Dreamland Book Blog: August 2012

Friday, August 31, 2012 3 comments

Bewitched (Heven and Hell 2.5) - Cambria Hebert
Release date : October 5th 2012

Synopsis

For years, I accepted that Heven was more popular than me. I never liked it but I lived with it. I walked in her shadow, I stood by her when no one else would. When I finally thought her spotlight was mine things began to change. She began to change. Now she hardly ever calls me back, she spends all her time with her hot new boyfriend and everyone at school thinks she’s back on top. She had it all. But apparently she wants more. She wants Cole – my boyfriend. What’s worse is that it looks like she got him. I’ve had enough and she’s going to be sorry. Why?

Because I am bewitched.

Book Trailer

Bewitched Excerpt

Working out was for jocks. Homework was for nerds and I wasn’t a jock or a nerd. Yet, here I was, sweating through my favorite Victoria Secret yoga pants and tank with a headache the size of Macy’s.

Learning about my powers was hard work. I thought it would come naturally. My brain was hurting from concentrating and my muscles were actually sore from effort. I thought longingly of the potion in the green bottle that Hecate had given me—a little sip would make it that much easier to use my powers, but she took it away. Apparently, I had all the power she wanted me to have. It kind of pissed me off.

In fact, I was feeling pretty disgruntled all around.

I was hot, I was sweaty, my head hurt and my hair was frizzy. Not to mention I had been wearing sneakers far too long. Thank goodness Hecate was gone. I actually had been glad not to be alone after the “bone incident,” but now I was ready for some alone time. I felt stronger.

Feeling strong plus feeling disgruntled equaled somebody was gonna get hurt.

I was standing in my yard near the lake and I glanced up at the moon before heading inside. It was low and swollen tonight—a haunting moon. It sent a shiver up my spine. I thought briefly about going to Heven’s and treating her to a little of what she deserved. I even looked toward the driveway as I walked, but I wasn’t going anywhere looking like this.

I went into the house and began climbing the stairs. Halfway up, I heard a noise in the kitchen and I paused. My parents were still out of town. It wasn’t the maid’s day to be here… unless she came early. Another thud in the kitchen had me spinning on the stairs to see what it was.

“Mary?” I called out. “Is that you?” Maybe she switched her schedule around and I didn’t know about it. Maybe I could get her to make me a latté.

No one answered, and the noises in the kitchen fell silent. I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and listened, wondering if I had heard anything at all. “Hello?” I called again, this time more unsure. This time a fine chill raced up my back.

Suddenly being alone in this big house was scary.

Clink, clink, clink.

Okay, I wasn’t hearing things. Someone was there.

I stepped off the stairs and walked through the foyer in the direction of the kitchen. I heard the cat hiss and I paused again. Clover was too lazy to hiss at a mouse. Something in my stomach turned cold and hard.

I looked over my shoulder at the massive front doors to the alarm keypad and the distress button.

But it was too late for pressing buttons.

Clover burst around the corner with a hideous screech and barreled into me, hitting me in the knees and causing me to stumble. The cat didn’t even stop. I could hear his claws scraping frantically across the tiles.

“What the…” I began as I straightened, but then something lurched around the corner after the cat.

It was hideous.

It stood about a foot taller than me with wide shoulders that were uneven looking—one was lower than the other—and a wild mane of bushy orange hair that seemed to create a cloud around its pasty, white face. Its lips were black and it had a nasty row of teeth that had seen a lot of decay. It had large purple circles around its eyes, which seemed to have no color at all.

It looked like a psychotic clown.

I screamed and took a step backward, and the thing grinned. I went running but it lunged and caught me around the wrist, pulling me back. I struggled, kicking out, but it was no use, his grip was too strong.

Without any warning it reached up and snatched my silver pendant right off my neck. “Hey!” I screamed as it shoved me away. I fell onto my butt and stared up at the glittering silver heart as it dangled from the nasty clown’s hands.

Cole had given that to me. It was the last gift he had given me before we broke up.

Anger surged into my chest, making me hot. “Give that back.”

Freaky Clown gave me another frightening grin and ran back into the kitchen, disappearing from sight. I ran after it, running into a solid wall of… offensiveness.

Friday, August 24, 2012 1 comments

First of all, I would love to express my gratitude for having the chance to be a part of this amazing blog tour and to read this amazing story! Congratulations Author Ashley Lavering for your book release!

