Book Blitz: They Call Me Alexandra Gastone by T.A Maclagan

amazon

Books can show us visions. Have you ever found your mind beginning to imagine the characters you meet within the pages? Have you experienced a film projector of scenes in your head as you read about the girl who travels to the fifth dimension, or the boy who’s trying to graduate from being a wallflower? When you read, your mind naturally creates images, almost like watching a movie.  Why not turn those images into a reality by making a movie poster?

Full Fathom Five and T.A. Maclagan are hosting a movie poster design contest to celebrate the release of T.A.’s debut, They Call Me Alexandra Gastone, a novel heralded by Booklist as “An intricate, debut spy thriller…” The contest will run from July 7th to August 15th.

One winner will receive a $100 gift card to the retailer of their choice, a book from FFF’s list of authors, and Alexandra Gastone swag! All participants will be featured on T.A. Maclagan’s blog and tumblr and the winner will be featured on the Full Fathom Five website! Artists may use any medium from crayon to photoshop.


They Call Me Alexandra Gastone
by T.A. Maclagan 
Release Date: 05/20/15
Full Fathom Five Digital
226 pages

Summary from Goodreads:
When your life is a lie, how do you know what’s real?

Alexandra Gastone has a simple plan: graduate high school, get into Princeton, work for the CIA, and serve her great nation.

She was told the plan back when her name was Milena Rokva, back before the real Alexandra and her family were killed in a car crash.

Milena was trained to be a sleeper agent by Perun, a clandestine organization from her true homeland of Olissa. There, Milena learned everything she needed to infiltrate the life of CIA analyst Albert Gastone, Alexandra’s grandfather, and the ranks of America’s top intelligence agency.

For seven years, “Alexandra” has been on standby and life’s been good. Grandpa Albert loves her, and her strategically chosen boyfriend, Grant, is amazing.

But things are about to change. Perun no longer needs her at the CIA in five years’ time. They need her active now.

Between her cover as a high school girl—juggling a homecoming dance, history reports, and an increasingly suspicious boyfriend—and her mission in this high-stakes spy game, the boundaries of her two lives are beginning to blur.

Will she stay true to the country she barely remembers, or has her loyalty shattered along with her identity?

Book in Review: Eve Brenner: Zombie Girl (The Zombie Girl Saga #1)

4 stars





Title: Eve Brenner: Zombie Girl (The Zombie Girl Saga #1)
Author: A. Giacomi
Publisher: Permuted Press
Publication Date: January 25, 2015
Pages: 277 pages

Summary (via Goodreads): 
Eve used to be an ordinary girl, from an ordinary town, with ordinary dreams, but her dreams rapidly turn into nightmares when one grave mistake leaves her a little less than human and a lot less average. 

Eve’s not quite the same girl she used to be. She desperately clings to her humanity as new desires, new abilities, and new urges take over with each passing day. 

Eve Brenner: Zombie Girl is a tale that takes you on an emotional and terrifying journey as Eve struggles to cope with her new life and find a cure for her strange illness before time runs out. She desperately clings to her humanity as she tries to control the monster she knows is lurking inside her. 

Turns out living was the easy part. 
One of my 2015 blog resolutions is to read a book from a different genre. I usually read YA Contemporary, so this book was definitely an eye opener. Plus, I actually enjoyed it.

This book is told in multiple POVs which really helped me understand it better. I could see how Eve is trying her best to really fit in and act normal despite her difference. I really liked it especially because it keeps me entertained and it never failed to keep me anticipating  through out all the events. Those aspects are really important for me since it's hard to finish a book if you don't even care about the story line.

I think this is more of a fantasy with some horror elements mixed into it. A. Giacomi was able to make a story that is realistic even with a plot like this. Her story about the origin of the Azrael Virus was really creative and unique. All in all, the book is cleverly written.

There were only two things that I particularly think could be better, first was the ending, I was hoping for something more original and less predictable. Everything in the book was fast paced in a good way except for the ending. Next are the details. I felt that the totality of the book made sense, but whenever something is described, it's as if I am left hanging and wanting to know a bit more. It was very straight forward, and that left no room for any building ups.

All in all, I enjoyed reading this book. It didn't disappoint. If you are like me who wants to try reading different book genres then this book can be for you! 

All the DNF and Below 2-Star Reviews Part 1

all the dnf reviews
We've realized that we've DNF-ed quite a bit of books or gave them really low ratings but didn't have enough to say about them except that they were bad. This is basically a compilation of all those books. There will be a part 2 and maybe a part 3 of the DNF and below 2-star reviews.

