YA Paranormal Giveaway Hop!

I am a huge fan of paranormal everything - books, movies, T.V. - sign me up!  So I had to take part in this hop.  This one is hosted by Kathy at I Am A Reader Not A Writer and YA Between the Lines and features all things paranormal.  So what can you win?  A $15 paranormal book of your choice from The Book Depository.  That's right, this is an INTERNATIONAL giveaway!  I know my last few have been US only and I feel bad, so this one is for everyone (as long as TBD ships to you).  So sign up on the rafflecopter below and make sure you check out all of the other great blogs on this hop!

Rules:
Must be at least 18 (13 with a parent's permission)
TBD must ship to you
Winner will have 48 Hours to claim prize or another winner will be chosen

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey

Author: Amy Garvey

Genre: Paranormal

Pages: 292

Published: September 20th, 2011

Publisher: Harper Teen

Rating: 2/5 Stars

"It was a beautiful, warm summer day, the day Danny died.
Suddenly Wren was alone and shattered. In a heartbroken fury, armed with dark incantations and a secret power, Wren decides that what she wants--what she "must" do--is to bring Danny back.
But the Danny who returns is just a shell of the boy Wren fell in love with. His touch is icy; his skin, smooth and stiff as marble; his chest, cruelly silent when Wren rests her head against it.
Wren must keep Danny a secret, hiding him away, visiting him at night, while her life slowly unravels around her. Then Gabriel DeMarnes transfers to her school, and Wren realizes that somehow, inexplicably, he can sense the powers that lie within her--and that he knows what she has done. And now Gabriel wants to help make things right.
But Wren alone has to undo what she has wrought--even if it means breaking her heart all over again."~Goodreads

I got Cold Kiss last year as an Amazon freebie.  I'd heard great things about it and the sequel was coming out so I thought I'd give it a shot.  The only thing I really knew about the plot at the time was that it involved a girl raising her boyfriend from the dead.  I expected it to be a fun, if sort of cheesy, read.  Unfortunately I found that instead of fun, it was kind of gross and more than a little disturbing.  That's all fine and good if that's what the author is going for, but I feel like this one just missed the mark.

LIKES:

• Exploding squirrels, geriatric cats and other things that make me giggle:  There were some things in the story that gave it personality and humor.  Wren has magical powers that she doesn't know how to control and this can cause some major outbursts when she gets freaked out.  This includes the downfall of a particularly unlucky squirrel who happens to be in the line of fire.  This sort of dark humor mixed with real-life everyday problems like a pet cat who seems to suffer from feline dementia could have been used to really give the story some much-needed levity.  Unfortunately these were few and far between and it just wasn't enough to take my mind off of the ick-factor of the book.
• There is some heart to the story:  even though this wasn't my favorite story, there were times where I was drawn into Wren and Danny's plight.  There were some scenes that were very emotional and really touched on grief, loss and sacrifice.  

DISLIKES: 

• Gross:  By this point in my reading life, I've read and loved plenty of love stories about the undead.  Of course usually they are vampires or at least they don't look like/smell like zombies.  This allows me to ignore the fact that our hero should be rotting away in a box somewhere.  Unfortunately there were too many scenes where Wren and Danny were kissing and Wren kept talking about how cold he was and how he smelled like dirt and dead leaves (or, you know, a graveyard).  In the meantime, Danny keeps wanting to go farther and farther and I couldn't help but be grossed out.
• Gabriel or The Guy With The Worst Timing Ever:  seriously dude, this girl's dead boyfriend is living in the garage and you're going in for the kiss?  So, not the time.  I just do not understand why we needed an undead love triangle.  It didn't add much to the story and frankly I would be pissed if some guy kept hitting on me after he found out about my zombie slave boyfriend.  Timing is everything guys.
• I just didn't care about the characters:  They all seemed pretty foolish to me.  Wren and Gabriel for the reasons mentioned above and Danny because, well, he's dead.  He only ever thinks about Wren and is either lost without her or physically attacking the guy who's trying to be her new boyfriend (which to be fair is pretty understandable).  

