Rumer & Qix: The Race to Terra Incognita

Title: Rumer & Qix: The Race to Terra Incognita
Author: Kathleen S. Wilson
PAPERBACK
Amount of Pages: 229
Publisher: BookSurge Publishing
Publishing Year: 2009
Geared Towards: Teens
Extra Info: Click HERE for a character post with Rumer.




Summary (From B.O.B): Rumer, a petite 16 year old with a flair for fashion, loves zipping around the vast cityscape of 31st Century Nanjing for her job as an apprentice reporter for the Global Quotidien. There's one big problem, though. For some reason, the stories she's assignd are always tedious and never interesting. To make matters worse her insensitive boss wants her to report on the activities of Alfa, the same mega-conglomerate where her parents died mysteriously when she was eight.

Feeling frustrated, the rebellious Rumer escapes into the indie networks and, along with her pocket-sized sidekick Qix, soon finds herself puzzling over a series of images of bizarre nature sightings posted by seemingly credible eye-witness. Ever since the world's flura and fauna were replaced with Alfa's Syncov replicas eons earlier, nature sightings like this have been routinely dismissed, but Rumer senses that something is different this time.

When ethereal voices relay a coded message for confirming her feelign that something is terribly amiss, Rumer slips away with Qix on a globe-trotting quest for answers. Two colossal forces are about to square off for the final epic battle that will determine the fate of the planet who will triumph, Dr. BigCo, the ruthless CEO of Alfa bent on expanding his empire at all costs, or his nemisis, MoNa, the vulnerable marriarch of the somos. The fate of the world hangs in the balance and Rumer holds the key in a race against time.

Wdebo's Review: [Note: OK, so it's been a LONG time since my last review so I feel a little rusty ;) Just an FYI :) Enjoy!] I knew this book was in decision to become a Traveling to Teens book-but I don't think it ever did, and that's a pity becuase I really enjoyed this book, it was a surprisingly good read.

Rumer & Qix gives a nice twist to the totally overdone futuristic books, and is not so unbelieveable as those other books. I can see our world becoming a synthetic mess, that is beleiveable, aliens coming to the earth and getting killed by boomboxes....not so believeable. [I know Mars Attack! wasn't technically a "futuristic" story-but I'm on a time limit now and it was the best I could do!]

Though the beginning was a little boring and hard to get into, after a while the story came together nicely and it was a fun read. Except a thing that annoyed me was that there was a lot of missing quotation marks.

I did enjoy the character of Rumer. She was a strong female heronie and fought to find the truth, always. [A very important journalism skill-I might add.] But I seriously loved Qix. Qix was just like a relistic poochi with fur and an adorable tail and everythinig else, AND he can also talk and think for himself! And Qix is just so kawaii!

Cafe Cover Chat: I honestly don't like this cover. Though the drawing is well drawn the whiteness distracts from it, and doesn't work for me. The cover feels so plain, while the story was very well written, I just feel like it takes away from it. (B-)

All in all, a great story for futuristic sci-fi lovers and haters alike. Rumer & Qix was a very nice read.

Grade: B+

Wdebo :)

Thanks to Author Marketing Experts, Inc for sending me a review copy~

Last Demeanor By: Show Luo

Ok, this is a such a great song by Show!! I l o v e listening to him sing sad songs, because he always put so much feeling into it, there is just a sincerity in his singing (It comes out more when he sings live tho). Then again I love listening to him sing fast songs, cuz I love watching him dance...lol

Anyways, this mv, just randomly makes me cry...and I don't know if Show really played the piano part for this mv (I kinda doubt it though) but I do know that he DOES play piano.

Sorry...not allowed to embedd the english subbed version...but you can watch the ENGLISH SUBBED version H E R E!!

The Vietnamese Subbed Version HERE!

This MV is also known as "Gentleman Like Manner"

Anyways...E N J O Y....

Hope you enjoy! And please comment!!

Wdebo :)

This makes me HAPPY :)

Awesome news for fans of Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side....

The first couple of chapters are up for Jessica/Lucius' wedding...check it out HERE!!!

