Review: Unbreakable by Elizabeth Norris

Unbreakable (Unraveling #2)
by Elizabeth Norris
Published: April 23, 2013




Four months after Ben disappeared through the portal to his home universe, Janelle believes she’ll never see him again. Her world is still devastated, but life is finally starting to resume some kind of normalcy. Until Interverse Agent Taylor Barclay shows up. Somebody from an alternate universe is running a human trafficking ring, kidnapping people and selling them on different Earths—and Ben is the prime suspect. Now his family has been imprisoned and will be executed if Ben doesn’t turn himself over within five days.

And when Janelle learns that someone she cares about—someone from her own world—has become one of the missing, she knows that she has to help Barclay, regardless of the danger. Now Janelle has five days to track down the real culprit. Five days to locate the missing people before they’re lost forever. Five days to reunite with the boy who stole her heart. But as the clues begin to add up, Janelle realizes that she’s in way over her head—and that she may not have known Ben as well as she thought. Can she uncover the truth before everyone she cares about is killed?

July New Releases: Part 2

Newly released books this July

*cover image links to Goodreads*

Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay Published: July 23, 2013 The Book Depository _____ In the beginning was the darkness, and in the darkness was a girl, and in the girl was a secret... In the domed city of Yuan, the blind Princess Isra, a Smooth Skin, is raised to be a human sacrifice whose death will ensure her city’s vitality. In the desert outside Yuan, Gem, a mutant beast, fights to save his people, the Monstrous, from starvation. Neither dreams that together, they could return balance to both their worlds. Isra wants to help the city’s Banished people, second-class citizens despised for possessing Monstrous traits. But after she enlists the aid of her prisoner, Gem, who has been captured while trying to steal Yuan’s enchanted roses, she begins to care for him, and to question everything she has been brought up to believe. As secrets are revealed and Isra’s sight, which vanished during her childhood, returned, Isra will have to choose between duty to her people and the beast she has come to love.

Review: Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Unraveling (Unraveling #1)
by Elizabeth Norris
Published: April 24, 2012



Sixteen-year-old Janelle Tenner is used to having a lot of responsibility. She balances working as a lifeguard in San Diego with an intense academic schedule. Janelle's mother is bipolar, and her dad is a workaholic FBI agent, which means Janelle also has to look out for her younger brother, Jared.

And that was before she died...and is brought back to life by Ben Michaels, a mysterious, alluring loner from her high school. When she discovers a strange clock that seems to be counting down to the earth's destruction, Janelle learns she has twenty-four days to figure out how to stop the clock and save the planet.

From Page to Film: Catching Fire Trailer

Hello! Let me get this out first. Well, I haven't been blogging for a week now because of the usual reasons. Mostly school stuff. This past two weeks have been very exhausting to the point where I arrive home late at night and just dump myself on my bed and sleep like a log until morning comes when I have to get ready for school once again. I can't even remember not eating dinner until my mom mentions it to me the following day.

We had our club fair this week which meant a lot of activities to perform and preparations to do. It got us cramming since we just had our exams the previous week and we still have a few deadlines to meet and projects to hand over but it was still a successful event. We set up booths to showcase our clubs and ours is all about Computer Engineering. This part was kind of tricky since most of the projects we intended to display were used during the Science and Tech Fair in a different venue simultaneously. We still managed. One of the activities was the Mob Dance Competition. I haven't heard the news until this morning but we actually won. THAT was unexpected. The club fair ended yesterday and that was just one thing crossed out on our list of activities for the whole school year.

Uhh.. yeah. There's a tree inside the coliseum because this year's theme is all about the four elements. Do not fret. We didn't harm anything. LOL!

2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge: UPDATE

We are well past the first half of this year and I think it's time I update my entries to some of my reading challenges. As you already know, I joined several this 2013. You can see all of them here: 2013 Reading Challenges as well as my progress which really needs updating. Anyway, I've completed one of those challenges so yay! For my TBR Pile Reading Challenge I chose the A Friendly Hug Level (11-20 books). I already read more than 20 books that can qualify for the challenge but some of them have no reviews yet and some I don't plan on reviewing so they're not counted. Officially, I have read and reviewed 19 books for this challenge. And they are:

Music and Lyrics (11) ft. Cliffhangers

I first heard this song back when I was in high school -- pretty far back -- and at that time, this was just another rock, pop punk song by Paramore I adored. But when I heard it again recently, it caught my attention and I had a totally different reaction. Instead of feeling all nostalgic and thinking about how much I missed this song, when it came to the chorus I was like, 'OHMYGOD, you're talking about cliffhangers, right?'

Don't Let It End Reading Challenge Wrap-Up

One out of seven 2013 reading challenges down. Last July 14, Fiktshun's 5-month long Don't Let It End Reading Challenge ended. I did pretty well, considering. In total, I read 6 books which was one more than my original goal which was 5. Here are the series-ending books I read and reviewed:

July New Releases: Part 1

Newly released books this July

*cover image links to Goodreads*

The Distance Between Us by Kasie West Published: July 2, 2013 The Book Depository ______ Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers studies the rich like her own personal science experiment, and after years of observation she’s pretty sure they’re only good for one thing—spending money on useless stuff, like the porcelain dolls in her mother’s shop. So when Xander Spence walks into the store to pick up a doll for his grandmother, it only takes one glance for Caymen to figure out he’s oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and that he’s one of the first people who actually gets her, she’s smart enough to know his interest won’t last. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned from her mother’s warnings, it’s that the rich have a short attention span. But Xander keeps coming around, despite her best efforts to scare him off. And much to her dismay, she's beginning to enjoy his company. She knows her mom can’t find out—she wouldn’t approve. She’d much rather Caymen hang out with the local rocker who hasn’t been raised by money. But just when Xander’s attention and loyalty are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn’t a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she’d ever realized. And that Xander’s not the only one she should’ve been worried about.

Review: Ascend by Amanda Hocking

Ascend (Trylle #3)
by Amanda Hocking
Published: April 24, 2013



Wendy Everly is facing an impossible choice. The only way to save the Trylle from their deadliest enemy is by sacrificing herself. If she doesn’t surrender to the Vittra, her people will be thrust into a brutal war against an unbeatable foe. But how can Wendy leave all her friends behind…even if it’s the only way to save them?

The stakes have never been higher, because her kingdom isn’t the only thing she stands to lose. After falling for both Finn and Loki, she’s about to make the ultimate choice…who to love forever. One guy has finally proven to be the love of her life—and now all their lives might be coming to an end.

Everything has been leading to this moment. The future of her entire world rests in her hands—if she’s ready to fight for it.

Review: Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza

Mila 2.0 (Mila 2.0 #1)
by Debra Driza
Published: March 12, 2013



Mila 2.0 is the first book in an electrifying sci-fi thriller series about a teenage girl who discovers that she is an experiment in artificial intelligence.

Mila was never meant to learn the truth about her identity. She was a girl living with her mother in a small Minnesota town. She was supposed to forget her past—that she was built in a secret computer science lab and programmed to do things real people would never do.

Now she has no choice but to run—from the dangerous operatives who want her terminated because she knows too much and from a mysterious group that wants to capture her alive and unlock her advanced technology. However, what Mila’s becoming is beyond anyone’s imagination, including her own, and it just might save her life.

Mila 2.0 is Debra Driza’s bold debut and the first book in a Bourne Identity-style trilogy that combines heart-pounding action with a riveting exploration of what it really means to be human. Fans of I Am Number Four will love Mila for who she is and what she longs to be—and a cliffhanger ending will leave them breathlessly awaiting the sequel.

Review: Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins

Spell Bound (Hex Hall #3)
by Rachel Hawkins
Published: March 13, 2012



Hailed as “impossible to put down,” the Hex Hall series has both critics and teens cheering. With a winning combination of romance, action, magic and humor, this third volume will leave readers enchanted.

Just as Sophie Mercer has come to accept her extraordinary magical powers as a demon, the Prodigium Council strips them away. Now Sophie is defenseless, alone, and at the mercy of her sworn enemies—the Brannicks, a family of warrior women who hunt down the Prodigium. Or at least that’s what Sophie thinks, until she makes a surprising discovery. The Brannicks know an epic war is coming, and they believe Sophie is the only one powerful enough to stop the world from ending. But without her magic, Sophie isn’t as confident.

Sophie’s bound for one hell of a ride—can she get her powers back before it’s too late?

June New Releases: Part 2

Newly released books this June

*cover image links to Goodreads*

Star Cursed (The Cahill Witch Chronicles #2) by Jessica Spotswood Published: June 18, 2013 The Book Depository _______ With the Brotherhood persecuting witches like never before, a divided Sisterhood desperately needs Cate to come into her Prophesied powers. And after Cate's friend Sachi is arrested for using magic, a war-thirsty Sister offers to help her find answers—if Cate is willing to endanger everyone she loves. Cate doesn't want to be a weapon, and she doesn't want to involve her friends and Finn in the Sisterhood's schemes. But when Maura and Tess join the Sisterhood, Maura makes it clear that she'll do whatever it takes to lead the witches to victory. Even if it means sacrifices. Even if it means overthrowing Cate. Even if it means all-out war. In the highly anticipated sequel to Born Wicked, the Cahill Witch Chronicles continue Cate, Maura and Tess's quest to find love, protect family, and explore their magic against all odds in an alternate history of New England.

July TBR Pile + TBR Jar Pick No. 1 and 2

Hola! It's my birthday! I'm kidding. What I meant to say was it's July but that's obvious so whatever. New month, new reading pile and more books to attack.

Today I am going to show you the books in my TBR pile this month. That doesn't mean that everything I included will definitely be read because I just don't stick to whatever list I've ever made before but I'm still trying. This time if I happen to read all of them - which is highly unlikely - well, that would absolutely be cool. Here they are: *cover image links to Goodreads*

June Reads + Monthly Recap

Time for the monthly recap - June is over! Do you know what that means? We are getting closer and closer to our most awaited sequels!! Funny how slow time is when it comes to the things we anticipate the most but if I think about it in a different perspective like school - it's moving real fast. June, in our country, meant the start of a new school year and yes, I am now a 4th year college student (2 more years!). It seems like we just started our classes a few weeks back when actually we have less that 2 weeks left before prelim exams.

My class schedule isn't that hectic since I'm only taking up 7 subjects and that's new. I was used to taking 10-11 per semester since first year but it's good because I also have a lot of extra-school responsibilities aside from academics. I do have Saturday classes though, and my MWF classes start at 7.30am and ends 8.30pm sooo, ouch. Lots of break in between but no additional time for blogging and reading, still the same as before but I'll take what I can get so.. yep. June is still a busy month but screw busy when I can work and have fun at the same time! RIGHT?

Here are the books I read this June:
*cover image links to Goodreads*

Cover Reveal: Origin by Jennifer L. Armentrout

No point in making you guys wait with my senseless rambling because today the official cover for Origin, the most-awaited fourth book in Jennifer Armentrout's Lux series, is revealed!!! *crazy dance*