Review: Summer on The Short Bus by Bethany Crandell

Title: Summer On The Short Bus

Author: Bethany Crandell

Publication: April 1st, 2014, Running Press Teens

Format: Paperback, 256 pages

Source: A Christmas Gift from Bethany Crandell! (Thank you Manager!)

Buy it on: Amazon | Barnesand Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Bookstore / Fully Booked (PH)

Synopsis: 

Cricket Montgomery has been thrown under the short bus. Shipped off to a summer camp by her father, Cricket is forced to play babysitter to a bunch of whiny kids—or so she thinks. When she realizes this camp is actually for teens with special needs, Cricket doubts she has what it takes to endure twenty-four hours, let alone two weeks. Thanks to her dangerously cute co-counselor, Quinn, there may be a slim chance for survival. However, between the campers’ unpredictability and disregard for personal space, Cricket’s limits get pushed. She will have to decide if suffering through her own handicapped hell is worth a summer romance—and losing her sanity.

Misfit Review:

Trying to change for the better seems to be a challenge for most people because they think it might break a ritual, a sense of self or a characteristic they hold. For the protagonist of Bethany Crandell's Summer On The Short Bus, Cricket, it holds very true.

Review: Noggin by John Corey Whaley

Title: Noggin
Author: John Corey Whaley
Publication: April 8th 2014, Atheneum Books For Young Readers
Format: ARC, 344 pages
Source: Kai of Amaterasu Reads! Special thanks to Dianne of Oops I Read A Book Again for sending it in!
Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Book Store / Fully Booked (PH)

SYNOPSIS:

Listen — Travis Coates was alive once and then he wasn’t.

Now he’s alive again.

Simple as that.

The in between part is still a little fuzzy, but he can tell you that, at some point or another, his head got chopped off and shoved into a freezer in Denver, Colorado. Five years later, it was reattached to some other guy’s body, and well, here he is. Despite all logic, he’s still 16 and everything and everyone around him has changed. That includes his bedroom, his parents, his best friend, and his girlfriend. Or maybe she’s not his girlfriend anymore? That’s a bit fuzzy too.

Looks like if the new Travis and the old Travis are ever going to find a way to exist together, then there are going to be a few more scars.

Oh well, you only live twice.

Misfit Review:

Change scares us all. Whether it's good or bad, change is inevitable and stopping it may not be possible. Travis Coates would have to learn it the hard way after his head was cryogenically frozen for five years. He finds out that the people he loves move forward while everything about him has fallen into a complete stand-still.

Noggin is the story of Travis Coates, a 16 year old who had to go surgery because his body has been swarmed by cancer cell. The only thing that wasn't affected was his head. And he had to be reattached to a guy named Jeremy Pratt, who's head was removed from him because of a brain tumor. One day he wakes up to find he has been asleep for 5 years, his head on top of a new body. He's also learned that he's 16 again and would have to deal with that all over again. His friends from 5 years ago are still there, but now have lives of their own. He now has to deal with people who see him as a miracle boy while also trying to get back the things he thinks he lost.

I was a bit skeptical at first by Noggin but since I liked odd stories, I submerged myself to the book. But then, even with it's weirdness, it tells a theme that is all very familiar to us: CHANGE. With Travis, he doesn't want anything to do with the change that went on as he fell asleep and everyone changed. He didn't want his girlfriend, excuse me, ex-girlfriend Cate, marrying a guy named Turner, his parents are acting odd and the world that was so easy and chill for him, turned into a media uproar as well. 

Stacking The Shelves: New Babies

Stacking The Shelves is a feature hosted by Tynga’s Reviews where bloggers share what books (both physical and digital) they received, won, bought, and borrowed.

Hey there Misfit Booknerds! January is upon us and well, did you do a bit of book shopping. I certainly did at least and my mock bookshelf is definitely happy to have these new babies under its wing. 

BOUGHT

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer

GIFTED

Summer on The Short Bus by Bethany Crandell (Signed)

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

FOR REVIEW

Noggin by John Corey Whaley

My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga

Liars, Inc. by Paula Stokes

Solitaire by Alice Oseman

Thank you so much to Bethany Crandell, life and soul of The Flail Hesitations for the signed copy!!! Twas the best Christmas! I think we still need new band members, coz 2 ain't cutting it. LOL. Also, my biggest thanks to Jamie of The Perpetual Page Turner for also giving me the best Christmas present of Open Road Summer!

