Stacking the Shelves (14)

Stacking the Shelves is a 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.

This week I got quite a few surprises in the mail and only bought two books. So all in all it was pretty good. I've finally started getting back into the swing of things now that I've figured out my schedule with school, I have found when I have time to read and do blog stuff. But between work and readings for school, this is going to be a pretty busy year!

Review:

- Broken by A.E. Rought - This book absolutely intrigues me. The synopsis makes it sound like something totally different so I'm definitely looking forward to reading it. But that probably won't happen until later this year since this book doesn't come out until January 2013.

- The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater - I have heard nothing but absolutely fantastic things about this new book by Maggie Stiefvater, so you can bet I will be reading this one quite soon.

- Reaper by K.D. McEntire - This is the sequel to Lightbringer which I've read part of so this is the motivation I need to finish the book so I can find out what happens in the next book.

- The Diviners by Libba Bray - I can't wait to read this one. I have heard that it is absolutely fantastic. I just hadn't realized quite how big it was...but that just means the story will last longer!

Thank you to Strange Chemistry, Scholastic Canada, PYR Books and HBG Canada for sending me these books!

Purchased:

- Embers & Echoes by Karsten Knight - I have been waiting for this book pretty much since I read the last page of Wildefire. Now that I have a copy you can bet I will be reading it soon.

- Flesh & Bone by Jonathan Maberry - I absolutely love the Rot & Ruin books. They are definitely not getting quite as much attention as they deserve. At any rate, I'm happy to now have the third book in this series.

That's it for me this week. If you missed it on Monday, check out my recap of the Smart Chicks event in Montreal. And as usual, leave me a comment and I'll try to stop by and see what you got!

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.

Stacking the Shelves (9)

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

This week was good. It was made even better by the fact that I managed to not buy a single book. Plus, the books I did receive this week all sonds pretty awesome and I'm definitely looking forward to reading all of them. So here's what i got this week!

Review:

- Entice by Jessica Shirvington - I really enjoyed reading Embrace last March so I was really excited to get a copy of Entice for review. I'm looking forward to finding out what happens next to the characters I got to know in the first book.

- Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry - I'm really excited to have gotten a copy of Pushing the Limits for review. I've heard it's absolutely fantastic and I can't wait to find out for myself if it's as good as everyone says it is.

- Cuttlefish by Dave Freer - I'll be honest and say that I haven't really ever heard of this book but if I'm understanding everything it's a steampunk story that takes place on a submarine so it could definitely be interesting. I'll just have to wait and see.

Thank you to Raincoast Books, Harlequin Teen and PYR Books for sending me these to review.

Won:

- Anything But Ordinary by Lara Avery - This one sounds really interesting and kind of like a cross between Adult and YA so it should be interesting. I definitely look forward tor reading it. Thank you to Rachel from Fiktshun for this book.

So that's all for me this week. I'll now be returning to my TV to continue watching the Olympics (basically where you'll find me for the next two weeks). But as usual, leave me a link and I'll try to stop by and see what you got!