Hourglass by Claudia Gray

Title: Hourglass (Evernight Series)
Author: Claudia Gray
ISBN: 9780061284410
Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary:
"Bianca will risk everything to be with Lucas.

After escaping from Evernight Academy, the vampire boarding school where they met, Bianca and Lucas take refuge with Black Cross, a fanatical group of vampire hunters. Bianca must hide her supernatural heritage or risk certain death at its hands. But when Black Cross captures her friend - the vampire Balthazar - hiding is no longer an option.

Soon, Bianca and Lucas are on the run again, pursued not only by Black Cross, but by the powerful leaders of Evernight. Yet no matter how far they travel, Bianca can't escape her destiny.

Bianca has always believed their love could survive anything... but can it survive what's to come?"
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First Lines:

"I gasped for air so hard that my chest ached. My face felt hot, and strands of my hair stuck to the sweaty back of my neck. Every single muscle hurt. In front of me was Eduardo, one of the leaders of this Black Cross cell, with a stake in his hand."
Page 3
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Review:

I have loved all of the Evernight books since I picked up the very first one. I spent a little while during the first parts of this book worrying that I wasn't going to like it. I don't recall off the top of my head, but the other books don't sem quite so focused on the romance aspect of the story. I really don't mind reading the romance parts, but sometimes it felt like a bit too much.

But once the story really began to develop, I enjoyed it a lot more. Claudia Gray (or whatever her real name is) is a wonderful writer and the story is very descriptive and rich. I loved all of the settings - from NYC to Pennsylvania, and beyond.

Without giving too much away, I just want to say this: I wasn't in love with the ending. Seriously. I spent quite a bit of it thinking, "NONONONONO! That's not how this is supposed to go!! NO!" Nothing like a book getting that kind of emotion out of you, right? But by the end, I think I got over it a little bit. And beware of the total cliffhanger!

This review sounds so negative, but I really didn't dislike this book. That could be, of course, because I love the rest of the series so much. Will I still recommend it? Absolutely. Will I read the next book (whenever that may be)? Yes, definitely. There were just things about this one that rubbed me the wrong way. But such is the plight of a book in the middle of a series :).

Check out Claudia Gray's website. Maybe there will be news soon of the next book! At least I can hope, right? Wait, I just read through it... Looks like the next book comes out in a YEAR! yikes. Oh well.
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Other Blog Reviews:

Blog with Bite
Karin's Book Nook
The Book Smugglers
Tina's Book Reviews
Novel Novice
Hope's Bookshelf
The Neverending Bookshelf

Waiting on Wednesday (11)

Waiting on Wednesday" is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine

I've fallen behind a couple of weeks with my WoWs ... So I'm going to put a couple here that I'm excited are coming up! I'm sure you can tell my theme here... vampire series, what?! :) So pumped these are almost here!

This week I'm waiting on:

Burned (House of Night #7)

by P.C. and Kristin Cast

Published: April 27, 2010

Summary from Baker and Taylor:

"In the highly anticipated seventh book in the New York Times and USA Today best-selling House of Night series, readers move deeper into the dark, sexy world of Zoey Redbird, Stevie Rae, Aphrodite and the rest of the cast as they deal with a powerful fallen angel, hateful enemies and jealous boyfriends as well as the most dangerous threat to the House of Night--and the world--yet."

Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy #5)

by Richelle Mead

Published: May 18, 2010

Summary from Baker and Taylor:

"Returning to St. Vladimir's after a heartbreaking journey to Dimitri's Siberian birthplace, Rose eagerly anticipates graduation in spite of her fears that Dimitri will not be able to resist his vampire drive to stalk and transform her."

Kiss of Death (Morganville Vampires #8 )

by Rachel Caine

Published: April 27, 2010

Summary from Baker and Taylor:

"Vampire musician Michael Glass has attracted the attention of a famous producer who wants him to cut a demo and play some gigs--which means Michael will have to enter the human world; for this, he's been assigned escorts that include both a dangerous immortal and Michael's all-too-human friends--with a mix like this, it's going to be a road trip from hell..."

I'm going to admit here that each of these books makes me squee!! I'm so excited about each one. I think Spirit Bound is the one I'm the most excited about, but it's only by a teeny tiny margin.

What are you waiting for??

Teaser Tuesday (12)

Teaser Tuesday is a bookish meme hosted byMizB at Should Be Reading. This week I'm reading:

Hourglass (Evernight) by Claudia Gray

"Apparently, when the engineers had abandoned this subway tunnel, they'd also abandoned a few old train cars. Our bunks sat on top of what had once been seats, and steel poles ran from the floor to the ceiling, like we were at stripper boot camp or something."

