Cover Love: Newly Revealed!

I have a goodreads shelf for TBR books awaiting covers and I love to check every now and then to see what cover reveals I've missed!

Charming Covers

First of all it makes me happy when sequels/series match <3.
Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas~ As always Sarah Maas' covers are on point! My love of the cover designs is well documented.
The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick~ I like this over not as much as I love My Life Next Door just because it's less eye catching.
P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han~ I love how this reflects the simple beauty of To All The Boys I Loved Before, just imagine them side by side!
Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry~ I like the bold typography and the motorbike, subtle but effective. Not sure if the UK edition will have a different cover though...

Have you seen any new covers that have caught your eye?
Let me know!
Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Cover Love: UK vs US Comparisons.

Comparison Time!

I love the Pushing the Limits series! Each book is unique, the relationships are layered and complex as are the plots. The covers are absolutely stunning too!

The top row are the UK covers and the bottom US.

Typography. The font and the layout.
UK I love how bold the UK font is. The colour highlights other aspects of the cover as well.
US. I do like the font and the directional differences but it's a bit to similar for me.
UK

Relevance. Do the covers offer a sneak peek of what's instore?
UK. This is a tough one because apart from how sporty the girl on Take Me On looks, the covers are just generic couples.
US. Again a few attractive generic couples however the car on Crash into You and the kickboxing element to Take Me On does make them more relevant.
US

True. Do the covers offer a true representation of the characters?
Pushing the Limits and Dare You To are similar across the covers.
UK.  Crash into You the girl is blonde like Rachel if a bit sultry and the guy is a clean cut version of Isaiah. Take Me On I like that Hayley looks sporty and tough with West completely in the background.
US. Crash into You again the girl is blonde but this Isaiah has tattoos and they are in a car. However Take Me On, the girl looks more casual in her jeans and tank top whereas West looks like he could be her trainer.
UK

Overall the UK covers are my favourite but they are all similar and luckily gorgeous.

What do you think?
Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Monday Round Up!

One of my favourite memes hosted by the lovely Shelia over at Book Journey!

Another slow blogging/reading week I was struck down by a toothache! I did how ever have a little readathon on the weekend so I made up for my reading but not my blogging!

Posts!
Top Ten Tuesday- Check out what settings I want to read more of!


Read!

Island of Lost Girls was a completely different genre for me and I could not put this one down!
Speechless was fantastic- review coming soon!

Reading!

Finally got this one yesterday! Loving it so far :)

 

What's Next!

So glad I got approved for this one!

 

How's your week been?

Much Love!

Lettie

Xxx

Top Ten Tuesday: Contemporary Reads of 2012

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by: The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is: I'm choosing Contemporary 2012 reads!

 

This freebie week fits in really well with my feature! I decided to do my top ten contemporary books I've read in 2012! YA and NA!
 

 

Easy by Tammara Webber

I have been re-reading this one like crazy! I love the side cast of characters, the theme, the romance, Jackie, Lucas... Everything really! Reviewed in October.

 

 

If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman 

 

No surprises here! I loved these two books- brilliantly unique contemporaries with a fantastic cast of characters and a brilliant use of flashbacks! I loved how the two books are from two different point of views and both felt very emotionally deep and real. Reviewd in July!

 

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

 

Morgan Matson has been one of my go to summer contemporary authors since Amy and Roger! I loved concept and plot line of Second Chance Summer and the complex characters. Reviewed in July.

 

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

 

A fun festive witty contemporary read which incorporates so much of New York City and it's diversity! Reviewed in October.

 

 

Because of Low and While It Lasts by Abbi Glines

 

I have gushed over Abbi Glines Sea Breeze series it's no surprise these two made it on this list! Because of Low was much more sweet and based around family drama whereas While It Lasts was hotter and involved more emotional drama. I love the contrast between the two and the continuation of the cast while keeping the two stories separate. Because of Low reviewed in September and While It Lasts reviewed as part of  Young Adult and New Adult Month.

 

  Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry

 

This book has everything you could ask for in a YA contemporary novel, a heroine you can connect to, a hot boy with depth, a unique yet familiar plot and utterly addictive! Reviewed in July

Lengths by Steph Campbell and Liz Reinhardt





 I loved how hot and sweet this was! I liked how Whit seemed to be the more troubled on as usually in YA/NA the guy is the most 'broken'. Such an unexpected great read. Reviewed as part of Young Adult and New Adult Month!
 

What has been your favourite contemporary read of 2012?

Much Love!

Lettie

Xxxx

Top Ten Tuesday: Update!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by: The Broke and the Bookish.

Next week's topic is Autumn TBRs so I thought I would  go back and see how many of my Anticipated Summer Reads I actually got round to reading :)

My Summer TBR was my very first Top Ten Tuesday here. I managed seven out of ten which isn't too bad!

