tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8151762171290451142024-02-21T11:03:44.932-06:00Raindrop ReadsReviews for YA books.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-74184878974204600412013-07-05T18:55:00.000-05:002013-07-05T18:57:38.618-05:00Review: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell<h2>
Review: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15745753-eleanor-park" target="_blank">Eleanor & Park</a> by <a href="http://rainbowrowell.com/blog/" target="_blank">Rainbow Rowell</a></h2>
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<b>Publishing Date: </b>February 26, 2013</div>
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<b>Publisher: </b>St. Martin's Press</div>
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<b>Pages: </b>325 (Hardcover)<br />
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<b>My Rating: </b>5/5</div>
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<b>Summary (From Goodreads):</b><br />
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<i>"Bono met his wife in high school," Park says. </i></div>
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<i>"So did Jerry Lee Lewis," Eleanor answers. </i></div>
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<i>"I’m not kidding," he says. </i></div>
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<i>"You should be," she says, "we’re sixteen." </i></div>
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<i>"What about Romeo and Juliet?" </i></div>
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<i>"Shallow, confused, then dead." </i></div>
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<i>''I love you," Park says. </i></div>
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<i>"Wherefore art thou," Eleanor answers. </i></div>
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<i>"I’m not kidding," he says. </i></div>
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<i>"You should be."</i> </div>
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Set over the course of one school year in 1986, <i>Eleanor and Park</i> is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under.
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<b><br /></b>I am far beyond astounded by this book.<br />
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I can not put into words all the things I have felt, and, my gosh, the tears I have cried due to <i>Eleanor & Park</i>. <br />
<b><br /></b>Ever since reading <i><a href="http://raindropreads.blogspot.com/2013/04/review-fault-in-our-stars-by-john-green.html" target="_blank">The Fault in Our Stars</a></i>, I've been longing to read more contemporary fiction. So, when I saw how much all my friends and several of my favorite authors had all been saying how awesome <i>Eleanor & Park</i> was, I decided I'd read it next.<br />
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I figured, considering the fact that the last contemporary book I read was all about a girl who had cancer, that <i>Eleanor & Park</i> would be a cute, lighthearted read in comparison. Little did I know. <br />
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This book is filled to the brim with emotion. Gallons of it. Rivers of it. Oceans of it. Not a page went by that I was not thoroughly enthralled by the beauty or the reality of this book. I read the entire book in a single day because I simply refused to put it down. <br />
<b><br /></b>Rainbow Rowell beautifully tells a love story that is so simple, and yet somehow unlike any other. It's something seen a million times before, and yet, never seen quite like this. It's heartbreakingly beautiful.<br />
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And, even though you may cry more than you think it should be possible to cry over a book, you won't want to take it back. Something about this book, charming and touching as it is, will gain a special place in your heart. Something you won't want to let go of.<br />
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And isn't that the whole point of a book? To add a little something to each and every person who reads it? I think Eleanor & Park definitely added something beautiful to me, and it's something I'm glad to have. <br />
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Favorite Quote:<br />
<i>"Eleanor was right. She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something."</i><br />
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Peace out, Girl Scouts,<br />
-Maggs</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-26968028993481705202013-07-03T10:19:00.000-05:002013-07-03T10:27:39.734-05:00Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver<h2>
Review: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6482837-before-i-fall" target="_blank">Before I Fall</a> by <a href="http://www.laurenoliverbooks.com/" target="_blank">Lauren Oliver</a></h2>
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<b>Publishing Date: </b>October 25, 2010</div>
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<b>Publisher: </b>Harper</div>
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<b>Pages: </b>470 (Paperback)<br />
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<b>My Rating: </b>4/5</div>
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<b>Summary (From Goodreads):</b></div>
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What if you only had one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?<br />
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Samantha Kingston has it all: looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it turns out to be her last.<br />
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The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. Living the last day of her life seven times during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.
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I'm not quite sure what to do about this review.<br />
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It's funny, as soon as I finished reading the book, I had so much to say, so many thoughts to convey. I was two people all at once: the busy-bee inside of me was thinking of all the things I could include in my review, every single feeling I had and why I felt that way. I was bursting at the seams with thoughts and emotions that I had to let out. And then there was the calm side of me, that just sat for about 15 minutes (yes, there were tears) and listened to my heartbeat. I was amazed at how alive I was, how beautiful it was to just be. </div>
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So, as I start this review, I have one million things to say, but absolutely no idea how to say them.</div>
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War between the two sides of me.</div>
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I suppose I'll start with the fact that things have more than a surface-level meaning, and how well<i> Before I Fall</i> conveys that. For the first half of this book (if not more), I hated it. I hated everything about it. I loathed the self-obsessed main character (Sam Kingston), I loathed her friends' (and her own) lack of morality, and I thought it was nothing more than another stupid, "teen-y", idiotic book that makes it look okay to party and do drugs and have sex as much as you want. I had basically already written the hate-review in my head.</div>
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And then I got farther in. I realized that this book was not glorifying immorality, but rather using it to represent mistakes. Big mistakes, small mistakes, stupid mistakes, all those stupid things we humans do. The mistakes that come back to bite you in the butt. And that's exactly what happened: it bit Sam in the butt. If she hadn't been doing what she'd been doing, she never would have been in a position where she was going to die anyway. </div>
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But it didn't just make it seem like humans should never make mistakes and that we're awful beings if we do mess-up. It showed that you have to learn from mistakes. You have to pick yourself up again when you fall, and you have to learn to do it right. Even if it takes you a thousand tries. You have to learn. </div>
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So is there content that I most definitely don't agree with in this book? Yes. But I think that Lauren Oliver used it to show that just because we mess up doesn't mean that things can never be right again. Doesn't mean that things can never be beautiful again. Sure, it might not (and probably won't) be easy, but there's always a way to come back from your worst nightmare.</div>
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Another thing this book beautifully depicts is that there can't just be bad or good in life. There can't just be white and black. Sure, individual actions can be right or wrong, but life? No, life is a complete mix of the beautiful and the horrible. On her best days, Sam still managed to mess something up. On her worst days, she still managed to find at least a shred of goodness within her. Nothing is white and black in life, and nothing is white and black about people. </div>
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So, my feelings for this book are kind of in a jumble. I'm sure I could have waited a couple of hours, or even days, to write this review, and I'm sure it would have been much clearer. But, if <i>Before I Fall</i> taught me one thing, it's that you can look back on a moment and remember it. You can summarize your feelings, or maybe even feel them again. But you'll never be in that specific moment ever again. So I wrote this review in the moment, writing how I feel right here, right now. <br />
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You guys, go enjoy your own moments. </div>
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Peace out, girl scouts.</div>
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-Maggs</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-24502196391081821562013-05-04T17:47:00.000-05:002015-12-29T20:17:28.743-06:00Review: A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers<h2>
Review: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/95617.A_Voice_in_the_Wind" target="_blank">A Voice in the Wind</a> by <a href="http://www.francinerivers.com/" target="_blank">Francine Rivers</a></h2>
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<b>Publishing Date: </b>February 18, 1998 (First published 1993)</div>
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<b>Publisher: </b>Tyndale House Publishers</div>
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<b>Pages: </b>520 (Paperback)<br />
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<b>Rating: </b>5/5</div>
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<b>Summary (From Goodreads):</b><br />
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Torn by her love for a handsome aristocrat, a young slave girl clings to her faith in the living God for deliverance from the forces of decadent Rome.
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<b><br /></b>...wow.<br />
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I honestly have no idea how to respond to that.<br />
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Never had I read such an emotionally-involved and beautifully articulated story as this one. <br />
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This story takes place a few years after Christ's death, set mostly in Rome. Somehow, Francine has managed to create one of the most beautiful stories I have ever read in my life. <br />
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A Voice in the Wind is one of those stories where you get overly-attached to the characters, and you've absolutely no idea why. With the exception of Hadassah. With Hadassah, you absolutely know why you love her.<br />
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Hadassah is probably the sweetest, most beautiful woman whom I've ever read about. Her faith is miles beyond any I've ever seen, and she serves with true love all those whom she is around. <br />
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This book as a whole pushed my faith to its limits, challenging me to serve more, to love more, and to be all that I can be. I'd encourage anyone and everyone to read this, for all that is has within its pages. This is one of those books that has forever changed my perception of life. I believe that it will be one of those books that I look back on and say, "Part of the reason I am the person that I am is because I read that book."<br />
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This book is a challenge to everyone's faith, from the unbeliever to the strongest of Christians. <br />
<b><br /></b>So, I'll close with quote:<br />
"Unless we have something worth dying for, Atretes, we've nothing worth living for."<br />
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Peace out, Girl Scouts,<br />
-Maggs<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-50330120489141007072013-04-09T07:46:00.003-05:002015-12-29T20:18:14.663-06:00Review: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson<h2>
Review: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson</h2>
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<b>Publishing Date: </b>May 10, 2011 (first published 1999)</div>
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<b>Publisher: </b>Square Fish</div>
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<b>Pages: </b>214 (Paperback)</div>
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<b>Summary (From back cover):</b><br />
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Melinda Sordino's freshman year is off to a horrible start. She busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, and now her friends- and even strangers- all hate her.<br />
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Months pass and things aren't getting better. She's a pariah. The lowest of the low. Avoided by everyone. But eventually, she'll reveal what happened at the party. And when she finally speaks the truth, <i>everything </i>will change.</div>
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I'm not really sure how I feel about Speak. In my opinion, it was very middle of the road. Not too great, but also not bad at all. <br />
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There were some things about this book that were absolutely beautiful. Times when Laurie seemed to stun me with her eloquence or her observation of something so often dismissed or not thought of. <br />
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Other times, however, I was left just sort of facepalming.<br />
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I will give her this, however, that Speak is perhaps one of the most accurate portrayals of a high school that I've ever seen in my life. Often, high schools are either WAY overplayed on the strictness/ how they work, or WAY underplayed. This version wasn't quite perfect, but man, it was close. I was seriously impressed with the accuracy of her portrayal.<br />
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Speak was a good book, but not the best. Other than what I've already mentioned, I don't really have anything bad or good to say about Speak. It was not a waste of time, but I also would not put it at the top of my to-read list.<br />
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<b>Rating:</b> 3/5<br />
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<b>Favorite Quote:</b> "You have to know what you stand for, not just what you stand against."<br />
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Peace out, Girl Scouts!<br />
-Maggs<br />
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(Note- This is my OPINION. I know tons of people who really liked this book, so if you think you'd be interested, I'd go ahead and suggest that you check it out. I didn't think it was a poorly-written book. It just wasn't one of my favorites.)<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-57310023343296064302013-04-04T17:54:00.002-05:002015-12-29T20:20:35.516-06:00Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green<h2>
Review: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11870085-the-fault-in-our-stars?ac=1" target="_blank">The Fault in Our Stars</a> by <a href="http://johngreenbooks.com/" target="_blank">John Green</a></h2>
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<b>Publishing Date: </b>January 10, 2012</div>
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<b>Publisher: </b>Dutton Books</div>
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<b>Pages: </b>368 (Hardcover)</div>
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<b>Summary (From Goodreads):</b><br />
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Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.<br />
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Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.<br />
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Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.</div>
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I've been wanting to write this review for a long time. There's so much to say, but it's almost impossible to say it. I've tried to make myself just sit down and do it. Get it done. Rip it off like a band-aid. But each time, I just couldn't find the words. Or, at least, the right words. I think I've finally found them though.<br />
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Love is not entirely composed of happy things. If it were, what would love be at all? When people think of love, it is usually in that ooshy-gushy, holding hands, iwillloveyouforeverandever, type thing. But love is made up of more than that. Love is made up of more than just happiness.<br />
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Love can be made up by dreary things, sad things, things that cause countelss emotions. Sure, happy things are a part of love, but they are not love in its entirety. Love can be for something melancholy or gloomy, like a rainy day. Love can be the hard things in life, like rough days that somehow make you stronger. The days that, in the end, push you harder and make you grateful. That is why a heart-breaking, emotional, tear-jerking story such as this one can even be described as love, and can be described as something completely beautiful.<br />
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This is the story of cancer patient, Hazel Lancaster. She grew up knowing that she was going to die. She constantly stays tethered to an oxygen tank, and hasn't really had many true friends since she was diagnosed.<br />
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Until she meets Augustus Waters. A cancer survivor himself, something about Hazel catches his eye when they see each other at a "Cancer Support Group" meeting. He asks her to come see a movie at his house with him, and that is the beginning of everything.<br />
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These characters are some of my favorites, possibly ever. As opposed to a strong, kick-butt, dystopian female who can do everything for herself, Hazel is quite dependent on others. But she is still strong. Stronger than I've ever been, at least. She finds a way to maintain her independence and her own opinion, even when everyone else tells her she can't. Even the knowledge that she's dying won't let her stop living. <br />
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And Augustus Waters. Oh, Augustus Waters. What can I say? He's a great person. Absolutley beautiful. I don't really know what to say about him. You can just read about him. I don't think I could find any words that accurately describe him. He's just his own person. The only words to desrcibe him are Augustus Waters.<br />
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I'll admit, for a long time, I didn't really want to read this book. I was worried that I would go into it with high expectations and it wouldn't live up to what everyone else claimed it was. In additon, I rarely read contemporary. I like to stick with dystopia, urban fantasy, medieval fiction, etc. Mainly, fiction with a good bit of action in it. So, this book had no general appeal to me.<br />
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About a month ago, though, I saw my best friend put up a review for this book. She gave it five stars and went on about how good and emotional it was. So, I decided it was worth a shot. Little did I know what I was walking into.<br />
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I've never cried over a book like I have for The Fault in our Stars. I've cried hard, but not like this. This was sheer, raw emotion. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever read, which makes it hard to talk about. It cuts deep into you, reaching into emotions buried so deeply inside, you barely knew you had them at all. It touches a part of us that we all fear, a part of our hearts that is innate in nearly every human.<br />
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So, what can I say? Read the book.<br />
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<b>Favorite Quote:</b> “My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations.” <br />
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<b>Rating:</b> 5/5<br />
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Peace out, Girl Scouts,<br />
-Maggs<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-11886896190255926682013-03-24T16:11:00.000-05:002015-12-29T20:36:13.303-06:00Review: Delirium Stories by Lauren Oliver<h2>
Review: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16177805-delirium-stories" target="_blank">Delirium Stories</a> by <a href="http://lauren-oliver.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Lauren Oliver</a></h2>
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<b>Publishing Date: </b>March 5, 2013</div>
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<b>Publisher: </b>Harper Collins</div>
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<b>Pages: </b>208 (Paperback)</div>
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<b>My Rating: </b>5 of 5 stars</div>
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<b>Summary (from Goodreads):</b></div>
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For the first time, Lauren Oliver's short stories about characters in the Delirium world appear in print. Originally published as digital novellas, Hana, Annabel, and Raven each center around a fascinating and complex character who adds important information to the series and gives it greater depth. This collection also includes an excerpt from Requiem, the final novel in Oliver's New York Times bestselling series.<br />
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Hana is told through the perspective of Lena's best friend, Hana Tate. Set during the tumultuous summer before Lena and Hana are supposed to be cured, this story is a poignant and revealing look at a moment when the girls' paths diverge and their futures are altered forever.<br />
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Lena's mother, Annabel, has always been a mystery--a ghost from Lena's past--until now. Her journey from teenage runaway to prisoner of the state is a taut, gripping narrative that expands the Delirium world and illuminates events--and Lena--through a new point of view.<br />
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And as the passionate, fierce leader of a rebel group in the Wilds, Raven plays an integral role in the resistance effort and comes into Lena's life at a crucial time. Crackling with intensity, Raven is a brilliant story told in the voice of one of the strongest and most tenacious characters in the Delirium world.
