Elemental by Brigid Kemmerer

Rating: Wide Eyed - 4/5

Release Date: March 27th, 2012

Publishers: Kensington

Pages: 50

Source: Bought

Series: Elemental #0.5 

First, a quick summary from Goodreads:

"As an air Elemental, 17-year-old Emily Morgan doesn’t have much power. That’s okay—she knows what happens to kids who do.

Like Michael Merrick. He’s an earth Elemental, one with enough power to level cities. Which makes him sexy. Dangerous. And completely off limits. At least according to Emily’s family.

But her summer job puts her in close contact with Michael, and neither of them can help the attraction they feel. When forces of nature like theirs collide, one misstep could get someone killed. Because Emily’s family doesn’t just want her to stay away from him.

They want him dead."

A Mini Review For A Mini Book! 

Elemental was surprisingly edge-of-your-seat worth for such a short novella! The relationship between the two characters was built up really well for the small number of pages. I was glad to see that at least one of the Morgan's wasn't all bad. 

If you're thinking of reading this book before Storm, I would suggest that you wait till afterwards. While it doesn't really spoil it, it does take away from some of the doubt and mystery that Storm aims to achieve.

In the end, Elemental is a short, entertaining read that will help put your Merrick craving at ease. :)

Storm by Brigid Kemmerer

Rating: Wide Eyed - 4/5

Release Date: April 24th, 2012

Publishers: Kensington

Pages: 353

Source: Bought

Series: Elemental #1

First, a quick summary from Goodreads:

"Becca Chandler is suddenly getting all the guys - all the ones she doesn't want. Ever since her ex-boyfriend spread those lies about her. Then she saves Chris Merrick from a beating in the school parking lot. Chris is different. Way different: he can control water just like his brothers can control fire, wind, and earth. They're powerful. Dangerous. Marked for death.

And now that she knows the truth, so is Becca.

Secrets are hard to keep when your life's at stake. When Hunter, the mysterious new kid around school, turns up with a talent for being in the wrong place at the right time, Becca thinks she can trust him. But then Hunter goes head-to-head with Chris, and Becca wonders who's hiding the most dangerous truth of all.

The storm is coming."

One day, Becca stays late after school and on her way to her car she witnesses the youngest of the Merrick brothers getting a pretty nasty beating. Unable to ignore the situation, Becca makes some bad-ass decisions and decides to help out Chris. After chasing the bullies away, Becca sees Chris' state and gives him some water... Little did she know that this act of kindness would completely turn her life around.

Right from there, the plot takes off and never slows down. Often I felt like I barely had any room to breathe the pacing was so fast in this book. But that was something that I didn't mind and really enjoyed about this it. For me, it's the plot that kept me reading, not the characters.

While the characters were admirable, I found that they were a little bit too teen-angsty for my taste and made some pretty stupid choices. Hunter would have probably been the most level-headed and the only character that I continued to root for throughout the book.

If you don't mind a good scrap (because quite a few punches were thrown in this book due to the high levels of testosterone), and fast-paced action with epic elemental powers thrown into the book, I would definitely recommend this book to you. I really liked this book and I can't wait to read the second book in the series, Spark!

Waiting on Wednesday (6)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine where you show case an up-coming book that you just can't wait to get your hands on! So, without further ado... 

Palace of Stone
           by Shannon Hale

"Coming down from the mountain to a new life in the city seems a thrill beyond imagining. When Miri and her friends from Mount Eskel set off to help the future princess Britta prepare for her royal wedding, she is happy about her chance to attend school in the capital city. There, Miri befriends students who seem so sophisticated and exciting . . . until she learns that they have some frightening plans. They think that Miri will help them, that she "should "help them. Soon Miri finds herself torn between loyalty to the princess and her new friends' ideas, between an old love and a new crush, and between her small mountain home and the bustling city. Picking up where "Princess Academy "left off, this incredible stand-alone story celebrates the joys of friendship, the delight of romance, and the fate of a beloved fairy tale kingdom."

