On My Wishlist [1]

'On My Wishlist' is a weekly meme hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It involves a list or post of some sort where are highlight books you are desperately wanting. They can be old, new, or even future releases. I have decided that I may not do this meme every week, but each time I do decide to participate I will highlight two books that I hope to get my hands on in the future.

So here are the two books for this week and feel free to click on each image to be taken to its Goodreads page, if you would like to learn more and read a synopsis.

 
'Unwind' by Neal Shusterman

I have only heard good things about this dystopian novel and Neal Shusterman in general. The concept he created this story behind is such so creative and original that I hope I can dive into sometime soon.







'Dragoneye Reborn' (Eon #1) by Alison Goodman

 This is another book that has been recommended and recommended to me and I think it is time to give it a go. Although this a pretty long fantasy genre YA book, I think it is one that will completely absorb me.




So, there they are! Two books I hope to add to my collection soon. =] Comment below if you have read one of these and let me know your opinions. And make sure to link your 'On My Wishlist' if you participated this week so I can make sure to stop by.

'Crank' by Ellen Hopkins

'Crank' is the story of Kristina, a high school junior, who on a trip to visit her father, starts to go down the wrong path. Bree emerges, an alter ego of herself and a new side of her. 'Crank' follows Kristina's downward spiral into drug abuse and all the actions that result from her usage.

'Crank' is the first book in a trilogy, all following the ups and downs of Kristina's life as she deals with drug abuse. It is such an eye opening account of the effects of drug abuse and although it is a tough subject for some to talk about, it is definitely an issue that needs to be discussed.

This book, along with the other books in this trilogy, is written in verse. At first I wasn't really sure I would like that aspect, worried that it would not be able to dig deep in the issue. But, I was completely wrong. This book was both beautifully written and well balanced, able to penetrate into the deep issues and emotional feelings going on.

Overall, I have nothing bad to say about Hopkins' book and is definitely one that more people should read. It, along with all of Hopkins' book, is so realistic, an aspect that really helps the reader connect and feel with her through her ordeals. A realistic and heartbreaking read that should be a must for teens.

Overall rating: 4 / 5 stars

Waiting on Wednesday [3]

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This meme highlights a future release that you are eagerly waiting to come out.

For this WoW, I decided to focus on a book that I only heard of about two weeks ago, but already really want to get my hands on. I randomly came across this because an author of a book I just picked up and added to my Goodreads list, happened to be one of the authors featured in it.

So the book is called 'The FIrst Time' and features 25 YA authors writing about first anything, kisses, love, and even ventured into the paranormal. Here is what the Goodreads synopsis says:

25 YA authors writing about “Firsts”... first kisses, first loves, first zombie slayings, first realizations ...

Of the authors involved in this, that I have heard of, I love. I knew I needed to add this to my list when I saw the names Jessica Verday, Jackson Pearce, Cyn Balog, Carrie Ryan, and Kirstin Cronn-Mills. I linked the Goodreads page for this book through the picture, so make sure to check this out there, if you are interested.

It is supposed to be out October 2011, so luckily there won't too much more waiting for me.

Make sure to leave a link to your 'Waiting on Wednesday' below, so I can make sure to stop by and hopefully learn of some new books to add to my wishlist!

Top 10 Tuesday [2] : Books tackling tough issues

So last week I started doing the 'top 10 Tuesday' meme and have decided to do it again this week since I really enjoyed looking at everyone's lists. So this weekly meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and involves doing a top ten list on a certain topic that is posted.

This week the top ten consists of listing books that tackle tough issues, whether is be social, cultural, personal or any other issues that are viewed as 'tough.' Mine seem to mainly be personal issues, but I feel many can be linked back to the social issues that lead to them. Check out my list below!