231160751. Some Kind of Magic by Adrian Fogelin

Expected Publication: April 1, 2015
Publisher: Peachtree Publishers
Format: ARC

Summary (via Goodreads):
It's the summer before high school starts for Cass, Jemmie, Ben, and Justin, the neighborhood kids readers met in Crossing Jordan. Ben worries the break will be routine, until his little brother Cody finds a hat left by their missing uncle. The hat leads them to a lost house in the woods. They don't suspect the house with a tragic past might nudge them toward the future.


I really didn't want to DNF any book this year, but I thought it'd be better to DNF this rather than finishing the book and hating it. That's just not fair. 

Although the cover, title and even the plot of this book caught my attention, I had to DNF it around 25%. The reasons are:
1. I wasn't motivated while reading it like usually when you read a book you continue reading it because you're entertained or you want to know what happens next. In this case, I didn't seem to care.

2. The characters don't have any unique characteristics within them. At least that's what I feel 1/4 through.

3. The writing style wasn't even bad, it's just that it would not keep you reading it.

4. Lastly, there was nothing happening. The hardest part of reading is starting the book and I was expecting that the beginning would also catch my attention, but it just didn't. 

22913328
2. You Own Me by Mary Catherine Gebhard

Publisher: Trendlettrs
Publication Date: February 14th, 2015
Format: ARC

Summary (via Goodreads):

“I’ll love you until you break my heart. I’ll give you the broken pieces of my heart as an offering to you, because you own it. Whole, shattered, alive, or dead; you own my heart no matter what condition it’s in. I’ll stay with you until you figure out how to feel. I’ll stay with you even if you never do.”

This is a story about happiness, and how it doesn't simply happen because you fall in love.

Lennox is on the run from her ex-boyfriend. She had to drop everything, tell no one, and move to a new town, alone. She expected to be lonely, she expected to be afraid, but she never expected to meet a man named Vic who drove her crazy with lust and anger and called her “Lenny.” If it’s at all possible, Vic is more twisted than the man she ran away from. 

She should ignore him, but they’re drawn to each other like magnets. Lennox ran from from Seattle to Santa Barbara to get away from violence, to create a new life, and to be something simple. Instead she’s found herself wrapped up in great friends and an epic love. This new life is the opposite of everything she wants, but it might just be everything she needs.


This book. I don't have much to say except that I didn't like this. The book, though not boring, failed to catch my attention. I had no affinity for the characters. The abusive ex-boyfriend did not feel like it actually had an impact on her apart from her statements of being more paranoid because of him. I think that Vic is a douchebag. I hate the description 'Asian Greek God' because, well, seriously? What is that? I couldn't relate. I wasn't interested. I don't really have anything else to say.

207023213. Beau, Lee, The Bomb and Me by Mary McKinley

Publisher: K-Teen
Publication Date: October 28th, 2014
Format: ARC
Pages: 256

Summary (via Goodreads):

When Beau transferred to our school. I thought: "Good; fresh meat." Because I knew he would be tormented the entire time he was at Baboon High. Like I am. All day. . .every day. Growing up is a trip. . .

In high school, there are few worse crimes than being smart or fat. Lucky me, I'm both. But when Beau Gales blows in to town, it takes about two minutes for the jackasses at our Seattle school to figure out he's gay, and that makes him an even bigger target. Have you ever heard the saying: 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'? There's something to that.

When the bullying gets violent and Beau decides to run away to San Francisco to ask his Uncle Frankie for advice, we all go. Beau, me, Leonie (designated class slut), and a scruffy rescue dog called The Bomb--a tribe of misfits crammed into my mom's minivan. Throw in a detour to the Twilight town of Forks, armed robbery, cool record shops, confessions, breakups and makeups, and you have the kind of journey that can change the way you look at the whole world--and yourself.


This book is just not for me. It actually seemed quite promising at first since the main character is fat and geeky, Beau is gay. Basically, the characters have variety. I commend the author for taking the risk of writing about characters that aren't beautiful and perfect. Even so, the dialogue and the writing ruined this book for me. I think that this book could be much, much better with improved writing.

