Teaser Tuesday ~ Scintillate by Tracy Clark (The Light Key Trilogy #1)

I've had the great privilege of  receiving an e-galley of this upcoming book, which is due to be out on February 4th aka pretty damn soon ^^ So I thought I'd tease y'all with a little hot sneak peak into the book.

Truth be told, I only received this yesterday so I haven't read it--thus this teaser was a pleasant surprise for me as well, making my apprehensions disappear.

Apprehensions, you say? What apprehensions? I'm glad you asked, mates. My problems are with the cover and the blurb:

"A mighty flame follows a tiny spark.

Cora Sandoval’s mother disappeared when she was five and they were living in Ireland. Since then, her dad has been more than overprotective, and Cora is beginning to chafe under his confines. But even more troubling is the colorful light she suddenly sees around people. Everyone, that is, except herself—instead, she glows a brilliant, sparkling silver.

As she realizes the danger associated with these strange auras, Cora is inexplicably drawn to Finn, a gorgeous Irish exchange student who makes her feel safe. Their attraction is instant, magnetic, and primal—but her father disapproves, and Finn’s mother orders him home to Ireland upon hearing he’s fallen in love. After a fight with her father, Cora flees to Ireland, both to follow Finn and to look for her missing mother.

There she meets another silver-haloed person and discovers the meaning of her newfound powers and their role in a conspiracy spanning centuries—one that could change mankind forever…and end her life.

Scintillate is the first book in this lush and exciting new trilogy, full of romance, adventure and metaphysical mystery."

The cover isn't toooo impressive [the key and background create a beautiful affect but all the attention goes the the hand, which is standing out too much in my opinion] and the blurb spells love-triangle and a meh-plot. BUT. Yes, there is a big BUTT--I mean BUT. This teaser is too exciting to pass up the book. What I'd done was randomly stop on my e-readers' book scroll, ending up on this very lucky page, that has completely changed my initial view of the book. Enjoy the treat dearies. [BTW, this is an ARC so the quote I'm providing is not necessarily the final version--keep that in mind] 

-Captain Kaelyn

Obsidian (Lux #1) By Jennifer L. Armentrout -- Welcome Aboard or Walk the Plank?

Title: Obsidian (A Lux Novel #1)
Author: Jeniffer L. Armentrout
The Judgement: LOOT!!! {This. This is what all I review strive to be. Not a part of the ship but a part of the loot, forever immortalized, forever enshrined, loved, gazed upon in awe. Truly a master piece. You have Neptune's grace.}



Synopsis:

"Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens. 

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades. 

If I don't kill him first, that is."


Before I start my somewhat-rant on the synopsis

...ARE YOU READY FOR A COVER SHOWDOWN?!

Cover Showdown:

As you've noticed, if you've Googled the book or Goodread-ed (hey if "twerk" is in the Oxford dictionary, this certainly makes the cut) it, there are two marvelous covers of this book:

Subject A

Subject B

Now Subject A seems to be exuding extreme amounts of soul-burning-sexy-staredown by Mr. Daemon Black, while Katy (or any of the readers hehe) cling on to him for her (our) dear life.

Subject B on the other hand is a pleasure to both genders, with both Katy and Daemon looking at us with equal degrees of come-hither. 

Before I reveal MY winner, I have to say that I am in absolute LOVE with the cover models, Pepe Toth and Sztella Tziotziosz. I've seen them on so many book covers and that alone makes me want to read those books. I'm a sucker for covers, so these two gracing any cover makes me want to empty my treasure chests without a second thought. 

NOW, time to reveal my winner. Drum roll please!

AND THE WINNER IS...SUBJECT B!!! ('cause it fulfills all my Daemon-Katy love in one picture :)

My First Thoughts: Okay, mini-rant time =_= I don't know if I'm the only one but if it wasn't for the cover, I probably wouldn't have picked up Obsidian, which is life-altering as it was my first Jennifer Armentrout book I'd read (and down the rabbit hole I fell, falling deeper into the Wonderland that is filled with Ms. Armentrout's books). The synopsis sounds so...juvenile. And I understand that the genre is YA but still, it didn't depict the sultry/mysterious/sometimes-serious vibe I got while reading the book AT ALL. "Starting over sucks" And the heart-wrenching reason they moved away wasn't included, which would've tugged on my heart a bit more than "When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring" I almost didn't read this book BECAUSE of the synopsis. 

Sorry for the rant y'all but the synopsis is the first glimpse into the book, the decisive factor in whether one reads the book or not. And this one lacked too much to do justice to this great book.

Captain's Log on Obsidian: As I've stated in bold letters above, this is one for my loot for sure. A kick-ass heroine, no love triangles, and such an interesting story line and world, all in one book? Too much perfection. Katy has to be one of my favorite characters so far, because of her guts and her no-pushover personality. And the way the book was written was my favorite part of the reading experience. It's as if I become Katy herself, her emotions mine, her world surrounding me...which is why initially, I DID NOT like Daemon (but really, way to write, Ms. Armentrout)

This couple though...never have I read a book so focused on the main couple AND balancing the story line. The sexual tension between these two was amped-up ever since they'd meet. I'm glad they eased into their feelings slowly and not hey-im-your-neighbor-lets-have-sex. Just as Katy said, Instalove is the bane of my reading existence. Their banter also kept me laughing and smiling gleefully. Here's a cute snippet I loved:

"Where have you been?" I asked in a voice that sounded shrill to my own ears. 

