Waiting On Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It's to spotlight upcoming reads which I can't wait to get my hands on.

This week my book is: 

The Iron Wyrm Affair by Lilith Saintcrow

Release date: August 7th 2012

Emma Bannon, Prime sorceress in the service of the Empire, has a mission: to protect Archibald Clare, a failed, unregistered mentath. His skills of deduction are legendary, and her own sorcery is not inconsiderable. It doesn’t much help that they dislike each other, or that Bannon’s Shield, Mikal, might just be a traitor himself. Or that the conspiracy killing registered mentaths and sorcerers alike will just as likely kill them as seduce them into treachery toward their Queen. In an alternate London where illogical magic has turned the Industrial Revolution on its head, Bannon and Clare now face hostility, treason, cannon fire, black sorcery, and the problem of reliably finding hansom cabs.

The game is afoot…

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In My Mailbox [14]

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme from Kristi at The Story Siren.

I have been so behind since coming back and blogging! Trying to get things back on track here at Jump INto Books has proven to be a challenge now that I'm a single mother and living on my own. So in this edition, I'm listing the past 2 weeks of what I have received in my mailbox. I'm hoping to get the rest of the blog back on track soon.

For Review from Abrams (and a giveaway later):

For review from Scholastic:

Won in giveaways:

Purchased:

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Book Review: The Ghost and the Goth

Title: The Ghost and the Goth

Author: Stacey Kade

Publisher: Hyperion

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal

Release Date: June 29th 2010

Source: Paperback

Purchase: Amazon

Alona Dare–Senior in high school, co-captain of the cheerleading squad, Homecoming Queen three years in a row, voted most likely to marry a movie star… and newly dead.

I’m the girl you hated in high school. Is it my fault I was born with it all-good looks, silky blond hair, a hot bod, and a keen sense of what everyone else should not be wearing? But my life isn’t perfect, especially since I died. Run over by a bus of band geeks—is there anything more humiliating? As it turns out, yes—watching your boyfriend and friends move on with life, only days after your funeral. And you wouldn’t believe what they’re saying about me now that they think I can’t hear them. To top it off, I’m starting to disappear, flickering in and out of existence. I don’t know where I go when I’m gone, but it’s not good. Where is that freaking white light already?

Will Killian–Senior in high school, outcast, dubbed “Will Kill” by the popular crowd for the unearthly aura around him, voted most likely to rob a bank…and a ghost-talker.

I can see, hear, and touch the dead. Unfortunately, they can also see, hear and touch me. Yeah, because surviving high school isn’t hard enough already. I’ve done my best to hide my “gift.” After all, my dad, who shared my ability, killed himself because of it when I was fifteen. But lately, pretending to be normal has gotten a lot harder. A new ghost—an anonymous, seething cloud of negative energy with the capacity to throw me around—is pursuing me with a vengeance. My mom, who knows nothing about what I can do, is worrying about the increase in odd incidents, my shrink is tossing around terms like “temporary confinement for psychiatric evaluation,” and my principal, who thinks I’m a disruption and a faker, is searching for every way possible to get rid of me. How many weeks until graduation?

My Review:

I’ve been wanting to read this book for so long. I wanted to read it before it hit shelves. Then I finally got my hands on a copy of it 2-3 months ago. I have been falling behind on my reading and reviews because I didn’t have internet, and then when I finally got it back, my computer didn’t work. But during that time, I finally took the time to read this book. My first impression was that it was just alright. I didn’t really want to read about some stuck up blonde that thought she was better than everyone, I saw enough of that in high school. But as I started to read, I started to get into it and I found this to be a quite enjoyable book.

Will was my favorite character. I always seem to fall for the type of guy that no one wants to be around. I just love the mystery of them. And Will has plenty of mystery. He keeps to himself, and his secrets as well.

Alona on the other hand, she’s not all super preppy. She does have some depth to her. And you do get a chance to see a glimpse into her life through her afterlife.

Final Thoughts:

I thought this to be a very enjoyable first book to the trilogy and cannot wait to read Queen of the Dead, and the latest, Body and Soul.

 Star Rating:

 

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#Giveaway: Frostbite by @RichelleMead

The results are in and this is the book you, the viewers, chose to be the next giveaway. Make sure to check out the poll again for the next giveaway!

Rose loves Dimitri, Dimitri might love Tasha, and Mason would die to be with Rose...

It’s winter break at St. Vladimir’s, but Rose is feeling anything but festive. A massive Strigoi attack has put the school on high alert, and now the Academy’s crawling with Guardians—including Rose’s hard-hitting mother, Janine Hathaway. And if hand-to-hand combat with her mom wasn’t bad enough, Rose’s tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason’s got a huge crush on her, and Rose keeps getting stuck in Lissa’s head while she’s making out with her boyfriend, Christian! The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy’s not taking any risks... This year, St. Vlad’s annual holiday ski trip is mandatory.

But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only create the illusion of safety. When three friends run away in an offensive move against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. But heroism rarely comes without a price...

This giveaway is for US and Canada residents only at this time.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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#Winner of Fair Coin

We have a winner for the copy of Fair Coin by E.C. Myers. Yay!

And the winner is:

Jennifer

Jennifer won by following Jump Into Books via GFC!

