Review: This Side of the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

Title: This Side of the Grave

Author: Jeaniene Frost

Series: Night Huntress Series

Book #: 5

Pages: 357

Reading Level: Adult

Published Date: Feb 22, 2011.

Publisher:  Avon

Book Rating: .7

Cover Rating: 

Danger waits on both sides of the grave…  

Half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her vampire husband Bones have fought for their lives, as well as for their relationship. But just when they’ve triumphed over the latest battle, Cat’s new and unexpected abilities threaten to upset a long-standing balance…  

With the mysterious disappearance of vampires, rumors abound that a species war is brewing.  A zealot is inciting tensions between the vampires and ghouls, and if these two powerful groups clash, innocent mortals could become collateral damage. Now Cat and Bones are forced to seek help from a dangerous “ally”—the ghoul queen of New Orleans herself. But the price of her assistance may prove more treacherous than even the threat of a supernatural war. …to say nothing of the repercussions Cat never imagined.

Taschima's POV:

This book wasn't what I expected. In some way Ive been waiting so long for this book that I didn't really know what I was expecting but kick butt awesomeness. Not to say this book wasn't totally awesome, it was so worth it, it just wasn't as completely out of my mind awesome like the previous books. Nevertheless, I am going to read it another 4 times!!!

If you haven't read a book in this series then don't read this review, it will be full of possible spoilers. But just one question for that sad person out there who hasn't read this series, what are you waiting for?!

Anyways, the main problem in this book is the possible war between the vampires and the ghouls. One guy got the ghouls all scared because he says that if Cat were to become a vampire/ghoul that then she would be indestructible and the balance scale would fall off balance. He clearly doesn't know Cat. What she wants is for the vampire world to leave her in peace, but that isn't going to happen. Peace is hard to come by, as Cat and Bones are about to find out.

This book was different than the others in a number of ways. It's like everything was a bit on the down side. There wasn't that much epic fighting like in the other books, nor was there as many steamy sections. Also some things didn't make that much sense to me. Like for example, there was a part where Cat drinks the blood of ______ and she keeps the power of said person for a lot more time than I thought she was, also it seemed like they were implying that she would get to KEEP the power, so that didn't make sense to me. But oh well, maybe my remaining questions will be answered in the sequel (out this fall) called One Grave at a Time. I don't know what I'm going to do once this series ends :( Jeaniene, make this series into a T.V. Series!!! If Sookie could so can you! It would be so much better...

I love this series to no end. Even though Cat seemed to be less reckless in this book (it's supposed to be a good thing) I enjoyed it because it still has the main things I love about this series, it's characters and the great laugh out loud quotes. 

4 Winners!!

Ive got them! After going through a bunch of entries (my eyes hurt) I got the 4 lucky winners, which are:

Britney Wyatt

Crystal

CiNdY

and...

latishajean

I will email you ASAP. Each of your have 48 hours to respond to my email, if you don't I choose another winner.

Have a good one!

Update of the Pictures of My Bookshelf

This is my read shelf. 

Behind the James (the skeleton with the maracas) are the Vampire Academy books and the Blue Bloods books. The first shelf is still reserved for Young Adult Vampire books.

Books in this shelf:

Twilight Complete Series

A New Dawn

The Host

House of Night Complete Series

Evernight Complete Series

The Eternal Ones

Vampire Academy Complete Series

Blue Blood Complete Series

Second shelf  is the adult genre. Books in this shelf:

Black Dagger Brotherhood Complete Series

Covet by J.R. Ward

Sookie Stackhouse Complete Series

Night Huntress Complete Series, including the spin off.

Time Traveler's Wife

Minion by L. A. Banks

Gargoyle

The Nanny Diaries and The Nanny Returns

There are so many books here, I won't bore you by naming them all. It's a little blurry, sorry.

The last shelf is reserve for the manga and the books that don't fit on the top.

Books to Read shelf.

Part read shelf and part to read shelf.

The top shelf is filled with books Ive read shelf. The other shelfs are to be read shelves.

My last two shelves are for Dvds. My other obssession.

My newest shelf. I got it from CSN Stores and its beautiful!! A review will be coming up soon.

... and that is all folks. What do you think?

