Contest Saturday On Friday

Here are some contests that are currently going on right now in the blogosphere that are book related. Click the links to enter them. I will try to hold my own contest each month.

Win a copy of Croak HERE. Ends 3/18

Win a copy of Embrace HERE. Ends 3/19

Win a copy of The Eye of the Sword HERE. Ends 3/20

Win a copy of Illuminate HERE. Ends 3/21

Win a copy of Two Halves HERE. Ends 3/26

Win a copy of Slide HERE. Ends 3/31

Win a box of ARCs HERE. Ends 3/31

Win a copy of A Touch Mortal HERE. Ends 3/31

Win a copy of A Temptation of Angels HERE. Ends 4/6

DJ Rising by Love Maia

Title: DJ Rising
Author: Love Maia
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Acquired: Received free for an honest review
Age Group: Young Adult
Grade: 83% or B-
Buy It: Amazon

Meet Marley, an unassuming high school junior who breathes in music like oxygen. In between caring for his heroin-addicted mother, and keeping his scholarship at a fancy prep school, he dreams of becoming a professional DJ.

When chance lands Marley his first real DJ job, his career as "DJ Ice" suddenly skyrockets. But when heart-rending disaster at home brings Marley crashing back down to earth, he is torn between obligation and following his dreams.

My Thoughts::
I've been listening to music much more than usual. Not just my favorite songs either, I've been listening to a lot of music that has been mixed because I have a friend that DJs. He also creates original mixes. So this has been on my mind quite a lot recently. No way could a turn down a book about a teen on his way to fulfilling his dream of mixing at his dream club!

This novel had a lot of personality. Lately I've had trouble hearing feeling out the author's and main character's voices. But with this one I was able to completely hear Marley's voice and easily distinct it from all of the other YA character voices that I've heard. It felt original and true to his personality. This always makes the book so much better.

Marley was such a sweet character and easy to relate to! My problems are no where near as big as his, and neither are my break throughs, but I think most readers can identify with having a seemingly impossible dream while having to get their against some sort of problem. Life isn't perfect, and it was really nice to see a character who was trying to make the best out of his situation and still believing in his dream.

The plot was exciting mostly because you can imagine how exciting it was for Marley. I couldn't really predict what was going to happen, which is always a good thing. There were some things that I tried to predict, and they didn't happen. This was good in this case because the things I predicted would have annoyed me if they came true.

Overall I think DJ Rising was an interesting read that made me feel like I should always have hope while trying to reach my dreams.

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a post where I tell you the books that I received this week either by buying them from the bookstore, going to the library or from my mailbox. In My Mailbox was inspired by Alea and turned into a meme by Kristi.


For Review:: Thanks to netgalley, William Morrow, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Sand Dollar Press Inc, and NLA Digital Liaison Platform LLC

Gossip by Beth Gutcheon

Outspoken and brimming with confidence, Dinah made a name for herself as a columnist covering the doings of New York's wealthiest and most fabulous. Shy, proper Avis, in many ways Dinah's opposite, rose to prominence in the art world with her quiet manners, hard work, and precise judgment. Despite the deep affection they both feel for Lovie, they have been more or less allergic to each other since a minor incident decades earlier that has been remembered and resented with what will prove to be unimaginable consequences.

These uneasy acquaintances become unwillingly bound to each other when Dinah's favorite son and Avis's only daughter fall in love and marry. On the surface, Nick and Grace are the perfect match—a playful, romantic, buoyant, and beautiful pair. But their commitment will be strained by time and change: career setbacks, reckless choices, the birth of a child, jealousies, and rumor. At the center of their orbit is Lovie, who knows everyone's secrets and manages them as wisely as she can. Which is not wisely enough, as things turn out—a fact that will have a shattering effect on all their lives.

Rock on by Denise Vega 

Ori Taylor is the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the Band To Be Named Later, a garage band he started with his friends. After years of being known as the mini version of his sports-star brother, Del, Ori is looking forward to stepping out of his older brother's shadow, learning to perform in public, and rocking the Battle of the Bands contest. Oh, and maybe finally working up the nerve to talk to a girl in person instead of just over e-mail. But when Del suddenly returns from college, he expects Ori to step back into his role of little brother, just when Ori is starting to come into his own. 

With his confidence wavering, will Ori be able to overcome his stage fright and lead the band to rock glory? Will the Band To Be Named Later ever get a real name? Will their best performances remain in the garage?

Revealing Eden by Victoria Foyt

Eden Newman must mate before her 18th birthday in six months or she'll be left outside to die in a burning world. But who will pick up her mate-option when she's cursed with white skin and a tragically low mate-rate of 15%? In a post-apocalyptic, totalitarian, underground world where class and beauty are defined by resistance to an overheated environment, Eden's coloring brands her as a member of the lowest class, a weak and ugly Pearl. If only she can mate with a dark-skinned Coal from the ruling class, she'll be safe. Just maybe one Coal sees the Real Eden and will be her salvation her co-worker Jamal has begun secretly dating her. But when Eden unwittingly compromises her father's secret biological experiment, she finds herself in the eye of a storm and thrown into the last area of rainforest, a strange and dangerous land. Eden must fight to save her father, who may be humanity's last hope, while standing up to a powerful beast-man she believes is her enemy, despite her overwhelming attraction. Eden must change to survive but only if she can redefine her ideas of beauty and of love, along with a little help from her "adopted aunt" Emily Dickinson.

Tomorrow Land by Mari Mancusi

Imagine finding your first love, only to be ripped apart by the apocalypse. Peyton Anderson will never forget the day she was forced to make a choice--between her family--and Chris Parker, the boy she'd given her heart. Now, four years later, as she steps from the fallout shelter and into a dead and broken world, he's the only thing on her mind.

All Chris "Chase" Parker wanted was to take Peyton away and keep her safe from harm. But he waited for hours in the rain on judgment day and she never showed--breaking his heart without ever telling him why.

Now the two of them have been thrown together once again, reluctant chaperones to a group of orphan children in a post-apocalyptic world where the dead still walk...and feed. As they begin their pilgramage to the last human outpost on Earth, can they find a way to let go of old hurts and find the love they lost--all while attempting to save what's left of the human race?

Contest Saturday

Here are some contests that are currently going on right now in the blogosphere that are book related. Click the links to enter them. I will try to hold my own contest each month.

Win a copy of Red Moon Rising HERE. Ends 3/13

Win a copy of Everneath HERE. Ends 3/14

Win a copy of Katana HERE. Ends 3/16

Win a box of books HERE. Ends 3/16

Win a copy of Embrace HERE. Ends 3/19

Win a copy of Illuminate HERE. Ends 3/21

Win a copy of Two Halves HERE. Ends 3/26

Win a copy of Slide HERE. Ends 3/31