Cover to Cover USUK & Through a Series- Soul Screamers

Someone said that they wanted to see more cover features....so, random person...here you are!

Today, I'll be looking at both the American and English versions of covers in Rachel Vincent's series, Soul Screamers. US on the left, UK on the right.

     
My Soul To Take (2009)
The red and black cover makes it seem a bit vampire-y, despite the book being about banshees. The UK cover raises questions as to why she's screaming, and the paler colour scheme makes it stand out. UK WIN. (Non-cover related note, the review, I thought I posted. I obviously didn't....Come back for that!)


     
My Soul to Save (2009)
Both have a bluer emphasis, but the black and white "other colour" (I don't know what to call it!) remains clear. I don't really like the model in the US version. Maybe it's her, or maybe it's the photographer. I don't like it. DRAW

    
My Soul to Keep (2010)
I don't understand the use of the flower. Well, I haven't read the book, but as someone looking on it, I don't get it.  US WIN

     
My Soul to Steal (2010)
The US cover just screams VAMPIRE! WHY?  The smoky effects look good though. I also don't understand the use of the butterfly, but as I prefer butteflies to lowers, UK WIN.

  
If I Die (2011)
What happened to the title? Random change in titles...unless the rest of the series is If I *insert action*. Which, apparently it isn't. Right. I like the US version here, with a huge touch of magic coming from the girl. Oh, and it diverged from the formula of same accent colour... interesting.  US WIN.

SERIES
I love the idea of keeping the accent colours the same throughout, but with a pale or dark main part. The US drew the prettier font, and the UK got the readable one.   This one is definitely a well deserved draw.

Book Review- The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Title: The Name of the Star

 Author: Maureen Johnson

Series:  Shades of London #1

Published:  29 September 2011 by Harper Collins

Length: 372 pages

Warnings: Violence, kissing, 14+

Source: library

Other info: Maureen Johnson has written other things such as Little Blue Envelopes and the Scarlett series. Book 2, expected in October, will be called The Madness Underneath.

Summary : The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it's the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago. Soon "Rippermania" takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn't notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target?

Review: Rory moves to London to start at Wexford Borarding School, Whitechapel. And while she’s there, there’s a set of copycat killings. Being ‘Whitechapel, all they’re copying is the murder spree of Jack the Ripper. Like they were in the 1800s, the police in the 21^st century are once again useless, even while aided by technology such as CCTV. But then Rory sees a man on the school grounds, who no-one else can see despite him being the creepiest thing ever. Soon enough, she’s bulled into a world of ghosts, mystery and Jack the Ripper.

From the moment I read the summary on Goodreads, I knew I’d want to read this. And that I’d have high hopes for it. A modern take on Jack the Ripper? Count me in.

I really liked Rory. She taught me a few things about America. ((well, I say taught. She made comments about England such as “my schedule didn’t have the day in day out of back home, I’ll never remember this” and I just thought “Do you guys really have the same thing first period every day, second period every day and so on at school?” )). Jazza and boo were both fun girls who I’d love to be my real life friends. Jerome, the love interest of this novel, wasn’t my favourite boy in YA of a ll time , but he was fun and interesting.

I love the take on Ripper II. The spin on ghosts in this novel is a unique idea,. And the exorcism process is seriously cool. These new ghosts and the world around them is awesome! The plot twists and turns a lot, at unpredictable places, which makes it interesting and keeps me going.

Rory has her own strong voice- chatty, descriptinve, and easy to read. I got through The Name of the Star fairly  quickly, owing partially to the narrative, partially to the plot, and partially to my general interest in Jack the Ripper.

Overall:  Strength 4   tea to a book that has given me a new look on many things.

Links:  Goodreads | Author website | 

What do you want to see here?

What would you actually like to see here? Because I've looked at my schedule, and it is...book reviews...book reviews...more book reviews...1 year celebrations...hiatus due to our going to France on a language trip...book review.... Just a little bit samey, isn't it?  But I'm really uncreative when it comes to this kind of thing...so what would you like to see here? I've put a poll in the sidebar, and comments are appreciated. In other news, I'm getting through a few books I'm quite enjoying, and I'm currently waiting for this hour to go past so I can watch Sherlock. How's everyone else's New Year going?

