Review: Days of Blood and Starlight

Name: Days of Blood and Starlight

Author: Laini Taylor

Publication: November 6th, 2012

Source: HBG Canada

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.

This is not that world.

Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is—and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.

While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.

But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?

----

I read this a little over a month ago but forgot to review it... but better late than never right?

Wow, another master piece by Taylor. It's something about the way she writes that's just so damn intriguing. The way she pieces together her words is juts so hypnotizing, I really think it makes me like her books that much more.

I'm surprised that I liked this one more than the first installment, Daughter of Smoke & Bone, seeing as I usually like the first book of a series the best-- but this one definitely took the cake. watching the conflicting emotions playing out on Karou & Akiva's part has a way of really putting the reader on edge. Are they going to make up? Fight? Will Akiva be able to redeem himself?
He damn well tries.
I also quite enjoyed that we got the chance to glimpse into his Liraz & Hazael's life and past. Along side Akiva, their intent and true feelings really surprised me, not something one could have guessed upon meeting them in the first book.
This one is a lot more personal. You get to meet Akiva and Karou on a far more intimate level; their feelings, past, conflicted resolutions-- putting together and prioritizing memories from a beautiful past to a horrific present. It's truly lovely.

I almost wept for Karou the entire time. What she had to endure was just plain cruel. Ugh, I hate the stupid white wolf! It killed me even more when Akiva got the wrong idea from them... even though he's a bastard, it's heart shattering.

It's hard to do justice to such a beautiful book. it's easy to fall in love with the gorgeous writing and the lyrical phrases, and exhilarating once the book really picks up.

If you haven't read this series yet, please do so! I would definitely say that DOSAB is one of the BEST books of 2012 and a sensational read.

Rating:

Happy reading all!

Review: Keeping you a Secret

Name: Keeping you a Secret

Author: Julie Anne Peters

Publication: May 4th, 2005

Source: Started on Kobo, Finished in PPBK

                   --------

With a steady boyfriend, the position of Student Council President, and a chance to go to an Ivy League college, high school life is just fine for Holland Jaeger. At least it seems to be. But when Cece Goddard comes to school, everything changes. Cece and Holland have undeniable feelings for each other, but how will others react to their developing relationship? This moving love story between two girls is a worthy successor to Nancy Garden's classic young adult coming out novel, Annie on My Mind. With her characteristic humor and breezy style, Peters has captured the compelling emotions of young love.

-----

Honestly, I didn't know what I was getting into when I plucked this book from the Kobo Store. I was bored last night, waiting for my sister so we can fire up our little New Year's Eve party, and decided to flip through a short book on my phone. I was feeling like a contemporary so looked up the genre and got a bunch of hits. There was no synopsis' on the kobo site, so I picked this book because the cover reminded me of My Sister's Keeper and the name sounded mysterious. I like mysterious.

This book is COMPLETELY different from what I expected. It wasn't what I expected when I bought it, and even after I knew what it was about, it was still nothing like what came to mind. I've read tons of books about tons of different things. Some so utterly and completely stupid and random. But I still hadn't read a book that focused on a LGBT couple. I've never actually thought about reading one before. I don't know much on the subject, and going into this (after I knew what it was actually about), wasn't quite sure how the book would play out.
Would the plot be similar to all the other romances I've read? Will the Lesbian romance get in the way of a good plot, or is it just a coming out story? Will it read like a contemporary romance?
What I got was a pleasant surprise.

Wow. This book is so Strong. It has so much love, so much hate. Wow.
At first I was disgusted at how the school and the society treated the gays. I was filled with so much anguish for them. Does this kind of discrimination go on right under my nose? Under the roof of my school and the alleys of my city? Well Rola, you stupid bafoon, of course it does. I just never knew how much it hurt. Being a girl who is totally, 100%, against bullying, this made my heart completely flare! Why should society judge people who have no fricken control over whom they love? and even if they did choose, wanted to, why is so 'disgusting' to the world? I mean, I'm guilty of sometimes forgetting that there are Gays/Lesbians in the world around me, that when I see two people of the same gender kissing or holding hands I have to stop for a second before resuming. I don't think it's wrong, It just grasps me so suddenly sometimes. There's so much we don't know about our own world.

