Indigo Blues by Danielle Joseph

Indigo Blues by Danielle Joseph
"Indigo:

I never asked to be famous—or infamous. Such is my fate for briefly dating (and dumping) Adam Spade. Yes, the Adam from the indie rock band Blank Stare who wrote "Indigo Blues"—the song that gave the band overnight success, propelled them to New York City, and stole my precious anonymity. Now I'm pawed by fans, stalked by reporters, and pegged as a vicious heartbreaker. And Adam is still calling me. Doesn't he have better things to do?

Adam:

With a hit single and a promising career, I should be on top of the world. People on the street are beginning to recognize me, which is cool. And scary. The band is counting on me to write another hit, but I can't stop thinking about Indigo. Why won't she answer the phone?"- summary from Amazon

I was really excited to read this book because I absolutely loved Joseph's debut Shrinking Violet but, while this is a very good effort, it just didn't amaze me like her debut did.

First, the good. Joseph really knows how to write characters. I loved reading about Adam, Indigo and the people in their lives. She really fleshed them out and made them unique. This is even better since the story is told from two different perspectives. Sometimes multiple perspectives can seem very repetitive and use the same voice. These are two separate, distinct voices and it's such a great idea to take this storyline and see how it's affecting both involved. In Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway, there's the same storyline but we only see Audrey's side. I really liked seeing how each reacted to what's going on regarding the song's popularity and the storyline behind it.

This is also a pretty quick read. It was really easy for me to get lost in the story and I was just turning pages until I stop and realize I'm already halfway through. There were, however, times where a sentence or a paragraph just kinda felt awkward and jarred me out of the story, like it just didn't feel right in the story or for that character to think or say. This happened a few times in the opening pages and so it took me a while to get into the story, but after like 20 pages, I was in and hooked.

Now, what I didn't like as much. I felt like there wasn't enough backstory regarding Indigo and Adam's relationship. I got a little bit of it, but I felt there wasn't enough explanation of it to make me completely care about the characters. The ending was a bit abrupt; I found myself at page 200 wondering how the last 30 pages would play out because it seemed like there was so much that needed to be done before the ending. Also, a bit unrealistic. It felt like the characters did a bit of a 180 in those last 30 pages and I'm left wondering what the heck happened.

Overall, the bad stuff didn't weigh me down too much. It is a very good story, and I'm excited for whatever Joseph puts out next, but it's definitely not perfect.

FTC: Received final paperback at ALA (signed!). Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.

Fragment Friday- Rosebush by Michele Jaffe

Fragment Friday is a weekly meme hosted here on this blog where you read an excerpt from either your current read or one of your favorite books and post it on your blog to share with others! It's a fun way to learn about new books or to hear a sample from a book you're dying to read.

Today, I'm reading from Rosebush by Michele Jaffe, which will be out on Dec. 9, 2010! Hope you all enjoy!



Also, a quick note- at the end, I mention Fresh New Voice of YA being next week. That is a lie. It is the week after next.

Put your link down in the Mr. Linky below!

Matched by Ally Condie

Matched by Ally Condie
"Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow."- summary from Amazon

OK, so I've read mixed reviews on this one and I'm in the middle-ish. The book wasn't a total disappointment, but it also wasn't an amazing home run or anything. I think Condie did a wonderful job setting up the world and really building it up with little things and big things. I really enjoyed the characters too and I do also get why the story is written the way it is- Cassia knows very little and is taught not to show much emotion and all that. It really makes those scenes where she does show it all that more powerful.

At the same time, I was a bit bored in the middle of the story and it seemed like maybe something exciting happened every 50 pages, but it wasn't much fun having to plough through those 50 pages to get to it. The beginning hooked me because of the novelty of it all and I wanted to know more about the Society and its rules (which, by the way, PO'd me a lot of the time, as I'm sure it's supposed to). The ending (like the last 50 pages) were very climactic and sets up an interesting situation for the next book. It's just that darn middle that's the bulk of the book. I liked some things about it, like learning more about Ky's past, but there seemed to be a lot of extraneous scenes there.

Overall, the book does have a pretty cover (though the hardcover is not sparkly like the ARC, it seems, which is a shame) and has a decent plot that could've been executed a bit better. The characters were very cool to read about, but I think for the most part, it's a library book. And if you want the pretty cover, wait for the paperback.

FTC: Received ARC at BEA (signed!). Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.

Ask Book Chic (17) + Contest!

Before I start today, in honor of World AIDS Day, I wanted to link back to an interview I did last year on Dec. 1 with Courtney Sheinmel, author of Positively which is about a young girl who is HIV positive. It's a wonderful interview and one of my all-time favorite ones. Check it out and also check out Courtney's book which is out in paperback!

