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 Room Away from the Wolves

by Nova Ren Suma

hitting shelves September 4th, 2018  

from Algonquin Young Readers

Bina has never forgotten the time she and her mother ran away from home. Her mother promised they would hitchhike to the city to escape Bina’s cruel father and start over. But before they could even leave town, Bina had a new stepfather and two new stepsisters, and a humming sense of betrayal pulling apart the bond with her mother—a bond Bina thought was unbreakable.Eight years later, after too many lies and with trouble on her heels, Bina finds herself on the side of the road again, the city of her dreams calling for her. She has an old suitcase, a fresh black eye, and a room waiting for her at Catherine House, a young women’s residence in Greenwich Village with a tragic history, a vow of confidentiality, and dark, magical secrets. There, Bina is drawn to her enigmatic downstairs neighbor Monet, a girl who is equal parts intriguing and dangerous. As Bina’s lease begins to run out, and nightmare and memory get tangled, she will be forced to face the terrible truth of why she’s come to Catherine House and what it will take for her to leave...  

My thoughts:  Since the moment I turned the last page of The Walls Around Us, I've been craving more of Nova Ren Suma's bold and stunning writing style. You can bet I'll be counting the days until I have this in my hands. 

What book are you eagerly anticipating this week?

The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma {review}

The Walls Around Us 
by Nova Ren Suma
♦publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
♦release date: March 24th, 2015
♦hardcover 336 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone
♦source: from publisher for honest review

“Ori’s dead because of what happened out behind the theater, in the tunnel made out of trees. She’s dead because she got sent to that place upstate, locked up with those monsters. And she got sent there because of me.”

The Walls Around Us is a ghostly story of suspense told in two voices—one still living and one long dead. On the outside, there’s Violet, an eighteen-year-old dancer days away from the life of her dreams when something threatens to expose the shocking truth of her achievement. On the inside, within the walls of a girls’ juvenile detention center, there’s Amber, locked up for so long she can’t imagine freedom. Tying these two worlds together is Orianna, who holds the key to unlocking all the girls’ darkest mysteries.

We hear Amber’s story and Violet’s, and through them Orianna’s, first from one angle, then from another, until gradually we begin to get the whole picture—which is not necessarily the one that either Amber or Violet wants us to see.

Nova Ren Suma tells a supernatural tale of guilt and innocence, and what happens when one is mistaken for the other.

Review: This book. Wow. I’ve read other books by Nova Ren Suma before and she has such a gorgeous, haunting, and sometimes gritty writing style. The Walls Around Us is definitely no exception to that.  I haven’t read anything like it before and I thought it was stunning.

In this story, two girls tell their tales of guilt, regret, truth, and vengeance.  Violet is a serious ballet dancer, clawing her way to the top.  She’s about to leave for Julliard, doing one last show with her current school, when she receives a gruesome gift that makes it clear that the past is not forgotten. Three years ago, her best friend, Orianna, was charged with murder and sent to a detention facility, and only Violet knows what truly happened.  The other girl, Amber, is an inmate at the facility who crosses paths with Orianna---but she’s been dead for three years.

Amber and Violet are both bold, unforgettable voices full of emotion, hurt, guilt, and near madness at times. It’s incredibly fascinating getting inside each one’s thoughts and emotions, seeing how they think after the the things they have both done and been through. The two (three actually, if you count Orianna, though she is only spoken of by the other two) characters are developed in a way that makes you care for them and not trust them and so curious about what will happen to them all at once.  The story in unrelenting in its intensity, told in line after line of beautifully crafted prose that sear themselves into your mind. There are scenes in this story that I don’t think I will ever forget. And it’s all in the way they are written---the truth seeps out in almost abstract ways that sneak up on you, then suddenly it’s crystal clear and knocking you sideways. 

It's an absolutely mezmerizing story from start to finish. The Walls Around Us is a daunting and gritty tale, but one that you do not want to miss. 

Find Nova Ren Suma online: Website  •  Twitter 

Purchase the book:  Indiebound  •  BookDepository  •  Amazon

Amy's View: 17 & Gone by Nova Sum Rena

17 & Gone by Nova Ren Suma
♦publisher: Penguin Dutton
♦release date: March 21, 2013
♦hardcover, 354 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Seventeen-year-old Lauren is having visions of girls who have gone missing. And all these girls have just one thing in common—they are 17 and gone without a trace. As Lauren struggles to shake these waking nightmares, impossible questions demand urgent answers: Why are the girls speaking to Lauren? How can she help them? And… is she next? As Lauren searches for clues, everything begins to unravel, and when a brush with death lands her in the hospital, a shocking truth emerges, changing everything.

With complexity and richness, Nova Ren Suma serves up a beautiful, visual, fresh interpretation of what it means to be lost.

Review: I eagerly anticipated this book and even contacted Penguin Publishing for an early copy. The moment it arrived I dove right in, however by page 156 I found myself stuck. Not knowing which way I should go, to simply set it down or keep reading.

The story line was one that intrigued me, a promising thriller with a 17 year old girl who is having visions of girls who are missing. I found myself hoping for mystery to follow the ghostly images or trails of kidnapping and murder and all I got was chapter after chapter of each girl’s story of how they disappeared.  Long, drawn out and elaborate in their storyline. Not at all relating to one another but all plaguing Lauren’s daily life to the point of utter destruction. Weaving you through the mental strains of following Lauren as she tries to help the lost girls and figure out why they disappeared.

Not the ghost story I had hoped for but the inter-workings of girl who is, “lost”. Truly complex and believable, leaving you sympathetic of the delusions a mind can create. Now that I have reached the last chapter I have a new respect for how the book was laid out. Although I do wish it was done in reverse. Having the knowledge of the tragic way the mind can work gives you the understanding and sympathy you need to truly follow Lauren’s Story. Complex and often too wordy, 17 and Gone was an interesting but long read that could possibly have been published as an adult book.

Find Nova Ren Suma online: Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Preorder 17 & Gone:  Amazon  •  BN.com  •  Bookdepository  •  Indiebound

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

Imaginary Girls
by Nova Ren Suma

release date: June 14th, 2011

description:
Chloe’s older sister, Ruby, is the girl everyone looks to and longs for, who can’t be captured or caged. When a night with Ruby’s friends goes horribly wrong and Chloe discovers the dead body of her classmate London Hayes floating in the reservoir, Chloe is sent away from town and away from Ruby.

But Ruby will do anything to get her sister back, and when Chloe returns home two years later, a precarious and deadly balance waits. As Chloe flirts with the truth that Ruby has hidden deeply away, the fragile line between life and death is redrawn by the complex bonds of sisterhood.

Imaginary Girls is a masterfully distorted vision of family reminiscent of Shirley Jackson, laced with twists that beg for their secrets to be kept.

My thoughts: A story about family secrets, the bonds of sisterhood, and a mysterious death?? Sign me up, this one sounds amazing. Plus, gorgeous cover. I am loving all the eerie, watery covers this year!