My First Competition!!

Guess what came in the mail today? -- actually the most books I have ever received, but I'll tell you what you may be more interested in. Four signed novels by Melina Marchetta that I'm going to be giving away to two (2) lucky people!

What books have I got up for grabs?

*Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta.

*Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta.

*On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta, (hardcover).

And for residents out of Australia this is a HUGE ARC.

*Finnkin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta.

The lovely Melina Marchetta was very kind and sent me all of these books! So a HUGE yay for Melina Marchetta!!

So, how's this competition working? Well, two lucky people will get two books each. The first person I draw out will win:

*Finnkin of the Rock & Looking for Alibrandi.

The second person I pick out will win:

*On the Jellicoe Road & Saving Francesca.

How do you enter? Well, to enter all you have to do is comment on this post and leave your email address, extra entry's will be given if:

*You were a follower before this competition started that gets you three (3) extra entry's, (but you need to comment on this post so I know that you're interested).

*If you sign up to follow my blog then I will give you two (2) extra entry's.

*Another entry will be given if you comment on Melina Marchetta's interview that will posted in the next couple of days

*You will be given five (5) entry's if you advertise this competition on your blog (side bar is fine).

(Make sure you comment and tell me so that you don't miss out on your entry's).

This part is going to be tricky, as the competition is international YES INTERNATIONAL (seeing as if it wasn't I'd probably be sending the books to myself...) and all of our times are different. The competition will end roughly on Tuesday the 9th of December at midnight, so if you're north of the equator I'm guessing that it'll be Monday over there, so I'll post when the competition has officially ended to clear up confusion about the end of the competition.

Winners will be drawn and announced sometime Wednesday the 10th of December (my time) Tuesday your time. I'll post the winners on the blog and email them, they'll have two days to get in contact with me, if they don't, sadly enough, then I will draw out new winners.

I have read all of these books and can tell you that each and everyone of them is awesome. The review for Finnkin of the Rock can be found here and the review for Saving Francesca can be found here.

If this information has seriously confused you, email me at the address at the top of the page.

Well, good-luck!

--Allie.

Dear Everybody by Michael Kimball

“Jonathan left all of these fragments behind and I have tried to put them back together in some kind of order. I hope that this hold him together”.

Rating: 5/5.

Summary:Jonathon Bender had something to say, but the world wouldn’t listen. That’s why he writes letters to everybody he has ever known—including his mother and father, his brother and other relatives, his childhood friends and neighbors, the Tooth Fairy, his classmates and teachers, his psychiatrists, his ex-girlfriends and his ex-wife, the state of Michigan, a television station, and a weather satellite. Taken together, these unsent letters tell the remarkable story of Jonathon’s life.

Review:My mum arrived home with a bag of books from her book club, out of curiosity I picked through the pile and that is where I found this wonderful novel. The first pages had me hooked and when I really got into this book there was no going back. It’s not like anything I’ve ever read before.
The book is written very differently, not using the traditional third or first person but letter form, with a collation of articles, excerpts from Jonathan’s eulogy and his mother’s diary and conversations between Robert and people who knew Jonathan.
This is a tragic story about abuse and suicide and how the victims deal with it. The letters are hard hitting, at some points throughout the novel I was gasping at what Jonathan had written.

“Dear Grandma and Grandpa Winters,
Thank-you for giving me the Etch-a-Sketch for my seventh birthday. I liked drawing with it better then drawing on the walls, but I always felt sick when I shook it and everything on it’s magic screen disappeared. It reminded me how my dad would grab me by both of my shoulders and shake me until everything went blank inside me too”.

Jonathan was very easy to love because he was so blunt and sweet, very sweet and that really just made you a little sadder. What I really liked about Jonathan was that when he wrote the letters to his abusive father you could tell by how he wrote them that he was like: stuff it. He never searched for approval from his father, he knew that he didn’t like him and he didn’t try and change that. His brother Robert on the other hand was a lot harder to like, he was in denial about everything and would make awful comments about his brother and didn’t seem to really care.

Jonathan’s mother Alice was tortured character who was frightened and it was hard not to feel the deepest sympathy for her. I hated his father, some conversations between Robert and Tom (the father) would make you feel sick, he treated Jonathan so badly.
The book leaves you with a lot of unanswered questions and depending on which characters you like and trust will leave you with your own opinion on whether what Jonathan was saying was true or false.
The story does a great job of showing Jonathan’s mental illness, Sara (his ex-wife) explains a lot of what happened to Jonathan in a very personal manner and really makes you seem like you were there.
The story was hauntingly real, the characters, the plot, the reactions, the circumstances.
It’s a quick and enjoyable read and it ends very abruptly.

I’m giving this novel five out of five, it was so dark (though not disturbing) yet touching, I loved reading this novel and would recommend it to anyone, especially fans of darker writers.

--Allie.

Also, stay tuned because in the next couple of days I will be posting my interview with Melina Marchetta (how exciting!) and giving out the information about my first contest!

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You by Ally Carter.

"I suppose a lot of teenage girls feel invisible sometimes, like they just disappear. Well that's me - Cammie the Chameleon. But I'm luckier then most because, at my school, that's considered cool."

Rating: 2/5

Summary:Gallagher Academy is not for normal girls, it's for the exceptional, the students are trained to kick box in PE, disarm bombs in science and could kill someone with an uncooked piece of spaghetti.

The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women may seem like your normal school for stuck up rich girls, but it's a school for spies.

Cammie Morgan is the headmistresses daughter, fluent in fourteen different languages and is nicknamed the chameleon because she's only seen when she wants to be.

But that all changes the day that Josh, a normal boy, sees her.

Review: I've been told so many great things about this novel. I've been trying to get my hands on it for ages and the day that I found this book in my local bookstore I thought that I'd struck gold, but sadly, this book disappointed me.

My first problem with this novel is how smart the girls are. They're geniuses, they're spies, but what escapes me is why they don't act like them, throughout the novel I was told how smart each girl was (over and over again) but I felt that I was never shown that they were smart.

My second problem is a fan girl one, the love

interest is one of the things about the book and really makes or breaks a novel for me, Josh...was sweet, a little weird and kind of funny, but...he wasn't... interesting enough. He was predictable, dull even. What I couldn't stand was that while they had their first kiss Cammie was babbling about how she wasn't going to describe what it was like because her mum was going to read this diary of hers.

Problem three:Cammie was a bit of a Mary Sue, all the characters forgave her actions after moments, she's with Josh and that is illegal in spy world and she doesn't get punished for her actions, and her mother is all: yes, yes, I knew, now, sleep well honey. Made me a little angry. She hurts Josh and he's beginning to forgive her. I didn't like that.

Problem four: the enormous title! At first it was cute and sweet, but after a while it got really annoying.

Problem five: the corniness. I can't stand corniness and I got a lot of it in this novel.

Problem six: I know that they're spies and that they save the world all the time, but they make Josh and people out of the school seem so useless and terrible and pathetic.

Problem seven: Repetitive.

I think that this novel had so much potential and it was wasted.

I think that I'll give this novel two stars. Maybe I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up so high, but this novel really disappointed me and I will not ever re-read it and I wouldn't recommend it.

I've noticed that a lot of the bloggers love this novel, and I totally respect that, I was wondering if you could comment and tell me why you enjoyed this book? I'm really interested in finding out why you loved it. :D

I thought that I'd share this cover with you seeing as it's different to the regular cover.

---Allie.

Amazing Because It Is.

I was tagged for the first time ever today! Whoo! And this was fun! Thank-you Kelsey!
Basically, with my iTunes, I have a lot of phases, so there's a lot of the same artists...don't tease my music taste. :D
_____________________________________________________________________________________
1. Put Your iTunes, Windows Media Player, Winamp, etc on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
4. Put the artist after a dash following the song name.
5. Put any comments in brackets.
6. Tag some lucky people to spread the disease.

How would you describe yourself?
Promises - Broken Toy Airplanes.


How do you feel today?
The Scientist - Coldplay.


What is your life’s purpose?
Dusk and Summer - Dashboard Confessional.


What is your motto?
Big Sur - The Thrills.


What do you think about very often?
Breathing - Yellowcard.


What is your life story?
Clumsy Card House - Blue October.


What do you want to be when you grow up?
We Walk - The Ting Tings.


What will you dance to at your wedding?
A Whisper - Coldplay.


What will they play at your funeral?
You're So Damn Hot - Ok Go. (Oh, gosh, that made me laugh. Ha.)


What is your hobby/interest?
Prayers of the Refugee - Rise Against.


If you could do anything right now, what would it be?
Grand Theft Autumn - Fall Out Boy.


What do you want most of all?
Forever Young - Youth Group.


What is your greatest fear?
Spray On Pants - Kisschasey.


What is your darkest secret?
Rooftops and Invitations - Dashboard Confessional.


What is your favorite thing in the world?
Carry This Picture For Luck - Dashboard Confessional. (Can you tell that I'm a DBC fan?)


If you could have one wish, what would you wish for?
Imperfection - Skillet. (I was hoping for Money, Money, Money XD XD)


What is your theme song?
Now or Never - Josh Groban.


The next time you hear this song (aside from now, that is), you must dance.
Everywhere - Yellowcard. (That'll be interesting)


What will you post this as?
Amazing Because It Is - The Almost.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

That was fun. And now to tag some people... (this is hard, seeing as I don't really know anyone well yet.)
Amanda (That Teen Can Blog) and Megan (Simply Books). Have fun!

-- Allie.

The Push by Julia Lawrinson.

“Love is just about the only hold anyone can have over another person; if you have that, then nothing else in necessary.”

Rating: 5/5

Summary: (from julialawrinson.com.au) Erica is restless for a life outside her office job, her boring boyfriend and her mother's tiny house in down-and-out Glebe.

In the 1950s, Sydney is quickly building a reputation for sinfulness, and some of the most attractively sinful people are to be found in a group known as the Push. They meet regularly to discuss their wicked ideas at the Royal George, and Erica is drawn into the captivating crowd.

Review:Doesn't the cover just sell this novel to you? I know the old saying: never judge a book by it's cover. But I don't agree with it in terms of reading, that's one of the first things I do. And this gorgeous cover is just the beginning of good things for this novel.

