see scoot read

Friday, March 29, 2013

Winner!

Congrats to Tayte!! You won my Kick-Butt Characters Giveaway Hop!

Tayte won The Hunt and The Prey by Andrew Fukuda!

Be sure to respond to my email so you can get your book asap.

Enjoy!

Ender's Game Movie Poster!

Is anyone else as excited about this as I am??

I read Ender's Game as a child (let's just say that was a long time ago) so I have been waiting for this movie for ages. Can't wait! Here's hoping they don't screw it up.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

The Breeders Review Tour & Giveaway!

The Breeders by Katie French

Genre: Young Adult – Dystopian

Publication Date: August 1st 2012
Age Range: Young Adult
Book Source: eCopy for review from Kismet Book Touring & Author

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Riley Meemick is one of the world’s last free girls. When Riley was born, her mother escaped the Breeders, the group of doctors using cruel experiments to bolster the dwindling human race. Her parents do everything possible to keep her from their clutches– moving from one desolate farm after another to escape the Breeders’ long reach. The Breeders control everything- the local war lords, the remaining factories, the fuel. They have unchecked power in this lawless society. And they’re hunting Riley.

When the local Sheriff abducts the adult members of her family and hands her mother over to the Breeders, Riley and her eight-year-old brother, Ethan, hiding in a shelter, are left to starve. Then Clay arrives, the handsome gunslinger who seems determined to help to make up for past sins. The problem is Clay thinks Riley is a bender– a genderless mutation, neither male nor female. As Riley’s affection for Clay grows she wonders can she trust Clay with her secret and risk her freedom?

The three embark on a journey across the scarred remains of New Mexico– escaping the Riders who use human sacrifice to appease their Good Mother, various men scrambling for luck, and a deranged lone survivor of a plague. When Riley is shot and forced into the Breeder’s hospital, she learns the horrible fate of her mother—a fate she’ll share unless she can find a way out.

Scoot’s Review:

Riley lives in a dark and unforgiving world. A world where lives can be lost in the blink of an eye and being female makes life even more dangerous. Disguised as a bender Riley and her family have managed to eke out a simple existence, but when tragedy strikes she and her younger brother are thrust into that dark world they tried so hard to avoid. The Breeders is a well written, fast paced story that gets the reader sucked in from the start. You quickly empathize with Riley and her feelings, but can also relate to her family and why they do the things they do. I loved Riley’s protective relationship of her family and especially her younger brother Ethan. Riley is a strong character lead for the novel and she has a backbone of steel (which I always appreciate in a female lead!). The novel was well paced. I never lost interest in the story and read it all very quickly. The speaking style wasn’t necessarily grammatically correct, but it was clear and I never stumbled over any of the sentences. I was easily absorbed in the plot because I never felt pulled out of the world by tripping over the writing style. The characterization was good; there were a lot of unique characters introduced in the novel and they each had distinct personalities. Some of which you learned to love and others you learned to hate. The story was definitely gritty and intense, and honestly a little more gory than I prefer at times. There were a few violent scenes that had me cringing, but they didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the novel. It was easy to get attached to the characters and you often wanted to jump into the novel to protect one of them you loved. I am happy with the ending of the novel, but there is plenty of room for story growth if Katie decides to write a sequel. The Breeders has plenty of action, a bit of mystery and a sweet romance. So if you are looking for a new dystopian read, The Breeders is a great one to go with!

Notable Quotable:

"He looks up at me, his face searching mine for reassurance. I squeeze his shoulder. “It’ll be okay.”

What a terrible liar I am. "

- Katie French, The Breeders

Grade:

Find The Breeders online:
Goodreads
Amazon
Lulu

About Katie French

Website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads
Katie French imagined herself an author when her poem caught the eye of her second grade teacher.

In middle school she spent her free time locked in her room, writing her first young adult novel. Though her social life suffered, her love for literature thrived. She studied English at Eastern Michigan University, where she veered from writing and earned an education degree. She spent nine years teaching high school English.

Currently she is a school counselor, doing a job that is both one of the hardest things she’s ever done and the most rewarding. In her free time she writes, reads great books and takes care of her two beautiful and crazy children. She is a contributor and co-creator of Underground Book Reviews, a website dedicated to erasing the boundaries between traditional and non-traditional publishing. She lives in Michigan with her husband and two children.

Enter to win one of 10 eCopies of the Breeders!

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Friday, March 22, 2013

Kick Butt Characters Hop: Win The Hunt and The Prey!

2nd Annual Kick Butt Characters Hop

Hosted by Good Choice Reading & I Am A Reader, Not A Writer

March 23rd - 28th

This hop features the best Kick-Butt Characters in Young Adult Books!

I chose to feature Gene from The HUNT and The PREY by Andrew Fukuda!

Don’t Sweat. Don’t Laugh. Don’t draw attention to yourself. And most of all, whatever you do, do not fall in love with one of them.

Gene is different from everyone else around him. He can’t run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t have an unquenchable lust for blood. Gene is a human, and he knows the rules. Keep the truth a secret. It’s the only way to stay alive in a world of night—a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood.

When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him. He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible—and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever—but is it worth the cost of his humanity?

Thanks to the publisher St. Martin's Griffin I have one paperback copy of The Hunt and one hardcover copy of The Prey to give away! Enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win.
(must be over 13 years of age to enter and have a valid US mailing address)

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Be sure to enter the other giveaways in the Kick-Butt Characters Hop!