R2 TEAM THREAD: Team #1 The ONEders [THIRD PLACE]

[Laurielu]

I will read Shiver for the YA Fantasy Shelf.

[Christina (AKA Babbling)]

I'm going with:

[Thenia]

Damn, I finished Princess Academy by Shannon Hale a few hours before the shelf was announced!

Meh! I'll just have to find another ya-fantasy to read!

[Jen (jlkish)]

I'll be reading Mockingjay for YA-Fantasy.

[Laura Lulu]

I'm probably going to read for YA-fantasy. I need to finish my last monthly challenge book, but I should be done with that by tomorrow and I can start this sucker then. :)

[Sarah]

Wow we're already on the next shelf! Yikes! I'm going to finish River Marked tonight. I'm sorry I'm the slacker on the team it usually doesn't take me this long to finish books but I've had a lot going on recently.

[Sarah]

I'm going to read Haven by Kristi Cook for the YA fantasy shelf.

[Christina (AKA Babbling)]

My review...

Queen of Shadows by Dianne Sylvan 14 Mar 11 ★★★★★

I'm so glad I took a chance and read this book, I would have missed out meeting new characters and a new world.

The characters really made this book for me. Miranda was a strong character and I liked her a lot. And David. There still some mystery about him, and it looks like some of that will be addressed in the second book.

I loved Faith, David's Second. No-nonsense head of security, yet still has time to have girl talk with Miranda or nag David when necessary.

I like how the Shadow World is set up, with the primes in charge of regions. I hope we get to see more of the other Primes, especially Deven.

One of my favorite quotes:
"Everybody around here is just full of clever advice. It's like a house full of Goth Yodas." -- Miranda

[Diane ~Firefly~]

I just started for the ya-fantasy shelf.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Good luck, Ladies! Glad you enjoyed QoS, Christina! I loved that quote too. :)

Lots of picks for Hunger Games this shelf! Enjoy!

{Team Stats Updated}

[Diane ~Firefly~]

Finished Temping Fate on 3/27/11 and gave it 3 stars for the ya-fantasy shelf.

Review:
Fun, light YA novel with greek mythology. Ilana starts working for the Divine Relief Temp Agency without realizing it is temping agency for gods. Her assignment is to help the Fates. She is also dealing with her older sister's imminent wedding and feeling like an outsider.

What I enjoyed:
* The interactions with the gods (and seeing them have human problems).
* The other temps.
* Arachne.

What could have been better:
* I would have liked more interaction with her sister.
* Her parents were practically non-existent.
* It doesn't look like there is a sequel, and I enjoyed the characters and would have liked to have read more.
* (view spoiler)[The furies outrank the fates? (hide spoiler)]

[Thenia]

I read Winter's Passage by Julie Kagawa from ya-fantasy shelf. It's a novella but I hope it counts...

3 stars for this one.

Meghan and Ash's journey to the Winter court. Ash seems torn between duty and his feelings while Meghan finds herself bound by her promise.

Has its good moments but, not surprisingly, ends where the best part begins. I guess I'll have to read the next book to see what happens...

[Sarah]

I finally finished River Marked! :)



I really enjoyed this book because we got more background into Mercy's Indian heritage. I liked the new characters in the book and of course Stefan, Warren and Kyle. I felt like this one was shorter than the rest. We get more exclusive insight into Adam and Mercy and I have to say they are one of my favorite UF couples!

I gave it 4 stars.

[Diane ~Firefly~]

Thenia wrote: "I read Winter's Passage by Julie Kagawa from ya-fantasy shelf. It's a novella but I hope it counts...

3 stars for this one.

Meghan and Ash's journey to the Winter ..."

Thanks, Thenia. I didn't know about this and will have to find it and read before the next one.

[Laura Lulu]

Free Space - 6/8 completed


✔Laura Lulu Queen of Shadows finished March 20 ★★★
✔Laurie Shadow Game finished March 19 ★
✔Diane Pleasure Unbound finished March 6 ★★★
Lili Vamps and the City
✔Christina Queen of Shadows finished March 14 ★★★★★
Sarah Kitty and the Midnight Hour
✔Jen Shadowfever finished March 19 ★★★★
✔Thenia Magic Bleeds finished March 15 ★★★★★


Part-Of-A-Series, G1 - 8/8 completed - Stamp Awarded!
***announced March 5 - completed March 13***

✔Laura Lulu Unwind finished March 7 ★★★★★
✔Laurie Silver Borne finished March 12 ★★★★
✔Diane The Iron King finished March 8 ★★★
✔Lili Halfway to the Grave finished March 6 ★★★★★
✔Christina Paying the Virgin's Price finished March 12 ★★★★
✔Sarah The Dead-Tossed Waves finished March 12 ★★★★★
✔Jen Bonds of Justice finished March 8 ★★★★
✔Thenia Mockingjay finished March 6 ★★★★★


Shifters, I5 - 8/8 completed - Stamp Awarded!
***announced March 12 - completed March 27***

