Author: Ann Redisch Stampler
Release Date: March 6th, 2012
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Pages: 384
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: ARC for review


Rating: ★★★

Sometimes the end is just the beginning. Gabby lived under the radar until her makeover. Way under. but when she started her senior year as a blonder, better-dressed version of herself, she struck gold: Billy Nash believed she was a the flawless girl she was pretending to be. The next eight months with Billy were bliss...Until the night Gabby woke up on the ground next to the remains of his BMW without a single memory of how she got there. And Billy's nowhere to be found. All Gabby wants is to make everything perfect again. But getting her life back isn't difficult, it's impossible. Because nothing is the same, and Gabby's beginning to realize she's missed more than a few danger signs along the way. It's time for Gabby to face the truth, even if it means everything changes. Especially if it means everything changes.

Where It Began has been a book I have been extremely excited to read, but I honestly feel extremely disappointed by it. As a whole, it's a great book.. I just has a lot of issues with it, which I will talk about below. It's just one of those books that I wanted so badly to be amazing, and it just really fell short for me.

Ann's writing is fantastic, that was probably my favorite thing about the book. I love how she kept everything a mystery as far as what happened, and did a great job at going back and forth between things especially in the beginning. I will admit that I did find myself somewhat confused by some of the things going on in the beginning, but once you're past that it levels out into a much more enjoyably read.

There characters were the biggest let down for me, I honestly didn't feel any attachment to any of the characters throughout the story. I feel like they were well written in the fact that it's how Ann intended them to be, but none of the characters really made a lasting impression on me and I was extremely disappointed by that.

As I said at the start, the story as a whole was great. I loved the concept of the book, which was what drew me to it in the first place. I just really wish everything else would of added up to that by the end. The story itself is fairly smooth, I didn't really have much of an issue with the pacing and the plot lines through out the story. I feel like all of that was very well done.

On a final note, I honestly feel that some things could of been better. The concept, and writing were fantastic but it really fell shot on some key aspects that can really drive a story. I wouldn't say this book is amazing by any means, as I honestly didn't feel that way when I finished.. But I would say that it's a decent debut novel, I feel like there is enough to satisfy people that enjoy YA Contemporary since it does have a great concept, and writing. I just really wish it would of done a little more for me.

Want to say thank you to Simon and Schuster for providing me a copy of this for review.

Alecia is among the awesome group of 2012 debut authors, her debut book The Queen of Kentucky was one of my favorite books in January, and I really hope you will all make sure to check it out. :) 

JBB: Was writing something you always wanted to do growing up?

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren.



All of the books I got this week are review books. So just want to say thank you to Scholastic and HarperCollins for sending me these books for review.

For Review:


Perception (Clarity, #2) by Kim Harrington - Thanks to Scholastic (Comes out March 1st, 2012)

Irises by Francisco X. Stark - Thanks to Scholastic  (Finished Copy)

Above by Leah Bobet - Thanks to Scholastic (Comes out April 1st, 2012)

Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris - Thanks to HarperCollins (Comes out April 24th, 2012)


Again, huge thank you to Scholastic and HarperCollins for sending me these awesome books.

What did you get this week? Leave your links below. :)

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads.

This event is being hosted by Katelyn over at Kate's Tales of Books and Bands. Seems like it will be a lot of fun, you can click the image above to go sign up for it. I will provide you with some of the basic information directly from her post below.

Author: Kim Harrington
Release Date: March 11th, 2011
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 242
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Gift

Rating: ★★★★

When you can see things others can't, where do you look for the truth? This paranormal murder mystery will have teens reading on the edge of their seats. Clarity "Clare" Fern sees things. Things no one else can see. Things like stolen kisses and long-buried secrets. All she has to do is touch a certain object, and the visions come to her. It's a gift. And a curse. When a teenage girl is found murdered, Clare's ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case - but Clare is still furious at the cheating jerk. Then Clare's brother - who has supernatural gifts of his own - becomes the prime suspect, and Clare can no longer look away. Teaming up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective, Clare must venture into the depths of fear, revenge, and lust in order to track the killer. But will her sight fail her just when she needs it most?

