Over the Moon Giveaway

Hey everyone! So I got this book quite a while ago for review and it just wasn't for me. The idea of this book is so intriguing but for some reason I just couldn't get into it. However, that doesn't mean one of you won't like it! I would really appreciate whoever entering the contest be a follower of BAM Book Reviews, since I will be spending my own money on shipping costs, but I won't limit the contest to just the followers.

When seventeen-year-old Tiana moves to Hurricane, Utah, her comfortable world is turned upside down as she traverses the rough waters of adjusting to a small town and new school. Her father insists they were supposed to move here for some unknown, important purpose, and the voice in her head tells her not to argue. After resigning herself to being a miserable outcast, Tiana finds that she is not only accepted by most of the students at her new high school but is also the recipient of unwelcome attention from the opposite sex.

But then she meets the mysterious Andrew Martin and is soon Over the Moon crazy about him. Andrew seems to be the perfect boyfriend: protective, tender, good with her parents, and a fabulous kisser. But he also has a few unusual qualities: an intuitiveness that borders on mind reading, a touch that seems to heal, and almost superhuman strength. Tiana marvels at his talents but doesn't seriously consider the implications until she can no longer ignore the clues: Andrew does not belong on Earth. When Andrew admits his true identity, Tiana enters a world previously unknown to her and is plunged into mortal danger as it is Andrew's sworn duty to combat evil, extraterrestrial villains who wish to invade Earth and enslave mankind. Join Diane Daniels for a romantic adventure in Over the Moon, which will take you to a world where the impossible comes to life.

If you're interested in entering the contest, click here. The contest will end Saturday, June 25th at 11:59 PM.

BEA/IMM Vlog

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PART ONE:

PART TWO:

Breaking Dawn Part 1 Trailer

Briana: So. Frickin. Impressed. Everything about this teaser trailer made me squeal and jump and smile, etc. I think I almost died when Edward broke the bed. I didn't expect them to show that, at all! So excited to see the feathers ;) OH and the baby bump scare in the end?! AWESOME. This movie will be epic. I know that not everyone loved the book, but I think everyone will enjoy the movie. The only negative about this trailer? Edward's hair in the wedding.

Arielle: I completely agree with Briana! I am so impressed with this trailer. I almost didn't expect it to be that good. I haven't really been keeping up with any BD info since I am not a huge Twihard, but once I saw this I immediately got excited for November. I am thinking this movie with be MUCH better than the past three.. which is so exciting! I believe that even non-Twilight fans would find this trailer intriguing!

Marisa: I also definitely agree with Briana and Arielle :) I've been waiting for this trailer for quite awhile now and I'm definitely satisfied with it! I totally thought that they wouldn't show anything of the wedding or the baby because those are really important parts of the book but I'm so glad they did! It looks super awesome and will probably be the best movie yet :) I'm excited! Oh and I agree with what Briana said about Edward breaking the bed, really unexpected and awesome :)

My First BEA Experience (Part 1)

As some of you may know, I attended the infamous Book Expo America! Yes this post is a little late, but I couldn't find my camera cord and well, you know... there has to be pictures in this post. So I borrowed a camera cord and am so ready to show you guys the amazing-ness of BEA, or at least what I was able to capture through a lens. I'll try my best to go in depth enough but not too much so it's ridiculously long!

Day One (Sunday): I arrived in NY around 4:00, as far as I remember. Lexie and Jen (read below for info on bloggers) picked me up at Port Authority and took me to the hotel so I could drop off my bags. After we dropped off my bags, we went back to Port Authority to grab some grub and then back to the hotel! That night, my roomies Jen, Lexie, Taschima and I compared our schedules for BEA. It was a pretty relaxing night and was good to rest before the madness about to come our way.

