Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

by Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf–her wolf–is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human–or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Book Overview:

Author: Maggie Stiefvater | Series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls | Format: Audiobook | Narrated By: Jenna Lamia, David LeDoux | Length: 10 hours, 43 minutes | Publish Date: August 1, 2009 | Genre: YA Fantasy/Supernatural | Literary Awards: Georgia Peach Book Award (2010), Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice Award Nominee (2011), Children’s Choice Book Award Nominee for Teen Choice Book of the Year (2010), Florida Teens Read Nominee (2010), Teen Read Award Nominee for Best Read (2010), The Inky Awards for Silver Inky (2010), Lincoln Award Nominee (2012), The Inky Awards Shortlist for Silver Inky (2010), Missouri Gateway Readers Award Nominee (2012) | Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ | Recommend: Yes

“It is possible to be in love with you just because of who you are.” 


I haven’t read a good werewolf book in a long time, maybe a couple of years ago. This was pretty up there in one of my favorites, and I was extremely happy with the ending.

The premise of this werewolf story was certainly unique for me. In this case, those who were werewolves would shift into their wolf self only when it got too cold. During the winter, they became wolves, and during the summer, they would shift back into their human form. The catch was: that wouldn’t last forever. The time itself would vary, but there would come a time where they would have one final summer to be a human, and they would live out the rest of their days as a wolf, unable to go back to their past life no matter how much they tried.

When Grace was a little girl, she almost died. Twice. The first time was when she was sitting on the tire swing, and she was captured by the wolves. They bit her and almost killed her until one of them saved her. What made that particular wolf save her, she had no idea. It didn’t even seem like she was afraid to die. She was just… waiting. The second time was when her father accidentally left her in his car on the hottest day of the year. The doctors said she should have been dead, but by some miracle, she had survived.

Ever since that fateful night with the wolves, she would look forward to winter, when she would see “her wolf”, the one that saved her life, the one with the yellow eyes that would stare at her from his spot in the forest. She became intrigued by him, almost obsessed. Even her wolf, a boy named Sam, started to feel the same way. He would think about her in the winter when he would watch her, and in the summer when he found out what her name was. They were falling in love with one another from afar, and it was about time they actually met.

“I fell for her in summer, my lovely summer girl,From summer she is made, my lovely summer girl,I’d love to spend a winter with my lovely summer girl,But I’m never warm enough for my lovely summer girl,It’s summer when she smiles, I’m laughing like a child,It’s the summer of our lives; we’ll contain it for a whileShe holds the heat, the breeze of summer in the circle of her handI’d be happy with this summer if it’s all we ever had.” 


One thing that I’m glad the author pointed out was that both Grace and Sam had a sort of obsession with one another. Both of the characters even called themselves out on it, and I’m glad they did. From the outside, it didn’t seem like just an infatuation about the wolves or one another. It got to the point that they just could not leave the other’s side, and hated to be separated. It could be cute, but I also thought it was more of an obsession. Nothing wrong with it, I guess. At least it wasn’t too dangerous.

I think if this happened to be a standalone, I would be mostly happy with the ending. I am curious to know how the series ends, knowing that it’s a trilogy (four books if you include the last one that isn’t about Grace and Sam). Hopefully, it ends on a high note, and I don’t have to stay in my room crying my eyes out like I almost did with this one.

Author Spotlight
Courtesy of Goodreads


Born: in The United States
Website: http://www.maggiestiefvater.com
Twitter: mstiefvater
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Romance
Goodreads Member Since: June 2008

 New York Times bestselling author of The Shiver Trilogy, The Raven Cycle, and The Scorpio Races. Artist. Driver of things with wheels. Avid reader.

All of Maggie Stiefvater’s life decisions have been based around her inability to be gainfully employed. Talking to yourself, staring into space, and coming to work in your pajamas are frowned upon when you’re a waitress, calligraphy instructor, or technical editor (all of which she’s tried), but are highly prized traits in novelists and artists. She’s made her living as one or the other since she was 22. She now lives an eccentric life in the middle of nowhere, Virginia with her charmingly straight-laced husband, two kids, two neurotic dogs, and a 1973 Camaro named Loki.

