Book Review | Breaking Sky | Cori McCarthy

May 21

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 | Breaking Sky | Cori McCarthyBreaking Sky by Cori McCarthy
Published by Sourcebooks Fire on March 10, 2015
Genres: Dystopian YA, Young Adult
Pages: 416
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
four-stars

In this high-flying, adrenaline-fueled debut thriller, America’s best hope is the elite teen fighter pilots of the United Star Academy

Chase Harcourt, call sign “Nyx,” is one of only two pilots chosen to fly the experimental “Streaker” jets at the junior Air Force Academy in the year 2048. She’s tough and impulsive with lightning-fast reactions, but few know the pain and loneliness of her past or the dark secret about her father. All anyone cares about is that Chase aces the upcoming Streaker trials, proving the prototype jet can knock the enemy out of the sky.

But as the world tilts toward war, Chase cracks open a military secret. There’s a third Streaker jet, whose young hotshot pilot, Tristan, can match her on the ground and in the clouds. Chase doesn’t play well with others, but to save her country she may just have to put her life in the hands of the competition.

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Book Review | Fairest | Marissa Meyer

Apr 30
Book Review | Fairest | Marissa MeyerFairest by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #3.5
Published by Feiwel & Friends on January 27th 2015
Genres: Dystopian YA, Science Fiction
Pages: 272
Format: Hardcover
Also in this series: Cinder, Scarlet, Cinder, Cress
Also by this author: Cinder, Scarlet, Cinder, Cress
Source: Bought it
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
three-half-stars

In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now.

Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series.

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Waiting on Wednesday | The Next Together | Lauren James

Mar 18

Waiting on Wednesday

 The Next Together: The Next Together #1 • Lauren James

Book Cover The Next Together Lauren James

How many times can you lose the person you love?

A powerful and epic debut novel for teenagers about reincarnation and the timelessness of first love from a talented young writer.

Teenagers Katherine and Matthew are destined to be born again and again. Each time their presence changes history for the better, and each time, they fall hopelessly in love, only to be tragically separated.

But why do they keep coming back? What else must they achieve before they can be left to live and love in peace?
Maybe the next together will be different…

In 1745, during the siege of Carlisle, in 1854 on the way to the Crimea, in 2019 and 2039 as first scientists and then students uncovering and rediscovering a dangerous plot, and in multiple timescales between, they are thrown together, with no memory of having met one another before, only an irresistible instinct that they must be with one another against all odds – even while the epic events unfolding all around seem sure to tear them apart.

AHHH, ok. *Calms self* Guys, THE NEXT TOGETHER just sounds so fun and emotional. Like, I feel like I’m going to read it and cry. “Tragically separated” sounds so devastating, but I’m completely intrigued. I’m loving the historical fiction vibe, the contemporary romance vibe, and the dystopian conspiracy vibe. It sounds like time travel slash reincarnation, and that’s no small thing to attempt, but I’m curious enough to be UTTERLY STOKED.

Also, it’s impossible for me to NOT dig this cover. It’s got TEXTURE! Like I wish that each column was three-dimensional and I could open them like flaps. I’ll probably be ordering this one from overseas.

THE NEXT TOGETHER comes out on September 3, 2015 from Walker UK

The Next Together Lauren James

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Character Profile + Teaser | Breaking Sky | Cori McCarthy

Mar 15

Book Cover Breaking Sky Cori McCarthy

Breaking Sky • Cori McCarthy

Guys! I’m excited to be able to share some extra goodies with you you today for Cori McCarthy’s adrenaline-fueled dystopian novel that focuses on teenage airplane pilots during a Second Cold War. Reread that sentence if you need to. AIRPLANE PILOTS. SECOND COLD WAR. It’s basically Top Gun, you guys, and I really enjoyed it.

To tide you over until I post my review, the awesome folks at Sourcebooks are hosting this tour to introduce you to some of the pilots from United Star Academy, tease you with some passages, and THEN they’re giving away FIVE COPIES of BREAKING SKY! WOOOO!

So, let’s not waste any more time. Are you guys ready to meet Sylph? (I hope so.)

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Book Review | Champion | Marie Lu

Nov 27

Book cover for Champion by Marie LuTitle: Champion
Author: Marie Lu (web | twitter)
Series: Legend #3
Genre: Dystopian YA
Amazon | Goodreads | B&N | Book Depository
Publisher: Putnam
Release date: November 5, 2013
Source: Bought it

Summary: The explosive finale to Marie Lu’s New York Times bestselling LEGEND trilogy—perfect for fans of THE HUNGER GAMES and DIVERGENT!

