Waiting on Wednesday (15)

It's Wednesday again and that means it's time for another Waiting On Wednesday post. For those of you that don't know, 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.

THIS WEEK'S PICK:

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb--males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to kept the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape--to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.

I have heard so many great things about Wither and I can't wait to be able to read it. Honestly, the cover is absolutely gorgeous and that alone is reason enough for me to pick up the book. So if anyone has a copy of Wither they want to send my way feel free to do so!

Wither by Lauren DeStefano will be published March 22, 2011 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

Title: I Am Number Four (Lorien Legacies #1)

Author: Pittacus Lore

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: August 3, 2010

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Nine of us came here. We look like you. We talk like you. We live among you. But we are not you. We can do things you dream of doing. We have powers you dream of having. We are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen. We are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books--but we are real.

Our plan was to grow, train, and become strong, and become one, and fight them. But they found us first. Now all of us are running. Spending our lives in shadows, in places where no one would look, blending in. We have lived among you without you knowing.

But they know.

They caught Number One in Malaysia.

Number Two in England.

And Number Three in Kenya.

They killed them all.

I am Number Four.

I am next.

I’ll be honest, I picked up I Am Number Four for the simple reason that it was being made into a movie before the books had even come out. The story also looked interesting but I had never really been one for alien stories. Now that I’ve read the book I can honestly say that some aliens aren’t actually all that bad, like the ones in this book for example. The story was fast paced and really took me on an adventure that I wasn’t to expecting to enjoy this much, I had a really hard time putting the book down.

Four has never lived in the same place very long. Every time Henri finds something suspicious in the move, they pack up, leave and find a new place to live. Until they have to do it all over again. Now in Ohio Four, going by the name of John Smith, tries as much as he can to have a normal life. A normal life that includes a friend named Sam, an enemy called Mark, and of course a girlfriend called Sarah. All that on top of the threat coming from the Mogadorians, the race that made it so John and Henri had to leave their own planet. But will wanting a normal life so badly result in John’s death?

John was a really interesting character. He just wants so badly to fit in and not get noticed except something always happens that ends up making him stand out. It’s not his fault, weird things just always seem to happen to him when there’s a crowd around him. I really like John and I found myself falling for him on more than one occasion, for once I wasn’t going for the bad boy. I was reading and just hoping that things would all work out for him. He just came across as a genuinely good guy.

Sam and Mark both really surprised me. I had Sam pegged totally pegged as the stereotypical science fiction geek but as it turns out he was more than that. As for Mark I had originally written him off as a majorly jealous jerk but he really came through for John in the end, which I was very far from expecting. As for Henri, he was a great father for John, they may not have been related put the two just seemed to fit together. Henri was also the character who got me to cry, something I wasn’t expecting to do while reading a book about aliens.

Like Henri, Sarah seemed like a perfect fit for John. She was a great character though sometimes she did come across as a little cliché but it could easily be overlooked. The only thing that really bugged me was how easily she accepted that John was an alien when he told her. Other than that, I really wanted them to work out. They just both seemed so happy together and John was finally getting the normalcy he wanted and you could just tell he cared a lot for Sarah.

The story was fast paced, full of adventure with twists where you least expected them. You can easily tell why the movie rights to the book were auctioned off before the book even came out. If the book took me on a journey that I never wanted to leave, I can’t wait to see what the movie will do. The only downside to the movie already having been made was that I could only picture John as Alex Pettyfer and Sarah as Diana Agron. I like being able to picture what the characters look like for myself but these two come pretty close to the image I would have had of Sarah and John.

Overall, I Am Number Four was a fantastic read that took me on an incredible journey. The fast paced action just made me want to read on until there was nothing left to read and even then I wanted more. I can’t wait to see what happens next! 

Book Blogger Hop (21) & Follow Friday (13)

It's Friday so it means it's time for the Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday!

