WAITING ON WEDNESDAY: #1 - The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating! 

This week my selection is: THE PLEDGE by Kimberly Derting

Expected Publication Date: November 15, 2011

From Goodreads: In the violent country of Ludania, the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak. The smallest transgression, like looking a member of a higher class in the eye while they are speaking their native tongue, results in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina has always been able to understand the languages of all classes, and she’s spent her life trying to hide her secret. The only place she can really be free is the drug-fueled underground clubs where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in. It's there that she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy named Max who speaks a language she's never heard before . . . and her secret is almost exposed.

Charlie is intensely attracted to Max, even though she can’t be sure where his real loyalties lie. As the emergency drills give way to real crisis and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that Charlie is the key to something much bigger: her country’s only chance for freedom from the terrible power of a deadly regime.

What are you eagerly anticipating?

BOOK REVIEW: Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

Favorite line: “Maybe he was afraid I had Stockholm Syndrome after all, the kind where your captor makes your arms tingle.”

(Writing this during my lunch break) I expected to like GOING TOO FAR, I even expected to enjoy it, what I didn’t expect was how much I’d love it. This is my first Echols novel and it definitely will not be my last. 

Here’s the synopsis from Goodreads: 

All Meg has ever wanted is to get away. Away from high school. Away from her backwater town. Away from her parents who seem determined to keep her imprisoned in their dead-end lives. But one crazy evening involving a dare and forbidden railroad tracks, she goes way too far...and almost doesn't make it back.

John made a choice to stay. To enforce the rules. To serve and protect. He has nothing but contempt for what he sees as childish rebellion, and he wants to teach Meg a lesson she won't soon forget. But Meg pushes him to the limit by questioning everything he learned at the police academy. And when he pushes back, demanding to know why she won't be tied down, they will drive each other to the edge -- and over.... 

I wanted to shake Meg throughout the entire story until the reason behind her outrageous behavior was eventually explained. And then I still wanted to shake her. But I still empathized with her and wanted her to make it through, even if she was kicking and screaming the entire time.

I didn’t expect to get so many laughs out of GOING TO FAR. I was laughing throughout the entire book at Meg’s antics and her quirky southern phrases. The way Echols has written GOING TOO FAR pulls you into the story so you don’t feel like a bystander but a significant part of the story, and Meg is pulling you along the entire way. 

Not to mention the incredible chemistry between Meg and John. I was rooting for them throughout the entire story until the very end. So if you haven’t read GOING TOO FAR I would definitely recommend checking it out!

                                                                                     

IN MY MAILBOX: #2

In My Mailbox is this great meme hosted by The Story Siren where you get to showcase the books you've received that week.You get to see the books people have bought, borrowed, or received for review. I was supposed to be cutting back but I couldn't help myself this week! So hopefully (fingers crossed) I won't be buying any more new books for a couple of weeks... (Like that's gonna happen) Here are my books!

Bought:

Hardcover

Paperback:

Kindle: 

For Review:

The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Warped by Melissa Guibord

Enclave by Anne Aguirre

Wither by Lauren Destefano

Pulse and Life's Blood by Kailin Gow

XVI by Julie Karr

Tiger's Quest by Colleen Houck

Forget You by Jennifer Echols

Steel by Carrie Vaughn

Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shaltz

The Girl In The Steel Corset by Kady Cross

What did you guys get this week?

BOOK REVIEW: Divergent by Veronica Roth

First Impressions: OMG! YES! 

Last Impressions: OMG! YES YES YES!

I just finished DIVERGENT during my lunch break and OMG I can’t describe the emotions that are running through me at the moment. I have this lump in the pit of my stomach and butterflies trying to fly out of my throat and my heart is so full and heavy! Indescribable!

I have to admit, I was wary going into DIVERGENT because of the hype and the synopsis. It just didn’t sound like my cup of tea (or any caffeinated beverage…). But it went above and beyond any of my expectations. This has to be the best book of the year, no, the best book EVER.

Here’s a synopsis from Goodreads:

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

I laughed, I cried, I did both at the same time and my stomach was in knots the entire time! Right when I felt relieved, something else happened, and then something else happened. I do have to warn you, there is a lot of violence, like, a lot of violence and it’s not for little kiddies to read at bedtime…

This is definitely a character driven story. Tris’ character is relatable; sometimes I wanted to scream at her and other times I couldn’t believe her bravery. She was selfish and selfless and everything in-between, she was HUMAN. And I think that’s something I find a little hard to find in YA literature lately. HUMAN characters that aren’t cut from cardboard boxes and flung into unbelievable circumstances and somehow make it out alive. Tris was believable, relatable, and I was emotionally connected with her from the first moment her voice rose from the pages. If you haven’t read DIVERGENT… What are you waiting for?? Get it YESTERDAY, yes, I said yesterday.

Random paragraph: I look at my reflection in the mirror on the back wall and see a stranger. She is blond like me, with a narrow face like mine, but that’s where the similarities stop.  I do not have a black eye, and a split lip and a bruised jaw. I am not as pale as a sheet. She can’t possibly be me, though she moves when I move.

And does anyone else think the Divergent just have ADD…?

FOLLOW FRIDAY: #2

Q. It's circle time. Time for us to open up and share. Can you tell us FIVE quirky habits or things about you? We all have them...

 

5. I have severe ADD so I have to be reading 6 or more books at a time to keep my interest.

 

4. I have a crazy weird obsession with jelly beans, they help me focus, no joke!

 

3. I eat mentos ALL THE TIME. I eat about a pack a day, it's gross, I know.

 

2. I fold my underwear and socks... does anyone else do that??

 

1. I have an obsession with Bollywood movies! They litter my room! Shhh though!  

 

What are your quirks or habits?

Giveaway Winner! Beauty Queens & Rebel Angels by Libba Bray

Congratulations to Jenny from the Supernatural Snark! You won my copy of Beauty Queens by Libba Bray as well as a copy of Rebel Angels by Libba Bray. I’ll send you an e-mail soon so I can get the books out to you asap! Thanks to everyone else for entering!
 

Winner selected by random.org

IN MY MAILBOX: #1

My first In My Mailbox meme hosted by The Story Siren is where you get to showcase the books you've received that week.

Bought:

Hardcover:

Paperback:

NetGalley:
For Review

The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher

Signed Copy of Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

The Eternal Ones by Kristen Miller

Evernight by Claudia Gray

Stargazer by Claudia Gray

Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

Bite Me, Try Me, & Fang Me by Parker Blue

Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson

What did you get this week?