Pretty Bad Things by CJ Skuse

Description:


"Wonder Twins" on the run--and running amok--in Vegas. Road Trip!

Paisley and Beau are boldface names again. Last time, paparazzi called them the "Wonder Twins," two kids found alone but alive in the woods of exotic New Jersey. Three days after their mom's death -- and before their dad's criminal misdeeds.

Flash-forward to now: Their so-called lives? Suck out loud: Hating on their cougarized, Botoxic grandma, they're totally clueless about the location of ex-con Daddy. Till they discover a stash of old letters. That's when they decide to jack the Pontiac and hit the road. Holding up donut shops in Sin City might seem extreme, but if they can just get their pretty bad faces back on TV -- or TMZ -- they might wrap up their whole gaga saga with an Oprah-worthy reunion already!

Epic Wins:

• Beau is the incredibly good looking guy who isn’t even aware that fact. He loves to read and is slightly shy.
• Paisley is the opposite of Beau, she is load and gets what she wants. She is very similar to a fire cracker. The thing I loved about her was that she was loyal and fights to the bitter end.
• Las Vegas, the setting, was brought to life through the eyes of Beau and Paisley as they hit the town.
• The author’s wit just shines through in this book, so funny.
• The voices are realistic and dynamic. I loved the point-of-view switching, which was seamless.
• The concept of going so far to find their dad and by going so far I mean robbing all the sweet joints in Las Vegas.
• I thought it was funny how they stole all this candy, donuts, ice cream, and popcorn then just gave it away.
• The characters both manage to grow up with in the story. Beau realizes that he can be tough and it dawns on Paisley that she can be scared and cry.
• These characters do some pretty bad things but I was glad to see their hearts in the right place, intentions always good.

Epic Fails:

• Skank-mother (as Paisley calls her), their grandmother She was so full of greed and anger it was pathetic.
• There was a lot of language, a lot of F-bombs.
• The ending was a letdown. It just didn’t answer the burning questions. Where is the epilogue?

Overall:

This novel was a bright story about a couple of siblings that chase after the ways of the infamous Bonnie and Clyde. They hit up Las Vegas while looking for their father and discover something about themselves in the mix. 

just sayin,

-Kare

Daily Dose 33

Daily dose is a meme hosted by Good Golly Miss Holly 

Things that make me Smile Edition

What inspires you?

just sayin,

-Kare

Girl Wonder by Alexa Martin

Description:

As if transferring senior year weren't hard enough, Charlotte Locke has been bumped to lower level classes at her new school. With no friends, a terrible math SAT score, and looming college application deadlines, the future is starting to seem like an oncoming train for which she has no ticket.

Then Amanda enters her orbit like a hot-pink meteor, offering Charlotte a ticket to something else: popularity. Amanda is fearless, beautiful, brilliant, and rich. As her new side kick, Charlotte is brought into the elite clique of the debate team—and closer to Neal, Amanda's equally brilliant friend and the most perfect boy Charlotte has ever seen.

But just when senior year is looking up, Charlotte’s life starts to crumble. The more things heat up between Charlotte and Neal, the more Neal wants to hide their relationship. Is he ashamed? Meanwhile, Amanda is starting to act strangely competitive, and she's keeping a secret Charlotte doesn't want to know.

Talented newcomer Alexa Martin delivers a poignant story of first love, jealousy and friendship, where the ups and downs of senior year have never been so complicated. What else can Charlotte do but throw her hands up and ride?

Epic Wins:

• The first half of the book Charlotte’s life falls apart in the second half she is figuring a way to sew it back together.
• This book a great illustration of real life, we make mistakes sometimes and then we suffer the consequences but somehow there is still a light at the end of the tunnel.
• I was in a reading slump when I picked Girl Wonder up, soon I found myself wrapped up in the plot and the characters, I just couldn't put it down.
• Charlotte- She was easy to connect with because she was an English nerd, she sucked at math, and she was confused about life.
• Milton, aka mushroom boy man, after everything, after all her mistakes were laid out he is the sort of light that she needs. I was pretty much rooting for him from page one.
• James Henry- This kid is going places! He is her little brother but a total genius. He was sarcastically humorous and he could cook.
• The complete difference between Char’s relationship with Neal and her relationship with Milton, it was basically day and night.
• The writing was smooth and precise, almost silky (does that make sense?). Nonetheless it was brilliant.