Book in Review: The Before Now and After Then by Peter Monn

3 stars
The Before Now and After Then
Title: The Before Now and After Then
Author: Peter Monn
Pages: 304
Publlication Date: July 28, 2014
Publisher: Pen Name Publishing
Rating: 3/5 

Summary:

Danny Goldstein has always lived in the shadow of his identical, twin brother Sam. But when a hurricane of events forces him into the spotlight, he starts to realize that the only thing he’s truly afraid of is himself. With the help of his costume changing friend Cher, a famous gay uncle with a mysterious past of his own, two aging punk rocker parents and Rusty, the boy who will become his something to live for, Danny begins to realize that the music of the heart is truly the soundtrack for living.






I started reading this book and I was so stoked for it. I was expecting something cool. That is because it's quite difficult to write a book revolving around gay people that's not offensive, not too opinionated and is handled well. I like reading lgbt books because there aren't much of it in the world. 

When I reached about 30% of the book, you can ask my sister how much I was having the gay feels. Rusty and Danny were really cute! 

But, there was a twist of mindset when I was somewhere in the middle of the story. I got a bit bored. I still read it, but not like I still had the feels. Majority of the content of the book was how Rusty and Danny spent one whole week together so happy and full of butterflies. They literally just met, and they already knew that they liked each other and after again a few days, they loved each other. I'm not a fan of immediate relationships. I don't believe in those, even though both characters believed that time cannot measure love. 

I was kind of dissapointed because their relationship could have been more on getting to know each other first before anything. Another thing was that I was already expecting what was going to happen, in almost all parts of the book. There was nothing spectacular about the ending as well, but it's a great way to end the book. I was happy that it ended that way. 

The beginning and ending was great, and the way Danny thinks was a bit relatable too. I just think that it could've been more exciting, and less boring in the middle. Nonetheless, I did not regret reading this book. I was still glad that I read it. This book is worth checking out if you want to read something light and cute.


Book Blitz: Fan Art by Sarah Tregay

2014 books

Fan Art
by Sarah Tregay
Release Date: 06/17/14
Harper Teen

Summary from Goodreads:
When the picture tells the story…

Senior year is almost over, and Jamie Peterson has a big problem. Not college—that’s all set. Not prom—he’ll find a date somehow. No, it’s the worst problem of all: he’s fallen for his best friend.

As much as Jamie tries to keep it under wraps, everyone seems to know where his affections lie, and the giggling girls in art class are determined to help Jamie get together with Mason. But Jamie isn’t sure if that’s what he wants—because as much as Jamie would like to come clean to Mason, what if the truth ruins everything? What if there are no more road trips, taco dinners, or movie nights? Does he dare risk a childhood friendship for romance?

This book is about what happens when a picture reveals what we can’t say, when art is truer than life, and how falling in love is easy, except when it’s not. Fan Art explores the joys and pains of friendship, of pressing boundaries, and how facing our worst fears can sometimes lead us to what we want most.


Available from:
Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Kobo * Book Depository

