Mundie Moms

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Book Review- Die For Me


By Amy Plum
Published by Harper Teen
To Be Released on May 10th, 2011
Source- ARC from publisher at TLA
5 stars- I loved it!

My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything.


Suddenly, my sister, Georgia, and I were orphans. We put our lives into storage and moved to Paris to live with my grandparents. And I knew my shattered heart, my shattered life, would never feel normal again. Then I met Vincent.
Mysterious, sexy, and unnervingly charming, Vincent Delacroix appeared out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. Just like that, I was in danger of losing my heart all over again. But I was ready to let it happen.
Of course, nothing is ever that easy. Because Vincent is no normal human. He has a terrifying destiny, one that puts his life at risk every day. He also has enemies . . . immortal, murderous enemies who are determined to destroy him and all of his kind.
While I'm fighting to piece together the remnants of my life, can I risk putting my heart—as well as my life and my family's—in jeopardy for a chance at love? (quoted from Goodreads).

Die For Me is every bit as alluring as its cover. It's captivating, unique and a huge breath of fresh air with its protagonist Kate and her love interested Vincent. Amy throws in a little bit of everything into her debut -- a romantic, historical setting, a paranormal twist and a romance that was enjoyable.

Kate is a character I liked getting to know. It wasn't hard for me to become sympathetic towards her. She's loses her parents, moves to Paris with her older sister to live with her Grandparents and and finds herself in the middle of a world she didn't think existed. Even though, Kate was emotional throughout the story, it was a realistic portrayal of how many sixteen-year-olds would handle themselves in a similar situation. Kate deals with a lot, and she manages to hold herself up well.

I really enjoyed the cast of characters, from the relationship between Kate and her older sister Georgia, to her grandparents and of course the love interest,Vincent Delacroix and his family/friends. I don't know what it is about Vincent that I liked so much. Sure, he's described as tall, dark and handsome with an air of mystery and maybe even a bad boy streak. He himself tells Kate that "I'm not the kind of guy your mother would want you hanging around with", but there's more to him than meets the eye. He has a secret and it's his paranormal ability and his romantic side that I found most intriguing. I loved how honest he becomes with Kate, and yes, he's another broken boy I'd love to adopt. Kate and Vincent have both been through a lot which makes them so compatible. I'm a sucker for a romance and Kate and Vincent definitely have a great love story. They're able to understand each other in a way others aren't able to and they're surrounded by people who help balance them out. I loved Vincent's house mates, especially Jules. He has this sense of humor and wit about them that makes his character so contagious.

I fell in love with the setting, Paris. I felt like Amy took me on a private tour through the historical parts of the city as well as the more popular places. I loved the little cafe Kate visits regularly to read, to the city streets she and Vincent stroll. The setting really came alive for me and having never been there, I felt that I had just visited it. With out giving away spoilers, I loved the way Amy wove history into Vincent's story and with the city itself. The paranormal twist and the rich history are what really made this story unique for me. Die For Me is addictive read with it's rich story line, wonderful romance and fabulous cast of characters. I'm really looking forward to reading many more books by Amy Plum. I highly recommend picking up Die For Me when it's out on Tuesday.

City of Fallen Angels Not So Mundane Moments, Day 1, SIMON

I am so excited about this week! Our friends Novel Novice & I have had a lot of fun working on this feature. Not only will be talking about our favorite scenes from COFA, we'll also have giveaways! Thank you to Simon & Schuster at the end of the week we'll each be giving away a SIGNED copy of COFA! Each of our site's will also have some swag and a little treat from Cassie we'll be sharing through out the week. To enter our giveaways, you'll need to include the code word found at the bottom of each post and enter the giveaway form out, also found in each post.

Before you read any further, please know this week's feature will be full of SPOILERS! If you've not read COFA yet and don't want to be spoiled, please do not read any further.
Today's favorite scene of discussion is SIMON! I know it's not a scene, but I can't post about COFA and not talk about Simon. What isn't there to like about Simon!?! Sure he's a conflicted vampire who has girl problems, something I'm sure many of us didn't think was possible for him when we first met him in COB. To me, Simon has grown the most character wise. He's become one of my favorite characters in the TMI series.

