Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books of 2013 so far...

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's topic is Top Ten Books I've Read So Far in 2013! Enjoy!

1. Dare Me To (Pushing The Limits #2) By: Katie McGarry

I love Katie Mcgarry's writing and I loved Dare Me To even more then pushing the limits and I can't wait to read Crash Into You later this year!





















2. Parallel By: Lauren Miller

 My first book with alternate realities that I have read and I absolutely loved this book and  I can't wait to see what Lauren writes next this one was an awesome debut!

3. The Elite (The Selection #2) By: Kiera Cass

I have really enjoyed this series so far,  and I enjoyed this one just as much as the first book, I am really excited to read the last book and finally find out what happens with America!





















4. Sweet Peril ( Sweet Evil #2) By: Wendy Higgins

What can I say, I love me some Kaiden,  this book was also a great sequel and it was so easy to get lost in the story, another book that I can't wait to read the last book in the series and see where all of the characters end up!

5. The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines #3) By : Richelle Mead

This one was by far my favorite book of the Bloodlines series, I love Adrian and Sydney! 























6. Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2) By: Tahereh Mafi

I loved this one even more then the first book especially Chapter 62!! 

7. The Madman's Daughter (The Madman's Daughter #1) By : Megan Shepherd

I really loved the creepiness of this story and I cannot wait to read  the next book and see where this story goes next!  






















 8. Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2) By: Marissa Meyer

I loved this sequel, I love Meyer's retellings and see how they relate to the original stories I really loved the dual perspective. 

9. Through The Ever Night (Under The Never Sky #2) By: Veronica Rossi 

I really enjoyed this one although I was a bit disappointed that Aria and Perry didn't spend more time together.  






















10. Born Of Illusion (Born Of Illusion #1) By: Teri Brown

I really enjoyed this one and I just finished it, I can't wait to see where this one is going to go next! 

Review: Ink (Paper Gods #1) By: Amanda Sun

Title: Ink (Paper Gods #1)

Author: Amanda Sun

Published: June 25th, 2013

Source: E-galley from publisher

Buy The Book: Amazon/Barnes and Noble/The Book Depository/Kobo

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Goodreads Summary:

I looked down at the paper, still touching the tip of my shoe. I reached for it, flipping the page over to look.

Scrawls of ink outlined a drawing of a girl lying on a bench.

A sick feeling started to twist in my stomach, like motion sickness.

And then the girl in the drawing turned her head, and her inky eyes glared straight into mine.

On the heels of a family tragedy, the last thing Katie Greene wants to do is move halfway across the world. Stuck with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn’t know the language, she can barely hold a pair of chopsticks, and she can’t seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off whenever she enters a building.

Then there’s gorgeous but aloof Tomohiro, star of the school’s kendo team. How did he really get the scar on his arm? Katie isn’t prepared for the answer. But when she sees the things he draws start moving, there’s no denying the truth: Tomo has a connection to the ancient gods of Japan, and being near Katie is causing his abilities to spiral out of control. If the wrong people notice, they'll both be targets.

Katie never wanted to move to Japan—now she may not make it out of the country alive

My Thoughts: 

I was really looking forward to reading Ink, the summary sounded like something fresh and different and the cover was definitely calling to me. Overall, Ink was definitely something new  and I loved the setting of Japan and getting to learn so much about their culture but Ink, didn't live up to what I was hoping it would be I still enjoyed reading it.

Katie is an American girl living in Japan with her aunt after her mother has died  from cancer, she isn't loving Japan, she feels out of place, different, and alone. She is learning to deal with so many things as once, the loss of her mother, a new culture, and a new language. Things begin to change for her when she becomes in  my words  obsessed with this boy at school named Tomohiro, he is the star of their school's Kendo team and Katie wants to find out what makes him so different from everyone else and what he is hiding. 

Honestly I wanted to love this story more then I ended up, only because it felt like so much talk and not enough action, Katie and Tomohiro  spent so much time talking about his abilities and what could happen and not enough time actually having anything happen. I wanted more action and I didn't get it until the end, and by that time I was invested in the story enough  to even care at all. 

