Book Review - Defiance

Defiance
Author: C.J. Redwine
Series: Defiance #1
Genres: Fantasy, Dystopian | Young Adult
Release Date: August 28th 2012
Publishers: Balzer + Bray
No. Pages: 403
Source: Borrowed
Rating:
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While the other girls in the walled city-state of Baalboden learn to sew and dance, Rachel Adams learns to track and hunt. While they bend like reeds to the will of their male Protectors, she uses hers for sparring practice.

When Rachel's father fails to return from a courier mission and is declared dead, the city's brutal Commander assigns Rachel a new Protector: her father's apprentice, Logan—the boy she declared her love to and who turned her down two years before. Left with nothing but fierce belief in her father's survival, Rachel decides to escape and find him herself.

As Rachel and Logan battle their way through the Wasteland, stalked by a monster that can't be killed and an army of assassins out for blood, they discover romance, heartbreak, and a truth that will incite a war decades in the making.

Book Review - Heist Society

Heist Society
Author: Ally Carter
Series: Heist Society #1
Genres: Mystery, Contemporary | Young Adult
Release Date: 9th Febuary 2010
Publishers: Disney Hyperion
No. Pages: 291
Source: Borrowed
My Rating:
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When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her to the Louvre.. to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie travelled to Austria.. to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own - scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving 'the life' for a normal life proves harder than she'd expected.

Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring her back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has good reason: a powerful mobster's art collection has been stolen, and he wants it returned. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat’s father isn't just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help.

For Kat there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it’s a spectacularly impossible job? She’s got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family’s (very crooked) history - and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way.

Book Review - I'd Tell You I Love You..

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You
Author: Ally Carter
Series: Gallagher Girls #1
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery | Young Adult
Release Date: April 25th 2006
Publishers:  Orchard Books
No. Pages: 309
Source: Purchased
Rating:
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Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school-that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but it's really a school for spies. Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she's an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real "pavement artist"-but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her?

Cammie Morgan may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year, she's on her most dangerous mission-falling in love

Book Review - We Were Liars

We Were Liars
Author: E. Lockart
Standalone
Genres: Mystery, Contemporary | Young Adult
Release Date: 13th May 2014
Publishers: Delacorte Press
No. Pages: 240
Source: Purchased
Rating:
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We are the Liars. We are beautiful, privileged and live a life of carefree luxury. We are cracked and broken.
A story of love and romance.
A tale of tragedy.
Which are lies?
Which is truth?
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just lie.

Book Review - I Am the Mission

I Am the Mission
Author: Allen ZadoffSeries: The Unknown Assassin #2
Genres: Thriller, Mystery | Young Adult
Release Date: June 17th 2014
Publishers: Little Brown
No. Pages: 432
Source: Review Copy - Little Brown
Rating:
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He was the perfect assassin. No name. No past. No remorse. Perfect, that is, until he began to ask questions and challenge his orders. Now The Program is worried that their valuable soldier has become a liability.

And so Boy Nobody is given a new mission. A test of sorts. A chance to prove his loyalty. His objective: Take out Eugene Moore, the owner of an extremist military training camp for teenagers. It sounds like a simple task, but a previous operative couldn't do it. He lost the mission and is presumed dead. Now Boy Nobody is confident he can finish the job. Quickly.

But when things go awry, Boy Nobody finds himself lost in a mission where nothing is as it seems: not The Program, his allegiances, nor the truth.  The riveting second book in Allen Zadoff's Boy Nobody series delivers heart-pounding action and a shocking new twist that makes Boy Nobody question everything he has believed.

Personal Pickings - Amanda's Life With Depression

Personal Pickings is a feature here at Beautiful Bookish Butterflies that allows one of us to approach subject personal to us that has no link or connection to our bookish endeavors. Today, Amanda is talking about are personal battle with depression, how it's affected her life on the whole, her deepest, darkest moments and what keeps me going.

Book Review - I Am the Weapon

I Am the Weapon
Author: Allen Zadoff
Series: The Unknown Assassin #1
Genres: Thriller, Mystery | Young Adult
Release Date: June 11th 2013
Publishers: Little Brown
No. Pages: 352
Source: Review Copy - Little Brown
Rating:
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Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school, in a new town, under a new name, makes few friends and doesn't stay long. Just long enough for someone in his new friend's family to die -- of "natural causes." Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, and moves on to the next target.

