Mailbox Madness (25)

Mailbox Madness (25)

Mailbox Madness at MSC excited to be joining The Sunday Post
which is hosted by Kimba The Caffeinated Book Reviewer.


April’s Mailbox

Mailbox Madness

The Girl with the Iron Touch by Kady Cross | Amazon | Goodreads

The Mourning Hours by Paula Treick DeBoard | Amazon | Goodread

The Cambodian Book of the Dead  by Tom Vater | Amazon | Goodreads

The Longings of Wayward Girls by Karen Brown | Amazon | Goodreads 

The Fury by Alexander Gordon Smith | Amazon | Goodreads

Maybe Tonight by Bridie Clark | Amazon | Goodreads

Thin Space by Jody Casella | Amazon | Goodreads

Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts | Amazon Goodreads

Pabkin’s Mailbox

Mailbox Madness

Sea Change by Aimee Friedman | Amazon | Goodreads

Legend by Marie Lu | Amazon | Goodreads

Soul Stripper by Katana Collins | Amazon | Goodreads

The Resurrectionist by E.B. Hudspeth| Amazon | Goodreads

The Rules by Stacey Kade| Amazon | Goodreads [Won from The Midnight Garden!]

 

 

What’s in your mailbox?
Hope you have a fabulous week!

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    Review: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

    Review: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

    Pabkin’s One Liner: Peculiar is exactly what this is!

    peregrine

    A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. And a strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience.

    As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children who once lived here – one of whom was his own grandfather – were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a desolate island for good reason.

    And somehow – impossible though it seems – they may still be alive.

    ​​I listened to Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children on audio book instead of reading it. The voice acting was really well done. There was only one character voice the narrator did that I wasn’t happy with​, I forget her name at this point – but she was the little girl his grandpa was sweet on.

    Am I the only one that finds it’s hard to remember names after listening to an audio book rather than reading it? When I read it – I can see the name swim in front of my eyes when I mentally picture the character – but when all I have is a voice I always lose the name.  Maybe I’m peculiar.

    There was quite a bit of mystery and menace in this book.  Though I definitely think I could have used much more menace to match the peculiar. The premise was so interesting and I loved the idea that all of the children used to be in a circus.  Though I can imagine that must have been a difficult life.

    It made me wander though – would they still act as children if they were close to a hundred or older? I tried not to let this tickle my mind too much because then I would have gone “ICK” in a few parts.  It was a sweet read and I’m interested to know what happens to all of the children and the villainous “whites” that are after them!

    My one regret is that I didn’t get to see the photos that I had heard about from a friend who read the print edition. I think this took away from the overall experience and for that reason I would recommend anyone invested in this title definitely read it in print.

     

    Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

    Find: Amazon | BD |Goodreads
    Follow: Website

    • This audio book was borrowed from the Library. All opinions expressed are my own. Please note that this post also contains affiliate links. To view our full Blog Policy, click here.

      Review: Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead

      Review: Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead

      Indigo Spell

      In the aftermath of a forbidden moment that rocked Sydney to her core, she finds herself struggling to draw the line between her Alchemist teachings and what her heart is urging her to do. Then she meets alluring, rebellious Marcus Finch–a former Alchemist who escaped against all odds, and is now on the run. Marcus wants to teach Sydney the secrets he claims the Alchemists are hiding from her. But as he pushes her to rebel against the people who raised her, Sydney finds that breaking free is harder than she thought. There is an old and mysterious magic rooted deeply within her. And as she searches for an evil magic user targeting powerful young witches, she realizes that her only hope is to embrace her magical blood–or else she might be next.

      Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, the Bloodlines series explores all the friendship, romance, battles, and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive—this time in a part-vampire, part-human setting where the stakes are even higher and everyone’s out for blood.

      Every time I think I can’t love the word Richelle Mead has created with Vampire Academy and now Bloodlines I read Indigo Spell and I fall even harder! I love how she takes all her characters on journeys, we discover them as they discover themselves. They’re not static characters, they grow and change and I love them for it, Indigo Spell is no different.

      Sidney is definitely one of my favorite kick ass characters. She’s got the brain ad wisdom ad isn’t afraid to get her and dirty doing a little magic anymore. I love how she’s really coming into her own. Not letting people decide things for her or control her life, she’s bound and determined to blaze her own path – even if that means burning a few bridges. Not an easy decision by any stretch, but she’s doing it and you can’t help but feel pride.

