February 28, 2018

Can't Wait Wednesday [#11]

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight the books we are eagerly awaiting. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

The Reckoning of Noah Shaw (The Shaw Confessions #2)

Author: Michelle Hodkin

Expected Publication Date: November 13, 2018

Noah Shaw confesses all in this second novel of a chilling new companion series to Michelle Hodkin’s New York Timesbestselling Mara Dyer trilogy!

Noah Shaw doesn’t think he needs his father’s inheritance.
He does.

Noah believes there’s something off about the suicides in his visions.
There is.

Noah is convinced that he still knows the real Mara Dyer.
He does not.

Everyone thought the nightmare had ended with Mara Dyer’s memoirs, but it was only the beginning. As old skeletons are laid bare, alliances will be tested, hearts will be broken, and no one will be left unscarred.

I absolutely loved The Becoming of Noah Shaw! Even more than I liked the Mara Dyer books if I'm completely honest. I'm super excited for this book! I CAN NOT WAIT to see what happens next!!! 

What can't you wait for this week?

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February 21, 2018

Cover Reveal: The Reckoning of Noah Shaw by Michelle Hodkin

Noah Shaw confesses all in this second novel of a chilling new companion series to Michelle Hodkin’s New York Timesbestselling Mara Dyer trilogy!

Noah Shaw doesn’t think he needs his father’s inheritance.

He does.

Noah believes there’s something off about the suicides in his visions.

There is.

Noah is convinced that he still knows the real Mara Dyer.

He does not. 

Everyone thought the nightmare had ended with Mara Dyer’s memoirs, but it was only the beginning. As old skeletons are laid bare, alliances will be tested, hearts will be broken, and no one will be left unscarred.

Expected Publication Date: November 13, 2018

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November 13, 2017

Review: The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

The Retribution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #3)
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: November 4, 2014
Pages: 470
Format: Hardcover/Own

Mara Dyer wants to believe there's more to the lies she’s been told.
There is.

She doesn’t stop to think about where her quest for the truth might lead.
She should.

She never had to imagine how far she would go for vengeance.
She will now.

Loyalties are betrayed, guilt and innocence tangle, and fate and chance collide in this shocking conclusion to Mara Dyer’s story.

Retribution has arrived.

Review: You can definitely see how Mara changes and adapts in this book. She wakes up weak and drugged up in Horizons. She can't use her power, or even control her own body with what she's been put on. Its extremely unnerving for her. But by the end of the book, she's killed people with her power and without. She went from being scared of hurting someone because of what she could do, to intentionally doing it. After all she's gone through, she's changed 100% percent. She no longer fears the people tormenting her. She knows she has more power than them and uses it to her advantage, even though this causes a rift in a friendship.

One of the things I enjoyed about this book was the before chapters. We get a lot of Mara's grandmothers story. We see how she came to know the Shaw family originally, how she came to the states, how exactly her life actually intertwined with Noah's mothers. Despite the before chapters being a bit slow and not contributing a whole lot in the first few sections, it was necessary for background and fully made up for with the information we learned. We learned through Mara's grandmother, that Noah was fully planned and intentionally conceived. He was made with a plan to end the Hero/Shadow cycle and make the world better. His gift was also known. He wasn't just born with it randomly. He was made because of that gift it was known he was going to have. Poor Noah. He was pretty much born for a certain reason and was supposed to have no choice in whether he carried it out. Obviously though, things do not work out like others have planned. You can't stop a persons free will.

*Spoilers* We also learn that Noah's father is behind all the torture Mara went through. He hired all the people who tortured her, including Dr. Kells. He was the reason she endured so much. He is an awful person. What's even worse is Jude sided with and helped Noah's dad with this stuff. It was 100% awful. Speaking of Dr. Kells and Jude though, we learn something interesting. Dr. Kells maiden name is Lowe. As in the same Lowe that is Jude Lowe. Come to find out, Dr. Kells kept adopting twins with the anomaly and kept trying to trigger it and make them manifest, hoping to make someone like Noah. She kept killing groups of twins doing this until she got to Jude and Claire. She got it to work on Jude without him dying afterwards. However, she never predicted that his manifestation would cause him to be so dark and awful. She created a monster in him. I was shocked learning about what she did.