1. Cut by Patricia McCormick
2. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
3. Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Chbosky
5. Looking for Alaska by John Green
6. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
7. Cracked up to be by Courtney Summers
8. Candy by Kevin Brooks
9. Sold by Patricia McCormick
10. The Pact by Jodi Picoult

Make sure to leave a link below to your top ten Tuesday so I can make sure to stop by and look at your recommendations. If you aren't up for doing a post, or don't blog, please leave at least a few below in the comments. Thanks!

It's Monday! What are you reading? [4]

'It's Monday! What are you reading?' is a meme hosted by Book Journey and consists of sharing what you have read this past week, what you hope to read this week, and whatever else fits in too.

JUST FINISHED

About an hour ago, I finished up reading 'One Day' by David Nicholls. Since the movie for this comes out next month, I thought it was definitely time to read this. And I am glad I did. I absolutely loved it. It was such a realistic story of a relationship, through all the ups and downs and anything. It follows the story of Emma and Dexter, looking in at where they are in their lives every year on the same day. Review will be up of this sometime next week, but for now I will just say that I really recommend it.

READING NOW

So I just started this day and am not really very far into at all. So far I am liking it, but it is definitely too early to really say much about it. 'The Mephisto Convenant' by Trinity Faegen comes out this September from EgmontUSA. Link the image of the cover to be taken to the Goodreads page for this book if you wanna to learn more about it.

TO READ NEXT

I have not put up any reviews of this series here on my blog, but it is definitely becoming one of my favorite series of all time. I have heard the first five books in Rachel Caine's Morganville Vampires series and think it is time to dive back into again. The next one in the series is 'Carpe Corpus' and I cannot wait to jump back into their world, one that Caine has made seem so real. If you haven't given this series a shot and love vampires, definitely pick up 'Glass Houses.'

'Dreamland' by Sarah Dessen

So I have had this book on my shelf for at least three years and for some unexplainable and inexcusable reason never got around to reading it. [= I have heard so much good about Sarah Dessen lately and am disappointed in myself to say this is the first of her books I have read.

Powerful. Realistic. And eye opening. That is how I would describe 'Dreamland.' This book covers a very touchy and senstiive subject, physical abuse in teen relationships. It follows the story of Caitlin, a teenager who is dealing with all of life's normal issues, on top of her sister Cassandra recently running away to be with her boyfriend. As Caitlin comes to understand and cope with her sister leaving, she gets close to Rogerson. He is everything she never knew she wanted, until the relationship turns.

Relationship abuse, even among teens, is more common than most realize, making this an eye opening story of how one can get so wrapped up in a relationship and start to accept the abuse. Dessen depicted Caitlin so well that she felt real and as if she was right it front of you. It broke my heart at times, no doubt, but still was a story that needed to be told.

A big part of this novel that I loved was the fact that Dessen captured their whole relationship. This helps in the reader understand her feelings for Rogerson and even though the reader know what he is doing is wrong, she still makes you see through Caitlin's eyes and why she reacts the way she does. I really loved how real and raw she made Caitlin and how strong she came out of the situation.

I also really loved that she focused a portion of the end of the book on Caitlin after the relationship. It realistically showed a girl rebuilding, not a super human that was fine the next day. It really showed, in my opinion, a vulnerability that abuse victims should know is an accepted part of healing.

Overall, I loved this book and would definitely recommend to anyone, but especially teens, who should be exposed to the facts of abuse, in order to help themselves and those they love. This form of physical abuse, like any, needs to be discussed more, just like Dessen did in this novel. She beautifully brought forward a subject many push under the rug and hopefully can serve as a wake up call and learning experience for readers.

Overall rating: 4 / 5 stars
Recommend for: YA contemporary fans

In My Mailbox [4]

In my mailbox is a weekly meme created and hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren and consists of a post/video about books you have either bought, received, or borrowed during the previous week.

I haven't done an IMM in a few weeks since I put myself on a small book buying ban, but now finally have some books to report. So here they are:

'Homefree' by Nina Wright

'Sensitive' by Nina Wright

 'The Sky Always Hears Me: And The Hills Don't Mind' by Cronn-Mills

'Rebel Angels' by Libba Bray

'The Mephisto Covenant' by Trinity Faegen

 

Cleaning out my bookshelf GIVEAWAY!

