Top 12 of 2012

Honorable mentions: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi, Meant To Be by Lauren Morrill, The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin, Storm by Brigid Kemmerer & The Asssassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke.

Note: Angelfall by Susan Ee would definitely be on the list too if I had not counted it as one of the books I read in 2011. (As I started it in 2011, finished in 2012) It'd be probably be the first or second on my list.

10.  Anya's Ghost, Vera Brosgol

I love this graphic novel. If you're into comics or graphic novels, check this one out. If you're not, check this one out. It's super witty, and sweet, and sometimes just down-right creepy. I always pick this one up when I'm feeling down. Review.

9. City of Lost Souls, Cassandra Clare

This nearly didn't make my list, but I just-- the fangirl in me would've been pissed if I hadn't. If you're at all familiar with my blog, you know I'm a huge Mortal Instruments fan. I love the characters, and the settings and the writing and it's just fabulous, okay? Plus there's Simon and Sizzy and who doesn't love both of those things? Review.

8. The Piper's Son, Melina Marchetta

Every book that Melina Marchetta comes out with is perfection. Really, the woman could do no wrong. Absolute writer crush write there. I fell in love with this book and its characters straight away, just like I do with any of her other books. If you haven't read any of her work yet, I strongly urge that you do so, because she is one of the best young adult writers out there at the moment. Review.

7. The Gallagher Girl series, Ally Carter

I didn't want to just include one of the books from her series, so I just included the series as a whole okay? These books are just a whole load of fun, and it's just so cool to be transported into the spy world. I absolutely adore all of the characters and their adventures. And the latest book made me sob like a child. It was embarrassing. Review. (Latest book in series)

6. Shadows, Paula Weston

I'm really sad that this book isn't more well known. It deserves to be. Written by an Aussie author, this book is one of the few Angel books that is actually worth reading. Think less Fallen, more Angelfall. Review.

5. Hex Hall series, Rachel Hawkins

Another case where I can't just include one book from the series. I read all of these over the span of like, three days, or something ridiculous. I loved them. Like the Gallagher Girls series, these are just really fun books and I recommend them if you don't want anything too deep. Review.

4. Throne of Glass, Sarah J. Maas

I actually squeled when I got an ARC of this because I knew I would love it, and obviously, I sure did. It was just pretty much everything I hoped it would be and more. So bad ass. And it had a love triangle that, for once, didn't make me want to throw the book--well, actually I was reading it on my phone, but still--across the room. Review.

3. Lux series, Jennifer L. Armentrout

This series is one of the ones I was pleasantly surprised with. I'll admit, I judged them by their cheesy covers and thought that I definitely wouldn't like the series, but I decided to give the first book a go after a couple of reviews I read, and I may be sorta kind totally obsessed with the series now. Review, review.

2. Insurgent, Veronica Roth

The sequel to Divergent. I'm pretty sure that everyone and their mum, and their mum's best friend, and their mum's best friends' dogs pet goldfish has read this book, but still, if you haven't, go read it because it's the best thing ever. Still not over the ending. Nope.

1. The Fault in Our Stars, John Green

IF YOU WANT YOU HEART RIPPED OUT AND STOMPED ON REPEATEDLY GO READ THIS BOOK. Okay, that probably doesn't make you want to read it. So, I'll say this - TFIOS is a simply beautiful book. It's witty, it's smart, it's thought-provoking and it really is the most wonderful thing that I have ever read. But you will need tissues. Lots of them.

Book2Movie! Catching Fire pics & Divergent Rumours

THE HUNGER GAMES

The Hunger Games fandom has awoken! The first stills and promo pics were released today, and I have them here to show to you -- if you haven't seen them already, of course!

Sam Claflin and Jennifer Lawrence as Finnick Odair and Katniss Everdeen on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. 

Katniss and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) on the Victory Tour! Oh, how I missed that jaw-line.

Finnick and Katniss again. Why oh why does this make me want to ship them? And is this maybe the famous sugar cube scene?!

Gale (Liam Hemsworth) with some Storm Troopers--I mean, Peace Keepers. I think I have a feeling of what this scene may be, and if so, poor Gale. :(

President Snow (Donald Sutherland) looking all FAB-U-LOUS in that outfit. 

IT'S PLUTARCH HEAVENSBEE, PEOPLE. (Philip Seymour Hoffman) And good ol' Haymitch (Woody Harrelson).

And finally, here is Prim and Katniss' mother, played by Willow Shields and Paula Malcomson!

DIVERGENT.

Finally after the news was announced that Shailene Woodley is officially playing Tris Prior in the upcoming adaption of the dystopian novel Divergent, written by Veronica Roth, we finally have some other news... kinda? 

According to the Variety - Alex Pettyfer, Jeremy Irvine and Lucas Till are all reading for the role of Four this week. It is also said that Till may have the edge on the other two guys, but personally I hope that Jeremy gets the role. And I just really, really hope that Alex does not. I'm sorry Alex, I love you and all, but you are not Four. (Plus, you can't act all that well either.. so.)