I read Hale's first novel in this series (Or companion thing?), Princess Academy when I was in grade school. And let me tell you. I enjoyed it. A lot. So you can't blame me for being super excited for this!! I'm definitely going to have to crack open Princess Academy again before I even think about picking this one up! But... Why did they have to change the covers?!?! TT_TT I hate it when they do that. It's like the publishers are punishing me for being so excited to buy a book  right off the bat and not waiting to see if there will be a cover change! D:

Hopefully the spines will match! :D

So what are you guys waiting on this Wednesday? :)

Teaser Tuesday (1)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teasers:

"It was one of those rare moments she was glad to have no tear ducts, otherwise she was sure she'd be a sniveling disaster, and she would have hated herself all the more for it." -Pg. 81, Cinder by Marissa Meyer

"She wanted to turn away, to leave, but she felt rooted to the spot as the android wheeled up beside the bed and took Sacha's limp hand between its grippers." -Pg. 152, Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

Rating: Wide Eyed - 4/5

Release Date: July 24th, 2012

Publishers: Harper Teen

Pages: 388

Source: Won off of Twitter

Series: Something Strange and Deadly #1

First, a quick summary from Goodreads:

"The year is 1876, and there’s something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia...

Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about. Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks by. But this is nothing compared to what she’s just read in the newspaper—

The Dead are rising in Philadelphia.

And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor…from her brother.

Whoever is controlling the Dead army has taken her brother as well. If Eleanor is going to find him, she’ll have to venture into the lab of the notorious Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces. But as Eleanor spends more time with the Spirit-Hunters, including their maddeningly stubborn yet handsome inventor, Daniel, the situation becomes dire. And now, not only is her reputation on the line, but her very life may hang in the balance."

Eleanor isn't your typical 18th century kind of girl. Not only does she have social status, money and family problems, but she also has to deal with the Dead. That may just happen to have her brother held captive. As a result, Eleanor decides to seek out the help of the Spirit-Hunters despite everyone's talk against the low-class scallywags.

Something Strange and Deadly hooked my right from the start. Once I started, I found it extremely hard to put down, and when I did I couldn't stop thinking about it. Every single character had depth and the plot pacing was fantastic. The only real problem I had with this book was its setting.

Eleanor didn't really seem to fit into her 18th century, high-class role. I don't just mean in the sense that she considered herself a misfit, but I just found her too different right off the bat. And the weird thing is, no one seemed to look down on her for it. While her family was outcast-ed for having to fake their wealth, I don't think Eleanor as a character was really as much of an outcast as she made herself out to be. It may have been better if Eleanor had been from the low-class straight from the get-go. I feel like her character would have fit better there.

But aside from that, this book really was fantastic! The ending wrapped up everything nice and neat for you, yet still had you yearning for the next book in the series. I definitely can't wait for Dennard's next book!

Stacking the Shelves (6)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tygna over at Tynga's Reviews. Through this meme, bloggers alike are able to share with each other all of the awesome books that got over the past week! 

Here's how you can go about making your own STS:

• Create your own Stacking The Shelves post. You can use my official graphic or your own, but please link back to Tynga’s Reviews so more people can join the fun! 
• You can set your post any way you want, simple book list, covers, pictures, vlog, sky is the limit! 
• I am posting Stacking The Shelves on Saturdays, but feel free to post yours any day that fits you. 
• Visit Tynga’s Reviews on Saturday and add your link so others can visit you!

• Visit other participants link to find out what they added to their shelves!

This week I got quite a few books, but they were all $6 or less, so I guess it's not that bad... Right?

Genesis by Bernard Beckett: Bought

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard: Won off of a Twitter contest (Thanks again, Vikki!)

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantasky: Bought

Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen: Bought

Fallen by Lauren Kate: Bought

Possession by Elana Johnson: Bought

The Swan Kingdom by  Zoë Marriott: Bought

Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann: Bought

Virals by Kathy Reichs: Bought

I've already read Genesis and it was actually really good for such a short book!

