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Book Review | Kill Me Softly | Sarah Cross

May 7

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 | Kill Me Softly | Sarah Cross

Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross
Series: Beau Rivage #1
Published by Egmont USA on April 10, 2012
Genres: Fairy tales, Fantasy YA, Retelling, Young Adult
Pages: 336
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
four-stars

Mirabelle’s past is shrouded in secrecy, from her parents’ tragic deaths to her guardians’ half-truths about why she can’t return to her birthplace, Beau Rivage. Desperate to see the town, Mira runs away a week before her sixteenth birthday—and discovers a world she never could have imagined.

In Beau Rivage, nothing is what it seems—the strangely pale girl with a morbid interest in apples, the obnoxious playboy who’s a beast to everyone he meets, and the chivalrous guy who has a thing for damsels in distress. Here, fairy tales come to life, curses are awakened, and ancient stories are played out again and again.

But fairy tales aren’t pretty things, and they don’t always end in happily ever after. Mira has a role to play, a fairy tale destiny to embrace or resist. As she struggles to take control of her fate, Mira is drawn into the lives of two brothers with fairy tale curses of their own… brothers who share a dark secret. And she’ll find that love, just like fairy tales, can have sharp edges and hidden thorns.

Waiting on Wednesday (23): Crewel by Gennifer Albin

Apr 18

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!

Crewel (Crewel World #1)

by Gennifer Albin

Incapable. Awkward. Artless.

That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: she wants to fail.

Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very fabric of life. But if controlling what people eat, where they live and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn’t interested.

Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and wove a moment at testing, and they’re coming for her—tonight.

Now she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her Dad’s stupid jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.

Because once you become a Spinster, there’s no turning back.

Guys, I’m really intrigued by this “weaving time with matter” concept going on in CREWEL, the debut from Gennifer Albin. In fact, the whole world in this book sounds BANANAS. I’m not sure whether to call this one dystopian, science fiction, or fantasy, but whatever it is, I’m in. PLUS, I love the sound of the last hour. Tons of jeopardy, heartbreak, and FEELINGS it seems like. I’m curious, too, whether the book takes place over just that hour, which would be a little insane, or if the story takes Adelice on the run, like a YA The Fugitive.

You know what else I like the sound of in CREWEL, although I’m SURE that it’s just a matter of something being left out of the synopsis? There’s no love interest. Now. I’m no hater of love drama. In fact, I’m a pretty big fan. But I also appreciate a good story that features a character trying to figure out her own business without things getting complicated further by boys. Let’s hope that things go one way or another–boy all over the place, or boy nowhere–because there’s NOTHING less satisfying than a sort-of couple, amirite? But whatever. I’m in no matter what!

CREWEL (CREWEL WORLD #1) is coming out October 16, 2012 from Farrar, Straus and Giroux BFYR.

Filed Under: Waiting on Wednesday Tagged With: debut 2012, fantasy YA, Farrar Straus & Giroux, Gennifer Albin, science fiction YA, waiting on wednesday

Book Review | Grave Mercy | Robin LaFevers

Apr 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 | Grave Mercy | Robin LaFevers

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
Series: His Fair Assassin #1
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on April 3, 2012
Genres: Fantasy YA, Historical Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 549
Format: eARC
Also in this series: Dark Triumph, Mortal Heart
Also by this author: Dark Triumph, Mortal Heart
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
five-stars

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

Rewind and Review (4): The Demon King

Mar 29

The Demon King (Seven Realms #1)

by Cinda Williams Chima

(First published November 19, 2009 by Disney-Hyperion)

Yo, the fact that I hadn’t yet read Cinda Williams Chima’s THE DEMON KING until now is egregious, guys. A serious misstep on my part. Why this happened is beyond me. I knew about the Seven Realms series; I knew it was high fantasy with magic, politics, and intrigue; I knew that lots of people thought it was excellent. I’d even checked it out of my library once before and somehow got distracted by other things. Sometimes, I think I just need to be in the right mood to read certain books, and that includes my beloved high fantasies. THANKFULLY, I was finally in the mood to read THE DEMON KING because guys? IT’S LEGIT, and I can’t wait to read further in this series.

