Stacking the Shelves (42): December & January

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga´s Reviews, which showcases the books we've purchased, won, borrowed and received in the mail. 

These are the books I got in December and January.

FOR REVIEW

Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver
The Replaced (The Taking #2) by Kimberly Derting
All the Rage by Courtney Summers
The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler

Thanks to HarperCollins, HarperTeen, Simon Pulse, St. Martin's Griffin, Edelweiss and Netgalley for the eARCs.

BOUGHT

FOR MY KINDLE

Front and Center (Dairy Queen #3) by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Heaven Is Paved with Oreos (Dairy Queen #4) by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord
Unhinged (Splintered #2) by A.G. Howard
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side (Jessica #1) by Beth Fantaskey

Breathe, Annie, Breathe (Hundred Oaks) by Miranda Kenneally

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

Mistborn Trilogy (Mistborn #1-3) by Brandon Sanderson

The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1) by Patrick Rothfuss 

The Wise Man's Fear (The Kingkiller Chronicle #2) by Patrick Rothfuss

Game. Set. Match. (Outer Banks Tennis Academy #1) by Jennifer Iacopelli
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

Gabriel's Inferno (Gabriel's Inferno #1) by Sylvain Reynar

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

What books did you get?

Leave me your link in the comments.

Review: Willowgrove by Kathleen Peacock

Title: Willowgrove (Hemlock #3)
Author: Kathleen Peacock
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Book
Release date: January 6th 2015
Source: Edelweiss
Format: eARC

Rating: 4.5/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

You can read my review of Hemlock - here & Thornhill - here

Willowgrove is Kathleen Peacock's riveting conclusion to the Hemlock trilogy, a dark, romantic, paranormal suspense series that pits friendship against survival, and trust against love.

Ever since Mac's best friend, Amy, was murdered, Hemlock has been a dangerous place. But now that Mac, her boyfriend, Kyle, and Amy's ex, Jason, have investigated a mass breakout from Thornhill, a werewolf "rehabilitation" camp, the danger has only grown. Fear of the infection spreading is now at an all-time high, and anyone with a scar is suspected of being a wolf.

What makes Mac even more afraid, though, are the dark experiments that the warden of Thornhill was performing on wolves in a secret asylum called Willowgrove. Uncovering the truth about what happened may be the only way for Mac to save everyone she loves and end her nightmares for good.

Willowgrove is a great conclusion to the Hemlock trilogy, I loved it!. This book is about werewolves a little different to which I´m used to read and in a world in which is public knowledge their existence, but this fact caused panic among humans, they´re afraid of these monsters, that´s why all known werewolves are round up and taken to concentration camps.

In the previous book Mac rescued her boyfriend Kyle and her friend Serena from a rehabilitation camp and she thought they were safe for the time being, but somehow they were found and this people want to recapture Serena, because she´s important to an experiment on Lupin virus. So once Mac and her friends are on the run and trying to stay safe, but things get complicated when in their city will be a rally that will bring together Trackers (those who hunt werewolves) and supporters of werewolves, so disturbances are anticipated and amidst all this is Mac and her friends.

Besides all her problems, Mac is still having strange and frightening dreams about her best friend Amy (which was killed in the first book by a werewolf), which could be leading her to discover a series of lies behind the origins of the Lupin virus.

Willowgrove was very engaging, because from the beginning is action-packed and fast-paced with some mystery that does not let go until you finish reading it. It has a very good ending where all the questions are answered, tying up loose ends and has an epilogue - which I love because I can see what happened to the main characters.

Review: When by Victoria Laurie

Title: When
Author: Victoria Laurie
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release date: January 13th 2015
Source: Netgalley
Format: eARC

Rating: 4/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N

Maddie Fynn is a shy high school junior, cursed with an eerie intuitive ability: she sees a series of unique digits hovering above the foreheads of each person she encounters. Her earliest memories are marked by these numbers, but it takes her father’s premature death for Maddie and her family to realize that these mysterious digits are actually death dates, and just like birthdays, everyone has one.

Forced by her alcoholic mother to use her ability to make extra money, Maddie identifies the quickly approaching death date of one client's young son, but because her ability only allows her to see the when and not the how, she’s unable to offer any more insight. When the boy goes missing on that exact date, law enforcement turns to Maddie.

Soon, Maddie is entangled in a homicide investigation, and more young people disappear and are later found murdered. A suspect for the investigation, a target for the murderer, and attracting the attentions of a mysterious young admirer who may be connected to it all, Maddie's whole existence is about to be turned upside down. Can she right things before it's too late?

I really liked the idea of this book, about a main character that has a really creepy paranormal gift...I´m in!.

Maddie is a young girl and all her life she had been able to see the date on which a person is going to die, so that´s why her mother has recently decided to profit from her "gift" and charge for telling their death date to clients. And everything is going well until she tells a client the date of death of her son, which is within a week, so the client gets upset and she has an argument with Maddie because she´s trying to convince her that what she´s saying is the truth .. .that her son will die soon; so when a week later her son disappears, Maddie becomes the prime suspect.

