Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel

Title: Dearly, Departed
Author: Lia Habel
Pages: 470
Genre: YA/ Teen
Source: NetGalley

Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie? 

The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses. 

But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.

In Dearly, Departed, romance meets walking-dead thriller, spawning a madly imaginative novel of rip-roaring adventure, spine-tingling suspense, and macabre comedy that forever redefines the concept of undying love. [via GoodReads]

A Steampunk - Zombie - YA novel?!  Be still my heart.  I was thrilled to see three genres that I enjoy all rolled up into one.   Even more interesting than the genre mix, I also found it surprising that although the year is 2195, society is living in a Victorian society while using technology that we can only dream of having.

There were many things I liked about Dearly, Departed.... the earlier paragraph for instance.  I enjoyed the world building, the zombies, the characters, etc.   I liked Nora and Bram - and their unique romance.  You know, it is a first for me to find a girl in love with a zombie.  I even enjoyed reading of the war with the Punks.  But it took me almost 200 pages to actually get into the story.  The first chapter was awesome but I had a hard time fully getting immersed in the story... I'm not really sure why, I just felt that I had to try to hard.  I think the main problem might have been the oh-so-many points-of-view.  Even more disconcerting was the fact that they are told in the first person.  And although the characters differ in age and sex, I still found myself wondering several times whose chapter it was that I was reading.  While I do enjoy a book told using various perspectives, I found that five different narrators (Bram, Nora, Pam, Wolfe, and Victor) may have been a bit much.  The Wolfe and Victor chapters quite frankly felt unnecessary.  I found that those story lines could have been told using other methods and cutting down on the constant character changes and possibly in my confusion.    

All in all, I found Dearly, Departed to be a good start to the series.  While I didn't love it and most likely will not run out to immediately buy the next installment in the series, I will undoubtedly get around to reading it.

My Rating:

Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberry

Title: Dust & Decay
Author: Jonathan Maberry
Pages: 519
Genre: YA/ Horror
Source: Purchased

Six months have passed since the terrifying battle with Charlie Pink-eye and the Motor City Hammer in the zombie-infested mountains of the Rot & Ruin. It’s also six months since Benny Imura and Nix Riley saw something in the air that changed their lives. Now, after months of rigorous training with Benny’s zombie-hunter brother Tom, Benny and Nix are ready to leave their home forever and search for a better future. Lilah the Lost Girl and Benny’s best friend Lou Chong are going with them.

Sounds easy. Sounds wonderful. Except that everything that can go wrong does. Before they can even leave there is a shocking zombie attack in town. But as soon as they step into the Rot & Ruin they are pursued by the living dead, wild animals, insane murderers and the horrors of Gameland –where teenagers are forced to fight for their lives in the zombie pits. Worst of all…could the evil Charlie Pink-eye still be alive?

In the great Rot & Ruin everything wants to kill you. Everything…and not everyone in Benny’s small band of travelers will make it out alive. [via GoodReads]

As weird as some of you may think this is, I am a zombie lover. They scare the crap out of me but I can’t help watching and reading everything I can get my grubby little hands on. Even if it means losing sleep at night. Mr. Maberry’s Rot & Ruin remains one of the best zombie books evah (at least, in my book). I loved it! It wasn’t just guts and gore, but it surprisingly had depth and meaning.

Dust & Decay is the sequel to Rot & Ruin.  Our favorite characters are back! Benny Imura, his brother Tom, Nix Riley, and Lilah, the Lost Girl, are back out in the Ruin - this time in search of that mysterious jet.  After 7 months of training under the mighty Tom, the kids are now ready to take on what lies in the Ruin, a place where pretty much everything is out to kill you.  As always, things don't turn out as planned and sooner than expected they are split up and end up on quite the adventure. 

Benny, is a wonderful narrator.  I love his inner dialogues, how he still finds hope in a world where there really is none.  He's like a bit of sunshine on rainy day.  He's also quite the charmer.  His sense of humor and inner turmoil really make for good reading.  Mr. Maberry has once again impressed me in the depth he gives his characters.  Because while this story is zombie-infested and geared for teens (especially boys, I think), his characters go through a whole slew of emotions - giving the reader an adrenaline rush one minute and comtemplating humanity in the next. 

All in all, I thought this was a wonderful installment in the series.  It was full of action, adventure, laughs, tears... and zombies (of course), I found that I could not devour this one quick enough.

My Rating:

The Fox Inheritance by Mary E. Pearson

Title:  The Fox Inheritance

Author: Mary E. Pearson

Pages:  294

Genre: YA/ Dystopian

Source: Amazon Vine Program

Once there were three. Three friends who loved each other—Jenna, Locke, and Kara. And after a terrible accident destroyed their bodies, their three minds were kept alive, spinning in a digital netherworld. Even in that disembodied nightmare, they were still together. At least at first. When Jenna disappeared, Locke and Kara had to go on without her. Decades passed, and then centuries.

Two-hundred-and-sixty years later, they have been released at last. Given new, perfect bodies, Locke and Kara awaken to a world they know nothing about, where everyone they once knew and loved is long dead.