So once or twice every year I like to go through my bookshelf and pick out some books that I don't really need to keep and sell them to half price books. This afternoon, at random, I decided to grab a few off my shelf and make some money from them, so I can buy new ones I have been wanting to read.

But, as I was doing this, it dawned on me to give one away in a giveaway here on my blog to someone that had been wanting to read one that I was going to sell. Now, I would love to give all of these away, but sadly I do not have enough money for all that shipping. But, I decided that I could definitely give away one.

Below are pictures of the 4 options that the winner can pick from, as well as the titles and author.

> OPTION 1: Secret Society (Secret Society #1) by Tom Dolby
> OPTION 2: The It Girl (It Girl #1) by Cecily von Ziegesar
> OPTION 3: Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
> OPTION 4: The A-List (A-List #1) by Zoey Dean

The only one of these that I have a review up for is 'Secret Society' so click on the Review Archive tab if you would like to check that out.


So here are the rules for this giveaway:

• open to US only; no PO boxes
• must be 13 or older (13-17 with parent permission)
• must be a follower of let's evaluate, old or new!
• ENDS 8 / 19

• I am not responsible for lost or damage to item
• Winner picked using random.org

I want to say upfront that these all have been read and are not new from the store. Although they all are in good condition and have suffered no more damage than being read once by me. I know some people may not want to enter for a used book, but I thought I'd still put it out there in case there was even just one person that really wanted to read one of these. My next giveaway will be a brand new book, so keep an eye out for that in the future if you don't want to enter this one. More to come, I promise!

All you have to do to enter is fill out the form below. Good luck! And let me know, in the comments, if you all would be interested in me doing this every time I clean out my bookshelf.

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Collins

About a week ago, I finished reading the last book of this series and thought I would do an all over review of the books, in one post. Since so many people have already read this series, I didn't really want to spend too much time reviewing it. So below are my quick thoughts on each book. But, overall I will say that it you haven't at least given the first a shot, you need to NOW!


THE HUNGER GAMES
So I was a bit hesitant to pick this up, worried that it might be a bit young for me and something I couldn't relate to. But, I was completely wrong. This book, as well as the series, is great for any age. The character and plot development was absolutely amazing that I could not put it down. The speed of the book was perfect, with never a dull moment, and is still the only book I've been so pulled into and finished in one day. It was completely worth staying up until 3am.


CATCHING FIRE
Usually I am a bit disappointed in the second of a series, but this was an exception. It was just as fast paced and action packed, that I could not put it down either. This one was full of even more great plot twists and secrets that I wasn't expecting. The one and only aspect I didn't really love was the fact that part of the plot was similar to the first. I don't want to say more than that; to make sure I don't give away any spoilers. This one left with such a cliffhanger that I wanted to pick the final book right up.



MOCKINGJAY
I thought this final book was a little bit slow to start, but luckily picked up about half way in. The book was just as absorbing and page turning as the others. I loved the action and twists within this as well and really liked how she summed up this world and the characters within it. The only thing I wasn't too happy with was how she led Katniss to pick between Peeta and Gale. I really wanted her to have some revelation about her feelings, but my interpretation was that after the ending, she really couldn't be with one after his actions. But overall, it was amazing and a great ending to this story of Panem.

Overall trilogy rating: 4.5 / 5 stars

Top 10 Tuesday [1] : Books that every teen should read

The past few weeks I have really been enjoying reading some of the ten top lists that have been posted as part of a weekly meme. This week I thought I would give it a go and participate. So this meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and involves doing a top ten list on a certain topic that is posted.

This week is a top ten list of books that every teen should read. So I am just going to jump right into my list. I'm sure I forget some important ones, but this is my list for now.

