[Blog Tour + Giveaway] NICOLE'S REVIEW: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J.Maas

Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Format Acquired: eARC

Publication Date: May 5 2015

Publishing House:  Bloomsbury

ISBN: 1619634449

Source of Copy: Blog Tour

Summary:

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin - one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled the world. 

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it...or doom Tamling  and his world - forever.

        (Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)

Review: 

A Court of Thorns and Roses took me by surprise. Truth be had, you guys, I wasn't Maas' biggest fan but thanks to this book I'm now a convert. I cannot wait to get my hands on an actual copy of this seriously rocking book. Seriously. Seriously.

It's winter and Feyre's family is running low on food. Times are hard so she heads deep into the forest to go hunting. She comes upon a wolf and, because she's totally desperate, she shoots it down with her arrows not knowing that the wolf was faerie. Soon this beast-like fae comes knocking on her door demanding restitution and sweeps her away to his castle in the woods. Okay maybe there was more of the threatening and the roaring as there was the sweeping and there wasn't much knocking either. Feyre soon realizes that an ancient evil is enroaching on fae territory and might, if not stopped, creep into human lands soon.

Can I just say that Feyre is the luckiest girl? I mean she has all these beautiful men to look at. There's Tamlin and Rhys and Lucien and ohmygosh how is a girl to choose? But hot men is not all this book has to offer, it's got Feyre who is a kickass heroine in her own right. She's fearless and bold and cares deeply. She's probably got a better heart than I do despite her rough exterior. 

I loved the relationships in the book. Feyre and her sisters, Tamlin and Lucien, and even Rhys. Maas has such interesting characters I just want to find out more about them, peel them back layer by layer so I can understand them and fall deeper into love with them. And the romance? It does not fail to titillate (it seemed appropriate) and I just want to smoosh Tamlin and Feyre together all the time. 

I do have a bone to pick with Amarantha, the villain, she seemed to be so textbook villainess for me. Doesn't mean she wasn't scary and slightly disturbing but she just felt a little one dimensional for me. Impossible challenges? A riddle to solve? I even felt a little cheated when Fayre had a little help with the tasks. But you know, I enjoyed myself so much so I'm not gonna complain. Much. And another thing, this is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, yes? So why wasn't Tamlin more...beast-like? Oh sure he has a mask stuck to half of his face and he can shift into some sort of lupine creature but come on, I thought he would be more physically monstrous. 

ACOTAR is a retelling of beauty and the beast, a wonderful, fearless, fierce retelling of the classic with amazing imagery and world building. I might still be a little cautious of Maas' Throne of Glass series but this one is definitely on my favorites list. Definitely recommend this for people who're fans of fantasy. And NA! This is definitely NA I could get into. 

Rating: 

"Novel Nails" is a feature of the blog that showcases nail art inspired by books and their covers. Nail art will be created by either Michelle or Nicole and will be featured alongside their reviews.

How pretty is the cover for A Court of Thorns and Roses? I couldn't resist doing nails. 

Not sure if you guys can tell but that's a wolf. On the middle finger. I had to make my own sheer black polish to tint my index and ring fingers. 

I think this is pretty obvious. Haha. 

You can check out more of my nail art over on instagram. Just search theunicolenicorn.

CLICK THIS FOR THE GIVEAWAY LINK

                        

[GIVEAWAY] NICOLE'S REVIEW + Novel Nails #24: Falling into Place by Amy Zhang

Title: Falling into Place

Author: Amy Zhang

Format Acquired: Paperback

Publication Date: September 9 2014

Publishing House:  Greenwillow Books

ISBN: 978006236788

Source of Copy: Fully Booked

Summary: 

Inertia, force, mass, gravity, velocity, acceleration...cause and effect. Liz Emerson doesn't understand any of it. But I do. I understand how we fall. Where we fall. Why we fall. I understand her sadness and loneliness and silence, her shattered heart. It doesn't have to be this way, does it? It wasn't always this way was it?

Stay alive, Liz Emerson, stay alive.

        (Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)

Review: 

I never really expected to like this book, I don’t really do well with books tackling suicide but I have to give credit where it’s due. Amy Zhang’s Falling into Place is an incredibly heartfelt and poignant story written in a nonlinear fashion that tells the story of one Liz Emerson’s life - the small seemingly inconsequential instances and the heartbreaking events that led to her decision to kill herself.

There is no doubt that I love this book despite the fact that I am not a fan of the main character. Which is surprising because Liz Emerson is NOT in the least bit likable. I get that she’s got her issues and she’s got a lot to deal with, depression is no laughing matter, but I never really understood her. I never really GOT her. I felt for her, I really did but she was just really unlikable and mean and a general b-word I just couldn’t! It was hard because she was a terrible person who was doing crappy things to people and ruining lives and bullying, bullying, and bullying. But she continued to do what she did despite the fact that she admitted to being a horrible human being and continued feeling sorry for herself. Rinse, lather repeat.