One of my favorite parts of COFA with Simon is his bantering with Jace. He can finally dish it right back to Jace and with everything that goes on in COFA, I found their scenes and lines together were often times the comical relief I needed. I certainty never excepted Jace and Simon to go grocery shopping together either, even if it was for mangos and tomato soup. Simon continues to be the best friend Clary needs, is torn between his feelings with Mia and Izzy and proves not only to himself, but to the cast of characters from COFA, that he's a force to be reckoned with, with his mark of Cain. I love the Simon is like the ultimate vampire with a geeky side to him.

What's your favorite thing about Simon in COFA?

Today's Code Word: VAMPIRE

Contest Guidelines:

* Fill out the contest entry form here, using today's code word.

* You may enter once PER DAY (no more) for a chance to win. (Please note: if you submit more than one entry per codeword, you will automatically be disqualified. You may enter once per day -- that means one entry for every different code word.)

* Check back every day to see a new spoiler, and get a new code word.

* Be sure to head over to Novel Novice for their code words, too, for even more chances to win!

* Prizes can only be mailed to the U.S.

Questions? Leave 'em in the comments & we'll reply!

Happy Mother's Day!


Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful Mothers and Women who are an amazing influence on our kids and the children around them. We hope you all have a fabulous day!

Of course we can't have a Mother's Day post with out a little MM twist to it. Today Sophie and I have put together a list of characters we'd like to adopt/Mother. There's so many fabulously written broken characters in YA books that we can't help but want to reach out to, like Jace & Simon from the TMI series, Will, Jem & Tessa from the ID series, Nick & Allen from the Demon's Covenant series, Cassel from the Curse Workers Series, Cabel & Janie from the Wake series and let's not forget about Prince Ash from the Iron Fey series. There's many more characters which is why we created two different lists of Favorite Broken Characters we'd like to adopt.

Sophie's Top 5 Fictional Boys I'd Adopt in a Heartbeat
Recently, I kept thinking about the number of broken boys in particular that are in some of my favorite stories and I couldn't help thinking that if I could somehow adopt them, their lives would turn out differently. I mean, it is Mother's Day and all so work with me, MMs, on what is, yes, pure fictional thinking.

5) Bennett (from Lee Nichols' Deception/Betrayal): I know, he's 19 but hey, he's still young and impressionable and let's face it, the choice he made in Betrayal (the one that caused me to go "OMGOMGOMG, NO WAY....") will have consequences. He will need a mother's advice and well, I freely give that every day to my kids so why not to him as well.

4) Ethan (from Kami Garcia's and Margaret Stohl's Beautiful Creatures/Beautiful Darkness): Granted he has Amma, and I love her. But, he needs a mom to talk to and run some of those decisions by her. I mean, a mom would've have understood Lena's motives in Beauiful Darkness and may have saved him some heartache.

3) Cabel (from Lisa McMann's WAKE/FADE/GONE series): I just adore him and I've never seen a more solid argument on someone who needs a mom more.

2) Cassel (from Holly Black's Curseworker series - White Cat/Red Glove): I know, I know, he has a mother but she's frequently in jail and I'm not (well, at least so far) and I bake. Enough said. That boy needs a homecooked meal and a mother who won't mess with his emotions. Well okay, an argument could be made that "all mothers do that anyway" but I'm not listening to that nonsense. LOL. Nope, not I.

1) Simon (from Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments series, especially City of Fallen Angels): Okay, you expected me to pick Jace but the scene with Simon and his mother??? BROKE . MY . HEART . Because like most rational mamas, I would've said oh, okay, you're a vampire. I accept that. Sure, baby, I still love you. Now where can I procure some blood?


Katie's Top 5 Fictional Couples I'd Adopt In A Heartbeat
I feel like I always make the same list of favorite broken characters, and this time I wanted to branch out a bit to create a list of favorite broken character couples I'd like to adopt. Honestly, I couldn't narrow my list of broken characters down to 5, plus there's been a lot of great releases this year who have some fantastic characters I wanted to spotlight. This list of characters is from books that have been released this year.

* Annah & Catcher (from The Dark & Hollow Place by Carrie Ryan) I couldn't create a list and not add these two. Living in a world over run by zombies, with little hope of surviving would completely break my spirit, but these two didn't give up. When all hope seems lost they keep carrying on, even after all the horrid things they saw and experienced. How could I not want to go all motherly on them and give them what they needed to make it.

* Beatrice & Four (from Divergent by Veronica Roth) To keep this spoiler free I won't say much other than, HOLY CRAP these two have to deal with a lot. I wanted to close my eyes and scream out loud for them a few times. Yes Beatrice has a mother and I loved the role she played in the story, but there's a lot that happens to and around Beatrice & Four that made my mom instincts kick into high gear.

