Upcoming Release: Shadow Bound by Rachel Vincent

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Shadow Bound by Rachel Vincent

If you live in the dark long enough, you begin to forget the light…

KORI DANIELS is a shadow-walker, able to travel instantly from one shadow to another. After weeks of confinement for betraying her boss, she’s ready to break free of the Tower syndicate for good. But Jake Tower has one final job for Kori, one chance to secure freedom for herself and her sister, Kenley, even if that means taking it from someone else…

The job? Recruit Ian Holt—or kill him.

Ian’s ability to manipulate the dark has drawn interest from every syndicate in the world, most notably an invitation from Jake Tower. Though he has no interest in organized crime, Ian accepts the invite, because he’s on a mission of his own.

Ian has come to kill Tower’s top Binder: Kori’s little sister.

Amid the tangle of lies, an unexpected thread of truth connecting Ian and Kori comes to light. But with opposing goals, they’ll have to choose between love and liberty….

Available May 22, 2012 in the US and Canada.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

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Our 600 Followers Giveaway was well-received by readers worldwide - we had a total of 3261 entries! Woots!

However, much to our regret, we had to disqualify some of the entries as the participants' did not leave the links to their tweets, facebook shares, blog post links, blog sidebar links etc. And yes, we do verify all the entries because we want to be fair to all the participants.

Without further ado, here are the winners!

Worldwide Winners: 
  • Article 5 - Noely Jeleen Balmeo
  • The Faerie Ring - Kali Skittles
  • Original Sin - Aylin Avalos
  • Anna Dressed in Blood - Emman Peregrino Dela Cruz

Malaysian Winners:
  • The Fault in Our Stars by John Green + Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick - FairyWhispers
  • Awesome swag pack - Farah Hanani

Winners, please reply to my e-mail with your FULL NAME, ADDRESS and CONTACT NUMBER within 48 hours. International prizes will be mailed out by Tor Teen while Malaysian prizes will be mailed out by The Bookaholics. Neither the sponsor nor The Bookaholics will be responsible / liable  for any lost, stolen, misdirected, or late mail.

Book Review : Shine by Lauren Myracle

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Shine  
Shine by Lauren Myracle
Hardcover, 350 pages
Published May 1st 2011 by Amulet Books
Available on The Book Depository:
Hardcover $15.52 / Paperback 7.95

Synopsis
When her best guy friend falls victim to a vicious hate crime, sixteen-year-old Cat sets out to discover who in her small town did it. Richly atmospheric, this daring mystery mines the secrets of a tightly knit Southern community and examines the strength of will it takes to go against everyone you know in the name of justice. 

Review
When I started reading this book, I had no idea how much it would grow on me. Shine is a book that deals with broken friendships, mistrusts, sexuality, violence and drugs - but negative vibes aside, this book is very gripping and fast-paced, and you will find yourself quickly transported to the small town of Black Creek, a place where evil lurks.

Cat is a strong character, although she may not know this hidden ability of hers at first. Rage and fury stoke her inner fire, but she later realizes that she has power and control over herself, and that makes her invincible and fearless. Cat is portrayed as a quiet, introverted sixteen-year-old girl, but from the playbacks of her childhood, we glimpse a different side of her - free-spirited, wild and happy. But one day, something terrible happened. And nothing was ever the same again.

Cat's investigation was very engaging - she tried out different methods to find out the perpetrator who beat Patrick up with a baseball bat, tied him to a gas pump, stuffed a fuel nozzle down his throat, and left him to die without a shred of guilt. Every step she took brought her closer to the answer, but at the same time, things were getting more sinister, and her own life may be at stake. However, she was determined to seek justice for Patrick - she felt that she owed him that much after abandoning him years ago.

Shine presents you with a surprise at every turning of the novel and keeps you guessing. Be warned that this is an emotionally intense book; you may get sucked into the novel without your own knowing. I enjoyed this book tremendously, and I'm so glad that I read it.

Rating: 4.500 

Warning: This book contains sexuality, profanity, violence and drug abuse. Parental guidance recommended for teens under the age of eighteen.

About The Author 
 Lauren Myracle
Lauren Myracle is the author of numerous young adult novels. She was born in 1969 in North Carolina. Lauren Myracle holds an MA in English from Colorado State University and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College. she has written many novels, including the famous IM books, ttyl, ttfn, and l8r, g8r.

