Mundie Moms

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Book Review & Blog Tour: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer



Published by: Simon & Schuster
Released on: September 27th, 2011 TODAY
Source: ARC from publisher to review
4.5 stars: I REALLY Enjoyed It


Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.- quoted from Goodreads

Michelle Hodkin's delivers a debut that is haunting, edgy, swoon worthly, sarcastic, intriguing and totally messes with your mind. In essence, it's fabulous! I can honestly say I've not read a more twisted, engaging story that left me mulling over it long after I finished.

With characters who are flawed, are in many ways relatable, and are written in an in-depth realistic way, it wasn't hard for me to become absorbed with them and their stories. Each character brought something different to Mara's story. Whether that was some sort of family stability, friendship, a normal family relationship, drama, haunting, love, romance, sarcasm and acceptance. What I admired the most about Michelle's characters is how imperfect they all are.

Mara herself is a complex character, layered character who's world is simply crazy. Well her world isn't, but after her accident that she remembers little about it, it's left her feeling like she's going mental or just crazy. It was intriguing for me to read about how normal she tries to be, while fighting what's going on in her mind. A perfect match to Mara's "peachy" side is Noah. I LOVED their sarcasm, chemistry and that underlining swoon worthy tension that builds as the story progressive between them. I think the best way to describe him is by saying I swear he and Jace are some how related.

Michelle's debut is best described as a blend of mystery, mixed with sarcasm, craziness and romance. Her writing is hauntingly beautiful and so unique. I'm in awe over the way she was able to make me feel like I was apart of the craziness of Mara's world. I liked that each time I thought I was starting to figure out just who Mara Dyer was, another twist would get thrown into the plot line and throw me off. I really don't know how to describe Mara's world other than saying it's something you'd have to read to understand it.

If you're looking for something utterly unique in the YA section, pick up The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. It's definitely a read that will stick with you for a while. On a side note, I LOVE this cover! Not only is it captivating to look at it, but it really captures Mara and Noah's relationship (at least I think so, but maybe I'm delusional). This is definitely a read I'd recommend to reading 13 yrs & older. There is some mild language and some uses of the f word.





Today we, along with Books Complete Me are celebrating the release of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by co-hosting our tour stops for the Mara Dyer blog tour. I'm excited to not only share some art work from Mara's sketchbook, but we've got an AWESOME giveaway!! First, Mara's sketches:

One of my favorite scenes from Mara's story is centered around her sketchbook and what Noah does to help her. That's being vague, but I'm keeping is spoiler free. Noah not only says something that makes me laugh out loud, but Michelle sets up the scene perfectly for something to happen between Mara and Noah.

Here's two of Mara's sketches that are Noah's hands;


GIVEAWAY:

Thanks to Michelle Hodkin and Books Complete Me we are giving away a SIGNED, FINISHED, FULLY ANNOTATED copy of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer to one lucky winner!

The Rules:
  • - We, along with Books Complete Me are giving away one (1) signed, annotated, finished copy (visit Books Complete Me for another chance to win!)
  • - Open to U.S. Mailing Addresses Only
  • - You must be 13 yrs & older to enter
  • - 1 entry per person
  • - Giveaway ends at midnight 9/30/11
You will need to fill out the FORM below to enter, but be warned, you will have to work for this one of a kind prize!

Here's some helpful links to help you find your answers:




The Scavenger Hunt Giveaway:


Be sure to follow all 21 stops in this exciting tour! Each stop will be posting a letter or character that makes a complete phrase from the book. You will need to visit EACH stop to collect the letters and symbols in order to make the word, which has to do something important from the book. After you piece together each of the puzzle pieces go HERE to fill out THIS FORM. This giveaway ends on at midnight on 9/30.

If I Die Blog Tour: A Day In the AfterLife of Tod & Giveaway!



HAPPY RELEASE DAY to Rachel Vincent's If I Die! I'm so excited to be the next stop in Kismet's If I Die Blog Tour. Today we've got a fabulous surprise from Rachel, who has given us a sneak peak into Tod's life for a day AND there's 2 GIVEAWAYS linked below!!


A Day in the AfterLife of Tod


8:00 AM – Another cup of coffee. Pecan caramel, this time. I’ve tried every flavor of creamer the cafeteria has. The coffee still sucks.

