Synopsis: Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

Review: That is so unfair… this book is incredible. I just finished it, and it has the most amazing finish. The type of finish that isn’t really a finish, but really a segway to a sequel that I need to read right now, but will have to wait another year to read! I want to cry.

I have read a lot of really fantastic books in 2011, but Shatter Me was probably my equal favourite next to Divergent by Veronica Roth. The first chapter pulls you in, and it just builds and builds. It’s such a powerful epic story, with some romance tied in, and I could not get enough.

The first thing that stood out to me is the unique voice of this book. I truly loved the voice of Juliette. From the way she crossed out so many of her sentences, to the way she would repeat, repeat, repeat some of her words, almost as an emphasis.

I love dystopian novels, but honestly, Shatter Me has such a unique quality about it, because it’s pretty much like dystopian vs Xmen (it doesn’t get better for me!).

Juliette’s touch is fatal. She doesn’t know why, but the touch of her skin kills people. She is locked away in a mental asylum until Warner, the head of The Reestablishment takes her away and tries to convince her to use her powers for evil, for torture.

Her only saviour is a soldier by the name of Adam, who looks familiar to her.

I really don’t want to spoil the story and it’s hard not to, because one thing leads to another in a giant chain of events. All I can say is that as my equal favourite book of 2011, I can’t highly enough recommend Shatter Me. Read it!

Rating: 5 out of 5

Good morning readers! I’m here with this weeks goodies for In My Mailbox!

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme bought to you by the lovely Kristi at The Story Siren.

	Enthralled - Edited by Melissa Marr & Kelley Armstrong - For Review Thank you to HarperCollins Australia for this! Sixteen of today’s hottest writers of paranormal tales weave stories on a common theme of journeying. Authors such as Kelley Armstrong, Rachel Caine, and Melissa Marr return to the beloved worlds of their bestselling series, while others, like Claudia Gray, Kami Garcia, and Margaret Stohl, create new land-scapes and characters. But whether they’re writing about vampires, faeries, angels, or other magical beings, each author explores the strength and resilience of the human heart.
	The Vampire Diaries - The Hunters Vol 1: Phantom Inspired by a series written by L.J. Smith - For Review Thank you again to HarperCollins Australia for sending me this copy! Elena Gilbert saved Fell’s Church from evil spirits bent on destroying it, but it came at a price: Damon Salvatore’s life. Damon’s death changes everything. He and his vampire brother, Stefan, had been locked in a battle for Elena’s heart. Now that he’s gone, Elena and Stefan can finally be together. So why can’t Elena stop dreaming of Damon?
	Shatter Me - Tahereh Mafi - Bought I’m 60 pages in and this is fantastic! This is definitely the one book everyone should be reading in November! I pre-ordered it from Book Depository and then saw it at Big W before my order has arrived, so I will end up with two copies of this. But I might be giving one away!

What’s in your mailbox? Let me know - leave your links in the comments section as always!

Synopsis: It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

Review: This is the second Maggie Stiefvater book I have read, and one thing cannot be denied - she is unquestionably gifted when it comes to her ability to describe each and every moment in fine detail.

I think this is something at times that I absolutely love, but in the same respect I find too much at times. There are some passages that I stopped to pause and reflect on how well written it was, but perhaps if I have any criticisms it would be maybe that there were too many of these moments. I am one of those people that wants to get into the action, but The Scorpio Races is quite the opposite. It really starts off quite slowly and builds to a crescendo finish. That being said however, once we got there, it was really quite enjoyable.

I got the distinct feeling that Thisby (the place where this book is set) was very much like Ireland? The one thing I found difficult was when the book took place. It very much felt as though this was set in the past, however I couldn’t put a time on it. And then the more I thought about it, the more I thought maybe I wasn’t meant to place a time on it, and just went with the flow. Thisby does maintain a very old fashioned way of life though.

I really loved the character of Puck Connelly. She is such a strong female. Not only was she brave enough to compete against an entire army of men with their capaill uisce, but she defied them. I absolutely adored the relationship between her horse Dove and herself. It was really very sweet.

Sean Kendrick. He is a man of very few words, but I really loved his sincerity and his loyalty. I think perhaps it’s because he doesn’t say much, but when he does say something, the words are so powerful. I really liked seeing his tenderness towards Puck.. it was something that made him quite vulnerable.

