FAMOUS by Simone Bryant

Title: FAMOUS
Author: Simone Bryant
Series: The Pace Academy (book #2)
Publisher: Kimani Press
Release Date:  1st January 2011

Summary:  At prestigious Pace Academy, the Pacesetters make the rules. But in the world outside, being rich and popular doesn't always get you what you want.…
Starr has ambition, charisma and—thanks to her father's record company—all the connections to get her group major exposure. Just one problem: Starr can't sing, and now her friends are looking to replace her with her archrival, Natalee.
Dionne is excited about being the rapper of the group—even if her parents don't approve. But it's hard to focus on her rhymes when there is too much drama at home.
Marisol loves the stage, though it's dancing, not singing, that's in her blood. She'd do anything for her friends—except give up her own shot at stardom.
With ego trippin' and infighting tearing their friendship apart, Starr, Dionne and Marisol are finding that the big time comes with even bigger problems.…

Review:
Let me start by saying that I couldn't finish this book. 
When I started reading it I was looking forward a light book, where characters were privileged and had an easy life. Well, this book is about that but, after 115 pages NOTHING happened. Everything that the summary promised didn't happen. Those 115 pages only showed told us about the amazing live that the girls had and nothing else. Usually I don't have a problem with that, but this time I had because (a) this is the second book in a series, so someone that had already  read the first book, knows everything about the characters’ life, and (b) because it took 115 pages to do that when after the first 20 pages I had already understood that these girls thought they were fabulous and their life was the dream of many people.
The characters aren't very likeable: they're the typical mean girls, spoiled and shallow.  One positive thing about them is that they are well built and we know practically everything that there's to know about them. Also, two of the characters deal with a few family related problems that ordinary teenagers may deal with: divorce and one parent cheating on another.
This book began well but it didn't lived to my expectations. Not the right book for me.
4/10

The Twilight Saga Official Guide it's here

Just a quick update.
I finally bough the new Official Guide of the Twilight Saga. Well, I do not consider myself a hardcore fan of the Twilight Saga, I never attended to any book launch party, I never waited in lines to get  the tickets for the movies, or anything like that.
I read and re-read the series, and  I must be frank, every time I re-read it I start to see more flaws in the book (though the first time I read them I liked them), and  they start to fall in my imaginary Book Ranking List. Nowadays none of the books from the Twilight Saga are in my favourite book list.
So, why did I decided to buy this guide? Well, I hope this guide covers some of the lack of information from the books and perhaps gives more information about the platonic attraction between Bella and Edward (one of the things that I most disliked in the series is that there isn't any reason for the love interest that Edward has on Bella), and I also hope that Alice story is revealed at least!
Happy Readings

Waiting on Wednesday

Wainting on Wednesday is a wekly meme hosted at Breaking the Spine.
This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Title: Beautiful Chaos

Authors: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl 

Release Date: 18th October 2011

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Summary:Ethan Wate thought he was getting used to the strange, impossible events happening in Gatlin, his small Southern town. But now that Ethan and Lena have returned home, strange and impossible have taken on new meanings. Swarms of locusts, record-breaking heat, and devastating storms ravage Gatlin as Ethan and Lena struggle to understand the impact of Lena's Claiming. Even Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals is affected - and their abilities begin to dangerously misfire. As time passes, one question becomes clear: What - or who - will need to be sacrificed to save Gatlin?

For Ethan, the chaos is a frightening but welcome distraction. He's being haunted in his dreams again, but this time it isn't by Lena - and whatever is haunting him is following him out of his dreams and into his everyday life. Even worse, Ethan is gradually losing pieces of himself - forgetting names, phone numbers, even memories. He doesn't know why, and most days he's too afraid to ask.
Sometimes there isn't just one answer or one choice. Sometimes there's no going back. And this time there won't be a happy ending.

Doesn't the plot just hook you? 

                                                 
                                                                      




Title: Whiteout
Author: Ken Follett


Remember that I said, this was not going to be an YA lit exclusive blog? Well, this is my first adult book review.
Whiteout is a fantastic book and I couldn't stop reading it (I know I've been saying this too much, but lately I've been reading really good books).
Set in the cold and snowy Scotland, this book gain  lots of points just because of the setting.
One thing that I really enjoyed, about Whiteout,was that the book is really fast paced, so though you will still be turning pages to find out what is going to happen (because the chapters end very conveniently in the climax) you won't sufferthrough long and boring descriptions and lots of scientific facts (wich sometimes happens in books of the thriller genre) to discover what happens next.
The cast of characters is really interesting. They're all different from each other but at the same time they are all captivating and the reader cares about them. I believe that the villains are kind of a cliché but that didn't bother me.
The plot is incredible, and there are going to happen things that you never imagined. It's easy to understand all the subplots and not get lost in the sequence of events.
Witheout is an incredible thriller and if I were you I would read it.