So then here we have a book about a girl who has her whole life together: Student Body President, A+ average student, a dedicated boyfriend, a mother who is down her throat to get her to apply to only the best universities out there.... What more could she want? She asks herself that when she first glances at a new student, Cece, from her locker mirror.

I don't think I've felt a love so.. raw. so real inside my gut. This isn't just a love story, nor a 'coming out' story. It's a story about finding yourself when you weren't even looking. That life can take you by surprise even in the most unexpected moments. I've read some books that have made me feel this way, but god. It was so real. The author really dives you into Holland's shoes. She lets you feel the confusion battling with the love. The denial yet the pure desire. I really liked Holland. She wasn't one of those crazy denial freaks. She denied it for a little bit internally, but still let the desire consume her mind. it was a constant battle; a real one. I liked that no one had to tell Holland to come out. Or notice it on her, or her confusion and help her through it. She didn't even label herself, she didn't fricken care. She was falling for that chick who ate donuts by her locker early in the morning, and jammed out to the Dixie Chicks right across from her every day. I liked that. She wasn't coming out as a lesbian, but she was discovering a love. It made all the difference.
At one point when she admits that she loves Cece, she stops for a second and thinks what? I'm... gay? Like she had no clue that falling in love with Cece officially made her a lesbian. What a beautiful story. I felt every single emotion in my gut. It was almost unbearable.
The fact that Cece didn't come on to Holland, or push her into admitting she's gay and falling for her, and that Holland went to Cece all on her own... it was moving.
I think the best way to describe it is personal. It was so damn personal. You WERE Holland in between those pages. No one else. You weren't on that sofa with your family and the TV or the radio weren't on, everything else was gone when you were inside Holland's head and heart.

The most empowering part, after going through half the book and being embraced with Holland's emotions the whole time, that moment when she took the final step and finally, wholeheartedly admitted to herself and to Cece the truth, when she told Cece she wanted to kiss her, it felt like bombs going off in my stomach. because you could read the beginning over and over, and know the truth, but Holland never put it out there. She never once said inside her head Okay I'm gay and I'm in love with Cece. I want her now. No. Not once. It was only after that need took a hold of her and she kissed Cece, that's when it all came together.

It's hard to explain without experiencing it, so here's what I mean:

Swimming. Up, down, counting strokes. one, two, three, four. breathe in, breathe out. 
Her.
Everything was her. The light, the dark, the day, the night. 
Her. Her.
She was my first thought in the morning, my last thought at night. She'd taken possession of my soul. She was inside of me, consuming me, compelling me to--
what?
Drown it out. Fight the force. You can do it Holland, you're strong. Resist. You can beat the forces of nature. You have to.
Swim. Stroke. Count. Count.
Can't. Can't. Can't.

[60 sum pages later]

Then it happened. that electric current surged between us, through me, and tugged at my core. The pull was so fierce, I couldn't fight it. Didn't want to. She was close, so close, her head right next to mine. I could hear her breathing, feel her heart beating. The outside air was cold, but that's not what was making me tremble.
"Cece." My voice sounded raw, whispery.
"Hmm?"
I turned to face her, jamming my shoulder into the brick. "I want--" I stopped. I couldn't say it. Couldn't take that step.
She twisted her head and opened her eyes. 'What Holland? What do you want?"
I was shaking so hard. Do it. Do it. Do it now. "I want to kiss you."

I read this whole damn thing in one night. I couldn't stop. I read until 4 am, and gawked at the page when I was done. Then didn't sleep for another hour because I was thinking about it. I was shocked. Mostly because I wasn't expecting a Lesbian love story. Mostly because I wasn't expecting it to be so damn good and moving and heartbreaking.
Believe me, believe me, believe me, you won't even remember that it's two girls falling in love once you get going. All you can feel is the pure love and utter need in your heart and gut, so much that you wont even remember what gender is. The only other book that got this kind of romance right was Pushing the Limits. All the other romance book seem so superficial compared to this one. I can't even explain it.