I can’t say much without spoiling the book… I will say that I think that this book is one that will be talked about for a while. The way it is written says it has the potential to become a classic. For myself, it perhaps didn’t move fast enough for my liking - but that aside I certainly saw the appeal to the book.

I would definitely recommend this read, particularly if you like horses or Maggie’s other books I think you would really love The Scorpio Races.

On that note I am leaving you with a quote:

“In the middle of all this, as Sean slips out of his jacket, he looks over his shoulder at me and he smiles at me, just a glancing, faint thing before he turns back to Tommy.

I’m quite happy for that smile, because Dad told me once you should be grateful for the gifts that are the rarest.”

Rating: 3 out of 5

Love-Hate Relationship: Which characters from a book do you love to hate?

	President Snow from The Hunger Games How could you not hate President Snow? He was a force to be reckoned with, an intimidating figure ruling Panem. He was a murderer, corrupt, and a law unto himself. He was dispicable!
	Aaron from The Knife Of Never Letting Go OMG I hated Aaron!! I was like, just die already! lol I’ve never seen a villain go down for the count so many times only to come back stronger than before - except maybe Michael Myers from the Halloween movies! :)

What about you? Who do you love to hate?

Synopsis: In the exclusive Philadelphia suburb of Rosewood, Alison is the Queen Bee of her elite seventh grade hive. BFs Aria, Hanna, Spencer, and Emily vie for her attention, even as each of them hides a hideous secret only Alison knows. So when Alison goes missing after a slumber party, never to be seen again, each girl is heartbroken, but also a little relieved.

Now it is three years later, and though the four girls have grown apart, they are each still hiding something. Artsy Aria is carrying on an affair with one of her teachers, fashionista Hanna shoplifts to accessorize her trendy outfits, blue-blood Spencer is sleeping with her older sister’s boyfriend, while straight-A Emily is trying to ignore her attraction to a new female classmate.

When the girls begin receiving threatening text messages and emails that from someone known only as “A,” they must confront the fact that against all odds, it appears Alison is back. Could Alison still be alive? And if so, why is she so determined to uncover all their dirty little secrets?

Review: This book tells the story of Aria, Hanna, Spencer and Emily - who were all friends with Ali. Ali disappeared three years ago, never to be heard from again. Over time the girls drifted apart and moved on with their lives.

Until now, when they suddenly start getting menacing texts from “A”. Things that only Ali know about them. Threatening to tell everyone all those secrets that she knew about each of the girls.

I loved this book! I really loved the mystery element of this book. It was really a case of “whodunit” where you’re left guessing who A is. And even at the end I’m still trying to guess!

Definitely written to intrigue you to continue on in the series, this book really sets the scene and starts us off on the journey that is to be continued over the books in the rest of this series, I really loved the sub-stories that ran throughout the book.

Each of the girls have gone in such different directions with their lives, and yet they all have these huge skeletons in their closet. I loved the scandal of it all, and the fact that it was a fun short read certainly left me hungry for the next book in the series, which I will be reading shortly!

If you don’t like the television series (I personally really enjoy it!) I would still recommend the books since they do differ from the television show and are really quite well written!

Rating: 4 out of 5

It’s Wednesday! Which means it’s time to tell you what I have been up to for the last week! W..W..W.. Wednesdays is a weekly meme bought to you by MizB from Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

In the middle of TWO books currently. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Steifvater and Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepherd.

What did you recently finish reading?

Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday which was a really nice read. Review on the blog!

What do you think you’ll read next?

Always my dillema! Not sure, possibly Crossed by Allie Condie.

This weeks topic is:

Ten Books That I Read That Were Outside Of My Comfort Zone (whether you liked them or not)