So, THE DEMONG KING by Cinda Williams Chima has lots of things going for it: it’s got magic, a repressed princess, a thief trying to reform, a queen not acting like herself, and a 1,000-year-old truce between wizards and the clans–a Native American-esque race who control and disseminate magic–borne out of the actions of an ancient queen named Hanalea, and the most powerful wizard ever to live, the Demon King. This truce is really the center of the story because it’s losing its footing among the wizard elite, and their efforts to subvert the peace that helps contain their magic loom HUGELY over the whole story.

Of course, the politics of THE DEMON KING wouldn’t mean much if we didn’t have such AWESOME characters flesh out the rest of the story. Cinda Williams Chima gives us well-rounded, complex, funny, bright characters in Princess Raisa and Han Alister. Raisa is confident, strong, opinionated, and feeling a little rebellious. There are times when she might come off as entitled and spoiled, but she has so many redeeming qualities. Raisa is KICK-ASS, friends, and she’s really coming into her own by the end of this book. She’s got BIG THINGS coming, I can feel it!

Han Alister is, to me, almost instantly lovable. He’s got rough edges and a sketchy past, but his motives are sweet and understandable and his struggles with a life of crime on the streets lend to his complexity. But YO, Han seriously CHARMED the pants off of me (and, I feel like, LOTS of girls in Fellsmarch, too. Honestly? I couldn’t blame a single one of them) and I LOVED his story. He’s smart and sneaky and he’s got that unassuming confidence about him that’s really magnetic.

Both Han and Raisa have spent lots of time with the clans and it’s clear that they both prefer the more carefree, natural environment there. Of course, they’ve never encountered each other there. In fact, although I’m assuming that Han and Raisa are the OTP of this series, their interactions are limited in THE DEMON KING, and Cinda Williams Chima throws a further wrench in their interactions by giving Raisa an alias at certain times so that Han winds up having no idea who she really is. They’re definitely feeling the little electric shocks of each other, though, if you know what I mean. MOAR OF THEM, PLEASE.

Don’t worry, though, there’s some kissy face. It just happens to be between the two leads and other people, which I appreciate. Han has clearly gotten some before, and he has a nice little relationship with a girl from one of the clans. And I appreciate very much that Raisa enjoys kissing boys and is looking forward to doing it more often. She’s unashamed of her burgeoning desire for making out and being intimate. (Unfortunately, she mostly kisses the douchebag, Micah Bayar, son of the High Wizard, who is the resident BAD GUY.) She does get some nice relationship complexity with her old friend Amon Byrne, though, who is a member of the Queen’s Guard and is absolutely being set up as the “nice guy” to Han’s “trouble maker” in le triangle.

All in all, the action and the plotting and ALL THE LIES in THE DEMON KING by Cinda Williams Chima make for one gripping tale. There’s all kinds of juicy stuff going, y’all! Back-stabbing, SEKRETS, death, mystery, sneaky political machinations, confusing relationships, magical shenanigans, and a big reveal at the end, which I did kind of puzzle out early, to be honest. But that did NOTHING to dampen my LOVE of this story or the people in it, nor did it make me any LESS eager to get my grabby hands on the rest of the series. Huzzah for great fantasy!! HUZZAH!

__________________________

Rewind & Review is an AMAZING new meme hosted jointly by two fabulous ladies, Ginger from Greads! and Lisa from Lisa Is Busy Nerding. This meme is all about mining your TBR piles and finding some long-lost gems (from 2010 or earlier) that you meant to read and somehow passed over. I KNOW, but it happens. Each month, each participant picks a few oldies but hopefully goodies to read, reviews ’em, and spreads the word. Huzzah!

Filed Under: Reviews, Rewind and Review, Young Adult Tagged With: book reviews, Cinda Williams Chima, Disney-Hyperion, fantasy YA, pile of shame, rewind and review, Seven Realms

Waiting on Wednesday (19): Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Mar 21

Tiger Lily

by Jodi Lynn Anderson

15 year old Tiger Lily, proud and fierce, wild and misunderstood, doesn’t believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she meets the teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland, and immediately falls under his spell. Peter is unlike anyone she’s ever known. Impetuous and brave, big-hearted but hard to reach, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland’s inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything – her family, her future – to be with the haunted, hunted, courageous boy who loves her. When – as a punishment for her rebellious ways – she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she’s always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter. With enemies threatening to tear them apart, the lovers seem doomed. But it’s the arrival of Wendy Darling, an English girl who’s everything Tiger Lily is not, that leads Tiger Lily to discover that the most dangerous enemies can live inside even the most loyal and loving heart.

Guys. I have NO IDEA how I am only just hearing about TIGER LILY by Jodi Lynn Anderson RIGHT NOW. Because honestly, there’s very little I love more than a retelling of a classic story, ESPECIALLY when that retelling mines other, completely different characters to lead the story. It helps me to have a more complete understanding of the world, the story, everything. And guys? Could there BE a more awesome-sounding thing than Peter Pan told via Tiger Lily, Indian princess and Captain Hook kidnap victim? I submit that NO there is not. I think this whole idea is the business, especially because there seems to be a love triangle between Tiger Lily, Peter, and Wendy. Now, sometimes triangles make me cringy and frustrated, but I think that this is one I can get behind. Mostly because I am JAZZED to be inside Tiger Lily’s head. She was a firmly secondary character in the versions of Peter Pan that most people know, so I can’t wait to hear her version of events. Also, Peter Pan as a love interest?! WORD.

TIGER LILY is coming out July 3, 2012 from HarperTeen.

Filed Under: Waiting on Wednesday Tagged With: anticipation!, fantasy YA, Harper Collins Childrens, Jodi Lynn Anderson, waiting on wednesday

Book Review: Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Mar 15

Title: 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.

Waiting on Wednesday (18): Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

Mar 14

Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms #1)

by Morgan Rhodes

Sixteen-year-old Cleo has grown up in luxury, the royal heiress to a prosperous kingdom. But beneath her nation’s seemingly peaceful surface lies dangerous unrest. Whispers of war are growing ever louder—intensified by a murderous incident for which Cleo’s betrothed, Aron, is accused.

Amidst the ongoing intrigue, Cleo has a more desperate mission. She defies her father’s orders and sets off on a secret and perilous journey into a neighboring country, seeking a magic long thought to be mythical. If it’s real, it could be the cure that heals her ailing sister. If it’s only legend, Cleo will be stranded in a kingdom that has just declared war on her own.

This sensational series debut melds intricate storylines with unforgettable characters and vibrantly imagined magic. Falling Kingdoms is ideal for fans of Kristin Cashore, Cinda Williams Chima, and George R.R. Martin.

Guys, do you see those names right up there? Cinda Williams Chima (!), Kristin Cashore (!!), and GEORGE R.R. MARTIN (!!!!!!!!!!)? FOR REAL?!? I could merely cite those names as the only reasons I am BEYOND PYSCHED to read FALLING KINGDOMS by Morgan Rhodes and it would be sufficient. Because seriously. Those are some fantasy heavyweights, not to mention the fact that, around these parts, everyone knows that I’m OBSESSED with A Song of Ice and Fire, so shouting out my boy George is pretty much a guaranteed hook for me. But this book sounds like it’s going to be amazing in its own right, with long-lost magic, defiant heiresses, civil unrest, political scheming, and lots of juicy characters. I don’t know if I could ever accurately describe how excited I get whenever I see a new high fantasy series about to get started, and FALLING KINGDOMS by Morgan Rhodes couldn’t sound any more AWESOME if it tried. So trust me: I’M ALL-CAPS EXCITED. Waiting on this one HARD, friends. HARD.

FALLING KINGDOMS (FALLING KINGDOMS #1) is coming out December 11, 2012 from Razorbill.

Filed Under: Waiting on Wednesday Tagged With: anticipation!, fantasy YA, Morgan Rhodes, Razorbill, waiting on wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday (16): Defiance

Feb 29

Defiance (Defiance #1)

by C.J. Redwine

Within the walls of Baalboden, beneath the shadow of the city’s brutal leader, Rachel Adams has a secret. While other girls sew dresses, host dinner parties, and obey their male Protectors, Rachel knows how to survive in the wilderness and deftly wield a sword. When her father, Jared, fails to return from a courier mission and is declared dead, the Commander assigns Rachel a new Protector, her father’s apprentice, Logan—the same boy Rachel declared her love for two years ago, and the same boy who handed her heart right back to her. Left with nothing but fierce belief in her father’s survival, Rachel decides to escape and find him herself. But treason against the Commander carries a heavy price, and what awaits her in the Wasteland could destroy her.