There are a couple of pretty irksome FBI agents, they´re almost certain that Maddie is responsible for the boy's death and are constantly harassing her. So when someone else dies in a similar way to the boy and said victim is someone Maddie knows, she´s in a bigger problem.

Maddie is a good character and I really I liked her best friend Stubby, because he believes in her gift, is a really good friend and wholeheartedly supports her. But for those that like romance in the books, there wasn’t any romance in it.

Overall, When is a good thriller where you´re never sure, who is the killer, because at some point of the story I had my doubts of several characters and it also has some interesting plot twists. It has a good ending with the loose ends all tied up. I really enjoyed it!

Waiting On Wednesday (157): The Wrath and the Dawn

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

The book I´m waiting this week is

The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn #1) by Renee Ahdieh

Release date: May 12th 2015

A sumptuous and epically told love story inspired by A Thousand and One Nights.

Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.

She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.

What book are you waiting this week?

Leave your WOW links 

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Book Journey.

Each week we spotlight the books we are reading, planning on reading or just finished reading.

Click on the image to look description in Goodreads.

Finished reading

Playlist of the Dead, is a contemporary book about teen suicide. Sam´s best and only friend Hayden commits suicide and leaves a playlist with the message "listen and you´ll understand" that´s why he spends almost all the time listening his iPod, trying to understand why his best friend killed himself and between feeling guilty and blaming others, continues with his life until a girl that claims to she knew Hayden and Sam slowly begins to open to new friends and discover new things his best friend .... while trying to understand his motives.

 Cold Blooded is the third book in the Jessica McClain series and seriously Jessica needs a break!! she doesn´t rest, she just barely recovered her mate from the clutches of a goddess, when her best friend is kidnapped in order to use her as bait.

 The Last Time We Say Goodbye is an emotional and sad contemporary book about teen suicide. Lex's younger brother sends her a text message and soon after he commits suicide, so now she feels responsible for his death and for most of the book we do not know what the message said, until near the end of the book; She blames herself and her father, and she´s constantly angry with those around her, so she pushed away her friends and broke up with her boyfriend. During some flashbacks we get to see how Lexie and her brother were close. This is an emotional story about grief.

Currently reading

What I´m going to read next?

What are you reading today? 

Leave me your links!

Review: Perfect Couple by Jennifer Echols

Title: Perfect Couple (Superlatives #2)
Author: Jennifer Echols 
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release date: January 13th 2015
Source: Edelweiss
Format: eARC

Rating: 4/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

In this second book in The Superlatives trilogy from Endless Summer author Jennifer Echols, Harper and Brody think they’re an unlikely match—but the senior class says they belong together.

As yearbook photographer, Harper is responsible for those candid moments that make high school memorable. But her own life is anything but picture perfect. Her parents’ bitter divorce left her wondering what a loving relationship looks like. And ever since the senior class voted her and star quarterback Brody “Perfect Couple That Never Was,” her friends have been pushing her to ask Brody out.

Brody doesn’t lack female admirers, but Harper can't see herself with him. He’s confused about the match too. Yet they find themselves drawn together—first by curiosity about why the class paired them, then by an undeniable bond.

The trouble is, though they’re attracted to each other, they have a hard time getting along or even communicating well. If they’re the perfect couple, this shouldn’t be so difficult! Soon it becomes clear their class was wrong, and they throw in the towel. But they feel so changed from making the effort, they can’t forget each other. What if this match made in hell is the perfect couple after all?

This is the first book I´ve read written by Jennifer Echols and I enjoyed it very much, but what I do not know is if all her books are oriented toward a more mature audience, because although this is a Young Adult book, it felt more like New Adult, because there are two scenes that felt a little risqué for YA (and this isn´t because I haven´t read material like that, because I´ve read Adults and New Adult books).

This is the second book in the Superlatives trilogy, and each book is about a different couple, apparently in the first book the seniors voted to decide the superlatives that would be in the yearbook, such as: Biggest Flirts (1st book), Best athletes, The perfect couple that never was, etc. And Harper is the yearbook photographer and half of the perfect couple that never was, she´s intrigued to know why her classmates chose her with Brody; because she and Brody are dating someone else, and she keeps trying to find out why they pair her with him. She starts to think about him almost all the time and she begins to see him with different eyes and slowly begins to fall for him and apparently Brody is not immune to her charms either.

Harper is a good girl, she always does the right thing, it's good daughter, a good student, a good friend and is used to put others first due to her good heart; but for Brody, she´s determined to take risks for the first time.

The romance is adorable and fun, Perfect Couple is a light and quick reading, with normal teenage drama and some cliches but it never feels heavy on the drama or exhausting. I really enjoyed it a lot. One of things I liked the most is that the female protagonists of the three books of the trilogy are best friends, so we get to see Tia and Will, the main characters of Biggest Flirts and Kaye and Sawyer the main characters of the upcoming book - Most Likely to Succeed, can´t wait to read it.