      It’s hard to believe just how far Sidney has come from when we first met her. I love the direction her character is going, but it’s also going to get nail biting suspenseful, all the lines she has to be careful to walk! And especially as we see how Indigo Spell ended, Fiery Heart will probably be the most intense book so far!

      I can’t wait to get it in my hot little hands !

      I was really afraid that all this Marcus Finch talk would have us dealing with a love triangle. I’m not an uber hater of love triangles but I was relieved Mead didn’t take that tack.

      It’s so hard for me to gush appropriately and nt spoil things! So I’m just going to yell for all of you holding back on reading either the Vampire Academy or Bloodlines series – what on earth are you waiting for?!!

      Indigo Spell

      Amazon | BD | Goodreads

       

      • Please note that this post also contains affiliate links. To view our full Blog Policy, click here.

        Review: The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

        Review: The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

        Pabkin’s One Liner: Prepare for a breaking of the heart, twisting of the spirit and warping of any illusions you have about Good and Evil!

        School

        At the School for Good and Evil, failing your fairy tale is not an option.

        Welcome to the School for Good and Evil, where best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.

        With her glass slippers and devotion to good deeds, Sophie knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and join the ranks of past students like Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Snow White. Meanwhile, Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks and wicked black cat, seems a natural fit for the villains in the School for Evil.

        The two girls soon find their fortunes reversed—Sophie’s dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School for Good, thrust among handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.

        But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are . . . ?

        The School for Good and Evil is an epic journey into a dazzling new world, where the only way out of a fairy tale is to live through one.

        The School for Good and Evil, it sounds like a light breezy read doesn’t it? What it really is *flabbergasted for the right word* is well, downright MAGNIFICENT!  I haven’t loved a book so much in a very long time, and I devour books like a maniac.  It literally went above and beyond any expectation I could have conceived for it.  I picked it up thinking: “This will be quite the fluffy fairytale,” but was blown away because it was nothing of the kind.

        Lets begin with the description: I love that it tells you exactly what The School for Good and Evil is about without giving even an inkling of just how this tale is going to be delivered.  This is a book that can definitely be enjoyed by fairy tale lovers of all ages.  Especially if you don’t mind your fairy tales having a bit of a dark side. Not too dark mind you but just the right amount.  Yes JUST RIGHT!!

        There are wonderful comic moments, that I couldn’t help but smirk at.  I felt like the author was making fun of so many things and it tickled me pink to no end. However, there are some moments that tightened my chest and throat.  You know what I’m talking about, that’s right when you are biting back the tears.  I’m not normally a crier…I’m a laugh-er.  So I don’t think I can explain well enough why this book touched me so much. Also, it is full of illustrations! At least one for the start of each chapter.  These added the perfect storybook touch.

        What surprised and absolutely delighted me was how much I loved all of the characters.  I grew attached to all of them!  From main, to sidekicks, to little supplemental characters.  They were all given realism and depth of character that made each unique and memorable.  My favorite is Hort…you’ll hear me gush about him again.  *smirk*

        I was captured immediately by the wry sense of humor one of the main characters Agatha possessed. She looks like your typical fairy tale witch but somehow ends up in the School for Good!  As you can see from the quote below.  She is a snappy girl and I couldn’t help but love her.

        “Graveyards have their benefits,” Agatha said. “No nosy neighbors. No drop-in salesmen. No fishy ‘friends’ bearing face masks and diet cookies, telling you you’re going to Evil School in Magic Fairy Land.”

        Soman Chainani writes characters that we can see reflected back in ourselves.  These are the children that we once were, or hey for those young readers, perhaps who they still are.  I think he was delving deep trying to get his readers to challenge those childhood tropes of Good and Evil. Are you beautiful with flawless skin and impeccable clothes? Are you ugly with warts and foul body odor? Does eating lots of sweets really lead you down a road of sin and temptation? Well shucks folks, I MUST be Evil because I’m a total greedy gobbler!

