Review: Starters by Lissa Price

Starters
Lissa Price
Series: Starters, #1
Release date: March 13th, 2012
by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Goodreads / Purchase

HER WORLD IS CHANGED FOREVER

Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie's only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man.

He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie's head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator's grandson. It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations' plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined. . . .

*A copy was provided by Random House Canada for review purposes*

First I have to say how surprised I was to see this cover in real life. It's such a reflective shiny silver/white that you can see yourself in it. I mean look at it -I love it!

Inside this flashy cover, Lissa Price has written a fun, original dystopian that reminded me a bit of The Host (one of my favorite books ever), and even though the world itself could use more details, the story is highly entertaining.

After a war that only left children and seniors alive, Callie, orphaned, has decided to donate her body for a few weeks so she can get enough money to save her brother. As you can guess, things go wrong, and Callie ends up living someone else's life. This premise enticed me the second I started reading, in addition to its fast pace that turns it highly addictive. Every chapter ends with such intrigue that you just. Can't. Stop. It's also full of suspense, as you never know when Callie will lose her body to her renter again, for how long, and worst of all - what she will be doing with it. One thing I would have liked, would be to have gotten more background details on the world itself; how exactly it managed to get to this point. As well as a bigger picture on the current civilization - or lack thereof. The story is so engaging, though, that I only cared about these sketchy details after the fact. My advice - just sit back and enjoy the ride!

Callie's voice captivated me from the start. She's tough and everything she's doing is for her brother. It's easy to ache for the loss of their world- being thrown from a normal loving family, a great comfortable life, into this unfortunate dystopian future. I loved how Callie handled herself in situations; always thinking on her feet but staying smart. I really had no problems connecting with her. The story mainly focuses on her, but there are a few interesting side characters to fill in the space that I'm hoping to get to know better in the upcoming books. There is also no big love story in this novel, however we still get to enjoy a fun romance that is sure to catch everyone's attention. Especially with the fascinating twists that I never saw coming.

The twists- they're plentiful. The secrets- even moreso. There is not a page in this book that didn't have me pining for answers: Trying to figure out what exactly was happening; what these people really have planned; and the most intriguing - who is this Old Man? The man who's face NO one ever saw. Who seems to be involved with everything, and everyone. The man who knows all the tricks, and he's not afraid to use them! At last, the book ends with a bang!

Combining mystery and excitement, Starters is a vacation from reality that will leave you captivated through to the end. With the amount I've read, I'm surprised how dystopians keep being so interesting as well as original. Starters is definitely on my list of recommended, and I hope it makes it on yours too!

4 Hot Espressos

Review: Illuminate by Aimee Agresti

Illuminate
Aimee Agresti
Series: Gilded Wings, #1
Release date: March 6th, 2012
by Harcourt Children's Books

Goodreads / Purchase

Haven Terra is a brainy, shy high school outcast. But everything begins to change when she turns sixteen. Along with her best friend Dante and their quiet and brilliant classmate Lance, she is awarded a prestigious internship in the big city— Chicago—and is sent to live and work at a swanky and stylish hotel under the watchful eyes of a group of gorgeous and shockingly young-looking strangers: powerful and alluring hotel owner Aurelia Brown; her second-in-command, the dashing Lucian Grove; and their stunning but aloof staff of glamazons called The Outfit.

As Haven begins falling for Lucian, she discovers that these beautiful people are not quite what they seem. With the help of a mysterious book, she uncovers a network of secret passageways from the hotel’s jazz-age past that leads her to the heart of the evil agenda of Aurelia and company: they’re in the business of buying souls. Will they succeed in wooing Haven to join them in their recruitment efforts, or will she be able to thwart this devilish set’s plans to take the souls of her classmates on prom night at the hotel?

*A copy was provided by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for review purposes*

Illuminate, with its enchanting cover and alluring premise, gives us a tale full of beauty, mystery and deception. Although it failed to wow me, I was left enthralled by the mystery, and fascinated by the glamor.

Haven and two class-mates, one of them being her best friend, are chosen for an internship at an over the top luxurious hotel. Soon after they arrive, however, Haven starts to notice things are a bit… off. We begin with exploring this majestic hotel: The elegant decor, the perfect employees, the vibrant night club - it's all described wonderfully with enough details to make you visualize all of this beauty. Even the somber passages become alive with its intimidating ambiance. As the plot takes a very long time to move along, we get well acquainted with this hotel through Haven, who is instructed to learn all that she can about the inner workings. I was so enraptured by the extraordinary perfection, in addition to the unusual happenings, that the slow pace took a while to catch up to me, but eventually it did. A bit past the half way mark I started to become less fascinated by it all, and simply wanted to move on to some action. The secrets are divulged in such a slow, steady way that I never felt the excitement of apprehension, I merely strolled through, nodding my head, while everything leisurely fell into place. It was still interesting, but not so exciting.

We've got some enjoyable characters that help make the slow pace a bit more satisfactory. Haven herself is a tad hard to relate to, though. Nerdy, bookish, keeping to herself, but suddenly acquiring great fashion and social abilities; I had a hard time placing her personality. Dante is also very cliché being the gay character who likes to gossip, cook and fix hair. I did, however, love Lucian and Lance. Lucian has a certain mystique that makes him a particularly intriguing character, and Lance, the most in-depth character in my opinion, went from shy loner boy to star of the show by the end of this book. I loved his personality; how he always stood by Haven and gave her someone to truly trust.

Although I did quite like the plot overall, as I mentioned it was a tad long-winded, but also had a few sketchy details. Haven's bizarre childhood - abandoned in a ditch - is only vaguely referenced. We don't find out a whole lot about her supposed powers or purpose either. Then, we've got this cryptic book giving her vague messages that she barely questions before trusting it completely. I wonder why she didn't just pack up and leave - I know that's what I would have done. But I'm a wuss so.. *shrugs*

With excellent writing and breathtaking scenery - illuminate is a satisfying debut that, even though I wasn't enamored by it, I enjoyed it enough to recommend it, and will definitely be continuing the series.  

3 Hot Espressos

Cover Reveal: Pretty Amy

Pretty Amy 
Lisa Burstein
Release date: May 15th, 2012
by Entangled Publishing

Add it to your Goodreads

Sometimes date is a four-letter word.

Amy is fine living in the shadows of beautiful Lila and uber-cool Cassie, because at least she’s somewhat beautiful and uber-cool by association. But when their dates stand them up for prom, and the girls take matters into their own hands—earning them a night in jail outfitted in satin, stilettos, and Spanx—Amy discovers even a prom spent in handcuffs might be better than the humiliating “rehabilitation techniques” now filling up her summer. Worse, with Lila and Cassie parentally banned, Amy feels like she has nothing—like she is nothing.

Navigating unlikely alliances with her new coworker, two very different boys, and possibly even her parents, Amy struggles to decide if it’s worth being a best friend when it makes you a public enemy. Bringing readers along on an often hilarious and heartwarming journey, Amy finds that maybe getting a life only happens once you think your life is over.

---

EXCERPT OF PRETTY AMY

    I was just about to put out my cigarette and go back inside when I heard a skateboard coming down the street. It sounded like waves, like a conch shell against your ear. That full, empty sound.
    Maybe it was Aaron. I conjured up my stupid daydream, the one I used to fill my head when I couldn’t deal with any of the other stuff in there—that he would find me, that he would apologize, that he would tell me that prom night hadn’t been his fault.
    The difference this time was that when I looked toward the sound, he really was there.
    It was him. 

    Aaron.

