Teaser Tuesday

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, a weekly feature hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading, in which you open the book you're currently reading to a random page and share 2 sentences without spoilers, along with the author and title of the book. 

Today's Teaser is from 

"I bet you could sometimes find all the mysteries of the universe in someone's hand.” 

Sorry for being absent. Not that I have been doing much any way.

Hope you keep reading!

Grace

Teaser Tuesday

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, a weekly feature hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading, in which you open the book you're currently reading to a random page and share 2 sentences without spoilers, along with the author and title of the book. 

Today's Teaser is from 

“Shouldn't someone give a pep talk or something?" Minho asked, pulling Thomas's attention away from Alby.

"Go ahead," Newt replied.

Minho nodded and faced the crowd. "Be careful," he said dryly. "Don't die.” 

Maze Runner

James Dashner

Hope you keep reading. Sorry this is late.
Grace

Friday 56

Welcome to Friday 56, a weekly meme hosted by Storytime with Tonya and Friends.  You grab the book nearest to you, open it to page 56, and post a quote from that page that catches your eye.  The important thing is to not go for your favorite book, or the most intellectual, go for the closest.

Today's meme is from

 "It all smelled of life- life in every form and degree."

The Bane Chronicles 

Casandra Clare

Sarah Brennan

Maureen Johnson

Hope your keep reading!

Grace

Teaser Tuesday

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, a weekly feature hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading, in which you open the book you're currently reading to a random page and share 2 sentences without spoilers, along with the author and title of the book. 

Today's Teaser is from 

“It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren't so different. We saw the same sunset.” 

The Outsiders

S.E. Hinton

Sorry this is late. I have been busy. 

Hope you keep reading!

Grace 

That's What He Said Thursday

That's What He Said Thursday is a weekly meme that is hosted by Chapter Break. Just take a quote from one of your favorite male characters that they said to the lucky female love interest.

Today's quote is from:

“How about a kiss, Saumensch?"

From Rudy to Liesel 

The Book Thief

Markus Zusak

Hope you Keep Reading!

Grace 

Teaser Tuesday

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, a weekly feature hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading, in which you open the book you're currently reading to a random page and share 2 sentences without spoilers, along with the author and title of the book. 

Today's Teaser is from 

"Got that gun?” Peter says to Tobias. “No,” says Tobias, “I figured I would shoot the bullets out of my nostrils, so I left it upstairs.”

Insurgent

Veronica Roth

Hope you keep reading! 

Grace

All Fall Down by Ally Carter

All Fall Down
By Ally Carter
Published: January 20, 2015
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 320
5 stars

A new series of global proportions -- from master of intrigue, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Ally Carter. 

This exciting new series from NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Ally Carter focuses on Grace, who can best be described as a daredevil, an Army brat, and a rebel. She is also the only granddaughter of perhaps the most powerful ambassador in the world, and Grace has spent every summer of her childhood running across the roofs of Embassy Row.

Now, at age sixteen, she's come back to stay--in order to solve the mystery of her mother's death. In the process, she uncovers an international conspiracy of unsettling proportions, and must choose her friends and watch her foes carefully if she and the world are to be saved.

Review copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Opening Thoughts
I went into this expecting to really enjoy it, because I have been a fan of Ally Carter for years and years, but Ally Carter's first books in series are usually not as strong as the later books. However, this book completely blew me out of the water. I adored it, and I would recommend it to anyone.

Characters

I really liked Grace. I can't say that she's my favorite of Ally Carter's protagonists, but she was very relatable. She had so much great character development. And the best part is that Grace is an unreliable narrator, which is absolutely one of my auto-buy buzz words. You can't trust what Grace is thinking, and it leads to some crazy twists and turns. Grace is sarcastic, and strong, and brave, but she lets herself be vulnerable, which was really refreshing. I did think that Grace was a little judgemental at the beginning which kind of grated on my nerves, but that faded away fairly quickly.


“I've attended seven schools in ten years," I explain. "So you can rest assured I know you. You're the girl who thinks being cruel is the same thing as being witty. You think being loud is the same thing as being right. And, most of all, you're the girl who is very, very pretty. And also very, very...common. trust me. There's at least one of you in every school." I watch her features shift. "Oh. Wait. Did you think you were unique?”

“Keep your chin up. Eventually, you will meet someone who cares about your opinion. I'm so sorry I'm not her.”


All of Grace's friends were great. I think that Noah is my favorite of her friends, but I also really like Megan. Noah is funny and clever, and I love him very much. I loved that all of the side characters had a lot of depth to them, and that, since all of Grace's friends were from different embassies, the book ended up with a very diverse cast of characters. I do wish that we had seen a little bit more of Alexei, and had gotten a little bit more character development for him, but that's not really a big deal, and is something that I'm sure we will get in later books.

In addition, there's not really any romance in this book, which is great, because Grace is really not in the right state of mind to be juggling a boyfriend. There's certainly some hints of something later to come, but for the most part the relationships that develop are friendships.


