[REVIEW] Unravel Me

Series: Shatter Me #2 | Review of #1
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Genre: young adult, dystopia, post-apocalyptic, romance, fantasy, paranormal, science fiction
Published: December 31, 2013 (first published February 5, 2013)
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 978-0-06-208554-2

OUR LIPS TOUCH and I know I’m going to split at the seams. He kisses me softly then strongly like he’s lost me and he’s found me and I’m slipping away and he’s never going to let me go. 

Juliette has escaped from The Reestablishment. Now she’s free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch. Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible. Haunted by her past and terrified of her future, Juliette knows that she will have to make some life-changing choices. Choices that may involve choosing between her heart – and Adam’s life.

[REVIEW] Carnelian

full Blog Tour schedule can be found here: YA Bound Book Tours.

Series: Chalcedony Chronicles #1
Author: B. Kristin McMichael
Genre: young adult, romance, fantasy, time travel
Published: February 1, 2014
Publisher: Lexia Press

Everyone has a past, but for most it isn’t as long ago as Seth Sangre. His past is literally thousands of years ago. Seth’s life led him to the present seeking something that might help him save his country from destruction. He has been in the present for over three years now and just found exactly what he has been looking for. 

Mari had dreams that college will be a fresh start, one where she would start over and not fall for the good looking player like high school. Unfortunately for her, that’s exactly what ends up falling into her lap on the first day she moves into the dorms. Now she has to hold to her promise to herself and not fall for the handsome Seth. But he doesn’t plan to make it easy for her. Seth has already marked her as his next conquest. As the semester progresses, Mari learns that Seth might just have a life of his own that’s actually from the past. 

Suddenly Mari finds her future along with her past put into question. She’s connected to Seth far more than she ever wanted to be and maybe the player isn’t who she thought he was. If Mari can trust her heart enough to follow him, Seth will lead Mari on an adventure of a lifetime and reveal family secrets she never knew existed.

[Waiting on Wednesday] A Thousand Pieces of You

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming can't wait to read.

Series: Firebird #1
Author: Claudia Gray
Genre: young adult, science fiction, adventure, time travel, fantasy, romance, mystery, paranormal, supernatural
Expected Publication: November 4, 2014

Every Day meets Cloud Atlas in this heart-racing, space- and time-bending, epic new trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray.
Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their most astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite’s father is murdered, the killer—her parent’s handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.
Marguerite can’t let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul’s guilt—and her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is more sinister than she ever could have imagined.
A Thousand Pieces of You explores a reality where we witness the countless other lives we might lead in an amazingly intricate multiverse, and ask whether, amid infinite possibilities, one love can endure.

[Cover Reveal] Silent Echo

Today we're excited to reveal the cover for Silent Echo by Elisa Freilich!

About the Book:

Rendered mute at birth, Portia Griffin has been silent for 16 years. Music is her constant companion, along with Felix, her deaf best friend who couldn t care less whether or not she can speak. If only he were as nonchalant about her newfound interest in the musically gifted Max Hunter.

But Portia s silence is about to be broken with the abrupt discovery of her voice, unparalleled in its purity and the power it affords to control those around her. Able to persuade, seduce and destroy using only her voice, Portia embarks on a search for answers about who she really is, and what she is destined to do.

Add it on Goodreads!

[Stacking the Shelves] THE SILKWORM IS OUT AND YOU SHOULD READ IT!!!

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted at Tynga’s Reviews.

SOOOOO… school started a couple of weeks back and I’m kind of struggling to keep up with things (I really do suck at time management). Well I was expecting this… I really need to pull things together…

I plan to put myself on a book buying ban on the next couple of months (July-August) so that I can save enough money for the 35th Manila International Book Fair on September 17-21 and Best of Anime 2014 on September 20-21 (two crazy events with overlapping dates @_@). I’m pretty sure these aren’t enough to last until August but I’ll most likely borrow books from the school library and from a friend so that I can get by :3

[REVIEW] Shatter Me

Series: Shatter Me #1
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Genre: young adult, dystopia, romance, fantasy, paranormal, science fiction
Published: October 12, 2012 (first published November 15, 2011)
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 978-0-06-208550-4

I have a curse.I have a gift. 