	Vixen by Jillian Larkin I definitely would have told you a few months ago that historical fiction was “not my thing” and I had no interest in it whatsoever, and I definitely would never have selected this book off the shelves to read. However out of curiousity one day I read the first page of this book and just kept going with it. A look into the 1920’s, it left me hungry for more and certainly now, I can’t say I don’t like historical fiction.
	Living Dead Girl - Elizabeth Scott This book took me out of my comfort zone because I knew what it was about before I read it, and everyone said it was very graphic and hard to digest in parts of it. I wouldn’t normally volunteer to read books of this nature, but it had received some great reviews. I am glad I read this - although it certainly was hard to read at times.
	The Day Before - Lisa Schroeder I don’t really like poetry… and I don’t really like books written in prose. I personally find it tedious. So when I started reading The Day Before, it was completely without knowing of the prose until I started. I continued because it was a quick read. I really didn’t mind the prose in the end. Whilst I had other issues with the story (namely I’m not a fan of “insta-love”), I got used to the prose and didn’t mind it at all!
	The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins I had never heard of dystopian before I read this book… and I admit, the first 15 pages of the book had me more confused than captivated, but this is one of those books where I just had to tell myself to push through, and now it’s one of my favourite books of all time. Sometimes you just need to persevere. :)
	The Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling I originally read the first three books when they first came out, and admitedly at the time it took a lot of convincing me to want to read them. It was out of my comfort zone because I wasn’t reading “childrens” books as I viewed them back then. I was reading primarily adult fiction, and so I was a skeptic. But when I read the first one, I got it… I got how different and good this series was, which possibly helped me discover the YA genre.
	Dear Bully - Megan Kelley Hall I was bullied in primary school and a little in high school and so a book like this, I knew was going to hit a little too close to home for my liking. But the book itself has such a strong message, how could I NOT read this, especially after an experience myself? At times, it was tough, but a good anthology of short stories.
	Anna & The French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins I took a loooong while to read this book. I thought that it was just another contemporary book, and honestly at the time I didn’t fancy myself as a fan of a lot of contemp work. But I bucked and I read this and it was one of my favourite reads of 2011. I have since read more contemporary fiction also and it’s probably one of my main categories of fiction now!
	City of Bones - Cassandra Clare I can’t say I’ve ever really read a series like this before. Urban fantasy whilst isn’t my favourite, is one that I came to at least enjoy because of The Mortal Instruments series. The books took me a little while to get through because I found I had to concentrate moreso on them (being a read I normally wouldn’t try), but they were good and entertaining!
	Forbidden - Tabitha Suzuma A book about incest isn’t ever going to be on the top of my TBR list, but I heard a little hype about this book. Whilst it wasn’t the most incredible story I have read, it was compelling and sad, and definitely interesting!
	The Scorpio Races - Maggie Stiefvater I don’t love horses… not really. I was never the girl that loved the Saddle Club or liked or even really cared for horses. I love dogs on the other hand! So this book, which I am reading currently… whilst is brilliantly written, is really hard for me to get into. HOWEVER. By taking the leap out of my comfort zone, I am experiencing something new and actually finding new aspects of the story that I really do like. So I have hope for this book! Review coming soon!

Good afternoon everyone!It’s the Queen of Procrastination here! I have been meaning to do this post all day and then went to Youtube and got stuck there for the day. :/ Eh. lol

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme bought to you by the lovely Kristi at The Story Siren.

MASSIVE week for me this week! So much so that I thought for some of these books at least I would actually just take photos of them and link them up below.

Firstly, I have a big big thank you to the lovely folks at Scholastic who made me squeal this week when I received the most amazing package from them!

That’s right! It’s the hardcover gift edition of The Hunger Games. It comes with an amazing slip cover, and it’s beautifully embossed and metallic. The pages are beautiful, everything about it is just gorgeous. I have The Hunger Games series in paperback currently, but this is my new pride and joy. It’s sitting on my shelf currently, and I think I am going to re-review this shortly. :)

Bought:

Gossip Girl (Gossip Girl #1) - Cecily von Ziegesar
Gossip Girl: You Know You Love Me (Gossip Girl #2) - Cecily von Ziegesar
Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants #4) - Ann Brashares
Need (Need #1) - Carrie Jones
Captivate (Need #2) - Carrie Jones
Entice (Need #3) - Carrie Jones

Borrowed:

The Last Vampire (The Last Vampire #1) - Christopher Pike
Black Blood (The Last Vampire #2) - Christopher Pike
Red Dice (The Last Vampire #3) - Christopher Pike
Phantom (The Last Vampire #4) - Christopher Pike
The Toymaker - Jeremy De Quidt

ARC’s & RAK

	Cold Kiss - Amy Garvey Thank you so much to Stormi of Books, Movies, Reviews! Oh My! for sending me this, she purchased the Kindle edition for me as a part of Random Act of Kindness (RAK) and this is the very first one I’ve received.. this made my day!
	Ashfall - Mike Mullin This I believe has been released, but is still available on Netgalley, so I have a copy of this. Looking forward to reading this book, the cover looks so creepy!
	dancergirl - Carol M. Tanzman Scheduled to be released on November 15th, this book looks fantastic. Alicia is an online blogger who posts videos of her dancing. She has fans and haters, but it seems like someone out there watching her wants to hurt her.
	Everneath - Brodi Ashton I have some serious cover love happening with this one. It’s beautiful! This is the first in a series, and it sounds epic. It’s been given some amazing reviews for those who’ve been able to get ARC’s. My ARC has come from Netgalley.
	Under The Never Sky - Veronica Rossi I love the colours of the cover on this book!! Beautiful. This is another book which has already been hyped for release in February. Sounds so good from looking it up on Goodreads!

