Cover Love - Week 10

"Cover Love" is a weekly meme I've adapted from 21 Pages. Here's this week's Cover Love theme: Books with Guys on the Cover. I mean (well, for me) I haven't noticed so many books with guys on the cover, like alone. Usually, it's with a girl...

Okayy. The first one's the first one that came to mind. White Cat by Holly Black (Review❘Amazon❘Goodreads). AMAZING! Can't wait to get my hands on the second one :D.

This one I haven't gotten the chance to read (yet!), but I so badly want to! Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Amazon❘Goodreads).

OMG LOVED THESE BOOKS!!! Clockwork Angel (Review❘Amazon❘Goodreads), City of Bones (Amazon❘Goodreads), City of Glass ([Really Short] Review❘Amazon❘Goodreads) by Cassandra Clare. Can't wait for City of Fallen Angels (Amazon❘Goodreads)!

Love, Love, LOVE this one! Fallen Angels :)...*sigh*. Hush, Hush ([Really Short] Review❘Amazon❘Goodreads) by Becca Fitzpatrick.

and here's the last, Awakened by PC and Kristin Cast (Amazon❘Goodreads). It's the latest House of Night book, and even though the last one was erm, okay, I still wanna give it a try!

Well, that was it for this week's Cover Love! Find any interesting/amazing covers this week? Leave a link/comment!

What Can't Wait by Ashley Hope Pérez

"“Another day finished, gracias a Dios."

Seventeen-year-old Marisa's mother has been saying this for as long as Marisa can remember. Her parents came to Houston from Mexico. They work hard, and they expect Marisa to help her familia. And they expect her to marry a boy from the neighborhood, to settle down, and to have grandbabies. If she wants a job, she could always be an assistant manager at the local grocery store.

At school, it's another story. Marisa's calc teacher expects her to ace the AP test and to get into an engineering program in Austin—a city that seems unimaginably far away. When her home life becomes unbearable, Marisa seeks comfort elsewhere—and suddenly neither her best friend nor boyfriend can get through to her. Caught between the expectations of two different worlds, Marisa isn't sure what she wants—other than a life where she doesn't end each day thanking God it's over.

What Can't Wait—the gripping debut novel from Ashley Hope Pérez—tells the story of one girl's survival in a world in which family needs trump individual success, and self-reliance the only key that can unlock the door to the future.

**This is a review based on an ARC. The text may change!**

It was really fantastic to see how an immigrant to the US from Mexico copes with family, school, a job and learning to live life. It's also pretty much a coincidence how my last post (below) is of Illegal by Bettina Restrepo, which also deals with a family from Mexico.


It was different to see how Marisa lives her life. I mean, I can't imagine ever living like that! But obviously, people DO live like that. I haven't lived in an area with many immigrants of the same background (ish), although I am one of many expats living in Singapore. The difference is that Marisa's family isn't so well off. She wishes she can go to University and earn a degree in Engineering, but her family (and controlling dad) want her to stay home and help earn money. 


As each event goes by, we can see how deeply that effects Marisa. The emotions portrayed in this book are amazingly detailed and we can see her sadness in not being able to learn things, her anger towards her family, and love towards her boyfriend Alan. She keeps her emotions to herself and isn't as outgoing as her supportive (and hilarious) friend Brenda. Another interesting thing about Marisa and this book. It has a whole ton of Spanish words sprinkled around in the book, so if you're like me and the only word in Spanish you know is 'hola', I recommend looking up some of the words, but usually, you'll get the gist of it. But anyway, as I was saying, there was one word that I picked up which I remembered from a documentary. Mariposa. Butterfly. I remember watching a documentary on these amazing butterflies migrating to Mexico at the same time each year in time for some celebration. I believe there was a Barbie movie as well, something about Mariposa. I'm not sure. But the butterflies on the cover did make sense after that!


Speaking of Brenda, here comes the sassy, amazing (and not to mention hilarious) best friend. She's outgoing, flirtatious and murderous to those who come to messing with her friends. Anita is Marisa's niece, who is an adorable little girl (so cute and cuddly :D) who helps Marisa see clearly in the end when things look grim. Alan? Loved him! I could really picture him. Actually, that's what Ashley Pérez has done amazingly with this book. You can picture all of the characters, they are just so well developed!


The storyline was an amazing ride as well. With every problem Marisa encounters, whether it be about University or her boyfriend, we are always rooting for the best outcome and hope it happens. With twists and turns which throw the possibilities endlessly everywhere, Marisa's future is one hell of a journey!


Overall, I would say that this is a fantastic debut by Ashley Hope Pérez, showing the not-so bright side of life, those who have been through tough times and girls who aren't thought of as important. It's fresh and new, and girls will have a new heroine to root for! Coming to bookstores on March 28th, GET. THIS. BOOK. Trust me, you won't regret it.


Recommended for: 13+
Source: ARC from NetGalley

Illegal Blog Tour with Bettina Restrepo + GIVEAWAY

Hey Everyone!


