For Anya, Love will become a life or death choice...

BR - All These Things I've Done - Gabrielle Zevin

New York 2082. When Anya is arrested for attempted murder, the District Attorney offers her a choice: stay away from his son or watch helplessly as he destroys her family. It should be a straightforward decision. Except that the DA's son is the boy Anya loves, and her family is at the dark heart of the city's criminal underworld.
Anya must choose between love and loyalty, knowing that whatever she decides will have shattering consequences: heartbreak or a gangland war that will tear the city apart.


Ohmygoodness. What a choice eh Anya?

It was a classic star crossed lovers tale, parents trying to keep two crazy kids from two seperate worlds apart. It was a great plot, kept me interested, so interested in fact that I read it in a day! It was easy to read, and I enjoyed Anya's narration, was easy to connect with which allowed me to go into the story even deeper.
The love interest, in my opinion, wasn't up to much, He was a bit average. At times there was a flash of brillance and he was fab, but then all the rest of the times I didn't find him engaging BUT the host of supporting characters made up for that. I loved them all, especially the ones involved in the family 'business'. Well all but one, but I can't tell you who or why because it will spoil the plot!

Great book, fabulous writing style and wonderful characters, but the ending...well! All I can say is thank god it is a trilogy!!!!!

Go out, buy it, read it, love it.
JB xxx

Jasmine Skies BR

'Everything I was before, all the forever-things, are slipping away from me here under Jasmine Skies'

Sorry guys, I'm being a mega bad blogger at the moment :'( I'll make it up to you at some point but ALEVELS are hard :-/
Ok so Jasmine Skies:

It was such good escapism, and was so much better (for me) than Artichoke Hearts because Mira was older and I could connect with her better. Also she was experiencing something I've experienced (admittedly not in the same country but I would love to visit India one day) and I felt like I understood her and just wanted to hug her the whole time. Brilliant read, great characters and a flowing plot written in a wonderful style. Just what I needed to freshen my brain from all that revision!

Nice book, lovely story, however one criticism is I so didn't feel the whole romance thing that Sita tried to go on, it felt forced and rushed but thats just my opinion, without that it would have been a great book...and with it, its still a great book!

SO go out and grab it off the shelves my dearies because it is a brilliant read for sitting inside cuddling up to a fire (or radiator!) or for lounging on a beach in the sun...fabulous!!

Much love
JB xx

Heaven help you if you've lost your heart to hell...

BR - Forgiven: The Demon Trapper Series - Jana Oliver

**SPOILER ALERT **
I suggest you get your ass to the first book in the series - Forsaken, because this is the third one and it could potentially ruin the first two for you....

Don't say I didn't warn you...


The stakes are high when you bet on your soul....
Hell's finest are ruling the streets and it seems that Armageddon might be even closer than Riley Blackthorne imagined. But with her soul and her heart in play it's all she can do to keep herself alive, let alone save the world. Riley's not afraid of kicking some major demon butt, but when it comes to a battle between Heaven and Hell, she might need a little help...


OH MY GOODNESS! I squealed with joy when this was pushed through my letterbox by the wonderful postman! HUGE thanks to My Kinda Book and Macmillan Publishers for letting me discover this amazing series!
Jana once again sucked me into the world of Atlanta in 2018...I freaking love this place, wish I never had to leave! Her writing is fabulous, it flows and brings the story to your lap.
The characters again are believable and lovable, particularly a Mr Beck...ooh he can burst out of the book into my bedroom at ANY time ;-)
The twists and turns made it impossible to put down and I finished it within a day...non-stop reading, that's how good it was!

There better be more to this series, specially after that ending!! Go out and buy it guys, you'll regret it if you don't!!

Best one so far in my opinion, lots of love for Jana Oliver!!!
JB xxxx

After The Snow - BR

Dad gone. Magda gone. The others gone. But I don't know why. Tell me, Dog - what am I gonna do?
Willo is a straggler kid living in the dangerous and barren landscape of a new ice age
Coming home after a day of trapping hares on the snowy moutainside he discovers that his entire family is gone. And after one night in the empty house he knos they are not coming back. Isolated and at risk Willo loads up his sledge and embraks on a terrifying, freezing journey of survival. The dog spirit inside his head is his guide and his only companion.
Prepare to have your bones chilled and your breath taken away as time and time again Willo is forced to question everything he knows

Hmmm.... It was an interesting read. When I started it I hated it. Could barely bring myself to read it. I hated it because it wasn't written in good English. It annoyed me, because I detest the using 'MSN/Facebook etc language where people cannot seem to write in the English Language, and that was how this book was written HOWEVER, I soldiered on because I have never not finished a book. Even if I hate it, I continue to read it because I'm scared of missing out, what if after I put it down, the story becomes amazing and I missed that?! Anyway, after I had continued to read on the story got interesting and I got used to the way it was written.

