Review: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Title: Warm Bodies

Author: Isaac Marion

Series: Warm Bodies #1

Publisher: Vintage

Publication date: Oct 28th 2010

Format: Paperback - 240 pages

Genre: Horror | Paranormal Romance

Goodreads

'R' is a zombie. He has no name, no memories and no pulse, but he has dreams. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.

Amongst the ruins of an abandoned city, R meets a girl. Her name is Julie and she is the opposite of everything he knows - warm and bright and very much alive, she is a blast of colour in a dreary grey landscape. For reasons he can't understand, R chooses to save Julie instead of eating her, and a tense yet strangely tender relationship begins.

This has never happened before. It breaks the rules and defies logic, but R is no longer content with life in the grave. He wants to breathe again, he wants to live, and Julie wants to help him. But their grim, rotting world won't be changed without a fight…

My thoughts:

Like a lot of people, I rushed to get this book before I go and see the film that just came out - I saw the trailer and it looked bloody hilarious. It had been on my wishlist since it first came out but I just forgot about it for some reason. I'm kind of glad I did though since I didn't have long to wait before the film came out.

I found myself liking this book more than I thought I would. I'd read a whole lot of reviews before even thinking about picking the book up, most of them saying the book was really enjoyable, but I couldn't help being very apprehensive. 

I thought was R was the highlight of the whole story. I loved his narrative and his personality. He was sweet, sometimes to the point of being cheesy, and then he would become incredibly philosophical when it came down to explaining his own existence. 

Most of all though, R was just completely unexpected. When people talk about their favourite romantic characters it's always the bad boys who change or the mysterious vampire/werewolves, not the zombie who doesn't want to be dead. But I fell in love with R! He had this really unusual charm to him with the way he interacts with others, being alive or dead, and with himself too. His mind was completely open to readers and that made for a fantastic read. I really love R.

I thought the plot was amazing too. I really liked the idea that if somebody has hope then there will always be somewhere you can go and something you can do to change things - giving up wasn't an option for certain characters in this book. It had its lovely, heartwarming moments and moments where nothing seems to be going right. The fact that I stayed up well into the night to finish this book really says it all.

Overall, I thought this was a fantastic read and I only wish it was a lot, lot longer.

 

My rating: 9/10

 

 

 

Isaac Marion

Goodreads | Website | Twitter

 

Leap Into Books Giveaway Hop 2013

 

Leap Into Books Giveaway Hop

February 28th to March 7th

Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Jinky is Reading

I'm going to keep this simple yet again and give you the chance to win any book worth £10 or under from The Book Depository.

Most of you will know, that means this giveaway is INTERNATIONAL as long as the Book Depository ships to your country for free. You can find a list of places here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

February 2013 Wrap Up

 

 

Books read in February:

(linked to Goodreads)

 

1. Geek Girl by Holly Smale
2. Evil Star by Anthony Horowitz
3. Moonset by Scott Tracey
4. Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
5. Tamed by Douglas R. Brown
6. The Next Forever by Lisa Burstein
7. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
8. Black Feathers by Joseph D'Lacey
9. The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

 

 

Books reviewed in February:

(linked to reviews)

 

1. Soulless by Gail Carriger
2. Changeless by Gail Carriger
3. Frosted by Wendy Sparrow
4. Blameless by Gail Carriger
5. Heartless by Gail Carriger
6. Timeless by Gail Carriger
7. Broken by Kelley Armstrong
8. The Next Forever by Lisa Burstein
9. Geek Girl by Holly Smale

 

 

Favourite book read in February:

One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, teenager Will Grayson crosses paths with..."Will Grayson"! Two teens with the same name who run in two very different circles suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions. Culminating in epic turns-of-heart on both of their parts, they team up to produce the most fabulous musical ever to grace the high-school stage. 

Teaser Tuesday #49

 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week I'm reading Black Feathers by Joseph D'Lacey.

Goodreads.

He flew over lakes and mountains, slow when he was soaring high, fast as he passed close to the land and the water. From a great distance he saw a volcano erupt, the earth roaring through the cone of a mountain and burning red phlegm spewing forth. The black vapour's of the world's diseased lungs belched upwards, miles into the sky. 

 

page 135

Review: Geek Girl by Holly Smale

 

Title: Geek Girl

Author: Holly Smale

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publication date: 28th February 2013

Format: ebook | Netgalley

Genre: YA | Contemporary 

 

 

Harriet Manners knows a lot of things. She knows that a cat has 32 muscles in each ear, a "jiffy" lasts 1/100th of a second, and the average person laughs 15 times per day. What she isn't quite so sure about is why nobody at school seems to like her very much. So when she's spotted by a top model agent, Harriet grabs the chance to reinvent herself. Even if it means stealing her Best Friend's dream, incurring the wrath of her arch enemy Alexa, and repeatedly humiliating herself in front of the impossibly handsome supermodel Nick. Even if it means lying to the people she loves. 

