STACKING THE SHELVES (12)

 

Hi there! Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews.  Here's my haul from this and last week--don't they look awesome? :-)

List of Books: The Girl With the Iron Touch by Kady Cross (FINALLY!!!)
                         Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
                         I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella
                         Peaches by Jodi Lynn Anderson
                         Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
                         The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani
                         The Boyfriend App by Katharine Sise
                         Born of Illusion by Teri Brown

First up to read:

 

OMG to those beautiful covers!!  That veil on Born of Illusion is fierce.  I've been dying to get my hands on The Girl With the Iron Touch forever for several reasons (Jack Dandy!  Hooray!), and it's finally here.  And they all just look so fantastic.  I've been on a historical romance kick lately, but I'm going to have to dig back in soon.  There are just too many great things happening in YA!!

Did you get anything good this week?

Have a great weekend,

Ninja Girl

POW (Page One Wow): THE GIRL IN THE STEEL CORSET

 

Things to ask yourself when looking for POW: Does the book draw me in from the first page? Does it have that certain something that makes it unputdownable? Does it make me pay attention?

I'm going to post a few lines from the first page of a book (current or past read), and say whether or not I think it has Page One Wow. As always, feel free to chime in!

 

"The moment she saw the young man walking down the darkened hall toward her, twirling his walking stick, Finley Jayne knew she'd be unemployed before the sun rose.  Her third dismissal in as many months.

 

She tensed and slowed her steps, but she did not stop.  She kept her head down, but was smart enough not to take her gaze off him.  Perhaps he would walk right by her, as if she were as invisible as servants were supposed to be.

 

Felix August-Raynes was the son of her employer.  At one and twenty years of age, he was tall and lean with curly blond hair and bright blue eyes.  Ever woman who saw him called him an angel.  Most who knew him thought him the very devil."--page 1, The Girl in the Steel Corset

 

So, does it have POW?  For me, it's a yes.  I feel the tension, the menace wafting off of Raynes, and the danger to Finley.  I really loved this first scene. Hint: Finley can take care of herself, and the awful Felix finds this out the hard way :-).  What do you think?

 

Have a great one,

 

Ninja Girl



WAITING ON WEDNESDAY

Hey there, "Waiting on Wednesday" is a meme hosted over at Breaking the Spine, featuring those books that are just too good, the ones you wish were out. Right. This. Second.

This week I saw that one of the titles I've been dying for FINALLY has a cover!!  Probably been out for weeks, but it's new to me.  Emily is definitely rockin' it in this photo!

 

Goodreads Summary:

 

Finley Jayne, Griffin and their crew are stunned when one of their own is kidnapped. Emily has a way with machines—she can literally talk to them. But the automatons who abducted her aren’t ordinary machines. They’re almost human—and they want Emily to do something as horrifying as it seems possible.

To save Emily, Finley must contact the highly unsettling Jack Dandy and face her feelings for two vastly different men, even as Griffin’s nightmares threaten to turn into a reality that might just end them all.

 

Ahhhhhh, Jack, Jack, Jack!!!  Mr. Dandy is back, and I am so looking forward to his return :D  *Takes a deep breath*  I am seriously desperate for book 3.  This is one of my favorite YA series.  And can I just say, great title?

Can't wait to check out everyone else's WOW picks,

Ninja Girl

I LOVE STEAMPUNK GIVEAWAY

 

So, this is my first ever giveaway!!!  I wanted to make it appropriate for the season; Halloween means costumes, and if there's a genre with better/cooler fashion I don't know it.  Corsets, gears, goggles, tiny hats!  Steampunk is awesome, and I wanted my first giveaway to reflect that awesomeness ;D

Some lucky follower will win two books of your choice chosen from the list below:

Phew, I hope the format looks okay.  If it's wonky, that's totally my fault, and we'll just put that down to inexperience, shall we?  If you want a later book in the series, that's totally fine!  When you win, you'll just email me with the titles you'd like at that time.  I'll announce the winner this Friday!  Please enter using the Rafflecopter (always wanted to say that *grins*).

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

Happy Halloween!

 

Ninja Girl

THE GIRL IN THE CLOCKWORK COLLAR by Kady Cross

This series gets me for several reasons:

1) It's Steampunk!!

2) The great characters

3) The great clothes (check that awesome cover *faints*)

4) The writing of an author who knows how to make the plot dangerous AND fun AND still have plenty of heart

5) The Jack Dandy

Kady Cross's The Girl in the Clockwork Collar was everything I hoped for.  I've heard writing the second book is sometimes hard for writers, but Cross didn't seem to have any problems.  The writing was better than Book 1--which was one of my gripes with The Girl in the Steel Corset.  Clockwork is definitely less dense, giving it a quicker pace, and an overall better flow.  Very well done there.

The characters I loved in Book 1 are back (excluding one of my faves) and fighting a new evil--who also just so happens to have snatched a beloved friend right out from under their noses.

At the end of the first book, Jasper, the cowboy/flirt/speed demon, gets taken from Griffin's mansion, supposedly to be transported back to the U.S. where he'll stand trial for murder.  Unfortunately, the "lawmen" who took him turn out to be the hired hands of a very bad man who Jasper double-crossed a while back.  Dalton Reno wants the machine Jasper stole from him, and he's taken Mei, Jasper's old flame, as a hostage to ensure his cooperation.  The clockwork collar around her neck is actually a torture device.  If Jasper doesn't do exactly as Dalton says, he risks both Mei's and his own life.

First thought when I read the plot: This Dalton dude has no idea what he's up against.

Naturally, this doesn't sit well with Griffin, who's loyal to a fault.  Not to mention Finley, who packs a punch that'll knock a man on his arse.  That girl, Finley Jayne, has a fantastic sense of recklessness that I love to see in a young heroine.  She knows her own strength, and she's not afraid to use it.

