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Review: Th1rteen R3asons Why by Jay Asher (e-Book and audiobook).

2012-01-22T21:41:00.001+01:00

Jay Asher’s brilliant first novel is a moving, highly original story that focuses on a set of audiotapes made by a girl before she committed suicide, and which explain to 13 people the reasons why she decided to end her life. Told in a highly effective duel narrative -- alternating between the girl’s voice and the thoughts of a boy who is listening -- this honest, poignant story reveals how other people's actions shape, and by extension can ruin, an individual's faith in people. Intensely powerful and painfully real, Thirteen Reasons Why reveals how brutal high school can be, the consequences of spreading rumors, and the lasting effects of suicide on those left behind.

From Goodreads.

Get the e-Book from: Amazon, B&N, The Book Depository or Kobo.

The cover:

This cover says a lot. You may not notice it at first, but when you finish the book, you’ll keep looking at it like it could speak to you.

The storyline:

First, this book is the first one I read by Jay Asher, his newest works The Future of Us is already out and I have it, now I can’t wait to read it!!

This book has an amazing writing style. Each sentence, I felt like I knew Hannah, the first main protagonist, and Clay, the second main protagonist.

The story is told when Clay gets the tapes and starts listening to them. From that second, the story becomes intense and you won’t be able to put the book down.

Why I went for the audiobook:

I started reading the e-book first. I was totally engrossed in the story, but then, there’s this duel narrative -- alternating between the girl’s voice and the thoughts of the boy who is listening, so I couldn’t really keep up with both of them. I listened to a sample on Amazon’s website and that’s when I decided that I needed to have the audiobook instead. I LOVE the audiobook, the way it is narrated is amazing and simple.

What I loved:

The story was amazing despite the sadness in it.
It is realistic which is enough for me :).
The writing style really impressed me, this was a first for me to read a book with two people speaking in it :’).
The main characters, Clay and Hannah.
The environment, the description. It was all good :).
The twists, the dialogues and the mystery. It was like a puzzle needing to be solved.
The ending was kind of good and bad at the same time. The last cassette was too intense and hard for me to read. Hannah was at her worst and I wished the story had a fiction side to it. But, life is all about realities and we can’t change them. Hard but true.

What I hated:

Nothing!!!

The characters:

Hannah is the poor girl who’s life was ruined in the new city by those rude people in her new school. Although I didn’t think she had the right reasons for suicide and that she was a bit too sensitive, I still liked her. There were some questions she didn’t answer which left a big question mark at the end.

Clay is so nice. While reading the book, I thought of Cricket from Lola and the Boy Next Door. He’s sensitive and strong. That’s probably a part of why Hannah was in love with him…

The rest of people mentioned in the book, including Justin, are insensitive, rude and unbelievable people. These people represent the real world, how cruel and unforgivable it is. They were taking advantage of her, using her and then acting like nothing happened.

Favorite quotes:

These are some quotes from when I read the e-book :).

I hope you’re ready, because I’m about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you’re listening to these tapes, you’re one of the reasons why. --- Cassette 1: Side A

My go-to answer for anything. Staying out late? School project. Need extra money? School project. And now, the tapes of a girl. A girl who, two weeks ago, swallowed a handful of pills. --- Cassette 1: Side A

And you, lucky number thirteen, you can take the tapes straight to hell. Depending on your religion, maybe I’ll see you there. --- Cassette 1: Side A

And at some point, the struggle becomes too much—too tiring—and you consider letting go. Allowing tragedy…or whatever…to happen. --- Cassette 3: Side B

Conclusion:

An amazing read that’ll make you think about your everyday actions and their consequences. It’s an emotional read which is hard to go thru. That’s why we like to escape by reading fantasy and fiction, but some realistic reads are needed to keep us anchored to our reality.

I recommend this book if you liked Living Dead Girl. There’s no other book that I can think of that resembles it more than this one :). Also, I don’t recommend it for younger readers, it has some ideas and a small inappropriate scene that young people shouldn’t be exposed to.

5/5

Randa

Review: Never to Sleep by Rachel Vincent.

2012-01-17T15:18:00.001+01:00

Don't Close Your Eyes.
Sophie Cavanaugh is not going to let her freak of a cousin's strange psychiatric condition ruin high school for them both. Not after all the work she's put into cultivating the right look, and friends, and reputation. But then, Sophie sees something so frightening she lets out a blood-curdling scream—and finds herself stuck in a bizarre parallel world where nothing is safe and deadly creatures lurk just out of sight, waiting for her to close her eyes and sleep...forever.
Could this world be real? Or does insanity run in the family...?

From Goodreads.

Get the book from: Amazon, B&N or Kobo.

The cover:

The cover is gorgeous.

The storyline:

So, this is where things kind of get ugly and weird.

The story happens sometime in If I Die, so if you haven’t read it, don’t read this one because it’ll only mess things up for you and spoil If I Die.

Because I hate Sophie, I’m not going to talk much about the story and instead you’ll have points.

What I loved:

The story began normally with Sophie being a… you know, herself. Then things totally switched to be more intense.
This story has so many twists and facts that I had to pause each time to absorb what was seen or happened!! Just to let you know, these twists has everything to do with my favorite hellion, Avari. Not to mention that we got a glimpse of Addison (T_T <3) and Thane just after Tod and Kaylee became together.
I loved how well the story was told and how Sophie found the Crimson Creeper so disgusting and she was getting scared!

What I hated:

I hated the Sophie world. I hated how much she hated her cousin, Kaylee and how she called crazy many times behind her back. She was rude.
I hated how arrogant she was. It was hell for me to finish this novella.
I was expecting to know how things went when Kaylee died and how she reacted when she found out that Kaylee was the heroine all this time .
The end wasn’t good at all. The end was just what Sophie would do.

The characters:

This time, things are going to be crazy.

Avari is awesome. Sophie’s lucky he didn’t have her head cut off. I’m even suspecting that he let her go intentionally.

Sophie is a very rude, disrespectful and arrogant cousin.

Luc is just mysterious. I’m having my own guesses about him…

My favorite quotes:

There are only 2 but I won’t spoil this review. So, I’ll have to keep them to myself…

Conclusion:

I had to read this novella for two reasons and two only:

I had to know what happened to this stupid cousin during If I Die and to know other secrets that weren’t mentioned in the previous novel.
I needed more Soul Screamers craziness because I can’t wait until Before I Wake is out!!! *_*

This was a great read when it comes to the writing style and the new information I got . But, The Reaper, the previous Novella, was way better. I think this one was over describing every move of Sophie.

4/5

Randa

Review: The Ripper by L.J. Smith (Creator), Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec.

2012-01-14T18:48:00.001+01:00

Haunted by the past . . .

The year is 1888, and the scent of blood lingers heavy in the London air. Stefan Salvatore thought he could escape his violent origins by settling in the peaceful countryside of England, but when a heinous murderer named Jack the Ripper surfaces, Stefan fears darkness will always follow him. Drawn into the investigation, Stefan assumes the worst: This is the work of a vampire. And the more he learns, the more he becomes convinced that the killer is someone close to him—and that he can never outrun his past.

Based on the popular CW TV show inspired by the bestselling novels, Stefan’s Diaries reveals the truth about what really happened between Stefan, Damon, and Katherine—and how the Vampire Diaries love triangle began.

From Goodreads.

Get the book from: Amazon, B&N, The Book Depository or Kobo.

The cover:

If you didn’t know this before, then here you go; this cover is created using the promo photo of season two of the hit TV series The Vampire Diaries . Yep, this is why this cover is gorgeous and I had no idea how beautiful Stefan’s eyes are until now .

The storyline:

I am a huge fan of L.J. Smith’s writing style although I recently knew that Stefan’s Diaries aren’t entirely written by her, but I still like it.

I have read the previous 3 books in the series and you can find my review of them on Goodreads .

Anyways, the story begins in a slow pace, everything is cool and Stefan finally has a new life in England with a family who trusts and loves him.

Then, along with Mr. Abbott, the man he works for, Stefan goes to the city side of England, London. While not 5 minutes in London, he hears the news of a serial killer named Jack The Ripper who’s killing young girls in London with their throats slit. Of course, the first one he suspects is Damon.

And since we all know Stefan by now, if you read the previous one which you should before getting into this one, he decides to find his brother and stop him. Nothing is simple. He finds a nice girl whose working in a bar and saves her from her mean boss then he hunts Damon down.

When he finds him, things start getting ugly and the real action begins.

To sum things up, the ending is not happy but it is satisfying. If there’s anything I adore about these books (Stefan’s Diaries) is the way they end, it’s amazing!

What I loved:

Things started slow and clean and then very fast we were in action! I love this type of writings and I love how clean her writing is, there’s totally no cursing!! <333
The story was just awesome and surprisingly not over explaining things which was cool because it left some part for the imagination ^_^ Although there are parts completely well described and explained which is needed in bloody scenes <3
The characters. All of them, even Samuel.
The mentioning of Klaus!! I can’t wait to see him as a full character in a book although I think he was present in this one…
There are only 19 chapters which perfect. I don’t think the story would have been better it there were more.
The ending and the epilogue.

What I hated:

Nothing!!!

What I missed from the previous books:

I missed Lexi. I’m a huge fan of hers, she’s just a good friend.

The characters:

Stefan: He’s been thru a lot and still found a way to be strong and caring. I keep hoping he’ll think being a vampire is not a curse because you identify who you are or what you are in this case.

Damon: Oh count DeSangue! I was completely blank in the first few chapters until Damon showed up! He adds this amazing scent and taste to the story. And when reading about him or him saying things, I totally picture Ian Somerhalder and think of how perfectly he suits the role ^_^.

Violet: The poor girl who ended up…. well, you’ll have to read to find out what happened to her but let me tell you that she loves Stefan as a friend and she really trusted him. I’m hoping to see her in The Asylum.

Samuel: I’m having mixing thoughts about him, but, could he be Klaus?! He seemed too vengeful for a misunderstanding with Damon.

Favorite quotes:

No matter what came, be it murderer, demon, or Damon, I was ready. – Chapter 2.

I followed her gaze, the sliver of the moon providing just enough light that I could see red letters written on the side of the building, each oxidized character standing out against the muted brick as if it were illuminated from behind by candlelight:

SALVATORE—I SHALL HAVE MY REVENGE. --- Chapter 4.

I heard a rustle coming from the far end of the forest. I whirled around, half-expecting to see Klaus, ready for a fight. Nothing. --- Chapter 6.

“See you in hell,” I murmured. To anyone else, it would be a curse. But for me, it was a promise. --- Chapter 14.

But what I also felt was regret, anger, sorrow, and relief. It truly was as if a lifetime were passing before my eyes.

Or rather, both my lifetimes. --- Chapter 18.

We didn’t trust each other. We didn’t like each other. But we were each other, reflecting our shadow, secret selves in the other’s identity. --- Epilogue.

And here is a wonderful quote from The Asylum excerpt:

“They could have run a better picture of me, at the very least. That illustration doesn’t do me justice at all,” he said sulkily as he settled on the bench next to me and crumpled the paper up into a ball. Excerpt from The Asylum, coming January 17, 2012.

Conclusion:

It was a wonderful read and a great peek at the old Stefan who’s now back in the TV series .

