Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket

Monday, January 5, 2015

It's a Blog Makeover GIVEAWAY!!


Hello everyone and Happy New Year! I am super excited to get this year started off with a "bang," and thanks to my good book-blogging friend Audra over at Auggie Talk, we are both hosting an awesome Blog Makeover Giveaway with some sweet new designs from yours truly!

So, as some of you may know, I have been working very hard over the past year to start my own design business-- the result is now Lea Christine Designs, a web and graphic design studio that offers full custom designs for Blogger and WordPress, AND includes totally original vector graphics as well!

Design is something I absolutely love doing. Creating a design for someone-- to make their blog or website reflect their own creative and unique personality-- that is my passion! After all, your site is your online home. It should look and feel welcoming to both yourself and your readers, and it should show off everything that makes you a great, individual, awesome person!

With that being said, Audra from Auggie Talk and I chatted about hosting a giveaway where I can create some beautiful and unique new design looks for you as well-- to find out more, read below and fill out that Rafflecopter form at the bottom! I would love to work with you on a brand-new design for your site this year!

Xoxo,







~About Lea Christine Designs~

Lea Christine Designs is a web and graphic design studio that specializes in fully-custom vector graphics for both Blogger and WordPress sites. I am the designer behind the scenes, whipping up awesome new designs to fit every client's unique style and personality! Whether it's drawing by hand and creating totally one-of-a-kind graphics, or rolling up my sleeves to get into coding, my goal is to bring your creative visions to life!


~Didn't You Used to Blog?~

Yes, I sure did-- and I really miss my book blog a ton, and am STILL hopeful to start blogging again in the future! (I'm really not fibbing, I have some new books I'm planning to review in the VERY near future!)

But how did I get into design you may ask? Well that's an interesting question, because 3 years ago I definitely didn't know that this is what I'd be doing. In fact, I went to school to become a librarian and spent a few years working on this very much-loved book blog called "LC's Adventures in Libraryland." Like many people, I started blogging having absolutely no clue what I was doing. But little by little, I built up a following, and started experimenting with the design of my blog. The problem was, all of those Blogger templates were such a snooze, and none of the graphics I could find on iStock or the web looked like "me"-- and plus I didn't want to pay for stock images. So I decided to make my own-- people seemed to like what I was doing on my own site, asked me to help them with theirs, and that's pretty much how I started designing!

~Lea Christine Designs Today~

A little over two years a later, and I am doing web and graphic design full-time. It's a challenging but very worthwhile business, where I learn something new everyday, and have had the opportunity to design over 40 fully-custom designs for some amazing clients (Audra being one of them!) I know how important it is to have your own "space" on the web that reflects YOU and who you are, and that is probably the number one thing I aim for when designing. If you've been thinking of getting a makeover for your site, or just need a few extras to jazz up your blog, please feel free to stop over to my design shop at Lea Christine Designs and see what I can offer you :)

~My Web Designs~

Here are just a few examples of some of my favorite web designs!





~My Graphics~

All of the graphics I make are 100% custom and made-from-scratch-- I listen to exactly what you say explaining what you want your graphics to look like, sit down with a pencil and paper, and sketch out those graphics before making them digital. This ensures that only YOU will have those graphics (no stock images!) and they look just the way you envisioned.








~Come Visit Me!~

If you've been thinking about maybe getting a new design for your site-- or even if you could just use a few extras like a new drop-down menu or Facebook cover to make your online home look a bit more snazzy-- I'd absolutely LOVE to chat with you!! Below you will find links to all the ways you can reach me ♥




~The Giveaway!~

First Place
(1) Custom Blog Header** and matching Blog Background ($105 value)

Second & Third Place:
YOUR CHOICE of (4) Custom Social Media Buttons
OR
(1) Custom Rating System ($45 value)

**Please note, custom header does not include vector illustration.

Lea Christine Designs Giveaway
GOOD LUCK!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Wednesday, June 11, 2014

What Happened to LC's Adventures?!?

Holy cow, it has been almost a YEAR since I have written a post on LC's Adventures in Libraryland, and it's been OVER a year since I last posted a book review, which absolutely boggles my mind. Time. Is. Flying!

So in the past couple of weeks, I've received a couple of emails/messages from people asking if I'm, you know, still alive. And the answer to that is yes! Yes, I'm still alive and kicking.

But is my blog??

Well, that's a more tricky question. So here's the deal in case anyone has been wondering what's up. Last April I (**finally**) got a full-time job working at a law firm (NOT as a law librarian unfortunately, as some of you may know I went to school for library science and did work in libraries for awhile). At the same time, I also really wanted to dedicate myself to getting my web design business up and running, and I also made a commitment to start going to the gym on a regular basis. So with all those things going on at once, needless to say, I just ran out of hours in the day to sit down and read and review my books. And yes, this made me truly very sad :(

While I never wrote any official notice that LC's Adventures was calling it quits, I also couldn't commit to a regular posting schedule, and the more infrequent my posts got, the less I felt connected to the book blogging community that I so dearly loved. I didn't want to make any permanent decision to close down shop entirely, hoping that one day in the distant future I'd be able to get back into it, so I just sort of abandoned my poor blog in order to work on designing other blogs, while working full-time, busting my rear at the gym, and trying to maintain some semblance of a social life. (As you can see in the picture to the left, the upside to all this was that I got pretty good at doing squats! :)

BUT! This site has been on my mind ever since last year. I never forgot about it, and every now and then I look back with a sigh of remembrance, thinking about how much I loved reviewing, blogging, vlogging, taking part in book memes, meeting new bloggers, new authors, the thrill of getting new ARCs in the mail... having to leave all that behind was a total bummer.

Then, a few weeks ago I took a trip down memory lane by going to my local Teen Book Festival in Rochester, NY to meet Michelle Madow, author of the Transcend Time Saga and Secret Diamond Sisters series-- and that's when I was like, OK, I freakin miss this!! That along with the occasional follower asking me "where the heck are you??" has really made me start brainstorming how I can get back into blogging again, and what I might be able to do to incorporate my blog design business into LC's Adventures more since that's also a major part of my life now. It will be tough to figure out how I'll do it all, but I'm up for the challenge because I miss all you guys like crazy!!

So, while I really need some time to think about where my blog is going and how I can manage my time so that I can devote myself to regular posts and reviews again, I did want to leave an update now so that you all know that no, I am NOT closing down LC's Adventures and yes I do absolutely plan on getting things back up and running better than ever at some point in the future-- I am **hoping** by later this year! That will include new reviews, new meme posts, new YouTube vlogs, and more posts having to do with tips and tricks for blog design, some design freebies, and maybe even some Book Blog Makeover giveaways!!

I hope that you will stay tuned, and until then as always-- Happy Reading!!

 photo LCSignature_zps89639325.jpg

Monday, June 17, 2013

Book Blog Makeover! J&M's Book Diaries

Hello lovely book bloggers! So it has been a super long time since I have posted on my blog, but I wanted to show you the latest MAKEOVER I did for two awesome book chicks, Jenny and Malisa, over at J&M's Book Diaries.

Jenny and Malisa are fairly new to the book blogging world, but they knew that they wanted a custom design for their site to make it stand out from the rest. Like so many new bloggers, they were using one of the Blogger templates- it was pretty, but generic and a bit boring! So they got in touch with me about a new design- one that featured a custom vector illustration of the two of them, reading and chatting over coffee. They also love the color coral, so I made sure to include a pretty peachy coral color in their final design.

~The Custom Vector Illustration~
Designed and Drawn by me! ;)

One of the things that I kept in mind when designing Jenny and Malisa's blog was that they really wanted a modern and more minimalist style- nothing too busy or over the top. So I definitely kept things nice and simple in their template, sticking with a soft gray background with "pops" of color. This modern and simplified look makes it so that the main focus of their design is the custom illustration and the content on their page.

Because they ordered my Deluxe Makeover Package, they also got a choice of 4 custom upgrades, so they chose to add on custom post dividers, sidebar titles, post signature and social media buttons, which were all included. See below for the before and after pics of J&M's Book Diaries!

~Before~


~After!~


With this simple and modern look, Jenny and Malisa can now be sure that their blog is unique and makes an impression on their readers. I hope you'll stop over and visit these two fabulous book bloggers and show some love by following their new site! Just click on the NEW DESIGN image above to hop on over ;)

~Grab a Button!~

J&M Book Diaries
<div align="center"><a href="http://jmbookdiaries.blogspot.com/" title="J&M Book Diaries"><img src="http://i1297.photobucket.com/albums/ag30/Jmbookdiaries/JM%20Blog%20Design/GRABBUTTON2_zps1d5218be.png" alt="J&M Book Diaries" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

*****
Are you considering a new look for your blog? Do you just need an extra little something to spruce up the look you already have? Please stop on over and see me at Lea Christine Designs by clicking on the button below-- you can check out the services I offer and all the designs I have already done!