“Ok," he says. "First lesson."

Noah broadens his stance, taking his place firmly on the embassy side of the threshold. "in the United States," he says. Then, with both feet, he leaps on to the sidewalk. "Out of the United States." Quickly, he jumps back toward me. "In the United States." Another jump across the threshold. "Out of the United States. In. Out. In --"

"Is this the part where I hit you?”


“Don't let the glitter fool you." She wiggles her shiny nails in the air, then taps her temple. "I'm up here"
"I see that," I say as Noah whispers a very soft, "I love you."
"What?" Megan asks.
"Nothing," Noah says, then pulls back and walks to the other side of the desk.” 


Plot

The plot, as always with Ally Carter, is fast-paced and addicting. The setting on Embassy Row in Adria makes for a really interesting setting and definitely sets up the potential for some really interesting conflicts in future books. I don't want to say to much about the plot, but I must say that you need to give it a little bit to get into, because it takes a little bit to start getting intense, but once it does, it gets really dark, really fast.

In conclusion, I would highly recommend this book to everyone and anyone. It's a brilliant start to what can only be another brilliant series by Ally Carter. Be sure to pick this one up!

Thanks for reading!
Amber

Friday 56

Welcome to Friday 56, a weekly meme hosted by Storytime with Tonya and Friends.  You grab the book nearest to you, open it to page 56, and post a quote from that page that catches your eye.  The important thing is to not go for your favorite book, or the most intellectual, go for the closest.

Today's meme is from

"He barley made it over to the gutter before redoubled over and vomited blood into the street."

City of Fallen Angels

Cassandra Clare

Hope you keep reading!

Grace 

That's What He Said Thursday

That's What He Said Thursday is a weekly meme that is hosted by Chapter Break. Just take a quote from one of your favorite male characters that they said to the lucky female love interest.

Today's quote is from:

“Remember that day I made you the elevator?”

From Cricket to Lola

Lola and the Boy Next Door

Stephanie Perkins

Hope you keep reading!

Grace

Teaser Tuesday

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, a weekly feature hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading, in which you open the book you're currently reading to a random page and share 2 sentences without spoilers, along with the author and title of the book. 

Today's Teaser is from 

"Let's pretend that never happened," he said

"Do you still think it's rubbish?" 

"No," he said. "It works."

The Apothecary

Maile Meloy

pg. 78

Hope you keep reading!

Grace 

The Diviners By Libba Bray

The Diviner

Libba Bray

578 pg.
Published on September 18, 2012
Published by Little Brown Books For Young Readers

5 Stars

Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City—and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.

Evie worries he’ll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.
As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened.


The Diviners by Libba Bray was beyond amazing. I did not think that I would become as engrossed in this book as I was when I first picked it up. The mixture of darkness, mystery, and theory had me sucked in. This is a book full of questions and secrets that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The religious point of view it also had was really interesting. It was hard to believe that cults like that really existed. Though, it is best not to think about that at night.  It is best to steer clear of this book when you are alone and in the dark. I found myself trying to read it in those circumstances in my room and I could not do it. It can be gruesome at some points, but that is what made it suspenseful. I highly recommend this book for a fan of religious cults, suspense, and someone who likes to lose themselves in deep thought. 

Evie was not my favorite character in the begging of the book. I thought she was carless and lucky-go-happy.  As the story went on I felt that her ambition did make me grow fonder of her. She had a lot of tenacity for solving the mystery which is one thing I admired about. Anouther part of her that I liked was her bravery. She was never afraid to jump into a scary situation.Though her careless and happy-go-lucky attitude never went away, because of her newfound bravery and tenacity I found myself overlooking those parts of her. 

Memphis first reminded me as how I used to pronounce Metias from Legend’s name till I was corrected. He came off to me as a very caring, poetic, and charming soul. Though he had a dark past he used it to create beautiful poetry. He loved his family and would do anything to keep his brother safe. He was a loyal friends and stayed true to his word. He had a hard side that came out when he needed it to though. 

Theta was a very masked character. On the surface she was a strong and wild. Inside though she had her secrets like everyone else and was just as scared. At first I had no idea what a Ziegfeld girl was and I had to google it. So, she did teach me something new. I liked her sweet relationship with Henry. I was nice that they were not dating and that they were jut like brother and sister that helped each other in hard times. She was looking for an escape and found it while still achieving to accomplish her dreams. 

The plot and points of the book are what really makes it different. The villain and his group are not just killing people because they were mad at someone for something that they did like other books. What really separates this book from all the others I have read that it was about a cult. They killed people because they thought god told them to and they needed to as an act of goodness and holiness. The mystery of the diviners was also another point about it that I liked. The powers that they have are special and supernatural, but they are very unexplained which makes a person want to know more about them. The plot twists came in interesting ways as well. I knew that they were coming, but when they ended up happening they came in different but same ways than I expected and still managed to surprise me. 

The Diviners is definitely a book that I recommend to people, and I am looking forward to the second book. 

Hope you keep reading!

Grace