Bookie Brunch: Trick or Treat Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Bookie Brunch: Trick or Treat Blog Hop! This is where a group of bloggers post about all things Halloween. There will be a new post every day, and, yes, there are some giveaways planned, too, so feel free to join us for sweets and treats this Halloween. This event was set up by the lovely Sasha Soren, author of Random Magic. We had a similar hop last year and it was such a good time we had to do it again!

There are certain books that I just love to read at this time of year. Not all of them are creepy ones, not all of them are Halloween-related, just favorites for curling up in the dark and reading by flashlight. What books do you like to read this time of year? What are you reading this year?

I'll go with the oldest first. I read The Cabinet of Curiosities by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child for the first time when I was maybe 13. It is still one of the darkest, creepiest books I have ever read. Except maybe for their other novel, Still Life With Crows, but I like Cabinet of Curiosities better. It has a nice romance do go along with the crazed murderer and gory removal of body parts. :)






Mr. Darcy's Bite by Mary Lydon Simonsen is not a scary novel, despite the cover. It is sweet, sometimes funny, romantic and lovely. In it, Mr. Darcy is a werewolf. He doesn't turn into a rampaging beast by the light of the full moon, but rather into a more realistic wolf. I love this story, and there will be a full review soon.






While on the topic, I might as well hit the other werewolf book on my list. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. Anybody who knows me knows how much I love this series. It is so beautiful, so achingly lovely...I already gushed in my review of the full series, which you can read here.







Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake is a recent addition to my favorite Halloween season stories. It is breathtakingly creepy at times and I love the unconventional ghost story. I haven't read the sequel yet, but if it is anywhere close to being as good as the first one, I'll love it.










Die For Me by Amy Plum is a story I fell in love with before I even opened it. Yes, I first loved it for the cover. It didn't take long for the story and characters to steal my heart. I wouldn't call this a scary story; it's got far too much romance for that, but it definitely had some shivery moments. Again, you can read my full review here.







Masque of Red Death by Bethany Griffin is a new acquisition for me and I haven't even read it yet, but it sure looks like a good Halloween story. Inspired by an Edgar Allen Poe short story and with that creepy cover...It's what I was planning to read this Halloween except that I forgot to take it with me to Washington...I did remember to bring The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson, so maybe I'll read that instead. :)





And now, here are some delightful bloggers who would like to share some of their favorite Halloween treats with you. Enjoy!


                                                    Lieder Madchen

Book Review: Die For Me by Amy Plum

Die For Me

by Amy Plum

Genre: YA Romance / Paranormal

Ages: 14 and up

Description:

In the City of Lights, two star-crossed lovers battle a fate that is destined to tear them apart again and again for eternity.

When Kate Mercier’s parents die in a tragic car accident, she leaves her life behind to live with her grandparents in Paris. For Kate, the only way to survive her pain is escaping into the world of books and Parisian art. Until she meets Vincent.

Mysterious, charming, and devastatingly handsome, Vincent threatens to melt the ice around Kate’s guarded heart with just his smile. As she begins to fall in love with Vincent, Kate discovers that he’s a revenant–an undead being whose fate forces him to sacrifice himself over and over again to save the lives of others. Vincent and those like him are bound in a centuries-old war against a group of evil revenants who exist only to murder and betray. Kate soon realizes that if she follows her heart, she may never be safe again.

My Thoughts:

I loved this book. It is not precisely the most original of tales, with a simple plot of good against evil, but it was absolutely beautiful. I was a little wary of it at first because of the title, but once I started I couldn't stop! The heroine reads books, the hero is self-sacrificing...in this case quite literally, as his very reason for existing is to save other people, even though it means dying over and over.

Vincent and his adopted family are revenants, undead heroes rather than monsters, which I found rather refreshing. For once the undead, sleepless immortals do not have to restrain themselves from murder. Isn't that lovely? Instead, they are instinctively heroic. I also loved how the revenants were created; they died in an act of extreme selflessness. Of course, no hero would be complete without enemies, which comes in the form of a group of revenants who were created in a method totally opposite to Vincent and his family; killed in an act of extreme betrayal.

Kate is a lovely, complicated character. She doesn't know much about fighting, but that doesn't make her weak. Shy and bookish, she never expected to find adventure in the form of enigmatic Vincent. Still, she takes it with remarkable aplomb and less screaming than I would have. I thought it was very realistic that at one point in the story she takes several steps back and has to make a decision whether she can live with everything that comes with loving someone like Vincent. I also liked that for once the romance is not forbidden, just extremely difficult. I like forbidden romance well enough, but YA seems to be inundated with it lately.

Vincent is handsome, charming and very French (not to mention utterly swoonworthy). He has a dark and mysterious past (also a plus) that is only revealed in small pieces through the book. I can't wait to read more about that in the second book. My only problem with him is that he could use a little more depth. I loved his varied adopted family, especially the artistic Jules. I also find Jean-Baptiste, their father figure, to be rather intriguing. He hasn't allowed himself to die for so long that he has become old, which makes me curious as to what he would be like young again.

One of the many things I loved about this book was Paris! I went to Paris a few years ago but only for a couple of days and this book makes me really wish I could have stayed longer. All of the museums and cafes Kate goes to...This story makes me think I could walk down the streets at night and imagine revenants around every corner. Die For Me lives and breathes Paris.

Anyone who likes the Mortal Instruments series will love this book. It has action, mystery, romance and peril in every chapter. It is well-written and fantastically entertaining. Book 2, Until I Die, comes out in the beginning of May and the wait is driving me crazy.

Rating System: Profanity, Sexuality and Violence
1 (mild) through 10 (extreme).

Profanity:
I give it a 3.10 for pretty mild swearing, I don't remember any worse words.

Sexuality:
I give it a 3.10 for some references and innuendos, mostly mild.

Violence:
I rate it a 7.10 for murder, attempted murder and some goriness.

                                    Lieder Madchen