Happy Reading!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Book Review: The Iron daughter

Author: Julie Kagawa
Series: The Iron Fey #2
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: August 1, 2010
Pages: 359
Read it in: 2 days
Source: The library :)
 photo Amazonbutton.png photo AmazonKindlebutton.png photo goodreadsbutton.png
Summary: Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey— ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.

Worse, Meghan's own fey powers have been cut off. She's stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can't help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

LC's Take:

"I couldn't be normal and ignorant ever again, knowing what was out there. Faery was a part of me now. As long as I lived, I would always be watching for hidden doors and figures from the corner of my eyes. And for a certain dark prince who could never be mine..."  ~p.125-6

Gah! I don't know why it took me so long to get to the second book in this series-- because from the moment I picked up The Iron Daughter, I was reminded of why I love these books so much. The Iron Fey series is just one of those stories that sucks you into another world and makes it so that you never want to leave. The faery world that Julie Kagawa creates, I mean what can I say? It's freaking magical!

So honestly, it had been so long since I read The Iron King, that I didn't even remember what had been going on. But The Iron Daughter does a really good job of not only picking up with things where they left off, but also explaining bits of what had already happened, so I didn't feel totally lost. Basically, after defeating the first Iron King in book one, Meghan has to go back to the Winter (Unseelie) Court to fulfill a promise she had made (and if you know anything about the world of feary, you can never break a promise!) While at the Winter Court, the Scepter of the Seasons is stolen from Queen Mab, which controls the Winter and Summer seasons, and her oldest son Sage is brutally murdered. Mab assumes this is the Summer Court's fault, and now Winter and Summer are at war. Added to this, Meghan finds out that the Iron realm, which is slowly killing the entire faery world, is still very much in existence and growing stronger... now she has to get back the Scepter of the Seasons and stop Virus, the new leader of Iron from destroying the Nevernever.

Whew! Yeah a lot was going on in this book! It was super intense but I absolutely loved following the story, especially since there were so many new and amazing characters like Leanisidhe, and old characters that came back like Grimalken the Caithe Sidhe (faery cat). Seriously, the characters in this series are really what make it so awesome to read-- they are all so fleshed-out and interesting, and so many of them are really quirky and just a lot of fun to read about. So besides the awesome story, the characters just make these books even better!

Then we have the whole development of the love triangle between Meghan, Ash and Puck. And honestly, for as much as I usually can't stand YA love triangles  this one is being done right so far. It's believable, and it's not too overdone. I actually liked reading about Meghan's confusion over whether Ash truly has feelings for her or is just tricking her to get her back to the Winter Court. And I have to say, I also really like Puck, and how he has feelings for Meghan and she sort of does too, but she isn't sure whether to go with him or the forbidden Winter Prince. I'll be very interested to see where things go with Meghan and these two guys!

My ONE problem with this book-- and it's a bit of a spoiler, so if you haven't read this far yet, you might want to skip here-- my one problem, or question, was near the end when Ash is talking with Mab, Queen of the Winter/Unseelie court, and he says the following:

"I swear an oath," he whispered, "never to see her [Meghan] again, never to speak to her again, to sever all relationships with her, and return to the Winter Court."   ~p. 352

Now, in context, Ash is responding to Mab when she asks him what he has to do next if he wants to be able to stay in the Nevernever. HOWEVER-- I thought when I read this that he was ACTUALLY taking an oath and promising all those things... And couldn't Mab and the rest of her court also have interpreted his words that way? Aren't words like the number one thing that holds power in the realm of faery?!? So how was Ash able to say this statement-- which can SO easily be interpreted in two different ways-- and still get to make a choice whether to go or stay?? Unless this potentially is going to come into play again later on in the series, I kind of feel like this is a huge plot slip. But I don't know, I guess I'll have to see what happens with that!!

So overall, The Iron Daughter was a great sequel to The Iron King. Also, it didn't suffer from "second book syndrome" at all-- the plot was paced well and I never lost interest in what was going on. When I chose to pick up on this series again, I had really been in the mood for a good paranormal story and this one absolutely satisfied my YA-paranormal craving. If you are looking for an amazing story with great characters and beautiful writing, I would highly suggest getting into this series, it really is just as wonderful as everyone says it is!