I've run out of questions again, and you guys know what that means- CONTEST TIME! I have an extra ARC of Delirium by Lauren Oliver! All you have to do to enter is leave a question in the comments below. You can ask more than one question, but it won't count as extra entries or anything like that. This contest will end Friday, December 10 at 11:59PM EST. So go on and ask some questions; they can be about anything, whether it be personal, blog-related, writing-related, completely out there, whatever! Also, try to skim through the previous Ask Book Chics (each post has an Ask Book Chic label, so just click on that to get all of them) to avoid asking a same or similar question.

Cass asks "If you were to talk to Meg Cabot (again) what would you say?

What inspired "Fragment Friday"? (I WILL start doing them...one day) Why do you believe others will be interested in FF?

How many review requests do you get a week, on average? How about, what's the weirdest review request you've gotten? (Mine is this self-help book, but about money and business)"

1) It's funny that I'm answering this now because just today I had a small email exchange with Meg Cabot. I chat with her that way since I can't see her in person, though she says she'll be at RWA next July in NYC and I am going to do my best to be there so she and I (and maybe some others) can hang out.

But anyway, I was telling her that she should another Boy book (Boy Next Door, Boy Meets Girl, Every Boy's Got One) because those are my favorites. The reason this came up was because someone asked about a 4th Queen of Babble book and Meg was like "Well, I have this idea for something but I'm not sure if it should be for Lizzie (from QOB) or a character from Boy Meets Girl." I think Lizzie was left in a good place and doesn't need to be tampered with, so I demanded another Boy book be written. She said that she was leaning more toward that than a 4th QOB book. So if you're a fan of the Boy series like me and wanted another book, feel free to thank me when a new one comes out a few years from now. Because I made it happen. :)

As for face-to-face, I'm sure we'd chat about tons of things- we have a mutual love for Kathy Griffin, cats, awful reality shows (and good ones, like Kathy's D-List), and much more. I think she and I would have a grand time together.

2) Fragment Friday was inspired from my Fresh New Voice of YA posts where I'd record a vlog and read an excerpt from the two featured books, so it was originally just twice a month in the same week. My blogger friends Susan and Pam really liked that idea and wanted to do it themselves, so they came to me for approval since I was the one who had first started doing them. I agreed and we started Fragment Friday in July of this year.

I think others would want to join in because they can read a favorite section from one of their favorite books or a book they're currently reading and share that with their blog readers, thus hopefully sending them to that book.

It actually started out kinda strong and stayed consistent for a few months but recently, participation has fallen off (one week, no one else did one). This has led me to (HERE'S THE SHOCKING NEWS!) think about cancelling it or just making it once a month and let people know ahead of time the date it will be held. It's a hard thing to do every single week, not like In My Mailbox or Waiting on Wednesday. I'll continue doing it to the end of the year and then in January will either do the monthly thing or not do it at all. I'd still do it for Fresh New Voice, but there would be no Mr. Linky. What do you all think?

3) I don't get as many as you think, probably just a couple. I usually delete them if they don't interest me, which is almost 95% of the time. The reason for this is because of the fact that a lot of them have NOTHING to do with my blog. They're not YA reads, or even MG or adult chicklit. I get self-help, non-fiction, self-published stuff. It's not what I read!


Tara asks "Which do you think takes more time: reading the actual books or blogging about them?

Do you think you would read as much if you did not blog about the books?

Favorite ice cream flavor? (I just gave up sweets. Preoccupied. hehe.)"

1) Definitely reading them. Blogging about them takes maybe half an hour, at least for me. I don't spend days thinking about a book or anything. I just sit down and write out the whole review and set up the post in one sitting. Reading usually does take several days for me, unless it's a really quick read.

2) Yes. I read a lot for several years before starting the book blog, so having the book blog doesn't change too much. I'd probably continue buying the occasional book and borrowing tons from the library. I will say though that having the book blog causes a bit more pressure and I have to schedule books and I do think I read more because of how many books I get every month, therefore meaning I have to post several reviews every week. So maybe not as much because there'd be no rush for me to finish a book, but I do think I'd still have reading time every day.

3) I like the vanilla/chocolate combo, as well as mint chocolate chip. Also, why did you give up sweets? That doesn't seem right to me. I could never do it. I love them WAY too much.

Original Sin by Lisa Desrochers Cover Reveal!

The cover for Original Sin by Lisa Desrochers, the sequel to Personal Demons, is out now!!



Isn't that cover gorgeous?! I love the blue and that we get to see a close-up of the sexy Gabe (he's totally mine!) and I can't wait to read it- the book will be out July 5, 2011! You can go to Lisa's blog and enter the Cover Reveal Contest. All you have to do is fill out the form with the Original Sin tagline ("Is Anyone Above Temptation?") and the blog you found it at (Book Chic!). Once you do that, you'll be entered to win an ARC of Original Sin as soon as she gets copies in, which should be within the next two months! Also, by commenting here on this post (just once), you get an extra entry! I moderate all comments and usually get to them quickly so just check back in a few hours to make sure your comment got through! Good luck to all!

To find out more about Lisa and her debut Personal Demons, go to these links:

My interview with Lisa
My review of Personal Demons
An excerpt vlog for Personal Demons