Everyone except Jenna Fox. [via GoodReads]

The Adoration of Jenna Fox was a phenomenal book! Have you read it, if not, please do so. It was amazing! Seriously. And while I found myself really looking forward to something else relating to Jenna – I think as a standalone book, Jenna Fox was perfect.

With that said, The Fox Inheritance, made me hopeful that we would once again hear from Jenna and learn more about her world. And that we did! To my surprise we also learned more about the fateful night of the accident and the outcome Locke and Kara.

Locke and Kara have been in a suspended state of endless darkness where the only thing that kept them sane was each other’s voices. Centuries after being forgotten on a shelf they are found by – what I would call – a mad scientist. Who, with personal ambition in mind, resurrects their mind downloads and brings Locke and Kara back to life. 260 years after their death they are once again in human form with only one thing recognizable in this ever-changed world…. Jenna Fox.

While I can’t say I loved this sequel, I can definitely say I was intrigued. I liked the way the author brings back all the same questions, doubts, issues that Jenna went through while also giving it a more drastic doom and gloom feel. While Jenna woke up shortly after her accident, Locke and Kara have lost everything and everyone they knew in their lives. I liked the character dynamics and the emotional turmoil the kids were facing.

My Rating:

The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

Title:  The Pledge
Author: Kimberly Derting
Pages: 323
Genre: YA/ Dystopian
Source: Simon & Schuster

In the violent country of Ludania, the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak. The smallest transgression, like looking a member of a higher class in the eye while they are speaking their native tongue, results in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina has always been able to understand the languages of all classes, and she's spent her life trying to hide her secret. The only place she can really be free is the drug-fueled underground clubs where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in. It's there that she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy named Max who speaks a language she's never heard before . . . and her secret is almost exposed.

Charlie is intensely attracted to Max, even though she can't be sure where his real loyalties lie. As the emergency drills give way to real crisis and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that Charlie is the key to something much bigger: her country's only chance for freedom from the terrible power of a deadly regime. [via GoodReads]

Charlaina, lives in the kingdom of Ludania which is ruled by the ancient Queen Sabara. As all the citizens of Ludania, but especially as a vendor’s daughter, Charlie, has to follow the strict rules imposed by their queen. All the people of the kingdom are segregated by their class and even though they all speak the common language Englaise, they also have their own language depicting their class. Meaning if you are of a lower class and are speaking your tongue yet you look and act as if you are a member of a higher class you are instantly executed.

Charlie understands all the languages in the kingdom – even those of the immigrants that keep coming through her town who are avoiding the rebellion. Which is forbidden!! For she can’t show any reaction to any of the conversations going on around her. If she is confused and answers someone without realizing that they are speaking a language that isn’t that of her vendor class, she knows it can be very dangerous for her and her family. It gets harder and harder every day to hide her talent and should it come out she knows that it’s more than her life that’s at stake.

While I’m a big fan of Ms. Derting’s Body Finder series, I sadly wasn’t impressed with The Pledge. I liked the idea of this dystopian novel, but I somehow didn’t find it very convincing. For starters I had trouble relating to Charlaina and the other characters in the novel. I felt as if you really didn’t get to know them well enough to form that bond between reader and character. I also had some problems with the world building. I love dystopian novels. I even like those where there really isn’t much explanation as to how the world got the way it is – it’s understandable that things get lost in translation. But the little explanation we did get of Ludania was jumble and confusing.

I was intrigued by the storyline, I read the story, rather quickly actually. I’ve always really enjoyed Ms. Derting’s books and I was convinced that it would get better. But sadly, it just didn’t. And while I liked the ending, I especially liked it thinking this was a standalone novel, but I’m now a little disappointed to hear that it’s a series… one that I really don’t think I’ll continue.

My Rating:

2012 Reading Challenges

Challenge guidelines:

This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012.

Any genre, length or format of book counts, as long as it is a book that's been sitting on your shelf for some time now. Only books released in 2011 and earlier! NO ARCs and 2012 fresh-off-the-press releases allowed!

You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.

When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the 2012 TBR PILE Reading Challenge (You need to include the info + host list + challenge button. You can also grab the button code and add it to your sidebar!)

You can move up levels, but no moving down.

Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2012, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.

At the end of each month one of the hosts will post a wrap-up. Every wrap-up will have it'sunique theme, a mini-challenge, a giveaway and place for you to link up your reviews from this month. For each review you link up, you will get one entry in a drawing of one book of choice from Book Depository. It's open to INTERNATIONALS. For participating in the mini-challenge you will get +1 entry.

If you miss a wrap-up post + giveaway, you can link up your reviews next month. Do not, however, try to link up one review twice - we will be checking ;)

December is a wrap-up for the whole year. All the book reviews you linked up January-November + the ones you'll link up in December will be entered into a HUGE giveaway - 12 books, 12 winners, INTERNATIONAL.

You don't have to follow all the hosts to join the challenge, but you do have to follow all of us to be entered in giveaways!

