In My Mailbox (23)

Apr 15

April 15, 2012

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. It’s awesome. Every week, we all get a chance to tell everyone what new books we’ve gotten so that we can tell you guys and we can all drool and squee together! Huzzah for squees!

Lots of NetGalley goodies this week! HUZZAH!!

FROM NETGALLEY

Book cover for Gilt by Katherine Longshore

Gilt: The Royal Circle #1 by Katherine Longshore (May 15, 2012 from Viking Juvenile). SIGH. The court of Henry VIII was a vicious, scandalous, secretive, sexy place and I’ve loved reading about it ever since I discovered Philippa Gregory’s books. I’m stoked that this is the first book in a series because I’m ready to get invested in some historical fiction, guys. 

Book cover for Silver by Talia Vance

Silver by Talia Vance (September 8, 2012 from Flux). Paranormal romance about a girl who thinks she’s been invisible to ALL THE GUYS because she lacks pheromones. OBVS she’s wrong and things are–say it with me now–NOT WHAT THEY SEEM. But it sounds intriguing for sure! There’s soul-binding! And SEKRETS!

Book cover for Blackwood by Gwenda Bond

Blackwood by Gwenda Bond (September 4, 2012 from Strange Chemistry). YO!! GAH! So this book. It’s about–loosely–the lost colony of Roanoke, guys. THE LOST EFFING COLONY OF ROANOKE. As a history nerd, this whole idea SLAYS ME. How does an entire community of people disappear off the face of the earth?!? HOW?!? (If this was Supernatural, they would have been infected by a demon disease and eventually died.) Ahem. THIS book is less historical fiction and more contemporary romance-mystery. Because 114 people disappeared THEN, and 114 people disappear NOW, and these two kids have to figure out what happened. BOOM.

Book cover for Thieftaker by D.B. Jackson

Thieftaker: Thieftaker Chronicles #1 by D.B. Jackson (July 17, 2012 from Tor). Holy balls, guys. I first heard of this historical fantasy that takes place during the American Revolution (my number 1 history-nerd time period) from The Booksmugglers. And when have THEY never done me a solid? I can’t even BEGIN to tell you how excited I was when I saw this on NetGalley. SERIOUSLY. (FYI, this isn’t a YA book just in case you were wondering.)

(Big kisses to Viking Juvenile, Flux, Strange Chemistry, and Tor for gifting me with these BEAUTS!)

Great week for me, guys! Hope you had equally awesome mailboxes!

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Book Review: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Apr 14

Book cover for Pandemonium by Lauren OliverTitle: Pandemonium

Author: Lauren Oliver

Series: Delirium, book 2

Genre: Dystopian YA

Publisher: Harper

Release date: February 23, 2012

Source: Bought it

Summary: 

I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.

Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: , , ,

Book Review: Bunheads by Sophie Flack

Apr 12

Book cover for Bunheads by Sophie FlackTitle: Bunheads

Author: Sophie Flack

Genre: Contemporary YA

Publisher: Little, Brown BFYR

Release date: October 10, 2011

Challenge: Completely Contemporary Challenge

Source: Library

Summary: As a dancer with the ultra-prestigious Manhattan Ballet Company, nineteen-year-old Hannah Ward juggles intense rehearsals, dazzling performances and complicated backstage relationships. Up until now, Hannah has happily devoted her entire life to ballet. 

But when she meets a handsome musician named Jacob, Hannah’s universe begins to change, and she must decide if she wants to compete against the other “bunheads” in the company for a star soloist spot or strike out on her own in the real world. Does she dare give up the gilded confines of the ballet for the freedoms of everyday life?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: 2012 Reading Challenge, Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: , , , ,

Waiting on Wednesday (22): The Vindico by Wesley King

Apr 11

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. I love it because it is basically a squee-fest where book lovers can choose one book that they are DYING to get their hands on. Check it out!

The Vindico

by Wesley King

Book cover for The Vindico by Wesley King

X-Men meets The Breakfast Club in this darkly humorous adventure.