Curse of the Beast (Curse of the Beast #1) - Ashley Lavering
Published : May 1st 2012

A dark shadow stalks the night, watching her—waiting to claim what is his.

Seventeen-year-old Tayla Jonas longs for a simple life, but after a traumatizing family loss, she is forced to be both mother and sister to her cousins while caring for her mentally unstable aunt. Moving to her grandma's quiet town of Cody, Wyoming, Tayla finds some normalcy with her quirky green activist friend, Chel, who spends no time converting her to vegetarianism.

A few weeks into her new school, Tayla catches the eye of Kyle Harrington—the high school quarterback and resident millionaire—who can seduce any girl with his charismatic charm, including Tayla. But Kyle is anything but what he seems.

Walking through City Park, Tayla is unaware that an ancient curse has her in its crosshairs. The silver moonlight illuminates the path to her van, sprinkling shadows like evil twinkling eyes. Tayla’s skin prickles, and she turns. Something—or someone—is watching her.

A powerful werewolf steps from the shadows. An iridescent blue chord shoots from him and slams into her stomach, dissolving instantly. Pain wracks her body, and she tries to scramble to safety, but his silver eyes freeze her in place as the curse binds them together. The chord settles deep inside her body, coiling with dread around her heart.

Dismayed by the prospect of a werewolf for a shadow, Tayla fears for the safety of her friends and family. How will she keep the werewolf’s insatiable hunger in check? Her plans for a vegetarian lifestyle quickly dwindle away, and Tayla wrestles to fit her frazzled life back together—piece by piece. But what she didn’t expect was her attraction to the werewolf or the power of the full moon.

Will Tayla be strong enough to survive the Curse of the Beast? Or will it consume her like so many before? Find out in the first installment of this unique retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

Honestly, I am not much of a fan of a retelling or a remake, however I just couldn't resist the urge when the author had approached and offered me a chance to read her book : a retelling of Beauty and the Beast with a werewolf twist, I knew I just couldn't refuse, and to my utter excitement, Curse of the Beast was the bomb!

There are 3 things I absolutely loved about the story.

1. Character development

We never really knew Belle before Beast took her away and kept her in his lair, but I appreciated that I got to know Tanya a bit more. From her creepily possesive admirer (he gave me the creeps, and I swear he has multiple personality) to her bubbly best friend and to her depressed aunt, we got to see the human and normal Tayla before she was 'kidnapped' by Beast.

2. The unique werewolf twist.

If you thought that this is your ordinary werewolf story with the stereotypical werewolf traits, well, you aren't completely wrong, but I dare to say that the wolves seemed more menacing and mysterious! As the werewolves were only introduced in the later part of the story, we didn't really develop a deep understanding on how the "mysterious" wolves "run along", but we know enough to piqued our own curiosity and anticipate for the next book to come out! (I see what you did there Ms. Ashley *grins*)

There's still the moon and the furry looking appearance, but I was especially amazed by how the author managed to add in her own "twists", which made the story even more magical.

3. How everything was "woven" together

The perfect fairytale romance and the most desirable paranormal myth combined, this proved to produce an epic masterpiece! I was often left breathless at how gentleman-like Beast could be, yet at the same time completely animalistic and dangerous. The chemistry between Beast and Tayla made my heart flutter, and the ending nearly made me scream in desperation, I want the second book soon!

Curse of the Beast is definitely a different kind of story as compared to other werewolves books I've come across, and I highly recommend you to give it a try! You will be introduced to a whole new breed of alpha-werewolves *howl*

(There was a small part of me that kept on fantasizing that this is Tyler and Caroline's own story - The Vampire Diaries..only, without Caroline being a bloodsucker)

*As part of the blog tour fun, Ashley has agreed to give out one free ebook copy of Curse of the Beast to one lucky winner! *

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Curse of the Beast Blog Tour Schedule:

July

Friday, 27th—Amber’s Supernatural and YA Reviews
Book Review and Giveaway of a free ebook, a deck of Curse of the Beast playing cards, and a swag bag.