The Mermaid’s Mirror by L. K. Madigan

The Mermaid’s Mirror by L. K. Madigan

by Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Lena has lived her whole life near the beach – walking for miles up and down the shore and breathing the salty air, swimming in the cold water, and watching the surfers rule the waves – the problem is, she’s spent her whole life just watching.

As her sixteenth birthday approaches, Lena vows she will no longer watch from the sand: she will learn to surf.

But her father – a former surfer himself – refuses to allow her to take lessons. After his near drowning years ago, he can’t bear to let Lena take up the risky sport.

Yet something keeps drawing Lena to the water… an ancient, powerful magic. And one morning Lena catches sight of this magic: a beautiful woman – with a silvery tail.

Now nothing can stop Lena from seeking the mermaid, not even the dangerous waves at Magic Crescent Cove.

And soon… what she sees in the mermaid’s mirror will change her life forever.

Book Overview:

Author: L. K. Madigan | Series: None | Format: Paperback | Length: 308 pages | Publish Date: September 27, 2011 | Genre: YA Fantasy/Mythology | Rated: ★ ★ ★ ★ | Recommend: Yes

“By the lightof the blueberry moonwe sang this songin Lena’s room…”


I read this book as part of one of my bookclubs last year, but I only just finished it today. I’m not sure what took me a while to finally get back to finishing the book, but I finally did. I’m glad I know what happened at the end, and now I can rest easy knowing that I actually don’t have to worry about this one anymore.

This book was about a girl named Lena (her full name is Selena but nobody calls her that), a girl in California who just can’t get enough of the ocean. The only catch is, her father refuses to let her swim or surf because of the time where he almost died surfing many years ago. He doesn’t want the same thing or worse to happen to her, but for some reason Lena feels the ocean calling to her. On her sixteenth birthday, she goes to her favorite beach, Magic’s, and as she’s looking out into the ocean, she sees a mermaid.

Yep, a real-life mermaid.

At first, she thinks she’s going crazy. I mean, mermaids aren’t real, right? That’s what Lena thought when she first saw the beautiful creature. She soon became obsessed with seeing the mermaid again, and eventually, something else happened that she would have never imagined in her entire life.

Lena was the kind of character that you wanted to support through all of her decisions, but just couldn’t. There were times where I understood why she was so angry, but just couldn’t imagine the actions she took because of it. I wanted to tell her “NO! You don’t want to do that!” or “How could you be so cruel right now?” but of course, she couldn’t hear me. Lena is an interesting character though, and when you follow her journey, you know that she is the kind of girl that will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

This was a beautiful story about my favorite mythological creature in the world, and I’m sorry that there will be no more stories about Lena and her friends. I hope to visit her world again one day, and dream about life under the sea.

Author Spotlight
Courtesy of Goodreads

Born: in Portland, OR, The United States
            January 1, 1963
Died: February 23, 2011
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal

Lisa Wolfson (also known as L.K. Madigan) was born in Portland, Oregon, but when she was ten years old, her parents moved to Los Angeles. They were pretty insistent that she accompany them. She spent the rest of her formative years in L.A. (the Valley, to be exact … a region made famous in both song and film). When she was 28, she decided that she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life in L.A., even though she had a cool job working at Warner Bros. Records. Her husband and her decided to relocate to her hometown. Living in Portland and L.A. made her the kind of person who was equally at home sitting in traffic jams or walking in the rain.

FLASH BURNOUT was published in October 2009. Her second young adult novel, a paranormal story titled THE MERMAID’S MIRROR, was released in Fall 2010. 

She was a 20-year breast cancer survivor. She died on February 23, 2011 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 47.
The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli

The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli

by Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Kristen Ciccarelli’s debut fantasy explores an intricately woven world of deception, inner darkness, and dragons that fantasy fans won’t be able to resist.