~Cover Talk~

The covers for the Iron series are gorgeous, hands down. And put them all together, and they are absolutely stunning! I really like this cover, the model used for Meghan is beautiful, I love all the scroll-work details, the font used for the title, the icy blue shades-- this is one of those books that I can literally just sit and admire for the outside look alone! I *only* wish that they came in hardcover, because that would be amazing!!

LC's Rating:
4 star photo 5star-1.png
Another amazing book in the Iron Fey series! With a story you can't put down and interesting characters that you won't be able to forget, The Iron Daughter was a great sequel. I can't wait to read the next book and see what happens with Meghan, Ash, Puck, and everyone else in the Nevernever!

Find it!

 photo Amazonbutton.png photo AmazonKindlebutton.png photo goodreadsbutton.png

Friday, March 8, 2013

Book Review: Ashes

Author: Ilsa Bick
Series: Ashes Trilogy #1
Publisher: Egmont USA
Release Date: September 6, 2011
Pages: 465
Read it in: 3 days
Source: Won in Zombie Craze Giveaway 2012 from the Bookish Brunette! :)

 photo Amazonbutton.png photo AmazonKindlebutton.png photo goodreadsbutton.png
Summary: It could happen tomorrow...

An electromagnetic pulse flashes across the sky, destroying every electronic device, wiping out every computerized system, and killing billions.

Alex hiked into the woods to say good-bye to her dead parents and her personal demons. Now desperate to find out what happened after the pulse crushes her to the ground, Alex meets up with Tom—a young soldier—and Ellie, a girl whose grandfather was killed by the EMP.

For this improvised family and the others who are spared, it’s now a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human. Author Ilsa J. Bick crafts a terrifying and thrilling post-apocalyptic novel about a world that could become ours at any moment, where those left standing must learn what it means not just to survive, but to live amidst the devastation.


LC's Take:

"So far this book is AWESOME-- just don't read it and eat at the same time."

(my first Goodreads update)


So, have you ever come across a book and your first reaction to it is: "UGH! No WAY am I ever reading that one!" But then... something about it intrigues you, and you sorta can't stop thinking about it, so eventually you're just like, "OK, what the hell, I'll give it a shot."

Yeah, that was me with Ashes. The cover quite frankly scared the living daylights out of me, but for some reason, I was still interested in it-- then I won it in a giveaway, so at that point it was like, well now I have to read it-- and I'm really glad that I did. I mean, where do I EVEN begin?? This book was gory, intense, horrific, and FREAKING SWEET. It gave me chills, it grossed me out, and it had me on the edge of my seat for pretty much the entire time I was reading it!

A brief synopsis: Alex is in the woods when it happens-- the "Zap"-- the shock that sends everyone into a terrifying Post-apocalyptic world where teens Alex's age start to go crazy... and cannibalistic. But Alex is no stranger to near-death experiences and fighting to survive, because with a giant brain tumor slowly eating away at her, Alex has always felt like it's only a matter of time before the silent "monster" defeats her... but while so many others are either dead or eating the dead, the Zap has actually given Alex the superhuman ability to sense, or more specifically smell, when danger is around or when people's emotions change. Most importantly, she can tell the difference between who's still human and who has changed and gone berserk...

Alright so first of all, Alex was such a kick-ass main character. Strong, independent, and armed with an arsenal of survival skills and a dry sense of humor, she was one of those characters who you just LOVE to read about. I could relate to her, I became invested in her story, and so I was pretty much hanging on every word. Not to mention the fact that the girl has a brain tumor that is slowly killing her, and yet she doesn't have any major self-pity or cynicism to make her unlikable. She goes through some of the most horrific and painful experiences and yet there is no whining from her-- this was a YA character who I completely respected and was thrilled to be reading about!

Ellie and Tom, the two main supporting characters who Alex meets in the woods, were equally as intriguing. For example, when Alex first meets 8-year Ellie on the mountain, I couldn't stand her. She was a whiny little brat who caused about 50 million problems for Alex and was ungrateful that Alex saved her life a bunch of times. However, around chapter 12, Ellie decides to stop being a major pain in the rear and then she actually becomes a very endearing character. And Tom worked well as far as a love interest goes because his interactions with Alex were so interesting, and because the romance that builds between them was very gradual and not forced.