8:54 AM – These ER chairs were manufactured in the 70’s. I swear, cave men were more comfortable sitting on logs and rocks. That’s it. I’m filing that requisition form today. Eight months of practicing the attending physician’s signature is about to pay off…

9:47 AM – Rush hour traffic collision. Crushed sternum. Splinters of bone sticking through his skin. Two punctured lungs. Death is a mercy. Hey, is that coffee on his shirt? Smells good. Wonder what kind of creamer he uses?

10:38 AM – Third period. Kaylee has no class this period. I have no one to kill. Coincidence, or fate?

11:54 AM – Six minutes left on my shift. I will not go to the school after work. I will not go to the school after work. I will not go to the school after

12:22 PM – Lunch in the quad. Nash is having pizza. I don’t care if I never see another slice of pizza. Kaylee’s wearing that blue shirt again. That one that matches her eyes. She looks tired. I will not show myself to her at lunch. I will not show myself to her at lunch. I will not show

12:24 PM – Nash’s pizza tastes as bland as it looks. But since I already took a bite, he said I should just take the rest of it. Wonder what would happen if I took a nibble on Kaylee…?

1:48 PM – Wonder what would happen if I switch the labels on some of the bottles in the chemistry lab’s storage closet? Ooh! Or I could test the acidity of the toilet bowl water with these litmus strips. I’m betting it’s acidic…

2:36 PM – Seriously, why do they still teach history in school? If it’s going to repeat itself anyway, can’t we just catch it the next time around?

3:02 PM – School’s out. Only nine more hours to kill until there will be actual people to kill. Er…reap.

4:22 PM – Large pepperoni and sausage. There in 30 minutes, or your money back. Minus the 50 second commute, and the actual delivery leaves me 25 minutes to pop over to Mom’s house for a brownie.

4:26 PM – Kaylee and Nash are trying to swallow each other whole. I suggested they eat the brownies instead. Nash threw one at me. My appetite is gone.

4:40 PM – There’s never anything good on TV. At the hospital, they only play news and cartoons. And not the good cartoons. The ones where animals dance around and some little girl with a big head counts in Spanish. Ayúdame!

4:41 PM –If Nash and Kaylee are going to make out instead of watching the movie, they should just hand over the remote.

4:42 PM – The remote slid down between them on the couch, and I am not going after it.

4:43 PM – I wonder if there’s any reasonable way to reinterpret the phrase “Get the hell out of here, Tod” to mean “Please stay and help us maintain the PG rating on this hormonal train wreck.” Maybe if I rearrange the letters…

5:58 PM – Dude. Do NOT answer the door in your underwear. No two dollar tip is worth that. Now I’m going to have to find something prettier to purge that mental image. Mangled bunny road kill should do the trick.

7:00 PM – Is it time to reap souls yet?

7:01 PM – Seriously, has time stopped moving? Is this what eternity feels like?

9:10 PM – Kaylee’s practicing conjugating irregular verbs for a French test tomorrow. I said I’d check the verb chart for her, but this stupid language has more sounds than letters, and I’m not sure I even remember how to conjugate English verbs.

9:24 PM – I have no idea what she’s saying, but it’s hot.

11:05 PM – Sabine suggests we play Guess Whose Life Sucks Worse. I can’t lose this one. I’m not even alive.

11:14 PM – New game. Guess Whose Love Life Sucks Worse. It’s a tie. A big, pathetic tie.

1:00 AM – An hour into my shift, and no one’s died yet. Is it possible to be bored to death if you’re already dead?

3:42 AM – Massive cranial and spinal trauma from head-on collision. A cause-of-death near and dear to my heart. Now we’re talkin’…

5:19 AM – The guy in room 434 looks tired. He looks done. We both know this is the last room he’ll ever see, and he’s ready to end it. He deserves a merciful, peaceful death in his sleep. But he’s not scheduled to go for another four days. Poor guy. Sometimes I wish I was the boss.

7:43 AM – Hit-and-run at an elementary school crosswalk. She can’t be more than eight years old. I hate my job.

8:00 AM – Parents crying in the waiting room. They don’t know yet. I wish I didn’t know. I wish I didn’t have to see her last moments. I wish I didn’t have to be her last moments. I’m sick of white walls and endings. The only thing that doesn’t end in this place is me. I don’t end. I just go on, and on, swinging that scythe glued to my hand. There’s no rhythm to the strokes. Few see death coming, and even those who do see death don’t see me. Because there is no me. Not anymore. Always the reaper, never the reaped. Soon that won’t bother me. Soon I won’t care. Emotional death follows physical death at a different pace for each reaper. I’ve put it off for more than two years, but it’s inevitable.

It would take a miracle to keep me alive on the inside.