1. 'A Separate Peace' by John Knowles
2. 'Looking for Alaska' by John Green
3. 'Speak' by Laurie Halse Anderson
4. 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee
5. 'The Giver' by Lois Lowry
6. 'The Outsiders' by S.E Hinton
7. 'Crank' by Ellen Hopkins
8. 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald
9. 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell
10. 'Night' by Elie Wiesel

So I was thinking of explaining why every teen should read these, but I just couldn't do them justice. They are all amazing and left an impact of knowledge with me when I read them that I still to this day think back to them.

Make sure to leave a link below to your top ten Tuesday so I can make sure to stop by and look at your recommendations. If you aren't up for doing a post, or don't blog, please leave at least a few below in the comments. Thanks!

It's Monday! What are you reading? [3]

'It's Monday! What are you reading?' is a meme hosted by Book Journey and consists of sharing what you have read this past week, what you hope to read this week, and whatever else fits in too.

READING NOW
Right now, I am working on reading 'Shadow Kiss' by Richelle Mead. It is the third book in the Vampire Academy series, which I am absolutely in love with thus far. I am about to be half way through this one and so far it is my favorite of the series, it is really creating these characters and world to seem so real and as if there are right it front of me. I should have this done by Wednesday at the latest.


TO READ NEXT
I have been saying for awhile now that this is the next I plan to read, but for some reason that keeps falling through and something else comes up. But, this time I really want to read this since the movie will be coming out in a few months. The last thing I want is for my interpretation to be changed even just from seeing trailers and previews for the movie. I have heard good things about it and now I think it is really time to pick it up.


AND THEN READ
After I read 'One Day,' it is really hard for me to pick the next but I think I am gonna try to pick up 'Priceless' by Nicole Richie. I picked this up when my Borders was closing a few months ago, but still haven't picked it up yet. Hopefully I will get to it soon as well, since the few things I have read about it make it sound pretty good and well written.


Make sure to comment below and link your 'It's Monday! What are you reading?' so I can make sure to check it out.

My first GIVEAWAY!! (50 followers)

Hey everyone! So earlier this week I reached 50 followers! I know that isn't a lot compared to some bloggers, but for me it is a big deal. I have only been actively blogging and posting here on let's evaluate, for about the last two months and have been loving every second on it.

I have already met some amazing people through this blog and thought I would host a giveaway to say thanks to those that have been following and supporting my blog. This is my first giveaway so bare with me as I'm learning as I go.

The book I will be giving away is a copy of 'Stargazer' by Claudia Gray. Now this is the second book in the Evernight series, but I thought it would be the perfect incentive to check out the first as well. I personally did read the first awhile ago, before I started blogging, so I do not have a review of it. Click here to be taken to the Goodreads page for it if you want to read some reviews though.

So here are the rules for this giveaway! [:

• open to US only, no PO boxes
  (sorry INT!, hopefully next one)
• must be 13 or older
  (13-17 must have parent/guardian permission)
• must be a follower of let's evaluate, new or old!
  (I will check your GFC name)
• ends 8 / 5

> I am not responsible for lost or damage to item

> winner picked using random.org

> post announcing winner up within two days on ending

Giveaway will end on August 5th, with the winner announced hopeful when it closes, otherwise shortly after. All you have to do to enter is fill out the form.

Thanks again to everyone!

'Survivor' by Chuck Palahniuk

A little over a year ago I decided to pick up 'Fight Club' by Palahniuk since the movie has been a favorite of my for awhile. Fast forward about 15 months and I found myself in the YA section of my library, with nothing that was sticking out to me. I wandered over to the fiction section and remembered how much I love 'Fight Club' and how my sister always recommend other novels by him. 'Survivor' was the one one available at my library at the time, so I picked it up.

Most of my reviews on here will be young adult novels, but a few will be just normal fiction. I thought this one would be a good one to post because although it is not young adult by any means, I still as a 20 year old really enjoyed it.

I want to start by saying this is an adult fiction book for a reason and that I would personally only recommend for readers that are at least 15 or 16 years old.

