Book Birthdays {May 18, week 5}

It's Book Birthday time!!

In this weekly post, I talk about a few of the books I'm excited to read that are hitting shelves this week.  Are you with me on any of these? Are there books coming out you're running to the store or stalking your mailman for that I haven't mentioned here?  Hey, feel free to comment and sell me on them! :D

And don't forget to enter down below for a chance to win ANY May YA book your little heart desires! 🎁

Star Wars: Most Wanted

by Rae Carson

Confession---I love that they have some of our fave YA authors penning Star Wars backstories. The newest one is, of course, timed perfectly with the release of SOLO (which I haven't seen yet, but so nervous, guys---Han Solo was my childhood!!♥♥♥), and written by the amazing Rae Carson. WANT. 
{Disney Press}
Amazon  •   BookDepository

Legendary

by Stephanie Garber
This one needs very little explanation. I loved Caraval with all it's mystery and danger and magic. So ready to step back into the world!

{Flatiron Books}

Amazon   •   Book Depository

LIFEL1K3

by Jay Kristoff
I've actually only read one Kristoff books (Nevernight), but his world building amazing and I love that pulls no punches on shock value. S0 I'm excited to see him create a story about a floating junkyard, robot gladiators, and android love LOL. 

{Knopf BYR}

Amazon   •   Book Depository

 

Listen To Your Heart

by Kasie West

Kasie West books always look like the best way to start out summer to me. :)  I hear such great things about her writing and this story looks especially cute. Will have to great some sweet tea and a blanket and head outside to try this one out!

{Scholastic Point}

Amazon   •   Book Depository

Last day to enter for a May release!! Which May book would you choose if you win??

*       *       *       *       *  

Enter to win any YA book published in May 2018!

(note: this is the same giveaway entry form in all book birthday posts for the month.)

One winner will win a YA May 2018 release of their choice! *see note below
• Contest ends May 31st, 2018 at 11:59 PM
• Must be 13 or older.
• Open internationally. *International winners will be required to choose a book that is available through BookDepository.com or Fishpond.com up to $20 value.
•Extra entries can be earned by commenting on any BOOK BIRTHDAY POSTS or  REVIEWS, and can be done once per post. Come back throughout May whenever you comment on our reviews and get your extra points!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme created by Jill at Breaking the Spine. A spin-off of the meme called "Can't Wait Wednesday" is now hosted at Wishful Endings. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

A Spark of White Fire

by Sangu Mandanna

hitting shelves September 4th, 2018  

from Sky Pony Press

In a universe of capricious gods, dark moons, and kingdoms built on the backs of spaceships, a cursed queen sends her infant daughter away, a jealous uncle steals the throne of Kali from his nephew, and an exiled prince vows to take his crown back. 

Raised alone and far away from her home on Kali, Esmae longs to return to her family. When the King of Wychstar offers to gift the unbeatable, sentient warship Titania to a warrior that can win his competition, she sees her way home: she’ll enter the competition, reveal her true identity to the world, and help her famous brother win back the crown of Kali. 

It’s a great plan. Until it falls apart. 

Inspired by the Mahabharata and other ancient Indian stories, A Spark of White Fire is a lush, sweeping space opera about family, curses, and the endless battle between jealousy and love.

My thoughts:  So, as fellow readers, I know you understand when I say there are some books that just stay with you forever. Even now, 6 years later, I still consider The Lost  Girl by Sangu Mandanna one of my favorites (my testament to that here in my review). SO needless to say, the waiting and wishing for another book from this author has been constant and torturous and now it will finally be coming true!! AND its a space opera!! This sounds so incredible, and I simply can't wait. 

What book are you eagerly anticipating this week?

Book Birthdays {May 18, week 4}

It's Book Birthday time!!

In this weekly post, I talk about a few of the books I'm excited to read that are hitting shelves this week.  Are you with me on any of these? Are there books coming out you're running to the store or stalking your mailman for that I haven't mentioned here?  Hey, feel free to comment and sell me on them! :D

And don't forget to enter down below for a chance to win ANY May YA book your little heart desires! 🎁

Furyborn

by Claire Legrand

This sounds so epic! Two strong young women, centuries apart, extraordinary power, elemental magic, life or death trials...is any reader not excited for this one?? 