He is a Legend.
She is a Prodigy.
Who will be Champion? 

June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic—and each other—and now their country is on the brink of a new existence. June is back in the good graces of the Republic, working within the government’s elite circles as Princeps Elect while Day has been assigned a high level military position. But neither could have predicted the circumstances that will reunite them once again. Just when a peace treaty is imminent, a plague outbreak causes panic in the Colonies, and war threatens the Republic’s border cities. This new strain of plague is deadlier than ever, and June is the only one who knows the key to her country’s defense. But saving the lives of thousands will mean asking the one she loves to give up everything he has. With heart-pounding action and suspense, Marie Lu’s bestselling trilogy draws to a stunning conclusion.

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Waiting on Wednesday (39): The Waking World

Nov 20

Waiting on Wednesday

The Waking World: The Future King #1 by Tom Huddleston

Book cover for The Waking World by Tom Huddleston

waking world synopsis

I CANNOT DEAL WITH THIS BOOK. I’m so upset that it’s only coming out in the UK right now. Because OMG. A dystopian King Arthur tale? The return of King Arthur is actually a HUGE element in the original story, but I don’t know of very many books that deal with it (AVALON HIGH by Meg Cabot and THE DEATH CATCHERS by Jennifer Anne Kogler come to mind), but THE WAKING WORLD has pirates. PIRATES. I can’t.

I am just basically DYING to read this book. As a huge King Arthur nerd, I am always on the lookout for more books and retellings about him and his world, and this one sounds so legit. Also, the author’s name is ALMOST Tom Hiddleston, and that gets me VERY excited.

THE WAKING WORLD  is already available in the UK. No release date for the US, though. *sad face*

Second Star

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Book Review | Under the Empyrean Sky | Chuck Wendig

Oct 7

Book cover for Under the Empyrean Sky by Chuck WendigTitle: Under the Empyrean Sky
Author: Chuck Wendig (web | twitter)
Series: The Heartland Trilogy #1
Genre: Dystopian YA
Amazon | Goodreads | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Publisher: Amazon Children’s Publishing
Release date: July 30, 2013
Source: ARC from BEA

Summary: Corn is king in the Heartland, and Cael McAvoy has had enough of it. It’s the only crop the Empyrean government allows the people of the Heartland to grow ? and the genetically modified strain is so aggressive that it takes everything the Heartlanders have just to control it. As captain of the Big Sky Scavengers, Cael and his crew sail their rickety ship over the corn day after day, scavenging for valuables, trying to earn much-needed ace notes for their families. But Cael’s tired of surviving life on the ground while the Empyrean elite drift by above in their extravagant sky flotillas. He’s sick of the mayor’s son besting Cael’s crew in the scavenging game. And he’s worried about losing Gwennie ? his first mate and the love of his life ? forever when their government-chosen spouses are revealed. But most of all, Cael is angry ? angry that their lot in life will never get better and that his father doesn’t seem upset about any of it. Cael’s ready to make his own luck . . . even if it means bringing down the wrath of the Empyrean elite and changing life in the Heartland forever.

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Book Review: Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Mar 25

Book Cover for Requiem by Lauren OliverTitle: Requiem
Author: Lauren Oliver (web | twitter)
Series: Delirium #3
Genre: Dystopian YA
Amazon | Goodreads
Publisher: Harper Collins Children’s
Release date: March 5, 2013
Source: Borrowed

Summary: They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past. But we are still here.And there are more of us every day.
Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.
After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.
Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings. Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it. But we have chosen a different road. And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose. We are even free to choose the wrong thing.
Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

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Book Review: Prodigy by Marie Lu

Jan 28

Book cover for Prodigy by Marie LuTitle: Prodigy
Author: Marie Lu
Series: Legend, #2
Genre: Dystopian YA
Publisher: Putnam
Release date: January 29, 2013
Amazon | Goodreads
Source: ARC from Publisher

Summary: June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request—June and Day must assassinate the new Elector.

It’s their chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long.

But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she’s haunted by the choice ahead. What if Anden is a new beginning? What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood—what if the Patriots are wrong?

In this highly-anticipated sequel, Lu delivers a breathtaking thriller with high stakes and cinematic action.

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Book Review: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Aug 10

Book cover for Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Title: Insurgent

Author: Veronica Roth

Series: Divergent #2

Genre: Dystopian

Publisher: Harper Teen

Release date: May 1, 2012

Amazon | Goodreads

Source: Bought

Summary: One choice can transform you–or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves–and herself–while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris’s initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable–and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

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