Uncovered (113): The Girl in the Road

Who says you can't judge a book by its cover? Uncovered is a weekly post where I share with you a cover that I am currently in love with.
Hi, everyone and happy Friday! This week's Uncovered post features The Girl in the Road by Monica Byrne. I saw this one at Mysterious Galaxy the other day and just fell in love with it. My friend said that I am attracted to it because it has hot pink on the cover, which is probably true, but there's a lot of other stuff I like about this cover as well.

I love how bright and graphic this cover is. There are tons of patterns and textures that may seem random but go together so well. The pink snake is beautiful and I really like how it creates movement and interest on the page. The typography is great, too. The even lettering gives it a slightly off kilter look. I did not know anything about this book when I saw it but it made me want to find out more. If you don't know about this book, here is the synopsis:

Meena, a young woman living in a futuristic Mumbai, wakes up with five snake bites on her chest. She doesn't know how or why, but she must flee India and return to Ethiopia, the place of her birth. Having long heard about The Trail -- an energy-harvesting bridge that spans the Arabian Sea -- she embarks on foot on this forbidden bridge, with its own subculture and rules. What awaits her in Ethiopia is unclear; she's hoping the journey will illuminate it for her.

Mariama, a girl from a different time, is on a quest of her own. After witnessing her mother's rape, she joins up with a caravan of strangers heading across Saharan Africa. She meets Yemaya, a beautiful and enigmatic woman who becomes her protector and confidante. Yemaya tells Mariama of Ethiopia, where revolution is brewing and life will be better. Mariama hopes against hope that it offers much more than Yemaya ever promised.

As one heads east and the other west, Meena and Mariama's fates will entwine in ways that are profoundly moving and shocking to the core. Vividly imagined and artfully told, written with stunning clarity and deep emotion, The Girl in the Road is a true tour de force.

Doesn't it sound intriguing? And once you know a bit about it, the snake makes a lot more sense. This one had a blurb by Neil Gaiman on the back, which made me want to read it even more. The image above isn't as bright and beautiful as the original. I took a quick pic at the bookstore to show you.

It's much more vibrant in person and the pink is very pink and the cover is a soft cream. Gorgeous all around. I am going to have to get this on my bookshelf soon.

What do you guys think of this one? Does this cover intrigue you?

Trailer: True Blood Season 7

The seventh and final season of True Blood premieres on June 22. I am way, way behind on this series even though I finished all of the books. I don't know exactly what's been going on in the show but, from this trailer, it looks like a battle is coming. Even though it's pretty campy, I still enjoy the show and all of the man candy it provides. I am kind of bummed that it won't be on anymore but it had a good run. Now that a bunch of seasons are on Amazon Prime, I may finally catch up.

Is anyone tuning in for the premiere this weekend?

Review: X-23, Vol. 1: The Killing Dream

Title: X-23, Vol. 1: The Killing Dream

Author: Marjorie Liu
Illustrator: Alina Urusov
Publication Date: April 20, 2011
Publisher: Marvel
Genre: Comics/Graphic Novels
Find It: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N
Source: Library

X-23 has spent her short life being used by those in power, from the military to the X-Men. But when she is forced to confront a being who can control her life with nothing but a thought, will X-23 finally learn how to fight -- not for others, but herself? Guest-starring NYX!

COLLECTING: X-23 #1-6

I went into this not knowing anything about X-23. I picked it up because it was written by Marjorie Liu, a writer whose urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels I really enjoy. I was a big fan of X-Men as a teen but haven't read it in years. I'd heard good things about X-23 though and was excited to dive in.

I am not sure where this volume falls into the X-23 timeline but it's written as a good entry point for those who might be unfamiliar with the character or need a refresher course. X-23 is a killer, born and bred in a lab to be the ultimate killing machine. A genetic clone of the X-Men Wolverine, X-23 has his advanced healing abilities and adamantium claws. She has been trained to kill efficiently and without remorse. By the time we find X-23 in The Killing Dream, she has broken free of the lab and has been with the X-Men for a while. She briefly joined X-Force and was working for them as an assassin, though for the greater good. When this volume starts, her X-Men teammates and friends have just found out that X-23 has been killing for X-Force and most of them are not too happy about it. Some question her morals and whether or not she is safe to be around while others defend her. X-23 is doesn't know if she can reconcile her old self with who she wants to be. Is she just a stone cold killer? Can she be more than just a weapon?

Like I said, this is a good primer for into X-23's world. I got a sense of her character pretty quickly. She is struggling to figure out who she is and is trying to come to terms with the things she has done. She sets out on her own and, of course, comes across some trouble along the way. Luckily she has Gambit along for most of the ride and they play well off of each other. I am not sure I really got the entire Mr. Sinister storyline. I vaguely remember him from the X-books when I was a teen but not that well. He seems to have taken on a larger role than I remembered and has a fearsome reputation. Also, Ms. Sinister's outfit is pretty ridiculous, even for a comic book.

X-23 did not have the most original characterization. Her origin is fascinating and she has a lot of potential to be a really interesting character but, I found her struggle to be pretty standard for any clone or assassin story. This could also be a symptom of the fact that this is volume meant to attract new readers and her character may get more complex as we delve deeper into her world. The artwork was fine, but not particularly memorable. I do remember liking the covers for this run though.

