Mundie Moms

Monday, May 7, 2012

Book Review & Giveaway: Wrecked by Anna Davies


Published by: Simon & Schuster
To Be Released on: May 1st, 2012
Source: ARC from publisher at ALA
3 stars: It's A Good Read
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Add it to Goodreads

In the wake of a tragic boating accident that killed her friends, 16-year-old Miranda is consumed by guilt. She has no memory of how she managed to survive the crash, only the murky dreams of a strange boy in the dark water. Her only refuge is in the late-night swims she takes alone— until one night on the beach when she meets Christian, a boy who seems eerily familiar, but keeps many secrets.

The more she fights it the faster love pulls her under. Soon she finds herself in over her head when the dangerous true nature of Christian’s secrets rise to the surface.

Wrecked is a seductive contemporary reimagination of The Little Mermaid, with a paranormal twist, from debut author Anna Davies.

There's something alluring about mermaid mythology and the enchanting idea of the existence of an under sea world. The mermaid lore mentioned in Wrecked's synopsis is what made me want to read this book. I was intrigued with the concept of a teen girl meeting a mysterious boy who has ties the ocean that surrounds the island she lives on (that part you find out from reading the book itself). What surprised with Wrecked is that while the paranormal lore plays a bit part in the over story, the paranormal characters aren't as big as tragedy that unfolds for Miranda.

Miranda's story is one that's both intense and heart breaking. Her world gets rocked when her boyfriend and some of her friends decide to take boat her boat at night when a freak storm finds them wrecked out in the ocean, and the tragedy unfolds from there as there's few survivors. It wasn't hard for me to completely sympathize for this poor girl with everything she's had to deal with and what she ends up coping with in Wrecked. With out giving much away, I will say this girl deals with heartbreak more than once during the course of her story. Here's the thing about Miranda, she's tough, she gets through her grief and what unfolds in her story with that toughness. She also has hope, even it's just a glimmer of it.

One of the things I liked about this story was Anna's descriptive and in-depth telling of Wrecked's setting and the rich history that goes along with it. This not only laid the ground work for Anna to include her paranormal twist into Miranda's story, but it also allowed me to see and understand why the various characters in this tiny historical coastal town act they way they do. The island's history and the paranormal twist are tied together in a very realistic way, and it's one of the things that kept me reading this book. Apart from that, the paranormal twist and the romantic interest, Christian, the mysterious boy who saves Miranda left me wanting more than that was given to me in the story. I liked that Christian wasn't just a merman, he's what's called a Betwixt, which is basically a cross between being a human and a mermaid. Though I wanted more, I enjoyed getting the small glimpse into his underworld life from his pov of in the story.

Wrecked has an intriguing blend of both contemporary and paranormal elements that hooked me, but it left me needing more from the book to like it on the level I had hoped to. I felt that both the tragedy and Miranda's trying to cope with everything that's going on over shadowed the paranormal twist in the book. I wanted more of the paranormal element. I wanted more Christian, who fully emerges onto the scene a little too late in the story for me. While I felt sympathy for Miranda, I struggled to connect with her. I understood her depression and her trying to cope with the deaths after the accident, and I felt bad for her. With Christian I was completely drawn to him and wanted to know so much more about him and his undersea world than what I got. Since Anna hooked me with her paranormal lore of the Sea Witch and than finding out what Christian is, I wanted to dive into the undersea world more than what was given to me.

Having said that, I did like that this story wasn't wrapped up all nice and happily in the end. Don't get me wrong, there's a bit of happiness in it, but it's not what readers are going to be excepting, at all. Though I wanted more from this story, I will say I sat and read this book in one sitting, because I couldn't stop reading it. I wanted to know if Christian was going to follow through on what his task was (which you'll find out in the book), I had to know what would happen between him and Miranda and as well as how Miranda was going to fair through all this. Wrecked definitely lives up to it's name in more ways than one, with both the actual wreck that happens and the emotional and mental wreck that Miranda faces after it. It's definitely an intense book and one I'd recommend to YA readers. I'm looking forward to reading more of Anna's books. There is an underage drinking scene and some mild language in the book.

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Thank you to Simon & Schuster I have a fabulous prize pack to giveaway to 1 lucky winner! 
* A copy of Wrecked by Anna Davies

To Enter, please fill out the form below (standard giveaway rules apply):
- US residents only
- 1 entry per person
- 13 yrs & older (parent/guardian permission is required for under 13)
- This giveaway will end on May 21st, 2012


Good luck!!

Prizing courtesy of Simon & Schuster


City of Lost Souls Snippet #7: 1 Day Till COLS

Simon rolled his eyes. “It’s a good thing we know the person who’s dating Magnus Bane,” he said. “Otherwise, I get the feeling we’d all just lie around all the time wondering what the hell to do next. Or trying to raise the money to hire him by selling lemonade or something.”
Alec looked merely irritated by this comment. “The only way you could raise enough money to hire Magnus by selling lemonade is if you put meth in it.”

