Review: Party by Tom Leveen

Party by Tom Leveen

Released: April 2010
Publisher: Random House
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 240
Source: Around The World Tours

Rating: ♥♥♥.5


It's saturday night in Santa Barbara and school is done for the year. Everyone is headed to the same party. Or at least it seems that way. The place is packed. The beer is flowing. Simple, right? But for 11 different people the motives are way more complicated. As each character takes a turn and tells his or her story, the eleven individuals intersect, and reconnect, collide, and combine in ways that none of them ever saw coming.



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Party is one of those type of books that reminds me of a 90's teen movie. You know the type of movie you watched before high school that was based on this one epic night that brought all these people from different sterotypes together and something crazy, fun, disastrous, and everything in between happened. And the entire time you're watching you think to yourself woah - I want a night like that!

I know this read isn't for everyone. It has a lot of language, and I know a lot of readers who just aren't into these types of stories. For those that love a handful of characters who intertwine each others lives and like a book that cuts the bull and gets to the point - this is your read. While I did really enjoy it, I didn't love-love it. My main problem was I didn't like a few characters, but their purpose seemed to be the fillers anyways. But there were a few characters such as Beckett, Morrigan (love to hate her), Tommy, Max, and Ashley that I could not get enough of. I was so glad a lot of the book was focused on them. All in all, this was an entertaining read that gave me some good laughs. I'll definitely look out to see what Tom Leveen puts out in the future.

♥amber

Review: Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea Campbell

Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea Campbell


Release Date: May 11, 2010
Publisher: Egmont USA
Genre: Young Adult 
Pages: 352
Source: Publisher


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Damien Locke knows his destiny--attending the university for supervillains and becoming Golden City's next professional evil genius. But when Damien discovers he's the product of his supervillain mother's one-night stand with--of all people--a superhero, his best-laid plans are ruined as he's forced to live with his superhero family.

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Holy schnikes, Batman! You better watch yourself because there is a whole new superhero...or wait, should I say a whole new supervillian? Hhhm. Either way, The Rise of Renegade X is definitely going to be a favorite for readers!

Damien is probably one of my new favorite boys in Young Adult. He's very well developed, unbleivelbly sharp witted, sarcastic, obnixious at times, and could quite possibly charm the pants off of anyone. (Well, may not just anyone, just depends on who he’s laying the charm on to.) I loved seeing the character growth he had in him while this book went on.

I really enjoyed how this book covered a lot of things other than good guys vs. bad guys. Damien's family was definitely interesting to read. I loved how much he tried to rebel against his super hero family and what he learns from his mother's villain side. All the characters were great and never felt like background noise.

Between trying to save the world or not save the world - kind of up to Damien to decide - he also has a little love triangle going on. There is Kat, his ex girlfriend who he's still in love with. And then there is Sarah. The very weird and blunt girl at his new school. I did like Kat at the beginning of the story, but she soon faded out to me. Sorry Kat fans, but I am Team Sarah all the way!

Even if you're not big into the whole superheros type thing - I say still give this one a try! It'a s very enjoyable book.



♥amber

We have a winner!

The winner of the 4 ARCs plus swag for my half way hiatus giveaway is........

KAILIA SAGE!!!!

Thanks to everyone who entered! Didn't win? Well I'm going to have another contest coming up soon so be on the lookout for that! Until then happy reading!!

Rock This! Thursday: What's your favorite song(s)?

I'm the type of person who usually always has music playing. I blame this on my father. Growing up it was pretty normal for the record player/stereo to be playing while we were watching TV in the living room. Or when we were eating at the dinner table. Or when we were doing nothing at all, and watch out if my dad got a new Grateful Dead or Rolling Stones album because that sucker would be on repeat for hours even days. I got so use to having music being played non stop that silence kind of freaked me out.

Now I'm a bit different. I cannot have music playing when I watch TV, trying to fall asleep for the night, or reading. But there is one case where the silence still freaks me out, and that's when I'm writing. I HAVE to have music playing when I write. I'm not for sure why, but it's like my characters will not come to life unless my playlist is on.

Here in the past month I've been wanting some new music. I've been working on the same story off and on for almost two years now. It's time to spice things up a bit. So this leads me to ask: What are some of your favorite songs at this very moment?

♥amber

Interview My Character!

One of the main reasons why I'm on this half way hiatus (which has been expanded until August) is so I can focus on my novel. I saw this character exercise on a forum I frequently visit, and thought it would be a fun idea.

Basically you can ask my character ANY question - no matter how random it is, and I'll answer them! Or well, my character will.  (And this may or may not count as extra entries on a future giveaway. Or depending on how many questions I get, this might turn into its own giveaway. *wink wink*)

So here is the skimmy:

My character is 24 years old, and is about to go back to her hometown for the first time in 7 years.

That's it! Ask anything you want though the answers might be a bit vague for obvious reasons. Thanks to all who take the time to help me out here :) I'll be answering questions in the comments so feel free to ask a question off of an answer I give.

♥amber

We interrupt this half way hiatus to bring you the awesomeness of Jackson Pearce

Can you say awesome?!?!


♥amber

Review - Star Shack by Lila Castle

Star Shack by Lila Castle


Release Date: June 2010
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 224
Genre: Young Adult
Source: Around the World Tours

Rating: ♥♥♥

Pete and Annabelle live for their summers together on Gingerbread Beach. They've always believed they were a perfect pair… until junior year, when Annabelle becomes obsessed with astrology. Now they can hardly stand each other. Pete thinks that Annabelle (a Leo) has become a total flake; Annabelle thinks Pete (a Scorpio) has become an uptight jerk.

When Annabelle dares Pete to open a summer business on the Boardwalk generating personalized horoscopes, their fast-paced, hilarious bickering soon rises to a fever pitch. The he-said/she-said advice of the Star Shack is wildly popular and seems able to fix any relationship problem… except their own.

But when one of Annabelle's star charts helps catch a thief, Pete might have to admit that the stars could really hold the key to the future…and to his own heart.




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Star Shack is a book you can sit outside enjoying the sun and plunge right through it. It is a very cute story about a girl who is overly obsessed with astrology and the guy she's been in love with who really isn't too keen on the idea. Their relationship was cute, but at times I really wanted to strangle Pete. He could be such a douche towards Annabelle and I just wanted to tell her that she could do so much better. But his personality grew on me and the book all together was just fun.

One thing I really enjoyed was reading all the little horoscopes before each chapter. It gave you a glimpse of the people that were about to be introduced and how well or not well their personalities went with it.  This is definitely a read I would recommend if you're looking for something light and something that will put a smile on your face.

♥amber