This next guy got left behind and wasn't included in the first shipment with all the other books, poor little book. :( But here's the *ahem* ninth (I know, I'm crazy, right?) book from my... Uh, first order of books online.

Torment by Lauren Kate: Bought

And these two books I picked up yesterday...

Cinder by Marissa Meyer: Bought

The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder: Bought

There's a story behind these two books too!

I was watching someone's book haul on YouTube one day (I can't remember who's it was for the life of me), and one of the book they had in it was The Probability of Miracles. All I can really remember was them saying, "This cover is freaking gorgeous." And I, sir, agree with you whole-heartily! This book - this book - doesn't just look phenominal, it sounds phenominal (because of course I hastily read the back before I bought it). But anyways. Online, I saw that the Chapters by my house had one copy in-store, so before work yesterday I left a bit early to pick this book up! While I was at Chapters, I was also somehow lucky enough to find a copy of Cinder in the discount area for $6! There was no way I could just leave it there, right?

Anywaaays... With that story out of my system, I still have one little announcement for you guys. :P I did order another box of books online, and let me tell you, I've been planning on buying one of the books in my order for a while! Unfortunately... I don't think it's going to make it to my house in time for this weeks STS, so you'll have to wait until next week. Hopefully the suspense will bring you back next week! lol x)

And I know this isn't really a book, but....

I got an epic chair from Wal-Mart that I swear I'm going to be doing all of my reading in from now on! It's so freaking COMFY! Especially when I put a pillow behind my head... I could just fall asleep. :D:D

So, my fellow book lovers... What did you get this week?! Is there anything you're interested in me reading and reviewing - like now - in this haul? I would love to know! :)

July Wrap-Up/Coming Soon in August

So I've decided that I'm going to start doing monthly wrap-up posts/what you can expect for the next up-coming month. That way you guys get to see what's in store and if you missed anything, it's your chance to catch up. :)


If you'd like you could do your own wrap-up/what to expect post as well! Just leave a link to the post in the comments below. :)


So, for the month of July I managed to read...

1. Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer (Reviewed)

2. Wrecked by Anna Davies (Reviewed)

3. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (Reviewed)

4. My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick (Reviewed)

5. Where She Went by Gayle Forman (Reviewed)

6. Sailor Moon 6 by Naoko Takeuchi

7. Legend by Marie Lu (Reviewed)

8. Revived by Cat Patrick (Reviewed)

9. The Blondes by Emily Schultz (Reviewed)

10. Storm by Brigid Kemmerer

11. Elemental by Brigid Kemmerer

12. Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

My favorite read of the month would have to be...

 My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

If you don't mind a book with an open ending, this book is just fantastic.

I also reviewed And Both Were Young by Madeleine L'Engle, but I read that one in June. :)

I also did a WOW post and a Stacking the Shelves. :) 

And for the month of August, I know for sure that I'm going to be reading...

1. After the Moment by Garrett Freymann-Weyr

2. Genesis by Bernard Beckett

3. Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

Now, since I'm never really too sure what books I'm going to read until I basically pick them up, here's a few more that I'm hoping to read sometime this month:

1. Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge

2. The White Queen by Philippa Greggory

3. Storm Glass by Maria V. Snyder

4. Persuasion by Jane Austin

5. Glimmerglass by Jenna Black

6. Gone by Micheal Grant

I've also decided to start participating in the weekly Teaser Tuesday meme hosted by MizB at Should be Reading! It seems like a fun one to do (and it helps me fill in the days when I don't have anything to post, hehe)! So you can look forward to my first one of those next Tuesday!

I also suggest that you look out for my Stacking the Shelves this Saturday, cause it is going to be quite large! I did some online shopping on the Chapters website and let me tell you... They had some awesome books on sale for $6 or less! So, being the book nerd that I am... I just couldn't resist. Thank god I have a job!

Again, if you guys want to do your own wrap-up/coming-soon post or have already done one yourselves, feel free to leave a link in the comments below so that I can check them out!