Top Ten Tuesday: Books We Liked More Than Expected

1) Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare - Okay, I've loved the ID series since the first word but I never, and I mean never, expected to be flipped so up, down, diagonally by this book. 

2) Don't Let Me Go by J.H. Trumble - I feel like this book is on almost all of my TTT posts. I can't help it; it's amazeballs. I read it almost 2 years ago and I'm still gushing about it, so that must tell you something. You can read my (very old) review for elaboration on my love for it.

3) Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen - Going into this book (and even still) I wasn't very informed on the tale of Robin Hood, but boy did I fall in love. Once again, I read this over a year ago and I have not lost my love for it. My review (another old one).

4) The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - I'd heard amazing things about this book, but I'd never experienced John Green before and all the hype made me want to dislike it. I could have never anticipated the profound love of this book I acquired. My review.

5) Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley - Oh my. I remember I was on a really bad reading drought. I just couldn't find anything I loved, but Cath Crowley did more than give me a book to love, she allowed me to fall in love with reading all over again. I didn't even like contemp novels at that time (funny, because I ADORE contemp now), but this book...The outpouring of my love.

6) Hushed by Kelley York - This is different than the typical YA book, that is for darn tootin'! My review.

7) The Bane by Keary Taylor - This one is actually a pretty recent read, as in I read it last week. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by a very interesting plot.

8) Zero by Tom Leveen - This book was so authentic. From awkward first-meetings to stupid mistakes and hulking insecurities. The review.

9) Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez - Tons of people said this book was AHMAZING but it didn't sound like...super fantabulosa. Well it was. It was emotional and had GREAT characters. In which I demand people read it.

10) The Truth About You and Me by Amanda Grace - This is another recent read, and therefore it is still an open wound. It sounded interesting enough, but I never ever expected to feel so connected to the characters and their story. ALL THE FEELZ are still with me even after about a week or two after reading it. 

1) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - The blurb does it no justice and I didn't think I'd enjoy it at all but so many people recommended it and now I'm OBSESSED!

2) Star-Crossed by Rachael Wing - It's in second person, short and sweet, sooooo good!

3) Blood Red Road by Moira Young - I was put off by how it was written at first and was worried I wouldn't enjoy it but I reeeeeeally did!

4) Forsaken by Jana Oliver - I dislike third person but adore this series!

5) Shadows by Paula Weston - It just didn't appeal to me but I can honestly say I enjoyed it.

6) Hollowland by Amanda Hocking - The blurb is LAME! It should NOT exist!!!!!!! The book (and sequel) is amazing!! A must read!

These are all I can think of for now...

Top Ten Tuesday: Books read during my blog life

a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

All titles link to the book's Goodreads profile. This was an extraordinarily difficult topic, so I narrowed my favorites down to books I read because of blogging, and even then it was nearly impossible to choose. Of course, this list is in no particular order.

1) If I Stay & Where She Went by Gayle Foreman - If I Stay review; Where She Went review

2) Delirium & Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver - Delirium review; Pandemonium review

3) The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - Review

4) Don't Let Me Go by J.H. Trumble - Review

5) My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick 

6) Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley - Review

7) Hushed by Kelley York - Review

8) Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez - Review

9) Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry - Review

10) Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen - Review

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Characters in Books

Top Ten All Time Favorite Characters In Books

(In no particular order)

1) Rose Hathaway (Vampire Academy series)

Okay, really? Rose is my favorite character of all frackin time. She's badass, kickass, and a smartass. She's fiercely loyal, clever, and fights for what she thinks is right. She's got so many issues, and it's so great to watch her overcome her problems. 

2) Wesley "Link" Lincoln (Caster Chronicles)

Link is hilarious. Even in the most darkest times, Link could make me laugh. Then, in Beautiful Chaos, we see a more vulnerable side of him and I was swooning and awwwwwwwwing. 

3) Cassel Sharpe (Curse Workers series)

Cassel is incredibly, well, sharp. He's cunning and snarky. And most of all, I love that, despite his family history, he tries to hold himself to a higher standard. Cassel is so messed up and that's why it's hard not to love him!

4) Adam Wilde (If I Stay)

First of all, Adam is obviously sexy. Second of all, he's a musician--which is sexy. I loved how much he clearly cared about Mia and the extremes he went to in order to see her. He's adorable and, uh, did I mention SEXY!? 

5) Evan (Hushed)

The one thing I really admired about Evan was that he is infinitely patient with Arthur and he is willing to risk everything in order to help Archer. He is kind and understanding. 