What I did love was the writing, learning about Japan was so fascinating, and even though Katie felt completely alone and like she couldn't feel at home in Japan, she really took to it. I couldn't imagine having to learn a whole new way of life and I loved reading about everything that Katie was experiencing in their culture.

The mythology of Ink was also so enchanting, I don't know much about Japanese culture so, I don't know whether or not this is  actual mythology from Japan but, I was totally fascinated with it. I really felt like I understood the background to Tomohiro's abilities and everything about, no confusing stories or names to remember which was definitely a plus for me. 

Overall, Ink was a good beginning to a series that I will follow but, it didn't completely live up to my expectations.  If you are looking for a new and refreshing read in the YA genre then this one is definitely for you with the captivating backdrop of Japan and beautiful writing Amanda Sun's debut is a great start!

Want to learn more about Ink? Check out the links below!

My Shelf Confessions
Vampire Book Club
Bibliophilic Monologues

Review: Dare You To (Pushing The Limits #2) By: Katie McGarry

Title: Dare You To (Pushing The Limits #2)

Author  : Katie McGarry

Published : May 28th, 2013

Buy The Book: Amazon/Barnes and Noble/The Book Depository

Source: E-galley from the publisher

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars!

Goodreads Summary:

Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. "Dance with me, Beth."

"No." I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again....

"I dare you..."

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does....

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all....

My Thoughts:

I was really excited and hesitant to read Katie McGarry 's second novel. Pushing  The Limits was one of my favorite reads last year and I was hoping that I would love Dare You To just as much and I definitely did! I was a little worried in the beginning  because I didn't want this book to be a recreation of Pushing The Limits with different characters and I am happy to say that it is completely different but, I still felt everything I felt with the first book but, Dare Me To was different and in some ways better then the first book.

Dare Me To follows Beth and her love interest Ryan's story. We got to learn a bit about Beth in the first book so I felt like I knew what I was getting myself into when I started reading this one. Beth's character was completely heartbreaking, she is broken and doesn't trust anyone because everyone she counted on has left and the one person who didn't leave her mother was not fit to be there for her in any way. Ryan on is star of the baseball team and loves to win, when he and  his friends are hanging out and he is dared to get Beth's number Ryan never knew that he would see her again but, as a twist of fate has it Beth  moves to Ryan's town. Ryan loves baseball and it is his dream to go pro after he graduates high school and his dad is there to push his own dreams on his son each step of the way. Ryan seems like the kind of guy that has the perfect life from the outside looking in but,  that is not how it really is and him and Beth need each other even more then either of them ever knew. After an incident with Beth and her mom's abusive boyfriend,  her Dad's brother Scott convinces Beth  to move in with him and his wife. Beth is one of those characters that she feels angry at the world and all I wanted to do was show her that not everyone leaves and that it is ok to trust.

I loved how Dare Me To did not feel in any way like Pushing The Limits, the way McGarry approached the characters of Beth and Ryan I really felt like I got to know them even better then I did Noah and Echo which made me that much more invested in the story although I didn't get as emotional in this one as I did the first  book I loved it just as much. McGarry has a wonderful way of bringing each and every relationship she writes to life right off the page. I never wanted the book to end,  I just wanted to keep reading their story forever.

Overall, Dare Me To was everything that I hoped it would be and so much more, I assure you that if you are a fan of Pushing The Limits that you will love this one just as much. If you haven't read the first book I still definitely recommend picking this one up, you don't have to have read the first book to read this one, it is a whole new story and  if you are a contemporary fan you will love it!

 Want to learn more about Dare You To? Check out the links below!

Book Twirps

 Caffeinated Book Reviewer  

Alexa Loves Books

Evernight Teen's Summer Kick off Blog Hop!

Welcome to Evernight Teen’s Summer Kick-off Blog Hop!

It’s a great opportunity to get to know Evernight Teen: Gritty Fiction for Today’s Young Adult. Our stories  include fresh teen fiction that’s raw, gritty and real.

