Valentine: My Love Goes To You (Part I)

My Dreamy YA Valentine

Enough being said, Valentine's Day is coming!

Bookcase To Heaven will be kicking off a three-day event with a test to see which YA Boy is THE ONE for you!

Dive straight in!

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1. There's a new boy in school. You heard that he is a fighter (bad boy). You:

a) try to catch his attention

b) avoid him at all costs

c) pokes around his past

d) go on with life

2. You like the way he speaks as he:

a) pierces you with his intense gaze

b) speaks his way to your heart with sarcasm and humor

c) smirks with confidence and layers his words

d) toys around with formal language that sounds royally charming

3. How do you want to spend a Friday night with him?

a) in an arcade with loud music and lots of dancing  

b) taking a walk and sharing about ourselves

c) an adventure, the more thrilling the better
d) dinner with slow music and fancy forks

4. Your latest crush was your:
a) partner (i.e. table partner, lab partner etc.)

b) friend who had helped you more than once

c) senior, mentor, trainer, teacher etc. (older than you)

d) the guy you thought you hated and whom you thought hated you

5. You would want his hobbies to be:

a) snooker, games

b) baking, stuff related to food

c) sports, all kinds

d) reading and music and collecting cars

6. You would love it if he asks you out like this:

a) corners you and "kidnaps" you

b) properly with gifts, words and everything

c) gives you a hand (it's your choice he cares about, nothing else)

d) appears when you need him the most and automatically becomes your date

7. In short, you prefer boys (who are):

a) sexy and dangerous and hot

b) charming (good with words), kind and caring

c) smarter than you and stronger than you 

d) protective, mysterious and doting

And you ask, will today be the day I find you?

 

xoxo,

Sel

Answers to the Test:

Mostly As: Patch (Hush Hush)

Mostly Bs: Peeta (Hunger Games)

Mostly Cs: Four (Divergent)

Mostly Ds: Edward (Twilight)

Tell me who you are matched with!

Review: Piratica I

Piratica: Being a Daring Tale of a Singular Girl's Adventure Upon the High Seas (Piratica #1)

Author: Tanith Lee

Summary:

Artemesia is the daughter of a pirate queen, and she's sick of practicing deportment at the Angels Academy for Young Maidens. Escaping from the school, she hunts up her mother's crew and breezily commands them out to sea in a leaky boat. Unfortunately, Art's memories of her early life may not be accurate-her seasick crew are actors, and Art's infamous mother was the darling of the stage in a pirate drama. But fiery, pistol-proof Art soon shapes her men into the cleverest pirate crew afloat. And when they meet the dread ship Enemy and her beautiful, treacherous captain, Goldie Girl, Art is certain that her memories are real. The Seven Seas aren't large enough for two pirate queens: Art will have the battle of her life to win her mother's title—and the race for the most fabulous treasure in pirate lore.


Published 27 September 2004

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I read this a while back, but I decided to post a review on this fantastic masterpiece!

Hmm... Loads of good books lately, I'm quite tickled!

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Gaudy.

Outrageous.

Hilarious.

Foolish.

Dazzling.

Piratica is a swashbuckling adventure, an over-the-top comedy, and of course, an unforgettable love story.

It's been long since I last described a novel as a blockbuster. Piratica is one, just like one of my top books of 2011, Heist Society. Like a vibrant scroll of swirling colours, Tanith Lee's wonderful tale unfolds like an epic drama.

Piratica has a mesmerizing premise right from the start. First things first, I love pirates (Take Captain Jack Sparrow or Bloody Mary) and Art was a great personality to add to my list of suave pirates.

And then there's the HUGE twist, and by huge, I really mean it. It completely blew me away, and I was staring at the story with a slack jaw. Was Tanith Lee kidding me?! Aren't they supposed to be pirates? What on Earth was she thinking?

I almost put the book down, but thank goodness I didn't. I marched on, doused from head to toe with bewilderment. And, then I couldn't put the book down.

How would I know that the TWIST which I had looked upon with disbelief was to be one that would make Piratica so uniquely breath-taking?

Because of the TWIST, we get to see how she becomes a pirate from scratch. Because of the twist, we see the emotional depth of the book that is astounding for what I believed was just a showy pirate tale. Because of the twist, Piratica is to me more than just an average adventurous story. Instead, it becomes a coming-of-age novel where Art finds her past, her ship, her life, her destiny and her love.

Oh, need I talk about Felix?

This is one rare YA boy.

Don't raise your eyebrows at me because he is firstly, not a bad boy. Uh-uh, not a prince charming either. Nope, not a brooding mystery boy. Nah, he's not a gentle and caring male lead. His existence is a mystery that I completely didn't see from the start.

With dark blue eyes and ice blond hair, he is really hot, at least that's how I imagine him anyway. But he is more of ridiculously beautiful than jaw-dropping handsome. Just before you rule him into the kind of pure hottie category, listen to this-- his hair used to be black, but at the tragedy that befell his family it turned white.

