Dark Frost (Mythos Academy #3) by Jennifer Estep

Title: Dark Frost (Mythos Academy #3)
Author: Jennifer Estep
Release date: May 29, 2012
Publisher: Kensington Teen
Pages: 336
Source: Publisher

I’ve seen so many freaky things since I started attending Mythos Academy last fall. I know I’m supposed to be a fearless warrior, but most of the time, I feel like I’m just waiting for the next Bad, Bad Thing to happen. Like someone trying to kill me—again.

Everyone at Mythos Academy knows me as Gwen Frost, the Gypsy girl who uses her psychometry magic to find lost objects—and who just may be dating Logan Quinn, the hottest guy in school. But I’m also the girl the Reapers of Chaos want dead in the worst way. The Reapers are the baddest of the bad, the people who murdered my mom. So why do they have it in for me?

It turns out my mom hid a powerful artifact called the Helheim Dagger before she died. Now, the Reapers will do anything to get it back. They think I know where the dagger is hidden, but this is one thing I can’t use my magic to find. All I do know is that the Reapers are coming for me—and I’m in for the fight of my life.

The Mythos Academy series just keeps getting better.  Dark Frost is full of action, mystery, and romance.  Jennifer Estep has created an amazing world that readers can't help but love.

Gwen has grown a lot since the start of the series.  She is much easier to like now.  She is brave, fierce, kind, and funny.  She no longer judges people based on what she hears about them.  That was one of her worst characteristics in the beginning.  Now she is more open to making friends and her friends help make her a better person.  Logan is a bit of a jerk at times but mainly he is sweet and protective.  Daphne is hilarious.  She and Carson crack me up. The cast of characters really has gotten better as the series has progressed.

The mystery of the Reaper girl wasn't much of a mystery, at least not to me.  The clues were just a bit too obvious and I predicted early on who it was.  The mystery of the Helheim Dagger's location was also rather predictable.  However these things didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book.

Dark Frost is much more action packed than the first two books.  There is quite a bit of fighting and it was awesome.  Gwen's fighting skills have really improved although she does still get punched in the face a few times.  However this time she gets in a few punches of her own. Just another way she is improving throughout the series.

The mythology is still my favorite part of the book.  The gods, the creatures, the history, it's all so wonderful.  Each book reveals a bit more about the gods and each little bit is extremely interesting.  The mythology isn't overbearing though. It's just enough to add to the story.

Overall, Dark Frost is a fabulous addition to the Mythos Academy series and the next book cannot get here soon enough!

Looking for more reviews of Dark Frost?
Yummy Men And Kick Ass Chicks' review
Alexia's Books And Such's review

Series:
Touch Of Frost (Mythos Academy #1)
Kiss Of Frost (Mythos Academy #2)
Dark Frost (Mythos Academy #3)
Crimson Frost (Mythos Academy #4) - 2013

Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Title: Shut Out
Author: Kody Keplinger
Release date: September 5, 2011
Publisher: Poppy
Pages: 273
Source: BEA

Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part,Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend's attention.

Then Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: She and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. But what Lissa never sees coming is her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling...

Shut Out is probably one of the funniest books I have read in a long time.  I love a book that makes me laugh and Shut Out definitely did that.  If this book is any indication I will love Kody Keplinger's other books.

The characters were both the strongest and weakest part of Shut Out. The main character, Lissa, seemed very whiny for most of the book and she only got better towards the end.  Her best friend, Chloe, on the other hand was awesome for the whole book.  That girl was hilarious!  Really all the girls were great and when they were all together they cracked me up. Randy was pretty average but Cash was far from average. Good looking, hard working, loves his family, and he's a literature buff.  Where can I get one? He did have his flaws though but they only made him better.

The story itself was great.  Girlfriends of guys on the soccer and football teams band together and deny their boyfriends sex until they stop the sports rivalry.  I guarantee you will not find another book out there with a story like this one.  It was fun, unique, and I liked that it was geared towards older teens.

Overall, Shut Out is a great contemporary novel that I definitely recommend for fans of the genre.  I have to say that this one is better for older YA readers though. For such a young author, Kody Keplinger has a lot of talent.  (Not that youth is bad thing or that young people aren't talented.)

Looking for more reviews of Shut Out?
Electrifying Reviews' review
Paranormal Indulgence's review

Blogger Interview: Emilie from Emilie's Book World!

Today I have an interview with the wonderful Emilie from Emilie's Book World!

What are you like outside of blogging?

Outside of blogging I’m a pretty regular person. In the fall I’ll be starting my last year of university where I’m studying communications and political science. I tend to be pretty busy between school, work and reading/blogging, but I do enjoy just taking time off and relaxing. Outside of school, I obviously spend a lot of time reading and blogging but I spend probably the same amount of time watching TV. If I had more time, I would love to be able to travel again since it’s something I’ve missed since starting university.

What book changed your life?

I don’t know that any one book changed my life. Since I was a kid I always had a book on hand to read and that really hasn’t changed. If anything it wouldn’t be just one book, but many books by Meg Cabot. I guess while I read a lot there wasn’t necessarily that much geared towards teens in French (my first language) but when I started going to school in English I discovered Meg Cabot and that sort of opened up the world of YA to me.

What made you decide to start your blog?

I honestly started blogging out of sheer boredom the summer after my first year of university. I was living alone since all my roommates were gone for the summer, I didn’t have a job and I was just spending all my time reading since it was too hot to do anything else. I had been following some book blogs and I just decided to try it out, at least to have someplace I could talk about all the books I was reading. From there it just sort of took off.

What blogs/bloggers inspire you?

You are definitely one of them. Others that I really enjoy reading and sort of look up to are Fiktshun because she is amazing at keeping up so many blogs. And to support my fellow Canadian bloggers I really love A Cupcake and a Latte.

What are your goals for your blog in the future?

I don’t have any specific goals, but I just want to keep doing what I’m doing. Without me really realizing it, blogging as become a pretty important part of my life and I just want to keep at it as much as I can. But who knows what the future holds?

What is your best book blogging moment?

I have two. The first was when I went to the Smart Chicks Kick It Tour and met up with some other bloggers from my area. It was just great fun to actually meet the people I talked to online and talk books with them. The other was at a Charles de Lint signing where when he signed my book and saw my name he recognized it from my blog which made me feel pretty great.

Favorites:

-Book of all time – The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen. It’s the one book I can just read over and over again and never get bored.

-New release – It’s not technically out of another few weeks, but The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead. Book that is actually out is a tie between Insurgent and City of Lost Souls – both were amazing.

-Genre – YA, but more specifically either dystopian or contemporary

-Place to Read – My bed. It’s super comfy and it’s where I do most of my reading.

-TV show – One Tree Hill, but sadly now it’s over.

-Candy – Sour Skittles

-Drink – Cranberry juice

You guys can find Emilie on Emilie's Book World or on Twitter!

Book Haul! (153)

Book Haul is a weekly feature here on Katie's Book Blog.  It is not something I created and I take no credit for it.  Anyone who wants to participate can and you don't necessarily have to call it a book haul. It is a list of what books you have received over the previous week, either for review, from the library, from the bookstore, or from trades.

Bought:
-Torn (Trylle #2) by Amanda Hocking

For review:
-Shadows (Ashes #2) by Ilsa J. Bick
-Dust Girl (American Fairy Trilogy #1) by Sarah Zettel
-Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown
-The Enchantress (Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #6) by Michael Scott
-Darkness Before Dawn (Darkness Before Dawn #1) by J.A. London
-Stunning (Pretty Little Liars #11) by Sara Shepard
-The Other Normals by Ned Vizzini
-Hidden (Firelight #3) by Sophie Jordan
-Glass Heart (Cold Kiss #2) by Amy Garvey
-Ten by Gretchen McNeil
-A Fractured Light (A Beautiful Dark #2) by Jocelyn Davies
-Fang Girl by Helen Keeble
-The Turning by Francine Prose
-Sweet Shadows (Medusa Girls #2) by Tera Lynn Childs
-The Crown Of Embers (Girl Of Fire & Thorns #2) by Rae Carson
-What's Left Of Me (The Hybrid Chronicles #1) by Kat Zhang
-The Dead Girls Detective Agency by Suzy Cox
-Never Enough by Denise Jaden

Books I'd Bite For At BEA!

This title is totally a joke but I thought it was perfect for my BEA wishlist.  If you are going to BEA I highly recommend NOT BITING anyone for a book.  =)

Also, I really don't even know if all of these books will be at BEA.

