Mundie Moms

Monday, January 28, 2013

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones Takes 2nd Place!



We almost did it! Despite not walking away with 1st place in MTV's Movie Brawl 2013, the TMI fandom proved that a movie that hasn't even been released yet, and doesn't have nearly the movie following it's competition, The Hunger Games has, is a force to be reckoned with. Taking the silver/2nd place is a huge thing for us fans. I'm amazed at how the TMI fandom has pulled together to vote and spread the word. Though if there were any movie that we had to lose 1st place to, I'd would have chosen Catching Fire. 


MTV had this to say: 
Once the second consecutive trip to the finals was confirmed for “The Hunger Games” franchise, that’s when the real battle began. In a tournament that notched 10 million votes, the results pointed to a clear, 100,000-vote win for “Catching Fire” over “The Mortal Instruments.” The strong showing from the Shadowhunters proved that the YA adaptation is a force to be reckoned with.

Well said MTV! I totally agree. I'm pretty sure Jace would agree too. ;)



Martin Moskowicz tweeted: 
TMI fandom rules. I am so excited that TMI made it to the finals without a movie being already released.


 I think it's huge that we made it to second place with any movies being out. I can only imagine how far we'll go next year or the year after when City of Ashes is out. Awesome job TMI fans! 

Book Review / Giveaway: Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi



By: Tahereh Mafi
Published by: Harper Teen
To Be Released on: February 5th, 2013
Series: Shatter Me #2
Source: ARC from publisher to review
5 Stars: I LOVED IT! I Want Need More
Pre-Order from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Check it out: Follow the Shatter Me page on facebook

tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
it's almost
time for war.

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.

She's finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.

Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam's life -quoted from GoodReads

Unravel Me is an intensely additive read with danger, hot romances, and a few shocking twists that will leave you begging for more! Tahereh Mafi out did herself with this sequel. When you finish the last page you'll fight the urge to want to sit there and re-read it all over again. This is a book you will not be able to put down. 

This has been one this year's most anticipated books for me and holy awesome Tahereh Mafi writing this book not only lived up to my exceptions, it blew them away like I knew it would. It wasn't only those shocking plot twists that did it for me, but that kissy scene towards the end of the book is just as hot at the holy water scene between Tessa and Will. Infernal Device fans know exactly what I'm talking about. Holy hotness batman! I can't even talk about this scene without giving anything away. All I will say is Tahereh left me speechless after this scene and that's not something that happens very often. *fans self* There's more to this scene that just the kissing, and no, I'm not talking about that... get your heads out of the gutter. I'm talking about the twist that is this scene. *fan girl dances around and runs off to read it again*

This book!! I'm sorry. I've turned into a total fan girl over this book. I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Shatter Me, but Unravel Me, seriously unraveled all sorts of shocking twists and then it ENDED! Seriously, this book was not meant to end, and especially on the note it ended on. I love this sequel. Really, truly love it. Normally when I'm reading a series I pick up the sequel not excepting to love it as much as the first book, but there are those few series that completely sweep me off my feet and make me love the sequel as much or more than the first book. Those series turn into me into this fan girl reviewer who wants to just by in all caps READ THIS BOOK! I LOVED IT and be done with my review. There are so many things I want to gush about with this book, but I can't because of spoilers. I will say, Tahereh threw me for a loop a few times with the storyline. I did not see some of the events that happened, coming. Talk about shocking plot twists, there are some awesome twists in this story! 

Aside from the shocking twists and that those HOT, HOT kissy scenes (yes there is more than one scene), I loved getting to see Juliette in a different light. She's still that incredibly strong women I loved from the moment I met her in Shatter Me, but this time around I felt I connected with her a bit more on an emotional level. She's not only coping with living in the compound, which would drive me as crazy as it's driving her,  she's also battling with her heart, and her urge to want to seek revenge over things that happen in this book, on top of learning to control her power. In the mix of all this Juliette has to make some tough choices. When your power of touch can kill the person you love, is it worth being with them? It is worth you're killing them or worth loving them from a distance? I felt like I was anguishing over the choices Juliette had to make, especially when it came to Adam. These two are so ridiculous cute together. I also cheered on that "I will kill you if you mess with those I love" side of her. She's my hero right now. She's fearless, brave and this girl can kick some butt. 

