kariny's book frenzy : June 2015

I'M SORRY+NEWS!!!

HI GUYS!!!

So some of you may have noticed that i haven't posted a review in ages...and i am incredibly sorry about that...

and the reason is...

EXAMS!!!

Yes, all you teen bloggers and readers know the *cough* "thrill" of exams..Well anyway i was given an ultimatum-if i don't do well-bye bye blog!!!

So for the past weeks i have reduced my kindle time to twice a week in between revisions!! MY HEART LITERALLY ACHES!!!

But i promise that as from tomorrow, i will start posting stuff regularly again :) and again I'M SORRY!!!

NOW FOR SOME AMAZING NEWS!!!

YALC

know what that is????

YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE CONVENTION!!!

IT'S WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE LONDON FILM & COMIC CON

AND I WILL BE ATTENDING!!!!!!!!!!

Now here are some details and the story of how this came to be :P

So basically, LFCC takes place from the 17-18 July. The 17th july is the last day of school.. I take the plane from Mauritius on the 18th morning and arrive in London in the evening. YALC is at Olympia which is about one and a half hours away from London. It starts at Nine. Do you see what i'm getting at??

JET LAG & SEVERE EXHAUSTION!!!

Will i still be going??

HELLS YEAHHHHH!!!!

It's almost like it was meant to be!! total coincidence i arrive one day before the last day of YALC! I cannot miss this opportunity!! That is if i don't faint from the excitement as soon as i get inside :3

I'm super excited to meet all the other YA bloggers that will be in attendance so we can talk!!!

Melinda Salisbury, Sally Green, Holly Smale, Patrick Ness, Maria Rutkoski, Sarah Rees Brennan and -need i go further????

THIS IS A FREAKING DREAM COME TRUE PEOPLE!!!

Now apart from YA authors, Dumbledore, Joe and Nadia from TVD, the Game of thrones cast, the walking dead cast, the actual IRON THRONE will be there!! I can only hope to do everything i want in a day!!!

But i also promise to keep you guys updated and i will post videos of YALC, some of the author conferences and hopefully film a walk through of my day at the YALC zone so that you can all share this amazing experience with me!!

so again sorry! and i will get my reviews up starting tomorrow :) Have a great week guys! will i wallow in the stress of exams while enduring the Iceberg which was once known as Mauritius..SERIOUSLY WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE A TROPICAL ISLAND. I DO NOT SEE MYSELF LOUNGING ON THE BEACH DRINKING COCONUT WATER IN THIS WEATHER!!!

June 25, 2015

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ARCs from authors

EVERYTHING EVERYTHING ARC REVIEW

June 08, 2015

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ARCs from authors

THE SHAPE OF MY HEART REVIEW

TITLE: The Shape Of My Heart
AUTHOR: Ann Aguirre
SERIES: 2B Trilogy Book 3 (CAN READ AS STANDALONE)
PUBLICATION DATE: November 25 2014
PUBLISHER: Halequin HQN
SOURCE: free copy from author
RATING: 5 STARS!!!
Goodreads Summary

Some people wait decades to meet their soul mate. Courtney Kaufman suspects she met hers in high school only to lose him at seventeen. Since then, Courtney's social life has been a series of meaningless encounters, though she's made a few close friends along the way. Especially her roommate Max Cooper, who oozes damaged bad-boy vibes from every pore.

Max knows about feeling lost and trying to move beyond the pain he's been on his own since he was sixteen. Now it's time to find out if he can ever go home again, and Courtney's the only one he trusts to go with him. But the trip to Providence could change everything because the more time he spends with Courtney, the harder it is to reconcile what he wants and what he thinks he deserves.

It started out so simple. One misfit helping another. Now Max will do anything to show Courtney that for every heart that's ever been broken, there's another that can make it complete.

MY REVIEW

Courtney lost her boyfriend in high school and this has left a void inside of her that has never been filled. She is constantly reminded of his loss and is not ready to let him go yet. She's a i'll-have-you-laughing-in-a-sec protagonist. She's snarky, spunky and hilarious but has an amazing heart. She's fiercely loyal and protective and in the end you can't help but love her. At first i thought it was totally inappropriate when she was being funny in serious situations but the deeper we got into the story, the more we realize that despite her tough attitude, Courtney is actually empty on the inside and her jokes and snark protect her from pain. After her boyfriend died, she struggled through drugs and depression. Anyways her humor really lightened the tense atmospheres and added to this bittersweet love story.

