Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Waiting on Wednesday: The Devil You Know

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, where we get to showcase upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating.
This week I am waiting on....
The Devil You Know
Author: Trish Doller
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary/Thriller
Publisher: Bloomsbury
 
Synopsis via Goodreads:
Eighteen-year-old Arcadia wants adventure. Living in a tiny Florida town with her dad and four-year-old brother, Cadie spends most of her time working, going to school, and taking care of her family. So when she meets two handsome cousins at a campfire party, she finally has a chance for fun. They invite her and friend to join them on a road trip, and it's just the risk she's been craving-the opportunity to escape. But what starts out as a fun, sexy journey quickly becomes dangerous when she discovers that one of them is not at all who he claims to be. One of them has deadly intentions.

A road trip fling turns terrifying in this contemporary story that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.
  
 
COMING JUNE 2nd 2015
 
I absolutely love Trish Doller's other books, Something Like Normal and Where The Stars Still Shine. When I saw her latest one was going to have a thriller twist I got even more excited. I got super lucky and Bloomsbury sent my an ARC of the book and I cannot wait to start reading it closer to publication date.
 
 
What are you waiting on this week?

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Review: A Little Something Different

A Little Something Different
Author: Sandy Hall
Pages: 272
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Publisher: Swoon Reads:
Publication Date: August 26th 2014
 
Synopsis via Goodreads:
The distinctive new crowdsourced publishing imprint Swoon Reads proudly presents its first published novel—an irresistibly sweet romance between two college students told from 14 different viewpoints.

The creative writing teacher, the delivery guy, the local Starbucks baristas, his best friend, her roommate, and the squirrel in the park all have one thing in common—they believe that Gabe and Lea should get together. Lea and Gabe are in the same creative writing class. They get the same pop culture references, order the same Chinese food, and hang out in the same places. Unfortunately, Lea is reserved, Gabe has issues, and despite their initial mutual crush, it looks like they are never going to work things out.

But somehow even when nothing is going on, something is happening between them, and everyone can see it. Their creative writing teacher pushes them together. The baristas at Starbucks watch their relationship like a TV show. Their bus driver tells his wife about them. The waitress at the diner automatically seats them together. Even the squirrel who lives on the college green believes in their relationship.

Surely Gabe and Lea will figure out that they are meant to be together....
 
 
REVIEW:
Words can not describe how cute and adorable this book is. First you start off with that swoon worthy cover and then you get to the actual love story and BOOM my heart starts gushing and my face starts to hurt from the constant smiling.  
Gabe and Lea's love story is perfect. They are both kind of shy and even though they fit perfectly together they have a hard time admitting to each other that they want more. It was so fun to watch them fall in love. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the progress of their budding romance. There are scenes where they connect and they get the same jokes and there are some very awkward scenes that leave you cringing on the edge of your seat the whole time. But not a bad kind of cringe. The kind of cringe where you are like shouting...Come on! Please! Say something! Just kiss!
Hall does a great job with make this a playful, lighthearted, feel good book with still adding in some more serious undertones. Gabe is dealing with the fall out of an incident that happened last year. This causes problems for him in his daily life and also his relationship with Lea. This storyline made the book feel more realistic but it did not take away from the fun and lovable aspect of the book.
I personally really enjoyed the fourteen different viewpoints you hear the story from. It allowed you to hear others thoughts on Lea and Gabe and see how everyone else also believes they are meant to be together. It is just one big group just rooting for them to finally get together. I was originally worried I was not going to be able to connect with the romance and characters as much because you don't actually hear from their perspectives but almost every chapter the narrator either has an interaction with one of them or watches and over hears a conversation happening between Lea and Gabe. This allowed you to see their romance grow and also understand the individual characters.
I read A Little Something Different in one sitting. I spent the whole time smiling and could not get enough. Gabe and Lea's love story had me sitting on the edge of my seat just waiting and begging for them to get together. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a quick, enjoyable, and beyond adorable romance.

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Heroines

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
This weeks topic is our top ten favorite heroines!
 
It is always hard for me to find a heroine that really makes an impact on me and sticks with me long after the last pages. Heroines that appeal to me are strong yet vulnerable, adventurous, smart, relatable, and independent. They always stand up for what they believe in. When you have a great heroine as your protagonist I always end up enjoying the book so much more.  These 10 heroines are some of my favorites I have read over the years and always remembered.
I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You (Gallagher Girls, #1)Heist Society (Heist Society, #1)
Cammie Morgan
 from The Gallagher Girls by Ally Carter
Kat Bishop
from Heist Society by Ally Carter
 
 The Archived (The Archived, #1)Unspoken (The Lynburn Legacy, #1)
Mackenzie Bishop
from The Archived by Victoria Schwab
Kami Glass
from The Lynburn Legacy by Sarah Rees Brennan
 
Snow Like Ashes (Snow Like Ashes, #1)The Winner's Curse (The Winner's Trilogy, #1)
Meira
from Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch
Kestrel
from The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
 
The Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles, #1)Rites of Passage
Lia
Sam McKenna
from Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley
 
CompulsionWinterkill
Barrie Watson
from The Heirs of Watson Island by Martina Boone
Emmeline
from Winterkill by Kate A. Boorman
 
 
 
Who are some of your favorite heroines who have stood out to you over the years?
 

