Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel

Reading Level: Young Adult

Hardcover (ARC): 480 Pages

Publisher: Del Rey

Release Date: October 18th, 2011

ISBN: 978-20-345-52331-0

My Rating: 4/5

The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria. Nora, a very human teenager living in high society, falls in love with Bram, a handsome and polite eighteen-year-old lieutenant who happens to be suffering from "the Laz," a disease that is slowly turning him into one of the walking dead. Bram is fully conscious and healthy enough to take on Nora, killer zombies, and the treacherous humans that plague his life-at least for now. But it is only a matter of time before the Laz will take him away from Nora forever.

EDIT!!
I have to change my review for 'Dearly, Departed.' The time that I read it, I was really busy with school work so that was all that was on my mind. I heard all these amazing things about 'Dearly, Departed' so I read it again when I had a few days with no work. I love it!! I can't believe I came on here and gave it such a bad review previously. I figured that I would leave my original review here as well as my new thoughts. But this book is definitely amazing and well worth the read!! PLUS, I just found out Lia Habel is from my part of NY, AWESOME!!! hehe. Great, great book!!
EDIT!!

I had really high hoped for 'Dearly, Departed.' It was my first zombie/dystopian novel and everyone is always talking about how good they are. I'm not really sure how I feel about 'Dearly, Departed.' I couldn't connect with the characters and I just wasn't interested in the story. I don't know if it's just me or what but I just...couldn't get into it at all. I tried and tried but it just never clicked for me. I began reading the book with a positive attitude about it but I could feel myself losing interest the more and more I read.

'Dearly, Departed' is the story of Nora Dearly. Her parents died and she lives with her Aunt. She find out that her dad is not dead, in fact he is a zombie. I guess they say he suffers from the Laz. Some things I found disturbing, like Nora's ability to fall for Bram even though he is a zombie...I won't say much about the story line because the books not out yet.

The reason I gave this book a 3 even though I couldn't connect with it, is because it is NOT poorly written. In fact, it's written rather well and I could see how people could connect to some of the characters. I just couldn't. Overall, it was an alright book, for me. I definitely think people should check it out because I'm sure it's going to be really popular! I'll probably try reading it again down the road.

200 Follower Giveaway!

Ok, so I realized that I never did a giveaway for my 200 followers so I decided I should do one now. Especially since I haven't been posting much because I've been swamped with schoolwork. So, I'm going to give one person a copy of 'Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle.'

Rules for giveaway:

You MUST be a follower to enter

Only open to US and Canada

You must be 13 or older to enter

Contest open to entries until October 24th

Additional entries for tweeting, blog posting and Facebook posts

The more followers I get, the more books I'll add to the giveaway!

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

Reading Level: Young Adult

Hardcover: 754 Pages

Publisher: Little Brown

ISBN-10: 031606792X
ISBN-13: 9780316067928

My Rating: 1/5

From Amazon:
In Breaking Dawn, to be irrevocably in love with a vampire is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife have led her to the ultimate turning point. Her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or to pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fates of two tribes hangs.

Now that Bella has made her decision, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating, and unfathomable, consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella's life-first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse-seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed... forever?

I wasn't going to write a review for 'Breaking Dawn' even though I posted reviews for 'Twilight,' 'New Moon' and 'Eclipse.' I finally decided that I would post my review because I did post the other ones. And even though I hated 'Breaking Dawn' I should still write it. I really did hate 'Breaking Dawn.' I read the whole thing probably just as quickly as I read the other 3 books, but I hated it the whole time. I feel like, Meyer just wrote it an released it to make more money or something. There really is no point to the book. I mean, for a bunch of vampires, willing to lay their lives on the line for Bella, they are pretty submissive.

The whole book, I guess, is about the Volturi and the Cullens. Edward is supposed to turn Bella into a vampire or something, I don't know, whatever. So, they show up there and I was all excited that there was going to be some kind of epic battle and people would die and it would be awesome. Instead, they talked out their problems. WHAT? Excuse me? NO! lol. I mean, really? I can't even fully express how pissed off I was when I read the last book. I remember ranting about it to anyone that would listen. How stupid the final book was and that I HATED it. Lame, lame, lame.

I actually didn't watch Twilight the movie until after I read the book. I always read the book first. And by the time I jumped on the "Twilight bandwagon" New Moon was in production. But I've always loved Twilight. Well, I loved the books. But 'Breaking Dawn,' terrible and I will NOT spend money to see it....at least see it in theaters lol. I refuse! I will watch it eventually though, I have to right? haha. Anyways, 'Breaking Dawn' was a huge let down for me. I hated it. But I still love the series...just not 'Breaking Dawn.'

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren.

I don't remember what the last books I posted were...but I just got 2 books this week so I'll just post about those! :)

This week I bought:

Signed First Edition of Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

       and

Revelations by Melissa De La Cruz

What did you get in your mailbox?

The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle by L.J. Smith

Reading Level: Young Adult

Paperback: 512 Pages

Publisher: HarperTeen

ISBN-10: 006114097X
ISBN-13: 978-0061140976

My Rating: 2/5

Elena: the golden girl, the leader, the one who can have any boy she wants.
Stefan: brooding and mysterious, he seems to be the only one who can resist Elena, even as he struggles to protect her from the horrors that haunt his past.
Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him. Determined to have Elena, he'd kill to posses her.

I know that a lot of people really loved this book And I'm fairly certain that even more loved the show but I didn't like either. I initially picked up 'The Vampire Diaries' book because it was recommended to me to read after Twilight. Now, I don't know if it was because this series pales in comparison to 'Twilight' or what it is but I really didn't like it. I actually couldn't even read the second book in this book because I didn't like it that much. And the only reason I went out and got it when I did, was because I wanted to read it before watching the show. I don't like the show either.

I'm not even really sure what to write here. I usually just tell everyone what the book is about that I read but I'm going to leave that part out. I think I will ask people some questions instead. Like, did anyone else really like this series? And if so, does it get better later on? I really just could NOT get into it, no matter how much I wanted to. I might give the series another shot though. I don't know that I'll watch the show but I will probably try reading the books again. Really though, it wasn't for me. And if my opinion changes the next time I read it, I'll be sure to jump on and post a new review with my changed rating.

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Reading Level: Young Adult

Hardcover: 336 Pages

Publisher: HarperCollins

ISBN-10: 0061779814

My Rating: 5/5

Violet strained to see into the lake below. Multihued light seemed to be radiating up from beneath the water, centered among the reeds, and then diffusing outward as it reached the surface. Violet had never seen anything like it, and she knew that the spectrum of light was defying its very nature behaving in that way.
It could only be one thing.
There was something dead down there.

I put off reading 'The Body Finder' for a while because I had a lot of other books that I wanted to read ahead of it. And I wasn't so sure about it. I heard a couple good reviews and a couple bad reviews. After reading what it was about, I decided to get it. It's not so often you find a book about a girl who can sense the dead. I was instantly happy with this book. I really loved it, and I should know by now that if I put off reading a book, 9 out of 10 times, it's amazing! I don't know why I do it but I'm glad I do. It means I'm almost certain to have an amazing book to read and 'The Body Finder' was no exception.

'The Body Finder' tells the story of an average high school girl named Violet Ambrose. She has had a best friend her whole life named Jay who is a main character in the story as well. Ever since Violet was old enough to remember, she has been able to hear, taste, and see people's "echos." Violet usually can't ignore some of these echoes so she comes up with a thing where she will bury them in her backyard in her own makeshift cemetery and the echoes become less noticeable. Violet stumbles upon the echoes and bodies from a serial killer in her area and soon becomes an essential part of the investigation that puts her life, and those she loves, in danger.

Overall, 'The Body Finder' was an amazing story. I absolutely love it and I will definitely be going out and getting the next book in the series when I am out on my next book buying binge! There are a lot of characteristics that make this book amazing. For one, the characters are awesome, believable and similar to people you would know in real life. Two, there is some major romance and jealousy and all that good stuff in here too. It's mystery, it's a romance, it's YA. Really, it's just incredible and I highly recommend it!

College, wow!

Hey guys, I just wanted to write a quick post and let everyone know that I'm still here ha ha. I started College last week and, let me tell you, I've been completely swamped. I feel like I don't even have time to breathe but, it is my first time in College. So, I'm sure once I get used to the way things work there and get adjusted to College life, I'll have more time to read and post reviews. I'm hoping to have a couple interviews up soon as well as some reviews. Although I find that 90% of my time is devoted to school work and reading, I try to use the other 10% to read and sleep. So, please, bare with me. I promise things will be back to normal soon! Thanks guys!!

Book Blogger Hop!

Book Blogger Hop is a weekly event hosted by Crazy for Books.

This week's question is:

“What are you most looking forward to this fall/autumn season – A particular book release? Halloween? The leaves changing color? Cooler temperatures? A vacation? (If your next season is other than fall/autumn, tell us about it and what you are most looking forward to in your part of the world!)”

I love Fall! I love winter next to fall...but they are pretty close in comparison. I wish I lived somewhere where it was Fall and Winter all year. Maybe with Spring so I could go camping! haha. I love the way the outdoors feels in the Fall. The way the leaves look when they are changing color, and the fact that it's cool, but not cold. That and I love Halloween! haha. I just like the whole, get dressed up and go to a party or something. My next favorite season is Winter though. I love the snow. Like, love love LOVE! I love that it's cold out. My hubby likes to go snowboarding too so it gives me alone time hehe.