✔Laura Lulu Iron Crowned finished March 16 ★
✔Laurie A Certain Wolfish Charm finished March 14 ★★★
✔Diane The Demon You Know finished March 16 ★★★
✔Lili The Man Within finished March 17 ★★★
✔Christina Kitty and the Midnight Hour finished March 19 ★★★★
✔Sarah River Marked finished March 27 ★★★★
✔Jen Eat Prey Love finished March 23 ★★★★
✔Thenia Visions of Heat finished March 14 ★★★


Paranormal, G3 - 6/8 completed
***announced March 19***

✔Laura Lulu Song of Scarabaeus finished March 23 ★★★★
✔Laurie Dreamfever finished March 20 ★★★★
✔Diane Valley of Silence finished March 21 ★★★
Lili Guilty Pleasures
✔Christina Song of Scarabaeus finished March 23 ★★★★★
Sarah Prey
✔Jen Night Star finished March 21 ★★
✔Thenia Pleasure Unbound finished March 23 ★★★★


YA-Fantasy, G2 - 2/8 completed
***announced March 26***

Laura Lulu Tyger Tyger
Laurie Shiver
✔Diane Temping Fate finished March 27 ★★★
Lili
Christina The Hunger Games
Sarah Haven
Jen Mockingjay
✔Thenia Winter's Passage finished March 27 ★★★

[Laura Lulu]

Steph, we are ready for our Shifter stamp, please. :)

[Thenia]

Diane ~Firefly~ wrote: "Thanks, Thenia. I didn't know about this and will have to find it and read before the next one. "

No worries! You're not missing anything tremendous but I like reading everything in order so...

Shifter stamp! Way to go team!! :D

[Christina (AKA Babbling)]

YAY! :-D

[CyberAlmu]

Hey, congrats on the new stamp!!

BTW, I love when you updated your stats like this! I like seeing the ★'s next to the titles and add the 5★s to my TBR
Thanks for taking the time Laura Lulu!

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Laura Lulu wrote: "Steph, we are ready for our Shifter stamp, please. :)"

Congrats, ONEders! Consider yourselves stamped! I'll pop back soon to update your bingo card. YAY! :)
{Team Stats Updated}

[Steph, Serious series addict]

CONGRATULATIONS, ONEders!
You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'shifters'.

[Your new BINGO card can be viewed on page 1]

Good Job!! :D

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Hooray, ONEders!

[Laurielu]

Yay! We are rockin' down that bingo highway!

[Sarah]

Woohoo! Are we far behind other people? I'm also curious about the bingo cards. Does each group have a different card or are they all the same lay-out?

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Sarah, each card is unique, just like in a real game of Bingo. Otherwise it wouldn't matter which shelf was called.

[Sarah]

That's what I figured but then I thought that if one group was faster at reading than another, they would win. Thanks for clearing that up for me Sandra!

[Christina (AKA Babbling)]

Sarah wrote: "Woohoo! Are we far behind other people? I'm also curious about the bingo cards. Does each group have a different card or are they all the same lay-out?"

We may be a little behind in getting stamps, but other teams have a better line up of where their stamps sit on the cards based on what's been called so far -- if that makes sense. For instance, if "witches" is called next, at least one team will have four-in-a-row. If "time travel" is called, we'll have four-in-a-row. Once every one reads their "ya-fantasy" and "_paranormal" books, too. ;-)

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

If you want to have a look at each of the teams' bingo cards, they are on page 1 of each team's thread. You could even use it as motivation. LOL.

[Christina (AKA Babbling)]

Sandra wrote: "If you want to have a look at each of the teams' bingo cards, they are on page 1 of each team's thread. You could even use it as motivation. LOL."

I have a hand-drawn one taped up by my laptop at home. I think I might add the other teams as well, as a reminder. :-D

[Laurielu]

Hi everyone, I wanted to give you a heads up. I may be late in posting my review of Shiver for the YA shelf. There is a lot going on here with my step son getting married this weekend. I will post it by the beginning of next week if I do not get the review done by this weekend.

[Sarah]

I just finished Prey by Rachel Vincent. OMG! I don't even know where to begin. I'm still in shock over the whole thing! I'm really glad there is some sort of triangle between Marc, Faythe and Jace. I didn't really see one until this book because I saw Marc as the front runner leaving Jace in the dust. Then the ending! I'm so glad I have the next book in the series.

I gave it 4 stars.

[Laura Lulu]

Laurie, don't worry about it for a minute, and have an awesome time this weekend. :)

[Laura Lulu]

YA Fantasy

March 29 ★★★

I didn't go into this book expecting much, I find I'm not much a fan of the current crop of YA fae books. This one was better than most, but was still lacking. I liked the story, and the author's world building, especially the Mag Mell, but the characterization was lacking for me.

I liked that the main character, Teagan was not a TSTL, vapid teenager. She was smart and had goals for her life, and didn't act impulsively, which is pretty rare with a female protag in YA fantasy.

I liked Teagan's family, her parents were really great, especially her dorky librarian dad and her little brother Aidan. Granted, I think Aidan seemed a lot older than five, but I loved his "power", and he had some great lines.

