I am so sorry – long time no proper update. I feel really guilty about it too, but I am experiencing as really severe and prolonged reading slump at the moment, and I am struggling to make my way back from it.

Book Nerd Reviews is still up and running, and I will still be posting here and there, but I think a little bit of time away will reignite my passion. I am also considering doing more graphic novel/comic reviews WITH YA reviews also. So if that’s something I go ahead with, I might be looking at a new look for the site that is more appropriate. But I just wanted you guys to know what was going on at least.

So I am still here! Still on twitter and facebook. The giveaways are still happening too, so nothing for you guys to worry about. I am sure I’ll be back, and perhaps when I am back there’ll be a new look and new features and more excitement!

x

Stacking the Shelves is bought to you by Tynga from Tynga’s Reviews. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Once We Were (The Hybrid Chronicles #2) – Kat Zhang

Thanks so much to Harper Collins for this ARC copy! Once we were is the sequel to What’s Left Of Me, which I really enjoyed. This book is scheduled for release around September 17th, and I am looking forward to finding out what happens in this one!

Eva was never supposed to have survived this long. As the recessive soul, she should have faded away years ago. Instead, she lingers in the body she shares with her sister soul, Addie. When the government discovered the truth, they tried to “cure” the girls, but Eva and Addie escaped before the doctors could strip Eva’s soul away.

Now fugitives, Eva and Addie find shelter with a group of hybrids who run an underground resistance. Surrounded by others like them, the girls learn how to temporarily disappear to give each soul some much-needed privacy. Eva is thrilled at the chance to be alone with Ryan, the boy she’s falling for, but troubled by the growing chasm between her and Addie. Despite clashes over their shared body, both girls are eager to join the rebellion.

Yet as they are drawn deeper into the escalating violence, they start to wonder: How far are they willing to go to fight for hybrid freedom? Faced with uncertainty and incredible danger, their answers may tear them apart forever.

Between The Lives – Jessica Shirvington

I bought this one! Just happened to see it when I was Mother’s Day shopping… haha Yes, I do that a lot. I’ve heard some really great things about this book and so I grabbed a copy. :)

Above all else, though I try not to think about it, I know which life I prefer. And every night when I Cinderella myself from one life to the next a very small, but definite, piece of me dies. The hardest part is that nothing about my situation has ever changed. There is no loophole.

Until now, that is…

For as long as she can remember, Sabine has lived two lives. Every 24 hours she Shifts to her ′other′ life – a life where she is exactly the same, but absolutely everything else is different: different family, different friends, different social expectations. In one life she has a sister, in the other she does not. In one life she′s a straight-A student with the perfect boyfriend, in the other she′s considered a reckless delinquent. Nothing about her situation has ever changed, until the day when she discovers a glitch: the arm she breaks in one life is perfectly fine in the other.

With this new knowledge, Sabine begins a series of increasingly risky experiments which bring her dangerously close to the life she′s always wanted… But just what – and who – is she really risking?

The Originals – Cat Patrick

I knew I’d heard of this one, but the Australian cover (left) looks different to the US one, so it wasn’t until I bought this and looked it up on Goodreads that I pieced it together. The thing I like about Cat Patrick’s books are that she has a great imagination, and her books are always unlike everything else I’ve read. Looking forward to this.

Ella, Betsey and I look like sisters: triplets, you might think.

But that’s not what we are at all.

We are clones in hiding. We split out lives and exist as one person in the outside world. And we’ve always been happy.

But now I’ve fallen in love … and that changes everything.

Because to let love in, I need to be allowed to be Me.

That is all from me this week, what did you receive in your mailboxes? Let me know – leave your links in the comments section below!

It’s Wednesday which means it’s time to tell you what I have been up to for the past week! W..W..W.. Wednesdays is a weekly meme bought to you by MizB from Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

I am currently reading Belonging by Karen Ann Hopkins at the moment. This is the sequel to Temptation and I am eager to find out what happens in this one! It’s a different type of contemporary romance based on Amish culture!

What did you recently finish reading?

In the last week I have finished reading The Eternity Cure (Blood of Eden #2) by Julie Kagawa. Really enjoyed this sequel and after that major cliffhanger, I now await the third book!! Review was posted on Monday. :D

What do you think you’ll read next?

Probably The S-Word by Chelsea Pitcher as that’s coming out shortly also and I have a few other good titles to read this month also! I am hoping I can get around to them as I am still experiencing a terrible reading slump right now… doesn’t help with work and my course expectations, I am under a fair amount of stress. But I do start annual leave on Monday so the goal is to get through some books in this time!

What is everyone out there reading at the moment? Share your links below!

Rating: 4 out of 5

Synopsis: In Allison Sekemoto’s world, there is one one rule left: Blood Calls to blood.
Cast out of Eden and separated from the boy she dared to love, Allie will follow the call of blood to save her creator, Kanin, from the psychotic vampire, Sarren. But when the trail leads to Allie’s birthplace in New Covington, what she finds there will the change the world forever – and possibly end human and vampire existence.