In the beginning, there was the Namsara: the child of sky and spirit, who carried love and laughter wherever he went. But where there is light, there must be darkness—and so there was also the Iskari. The child of blood and moonlight. The destroyer. The death-bringer.

These are the legends that Asha, daughter of the king of Firgaard, has grown up learning in hushed whispers, drawn to the forbidden figures of the past. But it isn’t until she becomes the fiercest, most feared dragon slayer in the land that she takes on the role of the next Iskari—a lonely destiny that leaves her feeling more like a weapon than a girl.

Asha conquers each dragon and brings its head to the king, but no kill can free her from the shackles that await at home: her betrothal to the cruel commandant, a man who holds the truth about her nature in his palm. When she’s offered the chance to gain her freedom in exchange for the life of the most powerful dragon in Firgaard, she finds that there may be more truth to the ancient stories than she ever could have expected. With the help of a secret friend—a slave boy from her betrothed’s household—Asha must shed the layers of her Iskari bondage and open her heart to love, light, and a truth that has been kept from her.

Book Overview:

Author: Kristen Ciccarelli | Series: Iskari Series | Format: Audiobook | Narrated by: Pearl Mackie | Length: 11 hours, 17 minutes | Publish Date: October 3, 2017 | Genre: YA Fantasy | Rated: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ | Recommend: HECK YES

“Once there was a girl who was drawn to wicked things.Things like forbidden, ancient stories.It didn’t matter that the old stories killed her mother. It didn’t matter that they’d killed many before her. The girl let the old stories in. She let them in eat away at her heart and turn her wicked.”


I am so glad that I found this book. I don’t know why I never read this earlier. I think I have a tendency to be late for such amazing books.

So this was definitely something that I hadn’t come across before. Not only am I so intrigued by this world that our characters are in, but just the kind of characters that are involved in this book. My absolute favorite character has to be Asha, but Torin is definitely a close second. Asha is pretty much the deadliest woman in this world, because she is the only one that can destroy a dragon and survive. She has been hunting them since the moment she could, and the only one that has ever bested her was the oldest dragon Kozu when she was a little girl. She almost died then, and from that point on she learned her lesson. The dragons were the enemy, and she would kill every single one.

“The old heroes were called Namsara after a beloved god, he said. So she would be called Iskari, after a deadly one.” 


She got her title, Iskari, from the old gods, one that was deadly and corrupt. Everyone that knew who she was feared her, and her reputation preceded her everywhere she went. And yet, her abusive and evil fiance Jarek has the potential to take everything she has away – most importantly, her freedom. Asha’s father, the Dragon King, tells her that she can get out of this hell of a marriage if she kills the oldest dragon, the dreaded Kozu that almost killed her all those years ago. She jumps at the chance to take him on, anything to gain her freedom. So what does she do when she finds out that, not everything is as it seems?

Everything that she knew about the dragons was a lie, and even though she used to hear the old stories, she still has so much to learn about her world. With the help of Torin, the slave of her betrothed, her world opens into one that is actually worth fighting for. She grows into a person that doesn’t just refer to slaves as “slaves” but by their given names. She learns that dragons aren’t always the gruesome monsters that she grew up knowing. She becomes so much better than she was before, and it makes her stronger.

I can’t wait for the rest of the series to come out, and I’m so glad that I purchased the hardcover copy from Barnes & Noble so I can reread this again before the second book is out.

Author Spotlight
Courtesy of Goodreads

Born: Canada
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Goodreads Member Since: July 2011

Kristen Ciccarelli hails from Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula where she grew up on her grandfather’s grape farm. She’s made her living as a baker, a bookseller, and a potter, but now writes books about bloodthirsty dragons, girls wielding really cool weapons, and the transformative power of stories.

You can learn more at www.kristenciccarelli.com or by following @kristenciccarelli on Instagram.