For a while now I've been thinking about the new craze in YA books; love triangles. So instead of me keeping my thoughts to myself, I thought I could ramble on here to see what all of you guys think. Sound good? Yes...no? Oh well. ;)

First off, the one thing I've realised that's present in practically all of the love triangles we read is how infuriating they make you feel. Normally, I am all for just one of the male love interests but recently (yes, Delirium, I'm blaming you!) I've had a little... hiccup, shall we say at who to love more. Since I've already accused Delirium, I suppose I'll focus on that as an example.

Alex or Julian? Book one was more focused on Alex. Book two on Julian. And when it comes to me, I don't like being stuck in the middle. I like being on one side and rooting for just one boy. Otherwise it's really frustrating! But frustrating in a good way, of course. ;) Well after getting down to the nitty-gritty of the two boys in Delirium, I decided I'd go with Julian. And why may you ask? Why would you go for him when it appears Delirium readers love Alex much more than Julian? Well, I don't know 100% why. Maybe it's because I like Julian just that little bit more?

Then yesterday I came across a review which pointed out that we did get a lot more background information on Julian and barely any on Alex. So that got me thinking. Would I love Alex more if I knew more about him and his past? I'm just not sure. Is it possible for me to like them both and not having readers hate me for it? For now (until book three is out) I think I'll just say I love them both - even if Julian is just a little step ahead at this moment in time.

This leads me to what I'm trying to point out (I might have got a little carried away in my rambling there, I apologise)! Wouldn't it be just so much easier if the author made one character just much more likeable than the other? No. They know how to keep their audience on their toes and then break their hearts when that one boy is picked at the end of the series. They know the secret to a great page-turner is having two irresistible love interests for the audience to fight over and cry over. Basically, authors are very smart people! Very smart people, indeed!

Now, one writer who I both want to hug and scream at is Cassandra Clare. She can write one hell of a love triangle. I both love and slightly hate The Infernal Devices series. Sorry to all who like The Mortal Insturments better but I am all for TID! Whenever anyone mentions this series (which you really shouldn't do if you're ever around me... o_O) I go into full-blown fan girling mode about Will. Seriously. He is the best character the YA genre has ever seen - and I'm not being at all one-sided here... He is just so... ahhh, incredible! *THANK YOU SO MUCH, CASSANDRA CLARE FOR CREATING THIS MAGNIFICENT, SWOON WORTHY CHARACTER! xD* I really can not praise this series enough! And it's basically all down to Will. Well that's not true, everything about this series is awesome but Will is a BIG part of it! ;)

This is the side to love triangles where I am completely one sided to the one boy. Not in between and unsure of who to side with, I am forever TEAM WILL! I'm so sorry, Jem, but you're just not Will, and as great character you are... I just love Will too much! To all you that are Team Jem, I DO still like him as a character so don't hate me! It's just, I have such a strong siding with Will that I make myself hate Jem, which is just so unfair... ahh, the drama of it all! Oh yeah, almost forgot. Do you know that way when you usually guess who's going to be picked as the "true love"? Well in this series, let's just say it's difficult! Same with Delirium actually! I really highly recommend you read both of these series and if you love Will you will definetly score some brownie points! ;D

Just a little note to all you author's out there: PLEASE, OH PLEASE, OH PLEASE. MAKE YOUR LOVE TRIANGLES PERFECT!

So, yeah. Sorry for this very long, very gush, very rambly post but I sort-of needed to let out all that was in me. Summing up... Love triangles are both very entertaining and very likely to have you screaming in frustration. Whether it be because you are completely one sided in which boy you're rooting for (e.g. The Infernal Device's Will) or whether you're sort-of stuck in between (e.g. Delirium's Alex and Julian). They are also very likely to have you literally at breaking point (this time I'm looking at you, Cassandra Clare)! :)

Do any of you agree with the points made in this post? Disagree? Are you Team Will or Team Jem? Team Alex or Team Julian? Are there some love triangles where you just can't decide? Anything major that you feel an author should incorporate into them? Do you have a love or hate relationship with love triangles as a whole? Any books with love triangles you would recommend? Do you have any more Teams which you are sided on that you would like to mention? Comment below, the whole point of discussion posts is for you all to get involved! :D

Happy Reading,
Rachel xoxo

PS: I apologise for any spelling or grammatical mistakes but I'm in a hurry and can't really give it a look over! :S

Crazy Awesome Covers!

Hey all! Today I was planning on posting up just one cover for you all but after having a little internet search, I've now got three very eye-catching covers to show you! Enjoy! :D

Cover Catch #1 - Everbound by Brodi Ashton


SPOILERS FOR FIRST BOOK, EVERNEATH! DO NOT READ ON IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON READING THIS SERIES! :3

Two months ago, the Tunnels of the underworld came for Nikki Beckett. That night, Nikki's boyfriend, Jack, made the ultimate sacrifice. All Nikki wants is to save Jack before it's too late. All Cole wants is to find his queen - and he thinks Nikki is the one. Both determined, both desperate, Nikki and Cole form a tense alliance, leading them on a dangerous journey to The Heart of The Everneath.

Ohmygosh! I thought Everneath's cover was gorgeous but this is both gorgeous and slightly kick-ass! And I love how it ties in with the book as well! You can see what I thought of the first book here. It's just a shame that I have to wait 'till January 22 of next year! Oh, that's so long until I meet sweet Jack again! :O

Cover Catch #2 - All The Broken Pieces by Cindi Madsen


What if your life wasn’t your own?

Liv comes out of a coma with no memory of her past and two distinct, warring voices inside her head. Nothing, not even her reflection, seems familiar. As she stumbles through her junior year, the voices get louder, insisting she please the popular group while simultaneously despising them. But when Liv starts hanging around with Spencer, whose own mysterious past also has him on the fringe, life feels complete for the first time in, well, as long as she can remember.

Liv knows the details of the car accident that put her in the coma, but as the voices invade her dreams, and her dreams start feeling like memories, she and Spencer seek out answers. Yet the deeper they dig, the less things make sense. Can Liv rebuild the pieces of her broken past, when it means questioning not just who she is, but what she is?

There is something both strange and really pretty about this cover. The distortion is definetly unique but when you look more into it, you truly appreciate how cool it is! And plus, this plotline sounds so awesome! Oh, and this comes out on December 11th 2012, yay! :D

Cover Catch #3 - Dualed by Elsie Chapman


Would you live through the ultimate test of survival?

The city of Kersh is a safe haven, but the price of safety is high. Everyone has a genetic Alternate—a twin raised by another family—and citizens must prove their worth by eliminating their Alts before their twentieth birthday. Survival means advanced schooling, a good job, marriage—life.

Fifteen-year-old West Grayer has trained as a fighter, preparing for the day when her assignment arrives and she will have one month to hunt down and kill her Alt. But then a tragic misstep shakes West’s confidence. Stricken with grief and guilt, she’s no longer certain that she’s the best version of herself, the version worthy of a future. If she is to have any chance of winning, she must stop running not only from her Alt, but also from love . . . though both have the power to destroy her.

Oh damn, how amazing does this book sound? You have to kill your twin? Woah, what an awesome, unusual storyline! Plus this cover is pretty cool too! Win, win here! But, ahh, it's another 2013 release! February 26th to be exact!

Eeek, I can't wait for these releases! Comment below on what you think of these books and their covers, and also feel free to alert me on some more of your own can't-wait releases and their gorgeous covers! :D

Happy Reading,
Rachel xoxo

Review: Pandemonium

Author: Lauren Oliver
Edition: Hodder & Stoughton ebook
Released: February 1st 2012
Series: Delirium #2
Pages: n/a
Rating: See below review.

Unavoidable spoilers! Do not read if you want to read this series! :3

I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.

A while back when everyone was doing reviews of Pandemonium, I was reluctant. I'd really liked Delirium but Pandemonium seemed too much like a different set-up for me. It had Now and Then chapters which I thought would be confusing and a whole new love interest. Not a change I thought I would admire. But then I got started and, surprisingly enough, I actually settled into the whole concept and really enjoyed it!

