Kindle Freebie! Glimpse by Stacey Wallace Benefiel

Another Kindle Freebie, I've decided that when I get wind of any goodies I'm just going to post the link here :)

So this one is for Glimpse by Stacey Wallace Benefiel.

Zellie Wells has a devastating crush on Avery Adams, the son of her mom’s high school sweetheart. At her sixteenth birthday party, held in the basement of her dad’s church, she finally finds the courage to talk to him. Turns out, the devastating crush is mutual.

As Avery takes her hand and leads her out onto the makeshift dance floor, Zellie is overwhelmed by her first vision of his death; shocking because not only are they both covered in his blood, but they’re old, like 35, and she is pregnant.

Afraid to tell anyone about the vision, (she’d just be labeled a freaky black magic witch, right?) Zellie keeps the knowledge of Avery’s future to herself and tries to act like any other teenager in love. When they get caught on their way to a secret rendezvous by her mom and his dad, they are forbidden to see each other.

Convinced that their parents are freaking out unnecessarily, Avery and Zellie vow to be together no matter what. They continue their relationship in secret until Zellie learns that their parents are just trying to prevent her and Avery from suffering like they did. The visions are hereditary, they’re dangerous, and if they stay together the visions will come true.

Now Zellie must choose between severing all ties with Avery, like her mom did to prevent his father’s death, and finding a way to change Avery’s future.

Click here to download
and while you're there, play around. There are tonnes of good books on there :)

And for those who don't know about reading Kindle books on your computer/ smartphone/ tablet.
here's a link to a previous post.

Have fun reading :)
P.S
Pweety ya?

Kony 2012

Ok. So I know this isn't about a book and all, but hey, I think it's for a good cause. I want to at least help raise awareness of it, and this is my way of doing it. (making a post on my blog which has about 20 followers)

You've probably heard the name Kony tossed about in the news, well this is the result of a group of people called the Invisible Children who aim to make Joseph Kony famous in hopes of using his fame to capture him and bring him to justice. The following video is a campaign made by the Invisible Children, so watch the video and find out.



If you'd like to go to the official site, click this link.

Kindle Freebie! Betrayal by Mayandree Michel

Where there is love and power, there is always... betrayal.

At seventeen, Cordelia is an ordinary teen with an extraordinary and frightening secret. A secret that induces vivid dreams which she not only experiences true love, but crippling fear while barely escaping with her life each night.

After a life altering event, Cordelia has an unexpected encounter with Evan, the mysterious boy from her dreams, who reveals who and what she is, a descendant of the Greek gods. At that moment everything she knows of her world is a lie, and she must leave the present and go into the past to assume the role she was put on this earth for, safeguarding her ancient empire amidst evil forces that toil hastily to destroy it.

In a race against time, Cordelia must decide if she is truly a part of this dangerous world, or risk defying the gods, and ultimately lose the boy who has put a claim on her heart.

Betrayal is currently free for Kindle on Amazon, I'm not sure how long it will stay free so grab it while you can
here

And because I can't resist: Isn't it pweeetttyyy???
Have fun :)

Cover Reveal:Taste by Kate Evangelista

Isn't it gorgeous?? :) me wants... me wants...

Taste by Kate Evangelista

Crescent Moon Press

Coming soon in 2012

At Barinkoff Academy, there's only one rule: no students on campus after curfew. Phoenix McKay soon finds out why when she is left behind at sunset. A group calling themselves night students threaten to taste her flesh until she is saved by a mysterious, alluring boy. With his pale skin, dark eyes, and mesmerizing voice, Demitri is both irresistible and impenetrable. He warns her to stay away from his dangerous world of flesh eaters. Unfortunately, the gorgeous and playful Luka has other plans.

When Phoenix is caught between her physical and her emotional attraction, she becomes the keeper of a deadly secret that will rock the foundations of an ancient civilization living beneath Barinkoff Academy. Phoenix doesn’t realize until it is too late that the closer she gets to both Demitri and Luka the more she is plunging them all into a centuries old feud.

To read an excerpt click here

Find Kate Evangelista at:
Her Website
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads

I've been Tagged!

eeeeeeeeeee...As the post title suugests. I've been tagged by Vivian at Vivaciously Vivian. **dun dun duuuuun**
I've never been tagged before... and I'm extremely excited to answer all these questions :)
and so without further ado:

The Rules:
1. Answer the questions that the tagger set for in their post.
2. Create 11 questions for the people you tag to answer.
3. Tag 11 people and link them to your post.
4. Let them know you tagged them.
5. Include these rules and the person who tagged you in your post.
Much like Vivian, I'm changing the 3rd rule because I don't know that many people...