Her first novel, Kissing Kate, was selected as one of ALA's "Best Books for Young Adults" for the year 2004. It was named by Booklist as one of the "Top Ten Youth Romances" of the year, as well as one of the "Top Ten Books by New Writers." Her middle-grade novel, Eleven, came out 2004, followed by its YA sequels (Twelve, Thirteen, Thirteen Plus One) .
 

Book Review : The Goddess Test by Aimée Carter

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Paperback, 304 pages
Published April 19th 2011 by Harlequin

EVERY GIRL WHO HAS TAKEN THE TEST HAS DIED.

NOW IT'S KATE'S TURN.

It's always been just Kate and her mom--and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear that her mother won't live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld--and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy--until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she suceeds, she'll become Henry's future bride and a goddess.

IF SHE FAILS...


Review 
Pros:  
  1. It's based on Greek mythology, and the idea of the story itself is charming. 
  2. Our heroine is not a wimpy, weak girl; she's loaded with spunk and a strong sense of justice, although sometimes she may think of others too much and blames herself for whatever bad things that happen. 
  3. The author's writing has a great flow and the story is suitably paced. I felt myself skimming through the pages without any sense of time.
  4. I admired the gorgeous cover and the beautiful font choice more than once.

Cons:
  1. I knew something was up with Kate's mom from the beginning of the novel and I suspected her true identity all along. The author made it so obvious that mummy has something to do with the mansion Henry lives in.
  2. Kate is a loner who tend to distance herself from everyone. She has zero (mortal) friends. Which is sort of pathetic. She is not a bright person, by the way.
  3. The sucky ending. It is incoherent with the rest of the novel. Long story short, it's just plain weird.
Bottomline:
It is true that Aimee Carter's writing style is great, and the storyline is somewhat unique. But, the twist at the end of the story is ridiculous - it feels like the author couldn't come up with enough characters so she just threw in whatever character she could think of and these people were automatically exalted to the status of immortal beings.

Rating: 3

About The Author
Aimee Carter 
Aimée Carter was born and raised in Michigan, where she currently resides. Her first novel for young adults, THE GODDESS TEST, was published by Harlequin Teen on April 19th, 2011. The sequel, GODDESS INTERRUPTED, followed in January 2012.  Find her on Twitter at @aimee_carter.

Book Review : Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

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Published January 3rd 2012 by HarperCollins
International Edition, Paperback

New copy available on:
The Book Depository (Worldwide) $9.75 USD 
Boomerang Books (Australia) $22.49 AUD

Like new second-hand copy available on:
Shop ♥ Books (Malaysia) RM 29.00

Since she'd been on the outside, she'd survived an Aether storm, she'd had a knife held to her throat, and she'd seen men murdered. This was worse.

Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland - known as The Death Shop - are slim. If the cannibals don't get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She's been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He's wild - a savage - and her only hope of staying alive.

A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile - everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria's help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must accept each other to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.





3.685

Veronica Rossi
Veronica Rossi's debut novel, UNDER THE NEVER SKY, will be published in over twenty international markets, starting on January 3rd 2012 in the United States. Film rights to the trilogy have been optioned by Warner Bros.

When not writing, she chases after her boys, who make her laugh every day, and who teach her about love that's "a million gazillion times bigger than the ocean."

Book Review : Torn by Cat Clarke

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Torn
Paperback, 378 pages
Published December 22nd 2011 by Quercus 

New copy available on:
The Book Depository (Worldwide) $9.46 USD 
Boomerang Books (Australia) $15.29 AUD

Like new second-hand copy available on:
Shop ♥ Books (Malaysia) RM 29.00

Synopsis
Four girls. One dead body. A whole lot of guilt.

Alice King isn’t expecting the holiday of a lifetime when she sets off with her classmates on a trip to the Scottish wilderness, but she’s not exactly prepared for an experience beyond her darkest nightmares…

Alice and her best friend Cass are stuck in a cabin with Polly, the social outcast, and Rae, the moody emo-girl. Then there’s Tara – queen of mean. Powerful, beautiful and cruel, she likes nothing better than putting people down.
Cass decides it’s time to teach Tara a lesson she’ll never forget. And so begins a series of events that will change the lives of these girls forever...

Review
TORN is a book that deals with guilt. A whole lot of them. Guilt that will gnaw you from inside out. Guilt that makes you feel like a huge stone is slowly crushing you until there's nothing left. There's not a moment that Alice doesn't feel guilty since the "accident" - the one that left Queen of Mean Tara Chambers dead as a doornail.

