Review: Perilous

Perilous by Tamara Hart Heiner

Synopsis (From Goodreads): Jaci Rivera has plans for her sophomore year: go to regionals with the track team, make the honor roll, and eat too much pizza with her best friends, Callie and Sara. Her biggest concern is Amanda, the pushy girl who moved in a few months ago.

What she doesn't plan for is catching a robber red-handed, or being kidnapped. The desperate thief drags her and her friends 2,000 miles across the Canadian border. They escape from his lair, only to find that he has spies and agents watching their path home, waiting to intercept them and take them back.

Then Jaci finds something out about her family. Something which irrevocably connects her to their kidnapper, and makes her question their chances of escape.



Debut author Tamara Hart Heiner has created a chilling tale about a group of girls who have to escape their kidnappers and journey across the country to get home, not knowing who they can trust. The characters in the story are all interesting with unique characteristics that makes them different from each other. The two point of view characters, Jaci and Detective Hamilton, are the perfect characters to tell the story. The reader learns little clues from both sides and makes you want to turn the page.

The fast pace and numerous twists and turns add interest to the story and will keep you on the edge of your seat, hoping that the girls will be able to make it home safely. The ending suggests that a sequel is in progress, or I hope so because I want to know what's going to happen next on the girls journey.

Cover: This is a creepy cover which definitely adds to the feel and tension that is in the novel.

Plot: 5/5 stars
Ending: 5/5 stars
Cover: 4/5 stars
Overall: 4.5/5 stars
Recommend: James Patterson

2011 Debut Author Challenge

Kristi at The Story Siren is hosting the 2011 Debut Author Challenge. I participated in this year's challenge and was surprised to have completed my goal of 12 books at the beginning of October, so I decided I'll take on the challenge again next year. Why wouldn't I? Just like this year, next year has a great number of temptations being released that I'm salivating over.

So, here is my list that I'll be attempting (in no order):

1. Possession by Elana Johnson
2. Liar Society by Lisa and Laura Roeker
3. Vesper by Jeff Sampsen
4. Across the Universe by Beth Revis
5. Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton
6. Rival by Sara Bennett-Wealer
7. A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford
8. The Lipstick Laws by Amy Holder
9. Die for Me by Amy Plum
10. Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris
11. Populazzi by Elise Allen
12. The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
13. Dead Rules by Randy Russell
14. Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey
15. My Un-Fairy Tale Life by Anna Staniszewski
16. Future Imperfect by K. Ryer Breese
17. The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal
18. Entangled by Cat Clarke
19. Memento Nora by Angie Smibert
20. Choker by Elizabeth Woods

I know the challenge is for 12 books, but since I accomplished it early this year and there are so, so, so many great sounding books being released, I've decided to challenge myself to 20. It looks like I'll have my hands full trying to read all of them.

So, what books are you looking forward to being released next year?

NanoWrimo Day 20: Why is November always hectic?

 

Who can blame November for being so busy, what with the release of the latest Harry Potter movie. And yes, I did see it at the Midnight screening (and it was fantastic), the only bad decision we made that night was choosing to go to a midnight screening the day that we were also planning a 15 hour car drive (not that I'm regretting it... the movie was well worth it).

So, after finishing the movie at 2:30 am, my brother and I met up with our parents and started the long journey back to my country home to attend my sister's graduation. It was an interesting drive, but we managed to stay awake the whole time (with little power naps while the other drove) with the help of energy drinks and sugar.

I'm glad November is nearly over, then I'll possibly be able to relax.

P.S. my favourite part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part I is a toss up between the Godric's Hollow scene and the torture scene with Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bohem Carter is perfect in this role).

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So, have you, or are you planning to, seen this movie? If you have, which is your favourite scenes?

NanoWriMo Report: Just Checking In

It's definitely been hectic around here. Even working 3 days at my new job and trying to write as well as planning to go home for my sister's graduation, I haven't had time to do much else.

So, here's the rundown:
Writing: 42111
Sleep: Probably no more than 5 hours at night (can't wait for November to be over)
Mood: Excited... not at writing or anything. I've got my midnight screening tickets for Harry Potter and that's less than a day away (YAY!)

So, how's everyone else going?

NanoWriMo: Day 5 - Will somebody kill me

Okay, so it's 5 days in to NanoWriMo and already I'm behind (and it was such a good start). Well, technically it's day 6 because it's 1.30 am on Saturday and I'm sitting in front of the computer stuffing my face with a Macdonalds hamburger. Why, because I've just finished my first day of work in so long and every part of me is sore. Luckily, there's a 24hour Maccas on the way home (with a little detor).

Words written today: 0
Words written yesterday: 500
Boy, I'm just fantastic, aren't I.

So, how is everyone else doing?

Nanowrimo: Day 3 - Getting Away From Distractions

So, today I wrote 1845 words, which I'm surprised because I didn't feel in the mood to write during the day, so it all came to me at night.

Why couldn't I write during the day? I'm blaming all the distractions available to me, especially the games on Facebook. So the tip for today is to get away from distractions.

These distractions can come from:

• The internet
• Computer
• Family members wanting attention
• Prior events that have been planned
• Housework that you suddenly feel in the mood to do
• The need to go out and buy coffee (I don't know if that's actually a distraction or a need when writing)

What can you do?

• Find a quiet place to write
• Lock yourself in a room with a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the handle
• Disconnect the internet
• Tell your family they need to book a time to see you
• Get someone to do the coffee drive
• You probably couldn't ignore prior events (but losing your car keys is a good excuse that you can't make it)

So, how are you going so far? And, if you're not writing, what have you been up to?

And Nano's Begun

DAY 1...

So, NanoWriMo's begun and I'm off to an okay start (not as good as I would have liked since I've been up since 5am and trying to write most of the day).

After staring at the computer, trying to figure out that perfect first sentence (and rewriting the first 200 words several times), I finally got started, even though the story isn't trying to stick to any of my plotting that I did the previous month.

I'm actually surprised that I've made it this far today because with the forums and everything, there's plenty to do to "procrastinate" that I'm surprised that I actually got around to any writing.

Well, now I'm off to bed probably when most people will just be getting a start on day 1. I wish everyone good luck as they jump straight into their novels.

So, is everyone set to start Nano (if you're doing it). How are you going to keep yourself away from the forums and other internet distractions long enough to write?