Top Ten of 2012 {Day 2}: Best Book Covers of 2012

Top 10 of 2012 will be five days of top ten bookish lists on this last week of 2012!

This post is a day late because I spent my Christmas un-wired from the internet. I admit, I judge books by their covers. If I'm just traipsing around in the bookstore without a specific title in mind, it is the cover that gravitates me towards buying a book or not, and this year, I certainly did a fair amount of drooling over book covers (No, I didn't. That would be gross and, worse, sacrilegious.)

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi (review)

   Ah, this book made it to my 'best reads' list, too. Something about being beautiful inside and out, yeah? You might not appreciate this piece of gorgeous until you see it in person, though. And the sequel's cover? Even better.

Reaping Me Softly by Kate Evangelista

   Look at that dress. Look at that cage. Look at those butterflies. Look at those beautiful shades of blue! *_*

 Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

   I'm starting to see a pattern here. Blue love, anyone? But this one stands out with the way the girl seems to be either materialising or disintegrating. And the typography, god!

The Story of Us by Deb Caletti

   A sheer, flowy dress + the sun + the beach always equates to WIN! for me ♥

The Selection by Kiera Cass
   I'm not the dress-wearing type of girl - more so gown-wearing - but this one just makes me want to dig up my heels from where they're buried and waltz around everywhere. Disappointed with the dress in the sequel's cover, though :(

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
   This may not be a popular choice, but I think the colors mix really well - or at least better than in Divergent - with that withering tree and the color and typography of the title.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
   I love this cover so much - as much as I disdain the US cover - that I asked my sister to buy it for me in London, and now sits in my TBR pile, hihi. Also, I love fierce, sword-wielding females and white/silver/blue hair.

The Diviners by Libba Bray (review)
   Probably another unpopular choice, yeah? I don't know, I just love how occult that cover is.

Black City by Elizabeth Richards
   I think it's obvious that what makes this cover mind-shattering is, well, the shattering rose. Seriously, wow.

  
The Forsaken by Lisa M. Stasse
   Oh man. Look at that perfection. For me, this is the best book cover in this list, hands down. It looks so sleek and professionally-made *w*

Book Review: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares - Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Title: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

Author: Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Release Date: October 26th 2010

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Source: Bought (paperback)

Goodreads

"I've left some clues for you.
If you want them, turn the page.
If you don't, put the book back on the shelf, please." 

So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the bestselling authors of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a cosmic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

I'm not usually one for themed reads, but during a storm back in August, I snuggled with such a great book that was set in Christmas, and I knew I had to read it again during the appropriate holiday. 

Practically a self-made orphan for Christmas, Dash is strolling in his favorite hangout spot, the Strand, when he spots a red notebook peeking out from in between the familiar spines on a top shelf. He climbs up for it, not knowing that it's the key to his most memorable Christmas yet.

I like adventures, drama, and heavy stakes, but what I really love is a fun, light, whirlwind romance between two smart and unsuspecting people, and that's exactly what this book holds. Set all over Christmastime New York, Dash and Lily's adventures towards one another are gush-inducing and stomach-butterfly-summoning.

But aside from the unusual mode of transportation, what made Dash & Lily's such a wonderful read were, well, Dash and Lily. Snarly but loyal, Dash had his own hidden emotional baggage in the form of his parents, and sometimes he was like a less-emo Holden Caulfield. Lily, on the other hand, was sarcastic and fearless, though without her family surrounding her, she feels alone for the first time ever. These two, whose likes were on opposite ends of the spectrum, collided and found something they didn't know they'd been looking for.

All that plus a cast of colorful secondary characters in snowy New York, it's no wonder why last Monday, I listed this book as one of my best reads this year, and I'm certainly glad to have spent my Christmas curled up in the sofa with it. I'm pretty sure that's how I'll be spending my next few Christmases, too ♥

MY FAVORITE PARTS were when they finally had a decent conversation while in jail, and their date at the Strand (and now I want a date there, too XD Still gotta find my Dash, though!)

