50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James

Genre: Adult Romance
Publication Date: May 26, 2011
Pages: 514
Source: Purchased the e-book on Kindle

Goodreads Summary:

When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating. Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind - until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time.

The unworldly, innocent Ana is shocked to realize she wants this man, and when he warns her to keep her distance it only makes her more desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her - but on his own terms.

Shocked yet thrilled by Grey's singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success – his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving adoptive family – Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a passionate, physical and daring affair, Ana learns more about her own dark desires, as well as the Christian Grey hidden away from public scrutiny.

Can their relationship transcend physical passion? Will Ana find it in herself to submit to the self-indulgent Master? And if she does, will she still love what she finds?

My Opinion:

This book received a lot of attention from the media, and after one of my best friends recommended I read it, I decided to give it a try.

I'm happy I read it so I can be aware of what the fuss is about. However, I do not understand the hype that surrounds this book. I didn't love it, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, unless they want to read it to be able to discuss their opinions with everyone else who is talking about it.

THE PROS:

- I liked the beginning of the story: up until about 60% of the way through, I wanted to know what was going to happen next.

- The ending. I'm extremely happy with Ana's decision at the end. It was 100% the right decision, since she was in an abusive relationship and unhappy (even though her happy moments with Christian made her mistakenly believe she was happy, I do not think she was.)

- Katherine and Elliott's relationship. I wish I saw more of them.

THE CONS:

- My #1 issue with this book is that so many women are going around declaring Christian Grey their "dream man." WHY would anyone admire him?! He is crazy, abusive, disrespectful of women, a control freak, and a stalker! NONE of those traits sound appealing to me. Also, throughout the book I wasn't even given enough information about his past to sympathize with him. I flat-out didn't like him.

Example: "I like the control [hitting you] gives me, Anastasia. I want you to behave in a particular way, and if you don't, I shall punish you, and you will learn to behave the way I desire."

That is in NO way attractive. If in real life anyone says that to a person, they should get far away and get a restraining order.

It's not the BDSM lifestyle I'm opposed to -- it's not my cup of tea, but if both people participating enjoy it, that's their business. Ana was not enjoying it -- she tried putting up with it because she feared Christian would leave her if she didn't, and it was making her unhappy. I do not believe that is a healthy relationship.

- This story began as a Twilight fan-fiction, with Ana as Bella and Christian as Edward. In Twilight, the reason Edward is attracted to Bella even though Bella is average is because she is the one person whose mind he cannot read. This makes her extremely different from everyone else, and allowed me to believe their relationship. There was no reason given to me throughout 50 Shades why Christian would be interested in Ana, and I never believed their relationship.

- The length. This book was way too long, and needed more editing to par it down. When I reached the 70% point, I was ready for the book to end. It dragged on much longer than necessary.

- I wanted to strangle the "inner goddess." Did she really have to be mentioned so many times? Along with the subconscious, at points it sounded like Ana had multiple personality disorder.

IN CONCLUSION:

I do not recommend this book, unless you are curious about the hype and want to be able to discuss it with others. There are so many other great books out there to read. This book glamorizes abusive relationships, and I did not support the "romance" in it one bit. I will not be continuing this series.

Books & Beauty (5)

Books & Beauty is a weekly feature I do with Tiffany from For Those About to Read so we can share the books and beauty products we get each week!

Here are the books and beauty products I received!

THE PRODUCTS

Splash Into Summer Giveaway

Welcome to my Splash into Summer Giveaway, which is hosted by I am a Reader Not a Writer! Visit her page to view everyone participating in the giveaway.

I will be giving away a paperback of my debut novel, Remembrance.

This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL!

Lizzie Davenport has been reincarnated from Regency Era, England ... but she doesn't know it yet.

Then Drew Carmichael transfers into Lizzie's high school, and she feels a connection to him, almost like she knows him. She can't stop thinking about him, but whenever she tries talking with him about the mysteries behind her feelings, he makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with her. Reaching him is even more difficult because she has a boyfriend, Jeremy, who has started to become full of himself after being elected co-captain of the varsity soccer team, and her flirtatious best friend Chelsea starts dating Drew soon after his arrival. So why can't she get him out of her mind?

