Pivot Book Reviews

Stacking the Shelves (10)

Saturday, March 8, 2014 10

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews, where bloggers share their weekly book hauls! I absolutely love showcasing what I received over the week, and seeing what goodies everyone else got, as well!!!
I'm still in shock at how I managed not to buy one single book this week!!

Won:

Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg *SIGNED*

Love Me by Rachel Shukert

The Glass Casket by McCormick Templeman
Fates by Lanie Bross

Pieces of Me by Amber Kizer

Special thanks goes to Rachel of Tiger Lily Rachel and Justine Magazine for ALL THE BOOKS! :)

In Case You Missed It:

If you participated in StS this week, leave me a comment with a link so I can check out your goodies! Thanks for visiting, and make sure you follow so you can keep up with my weekly musings!

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins - Review

Friday, March 7, 2014 7

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins Series: Anna and the French Kiss #1 Published by: Speak on July 16th, 2013 Pages: 372 Format: Paperback Genre: Contemporary Source: Purchased Rating: 5/5 Buy the Book or Add it to Goodreads! FROM GOODREADS: Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. She is less than thrilled about boarding school in Paris - until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, he has it all - including a serious girlfriend. Will Anna get her French kiss?
MY THOUGHTS:
I am in love with Anna and the French Kiss! I hardly ever ever ever read contemporary, but during the Book Blogger LoveAThon, there was lots of book pushing for Anna. I thought since so many people adore this book that there must be something amazing about it, and WOW! They were right, so incredibly right.
I sat down one evening to read Anna and the French Kiss, and ended up staying up until the wee hours of the morning to finish it. I simply COULD. NOT. PUT. IT. DOWN. For something like that to happen, I have to be immensely engrossed in a book, and that's exactly how I was with Anna.
Perkins is a beautiful writer. I loved her writing style so much, and would be lying if I said I didn't laugh out loud quite a few times. She's hilarious!! The characters are so well thought out too! Anna is the bomb dot com. I felt as if I was Anna myself, and boy, did i wish I was when it came to any scene containing the beautiful, funny, and mysterious Étienne. Anna and Étienne have earned their well deserved spot on my top five OTPs. (Haha, I just learned what OTP means, so I'll be using it quite often now..just saying) They are the perfect couple, and I rooted for Anna every step of the way to finally end up in Étienne's arms.
Anna and the French Kiss is a fun, contemporary read guaranteed to make you giggle and swoon endlessly. Even if contemporary isn't a genre you're used to picking up, I recommend jumping out of your genre bubble to pick this book up. Don't doubt me, readers. You'll thank me. I've officially joined the Book Pushers Club of Anna and the French Kiss! I give Anna and the French Kiss FIVE HEARTS, because it is truly one of my very favorite stories I've read recently.

Was this review helpful? Have you read Anna and the French Kiss? Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for visiting Pivot Book Reviews! Don't forget to check out the popular Cover Puppies posts, where I recreate my favorite book covers with my dogs! Also, if you followed me, I would be forever grateful! :)

Cover Puppies (9) - Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Thursday, March 6, 2014 5

Cover Puppies is a weekly post here on Pivot Book Reviews, where I combine my extreme love for my doggies and YA books, and recreate my favorite book covers!

This week, I am featuring...

(Dixie and Gentry posing with the new covers, because I didn't have the old ones!)

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins!!

From Goodreads:

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris-- until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend.

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?

Buy Anna and the French Kiss!

So after the Book Blogger Love-A-Thon, I was finally bullied into reading Anna and the French Kiss. I AM NOT A CONTEMPORARY READER. Well, I wasn't...until after this book. It is such a cute and fun read, and I instantly fell for Étienne. Swooooooon. So of course, I had to feature it for Cover Puppies! Although I really love the newer covers better than the old ones. I think it still turned out cute though. I planned on posting a recreation of Lola and the Boy Next Door also this week, but didn't have a chance to. I probably will do it in the future though!

Did you like this feature?

Have a cover you are dying for me to recreate?

Let me know in the comments! I heart comment love!

Don't forget to stop back by tomorrow to see my review of Anna and the French Kiss!

Thanks for visiting Pivot Book Reviews, and be sure to follow so you get the newest Cover Puppies posts the second I hit publish!!!

COVER REVEAL- Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L. Armentrout

It's Time!! The STONE COLD TOUCH cover is here!

We cannot wait to share the cover for Jennifer L. Armentrout's STONE COLD TOUCH with you all! STONE COLD TOUCH is a young adult paranormal romance by Jennifer L. Armentrout and is the second full-length novel in The Dark Elements Series being published by Harlequin Teen. You'll want to add this to your TBR pile ASAP. Check out this amazing cover!

Isn't it awesome?! You can Pre-order it right now!

