Shadow Hills Paperback Puzzle

I completely loved Anastasia Hopcus's debut novel, Shadow Hills. You can read my review here. As part of the paperback release, I along with other bloggers have joined up for a little contest to reveal the cover puzzle style!

To win a signed poster of Shadow Hills (US ONLY!) you have to answer the following trivia question:

24. What color shoes does Phe wear to the school dance?


Please fill out THIS FORM to enter (ends 11/20 and post your answer to the question in the form. DO NOT put it in the comments.) If I have more than one person with the correct answer, I will use random.org to pick the winner.


My post is the last of the puzzle piece game so make sure to check out yesterday's pieces (and more chances to win) at YA Bliss and DJ's Life in Fiction. You can also swing by Book Nerds for her post and question today!


For more information on Anastasia Hopcus:

Website
Blog
Twitter
Shadow Hills Facebook

Buy Shadow Hills:
Indiebound
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Book Depository

♥amber

Supernatural Sunday

The episode on Friday night was a good one. I like the boys back on the road again, fighting the monsters, even though in this case it was a monster who was doing good, but yet still killing people. Of course being a family's pet dog and watching mommy in the shower was a bit creepy. But the little mut had a heart. Hopefully he doesn't get hit by a car anytime soon.

Anyways, I really only have three more things to say:

Crowley's a dick.

Sammy needs his soul back.

Bring on the faeries!!

♥amber

Crash Into Me by Albert Borris (Blog Tour)

Crash Into Me by Albert Borris


Released: June 2009
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Genre: Young Adult - Contemporary
Pages: 272
Source: Bought


Rating: ♥♥♥♥

Owen, Frank, Audrey, and Jin-Ae have one thing in common: they all want to die. When they meet online after each attempts suicide and fails, the four teens make a deadly pact: they will escape together on a summer road trip to visit the sites of celebrity suicides...and at their final destination, they will all end their lives.


As they drive cross-country, bonding over their dark impulses, sharing their deepest secrets and desires, living it up, hooking up, and becoming true friends, each must decide whether life is worth living--or if there's no turning back.



---

Crash Into Me was a book I had kept meaning to read, and I'm so glad I finally did. Ever read a book that you know is powerful yet you have no clue how to describe why? That's kind of how this review is going to be.

The book opens with Owen meeting up with Frank, Jin-Ae, and Audrey. Throughout their trip, old chats come up, telling more about each character before they all decided to make this pact together. Owen was a character who I could understand in some ways, and in others, I needed to know why he thought life wasn't worth living. The same went for Frank who thought he'd never be enough for his family. Then Jin-Ae, a lesbian who couldn't come out to her parents. Then there was Audrey. Oh Audrey. You would think a book that covers such a raw and emotional subject matter wouldn't have comic relief, but because of Audrey there was. And trust me, these kids needed some comic relief.

Besides wondering what was going to happen at the end, I really wanted to know more about Owen. What all he went through, why he was like this kept me very glued to the story. The friendships that build because of this amazed me. Here were four teens thinking no one cared about them when the whole time they had formed this incredible friendship and bond they were too blind to see.

Suicide was the only thing the characters knew, but yet them discussing it, brining things up, making list of ways to kill yourself - it never got repetitive like you may think. Let's face it. A lot of teens go through these feelings. I know I did, and I would have loved to have read a book like this back then.

Overall, Albert Borris did a wonderful job of capturing a very raw and real subject. This is the type of book I think should be read and passed around to anyone who has ever felt this way. And even if you've never found yourself in a dark place, you can still take something from it.

♥amber

Rock This! Thursday Interview with Girls In The Stacks!

Girls In The Stacks is ran by three ladies named Stacy, Shannan, and Nancy. I love their blog! They give out great reviews, have some very interesting (and funny!) podcasts where they discuss the books they've all read, and do some kick butt interviews with authors! AND they have snazzy shirts too! If you haven't seen this site, you must click here and check it out!

Today for Rock This! Thursday the lovely Stacy has joined me in a discussion of books and music.

