Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy, #5)

Richelle Mead

490 pages

Published May 2010

Rating: A+

Synopsis (contains spoilers for those who haven't read the the other books)

Dimitri gave Rose the ultimate choice. But she chose wrong… After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri’s birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir’s—and to her best friend, Lissa. It is nearly graduation, and the girls can’t wait for their real lives beyond the Academy’s iron gates to begin. But Rose’s heart still aches for Dimitri, and he's out there, somewhere. She failed to kill him when she had the chance. And now her worst fears are about to come true. Dimitri has tasted her blood, and she knows in her heart that he is hunting her. And if Rose won't join him, he won't rest until he's silenced her...forever.

My review

Okay so I know I didn't review the other books in the Vampire Academy series but I received Spirit Bound for review so here goes!

I. LOVED. IT. This series is just too amazing. I loved the other books but Spirit Bound was just.. wow. I'm speechless. Spirit Bound continues after Blood Promise, with Rose and Lissa about to graduate and let me tell you, there's more drama than ever. The plot was excellent and the beginning had me hooked right away. Richelle brought new aspects to the storyline and revealed new things about spirit users, which was awesome to know. She's one of my favorite authors.

Rose is obviously one of my favorite heroines. She's beautiful, courageous, strong, hilarious, etc. I just love reading the books from her perspective. Everything she does is either funny or dangerous. I also love every character in this series, good or bad. They all have very deep personalities and wild characteristics that make the books so enjoyable. The characters have to go through even worse stuff in Spirit Bound and it was fun to see Lissa and Rose outside of the Academy with two awesome characters accompanying them, Eddie and Adrian. Oh and we can't forget our lovely bad boy, Dimitri! I love the turn of events in this book for him, Rose and Adrian.

Any bad things about Spirit Bound? No way! Well it was too short for me, I never wanted the book to end. I never thought that it would live up to my expectations since Blood Promise blew me away but Richelle continues to surprise me. Spirit Bound takes you on an unforgettable adventure that makes your heart race. I can't wait to read the last book but I'll also be disappointed to see the series end. If you haven't read these books yet, add them to your to-read pile! One of the best books I've ever read.

Birthday Party! aka, a contest! :)

Hey All!

Well in a few weeks, July 20th to be exact, is my 20th birthday!! And I am really excited. I thought that it would be really cool for me to have a contest for my birthday and spread a little love and give you guys presents! (AKA Books!)

I will be giving away presents to two lucky people who will receive two books! The first winner will be able to choose from four books and the next winner will get the remaining two. All four books that I plan to give away are some of my favorites, so I hope you all like them too or if you havent read them, then you definitely should!!

Here are the four books! :)

Three are by Sarah Dessen and one is by Laurie Halse Anderson.. two of my all time favorite authors!

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

& Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

I hope all of you will enter! Because I really want to give away some books! Ha. I love giving presents to people and since its my birthday I decided that since I'll most likely be getting gifts from my parents (hopefully! haha), I should give some gifts to you guys! And its been awhile since we have done a contest!

So here are the rules! They are easy! Don't worry!

US residents only please! 13 years or older.

POST ALL ENTRIES IN ONE (1) COMMENT!

+1 for commenting

+2 for following.. old or new!

+3 spread the word! Via twitter, blog, wherever! Only once gets you +3, anything more than that will still just get you +3. INCLUDE LINKS!

+4 for telling me the best birthday gift you have ever gotten!

Thats a total of 10 total entries you could get, so enter! :)

Contest Ends July 19th!

And I will announce the winner a few days later!

PLEASE LEAVE YOUR EMAIL IN THE COMMENT OR ELSE YOU WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED FOR THE CONTEST!!

So Enter!! :)

In My Mailbox (35)

In My Mailbox was created by The Story Siren. Click here to learn more about it.

Review:

Girl Parts by John M. Cusick (This sounds extraordinary!)

The Secret Diary of Ashley Juergens by Ashley Juergens (I love the show, The Secret Life of an American Teenager, so I'm super excited to read this one!)

Salvaged by Stefne Miller (NEED TO READ!)

**What did you guys get? :)

Leaving Paradise

Simone Elkeles

Published 2007

303 Pages

Rating: B+

Nothing has been the same since Caleb Becker left a party drunk, got behind the wheel, and hit Maggie Armstrong. Even after months of painful physical therapy, Maggie walks with a limp. Her social life is nil and a scholarship to study abroad—her chance to escape everyone and their pitying stares—has been canceled.

