Haven by Kristi Cook

Haven
Author: Kristi Cook
Publication Date: February 22nd 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Pages: 416
Age Range: Young Adult
ISBN-13: 9781442407602
ISBN: 1442407603

Sypnosis from Barnes & Noble:
Violet McKenna isn’t a normal girl with normal teenage issues; she has more to contend with than most people could handle. Violet thought she was just crazy when she had a vivid vision of her dad’s murder. Her life started falling apart when her premonition came true. She’s had flashes of other events too. The problem was nobody believed her until she found a new school: Winterhaven.

At Winterhaven, Violet finally feels like she belongs. She quickly finds a close group friends and discovers that they too have psychic ‘gifts’—as do all the students at Winterhaven. But as soon as she feels settled she discovers the most intriguing and alluring boy she has ever met, and things quickly go awry. As the attraction between them grows, intense visions of the boy’s death start to haunt her. In her premonitions the secret he is unwilling to share begins to reveal itself. And to Violet's horror, she learns that their destinies are intertwined in a critical--and deadly--way.


My Review:

Haven is Kristi Cook's debut novel. "HAVEN is the first book in a paranormal series set at the fictional Winterhaven School in New York’s Hudson Valley, a school that’s, well….not like other schools. Think X-Men meets Twilight." - Kristi Cook (http://kristi-cook.com/)

For me, it was more like X-Men meet's Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Twilight. ;)

Violet is the main character. She is different than anyone else she knows because of her visions, which she feels that she can't tell anyone about because they will just think she's crazy. What's worse, is her visions always come true. After the death of her father, she moves to New York with her step-mom, and is sent to Winterhaven school. When she becomes friends with a group of girls her age, she learns that she's not the only one that is different. When she meets Aidan, (enter the strong, silent type), and starts having visions about him, she's more confused than ever.

I was so excited to get this ARC from Simon & Schuster. The book sounded really interesting, and I have to say... it was! Ok, so there were some silimarities to other books, but that didn't deter me from reading it at all. It definitely wasn't original, but what books are lately? It had me hooked, and left me wanting more. (I'm also reading this for the 2011 Author Debut Challenge!)

Violet was a great main character. She's strong willed and determined. I like that she cared about people... With being different, she didn't like seeing other's be treated differently either. Although she was a bit on/off at times... Especially when it came to Aiden. Aiden is the strong, silent type that I love so much. Their relationship was great. Not too rushed, but not drawn out either. The on again, off again part drove me crazy a bit. ;) I didn't like that he kept secrets, but if he hadn't of, there wouldn't have been a story.

I loved her friends: Cece, Kate, Sophie, and Marissa. They seemed to really care about Violet, and their friendship grew really quickly. They were perfect.

Haven was the perfect mixture of mystery, romance and paranormal. If you're a Twilight fan, or a Buffy fan (Me!), then you'll love this book. I really hope that this will be a series!

Great debut novel, Ms. Cook! Thank you to Simon and Schuster for allowing me to read and review the ARC of Haven. I really enjoyed it!

PS- This book is released on February 22nd. You can preorder your copy now!

Happy Vday!

Valentine's Day Comments

Cover Crazy (1)

Cover Crazy was created by The Book Worms. For all the information about creating your own Cover Crazy post, click here. This is my first cover crazy post!

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

What I love:

The dress is just gorgeous. I actually really love covers that have dresses on them. (Even though I'm not a dressy type person AT ALL!)

I love the purple tint.

I also love the swirly font. I'm a total font addict, and I just love swirl fonts.

I can't wait to get a copy of this book. I've been wanting to read it for a while now!

Happy Reading!

2011 Author Debut Challenge

I am participating in the 2011 Debut Author Challenge that is being hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren! The challenge is to read at least 12, (or more), debut books by Young Adult or Middle Grade authors. This is my first time participating in this challenge, and I'm super excited!

If you'd like to join in the challenge, visit the Sign Up page on The Story Siren's site. But hurry, the deadline for signups is March 1st, 2011.

Here are the books I'm going to try to read... with a few alternatives in case I can't find a book.

1. Across the Universe - Beth Revis

2. Unearthly - Cynthia Hand

3. Angelfire - Courtney Allison Moulton

4. Divergent - Veronica Roth
5. Haven - Kristi Cook - Finished 2/15

6. Entangled - Cat Clarke

7. Wither - Lauren DeStefano

8. Blood Magic - Tessa Gratton

9. The Iron Witch - Karen Mahoney

10. Timeless - Alexandra Monir

11. Shattered Souls - Mary Lindsey

12. Entwined - Heather Dixon

Alts:

1. Anna Dressed in Blood - Kendare Blake

2. Falling Under - Gwen Hayes

You can find a list of Debut Authors HERE on Goodreads.

I look forward to participating in the challenge with everyone!

BOOKS READ (Debut Authors):

1. Haven - Kristi Cook
2. Die For Me - Amy Plum

Sunday Confessions (1) - What do you love most about reading??