RATING:

(cover and summary from Goodreads.com)

Top 10 of 2012 {Day 1}: Best Books I've Read in 2012

Top 10 of 2012 will be five days of top ten bookish lists on this last week of 2012! Check this out for more info :D

Today's post is for the best books I've read in 2012. I still have books left to read for the last few days of this year, but I've read 63 of my 70-book reading challenge, so to narrow that down to 10 is nothing but torture. Contrary to the title of this post, though, this list is in no particular order to save myself from further headache :))

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi (review)
   I read this twice this year and I can only love it even more. The world-building, plot, pace, etc. were all excellent, but what I really loved was the relationship between Aria and Perry! They both had their own problems that would lead them into different sides of the world, but they came together and it couldn't be more perfect. Through the Ever Night, I need you now!



Looking for Alaska by John Green (review)
   2012 was the year I discovered the awesome that is John Green's writing. Looking for Alaska was a witty, raw, and memorable book, and is one of the few books that will continue surprising me with every re-read.

 

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
   Ah, this book. Two smart teens, New York in winter, a book of dares, the Strand... Don't they just spell swoon-worthy romance? I'll be re-reading this later - as in today, yes - for Christmas!


Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick (review)
   This year also saw the ending of my first-ever YA series, Hush, Hush. I cried a lot of tears from this baby, but now I have the movie to look forward to, yay!

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
   While Klaus Mikaelson is my beloved TV villain, Shatter Me gave me my beloved book villain. WARNER! *chases with open arms* I know - I just know - there's a heartbreaking reason for his, uhh, attitude. And that he's internally frowning that I haven't read Destroy Me yet. I'll get to that after my Shatter Me re-read next year, right before Tahereh Mafi's visit here in Manila! \o/



A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin (review)
   I read the first three books of the ASoIaF series this year, but for me, the best was ASoS. It was action-packed and gasp-inducing, and I'm just so excited for the third season of the TV series (which is the first half of this book!).

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
   This year, I chanced upon one of my hottest book boyfriends ever favorite YA series, and with it was Daemon Black. I'd gladly be abducted by this infuriatingly hot alien. Anyway, the Lux series starts out pretty simple - well, as simple as it could get with gorgeous aliens born in threes and their life-force-sucking enemies, anyway - but JLA just knows how to thicken the plot. I need Opal in my hands soon.


The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
   I jumped in with the hype for this series right before the movie came out, and I was far from disappointed. Brutal but brilliant, I really enjoyed Katniss' story of survival. And Peeta Mellark, yeah.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
   I also read Divergent this year, but I loved Insurgent more, maybe because there was more Fourtris ♥ But that ending, god! I need Detergent and the movie now!





The Forbidden Game by L.J. Smith (review)
   This series is totally underrated, you guys. Why?! (Actually, I have a good guess why: it was released in the 90's XD) It has the L.J. Smith trademark - a group of cool teens - a hot guy from another world, and a game that is freakier than Jumanji. You all have to read this!

Aaaand that's it! I read a lot of great books this year - maybe even ones better than the those here - but these are what stuck with me. Tomorrow's list will be dedicated to the best book covers of 2012, so check back here again! :D 

Book Review: Flawed - Kate Avelynn

Title: Flawed 

Author: Kate Avelynn 

Release Date: November 22nd 2012  

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Source: NetGalley 

Goodreads

Sarah O’Brien is alive because of the pact she and her brother made twelve years ago — James will protect her from their violent father if she promises to never leave him. For years, she’s watched James destroy his life to save hers. If all he asks for in return is her affection, she’ll give it freely.

Until, with a tiny kiss and a broken mind, he asks for more than she can give.

Sam Donavon has been James’ best friend — and the boy Sarah’s had a crush on — for as long as she can remember. As their forbidden relationship deepens, Sarah knows she’s in trouble. Quiet, serious Sam has decided he’s going to save her. Neither of them realizes James is far more unstable than her father ever was, or that he’s not about to let Sarah forget her half of the pact...

