Humpty Dumpty Was Pushed by Marc Blatte

Title: Humpty Dumpty Was Pushed	Loved it	Graded
Author: Marc Blatte
Genre: Crime
Publisher: Schaffner Press
Elements: Noir
Series: Stand alone

Outside one of the town’s hottest nightclubs, at 4 a.m., a young man is found murdered—no robbery, no clues—only yellow socks and bling to tell the victim’s tale.

Take to the streets with Detective Salvatore, aka “Black Sallie Blue Eyes,” Messina as he and his crew track down the killer, and meet up with a host of characters from all walks of New York society: rapstar wannabes; Wittgenstein-quoting record moguls; a kinky female wrestler; downtown hipster tweakers; a billionaire real estate tycoon; and one Eastern European refugee dead-set on revenge old-world style.

In what has been acclaimed as the first truly wonderful hip-hop noir, Marc Blatte has created a portrait of not only the city but society itself in this hilarious and rollicking first novel that is certain to draw comparisons to Tom Wolfe and Carl Hiaasen with its incisively satirical depiction of race, wealth, crime, amorality and justice.

Everybody knows the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty. It's about an egg that falls off a wall and nobody can put him back together again. But what does it mean? Where did it come from? What are the events that led up to this?

And more importantly, who did it?

The synopsis pretty much sums up the whole book. It starts off when a street thug, Scholar, wanting to make money the easy way, plops down 10 grand on his accomplished record executive of a reluctant cousin (aptly named Biz for all the bizness he had) to make a record. The next day, a body is found and right then and there the mystery starts, leaving readers to wonder if either Scholar or Biz had anything to do with it.

Humpty Dumpty Was Pushed was like a breath of fresh air. Suspenseful, the writing was different and while there was a lot of street lingo, it was not hard to acclimatise myself at all. With its tight action and humourous plot, I couldn't put the book down. There was a lot of laugh out loud moments, such as this:

"Vooko, Vooko," Pashko is speaking to him from the grave. "In this country," he says, "they say that the best defense is an offense, by which they mean, kill your enemy before he kills you. Really, it is similar to our traditional way of thinking."

My favourite character was definitely Black Sallie Blue Eyes. Named for his blue eyes and decidedly black soul, he had one of the most captivating presence in the book, making his way through several corpses to find out whodunit.

Oh, that Taylor Lautner

From martial arts champion to actor to teenage heartthrob. Let's count the ways we love Taylor Lautner.

Once Upon A Time

...I held two contests.

A Very Potter Musical Soundtrack

So I'm sure by now all of you have heard of A Very Potter Musical, right? Right? Well, if you haven't you better go check it out on Youtube. After you're done and craving for moaarrrr, you can download the soundtrack for free, thanks to the amazing Team Star Kid! They're also asking for donations for future endeavors, and I don't think that's too much to ask for, considering the joy and entertainment we get every time we watch the musical on YouTube, don't you?

Lili, I accept your challenge!

Should I choose to accept this mission challenge, and complete it successfully, Lili will dedicate a whole vlog of her singing! *cackles* Oh, I have ideas for that, eeeveeeeeeeeeeeelllll ideas, I tell you. (Shall not state my evil plans, as that's the downfall of every villain.)

The Hollow by Jessica Verday

Title: The Hollow	Loved it	Graded
Author: Jessica Verday
Genre: Paranormal
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Elements: Ghosts
Series: Book 1 in The Hollow series

When Abbey's best friend, Kristen, vanishes at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, everyone else is all too quick to accept that Kristen is dead and rumors fly that her death was no accident. Abbey goes through the motions of mourning her best friend, but privately, she refuses to believe that Kristen is really gone. Then she meets Caspian, the gorgeous and mysterious boy who shows up out of nowhere at Kristen's funeral, and keeps reappearing in Abbey's life. Caspian clearly has secrets of his own, but he's the only person who makes Abbey feel normal again...but also special.

Just when Abbey starts to feel that she might survive all this, she learns a secret that makes her question everything she thought she knew about her best friend. How could Kristen have kept silent about so much? And could this secret have led to her death? As Abbey struggles to understand Kristen's betrayal, she uncovers a frightening truth that nearly unravels her -- one that will challenge her emerging love for Caspian, as well as her own sanity.

I thought this was a fantastic story revolving around the Sleepy Hollow legend. We're thrust in Abbey's life on the day of her best friend Kristen's funeral. Body lost, all they're burying is their hope that she's alive. It was hard to get in the dark mood while reading this in sunny weather, so I reread it once again when it was dark and rainy. It seemed to fit the mood perfectly.

Told through the Abbey's bleak, sad eyes, it was slow at the start. We delve into Abbey's past memories of Kristen and her. Abbey feels lost without Kristen, who is also her only friend. I found it slightly creepy that she takes walks in the cemetery to find peace like it's a normal jaunt around the park but after a while, it was normal to me too.