As Harriet veers from one couture disaster to the next with the help of her overly enthusiastic father and her uber-geeky stalker, Toby, she begins to realise that the world of fashion doesn't seem to like her any more than the real world did. 

And as her old life starts to fall apart, the question is: will Harriet be able to transform herself before she ruins everything?

My thoughts:

Every one in a while, I like a nice, cute read that makes me giggle occasionally. This book certainly made me smile and made me feel all fuzzy inside with all its talk of not being afraid to be who you are or not changing for everybody else's benefit. 

From the very first page I fell in love with Harriet's personality. She's really bubbly and charismatic with the way she would come out with facts nobody would ever think they need to know and how she just happens to be the clumsiest person ever. I also loved how she would interact with all of the other characters, especially Nick. As soon as Nick left the picture I would be rushing to turn the pages, impatiently waiting for him to reappear. 

I thought Nat and Toby were really great supporting characters. Toby just made me laugh outright with his obsession with Harriet - he was the funniest stalker ever and I mean that in the best way possible. Nat, however, was really well written. I thought she did everything that a best friend is supposed to. I really hate books where best friends are just there for another character to 'hang out with'. They serve no purpose. But Harriet and Nat reminded me of myself and my own best friend. We fight when we disagree - that's the reality of it - but we make each other better people for it and we know that when we do get into an argument, we're fine the day after. 

As for the plot, I thought it was a general feel good story. A girl has her problems, insecurities and the like, she faces even more problems when she tries to resolve the initial hardships and then comes out better for it in the end. It's not one of those really complicated plots where you have no idea what's going to happen. I knew what was going to happen and how the book would end from the beginning but I enjoyed it nevertheless. 

Overall, I thought this was a great read for anybody who likes a sweet story once in a while. I would definitely recommend it - if nothing else, I can guarantee it will make you laugh at the very least. 

My rating: 8/10

Holly Smale

Goodreads | Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter

Review: The Next Forever by Lisa Burstein

Title: The Next Forever

Author: Lisa Burstein

Series: Pretty Amy #1.5

Publisher: Entangled Publishing

Publication date: January 2013

Format: ebook - book tour

Genre: New Adult | Contemporary 

Goodreads

One night in college can change everything…

Away at college, Amy just wants one night alone without her high school sweetheart, Joe. So when he invites her to go to the library, she heads off on her own instead. How she ended up at a house party with the mysterious bad-boy Trevor is another story…

Joe so isn’t going to the library. He needs space from Amy, too, so he’s decided to rush a fraternity, to get back the swagger he had in high school. But it doesn’t take long for the brothers to invite him to the real rush—where the beer is flowing and one particular girl has set her eyes on Joe.

Over the course of one wild night, both Amy and Joe will have to decide if their futures belong with two new people, or whether the next forever will have their first loves in it.

My thoughts:

As soon as I started reading this I immediately fell in love with how well established these characters are. Their personalities just jumped out at me and I immediately became curious as to what would change about them towards the end of the read.

 

I also loved how this read was set out as well as how it was paced. It was such a quick read that the author could make everything happen in real time over the span of a single night. I also loved how the points of view would jump between Amy and Joe - I knew what both characters were thinking at every moment which was great considering what the story is about. 

 

However, I was disappointed a little in how much I already knew what was going to happen. I know the whole point of the book is to test relationships because the characters are in a new environment but I wanted to believe the relationship was seriously on the brink of becoming non-existent. I wanted to anticipate something bad happening so that I could feel for the characters. It just didn't happen so I didn't really take what was happening seriously because I knew what the result would be. 

 

I suppose even though I enjoyed the writing and the story itself, I didn't really like what it puts across. To find out if you're meant to be with someone, you don't have to go and test yourself with somebody else. 

 

Overall this was a sweet, quick story that had its moments. It's not one I would put on the favourites shelf though.

 

My rating: 6/10

 

 

Lisa Burstein:

Goodreads | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Blog

Young Adult Paranormal Giveaway Hop 2013

Young Adult Paranormal Giveaway Hop

February 21st - 27th

This hop is hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and YA Between the Lines.

I'm going to keep this simple yet again and give you the chance to win any book worth £10 or under from The Book Depository.

Most of you will know, that means this giveaway is INTERNATIONAL as long as the Book Depository ships to your country for free. You can find a list of places here.

The book you choose has to relate to the giveaway hop (YA Paranormal).

a Rafflecopter giveaway