Capture Blog Hop: Cover Critique and Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the Capture Blog Hop! I am very excited to "critique" the cover of Capture! So let's start!

As you probably see above, there is a gorgeous green cover of Capture. I personally love it! The font for the cover is PERFECT!! Wow! I want to know what font is it! :D I also love the swirl/vines at the bottom. It makes it more than a picture with some text on it. I just love the green! (Green is my favourite colour!)

There is one little thing that make this cover not a "perfert" cover. Okay, this is me being super harsh (I never judge a cover this hard, so don't take this the wrong way). I find the eyes of the model a little..."overdone". *hides from people who wants to throw tomatoes at me even though I kind of deserve it*. As I said before, I NEVER judge a cover this harsh. So overall, this cover is amazing!

What do you think of the cover?

Now time for the giveaways!

This blog stop giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Entire Blog Hop Prizes: $15 Amazon gift card (international), 2 signed paperbacks of Reveal (not international). Leave a comment to be entered for this giveaway.

This blog hop is hosted by YA author Brina Courtney. She is offering super sweet prizes like a $15 Amazon Gift Card and two signed paperbacks of her debut novel Reveal. Please visit the other blogs in the hop for greater chances to win! CONTEST OVER.

1.	Jessica @ Food for Thought	2.	Mickey@imabookshark
3.	Ren @ Ren's Rambles	4.	Jessica @ Just a Booklover
5.	Jessirae @ Words, Pages, and Books	6.	Heather @ SupaGurl Books
7.	Tess @ My Pathway to Books	8.	worlds away book blog
9.	Jennie @ My Cute Bookshelf	10.	Lucy @ Moonlight Gleam's Bookshelf
11.	Michelle @ The Passionate Bookworm	12.	Tiffany @ Escaping one book at a time
13.	Have You Heard My Book Review	14.	Megan Duncan YA Author
15.	FireStarBooks	16.	Chelsea M. Cameron, Author
17.	Rainy of the Dark MAY 2nd ONLY	18.	Pam @ Novelly Nice

Spring Fling Giveaway Hop

Spring Fling Giveaway Hop

May 1st - 7th

Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Eve's Fan Garden

Giveaway Details

• Giveaway is International.
  
• Must be at least 18 to enter (or 13 and up with parent permission)
  
• One entry per person
  
• Giveaway ends May 7th at midnight
  
• Winner will be selected via rafflecoptor and contacted through email. The winner has 48 hours to respond before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected.
  
• Just fill out the rafflecopter below for entry!

[Review] 172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad

Published Date: April 17, 2012
Published Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Little Brown

Source: Hachette Canada

Received Format: Hardcover

Pages: 355

A BIG thanks goes out to Hachette Canada for providing me this wonderful copy for review! <3

Synopsis via Goodreads:

It's been decades since anyone set foot on the moon. Now three ordinary teenagers, the winners of NASA's unprecedented, worldwide lottery, are about to become the first young people in space--and change their lives forever.

Mia, from Norway, hopes this will be her punk band's ticket to fame and fortune.

Midori believes it's her way out of her restrained life in Japan.

Antoine, from France, just wants to get as far away from his ex-girlfriend as possible.

It's the opportunity of a lifetime, but little do the teenagers know that something sinister is waiting for them on the desolate surface of the moon. And in the black vacuum of space... no one is coming to save them.

In this chilling adventure set in the most brutal landscape known to man, highly acclaimed Norwegian novelist Johan Harstad creates a vivid and frightening world of possibilities we can only hope never come true.

My Thoughts:

I love the concept! The prologue of the book reminded me of the typical government secret meeting. So secretive and amazing!

The characters had their pros and cons. Mia seems like an actually normal teen. She had real teenager emotions. She acts kind of like me, a little hot headed. I also love Midori! There is something about her that I just cannot hate. and as for Antoine, he is smart, and thoughtful. I love how Johan wrote the characters. Each one if them are unique and none of them made me hate them. No particular character got a spotlight. That is basically their pros but for some reason, the characters seemed to dull as the book went on. It seemed their colours faded. That is the completely opposite to the plot, as I kind of expected.

