Sunday, 19 August 2012

Bout of Books Update!

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organised by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal .

Slow start as I had a lot of work this week but I've got this weekend to make it to six! Fingers crossed!

Progress So Far!

Beautiful Disaster courtesy of NetGallery! Already reviewed here
Going Under- Loved it!!


Started

I seem to be on a YA contemporary spree atm!
So far so good :)

Let me know how you've doing with the readathon!  
Much Love!
Lettie
xxx

Friday, 17 August 2012

The Selection by Kiera Cass


Thirty-five beautiful girls. Thirty-five beautiful rivals…
It’s the chance of a lifetime and 17-year-old America Singer should feel lucky. She has been chosen for The Selection, a reality TV lottery in which the special few compete for gorgeous Prince Maxon’s love.
Swept up in a world of elaborate gowns, glittering jewels and decadent feasts, America is living a new and glamorous life. And the prince takes a special interest in her, much to the outrage of the others.
Rivalry within The Selection is fierce and not all of the girls are prepared to play by the rules. But what they don’t know is that America has a secret – one which could throw the whole competition… and change her life forever.

If I had to describe this book I'd say it's a dystopia fairy tale with a twist! Gorgeous cover and enchanting story!

Don't let all the comparisons put you off. I've never watched the Bachelor and I'm not a Britain's Next Top Model fan but I liked the Selection.
I think the basic concepts of those shows show up in The Selection, the lottery of 35 girls who go and stay with one guy who will select one and the makeovers. However these devices are pretty neutral aspects and comparisons are just there to entice people.

What I loved:
  • America- She grew on me! I admired her initial disinterest in The Selection and how she wasn't too bothered by class. I liked her honesty and I could see why the public liked her- she was much more down to earth than the other girls!
  • Marlee- I liked how warm and friendly she was but for some reason I don't trust her....Which I like as it lets me come up with conspiracy theories!
  • Maxon- What a lovely if sheltered guy! It was interesting to see his view of the Selection and how odd and confusing he found it. He was very considerate of the girls trying to be honest and open although like most boys he is easily fooled by a pretty face and a fake personality! He took his future role of King very seriously and tried his best to think for his people before himself- fictional princes can sometimes be selfish and stupid so it made a nice change. I'm looking forward to seeing him develop in the next book.
  • Royal Family- Loved the genuine affection between them all. Queen Amberly's sister, Adele brought a lot of 'outsideness' to the palace and humanised the royal family. I think Adele had a good idea on the Queen and the effect of Selection on the family.
  • World and Premise- Really liked this world, it is like a medieval style futuristic world! I loved the way the classes were sectioned out and how America wasn't in the worst class. The selection idea was clever and more of a fairy tale or fantasy style cliche which felt completely fresh combined with dystopia.

What I didn't love as much:
  • Aspen- I initially liked him but that dwindled after about one chapter! I don't think he'd thought as much about their future as Americahad , he may have thought he was noble but he just seemed kinda dismissive and rude!
  • Celeste- I've never read a nice Celeste so I wasn't expecting much! She was mean, stuck up and manipulative- as anticipated!
It was a quick read and left me desperate for the next instalment! It is a relatively lighter dystopia with the feel of a YA contemporary that I would recommend :)

What do you think of this book?
Much Love!
Lettie
xxxx

Thursday, 16 August 2012

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire



Good Girl. Abby Abernathy doesn't drink or swear and she works hard. Abby believes she has created enough distance between her and the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college, her dreams of a new beginning are quickly challenged by the university's walking one-night stand. Bad Boy. Travis Maddox, handsome, built, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs - and wants - to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight club, and his days as the notorious college Lothario. A disaster waiting to happen...Intrigued by Abby's resistance to his charms, Travis tricks her into his life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain celibate for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis' apartment for the same amount of time. Or the start of something beautiful? Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match. Or that this is the start of an obsessive, intense relationship that will lead them both into unimaginable territory...

This one has been doing the blog rounds! I requested it on NetGalley and got lucky again!
It's been described as like Fifty Shades of Grey which put me off a little but it was nothing like it. It was fun easy to read and hot!

What I loved:
  • The relationships- the bond between America and Abby, America may have been a bad conscience but she was such a good friend. I liked Shep's loyalty to Travis and their easy going relationship. I loved Shep and America they were so cute. Travis and Abby just simmered with passion!
  • College Setting- I loved the fact it was set in a college and the characters were older- made a great change from all the high school settings :)
  • Plot- I would never have guessed Abby's 'past' as it wasn't cliched which made a nice change. I loved how Travis's family was explored instead of just left in the background.
  • Finch- loved this character! Quintessential gay best friend and so much more. I loved how he crawled under the toiler door to comfort Abby!
  • Travis' evolution- Travis did change and evolve as a person throughout the book although realistically he could evolve a little bit more and I think he probably will! I loved how he seemed to changed because of Abby not for her, showing the positive effect their relationship had on Abby.
  • Nickname- Travis randomly nicknamed Abby Pigeon which I found weird but it really grew on me! It ended up sounding cute.
 
