Book Review: Forever

By: Maggie Stiefvater

Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date:  TODAY! 7/12/11
Pages: 386
Source: ARC - Thanks Scholastic!

The thrilling conclusion to #1 bestselling Shiver trilogy from Maggie Stiefvater...

then.

When Sam met Grace, he was a wolf and she was a girl. Eventually he found a way to become a boy, and their love moved from a curious distance to the intense closeness of shared lives.

now.

That should have been the end of their story. But Grace was not meant to stay human. Now she is the wolf. And the wolves of Mercy Falls are about to be killed in one final, spectacular hunt.

forever.

Sam would do anything for Grace. But can one boy and one love really change a hostile, predatory world? The past, the present, and the future are about to collide in one pure moment - a moment of death or life, farewell or forever.

Summary Taken from Goodreads

Yani's Review:

In my six months blogging, this has been the hardest review for me to write. Why? Because there are no words to describe my love for this book (and series) other than I LOVED IT! Beautiful writing, heartbreaking characters, an epic love story. That to me is the Shiver series, and what the craziest part of all this is I shouldn't even have liked the first one. I have always been able to recognize beautiful and lyrical writing, but I have never been a big fan of it. I like faster paced books. Insta-love connections bother me. All these things should have kept me from loving the series, but Shiver drove its way into my heart, wrapped its tiny limbs around and now won't let go.

I believe this is the first series where I have given every book 5 Stars (see Shiver and Linger reviews). I do understand why other people didn't enjoy it as much, but I HEART it so much, I am getting teary eyed all over again. I have nothing else to say, but I shall share with you a screenshot of my reactions from my goodreads, and my fave quote of the book...

My Review in a Tweet: 
An amazing conclusion to the Shiver series, which like the other books, left my heart full of love and warmth. This series will FOREVER be in my heart <3

Ratings:

Plot: 5/5
Writing Style: 5/5
Uniqueness: 4/5
Characters: 5/5

Memorable Quotes:
Too many, check this picture out ==>

Other Reviews:

• GReads
• Anna Reads
• A Blog About Nothing

Buy the book here!
**commissions earned from sales are minimal and go towards giveaways!

Monday's Bite: Chapters 6-11

My Twilight Discussion Answers for Ch. 6-10

To link up your answers, go to Jacinda's blog HERE!

If you still haven't signed up, 

or just want more info: HERE!

I loved these questions, because it brought non-twilight related topics to mind and I was really able to reflect on some of these and my reading habits!

  Q. Because we have to talk about it sometime - are you Team Edward or Team Jacob? does that impact how you re-read the book?

TEAM EDWARD - FTW literally :) haha but for real when I first read Twilight, I had no idea there would even be teams, I only saw Edward and the first time reading it did affect me. Like when I read New Moon (1st time) I skipped a lot of the Jacob parts, and in Eclipse, I would not admit (even after Bella did) that some part of her did love him, but after reading Breaking Dawn I understood who Jacob was to Bella and who he would become to them all. So re-reading the book now I can look at Jacob afectionately as Bella's best friend and not the person trying to steal her away from Edward.


Back when I was an even BIGGER Twilight nerd, I used to read Stephenie Meyer's blog daily, and I found this quote and I loved it!

Q. Bella spends a lot of her time by herself in her room when she's not at school. what do you think this says about her as a character? can you relate to her introverted nature?

I really related to this side of her, because unlike most of my friends, I am perfectly happy staying home every once in a while. I also think that this gives us a chance to see, how mature Bella is for her age. She enjoys the calmer things of life and is very responsible... cooking and cleaning for her age.

Q. Probably my favorite chapter of the entire book, chapter eight brings us dress shopping, nearly getting assaulted, and then wraps up nicely with a quaint dinner and confession time. in this we see the blend of typical teenage existence starting to get tainted by the paranormal world. if given the choice right then, would you push to know more about the paranormal, or bury your head in the sand and live the teenage dream?

You know that quote: ignorance is bliss? So True! But me, I would rather be unhappy and worried, but really know what is up. Plus curiosity would have kept me glued to that chair no matter what!

Q. Already, it's pretty clear that Bella is falling for Edward. is this happening too quickly to be plausible, or is it totally reasonable to you? what about Edward do you find to be swoonworthy at this point?

This question is perfect, because the first time I read it, I never thought "oh this is happening too fast for my liking". Its funny, what becoming a book reviewer does to you, back then I wanted the fast emotional roller-coaster, who cares if it felt real! Now re-reading it I was thinking about how long they where together before the crazy stuff starts, and its nothing, NOTHING, they are together like a week?? holy shitballs, how do you know you love someone??


One of my biggest book complaints is insta-love, and I think I might have to take it easy on that now. You have to accept that the book isn't real, its a fantasy, and so if you accept that you have to accept that the love story is a fanatsy as well and not something that is supposed to replicate real life.