Illegal is Bettina Restrepo's just recently released YA debut! I unfortunately haven't gotten to get the book, but Mrs. Restrepo was incredibly amazing and gave me a sneak peek and I really want to get this book NOW :D. Without further delay, here's a Tour of Bettina Restrepo's Bookshelf!

I really loved the funny comments! a couple of those definitely still in my TBR pile :S.


here's a blurb of Illegal! (from Goodreads)

A promise.
Quinceañera.
A promise that we would be together on my fifteenth birthday . . .

Instead, Nora is on a desperate journey far away from home. When her father leaves their beloved Mexico in search of work, Nora stays behind. She fights to make sense of her loss while living in poverty—waiting for her father's return and a better day. When the letters and money stop coming, Nora decides that she and her mother must look for him in Texas. After a frightening experience crossing the border, the two are all alone in a strange place. Now, Nora must find the strength to survive while aching for small comforts: friends, a new school, and her precious quinceañera.

Bettina Restrepo's gripping, deeply hopeful debut novel captures the challenges of one girl's unique yet universal immigrant experience.

and now, the amazing GIVEAWAY!

Prize: 1 of 5 signed copies of Illegal by Bettina Restrepo!

If you would like to participate in a signed giveaway of Illegal, 

please answer the following question.

How do gangs affect your community? 

Requirements:

• Leave your answer in the comments.
• Leave your town/state/country (optional)
• INTERNATIONAL!
• Participants must be 13 years of age or older.

You do NOT need to be a follower of my blog (although it would be nice :D) and the Winner will be announced on Bettina Restrepo's Facebook and Twitter, on April 1. This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL!

Website

Goodreads

Thanks so much to Bettina Restrepo for the amazing video, the fantastic giveaway and for stopping by Confessions of a Readaholic! 

Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink

Sixteen-year-old Lia Milthorpe and her twin sister Alice have just become orphans, and, as Lia discovers, they have also become enemies. The twins are part of an ancient prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other. To escape from a dark fate and to remain in the arms of her beloved boyfriend James, Lia must end the prophecy before her sister does. Only then will she understand the mysterious circumstances of her parents' deaths, the true meaning of the strange mark branded on her wrist, and the lengths to which her sister will go to defeat her.

Prophecy of the Sisters is seriously unlike any book I've read about. It's original, dark and mysterious...
It really made me think of two book series I loved, The Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray and The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flammel by Michael Scott. Why? 


a) the Setting's in the 1800's-ish (at least I thought it was) – Like the Gemma Doyle books.
b) Includes elements of magic and realms – Like both series.
c) TWINS! – The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flammel.
d) Awesome book series – YUP. You got it. ALL books :).


The story sets off pretty dramatically. It really grabbed me into the story...the funeral as well as (maybe) the cute boy who talks to Lia. Okay, fine. I'll admit, I WAS curious about the boy, but the first few pages were really interesting in terms of the plot, as it starts with a big event which is amazingly portrayed. I loved the language here people! It just...spoke to me. Beckoned me to it's pages (Read More Rabiah! Read More!) and as I went on, I loved it. I swear my instincts of an amazing book will always go up at the beginning. If the first sentence isn't funny or dramatic or noticeable in anyway, forget it.


I was sometimes lost in the plot, that I had no idea who was who and what was going on. Like when they discussed the roles of the Guardian etc. and Heaven and Hell, I just got confused who was talking and what they were talking about. Thank God, though, that this was only some tiny bits of the book so I could generally kinda skip forward, only catching main bits, and continue on with the story.


Lia was a very well developed and thought out character. I love the details of her emotions and her relationship with her sister Alice, her friends, her aunt and James. It's all very deep and you really get that profound feeling to the character, and really get to know her. Her relationship with Alice, of course is changing throughout the course of the book and of course we see her struggling to see who she could trust.
Alice is one very malicious character, definitely one that I wouldn't like to meet. From her strangeness in her character right from the beginning we can see that clearly, she is up to no good. But then, she shows a softer side, the side that Lia can look to and trust. But then, things aren't what they seem to be...


I (mentally) cried at one part of the book. It was just so sad what happens at the waterfall! I'm not giving it away, but just telling you, it isn't fair :( It was seriously a very emotional and painful moment for the characters and it just hit me. I was like, WHAT?!?!? I seriously wish that it never happened in the book. But then of course, we wouldn't see that amazing feeling the characters generate towards this event and it just makes the book even more enjoyable...in a sense that it's a great book, not that the feeling of the part above was enjoyable...because it wasn't.


Overall, Prophecy of the Sisters is an original epic story about magic and realms and worlds beyond out beliefs. For lovers of Magic, Realms and of course, Prophecies, this book is SO for you. Libba Bray and Michael Scott Fans, who loved these authors series as much as I do, listen to me and READ THIS BOOK! You'll love it, trust me :). With twists and turns so shocking, the truth is so close and yet so far. After all, you can trust no one...
I Can't wait to get my hands on the next book, Guardian of the Gate!


Recommended for: Ages 12 and up.
Source: From Library.