Topics Taking Flight: I (finally) have a Twitter

Today's Topic: Twitter

Once upon a time there was this very popular thing called Twitter. All the book bloggers loved it. Sadly, Emily did not have an account. Then, around a week ago, she created an account. Emily is starting to get the hang of tweeting. The End.

Now, onto the exciting stuff! Here is my Twitter Username: @Reader_Rising
If you want to, say hello to me on Twitter! I'm so excited that I finally have an account!

Since this is a Topics Taking Flight post, I thought I would ask for some quick tips and info on Twitter in the comments. Normally, I am the one giving info on a topic for these posts... so this will be different!

So, do you have any tips and tricks for Twitter?

Review: Heartbeat

Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott
Publication Date: January 28th, 2014
Publisher: HarlequinTEEN
Genre: YA Contemporary
Amazon/Barnes and Noble

Emma would give anything to talk to her mother one last time. Tell her about her slipping grades, her anger with her stepfather, and the boy with the bad reputation who might be the only one Emma can be herself with.

But Emma can't tell her mother anything. Because her mother is brain-dead and being kept alive by machines for the baby growing inside her.

Meeting bad-boy Caleb Harrison wouldn't have interested Old Emma. But New Emma-the one who exists in a fog of grief, who no longer cares about school, whose only social outlet is her best friend Olivia-New Emma is startled by the connection she and Caleb forge.

Feeling her own heart beat again wakes Emma from the grief that has grayed her existence. Is there hope for life after death-and maybe, for love?

Wow. This book made me feel all the feels!!! Heartbeat contained beautiful writing, realistic and sympathetic characters, and a little sprinkling of tears and laughter. I listed Heartbeat on my Favorites Shelf on Goodreads. I only have 22 books on that list, and all the books more than deserve to be there. So, congratulations to Heartbeat!

I loved how Elizabeth Scott portrayed the main character, Emma. I know for a fact that some readers did not like Emma. However, to me, she behaved realistically and I connected to her at once. 

At the beginning of Heartbeat, Emma had just lost her mother. She was confused, grieving, and a teenager.  Emma blamed the death on her stepdad and the coming baby. To me, I think this illustrated a very important point. When something bad occurs, a lot of people want to find a reason for the tragedy, they need someone or something to blame. However, you have to learn that sometimes no one is to blame, and that you can’t change the past. 

Emma was very infuriated when she learned that her technically dead mother’s body is being kept “alive” to give birth to her baby. I can’t imagine going to the hospital and seeing a relative or friend be right there with a seemingly healthy body, but really be gone, completely brain dead. Emma often went to talk to her mom, which was quite emotional for me. Also, this book influenced me to research and think about the ethics of keeping a dead person “alive” in a hospital. 

The romance was really awesome too. Caleb had his own tragic story, like Emma. Only, in his story, he was the one being blamed. Also, he didn’t feel the cut-out, cliche “bad boy” we see relentlessly in YA nowadays. Caleb had a lot of substance, and he and Emma complimented each other well. They seemed to understand each other in a way that is essential to keep a relationship intact. 

Overall, I loved this book. It tells a story that is not a standard one. Yet a lot of people will relate to Emma’s feelings. We’ve all felt unbearably mad, sad, or confused at one point in our life. Also, the romance was awesome. Although it isn’t the main plot of the story as the cover suggests. Along with the sad parts, Heartbeat also has fun and hopeful parts. The book was the perfect contemporary read!

4.5/5 Stars

*I received this novel for free in exchange for a honest review*

Unite Blog Tour

Check out the rest of the tour schedule

Unite by Jamie Campbell
Published: December 3rd
Amazon/Barnes and Noble

United They Stand.

Seventeen years ago an entire generation of aliens were sent to Earth in order to save their home planet and integrate into the human population. Now, those aliens are being hunted.

Amery Jones is your typical teenager, except for the fact she is an alien and a member of the government’s secret Project Integrate.

When Amery’s best friend Lola is kidnapped in order to get to her, there is only one person that can help – the exceedingly annoying and charming Lochie Mercury.

Together, Amery and Lochie must put aside their differences and attraction in order to rescue Lola before it’s too late.

Playlist for UNITE from Jamie Campbell

I always listen to music when writing so the tone of a song can
completely change a scene I'm writing at the time. The songs for Unite
are:

Mr. Know It All - Kelly Clarkson
Skyscraper - Demi Lovato
Innocence - Avril Lavigne
Keep Your Hands Off My Girl - Good Charlotte
I Got Trouble - Christina Aguilera
No Time For Tears - Ashlee Simpson
Anywhere Else But Here - Simple Plan
A Thousand Years - Christina Perri
You Will Only Break My Heart - Delta Goodrem
Everything Has Changed - Taylor Swift

About Jamie Campbell
Amazon #1 Bestselling Author Jamie Campbell was born into a big, crazy family of 6 children. Being the youngest, she always got away with anything and would never shut up. Constantly letting her imagination run wild, her teachers were often frustrated when her 'What I did on
the weekend' stories contained bunyips and princesses.
Spending quality time with her laptop named Lily, Jamie has written several novels and screenplays. Spanning a number of genres and mediums, Jamie writes whatever inspires her from ghost stories to teenage love stories to tantalizing murder mysteries. Nothing is off limits.
A self-confessed television addict, dog lover, Taylor Swift fan, and ghost hunter, Jamie loves nothing more than the thrill of sharing her stories.

Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Favorites Giveaway Hop

Hosted by Stuck in Books

Here I have randomly selected some of my favorite books! The winner of the giveaway can choose one of the five books above!

Giveaway!

Rules: US only, all the entrants must be at least 13 year old, and no cheating please!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also, check out the other participating blogs for more chances to win great books!

