Stacking The Shelves (Feb. 23rd): Kat's Birthday Part 2!

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly event hosted at Tynga's Reviews where we share the books we've bought, borrowed or received in the past week.

Hey guys! It's time for part 2 of my birthday edition! Ready to see what I got? Remember to take the time to enter my Super Awesome Birthday Giveaway for a chance to win TWO books from The Book Depository!

I Bought / Received: 

A tremendous thank you to everyone who gave me birthday money! :) Now I just need to sit down and start reading all of these while hopefully getting the third and *hopes, prays...* final draft of Sealer's Promise done. Wish me luck! ;)

Once again, make SURE you check out my giveaway!

So, what did YOU get this week? Leave a link and I'll drop by and check it out! 

Spotlight Saturday (Feb. 16th)

Saturday Spotlight is a new feature here at I Write, I Read, I Review where I will be sharing posts from other blogs I've visited this week that I found particularly interesting or exciting.

I'm doing this for three reasons: (1) As a thank you to the bloggers who release these awesome posts, (2) So that those who follow me can catch great content they may have missed, and (3) So I can find this stuff if I'm looking for it later. I hate losing links to things I like or forgetting who wrote that awesome review of a book or article about a topic I care about.

Looking to get a new design for your blog? Well Tynga over at Tynga's Reviews has decided she wants to start doing complete blog designs, and she's giving away a design package to one lucky winner valued at $75. Click here for all the details!

While we're on the topic of fabulous blog designs, how many of you have noticed the wonderful designs being made by Evie over at Bookish? She is setting herself apart as a very original and versatile designer and the designs she has been doing for others, as well as the one she just did for her own blog, are definitely worth a look. Click here if you're curious.

I have two favorite reviews this week. The first OMG you just changed my reading plans for 2013 immensely mention goes to the review of Boundless over at Rally The Readers. Some of you might recall that I started Unearthly last year and quit about 100 pages in. Well, I now know that the reason I quit was a mistake and when I go to Chapters next week I'll have to fix it. Warning: this review contains potential spoilers. If you're cool with that (it resolves the love triangle) then click here to check it out.

This isn't a place where I intend to advertise or promote my own stuff often, but I'd feel kinda silly if I didn't draw your attention to my Super Awesome Birthday Giveaway! Someone is going to win two books from The Book Depository, so if you haven't checked that post out yet, click here and make sure you at least leave your name and e-mail so you'll have a chance to win!

The other fantastic review I read this week was a review for Juliet Immortal and Romeo Redeemed over at Libby Blog. I had noticed Juliette Immortal when it came out but never got around to getting it. Knowing what I do now, thanks to Libby's video review, I will have to fix that a.s.a.p. Curious to know what I'm talking about? Click here to watch for yourself! (Warning: minor spoilers.)

This week's topic for Book Girls Don't Cry... They Vent! is something very near and dear to my heart: Bad Boys! I had no idea they were doing this when I planned my Thinking on Thursday topic last week, but I had a great time reading Jenni (Alluring Reads) and Giselle (Xpresso Reads) posts, and I'm looking forward to reading Amy (Book Loving Mom)'s on Saturday (today). Click the links in the brackets to see what they had to say!

Ever wanted to read the Soul Screamers series? Or perhaps you're already a huge fan of this series? Well, you're totally in luck if you want to do this in a fun and social way. Goldilox and the Three Weres and Little Read Riding Hood are hosting a set of read alongs for all of the books in the series, going from February 15th - Agust 15th 2013. You can find all the details about the read along by clicking here, and the first post with questions, for My Soul To Lose and My Soul To Take by clicking here.

Now it's your turn to share the love! What posts have you read this week that were totally awesome? Link 'em up! I love discovering new blogs and I know I can't catch everything that's going on in any given week! 

Should I Keep Reading?: Unearthly

Normally I read a book and then I review it. If I decide DNF is the right solution for a book I stop and keep my thoughts to myself. But I think that it might be worth talking about some of the books that I feel stuck on. Maybe I'm quitting them too soon, or maybe people just want to know what I think about something, even if I'm not going to attach a score to it.

I'm currently 108 pages into Unearthly, at the start of Chapter Six. And I must tell you all, I am deeply conflicted. There are things that I really love here, and things that are making my skin crawl and / or boring or annoying me. I'll talk about my thoughts on the good and the bad, and then, my dear readers, I will be asking you what the post title says: "Should I Keep Reading?". That's your chance to weigh in.

What Do I Like?

• The angel mythology is interesting. I am not a huge fan of the fact that we get it as a flashback, but it didn't kill the book for me. I like the fact that Cynthia Hand has clearly thought out how her universe works. I like the fact that it is unique (at least within my reading experiences; I'm pretty new to angels as a PNR / fantasy creature). 
• Tucker cracks me up. I think that he has an interesting attitude and I like the interactions between him and Clara. (Currently he annoys her, I think.) It will be interesting to see how that progresses.
• I like how well Cynthia has developed the school that Clara goes to when her family moves, as well as the friends she seems to be making along the way. 
• I like how things like having to switch school, or deal with bad hair, or needing to make friends -- essentially things that I would be looking for if I was reading contemporary -- are considered and addressed here. It's obviously not as deep as it might be if they were the center of the novel, but the balance Clara has to deal with between being part angel and being a 17 year old girl makes for interesting reading.
• I thought that the idea of Clara having a purpose and the reader learning more about it as the story continued and she prepared to face it was going to be an interesting premise.

What's Driving Me Nuts?

• Clara's interactions with Christian this far make me feel like I am reading about a female version of Edward Cullen. She has this semi-stalkerish quality that is annoying both because its *weird* and because she is coming across as desperate for his attention as a girl (rather then researching for her purpose). 
• This part of it likely comes from the fact that Christian has a girlfriend, Kay. I don't care how bitchy she is -- she was there first. Plus, last I checked Clara's job is to save him, not to date him. The constant thoughts she has of him seem to lean far more toward her being attracted to him, and at this point nothing has been introduced that makes this make sense. 
• Clara herself. She's whiny and needy. She complains too much. She constantly thinks about Christian to a point where it seemed creepy and obsessive to me. (She seems more focused on 'He's cute' then on, 'Okay, what do I need to learn about him so I will be ready when the time comes?'. 
• Clara even goes so far as to totally ditch Wendy, one of the new friends she has made at her new school, so that she can follow Christian to where he and his friends are having lunch. Even if Wendy is a new friend, I still cannot respect a girl who does that kinda crap, and the results of her actions drew no sympathy from me. 
• I'm beginning to have the sinking suspicion that this whole "purpose" thing might just be a way to allow Clara to stalk a hot guy and likely end up with him by the end of the book. (To be clear, that last part is a *guess*.) My response to this, despite me being me, is actually *yawn*. I know, I'm shocked about that too. Truthfully I'm more interested in Tucker.

So, what are your feelings on Unearthly? Did you love it, hate it, feel 'meh' about it? Or perhaps you haven't read it yet and were leaning one way or the other? This is definitely an opinion piece, guys. And your opinions are both wanted and welcome. 

...Should I Keep Reading?