I may not like Liz Emerson but I have to admit that Amy Zhang crafts incredibly realistic characters. And Liz, despite all her negative points had the potential to be something more. Julia and Kennie were also very strong secondary characters and it was fascinating to see how they affected and influenced Liz and vice versa. Then there’s the boy who’s been crushing on Liz from afar, Liam. His story was quite surprising since he was a victim of Liz’s scheming and yet he managed to find it in himself to forgive her, to understand her.

There’s an air of suspense to this book, like as if at any given moment everything could come crashing down. Zhang’s book is a definite recommend although if you’re in the market for something light and fun this isn’t it. Falling into Place is like a slap to the face, a reminder of how the littlest of actions can cause a ripple that results in a tidal wave and because of this book I feel like I should be better. Could be better. Will be better.

Rating: 

"Novel Nails" is a feature of the blog that showcases nail art inspired by books and their covers. Nail art will be created by either Michelle or Nicole and will be featured alongside their reviews.

Here's a set inspired by the book. For more pictures and details on the mani visit my nail art blog HERE.

                         

It's giveaway time! Good luck to everyone joining and I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did! Thank you also to the awesome people over at Fully Booked for making this happen. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions:

1. The contest is open to Philippine residents only and will be shipped by Nicole via Xend. Likewise, The Twins Read will not be held liable for any lost / damaged packages.

2. You must be 13 years old and above to join. Please ask your parent/guardian to join the giveaway for you, if you aren't.

3. If you only use ONE account to do all these tasks and enter under different names, they will still only constitute as ONE entry. 

4. If the winner does not respond to messages via Facebook, or e-mail within 48 hours, The Twins Read has the right to choose another legible winner.

Michelle's 22nd Birthday Giveaway

I actually imagined that the big 22 would be pretty eventful. Not travel-wise, but 

Last year, we gave away copies of Jennifer Nielsen's The False Prince, nail polishes, and other goodies. This year, for Michelle's 22nd birthday giveaway, we're giving away not one, not two, but THREE hardback copies of Marie Rutkoski's awesome new book, The Winner's Curse! She gave this book a 4.5 rainbow-rating, so it's hardly surprising that she chose this one to give away this year (You can check out the review here.)

Also, the giveaway is open internationally, so anyone and everyone can join in the fun.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions:

1. The books will be sent from an online bookstore. Threfore, The Twins Read will not be held liable for any customs / taxes that your country will impose on you. Likewise, The Twins Read will not be held liable for any lost / damaged packages.

2. You must be 13 years old and above to join. Please ask your parent/guardian to join the giveaway for you, if you aren't.

3. If you only use ONE account to do all these tasks and enter under different names, they will still only constitute as ONE entry. 

4. If the winner does not respond to messages via Facebook, or e-mail within 48 hours, The Twins Read has the right to choose another legible winner.

[CLOSED] The Sunday Post #39 + Nicole's Birthday Giveaway

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba over at the Caffeinated Book Reviewer. This special post will provide a recap for posts that have been written for the week (Dec 15 - Dec 21).

Monday

Nicole's review of Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Tuesday

Michelle's review of Ten by Gretchen McNeil

Wednesday
Nicole's review of The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas

Oh, and...

Nicole turned 21 (so old!) on Dec 15 and to celebrate her birthday we're giving away 2 copies of a book she loves. We'll be giving away two copies of Poison by Bridget Zinn (which she reviewed here). Note that the winner of the PH giveaway also gets a tube of Lime Crime Poisonberry (because it's currently Nicole's favorite lipstick) and some washi tape (because Nicole's obsessed with them.

Giveaway starts on Dec 22 2013 and ends on Jan 5 2014 (GMT+8).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions:

1. The books will be sent from bookdepository.co.uk. The Twins Read will not be held liable for any customs / taxes that your country will impose on you. Likewise, The Twins Read will not be held liable for any lost / damaged packages.

2. You must be 13 years old and above to join. Please ask your parent/guardian to join the giveaway for you, if you aren't.

3. If you only use ONE account to do all these tasks and enter under different names, they will still only constitute as ONE entry. 

4. If the winner does not respond to messages via Facebook, or e-mail within 48 hours, The Twins Read will have to choose another winner.

5. The covers of the copies you get may be different from the cover used in the The Twins Read promos.

[CLOSED] 1 Year-Anniversary Giveaway + Stacking the Shelves #36 + The Sunday Post #34

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba over at the Caffeinated Book Reviewer. This special post will provide a recap for posts that have been written for the week (October 21 - 27, 2013)

Monday

Nicole's review + Novel Nails #7: Unbreakable by Kami Garcia

Tuesday

Michelle's review: The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton

Wednesday

Michelle's review: The Torn Wing by Kiki Hamilton

Saturday

The Twins on Thursday: a joint review of Megan Curd's Steel Lily

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme first initiated by Tynga. This weekly segment will showcase the books/galleys/ARCs we've acquired/purchased/borrowed within the week.