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Review: Compulsion

Compulsion
Title: Compulsion
Author: Martina Boone
Pages: 448
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Southern Gothic
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: October 28th 2014
 
Synopsis via Goodreads:
Three plantations. Two wishes. One ancient curse.

All her life, Barrie Watson has been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lives with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt’s South Carolina plantation instead--a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions.

Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family's twisted secrets. What she finds is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn’t what she seems, and very real enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead.
 
 
REVIEW:
I just started reading southern gothic novels this fall and loved them. When I heard about Compulsion and saw that beyond beautiful cover I got super excited and had very high expectations for it, which where immediately met!
The book does start off a little slow. Not as in nothing is happening or that its boring, there is just a lot of background information you need to know and characters to be introduced to. Once you get past that part I promise the book will pull you right in. The pace picks up and lots of intrigue, mystery, and romance start to happen.
 I loved the characters in this book. Barrie was a phenomenal main character. She was very strong and determined to fix things on her own. She was also very witty. I immediately wanted to be friends with her. I also found her very relatable and likeable. I also ended up really liking her Aunt Pru. She was very real. She had her own struggles but was always trying to help Barrie too. I also found her kind of quirky which added a uniqueness to her. I ended up really liking the relationship they grew to have. And don't even get me started on Eight. He is definite swoon material. He was a southern gentleman and always trying to help Barrie no matter what but he also had a witty side like Barrie that made them work perfectly together.
That leads me perfectly into talking about the books romance. Barrie and Eight were excellent together. There was so much fun and cute witty banter between them. Barrie always wanted Eight but she always gave him a hard time keeping him on his toes. They worked so well together in a romantic sense but they were also just a great team. They do fall for each other at the beginning of the book but it does not feel like insta-love. That also allowed you to watch them together and see their romance bud over the whole story, which I loved.
I thought Boone incorporated the magical part of the plot in well. There is a magical element to the family curses but it does not take the lead in the story. It is fully described and feels very complete but it was still more in the background. I really liked this because it was a really interesting fun twist to the novel but it did not take over the book and plot. There is also a mystery incorporated into the story that I had no idea was going to happen. It added more suspense to the novel and I really enjoyed it.
This book had it all for me. A southern gothic with curses, generations-old family feud, mystery, magic, and a compelling romance. If you like any of the things I just listed I highly recommend giving Compulsion a try. I am now early awaiting the sequel Persuasion which is excepted to release in October 2015.
 

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Waiting on Wednesday: Love Fortunes and Other Disasters

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine,  where we get to showcases upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating.
This week I am anticipating...
Love Fortunes and Other Disasters
Author: Kimberly Karalius
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
 
Synopsis via Goodreads:
In the tradition of Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic, one girl chooses to change her fortune and her fate by falling in love.

Love is real in the town of Grimbaud and Fallon Dupree has dreamed of attending high school there for years. After all, generations of Duprees have successfully followed the (100% accurate!) love fortunes from Zita’s famous Love Charms Shop to happily marry their high school sweethearts. It’s a tradition. So she is both stunned and devastated when her fortune states that she will NEVER find love.

Fortunately, Fallon isn’t the only student with a terrible love fortune, and a rebellion is brewing. Fallon is determined to take control of her own fate—even if it means working with a notorious heartbreaker like Sebastian.

Will Fallon and Sebastian be able to overthrow Zita’s tyranny and fall in love?
  
 
 
COMING MAY 12th 2015
 
 
This book sounds so cute, romantic, and full of fun. I have loved some of the other Swoon Reads publications and I am hoping this one will put a smile on my face just like the others did! Also, look at the cover! It is so adorable!
 

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Review: Black Ice

Black Ice
Title: Black Ice
Author: Becca Fitzpatrick
Pages: 392
Genre: Young Adult Thriller/Mystery
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: October 7th 2014
 
Synopsis via Goodreads:
Sometimes danger is hard to see... until it’s too late.

Britt Pfeiffer has trained to backpack the Teton Range, but she isn't prepared when her ex-boyfriend, who still haunts her every thought, wants to join her. Before Britt can explore her feelings for Calvin, an unexpected blizzard forces her to seek shelter in a remote cabin, accepting the hospitality of its two very handsome occupants—but these men are fugitives, and they take her hostage.

In exchange for her life, Britt agrees to guide the men off the mountain. As they set off, Britt knows she must stay alive long enough for Calvin to find her. The task is made even more complicated when Britt finds chilling evidence of a series of murders that have taken place there... and in uncovering this, she may become the killer’s next target.

But nothing is as it seems in the mountains, and everyone is keeping secrets, including Mason, one of her kidnappers. His kindness is confusing Britt. Is he an enemy? Or an ally?

BLACK ICE is New York Times bestselling author Becca Fitzpatrick’s riveting romantic thriller set against the treacherous backdrop of the mountains of Wyoming. Falling in love should never be this dangerous…
 
 
REVIEW:
This is one of the best thrillers I have seen in the young adult genre in a long time.
 
The first thing that grabbed me in this story was the main character Brit. In a lot of thrillers these days the hostage is almost always a damsel in distress. In this case that is not true. Brit is a brave, strong, smart girl. After years of depending on everyone around her she finally realizes that she can take care of herself. The book takes place on the mountain while Brit is held hostage but through out the book you get flashbacks to Brit's life back home of her with her best friend and ex boyfriend. I really did not like Brit's friend and ex boyfriend but I could see how they were necessary to Brit's story/development. This really helped put things in perspective and really helped make Brit a fully crafted character. She really appealed to me as a character and that made the story so much more enjoyable for me.  I understood Brit and I became invested with her and had to see what happened.
 
There is a romance in the book that also adds a little steaminess and tension to the novel. I know some people have had a problem with the romance since they have seen it as Stockholm Syndrome but I personally did not see it that way. Not everybody in the book is as they seem. Brit also does fight her feelings for most of the book. I enjoyed the romance a lot and became invested in their story.
 
The story itself is crazy intense and good. There was so much suspense I literally could not put the book down. Fitzpatrick also did a great job of making the story complex, suspenseful, and thrilling without it being over the top. Sometime thrillers get too caught up in the mystery and end up leaving the characters and development behind making it a little too Hollywood and not real life. Fitzpatrick was able to avoid this by balancing the mystery with adding the aspects of a contemporary novel at parts when it came to the characters and their backstories. It was very realistic and well written. It kept my heart racing the whole time as I struggled to figure out who was good and bad.That leads into another thing I liked about the book. Nothing is fully revealed until the end of the book and because of this through the story you cannot tell who is good and bad. You find yourself trusting a character and then the next moment you second guess yourself thinking they are a killer. This really kept me on my toes and made me race towards the finish. When I started the book I did not expect the mystery to unravel the way it did. There is also a very nice epilogue that helps wrap everything up and give you closure.
 
Black Ice is a must read for any fan of mysteries/thrillers in the young adult world. The book was suspenseful, intense, inventive, and I loved the aspect of survival on the mountain.
 

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Waiting on Wednesday: The Wrath and the Dawn

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, where we get to showcase upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating!
This week I am anticipating...
The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn, #1)
Author: Renee Ahdieh
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
 
Synopsis via Goodreads:
A sumptuous and epically told love story inspired by A Thousand and One Nights

Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.

She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.
 
COMING MAY 12th 2015
 
I have seen this on many bloggers WOW's the last couple weeks and the moment I read the synopsis I was hooked and I knew I had to showcase it too. Royalty, dangerous love, murders, and secrets, this sounds absolutely amazing!
 

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

January 2015 Reading Wrap Up


In the month of January I was able to read 7 young adult novels. I was laughing at myself when I was putting this together because as most of you know I always rant on about how there is a lack of good thrillers/mysteries in YA. This month 4 out of the 7 books I read were classified as mystery and I read them all in a row. But now I have read a majority of the thrillers in my room and I'm on the look out for more so, if you know of any good ones let me know in the comments below. Check out below to see what books I read in January and the ratings I gave them. If I have wrote a review for the book you can access it by clicking on the title. Some of the reviews from books read at the end of the month are still to come later this week.
 

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour
Morgan Matson
Simon and Schuster
Young Adult Contemporary
Winterkill
Kate A. Boorman
Amulet
Young Adult Fantasy
Six Months Later
Natalie D. Richards
Sourcebooks Fire
Young Adult Mystery/Thriller
Get Even (Don't Get Mad, #1)
Gretchen McNeil
Balzer+Bray
Young Adult Mystery
 
Trust Me, I'm Lying (Trust Me, #1)
Mary Elizabeth Summer
Delacorte Press
Young Adult Mystery/Thriller
 
Black Ice
Becca Fitzpatrick
Simon and Schuster
Young Adult Mystery/Thriller
Compulsion
Martina Boone
Simon Pulse
Young Adult Fantasy/Southern Gothic