The Vindico are a group of supervillains who have been fighting the League of Heroes for as long as anyone can remember. Realizing they’re not as young as they used to be, they devise a plan to kidnap a group of teenagers to take over for them when they retire–after all, how hard can it be to teach a bunch of angsty teens to be evil?

Held captive in a remote mansion, five teens train with their mentors and receive superpowers beyond their wildest dreams. Struggling to uncover the motives of the Vindico, the teens have to trust each other to plot their escape. But they quickly learn that the differences between good and evil are not as black and white as they seem, and they are left wondering whose side they should be fighting on after all . . .

Um, X-MEN MEETS THE BREAKFAST CLUB. Seriously. Reading this synopsis just makes me incredibly excited for some fast-paced, thrilling, superhero ACTION. I’m a little new to the superhero thing, but I’m making up for lost time in a big way, friends, and THE VINDICO sounds like the perfect kind of book to help me further my new love. 

Also, did you catch that hint at moral ambiguity at the end there? I can’t overstate how much I love reading about gray area. Things being black and white certainly have their place and I love those kinds of stories, too. But the gray area is where the juicy stuff is, and I’ve got high hopes for THE VINDICO. BRING IT, supervillans. Bring it. 

THE VINDICO is coming out June 14, 2012 from Putnam Juvenile.

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Top Ten Tuesday (22)

Apr 10

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Most Deceiving Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It’s awesome. Every Tuesday, the lovely folks over at The Broke and the Bookish post a top ten list topic so that book lovers like you and me can pour over our shelves and make our own lists. You can check out all the other Top Ten Tuesday‘s on their site!

***

[Read more…]

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Book Review | Katana | Cole Gibsen

Apr 9

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 | Katana | Cole GibsenKatana by Cole Gibsen
Series: Katana #1
Published by Flux on March 8, 2012
Genres: Contemporary YA, Paranormal YA, Young Adult
Pages: 375
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
four-stars

Rileigh Martin would love to believe that adrenaline had given her the uncanny courage and strength to fend off three muggers. But it doesn’t explain her dreams of 15th-century Japan, the incredible fighting skills she suddenly possesses, or the strange voice giving her battle tips and danger warnings.

While worrying that she’s going crazy (always a reputation ruiner), Rileigh gets a visit from Kim, a handsome martial arts instructor, who tells Rileigh she’s harboring the spirit of a five-hundred-year-old samurai warrior.

Relentlessly attacked by ninjas, Rileigh has no choice but to master the katana—a deadly Japanese sword that’s also the key to her past. As the spirit grows stronger and her feelings for Kim intensify, Rileigh is torn between continuing as the girl she’s always been and embracing the warrior inside her.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: 2012 Reading Challenge, Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: , , , , ,

In My Mailbox (22)

Apr 7

April 8, 2012

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. It’s awesome. Every week, we all get a chance to tell everyone what new books we’ve gotten so that we can tell you guys and we can all drool and squee together! Huzzah for squees!

HAPPY HOLIDAY WEEKEND, guys!! Just a few treats this week, but they were pretty effin’ sweet so I HAVE to share them. 

FROM NETGALLEY

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Obviously, this is not the cover for Throne of Glass. This one is the cover of the just-released second novella, though. Actual cover for ToG is supposed to be released soon!

Throne of Glass: Throne of Glass #1 by Sarah J. Maas (August 7, 2012 from Bloomsbury Children’s). Guys, I’m giving you a heads up: I will be FANGIRLING this book HARD, probably forever. Not sure it matters that I haven’t even read it yet. I’m just so excited for it. It’s a high fantasy, loose retelling of Cinderella, except Cinderella is a criminal/assassin. Um, BOOM. When I got approved for this one, I FREAKED OUT. FREAKED. OUT. MAJORLY. (PS. There’s two prequel novellas out right now featuring the main character, Celaena. The first one, THE ASSASSIN AND THE PIRATE LORD, is FREE right now on Amazon, and the second one, THE ASSASSIN AND THE DESERT, is only 99 cents.)

Book cover for The Scorpions of Zahir by Christine Brodien-Jones

The Scorpions of Zahir by Christine Brodien-Jones (July 10, 2012 from Delacorte BFYR). Um, a middle-grade book about an adventurous, curious young girl and her explorer family who run into some danger in the desert? I love the sound of this one, guys. 

