Happy World Book Day

Happy World Book Day, everyone!
Due to my amazing organisation skills, I haven't prepared a full post for today. But anyway, celebrate!

Book Review- The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg

Title: The Catastrophic History of You and Me

 Author: Jess Rothenberg

Series:  N/A

Published:  21 February 2012

Length: 400 pages

Warnings: 12+

Source: Spinebreakers

Other info: This is Jess' first novel.

Summary : BRIE'S LIFE ENDS AT SIXTEEN: Her boyfriend tells her he doesn't love her, and the news breaks her heart—literally. But now that she's D&G (dead and gone), Brie is about to discover that love is way more complicated than she ever imagined. Back in Half Moon Bay, her family has begun to unravel. Her best friend has been keeping a secret about Jacob, the boy she loved and lost—and the truth behind his shattering betrayal. And then there's Patrick, Brie's mysterious new guide and resident Lost Soul . . . who just might hold the key to her forever after. With Patrick's help, Brie will have to pass through the five stages of grief before she's ready to move on. But how do you begin again, when your heart is still in pieces?

Review:When her "boyfriend" tells her he doesn't love her, Brie's heart breaks. Splits clean in two, without explanation. From then on, Brie has to get used to being dead, navigate the Afterlife, and think how best to get her own back on the boy that broke her heart.

It was a very stop-start getting interested in this book. The title and cover, at first, said no. Then the blurb "death by heartbreak...my heart split in two" said yes. And the rest of the blurb said maybe. But, I eventally put it onto my to-read list and so when I got offered it,  I had to say yes.

It's very easy to get into. This is definitely one of the lighter looks at life and death, with a huge dollop of romance to help move it along. 

There's quite a lot of little subplots, little things to keep you interested in what's happening. What's happening to the family after Brie dies. What happens to the best friends. What happens about Jacob, the boy who indirectly kills her. How Brie will sort them out. Who Patrick is. What his motives are. What Larkin does not. Many many things happen that just keep the story moving along and being interesting.

Brie, you definitely end up quite attached to once you finish the novel. As we were going along, you're interested in her, wanting to see what happens and has happened to her, but its by the end, you really properly like her. At least I found that.

I found it quite hard to understand how Brie and Patrick were perceived during their trips to the living. Because the dog can sense them, and they are solid enough to trip someone over and urdua phone, but living humans can't sense them. This is normal in ghost stories, but then there was a short scene in an ambulance that threw me out. 

An actual plot doesn't start to be built for a long time. While it's interesting seeing Brie's catastrophic history and future, the first half seems like it's just her looking at life and how it's moved on without her. The second half builds up a bit more, meaning there's actually some problems for her to face. Rather big problems. That could be the difference between someone living and dying. I love the chapter titles as song lyrics and the fact it's split up into the stages of grief. It's an original way of doing things, but it really fits with the book.

The ending is definitely more interesting than the beginning.

I like the way that everything was tied up neatly by the end of the novel. All the little plotlines were completed some way or another, giving full explanations for everything that happened.

With the ending as it is, I don't think there's room for a sequel. But I definitely want to see more from Jess. 

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a light hearted ghost story with a lot of romance built in. Just maybe not the kind of romance that you expect from the summary.

Links: Amazon | TheBook Depository | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review- Halflings by Heather Burch

Title: Halflings

 Author: Heather Burch

Series:  Halflings #1

Published:  February 1 2012 by Zondervan Publishing

Length: 228 pages

Warnings: Angels, demons, romance 13+

Source: Netgalley

Other info: This is Heather’s debut novel. There is an ebook prequel, 11:15, The Making of a Halfling, and the sequel Guardian should come in September.

Summary : After being inexplicably targeted by an evil intent on harming her at any cost, seventeen-year-old Nikki finds herself under the watchful guardianship of three mysterious young men who call themselves halflings. Sworn to defend her, misfits Mace, Raven, and Vine battle to keep Nikki safe while hiding their deepest secret—and the wings that come with. A growing attraction between Nikki and two of her protectors presents a whole other danger. While she risks a broken heart, Mace and Raven could lose everything, including their souls. As the mysteries behind the boys’ powers, as well as her role in a scientist’s dark plan, unfold, Nikki is faced with choices that will affect the future of an entire race of heavenly beings, as well as the precarious equilibrium of the earthly world.

