Review & Giveaway: Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

 

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan
Publisher: Random House for Young Readers
Release Date: Sept 11, 2012

Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met . . . a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn’t silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outsider in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn’t suffered too much from not fitting in. She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head.
But all that changes when the Lynburns return.
The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami is not one to shy away from the unknown—in fact, she’s determined to find answers for all the questions Sorry-in-the-Vale is suddenly posing. Who is responsible for the bloody deeds in the depths of the woods? What is her own mother hiding? And now that her imaginary friend has become a real boy, does she still love him? Does she hate him? Can she trust him?

My Thoughts:
What in the HALE just happened??!!  I have never been so infuriated over an ending before.  What happens in the last page of this book is just so just so UGH!  I have no words!!  I am so shocked right now!

The summary above gives you a pretty good idea of what this story is about.  We have Kami who is trying to figure out why the people in her town are scared to talk about the Lynburn family, the Lynburn boys who have just moved back to town, and a few other characters that are thrown in to help Kami on her quest to find the truth.  This definitely sounds like my typical read and it was to a point.  The first problem I had with it was the dialogue.  It took me a long time to feel comfortable reading the conversations that took place between the younger characters.  Kami never talks like a teenager and neither do her friends.  It almost felt to stiff.   After 1/3 of the book I just gave up and just went with it.

Another thing that bothered me was that some of the interactions between the characters just came out of left field.  At times it felt like I had stumbled on a page from another book because it just didn't fit with what was going on at the time.  I mean I liked the overall story I guess it was just all the side stuff that bugged me.  Like when Jared wouldn't touch Kami. By the end of the book I was screaming at them to just TOUCH each other!  I don't know so much of this story bothered me that I still can't quite get my thoughts together.  And I am staying far away from the ending.  I do not want to get started on that so yep moving on.

I think the author has a great way with words so don't get me wrong the writing itself was great..  I have a feeling I am going to be in the minority with this book because I have seen a ton of awesome reviews and ratings for it.  I know that it might seem a little strange to be giving away a copy of this book when my review is not a happy one, but I know a lot of people have really loved it and I really think people should at least try every book out for themselves to see if it is for them. My review is just my opinion and I would love nothing more than to give this one away to a good home =)

2.5 Snowflakes

 

We are giving an ARC copy to one lucky winner!  Just fill out the rafflecopter form below.  Open to US and Canada. Good luck everyone!!  

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Review: Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally

Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally

Publisher-Sourcebooks Fire 

Released-Oct 1st 2012

Purchase-Chapters / Amazon / B&N

Parker Shelton pretty much has the perfect life. She’s on her way to becoming valedictorian at Hundred Oaks High, she’s made the all-star softball team, and she has plenty of friends. Then her mother’s scandal rocks their small town and suddenly no one will talk to her.
Now Parker wants a new life.
So she quits softball. Drops twenty pounds. And she figures why kiss one guy when she can kiss three? Or four. Why limit herself to high school boys when the majorly cute new baseball coach seems especially flirty?
But how far is too far before she loses herself completely?

My Thoughts

Parker Shelton loves softball, but she gave up the sport when her mom left her family for another women. Embarrassed and shattered by her broken family, Parker gives up on the game just to spite her mom and then goes out of her way  to prove that she's nothing like her, and does in fact like boys. She loses the butch look and drops 30 pounds and hooks-up with random guys, earning her a bit of a rep that she's not exactly comfortable with, but doesn't really do anything about it. She losses her friends and is scared to really commit. But when Brian, the new assistant coach starts to pay some much craved attention to Parker she starts to feel things that she shouldn't be feeling for a guy who's six years older then she is. It's forbidden but it still feels good. But then there's Will Whitfields (aka Corndog) who use to be her academic archrival but lately he's been a friend and someone she can depend on. 

But soon enough Parker doesn't recognize herself when she looks into the mirror and when her world comes crashing down she begins to realize that she's more lost then she realized.

I absolutely adored Kenneally's debut novel, Catching Jordan. It stars a female football star who's friends with a bunch of guys. I don't know why but I found that concept extremely sexy. Stealing Parker is a lot like Catching Jordan, but in ways it also felt very different. But one thing remains the same, Kenneally really know how to combine sports with heart-soaring romance that is edgy and warm at the same time. 

This book features another hit of characters that I just adored.

Parker is the kind of character you really want to see through to the very end. She's confused and hurt about what her mom put her family through. She's not mad that her mom left her for another women, she's just mad cause she left. So when her church turned on her family and her friends started to act different around her as well, she just snapped. You can't lose anyone if you don't actually get to close. So hook-ups are the next best thing. She may not always make the best decisions but I still love that she's an athlete and a valedictorian. I love that she's not intimated by a bunch of guys and that's she's strong and kind and has a big heart. 

Will is the kind of guy that grows on you. I didn't like him at first, but once he and Parker became friends and started to hang out I started to enjoy their chemistry. I love the way he takes care of his brother Bo and I loved how he stands up for Parker and I really loved that he didn't wig-out when he found out about Drew.