It is Crockett's version of the future, what will happen because of Global Warming. I thought it was fascinating! The way the world was just enchanted me! However I wish it had been explained more, but a child was the narrator and it maybe that he didn't understand why the world was like this, because it was all he'd ever known, and maybe it was supposed to make us think and guess at why.

The rough and ready way people were and the fight for survival was brilliant, all in all it was a great story. Some twists and turns I found slightly predictable but that's because I'm a cynic, and an avid reader so it would be expected that they seem obvious to me! The ending, irritated me slightly. It felt rushed and unfinished, to my tastes but others may see it as the appropriate ending for such a story.

It is a brilliant read, once I got past the irritating english and I cannot wait to see what S.D. Crockett brings to the world of literature next!

JB xx

Time Will Tear Them Apart..

 Tempest - Julie Cross

'A booming sound rang in my ears, followed by Holly's scream. Then everything seemed to stop - my heart, my breath...time'
Jackson has a secret - he can jump into his own past. But when a shocking event propels him further back in time than he has ever been before - he finds he can't return.
Now Jackson has to find a way to save the girl he loves before they have even met, and time is not on his side...

Hm. Hmmmmm. Hmmmmmmmmm. I finished this book at 5pm today. It is now 9pm and I still cannot think of what to write! Yes it was a book about time travel, including a fit boy and love interest. Yes it was a complex plot that made you think. But I still don't know what to say...

The characters, Holly, Adam and MC Jackson were wonderful. Lovely people, so glad I met them. The idea of the story was great. maybe too much information all smushed into one story? Too many twists and turns to keep track of? That's just my opinion obviously.

It made me cry, and the ending left me heartbroken so that is a good sign....I just don't think its sunk in yet!

I can't really find anything to criticise except too many twists and turns, but again thats just my opinion. Also the time travelly science bit, wasn't explained to well for me...but I'm dumb and need things spelling out for me!
It was good, made me cry, made my heart break, made me laugh out loud and made me swoon in places. Read it :-)

Much love
JB xxxx

Forever - Judy Blume

Forever by Judy Blume.

It was first published in 1975 and was banned from most libraries and parents didn't allow their children to read it due to the obscene sexual content....that 'obscene sexual content' is now the basics that almost every 13 year old knows, or thinks they know. It just goes to show how life changes between the first copy being published and the recent rerelease of the book today. Katherine is an 17/18 year old in America, at school and the book mainly focuses on her relationship with a boy she meets at a New Years Party.


The meeting, and getting together of the couple, in my opinion was ridiculously rushed, but thinking about the context Judy wrote it in, that was probably the norm. It was a little unrealistic for me in points, and a little suprising in others.

It was an interesting and enjoyable read, following our main character as she embarks on the first love, first time, first heartbreak journey. She discovers who she is and what she wants along the way, and I hope she became a better person for it!
As I stated earlier, as a 16 year old I found it hard to take Kath seriously...I mean she was 18 and only just finding this stuff out....but that's the change of time in the real world, not the fault of some fictional character.

So have a read guys!
JB xxx

In My Mailbox #8

I am so sorry guys! Blogging really took a back seat in my life, as did reading! The only thing I had time to read was boring text books! College is stressful! But I had half term last week so I managed to read quite a few books, unfortunately I will not be reviewing those because I simply do not have time! I read Sisters Red, which was absolutely beautiful and a wonderful book which I thoroughly recommend, Evercrossed, which I cannot wait to continue the new trilogy/series of books when the lovely Elizabeth Chandler gets round to writing them and I also read some trashy romance novels that were actually quite brilliant, the best was called The Infidelity Chain...absolutely sucked me in, I stayed up til one am to fnish that beauty! I also read the final in the Evernight series, called Afterlife by Claudia Gray...what a lovely end to an addictive series!

Anyways, there are the quick reviews for what I've read! I better get my ass into gear, christmas is coming up and I have actually put so many books on my list, as well as a kindle. Oh god, I am just glutton for punishment!

