Stacking the Shelves (11)

Stacking the Shelves is a new weekly meme hosted by Tynga of Tynga's Reviews. It's a weekly post where book bloggers showcase the books they received throughout the week.

I've been really good these past few weeks and haven't bought any books...which means I am sort of making a little dent in my TBR pile, or so I like to think. But I still got some exciting books this week, so here they are.

Review:

- Breathe by Sarah Crossan - Ever since I first heard about this one I have been dying to read it so I'm happy to have a copy for review. Now I just have to hold off reading it until closer to the October release date.

- Lucid by Adrienne Stoltz & Ron Bass - This one sounds really intriguing and with a fair amount of mystery. But once again, as much as I want to read it, I'm going to have to hold off until closer to the October release date.

- (You) Set Me On Fire by Mariko Tamaki - I'm really interested in this one because instead of taking place in high school, it sounds like it takes place in college so it should be nice and different. And be sure to come back on August 27th for my stop on the blog tour.

Thank you to HarperCollins Canada & Penguin Canada for sending me these books for review.

Borrowed:

- Over You by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - I don't know all that much about this one but when Meaghan from Feeling A Little Bookish offered to lend me her copy saying it was good, I thought I would give it a go.

- Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans - This one is a book I'm really looking forward to reading so big thanks to Kathy from A Glass of Wine for lending the Ottawa bloggers her copy of the book.

Purchased:

- Cinder by Marissa Meyer - I have read and reviewed Cinder and absolutely loved it but never actually bought a finished copy. So when they had it for 5.99 at Chapters, it was an offer I couldn't pass up.

So that's it for me this week. If you haven't already, be sure to check out my giveaway for a finished copy of Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry. And as usual, leave me a comment letting me know what you got!

Pushing the Limits GIVEAWAY

Today I have the pleasure to be able to offer one lucky blog reader a gorgeous finished copy of Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry. Now I've already read Pushing the Limits and let me just say that you are seriously missing out. This is the kind of books that will keep you up for hours when you are reading because you will just be dying to know what happens next to Echo and Noah. If you're having any doubts, you can always check out my review in order to get more information about the book and to see what I thought.

Thanks to Harlequin Teen one of you now has the chance to win a copy. To enter the giveaway, just fill out the Rafflecopter form below. The giveaway is open to US/Canada only and you need to be 13 or older in order to enter.

Good luck to everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Title: Pushing the Limits

Author: Katie McGarry

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Release Date: July 31, 2012

Source: From Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository

So wrong for each other..and yet so right.

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants to go back to normal.

But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might each her how to love again.

Ever since I first heard about Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry I knew it was a book I would want to read. Then I heard it was amazing and that only made me want to read it even more. And then it was 4:30 AM and I was still awake and I wasn't able to put Pushing the Limits down. So, yeah, it was absolutely amazing.

Echo Emerson used to have it all, until that one fateful night almost two years ago that changed everything. But despite all her efforts, Echo can't remember what happened and how she got those horrible scars on her arms. All Echo wants is for everything to go back to normal, but that may be easier said than done. At least until Noah Hutchins walks into her life. Echo should hate everything about Noah, but it doesn't take long for her to be attracted to him. Because with Noah, Echo starts to feel safe again and starts to think she could have normal again. But Noah has his own issues to deal with and those may be what stands in their way.

The books that will keep me awake and reading until 4:30 AM are pretty rare, but Katie McGarry's Pushing the Limits was one of those books. It was an absolutely amazing read. Right from the beginning, it didn't take long for me to have trouble putting the book down. It wasn't so much that there was a lot of action taking place, but the story just dragged me in completely. It got to the point where it felt like I was right there with all the characters. But this story was also incredibly well written and majorly heartbreaking on more than one occasion. And that's why I loved Pushing the Limits was much as I did. I love any story that tears at my heartstrings and this definitely happened. There were so many times where I was in tears, because that's what the characters did to me.

The story in Pushing the Limits alternated points of view between Echo and Noah, and I loved that it allowed me to get into both of their heads. There was so much going on with both of them and the fact that they were damaged and trying to fix themselves and each other made me love them that much more. I could understand Echo's desperation when it came to remembering what happened to her that night. And Noah was a good guy dressed up as a bad boy. Every time he was with his little brothers my heart swelled and I inevitably found myself tearing up. And when Noah and Echo were together, I pretty much felt all the emotions. What was so great is that it wasn't a perfect relationship, and that's what made me love it so much more.

Pushing the Limits was an unbelievable read. Through her fantastic writing, Katie McGarry made me feel a whole range of emotions, confirming that damaged characters simply make the best stories.

Waiting on Wednesday (59)

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.

THIS WEEK'S PICK:

CREWEL BY GENNIFER ALBIN

Incapable. Awkward. Artless.

That's what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen-year-ld Adelice Lewys has a secret: she wants to fail.

Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she's exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very fabric of life. But if controlling what people eat, where they live and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn't interested.

Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and wove a moment at testing, and they're coming for her--tonight.

Now she has one hour to eat her mom's overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister's academy gossip and laugh at her Dad's stupid jokes. One hour to pretend everything's okay. And one hour to escape.

Because once you become a Spinster, there's not turning back.

Despite having seen this book floating around the blogosphere for quite some time already, it's only just recently that I actually found out what the book was about. And then I decided that it sounded like something that I would be very much interested in reading. And so now I'm eagerly awaiting its release.

Crewel by Gennifer Albin will be published October 16, 2012 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

The Greyfriar by Clay Griffith & Susan Griffith

Title: The Greyfriar (Vampire Empire #1)

Author: Clay Griffith & Susan Griffith

Publisher: PYR Books

Release Date: November 18, 2010

Source: From Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository

In the year 1870, a horrible plague of vampires swept over the northern regions of the world. Millions of humans were killed outright. Millions more died of disease and famine due to the havoc that followed. Within two years, once-great cities were shrouded by the grey empire of the vampire clans. Human refugees fled south to the tropics because vampires could not tolerate the constant heat there. They brought technology and a feverish drive to reestablish their shattered societies of steam and iron amid the mosques of Alexandria, the torrid quietude of Panama or the green temples of Malaya.

It is now 2020 and a bloody reckoning is coming.

Princess Adele is heir to the Empire Equatoria, a remnant of the old tropical British Empire. She is quick with her with as well as with a sword or gun. She is eager for an adventure before she settles into a life of duty and political marriage to a man she does not know. But her quest turns black when she becomes the target of a merciless vampire clan. Her only protector is the Greyfriar, a mysterious hero who fights the vampires from deep within their territory. Their dangerous relationship plays out against an approaching war to the death between humankind and the vampire clans.

The Greyfriar by Clay and Susan Griffith is one of those books I've heard about a few times but never really bothered looking into. But then I found out more and my curiosity was piqued. And by the end of the book I was hooked and wanted to pick up the sequel immediately.

Her whole life, Princess Adele has known that as the heir to the Equatorian Empire she would be the one to lead the war against the vampire clans of the north. And her impending political marriage only solidified Adele's future. But that future takes a wrong turn when Adele is taken prisoner by Europe's most vicious vampire clan. Now the only person who can help Adele is the mysterious and elusive Greyfriar. But Adele can't seem to figure out the Greyfriar and soon their relationship could change everything. Especially with a deadly war between humans and vampires looming.

I didn't really know what to expect when I started reading The Greyfriar, but I wasn't disappointed by the time I finished reading the book. The story here isn't YA but that didn't stop me from enjoying the story in the least. The story in The Greyfriar was a little slower than what I'm used to, but that allowed me to appreciate different aspects of the story that much more. The descriptions of vampire Europe were incredible and I could picture it all while reading. The world building in general pretty much blew me away and is a large part of what grabbed my attention while reading. And it was a story about vampires unlike any I've read before, and it made for some really interesting characters.

The characters in The Greyfriar were really interesting to read about. There was always more to them than met the eye and that's what I enjoyed the most about them. At first I didn't think much about Adele, she just seemed like a pretty typical rebellious princess. But as the story went on, I slowly discovered that there was a lot more to her than I originally thought. By the end of the book, Adele was someone I really admired and I liked seeing how she was able to become that person. The Greyfriar intrigued me. There was so much to him that I wanted to know that hopefully I'll get to find out in the future. But regardless, he was probably the most interesting character because there was so much to him, and like I've already said, I'm hoping to find out more about his motivations in the future.

The Greyfriar by Clay and Susan Griffith took me by surprise, despite having heard how great of a read it was. Despite not being what I would normally read, I found myself flipping the pages, eager to know what would happen next. And you can bet I will continue reading this series.