Thursday, November 27, 2014

Rites of Passage Read-Along Week 4


Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley is one of my favourite debuts this year! To show my love I've become part of the street team, known as The Cadre and we did a read-along over the past month. This is the final week and we've just finished!

Recruits we've made it! We are officially cadets :D The theme for this week is Goodnight Saigon and to learn more about the significance of this, head over to Joy's blog (here) to read her post on this.

If you loved RITES as well and haven't joined the street team yet then what are you waiting for? Sign up here

A little bit about the book and the author



Synopsis:
"Sam McKenna’s never turned down a dare. And she's not going to start with the last one her brother gave her before he died.

So Sam joins the first-ever class of girls at the prestigious Denmark Military Academy. She’s expecting push-ups and long runs, rope climbing and mud-crawling. As a military brat, she can handle an obstacle course just as well as the boys. She's even expecting the hostility she gets from some of the cadets who don’t think girls belong there. What she’s not expecting is her fiery attraction to her drill sergeant. But dating is strictly forbidden and Sam won't risk her future, or the dare, on something so petty...no matter how much she wants him.

As Sam struggles to prove herself, she discovers that some of the boys don’t just want her gone—they will stop at nothing to drive her out. When their petty threats turn to brutal hazing, bleeding into every corner of her life, she realizes they are not acting alone. A decades-old secret society is alive and active… and determined to force her out.
At any cost.

Now time's running short. Sam must decide who she can trust...and choosing the wrong person could have deadly consequences."

For my full thoughts on the book, you can read my discussion review with Mel from YA Midnight Reads here

About Joy N. Hensley


Joy N. Hensley is a former middle school teacher. She used to spend her twenty-minute lunch breaks hosting author Skype chats for her students. Once upon a time she went to a military school on a dare. She lives in Virginia with her husband and two children, finding as many ways as she can to never do another push-up again.

Find her at the following places:






Fancast and Character Profiles


My post today will be a fancast! Hehe you guys should know I love doing fancasts and I thought it'd be perfect as we've now met all the characters and are familiar with their personalities. As with my previous fancasts, I choose not only actresses/actors that I think physically match the appearance from the book, but also people who I think embody the character's personalities and who I can picture playing the role perfectly. 
An additional aim for this fancast was for the actors/actresses to be in their teens/early 20s so they would really be like the characters from the book who are only 16/17. This was SO hard but I tried my best to look for young/young looking people!

Samantha (Sam/Mac) McKenna - Kaya Scodelario



Our protagonist is strong-willed, loves a dare and is loyal person. Raised in a military family she sticks to the rules but also knows how to have fun. I loved Kaya in Skins (UK) and I think she's a really great actress overall. She's tough and I can see her as a military recruit - also I know she was recently in The Maze Runner but have not seen this so idk ;o

Drill Sergeant Stamm - Alexander Ludwig



Teehee Drill <3 Drill is like. Well I don't know how to put him into words. Not really one for words unless issuing commands, he's fair and a genuinely good person. He doesn't discriminate and sees Sam's potential (and more kekeke). He can also be really sweet underneath the drill sergeant exterior and he really cares about Sam <3 Blonde hair, blue eyed and hotttttt. Alexander Ludwig (oh hello) who played Cato in The Hunger Games I think would be a really good drill! He's got a strong jaw ;) but more importantly as Cato I could see Alexander as a tough guy, but I think he can play the caring one too!

Kelly - Cameron Monaghan



Kelly is the happy one in my opinion. He's quite optimistic, a bit of a joker and smiley. I sort of thought of Mason from VA when I was reading him sooo... hence Cameron Monaghan lol! As we clearly from VA, Cameron can fight and as Kelly is one of the best recruits, this fit perfectly. Kelly is also described as having light brown hair, freckles and teal eyes. Cameron is close enough right? :p

Bekah Cross - Peyton List



Bekah is described as being blonde and like a super model. First impressions have her as being almost delicate and yet she's pretty resilient. Peyton has that delicate look about her but I think she could also be a good recruit. SHE'S SO PRETTY.

Katie Quinn - Chloe Grace Moretz



Katie is a bit of a weak link and she cries a lot... I wasn't a huge fan of her but she's a good person. Described as tiny I thought Chloe Grace Moretz would be perfect. From Kick-Ass to 500 Days of Summer to If I Stay, Chloe is an absolutely fantastic actress who pulls off any role and I could really see her playing Katie.

Short - Emma Roberts



Short's described by Sam in the beginning as being the only one of the few girl recruits at the DMA who looks like she could hold her own. She's got short brown hair, and is quite well built. Not much else is known about her but I thought it was important to cast her anyway as she's part of the first intake of females at the DMA. Emma Roberts jumped to mind for some reason and I think it's because Emma is able to throw herself into any role and really show emotions very well - Wild Child, Valentine's Day, We're the Millers, she's got this! Emma has also naturally has brown hair so maybe that's why I thought of her? O_O

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So what are your thoughts? Who did you guys have in mind for the characters? What did you think of mine?

Spreading the book love, IT'S GIVEAWAY TIME. Yes I'm giving a hardback copy of RITES OF PASSAGE. This is open internationally as long as The Book Depository ships to your country!