Saturday, 28th— Jagged Edge Reviews
Author Interview

Sunday, 29th—I am a Reader, not a Writer
Giveaway of a Signed Paperback copy of Curse of the Beast and swag bag

Monday, 30th—Intoxicated by Books
Book Review

Tuesday, 31st— Blkosiner's Book Blog
Author Interview and Giveaway of a free ebook, a deck of Curse of the Beast playing cards, and a swag bag

August

Wednesday, 1st—Enchanted Writings
Character Interview

Thursday, 2nd—The Stubby Pencil
Book Review and free ebook

Friday, 3rd—The Non Reluctant Reader
Author Interview and Giveaway a free ebook

Saturday, 4th— Why not? Because I said so!
Book Review

Sunday, 5th—Creative Thoughts
Giveaway of a Signed Paperback copy of Curse of the Beast and swag bag

Monday, 6th—Epilogue
Character interview and Short except from Star Cursed book 2

Tuesday, 7th—Debbie’s Inkspectations
Author Interview

Wednesday, 8th—Once Upon a Twilight
Book Review and giveaway

Thursday, 9th—A Dreamland Teenage Fantasy
Book Review and Giveaway a free ebook.

Friday, 10th—Fire Star Books
Author Interview and Giveaway a free ebook and a swag bag.

Saturday, 11—Read Between the Lines
Book Review and Giveaway of a free ebook, a deck of Curse of the Beast playing cards, and a swag bag.

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Thursday, August 09, 2012 4 comments

In this classic story that inspired the hit movie by the same name. Charlie Gordon, a mentally disabled adult who cleans floors and toilets, becomes a genius through an experimental operation.

From Wikipedia :

The eponymous Algernon is a laboratory mouse who has undergone surgery to increase his intelligence by artificial means. The story is told by a series of progress reports written by Charlie Gordon, the first human test subject for the surgery, and it touches upon many different ethical and moral themes such as the treatment of the mentally disabled.

Although the book has often been challenged for removal from libraries in the US and Canada, sometimes successfully, it is regularly taught in schools around the world and has been adapted numerous times for television, theatre, radio and as the Academy Award-winning film Charly.

If sci-fi never is your favorite genre, then I suggest you to pick up this book and give it a try!

Science Fiction never appealed to me. If I were to enter a bookstore, I would walk pass the Sci-Fi section without a backward glance and head straight to the romance section, but I knew better to not judge a book by its cover, or to be more literal, its genre! How 'superficial' I can be, now I'll be browsing through the sci-fi columns anytime soon!

I had to read Flowers for Algernon as a part of a school assignment, I was reluctant at first, well for the obvious reason, it was for a school assignment, and I remembered groaning when the lecturer mentioned "sci-fi", but what surprised me is that :

1. My growing enthusiasm throughout the story and

2. What was the lecturer thinking! This is no school-reading-material!

Intelligence vs Emotions

The story was written through the perspective of a mentally retarded male, Charlie Gordon, who undergoes an experimental surgery to make himself smarter. It was a brilliant move by the author because his narration only made me felt more emotionally connected to the main character to a level where I felt depressed and teary as I read through the pages.

I loved the way how Daniel Keyes had managed to capture the innocence and expressed it through Charlie, it was definitely eye-opening to see the world through Charlie's eyes. I never given much thought to how a mentally retarded person feels, but they lived in a world of extreme simplicity that people like us failed to fathom and it made me gained new respect for them.

"Its easy to make frends if you let pepul laff at you.”

One thing I admire about this book is the characters, I was amazed by how the author managed to create various characters that symbolizes different kind of people in life, and despite how minor they are in the story, they never failed to leave an imprint in your mind. From The Bully to The Compassionate, and The Intelligent to The Selfish, each personality was well-depicted in the story and this made the readers relate well to the people in the book.

On top of that, I was awed by how well Daniel Keyes portrayed the discrimination one like Charlie received, from family negligence to outright bullying, my heart weeps for Charlie. Yet, all in all, there was still hope and love for someone like Charlie.

Overall, the story generally debated on the importance of intelligence and emotions. As Charlie continually developed intellectually, he still struggled with understanding his emotions, and for the most part it was because of the impact of his mother's action throughout his childhood. Charlie's journey in becoming smart was truly respectable, admirable and exceptionally courageous.

I loved the friendship, the curiosity, the romance and the overall plot of the story! I was amazed I get out of this in one piece!

If you are opting for a different kind of book, I would highly recommend you to give this book a try! It's definitely worth it.

“Even a feeble-minded man wants to be like other men."

--Charlie Gordan”

Reviewed by,