Book Review- Night School by C. J. Daugherty

Title: Night School

 Author:  C.J. Daugherty

Series:  Night School Series #1

Published:  5 January 2012 by Atom

Length: 451 pages

Warnings: violence, skinny dipping, nearly a violent/romantic (this is hard to describe) encounter, 14+

Source:  Publishers via Atomics

Other info: It is a series !  ( C&P from author, “The first book in the Night School series.
Published January 2012 by Atom”). And this is her debut work.

Summary : Sometimes school is murder. Allie Sheridan's world is falling apart. She hates her school. Her brother has run away from home. And she's just been arrested. Again. This time her parents have finally had enough. They cut her off from her friends and send her away to a boarding school for problem teenagers.
But Cimmeria Academy is no ordinary school. Its rules are strangely archaic. It allows no computers or phones. Its students are an odd mixture of the gifted, the tough and the privileged. And then there's the secretive Night School, whose activities other students are forbidden even to watch. When Allie is attacked one night the incident sets off a chain of events leading to the violent death of a girl at the summer ball. As the school begins to seem like a very dangerous place, Allie must learn who she can trust. And what's really going on at Cimmeria Academy.

Review: After her brother runs away and she’s arrested for the third time, Allie Sheridan is shipped off to Cimmeria Academy for a new chance. But everything is odd...there are no traces of the twenty first century, and the rules... who knows why some of them are in place? And then there’s the students... filthy rich Sylvain, bad (or maybe good) boy Carter, mysterious Jo and her boyfriend Gabe. Throw in a headmistress with plenty of secrets she’s trying to keep, and a dead girl at the ball, and soon Allie realises that trust is not going to be easy here at Cimmeria.

If you can’t call this mystery, I’m not sure what you can call it. Although the first bit was a bit boring, once we got to see a bit more of the school, I was guessing and wanting to keep going throughout. And some of these things don’t even get resolved. The titular Night School, we don’t ever find out exactly what they are and what they’re doing. I don’t think there’s any paranormal elements, but I’m still not sure. 

There’s the standard stock range of boarding-school types, with the bad boy, the rich one, the prefect, the really horrible girl... and they all had their own personalities. Most of them have something to hide, and new things about them all unfold at various parts of the story, adding depth and unpredictability.

The romance in it was actually done well. Kind of. It was good in that it actually moved the plot along, instead of just being a side story that could be removed without affecting the story at all. The romance with Sylvain was rather central to moving along, both for Allie’s development and to a slightly smaller extent, the general plot.

Allie definitely develops a lot. Along with finding things that maybe she should have left alone, she matures and starts understanding that trust is not something that should come easy.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a great start to a series full of intrigue. I definitely want to read the next book and see how events will unravel.

Links: | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review- First Born by James Goss

Title: First Born

 Author: James Goss

Series:  Torchwood, Miracle Day batch #1, Torchwood #16

Published:  2011 by BBC Books

Length: 253 pages

Warnings: Mild profanity, fantasy violence 14+

Source: Library

Other info: This is to tie in with the BBC series Torchwood, starring John Barrowman, Eve Myles and Kai Owen. This book is meant to be a prequel to the 2011 series 4, Torchwood: Miracle Day,

Summary : Gwen and Rhys are on the run. Rhys was hoping this meant a windswept cottage on a cliff top, but he's had to settle for a miserable caravan in the isolated village of Rawbone. With the locals taking an unhealthy interest in their daughter, Gwen and Rhys start to realize that something is very wrong - something with echoes of a life they thought they'd left behind. As they uncover the village's terrible past, Gwen discovers that Torchwood will never leave them behind, and now she and Rhys stand alone in defense of the Earth. And the children of Rawbone can only bring her closer to the secret forces that want her out of the way.

Review: You don’t really need to know Torchwood to read this, but ir dows help. It is part of the most recent batch of books, along with The Men who Sold the Earth and Long Time Dead, to follow on from the Children of Earth series and to be set before Miracle. Ex-Torchwood girl Gwen Williams nee Cooper and her husband Rhys are in hiding due to the many many people who wnat them dead. At the beginning they are chased out of their home, and they flee to Rawbone, a village in North Wales that has been cut off from the rest of the world. And the children there are a little too perfect. Then mysterious events happen, and Gwen realises she hasn’t left Torchwood behind at all.