First off, the Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Jennifer of Crazy-for-Books. It is a way for all the book bloggers out there to get together and find out about each other's blogs. I've found a lot of great blogs and bloggers through this hop and it's always fun to take part in each week.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK COVER?

This is actually a hard question to answer. I don't think I have just one favorite book cover. Generally, I tend to prefer covers that are really simple but then there are others that are more intricate or detailed that I really like. I'm not picky about covers but I will admit that covers are what tend to attract me to books in the first place.

The Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View each week. It works a lot like the Book Blogger Hop except that it's only on Fridays. I haven't been taking part in this hop as long but I've found a lot of great new blogs through this one too.

UPDATE:

Next week is my final week of classes but then I still have three finals to do. I am slowly getting to the end of the semester but it seems to be taking more time than it should. So I've been neglecting reading a bit because of all the work I've been doing but I plan on catching up once everything is done. Last week I put out a call for guest posters and have gotten some replies but if anyone else is interested just leave me a comment here or send me an email at emiliebookworld@gmail.com

That's it for this week!

Enjoy your weekends!

Waiting On Wednesday (14)

It's Wednesday again and that means it's time for another Waiting On Wednesday post. For those of you that don't know, Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill ofBreaking the Spine where book bloggers devote a post to an upcoming book release they are particularly looking forward to reading.

THIS WEEK'S PICK:

Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles

Luis Fuentes is a good boy who doesn't live with the angst that his big brothers, Alex and Carlos, have always lived with. Luis is smart, funny, and has big dreams of becoming an astronaut. But when he falls for the wrong girl, Luis enters a dark world he's never known, and just when he thinks he's got life all figured out, learns some disturbing news about his family that destroys his positive outlook on life. Will that Fuentes bad boy streak come out with a vengeance and lure Luis to live on the edge like his new girlfriend and his own father?

Continuing all the steamy romance of the first two books, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Simone Elkeles gives fans one more satisfying taste of the irresistible Fuentes boys.

I absolutely loved the first two books in this series and I honestly cannot wait until this one comes out. I'm really looking forward to finding out more about Luis, especially since he didn't have the same bad streak as his brothers. And I also want to see how the couples from the other books turned out.

Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles will be published May 24, 2011 by Walker & Company.

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Linger (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #2)

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Release Date: July 13, 2010

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

the longing.

Once Grace and Sam have found each other, they know they must fight to stay together. For Sam, this means a reckoning with his werewolf past. For Grace, it means facing a future that is less and less certain.

the loss.

Into their world comes a new wolf named Cole, whose past is full of hurt and danger. He is wrestling with his own demons, embracing the life of a wolf while denying the ties of being human.

the linger.

For Grace, Sam, and Cole, life is a constant struggle between two forces--wolf and human--with love baring its two sides as well. It is harrowing and euphoric, freeing and entrapping, enticing and alarming. As their world falls apart, love is what lingers. But will it be enough?

I was a bit late to reading Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, but when I finally did read it I pretty much fell in love with it. I’ve now read Linger and my love for these books has only grown that much more. If you thought the first book was amazing, the second one will blow your mind. It was great to see characters change and to have new characters brought in as narrators, it really added to the story and I think it’s one of the things that made me love Linger that much more than Shiver.

Sam and Grace have finally found a way to be together, but when Sam seems to be doing great, Grace isn’t looking and feeling so great. No one knows what is happening to her though everyone has theories. And now to make things bette her parents don’t want her seeing Sam anymore. Isabel is dealing with her brother’s death as best as she can but she still has many issues to work through. And now there’s Cole, the mysterious new wolf who can’t seem to stay a wolf even when the temperatures are more than low enough to make him change. Who knows what will happen now?