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Ok, so as far as who should read this, I seriously would not suggest reading these stories (except for <i>Hana</i>) if you have not already read <i>Delirium </i>and <i>Pandemonium</i>. Otherwise, you should be fine. I'll split this review up into each individual story, so this will be a 3-part review. <br />
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<b><i>Hana</i>: </b><br />
This is the first of the novellas that Lauren published, and I've been dying to read it ever since it came out. I do not have an e-reader, though, so I restrained myself (I could not contain my excitement when they decided to publish all the stories in one paperback).<br />
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In <i>Requiem</i>, we get to see life from Hana's point of view. In Requiem, however, Hana has already been cured. So, even though it is extremely interesting to see life from a cured's POV, I've always wanted to see something from Hana's POV before she was cured. And <i>Hana </i>offers us a glimpse into her mind that last summer she spent with Lena.<br />
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I'd say that of the 3 stories, <i>Hana </i>was the least mind-numbing, and yet still, it was entirely emotionally involved. <br />
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<b><i>Annabel:</i></b><br />
WELL. Let's just say, have the tissues and a pint of your favorite ice cream ready.<br />
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This tells the story of Lena's mother as a teenager before they attempted to cure her, and also from her point of view in the crypts. <br />
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I never really liked Lena's mother in the primary works of the Delirium trilogy. She seemed so distant, and almost abandoning of Lena. And this story completely changes things. You finally see her motives, her thoughts, and all that she's been through. And I now think an entire series should be written just from Annabel's POV.<br />
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And... well... <i>*sob*</i>.<br />
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<b><i>Raven: </i></b><br />
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Raven's story was by far my favorite. I think, after just having read <i>Annabel</i>, I was still totally wrapped up in her story, and completely expecting <i>Raven </i>to be a drag. As much as I've always wanted to see something from Raven's POV, I still was not expecting it to be that good. Little did I know.<br />
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Pretty much, this is all I can say about <i>Raven</i>:<br />
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So, if you're a Delirium fan, and you were thinking of skipping over these novellas just because you think that they won't add much to the story or that they will be a waste of time: DON'T. It's worth every penny. I promise.<br />
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Peace out Girl Scouts,<br />
-Maggs</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-34329489102414070372013-03-21T07:24:00.000-05:002015-12-29T20:39:23.297-06:00Review: Prodigy by Marie Lu<h2>
Review: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13414446-prodigy?ac=1" target="_blank">Prodigy</a> by <a href="http://www.marielu.org/" target="_blank">Marie Lu</a></h2>
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<b>Publishing Date: </b>January 29, 2013</div>
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<b>Publisher: </b>Putnam Juvenile</div>
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<b>Pages: </b>371 (Hardcover)</div>
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<b>My Rating: </b>2 of 5 stars</div>
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<b>Summary (From Goodreads): </b></div>
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June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request—June and Day must assassinate the new Elector.<br />
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It’s their chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long.<br />
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But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she’s haunted by the choice ahead. What if Anden is a new beginning? What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood—what if the Patriots are wrong?
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<b>Warning- </b>If you have not read <i>Legend</i>, the first book in the trilogy, there may be a few spoilers in this review. Sorry guys. I'll start reading some first installments or stand-alones soon, I promise!<br />
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My expectations for <i>Prodigy </i>were sky high. I expected this to be an awesome, adrenaline-filled, emotional, blow-it-out-of-the-park book. Unfortunately, however, <i>Prodigy </i>met absolutely none of my standards.<br />
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First things first though: THERE IS HOPE. At the end, I got somewhat emotionally involved (for the first time in the entire book), so it's possible that <i>Champion </i>(book 3) could be a complete mind-numbing blowout of a book. <i>Prodigy </i>just didn't happen to be in my case. <br />
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For starters, <i>Prodigy </i>had the worst case of Bridge Book (basically Middle Child Syndrome for books) that I have seen in quite some time. I've seen authors make their bridge books absolutely awesome before, but on average, most middle books in a series are exactly what the name implies: a bridge from the first book to the last book. <i>Prodigy </i>was definitely one of them. It just lacked emotion on my part.<br />
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Also, June seriously got on my nerves this time. And she might have been likable, if Marie Lu had not written EVERY FLITTING THOUGHT THAT WENT THROUGH HER MIND. I understand, you want to make a point that June pays attention to detail. But I also do not need, or want, to know every little piece of information around her. I do not care if <i>"Ninety-two seconds later, we stop before a set of wide glass doors. Then someone scans a thin card (about three by five inches large, black, with a reflective sheen and a gold Republic seal logo in one corner) across the entry screen." </i>Especially if that card had absolutely zero relevance to the scene. I'm not recreating it. I do not need its dimensions or its every single little detail.<br />
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She also keeps up with time on an inhuman level. Not merely to the minute, but to the second. NO ONE IN REAL LIFE KNOWS THAT IT'S BEEN EXACTLY 92 SECONDS THEY'VE BEEN WALKING DOWN A CORRIDOR. In <i>Legend</i>, June seemed very elite, but still human. In <i>Prodigy</i>, however, she took on very robotic characteristics, and it got quite annoying. Marie made it out to be that June had virtually no weaknesses. Frankly, I can't stand a main character who knows and can do everything. And that's more or less what June became in this book.<br />
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Moving away from June, let's talk about the dialect. I normally never get mad at authors for putting dialect into their stories. It has to be seriously bad for me to get annoyed. But. Marie did not use slang or dialect (to my recollection) in <i>Legend</i>, but she chose to in <i>Prodigy</i>. Which seriously bugs me. It would be fine if they were set years apart. But there is only a week or two between the end of <i>Legend </i>and the beginning of <i>Prodigy</i>. DIALECT AND SLANG DO NOT CHANGE IN THE COURSE OF TWO WEEKS. She didn't even mildly work it in. She added the word "..., yeah?" to the end of almost every. single. sentence. And she made up a word, goddy, which she also proceeded to use at least 50 (or more) times in the novel. I am all for an author using dialect or slang, but only if it is executed well.<br />
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In addition to all of <i>that</i>, the writing also felt somewhat childish to me. There were <i>several </i>times that I though, "There is <i>no way</i> that an adult woman was writing this." Many parts of the book were ridiculous, irrational, or implausible. <br />
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Finally, the lack of emotional connection seriously irked me. In several parts of this story, I felt like I was simply reading words on a page rather than being completely immersed in a story. Any time there were serious moments, I had an urge to laugh. I'm normally a person who gets emotionally involved in a book pretty easily. But this book was so cheesy that I laughed through over half of the scenes that were supposed to come off as emotional or intense. <br />
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There were several moments when you could tell that Marie Lu was attempting to give the audience a good scare or to blow their minds. But most of those moments were either super-predictable, or just kind of, "eh." Any time she was shooting for extreme emotion, I found myself with a severe lack of reaction.<br />
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So. To say that I was disappointed with <i>Prodigy </i>is an understatement. I expected so much from this book, and it certainly did not come to par in my opinion. I've read several reviews of friends who liked it, but it just really irked me. I am a very detail-oriented person, and I feel like the details just weren't really thought about in this installment. I will still most certainly read <i>Champion</i>, because I think Marie could pull off an awesome book if she writes as well as she did with <i>Legend</i>. So, I'm crossing my fingers that <i>Champion </i>is the best book of them all, and hopefully the series can only go upward from this point.<br />
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Peace out, Girl Scouts,<br />
-Maggs</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-51556178539338630472013-03-19T11:06:00.001-05:002013-03-19T11:06:21.549-05:00Top Ten Tuesday (#4)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.com/p/top-ten-tuesday-other-features.html" target="_blank">Top Ten Tuesday</a> is a weekly meme held by <a href="http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Broke and Bookish</a> that asks readers to tell their top ten picks for the given list each week.<br />
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This week's topic: Top Ten books I HAD to buy, but are still sitting on my shelf unread<br />
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I don't really have a ton of these, but I do have enough unread classics laying around that someone should probably shoot me for my negligence. <br />
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1. <b><i>The Riddle</i> by Alison Croggon</b>- I read the first in this series, The Naming, dying because I loved it so much, and still have never gotten around to reading the next one.<br />
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2. <b><i>Sense and Sensibility </i>by Jane Austen</b>- I absolutely loved Pride and Prejudice. When I finished reading it, slightly less than a year ago, I immediately had to start Sense and Sensibility. I bought it, made it about 10 pages through, then quit because I was bored. I still haven't gotten around to reading it.<br />
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3. <b><i>Jane Eyre</i> by Charlotte Bronte</b>- Sorry, guys. I was on a British lit kick when I bought all this stuff. But I had just seen the movie (my parents got it for me for Christmas), and so of course, I <i>had </i>to read the book! But I never got around to it.<br />
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4. The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart- Ok, so in addition to British lit, I had a pretty big interest-in-King-Arthur kick when I saw some documentary or movie or something about him on History channel. I can't really remember what it was that I saw, but I immediately had to go out and by a book on King Arthur. What did it do, however? It sat on my shelf. And it's been sitting there since a summer or two ago. I feel kind of bad for it. <br />
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5. <b><i>The Two Towers/ The Return of the King</i> by J.R.R. Tolkien</b>- Oh, this is by far the worst. I hide my face in shame at the fact that I haven't read these yet. I read the first book, and it took me an eternity to do so, and so I just never started the second two. They're still sitting on my shelf, begging for me to read them. I <i>really </i>need to get to that.<br />
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Ok, so that is my list of bookish shame. What about you guys?<br />
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Peace out Girl Scouts,<br />
-Maggs<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-82435056209138575692013-03-18T11:23:00.001-05:002013-03-18T11:23:39.554-05:00Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer<h2>
Review: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13206760-scarlet" target="_blank">Scarlet </a>by <a href="http://www.marissameyer.com/" target="_blank">Marissa Meyer</a></h2>
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<b>Publishing Date: </b>February 5, 2013</div>
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<b>Publisher: </b>Fiewel and Friends</div>
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<b>Pages: </b>452 (Hardcover)</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>My Rating: </b>5 of 5 stars</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Summary (from Goodreads): </b>*Warning- there will be some major spoilers in the snippet if you have not read the first book in the series, <i>Cinder</i>. I'm not really touching on Cinder's p.o.v. in <i>Scarlet </i>in this review, though, so it's still safe and spoiler-free :) Just skip to the bottom of the dotted lines. </div>
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<br />
The fates of Cinder and Scarlet collide as a Lunar threat spreads across the Earth...<br />
<br />
Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison- even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.<br />
<br />
Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder.<br />
<br />
Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.</div>
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<div>
<br />
This is no average "Little Red Riding Hood" story. No, in this tale, Little Red exchanges her riding hood for a red hoodie, and her somewhat childish name for a more feminine and "grown-up" version, Scarlet. This time, when Grandma goes missing, Scarlet pulls out the guns. She will leave no stone un-turned until she finds her grandmother. And in this tale, Scarlet chances upon an entirely different kind of wolf.</div>
<div>
<br />
Set in futuristic France, Scarlet and her grandmother have been farmers for as long as she can remember. She has lived with her grandmother since she was a little girl, and has barely spent any time away from her ever since she moved in. <br />
<br />
Until.<br />
<br />
One day, her grandmother disappears. And Scarlet can't find her for weeks. She has to keep up with the farm while she searches, though, so she has to trust the authorities to search while she keeps farming and dealing with clients. <br />
<br />
Soon, on a delivery, Scarlet meets a very interesting person. A street fighter named Wolf. And thus began her adventures, along with an entirely new type of danger entering her life. But she won't give up. Not until she finds her grandmother. <br />
<br />
Scarlet is a feisty chick. She won't let someone tell her what she can and cannot do. She knows what she wants, and she's not going to stop until she gets it. She's a kick-butt heroine, and there's no way anyone but herself will define her.<br />
<br />
Wolf. Oh my goodness, Wolf. I'd say he's pretty much unlike any male protagonist I've read in my life, ever. Just... *swoon*. He's there for Scarlet when she needs him, but he knows that she is strong enough to stand on her own. He is strong, but not prideful. He is caring, but careful to keep control of his emotions. Wolf has his faults, like everyone else, but rather than not acknowledging them or even taking pride in them, he works to overcome them. He pushes to be the best he can be.<br />
<br />
There are some books that you must take in slowly. Reading carefully, calmly, and making sure you really understand a sentence or paragraph before you move on. Other books, you can read at a steady pace, happy and always moving forward, but stopping to smell the roses along the way. Some books, however, you must devour. You slip a toe into the water, only to discover that you're being pulled into the deep by a violent tide. Scarlet is one of those books. <br />
<br />
I began slowly, trying to ration out a certain amount of chapters or pages per day. But no. Once I began, I couldn't help myself. I was constantly reading, caught up in the non-stop action. It's a book that will leave you wondering where the time went, why it all went by so fast. But it's beautiful, and you'll love it anyway. It's worth every second of reading. For every ounce of expectation you have after reading Cinder, it spits back tenfold the amount of emotion.<br />
<br />
<b>Favorite quote from the book:</b><br />
"But her grandmother had never suggested she could think the same of Scarlet. You'll be fine, she always said after a skinned knee, a broken arm, after her first youthful heartbreak. You'll be fine, because you're strong, like me."<br />
<br />
Peace out, Girl Scouts,<br />
-Maggs</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-34639368187674998452013-03-14T19:14:00.001-05:002015-12-29T20:47:21.963-06:00Review: Requiem by Lauren Oliver<h2>
Review: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9593913-requiem" target="_blank">Requiem</a> by <a href="http://lauren-oliver.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Lauren Oliver</a></h2>
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<b>Publishing Date: </b>March 5, 2013</div>
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<b>Publisher: </b>HarperCollins</div>
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<b>Pages: </b>391 (Hardcover)</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>My Rating: </b>5 of 5 stars</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Summary (from Goodreads): </b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
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They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.<br />
But we are still here.<br />
And there are more of us every day.<br />
<br />
Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.<br />
<br />
After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.<br />
<br />
Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.
Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.
But we have chosen a different road.
And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.<br />
We are even free to choose the wrong thing.
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</h3>
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<b>WARNING: If you have not read the first two books in this trilogy, Delirium and Pandemonium, there WILL be spoilers in this review for those books. </b></div>
<b><br /></b>
Now, on with the review.<br />
<br />
Oh, how it hurts me to know that this is the final installment of the Delirium series. <br />
<br />
But what goes up what must come down, just as what begins must end. Even if it's beautiful.<br />
<br />
Delirium holds the mark of a truly good book, in that it connects with you. It connects with every piece of you, and you feel like you're there. Like you're a part of it. Like you're in love. Like you're hurt. Like you're scared. I still strongly think that Alex is my first love. Because he is. This story became a part of me, a part of my emotions. It is by no means an average book.<br />
<br />
Delirium, Pandemonium, and Requiem flow seamlessly. They are set in a futuristic America where love is considered to be a disease known as the Deliria. There is a cure administered to all citizens above the age of 18 that eradicates love from the recipient's mind. There are boundaries, curfews, laws, and walls in this America. Things to keep people safe. To keep them from the Deliria. <br />
<br />
Lena Haloway is the main character in this series. She is an average, rule-following girl. And then she catches the Deliria. And everything changes. She falls in love, and these books are her story.<br />
<br />
Delirium.<br />
Book 1.<br />
This is the beginning. The easy, beautiful, painless beginning. It eases you into the series. Sweeps you off your feet. Makes you fall in love. It draws you in.<br />
<br />
Pandemonium.<br />
Book 2.<br />
This book begins with hurt, pain, and a bitterness that almost creeps into yourself. But it begins to build you back up. You begin to love the characters again, even if you thought you never would, after Delirium. Slowly, but surely, you fall in love with the characters all over again.<br />
<br />
Requiem.<br />
Book 3.<br />
The heartbreak that this book begins with is nearly unbearable. The most awful, terrifying choice lies before Lena, and it breaks your own heart nearly as much as it is breaking hers. It makes it unbearable to put the book down. You are left reading for hours on end, dying to know what happens in the end, yet still willing the book to last forever because you don't want the story to stop. <br />
<br />
Requiem is beautiful. Not merely for the fact that people chose to love even when love seemed so impossible, but also for the fact that people chose to stand up. They didn't let corrupt leaders control them. They stood up for what they believed in. <br />
<br />
Even though this book seems to be focused on love, it's really about so much more than that. It's focused on everything that's worth fighting for. The Delirium series, and especially Requiem, shouts a message to the world. It screams that there cannot be freedom without responsibility, there isn't health without pain, and there can never be love without choice. If you're going to fight for something, make it something worthwhile. Something you believe in. Something good. And give it all you have.<br />
<br />
Favorite quote from the book:<br />
"This is what amazes me: that people are new every day. That they are never the same. You must always invent them, and they must always invent themselves, too<span style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">." </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">P. S. - After you read the book, if you're looking for a really good tear-jerker, you can read Lauren Oliver's goodbye letter to Lena <a href="http://www.epicreads.com/blog/lauren-olivers-goodbye-letter-to-lena/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Love you guys,</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">-Maggs</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-70050635342151662742013-02-16T22:05:00.001-06:002013-02-16T22:05:35.436-06:00Back from Living Under a Rock.AHHH!<br />
<br />
I MISSED YOU GUYS SO MUCH.<br />
<br />
Sorry I've been such a blogging jerk for the past 3 weeks. I've totally ignored all notifications, comments, and friends' blog posts.<br />
<br />
So, basically, I've been gone from the blogosphere for about 3 weeks straight.<br />
<br />
Ok, so, long story short, I got the flu (week 1), then I got behind in school and had not time to read or blog until I got caught up (week 2 and 3). <br />
<br />
But I'm back! And finally reading again. It's quite nice. :)<br />
<br />
So, anyway, I am currently devouring Scarlet by Marissa Meyer, and should have a review up by next weekend at the latest.<br />
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Guys. It's so good. I can't even describe. Feels. <br />
<br />
Anyways, so glad to be back. I missed you guys a ton.<br />
<br />
Love you all!<br />
<br />
Peace out girl scouts!<br />
-MaggsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-29924577444846017382013-01-26T21:05:00.003-06:002013-01-27T08:36:13.930-06:00Review: The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson<h2>
Review: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10429092-the-girl-of-fire-and-thorns" target="_blank">The Girl of Fire and Thorns</a> by <a href="http://www.raecarson.com/" target="_blank">Rae Carson</a></h2>
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<b>Publishing Date: </b>September 20, 2011</div>
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<b>Publisher: </b>Greenwillow</div>
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<b>Pages: </b>423 (Hardcover)<br />
<br />
<b>My Rating: </b>5 of 5 stars</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Summary (from Goodreads)</b><br />
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
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<i>Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Elisa is the chosen one.
But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can't see how she ever will.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i> Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.
And he's not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people's savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i> Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn't die young.
Most of the chosen do.</i></div>
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<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Every book I read leaves an impact in some way or another on
my life. Some mediocre. Some bad.
Some good. Some thought-provoking. Some light-hearted. Some inspiring. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Every once in a while, though, a book comes along that blows
away all the others. A book that makes
you laugh, makes you scream, makes you cry, makes you vomit from
heart-brokenness, makes you die a little bit on the inside, makes you happy,
makes you sad, makes you scared, makes you angry, and makes you fall in love.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>The Girl of Fire and
Thorns</i> is one of those books.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many books have made me cry, even if just a little, over the
course of my life. I've read exactly
three books, however, that have evoked enough emotion to force me to curl up into the fetal position in my
closet and bawl for 20 (or more) minutes, shaking from head to toe. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The first-</b> <i><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7260188-mockingjay" target="_blank">Mockingjay</a></i>
by Suzanne Collins</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The second-</b> <i><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9593911-pandemonium" target="_blank">Pandemonium</a></i>
by Lauren Oliver</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The third-</b> <i><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10429092-the-girl-of-fire-and-thorns" target="_blank">The Girl of Fire and Thorns</a></i> by Rae Carson</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I could say so much about any of these books. I could talk about how the characters are
emotionally-attaching, or how they’re strong, or how heartbroken they leave
you. I could talk about how well-written
they are, or how wonderful the plot is.
But, in all honesty, these books evoke so much emotion, that there’s no way
to describe them other than for you to experience it yourself.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, this review is going to be short and sweet, because I
just don’t have much to say. Or rather, I have far too much to say, and I can't possibly fit it all into one post.</div>
<br />
<br />
One of my favorite quotes from the book:<br />
<i>"The beauty of the night sky offers strange comfort. It is unchanging. Immune to the wars of this world. Something to count on."</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<br /></div><a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/4676009/?claim=k38yqe7xpzk">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-41828340287389086922013-01-15T07:00:00.000-06:002013-01-15T07:00:08.381-06:00Top Ten Tuesday (#3)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisKXlxZdd7X1xJu0gXEKRn4Av7Nh1TDdGCl4yiCrNyvozGGN_A9fJB7KKouBs1mPRdbglP4VXKntKccxrXCcD_Lkc00Vp49_ezugztmbLDS9flsR5Al3hyphenhyphenDYiISqZiVqokDNkCgx09GMw/s1600/TTT3W.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisKXlxZdd7X1xJu0gXEKRn4Av7Nh1TDdGCl4yiCrNyvozGGN_A9fJB7KKouBs1mPRdbglP4VXKntKccxrXCcD_Lkc00Vp49_ezugztmbLDS9flsR5Al3hyphenhyphenDYiISqZiVqokDNkCgx09GMw/s1600/TTT3W.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.com/p/top-ten-tuesday-other-features.html" target="_blank">Top Ten Tuesday</a> is a weekly meme held by <a href="http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Broke and Bookish</a> that asks readers to tell their top ten picks for the given list each week.<br />
<br />
This week's topic: Top Ten 2013 Debuts I'm Looking Forward To<br />
<br />
EEP. I'm super excited about this one. There are soooo many books that are coming out this year that I've been waiting ages for.<br />
<br />
1. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9593913-requiem" target="_blank"><i>Requiem </i>by Lauren Oliver</a>- Oh gosh. Emotions. Feels. Cannot contain. Too much.<br />
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<br />
2. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13414446-prodigy" target="_blank"><i>Prodigy </i>by Marie Lu</a>- OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG. I CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS ONE. I'm so excited. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7UO8HlvciSv1QSVGAGyKyBO63a7_uRygfSuBXTBC5A3Ccrzn1wkkIseRb0txNQv6kIrkxyUgJl9JCO6mbOiQjScjDncFNBzMrLX4PyNl90Mh53C_nSKiyjBY5HbmxCpLnv_3veyEbwY/s1600/prodigy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7UO8HlvciSv1QSVGAGyKyBO63a7_uRygfSuBXTBC5A3Ccrzn1wkkIseRb0txNQv6kIrkxyUgJl9JCO6mbOiQjScjDncFNBzMrLX4PyNl90Mh53C_nSKiyjBY5HbmxCpLnv_3veyEbwY/s200/prodigy.jpg" width="128" /></a></div>
<br />
3. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10616322-untitled" target="_blank"><i>Detergent </i>by Veronica Roth</a>- JK, that's not the real title. But that's what her fans jokingly call the third novel that is hopefully going to come out late this year. But seriously, I'm stoked for this book. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGKP-JJVZ5SyKe9i2RJ5UWeyvtISyOMrWrWqMz5PAFRgstfSzSM6jIZ_dgVfOOBIUo_wOMdtdCmgQANpg8p0i_ObLvDadpZWvHka85SBBFJFfS-WYnPWVHEUX8dx72KCzlNAjhhfxSG8M/s1600/detergent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGKP-JJVZ5SyKe9i2RJ5UWeyvtISyOMrWrWqMz5PAFRgstfSzSM6jIZ_dgVfOOBIUo_wOMdtdCmgQANpg8p0i_ObLvDadpZWvHka85SBBFJFfS-WYnPWVHEUX8dx72KCzlNAjhhfxSG8M/s1600/detergent.jpg" /></a></div>
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4. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12842115-just-one-day" target="_blank"><i>Just One Day</i> by Gayle Foreman</a>- I normally don't read a ton of stuff like this, but this book actually looks really interesting to me. It came out late last week (still technically a 2013 release), but I haven't had time to pick it up yet. I can't wait!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwjosxGTe4mzKW7MMNVtPYswPjb7W2XVLSfl0yjcixRiDPPahxv6lsHhrv02vFe2BQukbF_EfbtmMcXRsbAidTg4g9jBClJc735fG_Bh8zVboP0TTswvkF5efsx-KbtPUDoLsfkb58gaM/s1600/Just+one+day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwjosxGTe4mzKW7MMNVtPYswPjb7W2XVLSfl0yjcixRiDPPahxv6lsHhrv02vFe2BQukbF_EfbtmMcXRsbAidTg4g9jBClJc735fG_Bh8zVboP0TTswvkF5efsx-KbtPUDoLsfkb58gaM/s200/Just+one+day.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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5. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12578294-mind-games" target="_blank"><i>Mind Games</i> by Kiersten White</a>- I've actually already posted this as a "Waiting-On-Wednesday", and for those of you who have been around long enough to see that post, you understand just how much I cannot wait for this book. So. Stinking. Pumped.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZqRjC0zxV5y8XfX52LYkZIHbS1yR6i93yfvw7XTSsZ3qC1C0CrnkNYJcJEoKW3PelzN6Z3UeZbcSpEpY4A24ct4y5SZ7j-6EHo8uB79bjGJTeNvYE1Mttp0rQ89YfiBHpDlRDYZ3zAKc/s1600/Mind+Games.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZqRjC0zxV5y8XfX52LYkZIHbS1yR6i93yfvw7XTSsZ3qC1C0CrnkNYJcJEoKW3PelzN6Z3UeZbcSpEpY4A24ct4y5SZ7j-6EHo8uB79bjGJTeNvYE1Mttp0rQ89YfiBHpDlRDYZ3zAKc/s200/Mind+Games.jpg" width="126" /></a></div>
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6. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11044367-taken" target="_blank"><i>Taken </i>by Erin Bowman</a>- I think this one could be good or bad. But I'm pulling for good. Hopefully I'll like it a lot!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJwNtNOPHviqphi_KwzvxaImVS7FpsRrxSPlc8GNsdGwFz8psxlJjdpPhrKIb2RsyeKRsRnCXiOGweMqv3dgEau-SKSXmZ1uIewaYnRQUJTctlxa3PeVcNnBAkUd5ZSfu8p0_2J-gg_IQ/s1600/taken.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJwNtNOPHviqphi_KwzvxaImVS7FpsRrxSPlc8GNsdGwFz8psxlJjdpPhrKIb2RsyeKRsRnCXiOGweMqv3dgEau-SKSXmZ1uIewaYnRQUJTctlxa3PeVcNnBAkUd5ZSfu8p0_2J-gg_IQ/s200/taken.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
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7. (Oh no! We're getting closer to the end of the list!) <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12399857-the-ward" target="_blank"><i>The Ward</i> by Jordana Frankel</a>- Gotta love some good old dystopian. ;)<span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"> </span><br />
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8. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8113512-poison" target="_blank"><i>Poison </i>by Bridget Zinn</a>- Looks like it could be a pretty good story!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQv_YLq7Qx4PEWksQT5LxJrv8VFNRs07h4z_N4svX21Yip8XkupDdEK0PxGkFJoR1iumrks16Ua_ee6EzEE22uz37rlPT1VFFekUO6LSdMpPS-ZwWPOOotRAqhf06BAl_AJRypZ4JeZRs/s1600/poison.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQv_YLq7Qx4PEWksQT5LxJrv8VFNRs07h4z_N4svX21Yip8XkupDdEK0PxGkFJoR1iumrks16Ua_ee6EzEE22uz37rlPT1VFFekUO6LSdMpPS-ZwWPOOotRAqhf06BAl_AJRypZ4JeZRs/s200/poison.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
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9. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15776693-options" target="_blank"><i>Options </i>by Abbi Glines</a>- I think the cover's pretty interesting on this one. Not much of a blurb so far, but it sounds pretty cool. I definitely can't wait until they come out with a little more info on it or I start seeing reviews!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYg4HJ97gYMU3cLUiA_jtSpDsg0j1aYxlmqG5mqrHLdXQdSE-7rp0IYzas9yHNiPk0EPtuIMkij3hzdb9EY88T6t45wss-Hg37536YvrzgttS5iuEiPGbdJM57rWluAa0iCREN2Wz6uNs/s1600/options.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYg4HJ97gYMU3cLUiA_jtSpDsg0j1aYxlmqG5mqrHLdXQdSE-7rp0IYzas9yHNiPk0EPtuIMkij3hzdb9EY88T6t45wss-Hg37536YvrzgttS5iuEiPGbdJM57rWluAa0iCREN2Wz6uNs/s200/options.jpg" width="126" /></a></div>
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10. Last, but <i>definitely</i> not least, <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14759651-emerald-green" target="_blank"><i>Emerald Green</i> by Kerstin Gier</a>! I just finished reading Ruby Red, the first book in the trilogy, and plan to read Sapphire Blue, the next book as soon as possible! If all goes well with the second book, I'm sure I won't be able to wait for book three! Plus... just look at the cover. <br />
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So, those are my top 10 cannot-wait-for releases of 2013! What about you guys?<br />
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Peace out Girl Scouts!<br />
-MaggsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-9361729927625186172013-01-14T14:55:00.000-06:002013-01-14T14:58:03.571-06:00Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer<h2>
