Thief of Lies by Brenda Drake ~ Review

A big thank you to EntangledTEEN and Brenda Drake for the ARC copy of this book.

Although I was provided with a review copy by the author and/or publisher, all opinions expressed in the following reviews are purely my own. To find out more, please visit my disclaimer page.

It's always a relief when you find a YA book that:

(A) Uses unique concepts,

(B) Features intriguing character names,

or

(C) Entertains and delights you, the reader.

And when you find one that contains all three...you know you've found a winner. As is the case with Brenda Drake's amazing Thief of Lies.

Read on for my thoughts + sneak peeks from the book!

Remembrance by Meg Cabot ~ ARC Spoiler-free Review

This is not a drill, everyone. Nor is it an extremely early and well-organised April Fool's joke on the entire Meg Cabot fanbase. 

This. Is. Real.

Yes, this seventh book in the highly-acclaimed, swoonworthy and badass The Mediator series is a real dream come true! The 400 page book is TBR February 2nd 2016 which means that you won't have to wait long for more Suze & Jesse awesomeness.

I was lucky enough to acquire an ARC of the book via Edelweiss and William Morrow Paperbacks which led to a lengthy fangirling session where I danced around the house like a madwoman possessed by the ghost of a madwoman. 

Read on for my spoiler-free review + some sneak peeks from the upcoming book!

This Raging Light by Estelle Laure ~ Release Day Blitz

I am so excited that This Raging Light by Estelle Laure releases today and that I get to share the news!

If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful book by Author Estelle Laure, be sure to check out all the details below.

This blitz also includes a giveaway for a finished copy of the book and a bottle of nail polish that matches the cover courtesy of Estelle, HMH, and Rockstar Book Tours. So if you’d like a chance to win, enter in the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post!

The Reading Experience ~ Guest Post

The best part about blogging is the blogger community. 

Running this blog has given me the chance to meet so many incredible people, including fellow bloggers. 

One of these bloggers is Birdie.

Birdie runs the Birdie's Books blog which reviews YA fiction. She's a sweet blogger whose love of books is truly infectious. You can learn more about Birdie on Day 7 of my Beautiful Bloggers tag where she joins me for a fun interview.

I hope you all love her post - an insightful piece on the reading experience. And if you enjoy what you read here be sure and check out more of Birdie's musings and reviews over on her blog, as well as her previous guest post on my blog!

The Insanity Series ~ Book Blitz

Come be a part of the Insanity Book Blitz! There are some insanely awesome excerpts & prizes up for grabs...

The Beautiful Bloggers Tag ~ Day 12: Elicia Cheah

Welcome to the Beautiful Bloggers tag! 

This a blog tag dedicated to bloggers who have beautiful blogs and beautiful hearts. They're bloggers who are genuinely passionate about blogging and interact in a thoughtful manner with their followers and fellow bloggers. The tag is all about getting to know them and their blogs better.

Today's blogger is Elicia Cheah. 

Elicia is a breather of words, a creator of stories, and a quote hoarder. If you stick her in a bookstore, she won't come out until a week later after she's done surveying each and every title on the shelves. She runs the Girl in the Woods Reviews. The blog focuses on YA/NA books.

I got the chance to have a fun chat with Elicia and to learn more about her and her amazing blog. Check out the interview below!

Booknut's YA Year Book ~ The Best of 2015

Which YA books made 2015 a year full of laughter, tears, love, and all-nighters?

I cover my top picks in my YA Year Book for 2015!

Just like a real year book, my YA Year Book comes with a bunch of awards (some serious, some just for fun!) which are given to the books that truly stole the spotlight and won themselves a permanent place on my bookshelf...and in my bookworm heart.

The awards up for grabs in my Year Book are:

Best Dressed
Best Smile
Homecoming King
Leader of the Pack

**Note: My YA Year Book includes only books published in 2015. Books published in previous years, or ARCs for 2016, are not included.**

So without further ado, let's get started!

BEST DRESSED

~ Best book cover of 2015 ~

Winner: Ten Thousand Skies Above You (Firebird #2) by Claudia Gray

This was such a hard decision to make as 2015 was a year filled with stunning book covers whose art transported readers to millions of worlds, places, and times.

But whilst I was scanning through the nominees, my eyes just kept getting drawn back to Ten Thousand Skies Above You. 

The colours are the highlight - bold, rich, melding perfectly with one another. The paint-esque edges creep into the surrounding white space and match beautifully with the white of the title. 

Speaking of the title, the cover art is the ultimate translation of it. It looks as if ten thousand skies - skies seen by millions of different people, at different times and in different places - have collided in a symphony of colour. You look at the cover and immediately think of infinite parallel universes.

Yet one of the most intriguing elements of the cover isn't even the colours. It's the symbolism. The opposing images of the Eiffel Tower and the Golden Gate Bridge (and the state they are in), the small hot-air balloons nestled in the background...every detail is special and holds a link to the story within.

A well-deserved win, if I do say so!

~ Best Dressed Runners Up ~

Swoon Worthy Saturday ~ Robin LaFevers' Balthazar

Hosted by: Stay Bookish

It's Swoon Worthy Saturday!

Saturday is a day for swooning. Swoon Worthy Saturday is a weekly meme where in we present a fictional boy who has swept us off our feet, given us butterflies, made our heart do acrobatics and driven us absolutely crazy!

This Saturday's pick is the darkly mysterious Balthazar from author Robin LaFevers' book Mortal Heart (His Fair Assassin #3). 

2015 Debut Authors Bash ~ Stefanie Lyons

Hey all! Welcome to this year's annual Debut Authors Bash.

The Debut Authors Bash is an event that YA Reads started in 2013. This is an event to promote debut authors through reviews, guest posts, interviews, promo posts, etc. This year's Bash runs from December 1st through December 15th. 

The author I will be featuring today is the lovely Stefanie Lyons!

Stefanie Lyons is the acclaimed author of Dating Down, a contemporary romance novel told in scenes and bursts of poetry that create a story filled with hurt, healing, and hope.

Remember your mom saying you weren't old enough to wear makeup or that you had to be home by a certain time because nothing good happens after midnight?   

Well, those are the moments Stefanie pretty much spends all her time daydreaming about. She grew up in a small town in Kansas and now lives in Chicago. However, no matter where she is, she's perpetually cruising the Square, crushing on boys, organizing her locker, practicing her clarinet, or getting ready for prom. In her head, that is! Because her teen years were great.  

A few other things about Stefanie: she received her MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts where she met some of her favorite people ever—who also happen to be perpetual teenagers. She's a big fan of faraway places, aimless wandering, and adventures that only happen when you daydream. Oh, and she loves Twizzlers. Who doesn’t?

Want to learn more about Stefanie and her books? Read on for my Top Fives interview...

Booknut's Ramblings ~ Apocalypse Survival 101

Yep, today I'm asking the important questions!

As the year draws to a close, you can't help but wonder...what if this was it? What if, tomorrow, I volunteered as tribute the end of the world arrived? Would I be prepared? Answer: Nope. Not at all.

Yes, I realise exactly how morbid that line of questioning sounds, but it's a valid question! And as a bookworm, I'd like to think that I'd have an advantage during the apocalypse. After all, I've read many a dystopian novel so I have to have picked up some pointers along the way.

So today here is my list of apocalypse survival tips (a.k.a Booknut's Plan For The End Of The World) that I've put together from my reading on the subject.