I like reading TV tie ins. I’m not sure why, and we can discuss that some other time. I’ve also read the other Torchwood books and enjoyed them, so I had high hopes for this.

James Goss kept the main characters, Gwen and Rhys, true to their original selves, which was very nice but also not really surprising considering he’s written other Torchwood books. The characters he invented, such as Tom, Josh, Eloise, Sebastian and the rest of the Skions weren’t particularly well developed, but were still interesting to read about, if not the easiest to connect to.

The plot at times was hard to follow, particularly the ending where I was reading and thinking “what is the point of this?” The main bit up to it, particularly the middle bit and the whole subplot involving Anwen were interesting and kept me going.

I really enjoyed the switching perspectives. Most of it came from  the perspectives of Gwen and Rhys, but occasionally the natives of Rawbone had something to say too, providing a wider outlook on the whole situation of things. each character had a strong voice that really shone through in the writing.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a good addition to a well established, and loved (by me anyway) franchise.

Links: | Goodreads | Torchwood website hosted by BBC | 

Waiting on Wednesday #32 Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Breaking the Spine where we show off books that we want to read but have not been published yet. 

Title:  Such Wicked Intent (The Dark Endeavour Chronicles #2)
Author: Kenneth Oppel
Release Date: 21 August 2012
Link to / Summary from Goodreads: When does obsession become madness? Tragedy has forced sixteen-year-old Victor Frankenstein to swear off alchemy forever. He burns the Dark Library. He vows he will never dabble in the dark sciences again—just as he vows he will no longer covet Elizabeth, his brother's betrothed. If only these things were not so tempting. When he and Elizabeth discover a portal into the spirit world, they cannot resist. Together with Victor's twin, Konrad, and their friend Henry, the four venture into a place of infinite possibilities where power and passion reign. But as they search for the knowledge to raise the dead, they unknowingly unlock a darkness from which they may never return
Why I want it: I really enjoyed This Dark Endeavour (review to come) and the fact that it is a sequel to a prequel of Frankenstein should be explanation enough.

What are YOU waiting on this week?

Book Review- Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Title: Cinder

 Author: Marissa Meyer

Series:  Lunar Chronicles #1

Published:  3^rd January 2012 in America. In England, 5 January by Puffin/

Length: 400 pages

Warnings: slight innuendo, 13+

Source: Netgalley

Other info: The others in this series will be called Scarlet, Cress and Winter. Cinder is Marissa’s debut novel.

Summary : Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Review: The premises to this was amazing. I love retold fairy tales. I love sci-fi. A mix????  Must read. The whole idea of having our beloved rags-to-riches girl being a cyborg of all things was just a really great idea. And it was carried off perfectly. As well as that, there’s an evil Lunar  queen trying manipulate those on earth, a plague that may or may not get out of control,  and the inevitable love story that comes with this kind of thing, and so it  definitely should be my thing.

And it was. From the first page, something is happening. And the action doesn’t stop. Aside from when she meets Prince Kai and is a little flustery, going against the tougher image of Cinderella that I was expecteing for this. Then it picks up, the next time isn’t as bad, and her sister is taken ill with the plague, and her evil stepmother signs her over as a test subject for finding an antidote. Yeah, a lot of things happen. And the writing style suited it perfectly. I could easily see it all happening, and that kept me wanting to read on and on and on.

Against all the odds, I loved the Stepsisters. One of them, anyway. Because of how she ends up acting and the way Cinder treated her, I ended up feeling for her and I don’t think she really deserved what she got. Prince Kai was an interesting guy with a lot shoved onto his shoulders at a young age.  Queen Levana was your untypical villain, that will definitely be interesting to watch her and her plans develop over the series.

The romance is done surprisingly well, with Cinder trying to be practical about it all (but obviously, kind of failing). It was really sweet watching their relationship develop.

The addition of the plague letumosis was an unexpected, but really intriguing aspect to this world. I loved the idea that any of our characters could fall ill at any time, another thing that kept me reading.

The revelation about Cinder at the end...that was totally unexpected. And then the book ended..... HOW COULD IT DO THAT? Really, that was quite horrible to leave it there. I can’t wait for book 2, Scarlet, which will be out next year. Really, how can they expect us to wait that long?