Epic Fails:

• I wasn't an Amanda fan she was bossy and a bad influence on Char.
• Neal kept there relationship a secret when Char wanted to scream it to anyone who would listen. That’s just not right.
• The sex, drugs, smoking, and the results of those actions.

Overall:

A story about a girl trying to find her way through life, stumbling and picking herself back up, truly great.

just sayin,

-Kare

Daughter of Smoke and Bones by Laini Taylor

Description:

Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?


Epic Wins:

• Karou is quite a complex character, to be honest it is hard to even put her into words. It has to go like this I suppose: kick-butt, artist, and has hair that grows blue.
• Zuzana is one of those best friends that wont take "No" or "Errands" for an answer.
• Akiva can be described in one word, heart-broken (Technically that's two though...) He grew up with war and pain so much so that he is pretty much an expert now.
• The way Karou is pulled to Akiva and the way their relationship flows.
• Taylor manages such a great tale about hope, magic, pain, and love that spirals into you brain. You just can't look away.
• Zuzana and Mik- They aren't magical and they have no wings, but what they do have is love, a love that is strong but simple.
• Brimstone, I like to think, plays a huge a part in story and on top of that he was pretty much Karou's father figure.
• Her family, not biological but none-the-less family, cared so much about her. I loved the way they took care of her even though she wasn't really family they still treated her that way.
• The idea of the Chimera- Human and animal mash ups- was really quite fascinating and vivid.
• The war between "Angels" and "Demons" was sad and destructive but in a round about way it helped things happen that might not have in another situation.
• Madrigal was amazingly strong and abounding in a never ending hope.

Epic Fails:

• There were a few scenes that concerned me, sex and nudity, that I wish hadn't been there. Nothing in detail thank goodness.

Overall:
A story toppling over with mystery, secrets, hope, pain, magic, and hair that grows blue. I can't wait for the next one!!

just sayin,
-Kare

Daily Dose 32

Daily dose is a meme hosted by Good Golly Miss Holly 

The I am really loving doodles Edition

What inspires you?

just sayin,

-Kare

RCL Read-a-thon Challenge 2

Just come up with a playlist or song that goes with your favorite book or the book you are currently reading.

My Playlist for Sorta Like a Rock Star:

Roll With Punches by Lenka

Pocket Full of Sunshine by Natasha Beingfield 

Waste by Foster the People

just sayin,

-Kare

RCL Read-a-thon Challenge 1

If you could create your own required reading list, what books would you put on it? 

My Required Reading List

The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandi Nelson

Sorta like a Rock Star by Mathew Quick

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Night by Elie Wiesel

Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsay Leavitt

Willow by Julia Hoban

Past Perfect by Lelia Sales

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

just sayin,

-Kare

RCL's Back to School Read-a-thon

They are having challenges and all kinds of giveaways!! Want to find out more? Click on that nifty picture and it will take you to Narnia... um I mean their site.

So many, many books so little time...

Kare-
As far as reading goals go I am setting my goal at three. Who knows if I'll even read one...BUT I shall set goals (whether I achieve them is totally irrelevant :) !!


I am not even going to list the books I hope to read because it always changes. To start with I am  reading Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (which is totally creepy in the best way!!)

