In My Mailbox 49

For Review:

One Hundred Candles by Mara Purnhagen (signed)

Clarity by Kim Harrington

Possession by Elana Johnson

Bought with Buzz Bucks on Random Buzzers:

Rebel Angels by Libba Bray

Bought (printed books):
Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting

Bought w/ Amazon Giftcard (Kindle eBooks):

Steel by Carrie Vaughn

The Mediator #1: Shadowland by Meg Cabot

White Cat by Holly Black

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

Storm Born by Richelle Mead

The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells

The Mermaid's Mirror by LK Madigan

Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore

The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic of True Love and High Adventure by William Goldman

Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann ($4.99 as an ebook!)

Thanks to Mara, Random Buzzers, the Amazon Vine Program, Elana Johnson and Simon & Schuster!

What did you get this week? 

Best of 2010

My 10 Best Books of 2010 (in no particular order):

1. Matched by Ally Condie
2. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver 
3. Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
4. Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready
5. Siren by Tricia Rayburn
6. Split by Swati Avasthi
7. When I Was Joe by Keren David
8. Stork by Wendy Delsol
9. Past Midnight by Mara Purnhagen*
10. Molly Fyde and the Blood of Billions by Hugh Howey*

Realistic Main Character

Brie from Losing Faith* (by Denise Jaden)

Funniest Main Character

Katla from Stork (by Wendy Delsol)

Best Male Main Character

Jace from Split (by Swati Avasthi)

Ty from When I Was Joe (by Keren David)

Best Overall Main Character

Sam from Before I Fall (by Lauren Oliver)

Best BFF

St. Clair from Anna and the French Kiss* (By Stephanie Perkins)

Best Villain 

(I'm going to keep the villain names unknown, or else I'll ruin the books for people who haven't read them!)

Siren by Tricia Rayburn

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Best Mean Girl

Lindsay and Sam from Before I Fall (by Lauren Oliver)

Best Mystery

All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab

Best Suspense

The Evil Within by Nancy Holder

Best Fantasy

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Best Sci-fi

Molly Fyde and the Blood of Billions by Hugh Howey*

Best Dystopian

Matched by Ally Condie

Best Contemporary

Exit Strategy by Ryan Potter

Split by Swati Avasthi

Best Romance

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins*

Best Historical

Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen

Best Sequel

The Golden Spiral by Lisa Mangum*

Best Writing

Matched by Ally Condie

Best Memoir

Rae by Chelsea Rae Swiggett

Best Modern Retelling

Jane by April Lindner*

Best Overall Series and Best Ending to a Series

The Vampire Academy novels by Richelle Mead

Last Sacrifice (#6)

Most Unique

Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves

Best Cover

Matched by Ally Condie

Most Amusing

Stork by Wendy Delsol

The Must-Read Book of 2010

The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney*

What was one of the best books you read in 2010?

*Reviews have vanished from my Drafts, so I'll be re-reviewing them. 

In My Mailbox 32

IMM is hosted by The Story Siren

For Review:

The Aristobrats by Jennifer Solow ARC

Past Midnight by Mara Purnhagen (signed + a bookmark!)

Bought:

Endless Summer by Jennifer Echols

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater 

And that's it! What did you guys all get this week?

Thanks to Kay and Mara! 

Tagged by Mara Purnhagen Review

Book: Tagged

Author: Mara Purnhagen

Age: YA

Release date: March 1st, 2010

Pages: 208

Source: Author

Summary:

Can Kate Morgan stand up for herself -- without being labeled a snitch?

Kate is just as confused as her best friend, Lan, when she arrives at Cleary High to find the building's been "tagged" with a life-size graffiti mural. Could the culprit be one of their friends or classmates? And is the kind-of-amazing creation really vandalism, or a work of art? She's tempted to stay out of it -- mostly because, as the police chief's daughter, she's worried about being labeled a snitch. But when the same mysterious graffiti starts appearing throughout the state, putting more pressure on the authorities to catch the vandal, her investigative instincts kick in.

Now Eli, Kate's favorite coworker at the local coffee shop, is MIA. With Lan preoccupied with her own boy troubles, Kate needs to figure some things on her own. Like why she can't stop thinking about Eli. And what she will do when all the clues about the graffiti point to someone she's close to...

Review: Tagged is fun, sweet, and a tad bit mysterious.

Nothing ever seems to happen in Clearly, until the graffiti art of a gorilla appears, everything changes. Debates break out in classes about whether or not the graffiti is really art, and I found these discussions to be a great interest point.

Kate was a fun, likable, and realistic character. She is just your typical high school girl, looking for her own passion in life. Kate's a good student, and she gets along with her family. I was a bit worried she'd be boring considering how much of a vanilla character she is, but she kept my attention easily. The pacing of the story is quick, making this one an easy book to just sit and read straight through.

I enjoyed the relationships in the novel, whether it was between Kate and Lan, Kate and Eli, et cetera. The story felt very realistic, which is always a plus. It felt like I'd seen a few plot bits before, but I still found myself enjoying the novel immensely.

Highlights: Lan, Kate's best friend, and her struggle being the only Vietnamese student on campus. Lan's got attitude and sass, it really made me enjoy her character more. I also loved the question that is posed throughout the story. As I also stated above, I felt the relationships were really what made this story awesome because it gave it a realistic touch.

Purnhagen created a fun story that's a lighter, enjoyable read, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

Lowlights: I disliked the inclusion of the whole MTV's Sweet Sixteen or whatever (just a personal bias). At times I also disliked how the mystery culprit was not really a mystery. A few chapters in and it's easy to make your own guess, and be right. And then, you never really find out why the gorillas.

Rating: