Little_Miss_Book_Freak: July 2012

What if you only had one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all: looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it turns out to be her last.

The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. Living the last day of her life seven times during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.

This book is amazing.

Characters: The characters I really liked they seemed so believable and relatable, and I could just feel their emotions. I felt as if I could put myself in their shoes so easily and I would probably find myself doing the same things they do, some of the characters got me mad, annoyed or just plain sad but that was what the author intented me to feel so I think that only a really good book can make me feel whatever the author wants me to feel. Sometimes the characters did seem a little naive but in the end they seemed much better, and I didn't really have a problem with them at all because they acted like any high schoolers would act.

Plot: The plot is very sad, at first your left in the dark because you knew the basics but you don't know the full story. As you go along things are revealed that are always there but you never saw coming until Lauren Oliver says it. The pace is good, not too slow and not to fast, there was a lot of suspense that made you want to keep reading. I was hooked on this book since the first paragraph. The writing style of this book is so beautiful its almost like poetry and I just love how she added some knowledge in the book that helps you learn things you might never have otherwise. The book is actually very thick but once you start reading you will breeze through the pages as I did. Another thing I really liked was that if the author gave you a detail that you thought was never really improtant later on it becomes a key to the 'puzzle' of the book.

Overall: Overall I give this book a 5 stars. I had no problem with this book whats so ever and I loved this book a lot. But I wouldn't recommend this to younger readers because this book has a lot of drugs, smoking, and some sexual activity and a bit of a teacher/student relationship so if you don't like those kind of things I wouldnt recommend this book but if you don't mind them read this book, its both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time.

Yay, this is my first author interview and its with the co-author of Valuspa: A Magical World. She actually sent me the book and after I finish my current read I will start that book. Because after I read the sypnopsis I became completely obsessed! So I asked her a few questions and she answered them :)

1. Where did you get your inspiration for your book?

Personally, I am a huge fan of the fantasy genre. And when I decided to write, I subconsciously chose this genre. I wanted to create this magical world which would be fundamentally similar to ours but yet so exotically different that it will capture the fancy of the readers. I also wanted to showcase the character of Amy as a constantly growing, learning, strong individual – a very ordinary girl who chooses an extraordinary life.

2. I understand you are a self published author. Was it hard to do publish your book?

I wanted to get my book out early and did not have the patience to wait for years, wishing that the book will be published by a Publishing house. Once that decision was made, I read some articles on self-publishing like J.A. Konrath’s self-publishing articles. Amazon’s self-publishing platform made the rest easier.

3. Where did you get the title Voluspa: A Magical World?

The name ‘Voluspa’ was derived from an old Nordic poem and both I and my co-author liked the name and decided to name the magical realm after it.

4. What age groups can read this book?

Age Groups 10 and up.

5. Can you give a brief synopsis of the book?

VOLUSPA-A Magical World’, is a YA fantasy. It is a crossover between urban fantasy and paranormal romance with a mythological and dystopian twist. This book showcases a unique coming of age story of a fifteen year old girl who struggles with the ramifications of forbidden love, obscure parentage and in essence struggles to find her place in a world that is threatened by her very existence.

6. Will there be a second book?

I am at present working on the second book in the Voluspa series. It should be available sometime in November.

7. How did you come up with the characters? What they looked like, their personalities etc. Was it hard?

Like countless other teenage girls, I had a difficult time during my pre-teen and early teen years. I had major body issues and even suffered with eating disorders. During those years, I often fantasized about escaping to an alternate universe where I could start life afresh or find acceptance. My imagination was further fuelled by the countless number of books I devoured growing up, especially since they were my only constant companions. Thus when the time came to put words down to paper, I found myself creating a fantasy world – a place so magical that it had the power to heal even the most troubled souls. Talking about troubled souls, the main two protagonists of my story, Amy and Drake, definitely fit the bill. Amy has a hard childhood, feeling unwanted and unloved whereas Drake’s childhood is shadowed by impossibly high expectations imposed on him by his father. The two meet when Amy crosses over realms to land up in Voluspa and they connect from the very beginning.

8. What would you say was your favorite part about writing this book?

My stories are my way of connecting with the younger generation. Getting feedback from a young reader telling me that she/ he completely related to my character, that’s the best feeling.

9. What advice do you have for young writers wanting to write their own books?

Write a good book; put your best work out there. Identify your target audience, find ways

to engage them and market your book intelligently. I am not saying that you should go

bankrupt while marketing your book. It is said that a successful book is 10% writing a

book and 90% excellent marketing.

This book sounds so good and I really can't wait to read it and then tell you all what I think! I hope you guys enjoyed this interview and I won't put the summary here because I'm going to put in on my review :)

the cold.
Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn't know why.

the heat.
Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves. And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace...until now.

the shiver.
For Grace and Sam, love has always been kept at a distance. But once it's spoken, it cannot be denied. Sam must fight to stay human—and Grace must fight to keep him—even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future.

I finally finished it! 4 Stars! Definately.

Characters: At first I didn't really care for the characters. Most of them were very boring to me but as the story progressed I loved them so much. Especially Sam and Grace. Later in the story I saw how strong their love was. Out of all the books I have read so far I can honestly say that their love was the one that affected me most and seems like its the most real. A lot of the characters could make you feel their emotions. If they felt sad you would feel it ten times worse because you actually got to know them and you put yourself in their shoes. The characters were all unique and I liked the if they liked something they kept at it. They did it throughout the book, unlike a lot of books that the author tells you the character has this hobby and he/she only does it once then completely stops doing it. I loved how Sam always sings and loves music and poetry, and how Grace loves to read and look at books.

Plot: At first the plot greatly confused me. So much that it took me I think more than a month to read. But after I trudged through that part it became clearer and the book seemed so brilliant. It had a great and original idea and it never had any plot holes. I also liked that the author wasn't afraid to hurt some of her characters and maybe even kill them which made this story so much more realistic. This story is also one of the few ones that made me cry because it was just so powerful near the end.

Overall: Overall I would definately recommend this but because of a scene and some hints to it plus some language I would recommend this book to 15+. The reason I gave this book a 4 and not a 5 is because how badly the beginning and some of the middle confused me and that I had to trudge through those parts until it started to get good near the end.

Books-Marks the Spot has actually been awarded two liebster awards one from Lisseth @Read-A-holicZ and the other one from Kit @Kitty Korner Library. How cool are they, if you haven't checked out there blog, do so. The real question what is a Liebster Award, it is given ti blog that have under 200 followers. What does Liebster mean, it is a German word which means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome. I feel so loved :D

What you have to do:

Each person must post 11 facts about themselves.
Answer 11 questions the tagger has given you and 11 questions for the people you tag.
Tag 11 more bloggers!
Tell them you tagged them.
No tag backs!!!

11 facts

My favorite color is Black
Most of my friends are boys (Annoying ones)
My favorite bands are One Direction and The Wanted (Can't pick)
My favorite author is Ally Carter
I don't own as many books as I read
I love Twilight both the books and the movies
I'm called weird because I like to read a lot of books
I dont care what people look on the outside its the heart that counts :)
I'm trying to write a book but its hard to figure out something creative
I like everything to be orginized
I'm addicted to Goodreads!

Questions from Book- Marks the Spot

I've been blogging for 3 months now. It hasnt been long but its been great so far!

Well I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos for a while now and a lot of my favorite Booktubers have blogs so I decided that I should get one to and see where it takes me.

I'm from the USA

My favorite movie changes, it always is the last movie I saw. So the last movie I remember seeing and loving is Snow White & The Huntsman

My hopes for my blog is that it gets popular and if it doesn't I might start making Book videos on YouTube and start from there.

Heights, I'm afraid of a lot more things but the biggest thing on the list is definately Heights.

Well it's actually my goodreads name. Little_miss_book_freak. And the reason I chose it is because I'm Little, both in my height and my age, I'm a girl so Miss, and I'm a huge book freak. So I put those together and to give it a sense of uniqness I put the _'s.

Well I've been asked these before my various friends and I always cheated by saying more than one but I'll try to say one today. I would have to say Flight. For many reasons but by saying one is, imagine you need to get out of someplace fast. You would need to fly if there wasnt a Taxi or a Bus around. And if you can fly couldn't you have control of air? Alright so I cheated by saying 2 but you get my jist.

Hands down Varen Nethers from Nevermore by Kelly Creagh. He has that mysterious boy with the dark edge to him, that I love! He's also not afraid to speak his mind and doesnt care what others think of him and once you get to know him he is really sweet and protective of you.

On my blog, yes I do. Well so far at least, that might stop though. I'm not sure but on my goodreads account I sometimes just rate the books but dont review them.

Well my original plan was 20 but I was really ahead so I pushed it up to 30. But considering that I already read 22 I might push it to 40 or 50.

People I Tag:

http://www.yareads.com/

http://thethingsyoucanread.blogspot.com/

http://wondrousreadings.blogspot.com/

http://addictedtonovels.blogspot.ca/

http://www.emmalovesbooks.blogspot.ca/

http://breatheinbooks.blogspot.com/

http://667bakerstreet.blogspot.com/

http://booklalaland.blogspot.com/

http://sarainbooklandblog.blogspot.it/

http://mymiscellaneousbookshelf.blogspot.fi/