This is my kind of camping :)

Dallin-
Was going to participate but realized he was going camping which means he probably won't get any reading done. 


just sayin,
-Kare

A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

Epic Wins:

• Rose- Complex heroine. She is butt-kick in her own way. Doubt be her downfall but that makes her easy to relate to.
• Otto- Intreging. He is just as complex as rose. He genuinely cares for Rose in a sweet way. They are friends but could become more with time. He is my favortie!!
• Zavior- Her adorable dog named after her old boyfriend.
• Xavior- The old boyfriend. As Rose unburys her past you see just how much he ment to her. They just know eachother so well.
• It's a futuristic Sleeping Beauty. Take one part original sleeping beauty fairy tale and add crazy cool technology. Mix well.
• Words- You know how we say words like epic and our parents said things like groovy? In this future they have there own words which include but are not limited to: Coit, Sky, Burn (ing, er). I thought this was a cool thing because in the future I expect the next generation will come up with their own words.
• The Gadgets: Stass tubes (sleeping machine/ Human Freezer), Limoskins (hover limos), Notescreans (like a computer or laptop), and cells (holographic cell phone). These are just a few but I liked the idea of one day getting to use something like that.
• Bren- He is really nice to her but I think of them as just friends.
• I just love the concept its so original and refreshing. . I can't believe how smooth the transition from fairy tale to science fiction was.
• The writing was [incert word that means epic]. I was hooked by the characters and setting and oh just everything!
• There were some twists I saw comming but others sort of walked up to me and waved there arms for hours and finally smacked my forehead. I got the messeage.
• Rosie has this amazing passion for art.

Epic Fails:

• The shiny plastic guy bent on killing Rose.
• Rose's 'care takers', they were sort of creepy. She always felt like she wasn't safe when around them. Awkward.
• Her parents REALLY messed her up, basically it was abuse.  I can't say I liked them too much.

Quotes:

"My name is Rosealina Samantha Fitzroy. I am 100 years old. I am free, but I am haunted. But if nothing else I am wide awake."

"..the unfathomable abyss inside your soul..."

Overall:

So Stacey from Flippin Fabulous mentioned that she totally loved the book so I decided to check it out. Oh man, I am so glad I did. A tale of struggles, finding who you are, and that you have a voice.

just sayin,
-Kare

Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik

Description:

At Coral Tree Prep in Los Angeles, who your parents are can make or break you. Case in point: 

• As the son of Hollywood royalty, Derek Edwards is pretty much prince of the school—not that he deigns to acknowledge many of his loyal subjects. 

• As the daughter of the new principal, new-girl-on-campus Elise Benton isn’t exactly on everyone’s must-sit-next-to-at-lunch list. 

When Elise’s beautiful sister catches the eye of the prince’s best friend, Elise gets to spend a lot of time with Derek, making her the envy of every girl. Except she refuses to fall for any of his rare smiles and instead warms up to his enemy, the surprisingly charming social outcast Webster Grant. But in this hilarious tale of fitting in and flirting, not all snubs are undeserved, not all celebrity brats are bratty, and pride and prejudice can get in the way of true love for only so long. Fans of Susane Colasanti (When It Happens), Polly Shulman (Enthusiasm), and, of course, Jane Austen will love finding out if Elise’s love life will be an epic win or an epic fail.


Epic Wins:

• Heck it's called Epic Fail what more do you need? Oh you want a retelling of Jane Austen's epic book Pride and Prejudice too? Well then wish granted!!
• Shall I write an ode to the cover? No? Okay!! Lets just talk about it's palpable awesomeness. Can't you feel it? It's like right there. *points up*
• Steps taken to get Epic Fail: 1. Take Pride and Prejudiced  by Jane Austen 2. Push the refresh button 3. Add a sprinkle of Epic  4. Enjoy!
• Lizzy Bennett is one of my favorite literary characters. One of those characters that goes against society rules and speaks her mind. Elise is a type or shadow of Lizzy. When you describe Lizzy you are describing Elise.
• The vaguely familiar plot but with refreshing twists from present times.  This novel proves that what Jane Austen wrote years ago can still apply today... in epic ways. 
• I rather loved Derek the way one would love Darcy. :D
• One of my favorite falling-in-love scenarios is the hate-turned-love because it allows the character to actually fall in love (I'd say it's the opposite of Inst-love).
• It was so cool to see Austen's character types brought to life in a modern day setting.

Number of times epic is used:
*counts* 6-7-8-9-10 *gives up* lets just call it a million!