As much as I loved Grace the first time around, I didn’t like her as much in this book. She was still a great character but it just felt like she had become completely dependent on Sam. All things considered, that’s the only thing that bothered me about her, and with everything that was going on with her you can sort of see why. I saw what was happening to Grace coming, but I still didn’t want it to happen and it made me sad and annoyed. Can’t she catch a break? Isabel, I absolutely love. There’s just something about her that always either had me shaking my head or smiling. The way she talks and her attitude toward things is so completely different from Grace that it was nice to have her there to balance everything else. It was also great to have her as a narrator, she just has such an amusing outlook on things and it really allowed me to get to know her better which I loved doing.

I was so happy for Sam at the beginning of the book, he had finally gotten what he wanted. And then, as tends to happen, everything fell apart. I could feel his pain throughout most of the novel, and on top of everything else he also had to take over Beck’s job with the wolves. And with Cole around that couldn’t have been that easy to do at first. I love Cole, I wouldn’t say I’m Team Cole, because I still love Sam, but Cole was pretty great. He was more or less the opposite of Sam: where Sam wanted nothing to do with being a wolf, Cole looks forward to losing himself by turning into a wolf. I really liked seeing him evolve. I thought that by the end of the book he didn’t have the same ideas that he did at the beginning. And the change was for the best. If only he and Isabel could get over their issues I would be really happy.

The story was also pretty great. I loved having new characters and new points of view, they added something that I thought made the story more interesting. It wasn’t just about Sam and Grace anymore, Isabel and Cole are also part of it now. I really liked all the flashbacks to Cole’s past, they really helped get a better understanding of him and where he was coming from. For my part, I like how more people are getting involved in the story, whether it’s by choice or only because they find themselves in the middle of it all, it makes it more interesting.

Overall, Linger was a great read and an even greater sequel to Shiver. I honestly cannot wait until next summer when Forever comes out to find out how it all ends. Will Grace and Sam finally be able to get together? Will Cole and Isabel work out their issues and get together?

Calling for Guest Posters!

I'm getting closer and closer to that time of the year where everything gets a little bit crazy. I only have two weeks of classes left and after that finals start. I'm going to be very busy studying for exams and writing all those papers they make you write and hand in right before the semester ends.

What I'm asking for is anyone out there who is a book blogger and would like to guest post on my blog. It can honestly be about anything you want so long as it's book related. You can write a review, a top ten, basically anything at all so long as it is related to books.

I appreciate any help anyone is able to help and should you need a guest poster in the future I would be happy to return the favor. If you are interested leave a comment here or send me an e-mail at emiliebookworld@gmail.com

Book Blogger Hop (20) & Follow Friday (12)

It's Friday so it means it's time for the Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday!

First off, the Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Jennifer of Crazy-for-Books. It is a way for all the book bloggers out there to get together and find out about each other's blogs. I've found a lot of great blogs and bloggers through this hop and it's always fun to take part in each week.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:

SINCE THANKSGIVING IS COMING UP NEXT WEEK, LET'S USE THIS WEEK'S HOP TO SHARE WHAT WE ARE MOST THANKFUL FOR AND WHAT OUR HOLIDAY TRADITIONS ARE!

Since I'm Canadian, I've actually already had Thanksgiving since for us it's the second Monday of October. For those wondering, the food is the same but the story behind it isn't. For Canadians, Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for a good harvest. But I can still answer the question. I am most thankful for my family as they have always been there to support me and I'm not sure what I would do without them. As far as holiday traditions go, my family is pretty spread out what with the ocean between my parents and I but for the most part we just all get together to cook and eat together.

The Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View each week. It works a lot like the Book Blogger Hop except that it's only on Fridays. I haven't been taking part in this hop as long but I've found a lot of great new blogs through this one too.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN BOOK BLOGGING?

In two weeks I'll have been book blogging (and regular blogging) for 5 months. I originally started my blog over the summer because I was reading a ton of books and was particularly bored. Now, even if I've only been blogging for a short amount of time, it feels like I've always been doing it. Plus all the book bloggers out there are all so nice so it makes the whole experience that much better.