Read

I Heart London by Lindsey Kelk- Such a good end to the series although I hope it's not the permanent end!
Matched by Ally Condie- A great read! I loved the society set up and the characters, looking forward to reading Crossed and Reached.
If I Stay by Gayle Forman and Where She Went by Gayle Forman- These books will stay with me forever- they were so emotional!
Love of The Party by Lauren Barnholdt- I loved the fact this was a combination of different yet related stories, good quick read!
Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry-Better than Perfect Chemistry, it had such an intriguing plot and characters
Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson- Lived up to my expectations of Morgan Matson, I'm already looking forward to her next book!

Not Read

Divergent by Veronica Roth
This one is sat patiently on my library pile! I will be taking it away with me next month so it just misses out on being a summer read :)
In Honor by Jessi Kirby/The Thing about the Truth by Lauren Barnholdt
These two haven't been read for the same reason. I don't like buying contemporary books as hardbacks and unfortunately these two are only available in hardback!
I don't want them as ebooks as I'm still not a fan of ebooks... These two will get read as soon as they are paperbacks!

All seven were great picks and really good reads so I'm glad I stuck to the majority of this list!
I'm excited to pick out my Autumn TBR next Tuesday!

How did you do with your summer TBR?

Much Love
Lettie
xxx

Top Ten Tuesday- Favourite Books!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by: The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is Favourite Books You've Read During The Lifespan Of Your Blog!
 

 

 

This topic was difficult as  I usually define a book as one of my favourites if I still love it months later- seeing as I've only been blogging since June, I really had to think which books I had read since starting my blog and go from there.
In no particular order!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

 

This book definitely convinced me that dystopia was a genre I would enjoy. It was my favourite of the trilogy! Full review.

Because of Low by Abbi Glines

Loved the relationships and revelations in this book- introduced me to what an amazing author Abbi is!

While It Lasts by Abbi Glines

Loved this even more than Because of Low- it was fun, the characters were realistic and the plot was something I hadn't read before!

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

This book will stay with me forever- it was breathtaking! Full review.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

If I Stay was a hard act to follow but Where She Went managed to follow it beautifully. Full review.

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

I love how this book covers so much emotionally in such a short summer. Full review.

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Really lived up to the hype surrounding it and had such an intriguing plot and characters. Full review 
The Selection by Kiera Cass

I loved this as it was a more light hearted dystopia book! Full review.

I Heart London by Lindsey Kelk

 Such a good end to the series and I loved finally seeing Angela 'at home'!  

Going Under by Georgia Cates

This one surprised me as I never would of thought it would end up as one of my favourites but it was such a good read it deserves to be on this list!

Honourable mentions
Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan which was just too disturbing to make it onto this list and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins which got left off due to The Hunger Games!


Wow! I read a lot more books than I'd thought since June!
Let me know what your favourites are!
Much Love!
Lettie
xxx



Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry

They say be a good girl, get good grades, be popular.They know nothing about me. I can't remember the night that changed my life. The night I went from popular to loner freak. And my family are determined to keep it that way. They said therapy was supposed to help. They didn't expect Noah. Noah is the dangerous boy my parents warned me about. But the only one who'll listen. The only one who'll help me find the truth. I know every kiss, every promise, every touch is forbidden. But what if finding your destiny means breaking all the rules? A brave and powerful novel about loss, change and growing up, but most of all love.
I feel like this book has been all over the Blogsphere this summer so I was thrilled when I got my request accepted on NetGallery. I didn't realise it was almost 400 pages I could not put it down!
This book is everything you could ask for in a YA contemporary novel, a heroine you can connect to, a hot boy with depth, a unique yet familiar plot and utterly addictive!

What I loved:

