Cover Reveal: Wicked by Jennifer L. Armentrout!

Holy cow, y'all! We are so excited to bring you the Cover Reveal for Jennifer L. Armentrout's WICKED! WICKED is a New Adult Paranormal Romance and is a part of Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Wicked Trilogy. It is being released on December 8^th, 2014. So make sure you pre-order it today!!

Belle: The girl almost looks constipated or sumfin XDD Love her hair tho *grabby hands*

Ohhh....and can I have the guy? He's cuuuteee :p No? Awww *pouts*

Amazon

WICKED Synopsis:

Things are about to get Wicked in New Orleans.
Twenty-two year old Ivy Morgan isn’t your average college student. She, and others like her, know humans aren’t the only thing trolling the French Quarter for fun… and for food.
Her duty to the Order is her life. After all, four years ago, she lost everything at the hands of the creatures she’d sworn to hunt, tearing her world and her heart apart.
Ren Owens is the last person Ivy expected to enter her rigidly controlled life. He’s six feet and three inches of temptation and swoon-inducing charm. With forest-green eyes and a smile that’s surely left a stream of broken hearts in its wake, he has an uncanny, almost unnatural ability to make her yearn for everything he has to offer.
But letting him in is as dangerous as hunting the cold-blooded killers stalking the streets. Losing the boy she loved once before had nearly destroyed her, but the sparking tension that grows between them becomes impossible for Ivy to deny. Deep down, she wants… she needs more than what her duty demands of her, what her past has shaped for her.
But as Ivy grows closer to Ren, she realizes she’s not the only one carrying secrets that could shatter the frail bond between them. There’s something he’s not telling her, and one thing is for certain. She’s no longer sure what is more dangerous to her—the ancient beings threatening to take over the town or the man demanding to lay claim to her heart and her soul.

Belle: Also you can head to Jennifer's website to catch a short teaser for Wicked! How wicked is that? ;) Check it out: HERE

About Jennifer L. Armentrout:
#1 NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true.
When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki.
Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math.
Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV. She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

Website ** Facebook ** Twitter ** Novel Goodreads ** Author Goodreads

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#TenBookChallenge

Thanks Cassie dear for tagging me for this on Facebook :P Since my FB acc is pretty private, I've decided to post my #tenbookchallenge on ze blog so I can easily tag some blogger buddies ;)
There wasn't much info so I searched up the challenge and found these rules:

“List 10 books that have stayed with you in some way. Do not take more than a few minutes and do not think too hard. They do not have to be the “right” books or great works of literature, just ones that have affected you in some way. Paste these instructions and tag 10 friends, including me, so I can see your list.”

Sounds really fun! Ookayy, so I failed the "take only a few minutes" and the "don't think too hard" parts, but oh wells XD I'm a perfectionist! *sticks out tongue* Anyhoo here goes:

1. Throne of Glass.......pretty predictable right? *winks* No seriously, ToG really reconsolidated my love for high fantasy and YA! And then there's Celaena and her epicness. This series is just......*happy sigh*.....so amazeballs. I BEG everyone to read it!
Traitor Belle: It's her ego.....*smirks*

2. Maximum Ride: it was one of the series that really got me into YA, and tho I now realize that Max is......*cough*a bit of an annoying MC*cough*, this series will definitely stay with me, forever lodged in my head. Yay?

3. Lux! Come on ;) Daemon is worthy of a solid gold statue in his image, and Katy is a BOOK BLOGGER. Enough said.

4. Lord of the Rings. Honestly, I don't remember what reading the books are like anymore, but this was one of the first book series I ever read and definitely had an impact on me and cultivated my love of high/epic fantasy! And if you're wondering, no, I was not a late bookworm, I just read LoTR when I was pretty young....

5. The Darkest Minds. Bracken <3 You showed me how delicate and precious writing can be. I love your style! #authorcrush

6. The Book Thief :) Such the epitome of spectacular well-roundedness. Writing skills, uniqueness, plot work, underlying messages etc. This author has SKILL. He even manages to make you adore Death ^^ Cool huh?