Title: Days Of Blood And Starlight
Author: Laini Taylor
Release date: November 6, 2012

Title: Carnival Of Souls
Author: Melissa Marr
Release date: September 4, 2012

Title: The Darkest Minds
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Release date: December 18, 2012

Title : False Memory
Author: Dan Krokos
Release date: August 14, 2012

Title: The Spindlers

Author: Lauren Oliver

Release date: October 2, 2012

Title: Personal Effects
Author: E.M. Kokie
Release date: September 11, 2012

Title: Throne Of Glass
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Release date: August 7, 2012

Title: Time Between Us
Author: Tamara Ireland Stone
Release date: October 9, 2012

Title: Splintered
Author: A.G. Howard
Release date: January 2013

What do you think of my choices? What books are bite-worthy for you?

Waiting, Wanting, Wishing: 2013 Edition! (31)

Waiting, Wanting, Wishing is a feature here on Katie's Book Blog. There are so many books out there that I want to read and this is a good way to spotlight some of them.

This week's theme is books being released in 2013!

Title: Catherine
Author: April Lindner
Release date: January 2, 2013

True love never dies in this modern retelling of one of literature’s most haunting star-crossed romances, Wuthering Heights.

Catherine is tired of struggling musicians befriending her just so they can get a gig at her Dad’s famous Manhattan club, The Underground. Then she meets mysterious Hence, an unbelievably passionate and talented musician on the brink of success. As their relationship grows, both are swept away in a fiery romance. But when their love is tested by a cruel whim of fate, will pride keep them apart?

Chelsea has always believed that her mom died of a brief illness, until she finds a letter her dad has kept from her for years—a letter from her mom, Catherine, who didn’t die: She disappeared. Driven by unanswered questions, Chelsea sets out to look for her—starting with the return address on the letter: The Underground.

Told in two voices, twenty years apart, Catherine interweaves a timeless forbidden romance with a compelling modern mystery.

Title: Dualed

Author: Elsie Chapman

Release date: February 26, 2013

Would you live through the ultimate test of survival?

The city of Kersh is a safe haven, but the price of safety is high. Everyone has a genetic Alternate—a twin raised by another family—and citizens must prove their worth by eliminating their Alts before their twentieth birthday. Survival means advanced schooling, a good job, marriage—life.

Fifteen-year-old West Grayer has trained as a fighter, preparing for the day when her assignment arrives and she will have one month to hunt down and kill her Alt. But then a tragic misstep shakes West’s confidence. Stricken with grief and guilt, she’s no longer certain that she’s the best version of herself, the version worthy of a future. If she is to have any chance of winning, she must stop running not only from her Alt, but also from love . . . though both have the power to destroy her.

Title: Etiquette & Espionage
Author: Gail Carriger
Release date: February 13, 2013

It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to finishing school.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is the bane of her mother's existence. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper etiquette at tea--and god forbid anyone see her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. She enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But little do Sophronia or her mother know that this is a school where ingenious young girls learn to finish, all right--but it's a different kind of finishing. Mademoiselle Geraldine's certainly trains young ladies in the finer arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also in the other kinds of finishing: the fine arts of death, diversion, deceit, espionage, and the modern weaponries. Sophronia and her friends are going to have a rousing first year at school.

First in a four book YA series set 25 years before the Parasol Protectorate but in the same universe.

 Title: The Program

Author: Suzanne Young

Release date: April 2013

Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone.

With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane’s parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they’ll do anything to keep her alive. She also knows that everyone who’s been through The Program returns as a blank slate. Because their depression is gone—but so are their memories.

Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can. The only person Sloane can be herself with is James. He’s promised to keep them both safe and out of treatment, and Sloane knows their love is strong enough to withstand anything. But despite the promises they made to each other, it’s getting harder to hide the truth. They are both growing weaker. Depression is setting in.

And The Program is coming for them.

Title: When We Wake
Author: Karen Healey
Release date: March 5, 2013

My name is Tegan Oglietti, and on the last day of my first lifetime, I was so, so happy.

Sixteen-year-old Tegan is just like every other girl living in 2027 - she's happiest when playing the guitar, she's falling in love for the first time, and she's joining her friends to protest the wrongs of the world: environmental collapse, social discrimination, and political injustice.

But on what should have been the best day of Tegan's life, she dies - and wakes up a hundred years in the future, locked in a government facility with no idea what happened.

Tegan is the first government guinea pig to be cryonically frozen and successfully revived, which makes her an instant celebrity - even though all she wants to do is try to rebuild some semblance of a normal life. But the future isn't all she hoped it would be, and when appalling secrets come to light, Tegan must make a choice: Does she keep her head down and survive, or fight for a better future?

What are you waiting, wanting, wishing for this week?