Overall:
A bright retelling of the classic Austen book, but a with a mad dash of epic. . 


just sayin, 
-Kare

Daily Dose 31

Daily dose is a meme hosted by Good Golly Miss Holly 

The Smile Edition

What inspires you?

just sayin,

-Kare

Glimpse by Stacey Wallace Benefiel

Description:


Zellie Wells has a devastating crush on Avery Adams. At her sixteenth birthday party, held in the basement of her dad's church, she finally finds the courage to talk to him. Turns out, the devastating crush is mutual. As Avery takes her hand and leads her out onto the dance floor, Zellie is overwhelmed by her first vision of his death.

Wins:

• Avery and Zellies Relationship. It was cute in an over the top and very intense way. It was like years of like-dome coming to an abrupt halt and turning into love.
• The paranormal aspect was pretty cool, visions of death and such other peculiar scenes of the future. 
• I really loved Claire she was pushy and silly but in a way that said epic best friend. I found her to be a sort of comic relief.
• Some of the lingo- It was original crap… like some of the wacky stuff I come up with, Zellie sure had a way with wacky words.
• The switching point-of-views opened a nice window between Avery and Zellie that gave more to the story then you would think.
• Avery- The guy who has a really cute back of the head, apparently. He was a good guy I guess just a little confused at some points.
• Zellie- Was an interesting main character and like I said an original voice to be sure. 

Fails:

• Not wearing a bra and throwing your shirt off in front of a guy. Weird.
• Insta-Love- I have to say I hated that. Mostly I just hate the concept of insta-love.

Overall:

Quirky. Also: It was a quick read. SO I mean to say it was quick and quirky (really? *shakes head at silly side of the brain*) 

just sayin,
-Kare

Rosie by Mariam Maarouf

Description:


In life, nothing is the same as it seems. People create masks –identities – to hide who they really are –some for noble reasons, or nefarious ones, but only a tiny fraction because they must. 


Alessandra and Damien, or Rosalie and Daniel, were once the Princess and Prince of La Pacifica until they were forced out of the beautiful island. Eight months flew by, and they finally began to settle in Alexandria, Egypt, when they found out that they didn’t leave their past behind them, and that they were both wanted urgently. 


Dead.

Wins:

• Hardcore. Like run-for-your-life-crazy-guy-wants-you-dead status. This made it a sort of dark story.
• The different way the siblings dealt with grief. Let it out/Lock it up .
• Alexsandria- She was a delicate character. She was always wavering from okay to dreadfully sad. Even thought Damien’s intentions were noble I think he tip-toed around her too much.
• Damien- He was a rock. I know some people handle loss differently but he was really good at not letting it get to him.
• The way they had to lean on each other and except that they were all each other had.
• The twist and turns. They are severe, very severe, which always makes for a good ending.
• It was a really quick read, the plot kept moving you forward through the story.

Fails:

• So the setting was Egypt and I was a little sad that it wasn’t brought to life. I was looking forward to seeing it in my head.
• That evil person who wants them dead, yeah I didn’t like them very much.  (Well yeah who WOULD like them?)

Overall:

A great, thrilling read that keeps the heart pounding. (Uh not that most books stop the pounding, that would be bad. Reading would be very dangerous in that case...)

just sayin,
-Kare

Daily Dose (30)

Daily dose is a meme hosted by Good Golly Miss Holly 

Ferris Wheel Edition

What inspires you?

just sayin,

-Kare

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

Description:
The thrilling conclusion to #1 bestselling Shiver trilogy from Maggie Stievater
In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. In Linger, they fought to be together. Now, in Forever, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.


Report:

For this report I decided to remake the Covers of the series and tell you five things I loved most about Forever.

The Covers:

Five Things:

1. Of all the characters in Forever I enjoyed Cole the most. He is very sarcastic but very serious.
2. I thought that Maggie's writing was very intense, she had me on the edge of my seat, grasping for more of her words.
3. I was transported into the small Minnesota town of Mercy Falls, and into the magic of the wolves world.
4. It was like everything a good book should be, mystery, suspense, romance, and twists and turns that leave you gaping.
5. An epic conclusion to a dazzling series, and a bitter sweet ending.

