Cherry Mischievous

THE SIX SACRED STONES

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:20:00 +0000

The Six Sacred Stones by Matthew Reilly
Book 2 of the Jack West Jr. series

About This Book:

The End Of The World Is Here
Unlocking the secret of the 'Seven Ancient Wonders' was only the beginning. The world is in mortal danger.

SIX FABLED STONES
For Jack West Jr and his loyal team of heroes, the challenge now is to set six legendary diamonds known as 'the Pillars' in place at six ancient sites around the world before the deadline for global destruction arrives. The locations of these sites, however, can only be releaved by the fabled Six Sacred Stones.

AN EPIC MISSION
With only the riddles of ancient writers to guide them, and time rapidly running out, Jack and his team must fight their way past traps, labyrinths and a host of deadly enemies - knowing that this time they cannont, will not, must not fail.

Genre: fantasy modern action adventure

My Take On This Book:
My favourite "part" in the story is the depiction of Lao's "duality" theory and the notion of "balance". In everything good there is darkness. And in all evil, there is light. The duality of all things. Whether that is true or not, I would like to think that it is.

The story itself? 4.5 out of 5. It is obviously a fantasy by the mere fact that the story talks of a Tartarus power. Fantasy. But the way Reilly weaves fantasy with known archeological facts, makes the borderline between fiction and fact blur. Such that the fantasy Reilly weaves seems so real. "Suspension of disbelief"? 5 out of 5.

Openning salvo has the protagonist and team running for their very lives from a military invasion complete with assault helicopters, tanks and jet fighters! And then it's non-stop action from there. First chapter and the book had me feeling like I'm short of breath trying to catch-up with events. And that pace keep up until the very end. Story-telling quality? 4.5 out of 5. Cover art? I don't know which to consider really, since different countries have their own different cover arts... The copy I've read is a US cover. The symbolism is quite appropriate to the story but not very attractive to my fantasy buff eyes. 3 out of 5.

The story has a cliffhanger ending. Normally I hate cliffhanger endings with a passion. And this is the only reason this book is not a 5 cherries. But still the ending manages to close the dilemma presented in the story and thus climaxed the book well.

Overall, I would say that this book has an entertainment value of 4.5 out of 5. Definitely a recommended read! Though being Book 2 in the Jack West Jr. series, it is highly recommended that you read book 1 first for a reader to understand what is going on. My review of book 1, Seven Ancient Wonders, is here.

Cherry’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries

We invite you to share your review here:
If you have a Mathew Reilly review or a review of this book and/or series, you can link your review with us by entering it in the MrLinky below:

This gives our readers easier access to views from different people. Readers therefore can compare opinions and form their own.

Acknowledgements:
This book was given to me for free by the publisher for review purposes.

BOOK PROMOTION: BROUGHT TO LIFE

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:28:00 +0000

Brought To Life by Dara England

Genre: paranormal romance

About This Book:

Megan Hurst's life has taken some unexpected turns: First she loses her heart to the dashing hero of a novel. And then she meets an amnesia victim who seems just like him.

The mysterious stranger needs her help to piece his past together, and the closer the two become, the more questions arise about his resemblance to a "fictional" character.

Megan's romantic feelings and her bizarre suspicions bring her to an impossible question... Has she dreamed the Duke to life?

Source: Info in the About This Book was taken from the author's website at http://daraenglandauthor.com/books.html on 09/03/10.

Buy Link:
Buy this book from Lyrical Press.

STORM BORN

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Storm Born by Richelle Mead

Genre: urban fantasy, chicklit

Caption At The Back Cover:

Just typical. No love life to speak of for months, then all at once, every horny creature in the Otherworld wants to get in your pants.

Eugenie Markham is a powerful shaman who does a brisk trade banishing spirits and fey who cross into the mortal world. Mercenary, yes, but a girl’s got to eat. Her most recent case, however, is enough to ruin her appetite. Hired to find a teenager who has been taken to the Otherworld, Eugenie comes face to face with a startling prophecy – one that uncovers dark secrets about her past and claims that Eugenie’s first-born will threaten the future of the world as she knows it.

Now Eugenie is a hot target for every ambitious demon and Otherworldly ne’er-do-well, and the ones who don’t want to knock her up want her dead. Eugenie handles a Glock as smoothly as she wields a wand, but she needs some formidable allies for a job like this. She finds them in Dorian, a seductive fairy king with a taste for bondage, and Kiyo, a gorgeous shape-shifter who redefines animal attraction. But with enemies growing bolder and time running out, Eugenie realizes that the greatest danger is yet to come, and it lies in the dark powers that are stirring to life within her…

My Take On This Book:
This book was recommended to me by a fellow shelf browser at Waterstones bookstore when I went on a retail therapy a few weeks back. It came very highly recommended so I bought it. Talk about gullible!