Wdebo :)

Cafe Chit Chat: Malinda Lo

Malinda Lo is the amazing debut author of the wonderfully dark retelling of Cinderella~Ash. [Click HERE for review]. Malinda was born in China and then she moved to the US (woohoo another Chinese author :) ) She was also the former managing editor of AfterEllen.com.

Now on to the interview....

~~~~~~~

Wdebo: Can you describe a typical day?

Malinda Lo: I get up around 6:30-7 because my dog wakes up that early! Then I eat breakfast while checking my email and reading the news. Around 8:00, I take my dog out for a walk. When I get back, I like to spend the whole morning writing. If I am working on fiction, I try to stay offline. In the afternoon, I may continue writing, or I might spend time doing business stuff like answering email, doing blog interviews :), etc. In the evening I hang out with my partner, eat dinner, and if I'm lucky, I watch TV. I love Top Chef!

W: My dog wakes up that early too, I'm glad my dad is the one who takes care of her, lol. How did you come with the idea for Ash?

M: My favorite books as a child were Robin McKinley's fairy tale retellings, but she never retold Cinderella. So I decided to write the book I wanted to read.

W: Could you give a short summary of Ash for those readers who might not be familiar with it?

M: Ash is a retelling of Cinderella, a fairy tale about a girl who is forced to work as a servant for her wicked stepmother after her father dies. In traditional versions, Cinderella falls in love with Prince Charming, but in my novel, Ash, the Cinderella character, falls in love with another girl.

W: Are any of your characters based on someone you know?

M: I answer[ed] this in my Ash FAQ right here: http://www.malindalo.com/ash/faq/#faq8

W: What is your favorite thing to do (apart from writing)?

M: Eat!

W: What is your favorite color?

M: Red.

W: If you were stranded on an island and could only bring five things what would they be?

M: 1. A satellite phone to call for help
2. Water purification tablets
3. A tent
4. Good hiking shoes
5. A book about edible plants
(I'm practical.)

W: Are you working on another project now? And if so, can you tell us about it?

M: I am currently writing a companion novel to Ash. It is set in the same world as Ash but several hundred years earlier, so there are no crossover characters. It's a young adult fantasy, and it should come out in fall 2010.

W: Who are some authors you look up to?

M: Robin McKinley and Madeleine L'Engle are my favorite children's/YA novelists.

W: What is your FAVORITE book in the whole world, one that you think everyone should read.

M: A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle

W: What is your favorite chinese dish in the whole world?

M: Hong shao rou, or red-cooked pork. Specifically, the kind made by my mother!

W: Do you have anything else you would like to say?

M: Thanks for the interview!

~~~~

Thanks so much for letting me interview you!!

Check out Malinda's site HERE! And don't forget to check out Ash!!

Wdebo :)

Gan Bu Gan (Dare to) By: Show Luo

I love this song :) Show is so young looking (Hard to believe this was around six years ago-this was part of his first album) but it's so cute :) and he looks so much like Jimmy Lin when he's spinning around.

E n j o y...

Hope you enjoy!! And please comment!

Wdebo :)

Sucks To Be Me: The ALL-TRUE Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire (Maybe)

Title: Sucks To Be Me: The ALL-TRUE Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire (Maybe)

Author: Kimberly Pauley

HARDBACK

Amount of Pages: 293

Publisher: Mirrorstone

Release Date: August 26, 2008

Geared Towards: Teens

Extra Info: The sequal Still Sucks to Be Me is scheduled to be released on September 2010.

"Myth: Vampires Don't Exist

Truth: Dead wrong"

Summary: All teens think that their lives suck, but Mina Hamilton knows it does-literally....

Mina Hamilton is a normal girl, with a normal (posser goth) BFF, Serena, a normal crush on a normal All-American hottie, Nathan, and a normal family with normal parents...well...if normal parents were vampires, that is.

Mina has always known her parents were vampires, but now that the Concil is onto her family, Mina must pretend that she just found out about her bloodsucker parents and join a class about whether or not to become a bloodsucker herself.