Nicole

Top to bottom:

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel

The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

From left to right:

Unbreakable by Kami Garcia

The Crimson Crown by Cinda Williams Chima

From top to bottom:

The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White

Linked by Imogen Howson

Warp by Eoin Colfer

The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Michelle

From left to right, top to bottom:

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

The Rogue's Princess by Eve Edwards

The Final Descent by Rick Yancey

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth

The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson

Burning by Elana Arnold

Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney

Project Cain by Geoffrey Girard

The Liberator by Victoria Scott

Hey guys! It's been a year since we started the blog. We came up with the idea on Sept. 11, 2012, and formally launched our blog on Oct. 20, 2012. Since the blog started, we've experienced new things that couldn't have been possible if we didn't go beyond our comfort zones. So to say thank you to all our readers, followers, peers, we're having a giveaway.

We're giving away 5 books:

Insignia by S.J. Kincaid (Reviewed here here)

The Assassin's Curse + The Pirate's Wish by Cassandra Rose Clarke (Review for The Assassin's Curse here, and The Pirate's Wish here)

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

 Enclave by Ann Aguirre 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ONE winner gets to take everything home, yo! The giveaway is international too, so as long as The Book Depository ships to your country, you can enter.

Terms and Conditions:

1. The books will be sent from bookdepository.co.uk. The Twins Read will not be held liable for any customs / taxes that your country will impose on you. Likewise, The Twins Read will not be held liable for any lost / damaged packages.

2. You must be 13 years old and above to join. Please ask your parent/guardian to join the giveaway for you, if you aren't.

3. If you only use ONE account to do all these tasks and enter under different names, they will still only constitute as ONE entry. 

4. If the winner does not respond to messages via Facebook, or e-mail within 48 hours, The Twins Read will have to choose another winner.

5. The covers of the copies you get may be different from the cover used in the The Twins Read promos.

                  

By the way, we'll be at the upcoming ReaderCon 2013! We'll be giving away YA book recommendations, so please do drop by our booth and chat with us. Our time slot is 1:00-1:45 PM, and we'd really love to connect with you guys. The event will be held on November 9, 2013 at the 5th floor of the Rizal Library at the Ateneo de Manila University. (If you do drop by and mention this post, you just might get some swag. Just saying!) The event will only accommodate around 300 people, so you might want to reserve slots by clicking on this link. The registration fee costs P150.

           

Here's the schedule of events! There will also be talks by famous personalities like Ramon Bautista and Kate Evangelista. There will also be book discussions, so please do come. :)

ALSO, The NBDB, in line with the Ayala Museum and the Filipinas Heritage Museum is also hosting a fiction writing masterclass titled City Fiction 100, so all you budding fiction writers might want to take note of that! Just bring with you a flash fiction piece about a city, whether real or imagined. The workshop hosted by Krys Lee costs P1,000 and grants access to all panels for the day. Only 25 slots are available, so if you're interested, you better reserve slots!

Super duper lengthy post over. Peace out.

[BLOG TOUR] The Twins on "Thursday": When The World Was Flat (and we were in love) by Ingrid Jonach + Guest Post + Giveaway

"The Twins on Thursday" is reserved for the Twins' joint reviews. It is a special feature of our blog that discusses books that we either both like, dislike, or have mixed feelings about. This is also the day where we post reviews for books (and ARCs/Galleys) that have been sent to us by authors/galley sites/publishing houses. And because we don't believe much in uniformity, we'll be trying to mix things up a bit by adding random stuff in relation to our review (well, mostly for books we purchased anyway).

Title: When The World Was Flat (and we were in love)
Author: Ingrid Jonach
Format Acquired: ARC

Publication Date: 3 September 2013 in the US and Canada, and 5 September 2013 in the UK, as well as worldwide as ebook and audio

Publishing House: Strange Chemistry

ISBN: 9781908844576
Source of Copy: Requested from publisher

Summary:

When sixteen-year-old Lillie Hart meets the gorgeous and mysterious Tom Windsor-Smith for the first time, it's like fireworks - for her, anyway. Tom looks as if he would be more interested in watching paint dry; as if he is bored by her and her small Nebraskan town in general.

But as Lillie begins to break down the walls of his seemingly impenetrable exterior, she starts to suspect that he holds the answers to her reoccuring nightmares and to the impossible memories which keep bubbling to the surface of her mind - memories of the two of them, together and in love.

When she at last learns the truth about their connection, Lillie discovers that Tom has been hiding an earth-shattering secret; a secret that is bigger - and much more terrifying and beautiful - than the both of them. She also discovers that once you finally understand that the world is round, there is no way to make it flat again.