"Sunday Confessions is a weekly meme started by Marcie at To Read or Not to Read, as a way to get to share a bit about herself and also learning more about me and you. Sometimes its about books and book related topics and sometimes it's not. This is all in good fun and I would love it if you would participate."

This week's question:
What do you love most about reading?

I love reading. There's nothing better than getting lost in a good book. Swept into another world, getting to know characters, and reading their stories. It's a great escape for me.

I read as a child, but once I hit my teen years, I was more interested in boys, music and driving. I recently got back into reading now that my kids are all in school, and I am absolutely loving it. I am addicted to Young Adult, I don't know what it is, but I just can't get enough.

I am so thankful for blogs/twitter/goodreads, so that I can talk to other's who share my passion. I don't know many people IRL that share my passion for reading, and I'm so glad to find other's that do!

Now... what do you love most about reading???

In My Mailbox (#1)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. It's a great way to showcase the books you've gotten over the week, whether they are bought, borrowed or free.

This is my first time participating in IMM. I'm excited!

Here are the books I got this week.


Bought:


Delirium by Lauren Oliver
My Blood Approves (My Blood Approves #1) by Amanda Hocking


Borrowed from the library:

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
Firespell by Chloe Neill

So those are the books I got this week. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else got in their mailbox this week. :) Happy Sunday!

Entice by Carrie Jones

Entice (Need Series #3)
Author: Carrie Jones
Pub. Date: December 14th, 2010
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 272
Age Range: Young Adult
ISBN-13: 9781599905532
ISBN: 1599905531

GoodReads Summary:
Zara and Nick are soul mates, meant to be together forever. But that’s not quite how things have worked out.

For starters, well, Nick is dead. Supposedly, he’s been taken to a mythic place for warriors known as Valhalla, so Zara and her friends might be able to get him back. But it’s taking time, and meanwhile a group of evil pixies is devastating Bedford, with more teens going missing every day. An all-out war seems imminent, and the good guys need all the warriors they can find. But how to get to Valhalla?

And even if Zara and her friends discover the way, there’s that other small problem: Zara’s been pixie kissed. When she finds Nick, will he even want to go with her? Especially since she hasn’t just turned… She’s Astley’s queen.

My Review:
Sooo... Entice picks up where Captivate left off. Zara and friends battling pixies and trying to save Nick.

This book was just as good as the previous books. I didn't enjoy having less of Nick in the book, but I have to say, Astley made up for it. Yes, I'm am leaning towards Team Astley. The only thing Nick has on him, is that Astley is a bit on the... um... sensitive side? Other than that, he was such a sweetheart, and he only wants Zara to love him!

Ok, and Zara got on my nerves just the tiniest bit in this book. I found her to be more than a little selfish in this book. And she knows it too, that doesn't help.

All the other characters are still great. I love Issie and Betty. The mom just bothers me. Devyn and Cassidy are great too.

Favorite Quote-
You know, life fractures us all into little pieces. It harms us, but it's how we glue those fractures back together that make us stronger." — Carrie Jones

Can't wait to get book four!

On My Wishlist (1)

On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where I list all the books I desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming. It's also an event that you can join in with too - Mr Linky is always at the ready for you to link your own 'On My Wishlist' post. If you want to know more click here.

This is my very first time joining in on the 'On My Wishlist' event. It looks exciting, so I'm going to give it a go!

My Wishlist is actually pretty darn long. (Especially my ebook wishlist!) But I'm going to try to narrow it down to the ones I really, really want.

Cloaked by Alex Flinn

GoodReads Summary:

Think you know paranormal romance? Alex Flinn gives the genre a twist in this modern fairy-tale mash-up!
Johnny’s not your average hero. But a little magic changes everything. There isn’t a fairy godmother or any of that. It all starts with a curse. And a frognapping. And one hot-looking princess. And before Johnny knows it, he is on a mission in the Everglades, with only a flock of swans and a talking fox named Joe to help guide him against the forces of an evil witch.

Matched by Ally Condie
(Matched #1)

GoodReads Summary:

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.
The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.


Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
(Unearthly #1)

GoodReads Summary:
In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
(Nightshade #1)

GoodReads Summary:

Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything— including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?


This is my wishlist for this week. What's on yours???

Follow Friday! (1)

Follow Me Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee! This is my first time doing Follow Friday, I hope I'm doing it right!

Today's question is:What is your favorite romance hero-type? Stereotype wise. Do you like the strong silent type or the brute macho man?

I'm definitely prefer my hero's to be the strong silent type. I love the mystery and suspense they seem to bring. :o)


To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:
Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list
Follow our Featured Bloggers - http://www.rubysreads.com
Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
If you're new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!
Happy Follow Friday!

Waiting on Wednesday (1) : Entwined by Heather Dixon

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Entwined by Heather Dixon
Publication Date: March 2011

Sypnosis from Goodreads.com

Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it's taken away. All of it.
The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation.
Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.
But there is a cost.
The Keeper likes to keep things.
Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.

This cover is absolutely gorgeous, and it sounds like it's going to be a great read. Can't wait to get my hands on it!

You can pre-order your copy today an Barnes & Noble.