5/5

Randa

Review: If I Die by Rachel Vincent (Audiobook.).

2012-01-10T13:42:00.001+01:00

The entire school's talking about the gorgeous new math teacher, Mr. Beck. Everyone except Kaylee Cavanaugh. After all, Kaylee's no ordinary high-school junior. She's a banshee—she screams when someone dies.

But the next scream might be for Kaylee.

Yeah—it's a shock to her, too. So to distract herself, Kaylee's going to save every girl in school. Because that hot new teacher is really an incubus who feeds on the desire of unsuspecting students. The only girls immune to his lure are Kaylee and Sabine, her boyfriend's needy ex-girlfriend. Now the unlikely allies have to get rid of Mr. Beck…before he discovers they aren't quite human, either.

But Kaylee's borrowed lifeline is nearing its end. And those who care about her will do anything to save her life.

Anything.

From Goodreads.

Get the book from: Amazon, B&N or The Book Depository.

The cover:

This cover is beautiful and simple. Yet, I have no idea what’s its relation with the story.

The storyline:

So, I’ll try as much as I can not to spoil this review, because If I wrote it yesterday at 11:30 pm, when I finished this book, I would’ve had a record in spoiling reviews. Now that I calmed down from the impact of the new way the story took and I’ve organized my thoughts, you’re going to get a coherent review .

What I liked:

The beginning was perfect and smooth, as usual. I liked how things were normal despite the obvious tension since Sabine is now present (And it looks like she’s not going anywhere, any soon).
The suspense was great, there were a lot twists, heartbreaks, pain that made the story almost realistic.
The writing is great, too. I could almost feel what was going on and understand it.
I loved that this sequel had a small relation to the previous novella Reaper which I read. Because it kind of helped understanding what was Tod talking about with Kaylee.
Emma was more present in this book, which is cool!
The incubus story was totally fun to go thru and I was glad that it continued till the end.
I loved seeing Levi again, and since I read an audiobook, hearing him talk like a small child was priceless. I wish there was more of him :s. Maybe in the next sequels?!

What I missed:

I missed Avari’s presence and constant annoyance. Yep, I’m a fan girl of hellions in this book because they add different twits to the story more than incubus do.
I also missed the old Nash and the poor naïve Kaylee who was totally in love with him and couldn’t breath without him. Of course, that changed too…

What I hated:

This one tiny thing, which most of you will think it’s ridiculous, almost stopped me from finishing the book. When you’re about 60% done with the book, you’ll be slapped in the face with a new turn the story takes. I hated how Kaylee was suddenly done with Nash, how in minute she was totally in love with him and adores him and in the next one she was done with and in love with someone else. I hated the cruelty, irresponsibility and immaturity in these few chapters. I didn’t like seeing this part of Kaylee.

The characters:

I don’t actually want to talk about any of them, to be honest, but I’ll do it fast.

Kaylee was impossible. She was strong, scared, caring for her best friend and even starting to like Sabine. But then, I hated her for acting like a selfish banshee.

Tod is Tod. I still think of him as cool and funny and mysterious but I hated how he contributed even as little in Kaylee’s new behavior and in his brother’s pain.

Nash is my hero in this sequel. Although he didn’t do anything heroic, just by enduring all of this by himself, and going thru hell, he’s been really courageous and hurt.

Sabine is one hell of a mara. I really like her. She’s direct, she knows what she wants and she doesn’t go around and make lies.

Emma is wonderful and trustworthy best friend.

Levi is sweet. Despite his young age, he has a mind and logic of a grownup man. I like him ^_^.

Mr. Beck is pathetic.

Conclusion:

If you’ve been this far reading the series, reading If I Die is inevitable. Whether you’ll like it or not, you have to read it to know what changed and what didn’t so you can later read Before I Wake when it’s released!

This is not my favorite book in the series but I did enjoy it, especially the ending.

I’ll be fair and honest and give it the rate it deserves from my point of view.

4/5

Randa

Review: Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead.

2012-01-02T17:57:00.001+01:00

It All Comes Down To Now.

Murder. Love. Jealousy. And the ultimate sacrifice.

The Queen is Dead and the Moroi world will never be the same. Now, with Rose awaiting wrongful execution and Lissa in a deadly struggle for the royal throne, the girls find themselves forced to rely upon enemies and to question those they thought they could trust...

But what if true freedom means sacrificing the most important thing of all?

Each other

From Goodreads.

Get the book from: Amazon, B&N, The Book Depository.

Just as a note, this review was supposed to be published on December 31st, 2011 but due to Internet issues, it has been delayed.

The cover:

I LOVE this cover. It says a lot about Rose and what she goes thru in this book.

The storyline (Small spoilers):

This sequel is completely amazingly beautifully unique. No book in the series competes with Last Sacrifice, it was filled with so many emotions and mysteries it hurt to read because all the time while reading it, I was trying to be a smart girl and anticipate what was going to happen. I failed miserably.

The story continues where Spirit Bound ended up, with Rose still in jail for the murder of Queen Tatiana. However, her friends get her out of it with the help of Dimitri, of course .

Anyways, things got crazy like they always do with Rose, and she was caught in the middle of a huge mess, in the mean time, Lisa was nominated as Queen but they wouldn’t be able to vote for her because there’s no other member of her family left, says the Quorum.

So, as always, despite being on the run for her life from Court, Rose tries to find the missing sibling Lissa has. Obviously, she got in a lot of trouble and Victor and his brother joined her.

I’m going to jump to the end of this book before I spoil this review more than this.

The end was the special treat. I was holding my breath and tears while reading it and I couldn’t put the book down until I was done with it. It is full of shock, mystery, dreams come true and surprising twists.

Also, Dimitri and Rose’s relationship had a weird turn and I was having a lot of fun seeing them argue, and her calling him comrade like old times :’).

The characters:

Rose, the main protagonist, got on my nerves for the first time. She was acting like a stupid girl who was dumped, she couldn’t see the truth when it was right in front of her!!! But also, to be fair, she’s the best friend anyone would dream about, and the ending of the book is proof of that.

Adrian, well, he’s Adrian!! lol I adore how cool he is and how he doesn’t care about anyone at all. I felt sorry for him at the end and how he got mad, I’ve never seen him shout like that! He was really hurt. Let’s hope things get better for him in Bloodlines .

Dimitri is the old Dimitri, finally. It was so cool and nice to see him act like his old self (in Vampire Academy and Frostbite mainly). I love this mysterious teacher <3.

Lissa is the protective nice friend who loves Rose a lot!

Sydney is hilarious. I’m definitely sure that she’s Rose’s friend now. I can’t wait to find her in Bloodlines, it’s going to be fun to read the spinoff of my favorite Vampire series from her point of view.

Other characters you’ll encounter while reading and are worth mentioning: Victor (who later get’s killed XD << I’m evil), Sonia Karp, Jill Mostrano, Daniella Ivashkov and Tasha.

My favorite quotes:

I have so freaking many favorite quotes!! And to be honest, I would like to put the whole book in here, but of course to not spoil this anymore than I already did, I’ll share just a few to push you into reading the series if you haven’t already!!

I don’t like cages.

I don't even like going to zoos. The first time I went to one, I almost had a claustrophobic attack looking at those poor animals. I couldn't imagine any creature living that way. Sometimes I even felt a little bad for criminals, condemned to life in a cell. I'd certainly never expected to spend my life in one.

But lately, life seemed to be throwing me a lot of things I'd never expected, because here I was, locked away. – Chapter 1

I ignored the barb and crossed my arms. "So what are you doing here? I know it's not just a fatherly visit. You never do anything without a reason." "Of course not. Why do anything without a reason?" "Don't start up with your circular logic." He winked. "No need to be jealous. If you work hard and put your mind to it, you might just inherit my brilliant logic skills someday." – Chapter 1

My friends were staging a prison break. Unbelievable. Crazy was usually my specialty. – Chapter 4

And I'd fulfilled my purpose, right? To protect? I'd done it. I'd saved Lissa, just like I'd sworn I'd always do. I was dying in battle. No appointment books for me.

Lissa's face shone with tears, and I hoped that mine conveyed how much I loved her. With the last spark of life I had left, I tried to speak, tried to let Dimitri know I loved him too and that he had to protect her now. I don't think he understood, but the words of the guardian mantra were my last conscious thought.

They come first. – Chapter 33

"Sorry," she said, her face shining with joy when she saw me. "Should have put a sock on the door. Didn't realize things were getting hot and heavy."

"No avoiding it," I said lightly, clasping Dimitri's hand.

"Things are always hot with him around."

Dimitri looked scandalized. He'd never held back when we were in bed together, but his private nature wouldn't let him even hint about such matters to others. It was mean, but I laughed and kissed his cheek.

"Oh, this is going to be fun," I said. "Now that everything's out in the open."

"Yeah," he said. "I got a pretty ‘fun' look from your father the other day." – Chapter 34

"This," he said, moving toward the door, "was the last thing I expected. You destroy my life and then feed me inspirational philosophy." I felt horrible, and it was one of those moments where I wished my mouth wouldn't just blurt out the first thing on my mind. I'd learned a lot of control—but not quite enough. – Chapter 35

"What's so funny?" asked Dimitri, looking down at me with amusement.

"I'm just thinking about what Lissa would say if we still had the bond."

In a very bad breach of guardian protocol, he caught a hold of my hand and pulled me toward him. "And?" he asked, wrapping me in an embrace.

"I think she'd ask, ‘What have we gotten ourselves into?'" – Chapter 36

The conclusion:

This is the sweetest end ever, I wish the series continued but I guess it’s a good idea to keep it like this and leave the rest to our imagination. Besides, I heard there’s a bit of Rose and Dimitri in Bloodlines .

I wanted to thank Richelle Mead for writing such a wonderful series. This is my favorite Vampire series ever!!

I definitely recommend it to everyone who’s into fun, mysterious twisted books .

5/5

Randa

Year summary: Top 5 books and series I read this year.

2011-12-30T18:07:00.001+01:00

I’ve seen blogs all over the internet, and a lot of them are my favorite ones, do a blog post about their favorite reads in 2011 including series and standalone books.

So, this blog post is going to be about my top 5 books and series I finished and loved. These books and/or series are not necessary published in 2011 though.

Below are the books and series I read with no particular order .

Standalone books:

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.

This book is one of my all time favorites. It’s well written with beautiful people in the beautiful Paris.Unlike a lot of readers. I prefer this to Lola and the Boy Next Door.

This one is a must read.

V for Vendetta by Steve Moore (Novelization), Andy Wachowski (Screenplay), Larry Wachowski (Screenplay), Alan Moore (Graphic Novel).

This book is mainly the screenplay of the same names movie. Although it’s almost 6 years since it has been published, this book is on the top of my favorite books. I read both the comic book and this one and I loved them both.

V for Vendetta is special in so many ways. I read it over 5 times and I wouldn’t hesitate to read it again :).

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott.

I read this one just this past week and no words can explain how good it is. It received a lot of bad critics but for me, it was an awesome book.

The writing was the most terrifying thing about it in a good way. It’s almost like you could feel the character’s pain, sadness and numbness.

If you’re willing to take the risk, you should read this one, but if you don’t like violence and rape especially when it’s a little girl, then I don’t recommend it to you. Just as a note, I think this book in only suitable to 18+ readers.

