Blogiversary Contest, Winners, and Eleventh Grade Burns Review

LiLi of ChicaReader won the HEX HALL T-shirt.

Sharon of Sharon Loves Books and Cats won the Vladimir Tod and Vampire Academy swag.

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Blogiversary Contest!

Yesterday was my second blogiversary, which means it's past time to announce the contest!

Contest closes 4/19. Open internationally, but any international winners won't get the full prize. (We'll work out shipping and such depending on who wins.)

The prizes include:
THE WITCHY WORRIES OF ABBIE ADAMS by Rhonda Hayter (ARC)
HEX HALL by Rachel Hawkins (ARC)
Vladimir Todd buttons
Penguin Summer 2009 poster
and more to be announced!

To enter, fill out this form:


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ELEVENTH GRADE BURNS



By Heather Brewer
Available now from Penguin
Review copy

I enjoy this series, so I'm happy to see that the fourth entry is just as strong as previous ones. Vlad is maturing; I'm particularly impressed by how he handles Snow. Not every teenage guy would act so honorably when faced with a hot girl who was in love with him. He faces his enemies with the same aplomb. I'm excited that we learn more about the Pravus prophecy, because it seems impossible that Vlad could grow up to be a bad guy.

Heather Brewer ends ELEVENTH GRADE BURNS with a truly evil cliffhanger. I rue the day someone got it into his or her head to invent the cliffhanger. But even without the doozy of an ending, I'd be back for Vladimir Tod's senior year. In a genre (urban fantasy) where I'm feeling an increasing distance from the protagonists, Brewer manages to create a monster I'd like to hang out with.

(Also, since Brewer fills her books with allusions, I firmly believe Dorian is a reference to Dorian Gray. He may not be a vampire, but he does hang out with one in LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMAN.)