7. Twilight......and no, it's not on this list because I liked it XP Rather, Twilight brought about my hate of meek charries *cough*BellaSwan*cough*.....can I ask whyyy must I share my name with her?! *whines* XD

8. Warriors! Yup I'm talking about the multi-series of books about cats :P I first picked up a Warrior Cat book, The Darkest Hour, I believe, when I was 9 and browsing in the local library, and from then on I read every single book and extra I could till I finally stopped at 14 when the 4th Warrior series ended ^^ a 5/6 year love affair.....good times ;) It even gave me great inspiration for kitten names when we used to breed kitties ;P The names even matched the kits! Briarkit was so......briar-y o.O She was such a clawer! *shudders* She shredded things like she had razor blades on her paws.....it was scary!

9. The Iron Fey series showed me how well humor can be infused in YA to make the best kind of enjoyable stay-up-late-at-night reads! Ohhh Grimalkin and Puck you dears....keeping up to mischief I'm sure! >:D And of course the SWOOONNN. Ash was the Prince of Swoon! His declarations of love and loyalty are just so....*dreamy eyes*

10. Harry Potter. Surely you're not surprised; this list wouldn't be complete without Harry :D These were the first EVER proper books I read (I was 7), and the reason I became a bookworm. Plus it gave me an awesome role model as a child to look up to: Hermione is da bomb! I have my parents to thank for forcing me to read HP! THANK YOU, YOU'RE THE BEST PARENTS EVERRR *beams*

I tag:
1. Tia at Read It Write Now and co-blogger here at FM!
2. Summer at MissFictional's World of YA Books
3. Dana at DanaSquare who co-blogs with one of my GR besties Rachel!
4. Alma at Journey Through Fiction
5. Laura at Boats Against The Current
6. Jazmen at This Girl Reads a Lot!
7. Blessie at Mischievous Reads
8. Jessica at Ramblings on Reading
9. Amber and Jess at The Book Bratz
10. Kyra at Blog of a Bookaholic
...And anyone who wants to join in!

You don't have to do it of course, but I'm sure you'll find it as fun and eye-opening as I did! :D

—MissBloodsucker™ All Sucked Out!

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Pretty Girl by Amy Heugh

PRETTY GIRL
by
Amy Heugh

Page Count: 393
Stand Alone.

My Rating: ★★★
Current Average Rating on Goodreads: 3.88

Synopsis:
If there were one day that she could change it would be the day she was taken. 

After her parents’ divorce, seventeen-year-old Izzy Scott and her mother move to the old town of St. Augustine to begin a new life, a life beyond the media attention and the memories of the traumatic experiences that left an everlasting affect on their family. 

The former ballerina is trying to adjust to the outside world without suffering a panic attack and exposing who she is - all while getting through her senior year at a new school. That’s easy to say until she meets local boy Mason Winchester, a boy with a tragic past. 

Mason has a reputation for violence, but a love for motorcycles. At the age of eleven he lost his mother to cancer and from then he has been running from something, but could never really get away. 

Like any other angry teenager, he just wants to be left alone and to have nothing to do with anyone else because he believed that he had nothing to offer. That changes the moment he saw what was in the new girl eyes. 

Tragedy wasn't new to either of their lives but among the secrets and the memories the one thing they both never excepted was to find hope. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pretty Girl.

Can you guess what it's about? ;)

The book was overall a little cliche and nothing I haven't seen before. But Amy pulled it off pretty (heh) well and it kept my interest throughout.

My first thought was These are seriously some MESSED UP characters.

But it reminded me of Pushing the Limits. Two characters with bad history attracts for no particular reason, get together, have problems, blablah. And also like in that book, the only reason I could tell the two PoVs apart was because Mason swore a lot. If there was a curse every two sentences, might as well be Mason. So if I was confused, I just kind of skimmed the page looking for a curse word o.O Not weird at all.