UPDATES:

School and I have officially gone into crazy mode as there is only one week left of classes before finals start. Lucky (or unlucky depending on how you look at it) my first exam isn't until December 16th but that means I only finish on the 21st. I have some reviews scheduled for the next couple of weeks but other than that school work has officially taken over my life. So if I'm a little MIA that's why. I may be putting out a call for guest posters so keep on the lookout for that.

That's it for this week!

Enjoy your weekends!

The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron Daughter (The Iron Fey #2)

Author: Julie Kagawa

Publisher: HarlequinTEEN

Release Date: August 1, 2010

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter Prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey--ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.

Worse, Meghan’s own fey powers have been cut off. She’s stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can’t help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

I had loved The Iron King when I read it over the summer and I can honestly say that I loved The Iron Daughter even more. The story, the characters, everything is better. I had an amazing time reading it and getting reacquainted with Meghan, Puck, Ash and Grim along with meeting all sorts of new characters. I also have to say that I am now officially Team Ash and good luck getting me to change my opinion.

Meghan is being held at the palace of the Winter Court, wondering when if she’ll ever get to see Ash again. Or if her father will ever consider coming to her rescue. Or how much time has passed out in the real world. Is her family even still alive? When Meghan finally sees Ash, the reunion is quite far from what she expected it to be. And on top of everything else, war is threatening to break out between the Summer and Winter Courts, which would only allow the Iron Fey to come in and take over the Nevernever. Despite her efforts to prevent a war between the two courts, Meghan has to run away and to find and return the Scepter of the Seasons, the item that is causing all this trouble. But what about Ash, was he really playing her when he told her all those things.

I love Meghan Chase. She is a pretty awesome heroine, and one that doesn’t let others walk all over her...except sometimes where Ash is concerned. He just has this way of getting to her. But other than that I just love Meghan. She just has this great personality and I just can’t help but like her. I really don’t think I could ever not like her. My favorite side of Meghan is really how she is when the action really starts. The ends to which she’ll go to help those she loves are just incredible sometimes. And I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t admit that whenever she was with Ash I kinda sorta wanted to trade places with her.

Why there is even a Team Ash - Team Puck debate is a mystery to me. I love Puck a lot but he’s just no Ash. Puck is great, I love his humor and how he is with Meghan. I wouldn’t mind having Puck to myself. He just has me laughing pretty much every time he opens his mouth to speak and I really look forward to seeing him and finding out what stupid thing he’s going to do or say next. I felt bad for him at the end even if I was really happy with the way things turned out. And now I will say it: I am absolutely in love with Ash. Half the time his behavior completely gets on my nerves but the rest of the time I am more or less in awe of him. I totally understand why Meghan feels the way she does about him. I mean, how could she not? There is so much more I could say about Ash but it would be way too spoilery and I don’t want to ruin it for those who haven’t read the book.

I liked the the story from The Iron Daughter better than I did the story in The Iron King. Both are really great and I loved both of them but there was something this time around. It might be that the action started pretty much right away. The Faery world was already all established and we could just jump right in to the good part of the story. I found that there was a lot more action and I really liked finding out more about the Iron Fey and how their court worked. I just love the mix of imagination, magic and adventure that’s present throughout the story, it’s not something that’s everywhere.

The Iron Daughter is an amazing sequel. After reading The Iron King, I didn’t think it could really get any better but it did. And I’m sure it will get even better when The Iron Queen comes out in February.

Book Blogger Hop (19) & Follow Friday (11)

It's Friday so it means it's time for the Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday!

First off, the Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Jennifer of Crazy-for-Books. It is a way for all the book bloggers out there to get together and find out about each other's blogs. I've found a lot of great blogs and bloggers through this hop and it's always fun to take part in each week.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:

IF YOU FIND A BOOK THAT LOOKS INTERESTING BUT IS PART OF A SERIES, DO YOU ALWAYS START WITH THE FIRST TITLE?