(Image, summary and information courtesy of Goodreads and from the author herself)

Review:

When Lillie sees Tom, she somehow knows that there's more to him, gorgeousness aside, that she just can't put a finger to. Because when you dream of having a baby with the new transferee, you know that's kind of messed up. But maybe it isn't, because while Tom will reel Lillie in only to push her away later, there is something more than he's letting on. In fact, Tom's secret will definitely change Lillie's perspective on the importance of each choice and decision she's ever made.

Lillie's not a very interesting character and her progression from decent, slightly artistic good girl into this love struck, hormonal and slightly whiny teenager was discomfiting. We didn't get a feel for Tom until the last few pages of the book, because he was just so weird what with all the brooding that he does. We thought that there were too many characters, so the actual story progressed really slow. There's all the drama with Sylv, Lillie's best friend, and a mini side story with another best friend, Jo, and they do kind of detract the reader from Lillie's story. 

The romance is actually both insta-love and not insta-love, and regrettably, we couldn't really elaborate more on that fact without giving much of the story away. While initially hard to swallow at first that these two protagonists were making moony eyes at each other almost all throughout the book, as it turns out, there is a logical explanation for the kind of crazy Tom-obsessed dreams Lillie is having.

The explanations regarding the parallel universes were a bit confusing at times, but it did make the book redeem itself. Yes, there are parallel universes, which made us giddy when that part came out. We love how Jonach has made some pretty interesting answers regarding deja vu, and other seemingly "paranormal" phenomena. But at the same time, the last few chapters were an info dump, a confusing one at that. And while a lot of questions were answered, a lot more were left unresolved.

While this would really be more fitting for hopeless romantics who are diehard believers in the transcendence of love, we would actually recommend this one more for parallel universe enthusiasts. 

Rating:

Guest Post: Top 5 Book Boyfriends

1. Tom Windsor-Smith from When the World was Flat (and we were in love) by me!

I think it would have been difficult to write a romance novel about a character I was not in love with myself.

Tom is good looking (tick!), ridiculously wealthy (tick!), and a snappy dresser (tick!). Moving past the superficial stuff, we find a boy who is hiding heartbreak behind a cool exterior. He is completely motivated by love – and I find that extremely attractive!

2. Fitzwilliam Darcy (Mr. Darcy) from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. 

Mr. Darcy was actually the inspiration for Tom, so, of course, I absolutely adore him. He is such a pig at the beginning of the book, but I love his journey from snobbery to smitten to soulmate with Elizabeth Bennet.

His failed marriage proposal is heartbreaking, but necessary as he still has a lot to learn about himself before he can marry Elizabeth. I am not sure if I could have held out though if I were Lizzie. I would have said yes before he had even finished telling me how ‘ardently’ he admired and loved me.

3. Jesse Tuck from Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit. 

I try not to think too much about Jesse being 104 years old and the object of his affection, Winnie Foster, being only 10.

I adore Jesse for his youthful exuberance and head over heels affection for Winnie. Like his life, his love for her is everlasting and he asks her to also drink from the fountain when he is forced to leave Treegap. But (SPOILER ALERT!), when he returns many years later, he finds her grave and evidence that she lived a long and fulfilling life, leaving him alone in his eternity. Sob! I would have drunk from that fountain in a heartbeat for Jesse!

4. Louis de Pointe du Lac from Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice. 

There is something endearing about the perpetually haunted Louis that I love in Interview with a Vampire. He is constantly thwarted in his attempts to retain his humanity by the selfish Lestat, who I just wish would die already!

Oh – and Brad Pitt in the movie adaptation… Need I say more?

5. Theodore Laurence (Laurie) from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. 

Laurie is an extremely lonely character in Little Women. He embeds himself in the March family through his friendship with Jo and proposes to two of the March girls, finally marrying Amy.

It did disappoint me when he lost his way somewhat before marrying Amy, but he was just so heartbroken by Jo. Darnit Jo! I will still never forgive you for not marrying him!

It breaks my heart when he says to her:

There’ll come a time when you will care for somebody, and you’ll love him tremendously, and live and die for him. I know you will. It’s your way, and I shall have to stand by and see it.

I also adore Christian Bale as Laurie, opposite Winona Ryder as Jo.

Enter below for your chance to win one of two awesome prize packages as part of the Around the World in 80 Days Blog Tour for When the World was Flat (and we were in love) by Ingrid Jonach. 

There will be two winners worldwide. Each prize package includes:

·      a signed copy of When the World was Flat (and we were in love)

·      a pair of silver plated key-shaped earrings in a When the World was Flat (and we were in love) gift box

·      a When the World was Flat (and we were in love) bookmark.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The competition will run until 21 October 2013 and the winners will be announced on this page and via www.ingridjonach.com