13 Feb 2012 4 Comments

Teaser Tuesday: Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

    • Grab your current read
    • Open to a random page
    • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
    • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
    • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser.

Due to the upcoming movie release, I’m currently devouring Seth Grahame-Smith’s Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. Have you seen the movie trailer? OMG…it’s amazing! From what I can see, they are staying true to the historical aspect and there’s lots of action too. I hope the book is every bit as good as the sneak peek of the movie is. We’ll see. If any of you guys have read the book, I’d love to hear what you thought about it.

Teaser:

“I do not wish to live without her, Henry.”

“She is too beautiful too…too good…”

“I know.”

Abe could not help his tears.

Check out the awesome trailer for the film and see the 16th president swing some major ax.

by Jennifer in Features, From Page to Screen, Teaser Tuesday Tags: ,

13 Feb 2012 No Comments

Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton

Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton
ARC : 416 pages
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (May 24, 2011)
Blood Journals Series # 1

Everywhere Silla Kennicott turns she sees blood. She can’t stop thinking about her parents alleged murder-suicide. She is consumed by a book filled with spells that arrives mysteriously in the mail. The spells share one common ingredient: blood, and Silla is more than willing to cast a few. What’s a little spilled blood if she can uncover the truth? And then there’s Nick—the new guy at school who makes her pulse race. He has a few secrets of his own and is all too familiar with the lure of blood magic. Drawn together by a combination of fate and chemistry, Silla and Nick must find out who else in their small Missouri town knows their secret and will do anything to take the book and magic from Silla.

As you peruse your local bookstore shelves, you can definitely see that the paranormal genre is a focal point in the literary world, and finding a good paranormal read can be a daunting task. Look no further because Gratton has produced a satisfying novel that will surely please. “Blood Magic” offers more than the typical adventure into the genre, giving the reader a lot to gnaw on as the plot unfolds. Gratton’s “Blood Magic” is a twisting tale that unfolds in layers, as the characters’ journey into the world of blood magic progresses. From the moment the main character, Silla, receives a book of spells that her father had written, the intensity increases, giving birth to a fantastic and mysterious adventure. Silla is lured into the world of magic, learning much more than how to cast a spell. There are so many levels to this novel that you can easily get sucked into the characters’ lives, personalities, and the world of blood magic.

The novel is told from several points of view, which can be unsatisfying for some readers. As the point of view shifts from Silla Kenicott to her neighbor, Nick Pardee, you feel the intensity of their personalities take hold of the story, sucking you in to each and every detail of the twisting plotline. The third POV is told from an unusual, yet intriguing source, a diary from the early 1900’s. This viewpoint was as enthralling as, and in some cases, more so than the present-day adventure. The detailed descriptions of the time period were vivid and realistic, adding a dramatic quality to an already intense story. Jumping back and forth between the journal entries and the present day story was fantastic, Gratton gives you just enough of one before dropping you into the other, keeping you on the edge of your seat and begging for more. The climatic intersecting of the parallel storylines is a moment that is both shocking and unbelievable.

Overall, I found “Blood Magic” to be a mesmerizing read that is a fitting for both young adults and adult alike. Gratton definitely weaved a dark, mysterious and gripping tale that sets her novel apart from others in its genre. There are moments that are not for the faint of heart, but these moments are rare and last mere seconds. Readers that enjoy a gripping tale filled with magic, mystery, and adventure will definitely enjoy Gratton’s debut novel. “Blood Magic” is the first book in the Blood Journals series. More Please!

by Jennifer in Reviews, Young Adult Tags: , ,

13 Feb 2012 2 Comments

Excerpt: The Book of Blood and Shadows

Happy Monday!

I’ve had my eye on The Book of Blood and Shadows for months now. Check out the wicked good excerpt below. It’s amazing! The cover is pretty cool and the eye is definitely kinda creepy looking. Is The Book of Blood and Shadows on your reading list?

Check out the excerpt here.

The Book of Blood and Shadows by Robin Wasserman
Release date: April 10, 2012

It was like a nightmare, but there was no waking up.  When the night began, Nora had two best friends and an embarrassingly storybook one true love.  When it ended, she had nothing but blood on her hands and an echoing scream that stopped only when the tranquilizers pierced her veins and left her in the merciful dark.

But the next morning, it was all still true: Chris was dead.  His girlfriend Adriane, Nora’s best friend, was catatonic. And Max, Nora’s sweet, smart, soft-spoken Prince Charming, was gone. He was also—according to the police, according to her parents, according to everyone—a murderer.

Desperate to prove his innocence, Nora follows the trail of blood, no matter where it leads. It ultimately brings her to the ancient streets of Prague, where she is drawn into a dark web of secret societies and shadowy conspirators, all driven by a mad desire to possess something that might not even exist. For buried in a centuries-old manuscript is the secret to ultimate knowledge and communion with the divine; it is said that he who controls the Lumen Dei controls the world. Unbeknownst to her, Nora now holds the crucial key to unlocking its secrets. Her night of blood is just one piece in a puzzle that spans continents and centuries. Solving it may be the only way she can save her own life.

by Jennifer in News Tags: ,