What I think really made me love this book was a combination of Chuck's writing style, characterization, and original storylines. He wrote the main character, Tender Branson, so well and believeable as the last survivor of a Creedish Church mass suicide. The plot was depressing at time, like expected, but pulled me so into his story that I could not put it down. The story of him and how he came to make decisions in his life gives you such a realistic look into a cult member, that you cannot help but feel every pain with him.

Overall, I will just say that I loved this book and now want to get my hands on my own copy. I have a few more of his works on my tbr pile, so expect to see those in the near future. This is a book I could not stop thinking about for days and is one I will definitely be reading again.

Overall rating:5 / 5 stars

Once Upon a Read-a-thon ♥Updates♥

Hey everyone, just to wanted to do a post to let you know that I am participating in a read-a-thon the next three days. This read-a-thon is being hosted by Lori at Pure Imagination, Candace at Candace's Book Blog, and Angela at Reading Angel.

Through the next three days, I am going to be reading as much as time allows and updating this post atleast at the end of each day. Below is a list of the books that may make an appearance, depending on the amount of free time I have to just relax and read.

UPDATES ON BOOKS READING:
> Carpe Corpus by Rachel Caine ------ ( 0 / 241 pages )
> Dreamland by Sarah Dessen --------- ( 102 / 250 pages )
> Crank by Ellen Hopkins -------------- ( 537 / 537 pages )

If you are participating in this read-a-thon too, make sure to leave a link to your updates below. There will definitely be some reading breaks for me and I'd love to see how you are doing. Happy Reading. [:

MONDAY MINI CHALLENGES:
> IB Book Blogging
1. What is your favorite type of myth (Greek, Roman, Egyptian)? My favorite mythology would probably have to be Greek mythology. A couple of summers ago I was fortunate enough to travel to Greece and upon doing so learned so much about their mythology. It seemed that every site or landmark we visited had some tie back to mythology, which I found to be fresh and such a unitying aspect of their culture.
2. What is your favorite book with some type of mythology in it? Off the top of my head I cannot really think of a recently mythology book that I read, I think that is because I really love learning about it through history and text, whereas I find with many books things are changed so much and do not keep with the original myths. Although I do hope to read 'The Goddess Test' in the near future, it sounds very good.

TUESDAY MINI CHALLENGES:
> YA Bliss
1. Name your top three love triangles. I think I am going to have to start with Katniss, Peeta, and Gale. I just recently finished reading the last book and although I didn't love how Collins' dealt with the resolution of the triangle, I did really like the characters within it and how real there were on the pages. The next one that pops into my head is Bella, Edward, and Jacob. Although I didn't love the books, I really did like the relationships and realistic tensions through this triangle. And lastly, I think I am going to go with Clary, Jace, and Simon in the first Mortal Instruments book. I have only read the first three as of now, but really liked the relationship triangle evidant in the first and second book. I think I have a weakness for new guy coming into a story and the drama that comes from the previous friend so obviously felt more. [:

> The Bookish Type
1. Write a fake synposis for one of the books on your read-a-thon list. 
When Caitlin's parents died in a car crash the summer after senior year, she didn't know what the future would hold. Should she continue on to college a thousand miles away? Or stay at home with everything she ever knew? Fate helps her decide to start over and move in with her aunt on the east coast. Slowly her life returns to normal, except for reoccurring nightmares of that fateful night, but something changes in them each time. Her world gets overturned once again when she meets Harlan, a face she recognizes from the dreams. She cannot help but wonder, did he have something to do with the crash?

WEDNESDAY MINI CHALLENGES:
> Wicked Awesome Books
1. Play matchmaker and pair two characters together from different stories. This was really hard for me because I didn't want to break up any couples that I loved in a book, so I pulled two people that I think deserve better than who they were with. So I decided to go with Cabel (from Wake by McMann) who was the one character of that trilogy that I liked and Caitlin (from Dreamland by Dessen). I am currently reading Dreamland and loving Caitlin and since I know the overall plot of the book, I would really prefer her to be with Cabel, who still has that bad boy image and rough exterior that she is attracted to.

