Deception Blog Tour Stop

Deception
by C.J. Redwine
Series: Deception #2
Pages: 480
Release Date: August 27, 2013
by Balzer + Bray (an imprint of Harper)

Goodreads / Purchase

Baalboden has been ravaged. The brutal Commander's whereabouts are unknown. And Rachel, grief stricken over her father's death, needs Logan more than ever. With their ragged group of survivors struggling to forge a future, it's up to Logan to become the leader they need—with Rachel by his side. Under constant threat from rival Carrington's army, who is after the device that controls the Cursed One, the group decides to abandon the ruins of their home and take their chances in the Wasteland. But soon their problems intensify tenfold: someone—possibly inside their ranks—is sabotaging the survivors, picking them off one by one. The chaos and uncertainty of each day puts unbearable strain on Rachel and Logan, and it isn't long before they feel their love splintering. Even worse, as it becomes clear that the Commander will stop at nothing to destroy them, the band of survivors begins to question whether the price of freedom may be too great—and whether, hunted by their enemies and the murderous traitor in their midst, they can make it out of the Wasteland alive.
In this daring sequel to Defiance, with the world they once loved forever destroyed, Rachel and Logan must decide between a life on the run and standing their ground to fight.

Excerpt:

Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Get to know C.J. Redwine:

About The Author

C. J. Redwine lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her four beautiful kids, an amazing husband, two fairly crazy cats, and a dog. She has books in every corner of her house, an impressive Harry Potter memorabilia collection, and a bunch of really cool friends she doesn't get to see nearly as much as she'd like to. She is also the author of Defiance.

Visit C.J. via her Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr

Follow the Tour!

8/23- Carina's Books, interview with Rachel

8/23 -  Curling Up With a Good Book, excerpt

8/24- Mundie Moms, review

8/26- Two Chicks on Books, playlist

8/27 - YA Sisterhood, review

8/27- Fitshun, interview with Logan

8/28 - Reading Teen, Top 10s List

8/28 - Fangirlish, review

8/29- Ex Libris, author interview

8/30- Page Turners Blog, review

8/30 - Emily's Crammed Bookshelf, excerpt

8/31 - Peace Love Teen, excerpt

{Movie Review} The Town

The Town
Release Date: September 17, 2010
Starring: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner, John Hamm
Director: Ben Affleck
Rating: R
Genre: Crime Thriller
Run Time:  125 minutes

IMDb / Trailer

As he plans his next job, a longtime thief tries to balance his feelings for a bank manager connected to one of his earlier heists, as well as the FBI agent looking to bring him and his crew down.

*Review contains spoilers throughout*

I do realize that this movie came out a long time ago, but I feel like I just have to talk about it. It was the only movie in my Jeremy Renner collection that I hadn't actually seen. And, like all of his other movies, it was amazing. Some things were kind of iffy, but others were really great. I felt like some of the shots were kind of unnecessary, because we would get random looks at tattoos and signs and stuff, and none of them had anything to do with the movie. I also felt like there were almost too many swear words and f-bombs because at times it made me take the scene less seriously. However, the story line was absolutely amazing and the conflict and situation was very difficult to deal with, both for me and the characters. I wasn't sure how this movie would end, and I think that in the back of my mind I knew Jem was going to die, but at the same time I was trying not to think about it. The scene where he dies was very emotional, very surprising, but also (and I know this might sound weird) Jem went out like I think he would have wanted too: still fighting, ready to shoot more cops.

Jeremy Renner (Jem Coughlin)

Jeremy Renner is my favorite actor ever. I am semi in love with him. Not only is he freaking sexy, but he's also an amazing actor. His character, Jem, didn't get much face-time in this movie, but the few scenes he got Jeremy really made count. There was a kind of darkness in Jem, that's for sure, and he was willing to do anything, literally anything. But he also really cared about his gang. That was proven when he shot the man that was going to kill Dougie, his best friend. And also when he yelled “NO” when the guy stood up and was shot through the head. He was a very deep, troubled character, but also funny, and definitely a firecracker.  His basic attitude for the whole movie was "I'm so above this shit".

