I had one a competition! Woo, go me. Haha. 

What I one was a book called The Alchemyst by Michael Scott, I am really excited to read it. It sounds really interesting. 

Here's the blurb for anyone that is interested: 

He holds the secret that can end the world. 

The truth: Nicolas Flamel was born in Paris on 28 September 1330. Nearly seven hundred years later, he is acknowledged as the greatest Alchemyst of his day. It is said that he discovered the secret of eternal life. 

The records show that he died in 1418. But his tomb is empty. 

The Legend: Nicholas Flamel lives. But only because he has been making the elixir of life for centuries. The secret of eternal life is hidden within the powerful book he protects - the Book of Abraham the Mag. In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world. 

That's exactly what Dr. John See plans to do when he steals it. Human kind won't know what's happening until it's too late. And is the prophecy is right, Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the power to save the world as we know it. 

Sometimes legends are true. 

And Sophie and Josh Newman are about to find themselves in the middle of the greatest legend of all time. 

Sounds pretty cool right :) I will probably post a review when I read it, but that won't be for a little while. I just borrow out like a heap of books from the library yesterday that I am really excited to start reading! 

Anyway, so I would just like to thank Jess over at The Tales Compendium for the chance to win this awsome book :) If you haven't already go check out her site. Her reviews are awsome. So thank you! 

Jammie the Book Nerd

xxoo

Mini Reviews: Before I Die, Heist Society and Uncommon Criminals

Hey guys! 

I am being a bit lazy at the moment. So I thought that I would just do a couple of quick mini review type things. 

Before I Die by Jenny Downham 

MY RATING: 2/5

REVIEW: 

I didn't really enjoy Before I Die very much. I felt that I couldn't really connect with the characters. Tessa seemed very bitter and all round a little bit mean, I guess I can kind of see where some of it comes from. It wouldn't be easy being in her position, being so young with leukemia, but she just wasn't a very nice person. 

Her best friend was also a little strange. She was very mean to Tessa a lot of the time. I just sort of felt that wouldn't you be nicer, and trying to enjoy every moment that you had with your terminally ill best friend? 

So all in all I really didn't enjoy this book very much. But I liked Adam :) 

Heist Society by Ally Carter 

MY RATING: 4/5

REVIEW: 

I really, really enjoyed this book :) It was a very enjoyable read. I loved reading about teenage thieves, that was really different and fun for me. The characters and all round story were written very well. 

I loved all of the side characters as well. Hamish and Angus were really fun and hilarious, and Gabrielle reminded me a lot of Izzy from The Mortal Instruments series. She is really kick arse crawl-through-a-vent-and-come-out-looking-fantastic-still kind of girl. Hale was a very loveable male lead, he's rich and cocky, but it really suits him. 

I loved this book and I would definitely recommend it :) 

Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter 

MY RATING: 4/5


REVIEW:
Uncommon Criminals is the sequel to Heist Society mentioned above. I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed the first one. I read them straight after each other and they both flowed together really well. It feels sad to have finished them both and having to be leaving behind Kat's world for the time being. Again this one was a really fun read, for me mystery and teenage thieves was something really fun to read about, this book had lots of suspenseful moments that had me a little worried for the Kat and her crew. The Heist Society books were very entertaining read and I would definitely recommend them, I am hoping that there will be more books in the series. I would love to read them :) 


Jammie the Book Nerd
xxoo