The first three chapters or so were pretty good, but as the story went on, it got boring. The first half of the book basically talked about the teens getting picked. Everything basically repeated 3 times. Mia gets the letter, Midori gets it, then Antoine gets it. It got real boring fast. The first part of the story didn't provide a lot of descriptions and that meant it didn't provoke emotions within me. BUT!

Everything got more exciting when they arrive in the moon base (as expected). There were moments that made my heart beat faster but it didn't made me go breathless, (not sure if you know what I mean).

It was nice to see how the teenagers stood up for themselves. As the story "leak" out more secrets, the more you want to see how the book end. It became a book that was hard to put down! And for that reason, I am giving this book 4 fires out of 5. Great job Johan! 

PS: I love the pictures in the book! I wish it was more drawing though. Sketches make me squeal more, especially when I see "rough" sketches. Okay, yeah, you might think I am weird. :P



Weekly Haul - Week of April 23, 2012

Okay yeah, I had been so slow to catch up with the blogger world so I wasn't aware of the who The Story Siren thing. I don't like poking my nose into a lot of thing so I stayed away from the whole thing. But now I know what it is about, I will not be paticipating in the In My Mailbox meme starting next week since I already make my video and all.  Sorry for the confusion.  

For review from the magnificent Hachette Canada!
Forgotten by Cat Patrick
Revived by Cat Patrick
The Last Princess by Galaxy Craze

Won from Razorbill:
The Opposite of Tidy by Carrie Mac *P.S. There is a live chat on April 30th (8:30PM) on Razorbill website with Carrie Mac.*

Bought from Chapters Indigo:
Elixir - Hilary Duff
The Billionaire's Curse by Richard Newsome
Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey
Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon


So what was in your mailbox this week?

[Book Trailer] Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

I thought it was a pretty kickass book trailer. Sure the effects weren't the best but considering that it is a book trailer, it was pretty great. :)

What do you think?

April 30th: Come join a live chat with Carrie Mac

Join Razorbill for a live chat with Carrie Mac author of The Opposite of

Tidy on April 30th at 8:30PM EST.

Synopsis from Razorbill website:

How do you come clean when your life is a mess?

Fifteen-year-old Junie is barely coping. Her mother has started sleeping in the chair in front of the TV, and the house is so packed with junk, newspapers, cupboard organizers and other helpful items from the Shopping Channel that she can barely get in the front door. Her father is no help, since he’s always with That Woman. To top it off, she’s failing math.

So when Wade Jaffre, the hot new guy at school, offers her a ride home from school, it seems too good to be true. Junie surprises herself by accepting—and even talking! But as they approach her house, her parents are outside, screaming at each other. Junie doesn’t have to think twice about directing him on to her best friend Tabitha’s house, nor about continuing the charade of pretending she lives there.

Tabitha and her mother are understanding—and willing to go along, for the moment. But as the weeks go by, Junie’s lies start piling up and the opportunity to tell the truth seems to slip away. Until the day Junie’s world—and her mother’s—is literally turned inside out for the world to see, and Junie and her mother must face the consequences of her mother’s illness ... and the lies they both told to hide it.

Award-winning author Carrie Mac is well-known for her adeptness at captivating young adult audiences; she has written nine books for young adults, and won the 2010 Sheila A. Egoff Book Prize for her most recent work, The Gryphon Project. When Mac isn’t writing, she is serving the public through her work as a paramedic. She lives with her family in Vancouver, BC.

The Iron Legends Cover Reveal!

A few days ago, I reveal The Lost Prince cover, now today I'm revealing The Iron Legends cover!

What do you think?

Fashion Friday (9)

Fashion Friday is a weekly meme created by FireStarBooks in order for book lovers to post any fashion related idea or image that they thought would be a great match for books on Friday.

Welcome to another week of Fashion Friday! This week is dedicated Cassandra Clare's male characters.

Ermenegildo Zegna Fall-Winter 2012/2013 Menswear- Milan Fashion Week

Dolce & Gabbana Fall-Winter 2012/2013, Men’s Fashion Week in Milan

What inspired you this week?

Daemon Invasion + JOIN MY STREET TEAM!

Over the last couple of weeks, you’ve heard us talking about the upcoming #DaemonInvasion and we’re so excited to finally share with you what is going on.

Really excited.

The beautiful and uber cool models, Pepe Toth and Sztella Tziotziosz, who grace the Lux covers, will be joining us in the United States! You heard right. They are flying here, from Hungary to spend a few days as Daemon and Katy! While they are here, they will be working with Vania, from VLC Productions (the team behind Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments, Melissa de La Cruz, Kimberly Derting, Moira Young, Kami Garcia and Margret Stohl, Hillary Duff, Lauren Destefano, and many, many more authors’ book trailers), to film book trailers for the Lux Series.

During the filming in Atlanta, they will be accompanying us on tour! What does that mean? You get to meet them. In the flesh. They will be participating in the signings and events. At those signings, we’ll be giving away signed posters, photos, and other swag. There will also be meet and greet events you can join in on.

At each signing, there will be advanced copies of Onyx given away!

And to top things off (as if this isn’t enough, but we don’t do anything small), there’s something very, very exciting in the works! It involves advanced copies of Opal, water, and a little destination known as the Bahamas.

I am not kidding.

This will be epic.

Aare you excited? I am! This tour is going to be so, so much fun, and I’m so thrilled that Pepe and Sztella are a part of it. We owe them a huge thank you and a giant welcome making the 16 hour flight to meet the readers of the Lux Series. You!

Daemon Invasion Signing and Event Schedule

June 8^th

FoxTale Book Shoppe

Woodstock, GA

3:00pm

June 10^th 

Barnes and Noble

St Johns Town Center 

Jacksonville, FL

3:00pm

June 13^th

Barnes and Noble

Waterford Lakes Town Center 

Orlando, FL

3:00pm

June 14^th

Barnes and Noble

The Palladium at City Place

West Palm Beach, FL

4:00pm 

There are several #daemoninvasion street teamers out there and if you want to
join a team to win  exclusive prizes, search down the #daemoninvasion hashtag to join one of the teams!

Don’t forget to visit Jennifer L. Armentrout’s blog to win a signed set of Half-Blood and Pure (insert direct link: http://jenniferarmentrout.blogspot.com/2012/04/tempting-best-man-and-contest.html in celebration of her adult romance release, Tempting the Best Man, under pen name J. Lynn. It can be purchased here (insert direct link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tempting-the-best-man-j-lynn/1110370701?ean=2940014566698 )

NOW!

I WANT YOU TO JOIN MY STREET TIME!

Want to get involved? I’ve been selected as one of the Elite Street Team leaders – this means I need a total of 10 lucky readers to get involved! You don’t have to be a blogger – just need to either have access to a blog, tumblr, facebook, twitter, etc.

This is what the email said:

• Once we've announced you, you can post on your blog for others to join your team. You can have no more then 10 members *1 Spots Left* on your team. Once you have collected your team, send us a group name so we can keep track of you and your team members. 
• We'll then send you the first list of tasks. If you complete those by a certain date you get to move onto the next Tier of Tasks. As long as you and your team keep completing the tasks by the given dates you'll keep moving on to the grand prizes! 
• Don't worry, the tasks are super easy and fun! 

If you are interested email me.

When I collected my team, I will sent out an email to collect some of the info from my team then we get to pick our team name! :) I am so excited for this!

Winners!!!

Sorry guys! I totally thought I announced the winner for the giveaway, but I didn't! I guess I am announcing it now.

Also Showers of Books Book Hop just ended.

Stella Chen! You've won a box of books! :)

Hilary Roe! You've won Midnight Never Come!

The winners will be contacted by email.

Thank you all for entering! I will be hosting more awesome giveaways! Don't worry!

WOW: Week of April 25, 2012

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine where book bloggers devote a post to an upcoming book release they are particularly looking forward to reading.

Tokyo Heist

by Diana Renn

Sixteen-year-old Violet loves reading manga and wearing scarves made from kimono fabric, so she’s thrilled that her father’s new painting commission means a summer trip to Japan. But what starts as an exotic vacation quickly turns into a dangerous treasure hunt.

Her father’s newest clients, the Yamada family, are the victims of a high-profile art robbery: van G...moreSixteen-year-old Violet loves reading manga and wearing scarves made from kimono fabric, so she’s thrilled that her father’s new painting commission means a summer trip to Japan. But what starts as an exotic vacation quickly turns into a dangerous treasure hunt.

