Midnight Alley ( Spoiler-Free!)

Review Time! For those who haven't read The Morganville Vampires yet, I strongly encourage you to do so asap! It's really a fantastic series, I would also like to take the moment to thank-you Penguin for providing review copies! Alrighty, let's get started...

(Goodreads) Morganville’s such a nice place to live… And die. If you don’t mind that sort of thing.When Claire Danvers learnt that her college town was run by vampires, she did what any intelligent, self-preserving student would do: she applied for a transfer and stocked up on garlic. The transfer is no longer an option, but the garlic may come in handy.Now Claire has pledged herself to Amelie, the most powerful vampire in town. The protection her contract secures does little to reassure her friends. All of a sudden people are turning up dead, a stalker resurfaces from Claire’s past, and an ancient bloodsucker extends a chilling invitation for private lessons in his secluded home.

The Short Story ? - Mmmm I think Midnight Alley was a little more laid back, less action than the previous book but still set at a faster pace than most books. It was a little bit more about the characters themselves, romance and adapting to change and a little bit less about saving the world so really it was perfect! Definitely my favourite in the series so far!

The Long Story ? - Let's just have a quick recap on reason why The Morganville Vampires is such a fantastic series. 1) The Originality or correctly the lack of originality, I'm sorry but is it just me whose a little bit sick of extreme take-ons on vampires. Bring back the evil Dracula types! 2) Fast Pace, I'm easily bored and like my book full of action so they keep me at the edge of seat, there is a reason why it only takes me a day to midnight Alley while it takes me three weeks to read a novel of the same length. 3) Fantastic Characterisation, I get annoyed when I read about characters who are just too perfect, it's simply just not real, the best characters are the ones that we can relate to whether it's through our similarities or a weaknesses. The characters in this novel aren't perfect, they have their weaknesses which makes them a little more real even when we are reading about vampires!

There you have it, top three reasons why The Morganville Vampires are awesome!

Midnight Alley was no exception, the plot was set at a slower pace then the last book but it definitely wasn't boring! A few near-death experiences, a few murders and dangerous secrets are so not boring. Each sequel is set immediately after the last book so it never really becomes boring, the action just keeps going, no break interval! This is literally one series with no boring bits ;) I especially loved the plot in this book because instead of just focusing on the storyline, it focuses quite a bit on character development as they all adapt to the changes in their lives.

The characterisation which is one of the highlights of the series only got better. It's really quite something to see the character development over the period of just three books. Claire has gained courage and instead of being just a whiny sixteen year old she's kinda of badass now. However the other roomies also went through some self reflection as they adapt to the 'new' Michael. The romance between Claire and Shane is really blossoming! They're so cute together I can't wait to see what happens in the next book!

Lastly, Rachel Caine is a fantastic writer! I absolutely love her writing style which really easy to read. It's comfortable and has a nice flow which makes it harder to put down because you just want to keep on reading! Rachel Caine would definitely be one of my favourite writers, her books literally just fly! I finished Midnight Alley in less then a day ( which is something when you're me) !

Overall, my opinion about this series hasn't changed! READ THIS! Fantastic plot, fast paced and great characterisation! This is one vampire series that Bookie approves, do yourself a favour and go pick a copy :)
Rating 5/5 ( Did I mention the beautiful cover? )

Badass Bookie xx

Badass Bookie 1st Blogoversary Giveaway!

Sooooo Guess What? Badass Bookie just turned ONE!!!! One year ago today I wrote my very first post ( which no one commented on BTW ). The past year has been absolutely amazing, so many wonderful authors, publishers and bloggers!

Some Highlights -
- Recieving email from Penguin asking me to Review
- Hosting the 2011 Debutante Event
- Meeting so many awesome bloggers
- Gaining 730 follower (!?!)
- Finally working out how to use Twitter

365 Days of Blogging is a LONG Time, I think WE ALL DESERVE SOMETHING SPECIAL!!!!

Bookie and Friends have put together a little something for everyone!

Three Giveaways! Something for Everyone!

Giveaway #1 - AUS $15 Book Depository or Any Other Bookshop of Choice ~ Any Book You Want. ( International) 

Giveaway #2 - ARC of Wither by Lauren DeStefano + Swag ( US/CAN) ~ Kindly Donated by Lisa @ A Life Bound By Books ( Thank-you so much! I <3 Lisa :P )

Giveaway #3 - $40 CSN Gift Certificate ( US/CAN)  ~ Kindly Donated by CSN

Can I just say I LOVE CSN! No exaggeration but they have absolutely everything! With 200+ Stores there is something for everyone! Affordable and free shipping! ;) From shoes to kitchenware to home decor to a book lover's best friend ~ Bookshelves !  Or maybe you're looking for a new LCD TV Stands ? I don't know but hey what about $40 to go towards your next purchase?