I will always start with the first book in a series, otherwise I have the chance of coming across things that don't exactly make sense which annoys and confuses me. It just makes more sense to me to read them all in order, that way I get the full story with the events happening in a logical order. Come to think of it, I don't think I have EVER read a series out of order.

The Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View each week. It works a lot like the Book Blogger Hop except that it's only on Fridays. I haven't been taking part in this hop as long but I've found a lot of great new blogs through this one too.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:

WHAT IS YOUR USUAL MONTHLY BOOK BUDGET?

To be honest, I don't really have one, it mostly depends on what other things I need during the month. Usually I tend to think more in terms of number of books than in terms of an amount of money, it just makes more sense to me that way. This month I'm trying to save up and not buy any books so I'll see how that goes. Luckily I tend to accumulate books and not read them so I'm good for a while without buying any new ones. The only issue is there are a lot of books coming out this month that I really want. But I've been doing good so far.

UPDATES:

School is getting slightly crazy right now but in just over a month it will be over...at least for the 10 days of break I get. However I still find the time to read, which may have something to do with the school work that isn't getting done but I'm working on that. I still have plenty of reviews coming and plenty of books to read so look out for upcoming reviews.

That's it for this week!

Enjoy your weekends!

Haint Misbehavin' by Maureen Hardegree

Title: Haint Misbehavin' (Ghost Handlers #1)

Author: Maureen Hardegree

Publisher: Bell Bridge Books

Release Date: June 1, 2010

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository

Sisters. Boys. School. She has enough trouble to deal with. Then the first ghost showed up. Life just got supernatural for Heather Tildy.

Heather's Ghost Handling Rules

- Even if you're really old, like fourteen, and you just got your period, imaginary friends ARE ghosts. Don't let anyone tell you different.

- Ghosts don't always want to move on. They like to hang out with you. And they're not, like, always hunky and dreamy like the Jonas Brothers or Justin Beiber or whoever.

- If a ghost wants to, she or he can jump inside your body. Which is seriously weird.

- A ghost handler's job is to help the ghost resolve something that is keeping him/her in this limbo between worlds. It's like being stuck in the mall on a Monday.

- Ghosts sometimes are here to help you learn something, too, but they don't just, like, tell you. They make you figure it out.

-If the ghost does two nice things for you, the ghost can go wherever you go totally without your permission. Can you say super-duper sucks? 

I received Haint Misbehavin’ from the publisher along with another book I had agreed to review. I wasn’t expecting this book but I’m really glad I got it because it turned out to be quite a fun read. Ghost stories often tend to be fun stories and this one followed the trend. The story was fun, the characters were fun, the premise was fun, pretty much everything about Haint Misbehavin’ was fun.

Heather has been waiting for a long time for her period to come, but when it finally does it brings along a surprise. That surprise goes by the name of Amy and died in 1920. See the problem here? Heather has always been told that her Aunt Geneva has a ghost friend but she never actually believed it. Until now. Now Heather has to deal with Amy on top of getting her older sister Audrey to like her and make Drew the hot lifeguard to notice her. And of course there are all those hypersensitivity issues to manage. Now the real question for Heather is, can she get Amy to move on her way before she heads off to the beach for the family vacation?

Heather reminded me of my 14-year-old self, minus the whole ghost thing. She has all these problems that I remember having not so long ago. She was a fun character and I loved her humor and how she dealt with everything. Though how she treated some people kind of annoyed me but it wasn’t that big of a deal in the long run. Despite how much she complained, she seemed to just take everything in stride and no matter what would try to make the best out of the situation. Amy amused me. There is just something about a 10-year-old ghost who lived close to 100 years ago that can’t help but make me laugh. She always picked what she thought was the best moment to act, which of course tended to be the worst moment for Heather. But despite it all, she was a as good a friend as a ghost can be. In the long run her story is sad but how it all ended got me a little teary eyed.