The D.U.F.F (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) by Kody Keplinger.

This is one of the books that just once you start reading it, you just can’t put it down. You feel like you’re related to the mains characters and you try so hard to know what’s in their minds.

The D.U.F.F is the 3rd best contemporary book I read this year after Living Dead Girl and Anna and the French Kiss.

It’s a very good book :).

Dracula by Bram Stoker.

I started reading this one in 2010 but then stopped and re-read it until the end in July 2011.

This is a must read for any vampire fan, you have to read this so when you read about Dracula in other novels, you see how much nonsense there is in them.

I love this one!!

Series:

Unfortunately, I finished only three series this year. Hopefully more next year.

The Hollow Trilogy by Jessica Verday.

This is definitely one of the most amazing stories I’ve ever read. As a huge fan of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving and ghosts, I found this trilogy captivating with a lot of twists and anticipation.

You have no idea how hard it was to wait for the final book in the series, The Hidden, to come out. When it did and I got it the same day as an e-Gift from a friend, I finished it in 2 hours!!!

I definitely recommend these series to anyone who’s never read YA books and who loves ghosts and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

I will definitely re-read it next year. This series has a unique place in my heart since it was the first YA series I read ever! This is what got me to reading .

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead.

I’m about to finish this one, only 10 chapters left until I’m completely done with this series. I’m in love with these books. The story is completely amazing and so far, they are my favorite series on Vampires. Richelle Mead did a great job with this one, I’m a huge, completely crazy fan!!!

The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer.

I know I’m kind of late on this one, but hey, I just started reading!!!

So, to be completely honest, I adore the books and hate the movies. The movies didn’t do the novels any justice (and no I didn’t see breaking dawn yet but I will eventually.).

If you want the advice, read the books before you watch the movies, and this goes to Breaking Dawn too. The last novel is the best one in all the Saga so you should probably read it before watching the movie.

That’s it!!

I’m also happy to announce that I finished my Goodreads goal by reading 51 out of 50 books this year!!! I didn’t even know if I could accomplish this. For next year, I’ll be setting my goal to 100 books .

I’ll do another blog post on books I’m anticipating in 2012 and series I plan to read and/or continue next year hopefully.

Randa

Cover reveal: Before I Wake by Rachel Vincent

2011-12-30T14:21:00.001+01:00

OMG!! So, Rachel Vincent, the writer of Soul Screamers, one of my top 5 favorite series, shared very good news on her blog. She revealed the beautiful cover of Before I Wake, the sixth installment in Soul Screamers which is supposed to be out on June 22nd, 2012 in the US and Canada.

So….. Here it is:

Isn’t it so beautiful? And in pink!! *_*

There’s still no blurb revealed, because according to Rachel:

“ I’m not planning to reveal the back cover blurb until around March, so those in the UK (at least) will have had a chance to read If I Die. Because the plot summary for Before I Wake is the most spoilery plot summary in the history of spoilery plot summaries. Seriously.”

What do you think?? Do you like it? Did you have another imagination for the cover??

All I know is that I love it and I can’t wait to see the must be beautiful UK cover .

Randa

Review: My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent (e-book and Audiobook)

2011-12-29T14:05:00.001+01:00

Trying to work things out with Nash—her maybe boyfriend—is hard enough for Kaylee Cavanaugh. She can't just pretend nothing happened. But "complicated" doesn't even begin to describe their relationship when his ex-girlfriend transfers to their school, determined to take Nash back.
See, Sabine isn't just an ordinary girl. She's a mara, the living personification of a nightmare. She can read people's fears—and craft them into nightmares while her victims sleep. Feeding from human fear is how she survives.
And Sabine isn't above scaring Kaylee and the entire school to death to get whatever—and whoever—she wants.

From Goodreads.

Get it from: Amazon, B&N, The Book Depository.

The cover:

Seriously, theses series has the best UK covers ever!! And if you read my previous reviews of the books, you’d already know that I love them all, but this one, is just amazing!! This is a UK e-book cover, I have no idea how it looks on e-readers but I’m sure it looks pretty cool :D.

The storyline:

My Soul to Steal has the most twisted storyline so far. It kept me anticipating what’s next. The introduction to new characters, in this case Sabine, was very good. As always, Rachel knows how to describe her characters very well along with their surroundings.

This story went smooth and was very good. Also, I was kind of happy I read Reaper just before this one, since they’re kind of related :).

What was unique about this sequel and which wasn’t in the previous books, was a lot of suspense. Sabine showing up just to make ruin what is already going bad for both Nash and Kaylee was killing me, and I kept just reading trying to figure things out, then I would stop, make my own conclusions then continue reading.

And unlike the previous sequels, the ending in MStS (My Soul to Steal) didn’t confirm or deny anything, in this case Nash and Kaylee’s relationship. It was weird and now I’m dying to read If I Die although I now know from the title that Avari is definitely going to have a big part in it.

The characters:

Kaylee, the main protagonist, is as always brave and strong. However, in this book, she really did upset me. She kept overreacting over stupid reasons. She was just weird this time.

Nash, well, poor Nash. He is weaker than usual, probably because of the Frost. He keeps apologizing to Kaylee and trying to bond the friendship again with Sabine while explaining to her that he is in love with Kaylee now. I hate this Nash because he’s so weak and has no idea how to pick up the pieces. He’s torn apart.

Tod kept showing up like he’s the hero in all of this. It’s true I’m a huge fan of him but this time I didn’t like him. He was acting weird.

I will also mention Avari, since he keeps popping up in this book. He is one hell of a hellion. He goes after what he wants and doesn’t give up at all!!! That’s why I’m 100% sure I’ll see him in If I Die.

I shall give credit to Invidia for all the chaos she caused. You’ll know more about her when you read the book ;).

The audiobook:

I read the previous books in the series as e-books but since My Soul To Take, I decided to have this one as both an audiobook and an e-book, which was awesome since I love audiobooks.

This audiobook was well narrated by Amanda Ronconi and she did a great job speaking as Kaylee :).

Conclusion:

I loved My Soul to Steal. It is super cool, twisted, fun and amazing.

5/5

Randa

Review: Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

2011-12-23T23:04:00.001+01:00

Once upon a time, I was a little girl who disappeared.
Once upon a time, my name was not Alice.
Once upon a time, I didn’t know how lucky I was.

When Alice was ten, Ray took her away from her family, her friends her life. She learned to give up all power, to endure all pain. She waited for the nightmare to be over.
Now Alice is fifteen and Ray still has her, but he speaks more and more of her death. He does not know it is what she longs for. She does not know he has something more terrifying than death in mind for her.
This is Alice’s story. It is one you have never heard, and one you will never, ever forget.

From Goodreads.

The cover:

This is the UK cover which I love. It says a lot about the story.

The storyline:

This is a story that I finished right now and I’m still in shock with tears in my eyes.

It is hard to go thru it all over and review it. It was amazing in awful ways.

Most readers wouldn’t continue reading this book from chapter 3, it was hard to absorb, not because the book itself was bad, but because the story was realistic, it could happen to anyone.

I love the book, the story, how awesome the writing was. I adore the heroine, the 15 year old girl who’s been kidnaped and raped over and over for 5 years and still found the strength she didn’t think she had when another little girl’s life was at stake.

I salute her for the unbearable she bared and how despite she didn’t believe she can feel any longer she felt when she saw her new born sister’s photo in the newspaper.

I salute her for her courage all these years and how despite describing herself as a Living Dead Girl, she lived and made sure her family stayed always safe at all costs.

And finally for the girl, I congratulate her for getting her freedom at the end :’/.

I salute the author for writing such a great novel talking about what others were afraid to mention, she did an awesome job writing such a wonderful story.

The characters:

No one is worth mentioning but the 15 year old girl (I won’t call her Alice, because that’s what that pervert used to call her.) and you’ll figure out her real name in the last chapter. Oh my God! no words can describe my current feelings…

Conclusion:

This is not a book for children, definitely for 18+. It has way too much gruesome pictures than any teenager can take, unless you’re used to horror bloody movies like me.

This is a must read is you’re ready to know how cruel our little perfect world can be.

I loved the book, I don’t regret reading it and I would read it again If I wanted too without hesitation, but after the trauma goes away.

This is a 5 flowers book and a very close one to my heart .

5/5

Randa

Review: Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead (spoilers)

2011-12-23T17:25:00.001+01:00

After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri’s birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir’s and to her best friend, Lissa. It is at long last graduation, and the girls canÕt wait for their real lives beyond the Academy’s iron gates to begin. But Rose’s heart still aches for Dimitri, and she knows he’s out there, somewhere.

She failed to kill him when she had the chance. And now her worst fears are about to come true. Dimitri has tasted her blood, and now he is hunting her. And this time he won’t rest until Rose joins him . . . forever.

From Goodreads.

The cover:

Hmmm… I kind of like and dislike this one at the same time.

I adore the UK covers more. My e-books have the UK covers, but since all my previous reviews of the Vampire Academy novels had a US cover, this one will too :).

The storyline:

This is a hard book to judge, review and rate.

I kind of liked the beginning of this book, it was nice to see Rose back with her friends. Dimitri hunting her down too was kind of amusing since he was acting unlike himself, which was fun.

The middle chapters were a bit of an issue, the story went slow and it hurt to see Adrian so in love with Rose while she was trying to lie to herself about whom she really loved. This obviously led to a fight when Dimitri showed up in Vegas trying to get his hands on her.

He failed, not because she was stronger nor smarter but because he wanted to let her go. The only fun thing was seeing Rose planning and executing Victor’s escape.

The last chapters were the best, as usual. Lissa and Christian were kidnapped by Dimitri to lure Rose. When Rose went where they’ve been kept as hostages, there was a huge fight and Lissa saved him.

Back at Court, Dimitri refused to talk to Rose at all and he told her that Love Fades. His Did. This is when she decided she is going to choose Adrian, again!

Yeah, then Tatiana dies and Rose got the blame and the book ends where she’s going to prison until a date is set for her trial.

And now, I can’t wait to start on the next and the last (already??) book in the series :s.

The characters:

Rose is my heroine this year when it come to fiction books. Imagine what she’s been through this entire series?? Without getting to the last novel. Few things I hated about her in this particular book was that she was lying to both herself and Adrian about their relationship which was selfish and lame from her. She should of just told him the truth all along, that she would never, ever love anyone but Dimitri. Anyone who reads the books can see that crystal clear. Also,

Adrian is my hero this time, he’s so freaking in love with Rose!! And he would do anything for her. He’s funny and direct and doesn’t like lies and twists. Love this type of men (or vampires in this case)!

Lissa is the good friend she’s been all along. Despite her good relationship with Rose, she bothered me a lot when it came to Christian. Instead of confronting him and trying to solve the problem between them, she kept getting jealous on him which was ridiculous because he loved her!!

You should know, the first thing to learn about Vampires, is that when they love someone, that’s it, they can’t love anyone else no matter how much time passes or if the other person dies. They are loyal. Which is why I’m a fan of Vampire.

Anyways, back to the review.

Christian is fun to be around as usual. you can’t quite get what he’s planning or thinking. He knows how jealous Lissa gets when he’s with other girls but he goes as far as he can.

Dimitri… I have no idea what happened to him!!! Now, I like him more when he was a Strigoi!! Don’t get me wrong, the old Dimitri was super awesome super beautiful, but the new kind of old Dimitri is hard to figure out!. I’ll keep my mouth shut and decide to see how things go with him in the next sequel.

Conclusion:

First, I need to say I’m sorry I spoiled this review, a lot! It was just too much to take!

There were a lot of sentiments in this book that were getting to me. This is why I love this series. It’s true this book was crazy and a bit slow to digest at first but the bigger picture is what matters.

This is not my favorite book of the series, but I don’t hate it at all.

Second, to be fair enough and judge it right, I’ll give it 4 out of 5 flowers.

4/5

Randa

Review: Deadly Cool By Gemma Halliday

2011-12-23T14:26:00.001+01:00

First I find out that my boyfriend is cheating on me. Then he’s pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And now he’s depending on me to clear his name. Seriously?

As much as I wouldn’t mind watching him squirm, I know that he’s innocent. So I’m brushing off my previously untapped detective skills and getting down to business. But I keep tripping over dead bodies and I’m still no closer to figuring out who did it. And what’s worse: all signs seem to point to me as the killer’s next victim.

I really need to pick a better boyfriend next time.

From Goodreads.

The cover:

I love this cover. It illustrates Hartley very well, and those iPod earbuds?? Oh my!! *_*

The storyline:

So, this is one kind of a book. I enjoyed every bit of it.

The beginning was great, introducing us directly to the issue while explaining things at the same time.

Hartley’s boyfriend, Josh is the worst boyfriend I’ve ever seen, though he did one thing only by cheating on her, this made the deal for me. The girl didn’t deserve this and he was her first love!

I hate boys…

Anyways, at the beginning when Hartley discovers a school mate dead at her boyfriend’s house, every evidence points to him as the killer. However, he shows up and apologizes to her and asks her to help him find out who’s the real killer who’s framing him.

Throughout the book, you’ll go through weird twists and awful discoveries that’ll keep you reading.

One of the many things I loved about this book is that Gemma, the author, did a great job making the characters alive. There were a lot of moments when I’d have acted the same way. It was funny to see Hartley mentally debating with herself on many things and because she’s awesome, she always chose to help others, even if it meant sneaking out of the house at midnight!!

And because I’m a geek, I fell more for this book, there were mentions of Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Apple, Mac, Google and many more! And they were part of the story, not just mentions .

The writing was smooth, funny, fun, mysterious and very good. I just have nothing to complain about in this book!!

The characters:

Hartley is my heroine. She’s been through a lot of things and still acted strong and brave and fought to prove her ex-boyfriend’s innocence. She’s honest and blonde who adores Legally Blonde!! <333

I’ve always liked blondes despite what others might think of them, but her, I loved her!!

Josh….hmmm… Josh is an effing jerk. That’s it. Just because his girlfriend wouldn’t give in to him he went on and cheated on her, then came back asking her to forgive him??? What a boyfriend!!

Chase is super freaking cool. I’ve always loved Goths for their mysterious looks, and I loved Varen in Nevermore. So Chase was no surprise to me when he offered to help Hartley investigate the murder while he kept making jokes and funny statements. He is a gentlemen with a bad driving.

Sam is the BFF. She’s cute, funny, crazy and supportive. She’s been all the way with Hartley.

Other characters that are note worthy are Kevin who’s Sam’s brother, they kept borrowing his “evironmental friendly” car. Which was funny to read because each time he asked them to fill her with some sort of oil fuel lol. Caitlyn whom I let it to you to discover what’s going on with her.

My favorite quotes:

Some of them .

“So it wasn’t your fault.”

Chase shook his head. “Nope. Totally the guy in front of me. I mean, who stops for a yellow light, ya know?”

Oh no… – Chapter 5

If everyone was on Facebook, MySpace was the virtual equivalent of a hideout in the woods. Deep, deserted woods. – Chapter 6

I scrolled down, hitting the Message Me button shaped like a skull and crossbones (Really, Josh? That didn’t strike you as just a little bit inappropriate?). – Chapter 6.

I scrolled down, hitting the Message Me button shaped like a skull and crossbones (Really, Josh? That didn’t strike you as just a little bit inappropriate?). – Chapter 6

“Unless you’re one hell of a hacker.” He grinned. A big toothy thing.

“I take that smug look to mean you know one hell of a hacker?” I asked.

“You’re looking at him.”

“Shut up,” Sam said. “You can break into the phone company’s computer?”

He shrugged. “Piece of cake. How do you think I got all those sexting messages?”

“You read them?” Sam asked.

He nodded. Then leaned in close. “You would not believe the filthy stuff some of our classmates are doing.” He gave her another wink.

Sam looked like she was going to pass out from embarrassment. -- Chapter 8

“But it’s not healthy for you to bottle feelings up in here,” she said, gesturing to her torso. “You can’t feel better unless you’re willing to feel.”

I felt Chase snort behind me. – Chapter 8

It was against the rules to light a cigarette anywhere within twenty feet of school grounds. The Goths sat twenty feet and two inches away, puffing like chimneys. Take that, establishment! – Chapter 14

Conclusion:

This was a wonderful fun read. I recommend it if you like laughter, mystery, thriller and social networks .

5/5

Randa

Review: Reaper (Soul Screamers Novella) By Rachel Vincent (audiobook)

2011-12-17T10:35:00.001+01:00

Tod Hudson was a typical teenager. He liked girls, sports, food, and tolerated his younger brother, Nash. In fact, he had his whole life in front of him - and due to his bean sidhe heritage, it was going to be a very long life indeed. And then the car accident occurred.
Suddenly, Tod's future wasn't so sure, and he had to make a choice. Life... Death... or something Between...

From Goodreads.

The cover:

So this is Tod!! I’m glad I can finally see how my favorite character looks like .

The storyline:

So I was supposed to read this before My Soul To Keep but decided otherwise since It is just a novella and it wouldn’t affect the story of the series. After finishing MStK, I decided that I needed to read this one. I had to know how Tod became who he is in the series.

This novella was short, accurate and good to read. I found a different Tod than the one in the series, acting like a selfish, non-human reaper but I found out why soon enough.

So to not spoil this review, I’ll just say that unlike what Nash says all the time, that he’s brother owes him, in fact, he owes Tod a lot!! You’ll be so shocked to find out!

The characters:

Tod is an awesome brother and Nash is obviously blind not to see that.

Levi, whom I was supposed to guess that he’ll be here, is an awesome dead kid reaper! I’m a fan of him!!! .

Conclusion:

This was a very good quick read from Tod’s point of view. As always, I love Rachel’s writing .

This is a favorite read.

5/5

Randa

Review: My Soul to Keep By Rachel Vincent

2011-12-15T09:53:00.001+01:00

Kaylee has one addiction: her very hot, very popular boyfriend, Nash. A banshee like Kaylee, Nash understands her like no one else. Nothing can come between them.

Until something does.

Demon breath. No, not the toothpaste-challenged kind. The Netherworld kind. The kind that really can kill you. Somehow the super-addictive substance has made its way to the human world. But how? Kaylee and Nash have to cut off the source and protect their friends—one of whom is already hooked.

And so is someone else…

From Goodreads.

The cover:

This is one of my favorite covers because of the pink in it ^_^.

The storyline:

Okay. So the story in this sequel is pretty amazing!

What I love about this series is that each sequel is related to the previous one(s) and at the same time the story is unique. I was intrigued by Nash’s sudden change of moods, how Kaylee noticed something wrong was going on. It was hard to predict the story which is amazing!

At the end, seeing Addison’s comeback was thrilling, Avari’s return on the other hand was creepy.

The writing style of it was awesome, as expected, Rachel does a great job of describing the necessary stuff and leaving the rest for your imagination to work on :).

The characters:

Kaylee is strong as always. She faces her fears even when they’re scary and make her cry (like me). I just wonder how she can stand her cousin Sophie, who’s a total pain?!

Nash surprised me in this sequel, I didn’t expect him to be so selfish and to sacrifice what they had for… well, you’ll have to read the book to understand what I’m talking about ;).

Tod is mainly the hero in this sequel and I think he deserves to be. If there’s anyone who’s truly loyal to love that would be him. He made a huge sacrifice and the consequences were very bad. I love the Reaper!!

Addison’s return was one of the many shocking events in this book and it was a pleasure to see how she reacted in the story. No wonder Tod loves her!

These were mainly the most important characters in this story, in my POV (point of view). I’m not going to mention neither Avari because he’s a pervert nor Emma because the whole story she was whining upon Doug….

My favorite quotes:

Speaking of bloodthirsty hyenas…

A car door slammed in the driveway ahead and my cousin, Sophie, stood next to Scott Carter's metallic-blue convertible, her huge green eyes shadowed dramatically by the streetlight overhead. –Chapter 1

Naturally. Because detention seems like an appropriate reward for someone trying to save her school from a deadly Netherworld toxin, right? – Chapter 5

"Emma?" I backed slowly away from the bed, my phone clenched in my left hand, as a strange, heavy, fluttery feeling settled into my stomach. Like I'd swallowed a swarm of iron butterflies.            "Not exactly…" A low, scratchy, unfamiliar voice said as my best friend's mouth moved.

My heart rate exploded and my pulse roared in my ears. "Who, then, exactly?"

"I am Alec. As presented through Emma Dawn Marshall."

As presented…?

Whoa… – Chapter 17

I'd played intermediary between Nash and Avari. The hellion had used me as his own personal walkie-talkie.

And Nash had let it happen. – Chapter 17

Tod, if you're involved in this, I'll kill you! Except you can't kill someone who's already dead.

But I could get him fired…. – Chapter 18

Aaaand here comes the catch… -- Chapter 18

Luck? We were depending on luck?

Nash is so screwed…. – Chapter 18

"Tod! Get your invisible butt down here!" Or up here, or over here, or whichever way he'd have to travel to get to me. – Chapter 19

But more than any of that, I was thankful for the possibility he'd shown me: that a man really could love a woman enough that he'd do anything to protect her. That's how much Tod loved Addy. That's how much I wanted Nash to love me. -- Chapter 26

Conclusion:

This is by far my 2nd favorite sequel in the series. I can’t wait to get started on My Soul To Steal, but first, I need to finish Reaper .

5/5

Randa

Review: The DUFF: (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) by Kody Keplinger

2011-12-13T19:12:00.001+01:00

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “the Duff,” she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren’t so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

From Goodreads.

The cover:

It is simple and it says a lot about the main protagonist.

The storyline:

This is where things get sad, ugly, horrific, humiliating and at last happy and fun.

This book is unique in so many different ways. It was hard for me to finish it not because it was bad but because it told the truth, and the truth always hurt.

At first, I didn’t like the book, I had no idea who Bianca was and it all started with her kissing Wesley and suddenly they started sleeping together, and as one who hates this type of books, I almost stopped reading it. Then the good/sad part came along and it was hard to both read through it and to fight against the urge to finish it.

Kody did a great job describing how some peoples’ lives are totally messed up and how they go through it and why they do what they do to be distracted from their lives. She used a lot of cursing words, and a lot of inappropriate scenes but all what she described is true and happens in our real lives but everyone is too scared to admit it.