The 'Now' chapters were in the present tense and followed the storyline of Lena being kidnapped along with Julian, the son to a very important man, and the 'Then' chapters were those that showed Lena in the Wilds after her escape and how she coped with the loss of Alex and all that she left behind. One minute I loved the Then chapters, and the next, the Now.

The new love interest, Julian? Well I didn't think I would like him but as it turns out... I did! In all honesty, even though I did like Alex, I wasn't the biggest fan of his in Delirium and so I suppose Julian had easy enough standards to match up too. If I had to choose which boy I think would be best with Lena, I'd pick Julian simply because I just liked him that little bit more. I really empathised with him and just found him an overall great character. He basically had to go through the exact same thing as Lena had to in the first book - come to terms with everything the society had lied about - so I really admired him for that. But I will say this again so all you Team Alex people won't hate me. I do like Alex and I want him to be happy but I just think Lena and Julian are more suited to each other.

Oh yeah, and did anyone else keep picturing Julian like this:


Or was that just me? For some reason I just kept thinking his description matched Alex Pettyfer's... the blonde hair maybe? Julian did have blonde hair, right? :S

Anyway. On to Lena. In this book I was very glad that the author chose to spotlight it on Lena's development and growth as a character. You also begin to see her coming to terms with everything and this is very skilfully written into both the 'Now' and 'Then' chapters. I really enjoyed her personality in this book and can only hope she stays the same in the next and becomes even more confident!

Of course I can't forget to mention the ending. Just before the final pages I got this feeling about what was going to happen - and it did! Needless to say it still left me breathless and stunned. I actually think I let out a little gasp!

Overall, Pandemonium was just as good as Delirium for me. A whole new bunch of characters were introduced and it was great getting to know each of their personalities. Again, Oliver's writing style has that engrossing quality. Admittedly, it's not my favourite writing style, but for some reason I still found it really hard to stop reading. And then she tied up this book with a shocker of an ending which completely blew me away. I can only wait and wonder who Lena will pick - Alex or Julian - in the next book, Requiem.


Cover Corner: I really like the colours on this particular cover but not the way the model is positioned. I just find it rather... strange I suppose. If she had been positioned differently then this cover would've been perfect but since she's not, well it's hard to say how much I like it!

Happy Reading,
Rachel xoxo

Interview with Author, Lori Culwell

Today I have an interview with Lori Culwell, author of The Dirt. Below you will find the interview and more about the book. Enjoy! :)

First off can you tell us a little about your book, The Dirt?
I grew up in Palm Desert, California (the town where the book is set), so I had years and years of “on the job research/ training,” so to speak. Many of the stories and situations in the book are true (or close to true). So, I guess, “The Dirt” is a fictional book about a not-so-fictional place. It’s about a “scandal family” (every town has one) of sisters and a dad, and the crazy stuff that happens to them starting when the dad tries to get remarried.

Do you have any similar traits to the main character, Lucy? Did she come to life easily or was she hard work?
My friends have told me that I *am* Lucy (or at least, I was when we were growing up), so I guess I came up with a crazy story, then told it through my own awkward 15 year old eyes. I personally don’t think she’s that much like me, but it was fun to write!

Many authors have distinctive writing styles, how would you describe yours?
I definitely have a humorous tone to my writing that can also be seen on my blog (FunnyStrange.net, where I regularly make fun of food and traffic signs as well as tv shows). I sometimes feel like things in the world are there just for my amusement. I feel this way most of all about my home town.

Where do you like to write? Any necessities you need while writing?
I used to insist on writing in one of those black and white composition notebooks. Then the transcription got to be too cumbersome so I switched to a MacBook Pro and never looked back. I like to write in a room other than my office (like the kitchen or the bedroom) so I’m not quite so ADD and tempted to do work at the same time. Also, if I’m on deadline, I have no problem taking my computer, parking somewhere, and sitting in the back of my car until I’ve completed my word goal. A little crazy, but it works!