Review: This gets off to a very quick start. We meet Nikki, who is being attacked by wolves. Or something. Then we get to a group of boys, Mace, Raven and Vine, who are actually Halflings- beings with one human and one angelic parent. Nikki is being drawn into a world that she didn’t know existed, where she has a bigger role than she thought.

It’s a very quick read. The chasing at the beginning definitely drew me in, and was a fast start for  something that could be great to come. The idea of Halflings is also quickly introduced. So far, so good.

The beginning-middle bit, I found to generally be quite slow. I didn’t really understand why all these things were happening, what the point to them were, and how it fit in with the start.  It picks up again when we meet Damon, who turns out to have a bigger part later on in the book.

There’s a bit in the middle that I didn’t really like. Why? It was a Twilight-style confrontational scene “I know what you are”. I don’t think it was really that necessary, it was a slight rip-off, and we could have learnt more about the angel-lore in Halflings in  another way.

The angel-lore itself was quite good. it’s not too different from what we get in other novels, but it was still interesting.  The romance, well, most of it was in the middle, so I turned off for that.

The ending definitely picks up. A lot.   I won’t say what happens, because that might spoil it, but if you get past the slow middle section, you’ll enjoy it.

Nikki is a strong character at times, and at others, slightly annoying. We get a good sense of her character without seeing too much of her, and when she wasn’t being all Bella-Swan-ny, I quite liked her.

The action scenes were definitely the best thing about Halflings. Not only was something actually happening, they were well written and interesting.

I’ve read 11:15, which would get 3/5 too, and would like to read Guardian, but I’m not overly wild about it.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea of a somewhat confusing and boring book, but with enough good parts to  keep me interested and give it this rating.

Links: Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads | Author website |

Cover Reveal- Luminosity by Stephanie Thomas

LUMINOSITY (Luminosity, #1) by Stephanie Thomas (September 11, 2012) B

Luminosity by Stephanie Thomas will be published by Entangled Publishing on 11 September 2012. From the summary, it definitely seems like something I'll enjoy.

"My name is Beatrice. When I was born, I was blessed with the Sight. I was immediately removed from my parents and enrolled in the Institution. At the age of twelve, I had my first true vision, earning my raven’s wings. And when I turned seventeen, one of my visions came true. Things haven’t been the same since. The Institution depends on me to keep the City safe from our enemy, the Dreamcatchers, but I’m finding it harder to do while keeping a secret from everyone, including my best friend Gabe. It is a secret that could put us all in danger. A secret that could kill me and everyone close to me. But the enemy has been coming to me in my dreams, and I think I’m falling in love with him. He says they’re coming. He says they’re angry. And I think I’ve already helped them win."

Preorder from Amazon
Goodreads

Weekly Round Up #7

Hi everyone...Yep, another weekly round up. I'm actually partially amazed I've remembered to do this for seven weeks on the trot, considering my organisational skills. Anyway, onwards....

Here’s what I got!

• From Netgalley, Pure by  Julianna Baggot and Talisman of El by Alecia Stone
• From Beth at Page Turner, Entangled by Cat Clarke and Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes.
• From Kate at Kate’s Book Life, Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan.
• From Amazon (bought before Wednesday) Hollow Pike by James Dawson
• From library, Touch by Jus Accardo (Which I've finished and loved)