Rules of Entry -

* Must Be a Follower (  Give A Little Back? )
* Must Fill Out This FORM
* Must Enter Before 15th of April
* Extra Entries Not Required
* Please Note Only Giveaway #1 is International

Happy 1st Blogoversary Badass Bookie!

Badass Bookie xx

Through Her Eyes Tour Stop + Giveaway

Hello Lovlies! I have been very naughty...I'm actually supposed to be on 22nd of March BUT I was on camp in the middle fo nowhere so I didn't post it!!! I know, I know but well, I'm bringing it to you today because it's a pretty interesting guest post written by the author, Jennifer Archer!

Bookie Asked : What do you do in your free time when you’re not writing?


Most of the writers I know can’t go long without writing. They feel at loose ends if they aren’t working on a story, and have almost a visceral need to get back to the page. I’m somewhat that way, as well, but I cherish my free time and make the most of it. It’s my time to relax and “refill the well” by doing other things I love – and some I don’t! Tasks such as working on income taxes, catching up on paperwork, and cleaning house are among the free-time activities I don’t enjoy! But I also get to catch up with friends and family, which I love. I call people to go to lunch or dinner, go to the movies, or I cook a meal for my parents and siblings and their families. And I walk my dogs, Marge and Harry. Harry is a Dachshund and Marge is a mutt. They get very excited when they see me putting on my walking shoes. Neighbors have told me it looks as if the dogs are walking me, instead of the reverse, and I’m sure that’s true! I haven’t trained them to walk calmly at my side; I’m sure that Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer, would be appalled by their behavior! They run ahead of me, tugging at their leashes, sniffing every bush and tree and pebble along the way.

One of my favorite pastimes is reading, and I’m never without a book-in progress. I suppose that could be considered a part of my job, since writers need to read in order to continue learning and keep up with what’s selling, but I also read for pleasure. My taste in books isn’t limited to one genre; I read almost everything – a lot of YA, literary and mainstream adult novels, mystery, suspense, romance, even a little science fiction although I’m pickier about those titles. A friend invited me to join her book club about three years ago, and being a member has really expanded my reading choices, as well. At the end of each year, all of the women in my club bring suggestions for books to read during the next year, then as a group we choose twelve, since we meet once a month. I probably wouldn’t have considered reading many of the titles selected, if not for the club. It’s been great, because I’ve discovered new authors whose work I really enjoy, and I like to think I’ve broadened my mind as a few of the novels have been somewhat of a challenge!

My husband and I have a cabin in the Spanish Peaks of Colorado, and we go there as often as possible, especially in the spring, summer, and fall. My husband built the cabin himself – he’s touched every log and nail! It’s located in a fairly remote spot that is also really beautiful, and we hike quite a bit when we’re there. We have a goal to climb the west Spanish Peak this summer or next – it’s just under 14,000 feet, so I’m working on getting in shape for that adventure! We also plan to purchase an old Jeep so that we can start exploring surrounding areas too far for us to strike out on foot to see. Sometimes, in the evenings or during the night, bears come to visit us. We’ve had a few on our porch and deck. That’s always exciting. We’re always careful not to leave food outside or even drinks, because the scent draws them. They’re fun to see up close, but they can also be dangerous, as you might expect, especially a mother bear with her cubs; those mommas are really protective of their babies! I based the setting of my next book, The Shadow Girl, which will come out close to a year after Through Her Eyes, in a location loosely based on the site of our cabin in the Spanish Peaks.

My husband and I also love to travel and see new places. Last year, we took a dream trip to Spain with his brother and sister-in-law and friends. We bicycled across the Andalusian region of Southern Spain with a bicycle tour group. The fields of olive trees and orange trees were breathtaking, and the cities and tiny villages of whitewashed buildings were fun to explore.


Home, though, is where I spend most of my free time, doing the usual every day things: spending time with my husband, family, and dogs; puttering around the house; reading and watching television. I admit to being somewhat of a reality TV addict! My two reality shows are Survivor and American Idol – I’ve been watching them since the beginning and have become somewhat of an addict! I also really enjoy news-related programs (as boring as that sounds!), the show Biography, and a lot of the shows on the Travel Channel.

More About Jennifer and Through Her Eyes :
Website : Blog : Twitter : Goodreads

(Goodreads) Sixteen-year-old Tansy Piper moves with her grandfather and her mother, a horror writer, to the setting of her mother's next book--a secluded house outside of a tiny, desolate West Texas town. Lonely and upset over the move, Tansy escapes into her photography and the dark, seductive poems she finds hidden in the cellar, both of which lure her into the mind and world of a mysterious, troubled young man who died sixty years earlier

Trailer :

Giveaway :

Jennifer is having a HUGE giveaway on her website where she is giving away Signed Copies, Ipods, Kindles and more! It's ends 4th of April so hurry and enter HERE !

