MINDER by Kate Kaynak

Book One in the Ganzfield series
Publication date: May 21st, 2012
Number of Pages: 195
Date read: August 30th, 2012
Source: Review copy from Spencer Hill Press
Format: Paperback


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(Description source: Back of book cover)

I know what you're thinking.

 

Sixteen-year-old Maddie Dunn is special, but she needs to figure out how to use her new abilities before somebody else gets hurt. Ganzfield is a secret training facility full of people like her, but it's not exactly a nurturing place.

 

Every social interaction carries the threat of mind-control.

 

 A stray thought can burn a building to the ground.

 

And people's nightmares don't always stay in their own heads.

 

But it's still better than New Jersey--especially once she meets the man of her dreams...

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Ok, so when I heard that I would be receiving my ARC's for the blog, I was SO excited, and when I heard that one of them was Minder, I was ecstatic! The description is incredibly enticing, I don't know what my expectations for this book were, but whatever they were, they were blown so far out of this world. I loved reading Minder!

 

Minder starts with the main character, Maddie, getting attacked, and it's only through a strange miracle that she gets away mostly unscathed. Maddie has an ability and following the attack, there are strangers that come for her and convince her to go with them to a place called Ganzfield.

Ganzfield is a safe place for people like Maddie, people with paranormal abilities. Abilities range from telekinesis to pyrokinesis, and almost everyone has the potential to be a danger. Maddie quickly learns how to use her new ability and everything at Ganzfield gets so much better when Maddie meets a guy like no other...

Minder is the perfect kind of book for being the first in a series, amazingly paced, there are absolutely no boring parts, there's not even a disinteresting sentence. And, seriously, Minder has got to be the cutest book I have ever read.

Maddie is an awesome main character, she actually gets affected by the things that happen to her, which helps make the story a lot more realistic in terms of cause and effect. Maddie is strong, she knows what is right and wrong, and she will stand up to those who abuse their power.

Drew is a funny character, he is mostly light-hearted and he is always ready for action. Trevor is absolutely, adorably cute and sweet, seriously, he is the kind of guy that can do no wrong, he is one of the most incorruptable characters that I have ever read.

The plot moves forward at a steady pace, it's easy to follow what is happening and you can just enjoy every minute. World building is a key theme in this novel, you get to know the characters very well, not all of them are exactly what they seem at first which is brilliant and the setting of Ganzfield is well developed and intriguing.

Action is not quite a main theme in Minder, but there is more than enough to keep you on the edge of your seat during those chapters, your heart races with the characters and there are revelations that will leave you completely breathless to turn the next page as fast as you can as you just have to know what happens next. I breazed through Minder, loving it so, so much and my only thought are that I need book two right now.

 

I. NEED. ADVERSARY. NOW! :)

 

 

"What's a charm?" I asked him.

His face reflected the tumbling emotions of his thoughts. All of his emotions for my well-being were forgotten as he jerked back from me. Crap! Not a charm. Minder! Did I have any sex thoughts about her? Don't have any now!

"Just that I need a bigger rack."

I rate Minder Five out of Five!

New Arrivals! (#14)

I have been wanting to read this book for ages and it finally arrived, so expect a review up in the next few weeks :) I also bought an ebook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Denazen  #1) Touch by Jus Accardo

(Denazen #1.5) Untouched by Jus Accardo

Waiting on Wednesday #1

Ok, so I decided to take part in the weekly meme 'Waiting on Wednesday' which is hosted by Breaking the Spine 

It is a meme where you post about a yet-to-be-released book that you are looking forward to reading. Here is a book I have been highly anticipating:

 

 

 

Cursed by Jennifer L Armentrout

 

Publication date: September 18th, 2012

Number of pages: 312

 

 

Description (from Goodreads)

 

Dying sucks--and high school senior Ember McWilliams knows firsthand. After a fatal car accident, her gifted little sister brought her back. Now anything Ember touches dies. And that, well, really blows.

Ember operates on a no-touch policy with all living things--including boys. When Hayden Cromwell shows up, quoting Oscar Wilde and claiming her curse is a gift, she thinks he’s a crazed cutie. But when he tells her he can help control it, she’s more than interested. There’s just one catch: Ember has to trust Hayden's adopted father, a man she's sure has sinister reasons for collecting children whose abilities even weird her out. However, she’s willing to do anything to hold her sister's hand again. And hell, she'd also like to be able to kiss Hayden. Who wouldn't?

But when Ember learns the accident that turned her into a freak may not've been an accident at all, she’s not sure who to trust. Someone wanted her dead, and the closer she gets to the truth, the closer she is to losing not only her heart, but her life. For real this time.

 

 

I have been looking forward to reading Cursed since it first appeared on Goodreads, I am a huge fan of Jennifer L Armentrout, since everything she has written has been beyond incredible! The synopsis sounds amazing and I have my copy pre-ordered.

If you haven't read anything by Jennifer, I highly recommend you do, so why not start with Cursed when it comes out?