Ghost stories are always a lot of fun but for some reason I always tend to forget and and remember it all once I start reading again. This happened again with this book. Ghost stories, at least the ones I read, don’t tend to carry the same heaviness as other paranormal books and in that sense they are great to read in between two heavier books. Haint Misbehavin’ was a great read and reminded me of Meg Cabot’s Mediator series which I absolutely loved. Both have the same light, fun playfulness and are really enjoyable reads.

Haint Misbehavin’ was a great fun and light read that reminded me of how great ghost stories can be. If you have read and enjoyed the Mediator series by Meg Cabot I definitely recommend you give Haint Misbehavin’ a try.

YA Love Triangle Week: Team Damon

It's YA Love Triangle Week over at Down The Rabbit Hole and I'm guest posting and representing Team Damon. I absolutely LOVE the Vampire Diaries and the Salvatore brothers. So here goes:

Okay, so here’s the deal: Team Damon is the team to be on. I had my doubts about it too at first, I’ll admit it. But I came to my senses soon enough and now don’t even think about trying to get me to change back over to Team Stefan. It’s just not going to happen, so deal with it.

There is just so much more to Damon than there is to Stefan. Other than the fact that he loves Elena, is more or less a good guy a

ll around and his good looks, what else is there really to Stefan? That’s what I thought, not that much. Damon on the other hand has a lot more to offer: he’s mysterious, dangerous, has his moments with humor and of course he’s pretty damn hot as well. And that’s only on the surface.

When he finally gets the guts to open up and show more of himself, Damon can be an absolutely great guy. Sometimes you can just tell that he wants to be better he just hasn’t figured quite how to do it yet. But when he finally does, he will be just as if not more lovable than Stefan, believe me when I say this. He has his moments when he can be so amazing, both in the original series and the new one. In the new series, particularly the latest book, you can see more and more of his good side start to appear and that just makes me love him that much more.

And let’s not forget about the TV show. How can you not love Ian Somerhalder playing Damon. I mean just the eyes is enough to get most girls to fall right in love with him. And more and more on the TV show, you start to see his good side come through. Stefan’s not the only one who loves and wants to save Elena at all costs. Damon wants just the same thing, he just has a different way of showing it.

Basically it all comes down to this, Damon can be just as soft, sensitive and sweet as Stefan but he can also be a total badass which just makes him that much more awesome. Maybe I’m biased and the fact that I have a major tendency to fall for bad boys probably doesn’t help either, but Team Damon is the way to go. You can believe whatever you want but Damon will always be better than Stefan for me.

In case it isn’t clear yet. If you aren’t on TEAM DAMON, you are most definitely on the wrong team.

So go on over to Down The Rabbit Hole and vote for Team Damon!

Return to Paradise by Simone Elkeles

Title: Return to Paradise

Author: Simone Elkeles

Publisher: Flux

Release Date: September 1, 2010

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Caleb Becker left Paradise eight months ago, taking with him the secret he promised to take to his grave. If the truth got out, it would ruin everything.

Maggie Armstrong tried to be strong after Caleb broke her heart and disappeared. Somehow, she managed to move on. She was determined to make a new life for herself.

But now Caleb and Maggie are forced together on a summer trip. They try ignoring their passion for each other, but buried feelings resurface. Caleb must face the truth about the night of Maggie’s accident, or the secret that destroyed their relationship will forever stand between them.

I missed Maggie and Caleb. They are just such great characters and I missed reading about them. Once again Simone Elkeles has written a wonderful story with amazing characters that you can’t help but love. I’ve loved absolutely everything I’ve read by Elkeles and it was the same thing with Return to Paradise. When I finished Leaving to Paradise, I wasn’t completely satisfied with the ending but now I am truly happy with how things turned out.