I’m a monster.I’m more than human. 

My touch is lethal.My touch is power. 

I am their weapon.I will fight back. 

No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon. But Juliette has plans of her own. After a lifetime without freedom, she’s finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time – and to find a future with the one boy she thought she’d lost forever.

[Waiting on Wednesday] The Young Elites

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming can't wait to read.

Series: The Young Elites #1
Author: Marie Lu
Genre: young adult, fantasy, dystopia, science fiction, magic, paranormal
Expected Publication: October 7, 2014

I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.  

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites. 

Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all. 

Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.  

It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.

[Top Ten Tuesday] Books on my Summer TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke and The Bookish.

This Week’s Topic: Books on my Summer TBR List. This kind of feels the same as the topic a couple of weeks ago which I edited as Books That Will Be in My School Bag This Semester (and so far one of those have been in my bag and the other one is currently in my bag :D).

So this list for me feels like an edited version of that earlier post since I’ve slashed out two of them and I’ve done some rethinking on some of the books I’ve listed earlier. Add to that the newly acquired books I have for review. SO here’s my current TBR List!

czai's Summer 2014 Anime List!

It’s been so long since I wrote my Anime Season Watch List and I kind of missed it.

Summer was never really my favorite anime season and this year is no different. The first thing I noticed when I saw the complete list (well at least I think it’s complete) is how sports was left out this season @_@ (okay maybe FREE S2 is sports… but I want something like Ace of Diamond-ish or Haikyuu!!-ish or even something like Kuroko no Basuke).

[Waiting on Wednesday] License to Spill

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming can't wait to read.

Series: Pretenders #2 | review of #1
Author: Lisi Harrison
Genre: young adult, contemporary, realistic fiction, romance, drama
Expected Publication: June 24, 2014

Three girls, two guys, five secret journals. 

The five most popular students at Noble High have secrets to hide; secrets they wrote down in their journals. Now one of their own exposes the private entries... 

When our parents were growing up they were encouraged to make mistakes. That's how they learned. But us? Our mistakes go viral. There is no delete button on the Internet. What kind of future do we have if we can't escape our embarrassing pasts? I must come off as quite the hypocrite; complaining about our overexposed lives in a book of secret journals I have leaked. But these pages hold proof of how this pressure affects the "best" of us... so until the heat's turned down, keep reading.

[Top Ten Tuesday] Books I’ve Read So Far This Year

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke and The Bookish.

This week’s topic:  Books I’ve read so far this year. So far I’ve only read 38 books this year and around 11 of them are manga. I’ve also reread 1 book but I didn’t include that in the list. I’ll probably reread more books throughout the year anyway~

This time around, I’d like to arrange this list. While I don’t like arranging books to how much I like them, I think that it makes complete sense to do this and this is quite difficult.

[REVIEW] Are You Alice?, vol2

Series: Are You Alice? #2 | Prequel: #1
Author: Ai Ninomiya | Illustrator: Ikumi Katagiri
Genre: manga, shoujo, mystery
Published: September 24, 2013 (first published July 24, 2010)
Publisher: Yen Press
ISBN: 978-0-316-25278-2

The Duke – a warped mass that collects the scraps of Wonderland – goes berserk in the town square, not far from where Alice and Hatter have traveled on an errand. In his frenzied state, the Duke wants nothing more than to have Alice all to himself. But when an overconfident Alice decided to ignore Hatter’s commands and give the Duke what he wants, little does Alice expect to wind up in the belly of the beast!

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[Stacking the Shelves] going back to school~

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted at Tynga’s Reviews. I'm also liking to the SundayPost. It is a weekly meme hosted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer

This coming week, I go back to school (don’t know if I’m excited or not or what!) which means lesser time reading and lesser time on everything hobby related (okay, so now I think I shouldn’t be excited at all). I'll plan to things out eventually... 

Anyway, in order to discipline myself in reading every day, I decided to join Aimee’s #Project100Hours over @ Deadly Darlings :D I’ll start this Monday (although school officially starts on Tuesday for me). I’ll post my progress on both twitter && instagram :D

[REVIEW] Champion

Series: Legend Trilogy #3
Author: Marie Lu
Genre: young adult, dystopia, science fiction, romance
Published: December 1, 2013 (first published August 1, 2013)
Publisher: G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS, Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
ISBN: 978-0-399-16661-7

He is a Legend. 