When his own parents died of not-so-natural causes at the age of eleven, Boy Nobody found himself under the control of The Program, a shadowy government organization that uses brainwashed kids as counter-espionage operatives. But somewhere, deep inside Boy Nobody, is somebody: the boy he once was, the boy who wants normal things (like a real home, his parents back), a boy who wants out. And he just might want those things badly enough to sabotage The Program's next mission

Book Review - Scarlet

Scarlet
Author: Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #2
Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: 7th February 2013
Publishers: Puffin
No. Pages: 452
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 
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Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. The police have closed her case. The only person Scarlet can turn to is Wolf, a street fighter she does not trust, but they are drawn to each other. Meanwhile, in New Beijing, Cinder will become the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive – when she breaks out of prison to stay one step ahead of vicious Queen Levana.

As Scarlet and Wolf expose one mystery, they encounter Cinder and a new one unravels. Together they must challenge the evil queen, who will stop at nothing to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner..

Book Review - Sister's Red

Sister's Red
Author: Jackson Pearce
Series: Fairytales Retellings #1
Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: 7th June 2010
Publishers: Little Brown Books
No. Pages: 328
Source: Purchased
Rating: 
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Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris - the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead.

Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts ferociously alongside her. But even as more girls' bodies pile up in the city and the Fenris seem to be gaining power, Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves. She finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an axe and Scarlett's only friend - but does loving him mean betraying her sister and all that they've worked for?

Book Review - My Life Next Door

My Life Next Door
Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick
Series: My Life Next Door #1Genres: Contemporary | Young Adult
Release Date: June 14th 2012
Publishers: Dial Books For Young Readers
No. Pages: 394
Source: Purchased
Rating:
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"One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time."

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, messy, affectionate. And every day from her rooftop perch, Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs up next to her and changes everything.

As the two fall fiercely for each other, stumbling through the awkwardness and awesomeness of first love, Jase's family embraces Samantha - even as she keeps him a secret from her own. Then something unthinkable happens, and the bottom drops out of Samantha's world. She's suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

Bookish Musings - Amanda's Reading FAQ's

Bookish Musings is a feature here at Beautiful Bookish Butterflies that allows one of us to share our thoughts and opinions, talk and discuss things happening in the book and blogging community or share a personal book related issue we have. Today, Amanda is answering some popular reading questions, including how she chooses books, how often and when she decides to read and what type of reading she does. Get ready for some answers.

Book Review - Legend

Legend
Author: Marie Lu
Series: Legend #1
Genres: Science Fiction, Dystopian | Young Adult
Release Date: 2nd February 2012
Publishers: Speak
No. Pages: 295
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 
Buy From: Amazon | The Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbours. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

Book Review - Black Heart

Black Heart
Author: Holly Black
Series: Curse Workers #3
Genres: Paranormal, Urban Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: 19th April 2012
Publishers: Gollancz
No. Pages: 296
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 
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Cassel Sharpe knows he's been used as an assassin, but he's trying to put all that behind him. He's trying to be good, even though he grew up in a family of con artists and cheating comes as easily as breathing to him. He's trying to do the right thing, even though the girl he loves is inextricably connected with crime. And he's trying to convince himself that working for the Feds is smart, even though he's been raised to believe the government is the enemy. But with a mother on the lam, the girl he loves about to take her place in the Mob, and new secrets coming to light, the line between what's right and what's wrong becomes increasingly blurred.

When the Feds ask Cassel to do the one thing he said he would never do again, he needs to sort out what's a con and what's truth. In a dangerous game and with his life on the line, Cassel may have to make his biggest gamble yet - this time on love.

Book Review - Burn Mark

Burn Mark
Author: Laura PowellSeries: Burn Mark #1
Genres: Fantasy, Witches| Young Adult
Release Date: June 19th 2012
Publishers: Bloomsbury
No. Pages: 416
Source: Borrowed
Rating:
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In a modern world where witches are hunted down and burned at the stake, two lives intersect. Glory is from a family of witches, and is desperate to develop her 'Fae' powers and become a witch herself, though witch-activity carries a threat of being burned at the stake. Lucas is the son of the Chief Prosecutor for the Inquisition with a privileged life very different from the witches he is being trained to prosecute. And then one day, both Glory and Lucas develop the Fae. In one fell stroke, their lives are inextricably bound together.

Bookish Musings - How Many Memes Mean Too Many Memes

Bookish Musings is a feature here at Beautiful Bookish Butterflies that allows one of us to share our thoughts and opinions, talk and discuss things happening in the book and blogging community or share a personal book related issue we have. Today, Amanda is talking about memes and features and if there's such a thing as having too many everywhere? Are we drowning in a sea of un-originality? Will we survive? Find out..