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a great retelling with an original twist on it that made it something I completely loved.

Links: | Goodreads | Author website | 

Things to do in 2012...

I would call them resolutions, but if Ido that, then they obviously won’t happen. So they’re things that I’ll try  do in 2012.

• Get through at least 75 books on my goodreads TBR list. At time of writing (22 December), I have 1525 books on it, a fact I blame on participating in the Waiting on Wednesday meme and following so many of you that you feature so many books that look like my kind of thing. And when I say To Read, I actually intend to read them. 2012 is a new year-so why not?
• Get through my entire physical pile. I’ve included a photo, which is about one third of the pile. The other stuff is downstairs and I’m not going to go down and take a photo because it’s warm here. This will count towards my TBR challenge, so is somewhat useful too!
• Actually stick to my obtaining book ban. Because when I’ve tried before, I’ve ended up coming home with six books with the promise to myself that “They’re manga and I will get through them quickly”. This year, I’ll hopefully stick to them.
• In the words of Haley, write my reviews a few DAYS after reading it...not a few MONTHS. Even if it is the easiest thing to finish a book, think “I’ll review it later” then realise many weeks later that you still need to write a review and you have forgotten almost everything about said book.
• Think up more interesting things to post. Looking through the archive, I have mainly book reviews, Waiting on Wednesdays, and hops, with the occasional In My Mailbox, Cover to Cover, giveaway and news relating to books or us. Pretty boring in my opinion. What can I put though? Please tell in the comments! And wait for February, when there’ll be a big (in comparison to past ones) giveaway for being going for a full year!
• Be consistent with scoring, both finally and with the warnings. When I look over the archive list, I think “Why did I only give Delirium a 3? And Jessica wasn’t quite as bad as a one. And I wish I could give Goliath a 6. And will I ever feel the need to give a book worse than one? So from now on, scoring will be as follows

1. Really bad. Did not finish. Finished and wanted to give up but strange powers forced me to carry on. hopefully no book will get this. And Jessica, I’m sorry I gave you this. Lord of the Flies, I’m not. No, Twilight would not get this. Twilight would get coffee.
2. It was good if you like this kind of thing. I just about got through it. Not too terrible, but nothing stand-out-good at all. read it if you’re a fan of the genre, and you might want to try and get hold of a copy for free. The later Vampire Knight volumes, White Crow, Skeleton Creek etc.
3. It was really good. as in, you would want to keep this on your shelf to look back on. it’s a book that you really should read, even if it’s something you don’t normally. This should be the most common one coming up-unless of course, I love absolutely everything I read! Here, things like Vampire Hunter D, Bad Taste in Boys, Bakuman, etc
4. It was really really good. read this, keep it safe, remember it. I really enjoyed it and I think you’ll enjoy it too. It was pretty much perfect, with just a little something missing. This’ll probably be quite common now too. Examples include Texas Gothic,  Cloaked, Anita Blake, To Kill a Mockingbird.
5. It was amazing. Everything about it was perfect and blew me away and it was awesome in gigantic proportions. Things like Leviathan and Falling for Hamlet and Chain Mail and Mad Love and Between Shades of Gray deserve this rating.

So if something gets a 2, it’s not as terrible as it was while using the old system. Sorry everything!

Also, I’d like to try and be a little more thorough with the warnings I provide, which I do because there are only a couple of blogs out there that provide parental guidance and also I read things that are aimed at the YA spectrum, which could be anything. I’ll also try and put an appropriate age rating at the top too.
These rating systems come into use in 2012. Anything reviewed in 2011 will probably have a slightly higher tea rating. Half scores should be taken out completely.  Remember, the score shouldn’t overshadow what I put as a review!

• Comment on your blogs more frequently. Recently I’ve been inundated by items in google reader, which take the “Blogs I’m following” list to 1000+ items. And I lose the will to sit and scroll...so I click “mark all as read”. Sorry. Most of the time, I read all your things. and then rarely think of anything to say. So in 2012, I’ll try and comment on 5 blogs a day. I’ll try. No promises, but still.

Think that’s a good way to set up the new year? A nice list of things I hope to do? I think it is. Have you got anything you want to do this year?

Oh, and as a little way of kicking off the New Year, Digital Manga are letting you read Vampire Hunter D, volumes 1-5, for free online! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!