The ending was perfect in every possible way.

The characters:

Bianca is your typical not-popular girl. Believe it or not, but I know that every girl in us (girls) has her version of Bianca, whether you’re a Duff, a player, a geek or a cheerleader. I respect her for many reasons.

Wesley is awesome. Simple. He knows what he wants and he’s not ashamed of it. When he knew that he needed to stop and go after Bianca, he did. I like this about him.

Jessica and Casey are every girl’s dream of best friends or BFFs. They are awesome friends and they stood up for Bianca and helped her with all the tragedy in her life. And they’re super funny and cute!

My favorite quotes:

This is a new section in my review in which I’ll highlight my favorite quotes throughout the book .

“And my name isn’t Duffy. It’s Bianca. We’ve been in the same homeroom since middle school, you self-absorbed son of a bitch.” Bianca to Wesley – Chapter 1

“Oh, come on,” I fumed. “The guy is a man-whore. I can’t stand him. He sleeps with everything that moves, and his brain is located in his pants—which means it’s microscopic.” Bianca to Casey – Chapter 1

After thinking about it for a while, I decided that there were a lot of benefits to being the Duff. Benefit one: no point in worrying about your hair or makeup. Benefit two: no pressure to act cool—you’re not the one being watched. Benefit three: no boy drama. I figured out benefit three while we were watching Atonement in Jessica’s bedroom. In the movie, poor Keira Knightley has to go through all of this damn tragedy with James McAvoy, but if she’d been unattractive, he never would have looked at her. She wouldn’t have gotten her heart broken. After all, everybody knows the “it’s better to have loved and lost…” spiel is a load of crap – Chapter 7

The game was over. The Panthers had won. And I was still the Duff. -- Chapter 12

Oh God! I thought, realizing what that twinge in my gut must mean. Oh God, I’m jealous. I’m seriously f***ing jealous! Oh, shit – Chapter 16

“No!” I shouted, spinning around to face her. “No, no, no! I do not love him, okay? Love is rare and hard to find and takes years upon years to develop. Teenagers don’t fall in love. I don’t love Wesley.” Bianca to Casey – Chapter 19

Then the inevitable happened. I thought of the douche bag. The playboy. The womanizer. The one person who could ruin this moment for me. Yes, I had a crush on Toby Tucker. How could I not? He was sweet and charming and smart… but my feelings for Wesley were way beyond that. I’d skipped the crush kiddie pool and jumped right into the deep, shark-infested ocean of emotions. And, if you’ll forgive the dramatic metaphor, I was a lousy swimmer. -- Chapter 21

Confused, I unfolded the paper and read the single sentence that was scrawled across the top. “Wesley Rush doesn’t chase girls, but I’m chasing you.” – Chapter 24

p.s.: I know you’re rolling your eyes right now, but I don’t care. Honestly, it’s always been kind of a turn-on. Wesley in his letter to Bianca. – Chapter 25

Note to self, I thought. Murder Jessica when there are no witnesses. – Chapter 27

Conclusion:

This book is so realistic and fun to read. Once you start it you won’t be able to put it down.

I’ll give it 4 stars and put it as a favorite. I loved it!!!

4/5

Randa

Review: My Soul To Save By Rachel Vincent.

2011-12-04T21:06:00.001+01:00

When Kaylee Cavanaugh screams, someone dies.

So when teen pop star Eden croaks onstage and Kaylee doesn't wail, she knows something is dead wrong. She can't cry for someone who has no soul.

The last thing Kaylee needs right now is to be skipping school, breaking her dad's ironclad curfew and putting her too-hot-to-be-real boyfriend's loyalty to the test. But starry-eyed teens are trading their souls: a flickering lifetime of fame and fortune in exchange for eternity in the Netherworld—a consequence they can't possibly understand.

Kaylee can't let that happen, even if trying to save their souls means putting her own at risk…. From Goodreads.

The cover:

As the previous book in the series, I love this one’s cover .

It’s the British cover version of the book and it’s my favorite one . Though one thing to keep in mind, it has everything to do with the story and I mean the girl’s eyes’ color, not the color itself .

The story and the characters:

I’m a huge fan of Rachel’s style of writing XD. It’s like you’re in the character’s mind! Which is usually, as far as I know, is not a common things among books. I loved everything about it, from the settings to the characters to the secondary ones to the fiends (loool ) to Avari…

It was twisted and weird and funny and romantic (a lot, but not enough for me to leave the book) and I couldn’t put it down once I really got into what was going on.

What I love about these books is that they’re connected, in each sequel you read what happened in the previous book and how it’s affecting the current story. Very interesting!!!

The ending was sad but good in the same way . I’m proud of how strong the characters are especially Kaylee.

The conclusion:

I know this review is somehow short but when I love a book and don’t have anything bad to say about it, I write only what’s important and what I liked . The rest comes to your own personal taste.

It’s a must read!!

5/5

Randa

Review: Blood Promise By Richelle Mead

2011-11-29T14:11:00.001+01:00

The blurb:

DIMITRI'S HEART HAS GONE DARK
Now Rose must journey to the ends of the earth to find--and kill--her one true love...
Or has the time come to join him?
BOUND BY LOVE, BUT SWORN TO KILL...
The rest of the world had considered Dimitri dead. And to a certain extent, he was. But I hadn't been able to forget a conversation he and I had once had. We'd both agreed that we'd rather be dead—truly dead—than walk the world as Strigoi. It was time to honor our words.
Guardian Rose Hathaway's life will never be the same.
The recent attack on St. Vladimir's Academy devastated the entire Moroi world. Many are dead. And, for the few victims carried off by Strigoi, their fates are even worse. A rare tattoo now adorns Rose's neck, a mark that says she's killed far too many Strigoi to count. But only one victim matters . . . Dimitri Belikov. Rose must now choose one of two very different paths: honoring her life's vow to protect Lissa—her best friend and the last surviving Dragomir princess—or, dropping out of the Academy to strike out on her own and hunt down the man she loves. She'll have to go to the ends of the earth to find Dimitri and keep the promise he begged her to make. But the question is, when the time comes, will he want to be saved?
Now, with everything at stake—and worlds away from St. Vladimir's and her unguarded, vulnerable, and newly rebellious best friend—can Rose find the strength to destroy Dimitri? Or, will she sacrifice herself for a chance at eternal love?

From Goodreads.

My review:

The cover:

This is one of my favorite covers. It holds mystery in it :). And it certainly says a lot about the book!!

The story:

As a huge fan of the series, I was somehow disappointed in this sequel.

The first half was going so slow, that I was that close to stop reading it. I hated how Rose got away from St. Vladimir and how she acted somehow selfish. I know she was trying to be strong and all but that wasn’t cool at all.

The second half was better but I can split it into two parts as well; the first part was the worst part of the whole book, I completely hated Dimitri as Strigoi!!! Somehow, the chapters describing how had Rose gone as a Blood Whore for Dimitri were the longest and the bad part. I felt like he was using her. And unlike the other sequels, this one got me unease :s. The second part however was super awesome and cool, especially the fact that Lissa actually punched someone!! :D.

I loved the ending, it’s one of my favorites. I loved how strong is the friendship between Lissa and Rose and how much they really appreciate each other. And the big surprise at the end, which I kind of expected, you know ;).

The characters:

This is where it gets better! I had the honor to meet the Belikovs whom I loved, especially Olena (Dimitri’s mother). She was calm, nice and caring. His sisters were good too :).

Sydney was nice to meet, especially sine she’s the narrator of Bloodlines, I had fun trying to figure her out. She’s a nice person and a trustworthy friend :).

Adrian is my favorite one in this book. He was patient, funny, calm and caring. I like him very much now!

Ah, and Abe of course, I won’t spoil this one (I already think I spoiled this review :s). He’s a mystery uncovered at the end of the book and it was super fun to figure him out ;).

For the rest of the characters, and I mean the Lazar family, hmmmm…. I don’t need to say a thing except that I’m happy we won’t see them anymore.

Conclusion:

I’m really confused. I love the series but I have to be fair. I didn’t enjoy this book at all until I was at the last 3 chapters, and I counted them. At least, I figured why it wasn’t that much fun for me, it was because of Rose’s friends. I didn’t realize how much I liked Lissa, Christian, Adrian, Alberta and the St. Vladimir environment until they were almost missing in this sequel.

3/5

Randa

I accept the 2012 YA Contemporary Challenge!

2011-11-28T17:44:00.001+01:00

Contemporary YA has always been my favorite genre. Sarah Dessen is really the author that got me into reading. My blog would not exist without her books so I figure this is the perfect way to honor those books! So with the help of Angela from Reading Angel, I introduce to you the 2012 YA Contemporary Challenge!
Levels:
Level 1: 5+ books
Level 2: 10+ books
Level 3: 15+ books
Rules:
You can read any contemporary YA novel that is published between January 1, 2012 and December 30, 2012 but you must read them in 2012! (All formats accepted: paperback, ARC, e-book)

More info on Katie’s book blog.

So this is the very first challenge I enter .

I’ve already read two contemporary books, Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door and I really enjoyed them.

For the year of 2012, I found that I had already marked some contemporary books as To Read on my goodreads, and to make it easy on everyone, I’ve created a public list on my Springpad (a review of it coming soon on my tech blog ;)) which contains all the books I’m planning to read, and as time comes by I’ll add more. Also, you can add this list on to your own Springpad and edit it!!! Isn’t it cool?? ^_^ (Sorry, the geek inside me is super strong ) lol.

I’m also going to be reviewing these books on Goodreads, Shelfari, Amazon and Barnes & Noble in addition to my blog :).

I’ll try to read as many as I can, but I’ve got to find a balance between Senior year and reading. So, I think the most of this reading will be done in the breaks we get, especially in summer!

If you have any recommendations let me know , I’m newbie to this reading Blogosphere and I need as much help as I can get .

Happy reading!

Randa

Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

2011-11-19T16:15:00.001+01:00

The blurb:

In this companion novel to Anna and the French Kiss, two teens discover that true love may be closer than they think
For budding costume designer Lola Nolan, the more outrageous, the outfit - more sparkly, more fun, more wild - the better. But even though Lola's style is outrageous, she's a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins move back into the house next door.
When the family returns and Cricket - a gifted inventor and engineer - steps out from his twin sister's shadow and back into Lola's life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

From Goodreads.

The review:

The cover:
Isn't it just cute and sweet?? Well, so is the story behind it :)
The storyline:
After reading Anna and the French Kiss, I couldn't wait much longer and started reading this one the next day.
I don't know if I expected too much, but it didn't level up to my expectations. I loved Anna and the French Kiss and I was expecting the same kind of writing and humor. I didn't find it :(. It was mostly a long story with boring moments. The only times I laughed were when St. Clair showed up, and I was so HAPPY!!, and at the end, the few last chapters.
I'm a fan of Stephanie's writing and how she describes every character and their personalities.
I like Cricket, I think he's super nice and cute and funny. He has a strong personality and loves his sister, Caliope.
Lola is whom I dislike, I know she's been through a lot, but seriously, loosing her virginity with someone who was older and at a young age?? It was stupid.
The conclusion:
When you start reading a book and you find yourself unable to put it down no matter how late it is at night, that's when you know the book means something to you, and that it's getting 4 stars or more!
It has been a delighted read and I'm really into it ^____^.