Her father’s newest clients, the Yamada family, are the victims of a high-profile art robbery: van Gogh sketches have been stolen from their home, and, until they can produce the corresponding painting, everyone's lives are in danger -- including Violet's and her father's.

Violet’s search for the missing van Gogh takes her from the Seattle Art Museum, to the yakuza-infested streets of Tokyo, to a secluded inn in Kyoto. As the mystery thickens, Violet’s not sure whom she can trust. But she knows one thing: she has to solve the mystery -- before it’s too late.

Hardcover, 384 pages

Expected publication: June 14th 2012 by Viking Children's Books / Penguin

more details...

Deadly Pink

byVivian Vande Velde

Grace Pizzelli is the average one, nothing like her brilliant older sister, Emily, who
works for Rasmussem, creators of the world’s best virtual reality games. The games
aren’t real, though—or at least they weren’t. Now Emily has hidden herself inside a
pink and sparkly game meant for little girls. No one knows why, or how to convince
her to come back out, and the technology c...moreGrace Pizzelli is the average one, nothing like her brilliant older sister, Emily, who works for Rasmussem, creators of the world’s best virtual reality games. The games aren’t real, though—or at least they weren’t. Now Emily has hidden herself inside a pink and sparkly game meant for little girls. No one knows why, or how to convince her to come back out, and the technology can’t keep her safe for much longer. Grace may consider herself average, but she’s the only one who can save Emily. So Grace enters the game, hoping to talk her sister out of virtual suicide before time runs out. Otherwise Emily will die—for real.

Hardcover, 288 pages

Expected publication: July 10th 2012 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (first published June 27th 2012)

more details...

ISBN

0547738501 (ISBN13: 9780547738505)

Why these books?

Japan, Mystery, secrets! Hells yes! Enough said!

Games, creepy technologies? Entering games? HELLS YESSS!

[Cover Reveal] Redheads are Soulless by Heather M. White

I am so excited to paticipate in the cover reveal of one of my favourite authors, Heather M. White!

High School senior, Sofia Black, has had a very hard life. Since her father's death 7 years ago, she has had to look after her drug addicted, alcoholic mother. School isn't any better for her either. The other kids constantly tease, and ridicule her. All she wants is to get out of her small hometown in Alabama.

When new student, Jason, shows up, Sofia's world is turned upside down. She doesn't understand why he wants to befriend her so badly... And, just when she thinks she can trust him, trouble appears.

Jason's twin brother, Robbie, moves into town, and things go haywire. Sofia is now running for her life - and Jason is forced to share hidden secrets with her. She learns the truth about her father's death, and finds out that she may not be as "human" as she once thought. She struggles to accept her fate, while fighting for her life.

What did you think of it? Gorgeous isn't it?

Author: Heather M White Blog
Designer: SupaGurl Books Blog

Don't forget to add the book to-read on Goodreads!

Cover Reveal: The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

Book Trailers

No Longer A Gentleman: The Lost Lords #4 by Mary Jo Putney

   

Crystalfire: The Demonslayers #4 by Kate Douglas

No Longer A Gentleman trailer made me interested in the series but I am not sure if I would read them any time soon. On the other hand, the Crystalfire trailer definitely got my attention. Hopefully I would be picking up the series soon :) What did you think of it?

Stella Reviews: Project Jackalope by Emily Ecton

Once again I have my lovely sister on my blog for a guest review. :) Enjoy~

Published Date: March 21, 2012
Published Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Source: Raincoast Books

Received Format: ARC

Pages: 256

Age:  10 and +

ISBN: 9781-1-4521-0155-2

Price: $15.99

Synopsis:
Jeremy's troubles begin when his eccentric neighbor leaves him an "experiment" for safekeeping-a jackalope! This so-called mythological creature looks like a bunny rabbit, but comes with razor-sharp antlers and is purported to be a ruthless killer. When government agents show up at Jeremy's house seeking the jackalope for their own nefarious purposes, Jeremy must find a way to protect the jackalope, and himself. So he reluctantly joins forces with Agatha, his holier-than-thou genius neighbor. Together, with the jackalope (and his weapons-grade antlers) tucked away in a backpack, they have only one chance to save Jack and still get their science fair projects in on time. With her striking sense of humor, Emily Ecton has created a hilarious and suspenseful adventure.




