Mundie Moms

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Book Review- Beautiful Dead Book #3- Summer

By Eden Maguire
Published by Source Books
Released March 2011 (in the US)
Source- ARC from publisher to review
3 stars- It's a Good Read

Six months have passed since the last Ellerton teenager died, but Darina is still traumatized by the stabbing of her own beloved Phoenix. But there's work to be done as Darina must now turn her attention to the shooting of Summer Madison - the beautiful and gifted, singer-song-writer with a heart of gold. It's been nearly a year since the random shooting in a shopping mall caused Summer's meaningless death.
Summer left behind recordings of her wonderful songs and a deep sadness amongst high school friends. Now Darina must act as Summerās agent to track down the psychotic killer in a clear search for justice. With the sound of Summer's music constantly playing inside Darina's head, recalling the wonderful months when she was alive and performing her first gigs, Darina, Phoenix and the Beautiful Dead are determined to catch the crazed killer. And all the while Darinaās love for Phoenix continues to beat ... (quoted from Goodreads).

I've struggled with really wanting to like this series, and I haven't been able to get into the stories as much as I want to. With Summer's story I feel the series picked up more for me. I'm not sure if it's because they're more plot twists or what, but I liked it more than the previous books from the series. Just like the first two stories in the series, Darina must solve the mystery behind one of her dead friend's deaths. The Beautiful Dead only have so much time and Darina will find solving Summer's death will be harder for her than it was in solving Jonas, and Arizona's, and it also brings her that much closer to losing her undead boyfriend Phoenix.

Eden throws in a few unexpected twists and turns with Summer's plot as her killer is hard to find, or should I say not having a clear suspect makes solving this case rather hard for Darina. I was much more frustrated with Darina this time around as she became a lot more jealous of Phoenix. I could understand that if this was the first book in the series, but it seemed more out place being in the third book in the series. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy seeing more of Phoenix and Darina together and I understand how much she misses him, but I don't get the whole jealously bit.

Summer's story is a sad complex puzzle to solve with an ending I didn't see coming. Since this is the 3rd book in the series, I would recommend picking up the first two and reading them before reading Summer's story. I do think this could be a stand alone, though it would be stretching it since Eden doesn't give much of a back story from the two previous books. Though that works with the story as each book carries on from where the last book leaves off, it may be a little frustrating to someone who wants to just read this book.

If you have enjoyed this series I would definitely recommend picking up Summer's story. It's definite the most interesting one yet. I'm looking forward to reading Phoenix's story next which I'm sure will be a bit of sad story. I really want to know how he died, but at the same time I have a feeling his story will be the most complex and saddest one out of the series.

Holly Black's Red Glove Street Team

Holly Black is looking for fans to be part of her Red Glove street team! What does this entail? Well, all you have to do is show your support by posting the Red Glove widget on your blog (you can find it on our right hand side bar), change your icons on twitter, facebook, etc to Red Glove, post about it on our blog and tweet about it.

AND it's also a contest! Holly will be giving away 5 copies of Red Glove.

Be sure to visit Holly's site to grab the icons & learn more about being apart of her street and spreading the word about Red Glove. It's a fantastic sequel to White Cat, and one I highly recommend pre-ordering!

Lemniscate Quote Blog Hop

We're excited to be apart of Jennifer Murgia's Lemniscate quote blog hop. Whomever leaves comments on each of the participating blogs through out the hop will be entered to a some awesome prizes! Before I share more about the hop and what our quote is, here's a little about Lemniscate, the sequel to Angel Star-

For Teagan, these last few months have been heaven on earth- especially now that Garreth, her boyfriend and guardian angel, is earthbound. But perhaps Garreth is becoming a little more human than either of them expected.
Now, Teagan must realize that her world is once again about to shift, as she questions the faith she held in others against those once considered enemies.
In this continuation of Angel Star, Lemniscate will draw you even deeper into the world of dark and light as Teagan realizes the angel who could possibly save them all is the one angel she feared the most (quoted from Goodreads).

You can read my 4 star review here. Lemniscate will be available on March 21st, 2011! This is fantastic sequel to Angel Star and I highly recommend picking this book up.


My skin prickled. I was almost awake. Knowing flooded my brain and I heard it once again . . .

“Snuff the light . . .”

It would not go away and I knew . . .

I am the light of which she speaks.

Want to read more? Go to http://narrativelyspeaking.blogspot.com tomorrow! Don't forget to visit Jennifer's site here to follow the quote blog hop and to enter to win signed copies for both Angel Star & Lemniscate!!

Thoughtful Thursday- Books Vs an E-Reader


There's just something about a book that I love. I grew up fascinated with books, and maybe it's in my blood as my great grandfather started, owned and operated an independent book store in UT years before WWII (it's still the largest independent book store there). I grew up having a vivid pictures of the store from the stories my grandmother told me from working there, plus it's where she meant my Grandfather right before he left for Germany during WWII. My grandmother is the one who started my personal collection of books, and it's never stopped growing. My front room has been converted into a personal library, as I have 11 bookcases filled with books, and it's a place my kids and I sit in often and read. I can't imagine not having books.

I feel like I'm one of the few people who does NOT own an e-reader of any sort, well I'm not counting the iPad touch that my kids use for e-books, as I've yet to read one of my books on there. Outside of e-books for my kids that I can down load on my iPhone or iPad and take with me I personally am not a fan. I know, I'm going against the norm, but I don't read e-books. That may make me a book snob, but I have to hold the book in my hands. There's just something about the smell and feel of a book that I love, and maybe it's the fact that my hiney hurts and my eyes are out of focus after sitting in front of my computer for hours reading an e-book that makes me not like them.

I'm curious to know what you guys think and what you prefer to read, books or an e-reader? If you have an e-reader, what do you use and do you recommend it? Maybe you like both. What d0 you like about your e-reader and would you recommend it?

Labels