My spotlight is on Bette Maybee’s PHOENIX: THE RISING:

Blurb:

Every 300 years, the immortal Phoenix returns to Mono Lake to be reborn—but this time it didn't return alone.  The Nephilim are back in force, trying to keep it from being reborn so one of them can claim its immortality. But first they have to figure out who the Phoenix is—and any red-haired, green-eyed, seventeen-year-old in the area is fair game. And so, the killing begins...

Julie Mason doesn't believe all this legend crap until she falls for Eli Sullivan, whose hallucination-inducing kiss not only saves her, but makes her the Nephilim’s prime target. But, it's worth the risk. Her death is inevitable...not even Eli can prevent it.  All she has to do is keep the Nephilim off Eli’s trail until The Rising. Once Eli is reborn and forgets his past life, Julie’s life is over, whether she’s dead or not. At least that's what she thinks...

14+ for brief violence and sexuality

Exclusive excerpt:

She knew the moment he stepped in the house he probably guessed it was empty. No parents. No pets. Only the ticking of the grandfather clock in the foyer would have greeted him. Julie held the ice on for a moment longer, then lowered the bag. She raised her eyes to his. Anger and tears welled as she chose her words.

“My father and his lovely wife are on a cruise.” She spat the word, filling it with the venom and hatred she felt towards the woman who had her father wrapped around her little finger.

Eli sat beside her. “So they left you here? Alone?”

She breathed in, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill. “Of course. It’s not like it’s the first time, so don’t worry about it. I’m used to it.” She stood, walked across the room, and stared out her bedroom window into the darkness. “You can go now.”

Julie heard Eli move across the room, then felt his presence behind her. The air between them seemed to be charged with electricity. Her heart began to thrum.

“I’m not going anywhere. You can’t be alone tonight, not with Penemue on the warpath.”

Julie swallowed and turned to him. She held her chin high, praying that her eyes and her voice wouldn’t betray her. “I’m fine. Really.” Her voice cracked as a single tear broke through, sliding down her cheek and over her swollen, split lips.

Eli took a step closer and cupped her face in his hands, turning it up to meet his gaze.

“No, Jules, you’re not.” He traced the trail of the tear down her cheek. Her lips parted as his finger brushed them, and she watched in wonder as he lifted his finger, wet with her tear, to his own lips. She shook her head slowly in confirmation as more tears cascaded down her face.

“No. I’m not.”

She knew he was going to kiss her—and she wanted it to happen—more than she had wanted anything before in her life. Her breath hitched in her throat as vivid streaks of color flickered in the sapphire depths of Eli’s eyes, like tongues of fire in the night sky. She couldn’t wait any longer. Without another thought, she reached up and entwined her fingers in the back of his hair, pulling him close.

“Kiss me, Eli,” she pleaded breathlessly.

And he did.

Eli’s breath quickened as he lowered his lips to hers, kissing her softly—almost hesitantly—at first. Julie felt a slight sting on her tender, injured lips, and then a familiar sense of euphoria soaked in as the pain melted away and passion took its place. A passion she had never experienced before. Her mind whirled as colors flew in front of her eyes, and she felt Eli respond with the same urgency she was feeling, his kiss pulling her deeper into the maelstrom of lights that now blinded her. Too soon, the colors swirled into a spiral of white light, reduced to a pinpoint, and then disappeared from Julie’s vision.

 Phoenix: The Rising is available here!

What’s up for grabs?

•             One lucky hopper will win a KINDLE PAPERWHITE eREADER sponsored by Evernight Teen.

•             Every book blogger/reviewer site is giving away one free eBook from Evernight Teen (winner’s choice of any eBook from Evernight Teen’s website).

•             Plus, each author offers their own unique prize! So visit each blog hop stop for a host of fabulous prizes to win.

How to enter? Answer this:

Where does the phoenix return to be reborn?

Be sure to leave your answer and your email address in the comments below to be eligible to win a prize.

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