Cursed is set to be a stand-alone novel.

I'm just dying to get my hands on it!

 

 

 

 



THE REPLACEMENT by Brenna Yovanoff

Publication date: September 1st, 2010 
Number of Pages: 343
Date read: October 12th, 2011



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(Description source: Goodreads)

 

Mackie Doyle is the Replacement. Thought he lives in the small town of Gentry, Mackie comes from a world of tunnels and black murky water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. He is a Replacement - left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now, because of fatal allergies to iron, blood, and consecrated ground, Mackie is slowly dying in the human world.


Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice on his bass guitar or spend time with an oddly intriguing girl called Tate. But when Tate's baby sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably into the underworld of Gentry, known as Mayhem. He must face the dark creatures of the Slag Heaps and find his rightful place - in our world, or theirs.

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Mackie Doyle lives in Gentry, a small town with a slightly haunted feel to it. He loves playing his bass guitar and lives with his parents and sister, though they're not really his family... because Mackie is a Replacement, left in the crib to replace the human infant taken. He's allergic to blood, iron and consecrated ground and death is coming steadily closer day by day.

 

Tate is an odd girl who Mackie goes to school with, she used to have friends... before her little sister supposedly died, Tate knows that she's alive, that she was taken and she's decided to enlist Mackie's helpn in getting her sister back. But Mackie is reluctant to get involved, will he help Tate before it's too late?

 

 

I picked up The Replacement to read because I found the blurb to be darkly enticing and was intrigued to the point that I had to check it out.

Mackie is a cute character, he has a sweet relationship with his older sister who always looks out for him. He has amazing best friends and is oddly endearing though I did get slightly annoyed when he proved to be kind of slow on the uptake. He was still an enjoyable character to read.

His best friend, Roswell, is the kind of friend we all want.

Tate is a stubborn character, she doesn't care what people think of her and is fearless in her pursuit of finding her sister. She is also relentless in her bid to get Mackie to help her.

 

The originality was great, the storyline was fresh and full of intrigue. I loved that this story had a truly dark feel to it. The plot unravelled in a way that was surely meant to at least somewhat scare, with the scenes and landscapes getting gradually darker and darker as the story progressed and the characters getting introduced throughout the second half of the novel got stranger and, quite often, nastier. The plot was well-paced and the last chapters were full of excitement. A nice, kind of haunting read.

 

“Why does she always seem to think you drive like we're holding up a bank?"

Roswell grinned and rolled his eyes, "Because that's what teenagers do, right? They also carve swastikas into their arms, steal prescription drugs from old people, and freebase cocaine. I need to institute a policy where she stops watching 60 Minutes and pretty much all public service announcements.” 

I rate The Replacement Four out of Five!

New Arrivals! (#13)

This week, I had one of my order from the Book Depository arrive!

 

 

 

(Tomorrow Series #1) Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden

ONCE DEAD, TWICE SHY by Kim Harrison

Book One in the Madison Avery Trilogy
Publication date: May 22nd, 2009
Number of Pages: 232
Date read: November 5th, 2010



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(Description source: Goodreads)

My name is Madison Avery, and I'm here to tell you that there's more out there than you can see, hear, or touch. Because I'm there. Seeing it. Touching it. Living it.

Madison's prom was killer—literally. For some reason she's been targeted by a dark reaper—yeah, that kind of reaper—intent on getting rid of her, body and soul. But before the reaper could finish the job, Madison was able to snag his strange, glowing amulet and get away.

Now she's stuck on Earth—dead but not gone. Somehow the amulet gives her the illusion of a body, allowing her to toe the line between life and death. She still doesn't know why the dark reaper is after her, but she's not about to just sit around and let fate take its course.

With a little ingenuity, some light-bending, and the help of a light reaper (one of the good guys! Maybe . . . ), her cute crush, and oh yeah, her guardian angel, Madison's ready to take control of her own destiny once and for all, before it takes control of her.

Well, if she believed in that stuff.

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Madison had one hell of a prom, she was killed... by a dark reaper... on her birthday. The reaper, he wanted her dead and gone, but before he could get rid of her soul, she snatched an amulet from around his neck and got away.

Wearing this amulet allows Madison to appear alive even though she is dead and the reaper is after out to get that amulet back and get rid of Madison for good, but she's not about to sit around and let this reaper finish the job.
 

With the help of a (light) reaper, a cute guy from her school and her newly attained guardian angel, Madison is taking control and fate is not getting in the way.

Madison is a strong, kick-ass character and she has her own style of dealing with things. Barnabus, the light reaper, is quite stoic and rule-abiding, it's really quite funny. The concept of light and dark reapers, and of reapers in general, is something I had never read about before reading Once Dead, Twice Spy.

 

The concept of reapers is incredibly interesting and the multiple themes are really intriguing, the main one being fate. Madison firmly believes in choice, and the different ideas presented on the topic are really interesting and add a lot to the story.