Even though Lizzie knows she should let go of her fascination with Drew, fighting fate isn't going to be easy.

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Remembrance Character Makeup Tutorials

Hey everyone! I've recently started creating makeup tutorials for characters from Remembrance on my YouTube page. These will show you the types of makeup the characters wore during different parts of the book. 

Lizzie's Daytime Makeup

Chelsea's Nighttime Makeup

Books & Beauty (4)

Books & Beauty is a weekly feature hosted by myself and Tiffany from For Those About to Read where we talk about the books and beauty products that we got this past week!

The Products

Love in Bloom Giveaway!

Hi, everyone! Welcome to my Love in Bloom Giveaway! This giveaway is hosted by I am a Reader Not a Writer. Visit her site to view everyone participating in the Hop!

I will be giving away a copy of my debut novel, Remembrance. To keep it simple, the ONLY way to enter is to enter your name! 

Lizzie Davenport has been reincarnated from Regency Era, England ... but she doesn't know it yet.

Then Drew Carmichael transfers into Lizzie's high school at the beginning of the year, and she feels a connection to him, almost like she knows him. She can't stop thinking about him, but whenever she tries talking with him about the mysteries behind her feelings, he makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with her. Reaching him is even more difficult because she has a boyfriend, Jeremy, who has started to become full of himself after being elected co-captain of the varsity soccer team, and her flirtatious best friend Chelsea starts dating Drew soon after his arrival. So why can't she get him out of her mind?

Even though Lizzie knows she should let go of her fascination with Drew, fighting fate isn't going to be easy.




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Birchbox Unboxing May 2012 (Gossip Girl Edition!)

Yesterday I got my very first BIRCHBOX in the mail! I was so excited. Birchbox is a monthly subscription service where you pay $10 a month and get 4-5 deluxe sample size beauty products sent straight to your home! To learn more and join, click HERE.

I first heard of monthly subscriptions when I saw a video of a UK blogger opening her Glossybox. So I checked out programs in the USA. The three programs I'm currently signed up for are Birchbox, Glambag, and Glossybox USA. Over the next three months I'll be evaluating these three programs and deciding which ones to stick with!

My Unboxing Video 

My opinion on my May 2012 Birchbox:

I'm really happy with the items I received, and am so excited to try them out! As I mentioned in the video, I have dark circles under my eyes, so I'm always on the lookout for the perfect eye balm that can fix that. I'm interested to see how the volumizing shampoo works with my hair, as my hair is very fine. I'm not sure if the gold foil nailpolish will look great with my skintone, but I'm willing to try it out, since I change my polish color every week. The Dr. Jarts Beauty Balm feels lightweight, so I'm looking forward to trying it as a base and seeing how it feels on my skin.

I'm happy with what I received, but I also wish I got the Dior mascara, Stila eyepencil, or tinted lip balm in my box, since lots of Birchbox subscribers got those. However, I looked at my beauty profile and saw that I accidentally said that my "splurge item" was eye balm instead of the most latest makeup color. (I think I went through it fast and thought it said eye color instead of balm). So I think Birchbox did a great job catering for that profile, since the eye balm sample I received is a really nice size. I fixed my beauty profile once I realized the mistake, so I'm really looking forward to my boxes in the future!

The Items in my Birchbox

Books & Beauty (3)

Books & Beauty is a weekly feature hosted by myself and Tiffany from For Those About to Read where we talk about the books and beauty items we got this past week!

I'm definitely excited about the idea of doing makeup tutorials for the characters in Remembrance! I already have ideas for Lizzie and Chelsea :)

Books

Beauty

Timepiece by Myra McEntire

Genre: Science Fiction YA
Publication Date: June 12, 2012
Pages: 336
Source: Received an e-ARC for review from NetGalley

Goodreads Summary:

A threat from the past could destroy the future. And the clock is ticking...

Kaleb Ballard's relentless flirting is interrupted when Jack Landers, the man who tried to murder his father, timeslips in and attacks before disappearing just as quickly. But Kaleb has never before been able to see time travelers, unlike many of his friends associated with the mysterious Hourglass organization. Are Kaleb's powers expanding, or is something very wrong?

Then the Hourglass is issued an ultimatum. Either they find Jack and the research he's stolen on the time gene, or time will be altered with devastating results. 

Now Kaleb, Emerson, Michael, and the other Hourglass recruits have no choice but to use their unusual powers to find Jack. But where do they even start? And when? And even if they succeed, it may not be enough...

The follow-up to Hourglass, Timepiece blends the paranormal, science fiction, mystery, and suspense genres into a nonstop thrill ride where every second counts.


My Opinion:

I loved HOURGLASS, so I was so excited when I saw that TIMEPIECE was on NetGalley! The time travel in this series is so unique -- I love it. (I am a huge lover of time travel, and I've never seen it done before like it is in this series!)

TIMEPIECE was different from HOURGLASS because it's told from Kaleb's point of view. I was so excited about this, because while I think Michael is perfect for Emerson, I am personally more of a Kaleb fan, so it was awesome getting into his mind. His love interest in this book is Em's best friend, Lily, and they have SUCH AN AMAZING love story! Their romance stood out to me because it grows over time -- there was no "love at first sight" for them. They hated each other at first, but as they learned more about each other, they fell in love, and it was so sweet to read about. There was one quote about three fourths of the way through when Kaleb is telling Lily about how much she matters to him, and it was so adorably sweet. They are perfect together!

It had been a while since I had read HOURGLASS, so I have to admit that I was confused at the beginning of TIMEPIECE. There wasn't any recapping of what happened, so I did feel a little lost in the beginning of the book. When I stopped feeling lost I was able to get more into the plot, and I loved it! This series is really fast-moving and fun, and it's awesome learning about the different abilities that people have in this world that Myra McEntire has created.

If you're a time travel enthusiast, this is definitely a series I recommend! I can't wait to see what happens in the next installment.

Purchase

[ Amazon | Barnes & Noble ]

If you like this, you'll also like:

Get a Kindle autograph!

I recently discovered something cool called KindleGraph, which will let me "sign" you Kindle copies of Remembrance!

Just click the image below, send me a request, and I'll sign your Kindle version of Remembrance :)

Waiting on Wednesday: Darkness Before Dawn by J.A. London

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week's "can't wait to read" selection is:

Darkness Before Dawn by J.A. London

Releases on May 29, 2012

Add on Goodreads

This electrifying new trilogy blends the best of paranormal and dystopian storytelling in a world where the war is over. And the vampires won.

Humans huddle in their walled cities, supplying blood in exchange for safety. But not even that is guaranteed. Dawn has lost her entire family and now reluctantly serves as the delegate to Lord Valentine, the most powerful vampire for miles. It isn’t until she meets Victor, Valentine’s son, that she realizes not all vampires are monsters....

Darkness Before Dawn is a fresh new story with captivating characters, unexpected plot twists, a fascinating setting, and a compelling voice. Written under the name J. A. London by a talented mother-son team, the trilogy is perfect for fans of True Blood and the House of Night and Morganville Vampires series.

* * *

It seems like the new trend in vampire books is "vampires have taken over the world and a few humans must learn how to survive!" And I love it. After reading and loving The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa, I'm excited to get my hands on more dystopic vampire fiction!

Thanks for checking out my Waiting on Wednesday!

If you're a reviewer and want to sign up to get an e-ARC of Timeless, the final installation in the Transcend Time Series, remember to sign up HERE for a guaranteed copy!

10,000 Facebook Fans Celebration Giveaway!

This week I reached 10,000 fans on the Remembrance Facebook Page!

So I thought I would celebrate with a giveaway!

This giveaway will be international!

Here are the prizes:

The winner will get a copy of Remembrance along with any book of your choosing under $10 from Amazon (US) or Book Depository (International).

Thank you for your awesome support of Remembrance! Ever since the book came out in July 2011 I've been able to meet such awesome people from so many different countries. Your enthusiasm for the series means the world to me! <3

PS: If you're a reviewer and are interested in receiving an e-ARC of Timeless at the end of the year, please visit this page to sign up for a guaranteed copy!

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Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

Genre: Apocalyptic YA
Publication Date: June 5, 2012
Challenge: 2012 Apocalypse Challenge
Pages: 294
Source: Received an e-ARC from NetGalley

Goodreads Summary:

Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong. 