So. Vivian's questions:
If there is a book (or series) that you wish just had one more book written that follows the first, what would it be?
Oooh.. tough question, I'd have to say Grave Mercy by R.L LaFevers, this is a book that I've JUST finished reading and it's still fresh in my head, I'd like another book that follows the same main character as the one in the first because from what I've gathered the next book will be on another character and I'm still quite curious about the first.

Your favourite YA book cliche? What do you like about it? e.g. love triangles, vampires, etc.
YA cliche... hmmm... I've got to say the whole mysterious boy shows up to a new school/ town/ city etc. The concept has been completely exhausted and it's completely hilarious, but somehow I still find the idea appealing... but hey. that's just me.

Do you remember your very first book review? Which book was it for?
I have absolutely no idea... if I had to take a wild guess it would be for something I enjoyed... or perhaps not... I really can't remember. But I will say that the first review on my book blog was Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard.

How many hours do you spend blogging/reading blog posts per day?
It really depends on what I've got to do really... normally about one or two hours a day... and longer on the weekends, but then my entire schedule goes haywire when I've got exams or anything like that so it's really difficult to say.

Is there something for books that you absolutely do not tolerate? (for example, I don't tolerate excessive swearing)
I'm not sure really. There isn't really anything that I absolutely positively don't tolerate... there are a couple of things that do put me off though, one of which would be a weak pathetic protagonist. Sure, I perfectly happy if they grow with the book, gain strength etc, but if they remain the same pathetic excuse of a character it's just a no go.

A book that you'd like to see made into a movie! Any actors/actresses you wish would play certain characters?
I'm not sure if I actually want my favourite books to be made into movies... there is always this fear that the movie's going to turn out terrible. But, if the book were made into a completely perfect and utterly awesome movie I'd have to say The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa. Ash... *sigh*
I don't really have any actors in mind because non of them look like the image I picture in my head.

What is one of your peculiar fears or a pet peeve?
This is going to sound so odd, but I can't stand skin. Not like human skin contact or fruit skin... but meat skin... like the skin on chickens, ducks etc. I just can't stand the little bumps on them... and the hair sometimes **gags**

In some of your favourite authors, what do you admire the most in them?
I've got to say the way they can create a world so original and exciting that it can take you away from the present, and leave thoughts lingering long after you've finished. I just love books like that. I've also got to admire the strong characters that they create and the way their writing can draw such strong feelings from you, such as say depression when you favourite character dies... yeah.. that kinda sucks.

Your favourite ice-cream flavour is~?
BUBBLEGUM!!! yummmmmmmy

If you were to magically appear in a book and aid the protagonist along with his/her journey through the book, which book would it be?
Graceling by Kristin Cashore, of course there are many books that I would just as eagerly "go" to but this was one of the first that came to me so, this one it is!

Would you see yourself blogging 5 years from now? 10?
I actually really don't know... If it were up to me then yes, but hey, there are many things that may come up in life but one thing I know for sure is that I'll keep on reading (i love it far too much) and as long as I read, I'll blog and review... where else can I rant about the main character?? :D

So. Those are my answers. I have tagged:
Mary @ BookHounds
Jess @ Rainy Saturdays
Wendy @ The midnight Garden
Jenna @ Coffee Books and Me
Uniquely Moi @ Uniquely Moi Books
Amber @ Fall Into Books
Kate @ Kate's Blog

My Questions:
1. Why did you start blogging?
2. Do you have a crush on any book characters? If so, who and from which book?
3. If you could step into a book and live in that time/ place, which would it be?
4. Have you even finished a book crying because it was so good? Which one? (don't tell us why if it might spoil the book, in case we decide to read it)
5. Is there a book or series that you wished you could have written yourself before the author had thought of the idea?
6. Because there are so many gorgeous covers out there, did you ever read a book with a gorgeous cover but absolutely horrid story? which book?
7. What is the latest time you've stayed up to finish a book? (this blog IS called Far Past Midnight after all :P)
8. If all the books in the world were being burnt (Heavens NO!) and you could save one, yes, ONE book, what would it be?
9. In one word, describe yourself.
10. If you could ask a book character one question, who would you ask, and what would it be?
11. And finally. If you could write yourself into a story and kill off one character, who would it be and why?

taa-daa!
Thank you again to Vivian, and I hope you enjoy my answers :)

The Power of Six

Book blurb:
I've seen him on the news. Followed the stories about what happened in Ohio. John Smith, out there, on the run. To the world, he's a mystery. But to me . . . he's one of us.

