Review 123. Courtney Summers – This is not a test.

Title: This is not a test.
Author: Courtney Summers.
Pages: 323.
Published: June 19th 2012.
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin.
Sort: Stand-alone.

It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self. To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live. But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside. When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?

Rating: Favorite.

What a heart breaking book! Be prepared for a very dark, gritty story with a cruel ending. I literary spent five minutes staring at the last line. How can you end a book like that? I need more than this, Summers! And I missed the answer to: how did it start? The zombies were just there, appearing out of thin air. These two points lowered the rating to 4.5, still very good.

WoW 30. Boy Nobody & Winter Queen.

Hosted by: Breaking the Spine.

Allen Zadoff – Boy Nobody.
Expected publication: June 11th 2013 by Little, Brown & CO BYR
Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school, in a new town, under a new name, makes few friends and doesn't stay long. Just long enough for someone in his new friend's family to die -- of "natural causes." Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, and moves on to the next target. When his own parents died of not-so-natural causes at the age of eleven, Boy Nobody found himself under the control of The Program, a shadowy government organization that uses brainwashed kids as counter-espionage operatives. But somewhere, deep inside Boy Nobody, is somebody: the boy he once was, the boy who wants normal things (like a real home, his parents back), a boy who wants out. And he just might want those things badly enough to sabotage The Program's next mission.
 
Amber Argyle – Winter Queen.
Expected publication: June 19th 2013 by Starling Publishing.
Becoming a winter queen will make Ilyenna as cold and cruel and deadly as winter itself, but it might be the only way to save her people from a war they have no hope of winning.
Mortally wounded during a raid, seventeen-year-old Ilyenna is healed by winter fairies who present her with a seductive offer: become one of them and share their power over winter. But that power comes with a price. If she accepts, she will become a force of nature, lose her humanity, and abandon her family. Unwilling to pay such a high price, Ilyenna is enslaved by one of the invaders, Darrien. While in captivity, she learns the attack wasn’t just a simple raid but part of a larger plot to overthrow her entire nation.  With the enemy stealing over the mountains and Darrien coming to take her to his bed, Ilyenna must decide whether to resurrect the power the fairies left behind. Doing so will allow her to defeat Darrien and the other invaders, but if she embraces winter, she will lose herself to that destroying power—forever.

And I recently saw the cover from Cold Spell, part four of the fairytale retellings from Jackson Pearce. I had to show it: pretty!

Review 122. Elizabeth C. Bunce – A Curse dark as gold.

Title: A curse dark as gold.
Author: Elizabeth C. Bunce.
Pages: 396.
Published: March 1st 2008.
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books.
Sort: Stand alone.

Charlotte Miller has always scoffed at talk of a curse on her family's woolen mill, which holds her beloved small town together. But after her father's death, the bad luck piles up: departing workers, impossible debts, an overbearing uncle. Then a stranger named Jack Spinner offers a tempting proposition: He can turn straw into gold thread, for the small price of her mother's ring. As Charlotte is drawn deeper into her bargains with Spinner-and a romance with the local banker-she must unravel the truth of the curse on the mill and save the community she's always called home.

Rating: 

This book was close to a DNF. I was really looking forward to read it, since there aren’t so many Rumpelstiltskin retellings. I saw on Goodreads that a lot of people liked it. I might expected too much from the story, but I was so bored!

First Blogoversary!

I know it's a pretty crappy header, but I'm not that good with paint.

Saturday, February 04, 2012 was the exact date I started The Daily Prophecy. My first blog post was a short introduction about myself (This world is but a canvas to our imaginations.) My first review was a fairytale retelling by Cameron Dokey called The wild Orchid. The first meme I participated in was Waiting on Wednesday and I picked Kiersten White – Endlessly. March 27 was my first mailbox and I showcase the first eARC I got: Sarah Cross – Kill me softly. This book was provided by Netgalley and Egmont US.

My first real blogging friend was Viv from Vivaciously Vivian! Definitely head over to her blog if you haven’t heard of her. She is a sweet heart and she writes gorgeous reviews. Other nice bloggers are Riya from The teen book guru, Judith from Paper Riot, Megan from Ink skies, Natalia from Dazzling reads, Jessi from Auntie Spinelli Reads, Kristen from Kristen Evey (my fellow fairytale lover) and Giselle from Xpresso Reads. But don’t forget that you are all awesome bloggers! I appreciate all the comments you leave; they always make me smile. You guys rock.

I’m still happy that I took the step to start The daily prophecy. The blogging community is so kind and it’s great to talk about my great passion: books! I never expected to receive free reviews books and I never heard of (e)ARC’s before. I’m learning new things every day and it’s a great experience. 

Some numbers:
1197 followers.
40.636 pageviews.
122 reviews.

Thank you so much and most of all: on to another year of blogging!

PS: I thought it should be fun to make another post later this week about myself, so if you have any question(s), leave them in the comments!

Showcase Sunday 22. Book Fair edition.

 

Hosted by: Books, biscuits and tea.

I went to a book fair yesterday and I saw so many awesome books. I really had to stop myself, but in the end I still bought a lot of books. I'm so happy with them and I did a great job, because they were so cheap now! And my parents were so sweet, because they paid for four books (L). I really hope that I get the job at a bookstore; if I had more money, I would have bought so much more. I think I had the double amount of books in my basket, haha.

All prices are in euros.

-Robin McKinley - Sunshine. (1.95)

-Juliet Marillier - Complete box: Wolfskin & Foxmask, Dutch edition (6.95)

-Jonathan Mayberry - Dust & Decay. (4.99)

-Suzanne Collins - Hunger Games classic box (14.95)

-Cassandra Clare - Clockwork Prince (4.95)

-Y.S Lee - The Agensy: The traiter in the tunnel (3.95)

-Jodi Picoult & Samantha van Leer - Between the lines (2.95)

-Melina Marchetta - Finnikin of the Rock (4.95) and Froi of the Exiles (4.95)

-Wendy Delsol - Stork (3.95) and Frost (3.95)

I've heard great thinks about Melina's books and I couldn't get the Dutch copies from Marillier anywhere. I did a happy dance when I got this box :D Another pile of books added to my collection of many unread books. I love them.

Show me your link! :)

Review 121. Robin LaFevers – Grave Mercy.

Title: Grave Mercy.
Author: Robin LaFevers.
Pages: 549.
Published: April 3rd 2012.
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Sort: Book 1 of ‘His fair assassin’

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?
Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others. Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

Rating: 

I tried to stay away from fangirling and swooning as much as I could, but Duval *sigh* I adore him! These are the kind of books that make me think: why did I wait so long? This book is filled with awesomeness and I was completely hooked to Ismae’s story. I mean: assassin nuns. I love it!