She is a Prodigy. 

Who will be Champion? 

June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic—and each other—and now their country is on the brink of a new existence. June is back in the good graces of the Republic, working within the government’s elite circles as Princeps-Elect, while Day has been assigned a high-level military position. 

But neither could have predicted the circumstances that will reunite them: just when a peace treaty is imminent, a plague outbreak causes panic in the Colonies, and war threatens the Republic’s border cities. This new strain of plague is deadlier than ever, and June is the only one who knows the key to her country’s defense. But saving the lives of thousands will mean asking the one she loves to give up everything. 

With heart-pounding action and suspense, Marie Lu’s bestselling trilogy draws to a stunning conclusion.

[Flashback Friday] Unwind

Flashback Friday is a weekly post where I talk about a book, manga, or anime series which I’ve seen years ago. This is more like me reminiscing on stuff I come across way back then.

Series: Unwind Dystology
Author: Neal Shusterman

Connor, Risa, and Lev are running for their lives. 

Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive.

[Book Blitz] Gypsy Excerpt + Giveaway!

Gypsy (The Cavy Files #1)
Author: Trisha Leigh
Published: 05/13/14
Pages: 378

Inconsequential: not important or significant.
Synonyms: insignificant, unimportant, nonessential, irrelevant 

In the world of genetic mutation, Gypsy’s talent of knowing a person’s age of death is considered a failure. Her peers, the other Cavies, have powers that range from curdling a blood still in the vein to being able to overhear a conversation taking place three miles away, but when they’re taken from the sanctuary where they grew up and forced into the real world, Gypsy, with her all-but-invisible gift, is the one with the advantage. 

The only one who’s safe, if the world finds out what they can do. 

When the Cavies are attacked and inoculated with an unidentified virus, that illusion is shattered. Whatever was attached to the virus causes their abilities to change. Grow. In some cases, to escape their control. 

Gypsy dreamed of normal high school, normal friends, a normal life, for years. Instead, the Cavies are sucked under a sea of government intrigue, weaponized genetic mutation, and crushing secrets that will reframe everything they’ve ever been told about how their "talents" came to be in the first place. 

When they find out one of their own has been appropriated by the government, mistreated and forced to run dangerous missions, their desire for information becomes a pressing need. With only a series of guesses about their origins, the path to the truth becomes quickly littered with friends, enemies, and in the end, the Cavies ability to trust anyone at all.

[Waiting on Wednesday] Don’t You Forget About Me

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming can't wait to read.

Series: N/A
Author: Kate Karyus Quinn
Genre: young adult, paranormal, fantasy, mystery, supernatural, thriller, dystopia
Expected Publication: June 10, 2014

Welcome to Gardnerville. 

A place where no one gets sick. And no one ever dies. 

Except... 

There’s a price to pay for paradise. Every fourth year, the strange power that fuels the town exacts its payment by infecting teens with deadly urges. In a normal year in Gardnerville, teens might stop talking to their best friends. In a fourth year, they’d kill them. 

Four years ago, Skylar’s sister, Piper, was locked away after leading sixteen of her classmates to a watery grave. Since then, Skylar has lived in a numb haze, struggling to forget her past and dull the pain of losing her sister. But the secrets and memories Piper left behind keep taunting Skylar—whispering that the only way to get her sister back is to stop Gardnerville’s murderous cycle once and for all.

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[Top Ten Tuesday] Books That Will Be in My School Bag This Semester

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke and The Bookish.

This week’s topic: Top Ten Books That Should Be In Your Beach Bag or Ten Books That Will Be In My Beach Bag This Summer. I kind of edited the topic a little because summer officially ends for me (in our country, PH) and I’ll be coming back to school a week from now~

[REVIEW] Prodigy

Series: Legend Trilogy #2
Author: Marie Lu
Genre: young adult, dystopia, science fiction, romance
Published: April 8, 2014 (first published January 29, 2013)
Publisher: Speak

June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request—June and Day must assassinate the new Elector. It’s their chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long.  

But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she’s haunted by the choice ahead. What if Anden is a new beginning? What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood—what if the Patriots are wrong?