I don't think I can experience another contemporary romance without going back to this one in my head and measuring them. I still do that with Pushing the Limits, which had one of the best romances in all the books I've read. This is seriously the 'what-if-it-were-girls' version of pushing the limits, with minor changes.

If you want to feel what true love feels like, right in the pit of your stomach, read this book. I can't even begin to explain.

Rating:

Happy reading, all!

Review: Code Name Verity

Name: Code Name Verity

Author: Elizabeth Wein

Publication: February 6th, 2012 

Source: Indigo's bookstore

I have two weeks. You’ll shoot me at the end no matter what I do.

That’s what you do to enemy agents. It’s what we do to enemy agents. But I look at all the dark and twisted roads ahead and cooperation is the easy way out. Possibly the only way out for a girl caught red-handed doing dirty work like mine — and I will do anything, anything, to avoid SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden interrogating me again.

He has said that I can have as much paper as I need. All I have to do is cough up everything I can remember about the British War Effort. And I’m going to. But the story of how I came to be here starts with my friend Maddie. She is the pilot who flew me into France — an Allied Invasion of Two.
We are a sensational team.

                                                                          
Holy Mother Eff. It has been 3 days since I finished reading this, and my heart still throbs for Maddie and Verity. I still find myself reading those memorized excerpts to myself. I still find it hard to breathe when I think of my favorite lines and the ending. What perfection, oh, complete and utter perfection.

One of my favorite bloggers Lauren from Lose Time Reading and I decided to do a fun little read along for Code Name Verity . It was my first read along and I must say, it was fun to have someone to freak out with that was experiencing the fresh wound like I was. Oh boy. We were both done for. It's seriously all we can talk about. We raped our twitter news feeds and bombarded Ms.Wein.

I literally CANNOT tell you how phenomenal this book really is.

It's going to be hard enough to write this review, but to actually explain how I feel about it is impossible. 
Let me just say: It's one of those books (along with the Gemma Doyle Trilogy, Beautiful Creatures and the Night Circus ) that left me stunned by the end and made my heart throb with emotion. It's one of those books that haunts you and possess you, and doesn't leave you for a very very long time. It's one of those books where you feel changed, even if no one else notices-- the tiniest bit of change that only you can put your finger on. It's spectacular. 
Whoever said that books don't change people is lying. I came out a different person by the end of the book, and I also learned about a tons of new things that happened in history: The battle of Trafalgar, the S.O.E agents and the ATA/RAF, women's rights within the organizations-- and how strong friendship can be. 

Basically this book is about a British spy, Verity, caught in Nazi-occupied France. She has been told to spill whatever she knows about the British war efforts to avoid being tortured any further, and she does just that by telling a heart-breaking story of how she first came to be in France and an Agent. It all began with her best friend Maddie, a ferry pilot for the ATA, and their allied invasion into France.
One of the most beautifully written and heart-breaking reads out there. It starts off slow, but the reader is quickly thrown into a whirlwind of a plot as Verity unravels the truth about her life and friendship with Maddie.

This Book is P.E.R.F.E.C.T. Nothing any reviewer does/says can do it any justice.

Wein does a spectacular job making sure her readers can feel the pain and the desperation in what Verity is writing and experiencing. Her pain and love and everything else is so strong. How desperate she is to finish her story, stop her torture, but most of all, write down the story of her best friend, because of how important it is for her. Imagine: You're captured by the enemy, and you know you're going to die. Only the most important thing would be on your mind at this point. And Verity chose to tell the story of herself and Maddie, and their journey together.

People have raved about this book, and I think part of it has to do with all the emotion that Wein is able to integrate, and still tell a precise story with real historical facts. It's a history lesson and a heart break all in one.
Some people may be put off by all the technical talk of piloting, but it really makes you feel like you're in the RAF in that time, and about to go off into enemy territory. Plus it all comes into play later in the novel. A beautiful beautiful historical fiction.

“I am no longer afraid of getting old. Indeed I can't believe I ever said anything so stupid. So childish. So offensive and arrogant.
But mainly, so very, very stupid. I desperately want to grow old.” 

