Dreamland Book Blog: May 2012

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 5 comments

Hello everyone,

It's Mother's Day in my country and I just want to wish all the mothers and about-to-be mothers out there a Happy Mother's Day! I can't imagine a world without mums, no one to wake me up when I'm late for class, no hot breakfast after I take my morning shower, no one to listen to my daily rambles *laughs* Yeah, I'm describing my mum...

No one knows me better than my mum, and it's a joy to have a day dedicated to all the mothers in the world!
Mothers worked 24/7 all year long, so take a break today and let your children and husband pamper you!

It's a wonder why my mum hasn't become like this, taking care of us monkeys, dad included *laughs*

Stay young and keep having fun!

Recommended YA Reads for Mother's Day :

When a small mistake costs sixteen-year-old Eagan her life during a figure-skating competition, she leaves many things unreconciled, including her troubled relationship with her mother. From her vantage point in the afterlife, Eagan reflects back on her memories, and what she could have done differently, through her still-beating heart.

When fourteen-year-old Amelia learns she will be getting a heart transplant, her fear and guilt battle with her joy at this new chance at life. And afterwards when she starts to feel different—dreaming about figure skating, craving grape candy—her need to learn about her donor leads her to discover and explore Eagan’s life, meeting her grieving loved ones and trying to bring the closure they all need to move on.

My review : In A Heartbeat by Loretta Ellsworth

Lia and Cassie were best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies. But now Cassie is dead. Lia's mother is busy saving other people's lives. Her father is away on business. Her step-mother is clueless. And the voice inside Lia's head keeps telling her to remain in control, stay strong, lose more, weigh less. If she keeps on going this way—thin, thinner, thinnest—maybe she'll disappear altogether.

This book portrayed the challenges of parenting.

My writing

I've written a short story for Mother's Day but decided not to let my mum read it (shy).

Anna : Wattpad or Goodreads

Sometimes.

It isn't the man behind the mask that you should fear.

Nor the funny clowns in carnival fairs, or the butcher with the wicked glint in his eyes.

Sometimes.

The one thing that you should fear the most, and the one to run away from,is the one who stares back at you in the mirror.

Yourself.

~Mother's Day Quote~
Children and mothers never truly part - bound in the beating of each other's heart.
-Charlotte Gray

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Sunday, May 13, 2012 4 comments

This is a weekly meme created by Hannah from In The Best worlds where secondary characters finally have a chance to stand in the spotlight and have their voices heard.

Hannah : I've started a new weekly meme here and I'd love for you to join me. Saturdays are now dedicated to honor the characters that don't always get their voices heard, who support (or work to destroy) our beloved protagonists. This is for the third wheel in the love triangle (can you have wheels on a triangle?), for the BFFs, the family members, or even just the kind and loving (or deceitful and creepy) stranger who shows up and changes the game. We all know these stories wouldn't hold up without support so I'd like to take the time to highlight the best secondary characters I come across. This is an opportunity to talk about what makes these characters special, maybe to speculate what their world would be like without them, or maybe cast them in their own primary roles. If you'd like to create a SCS post leave your link in the comments and I'll check it out!

Today it's all about

Aphrodite - House of Night

Although she might not appear as much as Zoey did in the series, she is as much of a main character to me. Aphrodite might come across as a b*tch most of the time, and I admit I wanted to smack her in Marked, but she grew on me on the second book and has been my favorite character in the series. For one reason, she doesn't take people's crap.

She contributed a lot to the dilemma that Zoey faced, despite the fact that she was stripped off her High Priestess title, lost her boyfriend Erik, lost her marks and even became something she truly hate in the process of helping Zoey. I think she deserved a bit more from her friends, and a little bit more recognition on what she has done.

I loved Darius because he saw Aphrodite for the person she really is. Behind her hard shell, she is this one vulnerable girl who needed someone to notice her, and Darius did just that. That is why, my favorite relationship in the story, besides Rephaim and Stevie Rae, is Darius and Aphrodite.

I wish they will have their own series, one that I would surely read!

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Saturday, May 12, 2012 2 comments

Friday, May 11, 2012 4 comments

Tuesday, May 08, 2012 6 comments

When Taylor meets Gabriel at college, she is in awe of the subtle glow that surrounds him. No one else, not even her best friend, seems to notice.

Something about her scares her.

Is all as it appears? While Taylor struggles for answers, she finds herself in the middle of a century old war centered on one miraculous revelation : evolution.

I have no expectations for the story but to just pick up the book, hoping for a good read on a slow night. But what I received in returned was 360 kinds of "unexpected". Angel Evolution has challenged my perception on angels and demons, altering my perspective and introduced me to a new bred of these biblical creatures. I will never look at demons the same way again. (Well, demons are kinda, hot. They can, you know, wolf down 12 slices of pizza in one meal, a talent I found to be very useful....)