Many thanks to Dianne of Oops I Read A Book Again and Kai of Amaterasu Reads for lending me Noggin and to HarperCollins International for the e-ARCs! I LOVE YOU!

So that's it for my book haul! Tell me what you got last Christmas or this month in the comments! Also, recommend a book to me if you want! :)

All the best Misfit booknerds!

Review: Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang

Title: Falling Into Place
Author: Amy Zhang
Publication: September 9th 2014, Greenwillow Books
Format: Trade Paperback
Source: Own copy from NBS
Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Book Store / Fully Booked (PH)

SYNOPSIS:

On the day Liz Emerson tries to die, they had reviewed Newton’s laws of motion in physics class. Then, after school, she put them into practice by running her Mercedes off the road.

Why? Why did Liz Emerson decide that the world would be better off without her? Why did she give up? Vividly told by an unexpected and surprising narrator, this heartbreaking and nonlinear novel pieces together the short and devastating life of Meridian High’s most popular junior girl. Mass, acceleration, momentum, force—Liz didn’t understand it in physics, and even as her Mercedes hurtles toward the tree, she doesn’t understand it now. How do we impact one another? How do our actions reverberate? What does it mean to be a friend? To love someone? To be a daughter? Or a mother? Is life truly more than cause and effect? Amy Zhang’s haunting and universal story will appeal to fans of Lauren Oliver, Gayle Forman, and Jay Asher.

Misfit Review:

My plan was to review this book as soon as I finished it... But it almost took a few days before I can actually say what I thought about it here, right now... Falling Into Place ruined me. Ruined and unraveled something in me and I can't even tell if it's good or bad.

The story is about Liz Emerson and how her almost perfect life was shattered into pieces when she decided to kill herself in a car accident. Liz seems incredibly fine with it. She had it all planned out but of course she still thought that something, someone could stop her from doing it but still, she did. We are then taken into her thoughts, her best friends' Kennie and Julia's and that one boy, Liam  whom she tormented and the narrator who seems to know everything going around in her life while Liz is in a coma in the ICU.

What struck me most about how the story was handled is the nonlinear direction of the plot line which reminded me very much of The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. If you have read the book, you can see that the chapter titles are mostly about a certain day or time before or after Liz Emerson crashed her car and they don't actually go on chronological order. In those certain time frames, we see more of Liz as she drops off her mask of happiness and perfection and we are introduced to a totally different person.

THIS GOT ME LIKE:

Liz, by far, has become one of my most favorite intriguing characters. Even now as I have finished the book, I am still intrigued as to why she had to do the things she did aside from crashing her car that is. There's just something so fascinating about her. Her honesty, raw emotions and frustrations somehow leads the reader into feeling entirely sorry for her though you wouldn't exactly think that with how she is in her background. Liz, as I have analyzed, is the image of every young girl who has stooped into the level of letting peer pressure get to her. Her nonchalant character may seem all that but in fact she worries and thinks of the things she did, how these actions hurt people and even labeling herself as the cancer; the tumor that eats up and ruins everyone, thus leading for her to think of ending herself.

THIS GOT ME LIKE:

And then there's her friends Kennie and Julia who are as broken as Liz. Fortunately for them, their guilt and insecurities haven't eaten them up yet, but indeed slowly. Out of the two of them, I felt for Kennie. Julia was a little bit more rational even with her actions and didn't seem as entirely vulnerable as Kennie but she seems to be the most caring. Kennie on the other hand is far more emotional, scared and insecure and would drown herself to the idea that she is popular if she acts the way people expect her to act. But there was a certain scene in the hospital that made me feel bad for Kennie and I cried for her as much as I cried for Liz.