The most astounding thing about this book is the emotion hidden between it all. It gushes through the pages and you can almost grasp it. I felt it in my heart while I was reading, and THAT my friends, is when you know that you're reading a hell of a good story. And not only because I'm a sucker for historical fiction, but because when I opened the book I was instantly transported to Nazi-Occupied France, and I was sitting there with Verity and Maddie as they experienced all that they did.

"Don't cry. We're still alive and we make a sensational team."

The author is easily able to switch between perspectives and moments in time smoothly, and knows how to put it all together. She does a wonderful job of blurring the lines of lies and truths, until you aren't sure which is what anymore. That is the fricken point! This story is a huge Lie. A huge Truth and a Secret. A huge Misconception. What Maddie and Verity figure out in the end is that true friendship and love is even stronger than fate. It is a reflection on their not-so-innocent war days, when they thought that they had it bad then, and the now, in their worst possible situations. That's why it's such a damn good story. Even when they are both dead to each other (or are they?) they still make a sensational team.

A story about love and friendship, and the ultimate price of war and mercy.
It's almost impossible to reflect on every detail, because like I had said before, it's all truths and lies and secrets, one thing leading to another. I almost have to hint at things in code to avoid giving it away!
All that there is left to say is please please please please please read this. Don't get thrown off by the technical mumbo-jumbo in the beginning. Stick with it.
This is the true meaning of historical fiction and utterly perfect writing. This is the true art of literature and the basis of what all great novels should be: Somewhat life changing, even if a little, moving and disoriented, yet perfect. 
A perfect ending that you will absolutely hate.

Don't forget to check out Lauren's review today, too!
                                                                   

KISS ME HARDY! Kiss me, QUICK! xx

                                         ---------                    

DON'T KILL ME! I SWEAR I'M BACK! (Happy New Years!)

HELLO MY FAVORITE BOOK-LOVIN' READERS!

I cannot say how terribly sorry I am for being so absent. I just haven't been in the blogging mood lately in all honestly (and I've been slightly busy, as well), but now even with Diploma exams next month (gun anyone?) I still promise to post AT LEAST one post each week. I can't promise that it will be a review (how can I read when I have 382049032 hormones waiting to be memorized?), but then again I do have some older reviews I have to catch up on, as well as some cover reveals and blog tours.
AND tomorrow I'll post an exciting review of Code Name Verity which I read along with Lauren from Lose Time Reading . She's one of my favorite bloggers, and it was a fun read along. We had quite the spasm over the book on twitter because it was so good, So i'm totally looking forward to our review's tomorrow.
I also feel like doing something exciting on the blog... I don't know what yet, but I wan't it to be within the first week of January (Think Quick, Rola!). Hm, We'll see.

Reviews This Week

-Code Name Verity 
-Days of Blood & Starlight
-The Devil's Metal

Books To Be Read This Week

- Venom
- The Things They Carried

I also wanted to take this time to wish all my followers and readers a Happy New Year. I wouldn't have been here without your constant support-- especially the blogging community. I have made some forever friends from the Edmonton Book Bloggers, to some of my favorite online Bloggers miles and miles away. i hope to continue blogging and reviewing books for more years to come (and not be as inactive as I was this month) and continue growing with this amazing community!

I hope you have a year filled with bookish cheer and prosperity!

Rola's New Years Resolution List  (Kept as realistic as possible... I want to achieve all of these!)

- Read a minimum of 100 books (150 if I can manage)
- Build my home library to 200 books
- (cliche, but i'm serious) Get more fit and have a healthier diet
- quit playing with my hair (impossible but...)
- finish high school without murdering anyone
- reach 500 blog followers
-save up some $$ (I'm a spender)

Okay, I think that's a pretty decent list for now. Share your lists with me people!

Love you all xxx

12 Days of Magic Blog Stop: Spell Bound by Nikki Jefford

Hi all!

The Spell Bound Blog Tour is making a stop here, which is super exciting! If you're a fan of anything with witches in it like myself, then you will seriously need to check this series out!
Twin Witch sisters, One good & One Evil,  and a Resurrection spell gone horribly wrong... the two witches are now stuck sharing one body, where Graylee faces the threat of being erased from existence if she can't find a way back into her own body... and soon. Three Warlocks offer her assistance: One Is rebellious, One is Dangerous, & One is after her heart. Will Graylee survive before her sister destroys her forever?