I was literally hooked from the first page. I am very particular on the beginning of the book because I couldn't stand a slow start, that was why I was blown away by the very descriptive and vivid first chapter. Gosh, I have yet to calm down from the thrill. While some chapters were brief and short and the others of moderate length, the story was not lacking in any other way! A fact which I found surprising. I thought the story progressed smoothly and I admit, it had me seating at the edge of my seat (or bed, if that matters) and biting on my own lips, something I haven't do in way too long. Angel Evolution definitely brought back old memories when I used to obsess over Patch (Hush Hush) and Alex (Angel Trilogy)!

While the author continually surprise me with some "fun facts" about the angels and demons, I was also in complete awe with the characters, and this has also become one of the few rare books I've read where I adore the secondary characters as much as I do with mains. I appreciate the fact that Taylor, despite being average and plain, was a strong and confident teenager. She is daring to speak out her mind and have quite a dominant personality. She refused to be changed into someone she's not, and most importantly, she is close to her family, something I found lacking in YA novels these days. As for Gabriel, I would have to say he is the one and only character that I couldn't wrap my mind around. His thoughts and actions were so contradicting, he confused and surprised me most of the time. I couldn't figure out if he is on the good or bad side, and to be honest, he gave me a "jerk/jock/sinister" impression the first time I "met" him. I actually felt his pain when he was tormented for the fact that he build his relationship with Taylor based on lies and deceit. To me, he was a confused young boy (or angel) who found love for the first time.

I found their relationship to be completely refreshing because Taylor started off attracted to him, yet fearing him at the same time, at least Taylor does possess some sense of self preservation.

While I love Taylor and Gabriel, I also equally loved the bubbly and easygoing Chris and Sam. Sam is the typical beautiful cheer-leading type every girls wanted to be, but on the contrary to the norm, she was such a caring and concerned friend, it was impossible to hate her. On the other hand, you would never believed that Chris was a demon, then again, you would have your "concept" on demons changed drastically after reading this, it makes me want to adopt a gargoyle as a pet instead! Chris, despite being a creature of the dark, was amazingly sweet and flirtatious, I couldn't resist his charm, and like Sam, I fell a little bit in love with him too. (Oh who could have resist his boyish charm and humor?)

While the characters will grow on you, the storyline will keep your heart pounding. Half of the time I found myself laughing and grinning like a complete idiot, and the next I would be racking my brain trying to figure out what would happen next. One word. Original. When you read plenty of paranormal fiction, you would find how great it feels to read something different, something new!

The writing didn't disappoint, and I was actually nervous for the battle (the climax of the story). I thought that it ended perfectly, with a fist-pounding cliffhanger in the end *grunts*. Though I was a bit let down by how easily Taylor and Sam accepted Gabriel and Chris (I expected more of a show of emotions), it was funny to read about Taylor's reaction though!

A trilogy worth reading, soon enough I'll be scouting for the next book!

This is actually how I pictured the gargoyle ...

I always wanted one ....

Reviewed by,

Monday, May 07, 2012 4 comments

This is a weekly meme created by Hannah from In The Best worlds where secondary characters finally have a chance to stand in the spotlight and have their voices heard.

Hannah : I've started a new weekly meme here and I'd love for you to join me. Saturdays are now dedicated to honor the characters that don't always get their voices heard, who support (or work to destroy) our beloved protagonists. This is for the third wheel in the love triangle (can you have wheels on a triangle?), for the BFFs, the family members, or even just the kind and loving (or deceitful and creepy) stranger who shows up and changes the game. We all know these stories wouldn't hold up without support so I'd like to take the time to highlight the best secondary characters I come across. This is an opportunity to talk about what makes these characters special, maybe to speculate what their world would be like without them, or maybe cast them in their own primary roles. If you'd like to create a SCS post leave your link in the comments and I'll check it out!

Today it's all about

Jules - Die For Me

Review from GR

After the tragic death of Kate Mercier's parents in a horrific car accident, Kate and her sister, Georgia left home and moved in with her grandparents in Paris, leaving their tainted life to start anew. Paris was beautiful, but it held no beauty for Kate who was still grieving for her loss.

Until someone beautiful walked into her life.

Vincent.

A mysterious young man who possessed beautiful eyes, a look to die for. Someone who happens to die 3 days in a month, have the ability to float around, dormant and wakes up after 3 days. A revenant.

Full review at Goodreads.