Amazon Barnes & Noble iTunes Kobo

STONE COLD TOUCH Synopsis: Every touch has its price Layla Shaw is trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life—no easy task for a seventeen-year-old who’s pretty sure things can’t get worse. Her impossibly gorgeous best friend, Zayne, is forever off-limits thanks to the mysterious powers of her soul-stealing kiss. The Warden clan that has always protected her is suddenly keeping dangerous secrets. And she can barely think about Roth, the wickedly hot demon prince who understood her in ways no one else could. But sometimes rock bottom is only the beginning. Because suddenly Layla’s powers begin to evolve, and she’s offered a tantalizing taste of what has always been forbidden. Then, when she least expects it, Roth returns, bringing news that could change her world forever. She’s finally getting what she always wanted, but with hell literally breaking loose and the body count adding up, the price may be higher than Layla is willing to pay… "Constantly entertaining...the narrative sizzles with as much tension as romance." —Kirkus Reviews on White Hot Kiss

And...Don't forget to check out the first book in The Dark Elements Series,

WHITE HOT KISS!

ABOUT WHITE HOT KISS: One kiss could be the last. Seventeen-year-old Layla just wants to be normal. But with a kiss that kills anything with a soul, she's anything but normal. Half demon, half gargoyle, Layla has abilities no one else possesses. Raised among the Wardens—a race of gargoyles tasked with hunting demons and keeping humanity safe—Layla tries to fit in, but that means hiding her own dark side from those she loves the most. Especially Zayne, the swoon-worthy, incredibly gorgeous and completely off-limits Warden she's crushed on since forever. Then she meets Roth—a tattooed, sinfully hot demon who claims to know all her secrets. Layla knows she should stay away, but she's not sure she wants to—especially when that whole no-kissing thing isn't an issue, considering Roth has no soul. But when Layla discovers she's the reason for the violent demon uprising, trusting Roth could not only ruin her chances with Zayne…it could brand her a traitor to her family. Worse yet, it could become a one-way ticket to the end of the world.

Amazon Barnes and Noble BAM iBooks IndieBound Kobo Walmart

About Jennifer L. Armentrout:

# 1 NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki. Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV. She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

The Dark Elements Series Website

Website

Twitter

Facebook

Jennifer L. Armentrout Goodreads

STONE COLD TOUCH Goodreads

WHITE HOT KISS Goodreads

Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy - ARC Review

Wednesday, March 5, 2014 4

Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy Published by: HarperCollins/Balzer+Bray on March 18th, 2014 Pages: 335 Format: ARC Genre: Contemporary Source: Won Rating: 2.5/5 Buy the Book or Add it to Goodreads! FROM GOODREADS: What if you'd been living your life as if you were dying- only to find out that you had your whole future ahead of you?
When sixteen-year-old Alice is diagnosed with leukemia, her prognosis is grim. To maximize the time she does have, she vows to spend her final months writing wrongs- however she sees fit. She convinces her friend Harvey, whom she knows has always had feelings for her, to help her with a crazy bucket list that's as much about revenge (humiliating her ex-boyfriend and getting back at her arch nemesis) as it is about hope (doing something unexpectedly kind for a stranger and reliving some childhood memories). But just when Alice's scores are settled, she goes into remission.
Now Alice is forced to face the consequences of all that she's said and done, as well as her true feelings for Harvey. But has she done irreparable damage to the people around her, and to the one person who matters most?
Julie Murphy's SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY is a fearless and moving tour de force about love, life, and facing your own mortality.
MY THOUGHTS:
I was so so so so excited for this book. Actually, when I won a copy from Folio Books on twitter, I was ecstatic and running around my house screaming. Not really. I mean, mostly, but as soon as I received it in the mail, I sat down and prepared myself to be wowed. But I wasn't at all.
I actually had a love and hate relationship with Side Effects May Vary. I loved the idea of the book. It sounded so good! Revenge on ex-boyfriends and people have wronged you in the past sounds like something right up my alley. It was just the way Side Effects May Vary was delivered that I didn't like. First off, it is kind of confusing. Side Effects May Vary switches between Alice and her best friend, Harvey's, points of view, which wasn't a bad thing. The part that got confusing was when it not only switched between Alice and Harvey, it also switched between past and future Alice and Harvey as well. It was a little daunting keeping up with all the happenings to be honest.
My second problem with Side Effects May Vary was the main character, Alice. She was, I hate to say it, a total selfish b word, not just for a little while but for 98.9% of the entire novel. It was so frustrating, because Harvey is the sweetest of sweet when it comes to a boy. I adored him, and Alice just used him over and over for her own devices, with no regard to his feelings. I seriously would strangle Alice if I was standing in front of her.
The ending wrapped up in about ten pages, and everything was all happily ever after, but I felt it needed to happen a long time before the end of the book and it seemed as if it was just thrown in last minute.
I don't know. Side Effects May Vary was interesting. Some people really loved it and some seem to have the same problems with it that I did. My suggestion is to read a few pages of it before you buy it to see if it's something you would enjoy. Side Effects May Vary was just meh to me, and for that reason, I'm giving it two hearts.

Was this review helpful? Have you read Side Effects May Vary? Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for visiting Pivot Book Reviews! Don't forget to check out the popular Cover Puppies posts, where I recreate my favorite book covers with my dogs! Also, if you followed me, I would be forever grateful! :)