Mundie Moms

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

City of Lost Souls Cover Reveal 1/4/12


The wait is ALMOST OVER! TOMORROW (Jan. 4th) USA Today online will be revealing the cover for City of Lost Souls around noon EST. This is not a set time, but it will be up around this time.

About the cover, Cassie said: "The final cover is even prettier … in my admittedly biased opinion. The landmark in the picture is the Pont Neuf in Paris."

If you're excited about that, wait till you read more. Cassie said they're also going to be post an EXCERPT! I swear it's going to be like Christmas all over again. I can not wait! Please note that things can change and the scheduling may be moved again. This however is NOT anything Cassie has any control over. As she mentioned here on tumblr, she often times learns about cover reveals right before they're posted.

YAY for tomorrow! I'm crossing my finger that Magnus will be on the cover. Who do you guys think will be featured?

Book Review: Don't Breathe a Word by Holly Cupala


Published by: Harper Teen
To Be Released on: January 3rd, 2012 TODAY
Source: book from publisher to review
3 stars: It's a Good Read
Order from: Amazon

Joy Delamere is suffocating...

From asthma, which has nearly claimed her life. From her parents, who will do anything to keep that from happening. From delectably dangerous Asher, who is smothering her from the inside out. Joy can take his words - tender words, cruel words - until the night they go too far. Now, Joy will leave everything behind to find the one who has offered his help, a homeless boy called Creed. She will become someone else. She will learn to survive. She will breathe... if only she can get to Creed before it’s too late. Set against the gritty backdrop of Seattle’s streets and a cast of characters with secrets of their own, Holly Cupala’s powerful new novel explores the subtleties of abuse, the meaning of love, and how far a girl will go to discover her own strength -quoted from Goodreads

Don't Breathe a Word is one of those edgy books that's raw, emotional gripping and tackles the tougher things teens deal with now a days. I normally have to be in a certain mood to read these type of books, but Holly Cupala's writing is brutally honest, powerful, and lyrically written which made it hard for me to stop reading it. I got to a point in the story that I wanted to know more. The other thing I liked, is that Holly doesn't shy away some pretty tough subjects, and she gives readers a real look inside teenage relationships, teenage abuse, family dynamics, teenage homelessness, friendships and more. As heartbreaking as it was seeing all Joy/Triste had to deal with, I really admire the empowered person she grew into.

The story follows that of Joy (who on the streets is known as Triste), a teenage girl who's looking for a way to escape. She wants out for her abusive relationship with her well to do boyfriend who hails from a prominent family in the Seattle area, an escape from her overly protective parents, and to run away from the person who's become since dating Asher. The thing I like that Holly does with Joy's character is she allowed me to see how broken she was, how and why she changed so much. In doing so, she also let me see the person she becomes. Through out the course of Joy's journey Holly does such an elegant job at revealing bits of Joy's past mixed into present tense, which allowed me to see what lead up to her decision to leave her life behind and what she's going to do now.

Joy's transition to life on the street is far from easy and in fact, it's at times down right scary. Luckily she has the help of Creed, the boy how gave her the strength to seek a different life on the streets. Creed's group of friends are far from those Joy had back home before she started dating Asher, but regardless of back grounds, Joy learns the importance of friendships and having one's back at all costs. It's during this time and through a course of events that Joy truly becomes a person who finds her inner strength and grows into a surprisingly strong character. Over all this is a story about a broken girl who through the course of her own journey discovers the inner strength to break away from everything that was holding her back.

This book won't be for everyone, but I think that everyone who reads it will take something away from it. There is abuse, some language, an attempted rape, and a few scenes that might be a little graphic for some. This is a book I'd recommend to mature YA readers and those who enjoy reading a literary book with a contemporary setting.

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Don't miss Holly's Don't Breathe A Word blog party!! It's happening NOW on her blog. Check out the play list, get an exclusive download and enter to win lots of cool prizes!

Giveaway: Switched by Amanda Hocking

























Published by: St Martin's Griffin
Released on: January 3rd, 2012 TODAY
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

SWITCHED… at birth:

When Wendy Everly was six years old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. Eleven years later, Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. She’s not the person she’s always believed herself to be, and her whole life begins to unravel—all because of Finn Holmes.

Finn is a mysterious guy who always seems to be watching her. Every encounter leaves her deeply shaken…though it has more to do with her fierce attraction to him than she’d ever admit. But it isn’t long before he reveals the truth: Wendy is a changeling who was switched at birth—and he’s come to take her home.

Now Wendy’s about to journey to a magical world she never knew existed, one that’s both beautiful and frightening. And where she must leave her old life behind to discover who she’s meant to become…




You can check out some of the book trailer stills here.

Thank you to St Martin's Press, today we're giveaway a copy of SWITCHED to 1 lucky follower.

To enter, please fill out the form below:
- US Residents only
- You must be 13 yrs & older to enter (if under you must have a parent/guardian's permission to enter)
- 1 entry per person
- This giveaway ends on 1/10/11

Twitter Tuesday - Cassie Clare

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Image found here.

Yesterday, Cassie tweeted the link to her article, "The Secret Worlds Teens Hide From Adults" which was printed in The Wall Street Journal on January 1st. She focuses on that magical place in the setting of a story -- a wardrobe, a in-between train platform and a small, rainy town. We all know those places well because they hold the very essence of magic in some of our favorite stories. And Cassie ties this in with that moment of time -- teenage years. Ah, we all remember them well, don't we? Here's a quote from the article:

Being a teenager is being caught between two worlds, occupying a liminal space where you’re not quite a child and not quite an adult. The concept of adolescence is a modern one — in earlier times, teenagers would be marrying, fighting and dying like adults, and today’s teens yearn for that adult power (making your own decisions!), while at the same time being afraid of it (enormous responsibilities come with adulthood). These days, adolescence is considered training wheels for adulthood, a time through which you must be guided and protected from too much autonomy.

For the rest of the article, go here. As a mom of a soon-to-be-teen, I had to take a step back and appreciate the concept of metaphorical training wheels once more. Those are challenging years, no matter which side you are on -- teen or parent.

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