Here’s some other books I’ve found

• A Class Apart, Class Heroes #1 by Stephen Henning (goodreads). “Teenage twins James and Samantha Blake are caught up in a seemingly random terrorist bombing while on a school trip. Many of their friends are killed. When the twins wake up in hospital, their lives have changed forever.  Will James and Sam be able to survive the nightmare into which they have been plunged? Who, or what, is behind the murders at the hospital? And was that terrorist incident quite so random after all?” Random killings and terrorism and special powers? Well, that definitely seems interesting.
• What’s Left of Me by Kat Zhang. (goodreads) Eva and Addie live in a world where everyone is born with two souls, but where only the dominant one is allowed to survive childhood. Fifteen years old, and closer even than twins, the girls are keeping Eva, the ‘second soul’, a secret. They know that it’s forbidden to be hybrid, but how could they ever be apart? When a dramatic event reveals what really happens to hybrids if they are discovered, Eva and Addie face a dangerous fight for survival, neither wanting to be the one left behind… Two souls in one body? Wow, that’s a really good premises. Love the idea and can’t wait to read this.
• When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle. (goodreads)“Rosaline knows that she and Rob are destined to be together. Rose has been waiting for years for Rob to kiss her--and when he finally does, it's perfect. But then Juliet moves back to town. Juliet, who now inexplicably hates her. Juliet, who is gorgeous, vindictive, and a little bit crazy...and who has set her sights on Rob. He doesn't even stand a chance. Rose is devastated over losing Rob to Juliet. This is not how the story was supposed to go. And when rumors start swirling about Juliet's instability, her neediness, and her threats of suicide, Rose starts to fear not only for Rob's heart, but also for his life. Because Shakespeare may have gotten the story wrong, but we all still know how it ends.” If you know me, you know how much I love retellings. And this one looks really interesting.

Here’s what’s going on around the book-y world!

• Strange Chemistry has a list of what they like to see when they get a manuscript! Very helpful...take note if you want to get published!
• Cover reveal for a few books!  Glass Heart by Amy Garvey, Taste by Kate Evangelista, Streamline by Jennifer Lane and Shadow and Bone by  Leigh Bardugo.
  
• Not strictly book related, but Blogger has introduced a new Captcha system. That is impossible to pass. My policy? If you have Captcha turned off, you are awesome. If you have Captcha turned on, then I will have two goes at dechipering it. If I can't get it from that, I'm leaving your blog without a comment. And seeing as this new Captcha is ridiculously hard, it's more likely I'm leaving. So please, turn it off.  How do I turn off Captcha?? - Blogger Help

Here’s what’s going on at Death Books and Tea

• Er, well, we turned one! There's two international giveaways you can enter, both of which are easy to enter and don't require too much thought, so, yeah. Go enter. ^^
• I've got more of my bookclub on Goodreads! 
• I've given up book buying for Lent. With the exception of the week in France. I can buy any book in the French language that I want. And to make up for it, the week after Easter I won’t be buying anything either. I also won’t be making my library buy anything during this time either. Go me. Not that I’ll be short of stuff to read. *looks at kindle and pile on shelf*

Random fact: I'm sure I've missed a lot of news. Remember, if you have anything you want advertised on this weekly round up, providing it's legal/relevant, email us and we'll put something up.

Enjoy your week, everyone. 

Book Review- The Bookman by Lavie Tidhar

Title: The Bookman

 Author: Lavie Tidhar

Series:  The Bookman Histories #1

Published:  7 Jan 2010 by Angry Robot

Length: 416 pages

Warnings: violence 13+

Source:Library

Other info: The others in this series are called Camera Obscura and The Great Game.

Summary : A masked terrorist has brought London to its knees -- there are bombs inside books, and nobody knows which ones. On the day of the launch of the first expedition to Mars, by giant cannon, he outdoes himself with an audacious attack. For young poet Orphan, trapped in the screaming audience, it seems his destiny is entwined with that of the shadowy terrorist, but how? Like a steam-powered take on V for Vendetta, rich with satire and slashed through with automatons, giant lizards, pirates, airships and wild adventure, The Bookman is the first of a series. File under: Steampunk, Serial killer, Alternate Victorian London, Exploding Book,  Historical Crime

Review: Orphan is a lizard boy, living in London. One night, his girlfriend Lucy is killed by a bomb, planted by the Bookman. Understandably, Orphan is upset, and therefore he sets out on a quest to find the truth. said quest takes him pretty much everywhere, and he ends up learning a lot more than he thought he would along the way.

The blurb does give quite a lot of where he goes on this quest away, which isn’t something I really like. But still, it was a fun ride, seeing what he’d learn on each of the stops. Something new happens at pretty much every turn, so there’s always something you want to find out.

Orphan was very different from how I had expected when I read the blurb, looked at the cover, and decided to read this. This is because no-where gave the hint about his being a lizard boy. It was an interesting facet of his character, which I got used to quicker than I thought I would.