'Unearthly' by Cynthia Hand

Lately I had been hearing a lot about 'Unearthly' but at first was a little unsure if I wanted to pick it up. I eventually did end up borrowing it for my library and dug right into it. It is definitely a pretty long book so I knew summer was the perfect time to pick it up.

This book follows the story of Clara, who recently found out that she is part angel. I really connected to Clara and found her to be very realistic. Another aspect I really appreciated in this book was the location/scenery that Hand described so well and made me feel a part of the story and as if I was there.

The one thing that I didn't enjoy about this story was how the first half of it moved very slow and almost nothing big really seemed to happen. Character and plot development is such a huge part of a story, but when it extends so far into the story, I start to get bored. The big plot and resolution of this book only happened in the last 50 pages or so and even that part wasn't that surprising or eye opening.

Overall, I did enjoy the characters and concept of the book. (Team Tucker!) But, I was left a bit unsatisfied when it came to the resolution. This is only the first book in the series (or is it trilogy?) so I probably will pick up the next one next year and see where she plans to take the story, but for now I am not dying for it to come out sooner.

Photo credit: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7488244-unearthly
Overall rating: 3 / 5 stars
Recommend for: YA paranormal fans

TGIF [2]: 07/08/2011

TGIF was started over at GReads! where the blogger re-caps their posts during the past week and answers the question that is proposed for that specific Friday. If you would like to check out my post from last Friday, you can do so here.

Blogger Confession: What's the last book you could not finish? (or had a hard time finishing?)
Well, let's see. Hmm. I think it would have to be 'Twelve' by Nick McDonell. About a week or two ago I featured it in a teaser tuesday, but about a day later I stopped reading it. I only made it about a fourth of the way into the book and then stopped. For that specific book, it wasn't because I hated it or didn't like the story, but instead for another reason. I had picked up the book for a dollar at my Borders as it closed, even though I had just watched the movie adaptation a week before. I mean it was only a dollar, right? [:

I did enjoy the movie but as I tried to read it I got a little bored since everything that happened was so fresh in my brain. I will pick it up again in the future, but probably not for awhile. Other than that, there hasn't been books I couldn't finish, I usually do so much research on a book and know I will at least be able to read it through and enjoy an aspect of it.

And now for the re-cap of my last week of posts. I was slacking a bit since I did move and everything is packed away. Click on each to be taken that specific post:

1. Review: The Summoning by Armstrong
2. Random: Happy Independence Day
3. Meme: It's Monday! What are you reading?
3. Meme: Waiting on Wednesday

Feel free to comment below with your answer to the question if you aren't up for doing a post. Otherwise definitely leave a link to you TGIF and link it through GReads! so that I can make sure to check yours out as well.

Waiting on Wednesday [2]

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This meme highlights a future release that you are eagerly waiting to come out.

First my second WoW, I decided to feature a release that sadly does not come out until 2012, but that hasn't stopped me from being excited about it this year. There is no cover yet for this novel, in fact the title was just recently announced, something I'm sure many of you know about. But it case you haven't, the book I am talking about is: 'The Fault in Our Stars' by John Green.

Not much about this novel has been released to the public, but that hasn't stopped me from wishing it would come out now. I have already pre-ordered this book through amazon and you can click on the photo to take you to the amazon page as well.

There isn't much I can say about this, since there isn't much out about it but it is definitely a book I am eagerly waiting to come out. Make sure to check out vlogbrothers on youtube if you want more on this and believe there is a video somewhere of him reading the first chapter as well.

It's Monday! What are you reading? [2]

'It's Monday! What are you reading?' is a meme hosted by Book Journey and consists of sharing what you have read this past week, what you hope to read this week, and whatever else fits in too.

