Thursday, June 17, 2010

Follow My Book Blog Friday


Parajunkee's View is hosting a new blog hop called "Follow My Book Blog Friday", so if you're looking for more book blogs to browse and follow, head over to the official post and start touring!

To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:
  1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list
  2. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
  3. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
  4. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can
  5. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love... and the followers.
  6. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!

Review: Jekel Loves Hyde, by Beth Fantaskey



Jekel Loves Hyde
by Beth Fantaskey
282 Pages [Hardcover]
Published by Harcourt
Released on May 3, 2010



Jill Jekel has always obeyed her parents’ rules – especially the one about never opening the mysterious, old box in her father’s office. But when her dad is murdered, and her college savings disappear, she's tempted to peek inside, as the contents might be key to a lucrative chemistry scholarship.

To better her odds, Jill enlists the help of gorgeous, brooding Tristen Hyde, who has his own dark secrets locked away. As the team of Jekel and Hyde, they recreate experiments based on the classic novel, hoping not only to win a prize, but to save Tristen’s sanity. Maybe his life. But Jill’s accidental taste of a formula unleashes her darkest nature and compels her to risk everything – even Tristen’s love – just for the thrill of being… bad.


After reading Jessica's Guide To Dating On The Dark Side, I was already very fond of Beth Fantaskey. Her witty dialogue, plot twists, and character development left me speechless -- it was just that good! So, I knew that I would definitely like Jekel Loves Hyde, although I was skeptical of how much I would like it considering the storyline. Plus, I tend to lean more toward vampires and paranormal creatures when it comes to YA. I try not to, but I'm unsuccessful most of the time. As a matter of fact, besides getting this book the day it came out like I planned to, I put it off until I could finish a few other YA books that actually did involve vampires, werewolves, etc. What can I say? I have a weakness.

After reading it, what was my first thought? I made a mistake by putting it off. If I want to be completely honest with myself, some times I have a problem with certain things being retold because I hold them to a certain classic standard. I always tell my parents they should crawl out from under their rock and live in the modern age. Maybe I should take my own advice? As a spin-off of a classic, it was marvelous. So marvelous in fact that it makes me want to re-read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. If it makes a 26 year old girl do that, then I am absolutely certain that it may do the same with younger children who may have never read it. I think we should celebrate that ... books inspiring you to read others. I'm not saying this is a re-telling because it most certainly IS NOT. But Fantaskey puts enough information of the original into her story to make you get a taste of something delicious that leaves you wanting more. That is where the celebration should be - an author who writes so well that she inadvertently makes you want to read more. It's INCREDIBLE!

Having said that, I do have a few minor set-backs. I think that Jill and Tristen's relationship is ... lacking. Their turbulent on-again/off-again relationship gave me whiplash and I could barely keep up with it. It definitely wasn't a progression - it started out strong and fumbled its way through the entire novel. Along the same lines, I find it hard to believe that Jill would believe Becca -- who she admits just uses her most of the time -- over Tristen so easily, especially when she is supposed to be in love with him. Also, I found the absence of scenes where Jill takes the formula a little disappointing. You get a few glimpses, but not enough to actually understand why she's so obsessed over keeping some of the formula herself.

Despite this, I found myself intrigued until the very end of the book. Beth Fantaskey has this wonderful way of leading you in one direction to make you believe something, then just completely surprise you in the following pages to prove the exact opposite to be true. Her character development is wonderful. I think the best would obviously be Tristen, though it was endearing to follow Jill's mom in her path to recovery. Other minor characters were developed as well, though like real life, some characters just had the inability to grow. The book was a little slow at the beginning, but picked up the pace once they really started doing research - however, even the slow pace helped a lot with back story and your understanding of characters.

My decision? !! It wasn't Jessica's Guide... but it was a well thought out read that was a wonderful take on an old story. All of the important aspects of the novel are definitely strong, including the beautiful cover!

Amazon's Rating: ½ · Goodreads' Rating: ½

  • ISBN-10: 0152063900
  • ISBN-13: 978-0152063900


Don't forget to check out Beth Fantaskey's other novel, Jessica's Guide to Dating on The Dark Side.


Beth Fantaskey on the W.W.W.
Website | Blog | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon

The Versatile Blogger Award

I'm sincerely honored to say that thanks to Grace over at Simply Grace, I've now been rewarded my second blogger award since starting this blog. A lot of people don't understand why people get so excited over these awards. Well, I can tell you that I do because it means that people actually LIKE my blog. Even though I don't get money for it and it's just something I do on the side, I take pride in people actually enjoying it!