Nine of us came here, but sometimes I wonder if time has changed us—if we all still believe in our mission. How can I know? There are six of us left. We're hiding, blending in, avoiding contact with one another . . . but our Legacies are developing, and soon we'll be equipped to fight.
Is John Number Four, and is his appearance the sign I've been waiting for? And what about Number Five and Six? Could one of them be the raven-haired girl with the stormy eyes from my dreams? The girl with powers that are beyond anything I could ever imagine? The girl who may be strong enough to bring the six of us together?

They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They tried to catch Number Four in Ohio—and failed.

I am Number Seven. One of six still alive.
And I'm ready to fight

--------------o_O---------------

Notice how I didn’t write my own little summary of the book, you see, it’s currently 1am and I am extremely tired but must finish this review, because I probably won’t look at it ever again if I don’t…

And so:
This shall be a 4.5 stars
I really really enjoyed The Power of Six but after much internal conflict have to take 0.5stars off.
Why?!? I hear you ask. Why would you do something so heartless??

Well...
John or Four, he's the same freaking person anyway, is a complete an utter selfish and poopy faced fool!
GAH! Several times I wanted to stab him and several times I failed; the fact that he is a fictitious book character may have played a serious part in my failure...

I can't believe him!
**mimic/ mocking voice**
Oooooooh I love Sarah but I can't stop thinking about how awesome Six is (Six is not to blame, she I one of the characters I actually like, and you can't blame someone for being born awesome :D)
Ooooooooh I miss Sarah so much, I'm going to go see her despite putting my awesome awesome friends at risk.
Oooooooh I have to get my chest back despite losing it because I wanted to see Sarah and ultimately be betrayed and caught!

**pauses to catch breath**
**pant pant**

Honestly he deserved to be betrayed, it was a shame he wasn't killed in the process...
And that's not even the HALF OF IT!!

Ok, I’m too tired to continue flaying John and I've completely exhausted the word 'awesome', and I’m moving on to superfantasically amazing. Anyway. Although John is a self-centered br---- must refrain. Must refrain. Must refrain. **calming breath**

Yes, although John is slightly annoying **sarcasm**, he still has some vaguely positive qualities, which I shall not go into with too much detail, or I fear I’ll continue verbally screaming at him. So, he’s brave-ish (**cough**or just brainless), I suppose one could say he’s loyal—actually no, he completely ignored the danger he was putting Six and Sam in.
Well how about faithful? No--- not that either.
Darn, this isn’t working, I’m just too annoyed at John right now to try and see past his stupidity.

Moving on. The book is split into sections from John’s perspective and Marina’s. I really enjoyed the change in perspective, with Seven/ Marina, it really kept me glued and yes, it was nice to get a break from John's foolishness and useless love life.

Marina, we learn, is number seven and although she still has her cepan, in a way she has lost her. You’ll learn more in the book. I felt that Marina was a really gentle character, she puts others before herself and I think that she really suits her legacies. She’s had her fair share of tragedies and her story was fascinating and touching as well. I can’t wait to learn more about her in the future books.

You of course also have the super fantastically awesome Six, and Sam. The appearance of Nine at the end of the book was a complete shock. Nine seems so crazy.. (in a good way), and even though he was in the book for about 2 pages, I can already tell he’s going to be awesome. :)

Despite the fact that the chests or more importantly the items in the chest have an uncanny ability to fix nearly every problem at hand, I really really enjoyed the closer peek at the items in the chest. You only get snippets in the previous book, and more of these mysterious chests are revealed in The power of Six.

Of course The Power of Six was packed with jaw-dropping action, which I absolutely loved. It was exciting, it was riveting and it was superfantastically amazing. Taa-daa!
As much as I whinge about John’s stupidity, even I have to admit that it added many unpredictable twists that made the book that much more enjoyable. Hmm… guess John’s useful for something after all.

I've got a lot more to say but I can't keep my eyes open, and so, I shall cut it down quickly.

And so: I have concluded that
a) the Lorien Legacies is a superfantastically amazing series
b) That John, is a sappy and hopeless fool, and should snap out of it and actually help with the mission.
c) That Six and Nine (ooooooh NINE) are superfantastically amazing and are now my new favourite characters. John should get killed so one of them can become the main main character :)
Yep^^^ another if-I-could-stab-John moment
**sigh**if only he weren't fictitious...
And finally
d) that YOU should read the book and judge it for yourself :)

Happy reading :)

Burn Bright by Marianne de Pierres

“Listen well, baby bats. Burn bright, but do not stray from the paths. Remember, when you live in a place of darkness you also live with creatures of the dark.”