Anyways, I recieved a LOT this week! I went to the lovely libraries around my local area, got the entire works of Shakespeare, because I'm studying English Literature in college and I need to widen my reading palete as well as look smart for college applications!!

I also got two books from the lovely MKB which were:

 Forever by Judy Blume and The Hunger Games Companion by Lois H Gresh.

I haven't actually read THG yet, but it is on my to buy for kindle wishlist!!

I also went to my library and got some Jane Austen works, because again widening the reading palete etc, and it would look bad if I just watched the films!!

Anyways, thanks for putting up with this HUGE post and I promise, I will be back soon!!
JB xxx

Her heart will determine the future....

BR - Glow - Amy Kathleen Ryan

Teenagers Waverly and Kieran believe their future is written in the stars.
They are part of the first generation born in space.
They are in love.
They have never seen a stranger before...until the day they are wrenched apart and suddenly find themselves fighting for their lives.

That is the blurb. Now here is the synopsis from Goodreads...

What if you were bound for a new world, about to pledge your life to someone you'd been promised to since birth, and one unexpected violent attack made survival—not love—the issue?

Out in the murky nebula lurks an unseen enemy: the New Horizon. On its way to populate a distant planet in the wake of Earth's collapse, the ship's crew has been unable to conceive a generation to continue its mission. They need young girls desperately, or their zealous leader's efforts will fail. Onboard their sister ship, the Empyrean, the unsuspecting families don't know an attack is being mounted that could claim the most important among them...
Fifteen-year-old Waverly is part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space; she was born on the Empyrean, and the large farming vessel is all she knows. Her concerns are those of any teenager—until Kieran Alden proposes to her. The handsome captain-to-be has everything Waverly could ever want in a husband, and with the pressure to start having children, everyone is sure he's the best choice. Except for Waverly, who wants more from life than marriage—and is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth.
But when the Empyrean faces sudden attack by their assumed allies, they quickly find out that the enemies aren't all from the outside.

The story = brilliant idea, very very intriguing from reading the blurb....the Goodreads Synopsis practically tells the story. In fact, this is one of the complaints I have about this book, the Goodreads synopsis tells more of the story then the book does...some of the stuff in the synopsis isn't even in the book, and it should be because if it was included the story would be complete...
The characters = cute, enchanting, realistic. Although Seth...didn't like him at all. And Waverly shouldn't either. Ryan was trying to capture the popular love triangle theme...and it didn't work. Seth is horrible, He is the baddie of the goodies and usually, I fall for that, but Seth wasn't a baddie goodie in the ooft I wish you were real kind of way. He was just horrible and should have been a baddie. Ryan should have just made the book more a focus of the difficulties between Waverly and Kieran as a couple who have the ship's expectations riding on them. Unfortunately I didn't get any chemistry between them...at all :-/
The writing style = average. The climax and epilogue was disappointing. This amazing build up, then just a deflating let down....

I had quite high expectations for the book...it's a good story idea, and generally a good writing style, the characters were a bit too try hard and copycat in some places, but it was an average book. Not high on  my favourites, but not bottom either.

Maybe you guys will find it more enjoyable then I do, I hope so! It's a good book, go try it and prove me wrong!
JB xxx

My Book Boyfriend #8

My Book Boyfriend is a weekly Meme, hosted by Missie at The Unread Reader I will be taking part in this Meme (hopefully) every Wednesday where I will lust over my literary crush, who I would love to be part of my life. If possible, I will include the lucky boy's stats and some quotes. I will definitely be including a picture of how I imagine he looks like and reasons why I love him.

Today's lucky boy is John Hayden, from Meg Cabot's new book ABANDON

This scrummy boy is:

• Tall, six foot four or five
• With wide biceps and shoulders
• He has a fairly obvious attitude problem
• Black jeans, skintight black t-shirt, black tactical boots and knuckles criss-crossed with scars
• The scars weren't only on his knuckles...
• His hair, falling carelessly in thick, long waves around his face and neck
• His eyes were as grey as the clouds overhead and they burned with bright intensity

Here is some pics of how I imagine him....(I'm not a big fan of guys with long hair so, I've chosen to block that out in my head haha!)

OMNOM! Isn't he a beauty? Here's some quotes that made me swoooooon:

“Why would John bother using windows or doors like a normal person? Why would he bother to say hello? Just poof. Crunch. Bye.”


“You didn't," John said, stepping from the shadows as he clapped for me, "even hit your head this time.”