Call me demented, but I fell for Warner a bit in Shatter Me. Yes I know he has his issues, and by the end of the book I loved that Juliette did what she did to him to get away in that one scene. But with UNRAVEL ME, Tahereh made me fall in love in Warner all over again! Yes I know it's probably wrong to admit that, but dang it, she made me see him in a completely different light and I couldn't help it. I actually felt bad for him, and have this hope he might/could change. At the same time, there's something that seems a little off.  He's cunning, and he knows what to say, how to say it and how to win the game he's playing. I'm torn with him. Part of me wants to know what he's getting at, and the other part of me thinks he really can change. Curse you Tahereh for making me fall for Warner. He's that classic broken bad boy that I can't help but fall for. 

Unravel Me is AWESOME! READ THIS BOOK! I LOVED IT! I don't know what else to say. If you've read this book and want to talk spoilers, email me or message me on Goodreads! I'm dying to talk about this book with someone. 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS for a a UNRAVEL ME CHAT!! That's right, this THURSDAY 1/31/13 at 8 pm we're chatting LIVE with Tahereh here on MM's!!! It's going to be a spoiler free chat. :) We're have to other guest authors stopping by to chat with us as well. Oh and thank you to Harper Teen, I'm not only giving away a copy of UNRAVEL ME that night of the chat, I've got a copy to giveaway NOW!!! Want to win? Fill out the form below:



Book Review: The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd



By: Megan Shepherd
Published by: Harper Teen
To Be Released on: January 29th, 2013
Source: ARC from publisher to review
4.5 stars: I Really Enjoyed It!
Pre-Order from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Series: The Madman's Daughter #1
Browse Inside

In the darkest places, even love is deadly.

Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.

Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father's madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island's inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius—and madness—in her own blood.

Inspired by H. G. Wells's classic The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Madman's Daughter is a dark and breathless Gothic thriller about the secrets we'll do anything to know and the truths we'll go to any lengths to protect - quoted from Goodreads

A deliciously dark, twisted read, The Madman's Daughter is one of those books that's part intriguing, part utterly insane, and the other part hard to put down. There's something to be said about an author who can creature a world that's just as fascinating as it is repulsive. After all, when you're dealing with a madman, his daughter, a twisted romance, and uninhabitable island where the impossible exists, you'd find it hard to put this book down as well. I won't lie, this book has some a lot of dark undertones in it, but what true Gothic thriller doesn't. Part of what lured me into this book was the setting, the wanting to know what the heck was going on, and Megan's incredible writing. 

Let's talk about the writing for a moment, since Megan's writing is what sold me on this brilliantly written debut. Megan's writing is beautiful, descriptive, and full of life. It literally got my attention the moment I started reading the book, and held it till the end. You know there are books you read, and you feel like you're just reading words, and then there are books who's words breathe life into the book you're reading. The later is what Megan's writing is like. She could have written about anything and I could have found myself hooked with her poetic words. Normally it's the characters that bring a book to life for me, but Megan's writing is what did me over with this book. I posted a sample of her writing in my previous post, which features some of my favorite quotes from the book. The romantic scenes made me swoon, the dark twists repulsed me as much as they fascinated me and the twists shocked me. Who needs to read a ghost story to give them the creeps, when you could read this book!? *shudders* 

One of the things I enjoyed about The Madman's Daughter is Juliet herself. Set during a time when women are proper and the mention of a leg or a touch of the wrist was improper, I found Juliet to be this independent, strong, individual thinker who didn't allow society to change who she was. Ironically her society once embraced her and her high standing family, but once news of her father's insane medical practices borderlined something evil, she was all about outed by her society. Juliet's fierce determination, strong personality, and her courage to do what is right is what I felt kept her alive and made her a survivor whether it was on the streets of London or while on the Island she finds herself on with her madman of a father and his twisted experiments. Can I just say as much as I was horrified at the descriptive nature of what her father was doing, I was also intrigued by it as well. It really does take a madman to experiment on humans and animals and combine the two to create creatures that defy nature. Juliet's concerns, and questioning what was going was beyond justified. I felt she acted in away any sane person would. She challenged her father, she challenged those around her to really think about what was going on.

Doesn't a tropical island sound romantic? This island unfortunately is far from it. It harbors a lot of dark, disturbing things, but if you're Juliet than yes, this island does have it's romantic moments. Especially if you're trapped there with two hunky gentleman, one you grew up and the other you found a drift at sea while on your long voyage to the middle of no where. Yeah, poor Juliet had to deal with two Victorian era men who both wanted to claim her heart, one her father's assistant Montgomery and the other Edward, the gentlemen they saved who had been drifting at sea for days. Don't worry, this is not a love triangle. This romance is evident right off the bat on who has Juliet's heart, though I liked that options were explored. It made perfect sense, especially given that guys have a few twisted, dark secrets they're keeping from Juliet. There's the right amount of stolen moments, heart break, and well that sweet love that made it hard for me to choose which guy I wanted Juliet to pick.