Brian isn't a bad guy, I think he did care about Parker in his own way, but he was all wrong for her. It felt like he was only with her to live out his 'high school day' again. She reminds him of better days and I think he kinda used her to compensate for being a failure in his own life.

I also loved Drew, but I was a little sore with him at the very end. He shouldn't have acted the way he did. But he does score cool point for the HP love, so I'll find it in my heart to forgive him.

Sam Henry and Jordan fan's will be happy to see them appear in this book. We see Sam more then Jordan and it's very little scenes, but it was still nice to see them together and happy. 

But what I really loved most about these characters were the fun carefree spirit that they all have with each other. Playing baseball, the banter and digs. Playing childhood games like  MASH or freeze tag or even watching Harry Potter. It was just a lot of fun to read about a great group of characters living large when it's good and being there for each other when it's bad.

The story line was filled with good old fashion angst and drama. The good kind, the kind that curls your toes and completely consumes you till the story is done, which is why I read this in one sitting. 

But I have to be honest, the only thing that I didn't really care for was the religious aspects of the story. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but I dunno, it just...didn't fit the flavor of the story-line. When I hear- sports and hook-ups and drinking and swearing and lusting- the last thing I expect is a girl who's very Christian and I wasn't prepared for how largely religion played into the story.

With that said, I still think this was another amazing book by Kenneally. Everyone losses themselves at one point of their lives. Everyone. This was a brilliant portrayed story about finally knowing what you really want in life and even though you may feel like your world is coming undone, you just have to keep moving before you find yourself again. And it doesn't hurt when you have real friends to back you up, family that's always been there to support you and finally finding someone you can love.

Stealing Parker stole my heart! Another win by Miranda Kenneally. I can't wait to read her next book; Things I Can't Forget.

Special thanks to  ♥Rachel♥  from The Readers Den for sharing this Arc! I'm Hugging you girl!

Find the Author:

Goodreads / Website

                                      

                                                                   4.5 Snowflakes 

 

WinterHaven SnowPeak 2

Welcome to our second edition of WinterHaven SnowPeak where we give you a little sneak peak of what’s to come this month, what we’re most excited about, and some music to keep you busy throughout the month.

What's coming this month?!?  

Well we have two events that have us bouncing in our seats, and we can't wait to share them with you! 

 

So besides the great give-aways, reviews, blog tours, WOWs and StSs that we have planned - make sure you visit us on September 24, 2012. We’re having a Diety (Covenant #3) party happening here, and you won’t want to miss the excitement and fun surprise! It’s going to be great, so stay tuned!

 

Also, for our Aussie YA Lit fans that didn't catch our WOW this past week, we’ll definitely be reading the release of Charyn of Quintana by Melina Marchetta when it comes out on September 26, 2012 by Viking Australia. If you’ve preordered your book, let us know!

 

Attention all Blogs

WinterHaven Books wants to try our hand at hosting a WinterHaven Sleigh Tour during the Christmas Season. We’re thinking fun give-aways, winter book wishes for elementary schools, holiday/winter book spotlights, reviews and more! Oh and WinterHaven will host a holiday gift basket! Sounds fun, right? Well if you’d like to either co-host the tour with us or participate in any form email us at winterhavenbooks(at)gmail(dot)com, and we’ll be sure to include you in the Holiday Festivities!  

 

SnowPeak Monthly Music Playlist

With that, we’re leaving you with a little "hold music" as you wait for our Deity, Charyn of Quintana, and other exciting events .  We hope you enjoy our Monthly Music Playlist!!

 

Deity – Song Choices
I Won't Give Up - Jason Mraz
Collide - Howie Day
Lost in the Echo - Linkin Park

Charyn of Quintana – Song Choice

Feel Again - One Republic

So if you enjoyed those, here's some more hold music that caught our attention.

Like a Stone - AudioSlave

Some Nights - Fun
Drive By - Train
Thank you to our followers for helping us grow this blog. We hope you’re having a great time stopping by and joining in on the fun! September is going to be an awesome month, so make sure to come with your party hats to celebrate at WinterHaven. 

 

Stacking the Shelves (10)

A weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews, that features the books we bought, borrowed, were gifted, and were given for review in the mail.   

Happy September everyone!  I am so excited that it is September because that means all the fall books will be coming out woohoo!!  We had another amazing week of books that will definitley keep us busy until all those beautiful fall books come out!  Here is what we received this week:

For Review:

Amarok by Angela J. Townsend

Broken by A.E. Rought

Collateral by Ellen Hopkins

Gifted:

Beautiful by Amy Reed (Big hugs to Flannery over at The Readventurer)

Bought:

If I Lie by Corrine Jackson

The Waiting Sky by Lara Zielin

The Dark Light by Sara Walsh

Hidden Gem by India Lee

Meeting Destiny by Nancy Straight

Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey

Beginnings by A.M. Hargrove

Survival by A.M. Hargrove

*A special thanks to Spencer Hill Press, Atria Books, Strange Chemistry, & Flannery*

That's it for us this week.  I think we will definitely be busy lol!  I hope everyone received lots of fun books this week!   Leave a link below so I can visit and see...and well so I can add more to my tbr =D  You can add ours by clicking on the picture, it will take you straight to Goodreads.