Waiting on Wednesday #10

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by breakingthespine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's most anticipated book is:

Unspoken

Author: Sarah Rees Brennan

Release Date: September 11th, 2012

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers 

Hardcover: 370 Pages

Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met . . . a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn’t silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outsider in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn’t suffered too much from not fitting in. She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head.

But all that changes when the Lynburns return.

The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami is not one to shy away from the unknown—in fact, she’s determined to find answers for all the questions Sorry-in-the-Vale is suddenly posing. Who is responsible for the bloody deeds in the depths of the woods? What is her own mother hiding? And now that her imaginary friend has become a real boy, does she still love him? Does she hate him? Can she trust him?

After reading the book description for Unspoken, I found myself thinking about it. When this happens, I know for sure that I will love the novel!

What are you guys waiting on this Wednesday?

Review: Where It Began by Ann Redisch Stampler

Release Date: March 6th, 2012
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse

Sometimes the end is just the beginning.
Gabby lived under the radar until her makeover. Way under. But when she started her senior year as a blonder, better-dressed version of herself, she struck gold: Billy Nash believed she was a the flawless girl she was pretending to be. The next eight months with Billy were bliss...Until the night Gabby woke up on the ground next to the remains of his BMW without a single memory of how she got there.
And Billy's nowhere to be found.
All Gabby wants is to make everything perfect again. But getting her life back isn't difficult, it's impossible. Because nothing is the same, and Gabby's beginning to realize she's missed more than a few danger signs along the way.
It's time for Gabby to face the truth, even if it means everything changes.
Especially if it means everything changes.  (Summary taken from Goodreads)


The cover of Where It Began instantly lured me in. It's gorgeous and I'm a sucker for pretty covers. Furthermore the summary sounds really interesting. I am not a big fan of contemporary novels, therefore I don't read many in this genre, however the book description intrigued me and I couldn't wait to find out more about the story and its characters. Unfortunately Where It Began has one really deceiving cover.


After a car accident, Gabby finds herself in the hospital with no recollection of how she got there. The only thing she can think about is her boyfriend, Billy. But oddly enough he is the only one who doesn't call or even visits. She finds out that she was in a car accident because she was driving drunk and to make matters worse, it was her stolen boyfriend's car she wrecked. After spending a lot of time in the hospital, Gabby is allowed to go home. We get to experience Gabby trying to not go to jail and most important: to be Billy's girlfriend again.


Where It Began had potential to be much better. The plot was actually great if not for the completely awful characters. If I think about it: a girl in a car accident with no recollection of it trying to put her life back together, that actually sounds really good, right?! But the problem was that the main character was only focused on Billy. Her goal was to be Billy's girlfriend again and that's it. The novel only began to pick up in the end but then I wasn't interested anymore.


Gabby was one of the worst main characters to set an example to others. She is insecure, completely dependent of her boyfriend, naive in a bad-sort-of way and superficial. But maybe the superficial part comes from her mother and father who only care for Gabby's reputation so that she can date a rich guy, which will help help her family's business. Billy, the rich boyfriend, was a completely self-absorbed a-hole who played Gabby the whole time but still she hung on his every word. 


Where It Began simply didn't live up to my expectations. The plot is actually a good one but the characters were a completely let-down. The only thing that saved Where It Began from being worse was the ending, because Gabby finally does something right. With that said I can't recommend this novel to many people but if you do decide to read it, I hope you will enjoy it.

 

I was born in Connecticut, grew up mostly in Santa Barbara, and have lived my adult life in Los Angeles, where my novels (Where It Began is just the first; there are more on the way) are set. I believe with all my heart that people have every age they’ve ever been, and every feeling they’ve ever felt, in a rich, messy, mysterious place inside them. And when I dip into all that wonderful, old stuff, YA novels are what I come up with.   For more on Ann:  Website

Top Ten Books That Were Totally Deceiving

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish, and this week’s theme is “Top Ten Books That Were Totally Deceiving”.

1. Where It Began - Ann Redisch Stampler
 (Goodreads)

Even though I'm not a big fan of contemporary titles, Where It Began sounded really amazing. The problem: it only SOUNDED amazing. The gorgeous cover and the interesting summary were completely deceiving!

2. Fever - Lauren DeStefano
(Goodreads)

This one was deceiving but in a good way. The same can be said about Wither (the first in the series): the covers look kind of cheap. Even though the covers don't look that good, this series is one of my favorites!



 

3. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
(Goodreads)

While I would have picked up The Hunger Games just because of the amazing summary, the cover is not one that will lure you in. For one of the best books in the YA genre, I would have expected a more fitting cover: a fantastic cover for an unforgettable book!

4. Solstice - P.J. Hoover
(Goodreads)

I really loved this novel and in my opinion it deserved a better cover. Not that this one isn't pretty but I would love something more allurin so that more people would give this book more attention. The cover doesn't do this book justice.

5. Legend - Marie Lu
(Goodreads)

This cover is just too simple! Legend completely rocked my world but the cover just doesn't match this feeling!

6. Existence - Abbi Glines
(Goodreads)

This one didn't deceive because of the cover but because of the blurb around it. I read so many reviews saying only good things about Existence. So you can imagine that I was eager to get my hands on it. But it was a completely let-down for me.

7. Halo - Alexandra Adornetto
(Goodreads)

Cover lured me in but I wasn't even able to finish Halo. One of my biggest disappointments because I really don't like not finishing a novel.

8. Tempest - Julie Cross
(Goodreads)

When I first saw the cover I thought Tempest was about anything other than about time travel. Can you say this book cover screams time travel to you? Pretty cover, though.

I can't remember any more books that were so deceiving but if I think about any other, I will add later :)
Which books were deceiving to you too?! Leave me a link and I will check it out!