The writing was great, with a few exceptions of typos but that's nothing an editor or a proofread can fix ^.^ I loved the wide range of vocabulary used. This lady knows a lot of words xD
It lagged a LOT in the middle though. I actually skimmed 40%ish of the book :/
Me: *at 40%* Lalala....this is getting kind of boringggg......
*50%* Hey, even if I skim these five or so paragraphs, I'd still get the story!
*60%* Ugh there's no dialogue.....skim skim skim.... oh look they talk! Oh no that's over...skim skim...
*80%* They're talking more now! Hallelujah! No more heaps of descriptions to skip overrrrr

Yep. So basically, there was one sentence of actual talking, and then either Izzy or Mason went into these looooooong borrrrrring descriptions of how they were broken and scarred. Dude, we get it. You had a tough past. WE DON'T NEED TO KNOW EVERY OTHER PAGE!
So I skipped over those and only read the dialogue.

Example:
He opened the door. "Get in"

*insert 10 paragraphs of random description here*

"And why should I listen to you?

(Okay, I made those up xD I'm pretty sure there that wasn't in the book)

And I still got the story really well! So the book could have been like two times shorter and equally good (or maybe better.) That was annoying. It picked up pace around 75-80%, but it was so latee! Me no like waiting for more than half the book to actually start getting in the story.

I didn't particularly take a favourite of the characters, I have to admit. I know none of them were meant to be perfect or anything..... but just....yeah. Izzy wasn't bad though :D

The sliight love triangle wasn't necessary.

Dear Authors, 
You can have an amazing YA book even without two guys pining over one girl like idiots.

Sincerely, 
Cassie.

*mails letter*

I've seen way too many examples where they just stuff another love interest there for the sake of it -.- That's just a noooo!

Jake could have been an awesome friend, not a love interest. Shame he wasn't a more major person though. He seemed quite nice. And just as messed up as the rest of the lot *le sigh*

I DID NOT like Mason's decision and character in the beginning. So sexist -.- Girls aren't playtoys.
But we had a bit of development so it was all good. Meh.

There were also some spots were it jumped around a lot and left me confused. Like Izzy would be walking towards an art room, and then DUN she's going home in a car.
I'm just like ... Wait what?

and a few descriptions tried too hard to be metaphorical. Metaphors have to, you know....actually make sense for the reader to visualise more clearly. Not just saying some random things and yeyyy it's an awesome metaphor! *shakes head*

So I think that could have been improved.

Oh also, it FRUSTRATED me when Mason kept calling her "pretty girl" ... he sounded like a pervert! >.<
Like if someone always said something like Hey pretty girl, whatcha dooin? to you,
doesn't it sound a bit creepy? Only me?

There isn't really much more to say... hmm.

Yeah overall, it was
—a relatively unoriginal story.. (how they met first annoyed me the most.)
—Okay characters (no one stood out)
—Too long. Could have been shortened.
—Too jumpy. The scene changes could have been smoother.
—Interesting. It held my attention . (My other ARCs didn't work out so well....heh..)
—Reminded me of ALL OF ME by John Legend xD And aaaaalll of meee..loves aaall of youuu...all your curvess and all your edges...all your perfect imperfectionsss ;)
—Instalove -.- Ugh.

I liked the ending.. I'm not really sure how I feel about it but I liked it! PLOT TWIST!

Recommend? Why not. Just a warning though, the middle is horribly boring. If you just get past that part it's okay :)

*Thank you Amy for giving me a free copy in exchange of an honest review.*

—MissOddball™ Over and Out.

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Musing Mondays #3 – Strong YA Female Heroine Debate

Musing Mondays is a weekly bookish meme – hosted by Should Be Reading – that asks you to muse about one of the following each week...

• Describe one of your reading habits.

• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).

• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!

• Tell us what you're reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; why you are (or aren't) enjoying it.

• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!

• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let's hear it, then!

What Makes A Strong Female Protagonist In YA?

