Book Review | Heir of Fire | Sarah J. Maas

Sep 12

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 | Heir of Fire | Sarah J. MaasHeir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass #3
Published by Bloomsbury on September 2, 2014
Genres: Fantasy YA, Young Adult
Pages: 562
Format: ARC
Also in this series: Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, The Queen of Shadows
Also by this author: Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, The Queen of Shadows
Source: BookExpo
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
five-stars

Lost and broken, Celaena Sardothien’s only thought is to avenge the savage death of her dearest friend: as the King of Adarlan’s Assassin, she is bound to serve this tyrant, but he will pay for what he did. Any hope Celaena has of destroying the king lies in answers to be found in Wendlyn. Sacrificing his future, Chaol, the Captain of the King’s Guard, has sent Celaena there to protect her, but her darkest demons lay in that same place. If she can overcome them, she will be Adarlan’s biggest threat – and his own toughest enemy.

While Celaena learns of her true destiny, and the eyes of Erilea are on Wendlyn, a brutal and beastly force is preparing to take to the skies. Will Celaena find the strength not only to win her own battles, but to fight a war that could pit her loyalties to her own people against those she has grown to love?

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

Book Review | Going Rogue | Robin Benway

Feb 10

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 Rogue | Robin BenwayGoing Rogue by Robin Benway
Series: Also Known As #2
Published by Bloomsbury on January 14, 2014
Genres: Contemporary YA, Spies, Young Adult
Pages: 320
Format: eARC
Also in this series: Also Known As
Also by this author: Also Known As, Emmy & Oliver
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
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five-stars

Being permanently based in a local New York City high school as an undercover operative has its moments, good and bad, for 16-year-old safecracker Maggie Silver. Pros: More quality time with her former mark-turned-boyfriend Jesse Oliver and insanely cool best friend, Roux. Getting to spend quality time with her semi-retired and international spy honorary uncle, Angelo. Cons: High school and the accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple locker combinations. But when Maggie’s parents are falsely accused of stealing priceless gold coins, Maggie uses her safecracking skills to try and clear their names. Too bad it only serves to put her and everyone she loves in danger. Maggie and her “new team” flee to Paris where they must come up with a plan to defeat their former allies.

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Book Review | The Dream Thieves | Maggie Stiefvater

Sep 16

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 Dream Thieves | Maggie StiefvaterThe Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Raven Cycle #2
Published by Scholastic on September 17, 2013
Genres: Urban Fantasy YA, Young Adult
Pages: 439
Format: ARC
Also in this series: The Raven Boys, Blue Lily, Lily Blue
Also by this author: The Raven Boys, Blue Lily, Lily Blue
Source: BookExpo
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
five-stars

 Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after…

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Book Review | Crown of Midnight | Sarah J. Maas

Sep 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 | Crown of Midnight | Sarah J. MaasCrown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass #2
Published by Bloomsbury on August 27, 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Fantasy YA, Young Adult
Pages: 418
Format: eARC
Also in this series: Throne of Glass, Heir of Fire, The Queen of Shadows
Also by this author: Throne of Glass, Heir of Fire, The Queen of Shadows
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
five-stars

An assassin’s loyalties are always in doubt. But her heart never wavers.

After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king’s contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king’s bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she’s given a task that could jeopardize everything she’s come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon — forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice.

Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?

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

Book Review | School Spirits | Rachel Hawkins

Aug 15

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 | School Spirits | Rachel HawkinsSchool Spirits by Rachel Hawkins
Series: School Spirits #1
Published by Disney Hyperion on May 14, 2013
Genres: Contemporary YA, Horror & Ghost Stories, Paranormal YA, Young Adult
Pages: 297
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
four-stars

Fifteen-year-old Izzy Brannick was trained to fight monsters. For centuries, her family has hunted magical creatures. But when Izzy’s older sister vanishes without a trace while on a job, Izzy’s mom decides they need to take a break.

Izzy and her mom move to a new town, but they soon discover it’s not as normal as it appears. A series of hauntings has been plaguing the local high school, and Izzy is determined to prove her worth and investigate. But assuming the guise of an average teenager is easier said than done. For a tough girl who’s always been on her own, it’s strange to suddenly make friends and maybe even have a crush.

Can Izzy trust her new friends to help find the secret behind the hauntings before more people get hurt?

Rachel Hawkins’ delightful spin-off brings the same wit and charm as theNew York Times best-selling Hex Hall series. Get ready for more magic, mystery and romance!

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

Book Review | The Moon and More | Sarah Dessen

Aug 12

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 Moon and More | Sarah DessenThe Moon and More by Sarah Dessen
Published by Viking Juvenile on June 4, 2013
Genres: Contemporary YA, Young Adult
Pages: 435
Format: eARC
Also by this author: Saint Anything
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
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four-half-stars

Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.

Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo’s sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.

Emaline’s mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he’s convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby?

Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she’s going?

Sarah Dessen’s devoted fans will welcome this story of romance, yearning, and, finally, empowerment. It could only happen in the summer

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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 | 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 | 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 | 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: , , ,
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