I found Clarity to be a really refreshing read, I enjoyed the paranormal crime thriller aspect of it. It's an interesting mix for a story and I feel like Kim did a great job with it in Clarity.

I can't tell you how many times I thought I had this book figured out, only to have a tiny new clue thrown into the picture that completely washed away anything I thought might lead to the final answer. Kim does an AMAZING job of keeping you guessing from the start of the book until the last few pages. I would honestly be skeptical if someone told me they had this book figured out early on, because I honestly don't think it's possible unless you were to skim ahead. And I think this shows just how great of a writer Kim is, the fact that she can leave you with so many answers and slowly feed you information to keep you reading. That's what I felt made this book so enjoyable.

The characters in Clarity were all very well written, I don't really have a favorite since there were several characters within the book that I thoroughly enjoyed. Another thing I really loved about this book was how well written both sides were as far as the characters go, I notice a lot of time where there are certain characters in a story that gets a lot of extra attention either good or bad, as an attempt to keep a readers attention if they like that character. But it's really nice to see when most, if not all characters in a story get close to the same amount of attention in a story. That allows readers to have a much more in-depth reading experience. And I really feel like Kim accomplished this in Clarity.

The only issue I had with Clarity is one that usually tends to bug me quite a bit when it comes to reading and that is clutter. I felt like there were several scenes throughout the story that weren't really needed, or could of at least been compacted. But this is merely a personal opinion, and it doesn't change the fact that this is a story that will pull you in from the start, and is a really intense read.

With all that said, I highly recommend this book. It's an extremely great read, even with the minimal clutter throughout the story. Kim has done an amazing job writing this book, and it's definitely made me a fan of hers. I recently received an ARC of Perception from Scholastic, which is the second book in this series. And I am extremely excited to read it, will most likely be doing so soon.

I really hope you all enjoyed this review, and hope you will check out Clarity if you haven't already read it. It's well worth the time. :) If you have read it, let me know what you thought about it. :)

Author: Kristen Simmons
Release Date: January 31st, 2012
Publisher: Tor Teen
Pages: 384
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: ARC for review

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren.


For Review:


Where It Began by Ann Redisch Stampler - Thank you Simon & Schuster

Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin - Thank you Putnam (Penguin)


What did you get this week?

Jennifer is the author of four books, one of which being The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight which was the first book I've read of hers, and I was blown away by how great of a story it was. And I highly suggest that everyone read it. 

JBB: Was writing something you always planned to do as you were growing up?

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Release Date: October 18th, 2011
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Pages: 281
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Gift

Rating: ★★★★★

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi-pure-bloods-have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals-well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures. Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

I found this story to be really unique, I loved how Jennifer blended Greek Mythology into this story, and it all just felt right. I've heard a lot of mixed things about this book going into it, but I always enjoy going into a book with an open mind because it can always surprise you. And I was really happy with this book, and how well written it was.

I loved Alex's character, she was really strong when she needed to be. But she was also a believable character in that she wasn't afraid to show her feelings. And that goes for a lot of the characters, such as Aiden and Seth. I felt like all of the characters had personalities that really suited them, and made you either love them or hate them. I was really confused with characters such as Marcus throughout most of the story, but I was glad that as the story went on you actually start to see the reasoning behind everything that's happening. And that everyone's not what you might of thought.

As I said before, the concept of the story is great. I did find myself getting annoyed at certain things, but it wasn't something major that would be worth pointing out. The story is really fast paced, and you have to process quite a bit of information in short time spans. But it all plays together very nicely to mold into a wonderful story.

The ending of the story was amazing, and shocking. I expected some of it, just because you can pick up on some of it very early in the story if you're paying attention but I was pleased with how everything was wrapped up. Although it left me with a feeling of not knowing where the second book can go.. because it didn't really end on a cliff hanger or anything. I mean sure, there are a few key points of the story that I assume are going to be in the second book simply because they are HUGE factors in Half-Blood, but as a whole I just don't know where it could go. But I am really excited to see where Jennifer takes this story, and I am excited to see what ends up happening to a lot of the key characters.