Sadly, I feel most YA authors misunderstand us readers when we say give us strong female charries.
It annoys me when people rave about a heroine being so strong, getting me excited and picking up the book but being disappointed because they're not strong, not really, they're just shutting down their emotions because they view it as a weak and feminine thing, in fact despising and rebuffing everything that they view as feminine, and then the icing on the cake; when they find a love interest (we're talking about YA after all :P), their.....strength *does air quotes*......tends to crumble because they must access their feminine side to swoon over the guy *sighs* And so in the end, the heroine fails to be strong either way. *throws hands up in exasperation*

Do we truly believe that emotions = girly = weak, but males must be all Macho macho! *thumps chest* I'm-so-tough? *rolls eyes*
Because that's just untrue, stereotypical, and frankly I think it's sexist to both men and woman.
Men have emotions too, and females can't be generalised as 'emotional and weak'. Besides, emotions don't make you weak. Not always, anyways. They can make you strong as well. There's always a mix. A balance.

Have you ever walked in a toy store for young kids and noticed the difference between the girl toys and the boy toys? How the girls have lots of pink sparkly princess dresses, and the boys have all their boy stuff? How boys playing dolls or girls playing shooters games is laughed at a lot or met with scepticism, and so we don't tend to see it happen because they want to fit in and tend to conform to social stereotypes to do so?
What about girl and boy baby clothes in a clothing store? Why must girls traditionally wear pink? Why must boys traditionally wear blue?
Or just listen to our fairytales as a another example! We feed young children stories of beautiful princesses in sparkly pink dresses that need saving by their handsome knights in shining armour because,
(1. they can't just save themselves and,
(2. it's the man's job *scowls*
We ingrain it into their brains and surround them with all this ideology. No wonder our society is the way it is.
And if you rebuke the girly-girl stereotype, offff you go to tomboy land o.O Because, as a kid, it's either you're a girly-girl or you're a tomboy.
And as a tomboy, you have to act like a boy. You become one of them......one of the knights *coughs and smothers laughter* XD Away away with the dresses and the pink clothes! You have to be tough and unyielding as stone! Learn to sword-fight and run and get dirty! You shall never again worry about your nails or your looks! Because you're now for all intensive purposes a boy and you must look down upon being clean and pretty! XP
But bewareee......from now on you cannot crush on your fellow bros of the brotherhood *cracks up* and if you do it won't work out because
(1. you're not meant to be pretty (duh *points above*), you're meant to be muddy and roughened up and,
(2. you're one of the boys now, so to them, chances are you're just a fellow boy and bestie.......aaand now get ready for the sudden self-esteem slump *facepalms*
So in conclusion it's not just authors that seem to hold this a-heroine-can-only-be-strong-if-she's-a-tomboy-sterotype. It's a part of our society. *frowns*

I personally grew up out of the mainstream eye, which allowed me to freely create who I wanted to be without being conformed by stereotypes. I liked dresses and    feeling beautiful, yes, but I also liked sword-fighting and being pretending to be a kick-ass heroine, whether it be a zombie killer, dragon rider or assassin. Or all three :D I wanted to be strong, but not stoic. Tho I'd definitely rather be gritty and scratched up than prissy and proper :P
Does that make me a tomboy? Maybe in mainstream, since it's always looking to classify people into a stereotype. But in my opinion, no, I'm not a tomboy. I'm a mix.
And okaayy, I can't reaaally fight, since I haven't taken any proper defence classes (I so want to tho *winks*), but the point is I wouldn't be afraid to scratch the paint on my nails, or mess up my hair if it came down to it (tho I do have a phobia of breaking nails ^^ But heyyy! That's pretty legit, no one would want their nail cracked and ripped *horrified look*, right everyone?? Riighttt?? *narrows eyes* XD).
And that's the image that I'd want girls to look up to and us readers to read about. Not being classed as either girly-girl or tomboy; rather, being a mix of both.

Because, in my opinion, a truly strong female heroine is one that can be kick-ass, smart, brave, and feminine; we don't have to chose between being feminine and strong, and we should never believe otherwise because it's the balance of it all that makes us strong!