I have to say, I was slightly disappointed with the ending. I expected the scene with Mara killing Jude and Noah dying and Mara bringing him back to be more action filled. Instead it was just kinda dragging along. She triggered Judes death like she did many other peoples, instead of torturing him. And Noah, she was devastated when he was killed, but her bringing him back didn't seem to have a big reaction. It was like, yes he's alive! But that was it. I really expected these scenes to be better than they were.

I do have to say, I did love the Mara/Noah scenes at the end. I loved that they chose their love for each other over everything else. After all the stuff they both endured, it was nice seeing them really genuinely happy being together.

4 Stars!

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November 11, 2017

Stacking The Shelves [#75]/Sunday Post [#6]/Mailbox Monday [#6]

Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality as a way to share all the books we got during the week!

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer. Its a weekly post to showcase what books you got, recap the week, and talk about what will be coming up this week on the blog!

Mailbox Monday is hosted on its own site. It is there to show off the books acquired during the week!

So no new books this week. Probably a good thing as I have books I need to catch up on anyways. 

Weekly Recap:

New Release: Week of November 7, 2017

Can't-Wait Wednesday [#3] - Say You'll Remember Me by Katie McGarry

Reviews:

The Becoming of Noah Shaw (The Shaw Confessions #1) by Michelle Hodkin

So yay! I got Noah Shaw read and reviewed like promised! However, if you guys noticed, it ended up being a day late. If you follow the blogs Facebook page I gave a quick update why. Computer issues... Yay.... We love those huh??? (SARCASM) Lol.

So I've been using my fiances laptop for everything the past few months. His has been more reliable than mine. So on Tuesday, when I planned on doing my review. I ended up with it crashing and constantly restarting trying to fix the issue. Eventually it seemed to have repaired it. So I was able to finally get the review up a day late on Wednesday. Well, his laptop started doing its issue again Friday, and added a new issue to it (OH JOY). Now I can't even do anything really without it crashing and restarting. It is an almost 5 year old laptop (though fully updated with Windows 10), so I don't blame it breaking, it just sucks!!!! 

So where does this leave me? Well currently, I'm back on my own laptop. I stopped using it because it was being incredibly slow and has some issue I'm not sure about. Honestly, I think my laptop just needs Windows 10 freshly reinstalled to fix the issues, but I have to take it to Best Buy to get that done. It's working ok at the moment with me on it (multiple updates seemed to have fixed some of the slowness), but we'll probably be taking it in this week to get its issue fixed (its still under warranty and everything) so I can have it working faster and correctly again. So until then I'm dealing with the slowness, or using my fiances desktop computer when he's not on it. We'll probably take his laptop in as well with mine but I'm doubtful they are gonna be able to fix his. :( Looks like he'll need a new one come tax time. I'll be doing my best to still get stuff up though until my laptop is fixed! 

In other news, we've narrowed our wedding venues down to 3 options. And they are some of the few venues under $3,000 around us with good packages (good amounts of stuff included). So that's pretty exciting! 

Upcoming:

Review of The Retribution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #3) by Michelle Hodkin - This was meant to go up this past week, but between computer issues and school work, it's been delayed. :( This week for sure though!!!!! :D 

Review of The Forever Song (Blood of Eden #3) by Julie Kagawa - I've been in a mood for this book lately so I'll definitely be getting it read! 

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November 08, 2017

Review: The Becoming of Noah Shaw by Michelle Hodkin

The Becoming of Noah Shaw (The Shaw Confessions #1)
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: November 8, 2017
Pages: 384
Format: Galley/Netgalley

In the first book of the Shaw Confessions, the companion series to the New York Times bestselling Mara Dyer novels, old skeletons are laid bare and new promises prove deadly. This is what happens after happily ever after.