Q. Jessica has to forcibly remove all of the details on what's going on from Bella, but through that we learn more about how she's feeling and how she's falling for Edward already. if you were in Jessica's shoes, what would you say to Bella?
"Stop being vague woman and tell me details, NOW!" LOL

In My Mailbox 7/10/11

In My Mailbox {aka IMMB} is hosted by The Story Siren.

Bought:

For Review:

Most of the books I bought where because of great recs and reviews from other bloggers, so thanks guys!

• Book Review : The Taming of the Rake
• TGIF 7/8/11
• Book Review : Falling Under
• Giveaway Updates!!
• Book News: New Book from Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Guest Post: Getting into Character
• Twilight Re-Read Ch. 1-5: My Answers

Book Review : The Taming of the Rake

It's time for my new meme... 

Smutty Saturdays!

Book Smut Level is: MEDIUM ;)

By: Kasey Michaels

Publisher: HQN Books (July 26th 2011)
Date Read: June 4, 2011
Pages: 384
Source: NetGalley

Meet the Blackthorn brothers— Three unrepentant scoundrels infamous for being mad, bad and perilous to love.

Charming, wealthy and wickedly handsome, Oliver "Beau" Blackthorn has it all…except revenge on the enemy he can't forget. Now the opportunity for retribution has fallen into his hands. But his success hinges on Lady Chelsea Mills–Beckman—the one woman with the power to distract him from his quest.

Desperate to escape her family's control, Lady Chelsea seizes the chance to run off with the notorious eldest Blackthorn brother, knowing she's only a pawn in his game. But as Beau draws her deep into a world of intrigue, danger and explosive passion, does she dare hope he'll choose love over vengeance?

Summary Taken from Goodreads

Yani's Review:

Of all the romance novels, I must say the historical genre is my favorite. Thanks to Isa at BookSoulmates, I have been reading many of these lately. And yes they do all follow some general guidelines, such as: the hero is usually dashing, brooding, and opposed to marriage and there is so much tension and stolen moments until the hero and heroine REALLY get together. Still, they are all so different.

In The Taming of the Rake, our hero is dashing, brooding, and opposed to marriage (SURPRISE) but unlike other story lines, there is not as much "does he, does she love me?." It really is a ROMANCE novel, they build a friendship, a trust, a loving union. They have conversations and yes the kisses are forbidden and hot, but there are also many sweet and tender moments as well. AND there is stories and mysteries, outside of the romantic plot line, that just kept me reading it all in one sitting!

Also, can I just say YAY for independent girls! Chelsea is one fierce woman. I also really enjoyed seeing Beau, before he became a "rake," though he is really one of the tamest rakes I have read about. I loved them together, seriously one of my favorites.

This story is one of the most realistic historical fiction romances I have read, in the romance aspect and with the old language... which I will admit threw me off a little at first. But I can't describe to you how much I liked this book, so to sum it up....

My Review in a Tweet: Kasey Michael's story had me tripping, falling head over heels in love with not only Beau but the whole Blackborn family. Definitely some of my favorite rakes and I can't wait to read more about them!

Ratings:

Plot: 4/5
Writing Style: 5/5
Uniqueness: 4/5
Characters: 5/5


Similar Titles:

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TGIF 7/8/11

TGIF is a feature over GReads to re-cap the week's posts  & to propose a question for all the followers.

 

Blogger Confession: What's the last book you could not finish? (or had a hard time finishing?)

Back in February I wrote a post on DNF, a discussion type post on my opinions and general rules other people have - for the full article it can be found here- but I will post a little snippet of what I wrote ....

I really don't like NOT finishing a book, especially an ARC that has been given to me, but sometimes you just don't click with a book. For me its usually one of two things: 1) I am stressed/ or unfocused at the time I begin to read or 2) I really don't click with the characters. These cause me to not be able to focus/concentrate on the book and therefore I just can't get into the book.

In the past I have had times where I give up on a book too soon, or don't give up soon enough. I'll pick up a book I gave up on and fall in love the second time I try to read it, such as with The Hunger Games -I know I am an idiot for not loving it the first time around- The Summer I turned Pretty, and The Sky is Everywhere. All these are amazing books that I gave up on quickly and then on re-reading them I fell in love. 

 

Other times, I finish it and still wasn't touched or moved by it. Ex: Beautiful Creatures, Lipstick Laws,  Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood, and The Vespertine. For the most part those books where ARCs and I felt like I had to review them, so I finished. With Beautiful Creatures I just wanted to know what happened, and that made me skip a lot of the book, even though I technically finished it.

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Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee.

Let's step away from besties...What is the worst book that you've ever read and actually finished?

Funny that that is this week's question, as I mentioned above in the third paragraph, I actually did finish those books, but they where just okay.

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Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Crazy For Books.

Promote a Giveaway!

Jess at Gone with the Words is having a huge giveaway!! Here: http://www.gonewiththewords.com/2011/07/6-month-blogiversary-500-follower.html

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