Armchair BEA Giveaways!

I won't be posting a giveaway myself, unfortunately, but for all of you people that aren't participating in the Armchair BEA, here's one awesome list of giveaways. 96 and growing... interested? ;D Just click on the button located on this post for the direct link!

Armchair BEA Intro!

A little about me...

Hi! Welcome to my blog, if you're from the Armchair BEA,welcome! If you're not... welcome! My name is Sarah, obviously, and I love to read YA lit. Sometimes I reach out and try something new. I'm 14, a vegetarian, and have no idea what the future holds! A few of my favorite books/series are Vampire Academy, Where She Went by Gayle Forman, and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien!

I also have the sweetest dog in the world, her name is Butterscotch and she just turned eight! Marvel at the cuteness!


Thanks for visiting! Hope you stop by more often!

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

She is pretty and talented - sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But ...They are brother and sister. -Via Goodreads

The Review

When you read the summary of this book, you think you know what you're getting into. You think it's just going to be a love story. When in actuality, it's so much more than that. The story is powerful. You come away with a new perspective, really. It made me think about a lot of things differently. For one, incest. It's illegal in many countries and most states in America. It's also a social taboo. Before reading this book, I didn't understand  how anyone could do such a thing. I don't have any siblings, but still, I just didn't get it. Now, I do. I actually found myself wanting Lochie and Maya to work everything out between themselves and love each other, regardless of everything. I wasn't disappointed. They had many sweet moments that I found myself getting all misty eyed over. I loved Maya and Lochie. Another author that knows how to make their characters real. They dealt with so much and they reacted as real people would, not fantasy land where everything works out in the end. That's not life. Life is hard, cruel, and not fair. But there's always those sweet moments that really make it worth living. 

Lochie and Maya's siblings! Oh, I thought they were so annoying in the beginning! As the story went on, though, that changed and I began to feel fond toward them. I'll repeat, this isn't just a love story, it also shows you how important family is, no matter how dysfunctional or bad things get. We have Willa, the sweet five year old that's intelligent and lovable. Tiffin, nine, is bursting with energy that never seems to run out. Kit, thirteen, is the teenager still struggling with his father leaving and doesn't seem to know how to act. Kit's definitely one of those characters that you really dislike in the beginning, then you get where they're coming from and don't hate them so much anymore. Actually, I think he became my favorite character because I could relate to him so much. I'm a year older, but being a teenager can be so damn confusing sometimes, you know? 

The mother. UGH! I never liked her! In fact, I hate her. She's very simple to sum up: loves alcohol more than her children, tramp, unreasonable. Yup, that's their mother in a nutshell. 

In conclusion, Forbidden is beautiful, controversial, and a must read. It'll make you laugh, sigh, and bawl your eyes out. Make sure you have a box of tissues near...

One more thing: Some scenes are sexually explicit , if this type of thing upsets you in a book, don't read it.

5/5 STARS

Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moskowitz Review

It's a year after 9/11. Sniper shootings throughout the D.C. area have everyone on edge, trying to make sense of the random acts of violence. Meanwhile, Craig and Lio are just trying to make sense of their lives. 

Craig's crushing on quiet, distant Lio, and preoccupied with what it meant when Lio kissed him...and if he'll do it again...and if kissing Lio will help him finally get over his ex-boyfriend, Cody. 

Lio feels most alive when he's with Craig. He forgets about his broken family, his dead brother, and the messed up world. But being with Craig means being vulnerable, and Lio will have to decide whether love is worth the risk. -Via Goodreads

The Review

I'll start by saying, "FINALLY!" I've been in a book slump lately, Gone, Gone, Gone pulled me right out of it. Thank you, Hannah Moskowitz! So, I've never read a book where the main character(s) are homosexual. It honestly wasn't that much different from reading about a heterosexual relationship, and I really enjoyed it.

I absolutely adored Lio and Craig. I felt a connection to both of them because they were real. Hannah knows how to take you on that emotional roller coaster her character's are experiencing. Every thought was true and just real, there's no other way to put it. Sometimes, it was hard to follow Craig's train of thought because he has so many things going through his head at once, but that's what made Craig, Craig. I love the fact that Lio and Craig weren't uncomfortable with the fact that they were gay. They was completely okay with it, there was no shame or struggle or any ugly feelings toward it. The focal point of the story was their relationship and what would happen between them.

The story is placed in Washington, D.C. (or Wheaton, Maryland as Lio likes to call it) during the year 2002. The first anniverssary of 9/11 was approaching. On the day of 9/11, all of the students in Lio and Craig's school were given American flags to put on their locker for that day. Lio was the only one to keep it on his locker because in Craig's words, "... they were cheap and flimsy and because it's been a year and patriotism is lame again." Complete honesty. Weeks later, on October 2, the first person is shot. The Beltway Snipers begin. Craig and Lio feel as if everyone is going crazy at first because they all think they're going to end up shot. As they go on, though, they feel the stress of it too. At first, they subtly think about it more and more until they're as scared and paranoid as anyone else.

I can't delve any further or I'll be giving away major spoilers, but I definitely recommend this book when it comes out on 4/17/12! I won't be able to get this one outta my head for days! Add it to your TBR piles, people I'm telling you! Truly unique and refreshing, loved it! *Squeeee*

Note: If you're itching to read it NOW, go to galleygrab.com. Simon and Schuster is the publishing company and if you have an E-reader (I know Nook and Sony Reader are supported, not sure what other readers) and if you don't mind reading off your computer go on ahead. It is kind of tricky, though, because when you first sign up, and you download your first E-galley, it's random. You'll have to wait for the newsletter and it might not be on there! Good luck!

5/5 STARS

Eragon by Christopher Paolini Review... Kind of

If you're an Eragon fan, don't read my mini review 

A few of months ago I found out that the fourth book in the Inheritance Cycle would be put out soon. I don't know the exact date (it doesn't really matter to me). When i was eleven, I loved this book, and devoured the series. Now... I'll just be blunt, Eragon was horrible. I hated ERAGON, the main character, which is always a bad sign, I mean c'mon. Shouldn't you at least somewhat like the protagonist? Putting all comparisons to The Lord of the Rings (an excellent series that I do recommend and there is no comparison as far as quality goes) aside, I just can't say i liked this story at all. I felt like it was an old worn out storyline that's been used once too many times. Be original, PLEASE! I am sad to say that there is a book out there I just can't bear to finish. I'll give you a quick rundown of what I read. 

Ahem... 

Poor, average farm boy finds a mystical blue "stone" that appears out of thin air. Boy takes "stone" home. Boy then finds out that the "stone" is actually an egg, a dragon egg (didn't see that one coming *points to cover*) Boy hides dragon. Scary, mysterious creatures come to his town looking for him. Creatures kill boy's uncle/father figure. Boy wants revenge. He stumbles upon a great textbook teacher named Brom. Brom takes boy on wild adventure that makes no sense while teaching him the ways of the mystical Riders. 

That concludes my rundown. It's not the entire book, of course, because I didn't read it all but that's all I got to and it was... 1/5 Stars