What’s in your mailbox? Let me know - leave your links in the comments section as always!

Synopsis: Hartley Grace Featherstone is having a very bad day. First she finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with the president of the Herbert Hoover High School Chastity Club. Then he’s pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And if that weren’t enough, now he’s depending on Hartley to clear his name. Seriously? Not cool.

But as much as Hartley wouldn’t mind seeing him squirm, she knows he’s innocent, and she’s the only one who can help him. Along with her best friend, Sam, and the school’s resident Bad Boy, Chase, Hartley starts investigating on her own. But as the dead bodies begin to pile up, the mystery deepens, the suspects multiply, and Hartley begins to fear that she may be the killer’s next victim.

Review: Hartley’s day couldn’t really get much worse. An empty condom wrapper and whispers around school that Hart’s boyfriend Josh is cheating on her have been circulating and spreading like wildfire all day. So she decides to get to the bottom of it and goes to Josh’s house to try and catch them in the act. But instead, what she finds is the dead body of Courtney, who is the Chastity Club President in Josh’s closet.

The thing is though Josh says he didn’t do it, and now Hartley feels obligated to help clear his name, dispite what he has done to her.

What a fun book to read! I really appreciated the quirky aspects of this book, like the car that Hart and Sam have to keep borrowing that runs on cooking oil to be environmentally friendly. And when they run out of petrol they end up in a burger place and have to ask for oil. Sticking your hands into a vat of smelly lumpy oil just to fill the car up doesn’t sound worth it! But certainly provided some giggles.

Chase sounds completely sexy too. He is the school newspaper editor that teams up with Hartley and Sam to investigate. If you’ve read this book there is a scene there that takes place in Chase’s room that I wish went further than it did! :D

I really enjoyed the style of writing personally. Hart’s voice is dry and sarcastic, which I personally love. Her personality really shone through right from the first page onwards.

We ended up getting a bit of a surprise at the end as well! And even though I normally guess who does these things, I didn’t quite see this one coming which was refreshing.

The ending was absolutely perfect for this book, and the Kindle version that I read had a sneak peak at the next book in this series and so I got to read the first chapter of the next story which sounds really promising. I am truly looking forward to continuing this series - it has a lot of potential, and the first one completely lived up to expectations. :)

Rating: 5 out of 5

Gateway Books: Which particular books opened you up to a new genre?

	The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins Introduced me to the dystopian genre, which I can’t get enough of!!
	City of Bones - Cassandra Clare This series introduced me to the urban fantasy style of YA fiction! Probably not my favourite genre, but enjoyable nonetheless!
	Anna & The French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins This story left me hungry for the contemporary YA romance novel. Lola & The Boy Next Door was an amazing follow up!
	Saving June - Hannah Harrington The first road trip contemporary story I’d read and it left me hungry for more! I also loved Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour!
	Vixen (The Flappers #1) - Jillian Larkin A genre I honestly never thought I would enjoy, let alone love - historical fiction!! Vixen was so cheeky and fun, I really loved this.

Reading Deadly Cool on my Kindle!

It’s Wednesday! Which means it’s time to tell you what I have been up to for the last week! W..W..W.. Wednesdays is a weekly meme bought to you by MizB from Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

I have just started reading Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday - the first paragraph sucks you right in!

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished reading Lola & The Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins which was absolutely fantastic. The review is on the blog.

What do you think you’ll read next?

I have a copy of The Scorpio Races to review coming up soon!

Synopsis: Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive 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, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket — a gifted inventor — 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.

Review: I am so tired this morning - because I stayed up until 3:30am to finish Lola & The Boy Next Door! I really liked the first quarter or so of the book, but I was able to put it down to do my Halloween reads. It wasn’t long after that, a matter of one or two chapters when things REALLY picked up, and I could not put this book down. I simply had to finish it at all costs - even if that means being sleep deprived!