Silence fell while two more sets of beautifully odd eyes settled on me. I felt my cheeks turn hot and I leaned back, feeling like an idiot. I folded my hands and kept my eyes pinned to them. What a way to draw attention to myself. 

"Well hello, honey, I've been out boozing and whoring. I know, my priorities are pretty off." 

My lips thinned at his sarcastic response. "Dick" I muttered.

But really, besides the comedy, this book is plenty Awww worthy. It's admirable how Katy grew as a character because of her dad's words to not be a bystander. I mean, come on, how is it that whenever she remembers those words, I can't help but cry and smile at the same time?! Witch craft writing, I telling you...

*Just a thought*, but if you follow Ms. Armentrout's blog, as I do, maybe you picked up a few of Ms. Armentrout's character in Katy. Just an observation. Not judging or anything^^

I and Katy might've dislike Daemon at the beginning but we both saw the vulnerable, sweet man underneath the mask of dickdom later on. Or Saw The Light :D My favorite thing about Daemon, besides his sexiness, would have to be how even after he shows his sweet side, his arrogance or pride or even his dick-headedness didn't just poof into thin air and leave him a mush of a man. I know, you know, we all know at least one book boy who was "wearing a mask to push everyone away but really is a sweet boy inside and once he burst out, there was no stopping him from jumping on the peace-and-love-is-great train"......Did someone order a huge dose of unrealism? Daemon's imperfections made him so realistic, so lovable as a character to me, so...human (haha the irony). 

But I thank Neptune for how Daemon turned out. I thank Neptune and the Seven Seas for how this whole book turned out. It was just too perfect. This review is hard because i'm too speechless and don't know where to start on talking about this perfection. I guess the best way to express my feelings would be to buy every person on Earth a copy of the book and make them read it. It's just that good of a book. 

*Side note* I'll be talking more about Daemon Black on my True Love Thursday this, you guessed it, Thursday. Be excited!

I really do hope you read this book though, mateys. If you've read the book or are planning to do so, don't hesitate to leave your fangirling thoughts and questions in the comments section below!

Now, finally...WELCOME ABOARD THE JOLLY ANNE, OBSIDIAN!!! More than that, WELCOME TO THE LOOT!!!

-Captain Kaelyn

Movie.Music.Monday (MMM #1)

MOVIE
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Aye lads and lassies, just 18 days left till November 22. What is the importance of November 22nd, you ask? Wait, of course you don't ask because YOU KNOW. We all have this engraved in our minds, the importance of this day. It is when the long-awaited sequel to the Hunger Games movie comes out: Catching Fire! It is, perhaps, one of the greatest book to movie adaptations I've seen since the Harry Potter series. The trailers and screenshots have me anticipating the movie and it's story line. Yes, yes I understand an author has no rights, unless given, to order about the movie set. It's like when a pirate create a map to treasure. We may have created it but the adventure others undertake on its instructions are purely there own. The journey at most will not differ, yet it also will not be the exact same one. It is always unique to see another's take on a book. See how far they fall into the world of the book, how much they actually understand it. Gary Ross had quite a task ahead of him when he took the Hunger Games movie as his project but he accomplished it with grace and elegance beyond words. Judging by the teasers, I suspect Mr. Francis Lawrence is up to par, if not better, than the first movie. I've seen his others works "I am Legend" and "Water for Elephant" (Both excellent movies, and I can't judge the book-adaptation for "Water for Elephants" for I haven't YET read the book, but I will soon. The movies have made this Captain cry  up a storm to rival that of Neptune, though.) I look forward to Catching Fire. I will be docking the Jolly Anne for a midnight screening of the movie. Be sure to expect my review of it as well as a Book vs. Movie post, dearies.

MUSIC
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As you mates know, your Captain has a certain taste in music, namely kpop. Today, I'll be introducing you to my latest ear worm: "Just Another Girl" by Kim Jaejoong. Jaejoong is the reason I've founded the category of This. This is for the people that are not only good singers AND rappers, but good actors, good looking, good-natured, etc. All you can do is point at them and say "This"; ie, This is perfection. And Jaejoong is This. He's acted and won awards for his roles. He's swept the charts with his releases, including this one. And the man has to be THE MOST GORGEOUS man ever. He's a god. He has to be. Or a siren, leading us to our doom of being super addicted to him, with his beautiful voice. I doubt any of us care. Now anyways, I present to you "Just Another Girl" by Kim Jaejoong.

Sleep tight mates. I'll be staying up finishing my book to review and add to my loot, hopefully, tomorrow. Look forward to it. Aye aye? AYE AYE!

-Captain Kaelyn