Review: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Title: Everything, Everything                                

Author: Nicola Yoon

Publication: September 1st 2015, Delacorte Books For Young Readers

Format: Hardcover, 320 pages              

Source: Pinoy Book Tours (Thank you Dianne of Oops I Read A Book Again         

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

Synopsis:   

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

Misfit Review:

When I first heard of this book, from a friend, I went, "Huh, I think that would be quite the incredible book." And it is folks. It is.

{BLOG TOUR} Excerpt + Giveaway: Hello, Goodbye And Everything In Between by Jennifer E. Smith

Title: Hello, Goodbye And Everything In Between                               

Author: Jennifer E. Smith

Publication: September 1st 2015, Poppy

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

Follow the book tour through Pinoy Book Tours

Synopsis:                                      

On the night before they leave for college, Clare and Aidan only have one thing left to do: figure out whether they should stay together or break up. Over the course of twelve hours, they'll retrace the steps of their relationship, trying to find something in their past that might help them decide what their future should be. The night will lead them to friends and family, familiar landmarks and unexpected places, hard truths and surprising revelations. But as the clock winds down and morning approaches, so does their inevitable goodbye. The question is, will it be goodbye for now or goodbye forever?

EXCERPT

"I know," he says, but he won't look at her. His eyes are fixed on the closed door of the garage. "That's my point. Let's skip it all."

"College?" she says with a smile, letting her hand drop.

Review: Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid

Title: Never Always Sometimes                               

Author: Adi Alsaid

Publication: August 1st 2015, Harlequin Teen

Format: ARC Paperback, 320 pages

Source: Pinoy Book Tours (Check out the tour)

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

Synopsis:                                      

Never date your best friend

Always be original

Sometimes rules are meant to be broken

Best friends Dave and Julia were determined to never be cliché high school kids — the ones who sit at the same lunch table every day, dissecting the drama from homeroom and plotting their campaigns for prom king and queen. They even wrote their own Never List of everything they vowed they’d never, ever do in high school.

Some of the rules have been easy to follow; like No. 5, never die your hair a colour of the rainbow, or No. 7, never hook up with a teacher. But Dave has a secret: he’s broken rule No. 8, never pine silently after someone for the entirety of high school. It’s either that or break rule No. 10, never date your best friend. Dave has loved Julia for as long as he can remember.

Julia is beautiful, wild and impetuous. So when she suggests they do every Never on the list, Dave is happy to play along. He even dyes his hair an unfortunate shade of green. It starts as a joke, but then a funny thing happens: Dave and Julia discover that by skipping the clichés, they’ve actually been missing out on high school. And maybe even on love.

Misfit Review:

Things I NEVER got to do in high school:

1. I NEVER had a lunch spot.

2. We didn't have prom, so I NEVER got to be prom queen (WTF?) and I NEVER got into student council.

3. I NEVER attended any beer parties coz I NEVER got invited into any of them.

4. I NEVER hosted a BEER party coz my Dad would've killed me or disowned me by then.. Plus I don't drink liquor. HA!

5. I NEVER dyed my hair a different color. Catholic private schools weren't lax about that kinda stuff.

6. I NEVER got to streak, skinny dip, or do anything else that could result in a viral nude pic, coz why? LOL

7. I NEVER hooked up with a teacher coz hello, Catholic school... The horror. (We also never got substitutes, so... too bad)

9. I NEVER got to go on a "life-changing" road trip coz I never looked for myself then.

10. And, I NEVER dated my best friend... coz well, I didn't swing that way... also, I didn't have male best friends in high school.

{BLOG TOUR} Review: Denton Little's Deathdate by Lance Rubin

Title: Denton Little's Deathdate

Author: Lance Rubin

Publication: March 26th 2015, Simon & Schuster Children's UK

Format: Paperback, 352 pages

Source: Pinoy Book Tours! (Special thanks again to the lovely Dianne of Oops I Read A Book Again)        

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

Synopsis:

Fans of John Green and Matthew Quick: Get ready to die laughing.