An Excerpt from Fan Art, by Sarah Tregay:
Chapter Four
No. No, no. No.
I did not just do that. I can’t believe I just did that! Mason and I have been friends since third grade, and I have never looked at him like that. Other guys, yeah, but not him. It should be in the Bible. Thou shalt not check out thy best friend. 
I wait a minute to catch my breath and the last shred of my sanity before I follow Mason into the locker room. I head for the sinks and splash water onto my face in an attempt to straighten out my thoughts. I’m okay with bent thoughts—I have them all the time—but checking out Mason? That’s going too far. He’s my best friend. And everyone knows friend crushes are the worst—even guy-girl friend crushes—drama, angst, broken hearts, you name it. It’s bad—real bad. And straight-guy-gay-guy friend crushes? I don’t even want to think about that apocalypse.
I take a deep breath and watch as the water collects along my upper lip. I mouth the words, Mason. Is. Not. Cute.
An Excerpt from Fan Art, by Sarah Tregay:
Chapter Six
In art, Ms. Maude has the lights off and the projector on, and we’re flying through art history at breakneck speed. We started the semester with the cave paintings in Lascaux and, with three weeks of classes to go, we are up to Marcel Duchamp and his urinal. Ms. Maude is certain we’ll get up to present-day art by the end of the term, but the class has a bet going—most of the girls say she will and the guys say she won’t.
I write $1 in my notebook and slide it across the table to Eden.
In my pocket, she writes back.
I’m about to write No way when Ms. Maude leaps ahead half a decade and sums up Dadaism in one sentence. No fair. She segues to the Bauhaus, and I know I should be listening. Those Bauhaus dudes are the founding fathers of graphic design.
But I’m not listening. You going to prom? I write. Again I slide my notebook to Eden.
She looks at me, an are-you-crazy? expression on her face.
I gesture at the note.
She writes something. Slides the notebook back. No.
Why not? I scribble.
She doesn’t wait for me to pass the notebook; she just reaches over and writes. No date.
Be mine.
She looks at me again then writes: I thought you were gay.
I freeze. How the hell does she know?
Eden takes the paper back before I write anything. And you want to go to prom with me?
Yes.
Not possible, she scribbles.
Why not?
Ms. Maude glances our way, and Eden pretends she’s taking notes on the lecture. When she slides my notebook back, it reads: You’re out of my league. Not to mention the wrong gender.
The wrong gender? I try not to look surprised and I ignore that part. What league?
The popular one.
I’m not popular. I’m in band.
Eden sighs as if I’m clueless, and she pushes my notebook back at me without an answer.
Please, I write. I didn’t know dating involved so much persuasion. 
Why?
Because you’re cool. I offer her the notebook.
She reads my note and shakes her head.
I try again. Because I want to get to know you better.
She fake gags on her finger.
Because I’ll have a good time if you’re there.
Eden smiles.
And I have a prom date. 
Undercover with Sarah Tregay’s Novel Fan Art
Guest Post by Sarah Tregay
I listen to a lot of audio books, and from time to time I’ll read something on a Kindle. While both are convenient ways to get immersed in a story, I miss seeing the book itself. Because I am a graphic designer in my day job, I enjoy the little details in a printed book, such as the typeface, an illustration, or a beautiful chapter heading. Hardcover books are a treat because you can peek under the jacket and see the art on the binding.
So, in case you borrow a copy of Fan Art from your library or read it on your iPad, here is the art under the cover:
Also, Melissa DeJesus did an amazing job illustrating the graphic short story within Fan Art:


About the Author
Raised without television, Sarah Tregay started writing her own middle grade novels after she had read all of the ones in the library. She later discovered YA books, but never did make it to the adult section. When she's not jotting down poems at stoplights, she can be found hanging out with her "little sister" from Big Brothers Big Sisters. Sarah lives in Eagle, Idaho with her husband, two Boston Terriers, and an appaloosa named Mr. Pots. Her next book, Fan Art, will be released in June.
Author Links:
   


***GIVEAWAY***
2 signed ARC’s of Fan Art (US/CAN only)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Blitz Organized by:

BOOK IN REVIEW: Lust by Mike Wells

2/5





Received a review copy for free in exchange for an honest review

 Title: Lust
Author: Mike Wells
PDF: 67 pages
Rating: 2/5 stars

I have honestly never read a secret agent novel before so I don't really have anything to compare this to. Maybe I'm the wrong person to be reviewing this but I'll do it anyway.

I'll start by stating the good points of this book. First, never once, while reading this book, did I get bored. I guess there's a reason why they call Mike Wells's books 'unputdownable'. Second, the grammar was good and the story was written in a way that wouldn't frustrate you. Next, this book actually makes me curious to know what happens next - it makes me want to read the sequel. Though I didn't really like this book, I'm probably gonna read the sequel because I'm the kind of person who doesn't like not knowing what happens in the end.

Now I'm gonna talk about what I didn't like in this book. First of all, the whole time I was reading this, I felt like the story was a car going 60 kph and I was walking, if that makes sense. The story just goes so fast that it left me confused more than just once. It felt more like a summary than an actual book. Second, Elaine Brogan, the main character, is definitely not the smartest individual. I mean she gets tricked by people left and right. She is supposed to be smart but comes off as a bit gullible to me. She makes decisions so fast that it leaves you thinking, 'what did I miss?'. Third, the start of the story confused me a little bit. I didn't know how the start related with the rest of the story aside from there being counterfeit money. Fourth, when the book says that Elaine's mother leaves her and her father because she was jealous of how the father paid so much attention to Elaine, I was like wtf because I can't even imagine that scenario, not even in the slightest. Lastly, I don't feel anything for any of the characters. I couldn't care less if they died. 

This book wasn't completely horrible. It had its good points and bad points but every book has that. Maybe I was already expecting myself not to like this book because it's something new; it's in a genre that I am not familiar with. I don't regret reading this though. It was a new experience for me and maybe I'll even read more secret agent novels in the future.