Covers Revealed: Everlasting + So Silver Bright

 Reading level: Young Adult

Hardcover: 368 pages

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

To Be Released Date: September 13, 2011

SUMMARY (click here)

I... Love... This... COVER! They have always been good, but this one is the BOMB! The white hair, the white dress, it's magical!! The faeries!! The drawing is fantastic, my compliments to the artist. When I do my Best Covers poll for September I bet this one will win!!

The other covers for this series:

Reading level: Young Adult

Hardcover: 336 pages

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

To Be Released Date: June 7, 2011

SUMMARY (click here)

This is the final installment of The Immortals series. They have always had pretty sweet covers, and this one is no ugly duckling. To be totally honest I haven't even read the previous book, just not up up in my pile, but I plan to finish this series!

So which cover wins? Which is the prettiest girl at the ball? ;)

House of Night Mini-Series? Dragon's Oath

On sale July 12, 2011.

...So, what do you think? Isn't bad enough that the original series has no end? Or are you glad that they are making even more House of Night books with side characters? Are they doing this because they have a legitimate reason, or are they doing this because many other authors (Richelle Mead, Jeaniene Frost, etc.) have decided to take this route?

I like the cover of the book, but more House of Night? I don't know, it seems a bit too much. It's like more Twilight, only Twilight, in my opinion, is better so I would actually be glad to read it. Speaking of when is Stephenie Meyer going to release the stupid Midnight Sun book? She is being petty I swear to god. RELEASE IT WOMAN, make money, make us happy, be human. Also when is she ever going to write the second installment to The Host? Did her writing brain cells die? I swear sometimes some writers piss me off.

Lots of questions on my part, should make for an interesting debate ;)

Ps; Last day to sign up for the Goodbye 2010 Contest here at Bloody Bookaholic. With over 30 books, what are you waiting for?

Last Two Days to Win an Incredible Amount of books...

This is sort of a reminder that my last contest will be ending shortly, like tomorrow at midnight. As I said there will be 4 winners. 3 of these winners will win 10 books each and the fourth winner... well it's a surprise! Adds a bit of mystery, ya?

This is  some of the titles that I will be shipping off...

1. The Lost Saint by Bree Despain

2. Desired of the Dead by Kimberly Derting

3. Firelight by Sophie Jordan

4. My Soul to Keep by Rachel Vincent

5. The Ivy by Lauren Kunze & Rina Onur

6. Changeless by Gail Carriger

7. Hero by Mike Lupica

8. Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani

9. Brava, Valentine by Adriana Trigiani

10. Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon

11. Guardian of the Gate by Michelle Zink

12. Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson

13. Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

14. The Season of Risks by Susan Hubbard

15. Splendor by Anna Godbersen

16. The Gift, Witch & Wizard by James Patterson

17. You by Charles Benoit

18. The Enemy by Charlie Higson

19. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

20. The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

21. Vordak the Incomprehensible: How to Grow Up and Rule the World

22. The Steps Across the Water by Adam Copnik

23. Vampires: The Occult Truth

24. Ask Amy Green Boy Trouble by Sarah Webb

25. I'll Get There. It Better Be worth the Trip. by John Donovan

26. Virgin Territory by James Lecesne

27. Dangerous Neighbors by Beth Kephart

28. Plain Kate by Erin Bow

29. Murder Afloat by Jane Leslie Conly

30. Scumble by Ingrid Law

...there will be more. But I won't say names till the contest ends. Buahahahaha *insert evil laugh sound here*

Good luck, and may the force be with you.

PS; yes I'm a dork, what did you expect?

Cover Revealed: Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

Sooooo... I don't like it. Sorry! I do not like this cover at all! I think I actually prefer the other cover, the black one with the title on it? Yeap I do prefer that one. It may be the girl's face, it may be the color. It just looks so weird. Then again, the first few covers for VA wren't that great either.The covers only got good after Spirit Bound.

Nonetheless its written by Richelle Mead so I will read it. Just thank your lucky stars Richelle that you are a great writer, cause I wouldn't buy this cover.

ON the other hand, the half face of the guy is pretty good looking ;)

The cover was revealed at EW's Shelf Life click here and get the full scoop.

PS; comment here and get an extra entry in my Goodbye 2010 contest =]

Sunday's Tune: Born this Way by Lady Gaga

I think every Sunday I will post a tune that I love, relates to a book in my opinion, or an author has said "Hey, this song really goes with my story" or they have used the tune while creating the book.

Why am I doing this post? Cause I loves me some tunes! And we do more stuff than just reading books! A world without music wouldn't be a nice world at all. I wouldn't want to live there. I would pack my bags and head to the nearest Mars shuttle (maybe they'll have some rocking tunes!).

This week's song is Born this Way by Lady Gaga!! IT's FINALLY OUT!! I loves this woman, her music is addicting and gooood.




First off, creeppy cover. I mean there are all parts of her sticking out, but isn't what what we love about her? Her creepyness? Other than her voice, her sense of fashion (makes me laugh) and her spirit of course.

Ive listened to this song now 3 times and this is what I got to say about it. LOVE the base. It goes boom boom boom. If you happen to have some cash around go and buy some Skullcandy headphones, you'll understand. It's not like her other songs so she is not repeating herself. It's fun, I can see myself dancing to it. This song in a club? Sign me up!!

On the other hand, it's a little Madonna-isk. I love the Lady, but I have to be fair. It might not be the exact same thing as Madonna, but her flair is there somewhere. I don't think this is necessarily bad, since well everything has been done already and well things are bound to happen. Not to mention Madonna is a huge influence with this type of music. So I can live with it.

I can't wait for the other songs! Or the video!! I don't believe they can do a better video than the one for Bad Romance (loooove it) but they could surprise me. The bar has been set very high for the Lady team, let's see if they deliver.

If you like this song and/or any song that encourages you to be yourself and to heck with everybody else, I recommend these other tunes:

Fireworks by Katy Perry

Raise Your Glass by P!NK

If you know of any other suggestions leave a comment! Plus tell me what you think about the new Lady Gaga tune. Like it? Dislike it? Why?

Now if you excuse me I'm gonna go and listen to Born This Way for the fourth time...

PS; comment here and get an extra entry in my Goodbye 2010 contest =]

Cover Winner of January; New covers for Feb

Well, no surprise that Across the Universe won since it's one of the best covers of 2011!!! There were 147 votes in all (thanks guys) and this is the break down:

Across The Universe by Beth Revis - 59 (40%)

Awakened by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast - 30 (20%)

Entangled by Cat Clarke - 23 (15%)

My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent - 13 (8%)

Entice by Carrie Jones - 11 (7%)

Tempestuous by Lesley Livingston - 11 (7%)

Anyways! It was great doing this last month, and so lets go at it again! These are the covers I chose for Feb, you choose the best one!!

You can leave a comment with your opinion and/or maybe leave me a suggestion for March's cover. The poll will be at the left sidebar of the blog. Vote, vote, vote!!


PS; comment here and get an extra entry in my Goodbye 2010 contest =]

Awakened by P.C. Cast

Title: Awakened

Author: P.C. Cast

Series: House of Night

Book #: 8

Pages: 304

Reading Level: Young Adult

Published Date: Jan 04, 2011.

Publisher:  St. Martin's Griffin

Book Rating: .2

Cover Rating: 

Exonerated by the Vampyre High Council and returned to her position of High Priestess at Tulsa’s House of Night, Neferet has sworn vengeance on Zoey. Dominion over her immortal consort Kalona is only one of the weapons she plans to use against Z. But Zoey has found sanctuary on the Isle of Skye and is being groomed by Queen Sgiach to take over for her there. Being Queen would be cool, wouldn’t it? Why should she return to Tulsa? After losing her human consort, Heath, she will never be the same – and her relationship with her super-hot-warrior, Stark, may never be the same either…

And what about Stevie Rae and Rephaim? The Raven Mocker refuses to be used against Stevie Rae, but what choice does he have when no one in the entire world, including Zoey, would be okay with their relationship? Does he betray his father or his heart?

In the pulse-pounding 8th book in the bestselling House of Night series, how far will the bonds of friendship stretch and how strong are the ties that bind one girl’s heart?

Taschima's POV:

Were back at Tulsa were everyone is doing... something. Neferet is back, Kalona is with her, Zoey is hiding out somewhere with Stark (I mean why shouldn't she since nothing is happening back at Tulsa), and all the others are at the House of Night. Someone dies, and so Zoey returns to "take care of the mess that is the House of Night". 

