Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Book: Obsidian (Lux #1)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
# of Pages: 335 (Paperback)
Challenge: 2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
Rating: 3 stars

Goodreads Summary:
Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don't kill him first, that is.

My Thoughts:
At first I was not sure if I'd like this book. But with all the hype I needed to see for myself what all the fuss was about. And I have to say that it was not what I expected.

I liked that Katy is a book blogger. It made her very relatable. For the most part she was a smart, strong protagonist. Though there were times when she made really stupid decisions. I thought Daemon was obnoxious. I did like his mysterious nature, but the mind games he played with Katy got irritating after a while.

Obsidian was funny, full of action, and nicely written. I did have a couple issues with the book though. The plot reminded me forcibly of Twilight. And a lot of the things that happened were predictable. Also, Katy and Daemon's relationship was not as "hot" as I thought it would be.

Overall, I did not like Obsidian as much as I thought I would. But I was very interested in the alien concept, and I do want to know what happens next to Katy and Daemon.

Update

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of posts. I've been dealing with a lot of stuff lately.

In July, I had an MRI because I was having these weird tingling sensations going down my arm. It showed that I had four little tumors. Two on my brain and two on my spinal cord. No worries, they were all benign meningiomas, tumors that form on the meninges. So within days of the MRI, I had brain surgery to get rid of the bigger brain tumor. I had the worst headaches every day for several weeks afterward.

In August, I had two surgeries, within a day of each other, to remove the tumors on my spine. My doctor had me up and walking 24 hours after the second surgery and OMG was that painful! He'd had to cut through my neck and shoulder muscles twice to perform the surgeries. I couldn't stand up by myself for over a month. It had been one of these tumors pressing against my spinal cord that had caused the tingling in my arm.

So, I've slowly been recovering. The headaches have decreased and now I'm doing physical therapy for my neck, shoulders, and back and it is helping tremendously. I also have to take meds for nerve pain and seizures. As for the second brain tumor, it will be taken care of via Gamma Knife. It's a very precise form of radiation. I will have it done sometime next month. And thankfully I can go home afterward!

I'm nervous about the Gamma Knife treatment, but I can't wait to finally be done with all of this. I hope everyone is having a great week. Happy Reading!

Waiting On Wednesday

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating.

Book: Arclight

Author: Josin L. McQuein

Release Date: April 23, 2013

Goodreads Summary:

No one crosses the wall of light . . . except for one girl who doesn’t remember who she is, where she came from, or how she survived. A harrowing, powerful debut thriller about finding yourself and protecting your future—no matter how short and uncertain it may be.

The Arclight is the last defense. The Fade can’t get in. Outside the Arclight’s border of high-powered beams is the Dark. And between the Light and the Dark is the Grey, a narrow, barren no-man’s-land. That’s where the rescue team finds Marina, a lone teenage girl with no memory of the horrors she faced or the family she lost. Marina is the only person who has ever survived an encounter with the Fade. She’s the first hope humanity has had in generations, but she could also be the catalyst for their final destruction. Because the Fade will stop at nothing to get her back. Marina knows it. Tobin, who’s determined to take his revenge on the Fade, knows it. Anne-Marie, who just wishes it were all over, knows it.

When one of the Fade infiltrates the Arclight and Marina recognizes it, she will begin to unlock secrets she didn’t even know she had. Who will Marina become? Who can she never be again?

What book are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Crash by Lisa McMann

Book: Crash (Visions #1)
Author: Lisa McMann
# of Pages: 233 (Hardcover)
Rating: 3 stars

From Goodreads:
Jules lives with her family above their restaurant, which means she smells like pizza most of the time and drives their double-meatball-shaped food truck to school. It’s not a recipe for popularity, but she can handle that.

What she can’t handle is the recurring vision that haunts her. Over and over, Jules sees a careening truck hit a building and explode...and nine body bags in the snow.

The vision is everywhere—on billboards, television screens, windows—and she’s the only one who sees it. And the more she sees it, the more shesees. The vision is giving her clues, and soon Jules knows what she has to do. Because now she can see the face in one of the body bags, and it’s someone she knows. Someone she has been in love with for as long as she can remember.

In this riveting start to a gripping series from New York Times bestselling author Lisa McMann, Jules has to act—and act fast—to keep her vision from becoming reality.

My Thoughts:
I loved Lisa McMann's Dream Catcher trilogy and was very eager to read this book when I found out about it.

Crash is fast-paced and full of suspense. The protagonist, Jules, is clever yet reckless as she tries to work out the vision that keeps plaguing her. I loved the relationship she had with her brother and sister. But, her obsession with Sawyer could be annoying at times.

I do not feel like I got to know Sawyer that well. He did not appear that often in the book. And in most of his scenes he was a total jerk. This made it hard to see why Jules liked him so much.

The vision itself was very interesting, especially in the way it appeared to Jules. And I enjoyed trying to work it out with her.

Overall, Crash was a quick, intriguing read. I am curious to see what will happen in the sequel, and hoping that we get to know Sawyer better.

Stacking the Shelves #14

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews where you share what books you obtained over the week.

Boundless (Unearthly #3) by Cynthia Hand

Prodigy (Legend #2) by Marie Lu

Venom (Secrets of the Eternal Rose #1) by Fiona Paul

Cross My Heart, Hope to Die (The Lying Game #5) by Sara Shepard

The Magnolia League (Magnolia League #1) by Katie Crouch (signed)

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

(I loved the movie so much I just had to get the book.)

Won

The Believing Game by Eireann Corrigan

(Thanks to Goodreads and Scholastic.)

What books did you get this week?

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Book: Beautiful Creatures (Castor Chronicles #1)
Author: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
# of Pages: 387 (ebook)
Challenge: 2013 Ebook Challenge, 2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
Rating: 5 stars

From Goodreads:
This edition features exclusive movie cover art!
Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

My Thoughts:
What a fantastic book! I was not sure if I would like this book. But as the movie is coming out soon and I have had it on my nook for over a year now, I could not put it off any longer. And, I have to say that I was very impressed.

I really like that Beautiful Creatures was set in a southern town. More YA books need to be set in the South! Apart from that, I loved the characters. Ethan is kind and daring. Lena is stronger than she gives herself credit for. And Link is funny and such a good friend to both of them.

This book was full of mystery, humor, and romance. I also enjoyed the historical aspect of it. There were a few unexpected twists that left me wanting to read more.

Overall, Beautiful Creatures was an addictive, enjoyable read, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

February TBR Pile

Books I read in January:

-Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

-Origins: The Fire (Mila 2.0 #0.5) by Debra Driza

-Tomorrow is Today (Tempest #0.5) by Julie Cross

-Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally

-Isolation (Partials Sequence #0.5) by Dan Wells

-Killing Floor by Lee Child

Books on my February TBR list:

-finish Just One Day by Gayle Forman
-finish Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

-The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

-Crash by Lisa McMann

-Tempest by Julie Cross

-The Secret of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorenson

-The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan