Blog Tour: Free to Fall by Lauren Miller

Free to Fall

by Lauren Miller

Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Dystopia, Romance
Release Date: May 14, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Gifted by NBS (Thank you, NBS!)
Links: Goodreads | Amazon |Author's Blog

SYNOPSIS

What if there was an app that told you what song to listen to, what coffee to order, who to date, even what to do with your life—an app that could ensure your complete and utter happiness? What if you never had to fail or make a wrong choice?

What if you never had to fall?

Fast-forward to a time when Apple and Google have been replaced by Gnosis, a monolith corporation that has developed the most life-changing technology to ever hit the market: Lux, an app that flawlessly optimizes decision making for the best personal results. Just like everyone else, sixteen-year-old Rory Vaughn knows the key to a happy, healthy life is following what Lux recommends. When she’s accepted to the elite boarding school Theden Academy, her future happiness seems all the more assured. But once on campus, something feels wrong beneath the polished surface of her prestigious dream school. Then she meets North, a handsome townie who doesn’t use Lux, and begins to fall for him and his outsider way of life. Soon, Rory is going against Lux’s recommendations, listening instead to the inner voice that everyone has been taught to ignore — a choice that leads her to uncover a truth neither she nor the world ever saw coming.

Blog Tour: Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern

Say What You Will

by Cammie McGovern

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: June 3, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: ARC given by the publisher (Thank you, HC!)
Links: Goodreads | Author's Blog

SYNOPSIS

John Green's The Fault in Our Stars meets Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park in this beautifully written, incredibly honest, and emotionally poignant novel. Cammie McGovern's insightful young adult debut is a heartfelt and heartbreaking story about how we can all feel lost until we find someone who loves us because of our faults, not in spite of them.

Born with cerebral palsy, Amy can't walk without a walker, talk without a voice box, or even fully control her facial expressions. Plagued by obsessive-compulsive disorder, Matthew is consumed with repeated thoughts, neurotic rituals, and crippling fear. Both in desperate need of someone to help them reach out to the world, Amy and Matthew are more alike than either ever realized.

When Amy decides to hire student aides to help her in her senior year at Coral Hills High School, these two teens are thrust into each other's lives. As they begin to spend time with each other, what started as a blossoming friendship eventually grows into something neither expected.

Blog Tour: Infinite Sky by C.J. Flood

Infinite Sky

by C.J. Flood

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Coming of Age, Family, Romance
Release Date: May 20, 2014
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers 
Source: ARC provided for the blog tour (thank you, Dianne!) 

Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Author's Blog

SYNOPSIS

A truly beautiful book about the summer that changed one girl's life, as her mum leaves home, travellers set up camp in the family's field, her older brother goes off the rails, and she falls in love for the very first time. Opening with a funeral, Iris is mourning the boy in the casket - but who is it? Sam, her tearaway brother, or Trick, her tentative boyfriend? Over one long hot summer, we find out just how their three lives were turned upside-down.

Review: Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman

Cruel Beauty
by Anne Blankman

Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Romance
Release Date: April 22, 2014
Publisher: Balzer+Bray

Source: ARC received from the publisher
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Author's Blog

SYNOPSIS

Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, 
In 1930s Munich, danger lurks behind dark corners, and secrets are buried deep within the city. But Gretchen Müller, who grew up in the National Socialist Party under the wing of her "uncle" Dolf, has been shielded from that side of society ever since her father traded his life for Dolf's, and Gretchen is his favorite, his pet.

Uncle Dolf is none other than Adolf Hitler.

 And Gretchen follows his every command.

Until she meets a fearless and handsome young Jewish reporter named Daniel Cohen. Gretchen should despise Daniel, yet she can't stop herself from listening to his story: that her father, the adored Nazi martyr, was actually murdered by an unknown comrade. She also can't help the fierce attraction brewing between them, despite everything she's been taught to believe about Jews.

 As Gretchen investigates the very people she's always considered friends, she must decide where her loyalties lie. Will she choose the safety of her former life as a Nazi darling, or will she dare to dig up the truth—even if it could get her and Daniel killed?

From debut author Anne Blankman comes this harrowing and evocative story about an ordinary girl faced with the extraordinary decision to give up everything she's ever believed . . . and to trust her own heart instead.

Stacking the Shelves (7.2)

Stacking The Shelves, hosted by Tynga’s Reviews, is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Event Recap: Veronica Rossi, Tahereh Mafi, and Ransom Riggs' signing in Manila! (04/26/2014)

The day we've been waiting for has finally arrived. A huge thank to National Book Store for bringing not 1, not 2, but 3 authors here in the Philippines. To say we were excited is an understatement—we were thrilled. We were able to meet Tahereh Mafi, and Ransom Riggs for the second time, and—last bust not the least—Veronica Rossi for the first time.

Event Recap: Becca FItzpatrick's Signing in Manila! (03/29/14)

Let me start by saying that March 29 was one of the happiest days of our lives! We were able to meet Becca Fitzpatrick. In case you don't know her (which I highly doubt, but here's an introduction nonetheless),  she's the New York Times bestselling author of the soon-to-be-movie, Hush, Hush series. 

We were invited to join the blogger's forum with Becca. During the blogger's forum, we, along with the other book bloggers, got to ask questions, touch amazing her hair, and take wacky selfies with her. Haha! 

Here are some of the photos taken at her signing:

Becca on the hot seat. (because it was literally a hot seat)

Becca really has great hair! LOL

Becca interacting while signing some books.

Ate Kazhy's (of My Library in the Making) book.

Ate Dianne of Oops! I Read A Book Again asking Becca a question. 

Louisse of The Soul Sisters trolling. LOL!

Ate Kai of Amaterasu Reads with Becca.

Celine and I carrying tons, well not really, of books. Including Black Ice! Thanks, NBS. We can't say thank you enough!

*All photos are from Hazel Ureta of Stay Bookish! 

Here are 10 facts about Becca that were answered during the forum:

1. There’s a bad boy in Black Ice who is kind of similar to Patch.
2. The only time Becca cried while writing the Hush, Hush saga is when she wrote Scott’s death.
3. Out of all the characters in the Hush, Hush series, Becca is closest to Vee because Vee was based on two of her childhood best friends. In addition, she never struggled when writing Vee.
4. Patch was based on a guy she knew from high school, and he wasn’t a fallen angel on the first draft of Hush, Hush. He was just a normal guy with a deep, dark secret.
5. Becca’s a fan of Twilight, and she doesn’t mind people comparing Nora to Bella from Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight.
6. Becca’s favorite book of hers is Sapphire Skies, but if she were to choose her favorite out of her publisher books, it would be Finale.
7. If Hush, Hush were to be adapted as a movie, Becca wouldn’t probably be that much involved in it because she says it’s not her talent. Though she would want to visit the set.
8. According to Becca, Crescendo was by far the most difficult to write because there was the pressure of making it as good as the first book.
9. Becca hasn’t read any other YA books about fallen angels.
10. Black Ice was originally a paranormal book, but her editor suggested that she make it a straight realistic contemporary book, and so Becca did.

So that's it for the recap! Hope you enjoyed the facts. Lastly, we would like to thank JB of National Bookstore for the chance to have met Becca more intimately. And as usual, thank you *awesome* NBS for bringing authors here! We will be forever grateful. :-)