Stella's Thoughts:
This book was funny and unique and the concept behind it is fantastic. The concept itself can be a Dreamworks animated movie where I think kids will definitely have a good time watching the story unfold. However, the story failed to reach its potential in many ways. Here are some of the issues I had with the book:

1) Character development. Everything was so rushed. Jeremy, the main character finds a Jackalope in his room; left there by his mad-scientist neighbour, and immediately things begins to roll. Actually, more like Usain-Bolt-lightning-speed. The next thing you know is he is teaming up with his other neighbour, Agatha to find the missing professor. Many things felt left out and the relationships between characters seem to be easily dismissed. Can be get more of an introduction to Bob? Can we know more about Jeremy and Agatha's relationship? They claim to be just acquaintances, then why do they seem to know so much about each other? I often had to read back a page just to make sure I didn't miss anything.

2) Not very believable. To think men in black suits come and visit your house and school looking for you, you'll think there will be some suspense to this novel but the plot just became very unbelievable. Jeremy's parents doesn't seem to question the two men staking outside their apartment, no one at school ratted Jeremy and Agatha out when the two men came to their school and raided their lockers. You will think someone must have seemed them leaving the school...through the front doors. After leaving school, they walked to the zoo. Oh really??? Oh they also sneaked into the zoo's lab and picked the lock. Who are these kids?

3) Why a jackalope? Wouldn't it sound scarier and more intense had the animal been a baby dragon? I think so.

Finally, a praise - Being a science student myself, I did enjoy some of the science aspect to this story but I think it is also this science background that made me doubt so many of the events in this book. It touched on topics that high school students will understand, which was fun for me to read.

This book is like Meet the Robinsons and I think a 9 year old who enjoys science will eat this book right up. Did I mention this book is very funny and I laughed out loud a couple of times? :)

In My Mailbox: Week of April 16, 2012

In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme created by The Story Siren to share with everyone the books they bought, borrowed, or received for review.

So my camera decided not to work for me this week, so I don't have a vlog, but nevertheless, I am a good mailbox to show you guys!

For Review:

From the AMAZING Thomas Allen & Son:

Dark TERRITORY by Gabriel J. Gates and Charlene Keel

The VESPERTINE by Saundra Mitchell From the BRILLIANT Penguin Canada: A Temptation of Angels by Michelle Zink A BIG THANKS goes out to Thomas Allen & Son and Penguin Canada for providing me with theses amazing books for review! So what was in your wonderful mailbox this week?

[Cover Reveal] Promises by Lisa L Wiedmeier

Cheyenne is determined to seek the light of truth in a web of darkness, but at what cost?

Still reeling from the revelations of her secret birthright and fated betrothals, Cheyenne's thoughts tumble over the whirlwind of life since the death of her parents. Vowing to close herself off to spare her heart more pain, she keeps her distance and seeks her own path. But Colt, Daniel and Callon are constantly at her side, not giving her room to breathe or let her come to terms with her destiny. At the same time, her transformation into a Timeless begins; a process that could very well kill her. As if that wasn't enough, her enemies are still out for her blood, and no-where is safe. Though new allies appear to protect her from the unseen dangers, which ones are friend and which are foe?

And can Cheyenne stand the ultimate pain of all . . .

This is the second book in the Timeless Series and will be released May 30th. You can find the first book here.

 

What did you think of the cover? I loooove it! It feels very magical with hits of darkness, and joy.

Fashion Friday (8) The Selection by @kieracass Edition @HarperTeen

Fashion Friday is a weekly meme created by FireStarBooks in order for book lovers to post any fashion related idea or image that they thought would be a great match for books on Friday.

Welcome to another week of Fashion Friday! This week is dedicated to one of next week's releases. It is probably one of the most anticipated book of the year, The Selection by Kiera Cass.

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.


Haha, I guess this is also my "Go Big or Go Home" edition. :P So here we gooooo~

Collection: Christian Dior Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2012

Collection: Elie Saab Haute Couture Spring 2012

This collection to me is so perfect! The colour of the collection totally seems appropriate for the novel.

Below I found some TV show worthy pictures.

Can't you imagine these scenes in the TV show?

What inspired you this week? And as always, stay bookish chic~