.......aand Sarah J. Maas you hit the nail right on the head, which is why I love you dearly ;)
Celaena's a total walking contradiction; which makes her feel real because she can't be classed in one stereotype. Witty, smart, arrogant, brave, loyal, a fashionista, a book lover, vulnerable and guarded, tough as nails, flawed and yet one of the most perfect female heroines ever in my opinion!
#TeamCelaena #TeamToG <3

What's your opinion peeps? :D Sharing is caringggg!

—MissBloodsucker™ All Sucked Out!

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9/11 Random Updates (Pre?)Wednesday Issue #10

Yessss I know it's "technically" a preTHURSDAY post but mehh *sticks tongue out* It's random.

Hmm not a lot happened over the week, I guess.. but here we go:

— The FM now has an INSTAGRAM account @fangirlingmisses . Obviously not much is posted.. but if you want to chat or give us some reading recommendations or whateverr, it's really easy to let us know :D Just comment on those picture thingys. Follow please? We'll follow back.

— We're getting nearer and nearer to the publication of IN THE AFTERLIGHT !!! Seriously, October 28th is way too farrrr!! And I seriously need to get my hands on that 2.5 novella *cries* Maybe i'll reread Never Fade while i'm waiting...

— Has anyone watched the IF I STAY or THE GIVER film yet? I'm really curious if they made If I Stay right o.O It's a bit of a hard book to make a film of, don't you think?
Hmm I haven't read the Giver though.. better get onto it.

— I'm going on a school trip to Mongooolia for a week from Monday.. so i'll be gone from the blogger and internet world *dramatic whisper* MISS ME. No juss kidding. No reading for a week though since it's suppose to be a "social" trip.. I miss my computer already *pats laptop* Maybe i'll bring back a picture of a camel. Do you like camels? :D Everyone loves camelssss

—If you're Amy Heugh, sorrrryyyy for the horrible lagging of reading your bookk :/ I'm drowning in homework and stuff... but i'll get that review posted by the weekend! I'm going to go on a reading splurge.

— If you have Kik, you can chat up with me at Lunaluv934 XD I'm lonelyy during the day.
..aaaand now I sound like a person with no life seeking out desperate a social life. Shhh don't tell anyone ;)

— Awwww today is 9/11 :( Memorial day for the terrible incident.. hope everyone is doing well<3

—MissOddball™ Over and Out.

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The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas

The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Current Rating on Goodreads: 3.98 of 5 stars
Pages: 464
Synopsis (via Goodreads):

Iolanthe Seabourne is the greatest elemental mage of her generation—or so she's being told. The one prophesied for years to be the savior of The Realm. It is her duty and destiny to face and defeat the Bane, the greatest mage tyrant the world has ever known. A suicide task for anyone let alone a sixteen-year-old girl with no training, facing a prophecy that foretells a fiery clash to the death.

Prince Titus of Elberon has sworn to protect Iolanthe at all costs but he's also a powerful mage committed to obliterating the Bane to avenge the death of his family—even if he must sacrifice both Iolanthe and himself to achieve his goal.

But Titus makes the terrifying mistake of falling in love with the girl who should have been only a means to an end. Now, with the servants of the Bane closing in, he must choose between his mission and her life.

It starts off with a 16 year old girl named Iolanthe in Year of the Domain 1031, or 1883 in non-mage terms XD Iolanthe lives an ordinary enough life as a young elemental mage, except that she is extremely powerful and registered as an Elemental Mage III, that is, she can control three of the four elements, fire, water, earth, air. She has home-schooled, cooked, cleaned, and looked after herself ever since her guardian, Master Haywood, deteriorated and became a recluse, lost in the clutches of merixida (a type of drug).
Then one action brings the wrath of the Bane, the greatest known mage tyrant down upon her, and just when all seems doomed, the Prince of the Domain whisks her away and hides her from the Bane's servants. But could the prince have an ulterior motive to helping her?