    He was skateboarding down the sidewalk like it was made of water, wearing the same loose, worn jeans from his Facebook picture. He carried a backpack, like he might have been coming from the library, but I doubted he ever went to the library.
    I lit another cigarette with the end of my last one; any excuse to stay put. Then I remembered I was wearing a suit.
    “You got another one of those?” he asked. His eyes were blue. I hadn’t noticed that in his picture.
    My hands shook as I gave him a cigarette. He brought a silver-and-black Zippo to his mouth, flipped it open with one hand, lit his cigarette, and slapped it shut. The whole thing took seconds, but it felt like he was doing it in slow motion. “Thanks,” he said.
    Maybe he had just stopped to get a cigarette. Maybe it had nothing to do with me.
    It probably had nothing to do with me.
    “I know you,” he said. “Where do I know you from?”
    I couldn’t tell him. Telling him that he’d stood me up for my own prom would have been way too embarrassing. It would tell him that I still cared enough to remember.
    “I’m friends with Lila and Cassie,” I said, wishing that my hair wasn’t pulled back in a headband like I was a nun.
    “What are you all dressed up for?” he asked.
    Of course he didn’t know me. If he had, he would have known that I’d just come from court and that I was trying to do everything I could to forget it.
    “I work here,” I said, thinking fast. “I’m supposed to be a librarian.”
    “You don’t have to lie,” he said, laughing.
 “I’m Aaron.”
    “Amy,” I said, waving hello with the cigarette in my hand.
    He smiled. “Though you do make a cute librarian.”
    I tried to keep myself from coughing. “This suit sucks,” I said. It seemed cooler than saying thank you. It seemed cooler than getting all squishy over what he said, even though that was how I felt.
    I looked at his skateboard.
 “You wanna try it out?” he asked.
 The deck had a mural of blue sky and white-capped mountains hand-painted on it. The wheels were covered with stop-motion birds, so that when they spun it must have looked like the birds were flying.
    There was more to this boy. More that I wanted to know.
    “I guess I could,” I said, but then I remembered my mother. She would come looking for me soon.
I shook my head. “I should go.”
    “You got a cell phone?” he asked.
    “Not that I’m allowed to use anymore.”
    “Parents,” he said. He pulled a sketchbook from his backpack. Maybe he had painted that beautiful mural. He ripped out a piece of paper, wrote something down, and handed it to me.
    It was his phone number.
    I tried not to act surprised, tried to act like boys gave me their numbers all the time, especially when I hadn’t asked for them.
    “See you around, Amy,” he said. He dropped the skateboard next to him. It landed perfectly on its wheels like a cat would on its legs.
    As he skated away, I looked at his number; the paper was as soft as fabric. I folded it smaller and smaller and hid it in my bra. Maybe he hadn’t said what I wanted him to say, but he had found me.
    He had found me.

---

Also, in the weeks leading up to Pretty Amy's release on May 15th, you can enter to win a beauty package in the Worst Prom Photo contest. So make sure to dust off your old prom photos—the more tulle, bows, and big hair the better!—and watch Lisa's site for details on how to submit/enter!

Lisa's Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Lisa Burstein is a tea seller by day and a writer by night. She received her MFA in Fiction from the Inland Northwest Center for Writers at Eastern Washington University and is glad to finally have it be worth more than the paper it was printed on. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her very patient husband, a neurotic dog and two cats. Pretty Amy is her first novel. She never went to her senior prom. (Here is Lisa from her Junior prom -->)

What do you think lovelies? I know it's another girl in a dress, but I still find it's original and fun looking! Plus, look at those shoes! *love* The excerpt is very cute too I'm looking forward to reading the whole thing.

Let me know what you think! :)

Entangled: Guest Post + Giveaway

Today I've got Nikki Jefford, who came to bring you behind the scenes of her recently released novel Entangled, and give you a chance to win a copy!

In My Mailbox (25)

"In My Mailbox" is a meme, created by Kristi at The Story Siren, that features books I have

received/ purchased/ borrowed during the week. 

Guess what lovelies? Spring is in a few weeks! EEP. Can't wait to go out again in the warm sun *sigh*. This week was pretty busy here on the blog. Zombie month is over and I hope you all enjoyed the fabulous zombie posts. March is already starting with a bang: have you all seen the gorgeous Black City cover reveal? You can even read the 1st chapter, AND win an ARC: Click here! It's even open internationally so that's pretty awesome - big thanks to Penguin Books for Young Readers. I also revealed the cover for Karice Bolton's upcoming New Adult book - Lonely Souls. Check it out!

In other Xpresso news; in case you missed it, The Weeping blog tour dropped by on Tuesday for an awesome dream cast, my review and a chance to win a SIGNED copy - have a look! As for future tours, you can look forward to April 23rd when I'll have the Siege tour dropping by. This is the 3rd book in Rhiannon Frater's As The World Dies zombie trilogy, which is an incredible series that you REALLY have to read! You can read my glowing review on the first book here. Well, that's all for highlights this week. Moving on to my mailbox!

I received for review:

 This cover is SO shiny and pretty, I really love how it looks in real life. 
I just finished it too and it's awesome!

*I big thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Taryn Browning, Kendall Grey, Random House Children's Books and Random House Canada for the review copies!

I also received this awesome swag from two of my favorite bloggers: Andrea from The Bookish Babes, and the really neat Hunger Games charm bracelet from Savannah from Books with Bite.

So this is my haul this week!

What pretties did you get?

Leave me a link! :)