Half-Blood was an easy five stars for me, it's a beautifully written story that really pulls you in. It has an amazing cast of characters, that will keep you guessing even after the book is over. I highly recommend this book to anyone that loves a fast paced, high action story. This is the book for you, I highly doubt you will be disappointed. I just can't wait to see where Jennifer takes us next with Pure, I am sure it will be just as amazing as Half-Blood was.

If you've read this book, what did you think of it? I'd love to know. And if you haven't read it, I would love to know if it's one you plan to read. :) I really hope you enjoyed this review, and I hope it encouraged you to check out Half-Blood if you haven't read it.

Wow, I just want to say thank you to every one of you for following and reading my blog. I love reading all of your comments, and talking to a lot of you on twitter. I hope you all continue to enjoy my posts, and reviews especially since this just just the start of my first full year of blogging, and I want to make it an awesome one for all my followers.

This giveaway is going to be a signed copy of The Fault In Our Stars by John Green (See Signature below). Sadly, as it is a extra copy that I already own I will have to make it US only due to shipping prices. But if you're outside the US, please feel free to enter my January Releases Giveaway, as it's international.



Rules:


1. Open to US entries only

2. Must be 13 years or older to enter


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Brodi is a 2012 debut author, her debut book Everneath is already being talked about quite a bit. Everneath is the first book in a trilogy and will be released January 24th, 2012 published by Balzer and Bray (HarperCollins)

JBB: How did you come up with the idea for Everneath? I know when reading, it seems like such a complex and unique story, how much thought went into it before you started writing it?

Brodi: EVERNEATH started with one scene in my head, about a girl who's come back to her high school after a long mysterious absence. Rumors of where she’s been are circulating, but all she cares about is finding the boy she left behind. This scene was actually inspired by real events in my life, but I used mythology to tell the rest of the story.

I started with this one scene, and went from there.

JBB: What would you say was your favorite character to write in Everneath? All of the characters had an amazing level of depth, so it seems like you put so much thought into all of them.

Brodi: Cole! He was the most challenging for me to write, because I had to strike a balance between hating him and sympathizing with him (but only a little bit). It definitely stretched my writing chops!


JBB: How did you find the balance for changing the time period of certain scenes in Everneath? In my review I talked about how it's one of those books where you really have to pay attention to what is happening, and also when or it can throw you off. Which I really find as a great thing, because I feel like it takes a lot of skill as a writer to pull something like that off nicely.

Brodi: It's funny, because in real life I'm not a very organized person. I can't keep anything straight! But for the book, it just sort of fell into place with that wonky timeline. I wasn't as interested in Nikki's century underground, as much as I was interested in the before and the after. So it made sense that the story could be told in alternating before and after scenes.


JBB: You've mentioned that you're currently working on revisions for the second book in the series, was it really easy for you to transition over into book two after you were done with book one? I see a lot of the time where authors talk about how they can have a series all planned out before they even start writing the first book, was this the case for you?


Brodi: I knew where book 2 needed to go, and if you've read all of EVERNEATH, you can guess where book 2 needs to go. But book 2 also involved a lot of world-building, which was a very difficult thing to do, considering that book 1 takes place mostly in the real world.


JBB: Is there anything you can tell us about the rest of the Everneath series, that isn't a spoiler? I can't wait for the second book, and I am sure many others that read Everneath will feel the same.


Brodi: Like I said before, if you've read book 1, you have an idea of where book 2 needs to go. Anything else will sort of be a spoiler! But I will say the series is about whether or not Nikki can ever return to her "normal" life.


JBB: What is something most people wouldn't know about you? Hobbies, talents, etc.


Brodi: I can play the organ.


JBB: Is there anything else you'd like to say to people reading this post? Also, where can people find you on the web, and find out more about Everneath?