Denton Little's Deathdate takes place in a world exactly like our own except that everyone knows the day they will die. For 17-year-old Denton Little, that's tomorrow, the day of his senior prom.

Despite his early deathdate, Denton has always wanted to live a normal life, but his final days are filled with dramatic firsts. First hangover. First sex. First love triangle (as the first sex seems to have happened not with his adoring girlfriend, but with his best friend's hostile sister. Though he's not totally sure. See: first hangover.) His anxiety builds when he discovers a strange purple rash making its way up his body. Is this what will kill him? And then a strange man shows up at his funeral, claiming to have known Denton's long-deceased mother, and warning him to beware of suspicious government characters…. Suddenly Denton's life is filled with mysterious questions and precious little time to find the answers.

Debut author Lance Rubin takes us on a fast, furious, and outrageously funny ride through the last hours of a teenager's life as he searches for love, meaning, answers, and (just maybe) a way to live on.

Misfit Review:

What if you know when your deathdate will be? What if it's the most apparent thing that you have in your life, and let's say you are dying at the age of seventeen? What would you do by then? What will be the thing you'll say and what things will you do that'll be different? And what if there's more to your deathdate than you've actually known.

{BLOG TOUR} Review + Excerpt + Giveaway: Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

Title: Made You Up

Author: Francesca Zappia

Publication: May 19th 2015, Greenwillow Books

Format: ARC

Source: Pinoy Book Tours! (Thank you soooo much, Dianne! <3)        

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

Synopsis

Reality, it turns out, is often not what you perceive it to be—sometimes, there really is someone out to get you. Made You Up tells the story of Alex, a high school senior unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. This is a compelling and provoking literary debut that will appeal to fans of Wes Anderson, Silver Linings Playbook, and Liar.

Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, her camera, a Magic 8-Ball, and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college. She’s pretty optimistic about her chances until classes begin, and she runs into Miles. Didn't she imagine him? Before she knows it, Alex is making friends, going to parties, falling in love, and experiencing all the usual rites of passage for teenagers. But Alex is used to being crazy. She’s not prepared for normal. 

Funny, provoking, and ultimately moving, this debut novel featuring the quintessential unreliable narrator will have readers turning the pages and trying to figure out what is real and what is made up.

Misfit Review:

Here I am, somehow contemplating how I can actually talk about this novel and then halfway into it, I’ll be talking and talking and somehow I’ll surprise myself. Anyway, what I’m saying is, Made You Up left me speechless, wishing for more, and believing more in what is real.

{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

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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.

{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.

{BLOG TOUR} Excerpt: Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick

Title: Black Ice
Author: Becca Fitzpatrick
Publication: October 7th 2014, Simon and Schuster for Young Readers
Buy on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Kobo

SYNOPSIS:

Sometimes danger is hard to see… until it’s too late.

Britt Pfeiffer has trained to backpack the Teton Range, but she isn’t prepared when her ex-boyfriend, who still haunts her every thought, wants to join her. Before Britt can explore her feelings for Calvin, an unexpected blizzard forces her to seek shelter in a remote cabin, accepting the hospitality of its two very handsome occupants—but these men are fugitives, and they take her hostage. In exchange for her life, Britt agrees to guide the men off the mountain. As they set off, Britt knows she must stay alive long enough for Calvin to find her. The task is made even more complicated when Britt finds chilling evidence of a series of murders that have taken place there… and in uncovering this, she may become the killer’s next target.

But nothing is as it seems in the mountains, and everyone is keeping secrets, including Mason, one of her kidnappers. His kindness is confusing Britt. Is he an enemy? Or an ally?

READ AN EXCERPT

About The Author:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Becca Fitzpatrick grew up reading Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden with a flashlight under the covers. She graduated college with a degree in health, which she promptly abandoned for storytelling. When not writing, she’s most likely prowling sale racks for reject shoes, running, or watching crime dramas on TV. She is the author of the bestselling HUSH, HUSH Saga. Her new book BLACK ICE arrives in bookstores everywhere October 7, 2014.