It's written in third person and in multiple perspectives to give you a good view of everyone and why they are the way they are, for example Trish, who is the best friend of the main character Erica, who introduces her to the notorious push, has a family that doesn't respect her and that causes her to rebel.

Erica is the main character and I think that as far as MC's go she was wonderful and easy to relate to. She's beautiful but shows that with beauty doesn't come everything, especially reassurance. We really watch her grow up throughout the story.

Johnno from the first time you see him is something special, his introduction is fantastic and you see that it suits his personality very well and it leaves a lasting impression on you. Some points through the novel I hated Johnno, but as it progressed that changed and I loved him more, he wasn't fickle, he was just passionate and wouldn't allow anything to sway his views.

I thought that Vanessa was a great character as well, very original. In the novel there was at least one character that you could relate to, Lawrinson's characters were realistic and interesting to read.

A major theme in this story is loss of innocence and it's carved marvelously throughout the story.

The emotion runs strong in The Push and something about the jealously Erica feels about Johnno and girls is very real.

“Is she – was she with Johnno?” asked Erica.

“It doesn't work like that,” Trish said. “It's more...fluid.”

I don't usually like books set in another time era, they tend to confuse me, but if you're one of those people like me then don't worry about it, the era doesn't make this novel hard to follow or annoying because of the way they speak or act. I actually really loved this novel because of it's era.

I may seem a little uninformed when I say that I had never heard of the the push (it was an actual real group of people) before reading this novel a few months earlier and I learnt a fair bit about it.

I love the ideas this novel possess and how opinionated the characters appear to be, the controversy was relevant for the time era.

I don't know whether it was intentional, but Lawrinson shows clearly which path Erica could have taken, she could have played it safe and stayed in the dining room at lunch with Jean and stayed in a relationship with boring David, but she chose the elusive push with Johnno.

“She with me!” David said. “I'll punch your head in you impertinent pig.”

The man gave a small laugh. “Oh you will, will you?”

There are a few mini mysteries in this novel, based around Erica's absent sister Peggy and hearing things from Peggy's POV is great though she isn't having the best life.

Lawrinson's writing style is wonderful and I love the vague way she writes. She does a wonderful job of keeping the characters in character and keeping you hooked.

The ending! The ending was great! I can't believe how wonderful I thought it was and I'm so picky about the end. It was happy but at the same time it wasn't corny and allowed you to have your own and wide opinion of what happens next. It gave the best sense of closure and hope I have been given in a long time.

This book was a delight to read, everything was marvelous and I am having trouble thinking of something bad to say about it.

I'm giving this novel five out of five. It was different, interesting, the characters interesting and the plot great. Lawrinson may be an Aussie author and her novels may be hard to get a hold of for people in the U.S, but if you ever get the opportunity to read The Push take it, because you will not regret the twenty something dollars you spend to experience it.

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

“Where’s your mother, Ruby?”

Rating: 4.5/5

Summary:Only a few months ago, Ruby, almost eighteen was abandoned by her mother. She’s been living in the yellow house, just getting by, but the game is up and she’s going off to live with her older sister Cora who left for college ten years ago and never returned and her husband Jamie.

Suddenly her life is transformed into the opposite of what it used to be. A luxurious house, private school, new clothes and even the chance to have a fulfilling future that Ruby could never have imagined.

But Ruby is having trouble accepting all this, trusting all of those around her who want to make her life easier for her.

There’s an upside though, the boy next door, Nate, genial, popular and sweet seems to understand her problems, maybe it’s because he’s hiding something of his own though.

Review: Mid April I got this novel, I waited a long seven, eight months for it and I must say it was worth it. Though, Lock and Key doesn’t compare to Just Listen (obviously I love that book, check out the blogs name XD), but fear not fans Dessen fans, it does not disappoint.

The plot was fantastic! Everything clicked and made sense, there were a few twists and turns, but they where good ones keeping the story off a boring path.

Ruby was a great character, very easy to relate to and very real, maybe even the realist of all of Dessen's characters, I loved her reactions to events. Nate was something special though (swoon) very intriguing, he was sweet and just so flawed, he was interesting and his secret was sad but a great twist. I enjoyed other characters in the story such as Gervais the little genius who loves to fart, Olivia who is constantly on her cell phone, Jamie with the huge family, Cora who is strong and has too many friends. Dessen writes some of the most amazing characters YA literature has ever seen and Lock and Key once again, raises the bar.

The descriptions were lovely and the emotion was portrayed and written wonderfully.

Dessen does something many authors don't, she has characters from old novels coming back and Lock and Key had a huge amount, people who have read a few of Dessen's novels will be constantly giggling throughout the novel and if you're new to Dessen's novels it will intrigue you.

The end had just the right amount of closure, it wasn't conry, it just signified the ending of an era, of letting go and that's the sort of ending I like.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book by Sarah Dessen, it touched upon so many topics and in the end won my heart.

Four and a half stars, this book was just fantastic and if you haven’t read a novel by Sarah Dessen yet, go on, what are you waiting for?