Everyone thinks seventeen-year-old Noah Shaw has the world on a string.

They’re wrong.

Mara Dyer is the only one he trusts with his secrets and his future.

He shouldn’t.

And both are scared that uncovering the truth about themselves will force them apart.

They’re right.

Review: Oh my god! I loved this book so much! So, I really want to keep this review spoiler free so I might be a bit vague about a few things. But trust me, you definitely want to experience this book and it's shocking moments when you read it, not in a review. So small bit of info, you should read all the Mara Dyer books before this to fully understand things happening. I actually haven't completely. I'm in the middle of Retribution (book 3), so I've read enough of it to understand the referenced things generally. So I wasn't missing much information. However, remember all those before notes, letters and chapters in Retribution?? We get to see a different side of that in this book. And we get to see how they end up coming to the main story!

Noah Shaw! I honestly think I enjoyed reading from his point of view more than Mara's. Don't get me wrong. I love the Mara Dyer books, but I just generally think I liked Noah's point of view a little bit better. I felt so bad every time we were with Noah when he was experiencing another Gifted's death. You couldn't help but feel awful every time he was seeing a death and couldn't do a thing to stop it. I could not imagine being in his shoes. What made things worse for him was that he knew these people had gifts like him, and he couldn't figure out why others like him were dying. On top of all this he was still dealing with everything regarding his father and his "research." Poor Noah was juggling so much.

The majority of the book revolves around trying to find out why other gifted are going missing and dying and who else in general has a gift. Come to find out, two more people really close to the Shaw and Dyer families had hidden gifts, one not knowing he had one, and one knowing and intentionally hiding it from them. We also catch up with friends from the Mara Dyer books. One being helpful to Noah and Mara, one not. Mentioned person who is not causes a lot of drama and issues throughout this book, including one of the huge scenes at the end. But throughout this book we see some new gifts come to light, new secrets revealed, and a lot of changes within many of our favorite characters due to their trauma and experiences with their gifts.

I really liked Daniel in this book. We see him really be like the brother Noah never had. And we even see Noah be exactly that for Daniel in return after the huge betrayal Daniel experienced from one of the people closest to him. And whats worse, is the ending. I have no idea how poor Daniel is going to handle what happened at the ending once he finds out about it. He will definitely need Noah's support. 

And Mara. Mara Mara Mara. My feelings about her are all over the place in this book. I loved the happy, loving, caring scenes between her and Noah in this book. But I also couldn't shake her actions. Hiding stuff from Noah. After all she went through and she still hides things from the person she loves. Not to mention she was always a prime suspect in the deaths that were happening. And she always acted differently regarding it. She would deny it sometimes, or just not say anything at all, but she seemed to be the most suspicious of the group regarding the people dying. She never had a straightforward reaction regarding it. She was just different from the Mara we used to know. 

The ending. I still do not know how to react to the ending of this book. Lets just say all the things that happened at the end are setting up for an incredibly interesting next book. It was not my favorite ending, but a good one still. I am incredibly excited for the next book because I sense it will have a lot of interesting things going on! 

5 Stars!

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November 04, 2017

Stacking The Shelves [#74]/Sunday Post [#5]/Mailbox Monday [#5]

Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality as a way to share all the books we got during the week!

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer. Its a weekly post to showcase what books you got, recap the week, and talk about what will be coming up this week on the blog!

Mailbox Monday is hosted on its own site. It is there to show off the books acquired during the week!

So I just got one book this week. From NetGalley!

The Becoming of Noah Shaw (The Shaw Confessions #1) by Michelle Hodkin (Goodreads)

You guys have no idea how excited I was to see I got approved for this!!!! It's like my most anticipated release this year!!! I've already started it! So far so good!! Look for my review on Tuesday, it's release day! 

Weekly Recap:

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Halloween Reads

New Releases: Week of October 31, 2017

2017 Dystopia Reading Challenge: 3rd Quarter Update

Can't Wait Wednesday [#2] - Restore Me (Shatter Me #4) by Tahereh Mafi

November 2017 TBR Pile

Reviews:

Into The Still Blue (Under The Never Sky #3) by Veronica Rossi

So I only got to read one book this week. Unfortunately, Halloween night I got sick. My daughter and my fiance got a really mild cold with just some coughing and sneezing. Somehow mom got it 10x worse. I ended up not only with the coughing and sneezing, but also a sore throat and Halloween night, a fever of 100.3. Both of them are fine now but I'm still sick. No more fever though! Just trying to get rid of this sore throat and stuffy nose. But getting sick definitely put a damper on my week. I've been so out of it that I couldn't focus on reading the book I started until today. But at least my sweet little kitty has been by my side. He has literally been laying right next to me all week since I got sick keeping an eye on me and trying to make me feel better. He's such a sweet little guy. So I had to put off my second review I wanted to do this week. I'm looking for it to be up Sunday or Monday now instead.

But in the midst of getting sick I did get some good news! I found out I passed my midterm with a 77% for my math class!!! I was super stressing about it. I struggled on it. My college has a policy that you have to pass your math tests with a 68% average or higher to pass the class regardless of the rest of the grades in the class. So I was stressing that I wasn't gonna get a high enough grade to help my test average. Lets just say a huge weight got lifted when I found out I got a 77%. 

Also, since I was sick, I just laid around and rested, so I started planning my daughters birthday party!!! She turns 3 in exactly one month (December 4th). I made the Facebook event for her party, and have a good idea of the decorations I wanna get/make for her party thanks to Pinterest. 

Since I got sick on Halloween we didn't get to do all the stuff we were gonna do for festivities. I did manage to make fun pudding cups with worms (like worms are coming out of the ground) before the sick overcame me. Lol. However we didn't get to decorate our pumpkin shaped cookies, and I fell asleep halfway through movies. We were watching IT (the original, not the new one). I do have a picture of the pudding cups! 

Coming Up This Week:

Review of The Retribution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #3) by Michelle Hodkin

Review of The Becoming of Noah Shaw (The Shaw Confessions #1) by Michelle Hodkin (On Tuesday, it's release date)

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October 11, 2017

Waiting On Wednesday [#107]

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

The Becoming of Noah Shaw (The Shaw Confessions #1)

Author: Michelle Hodkin

Expected Publication: November 7, 2017

In the first book of the Shaw Confessions, the companion series to the New York Times bestselling Mara Dyer novels, old skeletons are laid bare and new promises prove deadly. This is what happens after happily ever after.

Everyone thinks seventeen-year-old Noah Shaw has the world on a string.

They’re wrong.

Mara Dyer is the only one he trusts with his secrets and his future.

He shouldn’t.

And both are scared that uncovering the truth about themselves will force them apart.

They’re right.

So I love the Mara Dyer books! I got incredibly excited when I saw we were gonna get Noah Shaw books as well!!! This is probably the book I'm most looking forward to this year!!! :D

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January 15, 2013

Cover Reveal: The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

 The Retribution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #3) by Michelle Hodkin

AHHHHHHHH!!! I don't think I can describe my excitement over this cover! I love this cover so much!!!! It definitely fits better with the first cover of the trilogy. I wasn't as big of a fan of Evolutions cover because it didn't go as well with the Unbecoming. Though this one fits so well with the first one and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I think this is going to be my fave cover of all three books. I love how it looks more like the first but I also love how its lighter in color and the pose on the cover. I just love this cover! Lol. The Retribution of Mara Dyer's expected publication is October 22, 2013!