I really luuvvved dis book! :D Shame you didn't Bel ;( .........and nooo, I'm not talking to myself XP

The writing was pretty good; the story was double POVs between Iolanthe and Prince Titus VII of House Elberon, and OMG da magicccccc!! *grins* I wanna be an elemental!!!!! *pouts* And zee Crucible concept was amazeballss!!! *jumps up and down* And then when you use it as a portal.......*gapes* That is just pure wickedness XDD Stories and folklore that you programmed in the book literally coming to life :O
Ohhh, and vaulting sounds sooooo cool! *imagines vaulting my way in a thousand segments (including blind vaulting :P) over to NYC mwhahahahaha* I like how they have vaulting limits and that they need to practice spells and stuff to maintain and improve their skills. It makes it much more real than if they could just go poofff, I can do all this at will because I'm a mage XD
I admit......there was a slight bit of perverse humour hidden in the book......*sly laugh*
“So it is true: the Inquisitor remains unconscious.”
“She is?”
“Has been since last night.”
“From what I did?”
“From what you did, except they thought I was responsible for it, so I gave them a fairy tale about the powers of my wand.”
He was still looking at the report, oblivious to what he’d just said. She suppressed an urge to giggle. “Did they believe you? All boys tell such tales about their wands.”
He glanced up, his eyes first blank, then lit with mischief. “Maybe they do, but I actually possess a superior wand—the finest of its kind, no less. The sort of fireworks my wand can produce will leave any girl breathless.”
*busts out laughing all over again*

MC: I thought Iolanthe was a great protagonist! Her strengths were projected from the start :D Smarts, looks, resourcefulness, calm-under-pressure, no-nonsense attitude, loyalty, cautiousness (thank gawwdd she wasn't one of those gag-worthy naive charries *wipes brow*), determination......stubborn determination XP And when she was put to the test, when her whole world spun around on it's axis like clothes in a washing machine, she rose to the challenge, without useless whining or feeling sorry for herself. She was all what-do-I-do-next-to-survive, how-should-I-plan-the-rescue-of-my-guardian, and trust-no-one! *high fives Iolanthe*

Titus: Poor thang XD I couldn't help feeling sorry for him.......all that lying and scheming that became second nature to him with no one he could ever trust! *shakes head sadly* He was born to terrible circumstances, and a heavy burden to carry. I was soooo glad when he and Iolanthe/Fairfax crossed over that grey line into friendship :D He deserves a friend he can trust.......all I can say now is......
Pleaaaseee Titus and Iolanthe become more than more-then-friends-pretending-to-friend-zone-each-other! Pleaaaaasseeeeee? *begs and grovels* XP
He's such a sweet guy deep down, he just had to hide it to protect himself and his mother's legacy for so long he doesn't see his merits himself.
And he's quite swoon-worthy *winks*

There was a lot of ways the girl-pretending-to-be-a-boy theme could have gone wrong, but in my opinion, it was pulled off well in this! One thing I always hate is when the girl pretending to be a boy ends up with the worst esteem when it comes to their 'love interest' *scowls* All this, 'masculine' girls with no good 'feminine' traits thing is just soooooo overused! And seriouslyyy annoying!
Luckily, everything was completely different in The Burning Sky. One, because Titus was the one who orchestrated her cover, two, because she didn't even really look like a boy because the otherwise spell did all the work for her.....minus the hair cut......I'm still distraught about the brutalization of that precious lot of hair *chin wobbles* XD And three, she was awesome at playing the role of a perfectly cocky, popular boy but her role as Fairfax didn't govern her, she knew clearly who she was, and who her alter ego aka Fairfax was.

(view spoiler)

The only con I have is that the pacing slacked off a bit at times, but other than that? :D *squeals*
Personally I luuuvvedd this book immensely, but I guess it depends on your preferred genres and style XD I j'adore stories filled with this kind of magic and setting. Yah know, different worlds and kingdoms to our own! .....tho technically our world did exist in The Burning Sky XDD But there was the mage world and the non-mage world all together......kinda like in Harry Potter or the Mortal Instruments ;D
I'll definitely read the other books in the series when they're published! *officially adds The Burning Sky to moi fav book pileeeee* <3
5 stars!!