The play on Sleepy Hollow isn't there blatantly. Instead, there are nuances which reminds me that it is first and foremost a love story, set in the town of Sleepy Hollow. Which brings me to Caspian. He is totally droolworthy, be it in demeanor or looks. He also seemed like the perfect companion to Abbey, smoothing her slightly rough edges into someone more feminine.

Abbey was a nice character to get to know. One of my favourite things about her is her hobby: making perfumes, delegating certain mixes of scents to a particular person. It made me wonder how she discerns a person to have a certain ingredient or scent. Seeing her grow after Kristen's death was like a wake up call: she seems to realise that life doesn't end with Kristen's death, but that there are lots more to be gained. I liked reading about her entrepreneurship, it gave another depth to the story, showing me that this is more than just a love story, that Abbey has dreams of her own.

One thing I was slightly disappointed in was that the ending seemed rushed. There was a lot of character and plot development in the book, but I'd have loved to know a little bit more about what happened, because right now I absolutely cannot wait for the sequel.

Switch by Carol Snow

Title: Switch	Loved it	Graded
Author: Carol Snow
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: HarperTeen
Elements: Body switching
Series: Stand alone

Claire Martin has some serious body issues.

Not much happens in Claire's sleepy beach town, but that's okay. All she wants is to hang out with her best friend, make the high school swim team, and convince Nate, the guy of her dreams, to stop calling her "Dude." And, oh—she'd really, really like to stay in her own skin.

Ever since Claire hit her teens, electrical storms have been making her switch bodies. Usually she's back to her old self in no time. But when something goes terribly wrong, she finds herself stuck as another girl. And not just any girl, but the icy beauty who has caught Nate's eye.

Suddenly Claire goes from being Miss Average to Miss Gorgeous—the model-thin blonde that every girl wants to look like and every guy wants to date. Will she ever figure out how to get back to her old life? More importantly, will she want to?

Ever since the whole issue of Justine Larbalestier's Liar cover, I've been keeping a look out for covers that don't match the story within.

Looking at the cover of Switch, I'm expecting some mystery, intrigue, a mad case of passion and rule breaking. Imagine my surprise when it turns out that there's nothing remotely that sinister about Switch. And that the protagonist, Claire, is a swimmer and thus has a swimmer's body.

Does the cover convey that? Nuh uh.

I find it hard to believe the the brunette on the cover would want to stay in the blonde's body. Nevertheless, Switch was a perfect light beach reach. It has depth and Claire was a very likeable character. I was rooting for her to be happy no matter which body she was in currently. I found it kind of unbelievable and convenient that she only switches body when there are thunderstorms and when she's asleep. Doesn't she ever take a nap?

Claire's grandmother is seriously a piece of work. When Claire's gone, she takes the chance to explore the world in her body. Seriously!

The ending was unresolved in so many ways. Some of the things seemed to be tied up easily. I wanted more interaction between Claire in her own body and her crush, to see how things would work out between them, but all in all, it's a cute story.

Goddess Boot Camp by Tera Lynn Childs

Title: Goddess Boot Camp	Loved it	Graded
Author: Tera Lynn Childs
Genre: Modern retelling
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Elements: Greek mythology
Series: Has a sequel

Phoebe recently discovered she’s a descendent of Nike (the goddess, not the shoe), and now she's finding out that supernatural powers come with a crazy learning curve. Her new stepfather, headmaster of the Academy for descendants of Greek gods, has enrolled her in Dynamotheos Development Camp—aka Goddess Boot Camp—with a bunch of ten-year-olds for the summer.

Embarrassing as that is, hopefully it’ll help her get control of her powers in time to pass the test of the gods, continue training hard enough to qualify for the Pythian Games (the only sporting event bigger than the Olympics), and enjoy her godly boyfriend, Griffin, all while avoiding getting smoted for accidental misuse of powers! It’s another fast-paced myth-inspired heroine’s quest that’s sure to bring out the goddess in anyone.

I loved exploring the different aspects and dynamics of the OMG world; the different powers and gods. The relationship between Stella and Phoebe has evolved and grown since Oh.My.Gods. Phoebe still doesn't fully trust Stella because of what happened, but Stella seems to genuinely care for her and when Phoebe realises that, they have a great relationship that consist of mostly ribbing each other in a good way.

The mystery of Nicole's heritage is only a passing mention. Goddess Boot Camp concentrates more on Phoebe's (lack of) control of her powers and how she and Stella are learning to get along with each other as their parents go on a much needed honeymoon.

I can imagine Phoebe's boyfriend, Griffin, as a descendant of Ares (God of War) and Hercules (the heroic guy), striding out into the battlefield and saving his injured comrade. He just seems like that type of guy.

I liked the setting of the chapters. At the start of each chapter is a power and its meaning. It's supposedly from a guide that Stella has written for the boot camp. I found that a pleasant surprise. As you may have known form my Need by Carrie Jones review, I find things like that to be extremely informative and neat at the same time. It gives an insight into their world, and it's better than the old "someone describing powers to them or reading in a book" way. Goddess Boot Camp is definitely a great sequel and I can't wait for the third book, which I hope will shed more light to the mystery of Nicole's heritage and also the smoting of Phoebe's dad.