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Maryse's Book Blog

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Archives for 2012

Marlene Perez – Dead Is Series Reading Order

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Thanks to Dawn for bringing this one to my attention!!

About book #1:

“Fashion statement…or something freakier?

Welcome to Nightshade, California—a small town full of secrets. It’s home to the pyschic Giordano sisters, who have a way of getting mixed up in mysteries. During their investigations, they run across everything from pom-pom-shaking vampires to shape-shifting boyfriends to a clue-spewing jukebox. With their psychic powers and some sisterly support, they can crack any case!

Teenage girls are being mysteriously attacked all over town, including at Nightshade High School, where Daisy Giordano is a junior. When Daisy discovers that a vampire may be the culprit, she can’t help but suspect head cheerleader Samantha Devereaux, who returned from summer break with a new “look.” Samantha appears a little . . . well, dead, and all the most popular kids at school are copying her style. read more

Book Review – Where She Went by Gayle Forman

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Where She Went (If I Stay)
Warning!! SPOILERS AHEAD for those who haven’t yet read book 1. And while this book does give you enough background as to what exactly led the main character… here, it is still better to get the whole picture, and all of the emotion attached. And that is best done by reading the first book, in this “duet”.

So this book gave me a few things I so desperately needed.

  1. A continuation of book #1. The ending was so… wide open. It could have went anywhere, and I prefer when there is a definite resolution. I don’t wanna come up with the “ending” myself. I’m not a fan of “left up to interpretation” endings. What if my conclusion is wrong? I always have that “what if…” worry . *sigh*
  2. A more mature story in regards to the characters (as this book occurs three years after the “incident”) – so now everyone involved is pretty much an adult.
  3. More of Adam (I adored him in book #1) Adam. The ultra famous rock star. Need I say more? The whirlwind of his stardom, the chaos, the demands, and his ever-broken heart that instead of healing, just continues on it’s downward spiral.

As I “summarized” in my “best of 2011” list:

“Ohhhh the plight of yet another tortured rock star. And this character had every right to his desperate angry tormented ways. EVERY reason. And as we live out a few days during the pinnacle of his huge rock-stardom, we re-live his agony over his loss of the only thing that mattered to him. Rock stardom was his dream, but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be, living it with a broken heart. Sure, the reason for his destruction is also what helped catapult him to rock stardom, but he just can’t get past it. And this is the book that brings us (and him) face to face with his heartbreaker.” read more

Book Review – If I Stay by Gayle Forman

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If I Stay
One of my best friends vehemently recommended this book (and book #2) half a year ago, and reader recommendations for it continued over the last few months. While I believe it is considered “YA” it doesn’t have that YA feel of high school drama, backstabbing and whatnot. This one is deep. VERY deep, and while intense romance and steamy scenes were not a part of the story, the emotional connections to the main character’s past, and current reality are strong enough that nothing else matters. This book is not about “teen drama”. It is about unavoidable circumstances, consequences and choices. And even then, one wonders if there was ever any choice at all. read more

Ilona Andrews – The Edge Series Reading Order

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About the series:

The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Walmart and magic is a fairytale–and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny.  It’s a place where poverty is real, life is hard, and fairy tales sometimes do come true.

  • On the Edge
  • Bayou Moon (Edge)
  • Fate’s Edge (A Novel of the Edge)
  • Steel’s Edge (A Novel of the Edge) – expected release November 27th 2012
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