It’s been eight months since Caleb left Paradise and Maggie behind but once again he finds himself in trouble. And the only way to get out of that trouble is to go on a four week trip with a group of teenagers’ whose lives have been affected by reckless driving. And who else should be part of that group than Maggie Armstrong. Maggie thought she had managed to get over Caleb, or at least she had convinced herself she was over him. The next four weeks are going to prove to be longer than they should and Caleb and Maggie will have to come to terms with different parts of their past and maybe salvage their relationship.

I have said this about every single one of Simone Elkeles’s male characters that I have read about but I LOVE CALEB. As big a jerk and idiot he can be at times I still love him and would pretty much love him no matter what. There’s something about Caleb that you can’t help but love. It’s easy to see that he’s trying to become a better person and though he may not always be going about that the right way I couldn’t help but root for him. For Maggie’s sake I wanted Caleb to become a better person because she deserved to have someone like Caleb cared for her and Caleb deserved to have someone care about him regardless of his past.

Now that I’ve gotten to know her better, I pretty much love Maggie too. She’s changed a lot since the first book and the change is a good one. She was able to accept that she would always be stuck with a limp but that it didn’t necessarily have to define her. And even though he didn’t always bring out the best in her, I loved how Maggie got when she was with Caleb. For the most part, she always stood her ground and I just loved seeing her play with his mind. It was just great. I was happy Maggie became who she became and my love for her just grew as she became stronger.

I absolutely love how the alternating points of view that are always a part of Simone Elkeles’s books. The way the story is written makes it so you just have to keep on reading in order to get the full story. When I started the book I didn’t plan to sit and read it all in one night but that’s what ended up happening. The story was engrossing and I honestly wanted it to be longer...if I had it my way it would be never ending but I know that isn’t going to happen. Despite that, I was really satisfied with the ending this time and it made me really happy.

Return to Paradise was a great read but I’m sad it’s over because now there won’t be anymore Maggie and Caleb to read about. Regardless I look forward to reading all of Simone Elkeles’s books. And so far they’ve all become favorites of mine.

Book Blogger Hop (18) & Follow Friday (10)

It's Friday so it means it's time for the Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday!

First off, the Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Jennifer of Crazy-for-Books. It is a way for all the book bloggers out there to get together and find out about each other's blogs. I've found a lot of great blogs and bloggers through this hop and it's always fun to take part in each week.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:

WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS ON LOSING FOLLOWERS? HAVE YOU EVER STOPPED FOLLOWING A BLOG?

I honestly have nothing against people stopping to follow me. I don't take it personally, if they don't want to follow me anymore than it's their choice. And it's not like I can hunt down every single person who stops following me, and even if I could I would be wasting some precious reading time. As far as stopping to follow a blog, I don't think I've ever done that but I'm sure that at some point down the line it will happen.

The Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View each week. It works a lot like the Book Blogger Hop except that it's only on Fridays. I haven't been taking part in this hop as long but I've found a lot of great new blogs through this one too.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:

WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITE AUTHORS?

This could turn into a really long answer but I'll try to keep it short. I would have to say that my all time favorite authors are Sarah Dessen, Meg Cabot and J.K. Rowling. I have read all the books ever written by these three authors and have pretty much loved them all. Other than these three ladies, there are other authors out there that I really like such as Cassandra Clare, Richelle Mead, Simone Elkeles, Julie Kagawa, Alyson Noël and the list could go on and on. I have a tendency to have way too many favorites for just about everything and I guess that seems to be happening with authors as well.

UPDATES:

It is now November and that means I only have a month to go until exams and the end of the semester. It also means I will be really busy writing essays and doing assignments for my classes so my reading and blogging time may get cut down. I was able to get more reading done than I expected the first two months of the school year so I have some reviews scheduled more or less through November and I will try to do other posts as often as possible. This week is Amber of Down the Rabbit Hole's YA Love Triangle Week. You should definitely go check out her blog on Sunday and vote for Team Damon.

That's it for this week!

Enjoy your weekends!