Mundie Moms

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

COFA Chat With Cassie- Submit Your Questions


Hey Everyone! We are very excited about tomorrow night's chat with Cassie. We're excepting a large attendance tomorrow night for the chat, and in order to help us run the chat smoothly we are going to do things a little differently. We're asking everyone who wants to ask a question, to please submit your questions HERE (in the comment section).

SPOILERS- if you've not read COFA, DO NOT look in the comments.

Questions-
* We are ONLY allowing questions that are about COFA (the entire chat is a spoiler chat)
* You must leave your name with your comment, as we will publish it on the chat
* 1 question per person so that everyone has a chance to get their question asked, if we have time before the end of the chat, we'll open up the chat to ask more questions.

Not all questions may be asked or answered in the time frame of our chat. We also won't be publishing everyone's responses to the chat in order to allow for more time for questions to be asked. Cassie will be able to see your responses even if they're not published.

The post comments will be turned off two hours before the chat so I have a chance to organize them before the chat starts. Please be sure to have questions submitted before then.

Thank you so much and we're looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow night on the chat. :D

Book Review- The Goddess Test


By Aimee Carter
Published Harlequin Teen
Released on April 19th, 2011
Source- book from author for review
4.5 stars- I enjoyed it!

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 (quoted from Goodreads).

Oh Hades! Aimee Carter has renewed my love for Greek Mythology. It wasn't hard for me to sit and devour this book in one setting. Not only did I find the world captivating, but I am a sucker for Hades and Persephone's story. It's not that I don't enjoy Greek mythology, because I do. For some reason I easily confuse myself with who's who and what's going on, so I tend to stay away from a lot of the Greek mythology books, but that wasn't the case with The Goddess Test. I'm completely in love with Aimee's spin on Greek mythology.

Kate is a wonderful character and heroine. She's a genuinely caring person, even to those who completely wrong her, which normally would have annoyed me, but it says a lot about her character and it helps her pass one of her tests. I liked how her personality is key to her ability to either pass or fail one or more of the Goddess tests. She's also someone who seeks answers and doesn't just sit by and accept things at face value. She was someone I could sympathize with as well. Oh Henry! What's not to like about this handsome, broken, God of the underworld. I was completely fascinated with Aimee's spin on Hades and how she was able to make him someone I could sympathize with. I loved the romance between Kate and Hades and the way their relationship develops. There's a few sizzling scenes between the two of them.

Aimee did a fantastic job with introducing the rest of the Gods and Goddesses and giving them all great character twists. So you don't get spoiled, do not look at the back of the book and read her Guide of Gods. The Goddess Test has a surprising easy mythology to follow and one I couldn't get enough of. It's unique, engaging and enjoyable. It was easy for me to get a clear picture of the world the book is set in. It's both in the real world and that of the in between. There's so much I would love to gush about that I enjoyed, but it's a little hard to do so and not giveaway anything away. Let me just say that Aimee did a wonderful job at bringing her Greek Mythology to life.

The Goddess Test is an alluring story, with a fascinating lore, and romance. I enjoyed every moment of this story and I'm really looking forward to the sequel, Goddess Interrupted. Go pick this book up!

Blog Tour- Interview with Huntress author Malinda Lo













Recently we had the chance to ask Malinda about Huntress, but before we share our interview, here's a little bit about Huntress (which we'll be reviewing tomorrow on MM's):

Nature is out of balance in the human world. The sun hasn't shone in years, and crops are failing. Worse yet, strange and hostile creatures have begun to appear. The people's survival hangs in the balance.

To solve the crisis, the oracle stones are cast, and Kaede and Taisin, two seventeen-year-old girls, are picked to go on a dangerous and unheard-of journey to Tanlili, the city of the Fairy Queen. Taisin is a sage, thrumming with magic, and Kaede is of the earth, without a speck of the otherworldly. And yet the two girls' destinies are drawn together during the mission. As members of their party succumb to unearthly attacks and fairy tricks, the two come to rely on each other and even begin to fall in love. But the Kingdom needs only one huntress to save it, and what it takes could tear Kaede and Taisin apart forever.