Brodi: People can find me at www.brodiashton.com

Just want to say thank you to Brodi for taking time out of her busy schedule to do this interview. And I really hope you all enjoy it. :)

You can check out my review of Everneath here: http://www.justinsbookblog.com/2012/01/book-review-everneath-by-brodi-ashton.html

Author: Alecia Whitaker
Release Date: January 2nd, 2012
Publisher: Poppy
Pages: 375
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Bought

Rating: ★★★★

Fourteen-year-old Kentucky girl Ricki Jo Winstead, who would prefer to be called Ericka, thank you very much, is eager to shed her farmer's daughter roots and become part of the popular crowd at her small town high school. She trades her Bible for Seventeen magazine, buys new "sophisticated" clothes and somehow manages to secure a tenuous spot at the cool kids table. She's on top of the world, even though her best friend and the boy next door Luke says he misses "plain old Ricki Jo." Caught between being a country girl and wannabe country club girl, Ricki Jo begins to forget who she truly is: someone who doesn't care what people think and who wouldn't let a good-looking guy walk all over her. It takes a serious incident out on Luke's farm for Ricki Jo to realize that being a true friend is more important than being popular.

The Queen of Kentucky turned out to be one of those books that left me thinking, how in the world am I going to review this? It's an extremely cute book, and has a powerful message for not just people around the age of the characters but for anyone that reads it. But I also felt that some of the things in the book were taken to the extreme, and that kind of ruined a few things for me.

First of all, I love the basic concept of the story. It's basically a story about finding who you are, and the things that matter most in life. But it's how you go about those things that will shape you into the person you become. Which is one of the things that really annoyed me about this book, and which I will discuss further later on. Trying to fit in is one of those things that pretty much everyone goes through in life, just as Ricki does in this book but like I said before, it's all about how you go about doing it. You should never change who you are just to fit in with a group.

Ricki is a well written character, and I think she fits the role that I assume Alecia was trying to achieve in the story. But when you're reading a story with teenage characters, you go into it knowing there will most likely be that teenage angst. This story is no different, and I am not saying that it's a bad thing. I just feel like that teenage mindset can be taken a little to far, even if she is only 14 that is old enough to have some common sense. I can't even begin to explain how annoyed I was at some of the choices Ricki made throughout the story, especially when she knew it was the wrong choice to make. She just thought it would make her "Cool". As for "Wolf"... Let's just say I didn't care for his character.

The one character I did really enjoy was Luke, I felt he was the most well rounded character out of the group. I wish more of the characters would of had his way of thinking, considering he is the same age as the other characters.. But alas, he was the one character that I felt truly brought the story together and made up for the major annoyances of some of the other characters.

I gave this book 4 stars, because I just couldn't get over some of the characters. I adored the concept of the story, and I feel like it speaks true to anyone no matter how old you are. And I feel like it's a book people should read, considering that. If you can look past some of the annoyance from some of the characters, and actually see the story for what it is you will see that Alecia has created an amazing story that in the end will make you realize just how important being yourself can be. So I really hope you will give this book a chance, if you've been thinking about reading it. Don't let the whole teenage angst thing keep you from reading it, I was just simply voicing my own personal opinions.

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren.

This is my first author interview, and I would just like to say thank you to Tiffany for allowing me to interview her. Tiffany is the author of Send Me A Sign, which is her debut book (YA) and will be released in Fall 2012. Which I am really excited to read. I hope you all will enjoy this interview, and check out Tiffany's book.

Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Release Date: January 2nd, 2012
Publisher: Poppy
Pages: 236
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Finished copy, for review from Hachette Book Group

Rating: ★★★★★

Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything? Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. She's stuck at JFK, late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's in seat 18C. Hadley's in 18A. Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second chances and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.

The Statistical Probability is such a simple story, but the messages in it are extremely powerful. It's one of those books that can make you step back and look at things from different perspectives.

Hadley and Oliver are two of the best characters I have come across lately. You can very easily become attached to them, and in my opinion they are extremely real characters. I never felt that anything that happened between them is something that couldn't happen between two everyday people. I also really liked the parents in this story, usually in stories like this I end up disliking one of the parents, but they both had great roles in Hadleys life. There was just so much about them that I really liked. The side characters in this book add a ton of extra life to it, you don't really get to know any of them but they are around long enough to really grow on you.

When it comes to stories like this, I look for it to be believable and for it not to be extremely cliche. Don't get me wrong, the book has plenty of the cute cliche moments.. I just feel like as a whole, it was a very well written story. Everyone (I would imagine...) thinks about some of the things talked about in this book, everyone that hasn't found that special someone wonders how it will eventually come along. No matter what it takes to get there.