Which brings me to this realization, true to Beyonce's song, Pretty Hurts, that even the most beautiful, the most popular of people can go through certain moments in their lives where they've had enough and could not take anymore of the pressure, pain, misunderstanding and maybe even the lost of appeal of the world. We have objectified the popular kids and thought that they never get hurt or they never ever feel the burden of what they've done. We've always rooted for the underdogs and the misfits, but Amy Zhang opens up a door, so rarely opened, into the world of the highest of the high and see them slowly go down.

THIS GOT ME LIKE:

The novel is fresh, smart, heart aching and in many ways relatable to the young teens of this generation holding on to the talons of drugs, sex, first world problems and the ever amazing social media.

The rise of young adult fiction revolving around the vulnerabilities of teens and their tendencies and acts of committing suicide is very much apparent, but Falling Into Place doesn't, in it's own grandeur, fall behind from any of them. It has it's charms to send you into a spree of depression, glee and maybe even hope.

About The Author:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Amy Zhang used to have lots of imaginary friends. When people told her to grow up, she turned her imaginary friends into characters and started telling their stories. When she isn't writing, she can be found playing piano, hitting balls on the tennis court, or struggling through her weekly existential crisis. She lives in Wisconsin with her family.

{BLOG TOUR} Review + Giveaway: The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Title: The Young Elites
Author: Marie Lu
Publication: October 7th 2014, Putnam
Format: Trade Paperback, 355 pages
Source: Own Copy from NBS
Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Book Store / Fully Booked (PH)

SYNOPSIS:

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.

Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.

Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.

It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.

Misfit Review:

When I found out that Marie Lu was going to release a new trilogy, I didn't hesitate but to dive in into it and involve myself with the hype and everything. Reading The Young Elites, I found myself in the deepest parts of my mind and relating to Adelina Amouteru in some cases.

“I hereby pledge to serve the Dagger Society, to strike fear into the hearts of those who rule Kenettra, to take by death what belong to us, and to make the power of our Elites known to every man, woman, and child. Should I break my vow, let the dagger take from me what I took from the dagger.”

So the story starts with Adelina, a malfetto, a person that was affected by the Blood Fever, sitting on the stairs, listening to her father make a wager with a merchant and sells her off to marriage even if she was just 16. She runs away but is captured by her father after her younger sister tattles out of fear. As she struggles, she finds out about her strange abilities, conjuring black silhouettes that kills her father and leaves her in the Inquisitors hands. She is then saved by a group called The Young Elites before she gets murdered in front of the crowd. She is then taken to the Dagger Society and must learn to hone her powers. But an innate evil threatens to eat up Adelina whole, and she might, in her own ways, enjoy it.

“The only way to clamp down on my energy is to erase my emotions, and so I fold them each away, one by one. My sorrow turns to anger, then to ice-cold fury. My soul curls in one itself in defense. I am gone. I am truly gone.

I am not sorry.”

There's a lot of character building in this book, particularly in Adelina's part of course. The darkness swoops in on her and somehow clouds her thoughts and as noticed in many of her monologues in the book, we can tell that there's something up with her that seems to be rather interesting and unique. I love how Adelina embraces those moments of pure dark intents. I love it when there's internal conflict in a character and what they do to deal with it. Sadly though, I found Adelina a bit weak in dealing with her self. Again, it's all in the character building. I bet she'll be sooo badass in the 2nd book! 

All the characters are given a spotlight to shine and progress. I really like how Teren was manipulated to become what he is and what he will be and of course the people in the Dagger Society. There's so much mystery behind the organization no matter how much we readers try to even dive into it as much as we can. Enzo and Rafaelle, please! You've already corrupted my mind with your endless beauties, charm, wit and unbelievable strength. But that "thing" though! Please read the book because I want people to  feel what I'm feeling.

"I loved him too."

The world where they are is incredibly fascinating and reminds me of somehow how the French Revolution was and how streets looked like, but with a twist of course. There are so many facets as to how the world in which they are living in, allows for us to sink in to the catastrophes caused by the Blood Fever and how it has affected the lives of many in the different areas. 

I am left frustrated with what the future holds for the book, but it also left me incredibly excited with what's about to come! I just want it right now... Maeve, please!