My only *one* caveat with Ashes was that I felt the story slightly lost its momentum in the latter part of the book. For the first part of the story, I got so deeply involved with the three main characters, and how they interacted together-- Ellie, Tom and Alex were interesting themselves, and I was loving seeing how their relationships played out. PLUS the first part of the story was so freaking scary and suspenseful, and I loved that feeling like just around the next page could be something else truly horrific. But then... the plot takes a turn, and Alex, Ellie and Tom get split up-- Alex winds up in a small town called Rule, where she becomes stuck in their strict society and religious fanaticism, and at this point I kind of felt like the plot lost some of its original intensity. It's not that the story got to be boring, but I did somewhat lose interest in it and I wasn't as invested in the new characters. However, then there was the MAJOR cliffhanger at the end-- OMG the ending!!

So even though Ashes was not even a book I had originally planned on reading, I am so glad that I made the decision to give it a shot-- it was an action-packed thriller filled with heart-stopping scenes, horrific and gory descriptions that gave me the chills, and complex characters that I couldn't help but become attached to. Not to mention, the writing was amazing. This one definitely stands way out from a lot of other YA, and if you love a great story, great characters, and aren't too squeamish, I would absolutely recommend that you give this one a chance as well!

~Cover Talk~

Let's not beat around the bush-- this cover scares the living bejeezus out of me. In fact, the cover art on this book is so insanely creeptastic and disturbing that I had to take the book jacket off the book while I was reading it just so I wouldn't have nightmares. No, I'm not joking. But let me also say that it was BECAUSE of the fright-level of the cover art that I eventually came around to reading this one-- it's just one of those images that you can't really forget once you've seen it.

I'm also a huge fan because it appeals not just to girls or YA-lovers-- don't get me wrong, I love covers with the pretty models in pretty dresses, but those books are really being put in a box and are limited in their appeal to a wider reading audience. The cover of Ashes however is awesome because it is not only extremely eye-catching; it crosses over to many different reader groups.

Find it!

 photo Amazonbutton.png  photo AmazonKindlebutton.png  photo goodreadsbutton.png

LC's Rating:
4 star photo 5star-1.png
Don't let the cover fool you-- Ashes was more than just a horror story. It had interesting and complex characters, awesome writing, and tons of plot turns to keep you guessing what will happen next. This is one book that will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat!

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Book Review: Monstrous Beauty

Author: Elizabeth Fama
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Release Date: September 4, 2012
Pages: 295
Read it in: 3 days
Source: ARC from the Publisher


Summary: Fierce, seductive mermaid Syrenka falls in love with Ezra, a young naturalist. When she abandons her life underwater for a chance at happiness on land, she is unaware that this decision comes with horrific and deadly consequences...

Almost one hundred forty years later, seventeen-year-old Hester meets a mysterious stranger named Ezra and feels overwhelmingly, inexplicably drawn to him. For generations, love has resulted in death for the women in her family. Is it an undiagnosed genetic defect . . . or a curse? With Ezra’s help, Hester investigates her family’s strange, sad history. The answers she seeks are waiting in the graveyard, the crypt, and at the bottom of the ocean—but powerful forces will do anything to keep her from uncovering her connection to Syrenka and to the tragedy of so long ago.

LC's Take:

OK, so where do I even begin with this book... because I seriously LOVED IT!!! It's been awhile since I've read a book where I felt totally captivated, where I was basically hanging on every word, and the more I read the more obsessed and involved I became with the story and characters... But Monstrous Beauty single-handedly was able to wipe from memory many of my horrible experiences I've had lately with several YA books, and has restored my faith in the genre as a whole.

YEAH. It was THAT good.

So characterization is always a *big* thing for me in any book, and that's typically my main focus-- if I like the characters, I will most likely become invested in your story. On the other hand, if your characters are paper cut-out fake stereotypes who I can't take seriously, I really don't care how great your story is, I'm not going to become invested in it. And for me, the true sign of good characterization is when the characters come across as real people. When I can imagine them as my friend or enemy, when I can relate to how they're thinking or feeling, and when they talk and behave in a believable way, that's when I know the author really took the time to develop the characters in his/her story. And in Monstrous Beauty, I definitely felt like I could get into the heads of each character and understand where they were coming from.

