Title: Execution (Escape From Furnace #5)
Author: Alexander Gordon Smith
Published: March, 2011 by Faber and Faber
Pages: 336
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Alex Sawyer has escaped his underground nightmare to discover the whole world has become a prison, and Alfred Furnace is its master. Monsters rule the streets, leaving nothing but murder in their wake. Those who do not die become slaves to Furnace’s reign of cruelty. Alex is a monster too. He is the only one who can stop Furnace but in doing so he could destroy everything. Is he the executed or the executioner? Who will die? All Alex knows is that one way or another, it all ends now.

Final Thoughts:
It took me two weeks to get through—that should tell you something. Being the final book in the series, I pushed through to the end, just because I needed them to find peach—I mean peace—some sort of resolution. The series as whole has been hit and miss for me. The first book took me a while to get into, but then the second and third had me gripping the pages tightly, unable to stop. Book four—the actual escape, or rather fleeing—was the turning point, but unfortunately lost a bit of steam, the same happened with this one. Alex became very much a loner, taking away the fun, brotherhood aspects I’d come to love in the previous instalments. There were still bits of humour, bits of that camaraderie laced throughout, but it was few and far between, instead focussing on the final battle that Alex needed to face with Furnace, the one the whole series had been leading to.

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren, which allows bloggers to share what books they’ve received in the past week. They can be from stores, contests, tours or publishers!

• Forgiven by Jana Oliver (purchased)
• Delirium by Lauren Oliver (purchased)
• Night World: Vol 1 by L.J. Smith (purchased)
• Immortal City by Scott Speer (purchased)
• Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter (thanks to Publisher)

So it’s been a bit slow around here lately. I only read one book last week–well I only completed one book–I’m midway through two others at the moment. The long weekend isn’t helping with my reading. I’m staying at a friend’s for the easter break and well, solitary reading doesn’t really fit the bill. Most of these books here are ones I picked up at Kmart last weekend. I was going to grab Pandemonium as well, but it’s in a larger format, so I’ll wait until I can get one to match the size of Delirium. I thought I’d heard good things about Night World, but it turned out, that I was thinking of another series that had been put out in bind-up form. So–oh well, maybe I’ll end up liking this one, maybe I won’t. My UK copy of Immortal City came in the mail, and I was all excited–but then I tried stacking a heap of books on the shelf above my desk at once and they ended up tumbling to the floor, the cover bending back in half–grr. Still perfectly readable–but I’m annoyed with myself. Anyway, it’s Easter today (and a certain book blogging Kate’s birthday!), so I’m going to go raid the chocolate. Have fun reading!

Here are my latest reviews if you want to check them out:
Carter, Aimee Goddess Test #1, The Goddess Test

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Title: The Goddess Test (Goddess Test #1)
Author: Aimee Carter
Published: April, 2011 by Harlequin Teen
Thanks: Harlequin Teen, AU
Pages: 293
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

It’s always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate’s going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won’t live past the fall.Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he’ll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.Kate is sure he’s crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she’ll become Henry’s future bride, and a goddess.

Final Thoughts:
This one took a while to get through, but was enjoyable throughout the whole book. I think I’d been expecting something a little different going into it, but the end result was equally fun and intriguing. It does have a high school aspect that tries to bring in the angst, but thankfully it was shown the door quite quickly. It wasn’t grating though—I actually found Kate’s blasé attitude towards the social hierarchy refreshing. It helped give more weight to her feelings towards her tenuous home life, waiting for her mother to die.

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren, which allows bloggers to share what books they’ve received in the past week. They can be from stores, contests, tours or publishers!

• Conspiracy 365: June by Gabrielle Lord (library)
• Conspiracy 365: July by Gabrielle Lord (library)
• Conspiracy 365: August by Gabrielle Lord (library)
• Conspiracy 365: September by Gabrielle Lord (library)
• Touch Of Power by Maria V Snyder (won)
• Article 5 by Kristen Simmons (purchased)
• The Hunters: Moonsong by L.J. Smith (purchased)
• Erebos by Ursula Poznanski (purchased)
• Illusions by Aprilynne Pike (purchased)

Firstly, thanks to Kylie from Talking Teacup for my copy of Touch Of Power. I still haven’t read any of Maria’s books, but I will get around to it eventually. It’s been about a year since I read the first five books in the Conspiracy 365 series. They’re short, and fun, and now that it’s a tv show, I thought I’d get back to them with the next four. The other books were all random purchases I made when browsing Big W’s YA section. I probably didn’t need to get them right now since I’ve already got heaps I’m behind on, but I don’t like leaving shops empty handed. Feels like a waste of a trip. I’m still pretty busy at the moment, but I’ve almost finished helping my parents move house. Also, I probably won’t have an IMM next weekend as I’m heading down to Melbourne for a few days.

Here are my latest reviews if you want to check them out:
Alderson, Sarah Fated #1, Fated
Arvin, Eric, Galley Proof

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Title: Galley Proof
Author: Eric Arvin
Published: January, 2012 by Dreamspinner Press
Thanks: Dreamspinner Press via NetGalley
Pages: 195
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Fiction writer Logan Brandish is perfectly happy in his peaceful small-town routine with his best friend, his cat, and his boyfriend—until he meets the editor of his next book, the handsome Brock Kimble, and the lazy quiet of everyday living goes flying out the window. Faced with real passion for the first time, Logan becomes restless and agitated, and soon his life and his new manuscript—a work in progress he’d always thought would be completed—are in a shambles.

But as Logan is learning, you can’t always get what you want… at least not right away. To take his mind off the mess, he takes a trip, but even the beautiful Italian, um, scenery can’t keep his thoughts from his erstwhile editor for long. Logan just might have to admit there are some things you can’t run from.

Final Thoughts:
Short, but a lot of fun. I kept finding myself running back to my kindle whenever I had a spare bit of time after work—but even so, it only took me a day or so to get through. A book about a writer struggling to write because he’s caught up in his hot editor’s orbit—yeah, that was definitely fun. It wasn’t incredibly moving, and didn’t rock me with a slew of action, but I still enjoyed it immensely. Lately I’ve been reeled in with a few exciting blurbs that were accompanied by less than stellar insides, so I was glad that this one held my interest the way it did.

Title: Fated (Fated #1)
Author: Sarah Alderson
Published: February, 2012 by Simon & Schuster
Thanks: Simon & Schuster, AU
Pages: 310
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

What happens when you discover you aren’t who you thought you were? And that the person you love is the person who will betray you? If your fate is already determined, can you fight it?

When Evie Tremain discovers that she’s the last in a long line of Demon slayers and that she’s being hunted by an elite band of assassins –Shapeshifters, Vampires and Mixen demons amongst them – she knows she can’t run. They’ll find her wherever she goes. Instead she must learn to stand and fight.

But when the half-human, half-Shadow Warrior Lucas Gray – is sent to spy on Evie and then ordered to kill her before she can fulfil a dangerous prophecy, their fates become inextricably linked. The war that has raged for one thousand years between humans and demons is about to reach a devastating and inevitable conclusion. Either one or both of them will die before this war ends.

If your life becomes bound to another’s, what will it take to sever it?

Final Thoughts:
I’ve heard that Sarah’s other book Hunting Lila was amazing, so I was excited to start on her latest release. Unfortunately, it just didn’t wow me. I like demons, and I like demon hunters, so it should have been a perfect fit, but there was something about it, something that it lacked. I didn’t connect with Evie as the book progressed, and at one point I thought, “If they killed her, would I care?” The switching POVs did help it somewhat—Lucas’s life surrounding the Brotherhood brought more to the book—but towards the end, I thought it hindered it. When you know what the other character’s real intentions are, it takes away from the tension.

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren, which allows bloggers to share what books they’ve received in the past week. They can be from stores, contests, tours or publishers!

• Reckless by Cornelia Funke (purchased)
• The Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan (purchased)
• The Demon’s Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan (purchased)
• The Demon’s Surrender by Sarah Rees Brennan (purchased)
• Infamous by Sherrilyn Kenyon (purchased)
• Spellbound by Rachel Hawkins (purchased)
• Dead Sky Morning by Karina Halle (thanks to Author)
• Lying Season by Karina Halle (thanks to Author)
• Torn by Amanda Hocking (thanks to Publisher)
• Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson (purchased)

I hardly get hardcovers since they don’t sell them in Australia very often, so I thought I’d treat myself on book depository and buy all of the Demon’s Lexicon series and a few others I’ve been wanting. I’m obsessed with Sarah Rees Brennan’s writing, so I knew I had to buy these, even though I already have the UK/Aus paperbacks. I’m behind on both the Chronicles of Nick and Hex Hall series. I read the first books in each, bought the second, and then let them sit gathering dust for a year. I’ve been reading Fated over the past couples days, so when my friend, Brittany, and I went to the Claudia Gray signing in Brisbane yesterday, I saw Hunting Lila on the shelves at Dymocks and gave in and grabbed it. I did get four other books when I stopped by Big W this week, but I’m at my parents’ house this weekend, so they’re going to have to wait until next week’s IMM.

Here are my latest reviews if you want to check them out:
Williams, Avery Incarnation #1, The Alchemy Of Forever

Link up to your mailbox and I’ll be sure to check it out!