"I wasn’t harboring a secret desire to take off my glasses and flip my hair, so my secret love interest would realize I was beautiful all along. In my view, my looks supplied simplicity. Anyone who got with me wanted the real me, no question."

Max is a broken character. He was incredibly sweet and yet oozed bad boy and charm. So basically he comes from a long line of drunken idiots and one day he decided to get his little brother out of the house. They had an accident and his brother couldn't walk anymore. His dad said some pretty mean stuff to him after that. Hurt and consumed by guilt, he left town and moved into the apartment cutting all ties with his family.

Everything changes when he learns of his grandpa's death and he has to go home. He's scared that his brother will blame him as well as his whole family so he gets his best friend, Courtney, to go with him. When his dad starts to criticize him, i wanted to punch him and start a cheerleading squad for Courtney! The loyalty she showed!! She defended Max and really out witted his father all while being respectful. I was so giddy when she won verbal fights!!

The story had a great plot and you felt the heartbreak and happiness along with the characters. You actually felt like you were on this journey with them. Another thing i really appreciated was the no insta-love part. And there was no cheesy i'm-in-love-with-my-best-friend either. I loved seeing the tight friendship between the two and watch it evolve into something else. Max wasn't a macho-man either. He always respected and saw Courtney as an equal and never hid the fact that she was the pillar anchoring him to stay grounded.

I also liked the background and the friendships. And also Courtney's rise to independence was admirable. She really stuck with what she wanted. She never pretended she was anything but herself and is extremely stubborn!

The chemistry between these two characters was almost tangible! I have no doubt that these two are soulmates! I can't wait to read more from Ann Aguirre and her beautiful love stories!!!

June 02, 2015

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ARCs from authors

DOWNCAST GUEST POST

read my review of this AMAZING book here

About the book
What would you do when faced with an impossible truth? Written with heart and passion, Downcast by Cait Reynolds is ripe with twists you never saw coming and love that defies the odds in this intense new Paranormal Romance retelling one of mythology’s greatest love stories.

It’s the start of Stephanie Starr’s senior year of high school, but sadly, this is no life of the prom queen. Stuck at the bottom of the high school social totem pole, Stephanie is forced by her domineering mother to wear lumpy linen dresses and eat organic tofu for lunch in a world of mini-skirts and pizza.

What Stephanie doesn’t anticipate is gorgeous and cocky Haley Smith who breaks social convention and pursues her with a determination that is both terrifying and flattering. Afraid that Haley is simply trying to set her up for massive humiliation, Stephanie does her best to push him away. But the more attention he pays to her, the more she runs, and the more everyone else begins to notice.

Instead of a loving family to support her as the mean girls make their play, Stephanie’s mother begins to unravel mentally, her possessiveness of Stephanie spiraling to new and frightening extremes. Stephanie is forced to grow up, find herself, and learn the truth about her past in order to save her mother, her friends, and her town. When the truth is revealed, nothing can prepare her for the outrageous reality of her existence…and nothing can save her from her fate.
Except Haley.

About Cait Reynolds

Cait Reynolds lives in Boston area with her husband and 4-legged fur child. She discovered her passion for writing early and has bugged her family and friends with it ever since. When she isn’t cooking delicious meals, running around the city, rock climbing like a boss, or enjoying the rooftop deck that brings her closer to the stars, she writes. Reynolds is able to pull from real life experiences such as her kidney transplant, and her writing reflects her passion for life from having to face the darkest places and find the will to laugh.

Find Cait Online - http://caitreynolds.com/
On Twitter - https://twitter.com/caitreynolds
On Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8441258.Cait_Reynolds

Purchase Links
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Downcast-Olympus-Falling-Cait-Reynolds/dp/1620159546/

Barnes & Noble - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/downcast-cait-reynolds/1121909253?ean=9781620159545

Guest Post – Getting into the Greek Groove: Cait’s Reading List

I can’t ever remember not loving Greek mythology.