During her vampire classes, Mina meets the smoking hot Audrey, the cheerleader Lorelai, and the nerdy-but-cute George. What will Mina's future (or death) hold for her? Normal-cy or bloodsucking moments?

Wdebo's Review: I really didn't know what to expect after reading the summary from Amazon/the front flap, because it didn't really say anything and made the parents sound like they were hunting their own kid to turn her into a vampire, but this book was nothing like that, it was amazingly funny, and just had this comical spoof on vampire books, none of that sparkly, stalking, standing-next-to-your-bed-to-watch-you-sleep Twilight vampire fluff, but laugh-out-loud fun.

I loved the plot, it gives new life into the overdone vampire senario. It was a light read, yes, but it was hard to put down. Mina's sarcastic voice just stays in your voice the whole time and makes reading Sucks to be Me way enjoyable. You would think that reading from a voice that talks in a sarcastic voice the whole time would be annoying and make you want to rip out your hair but it wasn't, it was awesome fun! As much as I liked Mina, her stupidity in love really pisses me off, like it's obvious that Audrey was *Spoiler Warning* just using her so that he could know what it's like to be a vampire, and that Nathan wasn't interested in her, but was interested in Serena, gosh, her stupidity annoyed me so badly *End of Spoiler Warning* but apart from that she was a really awesome main character.

I really liked in the beginning of each chapter, the myths and truths of vampires, they were way funny and the pictures were cute :)

Cafe Cover Chat: The cover pose is cute and the book is created into a binder looking-ness that reminds me of the binder that holds all my pokemon cards :P Except the girl on the cover scares me, I know Mina does not have very pretty hair, but it wasn't THAT frizzy and her eyes are so bloodshot...she's not a vampire yet, cover creators!!! (B)

All in all, a really cute and funny story that all vampire lovers (and even haters) can enjoy, filled to the brim with a sarcastic, teenagy voice (Mina!) which makes reading all that much more enjoyable.

Grade: A-

Wdebo :)

Prophecy of the Sisters By: Michelle Zink

Title: Prophecy of the Sisters

Author: Michelle Zink

HARDBACK

Amount of Pages: 343

Publisher: Little, Brown and Co.

Release Date: August 1, 2009

Geared Towards: Teens

"Without the Keys, something terrible will happen

Something that cannot be undone.

And with them, I might bring an end to the riddle

of the Prophecy and my strange part in it.

If Alice and I are on conflicting sides of the Prophecy,

the Keys would be dangerous in her hands.

With means I have to find them.

And I have to do it before my sister."

Summary (From Front Flap):

AN ANCIENT PROPHECY

DIVIDES TWO SISTERS-

ONE GOOD

ONE EVIL...

WHO WILL PREVAIL?

Twin sisters Lia and Alice Milthrope have just become orphans. They have also become enemies. As they discover their roles in a prophecy that has turned their generations of sisters against each other, the girls find themselves entangled in a mystery that involves a tatoo-like mark, their parents' death, a boy, a book, and a lifetime of secrets.

Lia and Alice don't know

whom they trust.

They just know they

can't trust each other.

Wdebo's Review: What a great book The Prophecy of the Sisters is! Though I did find the beginning to be a little bit tedious and hard to get into, but then again, very rarely is there a perfect beginning!

The writing is wonderfully gothic and exciting. It flows into an exciting can't-put-down book, as you hungrily read through every twist and turn to the cliffhanger ending.

I really liked the character of Lia, she works hard to figure out the mystery and to protect her loved ones. Actually, I liked all of the characters (well at least one small part) even Alice sometimes, I just felt bad for her sometimes.

But I loved Henry, Lia and Alice's little brother, the most. He was the sweetest guy ever and would do anything he could to protect Lia, maybe even give up his life?

Cafe Cover Chat: Oh, the cover is great looking, so dark and victorian just like the book! Except those stone angels scare me a lot, so though the cover is pretty good looking, I still like the Germany (I think it's Germen) cover more. [Click HERE to see it] It looks just awesome!!

All in all, an amazing gothic YA novel, and an amazing defut from author Michelle Zink.

Grade: A-

Wdebo :)

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