Book Review | Star Cursed | Jessica Spotswood

Jun 27

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 | Star Cursed | Jessica SpotswoodStar Cursed by Jessica Spotswood
Series: The Cahill Witch Chronicles #2
Published by Putnam Juvenile on June 18, 2013
Genres: Alternate History, Historical Fiction, Magic, Paranormal YA, Witches, Young Adult
Pages: 384
Format: eARC
Also in this series: Born Wicked, Sister's Fate
Also by this author: Born Wicked, Sister's Fate
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
five-stars

With the Brotherhood persecuting witches like never before, a divided Sisterhood desperately needs Cate to come into her Prophesied powers. And after Cate’s friend Sachi is arrested for using magic, a war-thirsty Sister offers to help her find answers—if Cate is willing to endanger everyone she loves.

Cate doesn’t want to be a weapon, and she doesn’t want to involve her friends and Finn in the Sisterhood’s schemes. But when Maura and Tess join the Sisterhood, Maura makes it clear that she’ll do whatever it takes to lead the witches to victory. Even if it means sacrifices. Even if it means overthrowing Cate. Even if it means all-out war.

In the highly anticipated sequel to Born Wicked, the Cahill Witch Chronicles continue Cate, Maura and Tess’s quest to find love, protect family, and explore their magic against all odds in an alternate history of New England.

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Filed Under: Reviews, Young Adult

Book Review + Giveaway: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Jun 20

Book cover for Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Title: Siege and Storm
Author: Leigh Bardugo (web | twitter)
Series: The Grisha Trilogy #2
Genre: Fantasy YA
Amazon | Goodreads
Publisher: Henry Holt
Release Date: June 4, 2013
Source: Borrowed an ARC from Tara

Summary: Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land. She finds starting new is not easy while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. She can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.
The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her–or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.

 

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

Book Review: The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler

Jun 15

book cover for The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler

Title: The Book of Broken Hearts
Author: Sarah Ockler (twitter | web)
Genre: Contemporary YA
Amazon | Goodreads
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release date: May 21, 2013
Source: Borrowed ARC

Summary: Jude has learned a lot from her older sisters, but the most important thing is this: The Vargas brothers are notorious heartbreakers. She’s seen the tears and disasters that dating a Vargas boy can cause, and she swore an oath—with candles and a contract and everything—to never have anything to do with one.

Now Jude is the only sister still living at home, and she’s spending the summer helping her ailing father restore his vintage motorcycle—which means hiring a mechanic to help out. Is it Jude’s fault he happens to be cute? And surprisingly sweet? And a Vargas?

Jude tells herself it’s strictly bike business with Emilio. Her sisters will never find out, and Jude can spot those flirty little Vargas tricks a mile away—no way would she fall for them. But Jude’s defenses are crumbling, and if history is destined to repeat itself, she’s speeding toward some serious heartbreak…unless her sisters were wrong?

Jude may have taken an oath, but she’s beginning to think that when it comes to love, some promises might be worth breaking.

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

Book Review | Nantucket Blue | Leila Howland

May 30

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 | Nantucket Blue | Leila HowlandNantucket Blue by Leila Howland
Series: Nantucket #1
Published by Disney Hyperion on May 7, 2013
Genres: Contemporary YA, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 294
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
three-stars

For Cricket Thompson, a summer like this one will change everything. A summer spent on Nantucket with her best friend, Jules Clayton, and the indomitable Clayton family. A summer when she’ll make the almost unattainable Jay Logan hers. A summer to surpass all dreams.

Some of this turns out to be true. Some of it doesn’t.

When Jules and her family suffer a devastating tragedy that forces the girls apart, Jules becomes a stranger whom Cricket wonders whether she ever really knew. And instead of lying on the beach working on her caramel-colored tan, Cricket is making beds and cleaning bathrooms to support herself in paradise for the summer.

But it’s the things Cricket hadn’t counted on–most of all, falling hard for someone who should be completely off-limits–that turn her dreams into an exhilarating, bittersweet reality.

A beautiful future is within her grasp, and Cricket must find the grace to embrace it. If she does, her life could be the perfect shade of Nantucket blue.

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Filed Under: 2013 Reading Challenge, Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: , , , ,

Book Review: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

May 22

Book cover for Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Title: Under the Never Sky
Author: Veronica Rossi (web | twitter)
Series: Under the Never Sky #1
Genre: Science Fiction/Dystopia YA
Amazon | Goodreads
Publisher: Harper Collins
Release date: January 3, 2012
Challenge: Reading Recommendations
Source: Own it
Summary: WORLDS KEPT THEM APART.
DESTINY BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER.