{Sourcebooks}

Amazon   •   Book Depository

The Strange Fascination of Noah Hypnotik

by David Arnold
I cannot what to read this one! To me, it sounds like Cat Winter's  The Cure For Dreaming (one of my absolute faves) set in modern times and with David Bowie reference. YES.

{Viking Childrens}

Amazon   •   Book Depository

Always Never Yours

by Emily Wibberly
This sounds so super cute, about a girl who seems to be always be the one guy's date right before they find true love. So she throws herself into her dreams of being a theatre director...and ends up playing Juliet instead.

{Speak}

Amazon   •   Book Depository

 

Monday's Not Coming

by Tiffany D. Jackson

A girl's best friend goes missing and no one, not even her parent's or teachers seem to want to tell what they know. It's a mystery that's too bizarre not to make me curious! 

{Katherine Tegen Books}

Amazon   •   Book Depository

Such great titles this week! Do you ever want to read a book based on the title alone?

*       *       *       *       *  

Enter to win any YA book published in May 2018!

(note: this is the same giveaway entry form in all book birthday posts for the month.)

One winner will win a YA May 2018 release of their choice! *see note below
• Contest ends May 31st, 2018 at 11:59 PM
• Must be 13 or older.
• Open internationally. *International winners will be required to choose a book that is available through BookDepository.com or Fishpond.com up to $20 value.
•Extra entries can be earned by commenting on any BOOK BIRTHDAY POSTS or  REVIEWS, and can be done once per post. Come back throughout May whenever you comment on our reviews and get your extra points!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Birthdays! {May 18, week 3}

It's Book Birthday time!!

In this weekly post, I talk about a few of the books I'm excited to read that are hitting shelves this week.  Are you with me on any of these? Are there books coming out you're running to the store or stalking your mailman for that I haven't mentioned here?  Hey, feel free to comment and sell me on them! :D

And don't forget to enter down below for a chance to win ANY May YA book your little heart desires! 🎁

Out of the Blue

by Sophie Cameron

I've been excited for this one for a long time! It's been ages since I read a great angel paranormal story, but I used to love them! 

{Roaring Books Press}
Amazon   •   Book Depository

Like Love

by Leah Konen
This sounds really cute! A contemporary sci-fi about a girl working at a San Francisco story that helps people view their memories. Love these kinds of oddball stories! 

{Amulet Books}

Amazon   •   Book Depository

Onyx & Ivory

by Mindee Arnett
Onyx & Ivory sounds like such an interesting fantasy and this authors reputation definitely precedes her. I haven't read any of her's so far, but this might be a great place to start!

{Balzer & Bray}

Amazon   •   Book Depository

 

The Gone Away Place
by Christopher Barzak

This looks like a heartfelt ghost story about a girl in a small town where a tornado hits and takes half the town with it.  

{Knopf BYR}

Amazon   •   Book Depository

Any of these catch your eye this week?

*       *       *       *       *  

Enter to win any YA book published in May 2018!

(note: this is the same giveaway entry form in all book birthday posts for the month.)

One winner will win a YA May 2018 release of their choice! *see note below
• Contest ends May 31st, 2018 at 11:59 PM
• Must be 13 or older.
• Open internationally. *International winners will be required to choose a book that is available through BookDepository.com or Fishpond.com up to $20 value.
•Extra entries can be earned by commenting on any BOOK BIRTHDAY POSTS or  REVIEWS, and can be done once per post. Come back throughout May whenever you comment on our reviews and get your extra points!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme created by Jill at Breaking the Spine. A spin-off of the meme called "Can't Wait Wednesday" is now hosted at Wishful Endings. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

The 48

by Donna Hosie

hitting shelves September 4th, 2018  

from Holiday House

Henry VIII's Tudor court meets time-traveling teen assassins in a riveting YA novel. 

Twins Charlie and Alex Taylor are the newest time travelers recruited to the Forty-Eight, a clandestine military group in charge of manipulating history. The brothers arrive in 1536 feeling confident, but the Tudor court is not all banquets and merriment: it is a deep well of treachery, torture, lust, intrigue, and suspicion. The boys' mission to prevent Henry VIII from marrying Jane Seymour is further complicated when Alice, a fellow trainee, appears under mysterious and brutal circumstances--and when whispers of an uprising within the Forty-Eight reach their ears. 