If you could travel to any fictional world, where would you go and why?
Good question! I of course would want to live in “X-Men” world so I could be one of the mutants with the cool superpowers.

Are you currently writing or planning anything? If so, can you tell us a little about what you are doing?
I own a company that helps authors learn how to promote their books (bookpromotion.com), and a book I wrote about that just came out (How to Market a Book), so I just spoke at BEA (Book Expo America) in support of that. I’m all about books!

Quick Fire Questions:

Snow or Rain? Snow!
Fiction or Reality? Fiction!
Lion or Tiger? Tiger!
Romance or Adventure? Romance!

More About Lori: Lori Culwell is the author of five books. Her first novel, Hollywood Car Wash, was originally self-published, then was acquired and re-released by Simon & Schuster. She is also the owner of Get Creative Pages, a consulting firm that provides marketing and website services to authors. She has written for the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Salon.com, the Huffington Post, and other publications. She and her husband split time between Los Angeles and New York. You can find her on this website.

More About The Dirt:

Lucy Whitley cannot wait to get out of Palm Desert. It’s not a place for a frizzy-haired science nerd, particularly when her fashion-obsessed older sister Sloane is the head of a clique of pretty girls who rule the school – and practically the whole town. Fortunately, life is about to change forever. Lucy’s dad is getting re-married, and then she can transfer to a boarding school in Connecticut, escaping all the mean girls and the endless whispers about the Whitley family scandal. Everything is going to be perfect – as long as the wedding goes smoothly.

Great answers, Lori! If you like the sound of this book then check it out over at The Book Depository or Amazon! :)

Happy Reading,
Rachel xoxo

Showcase Sunday #5

Showcase Sunday is a meme hosted by Vicky over at Books, Biscuits & Tea where we showcase all of our recent book grabs.

Purchased Ebooks:

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver - This was the only book I got this week but woah was it good! I'd really enjoyed Delirium and I'm glad to say that this sequel was just as enjoyable. I'm so glad I've finally managed to read this series, it's getting pretty eventful now! A review will hopefully be up sometime this week! ;)

Leave links in the comments below to your own book hauls - I love seeing all that you got! :D

Happy Reading,
Rachel xoxo

Review: The Declaration (The Declaration #1)

Author: Gemma Malley
My Edition: Borrowed Bloomsbury Paperback
Released: October 2nd 2007
Notes: The Declaration #1
Pages: 301
Rating: See below review.

It's the year 2140 and Longevity drugs have all but eradicated old age. A never-aging society can't sustain population growth, however…which means Anna should never have been born. Nor should any of the children she lives with at Grange Hall. The facility is full of boys and girls whose parents chose to have kids--called surpluses--despite a law forbidding them from doing so. These children are raised as servants, and brought up to believe they must atone for their very existence. Then one day a boy named Peter appears at the Hall, bringing with him news of the world outside, a place where people are starting to say that Longevity is bad, and that maybe people shouldn't live forever. Peter begs Anna to escape with him, but Anna's not sure who to trust: the strange new boy whose version of life sounds like a dangerous fairy tale, or the familiar walls of Grange Hall and the head mistress who has controlled her every waking thought?

When my friend offered to let me borrow this, to be honest I wasn't too fussed. Personally, I'd never really thought about reading it but since my friend seemed to always be bringing it up and saying how much she'd enjoyed it, I relented. And I am so glad I did! Though it wasn't my favourite, it still felt like I was reading something totally unique. I felt almost privileged to have read it.

The Declaration definitely has a haunting vision of the future! That's one of the number one comments readers make in their reviews of this, and I have to agree. A world where children are illegal? That's kind-of scary! I really empathised with Anna because when Peter came along, everything that had been drummed into her about being useless and a waste-of-space was keeping her back from believing him. We could practically see the battle she was having between what she hoped could be true and everything she had been told was true. We really must give Malley credit for giving us such a complex and likeable main character - she was definitely well suited to the story! Then there's Peter. I don't really want to say too much about him in case I slip a spoiler, but I will say that he was overall an alright character. Maybe not the best male character I've come across but he was fine to get along with.