When I was a kid, my mom said that everyone gets one miracle. She said the trick is recognizing your miracle from a distance, so you’re ready when it arrives. I’m watching. I’m waiting.

I’m ready for my miracle.



Published by: Harlequin Teen
Released on: September 27th, 2011 TODAY
Website: Soul Screamers on Facebook

No one wants to be this teacher's pet.......

The entire school's talking about the gorgeous new math teacher, Mr. Beck. Everyone except Kaylee Cavanaugh. After all, Kaylee's no ordinary high-school junior. She's a banshee—she screams when someone dies.

But the next scream might be for Kaylee.

Yeah—it's a shock to her, too. So to distract herself, Kaylee's going to save every girl in school. Because that hot new teacher is really an incubus who feeds on the desire of unsuspecting students. The only girls immune to his lure are Kaylee and Sabine, her boyfriend's needy ex-girlfriend. Now the unlikely allies have to get rid of Mr. Beck…before he discovers they aren't quite human, either.

But Kaylee's borrowed lifeline is nearing its end. And those who care about her will do anything to save her life.

Anything. - quoted from Goodreads

________________________________

DAILY Giveaway
Win two copies of IF I DIE books - one for you and one to share with a friend! Contest runs 24 hours only!

To enter, tweet the following:
Happy IF I DIE Release Day - Follow the #SoulScreamersTour for daily giveaways & a NookTouch http://wp.me/P1r4rR-fv @rachelkvincent



NookTouch Giveaway
Your chance to win a Nook Touch! US/Canada only. Runs until October 8th. Gather multiple entries:
  • Follow Rachel Vincent on twitter +3

  • "Like” Rachel Vincent on Facebook +3

  • "Like” The Soul Screamers on Facebook +3

  • Sign up for Rachel’s email subscription to get all the latest news from Rachel’s blog +3

  • Promote the tour by adding the badge (below) to your blog and link back to the tour page + 5

  • Add up your entries and fill out the form to be entered to win.

  • Want even more chances to win?!? Oh sure! Leave a comment on this blog +1 (up to 10 points if you comment at each tour stop)

For your chance to win the Nook, please go HERE to fill out the entry form.


About Rachel Vincent - Visit Rachel on her website, blog, twitter, facebook & on youtube
A resident of San Antonio, Rachel Vincent has a BA in English and an overactive imagination, and consistently finds the latter to be more practical. She shares her workspace with two black cats (Kaci and Nyx) and her # 1 fan. Rachel is older than she looks-seriously-and younger than she feels, but remains convinced that for every day she spends writing, one more day will be added to her lifespan.

Tour Schedule: Please go HERE see the complete list of all the tour stops.

Happy Release Day To:


Look at all the lovely YA releases out today!








































September 27th Releases:
  1. The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton
  2. Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
  3. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
  4. The Mephisto Covenant by Trinity Faegen
  5. A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies
  6. If I Die by Rachel Vincent
  7. Lost in Time (A Blue Bloods Novel) by Melissa de la Cruz
  8. Indelible by Lani Woodland
  9. Ashfall by Mike Mullin
  10. Shifting by Bethany Wiggins


Up Coming Releases:

















September 29th Releases:
  1. The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
  2. Lola & The Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins


Last Week's Releases:
































September 20th Releases:
  1. The Girl of Fire & Thorns by Rae Carson,
  2. Beautiful Days(Bright Young Things #2) by Anna Godbersen
  3. Goliath (Leviathan) by Scott Westerfeld
  4. The Slayer Chronicles: First Kill by Heather Brewer
  5. Enthralled edited by Melissa Marr & Kelley Armstrong

Twitter Tuesday: Picktainment's Interview with Cassie


Last night, while I was scrolling through tweets, I found this fun interview, "Cassandra Clare and Her Mortal Instruments" done by picktainment. Here's my favorite question and yes, I am still laughing remembering Simon's (accurate) description of Clary's boyfriend:

Q.  Do you think Clary Fray (the protagonist of The Mortal Instruments) would get along with Harry Potter? We know he has a thing for redheads…

Cassie: Well, as Simon says in City of Fallen Angels, “Clary has a boyfriend. The nuclear bomb of boyfriends.” So I think they would be strictly platonic, but sure, they’d get along. They could complain about how it sucks to always have to be battling the evil dude.
For the rest of the interview, go to picktainment.com and see which TMI/ID character Cassie would prefer to have dinner with as well as the answer to whether or not she'd ever write a dystopian story.

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