Book Review | Shatter Me | Tahereh Mafi

Nov 10

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

Book Review | Shatter Me | Tahereh MafiShatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Series: Shatter Me #1
on November 15, 2011
Genres: Dystopian YA, Relationships, Superheroes, Young Adult
Pages: 338
Format: ARC
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
four-stars

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.

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Filed Under: Reviews, Young Adult

Book Review | Crossed | Ally Condie

Nov 8

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

Book Review | Crossed | Ally CondieCrossed by Ally Condie
Series: Matched #2
Published by Dutton Juvenile on November 1, 2011
Genres: Dystopian YA, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 367
Format: ARC
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
two-stars

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky – taken by the Society to his certain death – only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.

Cassia’s quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander – who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia’s heart – change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

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Filed Under: Reviews, Young Adult

Book Review | The Near Witch | Victoria Schwab

Nov 6
Book Review | The Near Witch | Victoria SchwabThe Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
Series: The Near Witch #1
Published by Disney Hyperion on August 2, 2011
Genres: Fantasy YA, Horror & Ghost Stories, Paranormal YA, Witches, Young Adult
Pages: 282
Format: Hardcover
Source: Bought it
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four-stars

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.

And there are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.

But when an actual stranger-a boy who seems to fade like smoke-appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know-about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

Part fairy tale, part love story, Victoria Schwab’s debut novel is entirely original yet achingly familiar: a song you heard long ago, a whisper carried by the wind, and a dream you won’t soon forget.

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Filed Under: Reviews, Young Adult

Book Review | Anna Dressed in Blood | Kendare Blake

Nov 5

I received this book for free from eARC 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 | Anna Dressed in Blood | Kendare BlakeAnna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Series: Anna #1
Published by Tor Teen on August 30, 2011
Genres: Horror & Ghost Stories, Paranormal YA, Young Adult
Pages: 316
Format: eARC
Source: eARC from the Publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
four-stars

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story…

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

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Filed Under: Reviews, Young Adult

Book Review | The Name of the Star | Maureen Johnson

Nov 3
Book Review | The Name of the Star | Maureen JohnsonThe Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
Series: Shades of London #1
Published by Penguin on September 29, 2011
Genres: Contemporary YA, Europe, Horror & Ghost Stories, Mysteries & Detective Stories, Paranormal YA, People & Places, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Source: Bought it
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four-stars

The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it’s the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.

Soon “Rippermania” takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn’t notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.

 

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Filed Under: Reviews, Young Adult
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