The ending of the story, while predictable was really sweet. I loved how things came to a close, I wish there would of been a little more information as to what happened with some of the characters. I was pleased though, each aspect of the story was wrapped up, regardless of if it's what you had expected or not.

This book is an easy 5 stars for me, it's such a sweet story and I feel like it has one of those messages wrapped in it, making it a book everyone should read at least once. I know it's not going to be something for everyone, but I highly suggest this book to anyone that enjoys sweet and heartfelt stories. It's become one of my favorite Contemporary books.

I hope you all enjoyed this review, and I would love to hear your thoughts on this book if you've read it. Or if it's a book you plan to read. If you like contemporary, this is one you don't want to miss out on.

Thank you to Hachette Book Group (Poppy) for sending me a copy of this book for review.

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren.



Bought: 


Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales by Brothers Grimm (Barnes and Noble Leather Bound Edition) - I am collecting some of these, beautiful books.. can't beat them for the price.

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Pyxis by K.C. Neal

Perchance to Dream by Lisa Mantchev - I have been looking for this book for months, couldn't find it in any stores.. finally just ordered it online.

So Silver Bright by Lisa Mantchev

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Dragonswood by Janet Lee Carey

The Queen of Kentucky by Alecia Whitaker


That does it for the books I got this week, what did you get? :)

Author: Jodi Meadows
Release Date: January 31st, 2012
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 372
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: ARC for review


Rating: ★★★★★

NEWSOUL Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why. NOSOUL Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame? HEART Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all? Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.

The concept behind this book was really fascinating. I mean ideas of reincarnation have been around since the start of recorded history. But the way Jodi has crafted the idea in Incarnate takes a whole new spin on the topic, and based on that alone she did a beautiful job. The idea of being born again is enticing, but then again something everyone might not want.

The story takes place in a area called Range, and I loved this setting. There are a host of different creatures that in-habit Range, some of which are extremely deadly and others that are simple animals like we have around us in our world. The majority of the story takes place in Heart, which Jodi did a beautiful job of creating. Just reading the story I could picture this huge beautiful city in my mind, it really helped drag you into the story. All in all, the world Jodi has created in this book is absolutely stunning.

All of the characters in the book are just as amazing as everything else I could talk about. I became so attached to Ana and Sam, and also quite a few of the side characters. Something I always look for in a book is well written characters, with a lot of depth, and are easy to become attached to. And a lot of the characters in Incarnate had every one of those qualities. I honestly can't wait to see what paths the characters go on in the next two books, or if there are any new characters. Which I am sure there will be.

I went through this book pretty quick, it's really well written and keeps you interested in what's going to happen next. The world, characters and everything I mentioned above are just so beautifully written... There are a lot of things I do have questions about though, you learn a lot of things in very little time at the end and it just left me with so many questions. But I guess that is a good thing, huh? Since it has me wanting to get my hands on the second book to get those answer, or at least hope to get some of them. :P

Incarnate is an amazing debut book. Jodi deserves so much credit for creating such a stunning book, and I hope everyone that has been thinking about reading this book once it's released does. You won't regret it, and I am sure you will be feeling the same way I do now, wanting to dive right into the second book. Make sure to keep an eye out for this book at the end of the month, it's one you don't want to miss out on reading.

I will have an interview with Jodi on the blog on February 10th, so make sure to keep an eye out for that. I can't wait to post it, and I hope you all will enjoy it. She is really awesome, and I hope you all will pick up a copy of Incarnate whenever you get the chance. :)

Thank you to Harper Collins for allowing me to review this book.

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger over at GReads.


This weeks question:

What are some of your reading goals for the New Year?


First, my main reading goal for this year is to read 100 books. Might be hard to do, but I really want to attempt it regardless of if I fail or not it gives me a number to reach for.

As for other goals, I am not really sure. I do want to try and read more variety, I read a little of everything from the time I started my blog until the end of 2011 which was about five months but I just want to try and change things up from time to time. I have a bad habit of reading the same type of books back to back when I really enjoy them, and I feel like I tend to miss out on other books outside of that which are sitting in my TBR pile.