Now, your eyes grow slightly wider.

But wait, when Felix first meets Art, she holds him up and steals his coat. She locks him in an abandoned house with no particular effort as he does not retaliate. While being chased by an angry mob who thinks that Felix is the notorious Highwayman Cuckoo Jack, Felix is rescued by Art and her crew.

Now you nod, thinking that maybe he is one of those spineless boys who are always in need of stronger girls (like Shay in Nightshade? *coughs*).

No no, he is a strategist, one that plans but not fight. He secretly plots to turn the crew in to the English authorities, but later falls in love with Art and saves her life at her hanging.

And now you are in love again. But, sorry, you have to halt in your tracks for a moment.  People took him up for his talents-- singing and drawing.

You are albeit a little confuse as to how to classify him.

So am I.

Because Felix Phoenix (his false name) cannot be classified. He is a rare boy, a royal person, a planner, a strategist, a kind heart and a soul on an evil mission for revenge. He is charming enough to avert a pirate battle (between Art and Goldie Girl), but cunning enough to charm the one girl he swore to kill; he is cunning enough to plan a seamless revenge, but not cunning enough to keep himself for falling in love.

What can I say? You can simply read Piratica for him. But, don't forget the TWIST and the amazing and astounding Artemesia Blastside (funny last name?).

Find this book and kidnap it home. I give 5 stars with no hesitation to this wondrous creation of Tanith Lee.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... Piratica.

Source: Read while snuggled in a huge jacket on the Library floor

xoxo,
Sel

Review: Falling Under (Falling Under #1)

Falling Under (Falling Under #1)

Author: Gwen Hayes

Summary:

Theia Alderson has always led a sheltered life in the small California town of Serendipity Falls. But when a devastatingly handsome boy appears in the halls of her school, Theia knows she's seen Haden before- not around town, but in her dreams.

As the Haden of both the night and the day beckons her closer one moment and pushes her away the next, the only thing Theia knows for sure is that the incredible pull she feels towards him is stronger than her fear. And when she discovers what Haden truly is, Theia's not sure if she wants to resist him, even if the cost is her soul.

Published 1 March 2011

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Before you say anything about how clichéd it sounds, hear me out in six words: this is one good book, darling!

I know that there's a huge mountain pile of books that have been circulating around the YA book pool-- the forbidden romance (Twilight) kind of books. But they are currently on the wane, thank God.

I know you might be rolling your eyes over the crazy similarity Falling Under's synopsis seems to have to this specific pile of books. But, be prepared to be surprised!

I know you might be growling with exasperation at the stereotypical YA heroine who is naive, innocent and oblivious to her charms, and the bad boy demon prince who is both a curmudgeon as well as a jerk. Nah, nah, you are more than mistaken.

The story completely won me over with its clever twist in the plot. That, and that only. The boldness and generosity of Gwen Hayes fully shone through her amazing control of the storyline.  

Yes, the characters are more than typical.

But guess what, the story takes on a complete turn in the second half, with the two of them suddenly switching roles. And, guess what, our male lead, Haden, is actually brutally honest with the fact that he is a jerk and acknowledges it straight to Theia's face. Let's take a look at his frank confession with Theia:

“This isn't a crush, it's obsession. You are never not in my thoughts.

Your scent carries across a room and paralyzes me with longing.

I don't want to hold your hand.

Part of me wants to set you on fire and hold you while the flame consumes us both, to eat your heart so I know that only I possess it entirely.” 

Like whoa. He totally got me there, what a 5-star character!

However, I had a slight problem with our Little Miss whom he was talking to. At this point of time in the story, she was still strutting around as a one-dimensional character. Honestly, I do understand that it's hard for authors to portray innocent girls in YA books as they all unavoidably fall into a stereotype. 

But, thank you Gwen Hayes, for showing me another side of the story and making Theia a stronger heroine with your brilliant twist. 

Yes, the TWIST. 

Let me go into that. 

In case you haven't noticed yet, many YA novels are either cut off at the climax or hand you only one climax in the entire tale, telling you to buy the sequel to find out what happens next. However, Gwen Hayes hands us a really rich tale, with several climaxes. There were a few times when I thought that the story was drawing to an end, but the twists came one after another, weaving together to form a fully-developed story worth my time. 

And, thankfully, I can't help but say this with vigor: no love triangles! 

The romance was pretty okay since it's the norm now that the YA female would always be irrevocably in love with the ridiculously handsome dare-devil. Oh, but to give the author due credit, the two other romances (her best friends and x and y) being illustrated in the novel was pretty satisfying too!

One other fantastic point about Falling Under is the dark tone of the book. The creepy horrors of Hell are fascinating-- sewn-together ladies, butlers with no empty faces, the nightmare realm of love and death...

Dangerously alluring and deliciously dark, Falling Under is a book that had me skeptical then delighted. How wicked, how lovely.

Source: PDF

xoxo,
Sel