I've never accidentally done something so terrible as Alice and her friends, but I have definitely done some mistakes in life that I wish I could reverse or make better. I feel connected to Alice in many ways, I can taste her guilt, fear and worry, and her yearning for love from her ex-dead-best friend's brother - and how these feelings crush her soul.

Though there is not much plot in the story as most of them circles around Alice's guilt-ridden self and her attempt to supress the need to tell someone everything, there is an intensity that keeps me reading. Alice feels torn - should she keep her mouth shut and bear the guilt forever or speak the truth and get sentenced to a life in prison?

TORN is a book that is similar to SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson. I did not particular love this book, but neither do I find it boring and monotonous. As I've said before, I'm a plot-driven reader, but I think books like these would be nice to read once in a while.

Rating: 3.685

About The Author
Cat Clarke 
Cat Clarke was born in Zambia and brought up in Edinburgh and Yorkshire, which has given her an accent that tends to confuse people. Cat has written non-fiction books about exciting things like cowboys, sharks and pirates, and now writes YA novels. She lives in Edinburgh with a couple of cats, Jem and Scout, who spend their days plotting to spit up furballs at the most inconvenient times. She likes cheese A LOT, especially baked camembert.

A Letter to Our Readers

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Dear readers,

There is something I haven't told you about. I figured it would be most fair to announce the news here. I'm going to Malacca for matriculation (like SPM, only it's a one-year course) on 27th May 2012 and I'm afraid I won't be able to update this blog anymore. 

I'm not sure whether the campus has a wireless network all around, but it's most probably available in the library. I will bring my laptop there, just in case. I have decided to focus on my studies and shift my attention to textbooks instead of continuing to read YA novels. So, I guess it's a heartbreaking kiss-goodbye to my precious books. I still have loads of unread books right now, and I'm trying to finish reading most of my books before I go to further my studies.

So, in case I'm not able to update this blog in the campus, I hope Naadir, Rylin and Lemuel can continue to keep things running. I'm sincerely pleading you guys, please make sure my baby stays alive while I'm gone. I've been running this blog for God knows how long (3 years?) and I'm unashamed to say that I'm proud of what I've worked hard for. Hopefully it will continue to rise and shine against all odds with the help of my awesome co-bloggers.

Last but not least, please continue to support this blog, and if you have any suggestions to make The Bookaholics a better blog, please let us know. We will greatly appreciate whatever input you offer. Thank you, and God bless!

With ♥, Aik.

 

P/S: Since my sisters are not interested in my books, I'm going to list them for sale on my Facebook page so that they may find a new owner who would cherish them. If you're interested in any of the books, please send me a message on Facebook or e-mail me at aikychien@yahoo.com. Please read the message at the bottom of the album for shipping rates.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE BOOKS AVAILABLE

If you purchase more than RM 50 in a single receipt, you will be eligible to choose a free book of your choice from THIS PAGE

 P/S: We hit the big SEVEN! Seven hundred followers! I'm swooning with happiness! 

Book Review : Lucy (Daughters of the Sea, #3) by Kathryn Lasky

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Lucy (Daughters of the Sea, #3)
 Hardcover, 320 pages
Published March 1st 2012 by Scholastic Inc. 

Synopsis
A choice between love and survival . . .Lucy's family is excited to spend the summer in Bar Harbor, Maine. Her minister father is pleased to preside over such a prestigious congregation, and his social-climbing wife is ecstatic at the chance to find a rich husband for her daughter.Yet Lucy wants nothing to do with the Bar Harbor social scene; she's simply excited to spend the summer by the sea, watching the waves from her favorite spot on the cliff. Despite having never gone swimming, Lucy feels an intense connection to the ocean, and meets a handsome ship-builder who shows Lucy a world she's never known, yet somehow always longed for.However, her mother will stop at nothing to keep Lucy and the ship builder apart, even if it means throwing Lucy into the arms of a wealthy man with a dangerous secret. Can Lucy break free and embrace her destiny as a daughter of the sea? Or is she doomed to waste away in a gilded cage, slowly dying of a broken heart?