        Prepare yourself for the “Evers” and the “Nevers” – that’s what these kids call themselves, for that’s how their stories go.  But onto my favorite character Hort, of course he is a “Never,”  attending the School for Evil. He was such a sad pathetic looking little guy, but he was excitable and friendly and hey he was Evil right?  This quote is when I first met him – and the little girl in me that loves the underdog had high hopes for him.

        He looked like a sinister little weasel.

        “The bird ate my shirt,” he said. “Can I touch your hair?” Sophie backed up.

        “They don’t usually make villains with princess hair,” he said, dog-paddling towards her.”

        Then in unexpected moments my heart would break…and frequently it was Hort that would do this to me.

        “Dad told me villains can’t love. That it’s unnatural and disgusting.”

        “So I definitely can’t love,” Hort said.

        “But if I could love, I’d love you.”

        If that isn’t sad…unrequited love, then blast I don’t know what is!

        Agatha sums up the best element of this tale for me and precisely how I feel about villains!  They are a major part of what makes a story worth reading.  Often I feel like some authors treat them just as a way to make the good guy look better or “grow” into that strong character that the reader wants to love.  But me? I’m usually secretly rooting for the bad guy.

        “She had always found villains more exciting than heroes. They had ambition, passion. They made the stories happen. Villains didn’t fear death. No, they wrapped themselves in death like suits of armor! As she inhaled the school’s graveyard smell, Agatha felt her blood rush. For like all villains, death didn’t scare her. It made her feel alive.” ​​

        The School for Good and Evil captures the true spirit of the human heart in so many ways that I was laughing, cringing, weeping and just dying to get to the end to know how this fairy tale would end.  And now?…now I’m so sad that it’s over.​ I know this book will become a hearthstone in my library, one that I will read my own child when he gets older and that I will return to time and again.

        So consider this readers…

        What’s the one thing Evil can never have…and the one thing Good can never do without?

        P.S. There is already a film being planned for 2015! *squees in utter joy and runs off before I keep up with the spewings of love*

        Watch the AWESOME freaking book trailer!!

        The Playlist I made on Spotify to go with the book!!

        The School for Good and Evil

        Find: Amazon | BD |Goodreads
        Follow: Website | Twitter

         

        • This advance reader copy was provided by the publisher for an honest review. All quotes come from the ARC version and may not appear in the publication version as I have them above. All opinions expressed are my own. Please note that this post also contains affiliate links. To view our full Blog Policy, click here.

          Waiting on Wednesday: The Dark Between &

          Waiting on Wednesday: The Dark Between &

          Waiting on Wednesday

          hosted by Breaking the Spine

          April’s Pick

          The Dark Between

          A supernatural romance about the powers that lie in the shadows of the mind, perfect for fans of Sarah Rees Brennan, Alyxandra Harvey, and Libba Bray.

          At the turn of the twentieth century, Spiritualism and séances are all the rage—even in the scholarly town of Cambridge, England. While mediums dupe the grief-stricken, a group of local fringe scientists seeks to bridge the gap to the spirit world by investigating the dark corners of the human mind.

          Each running from a shadowed past, Kate, Asher, and Elsie take refuge within the walls of Summerfield College. But their peace is soon shattered by the discovery of a dead body nearby. Is this the work of a flesh-and-blood villain, or is something otherworldly at play? This unlikely trio must illuminate what the scientists have not, and open a window to secrets taken to the grave—or risk joining the spirit world themselves.

          Another delicious read from the author praised by Ruth Rendell as having “a gift for creating suspense, apparently effortlessly, as if it belongs in the nature of fiction.

          Coming out on August 27, 2013 by Knopf Books for Young Readers

          Find The Dark Between: AMAZON | GOODREADS

          Pabkin’s Pick

          Blue BlazesMeet Mookie Pearl.
          Criminal underworld? He runs it.
          Supernatural underworld? He hunts in it.
          Nothing stops Mookie when he’s on the job.
          But when his daughter takes up arms and opposes him, something’s gotta give…

          The Blue Blazes – the first in a new urban fantasy series in which lovable thug Mookie Pearl must contend with the criminal underworld, the supernatural underworld, a new drug that makes the invisible visible, and a rebellious teen daughter who opposes him at every turn.

          Coming out on May 28, 2013 by Angry Robot

          Find The Blue BlazesAMAZON | GOODREADS

          What are book are you waiting this Wednesday for?