• Echo- I loved her character although she frustrated me- I loved so much about her its hard to put it into words! She was such a tragic character at the beginning, she'd isolated herself and had a fragmented memory. I related to her need to please and her authority issues even if it was frustrating. I liked how she grew stronger in herself throughout the book, stood up to her father, began to question and started to live for herself not others. I thought she was inspirational in the way she dealt with the the truth at the end (without spoiling the ending) she managed to work towards resolving all her personal and emotional loose ends as well as realising that she wasn't fully 'healed'. In my opinion this was very realistic, a lot of books wrap up mental and emotional issues like Echo's in one book. It was refreshing to have Echo acknowledge that she still had work to do.
• Noah- He was my favourite! I loved his loyalty and devotion to his family. I admired how his experiences of foster care had changed his habits and degraded his belief in the system but he still kept his core values and ambition even if it was challenged by his devotion to his family. I found his situation so sad and frighteningly such a realistic one! I thought he was a highly compassionate person from his actions at his first foster home to his reaction to the way he treated Isaiah and Beth as family to Echo. Despite his reputation he really was a gentleman to his friend Beth and Echo. I genuinely think he was a perfect male lead flawed and troubled but reliable, compassionate and so suited to Echo! I loved his ending even though it was heart wrenching it was believable and happy.
• Lila- I thought she was a great best friend. She supported Echo no matter what even when Echo was despondent she. unlike the other 'friends', never wavered. She put aside her hesitance of Noah for Echo. I loved how she knew High School wasn't the be all and end all of her life and encouraged Echo to live her life for herself. Great best friend.
• Echo and Noah- Wow! Such perfect chemistry between them, they were drawn together unwillingly and by such traumatic circumstances but their relationship was still cute yet full of passion. I loved how they truly helped each other instead of one just 'saving' the other. I'm going to stop now before I gush too much!
• Dual viewpoints- I love dual viewpoints! They add so much more depth to the characters and the plot by giving you two different versions. I loved seeing Echo and Noah through each others eyes especially Noah's opinion of Echo as she was so negative towards herself it was good to see her in a different much more positive light.
• Plot- I really loved how the plot developed slowly building up to revelations for both Noah and Echo. The plot itself felt familiar but the themes and details were very unique. I liked how Katie McGarry added in mini twists and surprises throughout the book not just a big reveal at the end. It kept adding to the mystery and kept you interested
• Ending First time I've been pleasantly shocked in a long time. No spoilers but I loved how Katie McGarry slowly built up Echo's lost night and it still wasn't quite how I'd imagined which I loved. Noah got a surprisingly positive ending with a bright future which I was really happy about as I hadn't quite pieced together how he could get that!

What I didn't love as much:

• Luke- Echo's boyfriend from 'before'. I didn't dislike him as much as other people seemed too. I took him at face value for a jock guy who wanted to sleep with girls and party. I got the feeling that if Echo hadn't of experienced what she did they would still be together. Yes he could have been much more understanding and patient but so could a lot of high school boys. I didn't like him but I give him points for his honesty at the end!
• Echo's family- I tried to be nice to her Dad as he was suffering too and he redeemed himself a little at the end. However he was controlling, dismissive and at times completely unloving towards Echo. He really did seem to keep her at arms length  which got explained but I still didn't understand it! Ashley, her step mother, was just insensitive, oblivious and seemed a bit stupid. She did say she didn't know how to treat Echo but some of the things she said were just so insensitive.  I did feel for them as it was a uniquely difficult and awkward situation but at the same time they'd had months to cooperate with group therapy etc... Plus I thought their relationship was kinda inappropriate! I won't even mention her mother as I don't want to spoil anything but she was highly selfish and rude!
• Grace-  Awful friend! I got the impression she knew alot of Echo's 'story' but still refused to acknowledge her publicly in order to maintain her social standing. She was happy to force Echo in to a relationship with her ex irregardless of Echo's feelings as it made her 'able' to be 'public friends' with Echo. She also repeatedly mentioned that she felt Echo getting back to 'normal' aka socially acceptable was the most important thing. All in all a sadly typical 'popular' high school girl with a disgraceful lack of compassion for her 'friend'.

I loved it so much I'll be  impatiently waiting for Katie's next book- Dare You To which is Beth's story!
I cannot recommend this enough it is a beautifully written YA contemporary novel with very realistic characters and an engaging plot!


Let me know if you've read this or if you have any recommendations for me to read next!
Much Love!
Lettie
xxx

July Round Up!

New Monthly Feature which will round up all the books I've read, progress on challenges and  review my blogging! I will be posting it the last Monday of the the month :)
It is kind of an expansion (?) of my favourite memes hosted by the lovely Shelia over at Book Journey!


What I read in July!

What I Reviewed!
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman
Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson
Love of the Party by Lauren Barnholdt
Matched by Ally Condie
Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry

As you can see this month I tried to post more reviews. The readathon really helped as I read a lot of books = more reviews!
I changed my review style to a What I Loved/What I didn't layout which I feel is better and have had positive feedback on. I would love more opinions!

Challenge Progress!

Dystopia 2012 Challenge hosted by Bookish Ardour= Completed- Completion post!

Those Books I Should Have Read 2012 hosted by Reading With Martinis. = 4 out of 12!

What I hope to read in August!

1. Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan
2. Across the Universe by Beth Revis
3. Divergent by Veronica Roth
4. Delirium by Lauren Oliver
5. Under the Never Sky by Veronia Rossi 
6. Someone Else's Life by Katie Daley
7. Daughter of the Flames by Zoe Marriott
8. Sam Cruz's Infallible Guide to Getting Girls by Tellulah Darling
9. Ten Girl's to Watch by Charity Shumway
10. Starcrossed by Josephine Angeli

What I hope to achieve blog wise!

1. Post at least one review and one book non meme post a week.
2. Make strong progress on my challenges.
3. Take part in more 'activities' like readthons and read alongs.
4. Beat my total monthly posts of 17!

So that's been July- my first solid blog month!
Let me know how your July/week was!
Also if you like the idea of a monthly round up :)
Have a lovely week!

Much Love
Lettie
xxx