Ben Affleck

I haven't seen many Ben Affleck movies, but I think he did pretty well in this one. His Boston accent was a little weird at times, so that kind of threw me off, but I think he did a great job. Dougie, his character, is not really a criminal at heart, I don't think. He's really a nice guy who made some wrong choices. He's really emotional and has a big heart. You could tell by the way he looked for his mother when she left, and how he saved Claire in the first robbing and then let her go, then went to make sure she was okay, and fell in love with her. The thing that made the scene where Jem dies so emotional is that Dougie was right there when it happened, he saw it. But he didn't – couldn't – do anything about it.

Rebecca Hall

I have never seen a Rebecca Hall movie before, but think she did a very good job with her character. Claire is the love interest in this movie, but also was kidnapped in the first robbery shown. The way Hall acted and put emotion into her acting and character really depicted the aftermath of that kind of trauma in a very realistic, touching way. I think her reactions to the kidnapping, and also finding out that Dougie was the one who kidnapped her, were very realistic and well done. But the ending was so sad when she says “It's like one of my sunny days” and I knew that meant that another person that she loved would die, meaning Dougie, and when they had to say goodbye it was so sad.

Favorite Scenes

I have two. One is when Dougie and Claire are having lunch together and Jem walks up and he recognizes Claire as the one they kidnapped and then starts talking to her, asking how she met Dougie, where she works, oh yeah that's the bank that was robbed, I read that in the paper, and the whole time Dougie is just shooting daggers at him. Hilarious.

And then, for some reason, the scene when Jem dies is just so good. I think because it is how I think Jem would have wanted to die, and it just had a lot of emotional impact, for some reason. And, I'll admit it, I cried.

Overall

Great movie, great casting, great actors, Jeremy Renner is the sexiest man alive, the end.

5 stars

{Book + Movie Review} The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The Perks of Being a Wallflower
by Stephen Chbosky
Pages: 216
Release Date: August 14, 2012
by MTV Books

Goodreads / Purchase

Charlie is a freshman. And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his year yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it. Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But he can't stay on the sidelines forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

This is a very special book.  It’s unlike any book I’ve ever read, that’s for sure.  It’s more serious, it’s got older issues, and it’s deeper.  It’s books like these that are the hardest to review because there are so many unique and different things about them.  This book had absolutely gorgeous writing, and the voice for the whole book was very – I’m not sure how to explain it – childish, but at the same time very teenaged and serious.  I know that probably doesn’t make any sense, but it’s the only way I can think to describe it.  The story line was very interesting, and the story was heartbreaking but uplifting at the same time.  For me, the ending was really sad because I was hoping for everything to turn out differently, but it also seems like the right ending for the book.

When I come across these kinds of books, I can’t help but compare them to Silver Linings Playbook.  I’m talking about problem books with messed up characters who do messed up things.  YA needs some imperfect characters, and I feel like this book was full of them.  Charlie is very shy, has very little self-confidence, but is also very adorable, in my mind, and a very nice kid, and the perfect narrator for this story.  Patrick is gay, confident, but also messed up because of the things that he does (like getting drunk or high or something.)  Sam is the same way.  She’s very confident, very sure of herself, but also, at least in my opinion, very vulnerable and weak under all that.  And she makes the same mistakes as Patrick.  As a whole, the cast is very unique, and perfect for this book.

This book didn’t absolutely blow me away, and it wasn’t my favorite, but it was enjoyable, and it had a serious undercurrent, and I can’t wait to watch the movie adaptation of it.

2 stars

Movie Review:

Release Date: October 12, 2012
Director: Stephen Chbosky
Starring: Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller
Genre: Drama, Romance
Rating: PG-13

Trailer / IMDb

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is based on the wildly popular novel by Stephen Chbosky about a freshman named Charlie (Logan Lerman) who is always watching from the sidelines until a pair of charismatic seniors takes him under their wing. Beautiful, free-s pirited Sam (Emma Watson) and her fearless stepbrother Patrick (Ezra Miller) shepherd Charlie through new friendships, first love, burgeoning sexuality, bacchanalian parties, midnight screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the quest for the perfect song.

Even though I thought the book was okay, I really liked this movie.  It was really sad, really depressing, really awkward, and really crazy and inappropriate, but it was good because there need to be movies like that out there.  I think it was a great adaptation of the book, probably because Stephen Chbosky directed it himself.  So, even though some things were different, for the most part it stayed true to the book, and I think it was very well done.  The lines and events were very well done, and the actors did a really great job.