Review: Thornhill by Kathleen Peacock

Title: Thornhill (Hemlock #2)
Author: Kathleen Peacock
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release date: September 10th 2013

Rating: 4/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

You can read my review of Hemlock - here

Mac can’t lose another friend. Even if he doesn’t want to be found.

The ripple effect caused by Mac’s best friend Amy’s murder has driven Mac’s new love, Kyle, to leave Hemlock and disappear from her life forever. But Mac knows that Kyle plans to enroll in a rehabilitation camp, where he can live with other werewolves. She refuses to accept his decision, especially since the camps are rumored to be tortuous. So she sets out in search of Kyle with a barely sober Jason—and Amy’s all-seeing ghost—in tow.

Clues lead Mac to find Kyle in a werewolf den in Colorado—but their reunion is cut short by a Tracker raid. Now Mac and Kyle are trapped inside the electric fences of Thornhill, a camp for young werewolves. As she devises an escape plan, Mac uncovers dangerous secrets buried within the walls of Thornhill—and realizes that the risk to the people she loves is greater than ever before.

Thornhill is the second book in the supernatural mystery trilogy - Hemlock; in this world is public knowledge the existence of werewolves,

I read Hemlock in 2012, but as I started to postpone series/trilogies because publication dates were delayed, I decided to wait to read a lot of books nearer to the publication of the last book, but it has been some time since I read the first book, I had trouble remembering details and how certain people had been infected, but once I got the thread of the plot, I enjoyed it tremendously. This trilogy is really good!.

In this sequel Mackenzie goes in search of Kyle, his friend and the guy she´s in love with, he´s infected by the werewolf virus, that´s why at the end of Hemlock he decides to leave the city for the sake of their friends and family, because it is dangerous to be associated with a werewolf. And in her quest, she´s accompanied by Jason, their mutual friend and he´s also in love with Mac (so there is a love triangle) and when they finally found him; Mac and Kyle end up entangled in something that precisely Mackenzie was trying to avoid. As Mac and his friends end up discovering firsthand how bad the containment camps really are and they also discover other secrets about these camps.

Something I didn´t remembered were the dreams that Mac had - really creepy dreams - about her best friend Amy, whom was killed in the first book by a werewolf.

Overall, Thornhill is a good sequel with mystery, action and romance, that raises more questions about the Lupin syndrome.

Waiting On Wednesday (156): Vanishing Girls

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

The book I´m waiting this week is

Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver 

Release date: March 10th 2015

New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver delivers a gripping story about two sisters inexorably altered by a terrible accident.

Dara and Nick used to be inseparable, but that was before the accident that left Dara's beautiful face scarred and the two sisters totally estranged. When Dara vanishes on her birthday, Nick thinks Dara is just playing around. But another girl, nine-year-old Madeline Snow, has vanished, too, and Nick becomes increasingly convinced that the two disappearances are linked. Now Nick has to find her sister, before it's too late.

In this edgy and compelling novel, Lauren Oliver creates a world of intrigue, loss, and suspicion as two sisters search to find themselves, and each other.

What book are you waiting this week?

Leave your WOW links

Top Ten Books I Just HAD To Buy... But Are Still Sitting On My Bookshelf

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Books I Just HAD To Buy... But Are Still Sitting On My Bookshelf
(in no particular order)

This is my top 10 of physical books that I had to buy....

The Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

I already own the first two books of this trilogy, so I might read it soon-ish.

Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth 

I plan to read Insurgent before the movie comes out, so it´ll be soon.

.

Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2) by Laini Taylor 

I LOVED Daughter of Smoke and Bones but I haven´t had time to read it´s sequels.

The Evolution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #2) by Michelle Hodkin

I loved the previous book and I just had to buy this one. And I also need to buy The Retribution of Mara Dyer.

City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments #5) by Cassandra Clare 

This book had been sitting on my bookshelf since 2012 and I though that I would read it nearer to the release date of the final book, but I haven´t even buy it...yet.

I Hunt Killers (Jasper Dent #1) by Barry Lyga 

This one I bought it because I read several good review about it and I liked the creepy cover of I hunt killers..

The Demon King (Seven Realms #1) by Cinda Williams Chima

I bought The Demon King, The Exiled Queen, The Gray Wolf Throne and The Crimson Crown because I´ve read several excellent reviews about this series.

Opal (Lux #3) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I own Opal and Origin, so I just need to buy Opposition to read them back to back.

Shade (Shade #1) by Jeri Smith-Ready

I bought Shade, Shift and Shine with the new covers.

Magic Burns (Kate Daniels #2) by Ilona Andrews : I´ve sitting on my shelf until book 6 in this series, and I would like to read some of them this year.

What books did you just have to buy, but you haven´t read yet?.

Leave me your links!