Lola & The Boy Next Door is a companion book to Anna & The French Kiss, and Lola is every bit as amazing as Anna was, if not maybe a little bit more. She’s so dynamic and outgoing where Anna was a lot more reserved and mature.

Let’s talk about Lola a little bit for a minute. Lola is every bit adorable. She wears outrageous costume like clothing everyday, and it’s her mission to never wear the same outfit twice. Her parents are gay, which I absolutely love - it doesn’t seem like this is ever really addressed in any YA books that I have read recently, so the fact that she has two dads I think is absolutely charming! Her real mum isn’t really in the picture all that much, she has had issues with drugs and homelessness and was never in a situation to raise Lola so she gave her to her brother and his parter to raise. And they are goreous, they are so strict on Lola simply because they care.

Lola has a rocker boyfriend - Max who her dads do not appreciate since he is 22 and she is only 17. He’s pretty much a bad boy. Lola adores him, it’s her first real love and she just wishes her parents could be more accepting of him. Everything seems to be going well for Anna - until her neighbour Cricket Bell moves back to the house next door. Cricket and Lola have history it seems, and now for him to move back is possibly the worst timing ever for Lola.

I really loved that we saw Anna & St Clair return in this book, they work at the cinema where Lola also works. I thought this tie in worked perfectly, and it was nice to find out more about how Anna & St Clair were doing after Anna & The French Kiss left off.

I became so emotionally connected to the characters. I really wanted Lola to see the obvious and to want to embrace it but she fought us kicking and screaming at times. And I really felt for Cricket. Doesn’t every girl want a guy like Cricket? I fell in love with him a little bit I think - despite the silly name. lol

This is the second book of Stephanie Perkins’ that I have read, and her writing is consistently brilliant. The thing I like the most about her writing though is how it reads like a movie in your mind. With both Anna and Lola, I can visualise exactly what is happening at any given moment, I can imagine exactly how the characters look, and it all just unfolds like this amazing movie in your mind.

I highly recommend this book, you don’t need to have read Anna & The French Kiss as this is a completely seperate story, however if you have read Anna, you’ll appreciate the tie in with her character in this book. Probably one of my favourite reads for 2011!

Rating: 5 out of 5

I sent:

I received:

I didn’t receive anything this month as I signed up quite late into October! Never mind however as there’s always next month - and it’s more about giving to others I believe. :)

October Review Wrapup:

This month I reviewed:

If I Stay - Gayle Forman

Where She Went - Gayle Forman

Vixen (The Flappers #1) - Jillian Larkin

Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories – Megan Kelley Hall

Sweetly (Fairytale Retellings #2) – Jackson Pearce

The Devouring (The Devouring #1) – Simon Holt

Soulstice (The Devouring #2) – Simon Holt

Fearscape (The Devouring #3) – Simon Holt

I Am Not A Serial Killer (John Cleaver #1) – Dan Wells

I hope you all had a fun October, I certainly did!!

Thank you SO much to everyone who entered my October giveaway! Every single month it seems more and more entries come through and I had a record amount of entries for this competition, so thank you all so much for your support by entering - it shows me that you all are happy with the books I giveaway! :)

The deal this month is that there would be three winners, one for each book I was giving away. So I now am happy to announce THREE winners to you!

If you didn’t win this giveaway, don’t fear - because right now I still have open my other international giveaway to celebrate having 500 followers as well as celebrating Book Nerd being around for 6 months! To enter that amazing giveaway (if you have not already), click here for more! There will be three winners for my 500 followers giveaway!

NOW! The winners!

Book 1 - Anna Dressed In Blood - Kendare Blake

Congratulations goes to Denise Z! You have won a copy of Anna Dressed In Blood! I will email you within the next couple of hours to confirm your details!

Book 2 - If I Stay - Gayle Forman

Congratulations to Jel! You have won If I Stay by Gayle Forman. I will also email you with more details tonight.

Book 3 - The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin

Congratulations to Juana Esparza, you’ve won a copy of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer! :) Also keep an eye on your emails as you’ll be getting one from me shortly!

Thank you again everyone for your ongoing enthusiasm and support when it comes to these giveaways! It gives me great joy in being able to give away books! For now, my 500 followers giveaway is the only giveaway for November as it’s running through to November 18th and then I will be announcing a big giveaway at that time for the festive season so stay tuned for that!