Mundie Moms

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Blog Tour / Book Trailer Premiere: Brightest Kind of Darkness by P.T. Michelle Blog Tour: Book Review / Giveaway


I'm thrilled to be apart of today's Brightest Kind of Darkness Blog Tour! Today's post features my review, the book trailer PREMIERE, and a fabulous giveaway!



By: P.T. Michelle
Released on: June 27th, 2011
Source: book from author to review/blog tour
4 stars: I Enjoyed It

Nara Collins is an average sixteen-year-old, with one exception: every night she dreams the events of the following day. Due to an incident in her past, Nara avoids using her special gift to change fate…until she dreams a future she can’t ignore.

After Nara prevents a bombing at Blue Ridge High, her ability to see the future starts to fade, while people at school are suddenly being injured at an unusually high rate.

Grappling with her diminishing powers and the need to prevent another disaster, Nara meets Ethan Harris, a mysterious loner who seems to understand her better than anyone. Ethan and Nara forge an irresistible connection, but as their relationship heats up, so do her questions about his dark past.

A thrilling paranormal read given the right amount of suspense, plenty of mystery that kept me hooked from beginning to end, and the oh so fabulous character chemistry that kept me turning the pages. Brightest Kind of Darkness was a book that I surprisingly enjoyed more than I thought I would. P.T.  Michelle's writing is great, and now I see why everyone has raved about her books. She provides plenty of detail, unsuspecting plot twits, a surprisingly terrifying villain, and plenty of heart pounding moments as well as moments that might have left me sighing once or twice. 

One of the things I love about a well written book is when I feel like I've escaped into a whole another world for a bit, and yet still feel like that world could really be apart of reality. This book has an intriguing original storyline set in modern day which gave it a very realistic feel, and I liked like that about this book. For the story's main character, Nara, life consists of high school, being a star soccer player, exploring a new relationship and trying to make sense of what her dreams and her lack of dreams are telling her. Nora for me was a great character to get to know. She's witty, has a great voice, and I found her to be both likable and realistic. This made it very easy for me to sympathize with her and emotionally connect with her when I needed to. There were times I wondered what I would have done or wondered how I would have handled some of the things she deals with. I truly enjoyed her voice, and that's one of the things that kept me hooked with her story.

Then there is Ethan. That incredibly enchanting "dark haired" boy with piercing eyes, a dark secret or two, who at first seems rough around the edges, has a gorgeous smile, and connects with Nara on a level no one else has before. Seems familiar right? Wrong! P.T. did an excellent job at surprising me with Ethan. I loved him from the moment I met him, and talk about a great character chemistry, these two have it. Instead of just creating "another one of those" relationships, P.T. created something a little different which gave Ethan and Nara's relationship depth, and made it feel realistic. I love how Nara questioned things, and thought things through, as well as trusted herself and her gut feeling with Ethan. Ethan himself becomes a knight in shining armor, and I love that Nara makes a joke about that in one scene after something happens.

This is book is packed full of fabulous moments between Ethan and Nara, as well as plenty of moments that will leave your heart racing, and in the end will give you a book you'll want to read more of. My only compliant with the book is that were one too many times I felt scenes were a little too detailed. It's not a bad thing, and it's most likely something a lot of readers will not even pick up. I've noticed that more and more books I read, the pickier I get with how detailed a scene is, and believe me I love detail, but I don't want a scene to have so much detail it makes me want to skip it. Aside from that, I really enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to reading Lucid, because I NEED TO KNOW what is going to happen next. Also, I totally love this cover. It captures the feel of the book perfectly. I'd recommend picking it up. 

*******

AND NOW, check out this BOOK TRAILER!!! I am so thrilled to be revealing the trailer for P.T. Michelle's Brightest Kind of Darkness. 



About the Author:
P.T. Michelle is author of the young adult series BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS. When P.T. isn’t writing, she can usually be found reading or taking pictures of landscapes, sunsets and anything beautiful or odd in nature.


LUCID: BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS, BOOK 2
Once Nara combines her prophetic ability with Ethan’s power to outsmart Fate at his own deadly cat-and-mouse game, she’s more determined than ever to help Ethan learn the meaning behind the raven sword tattoo that suddenly appeared on his back after their confrontation with Fate.

During her quest to uncover the tattoo’s secrets, Nara enlists the help of some new friends and discovers her own surprising connection to Ethan.