I was excited when I saw this book was about goblins, but I shouldn't have been. The author just used the fae/sidhe and called them goblins. That doesn't make them goblins. You had your Highborns, and then your lower castes like bean-sidhe, cat-sidhe, sprites, etc. Some were more evil than others, but they all had the fae cruelty streak, or a least the mentality that humans are lesser. But again, nothing that I haven't read in other fae YA books--just changing their "class" name to goblins doesn't give you a new and different idea. Just a hook that falls short.

What fell flat for me in this book was the characterization. The characters were all likable--except Teagan's best friend, Abby. Why is the best friend always a bitch? Anyway, the characters were all likable, but there was nothing to love. They were very two-dimensional, there were so many times the author could have taken a scene/conversation/thought further by injecting some emotion, but that never happened. Lost opportunities, because I really wanted to love Teagan and Finn, but other than them being nice people and Finn being a hero, we never really got to know them.

For me, it was one of those books that I'm into while I'm reading it, but once I put it down I had not urge to pick it back up. It was just a nice story, but there was no "I'm dying to find out..." to it.

Oh, and another thing. Why do so many authors write about the "electricity" between two people? As I understand it, it's used to convey the excitement, adrenaline and elevated heart rate you get when someone you're attracted to is near. It doesn't really mean "electric", as in every time that person is near, you feel a shock and the hairs raise on your arms. So silly. How about instead of repeatedly telling us about this artificial physical reaction Teagan has to Finn, you instead show us the little moments and emotions that make two people fall in love? Novel idea, huh?

[Lili]

wooohoooo!
we got the shifter stamp!

Sandra,it looks like we're the ones holding our team back...we better get up to speed and FAST!

Sorry you guys, I got stuck with my Author of the month challenge book, The Cove by Catherine Coulter.. dear God, talk about an awful book!!
Hate the characters, the plot is not very interesting and just... ugh!, I have no idea how will I ever be able to finish it.

Anyway, I got 3 days off from work so I promise I'll get my books read this week... I'll even try to finish The Cove and then I'll happily throw it back in my dad's office where it should stay forever.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Lili, I so understand, there is not enough money to get me to read another Catherine Coulter book! Good luck :)

[Steph, Serious series addict]

@Laurie ~ Enjoy the wedding!

@Sarah ~ I almost boohoo'd reading that one. Hubby kept givin' me the "you're not seriously tearing over a book, are you?!" look. LOL!

@Laura ~ "instead show us the little moments and emotions that make two people fall in love? Novel idea, huh?" So simple, makes ya wonder. LOL!

@Lili ~ Poor thing! CC is not my cuppa either. Good luck pushin' through. I'm guessin' you'll be a 'D' since "C - Oh well, I tried. Definitely not my cup of tea" doesn't quite cover the nope, never again feeling? ;)

[Sarah]

Steph - My fiance knows better than to give me that look because I have cried multiple times over multiple books. I was not expecting anything that happened in that book to happen but on some level I'm glad it did and it makes me very excited for Shift.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

:) Hope you enjoy the rest of the series.

[Laurielu]

Thank you for the well wishes, Steph and Laura Lulu! I can't wait for the craziness to end. Counting the hours to Sunday when life should get back to normal.

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

Congrats to the happy couple! Hope everything goes off well!

[Jen (jlkish)]

For the YA Fantasy slot:

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins ****/5 03.23.11

When compared to the other 2 books in the trilogy, I have to admit this book was a little bit of a letdown. It just seemed to drag a bit, especially the first half of the book, but it was an enjoyable read. To be honest, after the first 2, I wasn't sure how the author was going to be able to end the trilogy in a way that satisfied everyone, but I think she did a really wonderful job with the ending.

[Sarah]

YA Fantasy shelf:



So I finished Haven last night and I have to say even though I gave it 4 stars it's really more of a 3.5 or 3.25 haha. I was very intrigued and anticipated the publication of this book but now I don't know why. I can't give away too much so I can't say what annoyed me the most because it seems to be pretty hush hush. I liked that Kristi Cook tried to make her story original and unique.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

{Team Stats Updated}

[Steph, Serious series addict]

OUR NEXT SHELF IS ..... 'demons'
DIRECT LINK: 'demons'

Happy Reading, Everyone!!

[Christina (AKA Babbling)]

I just started my YA book on Friday, so my "demons" book may change to something shorter if it takes me too long to finish (a Harlequin Nocturne, most likely).

I'll be reading

[Diane ~Firefly~]

After just reading two demon books last month, I was worried about finding something, but turns out I have over 30 books on the demons shelf. Of course, with so many choices it is harder to narrow down. So, I'm probably going to read one of these (after I finish my current book):

[Sarah]

Demons is a tough shelf. I'll have to look through my books and then decide.

[Sarah]

Okay that was quick all I had to do was go to the demons shelf to find what I'm going to read. Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione.

[Jen (jlkish)]

Once I finish the book I'm currently reading, I'll be reading Angelic by Kelly Armstrong for the Demons shelf.

[Thenia]

I'm reading The Darkest Night by Gena Showalter for Demons self and I'm sorry to say that I'm not too thrilled with it so far...