Book Beginning #4: Crown of Ice

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader, where we share the first sentence (or so) of the books we are reading, along with initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

Currently Reading #26

Name: Crown of Ice
Author: Vicki L. Weavil
Number of Pages: 300 in Paperback
Published: September 9th 2014
by Month9Books
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fairytale, Retelling, Romance

“Thyra Winther’s seventeen, the Snow Queen, and immortal, but if she can’t reassemble a shattered enchanted mirror by her eighteenth birthday she’s doomed to spend eternity as a wraith. Armed with magic granted by a ruthless wizard, Thyra schemes to survive with her mind and body intact. Unencumbered by kindness, she kidnaps local boy Kai Thorsen, whose mathematical skills rival her own. Two logical minds, Thyra calculates, are better than one. With time rapidly melting away she needs all the help she can steal. A cruel lie ensnares Kai in her plan, but three missing mirror shards and Kai’s childhood friend, Gerda, present more formidable obstacles. Thyra’s willing to do anything – venture into uncharted lands, outwit sorcerers, or battle enchanted beasts — to reconstruct the mirror, yet her most dangerous adversary lies within her breast. Touched by the warmth of a wolf pup’s devotion and the fire of a young man’s desire, the thawing of Thyra’s frozen heart could be her ultimate undoing.”

I’ve decided to have Book Beginnings and Currently Reading in a post ’cause it’s more likely the same. There.. I immediately fell in love with this book when I’ve stumbled upon it on Goodreads. I love the gorgeous cover! I’ve even featured this on a Waiting on Wednesday post back in August. For my friend’s benefit, this is a YA fantasy retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen“. If you’re not familiar with that, I’m sure you’re familiar with Disney’s Frozen. It’s pretty much the same fairytale adaptation. I’m a sucker for fairytale so there’s no chance I’m letting this slip.

Here’s the book’s beginning:

“My parents lie somewhere beneath the snow, buried with my mortal life. I spend endless days searching for their remains. Tucking a piece of the mirror inside my fur-lined cloak, I harness one of my milk-white ponies to a sledge. Flying over ice and snow, I hold up the shard to catch the rays of the sun. ”

Book Review: The Iron Trial (Magisterium #1)

Name: The Iron Trial
Author: Holly Black and Cassandra Claire
Number of Pages: 304 in Hardcover
Published: September 9th 2014
by Scholastic Press
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Adventure, Supernatural

“Most kids would do anything to pass the Iron Trial.
Not Callum Hunt. He wants to fail.
All his life, Call has been warned by his father to stay away from magic. If he succeeds at the Iron Trial and is admitted into the Magisterium, he is sure it can only mean bad things for him. So he tries his best to do his worst – and fails at failing. Now the Magisterium awaits him. It’s a place that’s both sensational and sinister, with dark ties to his past and a twisty path to his future.
The Iron Trial is just the beginning, for the biggest test is still to come . . .”

Before reading this, I’ve heard a lot of discussions from fellow bloggers that this is somehow a rip-off of the Harry Potter series. I know it is so damaging to compare. Either with books, movies and the like so I’ve decided I won’t compare it in any way. The mere fact that this is from Black and Clare really convinced me that this is something I would love.

The book didn’t disappoint. The writing is good. An easy read really though there are things that so complicated when you think of it, but eventually getting the points the authors want the readers to enjoy. This is totally not inspired with Harry Potter. Don’t be deceive by the rundown or the book cover perhaps. The world is entirely and amazingly different. As well as the characters, but we’ll discuss that later. The world building is something I haven’t read about.

Waiting on Wednesday #22

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Breaking the Spine and serves to showcase those books that aren’t released yet, but that we’re eagerly awaiting!