<span style="color: #666666;">Review: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11235712-cinder" target="_blank">Cinder</a> by <a href="http://www.marissameyer.com/" target="_blank">Marissa Meyer</a></span></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc_w_TRDzLAaWQHVriZZU42YXLiJwcWJR8NTGOSf0thf2MgJ1ppCRzVBjIatUA324O1xNE0HW94tjrv2jJs0muNNnRg159WGeVlgUkjnhpJi2zl1KfjznD0o8NKMipib8ecgJiV_PgQ_U/s1600/cinder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc_w_TRDzLAaWQHVriZZU42YXLiJwcWJR8NTGOSf0thf2MgJ1ppCRzVBjIatUA324O1xNE0HW94tjrv2jJs0muNNnRg159WGeVlgUkjnhpJi2zl1KfjznD0o8NKMipib8ecgJiV_PgQ_U/s320/cinder.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<b>Publishing Date: </b>January 3, 2012</div>
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<b>Publisher: </b>Feiwell & Friends</div>
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<b>Pages: </b>390 (Paperback)</div>
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<b>My Rating: </b>5 of 5 stars<br />
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<b>Summary (from Goodreads) </b><br />
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<i>Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . </i></div>
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<i>Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.
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Oh, <i>Cinder</i>.<br />
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My heart? Yeah. That's not there anymore. It's gone. Torn to shreds. Thanks to you.<br />
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So, seriously. Growing up, Cinderella was always my favorite princess (except, I was always pretty jealous of Belle's library. I mean come on. Look at it.)<br />
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But, aside from the library in <i>Beauty and the Beast</i>, growing up, Cinderella was always my favorite. I just loved the idea of a rags to riches story, and I loved how Cinderella was sweet and kind and it payed off for her in the end, no matter how unlikely it was. I mean seriously, if the GRIMM BROTHERS will give Cinderella a happy ending, this girl <i>clearly </i>deserves a happy ending. They weren't exactly known for kindness in their fairy tales.<br />
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But, this wasn't quite the case in <i>Cinder</i>.<br />
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Instead of befriending little forest creatures, Cinder in our story befriends androids. She is New Beijing's best mechanic. She is a cyborg, and many of the normal humans look down on her because of that. She is treated as second rate. It reminded me very much of racial prejudices that existed in America between whites and blacks a few decades ago. <br />
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Anyhow, Cinder has a lot against her. She's "down-and-out". I love underdogs. Because, typically, there's so much more to them than there is to someone who seems to have everything or to be winning. <br />
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One day, Prince Kai, son of the emperor, stops by Cinder's kiosk in the market asking for some help with his android. This proves to be merely the beginning of her adventures. You see, there's something very unique about Cinder, which I won't give away for spoilers' sake. But she becomes a rather high point of interest over at the castle for more than a couple of reasons.<br />
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Don't even let me start on Kai. Oh, I could gush on him for hours. He is sweet, kind, handsome, responsible, and he cares for his country. Let's just go ahead and add him to my list of book boyfriends. Pretty high up there, at that. <br />
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Cinder is sweet, obedient, and kind. She thinks of others before herself, and does what's best for the people she cares about. She deserves the world, just like the classic Cinderella.<br />
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As the story moves on, things seem to be getting better for Cinder. And then <i>boom</i>, Marissa Meyer decides to tear my heart to shreds. Oh my gosh. The emotions. I can't even put into words. That ending. I'm still crying on the inside.<br />
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When I picked up this book, I wasn't expecting much at all. I was expecting a four-star-at-best, happy, fun, Cinderella story. But no. WARNING: THIS BOOK WILL KILL YOU INSIDE. But you'll love it anyway. It was so amazing, so emotionally-attaching and heartfelt, and I know that it's going to be on my mind for quite some time. I am ever-so-eagerly awaiting the sequel, <i>Scarlet</i>, that comes out in (EEP) less than a month.<br />
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So, is this novel real? Not at all. The emotional damage? VERY. VERY. REAL.<br />
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Favorite quote from the book:<br />
<i>"Even in the future, the story begins with Once Upon a Time."</i><br />
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Peace out Girl Scouts!<br />
-Maggs</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-22041614977659917782013-01-12T09:14:00.003-06:002013-01-12T09:21:45.034-06:00Review: Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier<h2>
<span style="color: #666666;">Review: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12358349-ruby-red" target="_blank">Ruby Red</a> by <a href="http://kerstingier.com/" target="_blank">Kerstin Gier</a></span></h2>
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Publishing date: <span style="font-weight: normal;">May 22, 2012 (first published January 6, 2009)</span></h4>
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Publisher: <span style="font-weight: normal;">Square Fish</span></h4>
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<b>Pages:</b> 352 (Paperback)</div>
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<b>My rating: </b>3.5 stars</div>
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<b>Summary (from Goodreads): </b><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon—the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.</span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;"> <strike> </strike> </span></span></h4>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">Well.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">I don't really have much to say about this book. There's just nothing that <i>stellar </i>about it. Is it bad? No, not at all. But is it great? Definitely not.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I'd say that this entire book was setting up for the rest of the series. Because of that, however, it felt like over the course of first 330 pages (out of 352), absolutely <i><b>nothing</b></i> happened. Nothing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Because Gwen, the main character, has never been prepared at all for time travel, the first few scenes where her time travel is uncontrolled were pretty interesting. But other than that, I'd say that the whole book was leading up to the end. Nothing really got exciting. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Actually, until the last two chapters, I was dead set on giving this book 3 stars, mainly because it was so cliche, average, and predictable. The end however, in my opinion, should have been the climax of the first book. She shouldn't have ended it there, as it was the first time that I really started to become emotionally invested in the book. Gier spent way, <i>way </i>too much time on exposition and introduction to the story. So, when I finally hit the last chapter/epilogue, interesting things began to happen. This was the only thing that...</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"> a) gave me hope for the rest of the series</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"> b) bumped it up another half star.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">As far as characters go, Gwen was pretty annoying. I know that she's new to time travel and all, but she acts like a child 99% of the time. It was very frustrating for me to have to sit there and watch her figure things out, because often, she was pretty whiny and incredibly slow about it. Hopefully, in the next book, she'll be less of an amateur to time travel, so she'll have things sorted out a bit more.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Gideon, however, I liked a good bit. He was pretty annoying at the beginning of the book, as he was extremely arrogant, but as the book progressed, he softened up a little bit and stole my heart. Even when Gwen was freezing him out (annoying child that she is), he was patient with her, even though it may not have shown on the outside. Gwen's biggest problem with getting to know him was that she couldn't pick up on his mannerisms very well, so she was always at odds with him. I'm pretty sure that will get better later though, because towards the end of <i>Ruby Red</i>, they definitely were less angry with each other and more tolerant of one another. Who knows? We'll see what the rest of the series holds.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">So, Ruby Red was a good book, but I wouldn't say that it's much more interesting than your average time travel book. I do think, however, that the plot could pick up in the next two books, which makes me anxious to read the rest of the series.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Favorite quote from the book: </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><i>“If we were in a film, the villain would turn out to be the least-expected person. But as we aren't in a film, I'd go for the character who tried to strangle you.”</i> (I went for humor this time. Nothing too deep I picked up on.)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Peace out Girl Scouts!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">-Maggs</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-28608978848310637632013-01-06T15:10:00.000-06:002013-01-06T18:37:28.767-06:00Review: Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols<h2>
Review: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12989112-such-a-rush" target="_blank">Such a Rush</a> by Jennifer Echols</h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg78qVwfaowkEePYvsBVKc9tNScg6reRcJuyLx0oJHhtnNK3mkU5xIxcJV4GU5bVNrOSnKSzvZxGKKEN2FhEu-BrB1oMQyaWOb7OhO3a2oaiO_xIhQgL130hpoQBHhXbY-HmV2divTVGW4/s1600/such+a+rush.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg78qVwfaowkEePYvsBVKc9tNScg6reRcJuyLx0oJHhtnNK3mkU5xIxcJV4GU5bVNrOSnKSzvZxGKKEN2FhEu-BrB1oMQyaWOb7OhO3a2oaiO_xIhQgL130hpoQBHhXbY-HmV2divTVGW4/s320/such+a+rush.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
<h4>
Publishing Date: <span style="font-weight: normal;">July 10, 2012</span></h4>
<h4>
Publisher: <span style="font-weight: normal;">MTV Books</span></h4>
<h4>
Pages: <span style="font-weight: normal;">336</span></h4>
<div>
<b>My Rating:</b> Abandoned (0 of 5 stars)</div>
<h4>
Summary (from Goodreads):<br /><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">Heaven Beach, South Carolina, is anything but, if you live at the low-rent end of town. All her life, Leah Jones has been the grown-up in her family, while her mother moves from boyfriend to boyfriend, letting any available money slip out of her hands. At school, they may diss Leah as trash, but she’s the one who negotiates with the landlord when the rent’s not paid. At fourteen, she’s the one who gets a job at the nearby airstrip.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">But there’s one way Leah can escape reality. Saving every penny she can, she begs quiet Mr. Hall, who runs an aerial banner-advertising business at the airstrip and also offers flight lessons, to take her up just once. Leaving the trailer park far beneath her and swooping out over the sea is a rush greater than anything she’s ever experienced, and when Mr. Hall offers to give her cut-rate flight lessons, she feels ready to touch the sky.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">By the time she’s a high school senior, Leah has become a good enough pilot that Mr. Hall offers her a job flying a banner plane. It seems like a dream come true . . . but turns out to be just as fleeting as any dream. Mr. Hall dies suddenly, leaving everything he owned in the hands of his teenage sons: golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson. And they’re determined to keep the banner planes flying.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">Though Leah has crushed on Grayson for years, she’s leery of getting involved in what now seems like a doomed business—until Grayson betrays her by digging up her worst secret. Holding it over her head, he forces her to fly for secret reasons of his own, reasons involving Alec. Now Leah finds herself drawn into a battle between brothers—and the consequences could be deadly.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></i>
</h4>
<h4>
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;"> <strike> </strike> </span></span></h4>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">Welp. I'm done. I've hit my stupid limit for the year.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">And it's the first week of January. </span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">No. Just no. Let me put that in Spanish for you:</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;"><i>No.</i> </span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">My philosophy is that a book should always, always, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">always </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">equal or exceed its cover in awesomeness. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">This book did not even come close.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">Wow. This is my first abandoned book. Ever. Which is saying </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">a lot</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">. No matter how much I loathe a book, I usually try to manage through until the end of the novel.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">So... now that we have a picture of just how much I did not like this book, let's get to why.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">First- Sex references. They were everywhere. Not just here and there, not just occasionally, but </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">everywhere</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">. This is pretty much the main reason that I abandoned the book. I won't tolerate that. I kept thinking </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">Okay, this is going to get better in a second. She'll get off of it. </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;"> But no. She'll take breaks sometimes, but the references are the norm, not vice versa. Seriously, what happened to marriage, or morality for that matter?</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">Second- Drugs/Cigarettes/Cursing. Too much of it for my tastes. There wasn't a ton of cursing, but there was a lot of underage drinking, which I highly disapprove of, as well as some references to drugs other than alcoholic beverages.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">Third- Pure </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">Stupidity</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">. If I wasn't completely disgusted at this book for reasons 1 or 2, then I was either really bored with lack of plot or the sheer stupidity of the story line that did somewhat exist. The sentence, <i>"Heeeeeeey."</i> was actually in a single conversation 3 times. THREE. TIMES. Just... no.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">Fourth- Severe lack of adrenaline/adventure. When I picked this up, I was thinking, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">Yay! A story about flying and adrenaline! </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">But no. When I did </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">finally</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;"> make it to a scene where she flies the plane, which took forever to get to, it was entirely boring. Whatever "danger" she felt she was in, she definitely didn't show it. She may have felt a bit apprehensive, but there was an extreme lack of strong emotion to me. This book was not even remotely centered on the adrenaline of flying, but rather her whining the </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">entire. time.</em><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">So, I sincerely apologize if I just insulted one of your favorite books, but this novel insulted both my morals and my intellect. I was not going to leave that unsaid.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">So, first book of 2013. Way to kick off the year. I can safely say that Jennifer Echols and I will not be meeting again.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-63999457486920773192013-01-02T09:39:00.001-06:002013-01-02T09:39:58.069-06:00Waiting On Wednesday (#5)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFrdKIWpXAAywchcE4TUiJp0DeYbQONJxoSb2BmUDKoLisheHZHF2GlfkdNKc8ABC5rjdKt7xgAuGhhXB8mSUnYfsgg8FGivhtB9dntKuzQcGYAEq6YT8tOyp3oQlsBpA1XXwIvabNVeI/s1600/Waiting+On+Wednesday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFrdKIWpXAAywchcE4TUiJp0DeYbQONJxoSb2BmUDKoLisheHZHF2GlfkdNKc8ABC5rjdKt7xgAuGhhXB8mSUnYfsgg8FGivhtB9dntKuzQcGYAEq6YT8tOyp3oQlsBpA1XXwIvabNVeI/s200/Waiting+On+Wednesday.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by<a href="http://breakingthespine.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"> Breaking the Spine</a> that asks bloggers to feature books that they are ever-so-eagerly waiting for.<br />
