Nightshade & Wolfsbane New Covers

The blogosphere has been in an absolute tizzy about the news surrounding the covers of Nightshade and Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer - and not all of it is good. 

Originally slated to be the covers for the paperback releases, Penguin is now revamping the whole look of the series based on a good response (from who we can only wonder) to the new covers - hardback edition included. 

Personally, I'm really bummed about this. The original covers of Nightshade are what drew me in to the series. In a veritable sea of paranormal romance and urban fantasy, in both young adult and adult fiction, they were a bright beacon of light. Colorful, whimsical, alluring, original. They stood out on a shelf like you would not believe.

Now? I'm sad to say, they look just like everything else. They don't stand out. There's nothing original. These are not covers befitting an international best seller. For the paperback edition - yeah, fantastic! I can see where they're going. But to change the hardback too? After such a positive response to the first book? It makes me sadface. They look, to be honest, a little on the cheesy side. Like the kind of series that are all over the place, but that no one really reads.

Regardless of the covers, though, it is all about what's inside that counts. Andrea Cremer is an amazing writer and an amazing person, and I'd buy the book even if they decided to put prancing pigs in tutus on it. 

But I'm going out on a limb here and assuming that the original cover for Nightshade is what drew a lot of people in. And now my covers aren't going to match - and my series OCD is bugging out. But there are a lot of other people that are bummed, and while it may do nothing, it can't hurt: a twitition has been started to ask Penguin to change the hardcover back to the original design. So, if you have a twitter account, and you feel as strongly about this as a few of us do, sign it at:

http://twitition.com/o2xln

Otherwise, I think someone needs to send me a scan of the ARC cover so I can tape it to my copy of Wolfsbane when I get it.

In My Mailbox (9)

Sorry for the overly long video - I had a lot of books, and I kind of rambled a little! I also would have had this up a whole hour earlier, but Daylight Savings Time really threw me for a loop this morning - I overslept like crazy. But that's totally allowable on a Sunday. ;D I apologize again for the shoddy video quality. Youtube likes to distort my videos for some reason.

{FOR REVIEW}

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Septys

The Stone of Destiny by Jim Ware (signed!)

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

{BOUGHT}

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kittredge

Thirst No. 3: The Eternal Dawn by Christopher Pike

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Zombies vs. Unicorns by Holly Black

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr (signed!)

{BORROWED}

Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr (ARC edition)

Creepers by Joanne Dahme (ARC edition)

Angel and Apostle by Deborah Noyes (ARC edition)

Fire by Kristin Cashore (ARC edition)

Why Dogs Eat Poop, and Other Useless or Gross Information about the Animal Kingdom by Francesca Gould (ARC edition)

-------------------------------

So that's what I got this week. What's in your mailbox?

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren

Well, that went by fast...

So I am officially back from my Wizarding World adventure. Actually, I was back on Wednesday, but between getting back to work, unpacking, and trying to find a place for all my new commemorative Butterbeer mugs, it's been one crazy week.

But guys. Seriously. Seriously. If you are a Harry Potter fan at all, save up and go. This is hands down the best park at Universal Studios. It probably beats most at Disney too. Guys, I almost cried when I saw Hogwarts. The only reason I didn't was because of all the people, and because I didn't want to look like that much of a Harry Potter nutjob in front of our friends. I didn't want to leave. I wanted to volunteer to just stay and work. For free. Heck, I'd bunk in an alley and eat Three Broomsticks scraps if they'd let me. Point is, it's beyond beautiful, and I'm going to be saving up to go again, because I don't think I'll ever get enough.

But enough about my unhealthy addiction to all things Harry P. My vacation gave me a spring in my step, and while I did take a day or two off to unwind and maybe neglected the blog just a little, I'm totally ready to hop back on board now. So, here's a little peek at what's coming up:

• 99 followers while I was away? Holy crap! I never, never expected to be this close to 100 so soon. But I will tell you, I'm preparing something special for when I hit that mark. ;D
• I'm having a pretty epic IMM this weekend with two weeks worth of amazing books. 
• Upcoming reviews for The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff and The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller.
• Upcoming "mini" reviews for Beyond the Highland Mist by Karen Marie Moning and Dark Lover by J. R. Ward. These were my guilty travel reads - I enjoyed them though, so I thought I'd group them together for a mini review. 

And maybe some other stuff that I can't think of off the top of my head right now. It's late, and I'm tired, so it's bed for me. Happy weekend everyone!

Going on vaca!

 So I've had some very important, ahem, business come up in Hogsmeade, and I'm having to catch an emergency broom over there immediately. I needed a new set of dress robes and some sugar quills anyway. Hopefully I'll have time to stop by The Three Broomsticks while I'm there...

In all actuality, I'm so excited! This is a dream come true for me, and I'm probably never going to want to leave. I'll be away until Wednesday of next week, and I won't be updating the blog, but I will still be able to check my email from my phone.

Hello to all my new followers, and love to all the old! See you guys next week!

(image from http://www.hp-lexicon.org/)

Book Hop & Follow Friday (8)

Happy Friday! This week I'm participating in a few memes. Book Blogger Hop is hosted over at Crazy for Books. Follow My Book Blog Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View.

Who's your all-time favorite book villain?
Really? Do I even need to answer this? VOLDEMORT. Creepy psychopath that splits his soul multiple times, looks like the bogeyman, likes his snake a little too much, wants to take over the world, and has a vendetta against little boys with glasses.

What embarrassing thing have you done on cold medicine?
Cold medicine? I think the limit goes to snoring and drooling while taking a nap on the couch. However, there are some pretty funny things I've done while on pain meds. ;D

Review: Nightshade

Title: Nightshade
Author: Andrea Cremer
Publisher: Penguin Group
Category: Young Adult
Page Count: 528 
Release Date: October 2010
Series: none
Source: ARC
Challenge: 2011 A-Z Challenge & Breathless Reads Tour Mini Challenge 
Quick Rating: 3/5

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?

 I really, really wanted to fall in love with this book. I wanted a passionate, epic romance between me and this series, and all I got was…well...a pretty average one night stand. Don’t get me wrong, though, Nightshade had it’s really awesome moments, but as a whole, the book just fell a little flat for me.

I almost felt like this book was a little longer than it should have been, which is weird for me to say, since my usual policy is the longer the better. But I just felt like there was a lot of stuff that could have been removed or just skimmed over, and some details about more important stuff put in. I didn’t feel like there were necessarily any huge plot holes or anything, but I did feel like a few basic holes were left wide open - conversations that should have happened, details that should have been explained, etc. I also felt like it took way, way, way too long to actually get an explanation of anything in their world. Over 100 pages in, and nothing was explained! I don’t always just liked being tossed into a story and left to try and figure things out for myself until the characters feel up to doing some ‘splainin’.

I really liked that the author seemed to have wolf behavior down perfectly! The descriptions of their interactions while in wolf form were wonderful, and felt so real. That being said, I wish that the alpha females of the packs had been given a little more power. I’m no wolf expert, but I would assume the alpha female of one pack wouldn’t let just any other alpha male lay his paws all over her. I wanted more fight, and less subservience out of a certain character *cough*Naomi*cough*. Her character peeved me to no end.

Follow the jump for more!

Waiting on Wednesday (8)

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

Watched

by Sharde Richardson

(May 30th, 2011)

Mikayla doesn’t want much: just to rock out to her favorite band, become the next Kwiki Stop video gaming champion, and keep her Q-tip habit under control. What she does want is the sight of the sudden inexplicable dark auras around everyone to stop. Problem is, those auras are demons and Mikayla is the last trait holder with the power to ban them. Which is a total buzz kill.

To make matters worse, the town folk of Sulphur Springs don’t look the same, and her classmates are a little dark in the eyes. There are murders, suicides, reckless skinny-dipping, gratuitous use of Q-tips, and newfound powers that Mikayla must learn to control.

Her past becomes present when a shape-shifter tells her what her true identity is, and how to keep the demons of Hell from nipping at her Converse. Through him she’ll discover who to trust, who to kiss, and how valuable her abilities are to the right beings. Because the evils of Hell aren’t staying down without a fight.

Or without her soul.

First off, can we just talk about how absolutely amazing that cover is? I could stare at the full-sized image on Goodreads for hours. Not to mention that this just sounds like a fun, kickass paranormal novel. It seems like it's going to have some humor, and I love a book that doesn't take itself too seriously. I'm a little bummed though, because when I first saw this, I thought it was coming out at the end of March, but it's the end of May! I have to wait a full two months longer than I thought, but I hope it'll be worth the wait!

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?