Follow the tour for more excerpts and reviews by clicking the banner! Thanks Misfit Booknerds!

Review: Plus One by Elizabeth Fama

Title: Plus One
Author: Elizabeth Fama
Publication: April 8th 2014,  Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Format: ARC Paperback
Source: Dianne of Oops I Read A Book Again! (Thanks so much Dianne!)
Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Kobo

SYNOPSIS:

It takes guts to deliberately mutilate your hand while operating a blister-pack sealing machine, but all I had going for me was guts.

Sol Le Coeur is a Smudge—a night dweller in an America rigidly divided between people who wake, live, and work during the hours of darkness and those known as Rays who live and work during daylight. Impulsive, passionate, and brave, Sol deliberately injures herself in order to gain admission to a hospital, where she plans to kidnap her newborn niece—a Ray—in order to bring the baby to visit her dying grandfather. By violating the day-night curfew, Sol is committing a serious crime, and when the kidnap attempt goes awry it starts a chain of events that will put Sol in mortal danger, uncover a government conspiracy to manipulate the Smudge population, and throw her together with D'Arcy Benoît, the Ray medical apprentice who first treats her, then helps her outrun the authorities—and with whom she is fated to fall impossibly and irrevocably in love.

Set in a vivid alternate reality and peopled with complex, deeply human characters on both sides of the day-night divide, Plus One is a brilliantly imagined drama of individual liberty and civil rights—and a compelling, rapid-fire romantic adventure story.

Misfit Review:

I was hesitant to read Plus One at first to be honest. I had quite a number of physicals that I wanted to dive into but I think the universe did its task and dragged me to the wondrous beauty that is this novel! GOOD JOB UNIVERSE!

“Four houndred billion suns spiraling through space together. Our solar system just one grain on that galactic carousel. The carousel itself a speck in the cosmos. And here I am in this small clearing, on the surface of the heart, as transient and unnoticed to the universe as the dry blades of grass that are poking into my shirt. It's too much to comprehend up there, too enormous, and I'm so small when it's on top of me. It frightens me, like I'm being crushed.”

Plus One is the type of novel that you would appreciate especially if you are the hopeless romantic/ believer in the star-crossed lovers theme coz this story's got that for you! Sol Le Coeur, a Smudge, sneaks out during the day in order to kidnap her niece for her Poppu (grandfather) to see. I was gripped to the idea of a heist. Sol injures herself in order to get medical attention from the Rays and meets D'Arcy Benoit and it is almost as if the universe brought them for this moment because it would change both their lives. Again, GOOD JOB UNIVERSE!

I really loved how this story was thought out. From the terminologies such as Smudge, Rays and Nomas; an almost dystopian world that conforms itself to these norms, our protagonists try to defy it. The conflict in itself with the back story of certain aspects which I do not want to spoil, will attract you. For one, the revelations will ultimately surprise you. 

“Believe me I don't want to set the world on fire I just want to start a flame in your heart”

The characters are refreshing, fun and all so amazing! Sol, being the main character, is someone whom I got attached with because of her strength, charm, wit and beauty. Most female protagonists are so whiny and   just really annoying. I found Sol to be level headed in her own way but also feisty when the situation asked for it. She's also very emotional but tries to hide it. She is the most vulnerable around Poppu, whose character I loved as well. 

D'Arcy is simply handsome, loyal and charismatic. I just fell for him from the moment that he talked to Sol, until the very end of the book. What I specifically like about D'arcy is his way of handling situations with bravery and also restraint. He thinks with his head though when it comes to Sol, he could sometimes turn brash. 

"Oh god. I love your non sequiturs"

The romance provided by these two offered us an escape from the dispute that is prominent in the novel. When they found out that they are more connected to each other than they deemed to be, that moment was just one of the turning points of the novel. However, there were parts that felt dragged and unnecessary, I just fell in love with their chemistry and even had to put down the book for my heart's safety.

