Book Review | Love Letters to the Dead | Ava Dellaira

May 16

book cover Love Letters to the Dead Ava DellairaTitle: Love Letters to the Dead
Author: Ava Dellaira (web | twitter)
Genre: Contemporary YA, epistolary
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Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Release date: April 1, 2014
Source: ARC from the publisher via NetGalley (Thanks, FSG!)

It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May did. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to people like Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Amelia Earhart, Heath Ledger, and more; though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating new friendships, falling in love for the first time, learning to live with her splintering family. And, finally, about the abuse she suffered while May was supposed to be looking out for her. Only then, once Laurel has written down the truth about what happened to herself, can she truly begin to accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she was; lovely and amazing and deeply flawed; can she begin to discover her own path.

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Book Review | Dreams of Gods and Monsters | Laini Taylor

May 12

Book cover Dreams of Gods and Monsters Laini TaylorTitle: Dreams of Gods and Monsters
Author: Laini Taylor (web | twitter)
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone #3
Genre: Fantasy YA, angels
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Publisher: Little, Brown
Release date: April 8, 2014
Source: Bought it

By way of a staggering deception, Karou has taken control of the chimaera rebellion and is intent on steering its course away from dead-end vengeance. The future rests on her, if there can even be a future for the chimaera in war-ravaged Eretz.

Common enemy, common cause.

When Jael’s brutal seraph army trespasses into the human world, the unthinkable becomes essential, and Karou and Akiva must ally their enemy armies against the threat. It is a twisted version of their long-ago dream, and they begin to hope that it might forge a way forward for their people.

And, perhaps, for themselves. Toward a new way of living, and maybe even love.

But there are bigger threats than Jael in the offing. A vicious queen is hunting Akiva, and, in the skies of Eretz … something is happening. Massive stains are spreading like bruises from horizon to horizon; the great winged stormhunters are gathering as if summoned, ceaselessly circling, and a deep sense of wrong pervades the world.

What power can bruise the sky?

From the streets of Rome to the caves of the Kirin and beyond, humans, chimaera and seraphim will fight, strive, love, and die in an epic theater that transcends good and evil, right and wrong, friend and enemy. 

At the very barriers of space and time, what do gods and monsters dream of? And does anything else matter?

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Book Review | The Museum of Intangible Things | Wendy Wunder

May 1

Book cover The Museum of Intangible Things Wendy WunderTitle: The Museum of Intangible Things
Author: Wendy Wunder (web | twitter)
Genre: Contemporary YA
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Publisher: Razorbill
Release date: April 10, 2014
Source: ARC from the author (Thanks, Wendy Wunder!)

Loyalty. Envy. Obligation. Dreams. Disappointment. Fear. Negligence. Coping. Elation. Lust. Nature. Freedom. Heartbreak. Insouciance. Audacity. Gluttony. Belief. God. Karma. Knowing what you want (there is probably a French word for it). Saying Yes. Destiny. Truth. Devotion. Forgiveness. Life. Happiness (ever after).

Hannah and Zoe haven’t had much in their lives, but they’ve always had each other. So when Zoe tells Hannah she needs to get out of their down-and-out New Jersey town, they pile into Hannah’s beat-up old Le Mans and head west, putting everything—their deadbeat parents, their disappointing love lives, their inevitable enrollment at community college—behind them.

As they chase storms and make new friends, Zoe tells Hannah she wants more for her. She wants her to live bigger, dream grander, aim higher. And so Zoe begins teaching Hannah all about life’s intangible things, concepts sadly missing from her existence—things like audacity,insouciance, karma, and even happiness.

An unforgettable read from the acclaimed author of The Probability of Miracles, The Museum of Intangible Things sparkles with the humor and heartbreak of true friendship and first love.

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Book Review | The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare | M.G. Buehrlen

Apr 24

Book cover The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare by MG BuehrlenTitle: The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare
Author: M.G. Buehrlen (web | twitter)
Series: Alex Wayfare #1
Genre: Contemporary YA, Science Fiction YA, time travel
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Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Release date: March 4, 2014
Source: ARC from the publisher via NetGalley (Thanks, Strange Chemistry!)

For as long as 17-year-old Alex Wayfare can remember, she has had visions of the past. Visions that make her feel like she’s really on a ship bound for America, living in Jamestown during the Starving Time, or riding the original Ferris wheel at the World’s Fair.

But these brushes with history pull her from her daily life without warning, sometimes leaving her with strange lasting effects and wounds she can’t explain. Trying to excuse away the aftereffects has booked her more time in the principal’s office than in any of her classes and a permanent place at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Alex is desperate to find out what her visions mean and get rid of them.

It isn’t until she meets Porter, a stranger who knows more than should be possible about her, that she learns the truth: Her visions aren’t really visions. Alex is a Descender – capable of traveling back in time by accessing Limbo, the space between Life and Afterlife. Alex is one soul with fifty-six past lives, fifty-six histories.

Fifty-six lifetimes to explore: the prospect is irresistible to Alex, especially when the same mysterious boy with soulful blue eyes keeps showing up in each of them. But the more she descends, the more it becomes apparent that someone doesn’t want Alex to travel again. Ever.

And will stop at nothing to make this life her last.

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Book Review | The Geography of You and Me | Jennifer E. Smith

Apr 19

Book cover The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. SmithTitle: The Geography of You and Me
Author: Jennifer E. Smith (web | twitter)
Genre: Contemporary YA
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Publisher: Poppy
Release date: April 15, 2014
Source: Bought It

Other Books by Jennifer E. Smith: THE STATISTICAL PROBABILITY OF LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT | THIS IS WHAT HAPPY LOOKS LIKE

Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and eleventh floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they’re rescued, they spend a single night together, wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is restored, so is reality. Lucy soon moves to Edinburgh with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father.

Lucy and Owen’s relationship plays out across the globe as they stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and — finally — a reunion in the city where they first met.

A carefully charted map of a long-distance relationship, Jennifer E. Smith’s new novel shows that the center of the world isn’t necessarily a place. It can be a person, too.

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Book Review | The Winner’s Curse | Marie Rutkoski

Apr 11

Book cover for The Winner's Curse by Marie RutkoskiTitle: The Winner’s Curse
Author: Marie Rutkoski (web | twitter)
Series: Winner’s Trilogy #1
Genre: Fantasy YA
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Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Release date: March 4, 2014
Source: ARC from the publisher via NetGalley

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions.

One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin.

But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

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Book Review | Cruel Beauty | Rosamund Hodge

Mar 17

Book cover Cruel Beauty Rosamund HodgeTitle: Cruel Beauty
Author: Rosamund Hodge (web | twitter)
Series: Cruel Beauty Universe #1
Genre: Fantasy YA, Fairy Tale Retelling
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Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release date: January 28, 2014
Source: Borrowed ARC from Alyssa

Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she’s ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex’s secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

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Book Review | Sorrow’s Knot | Erin Bow

Mar 11

book cover Sorrow's Knot Erin BowTitle: Sorrow’s Knot
Author: Erin Bow (web | twitter)
Genre: Fantasy YA, Native American, Horror YA
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Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Release date: October 29, 2013
Source: ARC from the publisher via NetGalley

From the acclaimed author of PLAIN KATE, a new novel about what lurks in the shadows, and how to put it to rest…

In the world of SORROW’S KNOT, the dead do not rest easy. Every patch of shadow might be home to something hungry, something deadly. Most of the people of this world live on the sunlit, treeless prairies. But a few carve out an uneasy living in the forest towns, keeping the dead at bay with wards made from magically knotted cords. The women who tie these knots are called binders. And Otter’s mother, Willow, is one of the greatest binders her people have ever known.

But Willow does not wish for her daughter to lead the lonely, heavy life of a binder, so she chooses another as her apprentice. Otter is devastated by this choice, and what’s more, it leaves her untrained when the village falls under attack. In a moment of desperation, Otter casts her first ward, and the results are disastrous. But now Otter may be her people’s only hope against the shadows that threaten them. Will the challenge be too great for her? Or will she find a way to put the dead to rest once and for all?

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Book Review | The House of Hades | Rick Riordan

Mar 6

Book cover for The House of Hades by Rick RiordanTitle: The House of Hades
Author: Rick Riordan (web | twitter)
Series: The Heroes of Olympus
Genre: Fantasy MG/YA, Mythology
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Publisher: Hyperion Books
Release date: October 8, 2013
Source: Own it

At the conclusion of The Mark of Athena, Annabeth and Percy tumble into a pit leading straight to the Underworld. The other five demigods have to put aside their grief and follow Percy’s instructions to find the mortal side of the Doors of Death. If they can fight their way through the Gaea’s forces, and Percy and Annabeth can survive the House of Hades, then the Seven will be able to seal the Doors both sides and prevent the giants from raising Gaea. But, Leo wonders, if the Doors are sealed, how will Percy and Annabeth be able to escape?

They have no choice. If the demigods don’t succeed, Gaea’s armies will never die. They have no time. In about a month, the Romans will march on Camp Half-Blood. The stakes are higher than ever in this adventure that dives into the depths of Tartarus.

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Filed Under: Children's/Middle Grade, Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: , , , , ,

Book Review | Secret | Brigid Kemmerer

Feb 25

book cover Secret Brigid KemmererTitle: Secret
Author: Brigid Kemmerer (web | twitter)
Series: The Elemental Series #4
Genre: Contemporary YA, Paranormal YA, brothers
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Publisher: Kensington Teen
Release date: January 28, 2014
Source: ARC from the publisher via NetGalley (Thanks, Kensington!)
Related books: Storm, Spark, Spirit

EARTH. FIRE. AIR. WATER.

Nick Merrick is stretched to breaking point. He’s trying to keep his grades sky-high or he won’t get in to college. He’s trying to keep his brother’s business afloat or the Merricks will be out on the street. He’s trying to keep the secret of where he’s going in the evenings from his twin brother Gabriel – or he fears he’ll lose his family. And he’s trying to keep his mind off the hot, self-assured dancer who is his ‘girlfriend’s’ partner.

And then Quinn takes to hanging around his sworn enemy, and an Elemental Guide is counting the hours until he can try again to kill the Merrick brothers. Storms are brewing. On all sides.

SECRETS IN THE WIND. DANGER IN THE AIR.

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