COVER LUST FRIDAY

 

Cover Lust Friday is a meme I have recently come across and it looked really fun. Cover Lust Friday is a weekly meme that’s all about covers. Alice from Alice Reeds is the host of this meme.

Pick a cover that stands out to you , add your reason why you’ve chosen that particular one or what you like about it. Let’s have fun and share some gorgeous covers.

THE COVER:

 

THE REASON:

 

This is a highly anticipated book for many people and the U.K. cover is absolutely stunning. It has two main colours which off set each other. The gorgeous royal blue background complements the yellow detailing of the moth and the lettering of the title excellently.

Keep Calm and Read On,

Kati

REVIEW: POISON’S KISS

 

 

PUBLISHER: Random House

 

DATE PUBLISHED: 10th January 2017

 

PAGES: 304

 

 

 

BLURB:

 

Marinda has kissed dozens of boys. They all die afterward. It’s a miserable life, but being a visha kanya, a poison maiden, is what she was created to do. Marinda serves the Raja by dispatching his enemies with only her lips as a weapon.

Until now, the men she was ordered to kiss have been strangers, enemies of the kingdom. Then she receives orders to kiss Deven, a boy she knows too well to be convinced he needs to die. She begins to question who she s really working for. And that is a thread that, once pulled, will unravel more than she can afford to lose.

 

 

REVIEW:

 

This was a surprisingly engaging book. I was unsure what to expect but this book dragged me in from the very first scene and left me wanting so much more from this world by the end. I cannot believe this is Breeana Shields debut book.

Marinda is a character that has so much put on her young shoulders and the complexity of her emotions and guilt regarding what she has done has made for a fully developed and wonderfully engaging character. Marinda’s relationship with her brother was an element that I found particularly heart-warming.

One element of any well-done fantasy novel is the world building. The world-building in this novel is astounding. I love the idea of this mythical kingdom with four different deities based on animals. The human element based on these deities are what drives the motivations of the characters in this novel.

Overall, this is an amazing debut novel and I am thoroughly in love with this book. It was quick paced and kept me engaged to the very last page. This is an author I see big things for in the future. I urge you to give this book a shot. I did not regret it!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

Keep Calm and Read On,

Kati

BOOK TRAVELING THURSDAYS

 

I have recently come across a Goodreads Group called Book Traveling Thursdays. The concept of this is that every Thursday there is a theme and the bloggers who participate in this group take that theme and pick a book that they associate with the theme. From this the bloggers find and post different covers of the book they have chosen.

If you wish to know more or join in please feel free to have a look at their Goodreads Page.

The theme for this week was:

 

A BOOK THAT RELAXES YOU

ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS BY STEPHANIE PERKINS

There is nothing like a sweet contemporary to relax me and this is the one I automatically go to.

ORIGINAL COVER:

This is the original U.S. cover of Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.

COVER IN MY COUNTRY (AUSTRALIA):

This is the cover available in Australia.

FAVOURITE COVERS:

*The first cover here is the Bulgarian cover. I like the silhouette effect of the couple by the Eiffel Tower.

*The second cover is an updated U.S and U.K cover. This is the cover I own and I like how the main focus is the title with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

*The third cover is the French cover. The image of the girl speaks of travel to me as she has her duffel bag and theres the Eiffel Tower in the background. As this book is based in a Paris boarding school this work.

*The fourth cover is the Italian cover. I just like the carefree look of the girl relaxing by the Eiffel Tower.

LEAST FAVOURITE COVERS:

*The first cover is the German cover. I’m not a fan of the two croissants. This does not speak of the overall stay to me.

*The second cover is the original U.S. cover. I don’t like to half figures on a bench… just not my taste.

*The third cover is the Indonesian cover. I am not a fan of the simplistic animation type drawing for the cover art.

*The fourth cover is the Portuguese cover.

As always, I am happy to talk to anyone about this weeks theme and the chosen covers. I will be back next Thursday for another Book Travelling Thursdays Post.

Keep Calm and Read On,

Kati

REVIEW: BEFORE I FALL

 

 

PUBLISHER: Harper Collins

 

DATE PUBLISHED: 25th October 2010

 

PAGES: 470

 

 

 

BLURB:

 

For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12—”Cupid Day”—should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social pyramid. And it is…until she dies in a terrible accident that night.

However, she still wakes up the next morning. In fact, Sam lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she ever imagined.

 

 

REVIEW:

 

This is a book that needs to be read by all. The underlying tones of the effects of bullying and personal growth. The main character, Samantha, is a popular girl in high school who dies in a car accident one night and the next morning wakes up in her bed finding that the day has begun over again.

Sam’s character really grew through the repetition of days where she was able to comprehend the consequences of her actions and slowly develop into a better person. The events of the day play out again and again and one can even see the stages of grief being played out over the days, from anger, bargaining and acceptance.

This is a really important book about a topic that broaches a hot topic. Bullying is all too prominent in society. The perspective of a bullier and not someone being bullied is a unique way to view this type of literature.

🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

Keep Calm and Read On,

Kati

TOP 5 WEDNESDAY

 

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine, which spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

SPOTLIGHT THIS WEEK:

FUTURE CLASSICS

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

The Fault in our Stars by John Green

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

What book do you think will be a future classic?

Keep Calm and Read On,

Kati

REVIEW: PRUDE

 

 

PUBLISHER: Evernight Publishing

DATE PUBLISHED: 12th September 2016

PAGES: 296

BLURB:

Rebecca Washington is a girl in control. Well, at least when it comes to acing her college classes. The rest of the time, she seems to be at the mercy of everyone else. Like when she’s dumped in front of her peers, hit on right afterwards by a jerk for some stupid bet, and then paired up with the same jerk for a lit project.

In order to maintain her perfect GPA, Rebecca will need to give a stellar presentation while ignoring the prodding eyes that will be staring at her. When her partner, Derek, starts to ease her fears of public speaking with his laid back attitude, she’s forced to confront her new feelings about him and his charming smile. Rebecca knows falling for a guy who teases her for being a prudish nerd can only end badly, but what if it’s just another thing out of her control?

REVIEW:

It’s refreshing to read about a character who is entirely realistic. Rebecca is a character who is studious and introverted and not entirely comfortable with intimacy. Through the book Rebecca develops and slowly comes out of her shell. The great thing is that she does not miraculously change overnight and the quirks that make Rebecca herself remain with her through the book.

I particularly enjoyed the friendship between Rebecca, Shayler and Ansley was a relationship that I found particularly endearing. These three friends acted more as sisters. They fought, they loved, and they cared for each other. These girls are entirely different in personality yet their friendship is unbreakable.

Now we come to Derek. He is painted at the beginning of the book as being unkind, teasing Rebecca after she is publicly dumped and labelling her with the title “prude”. The development of his character is another element that was astounding. It is very easy to find Derek unlikable. However, he develops into an understandable character with his own flaws that is inexplicably drawn to Rebecca.

This NA novel had tremendous character development, a plot that was interesting and quirky and a pace that kept me reading. This was a book I could not put down.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Keep Calm and Read On,

Kati

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY

 

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine, which spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

SPOTLIGHT THIS WEEK:

 

 

THE GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO VICE AND VIRTUE BY MACKENZI LEE

 

 

PUBLISHER: Katherine Tegen Books

 

DATE PUBLISHED: 27th June 2017

 

PAGES: 528

 

 

 

BLURB: 

 

An unforgettable tale of two friends on their Grand Tour of 18th-century Europe who stumble upon a magical artifact that leads them from Paris to Venice in a dangerous manhunt, fighting pirates, highwaymen, and their feelings for each other along the way.

Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions—not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men.

But as Monty embarks on his grand tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.

Still it isn’t in Monty’s nature to give up. Even with his younger sister, Felicity, in tow, he vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt that spans across Europe, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.

 

 

This book has been getting a lot of advanced praise and it is one I am greatly anticipating!

Keep Calm and Read On,

Kati

BLOG TOUR: JUST LIKE YOU SAID IT WOULD BE

 

Today I am a host of the Blog Tour of Just Like You Said It Would Be by C.K. Kelly Martin. This Blog Tour is coordinated by Xpresso Book Tours.

PUBLISHER: Create Space

DATE PUBLISHED: 15th February 2017

PAGES: 301

BLURB:

Did you ever want something so much that it felt like a kind of sickness, one you didn’t want to be cured of? On New Year’s Eve the feeling compels seventeen-year-old Amira to text the Irish ex-boyfriend she’s been missing desperately since they broke up at the end of summer, when she returned to Canada.

They agreed they wouldn’t be friends, that it would never be enough. But that was then—back when Amira’s separated parents had shipped her off to relatives in Dublin for the summer so they could test-drive the idea of getting back together on a long haul cruise. Back when Amira was torn away from a friend in need in Toronto only to fall in love with a Dublin screenwriting class and take a step closer to her dream career. And only to fall for cousin Zoey’s bandmate, Darragh, the guy who is first her friend, then her enemy and later something much more complicated—the guy she can say anything to, the guy who makes every inch of her feel wide awake in a way she hadn’t known was possible. The guy she might never see again. Or is there, despite the distance, somehow still a chance for them?

 

 

REVIEW:

 

The cast of characters within this book and their complexity and diversity stole the show. The primary focus of the novel is the relationship between the two protagonists, Amira and Darragh. However, the subplots and relationships between these different characters were really engaging and kept you reading through this contemporary novel. The music is almost a character itself within the novel and was an amazing element for this book. The plot of the book was engaging for me but the pacing was a little slow at the beginning. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and found the primary setting of Dublin to be stunning. This is a contemporary book that will leave you entranced with the complex characters and the overall plot.

🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

 

 

Long before I was an author I was a fan of books about Winnie the Pooh, Babar, Madeline, Anne Shirley and anything by Judy Blume. Throughout high school my favourite class was English. No surprise, then, that most of my time spent at York University in Toronto was as an English major–not the traditional way to graduate with a B.A. in Film Studies but a fine way to get a general arts education.

After getting my film studies degree I headed for Dublin, Ireland and spent the majority of the nineties there in forgettable jobs meeting unforgettable people and enjoying the buzz. I always thoughts I’d get around to writing in earnest eventually and I began writing my first novel in a flat in Dublin and finished it in a Toronto suburb. By then I’d discovered that writing about young characters felt the freshest and most exciting to me. You have most of your life to be an adult but you only grow up once.

Currently residing near Toronto with my Dub husband, I became an Irish citizen in 2001 and continue to visit Dublin as often as I can. My first young adult book, I Know It’s Over, came out with Random House in September 2008 and was followed by One Lonely Degree, The Lighter Side of Life and Death, My Beating Teenage Heart and Yesterday. I released Yesterday’s sequel, Tomorrow, in 2013 and put out my first adult novel, Come See About Me, as an ebook in June 2012. My most recent YA book, The Sweetest Thing You Can Sing, was published by Cormorant Books’ Dancing Cat Books imprint in 2014 and I’m pleased to announce they’ll be releasing my upcoming contemporary young adult novel, Delicate, on September 16th. Watch my website for more details!

Author links:
http://www.ckkellymartin.com/

Tweets by CKKellyMartin

https://www.facebook.com/ckkellymartin
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3015727.C_K_Kelly_Martin

 

 

LINKS:

 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33975313-just-like-you-said-it-would-be

Purchase:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1542749468/
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/just-like-you-said-it-would-be-c-k-kelly-martin/1125660708?ean=9781542749466
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/just-like-you-said-it-would-be
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/lu/book/just-like-you-said-it-would-be/id1205047739?mt=11

 

 

GIVEAWAY:

 

Tour-wide giveaway (INTL)
$40 Amazon gift card + a signed copy of Just Like You Said it Would Be

 

If you would like to enter this giveaway, click here.

 

 

 

Keep Calm and Read On,

Kati

TOP TEN TUESDAY

 

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. This week TTT is taking a week off for a break. Therefore I am going to choose a previous topic for me to complete. The topic I will complete this week is:

TOP TEN AUTHORS I AM DYING TO MEET

Sarah J. Maas

Sherrilyn Kenyon

Jay Kristoff

Renee Adhieh

Rainbow Rowell

Kasie West

Marissa Meyer

Colleen Hoover

Morgan Matson

Elle Kennedy

Which author do you want to meet?

Keep Calm and Read On,

Kati

TAG TUESDAY – BEAUTY AND THE BEAST TAG

 

It’s Tuesday again and that means it’s time for another Tag Tuesday. This week I will be completing the “Beauty and the Beast Book Tag” in honour of the live-action movie releasing in Australia last week.

LITTLE TOWN –

Pick a character in a book that lives in a little town and wants to escape

 

 

 

CROAK BY GINA DAMICO

Lex is shipped to the small town of Croak to live with her uncle to curb her delinquent behaviour. She wants out and more from life – little does she know Croak has many adventures to offer.

BELLE –

Pick a character that loves reading books

THE QUEEN OF THE TEARLING BY ERIKA JOHANSEN

Kelsea absolutely loves reading and goes so far as to create a library at the castle in a Kingdom where books are a rarity.

MRS. POTTS AND CHIP –

Pick a mother / child relationship in a book that’s adorable

DUMPLIN’ BY JULIE MURPHY

The relationship between Willowdeen and her mother was strained at times and complicated but I think it really developed through the book.

COGSWORTH –

Pick a book character that’s the serious one in the group

CITY OF BONES BY CASSANDRA CLARE

Alec is such a serious character who is very focused on his family and the Nephilim.

LUMIERE –

Pick a book character that’s carefree / rebellious

SCARLET BY MARISSA MEYER 

Scarlet is a character that is loyal and resilient and will run through fire itself if it means she will save the one she loves.

BEAST –

Pick a book character that’s misunderstood

STALKING JACK THE RIPPER BY KERRI MANISCALCO

Audrey Rose is a character who is ahead of her time and is therefore misunderstood amongst many within this book.

TALE AS OLD AS TIME –

Pick a book relationship that you think will last through time

THE WRATH AND THE DAWN BY RENEE ADHIEH

Sharazad and Khalid are a couple I think will last the test of time.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST –

Pick a book couple that at the start you didn’t think they would work, but totally did!

MY LADY JANE BY CYNTHIA HAND, BRODI ASHTON, & JODI MEADOWS

I wasn’t entirely certain about the relationship between G and Jane… but it totally worked!

I have seen the live action movie and will post a review with my thoughts shortly. I loved reminiscing about some of the amazing aspects of Beauty and the Beast and if you wish to do this tag then go ahead… because I tag you!

Keep Calm and Read On,

Kati