Elizabeth Fama allowed the story to breathe through these characters that she presented. She was also able to bring us a world that feels so familiar yet also untouched. Binding together political issues with discrimination and love reminded me of a somehow Romeo and Juliet taste but Elizabeth remained original and especially with that ending that I did not expect at all. Beautifully written, Plus One is the type of book that would hook you with its plot line and stunning delivery. You will not regret reading it. Let the universe lead you to this awesome novel.

About The Author:

Website | Twitter | Goodreads

Elizabeth Fama is the author of Plus One (FSG, 2014), Monstrous Beauty (FSG, 2012), a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults selection and Odyssey Award honor winner, and Overboard (Cricket Books, 2002), an ALA Best Books for Young Adults. She is represented by Sara Crowe of Harvey Klinger, Inc.

(You're absolutely welcome to follow me on Goodreads, but I won't seem very interesting as a reader here. While I'm an active lurker on GR, I keep all of my personal thoughts about what I'm reading on an anonymous Booklikes account.)

Tuned in for more reviews very soon! Check out past reviews as well over at the review archives link :) Thank you Misfit Booknerds!

{BLOG TOUR} Excerpt: The Girl From The Well by Rin Chupeco

Title: The Girl From The Well
Author: Rin Chupeco
Publication: August 5th 2014, Sourcebooks Fire
Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Kobo

SYNOPSIS:

You may think me biased, being murdered myself. But my state of being has nothing to do with the curiosity toward my own species, if we can be called such. We do not go gentle, as your poet encourages, into that good night.

A dead girl walks the streets.

She hunts murderers. Child killers, much like the man who threw her body down a well three hundred years ago.

And when a strange boy bearing stranger tattoos moves into the neighborhood so, she discovers, does something else. And soon both will be drawn into the world of eerie doll rituals and dark Shinto exorcisms that will take them from American suburbia to the remote valleys and shrines of Aomori, Japan.

Because the boy has a terrifying secret - one that would just kill to get out.

The Girl from the Well is A YA Horror novel pitched as "Dexter" meets "The Grudge", based on a well-loved Japanese ghost story.

READ AN EXCERPT

About The Author:


Website | Twitter | Goodreads

Despite an unsettling resemblance to Japanese revenants, Rin always maintains her sense of hummus. Born and raised in Manila, Philippines, she keeps four pets: a dog, two birds, and a husband. Dances like the neighbors are watching.

Her work, The Girl from the Well, is a YA psychological horror novel due out in Fall 2014, pitched as "Dexter" meets "The Grudge". She is represented by Nicole LaBombard and Rebecca Podos of the Helen Rees Agency.

Keep posted on the tour with reviews and other excerpts! :) Thanks for the support Misfit Booknerds!

{Blog Tour}: Review: The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu

Title: The Truth About Alice
Author: Jennifer Mathieu
Publication: June 1st 2014, Hardie Grant Egmont
Format: Paperback, 199 pages
Source: Pinoy Book Tours (Thanks guys!)
Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble |iBooks | Kobo

SYNOPSIS:

There are a lot of rumours about Alice Franklin, and it's stopped mattering whether any of them are true. 

It all started at a party, when Alice was supposedly with two guys in one night.

Soon everyone at Healy High has picked a side in this game of he said/she said. Do they believe Brandon Fitzsimmons, the most popular guy at school and the football hero of Healy? Or do they believe Alice, the girl who wears too-tight T-shirts and was caught kissing Brandon in a closet a couple years before?

When Brandon dies in a car crash, there are serious allegations that his death was Alice's fault. As the rumour mill spins into overdrive, Alice's small town becomes suffocating. And when the truth becomes a matter of opinion, something's got to give.

Misfit Review:

Do you keep quiet when people talk about you? Do you speak up? Alice Franklin's life takes a turn as she is allegedly accused of killing football star and town heartthrob, Brandon Fitzsimmons. He dies fom an accident and everyone blames Alice after some people pin her down for it. Rather than talk, Alice keeps to herself and the rumor spreads like wildfire. 