At nineteen, Logan McEntire is many things. Orphan. Outcast. Inventor. As apprentice to the city’s top courier, Logan is focused on learning his trade so he can escape the tyranny of Baalboden. But his plan never included being responsible for his mentor’s impulsive daughter. Logan is determined to protect her, but when his escape plan goes wrong and Rachel pays the price, he realizes he has more at stake than disappointing Jared.

As Rachel and Logan battle their way through the Wasteland, stalked by a monster that can’t be killed and an army of assassins out for blood, they discover romance, heartbreak, and a truth that will incite a war decades in the making.

Um, DEFIANCE sounds like some seriously bananas fantasy, guys. I love the sound of the evil dictator, the secretly badass girl, an impervious-to-death monster, and the major TENSION that exists between the girl and the boy because they have HISTORY. Honestly. I’m drooling over this summary! Everything sounds so fraught and dangerous. Plus there’s that business about “a war decades in the making” that makes me anxious-excited for the rest of the books in this series. Guys, I feel like DEFIANCE is going to chew me up and spit me out a little bit. I AM IN.

DEFIANCE is coming out August 28, 2012 from Balzer + Bray.

Filed Under: Waiting on Wednesday Tagged With: anticipation!, Balzer + Bray, C.J. Redwine, fantasy YA, waiting on wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday (14): The Raven Boys

Feb 15

The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1)

by Maggie Stiefvater

Filled with mystery, romance, and the supernatural, The Raven Boys introduces readers to Richard “Dick” Campbell Gansey, III and Blue Sargent. Gansey has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on the hunt to find Glendower, a vanished Welsh king. Legend has it that the first person to find him will be granted a wish—either by seeing him open his eyes, or by cutting out his heart.

Blue Sargent, the daughter of the town psychic in Henrietta, Virginia, has been told for as long as she can remember that if she ever kisses her true love, he will die. But she is too practical to believe in things like true love. Her policy is to stay away from the rich boys at the prestigious Aglionby Academy. The boys there—known as Raven Boys—can only mean trouble. When Gansey and his Raven Boy friends come into her life, Blue realizes how true this is. She never thought her fortune would be a problem. But she was wrong.

So, last week Maggie Stiefvater–one of my FAVORITE authors who is also responsible for one of my favorite books from last year, THE SCORPIO RACES–gave the official 411 on her new book/series, coming out this fall. And you guys? IT SOUNDS AWESOME. Look at that first line! Mystery! Romance! Supernatural! WOOT! If I’m being honest, I’m not crazy about the fact that the main guy’s name is Dick, but I’ll deal because he’s looking for a missing Welsh king and because “Aglionby” sounds A LOT like Albion, and Merlin-watchers know what bells THAT set off in my head: KING ARTHUR. I have no idea if Glendower, this MIA Welsh king, is supposed to be some incarnation of Arthur, but I’m in regardless. Also, Blue sounds like a kick-ass character. The whole book sounds amazing, and if my love for any of Maggie’s previous books is any indication of how much I’m going to love it, then I can’t wait to get my mitts on it. It sounds FANTASTIC!

THE RAVEN BOYS: THE RAVEN CYCLE, #1 is coming out September 18, 2012 from Scholastic Press.

Filed Under: Waiting on Wednesday Tagged With: anticipation!, fantasy YA, waiting on wednesday

Book Review | Everneath | Brodi Ashton

Feb 6

Everneath by Brodi Ashton
Series: Everneath #1
Published by Balzer + Bray on January 24, 2012
Genres: Fantasy YA, Mythology, Young Adult
Pages: 370
Format: Hardcover
Source: Bought it
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
four-stars

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she’s returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld…this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can’t find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there’s a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he’ll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki’s time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she’s forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath with Cole.

Book Review | Kill Me Softly | Sarah Cross

Waiting on Wednesday (23): Crewel by Gennifer Albin