Name: Anomaly (Schrodinger’s Consortium #1)
Author: Tonya Kuper
Number of Pages: 400 in Paperback
Published: November 25th 2014
by Entangled Publishing
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Science Fiction

Reality is only an illusion.
Except for those who can control it…
Worst. Birthday. Ever.
My first boyfriend dumped me – happy birthday, Josie!- my dad is who knows where, I have some weird virus that makes me want to hurl, and now my ex is licking another girl’s tonsils. Oh, and I’m officially the same age as my brother was when he died. Yeah, today is about as fun-filled as the swamps of Dagobah. But then weird things start happening…
Like I make something materialize just by thinking about it.
When hot badass Reid Wentworth shows up on a motorcycle, everything changes. Like, everything. Who I am. My family. What really happened to my brother. Existence. I am Oculi, and I have the ability to change reality with my thoughts. Now Reid, in all his hotness, is charged with guiding and protecting me as I begin learning how to bend reality. And he’s the only thing standing between me and the secret organization that wants me dead…

I’ve been eying this for the longest time now. I fell in love with the cover when it was revealed February of this year. She’s gorgeous right? 🙂 And this book’s rundown is so intriguing. I love to meet Reid Wentworth now. He sounds really incredible! I’m afraid I’ll have a new book boyfriend. Yay! 😀 I’m just hoping this would not be InstaLove or this won’t be something I would be gushing about in the future after reading it. InstaLove just sucks. Don’t you think? 😉

Anyway, I tried to look for giveaways for this book, but all of them seems to be over. So I dig up a little deeper and found this..

Teaser Tuesday #16

I’ve decided to join this ’cause I think it’s pretty fun and easy. Plus I really want to quote smart retorts, full blown bullying, words of wisdom, swoon worthy lines and the like without giving much to readers about the entire book. A quote or two won’t hurt I guess. So this is how you do it:

1. Grab your current read.
2. Randomly open a page.
3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.
4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This is for this week’s Teaser Tuesday:

The Iron Trial (Magisterium #1)

by Cassandra Clare + Holly Black

“Could he really learn how to fly? If you could fly, whispered a small treacherous part of his brain, it wouldn’t matter so much that you can’t run.”

“It flew straight and true, farther than a dagger should be able to go. Cal couldn’t take his eyes off it as it whirled at him, blade first. He knew he should do something. He knew he had to get out of the way. But somehow he couldn’t. His feet felt rooted to the spot.”

What are your thoughts about my teasers? 🙂 Anyway, you could share some teasers on your current read too. Comment the link of your own Teaser Tuesday so I can check it out and have an idea of amazing books that I would want to read.

Teaser Tuesdays (TT) is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Last Hour for the SCT Journal Giveaway: Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer Armentrout

Here’s your last chance to win this:

Contest Rules:
International
Author is not responsible for lost or damaged prize package
Prizes cannot be swapped for any other prize

Click here for the Rafflecopter

You could also vote on which guy you want to see Layla end up with!

The Beauty of Books Tag!

Emalie of the Book Gatherer tagged me on this, but this is originally from Books and Palettes.
It sounds fun so I want to try it. To be honest, I don’t usually go out wearing make up because I don’t feel comfortable with it. 😀 I’m really not your makeup kinda girl, but this looks cool though.
I’m feeling extra creative today so I’ve made this button just for this tag. Isn’t it cute? 😀

Here’s the Questions:

1. Eyeliner: Tell us about a book that defines who you are or that means a lot to you personally, and then show us your favorite eyeliner.
Defines who I am? That’s pretty difficult, but a book that means a lot to me would be..

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: This is where Albus Dumbledore died. I cried bucket of tears. It’s just heartbreaking that I had a hard time moving on. I know it’s just a book, but man.. Losing Dumbledore is such a bummer. This means a lot to me because this is also where the realization of all or most of the complications on this series were revealed so yeah, this means a whole lot to me.

Avon Simply Pretty Liquid Eyeliner: This is my favorite liquid eyeliner. I just recently learned how to use an eyeliner and make those cat eyes. I’m a late bloomer, I may say. LOL 😀

Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award!

I GOT NOMINATED! 😀
Thanks for nominating me Carole of Carole’s Random Life

Of course, there are rules…
1. Thank the blogger that nominated you, and link back to their site.
2. Post the award’s logo on your blog.
3. Answer the 10 questions that you have been asked.
4. Nominate 10 other bloggers and ask them 10 questions.

Here are the questions from Carole’s blog:

1. What is your favorite book?
Hmm.. I can’t really tell ’cause I have a lot of books or series that I could consider my favorite. Okay. I think, I really need to choose so I’ll settle with CRESS (The Lunar Chronicles #3)

2. Approximately, how many books do you currently own?
I really lost count. 300 to 400+ I think. 🙂

3. Do you enjoy re-reading books?
Yeah. Especially those series that I got a hard time moving on when I’ve finally realized the series has come to an end.