The Madman's Daughter is an excellent first book in a trilogy that's sure to be a huge hit. It's definitely set a high bar for what's to come, and I'm looking forward to seeing what's in store for the characters I've read about. Given that ending I'm dying to know what's going to happen next. 

Blog Tour: The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd

Welcome to today's stop in Harper Teen's The Madman's Daughter, blog tour. Today I'm excited to share 5 of my favorite quotes with you from the book. First here's a little bit about the book, which is being released TOMORROW!


By: Megan Shepherd
Published by: Harper Teen
To Be Released on: January 29th, 2013


In the darkest places, even love is deadly.

Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.

Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father's madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island's inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius—and madness—in her own blood.

Inspired by H. G. Wells's classic The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Madman's Daughter is a dark and breathless Gothic thriller about the secrets we'll do anything to know and the truths we'll go to any lengths to protect - quoted from Goodreads

One of the things I love about books, are the quotes I often find in them. One of the things I regret not doing, is not compiling all the quotes I find. This tour gave me the perfect opportunity to mark a few of my favorite passages. Please note these are all taken from the ARC and may change with the published copy of the book.

* "It's safe. You're not in danger." He held out a hand as thought he was claiming a wild horse, his hansom features set with seriousness and concern. The recognition in that expression nearly unbalanced the cadence of my heart. He was two years older than me, the son of our scullery maid. When his mother died when he was very young, my parents kept him on to help with the horses and father's research. I'd had on of those helpless crushes on him girls get before they even know what live is, but he had disappeared six years ago, the same time as my father. Wanting nothing more to do with our terrible family secrets, I'd assumed. 

Now here he was, flesh and blood and blue eyes and a total mystery. - pg. 33

* Breath slipped from my lips, pressed by some invisible force. A connection was growing between us, pulsating between us in time with the beating of my heart. That might not be my last dream about Edward Prince, I realized. And the next on might be be unwelcome. - page 140

* "You know how I feel about you. You don't have to say anything in return- it doesn't matter. I came here to protect you and that's what I intend to do." Tomorrow we'll find our way back to the compound. We'll act like everything is fine-we just got lost in the jungle while exploring. And then we'll find a way to get off this island." He brushed my hair behind one ear. "I won't let anything hurt you." - pages 206-207

* "As you wish." - pg. 217

* He sighed. Those fathomless blue eyes swallowed me, making me helpless. "Juliet..."

My cheeks burned. All I could thing of was his lips on my pulsing veins. I blinked, trying to regain my reason. He'd be easier to argue with if he weren't so attractive. 

"If you kiss me right now, I'll slap you," I said. But my threat was barely a murmur. The heat from his body made my skin sizzle. - pages 327-328

Check back later this morning to read my spoiler free review. 

Mundane Monday #172: Tessa & Will



"I have always wanted to do this," he said, "every moment of every hour of everyday that I have been with you since the day I met you. But you know that. You must know. Don't you?"

- Clockwork Prince, the Dirty Sexy Balcony scene

Artwork source

Who Is Marcus Finch? Clue #5




Welcome to Penguin Teen's Who is Marcus Finch? two week campgain! Over the next two week's myself and a handful of other fabulous blogs will be treating you to a daily quote/teaser, giving you clues into who Marcus is. Today's clue is:


Dying to get your hands on The Indigo Spell? Be sure here to by and read an excerpt from the book before it's out. Enter to win a copy of the book HERE


In the aftermath of a forbidden moment that rocked Sydney to her core, she finds herself struggling to draw the line between her Alchemist teachings and what her heart is urging her to do. Then she meets alluring, rebellious Marcus Finch--a former Alchemist who escaped against all odds, and is now on the run. Marcus wants to teach Sydney the secrets he claims the Alchemists are hiding from her. But as he pushes her to rebel against the people who raised her, Sydney finds that breaking free is harder than she thought. There is an old and mysterious magic rooted deeply within her. And as she searches for an evil magic user targeting powerful young witches, she realizes that her only hope is to embrace her magical blood--or else she might be next.

Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, the Bloodlines series explores all the friendship, romance, battles, and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive—this time in a part-vampire, part-human setting where the stakes are even higher and everyone’s out for blood. -quoted from Goodreads


Be sure to check out the Bloodlines Website, and visit the Bloodlines Facebook page.

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