9/10

Times & Places - Paris

Times & Places is a new feature, where I explore the settings and the eras of books I loved! I'm working on a logo and everything but I'm not very good at Photoshop.
This first edition is about Paris, the setting of Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.
Who has never dreamed with Paris? Walking down Champs Élysées, climbing the Eiffel Tower, visiting Louvre,...
I visited Paris a few years ago and I loved it. I hope to return there very soon.
Please join me for a tour around a few sites of Anna and the French Kiss:


 A city view at your left  your left!

 Point zero, where Anna and Étienne made wishes. We will stop for a few minutes. Fell free to make a wish here.

 Everyone has made his wish? Great!
Anna and Étienne visited Notre Dame the first time she leaves the school and actually visits Paris.

  In front of you is The Latin Quarter where the School of America's is. Anna and Étienne attended to this school.

 This is Cinema Le Champo where Anna and her friends watched movies every other night!

  The library where Étienne bought Anna a book by Pablo Neruda.


And this is the end of tour through a few Parisian places mentioned in ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS!

Anna and the French Kiss

                                      


Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Publisher: Dutton
Release Date: 2nd Decembre 2010

Summary:Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Claire: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.  and painfull waiting for this book I finally got to read it. There aren't words to say how much I liked it.
Anna is sent to France after, in my opinion, her snobbish father (after a quick rise to fame), decides that studying in France will be a "good learning experience". In the beginning of her senior year abroad, she's annoyed and sad because she's far away from her friends, her mother and her brother but then.... she meets Étienne and her feelings change. And I'm not going to say much more about it, because I don't want to spoil the book for you.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near-misses end with the French kiss Anna—and readers—have long awaited?


(details above from Goodreads)


Review: After a long and painfull waiting for this one, I finally got to read it and I loved it.
Étienne is probably one of my favorite male characters of all time. He's gorgeous, he's funny, he's British (accent, duh?) he's French, he's sweet, he's kind, he loves his family and he likes art and history. But he also has flaws (which is great, because I hate when the guy is too perfect): he is short, he likes normality too much and he can't express some of his feelings.
Anna is a great character as well: she is funny, ironic and strong but at the same time vulnerable. She's kind ,smart and a movie addicted!
The other characters are very interesting to read about. They are all very different from each other: some love the arts, other sports, others parties,...The setting is amazing of course. I really enjoyed revisiting Paris trough the pages of Anna and the French Kiss.
One of the best books of 2010.
10/10



Debut Alert - January

I'm participationg in the Debut Author Challenge this year, hosted at The Story Siren, so I decided to create this monthly feauture that willahow the US and UK debuts (YA and MG) that are going to be realeased every month.
Last year, two of my 3 favorite books were debuts so I can't wait to read some of them in 2011.
Let the list begin... (insert music here)
US DEBUTS

Other words for Love by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal
11th January 2011 YA

Choker by Elizabeth Woods
4th January 2011 YA



The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long
1st January 2011 MG



The Trouble with Half a Moon by Danette Vigilante
6th january 2011 YA



The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher
1st january 2011 YA



XVI by Julia Karr
6th January 2011 YA



Vesper by Jeff Sampsen
25th January 2011 YA

Flirt Club by Cathleen Daly
4th January  2011 MG



Dogsled Dreams by Terry Lynn Johnson
1st January 2011 MG



Head Games by Keri Mikulski
6th January 2011 YA



Across the Universe by Beth Revis
11th January 2011 YA



Warped by Maurissa Guibord
11 January 2011 YA



Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck
11th January 2011 YA

The Latte Rebellion by Sarah Jamila Stevenson
8th January 2011 YA

Timeless by Alexandra Monir
11th January 2011 YA

The Rendering by Joel Naftali
25th January 2911 YA

The False Princess by Ellis O'Neal
25th January 2011 YA

Hidden by Tomas Mournian
25th January 2011

 







Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
4th January 2011 YA

UK DEBUTS 

The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer
6th January 2011 YA



Artichoke Hearts bySita Brahmachari
7th January 2011  YA



Entangled by Cat Clarke
6th January 2011 YA



Being Billy by Phil Earle
6th January 2011 MG

The Memory Cage by Ruth Eastham
3rd January 2011

Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf by Curtis Jobling
6th January 2011

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
21st january 2011 YA

A Beautiful Lie by Irfan Master
4th january 2011 YA

My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent
1st January 2011 Ya

Forsaken by Jana Oliver
7th January 2011 YA

Small Blue Thing by S. C.  Ransom
´13th January 2011 YA

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
6th January 2011 YA

0.4 by Mike Lancaster
1st January 2011 YA

Great book, right? Note to self, update DAC list. The covers are pretty good as well I love the 0.4 cover it's so ....spooky, and real!

What about you guys? Are you reading any Debut this month? What do you think about the covers?