There’s a new plague on the rise, a strain of the Red Lung virus that wiped out most of humanity generations ago – deadly to humans and vampires alike. The only hope for a cure lies in the secrets Kanin carries. If Allie can get to him in time…

Review: Julie Kagawa is one of my favourite authors with good reason. She knows how to tell a story in a way that is distinctly hers, and she knows how to leave you hanging at the end of a book.

The Eternity Cure is the sequel to The Immortal Rules and the second book in the Blood of Eden series. We are reunited with Allie Sekemoto who is now a vampire. She has been seperated from Zeke where she left him in Eden, and is now on the hunt for her master Kanin who has been taken and is being tortured by Sarren. She needs to find him before it’s too late.

My only complaint with this book was that similarly to The Immortal Rules, both books have a lot of pages. The Eternity Cure was 428 pages long, and I felt at times in the middle that this book dragged, which took me ages to get through because unfortunately it coincided (or perhaps was the cause) with a reading slump and I was going through. I know as a fan of Julie Kagawa’s work that her books tend to be on the longer side, but I felt like she could have maybe some parts could have been more to the point.

THAT being said, it was my only complaint, because the rest of this book was rather special. We had the return of some loved AND hated characters… I won’t be giving away spoilers, but I am talking about the return of some characters, so look away if you don’t want to know!

Firstly, Jackal is back. Jackal was such a good villain in the first book, and when he comes into this one initially, I was fearful for Allie – but turns out they both have the same goal in mind and they’re willing to put aside their differences to work together to find Kanin. We saw a different side to Jackal in this book, and in many ways, he reminded me of Puck from Kagawa’s Iron Fey series with his quick wit and sarcasm.

ZEKE is back!! OMG WTH… last we saw of him was in Eden. Turns out, he left Eden in search for Allie because he couldn’t handle being without her. There’s some hostility at first because he sees Allie with Jackal who killed Zeke’s father in the first book… understandably so! But we move past that, and I really enjoyed the progression between Allie and Zeke. There’s a real tenderness between them, but Allie is also trying to fight against her emotions for a great part of it.

Stick you dirty traitor!! All I have to say about him as that I really really dislike his character. He lacked integrity and I really wanted him to die. Harsh? haha

The story itself was really intense in the second half, and it became really fast paced after a slow start and middle. I really got into it, and the battle scenes were awesome! The last few pages had me absolutely shocked… and in true Julie Kagawa style, I am left with the cliffhanger! That is so unfair!!

Highly recommend this series. If you hate vampire books (I traditionally don’t love them), please give this one a try. It’s unconvenional in a really great way!

Quotes: “I don’t believe in fate,” he said carefully, “but… I do believe everything happens for a reason. That there is some plan, some meaning to this darkness we live in.”

“When I was Allie the Fringer, I used to collect books like this, from anywhere I could find them. Of Course, in the Fringe, owning them was highly illegal. The vampire lords didn’t want their cattle to be able to read—it might put ideas in our heads if they knew what life was like before. But one of my greatest secrets was that I could read. My mom had taught me when she was still alive, and I’d clung to that accomplishment fiercely. It was the one thing the vampires couldn’t take from me.”

“There are no good choices, Allison,” Kanin offered in a quiet voice. “There are only those you can live with, and those you can work to change.”

Trailer:

Stacking the Shelves is bought to you by Tynga from Tynga’s Reviews. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

The Elite (The Selection #2) – Keira Cass

One of the most amazing covers (The Selection was also incredibly gorgeous). I am looking forward to finding out what happens to America in this one.

Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Illea.

America still isn’t sure where her heart lies. When she’s with Maxon, she’s swept up in their new and breathless romance, and can’t dream of being with anyone else. But whenever she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, and is overcome with memories of the life they planned to share. With the group narrowed down to the Elite, the other girls are even more determined to win Maxon over—and time is running out for America to decide.

Just when America is sure she’s made her choice, a devastating loss makes her question everything again. And while she’s struggling to imagine her future, the violent rebels that are determined to overthrow the monarchy are growing stronger and their plans could destroy her chance at any kind of happy ending.

Fire With Fire (Burn for Burn #2) – Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian

Thank you so much to Simon & Schuster for approving me for this ARC copy of Fire With Fire! I have been dying to know what was going to happen since I finished Burn for Burn. This is not out until September 3rd so keep your eyes peeled for a review closer to that date!

Lillia, Kat, and Mary had the perfect plan. Work together in secret to take down the people who wronged them. But things didn’t exactly go the way they’d hoped at the Homecoming Dance.

Not even close.

For now, it looks like they got away with it. All they have to do is move on and pick up the pieces, forget there ever was a pact. But it’s not easy, not when Reeve is still a total jerk and Rennie’s meaner than she ever was before.

And then there’s sweet little Mary…she knows there’s something seriously wrong with her. If she can’t control her anger, she’s sure that someone will get hurt even worse than Reeve was. Mary understands now that it’s not just that Reeve bullied her—it’s that he made her love him.

Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, burn for a burn. A broken heart for a broken heart. The girls are up to the task. They’ll make Reeve fall in love with Lillia and then they will crush him. It’s the only way he’ll learn.

It seems once a fire is lit, the only thing you can do is let it burn…

And quickly, a pic of my comic haul…

That is all from me this week, what did you receive in your mailboxes? Let me know – leave your links in the comments section below!