<h4>
Top of my to-read list for this week:</h4>
<div>
<b><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13414446-prodigy" target="_blank">Prodigy</a> by <a href="http://www.marielu.org/" target="_blank">Marie Lu</a></b></div>
<h4>
Publication Date: <span style="font-weight: normal;">January 29, 2013</span></h4>
<h4>
Snippet from Goodreads:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7UO8HlvciSv1QSVGAGyKyBO63a7_uRygfSuBXTBC5A3Ccrzn1wkkIseRb0txNQv6kIrkxyUgJl9JCO6mbOiQjScjDncFNBzMrLX4PyNl90Mh53C_nSKiyjBY5HbmxCpLnv_3veyEbwY/s1600/prodigy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7UO8HlvciSv1QSVGAGyKyBO63a7_uRygfSuBXTBC5A3Ccrzn1wkkIseRb0txNQv6kIrkxyUgJl9JCO6mbOiQjScjDncFNBzMrLX4PyNl90Mh53C_nSKiyjBY5HbmxCpLnv_3veyEbwY/s200/prodigy.jpg" width="128" /></a><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request—June and Day must assassinate the new Elector.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">It’s their chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she’s haunted by the choice ahead. What if Anden is a new beginning? What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood—what if the Patriots are wrong?</span></i><br />
<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></i>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">EEEEP. Guys. I'm so excited. There is LESS THAN A MONTH left until Prodigy comes out. Ah, I thought I'd never see the day. I'm so excited. Legend was amazing, and I've been waiting (rather impatiently) since the day I finished it to read Prodigy. I can't wait to see where Lu is going with this one.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">So, what are you guys waiting on this Wednesday?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">Peace out Girl Scouts!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">-Maggs</span></h4>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-85888445953163105842013-01-01T08:00:00.000-06:002013-01-01T08:00:11.436-06:00Top Ten Tuesday (#2)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisKXlxZdd7X1xJu0gXEKRn4Av7Nh1TDdGCl4yiCrNyvozGGN_A9fJB7KKouBs1mPRdbglP4VXKntKccxrXCcD_Lkc00Vp49_ezugztmbLDS9flsR5Al3hyphenhyphenDYiISqZiVqokDNkCgx09GMw/s1600/TTT3W.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisKXlxZdd7X1xJu0gXEKRn4Av7Nh1TDdGCl4yiCrNyvozGGN_A9fJB7KKouBs1mPRdbglP4VXKntKccxrXCcD_Lkc00Vp49_ezugztmbLDS9flsR5Al3hyphenhyphenDYiISqZiVqokDNkCgx09GMw/s1600/TTT3W.jpg" /></a></div>
<a href="http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.com/p/top-ten-tuesday-other-features.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #444444;">Top Ten Tuesday</span></a> is a weekly meme held by <a href="http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #444444;">The Broke and Bookish</span></a> that asks readers to tell their top ten picks for the given list each week.<br />
<br />
This week's topic: Top Ten Books I Resolve to Read in 2013<br />
<br />
Happy New Years everyone! I know that sometimes I definitely have books that I <i>really </i>want to read, but never end up getting to. These are the top ten books that I seriously don't want to forget this year.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0aD-TDeRw9j1xt2bOOtxusEh0fX2JvlVoWG0Ya0cqKo-l0ZXGaO5R03B0SEwIWPBNQAFTSeM4OpCWpvL9MoHr7lInfhJbsDSLY9bbNBdOp_dlvrtQ6ikAyV6n1aaJrDQo7rqHd8q_8yI/s1600/Girl+of+Fire+and+Thorns.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0aD-TDeRw9j1xt2bOOtxusEh0fX2JvlVoWG0Ya0cqKo-l0ZXGaO5R03B0SEwIWPBNQAFTSeM4OpCWpvL9MoHr7lInfhJbsDSLY9bbNBdOp_dlvrtQ6ikAyV6n1aaJrDQo7rqHd8q_8yI/s200/Girl+of+Fire+and+Thorns.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
1. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10429092-the-girl-of-fire-and-thorns" target="_blank">The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson</a>- I've been wanting to read this book for <i>ages</i>. My best friend recommended it to me forever ago (I think it was around March-ish 2012) and I just never really got around to reading it.<br />
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2. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8525590-wither" target="_blank">Wither by Lauren DeStefano</a>- another one I've been meaning to read for quite a while.<br />
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3. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8098298-birthmarked" target="_blank">Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brian</a>- I've heard this series is great and can't wait to read it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-DoOk0kdHvmhA1r4Usu4DLII00uQHzzm6KNTGC-wOrv0cbF6Qduhl3NX1yUK819OsviZwqgX4q-_LC2lRYtcrBA1rtiGBUn7t58yVhltGhpxCebqxqjCsbrBL_krhlp8BlqFlHSM6Haw/s1600/enclave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-DoOk0kdHvmhA1r4Usu4DLII00uQHzzm6KNTGC-wOrv0cbF6Qduhl3NX1yUK819OsviZwqgX4q-_LC2lRYtcrBA1rtiGBUn7t58yVhltGhpxCebqxqjCsbrBL_krhlp8BlqFlHSM6Haw/s200/enclave.jpg" width="133" /></a>4.<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7137327-enclave" target="_blank"> Enclave by Ann Aguirre</a>- Well, for those of you who do not know, I write a pretty good bit. But rarely do I ever stick to a single story line. I usually abandon most of my novels by Chapter 5, merely because I get tired of writing them, the idea is similar to another book, or I think up something better. Well, this story kind of piques my interest because my best friend told me that it was very similar to a story that I was writing before. It made me definitely want to check this book out, and I just haven't yet.<br />
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5. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7823592-reckless" target="_blank">Reckless by Cornelia Funke</a>- I <i>loved </i>the Inkheart series and I can't wait to try out some more of her writing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5m_5XDyE1gI2wbCJp1tchNC4rp0UuSx9n1leOj_IHgDKBkymQ0V31wMgI7G-owlnRlU-dxgWxlMtIISq48l03ZbAOplD_28ykwnG7FbsgDb58wIVwpKUMmQjTqxUCnn42trZ7qlPSMz0/s1600/shatter+me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5m_5XDyE1gI2wbCJp1tchNC4rp0UuSx9n1leOj_IHgDKBkymQ0V31wMgI7G-owlnRlU-dxgWxlMtIISq48l03ZbAOplD_28ykwnG7FbsgDb58wIVwpKUMmQjTqxUCnn42trZ7qlPSMz0/s200/shatter+me.jpg" width="132" /></a>6. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15241.The_Two_Towers" target="_blank">The Two Towers</a>, <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18512.The_Return_of_the_King" target="_blank">The Return of the King</a>, and <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5907.The_Hobbit" target="_blank">The Hobbit</a> by J.R.R. Tolkien- Well, I think it goes somewhat unsaid that any self respecting reader should read the LOTR series and the Hobbit. I started and finished The Fellowship of the Ring this year, but set it aside after that to take a breather. I want to finish these books this year.<br />
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7. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10429045-shatter-me" target="_blank">Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi</a>- Yet another one I planned to read ages ago but never got around to.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc_w_TRDzLAaWQHVriZZU42YXLiJwcWJR8NTGOSf0thf2MgJ1ppCRzVBjIatUA324O1xNE0HW94tjrv2jJs0muNNnRg159WGeVlgUkjnhpJi2zl1KfjznD0o8NKMipib8ecgJiV_PgQ_U/s1600/cinder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc_w_TRDzLAaWQHVriZZU42YXLiJwcWJR8NTGOSf0thf2MgJ1ppCRzVBjIatUA324O1xNE0HW94tjrv2jJs0muNNnRg159WGeVlgUkjnhpJi2zl1KfjznD0o8NKMipib8ecgJiV_PgQ_U/s200/cinder.jpg" width="132" /></a>8. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10677277-article-5" target="_blank">Article 5 by Kristen Simmons</a>- I've heard this book is phenomenal, and I definitely can't wait to see what all they hype is about.<br />
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9. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11235712-cinder" target="_blank">Cinder by Marissa Meyer</a>- Growing up, Cinderella was always my favorite princess. Now, there's a Cinderella story with a YA twist? I'm in. I've heard it's great and I cannot wait to read this one.<br />
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10. Last, but not least of course, is <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13069681-speechless" target="_blank">Speechless by Hannah Harrington</a>- I had this book on my TBR list long before it came out, patiently waiting for it, but sadly, it came out after I started this crazy school year and took a small break from reading. Now that I'm back, I definitely can't wait to read it!<br />
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So, these are the top 10 for me, but believe me, there are many, <i>many </i>more. Do you have a top book that you are going to read in 2013?<br />
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Peace out Girl Scouts!<br />
-Maggs<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-25164261299741407072012-12-31T07:35:00.000-06:002012-12-31T07:35:06.770-06:00End of the Year Book Survey- Part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibA7OxwBiqMernehtYn6-YgUD53n7-btEY0i8DMtJGkmqnjf1dwo7SghY4ss5Dlff6I3mu18LJOIw2Jj0ismARRZSuQRgRtY8ZdftaUxvRbNVqDX2iETJnZL8xE7Kqa3Nv22lDm6LGoVc/s1600/2012+book+survey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibA7OxwBiqMernehtYn6-YgUD53n7-btEY0i8DMtJGkmqnjf1dwo7SghY4ss5Dlff6I3mu18LJOIw2Jj0ismARRZSuQRgRtY8ZdftaUxvRbNVqDX2iETJnZL8xE7Kqa3Nv22lDm6LGoVc/s320/2012+book+survey.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Hosted by: <a href="http://www.perpetualpageturner.com/2012/12/end-of-year-book-survey-2012.html" target="_blank">The Perpetual Page-Turner</a></div>
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Hey everyone! Time for part two of the survey. To see part one, click <a href="http://raindropreads.blogspot.com/2012/12/end-of-year-book-survey.html" target="_blank">here</a>. </div>
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<i><span style="color: #888888; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Book Blogging/Reading
Life in 2012</span></i></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2012? </span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.4pt;"> </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 18.4pt;">-Well, I'm brand new to Blogger this year, so all the blogs I saw were new. But some of my favorite blogs that I've found are...</span></div>
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<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.516666412353516px;">Abby @<a href="http://wintrywords.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Wintry Words</a></span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.516666412353516px;">Joie @<a href="http://joie-joiedelire.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Joie de Lire</a> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.516666412353516px;">Keertana @<a href="http://ivybookbindings.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Ivy Book Bindings</a></span></span></li>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.5px;">Check all these blogs out! They're awesomesauce. </span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2012? </span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.4pt;"> </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 18.4pt;">-Definitely <a href="http://raindropreads.blogspot.com/2012/09/review-legend-by-marie-lu_17.html" target="_blank"><i>Legend </i>by Marie Lu</a>. I had so much fun writing it, and I think it was one of my funnier ones.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3. Best discussion you had on your blog?</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-Not really sure on this one. Most of my book discussions happened in person with my best friend or on Goodreads.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4. Most thought-provoking review or discussion you read on
somebody else’s blog?</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-Once again, I've got no clue. I didn't really bookmark things like this.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals,
virtual events, memes, etc.)?</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-I really liked the Top Ten Tuesday meme hosted by <a href="http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Broke and Bookish</a>. I know that that's a pretty common meme, but I really had fun writing them and felt a little more connected to the Blogger community when I started them.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6. Best moment of book blogging in 2012?</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-The moment I finally got my blog set up and Blogger figured out. I think I started dancing around my room out of sheer joy.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by
comments or views)?</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-In both comments and views, <a href="http://raindropreads.blogspot.com/2012/08/review-maze-runner-by-james-dashner.html" target="_blank"><i>The Maze Runner</i> by James Dashner</a> was by far my most popular review.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-Well, there are probably a few, and I really want my blog to become better all around, but if there was a single review out of 2012 I wish more people had seen, I'd probably say it'd be one of my more recent reviews, <a href="http://raindropreads.blogspot.com/2012/12/review-palace-of-stone-by-shannon-hale.html" target="_blank"><i>Palace of Stone</i> by Shannon Hale</a>. There weren't a ton of views on that one, and no comments, but I really liked the book and felt pretty proud of the review.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores,
etc.)?</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-Gotta be <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>. Wow, hard to believe I've only been a member since March. I'd seen it before, but never really took interest or set up an account until this year, and was totally disappointed in myself for not doing so before now.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that
you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">-Well, if you count the 2012 Goodreads Reading Challenge, then yes. Originally, I had set my goal for a measly 35 books or so. Maybe even less. I can't really remember. But I eventually set it for forty, and in the end, I ended up reading 48. Not a huge total, but I was pretty proud of it and hope to grow next year.</span></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #888888; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Looking Ahead…</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2012 But Will Be Your Number 1
Priority in 2013?</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-I definitely want to read <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10429092-the-girl-of-fire-and-thorns" target="_blank"><i>The Girl of Fire and Thorns </i>by Rae Carson</a>. I had looked forward to reading this for so long, but I never really got around to it.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2013?</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-This one is a tie between Requiem by Lauren Oliver, (Unnamed third book in the Divergent trilogy) by Veronica Roth, and Mind Games by Kiersten White </span></div>
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Reading/Blogging In 2013?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-This year, I want to reach (fingers crossed!) 100 followers! :)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">I also want to do my first self-hosted give-away.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">Well, that's it for 2012! Happy New Years everyone :)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">Peace out Girl Scouts!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-Maggs</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-45930690812430880652012-12-30T11:00:00.000-06:002012-12-31T07:36:18.762-06:00End of the Year Book Survey- Part 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibA7OxwBiqMernehtYn6-YgUD53n7-btEY0i8DMtJGkmqnjf1dwo7SghY4ss5Dlff6I3mu18LJOIw2Jj0ismARRZSuQRgRtY8ZdftaUxvRbNVqDX2iETJnZL8xE7Kqa3Nv22lDm6LGoVc/s1600/2012+book+survey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibA7OxwBiqMernehtYn6-YgUD53n7-btEY0i8DMtJGkmqnjf1dwo7SghY4ss5Dlff6I3mu18LJOIw2Jj0ismARRZSuQRgRtY8ZdftaUxvRbNVqDX2iETJnZL8xE7Kqa3Nv22lDm6LGoVc/s320/2012+book+survey.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Hosted by: <a href="http://www.perpetualpageturner.com/2012/12/end-of-year-book-survey-2012.html" target="_blank">The Perpetual Page-Turner</a></div>
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Ok, guys, I saw this book survey and loved it, so I thought I'd join in on the madness! It was a bit long though, so I split it up into two posts. I'll post the first half here, today, and the second half tomorrow on the last day of the year!<br />
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To see part 2, click <a href="http://raindropreads.blogspot.com/2012/12/end-of-year-book-survey-part-2.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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<span style="color: #888888; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Best In Books 2012</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1. Best Book You Read In 2012? </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.4pt;"> </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 18.4pt;">-Oh gosh. Don't make me pick! Oh, so hard. I think that if I <i>really </i>had to pick, it'd be <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11283552-delirium" target="_blank"><i>Delirium</i> by Lauren Oliver</a>. It was just one of those books that stuck in my memory and left me dying for more. I'm still on edge for Requiem (the final installment of the series) to come out.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To
Love More But Didn’t?</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.4pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 18.4pt;">-Ok, I have two on this one. The first is <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11410430-defiance" target="_blank"><i>Defiance </i>by C.J. Redwine</a>. I waited for what seemed like an eternity for this book to come out. I was so excited, ready to read it. The cover art was beautiful, and I was pretty sure that the story would be so intense. I even gave it four stars right after reading it. But, after sitting on it for a bit and thinking it through, I realized just how awful the book was compared to my expectations. It was alright, but nothing dazzling.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 18.4pt;">-Ugh. Biggest disappointment of all: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12677913-tiger-s-destiny" target="_blank"><i>Tiger's Destiny </i>by Colleen Houck</a>. I was SO. FREAKING. PUMPED. about this book. And what was it compared to the other three? Crap. Ugh. I barely skimmed the ending. This one seriously made me sad.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012? </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-Hm. Probably <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6137154-fire" target="_blank"><i>Fire </i>by Kristin Cashore</a>. I was really disappointed that this book was not going to be from the viewpoint of Katsa (the main character of <i>Graceling</i>, the first book). I thought that the series was definitely going downhill after book 1. In the end though, Fire turned out to be my favorite of the three books.</span></div>
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<b style="line-height: 18.4pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4. Book you recommended to people most in 2012?</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-Definitely <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11283552-delirium" target="_blank"><i>Delirium </i>by Lauren Oliver</a>. Like I said previously, it was just a wonderful book that stuck with me. Probably one of my favorites in YA. </span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5. Best series you discovered in 2012?</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-This one is <i>really </i>hard. I guess you could say the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I'd heard of them before, but I've never read them before this year. I was really excited to get to read them after hearing all the hype.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2012?</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-Probably <a href="http://www.allysoncondie.com/" target="_blank">Ally Condie</a>. I read the <i>Matched </i>series this year, and I loved her writing. She did really well, and I can't wait to see what else she'll come up with in the future.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new
genre for you?</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-I'd say this one goes to<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1118668.The_Book_Thief" target="_blank"><i> The Book Thief </i>by Marcus Zusak</a>. Before this book, I had scarcely picked up anything non-distopian or non-fantasy , but this book knocked me off my feet and definitely had me hanging on edge. I loved this one, even though it wasn't something I'd have typically read. It definitely opened my eyes to a broader spectrum of books.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2012?</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11735983-insurgent" target="_blank"><i>Insurgent </i>by Veronica Roth</a>. I'd read <i>Divergent </i>last year, unable to put it down, and this time I was definitely on edge. I don't think I put that book down for a minute after I got it. </span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">9. Book You Read In 2012 That You Are Most Likely To
Re-Read Next Year:</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-This is probably going to be (don't get bored with me) <i><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11283552-delirium" target="_blank">Delirium</a> </i>again. I've read this book several times already, and don't doubt that I'll read it several times again.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2012?</span></b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-Definitely <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11310465-matched" target="_blank"><i>Matched </i>by Ally Condie</a>. I'd say the cover was the only reason I picked up the book in the first place, but once I read it, I fell totally in love. Just look at it.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">11. Most memorable character in 2012? </span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-Surprisingly enough, it's good old Santiago from <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2168.The_Old_Man_and_the_Sea" target="_blank"><i>The Old Man and the Sea</i> by Ernest Hemingway</a>. Was it my favorite book? By no means at all. Not even close. But, since the book is <i>so </i>centrally focused on the Old Man and him alone, and since he goes through a large ordeal that only a handful of people could successfully make it through, he's pretty hard to forget.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">12. Most beautifully written book read in 2012?</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12833311-pride-and-prejudice" target="_blank"><i>Pride and Prejudice</i> by Jane Austen</a> takes the cake on this one, I believe. Oh, the writing in that one was absolutely <i>gorgeous</i>.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012? </span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-This one happens to be yet another unusual read for me, definitely out of my normal genres, <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2318271.The_Last_Lecture" target="_blank"><i>The Last Lecture</i> by Randy Pausch</a>. This one had me seriously thinking about life when I was done reading it. It was a dying man's account of his life, and it definitely caused me to want to live life to the fullest.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2012 to
finally read? </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-Dude. Freaking <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9275658-legend" target="_blank"><i>Legend </i>by Marie Lu</a>. It'd been on my TBR list from the day it came out (November 29th, 2011), but I didn't end up reading till extremely late this year. I couldn't believe that I had waited so long to read it when I was done. It was <i>extremely </i>good.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In
2012? </span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-Good grief. I'll never be able to choose an actual favorite, so here's a pretty good one from my most recent review:</span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">"We will not conquer our obstacles by running away from them.</span></span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> Speed does not matter, just that we do not stop." </span></i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 24.516666412353516px;">-<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12971616-the-rise-of-nine" target="_blank"><i>The Rise of Nine </i>by Pittacus Lore</a></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2012? </span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-Shortest: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2168.The_Old_Man_and_the_Sea" target="_blank">The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway</a>. It was so thin you could barely see it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">-Longest: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7664041-inheritance" target="_blank">Inheritance by Christopher Paolini</a>. Yowza, she's a biggun.</span></span></div>
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<b style="line-height: 18.4pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And
Dying To Talk To Somebody About It?</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-There was one scene in <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9593911-pandemonium" target="_blank"><i>Pandemonium </i>by Lauren Oliver</a> that I literally think made my heart stop beating. I called my best friend, Abby from <a href="http://wintrywords.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Wintry Words</a> immediately after I finished reading it. I won't say which scene for spoilers, but oh my goodness. Just writing this is making me a little edgy.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2012 (be it
romantic, friendship, etc)?</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-It's about to get all cliche up in here. But, I read<i> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15331.The_Fellowship_of_the_Ring_The_Lord_of_the_Rings_1_" target="_blank">The Fellowship of the Ring</a></i><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15331.The_Fellowship_of_the_Ring_The_Lord_of_the_Rings_1_" target="_blank"> by J.R.R. Tolkein </a>this year, so of course, I must say the friendship of Frodo and Sam. You just can't beat that.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">19. Favorite Book You Read in 2012 From An Author You Read
Previously?</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-Once again, I have to go with <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11735983-insurgent" target="_blank"><i>Insurgent </i>by Veronica Roth</a>. I love her writing so much, and this book definitely did not have a "bridge book" feel to it, even though it was the middle of the trilogy.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">20. Best Book You Read That You Read Based SOLELY On A
Recommendation From Somebody Else?</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/393146.The_Naming" target="_blank"><i>The Naming</i> by Alison Croggon</a>. I read this one, not really knowing how good or bad it would be, merely because my best friend had told me that she loved it. So, I read it. And BOOM. Masterpiece.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">So, this is the end of part one. Check back here tomorrow to see part two :)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">Peace out Girl Scouts!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px;">-Maggs</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-16290182462361685532012-12-29T17:12:00.004-06:002012-12-31T08:33:19.455-06:00Review: The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore<h2>
<span style="color: #666666;">Review: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12971616-the-rise-of-nine" target="_blank"><span style="color: #666666;">The Rise of Nine</span></a> by <a href="http://www.iamnumberfour.co.uk/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #666666;">Pittacus Lore</span></a></span></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuyLGX8N0MGtzc86Nmogkb3CoK7iQx458-2Vu2NiuJTvzQJxARe8NitoSax0e2dgVaITUjA7sjc3rE5ywB7aYfeY43X36AIUS2edNOp-h-ltdjeQlmYUQ88WU3_w6SLgl26dkWn7su7vI/s1600/Rise+of+Nine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuyLGX8N0MGtzc86Nmogkb3CoK7iQx458-2Vu2NiuJTvzQJxARe8NitoSax0e2dgVaITUjA7sjc3rE5ywB7aYfeY43X36AIUS2edNOp-h-ltdjeQlmYUQ88WU3_w6SLgl26dkWn7su7vI/s320/Rise+of+Nine.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="211" /></a></div>
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Publishing Date:<span style="font-weight: normal;"> August 21, 2012</span></h4>
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Publisher: <span style="font-weight: normal;">HarperCollins </span></h4>
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Pages:<span style="font-weight: normal;"> 360</span></h4>
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<b>My Rating: </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">4 of 5 stars</span></h4>
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<b>Summary (from Goodreads):</b></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Until the day I met John Smith, Number Four, I'd been on the run alone, hiding and fighting to stay alive.</span></i></div>
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<i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Together, we are much more powerful. But it could only last so long before we had to separate to find the others. . . .</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I went to Spain to find Seven, and I found even more, including a tenth member of the Garde who escaped from Lorien alive. Ella is younger than the rest of us, but just as brave. Now we're looking for the others--including John.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">But so are they.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">They caught Number One in Malaysia. Number Two in England. And Number Three in Kenya. They caught me in New York--but I escaped. I am Number Six. They want to finish what they started.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">But they'll have to fight us first.</span></i><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;"> <strike> </strike> </span></span></h4>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Note: This review may contain spoilers if you have not read the first two books in the series, <i>I Am Number Four</i> or <i>The Power of Six</i>.</span></span></h4>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">I'm not quite sure how I feel about this book. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">There were the awesome, the good, and the crappy. I'm not really certain which one won out, because it all seemed about equal to me. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">Let's work backwards and start with the crappy, working our way up. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">JOHN/NUMBER FOUR. YOU ARE SUCH A GIRL. I swear, he is ten times more emotional than I am. And I <i>am actually</i> a girl. Can it be sweet for guys to show their emotions sometimes? Yes. Absolutely. But when it is an entire, unending onslaught of insanely annoying feelings for a certain human girl *cough.. SARAH.. cough*, it begins to seriously irk me. And, basically, I never really liked Sarah in the first place. I've always favored Six in that whole deal. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Next on the scale, Marina/Seven. She is MUCH less agitating that John (thank goodness). But still, she tended to get on my nerves. I think because she depended on her Cepan to teach her and she never learned anything, and the fact that she lived in a convent for many, <i>many </i>years, she deserves a little bit of a break. But seriously, if I had been her, I would have explored my powers SO much more, and she just kind of let them be. Plus, she's had so little experience in the real world, that her emotions and descriptions of it are very child-like, which can also tend to be annoying at times. But, for being so new to the outside world and traveling, I can see that she handled it fairly well.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Now, the good. Ella/Ten is an awesome character, but she just hasn't "blossomed" yet. You can tell she has tons of potential to be awesome in the books to come, but The Rise of Nine seemed to be more of a transition for her from a shy little girl to a surviving Loric Guard. She's good in this book, but you can tell that she'll be <i>great </i>in the books to come.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><u><strike><br /></strike></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">And now, the awesome. Three words (or numbers, I guess): Six. Eight. Nine. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Six: As kick-butt as usual.