4. What is the worst book that you ever read?
I’m sorry, but I have to be brutally honest with this. I hate The Evolution of Mara Dyer.

My Week in a Wrapped #5

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

It has been a busy week since I’m trying my best to juggle everything. Work, reading and a lot of other things. So much to do with so little time. Fortunately, I was able to fit them all. I was able to finished Winterspell, started and finished The Strange & Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender for my October Random Reads and currently reading The Iron Trial. Work’s still a bit tough on schedule and really tiring, but I was able to accomplished a lot in all fairness. I’m so proud of myself. LOL! Anyway, the highlight of my week was that I got a day off from work for my son’s 12th birthday. Since it falls right after his actual birth date, I didn’t have much time to prepare for the celebration. We just had a nice and super fun dinner with the whole family. Here’s a photo of my birthday boy, Heaven Alessandre ♥

Isn’t he such a cutie? 😀 He’s growing up pretty fast. Refusing to hold hands with me in public now. Sniff. Next year, he’ll enter a new pace of his life, which is being teen and I’m really hoping that I could turn back those days that he’s still in his diapers. Oh wait! I’m being emotional now. It seems like I’m getting old too. LOL. How’s your week? 😀

Last Week On The Blog

• My Week in a Wrapped #4
• ARC Giveaway: Invaded (Alienated #2) by Melissa Landers
• Swag and Book Giveaways + Book Tours : A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
• Teaser Tuesday #15: Winterspell by Claire LeGrand
• Waiting on Wednesday: Atlantia by Ally Condie
• Book Review: Winterspell by Claire LeGrand
• Book Review: The Strange & Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
• Book Beginning #3: The Iron Trial by Cassandra Clare + Holly Black

Book Beginning #3: The Iron Trial

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader, where we share the first sentence (or so) of the books we are reading, along with initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

Currently Reading #25

Name: The Iron Trial
Author: Holly Black and Cassandra Claire
Number of Pages: 304 in Hardcover
Published: September 9th 2014 by Scholastic Press
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Adventure, Supernatural

“From a distance, the man struggling up the white face of the glacier might have looked like an ant crawling slowly up the side of a dinner plate.
The shantytown of La Rinconada was a collection of scattered specks far below him, the wind increasing as his elevation did, blowing powdery gusts of snow into his face and freezing the damp tendrils of his black hair. Despite his amber goggles, he winced at the brightness of the reflected sunset.”

Technically this is a post for Book Beginnings on Friday and also a post from my own Currently Reading Meme. I’ve just fused the two. Honestly, I’ve skipped a post for my Currently Reading so if you’ll check for posts on this meme, you’ll probably end up confused since the last time I’ve posted is #23. I forgot to post #24 which was The Strange & Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender. I’ll just update that page.

Book Review: The Strange & Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender

Name: The Strange & Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
Author: Leslye Walton
Number of Pages: 301 in Hardcover
Published: March 25, 2014 by Candlewick Press
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal, Historical Fiction, Romance

Magical realism, lyrical prose, and the pain and passion of human love haunt this hypnotic generational saga.
Foolish love appears to be the Roux family birthright, an ominous forecast for its most recent progeny, Ava Lavender. Ava—in all other ways a normal girl—is born with the wings of a bird.
In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to fit in with her peers, sixteen-year old Ava ventures into the wider world, ill-prepared for what she might discover and naïve to the twisted motives of others. Others like the pious Nathaniel Sorrows, who mistakes Ava for an angel and whose obsession with her grows until the night of the Summer Solstice celebration.
That night, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air, and Ava’s quest and her family’s saga build to a devastating crescendo.
First-time author Leslye Walton has constructed a layered and unforgettable mythology of what it means to be born with hearts that are tragically, exquisitely human.

I featured this on my October Random Reads and decided to read it right after Winterspell. I can’t even remember when I got this for I have hauled a lot of books lately. I’ve joined Random Reads so I could read all the neglected books I’ve got. When I first see this, I am so intrigued by the cover and I recalled, I assumed that this is another one of those Angel books that’s good versus evil stuff. Then, I realized “Hey wait. Wings of a bird you say?” Not so Angel I thought.