The novel is short, 199 pages long and it was a read that I would say, moved me but also made me angry. Angry in the sense that I hated bullying. To be honest, I could never see any fault in Alice's character. I mean, she's not a goody- two shoes but she's nothing but nice to people around her and in the chaos of the rumor, no one trusts her, and people would rather throw darts at her than be seen next to her. 

“There is one thing I've learned about people: they don't get that mean and nasty overnight. It's not human nature. But if you give people enough time, eventually they'll do the most heartbreaking stuff in the world.”

The narrators, four of them-Elaine, Kelsie, Josh, and. Kurt- take us into their own psyche while telling the story of how they know Alice and how they interact/ed with her. Elaine is the star of the school, seems to hate Alice but she really isn't a bad nut. She feels bad for Alice too, in ways, but would rather keep it to herself. Kelsie, is Alice's "best friend", a nerd turned popular girl after moving out or her old town. She doesn't want to lose her current image, thus, she turns her back on poor Alice. She even starts some side rumors just to keep herself around the social circle. She's despicable. Josh, Brandon's best friend and football player, is charming but is the one who accuses Alice of the accident.  Finally, Kurt, the introverted nerd who is in love with Alice and would go to any lengths to help her. But he knows something that may change the course of the story.

What the narrators may have in common is that they are all self-centered in certain degrees. As they narrate Alice's story, we dive in into their own stories, problems that may either make us understand why they are doing what they are doing or would totally make us tear their parts from the book. Kelsie's POV is the most interesting to read but also the most difficult to stomach in. Kurt is also a personal fave, especially when he has these moments with Alice.

“How much did it hurt? It was like a million paper cuts on my heart.”

Healy didn't feel like a place I would spend my summer vacation in. I felt bad for Alice ultimately. If I had some sort of power to warp myself into the book, I'd clearly tug her out of that place and bring her somewhere quiet and where she can breathe. I could only imagine what it feels like for people who are going through the same thing as Alice. This is the reason why I love that Jennifer Mathieu dedicated this novel "To all the Alice Franklins". It should drive people to stand up for themselves and know when to keep quiet. Help is always there. It's only a matter of finding the right way to seek it.

Jennifer Mathieu's writing is clean but holds that pain so vigorously that it almost hurts to turn a page. It also brings forth the subject that this does happen in real life and that it's something that shouldn't be ignored. The ending wasn't clear but it made me think that there's a way out. 

The Truth About Alice leaves you mad at the world but also aware of what truths are out there.

About the Author:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Jennifer Mathieu is an English teacher, writer, wife, and mom who writes books for and about young adults. Her debut novel, THE TRUTH ABOUT ALICE, will be out in the spring of 2014. Her favorite things include chocolate, pepperoni pizza, and this super hilarious 1980s sitcom about four retired women called The Golden Girls. She can basically quote every episode. She lives with her husband, son, one rescue dog, one fat cat, and another cat that is even fatter than the fat cat. When it comes to what she reads, She loves realistic young adult fiction, creative nonfiction, super scandalous tell-all memoirs and unauthorized biographies, and basically anything that hooks her on the first page.

I'm so sorry if I haven't been posting Misfit Booknerds.. I have been undergoing something this August, but thank you for being helpful too! I love you! Thanks!

{Blog Tour}: ARC Review: Fan Art by Sarah Tregay + Giveaway

Title: Fan Art

Author: Sarah Tregay
Publication: June 17th 2014, Katherine Tegen Books
Format: ARC,
Source: From the author! Thank you Sarah!
Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indie Bound | Kobo | iBooks | National Book Store / FullyBooked (PH)

SYNOPSIS:

Senior year is almost over, and Jamie Peterson has a big problem. Not college—that’s all set. Not prom—he’ll find a date somehow. No, it’s the worst problem of all: he’s fallen for his best friend.