Retra is a Seal, restricted in speaking, in learning, in living… she’s is Sealed off from the outer world. Ixion is the place of ever-night, a place for pleasure and for letting go.

When Retra escapes to Ixion to find her brother, everything that she’s been taught is torn apart. Fighting against her Seal nature to fit in, Retra only draws more attention to herself from not only her fellow escapees but the watching eyes of the Guardians, people, no, creatures who watch over the inhabitants of Ixion...

Ixion may be a place for pleasure, but behind its colourful lights and deafening music there is a darker force at work, one that is coming after Retra.

----------o_O------------
Quick mention on how GORGEOUS the cover is, gorgeous I tell you. I love the paint streaks and splatters. It’s really attention grabbing, my preeeccciiiooooouuussss….

**strokes cover**
Ahem—excuse me.

Anyway, Retra, hmm… Well, she’s a very different character, a Seal, she has different behaviours and attitudes. At first I was a little confused but then it eventually all made sense, she’s from a place called Grave, a specific sealed off area where they live restricted lives etc. And so, Retra at first finds it very difficult to assimilate into the different behaviours of Ixion, or so she keeps saying, but to me, she seemed to fit right in. eventually. Still, it seemed a tad quick. And she was kind of contradicting herself sometimes, she’ll say/ think something but do something completely different. Oh well. All part of her character I guess.

I like the idea of how Retra practiced enduring pain (as morbid as that sounds) so that she could find her brother, she’s very noble but again very naïve. And slightly spontaneous. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not but it really helps in developing the story… any time things seem a little slow, add a little spontaneousness and voila! Hehehe. I find it funny that she’ll act out in some things but at other times she’ll freeze up << again contradicting Other than that, I’m not sure what to think of Retra really, she just keeps changing… her character keeps flopping all over the place, she’s a seal. She’s not. She’s brave. She’s not. She’s suicidal (not really). She’s not. You get my point.

The other characters are all very different, having their own strengths and talents, but although Retra makes friends/ allies I feel like I don’t really know them… they’re just names to fill in the space of friend. There’s some history revealed about them but again, it doesn’t really seem personal, more quoting out of a fictitious textbook. To be honest I didn’t even feel that much distress when any of Retra’s friends/ acquaintances were in danger/ dying, because I didn’t really know them. Gosh that sounds cold o_O

There is some sort of relationship/ interest between Retra and Lenoir, and Retra and Markes. I really hope this doesn’t become a weirdly twisted love triangle. Lenoir is one of the leaders of the Ripers who are the island’s mysterious Guardians, but the relationship between Retra and Lenoir is somewhat confusing (read the book and you’ll understand).The relationship between Markes and Retra is kind of weird; it seems to be a one way relationship, with Retra attracted to Markes who is slightly oblivious and dismissive towards her. Gah.

The idea of Burn Bright is very original, exciting, and new. I was completely drawn in by the emotive description of the scenes but I at first failed to see a point in having a world where everyone parties, indulges themselves etc. But of course, as we continue I was proved wrong and things begin to have a meaning, things begin to fall into the place of a more intriguing plot –correction –a creepier plot. In a good way.

Now, there were some pretty confusing things in this book, things were slightly jumpy and again, spontaneous. Things just randomly jump out at you and completely change things in a couple of words. You’ve got characters “bonding” and events careening off the page. Catastrophes, explosions, dead people. Yeah. That’s pretty much it :)

The odd thing, and probably intended thing, is that I still want to read more… the weird and quirky events are actually really riveting (though they’re also quite disturbing), and the story is good in a way that you just can’t predict what’s going to happen. Something that was also really confuzzling (new word :D) were the Guardians and their role on the island but that’s part of the bigger plot mystery so it’s all right, but the annoying thing is I felt like I was just beginning to piece things together… and the book ended. Darn. I hate it when that happens.

The writing is good, especially in the way Marianne de Pierres describes her scenes, she makes them seem magical. The writing is easy to follow and simple but effective. Yah. That’s it. Oh! The book is also a good size, so it won’t take you long to finish it once you get into the story, promise.

Overall, Burn Bright was an excellent start to a new and promising series, filled with dark secrets and creepy crawly things, and romance (maybe? I’m not too sure what to think of the supposed romance) :)