Halloween is lurking around the corner, and if you don't know, it is my absolute favorite time of year. (I'm super stoked this year, because I'm making a trip to Salem. As in witches. Be jealous.) The weather gets crisp, the leaves get all shades of red and orange, and I'm able to open my creaky windows and enjoy the cool, autumn, apple-scented air. As soon as September hits, you can find me haulin' out the black and orange goods, littering my porch with mums and pumpkins, drinking Shipyard Pumpkinhead, watching scary movies, and ~ yup, you guessed it ~ trying to find a book that'll give me a good spookin'.
So, if you remember, I said I wanted to start doing a giveaway every month ~ and I'd put it up to a vote. Not gunna happen this month...but I think you'll like it... Since October has always been a very special month to me, I thought I'd spread the joy and make this month's giveaway a little more fun. Why am I starting it so early? I want to get you your book before Halloween, so you can enjoy it even more ;)
During this lovely month of October, I will be giving away a copy of a classic horror novel ~ you pick from the choices offered below ~ AND a fabulously festive Halloween bookmark.
How friggin' awesome is that?
Okay, so you'll get your pick from...
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe
Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Best of H.P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre
And I seem to remember mentioning a bookmark somewhere in there... This is a cute little nugget I've ordered through BeckyOaccessories.
So much fun :) So, guys, this time it's gunna be open to U.S. and Canada only...
Buzzkill, I know, but I gotta do what I gotta do...
The year is 2032, sixteen years after a deadly virus—and the vaccine intended to protect against it—wiped out most of the earth’s population. The night before eighteen-year-old Eve’s graduation from her all-girls school she discovers what really happens to new graduates, and the horrifying fate that awaits her.
Fleeing the only home she’s ever known, Eve sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can survive. Along the way she encounters Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Separated from men her whole life, Eve has been taught to fear them, but Caleb slowly wins her trust...and her heart. He promises to protect her, but when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life.
I've seen mixed reviews towards this book, from bad to worse to fabulous... I tend to lean toward the side of "loved it ~ would recommend..." I nabbed this book in the audio version, as I was going on a trip that included a long, solo drive, and I thought "why not?". Not sure what made me pick Eve, as I scrolled through the iTunes market, but there it was, and I'm glad I did a quick point and click and hit the road with Anna Carey's novel.
I'm a huge fan of Dystopian fiction in any shape or form, but in this case, it's a plague that's wiped out life as we knew it, paving the way for anyone power-hungry enough to create a monarch-style government and call it good. What the King says goes, from rebuilding a city on the backs of orphans to repopulating the country through brutal "breeding practices." Pretty sick guy hiding behind a hopeful mask, but there are those who see the situation as it is. After all, what would a tyrant be without rebels to stand against him? These are the people Eve must learn to trust, even though everything in her upbringing screams at her not to.
Eve only knows life post-plague, and it's interesting to hear her wonder about things we take for granted every day such as movies, birthday cakes, and co-ed schools. She's booksmart, severely lacking in any type of survival skill, and she's completely naive. This got a little annoying, I will admit, but you have to remember how she was raised. She was taught that men are the enemy and will do whatever it takes to manipulate and destroy women. Not only that, she never thought she had to know how to do things like swim, hunt, and basically think outside the box. She's always done what she was told, believing that that's all she needed to do to flourish. Like I said ~ naive. However, all of this was ingrained into her from the time she arrived at the school as a very young child, so as much as I wanted to scream at her and ask her "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?", I had to remember her state of mind in order to understand her line of thought.
Of course, we have to have someone who brings Eve to the light, and that's where Caleb steps in. He's amused with Eve's seemingly silly distrust and reaction to him, but he just lets her accusing thoughts roll off of him with a monumental amount of patience. He doesn't put an active effort into changing her mind, but is just his wonderful self, allowing Eve to come up with her own judgements in her own time. Their relationship begins slowly ~ I didn't detect the dreaded "instalove" ~ as Caleb unknowingly earns her trust and begins to see that Eve may be slightly blinded by her former life in the schools, but she's willing to learn and do what it takes to survive.
I do want to take a sec to mention Arden... She is, by far, my favorite... She's badass, ruthless, sarcastic, and incredibly smart. She's got a slightly evil streak, but that makes her all the more lovable in my eyes. She's not blind to what's going on around her and she doesn't take what everyone tells her to believe at face value. Of course, she had more experience in the world outside the school's walls than Eve ever did, so maybe that's why she seems to know so much, but still ~ she knows what makes sense and what doesn't...
The writing style was fluid and, while I have a difficulty sometimes imagining the world created through audio books, I had no trouble envisioning everything that was happening to the very last detail. The storyline is heartbreaking and hopeful through and through. The horrific things these people go through day to day ~ it's amazing that they don't break. Constantly running and living from day to day, hoping that sunset won't be your last... It's astounding...
And the end... OH THE END! This pretty much sums up how I was feeling when that last paragraph breathed through the speakers....
Totally, totally blew my mind, and at that moment, I did kinda hate Eve, but I'll say no more on the matter to keep from spoiling it....
I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be moving on to round two. I can't even begin to make a prediction on how the storyline will continue, but I do hope to see Eve grow and become smarter in the ways of the world she knew so little about.. It'll be an interesting journey to unravel...
HAPPY FRIDAY!! I hope everyone had a fabulous week, even though I'm sure we're all glad the weekend is upon us :). And Friday means Feature & Follow hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read, a wonderful weekly tradition where book bloggers connect and learn a little bit about each other.
Let the hopping begin :).
Q: Christmas in July! Someone gives you a gift card for two books (whatever that costs). What two books will you buy?
Definitely feeling torn here.. (I was thinking "only two," but then I realized that's completely book selfish...especially since they are to be gifted..) I guess the two books that are high on my list to read in the next few weeks are:
I've seen Once (Eve #2) everywhere, and as that caught my attention ~ the covers alone are spot-worthy ~ I knew I needed to start this series soon.
The year is 2032, sixteen years after a deadly virus—and the vaccine intended to protect against it—wiped out most of the earth’s population. The night before eighteen-year-old Eve’s graduation from her all-girls school she discovers what really happens to new graduates, and the horrifying fate that awaits her.
Fleeing the only home she’s ever known, Eve sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can survive. Along the way she encounters Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Separated from men her whole life, Eve has been taught to fear them, but Caleb slowly wins her trust...and her heart. He promises to protect her, but when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life.
AND...
Deborah Harkness completely enveloped me in her imaginary world in A Discovery of Witches. The only problem I had with her was that it took FOREVER for the second book in her series to be released. But here it is, in the flesh!! And I want my hands on it...soon. :)
"Together we lifted our feet and stepped into the unknown"—the thrilling sequel to the New York Times bestseller A Discovery of Witches
Deborah Harkness exploded onto the literary scene with her debut novel,A Discovery of Witches, Book One of the magical All Souls Trilogy and an international publishing phenomenon. The novel introduced Diana Bishop, Oxford scholar and reluctant witch, and the handsome geneticist and vampire Matthew Clairmont; together they found themselves at the center of a supernatural battle over an enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782.
Now, picking up from A Discovery of Witches’ cliffhanger ending,Shadow of Night plunges Diana and Matthew into Elizabethan London, a world of spies, subterfuge, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the mysterious School of Night that includes Christopher Marlowe and Walter Raleigh. Here, Diana must locate a witch to tutor her in magic, Matthew is forced to confront a past he thought he had put to rest, and the mystery of Ashmole 782 deepens.
Deborah Harkness has crafted a gripping journey through a world of alchemy, time travel, and magical discoveries, delivering one of the most hotly anticipated novels of the season.