You're walking down the street - what song is following you?
Viva La Vida by Coldplay. I love this song, and if my theories on the song are right then it pretty much sums up how I feel about said theory. Or Get the Party Started by Pink

You've scored a golden ticket that will take you to any concert from any era. The only catch is that you have to take an author with you. Who are you taking and who are you two going to go see?
This is a hands down no-brainer for me, Lollapalooza ‘92 and I would take Jane Austen. Now, she would probably freak out a bit and be out of sorts for the entire concert, but she is my fav and I have to take my fav.

What was the last book you read that made you fall head over heels in love with it?
The Shapeshifers: The Kiesha’ra of the Den of Shadows by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. This is a compilation of the complete series, so while I didn’t care for one of the books I did immensely enjoy the series as a whole.

Do you have a favorite book that is centered around music?
I actually have two, Ballad by Maggie Steifvater and Black Hole Sun by David Macinnis Gill.

I've been wanting to read Black Hole Sun! (And now I have the song stuck in my head, thanks!) What's one thing you'd like to see more of in YA?
As a 30-ish reader of YA I would like to see older main characters, more parental involvement and less unnecessary cussing. I loathe unnecessary cussing.

I feel ya on the unnecessary cussing! It used to not bother me because sometimes a character just has to get their point across, but lately I've noticed it seems to be more of a shock value than really being about the story. A lot of songs play out like a fantastic story. Is there a song out there you'd like to see made into a book? 
I would like to see someone tackle “Devil Went Down to Georgia” by Charlie Daniels. I think it would make an excellent springboard for a creepy book.

Who is your favorite band/singer and why? 
Third Day. I like their sound, lyrics and listening to them always brings me peace.

What made you want to start blogging? 
I love to read and really just needed a creative, somehwere to share my obsession. Of course I would have never started on my own, Shannan and Nancy are excellent partners. We complete each other. Cheesy I know, but it’s true.

Have you experienced any 'rock star' moments?
We have been very fortunate and have had a few ‘rock star’ moments with authors but my all time favorite moment happened at Target. On August 24th after dropping off my son at school I rushed to Target in my pajamas and walked as fast as I could to the book section to buy Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. The lady in front of me, who was buying the book as well, turned around and said, “Aren’t you Stacy from Girls in the Stacks?” I had no idea who she was. I was shocked, flattered and embarrassed (pajamas remember) all at the same time. True story. (Okay, so it turns out she was a friend of a friend. Does that still count?)

Ha! Yes, it still counts! Thanks for stopping by, Stacy. If you're a blogger who would like to do an interview or guest post for Rock This! Thursday please contact me at: justyourtypicalbookblog(at)hotmail.com. Don't be shy - you know you wanna!!


♥amber

Blog Tour: Branded by Keary Talyor

Branded by Keary Taylor


Released: February 2010
Publisher: CreateSpace
Genre: Paranormal
Source: Sent by author via blog tour


Rating: ♥♥♥

Night after night, Jessica stands trial before a council of vindictive angels for deeds she didn’t commit. Condemnation brings a branding as they dementedly laugh and point but exaltation starts a war over her soul.These are Jessica’s nightmares.


Alex is everything Jessica could ever want and she’ll do anything to be with him. Even tell him the truth about angels, why she never sleeps, and the scar on the back of her neck.This is what she will fight for.But the nightmares rule Jessica’s life and she must find a way to stop the events that are pulling her toward her own judgment or become the object of her greatest fear. And lose Alex forever.

---

Keary Taylor brings something new to the popular angel trend with her novel, Branded. The idea of a girl standing trial, night after night for things she never commited is definitely a unique and very appealing idea. I liked Jessica. She was easy to slip into yet I felt horrible for her. She lived a very hard life, never being able to sleep, never really being able to connect with anyone because of this burden that had been placed upon her as a young child.

The descriptions in the story were very well written. I could see the council, feel as if I were there knowing all the terror she was put through.  This led to a nice mystery of why this was always happening to her. And while I liked the suspense, sometimes I felt like the fillers of daily life seemed to drag the book down some. It was easy for me to skim over some parts because I didn't really feel them relevant to the story.

Alex and Jessica's relationship was a bit rushed, but played a very important role to the story and Jessica's need to survive all the things that were happening to her. Hints are dropped here and there of why Jessica was standing in for others, and why her nightmares were suddenly beginning to change. When handsome yet very suspicious Cole came around the story, the plot picked up, and kept me more in glued than the beginning did.

