Stacking the Shelves (13): Touch of Ever Rose

We are all book lovers and the need to share our enthusiasm is sometimes overwhelming. Stacking the Shelves, created and hosted at Tynga's Reviews, is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in stores or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts, and of course ebooks!



Won:

Everbound by Brodi Ashton (from Courtney at Fuzzy. Coffee. Books.)

I won Courtney's Twelve Days of Christmas Giveaway, and this is my first of TWELVE books, yowza!  Thank you, Courtney! :)

Bought:

Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder (Finally have the first of her new fantasy series!)

Dragon Rose by Christine Pope (Can't wait to read this spin on Beauty and the Beast!)
Thanks to my beau's Amazon Prime account, these arrived quite quickly!

What did you stack on your shelves this week?

Waiting on Wednesday: Everbound

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's "Waiting On" Wednesday selection is:

Everbound

By Brodi Ashton

Publish Date: January 22, 2013 by Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins

**Warning: Goodreads summary contains spoilers from the first book, Everneath, so please refrain from reading if you haven't read it yet!**

From Goodreads~

Nikki Beckett could only watch as her boyfriend, Jack, sacrificed himself to save her, taking her place in the Tunnels of the Everneath for eternity — a debt that should've been hers. She's living a borrowed life, and she doesn't know what to do with the guilt. And every night Jack appears in her dreams, lost and confused and wasting away.

Desperate for answers, Nikki turns to Cole, the immortal bad boy who wants to make her his queen — and the one person least likely to help. But his heart has been touched by everything about NIkki, and he agrees to assist her in the only way he can: by taking her to the Everneath himself.

Nikki and Cole descend into the Everneath, only to discover that their journey will be more difficult than they'd anticipated — and more deadly. But Nikki vows to stop at nothing to save Jack — even if it means making an incredible sacrifice of her own.

In this enthralling sequel to Everneath, Brodi Ashton tests the bonds of destiny and explores the lengths we'll go to for the ones we love.

Eep! I'm so ready to see what Nikki will have to do in order to return Jack to the world of the living.  Especially with having to turn to Cole of all people to help her!  I'm already on the edge of my seat, so January 22nd cannot get here soon enough.

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Top Ten Tuesday (56): Most Anticipated Books For 2013

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week a new Top Ten list will be posted by one of the bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish. Everyone is welcome to join, just make sure to link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so everyone can check out other blogger lists. Have fun!

Top Ten Most Anticipated Books For 2013

1) Awaken by Meg Cabot (May 2013)

2) Everbound by Brodi Ashton (January 2013) 

3) Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (February 2013)

4) Solstice by P.J. Hoover (June 2013)

5) Emerald Green by Kerstin Gier (2013)

6) Ashes on the Waves by Mary Lindsey (June 2013) 

7) Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield (May 2013)

8) The Sweet Dead Life by Joy Preble (May 2013)

9) Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black (February 2013)

10) The Archived by Victoria Schwab (January 2013)

Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Title:  Everneath
Author:  Brodi Ashton
Pages:  370
Genre:  Supernatural Young Adult Literature
Publisher:  Balzer & Bray
Summary:  Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's banished back to the underworld... this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen.

The Dish:  There's been a pattern in my recent reads (save one exception), and Brodi Ashton's debut is one of the most fascinating takes on mythology.  Not only does she recreate the Persephone myth, she also relates it (briefly) to the Egyptian myth of Osiris and Isis.  I definitely like the idea of bridging myths of different cultures and societies.

The storyline is written in two parts entwined together, what is happening now in the present after Nikki has Returned from the Everneath and what happened then before she was taken.  This form of storytelling is a unique way of revealing what happened in the past while also relating to Nikki's time on the Surface while "settling her affairs."  It is both this means of storytelling that really drew me into Everneath, making it a smooth read.

Nikki, Jack, and yes even Cole were the most riveting characters who easily moved the story along.  I felt for Nikki's situation even when I thought she had made some definite mistakes before going into the Everneath.  However, given her age, I would chalk that up to establishing her as a believable teenager who makes hasty decisions.  Jack also made some decisions that I questioned but I found him to be a wonderful young man.  The reader can doubtlessly see why it was his memory that Nikki clung to while in the Everneath.  Now we approach Cole.  Cole.  I could describe him in so many words and probably earn the ire of every girl who adored this bad boy.  So I won't mince words when I say, "What a jerk and how I would love to punch him in so many ways."  And that's all I'll say on him until I read the second book.

Overall, this was an excellent debut filled with dynamic characters, mystery plot and background, and an ending that will leave readers wanting more.  I would highly recommend Everneath to those who enjoy mythology-based literature and supernatural mysteries, and I'm waiting on pins and needles for what Brodi Ashton has in store for her readers in Everbound.

Book 3

TGIF (16): Bookish Trends

TGIF is a weekly meme created and hosted by Ginger of GReads! that recaps the week's posts and has a different question each week.

This week on Denim-Jacket Librarian Dishes:

In My Mailbox (26)

Top Ten Tuesday (40): Books on my Spring TBR List

***

What are some bookish trends you are noticing in the literature world today? Is there a particular trend you'd like to see more of?

My Answer: It seems as though mythology, particularly Greek mythology, is becoming a popular bookish trend.  I will never complain about having more Greek mythology in literature, though it's also nice to see other cultures' mythologies and legends, such as Egyptian and Native American, being used in books, too.  That seems to be one of the most prominent trends at least in the books I'm noticing.

While there are some, I would like to see more dragon-featured books, and not the snarling, field-razing kind (though they have their place).  There should be more intelligent, yet powerful dragon-featured titles.

Top Ten Tuesday (38): Favorite YA Covers of 2012

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week a new Top Ten list will be posted by one of the bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish. Everyone is welcome to join, just make sure to link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so everyone can check out other blogger lists. Have fun!

Top Ten Favorite YA Covers of 2012

(Definitely in no particular order.)

1. Taken at Dusk by C.C. Hunter
Until you get to experience the Texas hill country firsthand, you have a very lovely example in this cover. 

2. Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Butterfly Mask = Too beautiful!

3. Underworld by Meg Cabot

This cover really sets the mood for the continuation of Pierce and John's story and the shift in settings to the Underworld, John's realm.

4. Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout

It just goes to show that you don't need a person on the cover for it to be just breath-taking.

5. Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Terrifyingly gorgeous, I'm eager yet also anxious about reading this book. And it's predecessor, Anna Dressed in Blood.

6. Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Gorgeous dress, check. Swirly smoke, check. Mysterious.

7. Fated by Alyson Noel

I love how the title seems to be encircled by the girl's hair, the flying birds, and the bare tree branches.

8. Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

This is such an eerie cover, you can't help but be taken with it's deadly beauty.

9. The Fine Art of Truth or Dare by Melissa Jensen

Adorably unique.

10. Above by Leah Bobet

I really love contrasts, and the one fantasy element among the high rise of the city just looks spectacular.

In My Mailbox (23)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren where bloggers post about the books they have received in the past week whether for review, purchased, or checked out from the library. ^_^

Okay, so I have been as good as I can, but with the book signing Saturday, I just HAD to get a book!

Bought:

Everneath by Brodi Ashton (signed)

Everneath bookmark
Dead Elvises guitar pick necklace

Ebooks:

In His Eyes Anthology (Free from Smashwords for a limited time!)

Library:

Radiant Darkness by Emily Whitman
(I really love Interlibrary Loan!)

That's all for me this week. What did you get in your mailbox? ^_^