So the main character Hester Goodwin was awesome and I loved her. Not only did she come across as an actual, real person (which was very refreshing given the surprising difficulty to find realistic characters in many YA books), she was also a history-loving nerd so I immediately felt like I could connect with her. She could be confident and stand up for herself, she swore when she was pissed off, she could be awkward and self-conscious like any normal girl around her crush, she could be vulnerable without coming across as pathetically desperate-- I understood her character and connected with her. That *one thing* right there made me feel invested in the story being told.

Then we have Ezra, the 19th century spirit who Hester becomes drawn to-- I loved him too! Ezra had the delightfully cute quirkiness of a Tim Burton character-- awkward yet intelligent, sweet and sensitive, Ezra is the kind of guy every bookworm girl dreams of meeting. He was also another example of fantastic characterization-- for example, we know that Ezra was a scientist/naturalist in his lifetime who studied oceanic life and mythical creatures. Therefore, when we see things through Ezra's eyes, things are acutely detailed and scientific-- that's how he thinks, so that's how we see the world from his perspective. The fact that Fama actually took the time to give her characters unique perspectives so that we could tell whose point of view we were reading from set this book apart from many others-- it seems so simple, yet it's been awhile since I've seen unique POV's!

And another thing I HAVE to point out-- THANK YOU Elizabeth Fama for not being like so many other YA authors and treating sex like it's the Black Plague or something!!! You know how in some books the authors' main characters can't even *think* about sex, because it would be the end of the world? I 'm so sick of watered-down, G-rated adolescent characters who are totally out of touch with reality. But not Hester-- like any teenage girl, sex is a very real and important thing to her and it isn't treated like some dirty, taboo thing in this book. Seriously, thank you! Because guess what YA authors? Guy and girl teens think about sex quite a bit, so stop making up characters who basically think and act like eunuchs or something, and who wouldn't ever *dare* thinking of doing anything more than making out. And yes, this book does include some rather mature content-- like sex, swearing, rape, murder, etc.-- but they're all written in with the assumption that teens are half-way intelligent and can handle these things, and don't need to be spoon-fed Disney-sweet characters and plots. Let me give a standing ovation to this book just for that!

I was also a huge fan of the world-building in Monstrous Beauty. Since the story switches back and forth from modern times to 1872, it was crucial that things were set up for both time periods. The dialogue and character interaction were both spot-on-- when the story switched back to 1872, the characters actually spoke and behaved like they were from the 19th century-- and it came across very natural, not forced or cheesy. The author clearly did her research to make sure that her readers would feel as though they were going back in time. The descriptive language was also wonderful, and you could see each scene playing out through Fama's words. I think that a truly good writer makes you feel as though you aren't reading, but actually observing/experiencing things as they happen, and Fama was definitely able to do this for me! Finally, I loved how the story and setting had a slightly dark and Gothic feel to it-- the sea, the gloom of the New England coast, the creepy supernatural elements in it-- all of these things really set the tone for the story and made it irresistibly readable.

So lovely readers and bloggers, if it has been awhile since you've read a book where you were so eager to devour the words on each page that you couldn't read fast enough, this is the book for you. I was totally captivated by this story and its characters and could not put it down. Especially if you love historic settings, dark and creepy stories, and realistic characters, I hope you will bump Monstrous Beauty up on your reading lists, because I really think you will enjoy it just as much as I did!

~Cover Talk~

So there are actually two covers I want to look at and compare-- the first one is from the ARC, which is the version I have, and the second is the final cover chosen for the published edition:


OK, so to the left we have the ARC cover version-- this is the one that I have. Honestly, of the two, I like the original cover art the best. Yes, I know, there are tons of YA covers with gorgeous girls on the front but I just think this one is so elegant and eye-catching. It isn't as colorful, but I sort of like that the colors are more drab and muted, because the story's setting is dark and gloomy too.

Don't get me wrong-- the published edition cover is also beautiful! I love the bright blue-green colors in Syrenka's tail fin, and it also does the story justice by coming across as being dark and mysterious. However, between the two, I personally prefer the ARC edition-- which cover is your favorite?? :)

Interested? Hear an Audio-clip from Monstrous Beauty Here!


LC's Rating:
 photo 5star-1.png
Amazing characters and a supernatural story that takes place across two centuries made this an absolute must-read-- I could NOT put it down! Creepy, mysterious, romantic, suspenseful-- all of these things describe Monstrous Beauty. It was unique and completely unlike other YA, you will NOT be disappointed!

Check It Out!
 
Creative Commons License