In Emmy Laybourne’s action-packed debut novel, six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids trapped together in a chain superstore build a refuge for themselves inside. While outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapons spill, seems to be tearing the world—as they know it—apart.


My Opinion:

I love apocalyptic stories, so I was so excited when I saw MONUMENT 14 on NetGalley! This book jumped right into the action -- a few pages in, and huge hail balls were falling from the skies. I like how the kids survived in a Greenway (which is sort of like a Walmart/Target), because whenever I think of the "best places to be during the apocalypse," big stores like that always come to mind. Well … minus the fact that those stores are the most likely to be rioted, so you might get in harms way.

Except luckily for the kids, the gates come down, so they are able to barricade everyone out of the store. Everything seems to be going well until an earthquake strikes and a chemical plant nearby has a spill, releasing dangerous chemicals into the air. This chemical reacts differently with different blood types, which I enjoyed reading about because for some reason I've always found blood typing (and other things genetics related) to be very interesting.

I really liked the characters, but I also didn't' feel as emotionally connected to them as I thought I should have. Not in a bad way though -- I just wish I felt a little more connected to them than I did. I loved the scenes where they got updates on the outside world. Because they were in the Greenway, lots of times the reader has no idea what's going on outside. I wish they had been able to stay connected via the television for a little bit longer so the reader would have been aware of what was going on outside.

All in all, I enjoyed this book. If you love apocalyptic stories, definitely read this one.

Purchase

[ Amazon | Barnes & Noble ]

If you enjoyed Moment 14, you'll also like ...

Challenges

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2012 Reading Challenge

Michelle has
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Books & Beauty (2)

Books & Beauty is a weekly feature started by myself and Tiffany from For Those About to Read so we can share the books and beauty products we got this week!

Products Mentioned

If you're a book blogger and are interested in receiving an e-ARC of Timeless to review when I send them out at the end of the year, please sign up here to reserve your guaranteed copy!

Also, remember to let me know if "Faction Inspired Makeup Tutorials" are something you're interested in!

xoxo,

Michelle

Looking for reviewers for TIMELESS!

Hi, bloggers! I've had a lot of people tell me that they are interested in reviewing TIMELESS when it comes out, which is so exciting! Thank you for your support of the Transcend Time Series -- it means so much to me and I'm so happy that people are enjoying the books.

I don't expect to have TIMELESS ready to release until November 20, 2012. However, I wanted to figure out an organized way to keep a list of everyone interested in reviewing TIMELESS. So I created a form so you can sign up, and then you don't have to worry about remembering to ask me for a review copy a few months from now, because you'll already be "in the system." It will just come to your email inbox when I start sending out review copies!

I will be giving a review copy to every blogger interested, so as long as you fill out this form and have a blog where you review books, you are guaranteed an e-copy for review!

Thank you again, and I look forward to sending TIMELESS to you when it's ready :)

*If you haven't reviewed REMEMBRANCE or VENGEANCE yet and you would like to, please email me, michelle@madow.com, and I will send you a review copy.

2012 Apocalypse Challenge!

Welcome to the 2012 Apocalypse Challenge!

I know it's May, but I had the idea for this challenge today and wanted to get it started. I didn't feel like waiting until 2013, and if the Mayans are right, the world might not even be there then ;)

I'm excited to do this challenge because I love apocalyptic stories! My favorite part of them is not only reading about the disaster itself, but how people survive. When thrust into a major disaster, characters have to interact and learn how to get along with people they might have never had a conversation with otherwise. I love seeing how characters grow and mature when put in intense situations like the ones in the books you will read in this challenge.

Books count for the apocalypse challenge if they are about any natural disaster or the apocalypse. There must be a major disaster of some sort in the book. The major rule is this:

**For a book to qualify for the 2012 Apocalypse Challenge, the main character must have a clear memory of what the world was like before the disaster event.**

Here are some example of books that would count:

Ashfall by Mike Mullin

Gone by Michael Grant

Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Ashes by Ilsa Bick

The Loners by Lex Thomas

Check out the Apocalypse Challenge Goodreads List for suggestions of what to read. Feel free to add your own suggestions to the list!

Books like Hunger Games, Uglies, Matched, etc. do not count, because the main characters do not remember what "normal" life was like. Those books are dystopian, not apocalyptic. There is a difference.

