Thursday, November 29, 2012

BLOG TOUR: Guest Post by Michele Vail, author of Undeadly + Giveaway




By Molly Bartolucci

Necromancers have been around since forever. The first users of death magic were recorded in early ancient Egyptian history—around the time they started figuring out how to mummify people. They also figured out how to start zombifying people.

Supposedly, Anubis watches all the humans who are born with heka gifts, and if they use their magic well and don’t act like jerks, then he offers them a reaper job after they die. It’s like anyone who’s born with death magic is training to be a reaper in the afterlife.

Just so we’re clear, reapers are dead.

On the up side, I have a very nice scythe. (Alas, I have yet to find the perfect shoes to match it … but I won’t give up the search.)

The five Heka powers are:

KaHeka – Re-animates dead bodies using a teeny tiny part of the soul called the ka. (Pretty common ability these days.)

RenHeka – Calls forth and communicates with earth-bound spirits. (Lots of necros can do this one, too.)

SheutHeka– Creates and commands soul shadows. A soul shadow is sorta like peeling away the top layer of the soul. (This power is rare, and a total no-no. Anyone unlucky enough to be born with this ability is whisked away by the government. Well, that’s what the Internet says, so it must be true.)

Ba Heka – Supposedly, baheka necromancers can bind souls and keep them from entering the afterlife. (No one in modern times is known to have this gift. Or maybe they’re hanging out with the sheuthekas in a government lab.)

IbHeka – Sees into the heart of the soul, and knows the person’s true worth. (Necromancers who have this ability usually go crazy, or become hermits, or sometimes, they start cults. A few have been serial killers.)

And oh yeah, very rarely a necro is born who has two gifts. The last one recorded was Leonardo Da Vinci. No known human has ever had all five gifts. It's almost impossible, because a human with that kind of power couldn't handle it.

So, you have to be born with the gift of necromancy and then you have to train. And some of us go to schools like Nekyia Academy to learn how it all works. If you’re lucky, like me, you have a Rath. He’s cute, even when he’s a pain in the butt.

But don’t tell him I said that.

Seriously.  

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About Michele Vail - website | twitter | facebook 


Michele Vail writes young adult paranormal fiction about zombies and reapers. She likes reading, dogs, cats, board games, ghost-hunting shows, and Halloween. She believes in magic, in the impossible, and in the restorative powers of chocolate. Michele lives happily-ever-after with her Viking and their family.
About Undeadly Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Book Depository


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GIVEAWAY!!!

Contest Info:  There are two give-aways for his tour! (US/Can only)

1.) The first give-away is a copy of Undeadly is this Tour Stop only. You can enter via Rafflecoper widget.

2.)The second give-away is an Kindle Paperwhite skinned in the Undeadly cover Art!

Simply enter via the Rafflecoper widget and get extra entries for tweeting (once per TourStop), following Michele on twitter, leaving your mailing address (for faster shipment of the prize) and for leaving a comment at each Tour Stops (one extra entry for each TourStop)  

See full contest rules here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Tour schedule:

Monday, November 26th – Bookish Brunette - The Care of Feeding Zombies
Tuesday, November 27th  (Book Birthday) – Fiktshun - Illegal Zombies
Wednesday, November 28th – Wastepaper Prose - 5 Quotes
Thursday, November 29th – Evie Bookish 
Friday, November 30th –  All Things Urban Fantasy
Monday, December 3rd- Tater’s Tall Tails 
Wednesday, December 5thThe Book Cellar
Friday, December 7th- Refracted Light Reviews


❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤
About the Author
Evie is the Blogger behind Bookish. She enjoys reading many different genres, especially YA, Paranormal, Contemporary Fiction and Fantasy.
She loves talking to authors and is always happy to welcome them for interviews, and guest posts. She also likes spreading the love for awesome books and  chatting with fellow book-worms.
You can find Evie here: Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Shelfari | The Library Thing

BLOG TOUR: Undeadly by Michele Vail (Review)

Genre:Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance, Fantasy
Publication.Date  November 20th 2012
Pages:272
Published By:  Harlequin Teen | 
WebsiteMichele Vail

Undeadly on Goodreads
My review copy:Review copy provided by the publisher via KISMET Blog Touring in exchange for an honest review.
Where to get:



The day I turned 16, my boyfriend-to-be died. I brought him back to life. Then things got a little weird...