Okay, it's sad that they have to rely on someone dying to bring some spark to the story. I liked that character. Not fair. And BTW it didn't even make a difference! The story is as bland as could be. What I liked about the last book was Stevie Rae's secret dark love with Rephaim but on this novel it wasn't so entertaining. There was a time were I used to love this series and now I just keep reading it because It's something I have to do. I can't abandon a series.

Oh and the dialogue! Oh gosh who talks like that? You can clearly see where each author has put her pen. It goes from being almost over formal to the language of 13 year old. It's just not acceptable anymore! This series has gone on for far too long. They keep grasping at straws to make it better and if they don't end the series soon enough, or make a killer new plot line, I will kill something.

It's still a bit addicting, I have to know what will happen next. But Its just not the same. I remember the first few books, they were awesome. What went wrong? And where?

PS; comment here and get an extra entry in my Goodbye 2010 contest =]

Casting, Casting.. Who wants to be Jace Wayland?

Who doesn't have an inner secret dream of being an actor or actress? They have the good life, and the only thing they need is talent (plus a ton of patience). It's a good life, and it could be yours.

THEY ARE CASTING FOR THE PART OF JACE IN THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS!!!!!! Here is the info I got:

"Think you’ve got what it takes to play the male lead in Screen Gems’ film adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s best-selling series, Mortal Instruments? If you can play age 18-25 and think you’re right for Jace Wayland, you just might land the part through Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Face of the Fan®, an initiative for finding new talent, which has launched a casting call for the film. 

By visiting www.FaceOfTheFan.com, users nationwide can now participate in this casting call, which launched on Friday, January 28th. The audition consists of the user’s contact info, a headshot photo, and a video (two minutes or less) of the person auditioning in which he answers a question: “Why are you the right person to play Jace Wayland in the upcoming movie?” The audition submission process will end on February 25th."

Okay so I'm not a guy so I can't audition to be Jace, and I know most of the blogger Ive met are girls, but if you know anybody who has dreams of being a star, a guy with a passion, please let them know! This is a great opportunity! They could be the next Robert Pattison (though less gay and more awesome).

I myself will be shouting this left and right. Planning a visit to the theater department here at school to let them know in fact.

Other than that, what do you think about this? Obviously were not getting a known star to play our Jace, but is that good or bad? In my honest opinion (like I ever give any other) I think this rocks. I really want a new face to portray Jace, a hidden talent somewhere. I can't wait to see who gets the part and how it changes their lives.

But that is just me, what do you think? Did you have any illusions as to your favorite actor playing the part? If so, who did you want?


PS; comment here and get an extra entry in my Goodbye 2010 contest =]

New Dystopian Novel on the Block

I got this info from Lisa's newsletter, and its pretty kick ass!

THE UNWANTEDS, a dystopian fantasy series, is about a society where strength and intelligence is rewarded, and creativity is outlawed. Every year, the 13-year-olds are sorted into categories. The strong, intelligent Wanteds go to university, and the creative, artistic Unwanteds get sent to their death. The book follows twin boys, Alex and Aaron Stowe, as they await their fate.

THE UNWANTEDS (Book 1) comes out September 6, 2011. Cover reveal coming soon!

I love Lisa's books! They are always so creepy and awesome (Wake series anyone?). Tomorrow Cryer's Cross comes out and guess who is going to the nearest bookstore to get it? Exactly.




PS; comment here and get an extra entry in my Goodbye 2010 contest =]

Teaser Tuesday(On Thursday): One Foot in the Grave

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The Night Huntress Series is by far my favorite series ever. I can re read it all the time without getting bored. And every time I read it I see it in my mind as if it was a movie. Here is a quote I love, hopefully it will convince you to read this phenomenal series:

"Tate," I said warningly. "Drop the gun."

Tate stared at me. "Goddamn, Cat. I hope you know what you're doing."

"It's all right, Kitten," Bones said. "He won't shoot."

Tate lowered his gun even as the sudden dizziness from blood loss made me sway. Bones took my gun and casually handed it to Juan, who gaped at him in amazement.

"You called her Kitten? And she let you? She put me in a coma for three days when I called her that! My balls never recovered from her smashing them into my spine!"

"And well she should have," Bones agreed. "She's my Kitten, and no one else's."

I poked him in the chest." Do you mind? I'm a little woozy here."

"Apologies, luv."

...what do you think?

PS; comment here and get an extra entry in my Goodbye 2010 contest =]