* Adam and Mia (from Where She Went by Gayle Forman) One box of kleenex's isn't going to last you through this book. Adam's voice is so raw and real that I felt broken just reading his POV. I wanted to fix both of their emotional scars and make everything better for them and tell them to go live happily ever after. I mean, don't all moms have that power? I wish I did and I'd use it on these two characters. No, I didn't give away spoiler, there's a lot that happens in this story to both Adam and Mia. You'll have to read the book to find out if they get their happily ever after....

* Nathaniel & Amelia (from The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell) Can Saundra rip my heart out even more than she did in The Vespertine? These two endure some heartache and make a few choices that I couldn't help by sympathize with. Being a romantic at heart I wanted the two of them to defy their different class structures and work out. These two needed a mother figure to tell them to go for it. I guess that would make me a social outcast for that time period. lol

* Kate & Vincent (from Die For Me by Amy Plum) These two characters are both broken in different, yet similar ways. I know that's vague, but for the sake of spoilers I don't want to ruin anything. They both help each other in ways no else can, which I loved as a reader, but being a mom I wanted to make everything better for the two of them. Poor Kate has dwelt with so much trauma and heartache. I couldn't help but cheer Kate & Vincent on through out the story, I wanted their relationship to work. You'll have to read it to find out if it does....

Who are some of your characters you'd like to adopt/mother?

Weekly Feature & In My Mailbox #73

Happy Mother's Day! We hope everyone has a great Sunday. This week we've got an exciting thing planned.
This week is COFA week and we've teamed up Novel Novice who had this fabulous idea. This week both of our sites will be posting our favorite scenes, hosting giveaways and we might even have a little surprise from Cassie!! I'll be posting more about that later today.

On Monday night I'll be interviewing and attending the Diversity in YA tour at Book People. The event starts at 7:30 and I'm really looking forward to talking these fabulous group of women about diversity in YA books. The tour was started by Cindy Pon and Malindo Lo, and you can find out more about the tour HERE. Cindy, Malindo, Dia Reeves, Bethany Hegedus, Guadalupe Garcia McCall and Jo Whittemore will be at this stop, which will be moderated by Varian Johnson.

Blog Tours: This week we're taken in part in some fabulous blog tours
Monday- Abandon by Meg Cabot
Tuesday- Compulsion by Heidi Ayarbe and we'll be chatting with Heidi that night
Friday- Hex by Ramona Wray

Reviews:
Die For Me by Amy Plum
Abandon by Meg Cabot
Compulsion by Heidi Ayarbe
Moonglass by Jessi Kirby
The Pull of Gravity by Gae Polisner
Hex by Ramona Wray

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In my Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren, and allows bloggers to share what they've received for review, bought, were gifted and received to giveaway this past week.


For Review
* The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton, published by Tor Books, to be released on September 27th, 2011

I am SO excited about this book! I read the manuscript last year and I've been anxiously awaiting it's upcoming release. While at TLA, I found out that I'm quoted in the ARC. My quote is on the front inside cover! I am totally shocked and honored to have my quote about the book in the ARC. You can also find my quote on The Faerie Ring book marks Kiki is giving out here. You can read my blurb for it here. I can't wait to share my full review in Sept.

* Between by Cyndi Tefft, published by Createspace, released on April 5th, 2011

For Review On Mundie Kids
* The Relic Hunters, Grey Griffin The Clockwork Chronicles Book2 by Derek Benz & J.S. Lewis, published by Little Brown & Co, released on January 1st, 2011
* 13 Curses by Michelle Harrison, published by Little Brown, to be released on June 7th, 2011
* Wildfire Run by Dee Garretson, published HarperCollins, released on August 31st, 2010
* The Midnight Gate by Helen Stringer, published by Feiwel & Friends, released on September 29th, 2009
* SpellBinder by Helen Stringer, published Feiwel & Friends, to be released on September 10th, 2011
* Like Pickle Juice On A Cookie by Julie Sternberg, published by Amulet Books, released on March 1st, 2011
* The Pony Whisperer Series by Janet Rising, published by Hodder Children's Books

Bought
* Divergent by Veronica Roth
* Moonglass by Jessi Kirby
* Illusions by Aprilynne Pike


Thank you Tor Books, Cyndi Tefft, Little Brown, Dee Garretson, Blue Slip Media, and Sourcebooks for this weeks wonderful reads.

What goodies did you receive this week?

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