Overall, I just didn't care for this one.  It wasn't terrible, but it just wasn't for me.  The writing style is nice and the concept had some promise, but I don't think I'll be checking out the next one.

Let me know if you've read Cold Kiss and what you thought down below!

Stacking The Shelves (15)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by the amazing Tynga @Tynga's Reviews

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Waiting on Wednesday (8) and Wishlist Wednesday (8)

Wishlist Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Pen to Paper that lets bloggers gush about books that have been sitting on their WLs for awhile.

My pick this week is:

Twisted Fairy Tales by Maura McHugh

I saw this earlier today and I want it sooooo (is that a sufficient number of o's?) much!  It's an illustrated anthology of dark fairy tale retellings.  What's not to love.  This one just came out on Feb. 1.  Oh and to fuel my need, this is one of those hardbacks where the book looks just like the dust jacket. Why does that make it so much more enticing?

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where bloggers highlight upcoming releases we are drooling over.

My pick this week is:

The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett

This one is about a girl who attends a boarding school for  magical types.  But she isn't your run of the mill vampire, witch or werewolf.  She's a nightmare, that's right an honest to goodness, make you pee the bed NIGHTMARE!  How freaking cool is that?!  The story sounds incredibly cool and holy crap check out that cover!  

So what's on your WL this week?  Let me know down below or link me to your post and I'll come check it out!

Review: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Author: Rachel Hawkins

Genre: Paranormal

Pages: 323

Published: March 2, 2010

Publisher: Hyperion

Rating: 4/5 Stars

"Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire student on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her." ~Goodreads

I have an admission to make.  I am a giant cover whore.  I can't help it, if I see a cover I love I have to have the book.  Now, of course, I read the description and make sure the story sounds mildly interesting before I blow twenty bucks on a hardback, but the cover definitely is the first draw for me.  Sometimes I even keep books that I really didn't like, just because I love the cover so much. And trust me, with my lack of shelf space, this is a sin.  So naturally when I saw the cover for Hex Hall (well the American cover at least, some of the international covers are just terrible) it was love at first sight, add in a reform school for wayward magic-types and we have some real long-term relationship material here.  But, as with all budding love affairs, there was some apprehension.  What if it was cheesy?  What if it was a thinly-veiled Harry Potter knock-off?  Worst of all, what if there was (dun dun....duuuun) INSTA-LOVE?!  Luckily for me and everyone else, my fears were unfounded.  I got totally wrapped up in Sophie's world and thoroughly enjoyed this magical read.

LIKES:

• Sophie and Jenna: Sophie, our main character, is not your average YA fledgling witch.  She likes having powers, isn't afraid to use them, and is pretty sure of herself.  Once she gets to Hex she realizes she has some major improving to do and works hard to better herself.  There's none of the usual "but I don't want to be a witch" or "I just want a normal life, why must I be so awesome? why?" crap.  She has moments where she questions where her life will go, as we all do, but she is a strong character with plenty of personality to boot.  Jenna is a vampire.  A blood-sucking beastie who happens to love hot pink and sleeps with a stuffed lion named Bram.  She is also Sophie's new roommate and the only vampire student in the whole school.  Her character represents being strong in the face of stereotypes and adversity and I love that about her. 
• Cliches (but in a good way):  Normally cliches are frowned upon in this day and age, but I loved the classic elements of this story.  It was cool to have witches that actually fly on broomsticks, vampires who (without a special talisman) can't eat garlic or go out in the sun and  fairies that have fairy wings and bad attitudes.  It made the book so much fun and it felt so much more familiar.
• So many surprises:  I'm a sucker for twists and this book had quite a few.  Maybe I'm just bad at foreshadowing but most of them caught me off guard and that always makes reading more fun.
• It was just lots of fun.  Nuf said.
  

DISLIKES:

• Atmosphere: The author chose a great setting and I was really looking forward to a creepy, atmospheric feel to this book.  However,  I just don't feel like it was developed enough.  I wanted to know more about the school and its grounds and I found that I could really picture much of it.  I'm hoping this gets better in the next two books.