Molly Bartolucci wants to blend in, date hottie Rick and keep her zombie-raising abilities on the down-low. Then the god Anubis chooses her to become a reaper—and she accidentally undoes the work of another reaper, Rath. Within days, she's shipped off to the Nekyia Academy, an elite boarding school that trains the best necromancers in the world. And her personal reaping tutor? Rath. 

Life at Nekyia has its plusses. Molly has her own personal ghoul, for one. Rick follows her there out of the blue, for another...except, there's something a little off about him. When students at the academy start to die and Rath disappears, Molly starts to wonder if anything is as it seems. Only one thing is certain—-Molly's got an undeadly knack for finding trouble....

(Goodreads)



Not feeding a zombie isn't like not feeding your cat. He. Will. Eat. You. And your cat. People who forget to pick up a case of Ghoul-AID sometimes don't live to regret it. Capisce?
"Your task will be great, daughter. And at times, the burden of your gift will be heavy. I have looked into your heart and judged you worthy. You are a child of Anubis, chosen for my gifts. Are you willing to accept my bidding?"
You will be afraid. That fear will sit like a cold, dark lump in your stomach, and it will grow tentacles and clutch at you heart and your brain, and choke your thoughts and emotions until all that exists is pain and exhaustion and terror. My advice? Embrace it.

     Fast paced, entertaining and frequently silly, Undeadly is a decent paranormal romance that will appeal to fans of the House Of Night series. While not breathtakingly original, it's a readable story that offers something you don't see in the YA genre too often - Egyptian lore and necromancy. And for that reason alone it's a story worth checking out! 

     Molly Bartolucci is a necromancer. She was born with the ability to raise and control zombies. She's not particularly fond of her talent. She'd much rather live a normal teenage life, hanging out with her friends and dating Rick. Unfortunately for Molly, that scenario is out of question. And not only because her soon-to-be-boyfriend dies on the night of her sixteenth birthday, but also - or perhaps most of all - because Anubis chose her to be one of his reapers. And not just any reaper, either, but the only living reaper with the power to defeat evil.

      Let me start off by saying that as excited as I was to read a story featuring Egyptian gods, necromancers, zombies and reapers, I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would. And that's mainly due to the fact that I didn't connect with the main character. At all. Molly was definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed and at times I wondered if perhaps the author intentionally made her so. She was immature, irresponsible, at times disconnected from reality and - as much as I hate to say that - plain stupid. Not only did her actions made me raise my eyebrows in surprise and shake my head disapprovingly, but her unlikeable personality really got on my nerves. And - no matter how exciting and entertaining the plot line - it's very hard to like a book when you can't stand its lead heroine. Molly was just a little bit too over the top for my taste. I got the feeling that Michele Vail tried very hard (perhaps a little bit too hard) to make her look and sound like a really cool and witty teenager. The result was quite grotesque and unattractive, and I certainly would've enjoyed this book more if it wasn't packed with outdated teen slang and cliches. On top of all that, Molly's first person narrative was far from captivating or enthralling, and her inner monologues only further solidified my dislike of her. I found the narration to be all over the place. Too much emphasis was put on trying (and, unfortunately, failing) to sound funny and snarky, instead of fully developing both the story line and the characters. Molly's manner of speaking (and thinking) felt forced, childish and unnatural. Here are some quotes to illustrate it:

"Crap. That test was awful with a side of lame. Why hadn't I said something less sucky? Argh!" 

"I mean, I'd done something impossible to save Rick. And then I'd passed out. 'Cause I know how to par-tay. Ugh."

"Huh. Anubis was cute. Not my type at all, though. In fact I felt a little repelled. Probably because he was a god and all." 