I think the casting was done very well for this movie, and I think the actors played their parts perfectly.  Emma Watson as Sam was very good, even though at times I thought her American accent sounded a bit Irish, but oh well.  She was how I imagined Sam, for sure, and Emma did a great job.  Logan Lerman as Charlie was also very good.  He played the pathetic, shy, adorable, sad Charlie that I imagined perfectly, and he really put a ton of emotion into the movie.  And also it doesn’t hurt that he’s pretty cute.  And then Ezra Miller as Patrick was very good as well.  His personality was great, and his spunk and confidence really showed through in Ezra’s acting.  Great job cast.

I think the movie might actually be a bit better than the book, which doesn’t happen very often for me, but the great acting, movie making, and screenwriting really made this movie special.

3.5 stars

Beat the Heat Read-a-Thon Wrap Up

• The Beat the Heat Readathon runs from July 29th through August 11th. What does this readathon entail, you ask? Well, read as much or as little as you want – the main point is to READ! You set your own goal, and for two weeks you read as many books as you can/want to reach your goal!
• There will be mini-challenges throughout the Readathon for participants, along with a grand prize giveaway at the end!
• Sign up at Auntie Spinelli Reads or Phantasmic Reads. You may join whenever you like, but to be eligible for our grand prize giveaway, you must sign up by August 5th.
• To join, all you have to do is make a sign-up post – even if it’s just a “Let’s do this!” thing - and add your post URL to the linky below! You can put your goals and progress (will be required for the final giveaway) in your sign-up post, or you can make it separate. Totally up to you! Feel free to copy and paste this handy little list for your post. We don’t mind. :)
• In order to enter for the grand prize, you must have a post to keep track of your progress so we can see that you participated.

Originally this was going to be my wrap-up post but, as said here, the read-a-thon will continue on for another week (oh yeah I rhymed!).  That's why I have a different button above :)


So, these were my goals for this read-a-thon:

Read 8 books

Finish City of Fallen Angels

Finish The 5th Wave

The Books I Planned To Read:

Needless to say...that didn't happen lol.


So, here is a wrap-up of the past two weeks.



Note: I got kind of mixed up on the amount of pages I read each day for City of Fallen Angels, so if the pages don't add up that's why lol.

Monday, July 29:

68 pages of City of Fallen Angels

Tuesday, July 30:

60 pages of City of Fallen Angels
12 pages of My Life Next Door

Wednesday, July 31:

382 pages of My Life Next Door
*finished My Life Next Door*
24 pages of Then You Were Gone

Thursday, August 1:

188 pages of Then You Were Gone
*finished Then You Were Gone*
64 pages of Red Heart Tattoo

Friday, August 2:

152 pages of Red Heart Tattoo
*finished Red Heart Tattoo*

Saturday, August 3:

32 pages of City of Fallen Angels

Sunday, August 4:

20 pages of City of Fallen Angels

Monday, August 5:

40 pages of Girl of Fire and Thorns
188 pages of City of Fallen Angels
*finished City of Fallen Angels*

Tuesday, August 6:

26 pages of Girl of Fire and Thorns
*gave up on Girl of Fire and Thorns*
122 pages of Sweet Evil

Wednesday, August 7:

32 pages of Sweet Evil

Thursday, August 8:

139 pages of Sweet Evil
*finished Sweet Evil*

Friday, August 9:

221 pages of Looking for Alaska
*finished Looking for Alaska*
48 pages of The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Saturday, August 10:

165 pages of The Perks of Being a Wallflower
*finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower*
48 pages of The Fault in Our Stars

Sunday, August 11:

265 pages of The Fault in Our Stars
*finished The Fault in Our Stars*

Monday, August 12:

288 pages of Wild Cards
*finished Wild Cards*
10 pages of Perfect Ruin

Tuesday, August 13:

346 pages of Perfect Ruin
*finished Perfect Ruin*

Wednesday, August 14:

0 pages of anything lol

Thursday, August 15:

42 pages of The Fault in Our Stars
*started to re-read The Fault in Our Stars*

Friday, August 16:

100 pages of The Fault in Ours Stars

Saturday, August 17:

38 pages of The Fault in Our Stars

Sunday, August 18:

84 pages of The Fault in Our Stars


The Books I Ended Up Reading:

My review of My Life Next Door

My review of Then You Were Gone

My review of Sweet Evil

My review of The Perks of Being a Wallflower

How did you guys do?  Link me up!!!

