Book Review | Unbreak My Heart | Melissa C. Walker

Aug 2

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 | Unbreak My Heart | Melissa C. WalkerUnbreak My Heart by Melissa C. Walker
Published by Bloomsbury on May 22, 2012
Genres: Contemporary YA, Young Adult
Pages: 232
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
three-half-stars

Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams’ heart. She fell for her best friend’s boyfriend and long story short: he’s excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life.

Enter her parents’ plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Normally the idea of being stuck on a tiny boat with her parents and little sister would make Clem break out in hives, but floating away sounds pretty good right now.

Then she meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are sailing for the summer and he’s just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem’s walls and heal her broken heart?

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

Book Review | Something Like Normal | Trish Doller

Jun 11

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 | Something Like Normal | Trish DollerSomething Like Normal by Trish Doller
Published by Bloomsbury on June 19, 2012
Genres: Contemporary YA, Military
Pages: 224
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
five-stars

When Travis returns home from a stint in Afghanistan, his parents are splitting up, his brother’s stolen his girlfriend and his car, and he’s haunted by nightmares of his best friend’s death. It’s not until Travis runs into Harper, a girl he’s had a rocky relationship with since middle school, that life actually starts looking up. And as he and Harper see more of each other, he begins to pick his way through the minefield of family problems and post-traumatic stress to the possibility of a life that might resemble normal again. Travis’s dry sense of humor, and incredible sense of honor, make him an irresistible and eminently lovable hero.

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

Waiting on Wednesday (26): Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

May 9

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!

Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1)

by Sarah J. Maas

Book cover for Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men—thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the kings council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she’s bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her… but it’s the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead… quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

YOOOOO!! Holy crap, guys, THRONE OF GLASS by Sarah J. Maas is one of my most anticipated books of the year! I’ve been waiting for the cover to come out to that I could fangirl it here with you guys. Because it’s based loosely on the Cinderella tale, but takes a sharp left into high-fantasy ASS-KICKER assassin girl-town. YES YES YES! I’ve been reading the novellas in this series (starting with THE ASSASSIN AND THE PIRATE LORD, then THE ASSASSIN AND THE DESERT, and then THE ASSASSIN AND THE UNDERWORLD, with THE ASSASSIN AND THE EMPIRE still to come) and they’ve all been awesome. I can’t wait to read THRONE OF GLASS and get to know Celaena better and meet this gruff captain! And also the prince. And also get the 411 on the “greater destiny” business. All of that, too. 

THRONE OF GLASS (THRONE OF GLASS #1) is coming out August 7, 2012 from Bloomsbury Children’s.

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Book Review: Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Mar 15

Book cover for Scarlet by A.C. GaughenTitle: Scarlet

Author: A.C. Gaughen

Genre: Historical Fiction YA, Fantasy YA

Publisher: Walker Children’s

Published on: February 14, 2012

Challenge: Debut Author Challenge

Source: Bought it

Summary: Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in.

It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for.

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

Book Review | The Académie | Susanne Dunlap

Feb 20

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 Académie | Susanne DunlapThe Academie by Susanne Dunlap
Published by Bloomsbury on February 28, 2012
Genres: Historical Fiction
Pages: 368
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
two-stars

Eliza Monroe—daughter of the future president of the United States—is devastated when her mother decides to send her to boarding school outside of Paris. But the young American teen is quickly reconciled to the idea when—ooh, la-la!—she discovers who her fellow pupils will be: Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of Josephine Bonaparte; and Caroline Bonaparte, youngest sister of the famous French general. It doesn’t take long for Eliza to figure out that the two French girls are mortal enemies—and that she’s about to get caught in the middle of their schemes.

Loosely drawn from history, Eliza Monroe’s imagined coming of age provides a scintillating glimpse into the lives, loves, and hopes of three young women during one of the most volatile periods in French history.

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

Book Review | Fracture | Megan Miranda

Jan 14

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 | Fracture | Megan MirandaFracture by Megan Miranda
Series: Fracture #1
Published by Walker Children's on January 17, 2012
Genres: Contemporary YA
Pages: 262
Format: ARC
Source: BookExpo
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
three-stars

Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine–despite the scans that showed significant brain damage. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she’s far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can’t control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?

Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she’s reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy’s motives aren’t quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature-or something much more frightening?

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