4/5

Randa

Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.

2011-11-15T20:13:00.001+01:00

The blurb:

Anna was looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she's less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all . . . including a serious girlfriend.
But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss? Stephanie Perkins keeps the romantic tension crackling and the attraction high in a debut guaranteed to make toes tingle and hearts melt.

From Goodreads.

The review:

Oh mon Dieu!! Where was this book all this time?? I chose this book to be my first contemporary read and my break from Vampire novels, and thank God I chose it! It’s simply so great :).

Once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down at all!! I had to finish it and I feel sad that there’s no sequel :’). This book is forty-seven chapters of goodness. The main reason for me loving Anna and the French Kiss is the way Stephanie wrote it, it was fun to read with 80% of funny moments between friends and normal situations.

I don’t have a favorite character, I love them all!!! Except for Toph…. Anna was a typical girl and it was nice to read about a girl who acted like any other average girl her age :). As for Etienne St. Claire, no need to comment on him!!!

Conclusion:

This book is a recommended read for any YA/Contemporary novel fans who like a lot of laughter and normal situations with a great writing style.

5/5

Randa

Review: Torment By Lauren Kate, Fallen #2.

2011-11-12T20:25:00.001+01:00

The blurb:

Hell on earth.
That’s what it’s like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel.
It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts—immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students: Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.
At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn’t told her everything. He’s hiding something—something dangerous.
What if Daniel’s version of the past isn’t actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else?
The second novel in the addictive FALLEN series . . . where love never dies.

From Goodreads.

The cover:

Don’t you love this cover?? The only great thing about these books (the first and this one) are the covers!! I just love it!!

The content:

This an Angel story in the Fallen series, I thought it was a trilogy but obviously it’s not.

You can say that I disliked the first one, Fallen, from my past review of it. This one is slightly better in the story line. I hate the heroine, Luce, especially in this sequel. She’s just too stupid and too self absorbed. The other characters are cool, funny, serious, deadly, lovely and also interesting.

I would’ve rated it 2 stars if the story didn’t get better before the middle. With all that said, I am going to read the the rest of series, hopefully, because I am simply hooked by the story. I am definitely not going to read any other Angel novels, not any time soon, but I’ll gladly finish this one :).

The writing is good, but sometimes it feels like the author explains things too well and exaggerates in describing the surroundings that she leaves nothing to your imaginary :s.

I do like all the chapters, they all have something good in them, except for the first few ones, they kind of were slow and long.

The conclusion:

I do recommend this book to fans of the Hush, Hush series, which I haven’t read yet and I’m not planning to do so anytime soon, and for those who love YA Angel/Fantasy books, I know a lot of book readers and reviewers who love it, it’s just a matter of personal taste and opinion :).

4/5

Randa

Another Random Contest - Snag The Demon Trapper's Daughter Books 1 & 2! By IceyBooks

2011-11-11T15:35:00.001+01:00

So I'm feeling really bad about my lack of reviews lately.
Know what that means? Its random giveaway time!

Jana Oliver's THE DEMON TRAPPERS series packs a punch you just can't miss.

I especially loved THE DEMON TRAPPER'S DAUGHTER and I've hosted a giveaway for it before.

But here's another one, in case you haven't experienced the glory that is Oliver's unpredictable YA.

Read more about THE DEMON TRAPPER'S DAUGHTER:

My Review - Goodreads

Read more about SOUL THIEF:

My Review – Goodreads

From IceyBooks!

Check out the contest here!

Randa

Review: My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent, Soul Screamers #1

2011-11-10T20:47:00.001+01:00

The Blurb:

She doesn't see dead people, but She senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally.

Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about her need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who'll be next.

From Goodreads.

My Review:

1st: The cover: I adore it! This is the U.K edition which is way prettier than the U.S one. It completely suits the story and the heroine, Kaylee. There’s one thing I’m not sure I understand, which is the review written on the cover by Kirkus Reviews, what does Twilight have in common with the Soul Screamers series?? If you know, then please share it with me!

2nd: The content: Before you read this books, go and get the free prequel from here or else you will feel like you were left out when you start this one :).

What I loved most about it is that it’s not that romantic although we do have some romantic atmosphere in the story, which only added to the beauty of the story. If I was asked to categorize it I’d definitely put it in the horror shelf, my favorite :D.

The story is just unique and twisted. You could not guess how it’ll develop or end up, you’ll be interested to know what’s going on while you’re reading you wont be able to put the book down, at all!

Just for your information, the story isn’t so scary and it’s a bit funny, you’ll find yourself laughing from chapter to chapter. The story was well written and I liked that there weren’t too many chapters and that each one wasn’t so long :).

The end is in one word awesome.

3rd: The characters: I’ll definitely say that my favorite characters are Tod, Nash and Kaylee in this exact order. I love them! Once Tod shows up in the story, you’ll start reading funny moments ^_^

Conclusion:

The book is just good. You’ll really enjoy it if you’re into horror/funny/romantic YA novels. If it was up to me, I wouldn’t compare it to Twilight but to The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting which I didn’t like much, not until I got to the second book. This one is way much better :).

I hope you enjoy it!

5/5

Randa

Review: Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead

2011-11-07T12:59:00.001+01:00

The blurb --- from Goodreads:

Rose Hathaway knows it is forbidden to love another guardian. Her best friend, Lissa-the last Dragomir princess-must always come first. Unfortunately, when it comes to gorgeous Dimitri Belikov, some rules are meant to be broken...
But since making her first Strigoi kills, Rose hasn't been feeling right. Something dark has begun to grow in her mind, and ghostly shadows warn of a terrible evil drawing nearer to the Academy's iron gates. And now that Lissa and Rose's sworn enemy, Victor Dashkov, is on trial for his freedom, tensions in the Moroi world are higher than ever.
Lying to Lissa about Dimitri is one thing but suddenly there's way more than friendship at stake. The immortal undead are on the prowl, and they want vengeance for the lives that Rose has stolen. In a heart-stopping battle to rival her worst nightmare, Rose will have to choose between life, love, and the two people who matter most..but will her choice mean that only one can survive?

My review:

This sequel is pure awesomeness, even better than the first two! The story just keeps getting better. It was hard for me to recover from Frostbite’s disastrous ending with Mason’s death but this one’s ending was even worse! I’m not going to say any more because I don’t want to spoil this review. Just put it in your mind, that if you read the first two ones, you’ll have to read this one, there’s a lot of “magic” happening in here that you’ll be shocked!

As usual, I’m a fan of Richelle’s writing, you find humor, seriousness, romance in every character in the books, I love that! But at the same time, each character is unique with their own personality and way of figuring things out. It’s just like one big happy family .

The characters are awesome, I love Rose, she’s a badass girl, my type ^_^, who’s loyal to her best friend, Lissa who’s a Spirit user. Her instructor, Dimitri is in one word AWESOME! Eddie is the friend anyone would dream about and poor, poor Adrian, lol, I had to laugh at the mention of his name, he’s so crazy and funny and terribly in love with Rose. I did miss Mia, I expected more presence of her in this sequel.

All in all, I’ll be reading the fourth sequel, Blood Promise in no time. I just have to finish the other books I’m currently reading :).

5/5

Randa

The book I’m most grateful for: The Hollow by Jessica Verday.

2011-11-07T11:15:00.001+01:00

So, this is an entry to an amazing giveaway by Beth Revis, who’s giving away 19 signed books!!! Yep, you read it right, 19 signed books plus some swag!!! 0_o (click on the picture to visit the giveaway article )

If you don’t know her, then you have to go and check out her books including A Million Suns, the sequel to Across The Universe, which is coming out on January, 10th, 2012!

Anyways, to enter the giveaway, I must write about a book that I’m grateful for, I have too many favorite books, and to be honest, I don’t have a childhood favorite read. So, I picked up the first YA book I ever read, the book that triggered in me the need to read more and develop a new hobby and a new obsession, The Hollow By Jessica Verday.

The blurb – From Goodreads:

When Abbey's best friend, Kristen, vanishes at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, everyone else is all too quick to accept that Kristen is dead?and rumors fly that her death was no accident. Abbey goes through the motions of mourning her best friend, but privately, she refuses to believe that Kristen is really gone. Then she meets Caspian, the gorgeous and mysterious boy who shows up out of nowhere at Kristen's funeral, and keeps reappearing in Abbey's life. Caspian clearly has secrets of his own, but he's the only person who makes Abbey feel normal again...but also special.

Just when Abbey starts to feel that she might survive all this, she learns a secret that makes her question everything she thought she knew about her best friend. How could Kristen have kept silent about so much? And could this secret have led to her death? As Abbey struggles to understand Kristen's betrayal, she uncovers a frightening truth that nearly unravels her one that will challenge her emerging love for Caspian, as well as her own sanity.

Why I am so grateful for this book:

I’m a huge fan of Washington Irving’s book, The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow, the movie made based on it and the PC game (Of course!!! ).

When I first read the blurb, I started wondering if The Hollow, which is based on Irving’s legend, would be cool since it’s set in the modern time. So I got the eBook and the audiobook and decided to read it and listen to it at the same time.

It was the best experience ever!!! I completely loved the book from chapter one, the story of Abbey losing her best friend, falling for Caspian who’s a ghost and the whole thing is just awesome! I love Jessica’s style of writing, how she created this amazing friendship and the hurt its loss caused, it’s amazing. After this book, thanks to Goodreads, I found other similar books that I loved and this is how reading this book changed my life! Now, I have the full trilogy and I’d happily re-read it anytime!

So, what’s the book that you’re most grateful for? Let me know in the comments!

Randa

Die For Me bookplates <3

2011-10-30T21:36:00.001+01:00

Hello guys!

So today I got a very pleasant gift in the mail ^___^

Two bookplates from Amy Plum, the author of my dearly, favorite Revenant book, Die For Me.

I’m so happy!!! It’s such an honor ^_^ Only if I had a hardback edition of the book….

Anyways, keep watching over the blog for new stuff to come .

Randa

Review: Frostbite by Richelle Mead

2011-10-29T20:59:00.001+01:00

The Blurb:

Rose loves Dimitri, Dimitri might love Tasha, and Mason would die to be with Rose…

It's winter break at St. Vladimir's, but Rose is feeling anything but festive. A massive Strigoi attack has put the school on high alert, and now the Academy's crawling with Guardians—including Rose's hard-hitting mother, Janine Hathaway. And if handto- hand combat with her mom wasn't bad enough, Rose's tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason's got a huge crush on her, and Rose keeps getting stuck in Lissa's head while she's making out with her boyfriend, Christian! The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy's not taking any risks….This year, St. Vlad's annual holiday ski trip is mandatory.

But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only create the illusion of safety. When three friends run away in an offensive move against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. But heroism rarely comes without a price… Goodreads.

My review:

I’m a huge fan of vampire novels, I just adore them! Since Vampire Academy is one of the most popular series in YA fiction/Vampires category, I decided to give it a shot.

I didn’t like the first book as much as this one. Let me start from the beginning.

The Prologue was AWESOME!! I thought it was funny and cute ^_^ Although it would’ve been more suitable for the first book .