But what do you think? If you had to pick out of those three actors, who is most like the Four you pictured in your head? Let me know!

Pictured below: Till, Irvine, Pettyfer

Who Sucks at Blogging? SPOILER: It's Me.

My last post was on October 10th and now it's January. That means I haven't updated in 3 whole months! I wish I had a proper reasoning behind it, but alas, I have not. School did get a bit hectic around the November-December period, but honestly, I just got a bit lazy, which is a shame since I had so many things planned, too.

I also got into a bit of a reading slump. Okay, well, it wasn't just 'a bit'  of a reading slump. Like, seriously, I could not read ANY book for about two months. It was cray, I tell you. CRAY. I tried reading Hunting Lila--didn't work out. I tried reading Eona--I got about a third of the way through and stopped. It was terrible. Just.. *shudders*

But there is a silver lining to this story, don't you worry! The break from reading actually turned out to be very beneficial in a way, because I sorted out some things that were getting me down in real life. But now that it's sorted, and I'm on Christmas break I've gotten back into reading and I've successfully read THREE. WHOLE. BOOKS. Hold the applause. (OK, so one of them was a comic book, but it still counts because it has words, alright?) Reading those books means I can get back into this whole blogging business, which I'm super excited about because I had some cool things planned. I'll be uploading a couple reviews very soon, and as soon as I hit 50 followers, will most likely be doing a giveaway, via the Bookdepository.

So, yeah. Don't have much else to say, really. See you in my next post, and happy reading!

Waiting on Wednesday #9: Boundless

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating.

Boundless (Unearthly #3) by Cynthia Hand

Release Date: January 22nd, 2013

The past few years have held more surprises than part-angel Clara Gardner could ever have anticipated. Yet from the dizzying highs of first love, to the agonizing low of losing someone close to her, the one thing she can no longer deny is that she was never meant to live a normal life.

Since discovering the special role she plays among the other angel-bloods, Clara has been determined to protect Tucker Avery from the evil that follows her . . . even if it means breaking both their hearts. Leaving town seems like the best option, so she’s headed back to California - and so is Christian Prescott, the irresistible boy from the vision that started her on this journey in the first place.

As Clara makes her way in a world that is frighteningly new, she discovers that the fallen angel who attacked her is watching her every move. And he’s not the only one. . . . With the battle against the Black Wings looming, Clara knows she must finally fulfil her destiny. But it won’t come without sacrifices and betrayal.

In the riveting finale of the Unearthly series, Clara must decide her fate once and for all.

Boundless is the third and final in the Unearthly series. I really, really loved the first two books, Unearthly and Hallowed, a whole lot. The first more than the second though, because I find that there's too much Christian in the second book to handle (Team Tucker, obviously!). I'm really excited to see where the characters end up, how they deal with all the drama, AND I WANT TO SEE MORE TUCKER.

Review: Cursed by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Cursed by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Release Date: September 18th, 2012
Page count: 304 pages
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Format: E-book
Who I'd Recommend it To: Fans of other Jennifer L. Armentrout books & Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi.
Rating: ★★ 1/2

Dying sucks-- and high school senior Ember McWilliams knows firsthand. After a fatal car accident, her gifted little sister brought her back. Now anything Ember touches dies. And that, well, really blows.

Ember operates on a no-touch policy with all living things--including boys. When Hayden Cromwell shows up, quoting Oscar Wilde and claiming her curse is a gift, she thinks he's a crazed cutie. But when he tells her he can help control it, she's more than interested. There's just one catch: Ember has to trust Hayden's adopted father, a man she's sure has sinister reasons for collecting children whose abilities even weird her out. 

However, she's willing to do anything to hold her sister's hand again. And hell, she'd also like to be able to kiss Hayden. Who wouldn't? But when Ember learns the accident that turned her into a freak may not have been an accident at all, she's not sure who to trust. Someone wanted her dead, and the closer she gets to the truth, the closer she is to losing not only her heart, but her life. For real this time.

Review...

I bought this one as soon as I knew it was out, seeing as I'm a fan of the author's Lux series. Unfortunately, I was not as taken with this one as I was with that series. This one failed to meet my expectations, for a load of various reasons.

In the beginning of the book, we get to see a glimpse of what Ember's life is like after she's had the accident she died in -- she has to take care of her 5-year-old sister (who just happens to be able to bring things back to life), her mother thinks she's dead and she's constantly bullied and ridiculed by the kids at her school -- it's pretty damn crappy. Then, a boy called Hayden comes along (shocking, I know..) , some crazy stuff happens, and the next thing Ember knows, she's being relocated to Hayden's fathers house (unwillingly, might I add) and has to learn to control her power.

I think that the main problem I had with this one was the characters, and I found this strange because I usually adore Jennifer's characterization--it's one of the things I loved the most about Obsidian and Onyx. I liked the main character Ember well enough, but she got on my nerves constantly. I just felt like I couldn't connect with her and most of the time she just came off as the helpless victim. Hayden and all the other males in there book always seemed to saving her. Frankly, I missed the spunk that Katy has and the will to be able to defend herself.