What I didn't love as much:
  • Abby- She got on my nerves at times. She was so blind to Travis' affections- which is something I find annoying in real life! I also found her a  inconsistent at times which bugged me!
  • Violence- As Travis is in a fight club there was a lot of fighting and I have a thing about blood. It didn't bother me too much but every now and then I'd read a reference to blood and feel a bit queasy!
  • Past- I want to know more about Abby's past and Travis' family. While reading I felt it could of been explored but now I see it would have made it so much longer!
  • The Ending- not a fan! If you've read it I'm just not a fan of that style of ending, it felt a bit rushed to me. But I was happy that it was at least a positive ending- for awhile I thought it was going to turn tragic on me!
I really enjoyed this book, once I picked it up I could not put it down! The chemistry was so good I had to finish their story.
It left me wanting more and I was hoping for a Shep/America companion book however I will have to settle for Walking Disaster- Travis' point of view! Think I'll manage :)
If you want a quick engaging chemistry filled read, I would recommend Beautiful Disaster!

Let me know your opinion!
Much Love!
Lettie
xxx


Wednesday, 15 August 2012

Bout of Books- 13th August to 19th August




Details
The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organised by  Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal . It is a week long read-a-thon that begins Monday, August 13th and runs through Sunday, August 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. 


Aim
I'm aiming for six again as I shouldn't be going anywhere this week!
I think this is a more realistic goal especially as I've got work until Wednesday so limited reading time.
Books
As I proved last time these lists seem to curse the books on them!
So I'll just list a couple :)
  1. Divergent by Veronica Roth
  2. Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
  3. Across the Universe by Beth Revis
  4. Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Let me know if you're taking part and what you plan on reading!
Much Love!
Lettie
xxx

Tuesday, 14 August 2012

Weekly Round/Wrap Up



 Summer Wrap-Up Read-a-Thon


One of my favourite memes hosted by the lovely Shelia over at Book Journey! This week my Weekly Round Up has been hijacked as a Readathon wrap up! The Readathon was hosted by Jennifer at Some Like It Paranormal and Jude at In Between!

Side Note- Bad Blogging week! I was unexpectedly needed in the country due to personal reasons. I attempted to schedule some posts- as usual it didn't work!

Read!


*Plus* The Future of Us by Kahlen Aymes!

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan.
Just as good as I'd hoped! Spark is firmly on my TBR list, hoping my local library will get a copy in!
Sam Cruz's Infallible Guide To Getting Girls by Tellulah Darling.
NetGallery request- realistic, funny and witty! Great quick read.
Because of Low by Abbi Glines.
Random Kindle book (downloaded the kindle app due to NetGallery!). Really loved it, very character driven which is always a winner when the characters are written well!
The Future of Us by Kahlen Aymes.
Free kindle download- easy enjoyable read, not my favourite of the week!

Goals Met?
Prediction= 6 Result= 4
I have to take responsibility for poor packing of reading material on my unexpected trip.
But I was already behind due to Olympic Fever!! I soaked up Team GB's massive success and the impressive London 2012 games so much I had little time for anything- whoops!
Once again the curse of the TBR list attacked!
I only manged to read one book of my list- I saved so many books  for this readathon and then got distracted.
I still enjoyed readathon and four  books isn't too bad!

Readathon posts!

Launch post complete with aims and list of books I didn't end up reading! Here
Update and challenge post here

What's next?
Book wise-

 

I'm tempted by the Bout of Books Readathon as I don't feel I really got the chance to get involved with this one- plus my TBR list has grown too much!

Reviews
I made review notes on my Readathon books so those reviews should be up soon!

Let me know what you've been reading!
Much Love
Lettie
xxx

Tuesday, 7 August 2012

Summer Wrap-Up Readthon! Update

 Summer Wrap-Up Read-a-Thon

This Readathon is hosted by Jennifer at Some Like It Paranormal and Jude at In Between!

I've officially been consumed by Olympic fever- I cannot get enough of the Games!
I've been avidly watching and following Team GB so much I've had little time for anything else- didn't put the dates of the readathon together with the Olympics otherwise I might have thought twice about signing up!

Progress So Far!

Loving these two! I've gotten back into my old habit of reading two books at once which I hope will help me reach my goal!  

Challenges!
 Cover Love Challenge ♥ hosted by Emily at Falling for YA
The challenge is simple- show the covers of one or more books released during the summer that you love!

This cover has  grew on me! It seemed random but after reading Second Chance Summer I realised how it cleverly incorpates so many key aspects of the book! Great summery cover.

Let me know how you're doing with the readathon!
Much Love
Lettie
xxx

Thursday, 2 August 2012

Summer Wrap-Up Readathon! 4th August to 12th August 2012

 Summer Wrap-Up Read-a-Thon  

This Readathon is hosted by Jennifer at Some Like It Paranormal  and Jude at In Between!

Details-
It will take place August 4th-August 12th. It will provide some motivation to finish up all the reading you were hoping to get done over the summer. You can read whatever you want and as much or little as you want. If you can only participate during a few days of the read-a-thon that is okay too.
Aim
Going on my last readathon I am aiming for six books!
I think this is a more realistic goal than last time :)
Books
This time I'm attempting slightly bigger books seeing as this is a longer readathon and the aim is to *finish* up planned summer reading so I've included a couple of my anticipated summer reads.
  1. Divergent by Veronica Roth
  2. Starcrossed by Josephine  Angelini
  3. Across the Universe by Beth Revis
  4. Delirium by Lauren Oliver
  5. Someone Else's Life by Katie Dale
  6. Aces Up by Lauren Barnholdt

Two days to go!
Let me know if you're taking part and what you plan on reading!

Much Love!
Lettie
xxx