The beginning was fine and smooth, then at the middle of the book I got really anticipated for what was coming. The last four chapter were just brilliant, I wished I knew more!

The story-line was smooth and very nice, I wasn’t bored at all .

The ending was so sweet and It totally caught me off guard, ah, finally Dimitri and Roza <3

This book is really worth reading .

Richelle Mead: Website*Blog.

5/5

Randa

Some changes to the blog.

2011-10-25T20:08:00.001+01:00

Hey guys and girls!

It’s been so long, with me busy with school homework and extra studies and stress most of the time :s.

I’m so exited to announce that this blog will be a “book” blog :D. I’m not deleting my other “tech” blog, I’m just transforming this one :). I’ve been so interested in reading YA books and writing my own opinions and thoughts that I decided to start a book blog. With that being said, I’m not only going to write reviews but also making videos about reading programs that you could use on both your computer and your mobile :). So my geeky side is always here lol.

I might not be able to update it regularly as I’m busy most of the time, but I can promise you that each time I finish a book, I’ll write a review of it ;).

In the meantime, you can check all my previous short reviews on my Tumblr blog, it has been kind of my mini book blog until I had some time to make changes here :).

If you have any ideas, thoughts, comments or suggestions feel free to leave them here, I’ll be more than glad to read them and respond ^_^.

Randa

Me and books lately; becoming a reading addict.

2011-08-24T22:32:00.000+01:00

Hello guys and girls!!

I hope you're enjoying Ramadan and making the most of it (if you're a Muslim of course, if you're not, Ramadan is our fasting month :)).
If you've noticed, since Ramadan started, I've been away most of the time. I'm trying to make the most out of this month. However, since I'm not a TV person, I hate current TV series (Except for Burn Notice and catching up on Hawaii Five-0) and I've been trying to stay away from useless music (I know, I've been listening to music but the explanation is coming...).
So for fun, I've decided to read books that interest me. I made a research for what kind of books I should be reading to use what's left of my spare time. In addition to my love for everything supernatural, paranormal, fantasy and Sci-Fi, I've found a new interest, young adult.
With that being said, I'm referring to YA (an abbreviation to Young Adult genre, in case you were wondering what it means.) that is also a paranormal or fantasy, containing ghosts, vampires, souls or/and my latest crush, Revenants. I've been known to my friends that I hate romance, but some of it doesn't hurt as long as it's not between two humans... just a point of view.
Anyways, I'm informing you because you might notice that my Tumblr blog has been turning into a review blog for books I read. I don't know if I'm going to end up changing it into a book blog or something, but for now, with seniors ahead of me, I'm leaving as it is. I'll share random things I like which I think are worth giving a look too.
Just as a note, most of the books I'm reading or I read are in ePub formats (eBooks) the rest are audiobooks. Why is that you ask? I can happily tell you that it's not because I don't like real books but because the new books and in the language I'm reading (English) aren't available in my city!! So, most of the books I read are either gifted to me by my friends online or me getting them off torrents. I've been considering getting an eReader but guess what? It's not available here either, I doubt if it's even available in the country!! >_<" If you're in a place where B&N's Nook Color or Kobo's eReader Touch are sold and you want to help get one (I'll send you the money of course) let me know :), you'll be doing me a huge favor.
Regarding the music I've been listening to, it's from the books that I read. Basically each book has its playlist that inspired the author :). That's it!
If you want to check my reads, reviews or add me, I'm at Goodreads all the time updating my progress and books with my phone.
Have a nice day/evening :)
Randa

Spotify connectivity issue under Wine in Ubuntu SOLVED!!!

2011-07-26T16:54:00.000+01:00

Who’s the geek?? I AM!!! (technically for finding the solution by myself) :D
So, I haven’t slept since yesterday trying to find the reason behind Spotify not working under Wine in Ubuntu 11.04. Spotify wasn’t alone, Wakoopa too didn’t work! 0_o
So these programs claimed some Firewall issues. It turned out it wasn’t that at all!! The problem was in the Proxy. I figured it out after hours of studying the Terminal results I was getting after writing some commands about Spotify and running it from Terminal.
Then I had to install the official Spotify client for Linux which is only for Plus/Premium users. I only needed it to confirm that the connection was made so it replies back with an error saying my account does not have a subscription.
However, the issue and to resolve it is easy peesy!
You just need a proxy site such as www.xroxy.com/proxy-country-GB.htm and when the error shows up, just click proxy settings and choose HTTP, then choose one of the proxies and Ta Da!! The US proxies didn’t work, so the UK ones are good to go :).
The same goes with Wakoopa, and now, everything is working.
A lot of people, whether here or on Twitter, said since I have Windows 7 why don’t I just switch to it when I want to use it? Well, I’m planning on using Ubuntu as my main OS for as long as I can, and this stupid issue wasn’t going to stop me anyways ;).
I hope others who have this issue this will help them out :).

More articles about Ubuntu in Arabic are coming soon, so stay tuned.

Have A Nice Day!
^_^

Review: StudyBlue, the ultimate studying and revising tool.

2011-06-29T10:24:00.001+01:00

Today, I’m reviewing a service, a web app, which I love and started using almost a month ago now.

This service is outstanding, it’s simple, fast and most important of all it’s easy to use . I’ve discovered StudyBlue a month ago. Unfortunately, when I discovered it, my vacation has just started but that didn’t stop me from using it .

I spent more than 21 days organizing my important notes and lessons which I’ll need for my senior year and it worked like a charm. I prepared almost everything, all in few easy steps. You can upload PDFs, DOCs, PowerPoint slides and much more. You can copy from those documents and paste the text into a new note or a flashcard for an easy way to create new class notes from within StudyBlue.

I’ve also used Flashcards which are basically written notes to revise important rules quickly (I use the word rules because I’ve prepared them for English and Mathematic rules ).

The StudyBlue website uses Flash, but it’s not buggy at all! It’s so fast and almost instantaneous. With that being said, you can use the website on any smartphone with a Flash capability. They have also apps for iPhone, Android and soon iPad too which give you an easy to use revision tool with offline capability. I haven’t been able to try out the mobile experience for some reasons all though my phone supports Flash! (I have a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic just in-case ).

Five days ago, they announced a new feature called folders. It helps organize notes, flashcards and so on. A new cool feature . Along with the new feature, they improved the interface and now it works better even on slower internet connections; I tried it .

I’ve got the new update today so I didn’t have it the time I did the video review (in a minute), because of that I’ll describe it briefly here along with some screenshots.

The interface has changed to an even better one, it’s now more organized and now you see folders instead of just subjects:

You can create a folder within your backpack and it’s going to be the subject you’re studying or you can click on a subject and create folders to organize your notes into chapters and so one. To create a new folder do this:

Click on the new folder icon at the bottom of the list of contents.

Name your folder then click save.

Once the folder is created, drag a note or a flashcard into that folder and that’s it! (the screenshot above).

You’ll get this confirmation at the top of the screen when you’re done .

In the other hand, lucky me, I was contacted by Jennifer, the Student Relations Intern for StudyBlue, after I followed StudyBlue on Twitter. She offered to help me along with StudyBlue in case I had issues and answer questions if I had some. I was (and still) honored by her contact, you don’t get contacted by amazing people working at such amazing companies all the time!

After using StudyBlue for almost 20 days, I contacted her back with some questions and she answered them happily .

Here is the conversation:

Me: How did the idea of StudyBlue first start?
Jennifer: StudyBlue was started by University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate Christopher Klundt after deciding digitally inclined college students could use an online platform to study together. He is still with us as Head of Development!
Me: Is it targeting students in college, high school or all of them?
Jennifer: StudyBlue is for all students! We've been getting a lot of requests from non-students lately, so we're working on making the sign-up process even better as I write this.
Me: Any ideas if you're going to target international Students/Teachers by supporting more languages in both interface and entries? My Maths teacher would love to use it except that he doesn't know English, so support for French or Arabic and international languages in general is going to help a lot of students and teachers use StudyBlue.
Jennifer: Although we are an American company, we recognize our growing base of international students. We’re continually reaching out to more students and working to make the experience the best it can be. We'd love your input on what is most critical to "localize" for you!
- On that, I’d love to see, when I sign up or log in, that it detected my country and language. Also, it could automatically pull up schools in my area so I could pick one up .
Me: Now to the apps and the availability, I've seen that's available for both the iPhone and Android phones, are there any plans on creating one for the iPad? I'm one of those who are completely eager to see how it works on it :D How about other mobile platforms such as Windows Phone 7?
Jennifer: A special iPad app is on the way, but for now, the iPhone app is compatible with the iPad. As far as other mobile platforms, the iPhone and Android are the two biggest platforms that our students are asking for. If students start to demand for apps on other mobile platforms we will expand to meet their needs.
Me: Since I couldn't sign in nor try the mobile experience :(, I was wondering, do you support Offline access? whether it's in the browser or the apps.
Jennifer: Yes, the mobile app does work offline so that you can study whenever and wherever you want! It basically pulls in your most recently studied materials for you to review on the go!
Me: There are Flashcards in StudyBlue which help us revise and I love them! My question is, are there any ideas on dropping the support for Flash and use HTML5 instead?
Jennifer: Currently, we try to use Flash only where needed.

This is basically my summary about the service, but here’s is the link on how they explain the service.

And of course, if a picture is worth a thousand words, I wonder what a video’s worth?

Here’s the video review covering the basics of the service, how it works and so on.

La Fin!

StudyBlue is completely free. However there’s a paid version which gets you a couple more features. Unfortunately, I can’t get the StudyBlue+ version because we don’t support credit cards or internet payments in my country. Although I don’t really need the paid version as the free one is more than enough for me, I would get it just to support them and show some love .

So that’s it for this time’s review, I hope I covered everything, but if I missed anything, let me know in the comments.

I wish you the best of luck StudyBlue and thank you for making me wish I had school instead of the vacation!!

Randa

Grooveshark: Music Streaming Wherever You Go!

2011-05-21T16:05:00.001+01:00

Music streaming services are the most popular services of nowadays to listen to our longtime favorite songs or the new hits of the week.

There are a lot of services, from Rdio to Mog to Spotify to Grooveshark which I’ll be reviewing in this article. Since all the above services are restricted to certain areas and Grooveshark has been available worldwide, I’ve had the great opportunity to try it for over a year now and experience what music streaming is really like.

Grooveshark lets people upload their own music on their (Grooveshark’s) servers so they, along with other users, can listen to it via the web, their mobile phones or using the desktop app. It’s available for free but for the ad-free web app, the desktop app, Last.fm scrobbling and the mobile app along with the offline mode you have to either be a Grooveshark Anywhere member or a plus subscriber to remove only the ads and be able to use the premium theme .

To not wright a long blog post explaining Grooveshark from A to Z, I decided to do a video review (now that I fixed my 5 months microphone issue ) which I haven’t done for so long. However, I’m warning you, this video is so long, I apologize for that, but it’s only because I explained it very well!!!

P.S: I missed a thing , visualizations, video mode and power hour, but you can get to them thru clicking on songs above the queue. They’ll let you show a visualization while the song is playing and you can choose from 5 different ones and you can also make full screen . Video mode will show you a bunch of videos that match the current song you’re playing so you can watch its video.