 Spell Bound Book 1: Entangled

Two months after dying, seventeen-year-old witch Graylee Perez wakes up in her twin sister Charlene’s body.

Until Gray finds a way back inside her own body, she’s stuck being Charlene every twenty-hour hours. Her sister has left precise instructions on how Gray should dress and behave. Looking like a prep isn’t half as bad as hanging out with Charlene’s snotty friends and gropey boyfriend.

The “normals” of McKinley High might be quick to write her behavior off as post-traumatic stress, but warlock Raj McKenna is the only person who suspects Gray has returned from the dead.

Now Gray has to solve the mystery of her death and resurrection and disentangle herself from Charlene’s body before she disappears for good.

Spellbound Book 2: Duplicity 

If Graylee Perez thought sharing a body with her twin sister was bad, dealing with a duplicate of herself is two times worse. Gray the second doesn’t seem to get that Lee’s boyfriend, Raj McKenna, is off limits. Then there’s the problem of Adrian Montez. He expects one of the Grays to be his.

Nearly a year later, the council is onto them for past misdeeds; Lee, along with the rest of the coven, has lost control of her powers; and Gray is being stalked by what looks like the Grim Reaper.

If they work together, they may stand a chance of setting things right and making it out alive.

Spellbound Book 3: Enchantment ( To come this April! )

In the third and final installment of the Spellbound series, Graylee Perez (the duplicate), goes to Spain for a summer of escape. There she meets new friends and comes face to face with her old adversary, Adrian Montez.

When Gray tries to setup a spell that will banish Adrian from her life, she inadvertently falls under a love spell instead.

Charlene returns, having hijacked a new body, for one final battle between the twins.

Aren't they just beautiful?

Here's an excerpt for your curious minds from Entangled!

IN THIS SCENE: After Graylee Perez is brought back to life she must pretend to be her twin sister Charlene while she’s stuck sharing her body. To “help” her out, Charlene has started a communications notebook instructing Gray on ‘How to be Charlene.’

“…for now I’m supposed to pretend to be Charlene?”

Mom brought a notebook over. “Yes, and your sister left some notes to help you out.”

Gray stared at the notebook a moment before taking it. She flipped it open.

NO MORE PIZZA, YOU PIG!!! I GAINED 2 POUNDS BECAUSE OF YOU!

No wearing your clothes in public. I will choose an outfit for you to wear to school on the days you’re me.

Hair must be worn down. No pig tails, pony tails, hair clips or goofy Princess Leia style buns on the side of your head.

No leaving the house without makeup. I have taped examples and tips in the following pages on how to create a smoky eye.

Gray flipped back to several pages of magazine print and step-by-step illustrated guides for creating a smoldering look. She flipped back to the front page.

No speaking to anyone at McKinley who isn’t on the approved list (see the following pages). Don’t even think about trying to visit with your old friends unless you want to get us committed to an insane asylum.

Absolutely no—UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES—having sex with Blake.

Ewwww!

Gray looked up, her face still contorted. “Did you read this?”

Mom was putting away the brown sugar. “No, Charlene told me not to.”

“And you listened to her?”

Mom looked directly at Gray. “She said it was private.”

More like psychotic.

***

 AUTHOR BIO

Nikki Jefford is a third generation Alaskan who loves fictional bad boys and heroines who kick butt. She writes edgy teen fiction, including the Spellbound Trilogy and Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter.

Nikki married Sébastien, the love of her life, while working as a teaching assistant in France. They now reside in the not-so-tropical San Juan Islands, 70 miles northeast of Forks, Washington



Visit Nikki
 On Her Site
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Liked what you've seen? 
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Review: Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Name: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Series: Millennium, #1
Author: Stieg Larsson
Publication: September 2008, by Knopf
Source: Indigo's 

 Once you start The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, there's no turning back. This debut thriller--the first in a trilogy from the late Stieg Larsson--is a serious page-turner rivaling the best of Charlie Huston and Michael Connelly. Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch--and there's always a catch--is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues. Little is as it seems in Larsson's novel, but there is at least one constant: you really don't want to mess with the girl with the dragon tattoo. 

This book took me a littleee longer than expected, but I did very much enjoy it. It was a slow paced story with great detail (which we could have done without at times), and a rapid page turner once you hit the middle. It's one of those books where you have to really think about & stick with to truly appreciate. I really loved Blomkvist & Salandar, and they definitely make a sensational team. This book is an exellent mystery, romance, page turner and nerve gritter all in one. A must read.

It was interesting to watch Blomkvist grow and struggle as he attempted to solve the mystery. His life was already hectic, and getting inside his head really made the story so much better. How he felt about the mystery, His relationship with Berger-- and when he meets her-- Salander. I loved how the story progressed at the same pace that Blomkvist & Salander's relationship did... it really put them on the same level, and added bonus points to the ending. I just wanted to tear the damn pages out after reading the last line! 
I would get a little pissy at Salander for being so self conscious & stubborn, and Blomkvist for being so damn oblivious! But it adds to their character overall, which i'm sure will pay a major role in the next installment. 
I did love the atmosphere that came up with the conflicting personalities of Salander & Blomkvist. She was dark and brooding, while he was all smiles and brains while solving the crime. She definitely made the story more kick ass.... the fact that she beat up the bad guy at the end, and did so much in the book yet gave off such little emotions. Although she was constantly sexually abused, which was quite disturbing, she is a head strong girl that likes nothing more than vengeance to the men who harm her. Feminists will love her!
  
There were definitely some details that the story could have done without, and would have lessened the bore factor in some scenes, but I definitely felt the suspense and surprise near the end when all was revealed. This is one mystery you wont wan't to out down until it's solved!!!

I heard that the next book is totally kick ass, can't wait to read it!

Stacking the Shelves [11]

Hi, Friends!

What a great bookish week! Having Finished " Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" last week, I had started "Days of Blood & Starlight" Shortly after, and finished it yesterday. Holy mothers, what more can I say than WHAT GREAT BOOKS THEY BOTH ARE! I'm officially in love with Taylor's writing style, it just kills me. I seriously can't get enough of it... i'm in the need for a serious re-read of the Smoke & Bone series. I'll be posting reviews for both the books within the next day or two. 

Apparently i'm not reading books fast enough, because last I recalled I had 28 unread books or so, now I have 39..... hmm. This is not good. Of course, that is including the KICK-ASS books I purchased today!

I was on twitter in a extremely boring math class, learning about radical functions or something rather, and came across a post for 'The YA awards, 2012 Edition'. Scrolling through the list, I recognized most of the books from some place or another. I had only read one or two of them, but most were high acclaimed books, or unique ones with either a total love or total hate factor. So I decided to go out and purchase a couple of them that I have been waiting to read anyways. 

Without Further Ado...

 Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

What a gorgeous cover & Mysterious Synopsis! I can't lie, I was drawn to this book a little while back with it's elegant cover, without having even read the synopsis. And after seeing it on the list, I just had to purchase it right away!

It's always the ones that are out of the ordinary that are the most fun to get lost in!

 Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

This book has been ALL the hype for the past couple of months. Arc reviewers loved it, and the vibe continued to climb when it was released and readers fell in love with it as well. I've been seeing it everywhere, but never read the synopsis until today before I bought it. The cover looks appealing-- It drove me to the conclusion that it was about abuse or something-- but I was DEFINITELY intrigued after reading the little excerpt in the back. Holy mothers, this is totally my type of book. Definitely my next read after The Devil's Metal.

Venom by Fiona Paul

Now, although this wasn't on the list, I've been meaning to get this book since it came out. I'm in love with historical fiction & Victorian books, and all though this may not be classified as so, it takes place in an old, classy setting, with a headstrong female character that trades her proper courtesy with some adventure. Reminds me a little of A Great & Terrible Beauty, But that book is a work of art-- so let's not push it. I just want it to be as good as I'm expecting!

That's it for me this week! What's new on your shelf? Let me know! (: