Before I Fall

Author: Lauren Oliver
Goodreads Rating: 4.01
My Rating: 3 Stars
Pages: 470
Reviewed by: Nicole


I was curious about this book so when I saw it at the library I decided to give it a go. In doing so, I bumped it ahead of all other books that have been patiently waiting on my reading list (all year I might add). This is the fourth time that I am reviewing one of her books, and it won't be the last since her latest release Pandemonium is among those sitting patiently in line.


Goodreads Synopses:

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.

Check out my review:

The Hunger Games: The Movie

So I've expressed how much of a book nerd I am to all of you. I told you about my books, how much I intend to read and that I love to go to the midnight release parties for books as well as for the movies. What makes you think Hunger Games was any different? Not only did I go to the midnight viewing, but I went with my mother, my best friend (who was jet lagged from having landed from a trip to London not 24 hours earlier), and my boyfriend (who I forced to read the book, but admits he enjoyed it). I know this is a little late, but I still had things to add to it.

We got there at 9:30 to find that there was already a line out the door. We hit Target for snacks, Barnes and Noble for coffee and then we went to the theater where they told us they had already let in about 200 people so we could head on in if we wanted to. We found four seats easily, and then settled down to wait for two hours. I had a book with me and so did my best friend, but the boy had to venture down four stories, back to his car to get his. And there we sat reading while the younger children around us screamed in excitement. (I was going a little deaf when they started to hand out posters to whoever was the loudest.) Side note to the posters: My mother marched down to the employees and demanded a poster, who told her they were only for the kids, she proceeded to remind the worker that she was in here talking to him months earlier about the movie, and then he gladly handed one to her. Mom -1, Little kids - 0.

There was lots of screaming when it came to the movie starting and the theater getting darker- but how could there not be? We had all been sitting for TWO HOURS waiting-just waiting. Thats when it started. I spent the entire movie squeezing my boyfriends hand because it was the most stressful movie I have ever seen.

On to my review. Which contains spoilers about the movie.

Grave Peril (The Dresden Files #3)

Author: Jim Butcher
Goodreads Rating: 4.12
My Rating: 3.25
Pages: 378 
Reviewed by: Amy

Goodreads Synopsis: 

In all his years of supernatural sleuthing, Harry Dresden has never faced anything like this: the spirit world's gone postal. These ghosts are tormented, violent, and deadly. Someone-or something-is purposely stirring them up to wreak unearthly havoc. But why? If Harry doesn't figure it out soon, he could wind up a ghost himself. 

Review:

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Author: Stieg Larsson
Goodreads Rating: 3.99
My Rating: 4 Stars
Length: 16 Hours (465 Pages)


I gave into the hype for this book, not because of the hype, but because my boyfriend, who (if you're new) hates books, said it was great. Because of this, I just had to try it. Since I had heard all bad things about the start of the book, I decided to try it in audio version. I knew that it was supposed to be graphic, but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be. That being said, I'm not sure if I'll watch the movie or not.


Goodreads Synopses:


Once you start The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, there's no turning back. This debut thriller--the first in a trilogy from the late Stieg Larsson--is a serious page-turner rivaling the best of Charlie Huston and Michael Connelly. Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch--and there's always a catch--is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues. Little is as it seems in Larsson's novel, but there is at least one constant: you really don't want to mess with the girl with the dragon tattoo. 


Follow the jump to see my review. Warning: graphic details to follow.

Insurgent (Divergent #2)

Author: Veronica Roth
Goodreads Rating: 4.58
My Rating: 5 Gold Stars
Pages: 530
Reviewed by: Nicole


AHHHHHH. I couldn't wait for this book, and although I have other dystopians calling my name, I decided that this book needed to be read. Like yesterday. It took me two days to read this book only because my eyes did that thing that happens when you read too long, they got super blurry and I couldn't see anything, but then I got to finish it. You can check out my review of Divergent here. Insurgent hits stores today, May 1, 2012.


Goodreads Synopses:


One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.


Check out my review after the jump.