A Trillian Books: March 2012

Tuesday, 27 March 2012

Teaser Tuesday - The Queen's Governess

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should be Reading Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others.
* Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The Queen's Governess - Karen Harper

The next morning, without seeing Cromwell again, I was off to Hampton Court on a royal barge, one stripped of it's hangings, crests and seat cushions, though loaded with wooden boxes tied down with straps. I intended to see the countryside sights all the way but a companion - a young, handsome man who leaped on at the last moment in the most brave style - took much of my attention.

Monday, 26 March 2012

It's Monday - 26th March 2012

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a weekly event to celebrate what we are reading for the week hosted at Book Journey, Post the books completed last week, the books you're currently reading, and the books to be read this week. Please comment or leave a link to let me know what you're reading this week!

Completed last week

The Immortals: Evermore - Alyson Noel
Heist Society - Ally Carter
Variant - Robison Wells
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus Volume 1 - Joss Whedon

Currently Reading

The Queen's Governess - Karen Harper
Tomorrow Land - Mari Mancusi

Up soon

A Million Suns - Beth Revis

Sunday, 25 March 2012

In My Mailbox - 25/3/12

In My Mailbox is a weekly event exploring the books received this week and is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. What books did you get this week?

For Review (from publisher unless stated)

Burn Mark - Laura Powell (Bloomsbury)
Endure - Carrie Jones (Bloomsbury)

Thursday, 22 March 2012

Review: The Look - Sophia Bennett

Title: The Look
Author: Sophia Bennett
Format: Paperback
Pages: 325
Genre: YA
Published (UK): 1st March 2012 (Chicken House)

Ted is fifteen, and...oh yes...tall. When she's spotted by a model agency, she can't believe it.

At the same time, Ted's fashionista sister, Ava, is diagnosed with cancer. With her world turned upside down, Ted has a lot of growing up to do, some of it in five-inch platforms. Should she be the model sister for Ava? Life in front of the camera is harder than it looks. And will they still be smiling when it’s over?

At school Ted is known as a freak. She's tall and skinny, with birds-nest hair and she isn't really into the things all the other girls like. Out in London with her sister, Ava, Ted gets spotted by a model scout but it takes her a while and some convincing that it isn't just some joke. Ava talks her into visiting the model agency and from there Ted's career as a model starts, with many highs and lows, twists and turns along the way.

I really liked how the fashion world was portrayed in this book. It takes a well balanced view point on the topic, with it being neither all glamour and glitz nor making a big issue about the dangers of suspect agencies and anorexic models. Both ends of the spectrum are certainly mentioned but generally it focused on the middle ground. Ted's modelling days are hard work, sometimes boring and she doesn't know what she's doing half the time. It's realistic and Ted is a great character to see the world through.

The other focus of the story is Ava's illness. She is diagnosed with cancer and it is essentially because of this that Ted takes up modelling - because she thinks it's what her sister wants her to do. Plus the money would make things easier for the whole family. Ted takes on a lot of responsibility for a fifteen-year-old and handles it well. She might not make all the right decisions, but they're all made with best of intentions.

The Look is a book that will have you emotional one moment and laughing the next. I didn't particularly expect it to be a book I would really enjoy as I'd assumed it to be more superficial and fluffy. However I found myself really liking it. It was much more than I'd expected and I would definitely recommend it.

Tuesday, 20 March 2012

Review: Variant - Robison Wells

Title: Variant
Author: Robison Wells
Series: Variant #1
Format: ARC
Pages: 373
Genre: YA, Scifi
Published (UK): 16th December 2011 (HarperCollins)

Benson Fisher thought that a scholarship to Maxfield Acadmey would be the ticket out of his dead-end life.

He was wrong.

Now he's trapped in a school that's surrounded by a razor-wire fence, where video cameras monitor his every move and where breaking the rules equals death.

All Benson wants is to find a way out. But when he stumbles upon the real secret the school has been hiding, he realises that escape may be impossible.

As soon as Benson sets foot in Maxfield Acadamy, he knows something is wrong. He can't quite work out what's going on to start with but it soon comes to light that the students are essentially prisoners in the school, they can't leave and camera's watch their every move. Also, there's no teachers or other adults; the students themselves are responsible for making sure the rules are kept as well as all the other jobs that keep the school running. Benson soon learns that the majority of his new classmates are affiliated with one of three groups. The Society who do everything by the book; Havoc who don't and the V's (Variants), who are essentially the one's who don't want to be part of the other two groups.