(Virtual hugs to Bloomsbury Children’s and Delacorte BFYR for this loot!)

BOUGHT

Book cover for Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Grave Mercy: His Fair Assassin #1 by Robin LaFevers. Guys, I don’t really want to be a person who FORCES books on people. Honestly, that’s not really my style. EXCEPT when the book in question is as BANGING as GRAVE MERCY. If you like historical fiction or fantasy, PLEASE RUN NOT WALK to the bookstore or the library and pick this one up. Pretty please? There will be no regrets. 

(Virtual hugs to Robin LaFevers for writing this book and being a GENIUS OF WORDS!)

Great week for me, guys! Hope you had equally awesome mailboxes! And HAPPY HOLIDAYS again! 

Filed Under: In My Mailbox Tagged With: ,

Book Review: Croak by Gina Damico

Apr 6

Book cover from Croak (Croak #1) by Gina DamicoTitle: Croak

Author: Gina Damico

Series: Croak, book 1

Genre: Paranormal YA

Publisher: Graphia

Release date: March 20, 2012

Challenge: Debut Author Challenge

Source: ARC from DAC ARC Tour

Summary: Sixteen-year-old Lex Bartleby has sucker-punched her last classmate. Fed up with her punkish, wild behavior, her parents ship her off to upstate New York to live with her Uncle Mort for the summer, hoping that a few months of dirty farm work will whip her back into shape. But Uncle Mort’s true occupation is much dirtier than that of shoveling manure. 

He’s a Grim Reaper. And he’s going to teach her the family business. 

Lex quickly assimilates into the peculiar world of Croak, a town populated entirely by reapers who deliver souls from this life to the next. Along with her infuriating yet intriguing partner Driggs and a rockstar crew of fellow Grim apprentices, Lex is soon zapping her Targets like a natural born Killer. 

Yet her innate ability morphs into an unchecked desire for justice—or is it vengeance?—whenever she’s forced to Kill a murder victim, craving to stop the attackers before they can strike again. So when people start to die—that is, people who aren’t supposed to be dying, people who have committed grievous crimes against the innocent—Lex’s curiosity is piqued. Her obsession grows as the bodies pile up, and a troubling question begins to swirl through her mind: if she succeeds in tracking down the murderer, will she stop the carnage—or will she ditch Croak and join in?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: 2012 Reading Challenge, Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: , , , ,

Book Review | Grave Mercy | Robin LaFevers

Apr 5

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 | Grave Mercy | Robin LaFeversGrave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
Series: His Fair Assassin #1
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on April 3, 2012
Genres: Fantasy YA, Historical Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 549
Format: eARC
Also in this series: Dark Triumph, Mortal Heart
Also by this author: Dark Triumph, Mortal Heart
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
five-stars

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: 2012 Reading Challenge, Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Rewind and Review: April

Apr 4

Rewind & Review is an AMAZING new meme hosted jointly by two fabulous ladies, Ginger from Greads! and Lisa from Lisa Is Busy Nerding. This meme is all about mining your TBR piles and finding some long-lost gems (from 2010 or earlier) that you meant to read and somehow passed over. I KNOW, but it happens. Each month, each participant picks a few oldies but hopefully goodies to read, reviews ’em, and spreads the word. Huzzah!

I’m LOVING this meme, friends. Although, the last two months, I’ve only managed to read one of my three proposed titles each, and I keep switching things out. March was just such a month, guys. AND I still haven’t managed to read three books for this meme in one month. But I read some Rewind & Review books last month, and I’m REALLY looking forward to the ones I’ve picked for THIS month. YES I have picked three, and YES I WILL READ THEM ALL. Check out my reviews for THE DEMON KING and LIPS TOUCH: THREE TIMES, and then oooh and ahhhh over April’s selections below (one should look familiar)!

Book cover for The Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams ChimaBook cover for An Abundance of Katherines by John GreenBook cover for I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You by Ally Carter

BRING IT, APRIL. 

Filed Under: Rewind and Review Tagged With: ,
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