While I am in love with the main characters, Vincent and Kate, I am far more attracted to the secondary and most likely the best character in the story - Jules Marchenoir.

He may just be an artist, but to me he's my knight armoured with crossbows, daggers, knives, swords, paintbrushes and probably a bazooka in the future. While he can be flirtatious, he is also incredibly understanding and compassionate.

Like Vincent, Jules is a revenant, a noble existence who dies in someone else's place. As if that wasn't enough, he didn't just do it once, dying has been his second nature, and he has nothing against it. For most of us, such unselfish behavior would be seen as a heroic act, but Jules didn't even take pride for what he had done.

While all Revenants are noble creatures, I like Jules in particular because he added a spark to the story, and apparently a spark is what I needed. I don't think I would've loved the story as much if Jules never existed.

I wish there is a book just dedicated to Jules, and I hope he will find true love too.

(I read this book last year so I don't really remember much details about the story, I apologize if my post sounded more like a girl ranting on her crush!)

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Saturday, May 05, 2012 4 comments

Friday, May 04, 2012 5 comments

What young girl wouldn't want to dance her nights in this splendid castle, in the arms of a handsome suitor?

As the crown princess, Rose is never without a dance partner. She and her eleven sisters are treated to beautiful gowns, slippers, and dances at party after party in their father's palace. But their evenings do not end when the guest return home. Instead, Rose and her sisters must travel deep into the earth of the wicked King Under Stone's palace. There, the girls are cursed to dance each night, even when they grow exhausted or ill.

Many princes have tired - and failed - to break the spell. But then Rose meets Galen, a young soldier-turned-gardener with an eye for adventure. Together they begin to unravel the mystery. To banish the curse, they'll need an invisibility cloak, enchanted silver knitting needles, and, of course, true love.

This is my few of the rarest take on historical romance.

As much as I adore watching historical movies like Becoming Jane and The Young Victoria, books with historical plot never seemed to attract my interest enough for me to keep on reading. The sentences always seemed too odd, the characters were too innocent, I don't get the jokes, and I am always confused by who is who. Yet, determined to change my mindset, I've went ahead and purchased a historical YA novel hoping that I'll start off with baby steps before I proceed to read Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights.

It worked for a little while though.

To be honest, I was excited to read it when I first purchased the book because it was a retell of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, a story from my childhood which I remembered very well. Plus, the cover was amazing!

For the first few chapters I was captured heart and soul, but it just kind of fell flat after 50 pages in, and I was epic-ly disappointed. When Galen was first introduced in the story, he struck me as an army with a soft personality, he knits for love's sake! And I just kind of fell in love with him then, I mean, who wouldn't fall in love with this face?

My Galen

But something was just lacking in the story, the sentence structure were too simple (what happened to "O, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?", yes I know I'm being picky *sticks tongue out*) and there were not much character development involved. I would describe it as reading a bedtime story with more words. The idea of the story was unique, I just hoped that the writing was more engaging. Perhaps I was searching for something more intense? Heart pounding? Nerve wrecking?

I was disappointed that there were not enough chemistry between Galen and Rose, sometimes the princesses gets on my nerves with the constant crying, I don't really feel their suffering when they have to sneaked out to dance in King Under Stone's palace, and I actually found King Under Stone's threat funny. Gosh, I sounded so mean.

However, it was not all that bad, after all I rated it 3.5 stars. One significant thing that I do love about the story was the final battle between Galen and King Under Stone and Galen's journey to discover the truth about the princesses' midnight whereabouts, and I just love the fact that Galen knits! I also enjoyed reading the interview with the author and the sneak peek for the next book, Princess of the Glass, which is based on Cinderella.

I was going to take the baby steps, but perhaps I haven't found the right book yet. Nevertheless, I will buy Princess of Glass because I couldn't resist not finishing the book after reading the sneak peek!

[spoiler : A young handsome prince, a beautiful Princess and her too perfect rival. I smell disaster! ]

*Do you know that knitting was considered a men's job before it was took over by women? It was an interesting fact that I learned from the author and to know that men knitting is not uncommon at all! Yet, whenever I picture Galen knitting, it's something like this :

Princess of Glass - Jessica Day George
Published : 25th May 2012

Hoping to escape the troubles in her kingdom, Princess Poppy reluctantly agrees to take part in a royal exchange program, whereby young princes and princesses travel to each other's countries in the name of better political alliances--and potential marriages. It's got the makings of a fairy tale--until a hapless servant named Eleanor is tricked by a vengeful fairy godmother into competing with Poppy for the eligible prince. Ballgowns, cinders, and enchanted glass slippers fly in this romantic and action-packed happily-ever-after quest from an author with a flair for embroidering tales in her own delightful way

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