Variant is can easily be compared to books such as Lord of the Flies and The Maze Runner and is every bit as good as both of those. Benson is a character who's really easy to like. Often I find in this kind of book, the protagonist is either completely clueless of what's going on around them or they figure it out straight away. Thankfully, Benson is neither of these. He questions everything that's strange about Maxfield Academy but he still struggles to work out what is happening and while he is determined to escape, he also has moments where he wonders if it's just easier to go along with it. It's easy to relate to his emotions as the story progresses, feeling his frustrations and confusion along with him.

The only slight problem I had with the book was that I didn't realise it was part of a series and so I was expecting it to be all tied up by the end. It wasn't until I had about twenty pages left that I thought "Okay, this isn't going to be finished" and then I had a look on the Internet and discovered there's to be a sequel. Mostly this is a good thing as I definitely want to read more about this world and it's characters but I was a little frustrated that I didn't get the answers I'd been waiting for - especially as the book ends on a pretty big cliffhanger.

A definite enjoyable read. just don't expect to understand exactly what is going on by the end of this installment.

Sunday, 18 March 2012

Reivew: Evermore - Alyson Noel

Title: Evermore
Author: Alyson Noel
Series: The Immortals #1
Format: Kindle
Pages: 388
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Published (UK): 1st October 2010 (Macmillan Children's Books)

Since a horrible accident claimed the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever can see auras, hear people’s thoughts, and know a person’s life story by touch. Going out of her way to shield herself from human contact to suppress her abilities has branded her as a freak at her new high school—but everything changes when she meets Damen Auguste.

Ever sees Damen and feels an instant recognition. He is gorgeous, exotic and wealthy, and he holds many secrets. Damen is able to make things appear and disappear, he always seems to know what she’s thinking—and he’s the only one who can silence the noise and the random energy in her head. She doesn’t know who he really is—or what he is. Damen is equal parts light and darkness, and he belongs to an enchanted new world where no one ever dies

As well as dealing with the deaths of her family - and the guilt of surviving the accident - Ever Bloom is also learning to cope with her new found ability to hear people's thoughts and see auras. Since her move to live with her aunt, Ever is no longer the popular girl, instead being labelled a freak at her new school - largely due to the fact she spends most of her time hidden behind her hoodie and her earphones, which help to block out some of the 'noise' around her. She keeps herself to herself with the exception of her two friends, Haven and Miles. Then along comes Damen, the new guy. Hot and mysterious, Ever can't help but notice him, if only because she can't read his thoughts.

At the start Evermore seemed like a typical YA fantasy story in which the protagonist is taken out of her comfort zone and into the world of paranormal. Elements reminded me of Twilight and there were times when I thought that if Damen started with the sparkly, I'd throw the book across the room (except I was reading on my Kindle so that wouldn't have been a great idea). However, thankfully Evermore turned out to be a much better story (FYI I'm not a fan of Twilight) with Ever being a much more likeable and interesting protagonist - and at least she had an excuse for being moody.

I did have some issues with the book. One being that some of the characters names were kind of annoying. I'd mostly expected 'Ever' to be short for something but if it is, it wasn't revealed in this book. Another thing that bugged me was that Haven and Miles were kind of flat and predictable. Haven was annoying and Miles was too much of a stereotypical gay bff. The plot was mostly predictable and it was more how and when certain things would happen, rather than what would happen.

I did enjoy the book though and I will definitely be reading the rest of the series as I want to find out what happens next.

In My Mailbox - 18/03/12

In My Mailbox is a weekly event exploring the books received this week and is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. What books did you get this week?

For Review (from publisher unless stated)

Fever - Dee Shulman (Puffin)
A Million Suns - Beth Revis (Razorbill)

Tuesday, 13 March 2012

Teaser Tuesday - Heist Society

Kat used to love Paris. She remembered being there with her parents - eating croissants, visiting a pyramid, and carrying six red balloons. It wasn't until years later that she realized it wasn't a fun family outing - that they'd actually been casing the Louvre at the time.

Monday, 12 March 2012

It's Monday - 12th March 2012

Wow! I've been epically busy for the past few weeks as I've just started a new job so I've not really blogged much in that time. I've also not actually read a whole lot either so I need to catch up on both. Hopefully I'm starting to get back to normal somewhat now so should be back to regular posting shortly. I haven't posted an It's Monday in a while either so my completed books are for the past few weeks.

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a weekly event to celebrate what we are reading for the week hosted at Book Journey, Post the books completed last week, the books you're currently reading, and the books to be read this week. Please comment or leave a link to let me know what you're reading this week!

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