I blame my mother. She would pick from the library children’s editions of mythology, Shakespeare, and other literature. When I didn’t want to go to school in the first grade because I was scared (I had to walk down a long hall to go for reading lessons with the big, scary third graders), she would read a few pages of “The Hobbit” to me as I had breakfast. Voices and all. Her Gollum is particularly amazing, just FYI.

My first introduction to Greek mythology was when Mom began reading Edith Hamilton’s classic, “Greek Mythology” to me. I remember vividly the stories of Theseus and Ariadne, Hero and Leander, and Hercules. I now know that my mom was careful and left out certain myths for tender young ears, such as Cronos and his children, Jason and Medea, and some choice others about children-eating.

Mom also guided me in learning about a subject from all different angles – history, literature, science, art, music, etc. This stood me in good stead when I went for my liberal arts degree and was trained in critical thinking and analysis.

As a result, I have amused myself over the years by devising mini courses of study and reading lists for myself that tackle a particular subject from many different authors and different genres.

So, when it comes to Ancient Greece, I have developed a reading list of books that I will go back to, over and over again.

1. “Greek Mythology” by Edith Hamilton – This is where you need to start. Absolutely. No questions asked. Hamilton’s work has stood the test of time. She combines easy storytelling with actual quotes from the various original sources. She not only brings the myths to life, but she brings them close enough for us to touch, thousands of years later. Her book is setup to take you step-by-step from learning about the gods, through the Iliad and Odyssey, the heroic myths, the romantic myths, and even delving a bit into how the Romans co-opted the Greek gods for themselves.

2. “Gods Behaving Badly” by Marie Philips – Now that you know the players and myths, it’s time to have some fun with them, and “Gods Behaving Badly” is just the book for that. The Olympians have fallen on hard times and are a bit in disrepair, living together in modern London. Nobody believes in them anymore, but they still have to do their job. It’s thankless thing to be a 21^st century god. You will get all the inside jokes, and the story is quick, funny, and elegantly written.

3. “Antigone” by Sohpocles and also by Jean Anouilh – That’s right. One play, done twice. Read the original “Antigone” by Sophocles and experience the power of a single choice for a woman in a society where there were no choices for women. Then, read “Antigone” by Jean Anouilh, a retelling of the myth written as a protest against collaboration with the Nazis in World War II. The message is still powerful, almost three thousand years later.

4. “Goatsong” and “The Walled Orchard” by Tom Holt – I love Tom Holt. He is one funny guy, and he gets his research right, which makes the books even funnier. Follow the aspiring playwright Eupolis as he deals with trying to compete with Aristophanes, deal with his shrewish wife Phaedra, and avoid being killed in the Peloponnesian War. It’s like walking through classical Athens and saying hi to friends you’ve known for a while and laughing at their antics.

5. “Courtesans and Fishcakes” by James Davidson – This is an academic book, and as such does contain bits of ponderous historiography which are of interest to people like me who like bits of ponderous historiography. However, this book gives us a fascinating glimpse into Athenian culture, and how it was driven by the experience of consumption rather than the endurance of acquisition. In other words, Athenians valued extravagant dinner parties and exquisite sex over the plodding (but boring) accumulation of family wealth over generations. Read this book for its descriptions of Athenian feasts, fights over the best fish in the marketplace, and the economy of sex. It’s delicious.

6. “Olympiad” by Tom Holt – Yes, I know, Tom Holt again. But really, he nails it every single time he goes back to Ancient Greece. Only, this time, he goes way, way back – all the way back to the very first Olympics…or at least his retelling of it. We follow a motley crew of misfits as they travel around the peninsula trying to spread the word of a great athletic competition to be held by their king. Things, naturally, don’t go as planned, and the climax with the first Olympics is hilarious.

I’m hoping this summer to add one more book to my list: “Zeus is Dead” by Michael G. Munz. It sounds hilarious…possibly Tom Holt-level hilarious. Follow me on my blog to find out what I think of it!

Happy reading!

June 01, 2015

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52 LIKES REVIEW

I'M SORRY+NEWS!!!

EVERYTHING EVERYTHING ARC REVIEW

THE SHAPE OF MY HEART REVIEW

DOWNCAST GUEST POST

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