 Review
Lucy is a continuation of the Daughters of The Sea series, but as with the second book, it starts with Lucy's story before Hannah and May eventually get pulled within as well. Lucy is a girl with artistic talents and have a great fascination with the sea - much like her two mer-sisters. Her father is a  minister, and her mother is a vain, snobbish woman whose ultimate goal is to find Lucy the perfect husband. However, Lucy falls for someone else instead - someone who has no social standing, yet shares her love for the sea.

I have mixed feelings for this book. I started reading this with much anticipation, as I hoped things will finally be resolved, whether or not the sisters decide to live on land or in the sea. It started out fine - with Kathryn Lasky's trademark smooth, dreamy writing style, and I was excited to fine out more about Lucy.

However, towards the end of the story, Lasky inserted a plot twist which I totally didn't see coming, but it was rather silly. I mean, the motives were too shallow, and I couldn't see the point behind all the drama and fuss. And the story of the three sisters were never given a decent ending. It just ended. Randomly. I'm wondering if this is one of the author's habits? Leaving readers hanging on a cliffhanger at the end of a book (first / second in a trilogy) is a good thing, but ending your last book just like that? Without any conclusion or further explanation? That's just plain weird.
  
Overall, Lucy is a fairly decent book, though I personally thought that it should have been better. I wished to see the respective conclusions for the sisters' star-crossed romance. Will they forsake their love to embrace their true self or sacrifice their special bond with the sea to unite with their loved ones? And how will Lucy's story end? Curiouser and curiouser!

Rating: 3

Note of Thanks
A huge THANK YOU to Stephanie from Scholastic Malaysia, Singapore & Indonesia for providing this review copy!

About The Author
  Kathryn Lasky
Kathryn Lasky is the American author of many critically acclaimed books, including several Dear America books, several Royal Diaries books, 1984 Newbery Honor winning Sugaring Time, The Night Journey, and the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her latest book, Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 15: The War of the Ember, was released on November 1, 2008. Guardians of Gahoole: A guide to the Great Tree was released on September 1st, almost a month before projected selling time. She was born June 24, 1944, and grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is married to Christopher Knight, with whom she lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Book Review : May (Daughters of the Sea, #2) by Kathryn Lasky

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Hardcover, 310 pages
Published September 1st 2009 by Scholastic Inc. 

Synopsis
The second book in bestselling author Kathryn Lasky's stunning foray into paranormal romance.

May feels her life drying up. The sea calls to her, but her parents forbid her from swimming. She longs for books, but her mother finds her passion for learning strange. She yearns for independence, but a persistent suitor, Rudd, wants to tame her spirited ways.

Yet after her fifteenth birthday, the urge to break free becomes overpowering and May makes a life-changing discovery. She does not belong on land where girls are meant to be obedient. She is a mermaid--a creature of the sea.

Review
May Plum has been constricted within the confines of the Egg Rock Lighthouse ever since she was born. Her father Edgar "Gar" Plum is a nice man who loves her dearly, but her mother Hepzibah "Zeebah" Plum is the exact opposite. Zeebah suffers from an illness - not only of the body but also of the mind. She is constantly complaining about her illness and always orders May around like a servant because she used to be ordered around by her sick mother and grandmother back when they were alive. Vicious cycle, if you ask me.

May's relationship with Hugh Fitzsimmons, the Harvard student who studies astrology is rather believable, and their observing the constellations together is rather romantic - I can almost imagine the background music starting to play. On the other hand, I find Rudd, the local boy who is obsessive about controlling May and getting his slimy hands on her repulsive. Ugh.

Hannah's story, which was left dangling in the first book, is continued somewhere in the middle of May's, where the sisters finally meet each other and marvel at their resemblance to each other. The plot of this book is so much better than Hannah, and the various elements of this story seems to fit each other perfectly. Overall, it was quite a lovely, charming story. Hopefully the third book will be even better than this one!

Rating: 4.000
Note of Thanks
A huge THANK YOU to Stephanie from Scholastic Malaysia, Singapore & Indonesia for providing this review copy!

About The Author
Kathryn Lasky
Kathryn Lasky is the American author of many critically acclaimed books, including several Dear America books, several Royal Diaries books, 1984 Newbery Honor winning Sugaring Time, The Night Journey, and the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her latest book, Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 15: The War of the Ember, was released on November 1, 2008. Guardians of Gahoole: A guide to the Great Tree was released on September 1st, almost a month before projected selling time. She was born June 24, 1944, and grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is married to Christopher Knight, with whom she lives in Boston, Massachusetts.