Day Two (Monday): I am not a morning person, but I have to say I didn't mind getting up early on Monday since we were going to have an exciting, yet another relaxing day. We went to the Javits Center and then headed to the... HARRY POTTER EXHIBIT! Not as exciting as Harry Potter World (FL), I know. But don't get me wrong, there aren't any complaints here! If you guys are in NYC, definitely spend the $25 (?) and visit the exhibit! Anyway, my roomies and I met up with Emily, Nikki and Danielle!

After the HPE, we went to get pizza in a church. Yep, you read right. We had pizza in a church, specifically John's Pizza (Danielle's recommendation.) Before Teen Author Carnival, we headed to The Strand bookstore. This was my first downfall of NYC. I purchased 14 books at The Strand. Now that was fun carrying around NYC; can you say blisters? Teen Author Carnival was a really fun experience and SO many people were there! I kind of wish we wore badges like we did at BEA so we would know who everyone is! =P

At one point after TAC, we met up with Amelia and Tegan! Sadly, Amelia didn't come to Dave and Busters with us for dinner, but dang that food was GOOD. Is there any way to request to bring a Dave and Busters to my town? Later that night we came back to the hotel and just hung out for a while and compared schedules once again.

I'm waiting for Jen to post her part 2 so I can look at that to make sure I don't miss any events that went down since I was with her pretty much 24/7. Is that cheating?

Bloggers:

Lexie is from Poisoned Rationality.

Jen is from Reading with Tequila.

Taschima from Bloody Bookaholic.

Emily from Red House Books.

Danielle from Frenzy of Noise.

Nikki from Wicked Awesome Books.

Tegan from Poisoned Rationality.

Amelia from Imagination in Focus.

Non-bloggers (AMAZING people):

Taschima's mom Suzan!

Taschima's friend Chaz!

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

Published: May 2011

Source: Barnes and Noble

Edition: Hardcover

Pages: 416

Rating:

Since her parents' bitter divorce, Mclean and her dad, a restaurant consultant, have been on the move - four towns in two years. Estranged from her mother and her mother's new family, Mclean has followed her dad in leaving the unhappy past behind. And each new place gives her a chance to try out a new persona: from cheerleader to drama diva. But now, for the first time, Mclean discovers a desire to stay in one place and just be herself - whoever that is. Perhaps her neighbor Dave, an academic superstar trying to be just a regular guy, can help her find out. (Barnes and Noble)

Sarah Dessen has hit another one out of the park. I fell in love with this book immediately. Dessen’s books have always captivated me from the beginning, and this one was no exception. Mclean, a senior in high school, has been living with her dad ever since her parent’s scandalous divorce. Her father is a restaurant consultant that jumps from job to job meaning they move constantly. Mclean has moved four different times in two years. Every time she moves, she creates a different persona – Liz, Beth, Lizbet, etc; she enjoys deciding who she will be instead of what people think she should be. Except when they move to Lakeview, Mclean decides to stay Mclean. She doesn’t completely understand why at first, but throughout the book she begins to realize she enjoys being Mclean much more than her previous personas she thought she liked.

The story is like any other from Dessen: charming, funny, witty, touching, and thoughtful. Unlike other Dessen books though, this one focuses more on the family aspect instead of completely focusing on the life of the main character and a certain boy. The story feels real based on the related circumstances. Everyone, at least once in their life, tries to find themselves, and in What Happened to Goodbye, this is exactly what Mclean is trying to do. She needs to decide who she really wants to be and if she will finally let people get close enough to have lasting relationships with them.

However, this book is not without a good-looking, charming guy. Dave, Mclean’s neighbor, is the extremely smart, cute, and all around great guy that Mclean is afraid of. She doesn’t know if she is ready to get close to anyone since her and her father may relocate at any point. But as the story unfolds and some things turn sour, she finds herself relying on Dave and needing him more than she expected.

What Happened to Goodbye does not disappoint for us hardcore Dessen followers. It will have you laughing, thinking, and maybe even tearing up a little bit. I recommend it to any new and old Dessen readers.

Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

Published: April 2005

Source: Borrowed from friend

Edition: Paperback

Pages: 352

Rating:

Race White is the consummate good girl. A hard-working attorney at a large Manhattan law firm and a diligent maid of honor to her charmed best friend Darcy, Rachel has always played by all the rules. Since grade school, she has watched Darcy shine, quietly accepting the sidekick role in their lopsided friendship. But that suddenly changes the night of her thirtieth birthday when Rachel finally confesses her feelings to Darcy's fiancé, and is both horrified and thrilled to discover that he feels the same way. As the wedding date draws near, events spiral out of control, and Rachel knows she must make a choice between her heart and conscience. In so doing, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk everything to be true to yourself. (Barnes & Noble)

From the very first page, I was absolutely hooked onto Something Borrowed. I could not put it down. The novel as a whole is witty, charming, a little mysterious, and extremely funny and entertaining even during the more serious parts of the book. It had be laughing and gasping out loud as the story unfolded.

Rachel, the main character, is turning thirty. And while she has an amazing job in Manhattan, her life is far less glamorous. Although her life isn’t all too terrible, her dreams of having a husband and a family by the age of thirty have yet to come true. While she has enjoyed single life, it becomes more prominent to her that she wants to find a husband when her best friend, Darcy, becomes engaged. Darcy and Rachel have been friends since childhood; they grew up living across

the street from one another. Darcy is outgoing and flirtatious, whereas Rachel is level-headed and focused on her career. But one night, the night of Rachel’s surprise 30^th birthday, changes everything.

After a long night of partying with friends, Rachel admits to her feelings for Darcy’s fiancé – Dexter, who Rachel met during law school and then ultimately introduced to Darcy figuring they would be better off with each other because of their stunning good looks and confidence. Throughout the novel, Rachel battles her feelings for Dex while trying to be a good best friend to Darcy. The story continues to unfold as the affair between Rachel and Dex grow; it is up to the both of them to determine if this is merely a pre-marriage fling or if it is the real deal in which Dex will call off his wedding to be with Rachel.

I completely recommend this book to everyone. Although, it is a little PG-13, so read with caution. But it was an enjoyable and quick read. The sequel to Something Borrowed is Something Blue which I am adding to my reading list.

Review Policy

[We would really appreciate any authors/publishers/etc. reading our policy before emailing us!]

Firstly, I would just like to point out that BAM Book Reviews is primarily devoted to YA book reviews and news. Every so often we may review a book that isn't YA, but for the most part that is our main focus.

Genres we accept and/or consider:

• YA (Any sub genre except non-fiction)
• MG (Usually don't accept, but will consider)
• Adult Fiction (Usually don't accept, but will consider)

Genres we don't accept:

• Non-fiction (Biographical, Informational, Self-help, etc.)
• Graphic Novels
• Westerns
• Also, we don't accept e-books.

[For any genre not listed above; please ask us about so we can give you an answer of whether or not we're interested and also so we can add it to one of the lists above for future reference.]

About our reviews:

All three of us are currently students so it may take us anywhere from a week to a year to review a book. We will always provide an honest, critical review of the book. We try to be as polite as possible when writing a bad review and in no way do we tell our readers not to read the book. We strongly believe that one man's trash is another's treasure (for lack of better words.) If a book is sent unsolicited to one of us for review, we will consider it but do not have to review it. If we aren't interested in reading it, then we'll either have a giveaway, donate it to a blog tour, or give it to a fellow blogger.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask us (preferably) through email. You can either email us at the address we share (bambookreviews [at] gmail [dot]com) or directly to one particular reviewer. Our personal email addresses should be to the left unless we (for some reason) took it down or would rather not have it posted publicly.

**Lastly, we are in no way paid for our opinions. We're sent books for free in exchange of a 100% honest review.

Old Cover VS New Cover: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Old:

New:

Uglies wasn't my favorite book but one thing I did like was the cover. These new covers are nice, don't get me wrong, but they're so... white. So as you can probably tell, I like the old covers more. What about you guys? Which covers do you like and why?