READING NOW
I few days ago I decided it was finally time to pick up and read the last book in the Hunger Games Trilogy. I know I am really behind on reading this, but everytime I thought about reading it I wanted to save it for later. I absolutely loved the first two books and didn't want the trilogy to end. But I finally gave in the other day and started it. I'm only on chapter six I believe but I am already loving it.

 
TO READ NEXT 
Although this may chance, like it did last week, currently the next book I plan to pick up is Dreamland. I have actually had this on my bookshelf for atleast two years and keep forgetting about it for some reason. I think it is finally time to pick it up and enjoy one of Dessen's amazing books.




Another book high on my to read pile is Shadow Kiss. I have absolutely love the first two books in this series and think it is time to dive back in and read another. I do have reviews up of the first two book, with no spoilers, so check that out if you are interested, through the Review Archive tab above.

Make sure to comment below and link your 'It's Monday! What are you reading?' so I can make sure to check it out.

Happy Independence Day my Fellow (US) Readers

Hoping everyone is having a happy 4th of July! And a happy Monday for those not in the US! Just wanted to put up a quick post before I go and enjoy my day and share some photos with you all. None of these are my own photos so a link for credit can be reached through clicking on the photo. Hope you enjoy and stay safe! <3

'The Summoning' by Kelley Armstrong

I have been hearing so much about the Darkest Powers trilogy and decided it was time for me to finally see what all the hype was about. I ended up just borrowing it from the library, but now that I have finished it, I do wish I owned it since I definitely plan on reading the next two.

This trilogy is about a girl named Chloe who is sixteen years old and she starts seeing ghosts. After an incident at school, she is sent to Lyle House, which at first seems pretty normal and okay. Chloe creates some friends, and enemies, quickly and gets to know why they are all at Lyle House. This first book in the trilogy introduces all the characters at Lyle House and Chloe's growing suspicion that things aren't as they seem.

I will say that it did take me awhile to get into this book because I did find the beginning a bit slow and like not much was revealed until the second half of the book. But once it started to pick up, I really enjoyed the characters and story Armstrong put into writing. They were so real and raw, something that really made them stick in my brain, long after I finished the book.

Overall, I found this book to be original and suspenseful. I cannot wait to read the next. It leaves the reader with a huge cliffhanger that makes you feel for the characters and care what is going to happen to them. So if you are a fan of paranormal YA, this definitely one you need to pick up and the gorgeous cover doesn't hurt either.

Photo credit: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2800905-the-summoning
Overall rating: 3.5 / 5 stars
Recommend for: YA paranormal fans

TGIF [1] : 07/01/2011

TGIF was started over at GReads! where the blogger re-caps their posts during the past week and answers the question that is proposed for that specific Friday. I thought I'd give it a go this and see how I like it. I probably won't be doing it every week, but I'll try to stay consistent.

Question: Who are your favorite book couples?
This was definitely a difficult question for me, that led me to my Goodreads page trying to make sure I get this right. [: I'm 100% sure some are missing from this list and it probably reflects more of my recent reads, but for now it will have to do. And by the way, they are in no specific order:

1. Claire and Shane (Morganville Vampires)
2. Elizabeth and Darcy (Pride & Prejudice)
3. Anna and St. Clair (Anna and the French Kiss)
4. Rose and Dimitri (Vampire Academy)
5. Janie and Cabel (Dream Catchers trilogy)
6. Allie and Noah (The Notebook)
7. Katniss and Peeta (Hunger Games)

And now for the re-cap of my last week of posts. Click on each to be taken to the that specific one:

1. Review: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
2. Meme: It's Monday! What are you reading?
3. Meme: Teaser Tuesday of Survivor
4. News: VA #1 in Mass Market Paperback
5. Meme: Waiting on Wednesday
6. Review: Frostbite by Richelle Mead

Feel free to comment below with your favorite couples if you aren't up for doing a post. Otherwise definitely leave the link to your TGIF below and link it through GReads! as well. Happy Reading!