And that's a take!

Badass Bookie xx

I'm Back!

Hey Guys! I'm back from a five day camping trip so I can blog and read as much as I want for TWO WHOLE WEEKS! I'm on HOLIDAYS!!!! Anyway, sorry for the lack of posts, as I said I was on camp and scheduling posts is one thing that I just can't do ( too long) . So, sorry and I'm back!

Badass Bookie xx

Between Shades of Grey

Review Time! For those of you who don't know, Ruta Sepetys is my Debut of the Month for March so check out her posts to learn more about her and Between Shades of Grey! I'm also hosting an international giveaway ( HERE ) where you can win your very own Signed ARC along with some awesome swag :)

( Goodreads ) Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously—and at great risk—documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives.


The Short Story ? - Deeply moving, a plot filled with compassion and a strong teen voice, this is one debut you don't want to miss. Between Shades of Grey is a novel about hardship, hope and the loss and sacrifices people made during the war. It's a novel that can change your perspective of the world around you.

The Long Story ? - The last time I willingly picked up a novel about World War II or any war the matter was never. I only read them for school, I actually quite enjoy all of them but it just never occurred to me to pick them up just for fun, so to put it quite simply I wasn't all that thrilled when an ARC arrived on my doorstep. In a way, it's also part of the reason I haven't read til now but mostly it's because I wanted to post it closer to the release date. Another reason I haven't read it til now is because I heard it was really sad and I don't really deal with sad things but I go with the mainstream so I had to pick it up at some point.

To my own surprise, I really enjoyed it. I couldn't put it down, I felt compelled to read on, page  after page even though my initial thought was ' this is going to be boring, it's history, ugh'. I admit my history about wars is a little rusty but from what I can gather, the novel is set during World War II which is also when something happened in Russia, my guess is Communism and Cold War but I have a feeling I'm wrong? ( ahhh I'm so sorry, my history is crappy, believe or not I don't even know what the Russian communism is. ) Anyway, I think that most of us don't realise but it wasn't just the Jews who suffered during the war, although they suffered from genocide, there were also other political prisoners of war. Many people from small European countries were captured and used as free labour. Good people who only tried to help were captured and many of those people died.

Ruta Sepetys is a fantastic writer, very strong teen voice portrayed through her protagonist Lina. Although Between Shades of Grey is a work of fiction it contained a lot of elements of truth and Lina could have been any other teenagers who was held prisoner. Lina was just a name Ruta chose for her character but the character was real. Bottom line, the characterisation is wonderful, the characters were just so real. Even better, Ruta managed to add a little romance amongst the the chaos which for me was just the cherry on top!

The plot itself was a wonder. It was truly a touching story. I don't think we all realise how lucky we are to live a reasonably stable, peaceful world. How lucky we are to be able to eat everyday, have a bath everyday, have an eduction and live freely. The hardship and tough journey Lina and her family went through in this novel, changed my view of the world. Suddenly, I appreciate the food on the table, the shower I take everyday and even the mountain load of homework I get.

Overall, Between Shades of Grey is a touching novel that will make you want to cry your eyes out and sing in joy every time you get homework. It's a novel that can change your perspective of the world. It about hardship and loss and the hope that you must keep even when the world seems wrong. It's about wanting to live even when death surrounds you. Beautiful novel, fantastic writing and a story that will surely move your heart. Don't let history turn you off, because history is awesome! Rating 5/5

ps- I'm sick. I apologise for the wonky review, it doesn't really flow right but bottom line, fantastic plot, great characters and heart wrenching reality that will change you.

Badass Bookie xx

Entangled

Review Time! Firstly, I have to say this is one review that I would love if you guys would read it. To me, this review is special, I invested a lot of time into it because it was a life-changing moment for me. Thank-you to Pan Macmillian for the review copy, truly I am so grateful for this copy!

( Goodreads) The same questions whirl round and round in my head:

What does he want from me?

How could I have let this happen?

AM I GOING TO DIE?

17-year-old Grace wakes up in a white room, with a table, pens and paper - and no clue how she got here.

As Grace pours her tangled life onto the page, she is forced to remember everything she's tried to forget. There's falling hopelessly in love with the gorgeous Nat, and the unravelling of her relationship with her best friend Sal. But there's something missing. As hard as she's trying to remember, is there something she just can't see?

Grace must face the most important question of all. Why is she here?

The Short Story? - Wow, for the most part I just have to say - it blew me away. I don't even like dark contemporary and I'm speechless. Truly beautiful writing, best protagonist I have read about in a long time, moving story and one amazingly talented author!