What I liked about this book was that you get to know more about the characters--especially Jasper.  The fact that he wouldn't leave Mei, not even to save himself, gave him depth.  He wasn't just a flirt or cowboy, but an actual person w/feelings and, like with all the others in Griffin's gang, an unwavering sense of loyalty.  That's what makes him so cool imo--oh yeah, and his super speed!

The action sequences are awesome--Finley kicks more butt than all of the boys combined.  Just my kind of girl J.  I love the romance aspect, totally get why Finley's into Griffin and vice versa.  Cross writes both action and romance equally well; it'll get your heart pounding whether it's a soul-deep kiss or a kick to the face.  That is talent.

My only beef with the book--and it's a biggie, for me at least: WHERE WAS JACK DANDY???

I'm not gonna lie.  It was such a letdown not to see my favorite character from Steel Corset.  Jack Dandy is the man.  He's such a cool character with inherent layers upon layers of swoon-worthy deviousness.  *Sigh*  Please, bring Dandy back Miss Cross. He's one of your finest creations. Bring him back, and make girls across the world happy J 

Hope everyone has a great week,

Ninja Girl

STACKING THE SHELVES

So, I probably won't participate in this meme every week (there's a limit to my funds lol), but this time I got a pretty sweet haul of books and wanted to share.  Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

List of Books: One Foot in the Grave by Jeanine Frost
                        The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross
                        Social Suicide by Gemma Halliday
                        Forgiven by Jana Oliver
                        Immortal City by Scott Speer
                        Body & Soul by Stacey Kade

First up to read:

And there you have it!  The Girl in the Steel Corset is actually a gift I'm sending to one of my Ninja Aunts since I already own a copy and feel she's missing out on all that Steampunky goodness  :D  The rest I bought at BAM.  I'm giving the Night Huntress series another go b/c so many seem to LOVE Bones--and I would like to love him, too!!

Hope you all had a great week,

Ninja Girl

TEASER TUESDAY: THE GIRL IN THE CLOCKWORK COLLAR by Kady Cross

Teaser Tuesday's is a weekly meme hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading (click the image above to be directed to her page). Anyone can participate! Here are the rules:

• Grab your current read
• Open it to a random page
• Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO REVEAL SPOILERS! (Be sure not to spoil the book for others!
• Make sure your sentences don't reveal something important!)
• Include the title and author to, so that other participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

Got a galley of The Girl In The Clockwork Collar by Kady Cross. (Thanks again, NetGalley) LOVIN' it so far!!

Teaser:

"'I care about you, Fin.  More than I should probably admit, but I'm not going to share you or fight for your affection.'  Then--because he couldn't help himself--he kissed her fingers."

--page 32 of galley

I like Griffin--a LOT--especially when he says/does things like this.  But what can I say?  I'm a Jack Dandy girl at heart :D

Happy reading,

Ninja Girl

THE GIRL IN THE STEEL CORSET by Kady Cross

A Jekyll and Hyde Steampunk YA set in Victorian England, featuring a sixteen-year-old girl, who not only has one kick-ass persona, but two?  Yes, please!

Kady Cross is firing on all cylinders in The Girl in the Steel Corset (and not just b/c the cover's gorgeous, and the title rocks).  It's the story that stood out for me.  The unique twist she put on the Jekyll and Hyde concept just blew my mind.  In the acknowledgements section, Cross said she wanted to write "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen meets teen X-Men," and she more than succeeded.  I've loved X-Men since I was a kid (FYI: Rogue is the ultimate! She was always my favorite J), and part of the reason was that the back stories for each character were so well thought out and completely developed.  The characters in Cross's book were wonderful: Finley the girl with two faces, one wild and wicked, the other a little too good; Griffin the leader of the pack with a vendetta to repay; Sam the strong man whose strength failed him at a critical moment and left him (in his eyes) less than human; Emily the sweet genius who couldn't let her one true love die, no matter how much he'd hate her afterward.  As I said, for me, it's all about making the characters real, giving them a past and seeing how it affects the here and now.

And speaking of characters with a past, can we talk about Jack Dandy for a sec??

I'm not going to lie.  After the first chapter (which featured Finley, who I loved and worried about throughout), I had a hard time sticking with it.  The prose was a little much for me, a bit too wordy.  But then Jack stepped onto the scene, and I couldn't read fast enough. J  You know how sometimes there's that one character that you just cannot wait to see again?  The one that has you searching for the next time he/she appears, the one that drives the story simply by being in the room?

Well, that's what Jack was for me.  He was just so deliciously bad (in the best way possible).  His in-and-out cockney, his seedy digs, his horrible reputation.  Dandy was the baddest of the bad, the one man you never wanted to cross--and Finley goes out looking for him.  I really love characters who are threatening yet appealing in some indefinable way.  Don't get me wrong, Dandy was a bad, bad man, and I knew it all along.  I never once doubted that.  But he was always there for Finley, and Cross left the door open for one heck of a love triangle.

Even if I didn't love Finley so much, I'd read the next book just to get a little more Jack.

The plot was good: Bad guy (aka The Machinist) is somehow making automatons commit crimes.  It's up to Griffin and his crew to solve the mystery of how and who's doing it before more people get hurt/killed.  And like I said, I thought the concept of a sixteen-year-old female Jekyll and Hyde character was very unique.

But that description--"The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen meets teen X-Men"--would've gotten me to read it no matter what.  Jack Dandy, though, was what (or should I say who?) kept me turning the pages.  I'd recommend it to any X-Men fan and any reader who loves themselves a little wickedness in their heroes and heroines J

Happy reading all,

Ninja Girl