Aria has lived her whole life in the protected dome of Reverie. Her entire world confined to its spaces, she’s never thought to dream of what lies beyond its doors. So when her mother goes missing, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland long enough to find her are slim.

Then Aria meets an outsider named Perry. He’s searching for someone too. He’s also wild – a savage – but might be her best hope at staying alive.

If they can survive, they are each other’s best hope for finding answers.

 

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Filed Under: 2013 Reading Challenge, Reviews, Young Adult

Audiobook Review: Every Day by David Levithan

May 9

Book cover for Every Day by David Levithan audiobook

Title: Every Day
Author: David Levithan (web | twitter)
Narrator: Alex McKenna
Genre: Contemporary YA, Paranormal YA
Amazon | Goodreads | Audible
Publisher: Knopf BFYR, Listening Library
Release date: August 28, 2012
Source: Library
Challenge: YA Audiobook Challenge
Summary: Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

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Filed Under: 2013 Reading Challenge, Audiobook, Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: , , , ,

Book Review | Going Vintage | Lindsey Leavitt

May 6

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 | Going Vintage | Lindsey LeavittGoing Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt
Published by Bloomsbury on March 26, 2013
Genres: Contemporary YA, Young Adult
Pages: 320
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
four-stars

When Mallory’s boyfriend, Jeremy, cheats on her with an online girlfriend, Mallory decides the best way to de-Jeremy her life is to de-modernize things too. Inspired by a list of goals her grandmother made in1962, Mallory swears off technology and returns to a simpler time (when boyfriends couldn’t cheat with computer avatars).

The List:
1. Run for pep club secretary
2. Host a fancy dinner party/soiree
3. Sew a dress for Homecoming
4. Find a steady
5. Do something dangerous
But simple proves to be crazy-complicated, and the details of the past begin to change Mallory’s present. Add in a too-busy grandmother, a sassy sister, and the cute pep-club president–who just happens to be her ex’s cousin–and soon Mallory begins to wonder if going vintage is going too far.

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Filed Under: 2013 Reading Challenge, Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: , , ,

Book Review: Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

May 3

Book cover for Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

Title | Author: Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore (web | twitter)
Series: Graceling Realm #3
Genre: Fantasy YA
Amazon | Goodreads
Publisher: Dial
Release Date: May 1, 2012
Source: Own it

Summary: Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck’s reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle–disguised and alone–to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past.

Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck’s reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn’t yet identified, holds a key to her heart.

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

Book Review | The Reece Malcolm List | Amy Spalding

Apr 26

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 Reece Malcolm List | Amy SpaldingThe Reece Malcolm List by Amy Spalding
Published by Entangled Teen on February 5, 2013
Genres: Contemporary YA, Young Adult
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
four-stars

Things I know about Reece Malcolm:

1. She graduated from New York University.
2. She lives in or near Los Angeles.
3. Since her first novel was released, she’s been on the New York Times bestseller list every week.
4. She likes strong coffee and bourbon.
5. She’s my mother.

Devan knows very little about Reece Malcolm, until the day her father dies and she’s shipped off to live with the mother she’s never met. All she has is a list of notebook entries that doesn’t add up to much.

L.A. offers a whole new world to Devan—a performing arts school allows her to pursue her passion for show choir and musicals, a new circle of friends helps to draw her out of her shell, and an intriguing boy opens up possibilities for her first love.

But then the Reece Malcolm list gets a surprising new entry. Now that Devan is so close to having it all, can she handle the possibility of losing everything?

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Filed Under: 2013 Reading Challenge, Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: , , ,

Book Review: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Apr 18

Book cover for Code Name Verity by Elizabeth WeinTitle // Author: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (web | twitter)
Genre: Historical Fiction YA
Amazon | Goodreads
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release date: May 15, 2012
Challenge: 2012 TBR Challenge
Source: Own It

Summary: Oct. 11th, 1943-A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it’s barely begun.

When “Verity” is arrested by the Gestapo, she’s sure she doesn’t stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she’s living a spy’s worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.

As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?

A Michael L. Printz Award Honor book that was called “a fiendishly-plotted mind game of a novel” in The New York Times, Code Name Verity is a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other.

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Filed Under: 2013 Reading Challenge, Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: , , ,
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