Levels:
1-10 - A Firm Handshake
11-20 - A Friendly Hug
21-30 - A Sweet Kiss
31-40 - Love At First Sight
41-50 - Married With Children

1. The challenge runs from January 1st, 2012 through December 31st, 2012.

2. "Romance" isn't limited to steamy Harlequin novels. There is a huge selection of books in this category such as contemporary romance, historical romance, romantic suspense and paranormal romance to name a few. As long as the story has romantic love between the two main characters your selection will fit this challenge. The novels do not need to have a happy ending either, there can also be unrequited love.

3. Choose at least 5 novels to read. You can change your choices at any time. Crossovers between other challenges are fine.

All kinds of books count such as eBooks, Audiobooks...etc.

If you are looking for suggested reading see Best Romance Novels Today, Romance Novels on Wiki or Best Romance Stories.

In my opinion, you can't go wrong with Jane Austen, Nora Roberts, Nicholas Sparks and Georgette Heyer.

4. Read the books at your own pace in 2012 then post the link to your review(s). You don't need to have a blog, posting your reviews on Goodreads and LibraryThing counts as well.

Basics

It goes from January 1st 2012 to December 31st 2012

To sign up, use the form at the end of this post!

You can sign up any time from now until June-ish

I would love you forever if you would follow me, and if you're interested in fairy tales, then you'd probably find my blog interesting anyway!

What Counts

Any retelling at all, or original fairy tales. When I say original fairy tales, I mean books that include many elements of many fairy tales, but aren't actually based on any fairy tales. Some examples are The Princess Bride by William Goldman or Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (BEST BOOK EVER!) Basically a book that should have a fairy tale based on it, but it's too late for it to be the other way around.

Participating

All you need is a desire to read fairy tales, and preferably a way to post reviews. Whether it be a blog, Goodreads, or Amazon, it doesn't matter.

Levels
3 books - Peasant
6 books - Fairy
9 Books - Witch
12 books - Princess
15 books - Dragon

Here are the guidelines:

1.The challenge will run from January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012.

2.Since this is an author challenge, there is no restriction on choosing your novels. They can definitely be from other challenges. However, the authors must be new to you and, preferably from novels. Anthologies are a great way to try someone new, but only a third of your new authors can be from anthologies.

3.I want this to be an easy challenge, so you can pick to do either 15, 25 or 50 new authors. It all depends on how fast you read and how adventurous you want to be. For me, I want to say I’m going to do another 50 new authors, but with two kids, I didn’t made my goal in 2011, so I’m going to be smarter and say 25. If you reach your goal halfway through the year, don’t stop. Any new author you try can be added to Mr. Linky. We all want to know about your new experience.

4.After reading your new author, write your review and then come back here and add your link to Mr. Linky. Make sure you include your name and the author, but adding the title is completely up to you.

5.Bloggers or Non-Bloggers alike are welcome. You don’t have to have a site to participate. You can link up via Facebook, GoodReads or even Amazon if you’d like.

Challenge Details:

• Timeline: 01 Jan 2012 - 31 Dec 2012

• Rules: Read 100+ books in 2012 (any genre)

• You don't have to select your books ahead of time, you can just add them as you go. Also if you do list them upfront you can change them, nothing is set in stone! The books you choose can crossover into other challenges you have on the go.

• You can join at anytime. All books read in 2012 count towards the challenge regardless of when you sign up.

• At the beginning of Jan 2012, you will find a link to specific month to add your reviews.

• Audiobooks do not count, but all other formats are accepted.

• Only fiction, no non-fiction.

• This challenge can crossover to other challenges.

Guidelines:

• Timeline: 01 Jan 2012 - 31 Dec 2012

• Rules: There are FOUR (4) LEVELS to choose from:

- One Chomp: Read 6 Zombie books in 2012
- Two Chomps: Read 12 Zombie books in 2012
- Three Chomps: Read 18 Zombie books in 2012
- Four Chomps: Read 24 Zombie books in 2012

• You don't have to select your books ahead of time, you can just add them as you go. Also if you do list them upfront you can change them, nothing is set in stone! The books you choose can crossover into other challenges you have on the go.

• You can join at anytime. All books read in 2012 count towards the challenge regardless of when you sign up.

• At the beginning of Jan 2012, you will find a link to specific month to add your reviews.

• Audiobooks do not count, but all other formats are accepted.

• Only fiction, no non-fiction ;)

• This challenge can crossover to other challenges.

• You DO NOT have to write reviews of the books you read, but if you decide to then Mr Linky will be available each month so you can link up your reviews.

Info:

*Goal is to read 12 books in a year. You can pick ANY 12 books you want and read. Starts Jan 1-Dec 31st.

*You can join at anytime.

*Books can be any format (bound, eBook, audio).

*You do not have to be a book blogger to participate. Some people have just a Goodreads page. You can keep track on there too!

*Post this reading challenge on your blog so you can keep a list of the books you’ve read for this challenge. Please include a link back to this post so other readers can join the challenge too.

*You can list your books in advance or list them as you read them. It is not required that you review the books you read for this challenge but feel free to do so!!!

 

What can I say?!  I love a good challenge. 

 

Are there any others you guys can recommend worth participating in?  I'm always open for ideas.