Told in alternating perspectives among Charlie, Alex, and sixteen-year-old Lady Margaret, a ladies' maid to Queen Anne Boleyn with an agenda of her own, The 48 captures the sights, smells, sounds, and hazards of an unhinged Henry VIII's court from the viewpoint of one person who lived that history--and two teens who have been sent to turn it upside down.

My thoughts:  The 48 definitely sounds like something I would love---it sounds a bit like Timeless (I love this show, if you haven't seen it I highly recommend!) but with teens and they travel back to such a perfect time for mystery, treachery, and courtly scandal! 

What book are you eagerly anticipating this week?

Book Birthdays! {May 18, Week 2}

It's Book Birthday time!!

In this weekly post, I talk about a few of the books I'm excited to read that are hitting shelves this week.  Are you with me on any of these? Are there books coming out you're running to the store or stalking your mailman for that I haven't mentioned here?  Hey, feel free to comment and sell me on them! :D

And don't forget to enter down below for a chance to win ANY May YA book your little heart desires! 🎁

Undead Girl Gang

by Lily Anderson

 This looks fun and snarky and hilarious and gives me Mean Girls and The Craft vibes, so it's definitely one I want to check out! 

{Razorbill}
Amazon   •   Book Depository

The Way You Make Me Feel

by Maurene Goo
With Geekerella, I discovered a love of food truck contemps (haha, is that a thing?), so this one definitely caught my eye. Plus I heard nothing but great things about Goo's first book, it's on my must-read-soon list, too! ;D 

{Farrar Strauss Giroux BYR}

Amazon   •   Book Depository

Love & Luck

by Jenna Evans Welsh
You should see the look my daughter gives me when I tell her I haven't read this series. She adores them. She's a big travel buff, and Ireland tops her list of next places to go (she's got a thing for Irish boys LOL), so she was thrilled at this next book's setting!

{Simon Pulse}

Amazon   •   Book Depository

 

The Stars at Oktober Bend
by Glenda Millard

This looks like a sweet love story full of small town quaintness and a strong pull on the heartstrings!

{Candlewick Press}

Amazon   •   Book Depository

Such lovely weather outside---grab an ice tea and a new book and enjoy! :D

*       *       *       *       *  

Enter to win any YA book published in May 2018!

(note: this is the same giveaway entry form in all book birthday posts for the month.)

One winner will win a YA May 2018 release of their choice! *see note below
• Contest ends May 31st, 2018 at 11:59 PM
• Must be 13 or older.
• Open internationally. *International winners will be required to choose a book that is available through BookDepository.com or Fishpond.com up to $20 value.
•Extra entries can be earned by commenting on any BOOK BIRTHDAY POSTS or  REVIEWS, and can be done once per post. Come back throughout May whenever you comment on our reviews and get your extra points!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cadaver & Queen by Alisa Kwitney {dual review: book + audiobook}

Cadaver & Queen
by Alisa Kwitney
♦publisher: Harlequin Teen
♦release date: February 27nd, 2018
♦hardcover, 320 pages
♦series: companion to come
♦source: ARC from publisher for honest review

When Lizzie Lavenza enrolled at Ingold as its first female medical student, she knew she wouldn't have an easy time. From class demands to being an outsider among her male cohorts, she'll have to go above and beyond to prove herself. So when she stumbles across what appears to be a faulty Bio-mechanical--one of the mechanized cadavers created to service the school--she jumps at the chance to fix it and get ahead in the program.

Only this Bio-mechanical isn't like the others. Where they are usually empty-minded and perfectly obedient, this one seems to have thoughts, feelings...and self-awareness.

Soon Lizzie realizes that it is Victor Frankenstein--a former student who died under mysterious circumstances. Victor, it seems, still has a spark of human intelligence inside him, along with memories of things he discovered before his untimely death...and a suspicion that he was murdered to keep that information from getting out.Suddenly Lizzie finds herself intertwined in dark secrets and sabotage that put her life, and the lives of Victor and their friends, in danger. But Lizzie's determined to succeed--even if that means fighting an enemy who threatens the entire British Empire.

{Amy's Book Review}

Horribly addicting, Cadaver & Queen will take you back to the 1800’s where medical experiments and advances are changing the world.  Fast paced and alluring, Alisa Kwitney’s adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is truly authentic, spinning a new take on Victor Frankenstein, exploring a whole new side of life, death and the place in-between.

