Saturday Situation- Link Up Your Reviews & Giveaways! 12/10

 Saturday Situation is hosted by both Lori at Pure Imagination and myself.  It's a linky for you to link your  Giveaways and Reviews (and whatever neglected posts you may have).  You'll find the same linky's at Pure Imagination, so don't enter them twice!

Keep in mind that you can add your links through the entire week.  

You can find this post again by clicking the button on the right side of my blog.  I'll try to keep it up to date to go to the newest Saturday Situation post.

Review of a Totally AMAZING Book: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1)
Young Adult, 387 pgs.
Published in Hardcover on Jan. 3rd, 2012 by Feiwel & Friends
Received from Amazon Vine for Review

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Wow!  This is definitely a WOW book for me.  I never would have thought to read it if it wasn't for all the early reviews raving about how awesome it is.  So when I had the opportunity to review it myself I totally jumped at the chance and I do not regret it!  This book was so full of awesome that the second I finished I immediately convinced about six others that they MUST read it!  And they are!  

I am not really into sci-fi unless it's more of the fantasy variety.  This one is futuristic with androids and cyborgs and aliens.  Totally not my thing usually.  But Cinder is basically a normal girl.  She hides that she's a cyborg as much as she can because it seems they are kind of looked down on, like they aren't fully human.  But she is.  I mean she has a human brain and still thinks like a normal girl.    And she was completely real and like-able to me.  I connected with her right off the bat and 'got' her.  She was funny and compassionate but she was dealt such a rough hand that she was a bit cynical, or she forced herself to be anyway, trying to convince herself that she was 'less'.  No one would like her if they knew she was cyborg, etc. 

The other characters were great as well.  The prince was totally not prince-like.  I mean, he wasn't full of himself.  He was funny and he was also compassionate and like Cinder he was dealt a rough hand.  Though it's completely different because yes, he's a prince, but he's suddenly thrown into this tough position and his decisions mean the fate of his country.  But he had a clear head and struggled to do his best in deciding what to do.  But one thing that wasn't a struggle for him was Cinder.  At least as far as we see.  They are continuously running into one another and he doesn't even hesitate to be kind and gently flirtatious with her.  And though he doesn't know she's cyborg he does know she's not royalty and he still pays her attention.  I totally loved him for that.  And don't worry, yes- he's completely swoon-worthy!  He's not a bad boy, but he's still swoony!

The stepmother was definitely evil and had me so angry!  I totally wanted to reach in and strangle her.  Same with the one stepsister.  The other one was kind and has her own story but I don't want to spoil it for you.  The Cinderella part of the story was perfect.  It was definitely it's own retelling but still followed along enough that it was pretty obvious that it was a retelling of Cinderella.  

The sci fi elements were important but somehow the book was never heavy.  There wasn't lots of long descriptions or a ton of backstory.  For me it was perfect.  I got enough that I wasn't confused but not so much I felt overwhelmed.  I thought the world building was good but some may feel it's lacking because we don't really learn a whole lot about things from before.  But really, I thought it was perfect and in future books I'm sure we'll learn much more. 

This was a clean read that had me on the edge of my seat.  While it's fairly long I read it in only a day because it was so good and was fast paced.  I very highly recommend this book!

5/5 stars

Disclosure:  I received this book for review purposes and all opinions expressed are my own.  I was not paid or influenced in any way.  
I received an advance copy of the book and the final version may differ.

Non-Fiction Review: Shea Vaughn's Breakthrough

Paperback, 240 pgs.
Published Oct. 3rd, 2011 by Health Communications
Non-Fiction Adult

We all want to look and feel our best, no matter what our age. But many women believe that once they reach a certain milestone, they should look a certain way or have accomplished certain goals; if they don't or haven't, they feel unfulfilled, discouraged, or even depressed. Shea Vaughn is no stranger to this; she tackled her own challenges and discovered a better way of living.
As a mother and grandmother, Shea is a testament to the transformative nature of a mind-body makeover. In this illuminating book, the noted health and wellness expert offers a holistic way to help women achieve their own personal breakthroughs and experience dramatic improvements in their relationships, career, creativity, and fitness levels, and to find fulfillment in their lives.
As the founder of SheaNetics®, Shea shares her revolutionary lifestyle, wellness, and exercise practice. With authority and passion, she reveals the heart of SheaNetics®, The 5 Living Principles of Well-Being: Commitment, Perseverance, Self-Control, Integrity, and Love, and shows women how to incorporate the Principles into their daily lives to increase energy, reduce stress, and break down emotional barriers. SheaNetics® takes mind-body transformation to another level with a fresh self-styled approach to exercise that combines yoga, pilates, tai chi, martial arts, ballet, and more, along with the performance-boosting benefits of core power training. By learning how to unify your mind, body, and heart, you will achieve optimal wellness and tap in to your potential to look and feel your best on the inside and out.

Shea Vaughn is a fitness expert, professional trainer, and wellness coach with a lifetime of mind-body experience. Shea has gained national recognition as an inspirational speaker and media personality and is admired by a devoted group of students and clients including athletes and celebrities, helping them all to build strength and flexibility, prevent injuries, "stay in the game," and live more fulfilling lives. Visit www.sheanetics.com.

I don't normally read non-fiction or self help or any of that.  It just doesn't hold my interest.  But when I was offered this one I just felt like I needed to give it a try.  Surprisingly it actually pulled me in immediately.  The first thing I noticed is that it's easy to incorporate for ourselves, to fit it for our own life.  This is about making a lifestyle change and finding happiness and feeling our best, etc, but in the way that works for us.  Immediately we learn a bit about Shea and some things she's had to let go of that she really couldn't change.  It struck a cord with me right away and I realized that there are things that bother me everyday that I can't change.  Though I can do my own small part {I'm mostly talking about our environment, etc right now} and it at least makes me feel better about myself and makes me feel like I am doing what I can do.

This isn't a diet book or an exercise book.  There are exercises, there are recipes, but it's more of an overall well-being book.  Finding a breakthrough to find your own way in life, your own happiness and overall well-being.  We're all different, the answers are different for all of us.  And surprisingly I feel like I did have a breakthrough and it was actually in the first few pages of the book.  The rest of the book was just motivation to keep with it.

While this is normally totally outside the genre of anything I'd normally read I ended up enjoying it quite a lot and being completely surprised over and over again.  If you feel like you need a breakthrough, a way to find your own total well-being, inside and out, then I suggest you give this a try, you may be surprised.

5/5 stars

I received a copy free of charge for review purposes.  All opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.