Mundie Moms

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Book Review: Original Sin


Published by Tor
To Be Released on July 5th
Source: ARC from author to review
4 stars- A Darker, Spicier Sequel

Luc Cain was born and raised in Hell, but he isn’t feeling as demonic as usual lately—thanks to Frannie Cavanaugh and the unique power she never realized she had. But you can’t desert Hell without consequences, and suddenly Frannie and Luc find themselves targeted by the same demons who used to be Luc’s allies.

Left with few options, Frannie and Luc accept the protection of Heaven and one of its most powerful angels, Gabe. Unfortunately, Luc isn’t the only one affected by Frannie, and it isn’t long before Gabe realizes that being around her is too…tempting. Rather than risk losing his wings, he leaves Frannie and Luc under the protection of her recently-acquired guardian angel.

Which would be fine, but Gabe is barely out the door before an assortment of demons appears—and they’re not leaving without dragging Luc back to Hell with them. Hell won’t give up and Heaven won’t give in. Frannie’s guardian exercises all the power he has to keep them away, but the demons are willing to hurt anyone close to Frannie in order to get what they want. It will take everything she has and then some to stay out of Hell’s grasp.

And not everyone will get out of it alive.

Dear Lisa Desrochers,

Thank you for *grabs a fan* I'm sorry, I've recently finished your sequel to Personal Demons, Original Sin and it's a little hot in here. Um, where was I? Oh yes, Thank you for writing a darker, spicier sequel that picks up not long after your debut left off and for spicing things up a bit. I'm sure this isn't just a book older teens will enjoy, but one their moms will as well. Wait, that came out wrong. You know what I mean. Your story has two interesting main love interests, a butt kicking female lead, and some fantastic twists with your characters and the plot. Not to mention you've definitely spiced things up a bit (a lot) to Luc's liking.

I thought you did an amazing job with integrating three different points of view for this story, and I liked getting inside the minds of your characters. Your introduction and twist to Matt definitely added to the story's plot line and something I was not excepting. I'm sure much to Luc's delight, but much to my dismay, I missed having Gabe around. Not that he's totally absent, but I missed having him around as much as he was in Personal Demons. I liked that Frannie is still the same kick butt, sarcastic character she was in Personal Demons. Hmm how do I express my thanks to Luc. No matter how hard I try to not like him as much as I like Gabe, he's a little hard not to like. I'm sure he'd say that's because he's irresistible, to which I might have to agree. Wow does he step it up a bit in Original Sin. I mean, well you wrote him so you know what I'm talking about and I won't mention specifics so I don't spoil anything, but things sure heat up...literally.

I liked how your story line kept me on my toes, and kept me guessing what was going to happen next. There were times things happened in your story that I was not excepting at all, kind of like your ending. Okay, I am still left in shock over your ending and now I'm wondering what in the world is going to happen next. With it's much hotter scenes, sensual context and mild language, this is definitely a book I'd recommend to older teens and fans who enjoyed Personal Demons.

Sincerely,
Mundie Moms

PS- If you are ever want us to read over some of Luc's scenes for book 3, we'd love to help.

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Be sure to enter our Original Sin giveaway that ends TODAY.
You can read Sophie's review/letter to Luc here.

Hourglass Blog Tour: Live Author Chat with Myra McEntire

We are so excited to be winding down our official Hourglass Blog Tour with a live author chat with Myra. Yes we will have GIVEAWAYS! If you haven't already, be sure to go pick up a copy of Hourglass. You can read my 5 star review here. You can go here to follow the rest of the tour. Tomorrow our blog tour will be coming to end on Prue Imagination's book review site. You don't want to miss her tour stop.


*Our chat will start at 8 pm CST/ 9 pm EST. To join, hit join and enter a screen name.

*We do our best to make sure all comments are published, but not all the questions may be answered in the hour time frame of the chat. Even if your questions and comments are not published, we and our guest can still read them.

* The reason why we moderate our chats is to allow our guest(s) to be able to come on and chat with their fans with out feeling overwhelmed by everyone talking to them at the same time.

*In respect to our guest's time, we will only publish comments that pertain to their current writings, and book.

* We often times have other author guests who join out chats, but we only publish questions pertaining to the author who is chatting with us tonight.

*We will not post any personal questions or comments.

* Any rude, disrespectful, or spam like comments will not be published.

*Thank you and we look forward to chatting with everyone tonight!

**No part of this chat is allowed to be used with out our permission**

Thoughtful Thursday- Star Ratings or No Ratings

Sophie and I have talked about this for awhile now about whether or not we should continue with star ratings. We see the pros and cons of star ratings and no star ratings. Lately we've done a mixture of reviews were we've kept up with our star ratings and on some we've left off star ratings. I am personally little torn on ratings. To keep this post short, here's two pros I see with both a rating system and a no rating system.