Review + Giveaway: Eversea and Forever Jack

Follow the Tour Schedule!

Eversea by Natasha Boyd
Publication Date: June 4th, 2013
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
Amazon/Barnes and Noble

An orphaned, small-town, southern girl, held hostage by responsibility and self-doubt.
A Hollywood A-list mega-star, on the run from his latest scandal and with everything to lose. 
A chance encounter that leads to an unlikely arrangement and epic love affair that will change them both forever. 

When his co-star and real-life girlfriend is caught cheating on him with her new director, A-list hottie, Jack Eversea, finds himself in sleepy Butler Cove, South Carolina. Jack hopes the sultry southern heat in this tiny coastal Lowcountry town will hide him not only from the tabloids and his cheating girlfriend, but his increasingly vapid life and the people who run it. He doesn’t count on meeting Keri Ann Butler. 

Keri Ann has relied on herself so long, dealing with her family’s death and the responsibilities of keeping up her family's historic mansion, that boys and certainly the meager offering of eligible boys in Butler Cove, have never figured into her equation. But fate has other plans. Suddenly face to face with the man who played the movie role of her favorite fictional character, Jack has Keri Ann yearning for everything she has previously avoided ... and Jack must decide whether this funny, sassy girl is worth changing his life for, before his mistakes catch up to him.

----Review----

Eversea was a fun read. And this is high praise for a New Adult book. I love some books in the genre, but, I am sorry to say that we mostly do not get along. Why do I still read an NA novel every few months? Well, the ones I love I really love and consistently reread. While Eversea didn't quite hit that mark, I still would not hesitate to recommend the book. I smiled my way through the story!

Keri Ann was an amazing main character. Her personality is a lot of fun and the author did a good job making her a mix of likable and realistic. Her backstory was developed which was a great relief, as some novels I have recently read have had characters with seemingly no past. (hehe) The other main character, Jack, was pretty cool. Unfortunately, I didn't like him as much as Keri Ann. Perhaps it was because I felt a little detached to him, the next book may be better in that aspect. However, he did have some lines that had me laughing.

Eversea is one of those whip-right-through-it stories. You find yourself at the end, and think "but...but I just started this! How can I already be at 350???". I'd say this is the perfect read when you want a story that is light and fun to cleanse your palette. One other notable character in this novel is Jazz, who was the best freind. She may have been a bit cliched, but she was still a great addition to the story.

Overall, Eversea was like one of those tiny, fancy desserts from restaurants. It was sweet, presented prettily, and over in a second. Natashe Boyd is an author to keep an eye on.



3/5 Stars

----Giveaway----
Four Kindles, Signed Copies, and a Sea Turtle Pendant (Multiple Winners)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for reading the Eversea tour post on Reader Rising!

Top Ten Tuesday #30

Top Ten Worlds I Would Never Ever Ever Want To Live In
There are so many!!! Really, a book isn't any fun without a hero that isn't in a dangerous world, about to be killed around every corner!

Wow. Frankly, it's depressing how many books have setting that I would never, everevereverever want to live in... probably because I would be dead as a doornail in a second. 

All these settings are supposedly Earth in the future. Yikes. Apparently, authors are all plotting to destroy our world's society in the future. (Will it be aliens, war, zombies, or a shortage of water?)

And I still LOVE almost all of these books :D So, go read them!

What are your top ten worlds?

Aliens: Not so rare after all

Hi! I am starting a new feature here on Reader Rising: Topics Taking Flight. These are my little name for the discussion posts that will go up every Thursday!

Okay, do you know how Vampires were like the overdone book (and movie) trend for a long time. Well, I believe it is time for a new trend. After looking through a lot of YA books, I have surprisingly seen a lot of books about aliens.

Here's proof:

I could keep going... on and on and on. However, for the sake of my sanity and your eyes let's end the list here? Deal?

So, a lot of times when I see reviews for books about aliens they start out with "aliens are such a unique idea!" or "the author took a creative risk while writing this book."

Maybe, in the future, the reviews will start out with "Another alien book?"

Of course, this was just a little prediction. Do you think it will come true?

Waiting on Wednesday #35

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Trust Me, I'm Lying by Mary Elizabeth Summer

Publication Date: April 10, 2014
Genre: YA Contemporary
Amazon/Barnes and Noble

Fans of Ally Carter, especially her Heist Society readers, will love this teen mystery/thriller with sarcastic wit, a hint of romance, and Ocean’s Eleven–inspired action.

Julep Dupree tells lies. A lot of them. She’s a con artist, a master of disguise, and a sophomore at Chicago’s swanky St. Agatha High, where her father, an old-school grifter with a weakness for the ponies, sends her to so she can learn to mingle with the upper crust. For extra spending money Julep doesn’t rely on her dad—she runs petty scams for her classmates while dodging the dean of students and maintaining an A+ (okay, A-) average.

But when she comes home one day to a ransacked apartment and her father gone, Julep’s carefully laid plans for an expenses-paid golden ticket to Yale start to unravel. Even with help from St. Agatha’s resident Prince Charming, Tyler Richland, and her loyal hacker sidekick, Sam, Julep struggles to trace her dad’s trail of clues through a maze of creepy stalkers, hit attempts, family secrets, and worse, the threat of foster care. With everything she has at stake, Julep’s in way over her head . . . but that’s not going to stop her from using every trick in the book to find her dad before his mark finds her. Because that would be criminal.

I love the cover, title, and synopsis. Score!!! Although, Julep is a very odd name. I guess it could grow on me though, it's better than having a Jane Smith!

Con artists are awesome and you can never tell who is in the profession of con artist-ry and who is not. Unfortunately, I am not a con artist. Or am I???