The Long Story? - For me, reading Entangled was a life changing moment. It's common knowledge that I avoid dark contemporary when possible. I hate depressed teenagers whinging about how life in unfair but I truly loved Entangled. I wouldn't say that it changed my perspective on dark contemporary but it certainly made me doubt myself. Doubt myself about whether there are actually some good dark contemporary out there.

I loved Grace. Best protagonist I have read about in a long time. Someone I felt I could really connect to even when we are worlds apart. Grace is one tough cookie. She's had the worst and while she's slowing breaking on the inside, she can still put on a happy face and get on with her life. To me Grace was realistic, she has practically no family, a not-so-best best friend and a boyfriend who keeps secrets and slowly her life starts to unravel even more but in the end she say ' I keep on trying' to me that's a major part of the novel. Unlike most dark contemporary where the protagonist starts whinging from the start, Grace is trying her best to hold herself together but some time by the end she starts to break down, realistic, could happen to anyone. To me, Grace was real, could have been the girl I passed on the street today, she wasn't perfect, far from it but she made the best she can, she had her flaws and was annoying at times but it all went back to being realistic. And for me that was a highlight, best protagonist in a long time.

Something else I loved was the plot. For someone like me who *dislikes* dark contemporary is was just right. Not too depressing, not too dark, something that I could stomach. One of the reason I avoid dark contemporary is because of gory descriptions of accidents, cutting etc. Blood, blood, blood something I can't stomach, luckily blood played a minor major part in this novel.  Did I mention how realistic this novel was, characters and plot both believable. I loved how the novel was written in a way like a recount but not quite, it's rather confusing to follow until the very end where EVERYTHING is revealed but just go with the flow because it was worth, trust me.The complexity of the plot is really admirable, I'm not sure whether a lot of planning went into it but it was simply very clever.

Which leads me to my next point. Cat Clarke, the YA community is very lucky to have such a talented newcomer. Some of the best writing I have seen in a long time. Unique writing style, particularly for this genre. People don't often associate humor and 'normalness' with dark contemporary but you have done it in a way that is natural! I ranking you right up there with Richelle Mead and Cassandra Clare, some of the best talent I have read, I simply can not wait to read more of your writing!

Overall, Entangled was a truly remarkable novel. Deep, moving, dark but yet filled with hope. Beautiful writing that can only be described as pure talent and one of the best protagonists I have met in a long time. Entangled is a novel about staying strong even when you're secretly falling apart. It's about hope and never giving up. It's AWESOME!!!! Rating 5/5 ( nothing less and beautiful cover btw)

Badass Bookie xx

Debut of the Month - All About Between Shades of Grey + Giveaway

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Book Profile

Name - Between Shades of Grey ( Goodreads )

Author - Ruta Sepetys ( Profile )

Genre - Historical

Release Date - 22nd March 2011

Avaliable - The Book Depository / The Nile

Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.

Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously—and at great risk—documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Nuts and Bolts of ...EVERYTHING!

• Revision MadnessI revised quite a bit for my agent prior to submitting the book to publishers. This is a picture of a revision in progress.



The colored notes represent places I had to revise the manuscript.


• Writing on the Road

I wrote a lot of Between Shades of Gray while on the road for work. I spoke many chapters into this voice recorder while driving and also wrote big chunks while in the Cotswolds.

• Name Changes

I had to change the names of the main characters because the names I originally chose were not used in 1941, when the story takes place.
- Lina was originally Indre.
- Jonas was originally Linas.

• Titles

The original title of the book was Between Shades of Gray, but at one point we considered changing it. Alternate title options were Ice & Ashes and The Jar of Silence.

• Behind the Scenes Movie Cast

Most people want to cast the characters in their book. Instead, I’m going to cast some of the incredible team behind the scenes at Philomel/Penguin:

Ralph Fiennes as publisher, Michael Green.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
Helena Bonham Carter as editor, Tamra Tuller
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Gwyneth Paltrow as publicist, Shanta Newlin

Nicole Kidman as School & Library Dir., Scottie Bowditch

Emma Stone as Online Marketing Director, Anna Jarzab

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Giveaway ~

Ruta has kindly offered ONE (1) winner a chance to win the following -

- One Signed ARC of Between Shades of Grey

- One 'Hope' Keyring

- One Between Sahdes of Grey Soundtrack Download Card

- Bookmarks and Book Plates

Rule of Entry -

- International

- MUST leave a comment on this post or Ruta's post HERE 

- Must fill out this FORM
- +1 Leave Comment on My Review HERE

- Extra Entries Not required

- Ends April 5th 2011

Badass Bookie xx