The Pros of Star Ratings:
*I like that star ratings system isn't just used by bloggers but any big review site like Amazon, Goodreads, and even Barnes & Noble for example. I'll admit I've been really bad about adding my reviews to B&N's site. With that aspect of rating I like that the ratings are all the same no matter which site you visit. Most people know 5 stars means you love and 1 means don't even bother picking up the book.
*I loved using a 5 point rating to express the fact that I either loved the book, really liked, thought it was good, okay or didn't like it at all, when I first starting blogging. Since then, it's just become a norm for me, though 5 stars has sense meant not only do I love the book, but it's one I'll read again.
The Pros of No Star Ratings:

* I like that I can just write my review without having to feel I need to label it with a "I loved this book" or "I really liked it". I think my feelings for the book are evident in my review.

* After using ratings for so long, I kind of what to break away from the norm and not rate books. Why can't it just be I either liked the book or I didn't.


I'm curious, do you like star ratings or do you like writing a review with out having to worry about what rating you'd give it? Do you like reading a review with star ratings? Do yourself use a rating system? Do star ratings effect your decision on whether or not you'll pick up the book?

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

An Exclusive Sneak Peak at Anne Ursu's BREADCRUMBS

Today on Mundie Kids we have the privilege of sharing an exclusive sneak peak at Anne Ursu's upcoming middle grade release, BREADCRUMBS. I am so excited for this book's release. It's a fabulous story that kids and adults a like will love. Here's a little bit about the book:


Illustrated by Erin McGuire
Published by Walden Pond Press
To Be Released on September 27th, 2011

A stunning modern-day fairy tale from acclaimed author Anne Ursu

Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friends. But that was before he stopped talking to her and disappeared into a forest with a mysterious woman made of ice. Now it's up to Hazel to go in after him. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," Breadcrumbs is a story of the struggle to hold on, and the things we leave behind.

Be sure to visit us here on Mundie Kids to see a sneak peak of the illustrations and read an excerpt from the story.

Hollywood Crush's 10 Most Anticipated Casting Announcements


Simon Lewis from Cassie's TMI series is among a few of our favorite fictional characters, which will all be on the big screen soon, that has made Hollywood Crush's 10 Most Anticipated Casting Announcements list.

Among the movies listed is City of Bones, Divergent, Vampire Academy, White Cat, Beautiful Creatures, Incarceron, The Host, and Delirium. I don't about you guys, but I'm looking forward to seeing each of these book to movie adaptations. CHEERS to some awesome YA books coming to the big screen.

What book to movie adaptations are you looking forward to seeing on the big screen?

Book Review: Flawless


Published by Bloomsbury
Released on May 10th, 2011
Source: book from publisher for review
4 stars- A Flawlessly Great Read

Sarah Burke is just about perfect. She's got killer blue eyes, gorgeous blond hair, and impeccable grades. There's just one tiny-all right, enormous-flaw: her nose. But even that's not so bad. Sarah's got the best best friend and big goals for print journalism fame.

On the first day of senior year, Rock Conway walks into her journalism class and, well, rocks her world. Problem is, her best friend, Kristen, falls for him too. And when Rock and Kristen stand together, it's like Barbie and Ken come to life. So when Kristen begs Sarah to help her nab Rock, Sarah does the only thing a best friend can do-she agrees. For someone so smart, what was she thinking?

This hip retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac is filled with hilariously misguided matchmaking, sweet romance, and a gentle reminder that we should all embrace our flaws (quoted from Goodreads)

Flawless is a light, fun, quick read with strong message about self-respect, and being happy and confident with who are you, looks and all. It's also a story about loyalty, friendship, love and family. Maybe it's the book geek in me, but I love reading a story that pulls in the classics and I liked what Lara did with her retelling and modernizing of the classic Cyrano de Bergerac.

I really liked the story's main character, Sarah. She's a beautiful character both outside and in and her only outward flaw is her large nose. Something that she at one time was insecure about, but she's learned to love it. Lara did a wonderful job on her realistic portrayal of how Sarah feels that's the one thing that everyone looks at. Even though she's accepted that her nose is part of who she is, she still feels that's all people see about her, when in reality it's not. Then there's her best friend Kristin, you know the one who's got those flawless looks and has it all together? Yeah, that one. These two have more than their good looks, they have a genuine, trust worthy, loyal friendship that I loved. I really enjoyed getting to know both Kristen and Sarah who have been best friend for years, and know everything little thing about each other. Not to mention they are completely loyal and supportive of each other, even when they both of their sites set on the hot new guy, Rock.

I understood Sarah's actions and her motives for not going after Rock, even though it's clear the two of them have an instant connection. They're both intelligent, caring characters who have a love of literature. While she never tells her best friend Kristen that she likes Rock too, she puts her feelings aside so Kristen can date him. The only time I got annoyed with both characters was when Kristen wanted Sarah to help her write messages on facebook or emails to Rock for her, because she didn't feel she was intelligent enough to do so. I felt that both characters were mature enough to not do something so juvenile. In the end everything works out and both girls learn something more about themselves.

I enjoyed getting to know Lara's realistic characters. They're not in-depth, but written in a very relatable way, and I felt like I was able to connect with them. I loved that Sarah isn't just beautiful, but she's smart and she's has a level of self respect that lacks in a lot of YA books. Flawless is a great, clean cut read with a powerful message about learning to love and embrace your flaws. If you're looking for a book that's fun, has a sweet romance and a great story about friendship, than I recommend picking up Flawless.

Waiting on Wednesday- Lola and the Boy Next Door

Published by Dutton/Penguin
To Be Released on September 29th, 2011

Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit -- more sparkly, more fun, more wild -- the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket -- a gifted inventor -- steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

I can not wait to get my hands on Lola and the Boy Next Door. I'm a huge fan of Stephanie's writing and I LOVED Anna and the French Kiss. While I know this book is different than her debut, I can't wait to meet and fall in love with Lola and Cricket. Seriously, I already love the fact she named her leading guy Cricket.

If you're in the Austin area in October, make sure you join us for the Austin Book Festival as Stephanie will be there!! Believe me, she's an author you want to meet.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Book Review: Imaginary Girls

By Nova Ren Suma
Published by Dutton Books
Released on June 14th, 2011
Source- ARC for review from publisher

Chloe's older sister, Ruby, is the girl everyone looks to and longs for, who can't be captured or caged. When a night with Ruby's friends goes horribly wrong and Chloe discovers the dead body of her classmate London Hayes left floating in the reservoir, Chloe is sent away from town and away from Ruby.

But Ruby will do anything to get her sister back, and when Chloe returns to town two years later, deadly surprises await. As Chloe flirts with the truth that Ruby has hidden deeply away, the fragile line between life and death is redrawn by the complex bonds of sisterhood.

Forgive me if this review does not make sense. Not only am I still trying to wrap my mind around what I've just read, but I can't talk about specific things in the story without giving anything away. One of the things that really drew to the book was it's cover. It's intriguing. It's one of those covers that has me wondering who the girl is, what her story is and what happened to her. Those same questions are what kept me turning the pages of Imaginary Girls. I had to know who Chloe really is, what happened to her and why she has such an unhealthy obsession over her sister Ruby. My answers came over the course of unraveling the complex plot. It wasn't until after I finished the book that I finally realized why the story was written the way it was.

Right off the bat I felt sympathy for Chloe, who over the course of the book ages from 14 to 17, and her older sister Ruby. They are such broken characters. They have a mother who's not around and for the most part neither of their father's are in the picture until the night of a party that sends Chloe living with a father she does't really know. The story begins when the girls are at a party at the reservoir, which no one is suppose to go swimming in, but Ruby tells everyone Chloe can swim it. Since Chloe lives to please her sister, she takes her up on her challenge to swim across the reservoir, which ends up changing her life. After that night Chloe finds herself living with a father she doesn't know in a different state and a way from Ruby. Things change again for Chloe when Ruby comes looking for her.

Being back with her sister, Chloe finds herself in a dark, twisted world and she begins to see her sister in a different light. I liked that both sisters have changed over the course of being apart, and this is where Nova's writing gets really twisted and unique, because not once was I able to figure out what direction the story was going to take. That is one of the things that kept me intrigued with the story. She slowly allowed me to see how everything around Ruby and Chloe starts to unravel. I'll admit, I was beyond frustrated with Ruby numerous times in the story, especially since she made such poor choices that effected Chloe. But, towards the end of the story I felt sympathy for her and I tried to understand why she did what she did. She really did the best she thought she could do. Chloe herself grows from an insecure girl who always wanted to please her older sister into a stronger character who slowly started to piece together things in her sisters life and wanted nothing more than to save her. Both sisters have a unique bond and would do anything for each other.

One of the things I liked about both sisters is how flawed they are. Well really all the characters are flawed, which in a way made them all feel realistic. There's also a lot of tension between characters that builds up through out story and ends up unraveling towards the end of the book.There are a lot of underlying themes that I liked in the story that made me think and wonder how on earth certain things just happened. Really this is a story about impossible things becoming possible. There were times I was frustrated with the story and confused with what exactly was going on, which was the point of the story. This was the first time I read a book where I literally had no idea what to except nor could I figure out what was going to happen next. I felt like I was just as trapped inside Ruby's world as Chloe was. I'm still trying to figure some things out, and Nova did a splendid job on writing a YA book unlike anything I've ever read before. I would recommend this for older teens and adults. This book has mentions of sex, scenes with under age drinking, smoking pot and very mild language in it.