{Review} Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

Sweet Evil
by Wendy Higgins
Series: Sweet Evil #1
Pages: 453
Release Date: May 1, 2012
by HarperTeen

Goodreads / Purchase

Embrace the Forbidden. What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences? This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels.
Tenderhearted Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She's aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but it isn't until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put to the test. He's the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.
Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?

The first thing you notice about this book is obviously the cover.  I absolutely love this cover, and it fits perfectly with the book.  Yes, this book is about angels.  BUT!  It is so unlike any angel book I’ve ever read!  It is so original, and the spin on angels is so different, I couldn’t help loving it.  Yes, it took some getting used to, but once I got over the fact that at times it was a bit cheesy, I really enjoyed the idea.  I liked how Higgins did these huge info dumps throughout the book, and how she worked them into the story so that they weren’t out of place or boring.  The writing was very good, and I loved her descriptions and character building.  The story line was very interesting, and didn’t go like I expected it AT ALL!  [SPOILER: I totally expected Kaiden and Anna to try and overcome the fact that they couldn’t be together, but I was so sad when they didn’t end up together.  ]  The staging was very good, and the sexual tension between Kaiden and Anna made the book so interesting.  Also, that ending was nuts!  Not at all what I was expecting, but really great.

Let’s just start of with Kaiden.  Now, Wiggins actually wrote in the book that his name is pronounced Ka-i-y-den, the Kai pronounced like “Thai”.  But I just couldn’t read his name like that, so I just call him Kay-den.  Whoops.  Anyway, let’s just get it out there that I FREAKING LOVE THIS MAN!  God damn it he’s sexy.  It’s fictional boys like these that are just ruining my life because I know I can never find someone like them.  Ugh.  But oh hot damn was this guy attractive.  I just loved this quote:

Wowza.

He was smokin’ hot.  As in H-O-T-T hot.  I’d never understood until that moment why girls insisted on adding an extra T.  This guy was extra-T worthy.

But he was also a really great, nice guy, despite his “job”, and he really cared about Anna.  Anna I thought was a really great main character, and I loved seeing her grow over the course of the story.

All in all, this book was highly enjoyable (mostly because of Kaiden) and I really can’t wait to read the next book, especially after that crazy ending.

3.5 stars

Beat the Heat Read-a-Thon Progress Report

• The Beat the Heat Readathon runs from July 29th through August 11th. What does this readathon entail, you ask? Well, read as much or as little as you want – the main point is to READ! You set your own goal, and for two weeks you read as many books as you can/want to reach your goal!
• There will be mini-challenges throughout the Readathon for participants, along with a grand prize giveaway at the end!
• Sign up at Auntie Spinelli Reads or Phantasmic Reads. You may join whenever you like, but to be eligible for our grand prize giveaway, you must sign up by August 5th.
• To join, all you have to do is make a sign-up post – even if it’s just a “Let’s do this!” thing - and add your post URL to the linky below! You can put your goals and progress (will be required for the final giveaway) in your sign-up post, or you can make it separate. Totally up to you! Feel free to copy and paste this handy little list for your post. We don’t mind. :)
• In order to enter for the grand prize, you must have a post to keep track of your progress so we can see that you participated.

Originally this was going to be my wrap-up post but, as said here, the read-a-thon will continue on for another week (oh yeah I rhymed!).  That's why I have a different button above :)


So, these were my goals for this read-a-thon:

Read 8 books

Finish City of Fallen Angels

Finish The 5th Wave

The Books I Planned To Read:

I can proudly say that I have completed my goal!  Heck yeah!  Granted, I didn't read all the books I was planing to, but I DID read 9 books, so that's freaking awesome for me!

Also, since the read-a-thon is going on for another week, here are my new goals!

Read 5 books

Finish Perfect Ruin

I'm only about 40 pages into Perfect Ruin and I don't know which books I'm going to be reading yet.

Also, I will have a full wrap-up at the end of the read-a-thon.

HOW ARE YOU GUYS DOING SO FAR?!

Comment below!