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Eight: YES. I was so excited to meet Eight in this one. He was awesome, kept a pretty cool head in tough situations, and was also pretty kick-butt.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Nine: We met him in <i>The Power of Six</i>, but didn't really get a look at his personality. We definitely get to know him as he travels with Four in this book. He has a quick temper, can definitely handle himself in a fight, is pretty relaxed and playful, but knows when to step up his game.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Those three were pretty much the highlights of the book. They kept me interested and reading. What made it a bit of a downer, though, was that of those three people, only Number Six was a narrator. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">"But Maggie!" you say, "Why have you not mentioned Number Five?"</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><u><strike><br /></strike></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Well, I would love to mention him, but I have no freaking clue who he is. The suspense is killing me. If he (or she) doesn't show up in the next book, I may pull my hair out, because the mystery is seriously getting to me. I'm dying to know who it is. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Anyway, as far as plot goes, I'd say this one was just about as action-packed as the others. It definitely kept me on the edge of my seat at times, but there were other times when I'd hit a lull and had to set the book down for the sake of my sanity. It was a good book, but it was definitely clear that it was a bridge book in the series. I think all the best parts will begin in the next book, after we've (hopefully) met everyone and can finally get a little closer to the finish line.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><i>The Rise of Nine</i> was a good read, just not the best. I still eagerly await the rest of the books and cannot wait to see this story continued.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Favorite quote from the book:</span></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">"We will not conquer our obstacles by running away from them.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> Speed does not matter, just that we do not stop."</span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Peace out Girl Scouts!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">-Maggs</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-59856901631645172722012-12-27T16:04:00.001-06:002012-12-31T08:33:19.469-06:00Review: Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale<h2>
<span style="color: #666666;">Review: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12926132-palace-of-stone" target="_blank"><span style="color: #666666;">Palace of Stone</span></a> by <a href="http://www.squeetus.com/stage/main.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #666666;">Shannon Hale</span></a></span></h2>
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Publishing Date:<span style="font-weight: normal;"> August 21, 2012</span></h4>
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Publisher: <span style="font-weight: normal;">Bloomsbury USA</span></h4>
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Pages: <span style="font-weight: normal;">323 pages (Hardcover)</span></h4>
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My Rating: <span style="font-weight: normal;">4 of 5 stars</span></h4>
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Summary (from Goodreads):<br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;"><i>Coming down from the mountain to a new life in the city is a thrill to Miri. She and her princess academy friends have been brought to Asland to help the future princess Britta prepare for her wedding.There, Miri also has a chance to attend school-at the Queen's Castle. But as Miri befriends students who seem sophisticated and exciting she also learns that they have some frightening plans. 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, Miri looks to find her own way in this new place. Picking up where "Princess Academy" left off, and celebrating the joys of friendship, romance and the fate of fairy tale kingdoms, this new book delivers the completely delightful new story that fans have been waiting for.</i></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">Note- There will be spoilers in this review if you have not read <i>Princess Academy, </i>the first book in the series.</span></h4>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">I had such high expectations for<i> Palace of Stone</i>. Sadly, though, it just did not reach the par that I had set for it. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;"><i>Princess Academy </i>was a lovely story that I read when I was a child, probably around 4th or 5th grade. I remember being fascinated with it, completely in love with the characters and the mountain village and, really, just the idea of this story on the whole. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">When I heard that Shannon Hale was going to write a new book, a sequel, I got pretty excited. It had been years since I'd read the novel, so I took to reading it again earlier this year. I loved it no less the second time around than the first.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">So, I finally got my hands on <i>Palace of Stone</i>, extremely excited that I was able to read the story that the child inside of me was so ecstatic to continue. It sat on my shelf for quite a few months, however, because of how crazy my school schedule was. But, this Christmas break, I was finally able to dive deep into the world of Miri. This time, though, I was not quite so impressed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">I'll go ahead and get through with the worst part of the review: I could not stand the ending (no spoilers). I felt like very little happened the way that I felt it should have, and that major problems were solved much more easily than if they had been in real life. I thought that the ending was very rushed. It seemed almost as if Shannon Hale was running close to the final word count that she needed, so she tried to close everything up much more quickly than she should have. It just seemed very abrupt, unrealistic, and even slightly cliche.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">Other than the ending, though, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was full of excitement, adventure, adjustments, friendships, passion of the unfairly treated citizens, and much, much more. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">One of the things I loved most about <i>Palace of Stone</i> was that I felt like Miri was growing up with me. <i>Princess Academy</i> was, in my opinion, a novel written for children, and though teenagers and adults can easily love the story or follow along, it was directed more towards young girls, of late elementary school or early middle school age. <i>Palace of Stone</i>, on the other hand, seemed to be written more towards readers who were a bit older, like teenagers. Miri is older in this one, and along with that comes all the "teenager-ish" feelings to which we so easily connect. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">Also, I felt as if the content of this book was much more rich than the first. Had I not been enrolled in 9th grade history this year, so much of this novel would have gone over my head. The connections that Shannon Hale has made in Palace of Stone most definitely are made for teenagers in my opinion, making it perfect for those who read <i>Princess Academy </i>when it was first published, but have now grown a bit in age.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">As I mentioned, allusions to history have much to do with <i>Palace of Stone</i>. So much of this book coincides with the ideas and events of the French Revolution that I was absolutely shocked. I loved it so much, being a bit of a history geek. I loved being able to make the connections that I'd just learned about and see them come alive in this novel. Anywhere from the Salons that Miri attended (gatherings to discuss politics and other major topics or goings-on of the country) to the revolutionary ideas that Hale intertwined to the novel, this book clearly connected with our own world's history. Miri came across this passage in one of her books:</span></span></div>
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<i style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">"A king is a servant to his people. He rules by their consent. If the king fails his people, it is their right to rebel."</i></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">This, I noticed, came almost directly from the ideas of John Locke, who was a major influence on the French and American revolutions. So many things I loved about Palace of Stone, but I think nothing excited me more than the relations to our own history. It gives the reader a chance to think and discover, if he or she only looks. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">Also, the plot of this book (up until the end, of course) was entirely captivating. I could barely set the book down, it had me so wrapped in the story. Hale does a lovely job in exciting her readers and enticing them to read more.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">So, this book was an absolutely lovely read, though it pales in comparison to the first book, in my opinion. I would recommend it, though, as it is a wonderful story that keeps the readers hooked throughout the story.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;"><i>"Words can fall hard like a boulder loosed from a cliff. Words can drift unnoticed like a weed seed on a breeze. Words can sing."</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">Peace out Girl Scouts!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">-Maggs</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-66656487792656137502012-12-26T07:26:00.002-06:002012-12-31T08:33:19.472-06:00Review: The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy <h2>
<span style="color: #666666;">Review: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10840411-the-scarlet-pimpernel" target="_blank">The Scarlet Pimpernel</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2893961.Emmuska_Orczy" target="_blank">Baroness Emmuska Orczy</a></span></h2>
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Publishing Date: <span style="font-weight: normal;">January 3, 2011 (First Published 1905)</span></h4>
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Publisher: <span style="font-weight: normal;">Simon and Brown</span></h4>
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<b>Pages: </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">268 (Paperback)</span></h4>
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<b>My Rating: </b>4 of 5 stars</div>
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Summary (from Goodreads):<br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">Armed with only his wits and his cunning, one man recklessly defies the French revolutionaries and rescues scores of innocent men, women, and children from the deadly guillotine. His friends and foes know him only as the Scarlet Pimpernel. But the ruthless French agent Chauvelin is sworn to discover his identity and to hunt him down.</span></h4>
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This is another one of those "for-school" books that no one gets excited about. I saw that we had to read it and my basic thought process was, "Dude. Seriously? This is ridiculous. No one wants to read this." And, yes, for the most part, no one in my grade really wanted to read the book. But we all had to. So, I sucked it up and started.</div>
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The best thing that I can compare <i>The Scarlet Pimpernel</i> to is a Jane Austen novel, for those of you who have read any books by her. I would say the structures are almost parallel. </div>
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Let me lay it out for you: </div>
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<b>The beginning</b>: dreadfully, awfully,<i> painfully</i> slow. Horrid beyond compare. Makes me want to throw the book across the room. Or vomit. It's awful. (This is where the 5th star is lost.)</div>
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<b>The slightly-after-beginning-slightly-before-the-middle</b>: decent. I can maybe tolerate this.</div>
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<b>The middle</b>: Wow. This is growing on me.</div>
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<b>The turning point (around the middle, somewhere in there (here we mirror Jane Austen novels)</b>: BAM. WHOA. DUDE. I SUDDENLY CANNOT PUT THIS DOWN.</div>
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<b>Somewhat towards the end</b>: OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. I'M GOING TO DIEEEEEEE. THE SUSPENSE.</div>
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<b>The end</b>: EMOTIONS. FEELS. EMOTIONS. FEELS. OH MY GOSH. FREAKING PERFECTION. YOU'RE MAKING ME CRY. AHHHHH.</div>
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So, as you can see, this book did not turn out to be too bad. I was so sucked into this book that I ended up reading majority of it over Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Which, is an extremely busy time, and it is quite amazing to me that I was able to do it. I seriously couldn't set it down.</div>
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The basic set up for <i>The Scarlet Pimpernel</i>: for those of you history fans, this is set during the French Revolution. For those of you who <i>aren't </i>so interested in history (or if you are, but you can barely remember high school history classes), basically, the French Revolution was a <i>BLOODY </i>war where the French common people overthrew their monarchy. Thousands upon thousands of French nobles in that time period (including the king and his wife) were put under the guillotine (beheading device) and sentenced to death for nothing more than a mere rumor or for their title. <br />
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In this book, Baroness Orczy takes the facts from the French Revolution and adds in her own story line, that of an elusive, mysterious hero under the title "Scarlet Pimpernel". The Scarlet Pimpernel takes these nobles, who had committed no crime other than their titles, and sneaks them out of Paris and into England, the "safe-zone", where the French Government cannot touch them.<br />
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Basically, this book blew my expectations out of the water. The reader is <i>SO</i> emotionally attached to the characters, and the story is filled with the perfect balance of action and romance. As strange as it may sound, it is actually a quite interesting book that captivates many who read it.<br />
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Favorite quote from the book:<br />
<i>"Fate is usually swift when she deals a blow."</i></div>
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Peace out Girl Scouts!<br />
-Maggs</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-22998252854327902402012-12-20T23:21:00.002-06:002012-12-20T23:21:38.505-06:00Cover Reveal: The Obvious Game by Rita Arens<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: #999999;"><u>Cover Reveal: The Obvious Game by Rita Arens</u></span></span></b><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Praise for The Obvious Game:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">“I couldn’t put down The
Obvious Game. Arens perfectly captures the hunger, pain and uncertainty of
adolescence.” <b>--</b> <b><i>Ann Napolitano, author of A GOOD HARD LOOK and WITHIN ARM'S REACH</i></b><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">"<i>The Obv</i></span><i style="font-size: 14pt;">ious Game</i><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> is a
fearless, honest, and intense look into the psychology of anorexia. The
characters—especially Diana--are so natural and emotionally authentic that
you’ll find yourself yelling at the page even as you’re compelled to turn
it." </span><b style="font-size: 14pt;">--</b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><b style="font-size: 14pt;"><i>Coert Voorhees, author of LUCKY FOOLS and THE BROTHERS TORRES</i></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">"Let’s be clear about
one thing: there’s nothing obvious about <i>The Obvious Game</i>. Arens has written a
moving, sometimes heart-breaking story about one girl’s attempt to control the
uncontrollable. You can’t help but relate to Diana and her struggles as you
delve into this gem of a novel." -- <b><i>Risa Green, author of THE SECRET SOCIETY OF
THE PINK CRYSTAL BALL</i></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Book Information:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Publisher: Inkspell
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Release Date: Feb 7th, 2013<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">ISBN: 978-0-9856562-7-0