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December 01, 2012

Review: The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

The Evolution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #2)
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: October 23, 2012
Pages: 544
Source: Hardcover/Own

Mara Dyer once believed she could run from her past.

She can’t.

She used to think her problems were all in her head.

They aren’t.

She couldn’t imagine that after everything she’s been through, the boy she loves would still be keeping secrets.

She’s wrong.

In this gripping sequel to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, the truth evolves and choices prove deadly. What will become of Mara Dyer next?

Review: Man. This book... SOOOOO SOOOO GOOD!!!!!! I absolutely loved the first one but this book took the trilogy to new heights. I have to admit. When I first finished the book I was absolutely speechless. I couldn't even begin to put my emotions into words. But I let the book settle with me for a day or so and I think I can talk about it now. Lol. I'll try and keep this review spoiler free. I think I should start with Mara. She wakes up in a mental hospital (though they wont call it that). I felt so bad for her. She wasn't seeing things, Jude was alive, but all everyone else thought was that she's crazy because they all thought he was dead and she was going through a bad spot in her PTSD. I really felt for her. The only person that believed her was Noah. YAY NOAH! I'm so glad she had him through everything. He was pretty much her rock while she thought she was losing it. Especially when Mara started finding things in her bag, room, porch etc. She knew it was Jude behind all the crazy things that were happening to her. But the only person she had to tell was Noah. Her own family wouldn't believe her about anything. I was so glad Noah was helping her figure things out though. Though I think they just unearthed more questions about everything than answers.But still Noah was so dedicated to being with her, helping her and just being her support system when no one else was. I seriously love Noah!!!! 

Jude. I knew he was alive. I knew Mara was right. I was just having such a hard time figuring out why he was there. And how he was managing to get into Mara's house and do things. We found out that he stole one of her brothers house keys but Mara wasn't sure she remembered how he could of. So they weren't sure of that for a bit. But then it came together and they just knew he had it. It wasn't until the end of the book that you really find out why Jude is there. Also. Dr. Kells (I think that's her name). I had a bad feeling about her for some reason from the start. I didn't know why also until the end but I just knew something was off with her. I just didn't know how off. I seriously couldn't believe the things she was doing and the fact that she knew a certain person was alive even though she was counseling Mara to believe differently (though it didn't work at all!) That ending was MIND BLOWING! Seriously. That ending... WOW! I seriously did not see that coming but boy was it good. I couldn't believe how many other people have abilities like Noah and Mara and they just didn't know about it until they started suspecting it at the end. Though I do have to say. I don't believe the person they are claiming as dead is dead. Its just not possible. No. It cant be. I wont let it be. These books wouldn't be these books without said person. SO I believe he's alive and their just saying he's dead to get in Mara's head. That's my assumption. Because the alternative just cant be real. I seriously cant wait for The Retribution of Mara Dyer!!!!!!!! 

5 Stars!

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November 27, 2012

Teaser Tuesday [#67]

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Anyone can play along! just do the following:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3. Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
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!)
4. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

1. "His words drained the blood from my face."

2. "They didn't find complete remains for any of the-for Rachel, Claire or Jude. But they did find-they found his hands, Mara."

pg. 21 of "The Evolution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #2)" by Michelle Hodkin

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April 24, 2012

Waiting On Wednesday [#36]

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

The Evolution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #2)
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Expected Publication: October 23, 2012

Two days after Mara walks into a police station in Miami at the close of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, she is committed for psychiatric treatment for what her parents believe is a mental breakdown. But what seems like a hallucination to everyone else is a chilling reality for Mara. Someone from her past has discovered her strange, disturbing secret and that someone wants her to pay. But she's about to discover that the price is more than she can bear.

Dark and thrilling, suspenseful and passionate, The Evolution of Mara Dyer will have readers breathlessly turning pages to find out what will become of Mara Dyer next.

I loved The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer! I'm super excited for this book especially after the ending of the first one! I know those of you that have read it agree with me am I right???

What are you waiting on?

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