Imaginary Girls Blog Tour: Guest Post & Giveaway

We're really excited to be the next stop in Penguin's Imaginary Girls blog tour. Today we have author Nova Ren Suma stopping by to talk about her book. First, here's a little about Imaginary Girls:

Chloe's older sister, Ruby, is the girl everyone looks to and longs for, who can't be captured or caged. When a night with Ruby's friends goes horribly wrong and Chloe discovers the dead body of her classmate London Hayes left floating in the reservoir, Chloe is sent away from town and away from Ruby.

But Ruby will do anything to get her sister back, and when Chloe returns to town two years later, deadly surprises await. As Chloe flirts with the truth that Ruby has hidden deeply away, the fragile line between life and death is redrawn by the complex bonds of sisterhood.

I’m here spilling secrets about my book Imaginary Girls. As the cover says, “Secrets never stay below the surface.” I guess not, because here’s another one bubbling up now…

Secret #7: The path to Olive is one I’ve walked before. And the rowboat is one I’ve been in.

It’s funny how real-world things slip into fiction as you’re writing—at least they do for me, often subconsciously. In Imaginary Girls, the narrator, Chloe, talks about how her older sister, Ruby, carved out her own private path through the trees to reach the rocky shore of the reservoir, where she said the drowned town of Olive used to be found. That was just another one of Ruby’s stories, Chloe tells herself, but what is not one of Ruby’s stories is the path itself to reach the reservoir. I actually did have a friend who found a secret way in to the reservoir, an unmarked entrance leading into the woods that he could somehow find even in the dark without a flashlight. This path led to the water, and I don’t know anyone else apart from him and our friends who knew about it. When I was writing, I followed this path in my memory. Or tried to. I always did have a hard time figuring out where it was, even with the help of a flashlight.

Since I moved away, I’ve heard security has gotten much more serious around the reservoir, as the Ashokan contains the water supply for New York City and is now under threat of terrorist attacks. I’m pretty sure the hole in the fence must have been fixed. So I doubt the path exists anymore—except in this book.

Another piece of real life that found its way into Imaginary Girls is the rowboat that Chloe bumps into while swimming in the reservoir one fateful night. I won’t say more for those who haven’t read the book yet, but I will say that I’ve seen this rusted old rowboat before. It was floating in the water one summer night during a party. We didn’t know who it belonged to or where it came from, but a bunch of us climbed aboard. There was some maneuvering, some splashing, and then the boat tipped over and guess who fell in?
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Be sure to follow Nova on her website and Twitter to keep up with all of her latest news.

You can read a sample of Imaginary Girls here.

After you watch the book trailer be sure to enter to win a copy of Imaginary Girls!

Thank you to Penguin, we have 1 SIGNED copy of Imaginary Girls to giveaway! To enter, please read the guidelines and fill out the form below:

* This is open to residents of the US only
* You must be 13 yrs & older to enter
* 1 entry per person/per email (more than 1 will result in all your entries being deleted)
* This giveaway will end on July 5th, 2011


Thank you to Nova for visiting with us today and to Penguin for the giveaway and our tour stop. Be sure to stop back by later today, as I'll be posting my review for Imaginary Girls.

Twitter Tuesday - Lauren Oliver

I was checking twitter throughout the day yesterday when this tweet caught my eye:

Amazon released a list of Best Books of 2011 (so far), really? Well, guess what book was no. 1? Lauren's DELIRIUM and I remembered how much I loved it all over again.

And then I hopped over to her blog and discovered a couple of exciting things. Lauren's releasing a middle grade book, Liesl and Po, on October 1, 2011. Here's the synopsis from goodreads:
We meet Liesl the night after the day her young father has died. That same day she is visited by a ghost, Po, an eight year old boy who lives on the other side, the territory between life and death that runs parallel to the living world. Po has come to tell her that her father is stuck on the other side, and that she is the only one who can help him cross over. A couple of wooden boxes. Some ashes. Some magic dust. A ghost, its pet, and a boy who forgot to wear a hat in the cold. From these seemingly odd, random characters Oliver weaves the enchanting story of how, with the aid of Liesl, these elements come together over the course of one week to restore love and luster to a world gone grey and heartless.
I am so excited that Lauren wrote a book which I can read with my soon-to-be third grader. My younger two are always curious about my favorite authors but at the ages of 6 and 8.5, they're not ready for YA stories. I'm looking forward to reading it. Now that summer's in full swing it makes me think -- which authors do you love to share with your kids?

Happy Book Release Day To:

































































* Fins Are Forever by Tera Lynn Childs (you can read my review here)
* Griffin Rising by Darby Karchut (you can read my review here)
* Luminous by Dawn Metcalf (you can read my review here)
* The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder
* Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

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