Ratings:

Characters: 5/5

Plot: 4/5

Voice: 5/5

Intensity: 5/5

Humor: 4/5

Average:  4.6/5  -or-  23/25

A bit of news

So I got a rather epic e-mail the other day and I wanted to share with you all a bit of what it was about. It went some thing like this:

This winter, Michael has a new series coming out that was conceived not only as a book, but also as a “transmedia” experience. This may not be a familiar term to YA fans, but essentially a transmedia story is an interactive narrative told through the written word, video, puzzles, and more. But most importantly, it encourages fans to become part of the action.



I thought your readers would be interested in hearing about this new adventure that’s at the cutting edge of the digital publishing frontier. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but our tale has just gotten underway at societytwins.com and nexushumanus.com. Keep in mind that these sites are just the beginning… the intrigue unfolds from here.
 
The missing son of a U.N. diplomat... the reemergence of a strange organization... a pair of society twins caught in the middle... this is just the beginning of "Go BZRK," a new transmedia experience from author Michael Grant.


If you're ready to take the plunge in an interactive story like you've never experienced before, visit societytwins.com and register with nexushumanus.com to take your first steps in a strange and compelling universe.

Filled with video, puzzles, community collaboration, and more, "Go BZRK" puts YOU the player right in the middle of the action as you join Nexus Humanus and unravel a mystery that may hold the key to the fate of all mankind.

And then they sent me a Q and A with Michael himself, to answer some of your burning questions:

What is “Go BZRK”? Is this a book or some kind of interactive story?

Both. The book comes out this winter, but the interactive part starts now. One leads up to the other, but they're part of a complete package.
 Why “transmedia”?



There are different approaches to transmedia. Most people take a single story and reproduce it on various platforms. My philosophy has been to make each element - ARG, app, web, book - a thing unto itself, each revealing some aspect of the world of BZRK. I've been fascinated with this is as a new way to tell stories. The book remains central, but now I can reach beyond the book and create a much more complete world. I can tell stories that enhance the book, and stories that parallel the book, and stories that are offshoots of backstory. I guess the answer to "why" is "because it's fun."



Is this the future of publishing?
 I began a few years ago reaching out to publishers and saying we collectively needed to understand that the old models were dead or dying. I want publishing to survive, and of course I'd like my own career to thrive. So Egmont Publishing and my partners and I certainly hope this is a part of the future of publishing.

How long is this running? Is this part of a larger picture?

We'll be running this in several chunks between now and the book release this winter. Because these things have a hard start/stop point, August is a ramp-up phase. There'll be a lot of content coming out, but the experience really gets underway at the end of the month… just in time to distract the kids from their schoolwork.

What if someone wants to follow the story but doesn’t want to participate?

You don't have to do anything. You can do one thing and not another. But the deeper you plunge the wetter you get. I think every part of this is fun, I think people will enjoy the ARG, the app, the site and the books.

App? You've mentioned that a couple times now.

Just wait and see.



What can you tell us about the story? What is “BZRK”?

It's a battle for the soul and freedom of the human race carried out simultaneously in the world we know, and in a world that you're not going to expect. It's a world where if you make a false move, you're going to lose your mind.

Insanity… is this something you have a personal familiarity with?

The line between writer and crazy person is very thin. Both go around holding long, involved conversations with people who aren't there.



What’s this other world thing all about?



Do you really want spoilers? I'll tell you this. We'll be going "down in the meat." It's going to be vast, bloody, and beautiful.



Wait… isn’t this supposed to be for kids?



Adults like to flatter themselves that kids won't get, won't understand, won't be able to handle, more intense, more complex stories. That's nonsense. It's the adults who are easy to creep out or scare. Say the word "biopsy" in a room full of adults. Or "audit." See? Easy to scare. Kids are a tougher audience because kids think they're immortal.

I don't know about you but I am pretty stinkin' excited about the whole thing. Enjoy!!

just sayin,
-Kare