Happy Release Day Stephanie!

Today is the official release of Stephanie Kuehnert's second novel, Ballads of Suburbia. Chea!! *throws streamers around*

I was lucky enough to win an ARC in a contest from her and read it last month. And my own finished copy arrived two days ago. Whoot! You can read my rambling review here or I can sum it up in four words for you:

Amazing. Powerful. Must Read.

You can also check out an interview I held with Stephanie here and her music interview here.

If for some crazy reason you didn't run out to the bookstore and pick up a copy of Ballads, our giveaway is going on until midnight tonight. So click here and enter for a chance to win!


♥amber

Reivew - Blue Moon by Alyson Noel

Blue Moon by Alyson Noel

Release Date: July 7, 2009
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Pages: 284

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Just as Ever is learning everything she can about her new abilities as an immortal, initiated into the dark, seductive world by her beloved Damen, something terrible is happening to him. As Ever's powers are increasing, Damen's are fading, stricken by a mysterious illness that threatens his memory, his identity, his life.

Desperate to save him, Ever travels to the mystical dimension of Summerland, uncovering not only the secrets of Damen's past- the brutal, tortured history he hoped to keep hidden- but also an ancient text revealing the workings of time. With the approaching blue moon heralding her only window for travel, Ever is forced to decide between turning back the clock and saving her family from the accident that claimed them, or staying in the present and saving Damen, who grows weaker each day...

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The beginning of the book had me thinking I wouldn't like it. The only thing really going on was Ever and Damen touching, talking, Ever thinking Damn was hot, and me still not liking him that much. Right when I thought it might be a lost cause, things started to pick up, and I found myself being pleasantly surprised.

Alyson Noel does a great job of building up the plot and having a mystery hang around. I wasn't for sure what was going to happen next with everyone around Ever doing a 180. First Damen starts getting sick then he starts acting like a jerkface and Ever is growing like the Jolly Green Giant - the book is constantly in motion.

My favorite parts of this book were Ever's trips Summerland. The whole idea of this place and the new characters that pop up such as Romy and Rayne, and all the things that she learns about her new powers - it kept me glued. And I forgot to mention this in the first book, but I love Riley. She is possibly one of the perfect little sisters out there. I love her spunk and her witty little comebacks. She plays a wonderful supporting side character to Ever. Also Miles still delivers the best laughs of them all.

I was pretty wishy-washy on Evermore, but Blue Moon has definitely made me more of a fan of the series. The ending was still another rush-rush one, and there were a few spots in the book that had me going uh..what?! But I'm curious of what new boy Roman (who desperately needs a sock stuck in his mouth) will be doing in the next book. And of course what is going to happen between Ever and Damen. (He grew on me a little more, not completely sold, but hey - there's always Shawdowland.)




♥amber

Review - Evermore by Alyson Noel

Evermore by Alyson Noel

Released: Feb 2009
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Since a horrible accident claimed the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever can see auras, hear people’s thoughts, and know a person’s life story by touch. Going out of her way to shield herself from human contact to suppress her abilities has branded her as a freak at her new high school—but everything changes when she meets Damen Auguste…

Ever sees Damen and feels an instant recognition. He is gorgeous, exotic and wealthy, and he holds many secrets. Damen is able to make things appear and disappear, he always seems to know what she’s thinking—and he’s the only one who can silence the noise and the random energy in her head. She doesn’t know who he really is—or what he is. Damen equal parts light and darkness, and he belongs to an enchanted new world where no one ever dies.

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The main character, Ever, was a likable girl who has some aspects I think some people will be able to relate to. Even if she does have the whole ability to read minds and see people's auras - which I found very interesting and liked how the book just jumped right into things and let the back story come to life as you read.

Ever's two friends, Miles and Haven were enjoyable as side characters. My only thing is that I think Miles was a little too stereotypical. But he did bring a lot of comical parts to the book that had me cracking up at times. Then there's Damen who is hot, no denying it, but I wasn't really feeling him at the beginning. A part of me did wish Ever would backhand him at times. But what really held my interest was the biggest question of the book. What was he? Was he a vampire? Or some stalker magician who has the ability to swoon every time he walked into a room? As the story unfolded he gained some brownie points, but I'm still not completely loving him. There are three more books in the series, so ya never know, I might change my mind.

I liked the idea of story, enjoyed most of the characters, the build up of the mystery behind it was good...but I felt as it it were a little too rushed towards the end. Overall I wasn't completely blown away with it, but I did like it. I would recommend it for those that are looking for a very free flowing fast read.



♥amber

Rock This! Thursday Review - Ballads of Suburbia

Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehernt

Release Date: July 21, 2009
Publisher: MTV Books
Pages: 368

Kara hasn't been back to Oak Park since the end of junior year, when a heroin overdose nearly killed her and sirens heralded her exit. Four years later, she returns to face the music. Her life changed forever back in high school: her family disintegrated, she ran around with a whole new crowd of friends, she partied a little too hard, and she fell in love with gorgeous bad-boy Adrian, who left her to die that day in Scoville Park....

Amid the music, the booze, the drugs, and the drama, her friends filled a notebook with heartbreakingly honest confessions of the moments that defined and shattered their young lives. Now, finally, Kara is ready to write her own.

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Kara a character I easily saw myself through and at the same time saw many of my friends in as well. When she arrives at high school without her best friend, Stacey, there's one question: Where does she fit in? While she's content with hanging out with her younger brother, Liam, you know she wants something more. And soon she's making friends again and ends up at Scoville Park.

In high school, things change. We all know that. Most of the time by the graduation, you possibly have friends you didn't have when you first walked into the building. I think this book does a great job of covering a high school experience. Over the courses of chapters, you see Kara change. Sometimes for the better and sometimes not so much at all. From how she acts when she's at home to how she acts when she's around a certain crowd. How she deals with her parents fighting or things that happen to her. And how a choice can easily change things within the matter of seconds.

It's not just Kara's story you get to hear. Throughout the book you get to take a glimpse of her friends' lives through their written out 'ballads'. What I enjoyed and what I think made the really made the characters was this. You hear from Stacey (who was one of my favorites to read about), Cass, Adrian (character crush alert! damn those bad boys...), Christian, Liam, and Maya. It gave me a better understanding of who they were, and why they acted the way they did. (Though how I view Christian is still very rocky, but I think that's just how it's supposed to be.) It was as if I stumbled upon the notebook myself while reading them. Each party Kara is taken to or a concert or any event she does, I felt as if I were right there.

This book really does have it all. Relationships with friends and family. Times were you'll find yourself laughing and other times worried about the people that are in it. What will happen with the choices they make? Will Kara be okay? I think there couldn't have been a better ending for this.

Stephanie Kuehnert captivated a voice I would have loved to read when I was in high school. No, scratch that. A voice I needed and wanted to hear back then. But I'm glad something like this is out there for now for other teens to be able to read. The issues in this book are heavy. I think some people might shy away from this, but even if it's not your normal type of read, I hope you'll still pick it up and give it a shot. It definitely deserves it.



♥amber

Book Request

I've been a lazy blogger. I have about four books I need to write reviews for, but until I do that, I'll do this instead.

I saw this over at Amy's blog and immediately went Ooooo!

WTF by Peter Lerangis

Release Date: November 10, 2009

Two parties, six alternating points of view, and three letters that says it all--WTF!

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Not much of a description, but with that cover (it made me think of the movie GO for some reason), and 6 different point of views to read from - I'm pretty much sold.

♥amber

Rock This! Thursday with Stephanie Kuehnert

Rock This! Thursday is a weekly feature that focuses on books that are centered around or are about another thing we love: music! (And once in a while a concert story, a song, or a band we think everyone should be listening too.)

This week we have Stephanie Kuehnert (author of I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone and Ballads of Suburbia) to give out her music suggestions and answer a few more questions.


Five songs we should be listening to right now:

I really don't know if I can do songs. I have to do entire albums. I'll name my favorite tracks though.

-Hell Hath No Fury by Civet in my opinion is one of the best albums to come out in years. They are in my top five favorite bands. The other favorite bands are Nirvana, Hole, Social D and Rancid. Bands I discovered in the early 90s when I was like 13. What that means is that no one has impressed me as much as Civet has in the past 17 years. Stand out track: "Son of A Bitch"

-Siren Song of the Counter Culture by Rise Against. The frat boys have discovered Rise Against now, which disturbs me because they just don't get it. But you can bet that those frat boys won't bother to check out RA's older stuff and this in my opinion is their best album. "Swing Life Away" is my favorite track, even though it's acoustic and not at all like the other songs. It's just ohhhhhh

-Let the Dominoes Fall by Rancid. And Out Come The Wolves will always be my favorite Rancid album. I love them, but nothing they've done since has lived up to that album for me... until now. This new album is freakin' amazing. "New Orleans" is my favorite song right now.

-The '59 Sound by The Gaslight Anthem. I just discovered these guys late last year and am totally addicted to them, especially the title track.

-Anything by Johnny Cash. Anything at all. If you haven't discovered him yet, you need to. You should listen to him while reading Ballads of Suburbia. Especially his cover of the song "Hurt" originally done by Nine Inch Nails.


If you could hang out with one musician - living or dead - who would it be and why?

Kurt Cobain. I've loved Nirvana since I was 12. Their music opened so many doors for me. I discovered so many bands, gained confidence in myself. And I will always admire Kurt as an artist in such a huge way. I think he'd be very interesting to talk to.


Most guilty pleasure song or band you have on your iPod, MP3 player, etc.

I don't have guilty pleasures because I don't feel guilty about anything I like. Maybe I'd lose punk rock points for loving Pink, but she's got a great voice and she's way too much fun and unlike the other pop stuff, she is totally her own woman and she doesn't seem to give a damn what anyone thinks, so as a feminist I totally respect her. On the other hand, my love for 80s hair rock like GNR and Poison conflicts with my feminist beliefs, but GNR just rocks and Poison is just cheesy fun. And I'm sure I'd get mocked for liking bands like Matchbox 20 and the Gin Blossoms, but both bands sing about situations that remind me of situations I've been in with bad boys, but instead of the boy hurting me, in the song the girl has left the boy and I just get some perverse pleasure out of that. That Matchbox 20 song where the boy just gets left by the girl on the highway? Total catharsis.


First tape or CD you bought:

Hmm that I bought with my own money? It was definitely Madonna, but I'm not sure if it was True Blue or Like A Prayer.


What is the one thing you love most about music?

That I can find a song that reflects everything I've been through, every emotion I've felt. There's a song out there for every mood and every moment. It's the perfect release.



Don't forget to click the link onthe sidebar ---> to win a copy of Ballads of Suburbia. (I even added an extra entry.)

♥amber

Book Request

The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott

I liked him first, but it doesn't matter.

I still like him.

That doesn't matter either.

Or at least, it's not supposed to.

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I know a lot of people have already seen this, but I couldn't resist. First, it's an Elizabeth Scott novel. So I know it's already going to be really good. And secondly, look at that cover! It's purple, cute, and the feet are not weird looking. (I have this phobia of strange looking toes, don't ask.) The only thing that sucks is it doesn't come out until April 6, 2010.

♥amber