The books do not have to have been published on 2012. You just had to have read them in 2012.

Here are the levels:

3 books: Quarantine

6 books: Localized Disaster

9 books: Apocalypse

12 books: Doomsday

To participate in the challenge you must:

(1) Sign up on the Linky below!

(2) Follow my blog

(3) Put the challenge banner in your sidebar and have it link back to this page
(4) Whenever you review a book that fits challenge guidelines, link back to this page

(5) Want to read three or more apocalyptic books this year!

Have fun :)

Spring Fling Giveaway Hop!

Welcome to my Spring Fling Giveaway Hop, hosted by I Am a Reader, Not a Writer! Visit her page to see who else is participating in this hop.

I am giving away:

(1) Signed copy of my debut novel, Remembrance;

(1) Advanced Reading Copy of Wanted by Heidi Ayarbe

Lizzie Davenport has been reincarnated from Regency Era, England ... but she doesn't know it yet.

Then Drew Carmichael transfers into Lizzie's high school at the beginning of the year, and she feels a connection to him, almost like she knows him. She can't stop thinking about him, but whenever she tries talking with him about the mysteries behind her feelings, he makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with her. Reaching him is even more difficult because she has a boyfriend, Jeremy, who has started to become full of himself after being elected co-captain of the varsity soccer team, and her flirtatious best friend Chelsea starts dating Drew soon after his arrival. So why can't she get him out of her mind?

Even though Lizzie knows she should let go of her fascination with Drew, fighting fate isn't going to be easy.

A one-word text message: That's all Michal "Mike" Garcia needs to gather a crowd. Mike is a seventeen-year-old bookie, and Sanctuary is where she takes bets for anyone at Carson High with enough cash. Her only rule: Never participate, never place a bet for herself.

Then Josh Ellison moves to town. He pushes Mike to live her life, to feel a rush of something -- play the game, he urgest, stop being a spectator.

So Mike breaks her one rule. She places a bet, feels the rush. 

And loses.

In an act of desperation, she and Josh -- who has a sordid past of his own -- concoct a plan: The pair will steal from Carson City's elite to pay back Mike's debt. Then they'll give the rest of their haul to those who need it most. How can burglary be wrong if they are making things right? 

ENTER TO WIN!!!

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Top ten books I would like to see be made into a movie

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme from the girls at The Broke and the Bookish!

I love this week's theme: the top ten books I'd like to see be made into a movie! So, here is my list!

(1) Divergent by Veronica Roth

This was my favorite book of last year, and I think it would make an incredible movie! This is also fitting as my number one since Insurgent comes out today. To say I'm excited would be an understatement.

(2) Tempest by Julie Cross

This book was very cinematic for me when I read it. Time travel is always fun in movies.

(3) Iron Fey Series by Julie Kagawa

Julie created a beautiful world in this series, so I would love to see what it would look like on the big screen.

(4) Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

This is my favorite vampire series of all time. (Yes, I think I like it better than Twilight.) Would love to see Rose, Lissa, Dimitri, and Crew on screen!

(5) Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

This is one of my favorite dystopian worlds! Would love to see what they did with the technology, and how they made people look with all the plastic surgery.

(6) The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

This is the second book in the series, but it's actually a companion book. I liked it better than the first book, and think it would transfer better into movie format. I love post-apocalyptic movies, and this book was really well thought out.

(7) Glimmerglass by Jenna Black

I would love to see how they would do Avalon in a movie!

(8) Fateful by Claudia Gray

Because I love anything involving the Titanic, and Titanic meets paranormal = <3.

(9) Gone by Michael Grant

This movie would be crazy intense. Would love to see it.

(10) The Luxe by Anna Godbersen

Alright, I'm not 100% sure the story would translate well into a movie. But I would love to see the actors they picked, and the costumes would be incredible!

I noticed that most of the books I picked to see as movies are action/adventure books. This probably has to do with how when it comes to movies, I'm drawn to ones with action. I love romance stories as well, but I prefer reading them opposed to watching them, because I feel I can better get into the mind of the main character that way and experience the emotions along with them.

Looking forward to see what everyone else picked who's participating this week!