The Young Elites is a great mix of finding ones self in the face of adversity, may it be good or evil, and learning to deal with the harsh realities of life. Marie Lu was able to allow Adelina to make herself a household name in the world of Young Adult fiction as a anti-hero of sorts, which is not very apparent in many stories lately. She was also able to provide a sense of longing and despair for the next book which just proves that she's one of the authors that love to torture us readers. HECK! We enjoy it nonetheless.

“Be true to yourself. But that's something everyone says and no one means. No one wants you to be yourself. They want you to be the version of yourself that they like.”

The Young Elites is a fascinating read about superpowers, a corrupt government and a girl just trying to steer away from the norm and we all love that don't we? It's a new take on a young adult novel that you won't regret picking off from shelves.

GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About The Author:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

I write young adult novels, and have a special love for dystopian books. Ironically, I was born in 1984. Before becoming a full-time writer, I was an Art Director at a video game company. Now I shuffle around at home and talk to myself a lot. :)

I graduated from the University of Southern California in '06 and currently live in LA, where I spend my time stuck on the freeways.

ARC Review: Play Me Backwards by Adam Selzer

Title: Play Me Backwards
Author: Adam Selzer
Publication: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Expected Release Date: August 26th 2014
Pre-order or buy on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks

SYNOPSIS:

A committed slacker enlists the help of his best friend (who may or may not be the devil) to get his act together in this novel filled with humor, awkwardness, and honesty, ideal for fans of The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Leon Harris isn't exceptional and he isn't popular. He's the kind of guy that peaked in middle school, when once upon a time he was in the gifted program and on the fast track to Ivy League glory.

Now, a high school senior, he's a complete slacker who spends his time hanging out in a third-rate ice cream parlor with his best friend, Stan, a guy who (jokingly, Leon thinks) claims to be Satan. Committed to his sloth, Leon panics when he finds out that Anna, the love of his life aka middle school girlfriend, might be moving back to town.

Determined to get his act together, Leon asks Stan for help. Stan gives him a few seemingly random and mysterious assignments. Date a popular girl. Listen to Moby-Dick, the audiobook. Find the elusive white grape slushee. Join the yearbook committee.

As each task brings Leon one step away from slacker city and one step closer to Anna, he starts to wonder if maybe he shouldn't have promised Stan his soul after all.

Misfit Review: 

Very much at the beginning, I was hesitant to read this novel being that it tackles topics such as Satan and demonic worship, however, once I began reading it, I couldn't quite get the thought out of my head! I was hooked! Play Me Backwards got me reading forward!

"I first met the dark lord when I was nine."

So the story starts with Leon as he narrates how he met Stan, who he believes is actually Satan. Stan is a genius and knows his way to things and somehow Leon respects him. After Anna leaves to study in England, Leon becomes a total slacker, not caring about his grades or his life. Then the news about Anna visiting starts to burn and everyone is curious whether Leon and her would get back together. This is where all the weird stuf starts to happen as Stan asks Leon for different missions and Leon couldn't decline because he's the dark lord. But he has to keep up a nice impression before Anna comes back home.

"Stan always makes it sound like people in hell have a pretty good time when they aren't being stabbed in the ass with pitchforks."

Play Me Backwards is a book full of dark humor edging on rude but it works in such an awesome way that everything that's going on, from the sex to the simple things such as hanging out in the basement of the Ice Cave seems incredibly fascinating to me. It's not a story that blows your mind like dystopian novels or singles out the idea  of boy meets girl and they fall in love with each other. This coming of age novel brings forth the notion that we are all pretty much like Leon, learning to accept mistakes and moving forward with life. He deals with the quirky people in his life and trying to navigate through it without exerting so much effort.

"Your ninth grade girlfriend is coming back to the States, and you're afraid she won't like you anymore now that aren't listening to opera."

I really really loved this novel for it's simplicity and it's complexity. It's a book full of awkward, weird and out of this world situations, courtesy of Stan, my love, my heart breaks and soars for him. Like please, Adam Selzer, find one for me! HAHAHA! It's mix of humor, interesting and serious situations was molded up into this amazing novel, I'm actually left laughing every time I turn a freaking page, like, is it even possible? I also really had a good time laughing at Leon while he has fun with Paige yet he couldn't stop thinking about Anna. What a douche! HAHAHA!