6)Jace Wayland (Mortal Instruments series)

Okay, I can't help it. Jace is so wonderfully swoon-worthy. Everything that comes out of his mouth makes me melt. He is broken, sometimes a little rude, and extremely reckless. But he has a softer side when it comes to the people he loves and he is willing to sacrifice anything and everything for them. Honestly, I could go on and on about Jace, but I'll just end with: He's beautiful. 

7) Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games trilogy) 

Elaboration is really quite unnecessary, because we all know how kickass Katniss is. 

8) Dimitri Belikov (Vampire Academy series)

He's different than the average YA love interest, perhaps because he is a lot more man than boy. He is sweet, tender, wise, a god, focused, determined, and a lot more delicious adjectives. AND A NOMNOM ACCENT ;D

9) Sophie Mercer (Hex Hall trilogy)

I wasn't crazy about her in the first book, but in Demonglass she kicks up her badassery with more magic and kissing and snark! 

10) Magnus Bane (Mortal Instruments & Infernal Devices series)

Uh, he's MAGNUS FRACKIN BANE. Nuff said. 

No joke, that's just the tip of the iceberg of the characters I adore. Who are your favorite book characters!? 

Favorite Books of 2011 (4)

Is it just me or were there a ton of awesomely wonderful fantabulous great books released in 2011? No, it wasn't just me. To express my immense love for the marvelous books I've read this year, I decided to start doing posts that each feature one of my favorite books if 2011. These posts will come at random times. The books that I choose to feature are in no particular order of how much I love them.

The book I chose this time is...

Here's the link to my review!

Have you read this book? Did you LOVE it as much as I did? Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Include a link to your review if you have one so I can check it out :)

Hushed by Kelley York (ARC REVIEW)

Hushed by Kelley York

Series: None
Genre: YA Thriller
Publication date: December 6, 2011
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Format: eARC
Pages: 260
Source: NetGalley

He’s saved her. He’s loved her. He’s killed for her.

Eighteen-year-old Archer couldn’t protect his best friend, Vivian, from what happened when they were kids, so he’s never stopped trying to protect her from everything else. It doesn’t matter that Vivian only uses him when hopping from one toxic relationship to another—Archer is always there, waiting to be noticed.

Then along comes Evan, the only person who’s ever cared about Archer without a single string attached. The harder he falls for Evan, the more Archer sees Vivian for the manipulative hot-mess she really is.

But Viv has her hooks in deep, and when she finds out about the murders Archer’s committed and his relationship with Evan, she threatens to turn him in if she doesn’t get what she wants… And what she wants is Evan’s death, and for Archer to forfeit his last chance at redemption. (Goodreads.com)

Goodreads - Amazon - B&N - Book Depo

Hushed is an incredible book, each page brimming with heart-pounding tension and chest-aching emotion. I loved it! It took me less than 12 hours to devour all that is Hushed. The carefully crafted characters. The creepy plot. The darkly risky themes. The stunning romance. This book could have gone in so many horrible directions. Instead, it was flawlessly executed.

I was sucked in fom the very first sentence. Literally, the very first sentence. It was creepy and mysterious, and slightly comical (that could be because I am a twisted person). And things only got better. The tension is thick from the very beginning. There is murder, obsession, drugs. All in the very first paragraph. Would you believe me if I said that the tension just keeps building and building until it explodes in one huge atomic tension bomb? Because it totally did. And it was epic. The plot is great. I like how the focus isn't only on the murders. In fact, most of the story is built around Archer's emotions and his struggle to be his own person. The book progresses naturally and kept my interest the entire time. It's not extraordinarily fast-paced to the point where you can hardly keep up, but it's not slow-paced to the point where you just want something to happen already. And like I said before, TENSION TENSION TENSION is in the air throughout it all.

I am awed by the fabulous character development (and the characterization in general). Some of the characters undergo extreme changes - be they good or bad - in only a couple hundred pages. That sort of thing can often be challenging to write and therefore come across artificial, unrealistic, or just bad. But it didn't. It was portrayed expertly and was very believable.

Archer is screwed up in so many ways. He's the guy you should hate. You should root for his death. You should definitely NOT fall in love with him. And yet I did, as did everyone else I've talked to about this book. He's so...pathetic. Not in a bad way, but sort of in a lost puppy kind of way. His life revolves around Vivian, even though she uses him and then tosses him aside like a deflated soccer ball. He feels like no one besides Vivian could ever care about him. His mother is afraid of him. And he feels like murdering all those people is the right thing to do. It's kind of hard to explain, so you need to read the book to getthe full affect of what I mean. But yes, Archer was a great character. I loved him.

I loved Evan, too. At first, I wasn't completely sold. But then I was. He was sweet and innocent and adorable. And he had absolutely no clue what he was getting himself into with Archer. And despite it all, he stuck by Archer. He was always always always there for him. I can't say much about Vivian without revealing spoilers, but I will say that she's horrible from the get-go. She's the type of girl that nobody wants to be. She uses Archer and everyone knows it - even Archer himself.

The romance was gorgeous. It was slow and natural. There was no defining moment where Archer was like, "I'm in love." It just happened. You could see it and feel it throughout the entire novel. I also liked how it wasn't focused on the gender. There was no, "HOLY CRAP I LIKE A DUDE I SHOULD GO KILL MYSELF" moment. Because he didn't fall in love with a gender - he fell in love with a person. Some people may think there is a little bit of insta-love going on from Evan, because Evan really had no reaon to fall in love with Archer. Especially once he discovered that Archer is a murderer. But I think that Evan is so good, and Archer is so messed up, and Evan just needs to fix him - even if he doesn't know it. Evan loves Archer's little quirks and it is completely obvious that Evan brings out the best in Archer - makes him stronger and better.

The writing was fabulous. I'm not particularly a huge fan of third person stories. It's easy for me to feel detached from the narrator. However, Hushed was written in such a way that made me forget that I was reading in third person. It was so emotional. A lot of people may be hesitant to read it because it has dark themes, but it's a seriously wonderful read. I couldn't put it down. I'd recommend it to a higher YA audience. There are sexual references and cussing. And, ya know, the whole murder thing. It may make some people a little queasy, but it is SO WORTH IT.

Kelley York has supplied the world with a knock-your-socks-off debut. I am anxiously awaiting her next book, whatever and whenever that may be.

In My Mailbox (10) - The Linkedy Edition

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren!

THE LINKEDY EDITION

I didn't do an IMM last week for two reasons. 1) I was too lazy *sheepish glance around* and 2) I barely had anything to show. But I do this week :) Oh, and the reason it is The Linkedy Edition is because all the titles link to Goodreads now!

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys - Thanks a billion to BookAHolics Anonymous for giving this to me :) I've heard awesome things about it and I can't wait to read it!

Eon's Door by J.G. McKenney - Received for review from the author!

Gone by Michael Grant - Borrowed from my teacher :p Heard so much awesomeness I decided I must read it. I will be reading it once I finish Incarnate.

New Girl by Paige Harbison - eARC from NetGalley

Hushed by Kelley York - eARC from Netgalley. I requested it once but got rejected. Desperate, I requested it again and got accepted. Already read it - LOVED. My review will be up close to release date.

Life Is But a Dream by Brian James - eARC from NetGalley. SOO EXCITED. The cover is gorgeous and the concept sounds super cool.

Street Dreams by Tama Wise - eARC from NetGalley. What can I say? I'm a sucker for M/M relationships.

Insight by Jamie Magee - Received for Image blog tour.

Embody by Jamie Magee - Received for Image blog tour.

Image by Jamie Magee - Received for Image blog tour.

Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott - eARC from NetGalley. AHHH. I'm soooo siked for this, guys! I use to read Zoe's blog (Sadly, I don't have much blog reading time anymore) and I remember when this came out in the UK (I think it was UK), and I was like I WANT THAT BOOK. BUT NO. CAN'T HAVE IT. I got it!!!

NOT PICTURED:

I got a BUNCH of Pretty Tough swag, which I won with 2 Pretty Tough books over at Princess Bookie's Contest Craze. The books came before the swag, so they were in my last IMM. There was SO much. Stickers, cards, bookmarks...!

And, a Signed Hunted ( by DJ DeSmyter) postcard, which Ashley from BookAHolics Anonymous included with Between Shades of Gray! Thanks again, Ashley.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

This weekly meme is hosted by Book Journey.

FINISHED:

*The Pledge by Kimberly Derting (My review)

*The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin (review coming soon)

Eeep! I only finished 2! But I was at my friends house all weekend so...

TO READ THIS WEEK:

*Frozen by Robin Wasserman

*Hushed by Kelley York

*Pyxis by K.C. Neal

*Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

*Enchanted by Rachel Wells

That's a lot to finish this week, but I'm already partially through Pyxis, Enchanted, and Frozen, and I'm on Thanksgiving break from school!

Did anyone else notice that all the books I plan to read this week only have one word for a title? Hmm.

WHAT ARE YOU READING THIS WEEK?