Book Review - The Mission

The Mission
Author: Allen Zadoff
Series: Unknown Assassin #2
Genres: Mystery, Thriller | Young Adult
Release Date: 14th July 2014
Publishers: Orchard Books
No. Pages: 432
Source: Review Copy - Orchard Books
Rating: 
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones

He was the perfect assassin. No name. No past. No remorse. Perfect, that is, until he began to ask questions and challenge his orders. Now The Program is worried that their valuable soldier has become a liability.
And so Boy Nobody is given a new mission. A test of sorts. A chance to prove his loyalty.

His objective: Take out Eugene Moore, the owner of an extremist military training camp for teenagers. It sounds like a simple task, but a previous operative couldn't do it. He lost the mission and is presumed dead. Now Boy Nobody is confident he can finish the job. Quickly. But when things go awry, Boy Nobody finds himself lost in a mission where nothing is as it seems: not The Program, his allegiances, not even the truth.

Book Reviews: United We Spy/A Gallagher Wedding

Untied We Spy
Author: Ally Carter
Series: Gallagher Girls #6
Genres: Mystery, Contemporary | Young Adult
Release Date: 5th September 2013
Publishers: Orchard Books
No. Pages: 303
Source: Purchased
Rating: 
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones

Cammie Morgan has lost her father and her memory, but in the heart-pounding conclusion to the best-selling Gallagher Girls series, she finds her greatest mission yet.

Cammie and her friends finally know why the terrorist organization called the Circle of Cavan has been hunting her. Now the spy girls and Zach must track down the Circle’s elite members to stop them before they implement a master plan that will change Cammie and her country forever.

Book Review - The Truth About Alice

The Truth About Alice
Author: Jennifer Mathieu
Standalone
Genres: Contemporary | Young Adult
Release Date:  June 3rd 2014
Publishers: Roaring Brook Press
No. Pages: 208
Source: Review Copy - Roaring Brook Press
Rating:
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Everyone has a lot to say about Alice Franklin, and it’s stopped mattering whether it’s true. The rumors started at a party when Alice supposedly had sex with two guys in one night. When school starts everyone almost forgets about Alice until one of those guys, super-popular Brandon, dies in a car wreck that was allegedly all Alice’s fault. Now the only friend she has is a boy who may be the only other person who knows the truth, but is too afraid to admit it. Told from the perspectives of popular girl Elaine, football star Josh, former outcast Kelsie, and shy genius Kurt, we see how everyone has a motive to bring – and keep – Alice down.

Book Review - Face Time

Face Time
Author: S.J. Pajonas
Series: Love in the Digital Age #1
Genres: Contemporary | New Adult, Adult
Release Date: 25th April 2014
Publishers: Onigiri Press
No. Pages: 286
Source: Review Copy - Onigiri Press
Rating: 
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After the best first date ever, Lee thought Laura was funny, intelligent, and impulsive; a whirlwind of bright laughter and happiness. Laura loved Lee's sweet smile and the way he expertly filled in every awkward pause. He held her hand and then pulled her in for the most perfect kiss she’s had in years. What could possibly be wrong? Just the 7000 miles that separates them the next day.

Even though Lee has gone home to Seoul, Laura can't stop thinking about him. What starts as an innocent text thanking him for their dinner date becomes something much more: someone either of them can't live without. But Laura's got a live-in mother going through a midlife crisis, and Lee's stressful traveling schedule means they'll be apart for some time. Life, family, and a complicated past also get in the way, and they're both going to need actual face time to figure it out.

Book Review - Cruel Beauty

Cruel Beauty
Author: Rosamund Hodge
Series: Cruel Beauty Universe
Genres: Mythology | Young Adult
Release Date: January 28th 2014
Publishers: Balzer + Bray
No. Pages: 342
Source: Review Copy - Balzer + Bray
Rating:
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Graceling meets Beauty and the Beast in this sweeping fantasy about one girl's journey to fulfill her destiny and the monster who gets in her way-by stealing her heart.

Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him. With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her. As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

Bookish Musings - A Fleet of Ships from a Lost Romantic

Bookish Musings is a feature here at Beautiful Bookish Butterflies that allows one of us to share our thoughts and opinions, talk and discuss things happening in the book and blogging community or share a personal book related issue we have. Today, Amanda is talking about her favourite romantic relationships and may or may not spend the next few minutes fangirling over the swoon, the cute, the adorable and the sexy. Oosh.