I mean, I can only swallow so many UGHs and ARGHS and HEL-LOs before I start gagging

     Thankfully, the plot line of Undeadly was better than its lead heroine. The overall set-up of the story is in many ways similar to the Vampire Academy series (Molly discovers that she possesses some very special powers/abilities, she's shipped off to Nekyia Academy where she is then tutored by an arrogant and seemingly unattainable hottie). The similarities are hard to miss, but they didn't bother me all that much. It's the unique premise that really made this book for me. I can't tell you how excited I was to read a book based around Egyptian mythology! That alone was a big redeeming quality for me. I also found it quite interesting to read about zombies, necromancers and reapers, though at the same time I wished those themes were more thoroughly explored. One aspect of the story was especially interesting and that's zombifying your dead relatives and having them work for you or serve you. I thought that was a fascinating idea that could inspire some philosophical musings on life, death and free will. Sadly, the more meaningful and stimulating side of the story was not explored at all. I did, however, had a lot of fun following the plot line. I liked how fast paced and action packed the story was, and - once I got past the annoying heroine - I enjoyed myself quite a lot. 

     In the end, despite its many shortcomings, Undeadly proved to be a good read. While I can't say that it blew me away, I'm certainly interested in finding out what will happen next. And hopefully, in the next instalment of The Reaper Diaries we will see some character growth in Molly. Fingers crossed!




Huge thank you to KISMET BT for organizing this tour! Thanks Heather and Danny! :) 

Tour schedule:

Monday, November 26th – Bookish Brunette - The Care of Feeding Zombies
Tuesday, November 27th  (Book Birthday) – Fiktshun - Illegal Zombies
Wednesday, November 28th – Wastepaper Prose - 5 Quotes
Thursday, November 29th – Evie Bookish 
Friday, November 30th –  All Things Urban Fantasy
Monday, December 3rd- Tater’s Tall Tails 
Wednesday, December 5thThe Book Cellar
Friday, December 7th- Refracted Light Reviews

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤
About the Author
Evie is the Blogger behind Bookish. She enjoys reading many different genres, especially YA, Paranormal, Contemporary Fiction and Fantasy.
She loves talking to authors and is always happy to welcome them for interviews, and guest posts. She also likes spreading the love for awesome books and  chatting with fellow book-worms.
You can find Evie here: Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Shelfari | The Library Thing

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Cover Reveal: The Midnight Spell by Rhiannon Frater & Kody Boye

Today I have the pleasure of sharing with you the cover of The Midnight Spell by Rhiannon Frater and Kody Boye!

Take a look at this beauty!

Title: The Midnight Spell
Author: Rhiannon Frater & Kody Boye

Publication date: February, 2013 
Best friends since kindergarten, Adam and Christy have always been the perpetual outsiders in their small town in Texas. The other kids call Adam gay and Christy a witch.

On both counts the bullies are right.

Their junior year in high school seems destined to be the same old same old until Christy decides to cast a love spell for Adam at the midnight hour. The next day an alluring and mysterious boy enrolls at school and sets hearts a flutter, including Adam’s. Meanwhile, Christy’s mad crush on the handsome football player Ian seems to be going nowhere fast and her witch puberty is making her life miserable.

When a great evil arrives in town that threatens everything they hold dear, the best friends realize that finding a boyfriend is the least of their worries. Soon Adam and Christy will have to battle a force of darkness that has killed in their town before, and will again.

Cover designed by Phatpuppy Art.

AUTHORS: 




Rhiannon Frater: Rhiannon Frater is the award-winning author of the As the World Dies trilogy (The First Days, Fighting to Survive, Siege,) and the author of three other books: the vampire novels Pretty When She Dies and The Tale of the Vampire Bride and the young-adult zombie novel The Living Dead Boy and the Zombie Hunters. Inspired to independently produce her work from the urging of her fans, she published The First Days in late 2008 and quickly gathered a cult following. She won the Dead Letter Award back-to-back for both The First Days and Fighting to Survive, the former of which the Harrisburg Book Examiner called ‘one of the best zombie books of the decade.’ Rhiannon is currently represented by Hannah Gordon of the Foundry + Literary Media agency. You may contact her by sending an email to rhiannonfrater@gmail.com.