 

There is action, there are fights, there is corruption, lying, trust, hope and changes of heart. This is a great read, it's reasonably short but entirely fun. If your looking for a nice, pretty quick read on a topic not covered too often, then this is the book for you.

“Breaking rules isn't bad when what you're doing is more important than the rule itself” 

I rate Once Dead, Twice Shy Four and a Half out of Five!

New Arrivals! (#12)

This week is excitiong, I had some pre-orders arrive, as well as Book Savvy's first ARC's (Advance Reader Copies)!

Buys and pre-orders:

(Lux #2) Onyx by Jennifer L Armentrout

(Women of the Otherworld # ) Waking the Witch by Kelley Armstrong
(Darkness Rising #1) The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong
(Tomorrow Series #2) The Dead of Night by John Marsden
(Tomorrow Series #3) The Third Day, The Frost by John Marsden

ARC's:

*(Ganzfield #1) Minder by Kate Kaynak

*Amarok by Angela J. Townsend

I also received some swag with the ARC's: Bookmarks and Stickers

 

*Thank you Spencer Hill Press :)

ONYX by Jennifer Armentrout- book trailer

The trailer for Onyx, book two in the Lux series by Jennifer L Armentrout, is finally here, awesome huh :)

I seriously cannot wait to read Onyx, good thing my copy just arrived!!!

New Arrivals! (#11)

A few new books this week :) Check them out!

 (Wolves of Mercy Falls #3) Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

(The Ingo Chronicles #1) Stormswept by Helen Dunmore

(Women of the Otherworld #) Living with the Dead by Kelley Armstrong

(Lila #2) Losing Lila by Sarah Alderson

(Skuduggery Pleasant #7) Kingdom of the Wicked by Derek Landy

(Tomorrow Series #4) Darkness Be My Friend by John Marsden

I also received some books from the Date a Book website's birthday giveaway!

(Dark Angel #3) Broken Dream by Eden Maguire

Final Friends: Volume #1 by Christopher Pike

Thank you to the Date a Book site for the giveaway

BLOODLACE by Kim Wilkins

Book One in the Gina Champion Mysteries series
Publication date: March 4th, 2002
Number of Pages: 282
Date read: 2009



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(Description source: Harper Collins Publishers Australia website)

Gina Champion is a 16-year-old detective....a psychic detective. Gina was quite young when she discovered a talent for knowing the history of an object when she held it, which is known as psychometry. Since then, she has honed her skills considerably.

 

Gina′s best friend, Vanessa, has landed a part in a play....the local theatre is to reopen after having been closed down for years. Rehearsals do not go well...the leading lady leaves when she sees pools of blood that disappear. Vanessa is promoted and Gina is persuaded to join, which she takes as an opportunity to explore the theatre and do some research at the library. The ghost certainly seems to have no intention of going away...Gina discovers that the theatre originally closed down because a young girl ran through the audience one night, bleeding profusely.

 

As Gina follows the trail she realises that someone is trying to put her off. Is it Park Reeves, the creep who is making a play for Gina, when it is Vanessa who has a crush on him, or is it the pastor and his cronies, who have been trying to close this ′immoral′ play down. Gina gets threatening phone calls and also sees that someone is watching her house. Gina has some answers but needs to get into a secret, hidden section of the theatre, which she discovered on the building plans.

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Bloodlace is a thrilling novel that has a plot and characters that will stick with you long after you have read it. I should know, I first read it in 2009.

 

Gina is a great character, she is strong, brave and has a curious streak a mile wide, she just loves to uncover mysteries to find the truth. Gina happens to be a psychis, she can know the history of any object she touches.

 

Gina's best friend, Vanessa, joins the local theatre company and when the female lead runs out on the play after seeing things, Gina decides to tag along with Vanessa and check things out. Gina sees the ghost of a girl, and this ghost is determined to stick around.

 

Gina soon learns that this girl is probably the reason why the theatre was closed down, as a girl was seen running through the audience, blood streaming from her. Who is this girl and what happened to her? Gina is trying her best to find out. But there is someone who doesn't want the truth to be discovered. 

Thrilling mystery, brilliantly written characters and a captivating plot, this story has almost everything, there is history, danger, a ghost and psychis ability. It's so easy to visualise the characters and the story, it's nice and haunting, with a tragic undertone.

 

A great story, Bloodlace is the first in an amazing series by a great author. I recommend this series to people who love mysteries, psychics, thrillers or anything that is just a bit different.

I rate Bloodlace Four out of Five!

New Arrivals! (#10)

This week I bought a few books and had a prize arrive :)

Here are the books:

(Bloodlines #2) The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

(Tomorrow #5) Burning for Revenge by John Marsden

(Tomorrow #7) The Other Side of Dawn by John Marsden

(The Ellie Chronicles #1) While I Live by John Marsden

(The Ellie Chronicles #3) Circle of Flight by John Marsden

And these are the goodies I won from Claire Legrand in her Cavendishlicious giveaway:

There was some candy that was in the package I kind of already ate it all ;)

Thank you for the goodies, Claire, I love them.