Book Review | The Valiant | Lesley Livingston

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | The Valiant | Lesley LivingstonThe Valiant by Lesley Livingston
Published by Razorbill on February 14, 2017
Genres: Ancient Rome, Historical Fiction
Pages: 384
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
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four-half-stars

The youngest daughter of a proud Celtic king, Fallon has always lived in the shadow of her older sister Sorcha’s legendary reputation as a warrior. But when Fallon was a young child, the armies of Julius Caesar invaded the island of Britain and her beloved older sister was killed in battle.

On the eve of her seventeenth birthday, Fallon is excited to follow in her sister’s footsteps and earn her rightful place in her father’s royal war band. But she never gets the chance. Instead, Fallon is captured by a band of ruthless brigands who sell her to an exclusive training school for female gladiators—and its most influential patron is none other than Julius Caesar himself. In a cruel twist of fate, Fallon’s worst enemy, the man who destroyed her family, might be her only hope of survival.

Now, Fallon must overcome vicious rivalries, chilling threats and the dangerous attention of Caesar himself to survive the deadly fights that take place both in and out of the arena—and claim her place in history among the Valiant.

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Book Review | The Love That Split the World | Emily Henry

I received this book for free from ALA in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | The Love That Split the World | Emily HenryThe Love That Split the World by Emily Henry
Published by Razorbill on January 26, 2016
Genres: Contemporary YA, Young Adult
Pages: 396
Format: ARC
Source: ALA
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four-stars

Natalie Cleary must risk her future and leap blindly into a vast unknown for the chance to build a new world with the boy she loves.

Natalie’s last summer in her small Kentucky hometown is off to a magical start… until she starts seeing the “wrong things.” They’re just momentary glimpses at first—her front door is red instead of its usual green, there’s a pre-school where the garden store should be. But then her whole town disappears for hours, fading away into rolling hills and grazing buffalo, and Nat knows something isn’t right.

That’s when she gets a visit from the kind but mysterious apparition she calls “Grandmother,” who tells her: “You have three months to save him.” The next night, under the stadium lights of the high school football field, she meets a beautiful boy named Beau, and it’s as if time just stops and nothing exists. Nothing, except Natalie and Beau.

Emily Henry’s stunning debut novel is Friday Night Lights meets The Time Traveler’s Wife, and perfectly captures those bittersweet months after high school, when we dream not only of the future, but of all the roads and paths we’ve left untaken.

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Book Review | How To Lead a Life of Crime | Kirsten Miller

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | How To Lead a Life of Crime | Kirsten MillerHow To Lead a Life of Crime by Kirsten Miller
Published by Razorbill on February 21, 2013
Genres: Contemporary YA, Thriller, Young Adult
Pages: 434
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
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four-stars

A meth dealer. A prostitute. A serial killer.

Anywhere else, they’d be vermin. At the Mandel Academy, they’re called prodigies. The most exclusive school in New York City has been training young criminals for over a century. Only the most ruthless students are allowed to graduate. The rest disappear.

Flick, a teenage pickpocket, has risen to the top of his class. But then Mandel recruits a fierce new competitor who also happens to be Flick’s old flame. They’ve been told only one of them will make it out of the Mandel Academy. Will they find a way to save each other—or will the school destroy them both?

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Book Review | The Probability of Miracles | Wendy Wunder

Book Review | The Probability of Miracles | Wendy WunderThe Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder
Published by Razorbill on December 8, 2011
Genres: Contemporary YA, Illness
Pages: 360
Format: Hardcover
Source: Bought it
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five-stars

Dry, sarcastic, sixteen-year-old Cam Cooper has spent the last seven years in and out hospitals. The last thing she wants to do in the short life she has left is move 1,500 miles away to Promise, Maine – a place known for the miraculous events that occur there. But it’s undeniable that strange things happen in Promise: everlasting sunsets; purple dandelions; flamingoes in the frigid Atlantic; an elusive boy named Asher; and finally, a mysterious envelope containing a list of things for Cam to do before she dies. As Cam checks each item off the list, she finally learns to believe – in love, in herself, and even in miracles.

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Book Review | The Future of Us | Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

I received this book for free from BookExpo in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | The Future of Us | Jay Asher and Carolyn MacklerThe Future of Us by Carolyn Mackler, Jay Asher
Published by Razorbill on November 21, 2011
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Relationships, Young Adult
Pages: 356
Format: ARC
Source: BookExpo
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three-stars

It’s 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They’ve been best friends almost as long – at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh’s family gets a free AOL CD in the mail, his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they’re automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn’t been invented yet. And they’re looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.

By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they’re forced to confront what they’re doing right – and wrong – in the present.

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