Review: Starters by Lissa Price

368 pages
Published: March 13th 2012
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Source: ARC via NetGalley

Summary from Goodreads:

Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie's only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man.


He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie's head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator's grandson. It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations' plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined. . . .

My Thoughts:

The Good:
Price certainly knows how to write a compelling story. I think I finished the entire book in about 2 days. She has an interesting idea with body renting and with the general population being so split, everyone either being a “Starter” or an “Ender”. She knows how to give a story a good twist and toy with our emotions, leaving us wondering “what the heck is going to happen in book 2!”

The Bad:
I feel as if there is a bit of a pattern happening with dystopians. There is some kind of war that has happened, there are homeless kids living on the streets, the MC has a younger sibling who is somewhat sickly that the MC will do anything to protect. Starters certainly fits the bill, but it easily manages originality.

The Gist:
Starters is not a book to be missed. There is a reason it has been getting the hype it has. Check it out if you love dystopian and adventure! I can’t wait for book 2 (which I believe is called Enders?) to come out!

4.5 out of 5 stars!

Review: Welcome Caller, This Is Chloe

By: Shelley Coriell
299 pages
Release Date: May 1st 2012
Publisher: Amulet Books
Source: ARC via NetGalley

Summary from Goodreads:

Big-hearted Chloe Camden is the queen of her universe until her best friend shreds her reputation and her school counselor axes her junior independent study project. Chloe is forced to take on a meaningful project in order to pass, and so she joins her school's struggling radio station, where the other students don't find her too queenly. Ostracized by her former BFs and struggling with her beloved Grams's mental deterioration, lonely Chloe ends up hosting a call-in show that gets the station much-needed publicity and, in the end, trouble. She also befriends radio techie and loner Duncan Moore, a quiet soul with a romantic heart. On and off the air, Chloe faces her loneliness and helps others find the fun and joy in everyday life. Readers will fall in love with Chloe as she falls in love with the radio station and the misfits who call it home.

(I'm testing out a new review format, somewhat shorter, quicker to read)

My Thoughts:

The Good:
Chloe is one bubbly, happy, “wears her heart on her sleeve” girl. She has passions in life like fantastic vintage shoes, her family, and eventually she learns to love radio. As I got a few chapters into this book I felt a smile spreading on my lips, like “this is going to be good.” It reminded me a bit of those shows like Honey, Radio, Take The Lead, etc, where one person inspires change and saves the program.

The Bad:
The main character Chloe was a little hard to fall for at first. She was perhaps a little too bubbly and air-headish for me at first but you quickly grow to love her. I would have liked to have felt a little stronger connection to the love interest Duncan, but he was still a very sweet guy.

The Gist:
Welcome Caller, This is Chloe is a fun, fast read. Don’t expect anything too deep, just sit back and enjoy some light entertainment.

4 out of 5 stars!

Winner of Eden promotion giveaway!

Sorry it took me a while to pick winners for my last 2 giveaways!  I'll get right to the point and announce the winner of the Eden promotion giveaway!

Congrats to:

Emily's World!

I've already emailed you so we're good to go!

And I'm going to email the winners of the Flash Bookmark giveaway right now!  Since there are so many names with 10 winners I won't announce them all here, but if you get an email from me in the next little bit, congrats!

Thank you all for participating and stay tuned for more giveaways in the future!

How Do You Like Your Reviews?

I currently have 3 books that I need to write reviews for (Starters, Welcome Caller This is Chloe, and A Million Suns) and I got to thinking about the reader actually reading the reviews.  Do people have time to read long, detailed reviews?  Or do they want just the gist of what you thought and your star rating?  I've noticed with myself that I tend to just quickly skim the review, picking out some of the good and the bad, and them scroll down to the star rating.

So I ask you.  How do you like your reviews?  Long and explained in fine detail, or short and to the point?

Distractions & Writing: Which Do You Love More?

I'm finally doing a real blog post, now that it has probably been nearly a month since I did a decent post.  Which brings me right to my topic, which I really hope I can organize into something that's not just going to come out as the jumbled mess that is my brain as of late.

Something that I've known for as long as I've been writing seriously is that there a million and one things that will get in the way of writing.  There is always something else that needs to be done when you also need to be editing, writing, or plotting.  There's always that mountain of laundry you've been ignoring for the past four days, there's always ten new Tweets that you just HAVE to read, there's always that gigantic stack of books begging you to read them.  And there are always the people in our lives, kids, spouses, friends, siblings, etc.

Being a writer means becoming a master balancer.

Unless you have the immense pleasure of having your full-time career being writing and can work 9-5 everyday, with no distractions, you as a writer have to learn how to balance dealing with life, distractions, and writing.

Lately I've felt a bit overwhelmed with everything that's been going on in my life.  There is just so much happening at all times, and there is always more that I could and should be doing.  People often ask me how I manage to write so many books, be a mother to 2 very young children, and still deal with life.

Truth is, sometimes I don't manage.  As of right now I have a sink full of dishes that need to be washed, a pile of laundry to be done, another pile to be folded and put away.  I need to be getting things prepped to meet with my accountant tomorrow.  And I REALLY need to edit about 30 pages of What I Didn't Say today.  But life happened starting late last night, and low and behold, I have strep throat... again.  I feel like total garbage today.  This is my second bout in about 2 months.  And with how sick I've been this winter, I'm about 2-3 weeks behind schedule with WIDS.

So how I manage is by just doing what I can, and taking things one day at a time.  There are days that my house is a disaster but I managed to play with my kids, tromping through the woods and exploring, and I also managed to get 2 covers designed, and edit 40 pages.  Those days I'm proud of my messy house.  It means I got a lot done that day, even if it wasn't getting the house picked up.

To be a writer, and I mean a real writer, you have to learn to control distraction.  There are so many times I think about how I would soooo rather be reading one of the couple dozen books on my shelf, or I'm so tempted to log into Facebook.  But you learn to control that.  Because you know why?

You love writing so much more than you love those distractions.

We are all only human.  There are times when we need a break.  There are times when we say "I just can't do anymore today".  We don't have to be superman/woman everyday.  We just have to be the best we can be for that day.

EDEN promotion of $0.99 + GIVEAWAY

Like it says, I'm running a promotion on the digital versions of EDEN through Friday, only $0.99, normally $4.83!  HUGE discount!  So if you have yet to read Eden, now is the time to get it for your e-reader.  Here are the links:

KINDLE

NOOK

Don't have an e-reader?  I've got you covered.

I will also be doing a giveaway for a signed copy of Eden, and for the very first time, I'm making this INTERNATIONAL!  There's one small catch though.  To enter, you have to help spread the word about the promotional e-price.  Blog, Facebook, Tweet, anything to help get the word out!  The links are above!

To enter, just fill out the form!



Thank you everyone for your help!  You are all amazing!

Flash Bookmark Giveaway!

So, I've been HORRIBLE about blogging lately!  I've been beyond busy and not even completly with writing related stuff, which sucks.  We finished the basement in our rental house back in Utah, and then we moved back to the island.  We're getting settled back in, but these things take time.

So in lieu of a real blog post... (someday when I'm all caught up on things I WILL do a real post, promise) I'm doing a random, flash giveaway of bookmarks!

10, yes 10 people will win a handful of signed bookmarks from yours truly!  I will even let you pick which ones you want, up to 5!  Here's a preview of what I have!

 The rules:
1) US only
2) You  must enter by Saturday, March 10th!
That's it!

Now fill out the form!