The story itself is not very original. If I have to give it a score, it’ll be a 1 out of 5. It smacks too much like a female Harry Dresden by Jim Butcher. Or, the same tattooed protagonist in Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs. Or Kate Daniels in the Magic series by Ilona Andrews, ring any bells? Cassandra Palmer? I could go on and on. So… originality? Hardly. But what makes me buy Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs and Ilona Andrews again and again even if they are not very original either? It’s the masterpiece story-telling quality! However this book’s story-telling quality is only about a 2 out of 5. Not very compelling at all. Plus the protagonist is just a shade this side of stupid.

About one third into the book and I just know who our protagonist’s father is. And guess what, I was right. It sort of deflates the suspense effect when one finds out one is right about the story.

The cover art is not bad. I would give it a 4 out of 5. The lightning and the wand appeals to the fantasy buff in me.

So, what have we got? A not very compelling story-telling quality, a story which is not very original at all and predictable to boot but good cover. Overall, I would give this book an entertainment value of 2 out of 5. Would I read another Richelle Mead? I would like to say no, but I already have a few of her books. But if ever I would read a Richelle Mead which I don't already own at this point in time, I’d borrow from the library than buy it.
Cherry’s Rating: 2 out of 5 cherries

Buy Link:

PURPLE LOVE

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:47:00 +0000

Do you think we are having a bit of a purple love lately with the book cover art department?

Is it becoming a 2010 thing? Is this an emerging trend?
What do you think?

THE FRIDAY 56 : CHARMED ANTHOLOGY

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Closest book: Charmed Anthology by Jayne Ann Krentz, et al.
P56, 5th sentence: (The fifth sentence is only the one in bold letters. But it is too skimpy to post only four letters so I decided to post the entire paragraph.)

He picked up his shirt and got to his feet. Anger washed through him. He was furious with himself. The loss of control had been inexcusable. He could only pray that he had not hurt her.

I have to admit it is quite tantalizing, those lines. Keeping in mind that this is a paranormal romance by Jayne Ann Krentz. Where our protagonists got married and no one died :)

Happy Friday!!!

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

THE GIFT

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:08:00 +0000

The Gift by Alison Croggon
Book 1 of the Pellinor series

Genre: epic fantasy

About This Book:
The Gift, otherwise published as The Naming:

In the classic spirit of epic fantasy comes this glittering saga of a young girl who learns she possesses an uncanny gift—and is destined to use it to save her world from a terrifying evil.

Maerad is a slave in a desperate and unforgiving settlement, taken there as a child when her family is destroyed in war. She doesn’t yet know she has inherited a powerful gift, one that marks her as a member of the noble School of Pellinor and enables her to see the world as no other can. It is only when she is discovered by Cadvan, one of the great Bards of Lirigon, that her true identity and extraordinary destiny unfold. Now, she and her mysterious teacher must embark on a treacherous, uncertain journey through a time and place where the forces of darkness wield an otherworldly terror.

The first book in a projected quartet, Alison Croggon’s epic about Maerad and her remarkable yet dangerous gift is a beautiful, unforgettable tale. Presented as a new translation of an ancient text, The Naming evokes the rich and complex landscape of Annar, a legendary world just waiting to be discovered.

Source: Info in the About This Book was taken from the series's website at http://booksofpellinor.com/pellinor/index.html on 04/03/2010.

My Take On This Book:
The Pelinor series was originally published as a trilogy. Then by the end of the third book, titled The Crow, the story has no ending! I was fit to be tied!! I was so mad!! What kind of story gets published without an ending?!! Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time obviously (that's not a compliment). It was a few years after The Crow was released, before the last book, titled The Singing, that the end the story was published. The fourth book in a trilogy! By then I have forgotten what went on in the first three books. And that took a lot of the pleasure in my journey with Maerad and Cadvan... which is a pitty! Because the story-telling quality is one of those rarely compelling ones where the author totally takes you away to another world! I could feel the wind on my face, the tiredness in Maerad's bones, the joy in the bards' song... simply, a 5 out of 5.

Cherry's Rating: 5 out of 5 cherries

If you have a review of this book and/or series, you can link your review with us by entering it in the MrLinky below and enable readers to have access to different point of views.

MAGYK

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:59:00 +0000

Magyk by Angie Sage
Book 1 of the Septimus Heap series

Caption At The Back Cover:

Evil necromancer DomDaniel is plotting his comeback. Having 'executed' the most daringly ruthless part of his plan, one obstacle remains. But this obstacle, although small, is proving to be a challenge, and DomDaniel is not fond of challenges he hasn't created personally. They tend not to live for long... unless, that is, they happen to be a member of the Heap family.