This volume didn't blow my socks off but there's definitely potential here. X-23 is an intriguing character that I think has a lot more depth than this volume shows am looking forward seeing her evolution as the series goes on.

Ruin and Rising Launch Party Recap

Hi, everyone! Today is the release day for Ruin & Rising by Leigh Barugo, the third book in the Grisha series. I was lucky enough to attend the launch party last night held at The Last Bookstore in downtown LA. Leigh knows how to throw a good party and I was excited to celebrate her new book with her and all of the Grisha fans.

The event did not start until 7:30pm. I met up with Nicole, Michelle and Crystal earlier in the evening and had dinner at one of my favorite Italian places. By the time we made it back to the store, there was a pretty substantial line happening. Eventually someone came around to check our names off a list and gave us color coded wristbands so that they could tell if we were allowed booze or not. Below you can see I have my Ruin & Rising manicure and wristband ready to party!

The store was jam packed and we did not manage to grab seats in time. Instead, we wandered around the store checking out the party decorations and snacks. 

There was a lot of fun stuff going on, including a photo booth and a manicure station. I was pretty excited about the manicure station. I didn't do it because I already had my nails done but I am interested in seeing what manicures everyone else got.

After some mingling and snacking it was time for the main event. Leigh got up on stage and thanked everyone for being there. She said that she has started off all of her other launch parties by reading something embarrassing from her childhood. This time around, she had found a journal from when she was 10, which she read aloud parts of to us. I can't really paraphrase what was in the journal but trust me, she had us all in stitches. 

Leigh then talked a little bit about the film Labyrinth, which was one of her favorite movies as a teen.   I can't really summarize this part very well but she showed us some great footage of the ballroom scene and how it relates to her writing. She also touched on the subject of reading YA and pointed out that there is a lot of amazing writing going on in YA and that's why people read it. 

Leigh then read the first page from Ruin and Rising. She didn't want to be spoiler-y so she had a limited selection to choose from. Next up were some questions.

Who were Nikolai and the Apparat inspired by? 

Nikolai is a bit Han Solo and a bit Lando Calrissian. She also mentioned a character from a book series but I am blanking on the name. Sorry about that. If you remember, leave a comment telling me below.

Who was Mal inspired by?

Leigh had a friend when she was younger and they had a really close friendship. Mal is sort of inspired by that relationship of deep friendship though he is no inspired by any one person, since Leigh has never met anyone like Mal.

Then it was finally time for book signing! Luckily we had been standing pretty close to the stage and managed to get in the signing line near the front. The line was still going strong when we left so I am glad that we got in it early.

Leigh was sweet and gracious as always. I showed her my R&R nails like a fangirl. We even managed to finally snag some brownies after looking for them all night. Overall I'd say the night was a huge success! 

Much thanks to Leigh and everyone who organized the party and also to my blogging buddies for the great company. If you missed Leigh this time around, she will be at the Fierce Reads tour in B&N The Grove on July 23. I will be in San Diego for Comic Con already by that date but it should be a great event. 

Manicure Monday (67): Ruin and Rising

 

Manicure Monday is a feature that combines my love or reading and nail polish. Each week I'll showcase one of my current reads along with a matching book manicure.

Hello and happy Monday, everyone. Today's manicure is for the newly released Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo. While this technically does not come out until tomorrow, I heard that some B&N had them out early. I went in search of it over the weekend and happily was able to find it at my local store. I decided to do this manicure today because I am going to the launch party for Ruin and Rising tonight, which is being held in downtown LA at The Last Bookstore. It should be a really good time and I hope to see some of you there.

I love the covers to this entire series. They are so striking and work well individually but also make a nice set when seen together. The cover to Ruin and Rising is much darker and more ominous looking than the last two covers. Looking at this cover, I knew that I wanted to do a gradient as part of this manicure. Using three shades of Zoya polish in Sooki, Rekha and Paris, I created a gradient on three of my fingers. I arranged it so the darkest color was at the base of my nails. Then I wanted to create a splatter effect to mimic the center part of the cover where there are faint splatters of gold on the red. I had a really hard time finding a gold that was as orange as the one from this cover. However, after much digging I was able to find a good match in Wet N Wild The Gold and the Beautiful (yes, nail polish companies do love pun-y names). I made the splatter by dipping a small mixing straw into the polish and blowing it onto the nails.

The grey I used was actually a polish that was given out as a promo product when Shadow & Bone was first released. So far, there has been a polish for each book. Shadow & Bone's polish was a matte grey creme. I used two coats of the Grisha Grey on my thumb and ring finger. I used black acrylic paint to paint the stripes on my ring finger. 

For my thumb, I decided to pull an element from the central tower on the R&R cover. I painted the turrets with black acrylic paint and dotted on red polish to match the tower.

Bonus pic of my right hand, which I usually don't show because it's often the same as my left and it's sort of annoying to take pics of your non-dominant hand. However, I did my read hand a little differently this time so I thought it would be fun to show it.

And there you have it - nails ready for a Grisha party. Hope you guys liked today's manicure. If you're at the launch tomorrow and see me, please come say hello. :)