Isn't it just lovely when cover-love works out?  I can't wait to get my hands on Demonglass and see where Sophie and Jenna's adventures take them.  Oh and did I mention that even though this series is through Rachel Hawkins is coming out with a new spin-off series starting with School Spirits in May of this year?  Yes, we don't have to say goodbye just yet.  I'm so excited to see what Hawkins has planned.  I haven't even finished this series and I'm ready for the next one.  Oh, and in case you were wondering, the cover for School Spirits is just as awesome.  My addiction continues.

Stacking The Shelves (14)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by the amazing Tynga @Tynga's Reviews

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Review: Fever by Lauren DeStefano

Author: Lauren DeStefano

Genre: Dystopian

Pages: 341

Published: 2012

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Rating: 4/5 Stars

"Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago - surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness.
The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous - and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion...by any means necessary.
In the sequel to Lauren DeStefano’s harrowing Wither, Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price - now that she has more to lose than ever."~Goodreads

Warning: May Contain Spoilers for Book 1! 

With Sever, the third and final book in the Chemical Garden Trilogy, set to release in February,  I figured I should read Fever so I was actually caught up for once.  As you may remember, Wither was not my favorite dystopian of all time.  In fact, I had some major issues with it, but it was still a unique and interesting book and I definitely wanted to know what happened to Rhine and Gabriel after their harrowing escape from the mansion.  Fever promised to be a completely different type of story.  Rhine was away from the opulence and seductive danger of the mansion and now we were going to get to see more of the gritty, treacherous, real world as she hunted for her twin, Rowan.  I had my concerns because I had heard from a lot of readers that this book suffered greatly from "middle book syndrome", just a go between, betwixt two awesome plots.  Luckily I very much disagree with this.  I found Fever to be just as interesting and even more emotional and exciting than the first book.  I felt that I really got to know Rhine and Gabriel in this book, as well as the world that they inhabit.

LIKES:

• Dystopian Roadtrip!:  Rhine and Gabriel travel up the East Coast in a very dystopian "where are we going to sleep tonight and who is going to watch out for kidnappers" kind of way.  The come across everything from a brothel circus, to a creepy cafe owner and little old lady who happens to be a psychic.  They also gain and adorable and awesome companion who really tugs at the heartstrings, but I won't get into that here.  This setup really keeps the plot moving and kept me involved, I wanted to see where they would end up next and whom they would run into.
• Rhine and Gabriel finally get real:  One of the things that really bugged me in the last book was that Rhine ran away with Gabriel even when she barely knew him and couldn't possibly be in love with him.  I was afraid that this book would continue that trend but I was so wrong.  Gabriel acted like a real human being.  He spent most of the book, seemingly, questioning whether he should have come at all.  The mansion was a beautiful prison, but the real world is hellish.  He obviously cared about Rhine but they weren't about to jump into bed with each other.  In this book they lean on one another for support while their relationship develops and goes through it's ups and downs.  I felt like I liked them more and could relate better.
• Beautifully Grotesque:  this book was much grittier than the last and that added to the realism and also made for a much more beautiful narrative about freedom and sacrifice and love.

DISLIKES:

• Where is Cecily:  When I first saw the cover I assumed there would be a bit of Cecily in this book.  I really wanted to know what was happening with her and the baby back at the mansion, but unfortunately she plays a minuscule role in this book.  
• The Ending:  Okay, I'm not going to go into any kind of detail because I don't want to spoil anything, but I was just so mad with how this book ended.  First of all, I just felt like it was a bit forced and could have been written in a way that wasn't such a let-down.  Second, CLIFFHANGER, seriously?  Ugh!  I know they make people want to read the next book but they're frustrating as hell.  *pout*

I'm so happy that I didn't find this book to be a "middle book" bore.  This series keeps getting better and I can't wait to read Sever when it comes out on Feb. 12.  Especially after that cliffhanger, I guess it worked then.