Top Ten Characters I'd NEVER Want To Trade Places With

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and the Bookish

1. Jem from Numbers by Rachel Ward

The moment I saw this week's topic for Top Ten Tuesday, one character sprang to mind: Rachel Ward's heroine Jem, who can see the death-dates of other people wherever she goes. 

2. Sloane from The Program by Suzanne Young

This was one of the toughest books I've ever had to read. Sloane's world is so full of hopelessness and despair - and the fact that it all feels so real makes it all the more difficult to contemplate.

3. Allyson from Just One Day by Gayle Forman

I really liked this book, but spending a year of your life pining for a guy you met once and may never meet again? Not my style.

4. Helen from Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

Helen may have incredible goddess powers, but she spends most of this series fighting the urge to kill the guy she loves, so I don't really think she's the ideal character to swap places with!

5. Katniss from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

We all want to be Katniss Everdeen. She's strong, she's brave - she's the ultimate dystopian heroine. But that doesn't mean I want to take her place in the arena any time soon!

6. Eva and Addie from What's Left ofMe by Kat Zhang

This is a fantastically well-written book, but I don't think anyone would want to trade places with Eva and Addie - they're twin souls, trapped in the same body, hiding from the government and sometimes, even hiding from themselves.

7. America Singer from The Selection by Kiera Cass

I never really fell in love with this book the way others did. The prospect of waiting around for a prince to decide whether he wants to marry you or not doesn't make sense to the independent woman in me, so if I was offered a place in The Selection, I'd probably pass.

8. Miranda from Life As We Knew Itby Susan Beth Pfeffer

When it comes to books that haunt you long after you've finished them, Life As We Knew It is the worst offender on my list. I love it because it was scarily good and totally gripping, but I hate it at the same time because of how believable it all was, and I could never see myself swapping places with Miranda and handling the situation in the way she does.

9. Jenna from ACID by Emma Pass

Another dystopian to add to the list - and I think anyone who's read this book will agree when I say the harsh, bloody totalitarian state Jenna lives in isn't one I'd choose to live in myself.

10. Zoe from Nobody But Us by Kristin Halbrook

If you've read my review of this book (see it here), you'll know I thought it was fantastic - but I could never swap places with main character Zoe.

Stacking the Shelves #49

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which we feature all the book goodness that we received, borrowed or purchased during the previous week. All links are to Goodreads.

Another busy week comes to an end :)  I didn't do a STS last week because, besides not having a lot to share with you, we celebrated C's 8th birthday last Saturday.  Next week I will be away for a few days with hubby, we are celebrating our wedding anniversary (¡te amo mi cielo!).  Here's what I got in the last two weeks:

Purchased (or Free) for Kindle

Eyes Ever to the Sky by Katie French - I saw this book in a few Top Ten lists this week and got it.

Purchased Physical Books

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows - I met Jodi at the Frederick Book Festival earlier this year and I can't wait to start her series.

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson - I've heard wonderful things about this book

Library

The Program by Suzanne Young - I love Young's writing and this books sound really interesting.

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff - This is another book that I've heard great things about. 

For Review

These are for upcoming book tours:

Shudder by Samantha Durante - This is book two of the Stitch Trilogy

Viral Nation by Shaunta Grimes - This review is up today and this book is SO GOOD!

An Endless Summer by C.J. Duggan - The second book of her Summer series (book one was awesome!)

What is stacking your shelves this week?

Top Ten of 2012: Best Covers

Top 10 of 2012 is a meme hosted by these wonderful blogs: Fiktshun, A Life Bound by Books, Confessions of a Bookaholic, Two Chicks of Books, and Magical Urban Fantasy Reads

Here they are in all their amazingly beautiful glory!

What do you think?  Do we have any in common?  Leave me a link so I can see your beauties!

Stacking the Shelves #23

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which we feature all the book goodness that we received, borrowed or purchased during the previous week. All links are to Goodreads.

Library

Slated by Teri Terry - I've been wanting to read this book for a while. It looks creepy-awesome.

A Want So Wicked by Suzanne Young - I adored A Need So Beautiful and I can't wait to keep reading.

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer - Just curious, really.

Breathe by Sarah Crossan - I have only heard great things about this book and besides, I love dystopian! 

Purchased - Audio Book

Poison Princess by Kresley Cole - Likewise, I've only seen wonderful reviews for this book as well.

Purchased for Kindle

Slammed by Colleen Hoover - This book has great reviews and was recommended to me by a friend. 

What is stacking your shelves this week?  Have you read any of these?

Please enter the Dystopian Giveaway Hop Here

Review: A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young (A Need So Beautiful #1)

Title: A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young
Published: June 21, 2011 by Balzer & Bray
Source: Library
Grade Rate: A

We all want to be remembered. Charlotte's destiny is to be Forgotten...

Charlotte’s best friend thinks Charlotte might be psychic. Her boyfriend thinks she’s cheating on him. But Charlotte knows what’s really wrong: She is one of the Forgotten, a kind of angel on earth, who feels the Need—a powerful, uncontrollable draw to help someone, usually a stranger.

But Charlotte never wanted this responsibility. What she wants is to help her best friend, whose life is spiraling out of control. She wants to lie in her boyfriend's arms forever. But as the Need grows stronger, it begins to take a dangerous toll on Charlotte. And who she was, is, and will become--her mark on this earth, her very existence--is in jeopardy of disappearing completely.

Charlotte will be forced to choose: Should she embrace her fate as a Forgotten, a fate that promises to rip her from the lives of those she loves forever? Or is she willing to fight against her destiny--no matter how dark the consequences.

Review

WOW! This book blew me away, the idea is so original and the concept so well carried out.  I don't think I can find a single bad thing to say about it, other than it's a series and now I have to wait a whole year to know what happens next.

Charlotte has always had a compulsion to help others, she calls it The Need, and it is a painful pull towards someone she needs to help.  The problem is that every time that she helps someone, she looses a little bit of herself and the memory of her disappears.  This concept by itself is so heartbreaking, knowing that in fulfilling your purpose you will loose everything you hold dear and be Forgotten. 

The characters in 'A Need So Beautiful' are beautifully written and developed.  You get to know Charlotte, Sarah, Harlin, Monroe and others characters well and identify with them.  What can I say about Harlin and Charlotte?  Their relationship felt so incredible and at the same time real, a love so intense that it was almost like a physical need by itself.  I laughed and I cried while reading this amazing page-turner.

Ms. Young's writing style in very down to earth and makes the reader identify themselves with the setting, the story and the characters.  A very enjoyable and easy novel to read.  Go run to the book store or the library right now and give it a try. It is, at the risk of being redundant, beautiful.

About the cover: Love the cover, its airy and full of light, which is a big part of the story.  I also like the style and position of the title and how the words kind of link together.

My Bookmark This Week (#5)

I don't know about you but I probably own a good number of bookmarks.  I think this might be the case of all bookish people, but the problem is that I can never find one when I need it.  I end up using whatever I can find - receipts, post-in notes, ribbon, take out menus - because I really don't like to bend the pages of my books (and I often borrow them from the library.)

I though it would be fun to share with you what exactly I am using as a bookmark every Friday. Today I am reading 'A Need so Beautiful' by Suzanne Young and my bookmark is an expired cupon from 7-11.

 

What are you using as a bookmark today?