While I guessed a good part of Branded, the ending completely took me by surprise! It was well played, and I'm really curious of where the author will take Jessica's life in the second book, Forsaken.

Forsaken will be available in January 2011. To find out more about Keary Taylor and her books check out her website.
















♥amber

November's Top Commenter Giveaway and NaNoWriMo!

If you were around here last year (bless you) you might remember how I participated in NaNoWriMo. Of course I'm doing it again this year! This time around, I'm writing....wait for it....A YOUNG ADULT CONTEMPORARY  NOVEL!!

Now you might be thinking, okay what's the big deal, Amber? After all you DO run a young adult book blog!  But you see it is a big deal because I haven't written a young adult story in over five years. It kind of scares me honestly, but I'm having a lot of fun with it. I would love to give you some short synopsis, but the last person I tried to explain it to turned into about three paragraphs. Just know that my plan is to mix a bit of friendship, love, drama, tears, laughs, and darker parts all into one story. But I can show you this awesome banner that Kim from And Anything Bookish made for me:

So since I'm tackling this crazy idea of writing a novel in a month, my blog is probably going to suffer. I still wanted to have a giveaway in November for the posts that do come up so this is what you can win:

1 Winner will get 2 Contemporary Young Adult Books of THEIR CHOICE!

- Anyone can enter as long as the Book Depository ships to your country. Don't yell at me if they don't. Go yell at them.

- You have to be over 13 years of age.

- All rules of how the monthly commenter giveaway runs can be found here. (Please read them!)

Extra entries:

I decided that I probably won't be spamming JYTBB with NaNo updates because I'll be doing that on my other blog. So I thought why not add that in for some extra points?

+5 points if you go follow my other blog

+7 points if you were already a follower of it before this post

- Leave a comment on this post and tell me which one you are so I can count it!

AND if you leave a comment on any posts I do in November on that blog you get 1 point for each one just like on here! So yeah, tons of ways to rack up commenter entries. 

Are you doing NaNoWriMo? If so, feel free to hit me up on twitter @JYTBB for any rants, word count races, etc!

♥amber

Matched by Ally Condie

Matched by Ally Condie


Released: November 2010
Publisher: Dutton
Genre: Young Adult - Dystopia
Pages: 384
Source: Around the World Tours


Rating: ♥♥♥♥

In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.


Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s barely any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one . . . until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow—between perfection and passion.



---

I'm new to the Dystopia genre. After discussing it on twitter with Sab, I came to realize I have read it before, but what can I say I have a bad habit of sticking in my comfort zone of reading. Since Matched was one of the most anticipated books this year, I decided to pop my head out and see what the fuss was about.

Ally Condie's style of writing is very poetic. The words slip in nicely and flow so easily it amazed me how far into the story I was without even realizing it. The only downside I think some readers will find in the beginning of Matched is a bit slow. Normally I can't do a slow book, but the whole world that Cassia is placed in had me so intrigued. The thought of living in a world, one that was controlled from what you ate, to what you wear, to who (if anyone) you will spend the rest of your life - that's just crazy!

For someone who doesn't think of a futuristic world, it was a bit weird at first trying to view a main character who had never really had her own thoughts. Cassia has never went against what she has told, but soon her mind begins to wonder. One thing I loved was seeing a lot of the 'past' which some of it was only fifty or sixy years ago being intertwined in the stories. (Double bonus for using some of Dylan Thomas's work). When Ky's face appears on the screen, it's like the first time Cassia's life actually turns into a life. She suddenly so confused when she shouldn't be, and her feelings are sprinkled throughout the pages and the character growth was paced out so wonderfully - it just made this read so fantastic.

What really makes Matched stand out to me is how beautiful the relationship between Ky and Cassia is. I am a sucker for a good romance, and each chapter my stomach become fluttery wondering what was going to happen to these two. If anything did, I was on pins and needles wondering what the outcome would be.

I will give out a semi spoiler, but it's one I think everyone should know so they don't have the same reaction I did. There is a sequel (and thank you Jenny for reassuring me of it!) so when you get to the last page don't chuck the book on the table shouting out a WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! Because Cassia's story is far from done, and I am so, so very glad of that.

♥amber