I had my worries even before I started reading Flawed, not because I knew it would tackle incest and abuse, but because I wanted to avoid the emotional trauma. Obviously, I love harming myself with books.

The beginning of the story introduced us to Sarah, in whose POV the book was written, and her - there's no other way to say it - horrible life, which had always been about fearing her retired boxer and alcoholic of a father, and resenting her uncaring mother. But she had James, her older brother, her provider, her savior, always there to receive their father's hits and lashes that were supposed to be for her.

I love books that make me question the line between right and wrong, and this was definitely one of those. I understood Sarah's love and loyalty to James, but also her need to be free from him. And even though his feelings for Sarah were all sorts of twisted, I couldn't help but sympathize with and, in the end, pity James, because he could've become so much better if not for their father, who, for me, was the real antagonist in this story.

Then there was Sam, whose love for Sarah was so pure and moving that, if I could, I would've locked her up in his beat-up sports car until they were well away from all of her problems. Their romance progressed quite fast, but that's because their feelings for each other had been simmering for years.

Halfway through the story, I was wishing for a happy ending while expecting the worst, and thank heavens I did because had I not, that ending would've crushed me even more than it did. But what I love about fiction is I can easily make it go the way I want it to in my mind, and that's exactly what I'm doing right now as self-therapy.

MY FAVORITE PART was when Sarah went with James to a salon for a haircut. I don't know, I just have a thing for bonding with siblings ♥... even if that probably wasn't all it was to James.

RATING:

(cover and summary from Goodreads.com)

Book Review + Audiobook Clip: Tempest - Julie Cross

Title: Tempest (Tempest #1)

Author: Julie Cross

Release Date: January 17th 2012 

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

Pages: 352 (hardcover)   

Source: Copy provided by the author for blog tour (thanks so much 

for inviting me, Dianne!)

Goodreads 

The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun. 

That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future. 

Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities. 

But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler.  Recruit… or kill him. 

Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.

When Tempest arrived in the mail, I immediately leafed through it and was quite taken aback by how long it seemed (it's not thick, but the letters were smaller than in most other books), but now that I've read it, all I can think of is I want more!

At first glance, Jackson Meyer seemed like he had the perfect, normal life - he was in college with Holly, his girlfriend, and free of parental and financial concerns because his father was the busy CEO of a pharmaceutical company. At first glance - because he was also a time-traveler.

Tempest had the perfect beginning, providing enough knowledge to understand Jackson's abilities and avoiding an info dump. The author clearly understands the meaning of "need-to-know basis", which also added suspense to the story. That said, I still got confused with the principle behind Jackson's time traveling, especially during his first few jumps - or maybe school just distracted me. Anyway, I got the hang of things soon enough.

Aside from the whole business of time-traveling, I also really loved the characters. At first, I imagined Jackson as this cute, nerdy guy who could quote Shakespeare in French (!!!), but as I read more of him with Holly, he turned into this smart, sexy dude whose girlfriend I seriously envied and wanted to hate, but I couldn't because Holly was everything a YA heroine should be: intelligent, level-headed, and brave - though minus some kind of special power. A whole plethora of logical characters - so there was zero facepalm moments! - were introduced, and I really mean it when I say each stood out on their own. 

Fast-paced, action-packed, and surprise-filled, Tempest was one hell of a ride. It held me in its grip until the ending that has me desperate for Vortex, which, thankfully, will come out in January 15, 2013!

MY FAVORITE PART was when Jackson tried to adapt to his new "home base".

RATING:

 

(cover and summary from Goodreads.com)

Also, here's the #0.5 novella of the series, Tomorrow is Today!

EDIT: The wonderful Esther from Macmillan Audio emailed me a link to this clip from the Tempest audiobook to share with you all! Now I want to re-read...