Here's how this award works:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic for whatever reason! (In no particular order...)
4. Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award
.


7 Things:

1. I have one cat and two chihuahuas ... and a stray cat outside I might as well adopt.
2. I've had an obsession with vampires since I was about ten.
3. I have a dream of one day becoming an author. I have two stories I'm working on right now.
4. My dream car is a '63 Chevrolet Corvette Split-Window.
5. I have a Scorpio tattoo that I designed on my right shoulder blade.
6. My first crush was Johnny Depp. I was seven years old when I fell for him, and I'm still down for the count.
7. My absolute favorite ice cream flavor is banana.


15 Bloggers:
These are just recent ones I discovered and enjoy. I follow over 300 blogs, they're all awesome and you should check those out as well!

1. Pure Imagination
2. Tynga's Reviews
3. A Journey of Books
4. Chick Loves Lit
5. Reading The Best of The Best
6. With Sprinklez On Top Reviews
7. Book Faery
8. Consumed by Books
9. Shut Up! I'm Reading.
10. The Fiction Enthusiast
11. The Subtle Chronicler
12. Can't Find A Bookmark
13. Fantasy4eva
14. Loud Words & Sounds
15. The Book Scoop

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Waiting on Wednesday


"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Want to participate?

My Choice:




Banished
by Sophie Littlefield
304 Pages
Published by Delacorte
Release Date: October 12, 2010



Sixteen-year-old Hailey Tarbell can’t wait for the day she’ll leave Gypsum, Missouri, far behind, taking only four-year-old Chub, the developmentally-delayed little boy her cruel drug-dealing grandmother fosters for the state money. But when a freak accident in gym class leaves a girl in critical condition, Hailey feels drawn to lay her hands on the injured girl and an astonishing healing takes place. Before Hailey can understand her new powers, a beautiful stranger shows up…just in time to save her and Chub from hired killers. A desperate race begins, with Hailey as the ultimate prize: there are those who will stop at nothing to harness her gifts to create an undefeatable army of the undead. Now it is up to Hailey and a small but determined family of healers to stand up to the unbelievable and face the unthinkable.

Honestly, I didn't know anything about this book until earlier today. I was browsing 2010 releases lists on GoodReads and it popped up a few times. The cover drew my attention to it almost instantly. After reading the synopsis, it went straight to my TBR list.

Teaser Tuesdays!


Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading.

· Grab your current read.
· Open to a random page.
· Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
· BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
· Share the author and title, too, so that the other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

Jekel Loves Hyde, by Beth Fantaskey

Then, like a wounded animal, I crawled to his side and collapsed on him, giving into my own agony, which felt like poison, too, burning inside of me. I clutched at his shirt, burying my face in his chest, wailing.

Dead ... He was dead ...

Monday, June 14, 2010

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?


It's Monday! What are you reading? is a weekly event - hosted by the wonderful Sheila - to share what we are reading this week, as well as what we read the previous week. Feel free to share in on the fun, or just click on the link to see what others are reading!

How's my reading going?

Incredible, only it wasn't always what I promised to finish. My trip to the used bookstore proved fatal to my goals as I picked up two Gena Showalter books that I hadn't read and obviously HAD to read as soon as I got them home. LOL

What did I finish last week?

Shadow Kiss, by Richelle Mead - I got through this last night and I'm so glad that I did. Despite what I may think about the main character's love life, I can't get enough of the series!

Truly, Madly, Deadly: The Unofficial True Blood Companion; by Becca Wilcott - I found this a little easier to soar through since it's a lot of True Blood and vampire stuff.

The Pleasure Slave, by Gena Showalter - I've always wanted to read her earlier stuff before the Lords series (Atlantis, Tales of an Extraordinary Girl, and Alien Huntress series aside) but I could never find them in local bookstores. I found two at the used bookstore!

The Stone Prince, by Gena Showalter - Yeah, this became first priority as soon as I got home from the used bookstore.


What do I plan on reading this week?

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, by Stephenie Meyer - I'm about halfway through and I *need* to finish this. Don't get me wrong, it's good ... I just want to make sure I truly devote all of my attention to it when I read it!

I have a TBR list that rivals ribbon lengths that are too long for their own good. I'm thinking I'm going to call a potluck on this and just grab in the bookshelf and read whatever it is that I may pick up.


How is YOUR reading going?
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