Though I would say that this book definitely wasn't boring, it wasn't exactly action-packed either. The Declaration definitely suited the pace it was at and the world and character building was just excellent. I think it made up for the loss of action that I usually crave for in most books. Don't get me wrong, it did pick up more toward the end though! I just think this book done a great job of setting up for a series! However, that ending was pretty well wrapped up - it could have worked fine as a standalone too! I wonder where the author's going to take the next book then...

I really enjoyed the writing in this novel as well. It had some diary entries in which we got to see from Anna's point of view and then the majority which was from third person. I found this really refreshing and it mixed things up a bit more so you were never that bored.

Overall, I quite enjoyed The Declaration. It had a great, complex main character and a unique plot line and setting. Also, a great, refreshing writing style. I'd absolutely recommend that you give it a read. I managed to finish it pretty quickly because I was just caught up in the whole haunting, dystopian world.


Cover Corner: I'm not really that sure what to think of this cover. I don't love it but I don't hate it either. The way that it looks like the butterfly is trapped by barbed wire is quite smart and ties in with the storyline but I don't think the colours of the butterfly are the best.

Happy Reading,
Rachel xoxo

Review: A Million Suns (Across The Universe #2)

Author: Beth Revis
My Edition: Razorbill Paperback (Borrowed)
Publication Date: January 10th 2012
Notes: Across The Universe #2
Pages: 386
Rating: See below review.

Synopsis contains spoilers for first book but review is safe. :)

Trapped on board the spaceship Godspeed, Amy trusts no-one.

The ship's ruler is dead and a rebellion threatens. Amy wants to help Elder as he tries to take charge, but she's torn between her feelings for him and the chaos that's pulling everything apart. As more harrowing discoveries are made about Godspeed, Amy is caught in a desperate race to unravel its secrets. Only one thing is certain.

They have to get off this ship.

Wow, what an amazing book! Usually for me, sequels never manage to live up to the former book but A Million Suns? It went above and beyond! I literally loved every single word and never wanted the book to end! Warning: Gushy review coming up! ;D

The writing was so engrossing and brilliant, everything was expertly tied up and the mystery was so well-played out and developed that I was practically in awe. Revis definetly has a talent for writing mystery - seriously! I definetly did not see that BIG twist coming. Ohmygoodness! I need book three now! To leave us with that ending, that's just cruel! Then of course there was the whole spaceship setting which I absolutely adored! Everything is just so well done in the world-building area and in this sequel we get to know more about it - and some more of the spaceship's secrets!

As most of you who have read my blog for a while now will know, I'm not that much of a fan of male characters narrating the story. But this is definetly an exception! I loved the fact that the chapters are split up between Amy and Elder's point of views! There would always be a mini cliffhanger on one and then it be the other character's chapter! I literally couldn't tear my eyes away, and when I wasn't reading this book, I was usually thinking about it! It's just a great action/adventure/sci-fi/romance/mystery book - woah, a lot of genres...

Every single character in this book just added to the book as a whole. I can't even really choose a favourite because they were all great! Amy and Eldest are, of course, perfect leads though! Amy is still the same fiery character that we all know and love. Then there's Eldest who, in this book, had a hard time with both the ship and Amy. Oh, the poor boy! It was like he had the whole world on his shoulders - pun intended. ;) But yeah, in a nutshell, I loved both Amy and Elder and their alternate chapters! I don't know if it'd be the same if one of them wasn't narrating...

Overall, I absolutely LOVED A Million Suns. I really can not praise this series enough now! The mystery and characters and writing style and setting and... well, everything made this book so much of a page turner. It has definetly got a spot on my favourite-books shelf! If you haven't read this series you are definetly missing out, and I mean REALLY missing out!


Cover Corner: Let me just say I'm not a fan of this edition cover compared to the other one. I don't like the models because they are not at all how they are conveyed in the book - Amy's a red-head and Elder is monoethnic! I like the positioning and font of the writing but that's about it. Not a cover for me unfortunetly, I definetly prefer the US one! :)

Happy Reading,
Rachel xoxo