The exciting adventure prequel to Malinda Lo's highly acclaimed novelAsh is overflowing with lush Chinese influences and details inspired by theI Ching, and is filled with action and romance (quoted from Goodreads).

In five words or less, how would you describe Huntress?

Not your father's epic fantasy!


How did you decide on the title?

I have to admit I did not come up with the title — my agent did. We batted around some other titles with my editor, but ultimately I liked Huntress best.


What do you admire the most about your main characters?

In Huntress, I admire Kaede's self-awareness and her loyalty to the people she loves. I admire Taisin's courage in being willing to try things that she doesn't know if she can do.

In ASH, I admire Ash's resilience. I admire Kaisa's superb social skills. :)


What inspires you as an author?

The specifics are different with every book, but in general, I'm inspired by big themes: love, faith, trust, power. Who are we as human beings? How do relationships change us? What do we believe in? Those kinds of big questions.


What other author has influenced you the most?

Robin McKinley. I've read her books since I was a kid, many of them several times. I even wrote her a fan letter when I was 12, and she wrote back! That was one of the most inspiring things to happen to me as a fledgling writer.

______________________

Thank you so much Malinda for being with us today! Be sure to visit Malinda on her site here. Malinda is one of a few fabulous authors who will be touring the country for the Diversity in YA tour. You can find out more about the tour and which cities they'll be stoping by here. If you're in Austin, they'll be at Book People next month! We look forward to seeing you guys there.

You can watch Huntress Book Trailer on YouTube here and find out more about Huntress on the LBYR site here


The Huntress Tour continues on these sites here:

Monday, 4/18 – Naughty Book Kitties

Tuesday, 4/19 – Manga Maniac Cafe

Wednesday, 4/20 – Mundie Moms

Thursday, 4/21 – Steph Su Reads

Friday, 4/22 – Ellz Readz

Monday, 4/25 – Bibliophilic Book Blog

Tuesday, 4/26 – Reading in Color

Waiting on Wednesday- Illusions by Aprilynne Pike

Published by Harper Teen
To Be Released on May 3rd, 2011

Laurel hasn't seen Tamani since she begged him to let her go last year. Though her heart still aches, Laurel is confident that David was the right choice.

But just as life is returning to normal, Laurel discovers that a hidden enemy lies in wait. Once again, Laurel must turn to Tamani to protect and guide her, for the danger that now threatens Avalon is one that no faerie thought would ever be possible. And for the first time, Laurel cannot be sure that her side will prevail. (quoted from Aprilynne's site)

I adored Wings and Spells and I can't wait to read about what happens next for Laurel and Tamani, and yes David too. Not that there's anything wrong with David, I'm a Team Tamani fan all the way. Aprilynne will be one of a few authors who's books will be released in May and into this summer who will be on tour for The Dark Days of Supernatural Tour. They're coming to Austin! Be sure to visit The Dark Days of Supernatural site here for more!

Wings Read Along Wrap Up

This past week we enjoyed hosting our first ever Read Along, thank you to a friendly little challenge that Harper Teen put together between us and a few other wonderful blogs. The goal was to see which blog would win an exclusive access to read a story that Aprilynne wrote from Tamani's point of view. The blog who had the most down loads and active Read Along participants wins. While we've not heard who the winner is yet, we want to say THANK YOU to everyone who took part in our Wings Read Along.

Now that we've read Wings, we want to know what you're thoughts are.

1) What did you think of Aprilynne's debut book? Did you enjoy your unique spin on fairy lore?
2) Which character did you enjoy getting to know the most in Wings?
3) Have you read Spells yet? Are you planning on reading it? (if you haven't we highly recommend picking it up)
4) Have you pre-ordred your copy of Illusions yet? It will be out May 3rd, 2011

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