Mundane Monday #134

Happy Monday! 1 day left!! TOMORROW COLS will be out! I can't wait to get my hands on this book!  Don't forget we're trending our last TMI topic today at 9 am CST-  


"...... You know that line from Dante that I quoted to you in the park? 'L'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle'?" 

Her lips curled a little at the sides as she looked up at him. "I still don't speak Italian."

"It's a bit of the very last verse from Paradiso-Dante's Paradise. 'My will and my desire were turned by love, the love that moves the sun and the other stars.' Dante was trying to explain faith, I think, as an overpowering love, and maybe it's blasphemous, but that's how I think of the way that I love you. You came into my life and suddenly I had one truth to hold on to- that I loved you and you loved me."

- Jace talking to Clary, City of Fallen Angels pages 407-408

- Artwork found here

City of Fallen Angels Read A Long Day 20: Wrapping Up & COLS Predictions



Welcome to Day 20 of the City of Fallen Angels Read-A-Long, the last day of the read a long. THANK YOU to everyone who's taken part in the read a long over the past 20 days. It's been a lot of fun reading everyone's comments about COFA. For those of you who actively participated in the read a long I'll be putting your names in a bowl and will randomly pull out 1 winner to win a copy of COLS. The winner will be announced later today.

Today's discussion is about: COFA Wrap up & COLS Predictions

I loved this book! Even though I've read COFA a few times now, I still don't know how summarize my feelings over this book. There's so much that happens... I totally enjoyed it! I swear I pick up on something new each time I read it. One of the things I really liked about COFA is the way Cassie is able to mix in the humor and sarcasm that I love about this series, with the more heartbreaking and serious scenes. There's such a great mix of laugh out lines, and the moments that totally break your heart.
  • What was one of your favorite moments from COFA?
  • Which character surprised you in terms of how much they changed?
  • Which scene surprised you the most? 
  • What's one thing you hope happens in COLS?
*Spoilers from COFA are being discussed in the comments of this post. If you've already read COLS, please DO NOT post any COLS spoilers here. You can discuss COLS spoilers in our COLS spoiler forum here

Must Have Middle Grade Monday


Welcome to this week's edition of Must Have Middle Grade Reads, a weekly feature here on Mundie Moms where I spotlight last week's middle grade books I reviewed on Mundie Kids. This week's Must Have Middle Grade features two MG I've recently read and highly recommend picking up:


Published by: Harper Collins Childrens
Released on: January 17th, 2012
4.5 stars: I Really Enjoyed It
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.

Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.

Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.

Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to create Ivan’s unforgettable first-person narration in a story of friendship, art, and hope - quoted from Goodreads


This is a story that animal lovers of all ages will fall in love with. Katherine Applegate does a beautiful job at giving a voice to the true story of Ivan the Urban Gorilla, who spent 27 years living in a cage at mall in Washington State. In telling Ivan's story, Katherine not only allows readers to understand and fall in love with Ivan, but she gives his story an imaginative spin. The fact that does this through Ivan's point of view in first person really fascinated me, and made the story feel that much more genuine. I felt like if Ivan could speak, it would similar to the words Katherine used in telling his story. What an unforgettable character Ivan is.

You can read the rest of my review here.


By: Christopher Healy
Published by: Walden Pond Press
Released on: May 1st, 2012
5 Stars: I Loved It!
Purchase fromAmazon | Barnes & Noble

Enter a world where everything, even our classic fairy tales, is not at all what it seems.

Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You've never head of them, have you? These are the princes who saved Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, respectively, and yet, thanks to those lousy bards who wrote the tales, you likely know them only as "Prince Charming." But all of this is about to change...

Rejected by their princesses and cast out of their castles, Liam, Frederic, Duncan, and Guztav stumble upon an evil plot that could endanger each of their kingdoms. Now it's up to them to triumph over their various shortcomings, take on trolls, bandits, dragons, witches, and other associated terrors to becom the heroes no one ever thought they could be.

This title is the first in a series about the adventures of Liam, Frederic, Duncan, and Gustav. The second title is due out in 2013 -quoted from Goodreads

I absolutely love a fresh spin on the beloved fairy tales I grew up with and Christopher Healy does just that with his debut, The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom. This fun mix up of fairy tale Princes and Princess is one that kids and parents a like with enjoy. There's adventure, plenty of mishaps and of course plenty of laughs as readers journey along side Prince Liam, Prince Frederic, Prince Duncan and Prince Gustav. 


You can read my review here, and enter to win a copy of the book here. I also post my review for this book on MM's this past weekend. 


Middle Grade Monday:
Don't miss my Marvelous Middle Grade Monday meme on Mundie Kids, a weekly meme hosted by author Shannon Messenger's. You can check out this week's Mundie Kids feature here

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