Also, our next contest has been chosen by all of you fantastic viewers. The results for our next contest is:

  

This will run from 7/20/2012 until 8/2/2012. We will also be placing another poll of the right sidebar for you to choose the next giveaway.

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Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It's to spotlight upcoming reads which I can't wait to get my hands on.

This week my book is: 

Mind Games by Kiersten White

Release date: February 19th 2013

Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always exactly right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her—except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future.

Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways…or risking each other’s lives by refusing to obey.

In a stunning departure from her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, Kiersten White delivers a slick, edgy, heartstoppingly intense psychological thriller about two sisters determined to protect each other—no matter the cost.

I can't wait to read this first book in this series! It sounds amazing!

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Book Review: Scary School

Title: Scary School

Author: Derek the Ghost

Publisher: HarperCollins

Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy

Release Date: June 21st 2011

Source: Gifted by Author

Purchase: Amazon

You think your school's scary?

Get a load of these teachers:

"Ms. Fang," an 850-year-old vampire "Dr. Dragonbreath," who just might eat you before recess "Mr. Snakeskin"--science class is so much more fun when it's taught by someone who's half zombie "Mrs. T"--break the rules and spend your detention with a hungry "Tyrannosaurus rex"

Plus

Gargoyles, goblins, and Frankenstein's monster on the loose The world's most frighteningly delicious school lunch

And

The narrator's an eleven-year-old ghost

Join Charles "New Kid" Nukid as he makes some very Scary friends--including Petunia, Johnny, and Peter the Wolf--and figures out that Scary School can be just as funny as it is spooky

My Review:

Great illustrations with an active imagination make this a very delightful book from start to finish. The story was easy to read and I found myself getting caught up in the Scary School world for a short time. The characters were the type that either you loved them or loved to hate them. I think that every child or even adult has thought up a world similar to this at least once in their lives, I know I have on occasion.

Final Thoughts:

I highly recommend this first installment in the Scary School series. Make sure to check it out and the latest book Monsters on the March.

Star Rating: 

 

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Book Review: Clockwork Prince

Title: Clockwork Prince (Infernal Devices #2)

Author: Cassandra Clare

Publisher: McElderry Books

Genre: Urban Fantasy, YA, Steampunk

Release Date: December 6th 2011

Source: Won in giveaway

Purchase: Amazon

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister's war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will; the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.

My Review:
Let me start off by saying that this second installment of The Infernal Devices series is totally not what I expected...it was even better!

I thought that Clare would have made Will a little more unlikeable in this one, but it was quite the opposite. I ended up enjoying his character even more (as if that was even possible). And what caught me by surprise is that I started to like Jem a little more as well.

Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed Jem's character in Clockwork Angel, but I have always been a fan of the 'bad boy' types, which drew me more towards Will.

As always, Clare makes the reader fall in love with the characters and also makes you feel like you are in the story witnessing first hand the events taking place. As I read, I felt as if I could be Tessa, or at least I wanted to be.

I will admit, however, I was not happy with the ending of this book. But to each his own. 

Star Rating:  

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Book Review: Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

Title: Embrace

Author: Jessica Shirvington

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Genre: Urban Fantasy, YA, Romance

Release Date: March 6th 2012

Source: Received from Publisher

Purchase: Amazon

It starts with a whisper: “It’s time for you to know who you are…” Violet Eden dreads her seventeenth birthday. After all, it’s hard to get too excited about the day that marks the anniversary of your mother’s death. As if that wasn’t enough, disturbing dreams haunt her sleep and leave her with very real injuries. There’s a dark tattoo weaving its way up her arms that wasn’t there before. Violet is determined to get some answers, but nothing could have prepared her for the truth. The guy she thought she could fall in love with has been keeping his identity a secret: he’s only half-human—oh, and same goes for her. A centuries-old battle between fallen angels and the protectors of humanity has chosen its new warrior. It’s a fight Violet doesn’t want, but she lives her life by two rules: don’t run and don’t quit. When angels seek vengeance and humans are the warriors, you could do a lot worse than betting on Violet Eden…

My Review:

What can I say about this book? Well, for starters, it’s an amazing read from start to finish. It also has some great characters that keep this amazing story going.

If you haven’t read this yet, that’s ok, I’m going to give you a little run-down of how this amazing story goes without going into too much detail about it so you can run out and get your own copy to see what happens. *wink wink*

Violet is like most teenagers (and to whom this story revolves around), young and secretly in love with her friend. But unlike most teenagers, she has a secret about herself that only a few know about, and she is NOT one of them. She is Grigori, and she must make the ultimate decision about her future just after her 17^th birthday.

Lincoln is strong and athletic, and is also secretly in love with Violet, but soon, he too, has to make the ultimate decision. And that choice could cost him everything with Violet.

And then we have Phoenix, strong, dark, mysterious, everything Lincoln is not. He too likes Violet, but unlike Lincoln, he makes his feelings known from the start.

Who will Violet choose? And what decision will she make about her future? You’ll just have to pick up the book to find out.

Final Thoughts:

This book was, as stated above, amazing! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that likes a good romantic love triangle and angels. Or anyone that just loves a good book.

Star Rating: 

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