While Nara digs deeper into the mystery, her desire for answers leads her down a dangerous path full of powerful and ruthless enemies. Swept into an age-old battle, Nara quickly learns that keeping one’s enemies close can be a necessary evil, making an intangible enemy she can control far more preferable to the human enemies she can’t. 




The Giveaway: 



Today's giveaway includes 10 ebooks of BKod/Lucid (international) and 1 SIGNED paperback copy of BKoD (US only)! To enter, please fill out this form below

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo


Published by: Henry Holt & Co
Released on: June 5th, 2012
Source: ARC from publisher/purchased book
5 stars: I LOVED IT!

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha…and the secrets of her heart.

A sensational debut! Leigh Bardugo has mastered the art of story telling with her richly detailed, highly addictive fantasy. Her vivid world building, intriguing characters, and engaging storyline were pieced together perfectly. Shadow and Bone is a story rich in lore, added with darkness, given hope, and fueled by love. I did not want this story to end! I've said this before, and I'm going to say it again here, this year is the year of debut authors! I'm again in awe over phenomenal writing, incredible story telling, and a world I want more of. 

Leigh Bardugo's writing style is one I loved. She's an author who throws you right into the mix of what's going on. While the story starts out with a brief back story with the main character Alina and her best friend Mal, the following chapter puts readers right into the mix of everything that's going on and it doesn't slow down until the last page. What I loved about Leigh's writing is the way she tells the story. I felt like she is one of few authors I've read recently who have mastered that show and tell style of storytelling. She doesn't give you more than you need in this story, while at the same time in certain scenes she gives you just enough which fueled my addiction to this book. It hooked me from page one and I didn't stop reading it until I was done. Her writing, the elements that make up Shadow and Bone, and the flow of the storyline are masterfully pieced together. I'm sitting here writing my review withholding my urge to yell, "I WANT MORE!".

How could I not want more. This world is a dark, rich world that is beautiful, dangerous and enticing. The characters are ones I fell in love with. The secrets that unravel through out the course of this story are fabulous. Not to mention the love story that fuels this story is breathtaking. It's one of those slow burning romances that makes you want to quickly get to the end of the book so you know what happens, and yet leaves you clinging to each page as you devour every moment between the characters. 

I LOVED, loved, loved what Leigh did with Alina and Mal. What starts off as an incredible friendship turned into a realistic romance that left me yearning for more. The relationship between Alina and the Darkling was so well crafted. THANK YOU Leigh for not creating a love triangle. Finally, a story with two totally different, yet perfectly written relationships and it doesn't have a love triangle.  Not only that, the romance in this story is only small part of the over all story arch. You'll see what I mean when you read this book. I seriously wish I could elaborate on what it is I loved about each relationship, but I can't for the sake of spoilers. Just trust me when I say it's good!

If you're looking for a richly crafted fantasy, then you must pick up this book!! This is a brilliantly told story, and one I HIGHLY recommend reading. You'll be seeing this book on my top ten list of at the end of this year. I literally can not wait for book 2 to be out. This is a book I'll definitely be reading again. I'll rarely say this, as I'm not a huge fan of all the different YA books that are being optioned for movies, but I really hope this one makes it to the big screen!

You can learn more about Shadow & Bone's world here. If you're in the Austin area this weekend, stop by the Austin Teen Book Festival, as Leigh will be there!

Thoughtful Thursday: Make A Wish Foundation; A Wish Granted via the TMI Movie


 Sophie and I hold a special place in our hearts for children's organizations, namely Children's Hospitals, Make A Wish Foundation etc, etc. These organizations both hold special places in our hearts as we've have both witnessed first hand how these organizations have changed the lives of people near and dear to us. I won't lie, I got a little teary eyed over Cassie's tumblr post yesterday that said this:



My hand, Jamie Campbell-Bower (Jace’s) hand, Lily Collins (with the two silver rings) (Clary’s) hand and Grace’s hand.

Grace is our girl from the Make A Wish foundation — it was her wish to be on the Mortal Instruments set and be an extra. And she looked fabulous! Look for her big screen debut in August! (Taken with Instagram)


You can find out more about Make a Wish and donating here: http://www.wish.org/


I already knew how amazing The TMI fandom was, as well as the cast and crew who are making the TMI movie, but this just put them on a whole new pedal stool for me. I LOVE that everyone involved with this made it their mission to grant the wish of Grace!

Grace, you are an amazing girl and I can't wait to see you on the big screen!

To learn more about Make A Wish, and find out how you can help grant the wish of some incredible kids, please stop by here http://www.wish.org/.

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