Let the Magyk, Mayhem and incredible chase begin in this spellbinding adventure filled with cunning, deception and wonderful characters.

Genre: Children's Fantasy.

My Take On This Book:
'Kiddie book' which is a reading pleasure for adults as well.

If you are looking for something "academically correct masterpiece", this is probably not your book. But if you are looking for a good read just for the heck of enjoying one, you might just want to pick this one up.

This is the first book of the Septimus Heap series. Tells about the story of the poor but magical Heap family in a kingdom beside a forest. Septimus was stolen at birth by the midwife but the midwife's baby boy was mistakenly taken by the evil sorcerer instead of Septimus. 11 years later Septimus found his family again but its not a happy ever after but a struggle against evil. Of course the story was not as straightforward as that. It has twists and turns that makes this book an enjoyable read on a lazy Sunday morning.

Cherry's Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries

Buy Link:

BLOG HOP

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:49:00 +0000

WISHLIST: THAW

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Ruth's diary is the new novel by Fiona Robyn, called Thaw. She has decided to blog the novel in its entirety over the next few months, so you can read it for free.

Ruth's first entry is below, and you can continue reading tomorrow here.

These hands are ninety-three years old. They belong to Charlotte Marie Bradley Miller. She was so frail that her grand-daughter had to carry her onto the set to take this photo. It’s a close-up. Her emaciated arms emerge from the top corners of the photo and the background is black, maybe velvet, as if we’re being protected from seeing the strings. One wrist rests on the other, and her fingers hang loose, close together, a pair of folded wings. And you can see her insides.

The bones of her knuckles bulge out of the skin, which sags like plastic that has melted in the sun and is dripping off her, wrinkling and folding. Her veins look as though they’re stuck to the outside of her hands. They’re a colour that’s difficult to describe: blue, but also silver, green; her blood runs through them, close to the surface. The book says she died shortly after they took this picture. Did she even get to see it? Maybe it was the last beautiful thing she left in the world.

I’m trying to decide whether or not I want to carry on living. I’m giving myself three months of this journal to decide. You might think that sounds melodramatic, but I don’t think I’m alone in wondering whether it’s all worth it. I’ve seen the look in people’s eyes. Stiff suits travelling to work, morning after morning, on the cramped and humid tube. Tarted-up girls and gangs of boys reeking of aftershave, reeling on the pavements on a Friday night, trying to mop up the dreariness of their week with one desperate, fake-happy night. I’ve heard the weary grief in my dad’s voice.

So where do I start with all this? What do you want to know about me? I’m Ruth White, thirty-two years old, going on a hundred. I live alone with no boyfriend and no cat in a tiny flat in central London . In fact, I had a non-relationship with a man at work, Dan, for seven years. I’m sitting in my bedroom-cum-living room right now, looking up every so often at the thin rain slanting across a flat grey sky. I work in a city hospital lab as a microbiologist. My dad is an accountant and lives with his sensible second wife Julie, in a sensible second home. Mother finished dying when I was fourteen, three years after her first diagnosis. What else? What else is there?

Charlotte Marie Bradley Miller. I looked at her hands for twelve minutes. It was odd describing what I was seeing in words. Usually the picture just sits inside my head and I swish it around like tasting wine. I have huge books all over my flat; books you have to take in both hands to lift. I’ve had the photo habit for years. Mother bought me my first book, black and white landscapes by Ansel Adams. When she got really ill, I used to take it to bed with me and look at it for hours, concentrating on the huge trees, the still water, the never-ending skies. I suppose it helped me think about something other than what was happening. I learned to focus on one photo at a time rather than flicking from scene to scene in search of something to hold me. If I concentrate, then everything stands still. Although I use them to escape the world, I also think they bring me closer to it. I’ve still got that book. When I take it out, I handle the pages as though they might flake into dust.

Mother used to write a journal. When I was small, I sat by her bed in the early mornings on a hard chair and looked at her face as her pen spat out sentences in short bursts. I imagined what she might have been writing about; princesses dressed in star-patterned silk, talking horses, adventures with pirates. More likely she was writing about what she was going to cook for dinner and how irritating Dad’s snoring was.

I’ve always wanted to write my own journal, and this is my chance. Maybe my last chance. The idea is that every night for three months, I’ll take one of these heavy sheets of pure white paper, rough under my fingertips, and fill it up on both sides. If my suicide note is nearly a hundred pages long, then no-one can accuse me of not thinking it through. No-one can say; ‘It makes no sense; she was a polite, cheerful girl, had everything to live for’, before adding that I did keep myself to myself. It’ll all be here. I’m using a silver fountain pen with purple ink. A bit flamboyant for me, I know. I need these idiosyncratic rituals; they hold things in place. Like the way I make tea, squeezing the tea-bag three times, the exact amount of milk, seven stirs. My writing is small and neat; I’m striping the paper. I’m near the bottom of the page now. Only ninety-one more days to go before I’m allowed to make my decision. That’s it for today. It’s begun.

Continue reading tomorrow here...

WINNER OF FEBRUARY VALENTINE

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 12:15:00 +0000

And the winner of the FEBRUARY VALENTINE is.......

Juju of Tales Of Whimsy!

Congratulations!! to our winner who got the chocolates and her choice of book as she specified in the entry form.

Juju, your chocolates and Stupid Cupid by Rhonda Stapleton is on it's way to you.

THE FRIDAY 56: STORM BORN

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Closest book: Storm Born by Richelle Mead
P56, 5th sentence:

I don't know what look was on my face, but he smiled at me.

Happy Friday everybody!!

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

WISHLIST: BROKEN

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:35:00 +0000

WISHLIST: Broken by Shiloh Walker
Book 2 of Fragile series.

Shattered

Quinn Rafferty is working as a bounty hunter and bail bondsman in St. Louis when a new neighbor catches his eye. He’s tempted by her beauty—but he knows from experience that anyone desperate enough to live in his building is damaged goods. Besides, he has his own soul to mend before he can worry about anyone else.

Desperate

Sara Davis is on the run, but not for the usual reasons a woman goes on the lam. She’s not an abused wife, and she’s not a criminal. But she does have a plan for her future. And as much as she finds herself attracted to her gruff, tough neighbor, she can’t risk telling him the secrets she’s hiding. There’s just too much at stake.

Driven to desire…

But Quinn must get closer to Sara when she turns out to be the target of his new missing persons case, and he discovers that there is something more complex and dangerous to her than he thought. Now, both Quinn and Sara will have to expose their true feelings—as well as their fragile hearts—if they hope their love will survive…

EXCERPT
He opened the door—

And stopped dead in his tracks as somebody all but fell into his arms. Somebody…a woman. And not Theresa.

He caught her just above her elbows, automatically steadying her.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice soft and low.

Then she lifted her face and Quinn found himself gazing into the biggest, brownest eyes he’d ever seen in his life. Feeling a little dazed, he studied her face while she stammered out another apology.

Quinn barely heard it.

He was too busy staring at her mouth. A very pretty mouth, a cupid’s bow mouth slicked with deep, vibrant red. Under his hands, he could feel silken smooth skin and unable to resist, he stroked a thumb along her inner arm.

Her skin was soft, soft and warm. He was also pretty sure she had the creamiest, most flawless skin imaginable. Her shoulder-length hair was a shade caught between blonde and brown, nondescript, but for some reason, he found himself thinking about tangling his fingers in that hair and holding her head still while he kissed that red-slicked mouth.

Well, hello…

read more...

Buy Link:

NAKED DRAGON

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:00:00 +0000

Naked Dragon by Annette Blair

Genre: urban fantasy romance

About This Book:

A WORKS LIKE MAGICK NOVEL

In Salem, human magick has thinned the veil between the planes to a permeable mist, forming a portal into the city, allowing time travelers and chameleons of the universe to enter there.

Bastian Dragonelli, once a Roman warrior turned dragon, is the first of his legion to be returned to earth, a man. So his brothers can also be saved and sent to earth, Bastian must reclaim the magick of Andra, Goddess of Hope, who sacrificed hers to transform him. He must seek his heart mate and make her quest his own. But the dark, powerful Killian, Sorceress of Chaos, who turned his legion into dragons and skewed his transition back into a man, is hot on his heels.

McKenna Greylock, the last non-magickal descendant of Ciarra, a witch who survived Salem's hanging times, needs a jack-of-all-trades to help turn her dilapidated Victorian into a bed and breakfast so she doesn't lose her home and her family's centuries-old legacy.

Enter McKenna's cousin, Vivica Quinlan, Ciarra's most magickal descendent, owner of the Works Like Magick Employment Agency. Vivica has a gift for matching human employers with magickal employees. Like Ciarra before her, Vivica knows when magickal supernatural ancients are about to arrive. She greets them and acclimates them to life, and to making a living, in Salem.

Besides Killian's threatening presence, Bastian's life is also complicated by McKenna, his guardian dragon, a troublemaking fairy, and a case of culture shock. Bastian also has a problem with his man lance. It won't behave at all the way he remembered it should. Not at all...

Source: Info in the About This Book was taken from the author's website at http://www.annetteblair.com/story_of_story.htm on 01/02/10.

My Take On This Book:
The cover art was not so very inviting, I'd say in the marketing grid this would earn a 3 out of 5. The story itself is quite good, I'd give it a 4 out of 5. The story telling quality is not very compelling but still, I enjoyed the book. I'd give it a 3 out of 5. The ending somehow lost steam but still it closed the story very nicely while starting the next book without being a cliffhanger. I would give it a 4 out of 5. Overall, I would say this book is a 3.5 out of 5.

Cherry's Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries

Buy Link:

SNEAK PEEK: APRIL CONTEST

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:45:00 +0000

Let me show you what is up for grabs in April:

The entire Study series by Maria V. Snyder!! Yes my dear, one lucky follower is going to get a brand spanking new set of the Study series!!!! I'm so excited I couldn't keep quiet about it!!! Now, if by the end of April, I get 500 followers, there will be two winners! The more followers the more winners. I have 3 sets in all to be given away sitting in my shelves at the moment!! One set is read though, so that is not brand new anymore. And I will get more if we are having more winners :) The April contest will run for the entire month of April and winner to be announced in May. Same rules. Open only to followers of Cherry Mischievous via the Google Friend Connect and/or CherryD community. Doing both will get you 10 extra entries. Extra entries will increase your chances of winning. Open to international readers. Each winner to get an entire set of the Study trilogy. If you have won before in one of my contests, it does not mean you cannot win again, so please do not hesitate to enter the contest if you would like your chance to get a free Study trilogy copy! And then the Disclaimer of course. The registration form will go live in April. The cover for Magic Study though is not the same as the one in the pic above. I couldn't get a pic of the cover of the ones I have. I need to take a photo of it with my camera. I will, when I get around to it :) ...just wonderin'... I don't know why they would want to put somebody there with a big nose. Yelena was never described as having a big nose :O

So... watch this space!

THE FRIDAY 56: THE SIX SACRED STONES

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Closest book: The Six Sacred Stones by Matthew Reilly
P59, 5th sentence: (Page 56 happens to be a blank page. Page 55 only has two lines in it being the end of not just a chapter but a "section" of the story followed by drawings... So I picked the next page with proper sentences in it, which is page 59.)

It is the most recognized structure of the most modern Arab nation on Earth, the United Arab Emirates.

Happy Friday!!!

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:03:00 +0000

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Caption At The Cover Sleeve:

There were no surprises in Gatlin County. At least, that's what I thought. Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.

There was a curse. There was a girl. And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even with the overgrown gardens, murky swamps, and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

Genre: teen paranormal romance

My Take On This Book:
Cliffhanger Ending!

I like the humor in the story lines. Chapter one, and the book had me giggling on my lunch break with everybody giving me looks in the staff room. I think that earned the story-telling quality a 4 out of 5. The story itself even if it is not terribly original is quite captivating. The authors has seemlessly blended modern day teen culture with paranormal fantasy that as a reader I could believe in. If I have to grade the "suspension of disbelief" for this story I will have to give it a 4.5 out of 5. The ending however is a cliffhanger. Although the ending did close the book nicely, it is also the beginning of the next book. Gave the impression that the whole book is just chapter one of a bigger book. That deserved a 2 out of 5. The cover art? It could do better. I have seen this book for sometime now in the blogosphere but ignored it for a few months just because I do not find the cover attractive to my fantasy reader's eyes. The art department who did this cover needs to be fired. In a marketing graph, this cover art would be a 1 out of 5. Overall, I would give this book an entertainment value of 3.5.

Cherry's Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries

Buy Link:

POST AMENDMENT: 07 Mar 2010
If you have a review of this book and/or series, you can link your review with us by entering it in the MrLinky below and enable readers to have access to different point of views.

WINNER OF SHADES OF MIDNIGHT

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0000

And the winner of Shades Of Midnight by Lara Adrian (Book 7 of the Midnight Breed (MB) series) is.......

Wings!

Congratulations to our winner!

Wings, please contact me at mischivus101-contsgiveaways [at] yahoo [dot] com. You have 1 week to do so before your prize is forfeit.

PYJAMA POLICE CENTRAL

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:00:00 +0000

Tesco Pyjama Ban
Recently it has been widely reported that Tesco is implementing a pyjama ban on their customers. You cannot wear pyjama to shop at Tesco anymore! (As reported by BBC, The Telegraph, The Guardian, Daily Mail, etc.)

Now, The Sun's article has a slightly different angle about it: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/2831701/Tesco-ad-turns-jim-jam-ban-into-sham.html

What is your opinion regarding supermarkets implementing dress codes? Is Tesco right or is it just pyjama police central gone mad? Fashion statement?

I do shop at Tesco as you can see on some of the pictures of the books I reviewed, they have Tesco stamps on them, i.e., Seven Ancient Wonders, Hush Hush. But I do not wear my PJ to do my shopping. By the way, just FYI for international readers, Tesco is a UnitedKingdom-based supermarket, known as one of the biggest retail giants in the UK.

On the side, it is interesting to check out the Pyjama Country:
One news article says that it'll cost a lot of money, never mind time, to convince Beijingers to abandon their pyjamas as streetwear: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/HE26Ad01.html

Another article tackles cultural differences: http://app1.chinadaily.com.cn/star/2002/0606/cu18-1.html

The pyjama fashion trend is viewed to be such a problem that the government wasted valuable time and resources in cracking down on the pyjama fashion trend:
• http://www.chinadaily.net/china/09tentopnews/2009-12/30/content_9242670.htm
• http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/2009-11/06/content_8921796.htm
• http://www.chinadaily.net/opinion/2009-11/04/content_8910053.htm
• http://www.chinahush.com/2009/10/31/shanghai-government-requests-residents-not-wearing-pajamas-in-public/

CONTEST:
Just for fun, we will have a contest :)
Answer the question(s): Which country is known to be the pyjama police central? Or which country do you think deserves the title pyjama police central? Put whatever interpretation you want on the subject and tell me your views in a comment with this post. Then register HERE. You have to do both (comment here and register in the form) to enter this contest.

This is our monthly contest for the month of March which I am posting early. Okey, okey, crazily early... so....

What will you get for taking the time to think about your answer(s) to the contest question(s)? Winner to get his/her choice of book from the following list:

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Need by Carrie Jones
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Shiver by Maggie Stievater
City Of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Remember folks we need an email address to let you know if you won. But you do not have to give your email address in your comment, put it in the entry form so you do not get spammed.

You have to be a follower of Cherry Mischievous blog and/or CherryD member to enter the contest. Being both will gain you 5 extra entries. Please tell me if you are in your comment here so that I will not forget to give you your extra entries.

Contest is international and ends on March 31.

Questions? Ask! Shoot us an email (mischivus101-contsgiveaways [at] yahoo [dot] com). Please write PYJAMA POLICE CENTRAL in the subject line.
Please see the Disclaimer as this forms part of the contest rules.

WISHLIST: LINGER

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 19:20:00 +0000

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love -- the light and the dark, the warm and the cold -- in a way you will never forget.

Comes out in stores everywhere July 20th. Pre-order here.

Enter to win an advanced review copies of LINGER, Sisters Red, The Dead-Tossed Waves, and The Replacement on Maggie's blog.

Win ARCs of Linger plus other swags at Maggie Stiefvater's blog! Some sections of the contest is open to international participants and some are for US/Canada only. Ends on Feb 21.

Contest Link: Click here to go to the contest.

HAPPY VALENTINES!

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 12:25:00 +0000

HAPPY VALENTINES everybody!!

THE FRIDAY 56: BEAUTIFUL CREATURES

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Closest book: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
P56, 5th sentence:

Lena looked down into the lines of her notebook, but didn't say a word.

POISON STUDY GIVEAWAY

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:16:00 +0000

Win another new copy of Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder!

Contest is open to international readers and ends on April 16.

To Enter: Register HERE.

Contest Particulars:
•You have to be a Cherry Mischievous follower via Google Friend Connect to enter the contest.
•There will only be one winner.
•Open to international readers.
•Contest ends on April 16, 2010.
•If this contest is not in concordance to your local legislations, it is up to you to follow your local rules.
•You must have a valid snail mail address and email address to enter this contest. We need the snail mail address to send the book(s) and/or prizes to. We need the email addy to get in touch with you.
•Please read the Disclaimer as it forms part of the contest rules.
•Questions? Ask! Shoot us an email (mischivus101-candg [at] yahoo [dot] com). Please write POISON STUDY GIVEAWAY in the subject line.

THE LIGHTNING THIEF

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Another one I'm looking forward to watching this year! Due to be released this Feb :)

Trailer 1:

Trailer 2:

AMAZONFAIL

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:06:00 +0000

I came across this highly combustible topic about a pissing contest between amazon and macmillan.

What it is essentially is that amazon pulled out of their inventory all macmillan books over the weekend. So if you are a buyer, one minute your book is there, the next your book(s) is not in your basket anymore. If you are a macmillan author, that means the public cannot buy your book from one of the biggest online bookseller. If you have a book release, you are screwed.

I think John has some valid points there and he did admit that he is not subjective in this matter as an author whose books got pulled out of the market by one of the biggest online bookseller. What do you think?

Below is a quote of John's issues:

Leaving aside the moral, philosophical, cultural and financial implications of this weekend’s Amazon/Macmillan slapfight and What It All Means for book readers and the future of the publishing industry, in one very real sense the whole thing was an exercise in public communications, a process by which two very large companies made a case for themselves in the public arena. And in this respect, we can say this much without qualification: oh, sweet Jesus, did Amazon ever hump the bunk.

How did it do so? I’m glad you asked! Let us count the ways.

1. The Stealth Delisting. Look: Wiping out roughly a sixth of your own bookstore product inventory, even temporarily, is one hell of a dramatic statement. If Amazon had given it any sort of rational or at least tactical thought, they could have played it up for all it was worth, starting with strategically-placed rumors to trusted, sympathetic media about the behind-the-scenes struggle with Macmillan, which would build to a more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger corporate decision to put Amazon shoppers first and to stand up to Macmillan, followed by the announcement of a public deadline for the delisting of Macmillan product to highlight the struggle, with a notation that all orders placed before that deadline would of course be honored (hint, hint), and so on. Basically, all sorts of public gamesmanship designed to put the pressure on Macmillan and to make it look like the bad guy. And in the meantime the media would be all abuzz with What It All Means. What drama! What excitement! What corporate theater. Amazon could have spun this its way for a week.

But no. Instead, we got the Foot-Stompingly Petulant Friday Night Massacre: One minute the books were there, the next they weren’t. And everyone was left going “huh?” Was it a hardware glitch? Was it a software bug? Was it a terrorist act in which renegade Amish attacked Amazon’s server farm and poured jugs of hard cider into the machines, shorting out the ones holding Macmillan’s vasty inventory? No! It was one corporate entity having a big fat hissy fit at another corporate entity, and everyone had to figure out what the hell was going on the weekend from bits and pieces that they found on the Internet, which was not easy to do. Which may have been Amazon’s plan all along: Kill every sixth book on your site, hope no one notices! Well played, Amazon, well played indeed.

2. Amazon Lost the Authors. Hey, you want to know how to piss off an author? It’s easy: Keep people from buying their books. You want to know how to really piss them off? Keep people from buying their books for reasons that have nothing to do with them. And you know how to make them absolutely incandescent with rage? Keep people from buying their books for reasons that have nothing to do with them, and keep it a surprise until it happens. Which, as it happens, is exactly what Amazon did. As a result: Angry, angry authors. Oh so very angry.

Amazon apparently forgot that when it moved against Macmillan, it also moved against Macmillan’s authors. Macmillan may be a faceless, soulless baby-consuming corporate entity with no feelings or emotions, but authors have both of those, and are also twitchy neurotic messes who obsess about their sales, a fact which Amazon should be well aware of because we check our Amazon numbers four hundred times a day, and a one-star Amazon review causes us to crush up six Zoloft and snort them into our nasal cavities, because waiting for the pills to digest would just take too long.

These are the people Amazon pissed off. Which was not a smart thing, because as we all know, the salient feature of writers is that they write. And they did, about this, all weekend long. And not just Macmillan’s authors, but other authors as well, who reasonably feared that their corporate parent might be the next victim of Amazon’s foot-stompery. Which brings us to the next point:

3. Amazon Lost the Author’s Fans. The interesting thing about the fans of authors: They feel somewhat connected to their favorite authors. So when their favorite authors kvetched on their blogs and Facebook pages and Twitter feeds about the screwing Amazon was giving them, what did many of these fans do? They also kvetched on their blogs and Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. So in pissing off a myriad of authors, Amazon also pissed off an exponential number of book readers, many of whom followed their favorite authors’ leads in complaining about Amazon, and who themselves were read and followed by an exponential number of others. Even on a weekend, the traditional slow time for the Internets, that’s a lot of pissed-off people.

So, two and a half days of the Internet being angry at Amazon. To be sure, there were people taking the side of Amazon, too. But those people lacked the social cohesion of an aggrieved class (writers) backed up by a mass of supporters — not to mention the relatively high profile of these writers online, which, if you were a journalist looking for reaction quotes while on deadline, made them the go-to sources.

Could Amazon have come out and given its side of the story? Sure, but it didn’t — not soon enough. First it let angry authors define the event, and then it let someone else, rather more damaging to them than the authors.

4. Amazon Let Macmillan Strike First in the Press Release War. Both Macmillan and Amazon took their time making statements, but Macmillan did its first, and when it did, it didn’t bother with any ol’ flack to make a statement — no, to underscore the significance of the event, it trotted out its CEO, John Sargent, who outlined in a calm and businesslike letter to his underlings (but presented as a paid ad in Publishers Lunch) the causes of the incident, as he saw them, and the issues at stake. The letter took time to praise Amazon but also did some interesting rhetorical heavy lifting — for example, labeling Amazon a “customer” of Macmillan rather than a “partner,” which is a fun corporate way of jamming Amazon into an ecological niche it probably would prefer not to be in.

Bloggers and journalists updated their posts and stories to include Sargent’s letter, launching another round of discussion and criticism online, largely at Amazon’s expense — not only because Macmillan was now shaping the rhetoric of the discussion, but because Amazon remained silent, offering no official version of the events for another full day. And when it did:

5. Amazon Flubbed Its Own Response. When Amazon responded, it was not via a letter or comment from Jeff Bezos, or some other major Amazon executive, or the head of Amazon’s publicity and marketing department, or even Amazon’s winter PR intern — no, Amazon’s initial reponse was an Amazon forum post from “The Amazon Kindle Team.” Which is to say, an unsigned comment from unspecified people, not in senior management, tucked away in a backwater of the Amazon site.

And not only a forum comment, but a mystifyingly silly one: the bit in the comment about Amazon having no choice but to back down in the fight because “Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles” was roundly mocked by authors, some of whom immediately started agitating against Amazon’s “monopoly” of the Kindle, or noted how terrible it was that Nabisco had a “monopoly” on Oreos.

Think on this for a minute, won’t you. Think about the disparity of corporate responses here. Macmillan issued a detailed statement from its CEO discussing the event and his company’s reasons and rationales for acting as it did. Amazon issued an unsigned forum comment written by someone who is apparently a little shaky on Macmillan’s relationship to its own product. Now, which of these two corporate responses seems most appropriate, given the gravity of the situation? Which of these responses appears to be the work of a company that understands what it’s doing on a corporate level and why? Which of these responses, in short, appears to be the work of actual adults?

But enough fiddling with all this inside pool! In the real world, no one actually gives a good healthy squirt about points one through five. So let’s trot out the real, actual stupid thing Amazon did:

6. Amazon Destroyed Its Own Consumer Experience, Without Explanation, For Several Days. Note to Amazon: Real people do not give a shit about your fight with Macmillan. Real people want to buy things. When your store takes them to a product page on which they cannot buy the thing on the page, they will not say to themselves, “Hmm, I wonder if Amazon is having a behind-the-scenes struggle with the publisher of this title, of which this is the fallout. I shall sympathize with them in this byzantine struggle of corporate titans.” What they will say is “why can’t I buy this fucking book?” Because, you know, they are there to buy that fucking book. And when you don’t let them buy that fucking book, they aren’t going to blame Macmillan. They are going to blame you.

Honestly, now, Amazon: Even if your weekends are slower sales times than your weekdays, how many times over the weekend was a customer not able to buy something they wanted to buy from Amazon? I’m guessing a lot. Do you think any of the frustration, irritation and anger for that is going to accrue to Macmillan? Seriously? Because, remember, you didn’t actually tell the public why you were doing what you were doing for two whole days, and when you did, you buried the explanation down a hole, where no normal person would find it. Do you think all of your customers read author blogs and Twitter feeds? Do you think they are imbued with some sort of corporate Spidey-sense that lets them know when you and a publisher are going after each other with hammers?

No, you silly, silly people! When they can’t buy something on Amazon, what they will think is Amazon is broken. And they would be right. It was. Because you broke it. Intentionally. For days.

(Oh, and: don’t even try the “they could buy from third party vendors” line with me. If you really believed people would, you wouldn’t have left it as an option.)

And all of this is why a final, ironic bit of Amazon fail will come to pass:

7. Because Of the Idiotic Events of This Weekend, People Will Just Want an iPad Even More. Again, Amazon: Well played. Well played indeed.

Source: Above quote was taken from http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/02/01/all-the-many-ways-amazon-so-very-failed-the-weekend/ on 06/02/10.

THE FRIDAY 56: NAKED DRAGON

mischivusfairy-cherrymischievousprofile@yahoo.com (Cherry) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Closest book: Naked Dragon by Annette Blair
P56, 5th sentence:

You give the orders.

The 5th sentence in page 56 (above) is a bit too short so I'm adding the following sentence on my F56 today (same book) even though it is not on page 56:

"McKenna Greylock," Bastian said. "I have in my shorts one resourceful, multitalented, prehensile dragon lance. And, in its own magnificent way, it very nearly does breathe fire."

I love that sentence :)

Happy Friday!!!

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.