After a year in juvenile jail, Caleb’s free . . . if freedom means endless nagging from a transition coach and the prying eyes of the entire town. Coming home should feel good, but his family and ex-girlfriend seem like strangers.

Caleb and Maggie are outsiders, pigeon-holed as "criminal" and "freak." Then the truth emerges about what really happened the night of the accident and, once again, everything changes. It’s a bleak and tortuous journey for Caleb and Maggie, yet they end up finding comfort and strength from a surprising source: each other.

(from BN.com)

Let me first say that this book was pretty close to amazing. It had everything a book should have: desire, love, broken hearts, honest perspectives, amusement, and a good ending. I fell in love with book within the first few pages. I was hooked from the get-go.

The book is told from two points of views: Caleb Becker's and Maggie Armstrong's. They are two very different individuals but have something in common they both cannot stand to live with.Leaving Paradise is a book about their struggles. They both try to find peace after what happened that night. In short, Caleb was drunk driving and hit Maggie and from that point on everything was different. Caleb was put into a juvenile detention center and Maggie was in the hospital and undergoing major therapy, but now it’s a year later and much has changed but not necessarily for the better. Caleb is free, and Maggie is still living with her disability while trying to accept the fact that her life has completely done a 180.

I really enjoyed reading this book, and I was surprised at a few of the twists it had. There were some things I didn’t expect but they made the book so much better. Not only was this book different from the average teen novel, but it was one that left me thinking about the little (or big) things in life that affect others. I definitely recommend this book to teens (and even adults) everywhere. The ending was unexpected, but it pulled the book together perfectly.

Uglies

Scott Westerfeld

Published 2006

448 Pages

Rating: C

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.

But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

At first, I really didn't enjoy this book that much. The first 200 pages or so bored me to death and I just wanted to put the book down and and host a giveaway. I thought maybe someone else would like it more than I would, because it's a pretty popular YA series.

After the first 200 pages, things started to pick up and I started to get more engrossed in the story. The plot and characters became more refreshing and the entire "feel" of the book took a 180 for me. Do you ever pick up a book and just not even want to read it because the feel of it just doesnt do it for you? That's what I felt in the beginning of Uglies.

Am I going to read the sequels? It depends. As long as I have other books to read, I probably won't end up buying Pretties. What I mean by that, is my TBR (To Be Read) list is never-ending so as long as I have something else on my shelves, chances are... Pretties will not be in my shopping cart.

Overall, the book itself isn't a bad one; it's just not my preference.

Back in Action!

Hey guys!

I'm back from my marvelous vacation and I'm ready to get back into my reading routine. I did get some reading done while sitting by the pool, you know, getting my tan on. I FINALLY finished reading Uglies! I'm so proud of myself for finishing it and I honestly didn't hate it like I thought I would.

Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my charger for my camera, so I don't have tons of amazing pictures to share. My mom bought some disposables thought so hopefully I can find someone's scanner to use so I can show you the pictures of me holding a stingray! By the way, they're incredible creatures, so gentle and sweet.

This is a beautiful little part of Nassau that I found that I just needed to take a picture of.

This is a monkey made of towels that the staff put together, hanging near our TV.




I took this picture of the beautiful view from my balcony on the ship. Waking up to that... is unexplainable.

Anyways, I'm back in action and ready to roll. Bring on the books :)

M.I.A.

Hey guys :) On Saturday at 9 AM I'll be heading to New York to get on a big boat. :D I'll be going to Florida, the Bahamas and a few other private islands. I'm so excited and I will be reading at night when I can, but I'll have no internet service available to post. The boat actually has a library and I'll definitely be checking it out. My mom looked at me like I was a nutcase when I said that. She said, "You're going to be on a wonderful cruise, going to amazing beaches and you'll be in the library? It's obvious that you're meant to be an English major."

Anyway, I'll miss you guys dearly! To anyone that's holding a contest, if I happen to win it while you're gone... if you wouldn't mind waiting until next Saturday that'd be great. But if you'd like to give it to the next person that's okay too.

-Briana

Booking Through Thursday (12)

Do you prefer reading current books? Or older ones? Or outright old ones? (As in, yes, there’s a difference between a book from 10 years ago and, say, Charles Dickens or Plato.)

Briana: I don't usually read older books. I love to read new books because I can definitely relate to them more... but I'm sure older books are fun too. For example, I loved reading MacBeth in school. That was fantastic!