The book seems to be character driven, it may be for the better or worse, but it does pay a lot of attention to what the characters are doing, and that's what's so great about it. From the first page, I was already sucked in by the power of Stan and Leon, and that already says something.

"Maybe I was a pretty good catch, by certain very low standards."

I keep on tweeting Adam Selzer before that he's a genius. I just feel bad that I haven't posted my review out of sheer speechlessness and feels. The book grabs you and allows you to gravitate towards its characters without making you think of too complicated stuff outside of the story. It just wants you to focus on it, really. Which brings me back to the fact that ADAM SELZER IS A GENIUS!

Play Me Backwards takes you into this realm of trust, friendship and comedic relief that you would remember till you leave this world. You might even meet Stan sometime. But seriously, don't. HAHA! *winks*

About The Author:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Adam Selzer's first book was HOW TO GET SUSPENDED AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE (now available in a "Now With More Swearing") edition, his next one is PLAY ME BACKWARDS (for satanic young adults), and his best known is probably I KISSED A ZOMBIE AND I LIKED IT, a Twilight satire that was not marketed as a satire.

He also writes the SMART ALECK'S GUIDE series and has published a bunch of Chicago history/ghostlore books. 

You can also find him under the name SJ Adams, the name he used for SPARKS: THE EPIC, COMPLETELY TRUE BLUE (ALMOST) HOLY QUEST OF DEBBIE, which one a Stonewall honor and made the YALSA popular paperback list.

EXCERPT + GIVEAWAY: The Outlanders by Erin Albert Rhew

Title: The Outlanders (The Fulfillment #2)
Author: Erin Albert Rhew
Publication: October 21st 2014, BookFish Books
Buy on: Amazon

SYNOPSIS:

With King Jesper dead and Prince Wilhelm mortally wounded, Halfling prince, Nash, and the Fulfilment, Layla, assume the throne of Etherea. They must contend with a new Prophecy Candidate who asserts her position, and Layla is surprised to find her fate intertwined with this challenger. Facing a myriad of choices, Nash and Layla’s decisions affect not only their own futures but that of two kingdoms. 

Unbeknownst to the Ethereals or the Vanguards, a slumbering menace stirs in the south, awakened after centuries of slumber. The mysterious Outlanders, a force shadowed in mystery, sit poised to tip the balance of power, sending ripples of fear throughout both warring kingdoms. 

Elder Werrick proved a formidable foe, but Layla may yet meet her match in the monstrous Outlander queen. This mistress of the dark’s plans, rooted in revenge and ancient lore, now threaten the livelihood of all three kingdoms. 

Racing against time, Layla travels to the Borderlands—home of the Voltons and Ecclesiastics—to discover as much as she can about the war, the First Ones, and the prophecy itself. Lives teeter in the balance, kingdoms sit on the cusp of ruin, and a beast, greater than any she’s ever faced before, plots a catastrophic attack.

READ FULL EXCERPT

GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway


About The Author:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Erin Rhew is an editor, a running coach, and the author of The Fulfillment Series. Since she picked up Morris the Moose Goes to School at age four, she has been infatuated with the written word. She went on to work as a grammar and writing tutor in college and is still teased by her family and friends for being a member of the "Grammar Police." A Southern girl by blood and birth, Erin now lives in a rainy pocket of Pacific Northwest with the amazingly talented (and totally handsome) writer, Deek Rhew, and their “overly fluffy,” patient-as-a-saint writing assistant, a tabby cat named Trinity. She and Deek enjoy reading aloud to one another, running, lifting, boxing, eating chocolate, and writing side-by-side.

Cover Reveal: My Lea by E. Mellyberry

Title: My Lea (A Broken Love Story #1)
Author: E. Mellyberry
Expected publication date: November 2014

THANKS TO GISELLE OF XPRESSO BOOK TOURS! 

SYNOPSIS:

A simple girl.

A broken guy.

One horrible incident.

When Lea Amelia landed her feet in San Francisco for her overseas study, her idea of freedom was simple, like eating junk food ten times a day, sitting in front of the TV in her PJs, or going out late with her friends without the need to check in with her mother constantly.

Then she met Andrew Jaya, her brothers’ best friend. A twenty-two-year-old guy whose physical appearance looked like he was crafted straight from God’s heavenly hands, but possessed a past as bleak as if it was drawn by Evil himself. A conflicted guy who wore sadness like nobody’s business beneath his mask, a perfect-looking mask she slowly peeled away.

He was also the guy who hurt her.

Suddenly, everything about her was no longer simple.

Andrew Jaya had convinced himself that not feeling was good for him. He’d been doing it splendidly for almost his entire life. But that was before his best friend’s sister stepped into his life and ruined it. After weeks of knowing Lea, all of those warm and wonderful feelings he’d long ago denied to himself started to reappear. Problem was, the brighter the light, the bigger the shadows that came with it.

His traumatic past refused to let him go.

When the unthinkable happened, the easiest thing to do was to run. But life often proves that the easiest way is usually the hardest.

About The Author:


Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Melly is a full-time mom, wife, and fangirl. She used to work in a school and she’s very passionate about education. 

Melly has been writing children’s books since 2011 under the name mellyberry. She loves reading all kinds of books in her spare time, mostly MG, YA, NA, contemporary, paranormal, and fantasy. She avoids horror and sci-fi as much as she can.

Melly was born in Indonesia and grew up in a multi-language environment. When she talks to people, she could accidentally string words from different languages into one sentence. When she does that, simply reminds her to speak properly.

Her ideal vacation always involves a beach; usually it’s the Nusa Dua beach, Bali. She spent a few years in USA to complete her Master degree. It was during that time that she’d fallen madly in love with San Francisco and the Bay Area. According to her, San Francisco is no doubt the most romantic city in the world.

{BLOG TOUR} Review: A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Title: A Thousand Pieces of You (Firebird #1)
Author: Claudia Gray
Publication: Nov. 4th 2014, HarperTeen
Format: ARC, 368 pages
Source: Tour Book from Pinoy Book Tours! (Thanks Dianne)
Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Kobo | The Book Depository | National Book Store (PH)

SYNOPSIS:

Every Day meets Cloud Atlas in this heart-racing, space- and time-bending, epic new trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray.

Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their most astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite’s father is murdered, the killer—her parent’s handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.

Marguerite can’t let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul’s guilt—and her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is more sinister than she ever could have imagined.

A Thousand Pieces of You explores a reality where we witness the countless other lives we might lead in an amazingly intricate multiverse, and ask whether, amid infinite possibilities, one love can endure.

Misfit Review:

I have been excited to read this book for a very long time, and when the opportunity came for me to read it, thanks to Pinoy Book Tours, I immediately grabbed it and it was the best damn decision of my life! I'll keep this review as short and sweet as possible, but I think that it's quite impossible if I end up going on with my feelings!

"This is the message I must pass on, the one goal I have to remember after everything else I am is gone. Kill Paul Markov."(ARC 1)

Okay, so the story starts with Marguerite Caine seeking revenge for the death of her father. He wants to rat out Paul Markov, an genius assistant that killed her father and destroyed all the files that had been the fruit of their research. He also stole a device called the Firebird, which allows a person to travel into different alternate dimensions and merge with their alternate self once in that dimension. With the help of Theo, another one of Henry Caine's assistants, they search for Paul with their own Firebird prototypes, to kill him.

THIS STORY IS JUST WAY TO FANTASTIC AND I CANNOT WITH IT!!! I'm telling you already, it is beautiful and cinematic and just downright stab to the heart. We are taken into different dimensions that refer to a lot of the present culture as well as those of the past and future. It takes us into these possible cultures we would have and those that we may have forgotten. And please! A FIREBIRD? Gods I wish it was real!

What makes the plot so intense and beautifully written is that scenes are leading you into what you think you would want to happen and then BAM! Surprise surprise! I just love the twist and turns of this story. The characters are well built, conflicting, interesting and best of all, DAMN HOT!

"You paint the truth Marguerite. I don't think you could any other way." (ARC 49)

The dynamics of the characters are done well. There are hints of fluttering romance between both Theo and Marguerite and Paul and Marguerite... I am now tasked to hurt myself to choose between the two even if one pair is far more inducing than the other.

The settings of each dimension are dazzling and engaging! Especially the one in Russia! It feels very much like Anastasia Romanov and her family. The Russian dimension is my favorite and you'll know why once you read it! The one at London, which was the first stop, is very futuristic and allowed us morsels of needed information that are very vital for the growth of the story!

Since this is a trilogy, the ending didn't exactly give a lot of answers but it makes you want more. HECK! It gives you a case of separation anxiety, and that isn't so good. I'm still left with a very needy hangover and I need Firebird #2 or I might go insane. 2015, why you take so long?

Claudia Gray gave us worthy characters, a fantastic story line, an out of this world experience set in pages and though this is my first Claudia Gray book, I already consider her as one of my favorites! THANKS ATPOY!

A Thousand Pieces of You leaves you searching, wanting, longing and incredibly excited for what's about to come and having read this book is an honor that I will cherish forever!

I wish I made an infinite rating photo, coz it is soooo worthy of that!

About The Author:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Claudia Gray is not my real name. I didn't choose a pseudonym because my real name is unpleasant (it isn't), because I'd always dreamed of calling myself this (I haven't) or even because I'm hiding from the remnants of that international diamond-smuggling cartel I smashed in 2003 (Interpol has taken care of them). In short, I took a pseudonym for no real reason whatsoever. Sometimes this is actually the best reason to do things.

I live in New Orleans. So far, in life, I've been a disc jockey, a lawyer, a journalist and an extremely bad waitress, just to name a few. I especially like to spend time traveling, hiking, reading and listening to music. More than anything else, I enjoy writing.

SNEAK PEEK REVIEW: Althea and Oliver by Cristina Moracho

Title: Althea and Oliver
Author: Cristina Moracho
Publication: October 9th 2014, Viking Juvenile
Format: Digital Copy, SNEAK PEEK
Source: Netgalley
Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Kobo |

SYNOPSIS:

What if you live for the moment when life goes off the rails—and then one day there’s no one left to help you get it back on track?

Althea Carter and Oliver McKinley have been best friends since they were six; she’s the fist-fighting instigator to his peacemaker, the artist whose vision balances his scientific bent. Now, as their junior year of high school comes to a close, Althea has begun to want something more than just best-friendship. Oliver, for his part, simply wants life to go back to normal, but when he wakes up one morning with no memory of the past three weeks, he can’t deny any longer that something is seriously wrong with him. And then Althea makes the worst bad decision ever, and her relationship with Oliver is shattered. He leaves town for a clinical study in New York, resolving to repair whatever is broken in his brain, while she gets into her battered Camry and drives up the coast after him, determined to make up for what she’s done.

Their journey will take them from the rooftops, keg parties, and all-ages shows of their North Carolina hometown to the pool halls, punk houses, and hospitals of New York City before they once more stand together and face their chances. Set in the DIY, mix tape, and zine culture of the mid-1990s, Cristina Moracho’s whip-smart debut is an achingly real story about identity, illness, and love—and why bad decisions sometimes feel so good.

Misfit Review:

Out of sheer whim and also through a very convincing recommendation from Dianne of Oops I Read A Book Again, saying that my feels will be shattered because of it's amazingness, I decided to go through with the sadistic path and read the first few pages off of Netgalley! Thanks!

Althea and Oliver is promising. From the position of each of the characters in the friendship circle to the thoughts that Althea has for her best friend Oliver. In the sneak peek, I was able to get a better view of what goes on in Althea's mind and a more vague yet subtle representation of Oliver as a sleepy head which we will find out the reason for when reading through more of the chapters.

I was heavily invested on finding out what was wrong with Oliver and what caused it, which the sneak peek never brought up, however, I did enjoy reading through the lines of how Althea and Oliver's friendship is spanning out to a more romantic level, particularly towards Althea.

I see something growing potentially different and poignant in Althea and Oliver and from the first pages, I say, read on! I can't wait to get my hands on one!

About The Author:

Twitter | Goodreads

Cristina Moracho is a novelist and freelance writer/editor. Her debut novel, Althea & Oliver (Viking), will be published this October. She lives in Red Hook, Brooklyn, where she makes all the bad decisions.