(ebook), 978-0-9856562-8-7 (Paperback)<sup><o:p></o:p></sup></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Paperback Price: $13.99<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Kindle: $4.99<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">To be available at all major
online outlets: Amazon, B&N, The Book Depository<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Pre-order now at </span></b><a href="http://www.inkspellpublishing.com/store.html#YA Romance"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Inkspell
Publishing Website</span></b></a><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> at a special discount of 30% on both paperback and
ebook! <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">About The Author:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Rita Arens is the author of <i>The Obvious Game</i> and the editor of the
award-winning parenting anthology <i>Sleep
Is for the Weak</i>. She writes the popular blog Surrender, Dorothy (</span><a href="http://www.surrenderdorothyblog.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">www.surrenderdorothyblog.com</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">) and lives in Kansas City
with her husband and daughter. <i>The
Obvious Game</i> is her first young adult novel. She is at work on a second.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDEiqag8QEwOz52ixHwV7h4_dOmAZgnEvnOugQI-6QEBGt6fFKYO_VJ-TI6M5c7nL7BU08xnmaxIuYfvY6_B9jRDFmHQhCEr16p2C69SJOyVXaLdWqMXJHZaFLBclXSdJ0SV3u3In78q8/s1600/Rita+Arens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDEiqag8QEwOz52ixHwV7h4_dOmAZgnEvnOugQI-6QEBGt6fFKYO_VJ-TI6M5c7nL7BU08xnmaxIuYfvY6_B9jRDFmHQhCEr16p2C69SJOyVXaLdWqMXJHZaFLBclXSdJ0SV3u3In78q8/s1600/Rita+Arens.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Rita has been a featured
speaker at </span><a href="http://www.blogher.com/node/478218/speakers?from=subnav" target="_blank" title="BlogHer 2012 speakers"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">BlogHer 2012</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">, </span><a href="http://www.bookexpoamerica.com/Concurrent-Events/BEAs-Book-Blogger/#page=page-1" target="_blank" title="BEA Bloggers Conference"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">BEA Bloggers Conference 2012</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">, </span><a href="http://www.blogher.com/node/482220/speakers?from=subnav" target="_blank" title="Rita Arens Speaker BlogHer Writers 2011"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">BlogHer Writers 2011</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">, </span><a href="http://www.blogher.com/node/305898/speakers?from=subnav" target="_blank" title="Rita Arens Speaker BlogHer 2011"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">BlogHer 2011</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">, <a href="http://blissdomconference.com/agenda/blissdom-conference-wisdom-workshop-schedule-for-2011/" target="_blank" title="blissdom writing workshop">Blissdom 2011</a>, </span><a href="http://www.altitudesummit.com/speakers/" target="_blank" title="Alt Summit conference Rita ARens"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Alt Summit 2010</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">, </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogher.com/official-blogher-10-liveblogwriting-lab-writing-inspiration-stoke-your-creativity" target="_blank" title="Rita Arens speaker BlogHer 2010">BlogHer 2010, BlogH</a></span><a href="http://www.blogher.com/official-blogher-10-liveblogwriting-lab-writing-inspiration-stoke-your-creativity" target="_blank" title="Rita Arens speaker BlogHer 2010"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">er 2008</span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> and </span><a href="http://www.blogher.com/blogher_conference/conf/9/speakers/1" target="_blank" title="Rita Arens BlogHer 2009 speaker"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">BlogHer 2009</span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt;">, the </span><a href="http://kansascitykitty.blogspot.com/2008_05_01_archive.html" target="_blank" title="kansas city literary festival rita arens"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">2008 Kansas City Literary
Festival</span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt;">
and </span><a href="http://www.chickswhoclick.net/speakers.html" target="_blank" title="Rita Arens speaker 2009 Chicks Who Click"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">2009 Chicks Who Click</span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> and appeared on the </span><a href="http://www.kcur.org/waltbodine.html" target="_blank" title="Rita Arens Walt Bodine Show"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Walt Bodine Show</span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> in 2008.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">She’s been quoted by </span><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-29/its-my-office-and-ill-cry-if-i-want-to#p1"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Bloomberg Businessweek</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">, </span><a href="http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/5607948fb7114e4aa1058590315fd5f0/US-Smart-Spending-Summer-At-Home/" target="_blank" title="Smart Spending Summer at Home Rita Arens"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The Associated Press</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">, </span><a href="http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/19/blogher-women-blogs-forbes-woman-entrepreneurs-internet.html" target="_blank" title="Forbes woman Rita Arens "><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Forbes Woman</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">, the </span><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124045072480346239.html" target="_blank" title="Rita Arens Wall Street Journal"><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Wall Street Journal</span></i></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">, </span><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_36/b4048008.htm?chan=search" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Businessweek</span></i></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> and </span><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/careers/workingparents/blog/archives/2006/11/calling_all_gre.html" target="_blank" title="Rita Arens Businessweek"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Businessweek Online</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> and featured in </span><a href="http://www.readbreathe.com/blogher-challenges-you-to-own-your-beauty/" target="_blank" title="Rita Arens Breathe Magazine Own Your Beauty"><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Breathe</span></i></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> magazine, </span><a href="http://getyourbizsavvy.com/2010/02/rita-arens-interview/" target="_blank" title="Julie@onewhowrites.com"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Get Your Biz Savvy</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">, </span><a href="http://www.kansascity.com/2012/07/15/3704202/meet-the-real-batmen-battling.html"><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The Kansas City Star</span></i></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> (archived material
available on request), </span><a href="http://community.todaymoms.com/_news/2010/09/03/5035296-the-last-swim-of-summer" target="_blank" title="Today Moms Rita Arens"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Today Moms</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> (Today Show blog) and </span><a href="http://www.inkkc.com/article/mommy-blogger-rita-arens-35" target="_blank" title="Rita Arens Ink KC"><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Ink KC.</span></i></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Website/blog: </span><a href="http://www.surrenderdorothyblog.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">http://www.surrenderdorothyblog.com</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> or </span><a href="http://www.ritaarens.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">http://www.ritaarens.com</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Twitter: </span><a href="https://twitter.com/ritaarens"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://twitter.com/ritaarens</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Facebook: </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/rita.arens"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://www.facebook.com/rita.arens</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">BlogHer: </span><a href="http://www.blogher.com/member/rita-arens"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">http://www.blogher.com/member/rita-arens</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">LinkedIn: </span><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=4048495&trk=tab_pro"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=4048495&trk=tab_pro</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Pinterest: </span><a href="https://pinterest.com/ritajarens/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://pinterest.com/ritajarens/</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Amazon: </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002KRLEHE"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002KRLEHE</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Goodreads: </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1371209.Rita_Arens">http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1371209.Rita_Arens</a></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h4>
<u>Giveaway:</u></h4>
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<a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/62e21812/" id="rc-62e21812" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a><br />
<b><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-size: 16pt;">“Everyone trusted me back then. Good old, dependable Diana. Which is why most people didn’t notice at first.”</span></b><script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js"></script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12955326009772094925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815176217129045114.post-11737487391257755352012-12-02T20:58:00.002-06:002012-12-31T08:33:19.453-06:00Review: Reached by Ally Condie<h2>
<span style="color: #666666;">Review: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13125947-reached" target="_blank"><span style="color: #666666;">Reached</span></a> by <a href="http://www.allysoncondie.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #666666;">Ally Condie</span></a></span></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxJ8-NCeLPOKGnVzwWYxmV3dDy6wHfMwhdt6cDh9ciKKzU0W2pEsUbs_pfHyR_F9-Yqn_DFr-E0pIakkc7g6fnz2HUHxWseZTTzPghSvKZ733yZtauHeNdwZ95h2bYv9PvCnE-7rgpWRw/s1600/Reached.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxJ8-NCeLPOKGnVzwWYxmV3dDy6wHfMwhdt6cDh9ciKKzU0W2pEsUbs_pfHyR_F9-Yqn_DFr-E0pIakkc7g6fnz2HUHxWseZTTzPghSvKZ733yZtauHeNdwZ95h2bYv9PvCnE-7rgpWRw/s320/Reached.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<b>Publishing Date:</b> November 13, 2012</div>
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<b>Publisher:</b> Dutton Books</div>
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<b>Pages:</b> 512 (Hardcover)</div>
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<b>My Rating:</b> 5 of 5 stars</div>
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<b>Summary (from Goodreads): </b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><i>After leaving Society and desperately searching for the Rising—and each other—Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again: Cassia has been assigned to work for the Rising from within Society, while Ky has been stationed outside its borders. But nothing is as predicted, and all too soon the veil lifts and things shift once again.</i></span><br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">In this gripping conclusion to the #1 </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">New York Times</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">-bestselling </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Matched</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"> trilogy, Cassia will reconcile the difficulties of challenging a life too confining, seeking a freedom she never dreamed possible, and honoring a love she cannot live without.</span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">Note- There will be spoilers in this review if you have not read <i>Matched </i>or <i>Crossed</i></span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">,</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"> the first two books in the trilogy.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Wow. I cannot believe this is the end. I have so many feelings, so many stories, so many little anecdotes and moments I've collected from this outstanding trilogy. I can't believe this is the end.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">This whole thing started at the very beginning of this year. I'd seen the cover of <i>Matched </i>around, and it drew my eye immediately. I knew that I had to read this series. It was just a feeling I got when I saw the cover. I knew that it'd be good. Little did I know what I was walking into when I picked <i>Matched </i>up at Books-a-Million.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I remember, when I first got <i>Matched</i>, I got it at the store along with a couple of other books, and I chose to read those books first. My best friend, Abby, had already tried reading <i>Matched </i>before, and she wasn't that into it. So it sat on my shelf for a while. Then, one day, I caught some bug and was left sick in bed all weekend. I finished up a book that I had been reading the first night that I was sick. When I woke up the next morning, still being sick and left with a hunger to read, I picked up <i>Matched </i>from my bookshelf, thinking <i>eh, what have I got to lose</i>? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I finished the entire book the first day, pretty much in one sitting. I called my best friend up and said "<i>ABBY. You have to read this book.</i>" And so our love for the series began.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Since then, we've both had many a conversation about this series, one of the greatest when we decided that we no longer liked Ky, the lead male. We decided that he was a snotty, stuck-up jerk. And I still hold that opinion. Ha. But we figured that if she should end up with anyone, it should be Xander. We've had discussions trying to figure out what Ally would do in <i>Reached </i>for months on end. And now it's here, and the series is over, along with a part of our lives.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">What can I say? This book was the most well-written and the most beautiful of all three. It was definitely my favorite. Cassia was stronger. Xander was more independent. Ky was perhaps more understanding. Indie was more... Indie. And along with the classic characters, we meet several more lovable companions this time around. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Told from the viewpoints of Xander, Cassia, and Ky,</span><i style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"> Reached </i><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">tells</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"> the beginning of the Rising. At the beginning of the book, the Rising finally strikes on the Society, with aims to take over and cure the Society of the Plague, a vicious disease spreading throughout the Society. But trouble awaits, and not everything goes as planned. The Rising doesn't quite have everything as "under control" as they believed themselves to. And Cassia, Xander, and Ky hold the keys to the fate of the provinces. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">The plot of <i>Reached </i>was exciting, and kept me on edge the entire duration of the book. Rather than each book playing an equal part in the series, <i>Reached </i>definitely took the main role in this trilogy. It was the longest, most exciting, and (in my opinion) most important part of the trilogy. Everything may not have turned out exactly the way that I wanted it to, but the way things ended just felt right. Condie ended the series beautifully. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Thanks for the memories, Ally. This series is truly an unforgettable one. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Favorite quote from the book: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><i>"There are people swimming against the current and shadows moving slowly in the deep. I have been the one looking up when something dark passed before the sun. And I have been the shadow itself, slipping along the place where earth and water meet the sky."</i></span></div>
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