Monday, February 21, 2011

Cloaked by Alex Flinn

Release Date: 2.8.2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 256
Overall:

I'm not your average hero. I actually wasn't your average anything. Just a poor guy working an after-school job at a South Beach shoe repair shop to help his mom make ends meet. But a little magic changed it all.

It all started with a curse. And a frognapping. And one hot-looking princess, who asked me to lead a rescue mission.

There wasn't a fairy godmother or any of that. And even though I fell in love along the way, what happened to me is unlike any fairy tale I've ever heard. Before I knew it, I was spying with a flock of enchanted swans, talking (yes, talking!) to a fox named Todd, and nearly trampled by giants in the Everglades.

Don't believe me? I didn't believe it either. But you'll see. Because I knew it all was true, the second I got cloaked.

I love Alex Flinn! Her books are just so cute.

This is my third book of hers, I have also read Beastly and A Kiss in Time and all of these books are tied for awesome in my opinion.... I love all of them equally... and I love them a lot.

So, Johnny is a shoe repair worker, working to help his family afford living after his dad disappeared. Then suddenly one day, a real, live princess shows up at the hotel, and she changes Johnny's life forever. A witch's curse has transformed her brother into a frog, and only a good, kind, loyal boy like Johnny can save him. With the aid of a magic cloak that can transport him anywhere he needs to go, and the advice of various magical animals that were once human, Johnny sets out on a wild adventure with the promise of a $10,000 reward from the princess and her hand in marriage if he rescues the frog prince.

I discovered this author the way thousands of people are these days, because her book Beastly has been made into a movie, which I am very much looking forward to seeing. I read and enjoyed that book, which is a contemporary, fairy-tale retelling. This book is, too, but it goes a step farther. Rather than dealing with only one fairy tale, it is a "modern fairy-tale mash-up." The author has cleverly woven together multiple Grimm's fairy tales, among them "The Elves and the Shoemaker," "The Frog Prince," "The Six Swans," "The Golden Bird," and "The Brave Little Tailor."

Long story short I love Alex Flinn. If you haven't already picked up one of her books pick on up ASAP.

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Happy Monday!

xoxo,
Shelbie

Pictures on Monday 1

Hey guys!

I thought I would start a little thing to do on Mondays since they suck. If you want to join in then post a link in the comments and if enough people want to then I'll add a linky to it!

I was just planning on posting pretty pictures to make Mondays less sucky :) if you want to join in just post a link to your pictures in the comments!

Oh, and we need a name for this, the one I came up with isn't very good... post your idea in the comments too!




Have a good Monday!

xoxo,
Shelbie

Sunday, February 20, 2011

In My Mailbox 12

Guten Tag!

It's Sunday, and time for what I got In My Mailbox, I actually have some interesting stuff this week, if you would like to do one also, link it at The Story Siren and make sure to comment below with links to your mailbox!!

E-Books
The Julian Game by Adele Griffin (GoodReads/Amazon)
Cloaked by Alex Flinn (GoodReads/Amazon)
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder (GoodReads/Amazon)
Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble (GoodReads/Amazon)

In My Mailbox
Haunted by Joy Preble (GoodReads/Amazon)
Griffin Rising by Darby Karchut (GoodReads)


Bought
-none-

Library Books
-none-

What's in your mailbox? Post a link in the comments below!

xoxo,
Shelbie

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Book Blogger Hop 12

It's time for another meme! This one is one I love because we get to go see a whole bunch of new blogs that I never knew existed added to all of our wonderful followers that comment too :)

If you want to sign up go to http://www.crazy-for-books.com/ and sign the linky then answer the question in a post on your own blog! Don't forget to link here too, in case I accidently skip over your link on the website :)

Question:
What book(s) would you like to seen turn into a movie?
Shelbie's Answer:
I have so many to add to this list. First, I saw I Am Number Four yesterday and it was AWESOME (I haven't read the book yet so please don't comment about how it doesn't live up to the book unless you want my rant about how the movie isn't supposed to be like the book) and I'm trying to rope someone into going with me again today :)

I absolutely can not wait for the City of Bones movie. That movie is going to be beyond epic.

Okay, now to actually answer the question. I think it would be super awesome to see Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick as a movie (can you imaging those action scenes? OMG). Or The DUFF by Kody Keplinger.

What do you think? Put your answer in the comments below!

The Julian Game by Adele Griffin

Release Date: 8.26.2010
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 200
Overall:

All new girl Raye Archer wants is a way into the in crowd, so when ice-queen Ella Parker picks her to get back at her ex, the gorgeous Julian Kilgarry, Raye is more than game. Even if it means creating a fake Facebook identity so she can learn enough about Julian to sabotage him. It's a fun and dangerous thrill at first, but Raye hadn't counted on falling for Julian herself and igniting Ella's rage. As Raye works to reconcile the temptress Elizabeth with her real-life self, Ella serves up her own revenge, creating an online smear campaign of nasty rumors and trashy photographs. Suddenly notorious, Raye has to find a way out of the web of deceit that she's helped to build, and back to the relationships that matter. Adele Griffin's riveting novel explores the issues of generation Facebook: the desire to be someone else, real versus online friends, and the pitfalls and fallouts of posting your personal life online for all the world to judge


*This review has some spoilery-ness in it*
This story follows Rae Archer as she maneuvers her way through a new school where all she wants is to get into the IT crowd, with the popular folks. She finally gets her in when the most popular girl in school, Ella Parker, asks her for help with Chinese. One crazy study session puts into place a revenge plot that has Rae squirming in her seat at the same time that she's totally curious about how everything will play out. The revenge is on Ella's ex boyfriend, Julian Kilgarry.

The one character in this book that I wanted to run over in my car and then back up over was Julian. What a d-bag! I mean, goodness, I hated how two faced he was. I, unlike Raye, did not fall for his innocent act and hated him from the start.

I totally adored Henry Henry and thought he was a great addition to the story and my only complaint where he was concerned was that there wasn't enough of him in the story. The whole story revolves around the revenge that Ella and Rae started on Julian and the drama that unfolded from there so that explains why Henry wasn't around for it all but still, I adored him from the first time he came into the story.

Overall, it was alright. I would reccommend it :)

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Hope everyone's having a good weekend!

xoxo,

Shelbie

Saturday, February 12, 2011

I shall be on temporary leave.

Bonjour mes amis.

In case you haven't noticed (though you probably have seeing as we've had a significant lack of blog posts ie. none) I have been insanely busy over the past week with finals, and I took the ACT for the first time today (so overwhelming), but hopefully we will be back on track soon!

I feel like this is a good time to inform all of you that soon won't be too soon as I am leaving later today for Mexico. Yay!! Breaking out the flip-flops and not a flurry of snow in sight! I am quite overjoyed. I have various books to read while lounging on the beach so you can expect reviews up when I get back after I finish the mountainous amounts of homework that will no doubt pile up by the time I return *cries*.

I hope you all enjoy times in your respective cities that (hopefully) are no where near as cold and dreary as the frozen tundra of Minnesota.

Au revior!
Shelbie