The other characters seemed to be all undeveloped, and most of the were quite cliche, also. I couldn't seem to understand why some of the characters did what the things they did, and found it hard to comprehend their reasoning behind things. I didn't buy the Ember/Hayden romance either, to be honest. It felt forced and I particularly didn't like the dialogue between them. It was cheesy most of the time. Another thing I like about her Lux series is that it's full of witty dialogue and it never seems to take itself too seriously, which is a factor that I think Cursed seriously lacked.

With all that said, I did enjoy the book whilst reading it. I devoured it in under 24 hours, and I really did want to know what would happen next. It was interesting take on the whole kids-with-powers thing, but I felt like I had seen most of it before.

In short: Cursed failed to meet my expectations, unfortunately. Uninteresting, undeveloped characters and full of cliches. Cursed is a fast-paced easy read, although unsatisfying.

Regan's Rant of the Day: Bring Perks to Australia!

I think it was a little over a year ago when I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. I remember seeing loads of people on Goodreads talking about, many people quoting it on Tumblr and even YouTubers going on about it, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I only knew a little bit of what the book was about prior to reading it, and little did I know that it had made such an impact of people's lives, nor did I realise what an impact it would make on mine. If you're not familiar with Perks, the book is about a young, introverted boy called Charlie who is going through his first year of high school. Things aren't going too well for him until he meets two seniors named Sam and Patrick, who take him under their wing and welcome him to real world. Find out more here on Goodreads.

The book covers a whole load of various topics like suicide, depression, teen pregnancy, first loves -- you know, all that jazz. What I love about this book is that it doesn't sugarcoat anything; it's a very accurate portrayal of Highschool and life in general. Even though it's set in the 90's, the stuff that Charlie goes through is still extremely relevant today. Perks has shown teenagers that they're not alone, that many people all around the world are going through the same things. Perks has given people hope. Perks has literally saved people.

Not only did it introduce me to some crazy awesome music, it made me realise some very important things. When Emma Watson was asked "When people walk away from seeing this movie, is there a message you hope they take away from the experience of seeing it?" a part of her answer was "Everyone has a story. People tend to judge and interpret behaviour without going to the source of the behaviour ... People can change and people make mistakes and people are human and you kinda need to love them for that." I think that is a big part of what I learnt from this book - that people have a reason for acting the way they do, and that people are human and make mistakes and have imperfections, and you've got to love them for that, because that is what makes them human.

The amazing book has now been made into a feature film starring the fabulous Emma Watson, Logan Lerman and Ezra Miller, as well as many other great and talented actors (it's also directed and written by the guy who made the book!). Unfortunately, this movie isn't being released everywhere around the world, and one of those places it isn't coming to (so far, anyway) is Australia. When I heard about this, I was pretty upset, to say the least. I couldn't understand why it possibly wouldn't be over here, seeing as the book has a massive fan base and it has some pretty big names it. Here is the trailer:

Seeing how many people were upset about it not getting released here in Aus, I decided I wanted to do something about it, and I thought that if Roadshow Films (a movie distributor in Australia) saw how much people wanted to see the movie, they would get something done about it. I ended up starting a petition. So far, the petition has over 300 supporters, and that number is growing rapidly. So, if you're a Perks fan, Australian or not, I urge you to sign this petition, share it around to your friends and spread the word. This is a movie that needs to be seen, and it's a story that needs to be heard.

Sign the petition HERE.

In My Mailbox #3

 In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. Its basically gives us book bloggers a chance to show what books we've bought, won, recieved for review, etc.

Sadly, I haven't recieved many books lately, but here are the ones I have gotten in the past few weeks:

For Review:

• Ever by Jessa Russo.

Thanks to Curiosity Quills Press.

Bought:

• Eona by Alison Goodman.
• Take Me There by Carolee Dean.
• Cursed by Jennifer L. Armentrout.

Won:

• The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina.

Thanks to Vegan YAnerds and Walker Books! Can't wait to read this one.

Book2Movie! The Beautiful Creatures Trailer is Here!

The Beautiful Creatures trailer has arrived and it's fantastic. I especially love the opening sequence with Emma Thompson; it really sets the feel of it all, which is much like the feel of the book--small town and very gothic-like. In this teaser, we get to see pretty much all of the main characters--Ethan, Lena, Amma, Macon, Ridley.. and we even get to see a glimpse of Link. The music in the trailer is Florence + The Machine's Seven Devils, which is very fitting.

I don't know how I feel about Alden Ehrenreich as Ethan yet (All I know is that his last name is freaking hard to spell), but I'm sure he'll be fantastic. The rest of the cast will be amazing in their roles as well, I'm sure, as they're all seriously talented actors. I mean, Viola Davis, Emma Thompson and Jeremy Irons--wow. 

Beautiful Creatures is set to hit theatres on February 14th next year in Australia.