2011: Goals & Changes

I know I've been an awful blogger these months: I've done a great deal of memes instead of reviews, I've been MIA too many times,I haven't been outgoing...
I plan in 2011 became a much better blogger:

• I have a few ideas for new feautures
• I plan on doing movie reviews as well
• I plan reading other genres outside YA, though 80% of this blog will be YA related
• I plan on writting 3 reviews per week
• I'm going to do less memes
• I plan on reading more (I want to read 100 books)

If you have any suggestion you would like to tell me comment or e-mail me.

Christmas and TOP 3 books (in no particular order)

Merry Christmas, or as Étienne (from Anna and the French Kiss) would say: Happy Christmas!
I've noticed that a few bloggers are doing list about their favorite books from 2010, in different categories. I'm not going to make one, I’m just going to mention the 3 books that I most love this year (in no particular order) :
                                    

Wildthorn by Jane   

                                                              

Losing Faith by Denise Jaden

                                                        

             
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

                                                         

(after a painful waiting for this one, because my copy was delayed, I read it and LOVED it)

Little Women

                                                 


Title: Little Women
Author: Louisa May Alcott
Publisher: Signet Classics
Summary:

Little Women is the heartwarming story of the March family that has thrilled generations of readers. It is the story of four sisters--Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth-- and of the courage, humor and ingenuity they display to survive poverty and the absence of their father during the Civil War.

(details above from Goodreads)

Review:

Though this book is a classic, it's aimed at teenage girls, so I decided to review it here!

Little Women was a wonderful book to read. Though the book was published in 1868 teenage girls can still relate with the main character because, as most teenage girls: Jo, Beth, Amy and Meg, were trying to find themselves while dealing with family and romance problems.

My favorite character is Jo! She's courageous, creative, dreamy, strong, cheerful and a tom-boy!

Now, about the guy's... I loved them all; they were all perfect and very nice. But if I had to choose one, I would say that Laurie was my favorite. I loved his personality, his sense of humor and his charisma.

The plot is interesting: there are tears, laughs and a lot of romance.

What I most liked in this book was the strong bonds that united the four sisters. Of course they had a few quarrels but they also had a wonderful time together.

This book sends to the reader a strong message of feminism through the characters, that in a time where women didn't have many rights these four young women with the help of their mother and housekeeper, managed to survive and be happy!

A must read!

10/10

Triskellion by Will Peterson

                                         


Title: Triskellion
Author: Will Peterson
Release Date: February 4th 2008
Publisher: Walker Books Ltd
Summary: Rachel and Adam are sent to stay with their grandmother, following their parents' divorce. But the quiet English village is a sinister, unsettling place. Is there a dark heart beating beneath the thatched roofs of Triskellion? It is a place protected by an ancient, three-bladed artefact; a village where crops never fail and where the war memorial is blank; a community with much to protect. With the help of the mysterious Gabriel, Rachel and Adam begin to unearth centuries-old secrets and make a shocking revelation about their family's past - and their own future...

(details above from Goodreads)
Review:
Triskellion was a great book to read! The way that the authors (Will Peterson is a pen name, this book was actually written by two people) manage to combine archeological facts with the paranormal plot was spectacular!
The plot is full of action and mystery, and the ending is amazing, and it will let you impatiently waiting for the next book! The twins, Rachel and Adam, are very interesting character to read about, they're somewhat too juvenile for their ages, but at the same time, they stand up for themselves, and do some pretty risky things. The twins are very believable characters and teens can find a connection with them!
The setting is the thing that I most loved in the whole book! Who doesn't think that a small, isolated, village, in the middle of England is the best place to settle a story that has so many secrets?
I'm fascinated with archeology and history stuff so I really appreciated all the facts in the book. But, to all of you that don't share my love for History, I must say, that the book isn't overloaded with History stuff, and that all the facts that are there, only make the mystery bigger!
 So, if you're looking for a book full of mystery and unpredictable twists go and read Triskellion!
9/10

In my Maibox (7)

In my Mailbox is a weekly meme host by Kristi at The Story Siren and inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie.
I didn't do IMM in the past few weeks, because I decided to stop requesting and buying books books since my TBR pile was huge. Unfortunately I wasn't capable of not buying books.
As today this is the last IMM of the year, I decided to do it.  Note that not all books listed above were bought this week.



       

From Netgalley:
Here Lies Bridgite Paige Harbison - I had requested this before I decided to stop requesting books, but my request was only approved after the decision was made.

Bought:
Observations by Jane Harris - it's considered an adult book, but the protagonist is 15. It's an historical romance.

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory - again it's an adult book, but I loved The Other Boleyn Girl, so I'm really looking forward to read this.

The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkein - I never read anything by him before,I've only seen the movies, so when I saw this at the store, I decided to buy it!

What have you got in your mailbox?