Power Hour “A power hour is an American Collegiate tradition that involves a lot of adult beverages. Power Hour Mode accommodates people who'd like to participate in Power Hours by playing every song in your playlist or queue for 60s or 1 minute, creating a convenient signal for "It's Time To Drink!"

So this is pretty much it. I would love to review the app on my phone but I don’t have a camera to record it nor an app to actually film what’s going on on my screen, I found someone who did that but I never found the app, so If you happen to know one, please share it with us, I have a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic .

If I missed anything, you have a feedback or you just want to tell me to stop saying “mmm…, well…” (I’m still trying, I swear! lol) you’re welcome .

The Review:

The Desktop Application:

The Mobile App:

Thank you for watching!

See you soon,

Randa

3 apps I can’t live without

2011-05-13T21:14:00.001+01:00

There are many apps that I can’t have a mobile phone without having them installed on it, but since the Ovi Blog Article asked to choose only 3 of them, I can only pick 3 :).

So, I’m going to start with my portal to the internet:

Opera Mobile:

Opera Mobile screenshots

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A great web browser, the reason why I love, even when I use the built in browser of my phone a lot, is because It has multiple tabs, I love tabs and I love it because it gives me that option. I recommend this app if you’re an internet addict :D.

My music crush:

Grooveshark:

Grooveshark screenshots

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Well, I LOVE IT!!! I wasn’t able to know how awesome it is to have streaming to your phone through the internet and still have the choice to make it offline until I got Grooveshark Everywhere. Grooveshark is a streaming service which you can use on both the web, for free, and on a mobile device as well as using it through a desktop app when paying a small fee. Unfortunately, in my dear country >_< we can’t pay for other services so I didn’t know how great it was until I got a free month of Grooveshark Everywhere. The Grooveshark app let’s you enjoy all the sweetness that you enjoy on the web in addition to the offline ability. This app is always running on my phone even if I have to close every other app <3 (A special review of the service and the app is coming this week ;)). You can add me and see my songs here.

My photo world:

Although I’m kind of new to this app, I’m so loving it. It’s similar to Instagram for the iPhone but it’s for Symbian^1 and ^3 I believe :).

It has cool effects that you can use and you can share your photos with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. It’s still pretty buggy, and I mean really buggy but hey! It works sometimes! =) You can find me here or search for ranousha ^_^.

So these are my top 3 favorite apps, I still have others but mainly, these are the essentials.

Good luck to everyone in the competition and keep watching for this week’s review :D.

Randa

Audioboo: Sneak Peek on my next blog post: eReading!

2011-04-20T17:09:00.000+01:00

Listen!

My interview with Ovi!

2011-03-21T18:09:00.001+01:00

So, yeah, I got interviewed by Surya from the Ovi Blog. The interview was posted today here .

I’m still shocked in a good way, I’m so honored and probably this is only the start . I have to dream big and put an aim in front of my eyes so I can work hard to achieve it.

Anyways, it was an amazing experience filled with fun, I loved it! I actually wrote the interview while I was revising for the exams and by the time I finished it, I was done with them. Love multitasking!

So, thank you so much for Surya and the Ovi team for giving me this chance and communicating with me like they knew me forever, may God bless you all. I wish you all the luck and I can’t wait to see what’s new .

Read the Ovi Blog and follow them on Twitter too.

Best Regards,

Randa

Penzu Pro 20% off

2011-03-12T17:55:00.002+01:00

Hey everyone,
So everyone has been searching for the referral link to get 20% off when you buy a Penzu Pro account.
Here it is: http://penzu.com/r/5fdb8573
It is available for unlimited use
To know more about Penzu, check them out .
Enjoy

Randa

Why having this blog?

2011-03-06T18:58:00.001+01:00

Hi everyone!

So, as you might have noticed, I have two blogs, my wordpress blog and my blogger blog:). Well,

my first blog was actually here, on blogger, as many of you guys’ blogs were. Then, I moved to Wordpress, and I love it! For some reason, Wordpress is simpler and easier to use, but, it has some serious downs when it comes to the free version. I’m going to list them later when I first give the main reason for having two blogs. The main reason for me having a blogger blog is the ability to play around with CSS and customize it to my liking, when in Wordpress, you have to pay to get the ability to modify the CSS and it’s somehow complicated to get around. My point of view, of course :).

However, I also have this blog because I feel more relaxed in it :), in wordpress, everything seems to be so serious lol!!

In addition to all that, yesterday I was looking for options to have my own domain name hosted on the blog’s server itself (not like I can pay for one, since we don’t have credit cards >_<”), and what I found was quite complicated.

In wordpress, if you want to buy a domain from them, you have to pay, to get that domain working with your wordpress.com blog you have to pay extra money!! Damn, and the CSS upgrade is also a separate payment! If you want to host is using GoDaddy.com or Hover, it’s going to be more complicated, you have to deal with servers and back-ups and more. Too complicated, at least for me! Also no HTML support for widgets (when using wordpress.com of course, on wordpress.org which is self hosted, it does support them :) )??!! What The Hell??! This is what I use most!

While in Blogger, the CSS option is free :D, so all you need to do is to get yourself a domain which will automatically work with no extra hassle. If you like, though, you might buy your domain from elsewhere and have it used by Blogger. Super easy! It’s somehow complicated at first, but once you walk around and try, then do it, you’ll find it super easy :).

I did this yesterday with a new free domain I got for this blog, and as you may see, it works like a charm! XD and HTML widgets are available and you can add as many as you like!

This article was somehow an explanation and a celebration of the new domain ^_^ and by the way you can get the free domain from here, make sure you use an e-mail which is not personal and don’t put your real Last/Family name, because the privacy option is not there, so you’ll be listed on WHOIS!! Read carefully about that!

See ya later ;).

Randa

Nokia Reader

2011-03-06T13:16:00.002+01:00

Hello there!
Sorry for not blogging much, I’ve been so busy at school with exams as usual . Also, I’ve been busy with the guest interview that Ovi Blog. did with me , I’ve been so honored to be asked to do one. I’m still happy. You can read it next week on the Ovi Blog .
If you haven’t noticed, I also updated my blogs look and feel. I made this decision late at night after noticing that I haven’t updated it in so long, also, after seeing that the previous one had so much pink in it!
Anyways, let’s get to the point!
So Nokia released a new application on the Beta labs website called Nokia Reader. What this app let’s you do, is it let’s you add your favorite RSS feed and it’ll fetch the feeds right into the app. It’s so simple, easy and very basic. It also has notifications and a widget for your phone, if it supports this option of course. They released it for s^1 lately, so I decided to give it a try as I usually do with beta applications from Nokia Beta Labs .
My experience:
The installation was so smooth and it took only 2minutes or less.
After the installation is done, you lunch the app (named “Reader”) :

After you sign in with your Nokia/Ovi account, the app will connect to the internet, then it’ll show you news from pre-set RSS feeds, which you later customize.
At the top, you can see three section; Reader, My feeds and Directory. Reader tab is the current one which is in the screenshot above, which shows you new articles from your selected or/and added RSS feeds . The My Feeds tab shows you your subscribed feeds. From this tab, you can manually add feeds for sites not available in the directory. The Directory tab, shows you pre-set categories of feeds you might want to subscribe to. (See the next screenshots)

When you click on a category, feeds from that category show up, from there, you can click on a feed either to subscribe or unsubscribe. You can also see feeds you’re already subscribed to a particular feed by seeing that “Right” mark on the right.

Going back to the Reader tab, you can click on an article to expand it and read some of it. To read the hole article, you have to click on “Read More” which will take you outside the app to the article’s web page using you browser.

By clicking on Options at the bottom left, you can choose to change the theme or go to offline mode, which is nice .

What I would love to see in upcoming updates to this app:

- Google Reader support! I saw at their Beta Labs page that some users already requested that and I agree with them! It would be nice to sync to Google Reader or even just import our feeds from there, we don’t have to re-write our favorite feeds URLs many times!! Especially if you have hundreds of feeds like me.
- I would love to see the full article opens within the app, native support, instead or opening the browser to read it. This might kill the ram of the phone if it’s like mine!

Final words:
I love this app! It’s simple, very basic and easy to use, which I adore . It needs to be improved more, but hey, it’s still in Beta, that’s why they need our feedback. If you have a supported Nokia device, then give it a try, you won’t regret it!
Stay tuned for more reviews to come!

Randa

Blog updates!

2011-01-30T13:37:00.001+01:00

Hello guys!

It has been soooo long since I wrote my last blog post, sorry for that !

I’ve been so busy studying this year, I’ve never ever stayed so long without blogging, damn it!

I’m writing this post today explaining the major reason why I can’t blog (yet) and review stuff like I’m used too. While I have a bunch of news and stuff to review, I can’t, mainly because my 1st headsets broke and I got one and the microphone on the new ones don’t work!!

I found out that the problem is coming from my beloved PC >_<” and I couldn’t find a way to fix it, so, please, If you can help, leave a comment or reply in Twitter or Facebook. Thanks in advance .

Also, I wanted to say thank you for those who bought a Penzu Pro account using my link, in addition to getting 20% off, I got one year for free!!! This morning it became two years!!! It looks like people are really enjoying it as much as I am .

If you want a 20% off a Penzu Pro account you can leave a comment or contact me anywhere and I’ll send you another link, or, just stay tuned as I’ll be posting another one sometime soon . Please check penzu.com to know more about this amazing journal utility . I’m a big fan.

A new blog post is coming this week, so stay tuned and I’ll keep you posted .

Thank you so much guys for your support,

Randa

Review: Brightkite

2010-08-14T10:36:00.001+01:00

As quoted from Wikipedia:

Brightkite is a location-based social networking website that is available on any mobile device. Users "check in" at places by using text messaging or one of the mobile applications and they can see who is nearby and who has been there before. The service was created in 2007 by Brady Becker, Martin May and Alan Seideman who previously founded the SMS notification service Loopnote. In April 2009 Brightkite was acquired by mobile social network Limbo.

Brightkite allows registered users to connect with their existing friends and also meet new people based on the places that they go. Once a user "checks in" at a place, they can post notes and photos to that location and other users can comment on these posts. Users control the privacy of their updates and can choose to share them with their Twitter and Facebook accounts, while also having the option to share their geotagged photo posts to Flickr.

Brightkite is available worldwide.

Brightkite currently has applications for iPhone, Android, Symbian, Blackberry and others.There is an open source third party app for BlackBerry called "myKite" and webOS called "Parafoil" .

Note: I edited the links so each one will take you to the appropriate store .

and here’s how the Symbian version of the app looks like on my Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

Brightkite on Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

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Now to the video review :

So, what do you think?? Are you going to give it a try or you’re just stuck with Twitter like most of us are?? Let me know in the comments and you can add me on Brightkite if you want to .

See you soon

Randa

Hi guys !

2009-10-04T21:00:00.005+01:00

Hello and welcome !

This is my new website :) I’ll do my best to get me a domain with my name : ranousha ^_^

I totally designed this blog based on the original one which it’s link is in the footer :D.

Well, until now I have no idea what is this site going to be for… >_<

but, I’ll keep you updated XD <3

See you soon

…and so, the lion fell in love with the lamb…

Just to test the quote sign that I made XD

Randa