I love the mix of characters in this. There are real-life (well, dead now) authors, actors and other people,  and yet some rather prominent figures, such as the Prime Minister and a police inspector, are well-known fictional characters, in this case, James Moriarty and Irene Adler. Oh, and the royalty are also lizards. Points for that.

I really liked Orphan, but I never felt that close to him for some reason. Maybe it’s his being a lizard, or being male. I don’t know.

At the beginning of each chapter is a relevant quote from all sorts of literature. There’s some from poems, some from short stories, and some from essays(I think). These were an interesting addition, which added a little something to each chapter.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a good mix of all kinds of things, rolled into adventure in an alternative Victorian age.

Links: Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads | Author website | 

Death Books and Tea turns ONE!!! International Giveaways ahead...

Ok, well technically, we turned one YESTERDAY. But all we did that first day, was a little welcome post that I don't really think counted. Our first review, of Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan, was posted a year ago today, and so that's why we're saying it's here.

So, yay! We've done quite well... actually did a whole load of stuff. Kept up with our reviews (kind of), kept up with our tea (also kind of...want a tea party any time soon?), and made a few friends (Cait, Bella, Liz, Raimy and others) along the way! It's been so much easier and everyone's so much nicer than we thought they would be.


<a href="http://deathbooksandtea.blogspot.com" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxxVglwoVmcY8e3gpPBB-sNDBqoFd_hresBnH4VpKdYfg0J4evJP7INfgxJVs2W5mUVJrCGFUMEWxys9879JnvB0WfVnT4TkCsmW3vq87okKPoKWrGuV-mEieSRXfypUetzwY8L__Mtfs/s320/5.jpg" width="320" /></a>


Anyway...to celebrate, we're having a giveaway! It's international (well, wherever The Book Depository ships, which is pretty much worldwide), and the prize is... Choice of books up to £12. Which, due to cheap prices, should be enough for two books! Or one really expensive book. The only rule is that one of them must have been featured on Death Books and Tea, either by cover features, Waiting on Wednesdays, or reviews. The other one(s, if you can find a great bargain) can be anything you like. You must be 13 or over, live somewhere where The Book Depository ships, and the giveaway ends in three weeks, on 15 March.

Enter with the rafflecopter form below...

Waiting on Wednesday #35 Pods by Michelle Pickett + Other stuff...

Oh, before we start, I’d like to say thank you to those who entered the Witchblood giveaway! The winner was Tamara! Email will be sent once I’ve sorted it all out with Emma.  Thank you to all that entered... And onwards...

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:  Pods
Author:  Michelle K Pickett
Release Date: 1 June 2013
Link to / Summary from Goodreads: Seventeen-year-old Eva is a chosen one. Chosen to live, while others meet a swift and painful death from an incurable virus so lethal, a person is dead within days of symptoms emerging. In the POD system, a series of underground habitats built by the government, she waits with the other chosen for the deadly virus to claim those above. Separated from family and friends, it’s in the PODs she meets David. And while true love might not conquer all, it’s a balm for the broken soul.  After a year, scientists believe the population has died, and without living hosts, so has the virus. That’s the theory, anyway. But when the PODs are opened, survivors find the surface holds a vicious secret. The virus mutated, infecting those left top-side and creating... monsters. 
Eva and David hide from the infected in the abandoned PODs. Together they try to build a life--a new beginning. But the infected follow and are relentless in their attacks. Leaving Eva and David to fight for survival, and pray for a cure.
Why I want it:  The whole idea to it is really cool.  And the monsters look interesting.... The only problem? The ridiculously long wait.

What are YOU waiting on this week?

Some other things....

I’m giving up book buying for Lent. Kind of. Apart from my week in France. I can buy any book in the French language that I want. I can also buy books for other people (think giveaway winners), provided I don’t get to read them myself. And to make up for the week in France, the week after Easter I won’t be buying anything either. I also won’t be making my library buy anything during this time either. Go me. Not that I’ll be short of stuff to read. *looks at kindle and pile on shelf*...

And... tomorrow is my blogoversary!  Two international giveaways running....check back!