In my Mailbox (once)

In My Mailbox explores the contents of my mailbox on a weekly basis. It is hosted by The Story Siren. Go HERE to participate.

Because of the aforementioned exams, I really haven't bought/received many books in the past couple of weeks. But I will will show you my meagre list anyway:

Won
Wags at the World Cup by Alison Kervin (Goodreads First Reads)

Bought
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves- I never ended up reading the copy I took out from the library so I bought it today. Hopefully I will get somewhere with it this time.

NetGalley- NetGalley is super awesome, folks! I've never really been that fond of reading eBooks in the past but the Adobe Reader program used to read the galleys is very easy to use and pretty to look at at too. I was able to obtain quite a few YA galleys off of NetGalley such as:

The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa (!!!)

The Oracle of Dating by Allison van Diepen

Tyger Tyger by Kersten Hamilton

Our Tragic Universe by Scarlett Thomas

Paper Daughter by Jeanette Ingold

It Started with a Dare by Lindsay Faith Rech

Fortune by Megan Cole

Description

Fortune tells the story of three very different girls – Madison from New York, Simonetta from Rome and Sapphire from London – who all receive mysterious invitations to the 50th birthday of Brad Masters, billionaire record executive. But what could the girls possibly have in common? The truth shocks them all, and turns three strangers into something much closer and more dangerous – after all, family make for the deadliest enemies... -Goodreads.com

Review

Fortune is one of those Alloy Entertainment-esque novels with the naive, optimistic main character, the conniving villain and the two hot but opposite-in-every-aspect love interests. Except in Fortune, there's a twist in the form of Brad Masters, the father to three completely different characters.

The setting was perfect. Instead of the global city that tends to be the location for these sort of books- New York, L.A., London etc- most of of Fortune takes place in Capri so there are luscious descriptions aplenty. The small cast meant tha tthe focus, for me anyway, was easily characterisation.

And this is where, I'm afraid, the book let me down a bit. I thought that the characters were a bit stereotypical and two-dimensional. Madison, in particular, seemed to be full of malicious intent and nothing else. I kept hoping she'd do something, anything, with some sincerity that would make her seem real. This did not happen.

Simonetta, the Italian model, seemed pretty fleshed-out, especially compared to Madison. I liked how a regretful, kinder side of her was revealed to us near the end rather than the uncaring persona she had in Italy.

Sapphire, the main character, was pretty likeable. I think that was because of the backstabbing actions of everyone around her which made it incredibly difficult not to sympathise with her: pathos, anyone? Her naïveté could be a teensy bit aggravating at times though.

And now we come onto the elusive Brad Masters himself. He wasn't particularly a favourite character of mine. This is because of what we learn at the end- I won't give anything away, don't worry- and how judgemental he seemed. While I understand that this was his first time actually being there for his children which is why he didn't have much experience of parenting, he could have been a bit more genuine. To me, it didn't really seem like he wanted to know his daughters while picking his heir- he just wanted to see who the most capable and/or trustworthy daughter was.

Finally, the two love interests, both singer-songwriters but that is the only similarity they share. Cam is famous, hot, tanned and American while Raphael is beautiful and Italian with skin as pale as Edward Cullen's- the fact that this comparison to the fictional vampire is actually made in the book didn't win any points with me, I must say. However, they were both equal contenders for Sapphire's affections. I found myself not minding much who she ended up with although I had a pretty good idea who it would be.

All in all, an entertaining, very quick read with plenty of drama and romance, and many twists and turns to keep you engrossed. Maybe a bit predictable, but there were no boring moments.

Rating: 3/5

Sorry for the hiatus...

Hi everyone! Sorry my blog has been so inactive for the past few weeks, I've been so busy with exams- twenty-four in total, yay! But now I just have one more to go which means that I'll be posting very regularly on this from now on. Expect lots of reviews in the upcoming weeks!

Interview with Julie Kagawa

Julie Kagawa is the author The Iron Fey series, which, as you might know from reading my review of The Iron King, I absolutely love. It is my favourite series in the YA Faery genre because it is just so amazing- the characters, especially Ash of course, the world of the Neverever, the plot, the action, all are fantastic and I would recommend the series to everyone.

Why did you decide to write about faeries?
I've always been fascinated with faeries; they're scary and mysterious and completely mystifying. I like all the different fey creatures you can encounter, too. With vampires and werewolves you have only the one creature, but with faeries you have goblins and kelpies and sidhe and ogres and dryads and nixies...the list goes on and on.

Who do you prefer, Ash or Puck? (I'm Team-Ash myself).

I have to say that I like Ash, too. I'm a sucker for dark, brooding boys who can wield sharp pointy objects. (Don't tell Team Puck, though)

I'm hopefully getting a puppy in August. As a former dogtrainer, do you have any advice for first-time dog owners?

Get a crate. Best advice for those getting a puppy. Buy a good puppy crate, and learn how to use it. Also, puppy classes are a must.

Can you share a particularly amusing/unusual experience from when you were a dogtrainer?

When I adopted a cat, I wanted to show the class that anything could be trained with patience and kindness. So I trained my cat to Sit, Lie Down, Spin, Roll Over, Sit Up, and Jump Through a Hoop, and then had him perform in front of a class full of barking dogs. I think everyone learned that lesson. :)

What were the gory stories you wrote in school about? (An excerpt from one of them would be awesome :D)

I don't have an excerpt, it was SO long ago, lol! But the stories usually involved people being stalked and torn apart by vicious creatures (I remember werewolves were a popular choice) in extremely graphic ways.

I read in an interview that you're toying with an angel/demon idea. Could you tell us a little more about that?

Sadly, that idea has gone on the back burner, as I've been contracted for a new series, and its not about angels/demons. But, fear not, this new series will be just as exciting, I think. Think: vampires.

Thanks so much for the interview, Julie!

You can read Winter's Passage, an Iron Fey novella, here.