Book Review - Fragile Line

Fragile Line
Author: Brooklyn Skye
Standalone
Genres: Contemporary  | Young Adult
Release Date: April 21st 2014
Publishers: Entangled Teen
No. Pages: 222
Source: Review Copy - Entangled Teen
Rating:
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble 

It can happen in a flash. One minute she’s kissing her boyfriend, the next she’s lost in the woods. Sixteen-year-old Ellie Cox is losing time. It started out small…forgetting a drive home or a conversation with a friend. But her blackouts are getting worse, more difficult to disguise as forgetfulness. When Ellie goes missing for three days, waking up in the apartment of a mysterious guy—a guy who is definitely not her boyfriend, her life starts to spiral out of control.

Perched on the edge of insanity, with horrific memories of her childhood leaking in, Ellie struggles to put together the pieces of what she’s lost—starting with the name haunting her, Gwen. Heartbreakingly beautiful, this poignant story follows one girl’s harrowing journey to finding out who she really is.

Book Review - Burn for Burn

Burn for Burn
Author: Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian
Series: Burn for Burn #1
Genres: Contemporary, Paranormal | Young Adult
Release Date: September 18th 2012
Publishers: Simon and Schuster
No. Pages: 358
Source: Borrowed
Rating:
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones

Postcard-perfect Jar Island is the kind of place where nobody locks their doors at night, where parents can sleep easy, knowing their daughters are tucked away safe and sound in their beds.

But bad things can happen, even to good girls . . . and sometimes, the only way to make things right is to do something wrong.

Lillia used to trust boys, but not anymore. Not after what happened this summer. And she’ll do whatever it takes to protect her little sister from the same fate.

Kat is over the rumors, the insults, the cruel jokes made at her expense. It all goes back to one person--her ex-best friend. Someone needs to teach her a lesson, and, with Lillia and Mary behind her, Kat feels up to the task.

Four years ago, Mary left Jar Island because of a boy. But she’s not the same girl anymore. Now that she’s got friends who have her back, he's going to be in big trouble.

Three very different girls who come together to make things right. Will they go too far?

Who Wore It Better #14 - Through the Ever Night

Who Wore It Better is a meme created and hosted by Nitzan at The Book Babes Read and co-hosted here on Beautiful Bookish Butterflies by Amanda and Stacie. We don't talk about clothing or fashion and we definitely don't talk frills and spills, we talk books and their covers and who we think has the best. This week, Amanda's talking about the covers for Through the Ever Night, book #2 of Under the Never Sky, which was recommended by Charnell over at Reviews from a Bookworm. This has become one of Amanda's loved series this year, she's in serious need of the sequel, as soon as is possible.

Book Review - Flirty Dancing

Flirty Dancing
Author: Jenny McLachlan
Series: Ladybirds #1
Genres: Contemporary | Childrens, Young Adult
Release Date: 3rd July 2014
Publishers: Bloomsbury Publishing
No. Pages: 300
Source: Review Copy - Bloomsbury Publishing
Rating: 
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones

Bea Hogg is shy but fiery inside. When national dance competition Starwars comes to her school looking for talent, she wants to sign up. It's just a shame her best friend agreed to enter with school super-cow Pearl Harris. Bea will fight back!

But when school hottie, Ollie Matthews, who also happens to be Pearl’s boyfriend, decides to enter the competition with Bea, she will have more than a fight on her hands..

Book Review: Out of Sight, Out of Time

Out of Sight, Out of Time
Author: Ally Carter
Series: Gallagher Girls #5
Genres: Mystery, Contemporary | Young Adult
Release Date: 5th April 2012
Publishers: Orchard Books
No. Pages: 336
Source: Purchased
Rating:
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones

The last thing Cammie Morgan remembers is leaving the Gallagher Academy to protect her friends and family from the Circle of Cavan - an ancient terrorist organization that has been hunting her for over a year. But when Cammie wakes up in an alpine convent and discovers that months have passed, she must face the fact that her memory is now a black hole. The only traces left of Cammie's summer vacation are the bruises on her body and the dirt under her nails, and all she wants is to go home.

Once she returns to school, however, Cammie realizes that even the Gallagher Academy now holds more questions than answers. Cammie, her friends, and mysterious spy-guy Zach must face their most difficult challenge yet as they travel to the other side of the world, hoping to piece together the clues that Cammie left behind. It's a race against time. The Circle is hot on their trail and willing stop at nothing to prevent Cammie from remembering what she did last summer.