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Saturday, November 22, 2014

Video Review: The Infinite Sea (The Fifth Wave #2) by Rick Yancey

HI Y'ALL I'm backkkk to book blogging yay! First up is my video review (coz I wanna test out my new CSC!) of The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey!

Thanks to Penguin Teen Australia for this review copy <3





Release Date: September 9 2014
Publisher: Penguin Teen Australia
Source: Review copy via publisher
Genre: Dystopia
My Rating: 

Synopsis:
"For Cassie Sullivan and the rest of Earth’s remaining human survivors, the situation was already desperate when the 5th Wave hit. It’s about to get worse.

No one yet knows the depths to which Earth’s conquerors—the Others—will sink in order to rid the Earth of the human infestation, nor have they guessed the heights to which the human spirit can reach. Characters introduced in Book One will come to the fore—and others will face the ultimate test."

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Key Points:
  • Mainly Ringer's POV
  • Her character is a cold at the beginning but as the book progresses, her story is revealed and it's quite riveting
  • Slow to start but gets much better
  • There is Cassie! (And you'll have to read to see... Evan Walker... because you know.. The 5th Wave O_O)
  • Razor!
  • We see Ben, Sammy, even more Vosch and Poundcake's story brings on ALL the feels
  • This book was a major feels trip
  • If you thought The 5th Wave was mind fkery you haven't seen anything yet
  • Really enjoyed this overall, great writing as always
  • Bigger, badder plot twists - intense bomb shell and ends on an even more insane cliffhanger

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Getting to Know You Blog Hop



In light of certain recent events in the book blogging community (which I am NOT going to mention because there's been enough shit about it already), Cuddlebuggery are hosting a Getting to Know You Blog Hop to get the good vibes going again!

So you're here to get to know me, and in return you win books - this is a win-win situation! I get to talk which I love doing and I get to share book love which benefits us all! YEYEYEY.

Okay leggo

I handed in my Honours thesis yesterday! I'm studying a Bachelor of Information Systems which basically means I learn about the technical side of computers (networking, programming, databases) and the business side (how businesses can leverage information systems to make $$$) and how these 2 sides talk to each other! My friends and I were such dorks yesterday we spent the better part of the day taking photos with our theses. In our defence, it was almost like having a baby - 9 month in the making, lots of cravings, lots of pain, lots of sleepness nights yeah...

My favourite season is summer and as I'm Sydney born and bred I love the beach - I swear we have some of the prettiest beaches in the world. Bondi <3

I'm a bit of an owl though so I don't go to the beach a lot; it takes a lot of planning. Well actually I'm an owl. I sleep at like 4am and get up at like 4pm in the afternoon on days where I don't go out.

I try not to go out. I'm a very lazy person. I stay in my pyjamas all day and don't leave my room unless I need to go get food or go to the bathroom. I'm not an introvert... not really I swear... I just don't want to deal with  real life sometimes.

Which is why I spend a lot of time gaming when I'm not reading. I play MapleStory and I've been playing it for the past 7 years and NO REGRETS. My favourite game ever is Final Fantasy X followed closely by Kingdom Hearts II but I do love FFX-2 as well.

One of the reasons why I love KH other than the superb graphics and awesome storyline is that it combines Final Fantasy with Disney. Disneyland is one of my favourite places in the world and I adore Mickey Mouse. My Mickey Mouse plushie is 19 years old from when I went to Disneyland Anaheim in 1995 - now you know how old I am.


I try to buy everything in blue, especially seafoam or Tiffany's blue because it's beautiful so I basically only wear blue (and grey) clothing. And I love florals too so I have a lot of flowery clothing.

Growing up I've always listened and loved music. Sadly I cannot play a musical instrument but I can read music? My favourite musical genres are house/dance, pop, alternative and the best of the best - KOREAN POP! My K-pop collection is half the size of my book collection so yahhhh... Which is where my blog name came from. "Fiction in fiction (in fiction)" is the chorus to B2ST's Fiction which is my favourite K-pop group and my fav song by them! My blog's tagline "Even today, I’m still in the story of you and I that hasn’t ended, in fiction" is another line from the song :D


OK LASTLY. YA high fantasy is my favourite genre EVER. Throne of Glass is my favourite series <3 I also love the Grisha trilogy, Fire and Thorns trilogy, The Lotus War. I love fantasy too so Covenant, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, The Iron Fey. Paranormal is another favourite and I adore The Raven Cycle, The Violet Eden Chapters, Unearthly. Contemporary is another awesome genre (ALL THE MELINA MARCHETTA AND GAYLE FORMAN. Also Jandy Nelson, Huntley Fitzpatrick, Katie McGarry ) and sci-fi ain't too bad either (Legend trilogy, Shatter Me trilogy, The Bone Season, Lux, These Broken Stars, Under the Never Sky, Angelfall, The Darkest Minds).

YAY GIVEAWAY TIME. This is open internationallyyyyyy yeyeyey and you can win ONE of the following books from the below pictured - these are the start of a series but you can win any of the books within that series! You'll notice that these are books I mentioned in the previous paragraph and that's because I love these all so much and I want to share them with YOU.

I will ship the book via The Book Depository (so only enter if TBD ships to your country) and the default will be the US hardback where possible unless you specify otherwise!





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