Page 43

I cheated a little bit this time because I chose that quote. I'm only just starting this book, but I loved that line when I read it. I'm a big fan of the rest of this series, so I'm hoping this one lives up to it. As of right now it's really heavy on the romance... so we'll see :).

The Poison Eaters by Holly Black

Title: The Poison eaters and other stories
Author: Holly Black
ISBN: 9781931520638
Publisher: Big Mouth House

Summary:
"In her debut collection, New York Times best-selling author Holly Black returns to her Modern Faerie Tale series (Tithe, Ironside, and Valiant) in two darkly exquisite new tales, "Going Ironside" and "The Land of Heart's Desire." In the first story, "Te Coldest Girl in Coldtown," a girl is drunk on the street - but for a reason you'd never guess. Then Black takes readers on a tour of a faerie market, introduces a girl poisonous to the touch, and another who challenges the devil to a competitive eating match.

These twelve stories, two of which are published here for the first time and each of which is illustrated by Theo Black, have been published in anthologies such as 21 Proms, The Faery Reel, and The Restless Dead, and have been reprinted in many "Best of" anthologies.

The Poison Eaters is Holly Black's much-anticipated first collection of stories, and her ability to stare into the void - and to find humanity and humor there - will speak to young adult and adult readers alike."
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First Lines:

From "Coldest Girl in Coldtown":
"Matilda was drunk, but then she was always drunk anymore. Dizzy drunk. Stumbling drunk. Stupid drunk. Whatever kind of drunk she could get."
Page 1
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Review:

Ever since Tithe, I've been a huge fan of Holly Black's books. I have (and will) read anything she puts out there. There's something so real and touchable in the way she writes characters who are faeries or elves or vampires... and so on. She also does a wonderful job giving them a voice that is not completely rooted in their classification - such as... her faerie characters aren't just thinking about trees and seasons and parties... they worry about other "real life" stuff like relationships. It's just a very cool way to see them.

I think my favorite story in this anthology is the very first one in the book - "The Coldest Girl from Coldtown." It's a story about a girl fighting the vampire disease, until she has to go searching for her friends in Coldtown. That was one that made me wish it was a full-length novel. Of course, it's a vampire story... so it was a little different from what I'm used to from Black. But I really liked it and thought the characters were crazily flawed, but wished I could get to know them more. Such a good one!

Another that I really liked was the one called "The Night Market." That one was about an elf who cursed a girl and her sister is set out to make it right. I think my favorite thing about this one is that it seemed built on folk tales - like, stories passed down by word of mouth. That could have come from the maid-like character. But I also liked that it was set in the Philippines and the language that was used. It made the story very exotic for me.

And the last one I'm going to mention is the title story, "The Poison Eaters." This is about a girl who can kill with one touch. I think one thing I really liked about this one was the story going in circles a little bit. It's almost still a mystery what happened and how. But it's very cool and I wouldn't mind reading a full-length novel based on this one too.

The rest of the stories were very well written as well (just don't want to bore you to much going into each one). There were a couple that weren't fantastic, but that doesn't mean they were bad. Perhaps it was just my love of other stories that some paled in comparison. Isn't that always the way when it comes to short story books?! :)

I would recommend this to anyone wanting to read more of Holly Black's stories. It's a great "anthology" and I look forward to reading more of her stuff - she has plenty coming up. Check out her website or her blog for more info on upcoming projects!
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Other Blog Reviews:

Teen Book Review Blog
Book Reviews and More
Pure Imagination
Reading Rat
Once Upon a Bookshelf

Musing Mondays (3)

Musing Mondays is a meme hosted by Rebecca at Just One More Page...! Just go to her blog to find her topic of the week.

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about multitasking.
Do you – or are you even able – to do other things while you read? Do you knit, hold a conversation, keep an eye on the TV? Anything?

I would absolutely classify myself as a multitasker... at least most of the time. I always seem to have a few things going at the same time (yet, never two books... strange). I always use my computer and watch tv... or do crosswords while watching tv... The only time I can read while the tv is on is when my fiance is watching something I'm not really interested in (ex: Wrestlemania. yuck). At that point, I suppose I do keep an eye on the tv, but not really paying attention. Of course, it also depends on how good the books is - gotta keep my interest.

I don't know if this counts, but I read while I eat lunch every day. I know that sounds anti-social and such, but it's the only time of day at work when I get to NOT talk to people. It's nice. So I suppose the noise in the caf is more like background noise.

Is it even possible to knit while reading?! I can't imagine... but then again, I'm not a knitter.

What do you do while you're reading?