With its constant twists and turns you be kept guessing trying to decipher 

whose intentions are for medical advancements and whose are for a darker purpose. Being told in both Lizzie and Victors voices opens the plot to host many characters that all could take center stage at any moment. But even with its large accumulation of characters, each one has their own strong presence and value to the storyline, building a story that could fracture off in multiple directions.  A delicate romance does blossom, but one that is sweet,caring, not rushed and without a love triangle, which I do truly appreciate.    

The only negative aspect of this book is the rushed ending leaving with it many story holes. There was an amazing opportunity to add one or two more chapters to help clear some major plot questions, however these questions could still be answered in the promised companion novel, that is said to focus on another character, but still includes Lizzie and Victor in the story. 

Overall, its breathtaking cover instantly draws you right in, opening the door to curiosity, with all the nuts and bolts to a good mystery; ultimately posing the question, can you really love what others see as a monster? 

{Becky's Audiobook review}

I wholeheartedly agree with Amy's review! Alisa Kwitney drew me in from those very first sentences where you realize you are seeing the story through the eyes of someone who is trapped and about to be mentally conscious during their own autopsy! The opening definitely set this story up for a skin-crawling tone befitting of any great retelling of Frankenstein.

The entire cast of characters carrying this story had me fully intrigued and I thought the audiobook performance of each of them was outstanding, making it easy to follow who was who with an array of perfectly-executed accents and distinct personalities. Narrator Saskia Maarleveld did an amazing job. I loved Lizzy's determined nature, both defiant and aware of the extra challenges and discriminations she faces as a young woman in the medical world. The romance was sweet and I loved the slow and cautious way that it built up---Victor's situation just had me constantly routing for him to succeed in both finding his murderer and coming "back to life".

The mystery kept me constantly guessing as the suspicion slips from person to person. There are some great surprises and twists and pitfalls, but I definitely agree that the ending was rushed and a bit muddled. I'll be needing more from this story in the future, and hopefully some answers to a few hovering questions, but I'll gladly step back into this world when that time comes!

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•ABOUT THE AUTHOR•

Alisa Kwitney was an editor at DC Comics/Vertigo and is the Eisner-nominated author of graphic novels, romantic women’s fiction and urban fantasy. She was one of the authors of A Flight of Angels, which made YALSA’s Top Ten List for Great Graphic Novels for Teens, and the YA graphic novel Token, named a highlight of the Minx imprint by PW. Alisa has an MFA from Columbia University. Her thesis, Till the Fat Lady Sings, a comedy of manners about college and eating disorders, made The New York Times’ new and noteworthy in paperback list. The first issue of her latest comic book series, Mystik U, is coming out November ’17 from DC Comics. Her first YA novel, Cadaver & Queen, will be coming out with Harlequin Teen in February ’18.

WEBSITE  •  TWITTER

Purchase the book:  Indiebound  •  BookDepository  •  Amazon

Audiobook:  Audible   •   HooplaDigital

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme created by Jill at Breaking the Spine. A spin-off of the meme called "Can't Wait Wednesday" is now hosted at Wishful Endings. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

Amber & Dusk

by Lyra Selene

hitting shelves November 27th, 2018  

from Scholastic Press

Sylvie has always known she deserves more. Out in the permanent twilight of the Dusklands, her guardians called her power to create illusions a curse. But Sylvie knows it gives her a place in Coeur d'Or, the palais of the Amber Empress and her highborn legacies. 

So Sylvie sets off toward the Amber City, a glittering jewel under a sun that never sets, to take what is hers.

But her hope for a better life is quickly dimmed. The empress invites her in only as part of a wicked wager among her powerful courtiers. Sylvie must assume a new name, Mirage, and begin to navigate secretive social circles and deadly games of intrigue in order to claim her spot. Soon it becomes apparent that nothing is as it appears and no one, including her cruel yet captivating sponsor, Sunder, will answer her questions. As Mirage strives to assume what should be her rightful place, she'll have to consider whether it is worth the price she must pay.

My thoughts:  Magical illusion, danger, and intrigue in a royal court---it's no wonder why I'm drawn to this one. But with Roshani Chokshi's recommendation, calling it a "sexier Versaille" with characters full of heart and worldbuilding drenched in beauty, I knew I needed to put this at the top of my fall wishlist!

What book are you eagerly anticipating this week?