Book Review: Select by Marit Weisenberg

Coming from a race of highly-evolved humans, Julia Jaynes has the perfect life. The perfect family. The perfect destiny. But there’s something rotten beneath the surface—dangerous secrets her father is keeping; abilities she was never meant to have; and an elite society of people determined to keep their talents hidden and who care nothing for the rest of humanity. So when Julia accidentally disrupts the Jaynes’ delicate anonymity, she’s banished to the one place meant to make her feel inferior: public high school.

Julia’s goal is to lay low and blend in. Then she meets him—John Ford, tennis prodigy, all-around good guy. When Julia discovers a knack for reading his mind, and also manipulating his life, school suddenly becomes a temporary escape from the cold grip of her manipulative father. But as Julia’s powers over John grow, so do her feelings. For the first time in her life, Julia begins to develop a sense of self, to question her restrictive upbringing and her family prejudices. She must decide: can a perfect love be worth more than a perfect life?

 

I was so excited when I was approved for this book on Netgalley, it has been a while since I have visited there and this book caught my eye. Sadly the excitement for me didn’t last very long. It isn’t the worst book I have ever read, but it is not anywhere near a favorite either.

The ingredients for this being a solid and even great read. The idea of special humans isn’t new of course but the premise on this one focused on kids and trying to come off as normal. Of course they were in High school, yeah it wasn’t great the first time around. Anyways for me this book just kinda never took off, it was just okay I didn’t find myself feeling connected to any of the characters.

All the lust and waffling that came from our main character just had me wanting to pull my hair out. If you like more then a little teen angst and a lot of whiplash you might like this book. For me however it just wasn’t all that great.

 

My Gemstone Rating:

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Teaser Tuesday 7/4/17

Teaser Tuesday

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:

• Grab your current read</http://thepurplebooker.com/wp-admin/themes.phpem>
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

Happy 4th of July to my American friends and family. Happy Treason day to all my British friends and family. Happy random day in July to all my friends and family from other places around the world, lol. Did I cover everyone?

And just because its my blog and I do what I want… I will use a rebellious Saxon Dane looking hunky on a Gif as my celebration image: LOL I am also re-reading the second book in the series.

“Life is simple,” I said. “Ale, women, sword, and reputation. Nothing else matters.” – The Pale Horseman (The Saxon Stories #2)
by Bernard Cornwell

Musing Monday 7/3/17

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

I’m currently reading…
Up next I think I’ll read…
I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
I can’t wait to get a copy of…
I wish I could read ___, but…
I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEKS RANDOM QUESTION: Do you follow book release dates and eagerly await a new arrival? Or do you just kind of check things out in a more casual manner?

I used to watch release dates for all my favorite authors and even just some of my favorite genres like a hawk. I would nearly be drooling while I waited for ALL the wonderful stories to come out. These days I have less time then I would like to reading and other things so I am more casual about it. There are a small few that I still watch like a hawk (come on Jim Butcher I’m talking to you) but beyond that I just kind of go with the flow. Chances are I will see a favorite author or genre release not to long after it’s been released.

Teaser Tuesday 6/27/17

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

So busy week last week I am still working on the first of the Saxon series re-read but that’s okay cause I mean who wouldn’t want to spend extra time with Uhtred right? I mean remember….

“I have a theory that kitchens, once they reach a certain level of complexity, attract new gadgets into their orbit, like planets. Only this can account for the fact that I own two melon ballers.” – Cocaine Blues (Phryne Fisher #1)
by Kerry Greenwood

Musing Monday 6/26/17

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

I’m currently reading…
Up next I think I’ll read…
I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
I can’t wait to get a copy of…
I wish I could read ___, but…
I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEKS RANDOM QUESTION: What is your favorite spot to read during the summer?

Well all have our favorite spots to read. I don’t know about anyone else but my favorite spots tend to change around the season and weather. I adore reading outside but summer in Tucson is very bad for that most days. My favorite reading spot in the summer tends to be on a couch with a fan looking out a large window. How about you?

Teaser Tuesday 6/20/17

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

So busy week last week I am still working on the first of the Saxon series re-read but that’s okay cause I mean who wouldn’t want to spend extra time with Uhtred right? I mean remember….

“What happens to you, Uhtred, is what you make happen. You will grow, you will learn the sword, you will learn the way of the shield wall, you will learn the oar, you will give honor to the gods, and then you will use what you have learned to make your life good or bad.”
― Bernard Cornwell, The Last Kingdom

Musing Monday 6/19/17

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

I’m currently reading…
Up next I think I’ll read…
I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
I can’t wait to get a copy of…
I wish I could read ___, but…
I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEKS RANDOM QUESTION: What is your favorite Mark Twain novel?.

I know this is an oddly specific question but I have been thinking of re-reading the Mark Twain collections so it is on my mind. Not only that but he is a distant relation on my Dad’s side. Neat right? It is hard to pick a favorite for me, but if I had to it would be either Huckleberry Finn or A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s court. I love all of his works really, they have always drawn me in. It’s sad to me though that some of the same society lessons we need to learn from Huck Finn are just as relevant today, we really should have come further.

Teaser Tuesday 6/13/17

Teaser Tuesday

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

I picked two from this one this week:

“Destiny is all, Ravn liked to tell me, destiny is everything. He would even say it in English, “Wyrd biõ ful ãræd.”

“The preachers tell us that pride is a great sin, but the preachers are wrong. Pride makes a man, it drives him, it is the shield wall around his reputation… Men die, they said, but reputation does not die.”
― Bernard Cornwell, The Last Kingdom

Musing Monday 6/12/17

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

I’m currently reading…
Up next I think I’ll read…
I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
I can’t wait to get a copy of…
I wish I could read ___, but…
I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEKS RANDOM QUESTION: Which would you rather live without? Books or chocolate.

For me this is the impossible choice! I just I love my chocolate but I love my books. I love to eat my chocolate while reading my books. LOL how about you?

In other news for musing Monday I started a re-read of the Saxon Series by Bernard Cornwell. I always liked the series but now I admit I am enjoying the actual face of Uhtred better then the one I conjured in my head for this one, lol. Alfred still annoys me though, probably always will.

Destiny is all…..

Sunday Salon 6/11/17

I feel like I am always using Sunday Salon for something negative but it has been a tough year all around. Earlier this week another furry member of my family passed away very suddenly. Freya was a darling sweet cat who literally minutes before the event happened was being her usual self. Playing and cleaning all the usual things. It was a sudden cardiac event that took her from us and absolutely nothing at all could have been done according to the vet. That of course does not make it any easier to handle emotionally.

Heap onto that a literal load of Drama from a friend that really doesn’t need to be happening and I have pretty much had a certain Lilly Allen song going on in my mind for days now. Sorry for the negative and not book related. On the book end of things I finished my re-read of The Handmaids tale which was spurned by the Hulu adaptation playing and while I still like the show better I didn’t hate the book as much as I did the first time I read it.

A rare case of the book giving me more clarity on the book has occurred! This is not usual for me and I almost always like the books better then the movies or TV shows. So count me surprised on this one lol. I probably wont go back and read the book for a third time but stranger things have happened lol. I will be making a new review of it since I have changed my mind on many things, so there is a positive thing.

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