“You just said you were sorry."

"I was only apologizing," he said stiffly, "for startling you. The applause was to compliment you on the improvement in your life-saving techniques since the last time you-”

“And in what fairy tale would John ever be any sane person's idea of Prince Charming anyway? He was the opposite of charming. More like Prince Terrifying.”
 
“No Hello.

No Hi, Pierce. Nice right hook you have there.
No It's lovely to see you. Sorry about your counselor being killed last night. Yes, I see your grandmother is a Fury even though I told you none was after you. I guess I was wrong about that.
Just Let's go.”

“I don't really know. I've never rescued a girl I love from the Furies before." He looked alarmed as he noticed my eyes were filling with tears. "Don't cry."

"How can I not?" I asked him. "You just said you love me."
"Why else did you think all of this was happening?" He set the book aside to wrap his arms around me. "The Furies wouldn't be trying to kill you if I didn't love you.”
"I didn't know," I said. Tears were trickling down my cheeks, but I did nothing to try to stop them. His shirt was absorving most of them. "You never said anything about it. Every time I saw you, you just acted so... wild."

"How was I supposed to act?" he asked. "You kept doind things like throw tea in my face.”

“What did that mean? Where could it go? He was a death diety. I was a high school senior.”
 
Gosh I do love him :-)
Who is your Book Boyfriend this week?
Lots of Love
JB xxx

She knows what it's like to die....

...and now death wants her back.

BR - Abandon by Meg Cabot

Well, when I recieved this little gem in the post I was exstatic! Meg is a wonderful author, her books and I have grown up together! So she springs a beauty out of her magic computer, a paranormal romance, that isn't like any other paranormal romances I've ever read....infact it's so good as soon as I finished it, I pushed it right into the top ten favourite books! Here's the synopsis/blurb:

Pierce knows what it's like to die.
Last year she flatlined following an accident
During that time, Pierce saw a dark world and met a mysterious, irresistable boy,
Now that boy, John Hayden, has turned up at school. Everytime she sees him Pierce finds herself in terrible danger. Yet she's still drawn to him.
John wants to take her back to the place she fears the most: The Underworld
The question is, why?

Now if that didn't make you squee in lust then I don't know what will!!

At first, the book is wonderfully confusing. Nothing is explained...and at first this is a delicious torture, because you keep turning the pages, desperate to find out who the boy is, how she died, why she's biking around a cemetary and yelling at random hot boys etc. It is sweet torture...
At first I thought that it lasted far to long and it might have discouraged some readers from continuing because they would get fustrated because nothing was making sense, but then I changed my mind and realised that the fustration was what kept most readers involved and turning the pages, and that Meg had dragged it out for just the right amount of time and actually got it spot on!

Then the story itself, a lovely mix of paranormal, romance, and even a teensy bit of Greek mythology was enough to set my book lust into overdrive! I was addicted...especially when the heroine was with our scrummy lead male character. I actually got butterflies of longing in my stomach haha! It was absolutely deliciously perfect, and how she got that wonderful story idea is beyond me, but then again she's always thought of wonderfully different stories!

The characters were deep, and realistic. John Hayden had me at his introduction. Bad boy, that you know in your heart is really a good boy, he was just injured by his life, and the world seem to scorn him, which causes a little attitude problem...but anyway I'll gush about him in the MBB Meme haha! Pierce was a wonderful heroine. Strong, but with obvious vulnerability. She was a little bit broken inside, just like everyone. She was very easy to relate to and I often found myself wishing I was a little more like her! The female friend, probably in the next two books of the trilogy going to become the female best friend and sidekick, Kayla was absolutely hilarious! She had a don't care attitude, a real hatred of the world, but again, an obvious vulnerability. I often found myself laughing aloud at her witty remarks or sarcastic quips! And then there's the second soon to be sidekick (I presume) Pierce's cousin, Alex. He has obvious issues with the world, and is a little bit more bad attitude then the others. He really is broken inside and he became to feel like my little brother, and I wanted to protect him and look after him! The other supporting characters are along the same lines, very relatable and very real. I enjoyed them so much, I felt part of the family!

So all in all it was an absolutely bloody fantastic book. And I'll be posting a MBB Meme, for a certain Mr John Hayden tomorrow, so keep your eyes peeled, for another fittie fest!
Seriously, go out and buy the book or I swear I will hunt you down and make you memorise the whole thing and then eat it!
LOTS OF LOVE GUYS!
JB xxx