As much as Jamie tries to keep it under wraps, everyone seems to know where his affections lie, and the giggling girls in art class are determined to help Jamie get together with Mason. But Jamie isn’t sure if that’s what he wants—because as much as Jamie would like to come clean to Mason, what if the truth ruins everything? What if there are no more road trips, taco dinners, or movie nights? Does he dare risk a childhood friendship for romance?

This book is about what happens when a picture reveals what we can’t say, when art is truer than life, and how falling in love is easy, except when it’s not. Fan Art explores the joys and pains of friendship, of pressing boundaries, and how facing our worst fears can sometimes lead us to what we want most.

Misfit Review: 
* I was given an ARC by the author in exchange for an honest review.

There are new possibilities whenever I read stories about guy on guy relationships. Jamie is gay, who has just come out  to his family but can never do so in his school or community. Being gay as many would know, is subject to taunts and threats. Jamie would rather not go through that.

At night I dream we live in a David Levithan novel
a world set to music and lit like Broadway---
each moment deep, magical, and underscored by
the simple and profound, like a Beatle's
song.

I was never one to get away from a story such as Fan Art since I am a huge fan of David Levithan. Fan Art captures the struggles of bout and the joys of coming out in the simplest of ways. Jamie is not really an intriguing character to begin with for he laid it out in the first place for the readers to know who he was. He's sweet, caring and scared that changes to how he interacts with everyone will jeopardize his humanity and his friendship with Mason, whom he fell in love with.

I did not just check out my besfriend, did I?

Oh Mason, Darren Criss inspired Mason. He's adorable. You really can't tell much about him except that he's an amazingly kind friend. He has his flaws which grabbed me but I felt that Mason was not much of a character to grasp fully and cuddle forever.

Eden squeezes my hand back and says, "Sometimes I wish things weren't so complex."
"Like, so I wouldn't have to come out? Yeah."
"Like,if people didn't care if love was love."
"Love is love."

The real relationship I really had a connection to was Eden's and Jamie's. Having two people talk about their gender preference and their hesitation to fully let go of their walls, struck me. It was easy to just read everything. I felt like I was part of their conversations. It was humorous and sad at the same time. Eden with her bluntness and Jamie with his reservations made me think at times while reading that they were perfect for each other. "I WANT THEM TOGETHER SO BAD", was the thought that ran through my head as I read their parts. I laughed so hard too. Their relationship in the book brought a sunshine I wanted to be under in.

While there is the lightness in the theme, there was also the apparent negativity towards one of the major themes of the books which is "being openly gay". I wanted to smack the characters so badly but in the corner of my mind, I understood that the topic at hand was still so fragile even in a place like USA, which, as many believe is a liberated country. Queer people are subject to bullying and some of the characters like Lia and Nick are either disgusted or humored by the idea of someone being gay.

Sarah Tregay has touched a theme that is both intriguing and in so many ways, so familiar to others. The story is a lighter take on the theme since I've noticed that some protagonists either feel defeated and suicidal or just too desperate to be noticed. I enjoyed how it was not plot-twisty. It was plain and simple, straight to the point and I appreciated it. It wasn't boring at all and it didn't leave me hanging. There are times though that I had to pause every 10 pages to keep myself sane.

Tregay's writing style is pure and sweet and the incorporation of poems were absolutely raw and honest that every teenager who may stumble upon this novel will relate to it.

Fan Art is fluffy, honest and a small force that can uplift anyone's spirits. It is for everyone. Grab it. You will not regret it.

GIVEAWAY

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About The Author:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Raised without television, Sarah started writing her own middle grade novels after she had read all of the ones in the library. She later discovered YA books, but never did make it to the adult section. When she's not jotting down poems at stoplights, she can be found hanging out with her "little sister" from Big Brothers Big Sisters or stressing over performance classes at a model horse show.

She has both a Bachelors and Masters of Fine Art in graphic design, and her obsession with typography and layout naturally translates into formatting poetry on the page.

She lives in Eagle, Idaho with her husband, two Boston Terriers, and an appaloosa named Mr. Pots.