Cover Reveal: OPAL by Jennifer L. Armentrout

You know what's an awesome alien (alliteration!) series? The Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. And I'm lucky enough to be revealing it today! (Image is after the jump.)

UNSPOKEN humor = the best humor

Unspoken
By: Sarah Rees Brennan
Reported by: Julianna Helms
Source: ARC via Publisher/Netgalley
Release Date: It's out! Go buy it ASAP!

Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met . . . a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn’t silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outsider in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn’t suffered too much from not fitting in. She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head.

But all that changes when the Lynburns return.

The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami is not one to shy away from the unknown—in fact, she’s determined to find answers for all the questions Sorry-in-the-Vale is suddenly posing. Who is responsible for the bloody deeds in the depths of the woods? What is her own mother hiding? And now that her imaginary friend has become a real boy, does she still love him? Does she hate him? Can she trust him?

-Summary from Goodreads
Purchase: Mrs. Nelson's* (support my local indie bookstore!) || Amazon || Barnes & Noble || Book Depository

I've met Sarah Rees Brennan a total two times, both times at the RT Teen Day event. The first time I met her was back in 2011 at the Los Angeles RT Convention. At the time, I didn't read a lot--I loved reading, I just wasn't obsessed with it--but I fell in love with Ally Carter's books and saw on her website that she was going to be at RT, so I went, with the sole intent of wowing Ally with my Supreme Coolness and Complete Un-awkwardness (hahahahaha I must've been way more ignorant than I thought I was), but of course, I ended up being both Supremely Uncool and Completely Awkward. 

Which would have been really sad. EXCEPT SARAH REES BRENNAN WAS THERE.

And she made my day.

You know those people in your life who are just so full of this untamable energy that they seem to explode whenever they're by you? The type of people who make jokes that are so funny that you can't even breathe, and they're just smiling all crookedly at you 'cause they're just glad to have entertained but isn't really sure just how they so completely blew you away?

Well, Sarah is one of those people. In fact, if that type of person had a name, the name would be Sarah. 

SILVER Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

Silver
By: Talia Vance
Reported by: Julianna Helms
Source: ARC via Netgalley/Publisher
Release Date: Sept. 8th, 2012 from Flux

An Irish heritage, Celtic myth, and deadly beauty

In eighth grade, Brianna did something so dreadful she was suspended and homeschooled. No one could explain what happened that night . . . except Brianna's Irish grandmother, who gave her a silver charm bracelet and told her to wear it until she turned seventeen. Ever since she slipped it on, Brianna has felt like she's invisible. People stare right past her as if she doesn't exist. And that includes Blake Williams, the one boy she can't resist.

But everything changes in one frozen, silver moment when Blake sees her--and recognizes what she's been hiding. Brianna is descended from Danu, the legendary Bandia of Celtic myth. Yet before she can fully understand who or what she is, Brianna accidentally binds her soul to Blake--whose tribe has spent the last thousand years hunting Danu's descendants to protect humanity.

-Summary from Goodreads
Pre-order: Mrs.Nelson's (support my local indie store!)||Barnes&Noble||Amazon||Book Depository

When describing Silver, the words clever--or perhaps witty--astounding, and bewilderingly intense come to mind. In this fascinating tale tangling threads of ancient Celtic myth and an authentic yet strong heroine, Silver manages to do three things: 1) make itself feel as valuable as silver (pun intended), 2) sincerely pluck out the nature of desire and growth of teenagers--therefore inducing twisted plots and often frustrating, but understandable, decisions, and 3) transform the mythological genre into a new excitingly unique and incredibly detailed creature.