Author Links:
Website: http://www.rhiannonfrater.com
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2310121.Rhiannon_Frater
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rhiannon.frater
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rhiannonfrater



Kody Boye:
Kody Boye was born and raised in Southeastern Idaho. Since his initial publication in the Yellow Mama Webzine in 2007, he has gone on to sell nearly three-dozen stories to various markets. He is the author of the short story collection Amorous Things, the novella The Diary of Dakota Hammell, the zombie novel Sunrise and the dark fantasy novel Blood. His fiction has been described as ‘Surreal, beautiful and harrowing’ (Fantastic Horror,) while he himself has been heralded as a writer beyond his years(Bitten by Books.) He currently lives and writes in the Austin, Texas area.

Author Links:
Website: http://kodyboye.com
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2775292.Kody_Boye
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kody.boye
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KodyBoye .

Isn't the cover gorgeous? :) I'm absolutely in love and can't wait to read it!!! :)
What do you think about the cover? :) Have you read any of Rhiannon's or Kody's books???

Sunday, November 18, 2012

If It Fits It Ships [10 books of choice GIVEAWAY]


If It Fits It Ships!
a box of books (10 picks!)

You can pick from:

- White Lines
- League Of Strays
- Outpost
Surrender
- Of Poseidon
- Time Between Us
- Lies Beneath
- Cold Fury
- Janie Face To Face
- Every Day
- Sapphire Blue
- Touch of Death
- Amarok
- Black City
- Clockwork Prince
- The Unnaturalist
- Venom
Mystic City
- Earth Girl
- A Temptation of Angels
- Timepiece

I might be adding more books to the list, so be sure to check back regularly!


The giveaway is open Internationally [everyone can enter!]
Enter your name in the Rafflecopter below!
Ends: 31st December 2012

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, November 12, 2012

Vote On My Next Read (#3)


Hi guys! I'm sorry I didn't post last week, but blogger screwed up the voting poll. People kept voting, and at one point I got as much as 70 votes, but then Blogger started restarting my stats -_- So I was forced to find a different - more reliable - voting widget. Sorry about the delay!

The books that I've read in the past two weeks thanks to your votes!


The Diviners and The Raven Boys were the two books picked by the voters. I loved them both so much! Stealing Parker is a book that I've read and reviewed for the blog tour organized by Sourcebooks Fire - it totally rocked, too! :) I really enjoyed The Time Between Us and All You Never Wanted, too! :) 

Here are the results of the last poll:


Huge thank you to everyone who voted!!!!

Here's what I picked to read this week!



Poison Princess is the book that you - my lovely followers and friends - have picked for me, thank you! I am very excited to start this one! :) I've heard nothing but amazing things about it!!! :)

I also decided to read The Archived, Shadowlands and Dualed to get a little bit ahead in my review schedule (these are all 2013 galleys). And I added Ironskin to the list, mainly because it's a review copy I still need to get to and, well, it looks gorgeous! :) Wish me luck?

I'm almost done reading Shadowlands and let me just tell you - it is absolutely AMAZING! Get yourself a copy asap!!

This weeks poll is up in the left sidebar, please vote!!! Thank you to everyone who voted on the last poll! <3 You make my life so much easier!!! :)

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Blog Tour: Through Indigo's Eyes by Lorna Schultz Nicholson and Tara Taylor (Review)

Genre:Young Adult, Contemporary, Drama
Publication.Date  August 1st 2012
Pages:288
Published By:  Hay House Vision | 
WebsiteLorna Schultz Nicholson | Tara Taylor

Through Indigo's Eyes on Goodreads
My review copy:Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Where to get:



“I was always going to be on the outside because I saw visions, visions that came true. And I’d been seeing them since I was little. When they first started, I was naïve enough to think that everyone around me also saw and heard things. I didn’t know that other people weren’t like me.”

More than anything else, Indigo Russell longs to fit in. And if she can’t accomplish that, then she’ll settle for fading into the background, which she’s managed to do rather well over the last couple of years. To most of Ridgemont High, she’s just another teenager walking the halls, doodling in her notebook during class, never raising her hand. An average student. That’s what she’d like you to think.

But Indie isn’t average; she’s different. She has visions, visions that allow her to see into the future and back again. Only her family and best friend, Lacey, know about them. But when she sees Lacey’s boyfriend with another girl, Indie has to decide whether to trust her instincts or her friends. As she grows closer with John, an enigmatic loner who recently transferred to her school, the visions intensify, threatening not only to alter the lives of others, but also to expose her well-kept secret.

(Goodreads)
"Don't", I whispered. "Don't talk to me. I just want to be a normal seventeen-year-old. I want this all to go away so I can have a boyfriend. 
Sometimes dead people appeared in my room uninvited. Just like my visions appeared in my mind. 
Then I saw him. He was alone, leaning against the counter, holding a red cup. He looked so out of place, exactly how I felt. 

I could see nothing but white.
No, please, no. Not again.

     Through Indigo's Eyes was an absolutely wonderful read. Offering a very realistic look at the world of psychic abilities and the way they affect one girl's life, it's an intelligent, moving, thoroughly absorbing and utterly unforgettable story that will tug at your heart and maybe even bring tears to your eyes. A poignant tale that touches on some very important issues, such as bullying, cheating, trust, fitting-in, alcoholism and abuse. Come, see the world through Indigo's eyes... 

     On the surface, Indigo Russell is just an average teenager. She doesn't stand out in a crowd. She's a decent student who prefers to lay low and not draw too much attention to herself. There's nothing special about her. Well, other than the fact that she is psychic. Except for her family and best friend, Lacey, no one knows about Indigo's visions of the future. Afraid to be misunderstood, judged or simply called a freak, she keeps it all a secret and tries her best to blend in. When in one of her visions Indie sees her best friend's boyfriend cheat on her, she doesn't know how to handle the situation. Should she tell Lacey? Is this the right thing to do? On top of that, Indie's visions become more and more frequent when she meets John. And they show her things she never wanted to see. Things that will torment her and affect her life and future in many ways.

     All the characters in this book were very interesting to read about. I liked Indigo from the get-go and found myself relating to her in many ways. She's a likeable character. Vulnerable, sensitive to other people's needs and feelings, quiet, caring and thoughtful, she's a very complex heroine who has some pretty tough decisions to make. She struggles with her psychic ability - in both physical and emotional way. Her thoughts and feelings are the primary focus of the story and they are explored in-depth, with amazing sensitivity and accuracy. There were moments when I felt slightly frustrated with some of her decisions and actions, but at the same time I always understood what motivated them and that's what made this book for me. Other characters - especially Lacey and John - are well-drawn, too. Reading about the dynamics of Indigo and Lacey's friendship was fascinating and emotionally affecting. The bond between them was very strong, they genuinely cared about each other, trusted and supported one another every step of the way. Their story really moved me. 

     Lorna Schultz Nicholson's writing was nothing short of excellent. Reading this book was such a pleasant experience, I honestly wish I had time to sit down and read it all over again. The story flow was effortless and the pacing was nice. All the dialogues, as well as Indigo's inner monologues, were convincing, vivid (but not too angsty) and realistic. To be honest, I didn't know what to expect when I picked this book up. I definitely was not prepared to be totally and utterly blown away by it. Within minutes, I was fully immersed in the plot and frantically turning pages. I did not want this book to end (insert: deep sigh) and felt sad when I hit the back cover. It was such a phenomenal reading experience and one that I will remember for a long time! 

     I highly recommend getting yourself a copy of this book. You won't regret it. It's an intelligent, insightful and very enjoyable read full of riveting emotions and interesting observations about life, love, family, friendship and one's identity. After reading a digital galley of this amazing book, I went straight to Amazon to order a physical copy - it was THAT good and I knew I will want to re-read it at least once in the future. Don't hesitate to pick it up. You'll be surprised at how much you'll love it!


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