IMM/Stacking the Shelves #3

Welcome to this weeks IMM/Stacking the Shelves!
In My Mailbox and Stacking the Shelves are weekly memes held by Tynga's Reviews and The Story Siren. Here we share all the new and amazing books we acquired over the past week!

Score! I'm so happy to finally have these beautiful books. I got them from the library and boy was I ever happy to see them. 

Sever - Lauren DeStefano
The Chemical Garden trilogy is among my favourites. It's also one of the books I read back when dystopian was starting to become really popular and I adored it. Personally I liked that it's different, its a bit more dark and intense and I like it for that.

Just One Day - Gayle Forman
As for Just One Day, I've been waiting for it ever since I read Where She Went and completely fell in love Gayle Forman's books! Guys if you haven't already you must check out that book, but make sure to read If I Stay first :) 
The Indigo Spell - Richelle Mead

And lastly but certainly not the least I got INDIGO SPELL!!! I adore Richelle Mead and the VA series is till date one of my top 5 favourite of all time. Can't wait to see what happens in this one!

So, What's New On Your Shelves This Week?

Book Review: Vampire Academy The Graphic Novel

Vampire Acedemy - Richelle Mead, Leigh Dragoon, Emma Vieceli 
Release Date: August 23, 2011
Publisher: Razorbill
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 144
Buy the Book: Amazon

After two years on the run, best friends Rose and Lissa are caught and returned to St. Vladimir's Academy, a private high school for vampires and half-bloods. It's filled with intrigue, danger - and even romance. Enter their dark, fascinating world through a new series of 144-page full-color graphic novels. The entire first Vampire Academy novel has been adapted for book one by Leigh Dragoon and overseen by Richelle Mead, while the beautiful art of acclaimed British illustrator Emma Vieceli brings the story to life.

Summary taken from Goodreads. 

My Review:

As a die hard Vampire Academy fan, I have to say that I was truly over-joyed to be able to read the graphic novel! Extras like movies and graphic novels to a book series is always a risk. But I think the risk was worth taking as I actually really enjoyed reading this. I think all the authors did a wonderful job bringing this book and its amazing characters to life. 

But before we delve more into the book, I have to warn readers that if they want to really enjoy this. They have to go into reading it with more of an open mind as it is a graphic novel and thus many scenes from the original novel were missing. 

So this is actually quiet a small book. It is only 144 pages long and it took me only one sitting to finish it. But it was 144 pages of non-stop action! One of the main reasons why I loved the VA series so much was the action and I'm sure that, that is true for many others as well.

The only sort of problem I had with this book was its length as it didn't permit many things to be added to it. I really wished that more of the little scenes between Rose and Dimitri were featured in the book. But I can understand why it isn't there and even without them it is still pretty amazing! 

I think that Emma Vieceli did fantastic job illustrating the book and bringing our favourite characters to life. Rose was just as spunky as I imagined her. Vieceli's illustrations of the characters, I thought were spot on. It really helped me enjoy the book so much more!

Overall, I think this a great graphic novel to read. It was short and sweet and made me want to go and re-read the series! So I recommend it to all Vampire Academy and graphic novel fans. This might also be a great book to help you stat reading graphic novels. I believe that the whole series, so all six of the book will be made into graphic novels. So look out for that!

More on, Frostbite The Graphic Novel: 

Frostbite The Graphic Novel - Richelle Mead, Leigh Dragoon, Emma Vieceli

Release Date: April 14, 2012

Publisher: Razorbill

Age Group: Young Adult

It's winter break at St Vladimir's, and a massive Strigoi vampire attack has put the school on high alert. 
This year's trip away from the academy to the wintery peaks of Idaho has suddenly become mandatory. But Rose's troubles seem to follow her wherever she goes - dealing with the pain of knowing that her relationship with her tutor Dimitri can never be, things get even more complicated when one of her closest friends admits his feelings for her. 
The glittering winter landscape may create the illusion of safety but Rose - and her heart - are in more danger than she ever could have imagined...

Summary taken from Goodreads.

Book Review: Bloodlines

Bloodlines - Richelle Mead

Release Date: August 23, 2011
Publisher: Razorbill

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 421

Buy the Book: Amazon

The first book in Richelle Mead's brand-new teen fiction series - set in the same world as Vampire Academy. 
When alchemist Sydney is ordered into hiding to protect the life of Moroi princess Jill Dragomir, the last place she expects to be sent is a human private school in Palm Springs, California. But at their new school, the drama is only just beginning. 
Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, Bloodlines explores all the friendship, romance, battles and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive - this time in a part-vampire, part-human setting where the stakes are even higher and everyone's out for blood.

Summary taken from Goodreads. 

My Review

Ok, so I have been avoiding writing this review for a few days for the simple fact that I just don't know what to say. I thought Bloodlines was an amazing novel on its own but I just can't help but compare it to Vampire Academy. Going into Bloodlines I think that the fact that VA is over still hadn't sunk in, I know Last Sacrifice came out last December. But I'm still hung over! 

If you don't know, Bloodlines is the spin-off series to Richelle Mead's much loved Vampire Academy Series. It is set in the same world and features many of the character from Vampire Academy. When I first heard of Bloodlines I was actually really excited seeing as I love all of the characters and will take any opportunity to read more of this amazing world Richelle Mead has created. And I was not disappointed!

The book starts off with our new narrator, Sydney Sage, being woken up for some kind of late night alchemist business. The thing is that Sydney is still in trouble for her role in Last Sacrifice. We then find out that the new Moroi Queen's sister, Jill is in danger and needs to be taken away to a safe location until further notice. So that's where our story begins!

The plot started out slow and I can understand why. After all it is the first book in a new series and many things have to be set up. But when it did pick up I found myself so indulged in the story that it was hard to stop reading.

This book was mostly set in a private human high school in Palm Springs, California. I really enjoyed reading about this new setting and all the new struggles it presented the character with. I found that normal human problems was quiet a nice backdrop to all the crazy paranormal things.  Something that I especially loved reading about was the alchemists. You get a real sense of them, what they do and what they believe in this book and I found that really interesting!

Although we have met most of the character already in VA. In this book we really get to see and know them better. I thought Sydney was a great heroine. She was smart, funny and adventurous. These are some qualities of her's that we didn't necessarily see much of in VA. I really liked reading about Sydney's life, past, and family. I found myself really feeling for her at times. Overall, I really enjoyed having her as a main character.

Then there is the magnificent Adrian Ivashkov! I loved Adrian in this book even though he was a little depressed and mature in my opinion. There wasn't much of the old carefree playboy Adrian left. But I enjoyed seeing the more mature side of him and am looking forward to seeing more from his character!

In conclusion, I think Bloodlines was a great start to what is sure to be an amazing series. I loved Richelle Mead's writing it was amazing as always. I cannot wait to read The Golden Lily. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself until it comes out. I recommend this book to all fans of Vampire Academy!

Book Trailer

More on the sequel, The Golden Lily:

The Golden Lily - Richelle Mead

Release Date: June 19, 2012

Publisher: Razorbill

Age Group: Young Adult

The second thrilling installment in Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy spinoff series. 

Tough, brainy alchemist Sydney Sage and doe-eyed Moroi princess Jill Dragomir are in hiding at a human boarding school in the sunny, glamorous world of Palm Springs, California. The students—children of the wealthy and powerful—carry on with their lives in blissful ignorance, while Sydney, Jill, Eddie and Adrian must do everything in their power to keep their secret safe. But with forbidden romances, unexpected spirit bonds, and the threat of Strigoi moving ever closer, hiding the truth is harder than anyone thought. 

Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, Richelle Mead’s breathtaking Bloodlines series explores all the friendship, romance, battles and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive. In this second book, the drama is hotter, the romances are steamier, and the stakes are even higher.

In My Mailbox (3)

Welcome to this weeks IMM!
In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren.

This week I got:
Bloodlines- Richelle Mead (Goodreads/Amazon) 

The first book in Richelle Mead's brand-new teen fiction series - set in the same world as Vampire Academy. When alchemist Sydney is ordered into hiding to protect the life of Moroi princess Jill Dragomir, the last place she expects to be sent is a human private school in Palm Springs, California. But at their new school, the drama is only just beginning. Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, Bloodlines explores all the friendship, romance, battles and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive - this time in a part-vampire, part-human setting where the stakes are even higher and everyone's out for blood.

Book Trailer

Darkness Becomes Her- Kelly Keaton (Goodreads/Amazon) 

Ari can’t help feeling lost and alone. With teal eyes and freakish silver hair that can’t be changed or destroyed, Ari has always stood out. And after growing up in foster care, she longs for some understanding of where she came from and who she is.Her search for answers uncovers just one message from her long dead mother: Run. Ari can sense that someone, or something, is getting closer than they should. But it’s impossible to protect herself when she doesn’t know what she’s running from or why she is being pursued.She knows only one thing: she must return to her birthplace of New 2, the lush rebuilt city of New Orleans. Upon arriving, she discovers that New 2 is very...different. Here, Ari is seemingly normal. But every creature she encounters, no matter how deadly or horrifying, is afraid of her.Ari won’t stop until she knows why. But some truths are too haunting, too terrifying, to ever be revealed.

Book Trailer

Between Shades of Gray- Ruta Sepetys (Goodreads/Amazon)

Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously - and at great risk - documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives.Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.

Author Video 

Really excited to read these books. After watching the authors video for Between Shades of Gray. It has become very high priority on my TBR.

THAT'S ALL FROM ME!

WHAT DID YOU GET IN YOUR MAILBOX THIS WEEK?