“Just before the start of Summer Half, in April 1883, a very minor event took place at Eton College, that venerable and illustrious English public school for boys. A sixteen-year-old pupil named Archer Fairfax returned from a three-month absence, caused by a fractured femur, to resume his education.
Almost every word in the preceding sentence is false. Archer Fairfax had not suffered a broken limb. He had never before set foot in Eton. His name was not Archer Fairfax. And he was not, in fact, even a he.
This is the story of a girl who fooled a thousand boys, a boy who fooled an entire country, a partnership that would change the fate of realms, and a power to challenge the greatest tyrant the world had ever known.
Expect magic.”

—MissBloodsucker™ All Sucked Out!

View this review on Goodreads

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I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak :D

I Am the Messenger
by
Markus Zusak

Page Count: 357
Stand Alone.

My Rating: ★★★★★ LOVE

Current Average Rating on Goodreads: 4.11

Synopsis:
This teen gem about an unambitious teenager whose life is suddenly turned upside down by anonymous messages has it all - mystery, humor, romance, friendship.

Meet Ed Kennedy - underage cab driver, pathetic card player, and useless at romance. He lives in a shack, and he's hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence, until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. That's when the first Ace arrives...That's when Ed becomes the messenger.

Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary), until only one question remains. Who's behind Ed's mission?

Michael L. Printz Honor Winner

First thought: Markus Zusak never fails to amaze me. 

Well fair enough, i've only read one other book of his (The Book Thief) , but that one is like my second favourite book EVERR. Second to Harry Potter, of course ;P

This story had a different .. what's the word..er mellifluous? feel to it. Maybe because it was in a muuch more modern setting.. I dunno. The Book Thief was magical, and this was beautiful.
How people write like this is beyond me... Really the only person who can write like this and pull it off is dear Mr. Zusak! The metaphors weren't deliberately confusing, they weren't used to make the book more fancy, or to make the characters look more smart, it's just all in the writing that I can't explain.

And we all know my incapabilities of writing reviews for books I love.

Which sucks epically.

In short, it will be quite a small review with lots of gushing and forcing. *clears throat*

Now if you're thinking 'metaphors? Yuuckkk! Metaphor overloaded books are horrible!' theen I say go read it anyways. Why? Because I hate badly written metaphoric overloaded books too, and this was definitely not one of them XD Zusak- (can I call you Markus pretty please? Yeyy) has one of the most unique styles of writing i've seen so far. How he uses his words are absolutely brilliant, and you can just imagine them tumbling out of his mind like fairy dust falling to the ground or something (*cough* Yeah..)

I paced myself with this book because I seriously did not want it to end. I mean, Ed has to wait ages to solve his message or get a new one! Who am I to read through his hardship in one sitting?!

Plus the best things come in pieces :P I would recommend reading a few chapters at a time, on contrary to that thingy... you know those little review comments publishers put on the cover? Mine was a library copy so I don't have it anymore :/ But it said "Don't pick it up until you have the time to read this in one sitting" or something similar.
Me: Noooo don't ruin the magic in a few hours!!

That's my advice anyways xD If you can't help it, I won't blame ya.

So the characters were realistic, and the story was unique. The secondary characters were also nice, even if they weren't my favourites. We can see Ed developing as a character and a person, and his point of view on the world and it's beauty. It's really lovely :)

The ending was a shockerr.... totally unexpected. *winks and zips lips*

I don't want to give too much away because where's the fun in that?

But really, you should read it. And the Book Thief if you haven't. Don't be put off because it's historical fiction! I don't read historical fiction either.

Markus Zusak has pushed both his books to my Top 5 Favourites so far :P *claps* Well done! I do hope you write more<3 The Book Thief was published in 2005 :( 9 Years ago! Rahhhh.....

P.s Well done for representing Aussie writers xD Come to think of it, I don't really know that many...huh o.O

—MissOddball™ Over and Out.

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Did you read this? Thoughts?
Do you want to read this? Or no? Teeelll meh xD My side whispers to your side of the world..
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