That's really all I can think of as far as what my goals would be for 2012 when it comes to reading. I just really want to be able to hit that 100 book mark, and make sure that those 100 books are from a wide variety of genres.

What are your reading goals for this year? Leave me links to your posts in the comments, I would love to go and read them. :)

There are a lot of awesome January releases many of which I plan to read, or already have read. So since there are so many great titles, I figured why not spread the joy? The more people that are able to read these great titles the better.

I'm going to split this up into prize packs, seeing as there are a lot of books to include. So the winner, or winners of the giveaway can pick which pack they wish to get. As seen below. All books will be finished copies, ordered from The Book Depository so it will be open to International people also.

                                    Prize Pack 1:

1. A Million Suns by Beth Revis
2. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi






Prize Pack 2:


1. Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
2. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith








                                     Prize Pack 3:


1. Everneath by Brodi Ashton
2. Dragonswood by Janet Lee Carey








This giveaway is open internationally, so everyone is welcome to enter. If I hit 500 followers during this giveaway there will be two winners. This will be my last giveaway for awhile, I just really love a lot of the books that are coming out this month and really want to share them with you all.

My Review of A Million Suns: http://www.justinsbookblog.com/2011/12/book-review-million-suns-across.html

My Review of Everneath: http://www.justinsbookblog.com/2012/01/book-review-everneath-by-brodi-ashton.html


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Author: Brodi Ashton
Release Date: January 24th, 2012
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (Harper Collins)
Pages: 373
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: ARC For Review

Rating: ★★★★

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists. Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen. As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...

Brodi has done an amazing job with her debut novel, I was really happy to get the chance to review this book. So I just want to say thank you to Harper Collins for allowing me to. I had one major issue with this book, which I will talk about but as a whole I love this book.

It's such an unique story, and I love how it draws from mythology for a lot of the key aspects of the story. Looking back, I feel like it's one of those books that can easily confuse you, just because there is so much going on and with the way it's written you have to keep track of what time period you're in or you could get confused pretty quick. (You will understand once you start reading, or maybe it won't seem that way to you.) But don't take that as a negative thing, because it's a positive. Brodi is an amazing writer, and the fact that she added that level of detail and went back and fourth between the events like that proves it. I will gladly read more of her books based on that one aspect of the book.

Brodi also did an amazing job with the characters, I had very few issues with them. I felt like they had a lot of depth, and I really became attached to a few of the characters. Which any of you that have read my reviews, know I love it when books have characters that can draw you in like that. I don't really have a favorite character, maybe after reading the second book I will. But as of right now, all of the characters were so well developed that I honestly enjoyed them all. As for a character that would always leave me with questions, it would be Mary.

I only had one thing that bugged me while reading this book, and it was that at times it felt really cluttered. I felt that maybe things could of been cleaned up, or just taken out. The finished version might have some changes, but that is honestly the only thing that bugged me about this book but it was enough to lower the rating to four stars.

As a whole this book is amazing, I did have the one issue with it as I stated above but it didn't take away from how good the book was and how well written of a story Brodi has created. I am really looking forward to the second book in the series to come out, it's already on my TBR list. I hope you all will read Everneath when it's released. It's well worth it, even with what I felt was a little clutter, it doesn't take away from the amazing story. I just gave my honest thoughts of the book.

Hope you liked this review, I would love to know if you plan to read this book once it's released. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments. And thank you again to Harper Collins for allowing me to review Everneath.

This is going to be my first entire year of blogging, and I feel like I am already off to an amazing start with a great following and some really awesome friends within the book community. So I am really excited to see what 2012 brings, I have put a lot of thought on things I want to try and do better when it comes to the blog and I think you all will enjoy the things I have planned so far this year, including author interviews and more giveaways.

As far as a reading goal for this year, I am still somewhat on the fence. I don't want to set a number that will make reading seem more like work, but I want it to be high enough to suit a full time blog. So I am going to TRY to get through 100 books this year, it might be more or less but I think that is a fairly reasonable number to try and reach. Equals out to about 1 book every four days, so between working and other things I think I can pull that off. :) Might need to join some read-a-thons throughout the year to help keep the pace going though.

As for the first three books of the year, I will show you them below: