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.

Blood of a Thousand Stars

by Rhoda Belleza

hitting shelves Feb 20th, 2018

from Razorbill (Penguin)

Empress

With a revolution brewing, Rhee is faced with a choice: make a deal with her enemy, Nero, or denounce him and risk losing her crown.

Fugitive

Framed assassin Alyosha has one goal in mind: kill Nero. But to get his revenge, Aly may have to travel back to the very place he thought he’d left forever—home.

Princess

Kara knows that a single piece of technology located on the uninhabitable planet Wraeta may be the key to remembering—and erasing—the princess she once was.

Madman

Villainous media star Nero is out for blood, and he’ll go to any means necessary to control the galaxy. 

Vicious politics and high-stakes action culminate in an epic showdown that will determine the fate of the universe.

My thoughts: I really enjoyed the first book in this series!  If you haven't read it, you can check out my review here.  With the way things were unfolding by the end of Empress, I'm super excited to see where it leads!! 

What book are you eagerly anticipating this week?

Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza {blog tour review, giveaway & cupcake!}

Welcome to my stop on the tour for
Empress of  A Thousand Skies!!

Today I'm featuring this galactic adventure with my review and a specially designed cupcake to go with that gorgeous cover! Plus don't forget to enter the tour-wide giveaway below for a chance to win one of FIVE signed copies of Empress of A Thousand Skies!

Empress of  A Thousand Skies

by Rhoda Belleza

♦publisher: Razorbill

♦release date: February 7th, 2017

♦hardcover. 344 pages

♦intended audience: Young adult

♦series: (no info on upcoming books yet!)
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Empress
Rhee, also known as Crown Princess Rhiannon Ta’an, is the sole surviving heir to a powerful dynasty. She’ll stop at nothing to avenge her family and claim her throne.

Fugitive
Aly has risen above his war refugee origins to find fame as the dashing star of a DroneVision show. But when he’s falsely accused of killing Rhee, he's forced to prove his innocence to save his reputation – and his life.

Madman
With planets on the brink of war, Rhee and Aly are thrown together to confront a ruthless evil that threatens the fate of the entire galaxy.

A saga of vengeance, warfare, and the true meaning of legacy.

Review:  This was quite an adventure! 

The story is told from the alternating voices of Rhee and Alyosha.  I really enjoyed both of their personalities. Rhee's fierce determination is admirable but when she gets caught up in a deeper political mystery than she expected, she looses her confident footing and realized she doesn't know who to trust. Despite her questions, she pushes forward, sometimes alone, and I loved her perseverance and the way she pulls from family memories for strength. Alyosha is quick and resourceful and careful, running for his life as a wanted murderer. He's a fun and interesting character to get to know.  

The world building definitely has a very cool and detailed Star Wars feel to it, with lots of different planets, societies, alien races, and cultures. It dealt with the issues of prejudices that go with such a melting pot of cultures, especially as we see Aly and what he goes through as an "easy target" to be framed for Rhee's murder, but also in the case of Rhee, who is treated differently once her face becomes marked.  

I think some will be disappointed with the lack of romance in this one, because the synopsis definitely makes it sound like there might be. I thought it was fine without it, and definitely think we'll come to it in future installments, but not for Rhee and Aly.  There's a lot going on plotwise with this and I though what little romance there was made sense. 

One drawback with this is actual a personal peeve of mine, so feel free to disregard LOL. In fantasy worlds, sometimes made up words are used in place of swear words or exclamations. It's a fun detail, but for some reason it irritates me when they are used really, really often. But, again...that' s just me. :) There are also a few dips in pacing here and there, but it's still a fairly quick read.

It's a great story with lots of twists, and although the big reveal at the end was not surprising, it was entertaining to see the truth unfold for the characters. I can't wait to see where the new info will lead all of them!

Guys, since the day I spotted that gorgeous cover, I knew I wanted to design a cupcake to match!! So many pretty colors and I love the hidden image in the moon. So here's what I came up with: the cover's main colors swirled into buttercream frosting, edible star sprinkles, and a shimmer-dusted moon!

•ABOUT THE AUTHOR•

Rhoda Belleza was raised in Los Angeles, where she grew up writing X-Filesfanfiction and stuffing her face with avocados. She's a children's editor at a publishing house and writes from a sunny Brooklyn apartment stuffed with far too many bikes and far too many shoes. When she's not writing, Rhoda obsesses over nail art tutorials, watches kung fu movies, and sews together crooked things that pass for clothes. Empress of a Thousand Skies is her debut novel. 

Twitter | Goodreads | Tumblr 

Purchase the book:  Indiebound  •  BookDepository  •  Amazon

*       *       *       *       *       *

GIVEAWAY!

Enter below to win one of FIVE signed finished copies of Empress of a Thousand Skies!

a Rafflecopter giveaway NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Enter between 12:00 AM Eastern Time on February 6, 2017 and 12:00 AM on February 20, 2017. Open to residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 and older. Winners will be selected at random on or about February 22, 2017. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.

Don't forget to stop by the rest of the tour!

Waiting on...

"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.

 The Love that Split the World

by Emily Henry

hitting shelves January 26th, 2016

from Razorbill

Natalie Cleary must risk her future and leap blindly into a vast unknown for the chance to build a new world with the boy she loves.

Natalie’s last summer in her small Kentucky hometown is off to a magical start…until she starts seeing the “wrong things.” They’re just momentary glimpses at first—her front door is red instead of its usual green, there’s a pre-school where the garden store should be. But then her whole town disappears for hours, fading away into rolling hills and grazing buffalo, and Nat knows something isn’t right.

That’s when she gets a visit from the kind but mysterious apparition she calls “Grandmother,” who tells her: “You have three months to save him.” The next night, under the stadium lights of the high school football field, she meets a beautiful boy named Beau, and it’s as if time just stops and nothing exists. Nothing, except Natalie and Beau.

Emily Henry’s stunning debut novel is Friday Night Lights meets The Time Traveler’s Wife, and perfectly captures those bittersweet months after high school, when we dream not only of the future, but of all the roads and paths we’ve left untaken.

My thoughts: This is the kind of synopsis that I love, not too much given away, but the kind of thing that makes you think "WHAT the heck is going on??" But there's magic, there's weird apparitions, there's football and the hint at an epic romance.  Just with this very vague description, I think it sounds amazing! :)

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.

Soundless

by Richelle Mead

 hitting shelves November 17, 2015

from Razorbill

For as long as Fei can remember, there has been no sound in her village, where rocky terrain and frequent avalanches prevent residents from self-sustaining. Fei and her people are at the mercy of a zipline that carries food up the treacherous cliffs from Beiguo, a mysterious faraway kingdom.

When villagers begin to lose their sight, deliveries from the zipline shrink and many go hungry. Fei’s home, the people she loves, and her entire existence is plunged into crisis, under threat of darkness and starvation.

But soon Fei is awoken in the night by a searing noise, and sound becomes her weapon.

Richelle Mead takes readers on a triumphant journey from the peak of Fei’s jagged mountain village to the valley of Beiugo, where a startling truth and an unlikely romance will change her life forever...

My thoughts: This sounds like a stunning story in an exotic setting and I love the gorgeous cover. Yup. Want. 

Cover Story

Some gorgeous late-2014 and 2015 covers have been revealed recently! Check them out:

Dreamfire

by Kit Alloway

 St. Martins Griffin, February 24, 2015

Earth & Sky
by Megan Crewe
Skyscape, October 28, 2014

The Rise and Fall of a Theater Geek

by Seth Rudetsky

Random House, June 23, 2015

Stone in the Sky
by Cecil Castellucci
Roaring Brook Press, February 24, 2015

Time's Edge

by Rysa Walker

Skyscape, October 21, 2014

The Way We Bared Our Souls
by Willa Strayhorn
Razorbill, January 22, 2015

Willowgrove

by Kathleen Peacock

Katherine Tegen Books, January 6, 2015

Pretty much all of these would catch my eye on a bookshelf. What do you think? Do these covers make you want to read any of these?

Fiendish by Brenna Yovanoff {guest review}

Fiendish 
by Brenna Yovanoff
♦publisher: Razorbill
♦release date: August 14th, 2014
♦hardcover, 352 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦source: from publisher for honest review
♦guest reviewer: Amy

Clementine DeVore spent ten years trapped in a cellar, pinned down by willow roots, silenced and forgotten.

Now she’s out and determined to uncover who put her in that cellar and why.

When Clementine was a child, dangerous and inexplicable things started happening in New South Bend. The townsfolk blamed the fiendish people out in the Willows and burned their homes to the ground. But magic kept Clementine alive, walled up in the cellar for ten years, until a boy named Fisher sets her free. Back in the world, Clementine sets out to discover what happened all those years ago. But the truth gets muddled in her dangerous attraction to Fisher, the politics of New South Bend, and the Hollow, a fickle and terrifying place that seems increasingly temperamental ever since Clementine reemerged.

Review: For ten years, Clementine lay buried in the cellar, eyes sewn shut, ensnarled in willow roots.  Bound by a magic so strong, no one even remembers her existence. Until one day a boy hears the faint magical pull of her breathing, unearthing not only a lost and forgotten girl but quite possibly the magical curse that may be responsible for trapping Clementine. 

Waking to a world that is scared of the craft that dwells in Wixby Hollow, Clementine rediscovers a world where magical beasts, hell hounds and fiends dwell. A coalition of townspeople are waiting to once again burn the magic from the Hollow to purify those who possess the craft, saving themselves from the plague that they call The Reckoning. This leaves Clementine to not only try to discover who trapped her in the cellar, but where she fits in a town where politics and truth are buried deeper than the cellar she has emerged from. 

Brenna Yovanoff, once again captures her readers with a gothic tale of horror and mystique. Painting a story that is both horrific as well as alluring, she combines old magic with witchcraft, unraveling a town that is built upon fear itself. Taking that which is seen as unnatural and wrong, it fits together to make a beautiful and enchanting story.

Find Brenna Yovanoff online: Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Buy Fiendish:  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.

I Am Her Revenge
by Meredith Moore

hitting shelves April 7th, 2015
from Razorbill

description:
She can be anyone you want her to be.
Vivian was raised with one purpose in life: to exact revenge on behalf of her mother. Manipulative and cruel, Mother has deprived Vivian not only of a childhood, but of an original identity. With an endless arsenal of enticing personalities at her disposal, Vivian is a veritable weapon of deception.

And she can destroy anyone.
When it’s time to strike, she enrolls in a boarding school on the English moors, where she will zero in on her target: sweet and innocent Ben, the son of the man who broke Mother’s heart twenty years ago.

Anyone…except for the woman who created her.
With every secret she uncovers, Vivian comes one step closer to learning who she really is. But the more she learns about herself, the more dangerous this cat and mouse game becomes. Because Mother will stop at nothing to make sure the truth dies with her. 

My thoughts:  This sounds like a great character who is about to find her way into her own. And the crazy obsessed mother scenario is intriguing. :)

Becky's View: Tsarina by J. Nelle Patrick

Tsarina by J. Nelle Patrick
♦publisher: Razorbill
♦hardcover,  331 pages
♦release date: February 27th, 2014
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone
♦source: ARC from publisher for honest review

Natalya knows a secret.
A magical Faberge egg glows within the walls of Russia's Winter Palace.
It holds a power rooted in the land and stolen from the mystics.
A power that promises a life of love for her and Alexei Romanov.
Power, that, in the right hands, can save her way of life.
But it's not in the right hands.

Review: In Tsarina, and under a new pen name, Jackson Pearce shows us yet another side of her writing talents as she takes us on an alternate-historical adventure set in the world of the Romanov family and Russia on the brink of war.  Some die hard history buffs may be a bit bothered by the creative license taken with a few time lines and the ages of the Romanov children, but let yourself get past that, and you’re in a for a beautifully written, lushly descriptive, and romantic tale.

Natalya is a noble, comfortable in her life of glittering parties in the palace, but also fiercely patriotic in her love of Russia. She’s grown up alongside the Romanov children and will soon be married to Alexei.  One night, Alexei tells her the family’s greatest secret: they are protected by a magical fabrege egg created by the late Rasputin.  Shortly after, the family flees and the palace is overtaken by Reds.

Natalya is incredibly brave and determined in her quest to retrieve the egg and get it back to the family. Of course, the secret egg is not so secret after all and more people than her are determined to get their hands on it.  Natalya and her friend Delia will definitely have their eyes opened to a world beyond their own as they find themselves kidnapped and crossing the country with a Red.  I love that she stays true to her ideals for Russia, but is forced to see that they are not the ideals of everyone, and she learns compassion.

There is a lot of magic running though this story, both pushing it along and tying it all together.  There is the egg itself, but Natalya’s fate also inadvertently tangles with the mystics of the land.   Their desperation to regain their magic spirals into an explosive struggle for power and control.

This story is beautifully crafted with vivid imagery of a Russian winter, wild magic, and a revolution about to happen.  It does sometimes get a little carried away and over-descriptive, but it’s still gorgeous and atmospheric and romantic in many different ways.

The author sums up the most important idea of the story she tells perfectly in her ending notes:

“When you forget that those you disagree with are people, not just your faceless opposition, you don’t end up proving who is right and who is wrong. You end up with a body count.”

Find J. Nelle Patrick online: Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase Tsarina:  Amazon  •  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.

Fiendish

by Brenna Yovanoff 

hitting shelves June 26th, 2014 from Razorbill

description:
Clementine DeVore spent ten years trapped in a cellar, pinned down by willow roots, silenced and forgotten.

Now she’s out and determined to uncover who put her in that cellar and why.

When Clementine was a child, dangerous and inexplicable things started happening in New South Bend. The townsfolk blamed the fiendish people out in the Willows and burned their homes to the ground. But magic kept Clementine alive, walled up in the cellar for ten years, until a boy named Fisher sets her free. Back in the world, Clementine sets out to discover what happened all those years ago. But the truth gets muddled in her dangerous attraction to Fisher, the politics of New South Bend, and the Hollow, a fickle and terrifying place that seems increasingly temperamental ever since Clementine reemerged.

My thoughts: Point one: Brenna Yovanoff---love her stuff. Point Two:  Intriguing synopsis with magic and mystery and willow trees.  Point Three: FREAKING AMAZING COVER.  Just...wow.

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.

Tsarina
by J. Nelle Patrick

hitting shelves February 27, 2014

description: 
Natalya knows a secret.

A magical Faberge egg glows within the walls of Russia's Winter Palace.  It holds a power rooted in the land and stolen from the mystics. A power that promises a life of love for her and Alexei Romanov.  Power, that, in the right hands, can save her way of life.

But it's not in the right hands.

My thoughts:  Magic, The Romanovs, romance, and one of my favorite authors (aka Jackson Pearce!).  All the ingredients for a book that I am certain I will fall in love with. 
 

Becky's View: Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff
♦publisher: Razorbill
♦release date: January 8th, 2013
♦hardcover, 368 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone
♦source: from publisher for honest review

The city of Ludlow is gripped by the hottest July on record. The asphalt is melting, the birds are dying, petty crime is on the rise, and someone in Hannah Wagnor’s peaceful suburban community is killing girls.

For Hannah, the summer is a complicated one. Her best friend Lillian died six months ago, and Hannah just wants her life to go back to normal. But how can things be normal when Lillian’s ghost is haunting her bedroom, pushing her to investigate the mysterious string of murders? Hannah’s just trying to understand why her friend self-destructed, and where she fits now that Lillian isn’t there to save her a place among the social elite. And she must stop thinking about Finny Boone, the big, enigmatic delinquent whose main hobbies seem to include petty larceny and surprising acts of kindness.

With the entire city in a panic, Hannah soon finds herself drawn into a world of ghost girls and horrifying secrets. She realizes that only by confronting the Valentine Killer will she be able move on with her life—and it’s up to her to put together the pieces before he strikes again.

Review: Paper Valentine was my first taste of Brenna Yovanoff's writing.  I'd heard some great things about her previous books, and now I see what all the hype was about.  She knows how to spin a tale that just kind of swallows you up into it's world.  It was easy to fall into step with this small town community, baking in the unforgiving summer, and wondering what has happened to the safe little town they thought they lived it.  Someone is murdering young girls and everyone is living in fear of when the killer will strike again.  For Hannah, some of these girls are kids she grew up with, some are the same age as her little sister, but all of them seem to be trying to contact her, pushing her to find their killer. 

But they aren't the only ghosts that are pushing her to find the killer. Lillian, Hannah's best friend, died of anorexia  and has been constantly with her since.  I loved the relationship between Hannah and Lillian; from the very beginning you get a feel for their closeness.  Lillian's part in this story really gave the plot something completely unique, both as a ghost story and a story about eating disorders.  Lillian is much the same in death as she was in life, but every once in while, she slips into the emotions of dealing with what she did to herself.  We watch as she tries to come to terms with it, to justify it, to regret it, and to see firsthand just how much it hurt her best friend.  Hannah herself was a great complex character, creative and inquisitive, dealing with the loss of her friend with a mix of anger and sadness. She's drawn into the murder mystery in several different ways, by clues she comes across at her job and secrets that she only knows because of Lillian and her ability to see the murder victims.

The love story was a bit on the sidelines, but I really thought it was sweet.  It's born more from a curiosity about the aloof and generally misunderstood Finny Boone than just a plain attraction.  They'd grown up together in the same school, so there was all this history that seemed to both push them apart and draw then together.  

The one thing I didn't like is this..and it's a bit of a spoiler so I've whited it out.  Highlight at your own risk! * When we finally find out who the killer is, I completely get that she was trying to buy herself some time until help arrived, but I seriously didn't believe that the killer would sit with her in a meadow, chatting it up about why and how he did it all and who he worked with.  No matter how crazy he was suppose to be. *  BUT aside from that one small thing,  Yovanoff's writing is exceptional, her prose easily paint pictures in your head (be prepared for some pretty grisly descriptions of the ghosts and murder scenes).  Paper Valentine was an incredibly entertaining and well-told story of murder, ghosts, social structures, and most of all, love and loss.

Find Brenna Yovanoff online: Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase Paper Valentine:  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.

 

The Ruining

by Anna Collamore

 

hitting shelves February 7th, 2013 from Razorbill

description:  Annie Phillips is thrilled to leave her past behind and begin a shiny new life on Belvedere Island, as a nanny for the picture-perfect Cohen family. In no time at all, she falls in love with the Cohens, especially with Libby, the beautiful young matriarch of the family. Life is better than she ever imagined. She even finds romance with the boy next door.

All too soon cracks appear in Annie's seemingly perfect world. She's blamed for mistakes she doesn't remember making. Her bedroom door comes unhinged, and she feels like she's always being watched. Libby, who once felt like a big sister, is suddenly cold and unforgiving. As she struggles to keep up with the demands of her new life, Annie's fear gives way to frightening hallucinations. Is she tumbling into madness, or is something sinister at play?

The Ruining is a complex ride through first love, chilling manipulation, and the terrifying depths of insanity.

 

My thoughts: A bit of a Turn of the Screw thing going on here, so of course it sounds great! Very cool cover, too.

Waiting on Wednesday - The Purpley Edition

"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. For my WoWs, I'll be choosing a Sooner (books released in the next month or so) and a Later (books further out). Here's what I'm eagerly anticipating:

Sooner:

Hollow Pike
by James Dawson

hitting shelves February 2, 2012 from Orion Children's

description:
Something wicked this way comes... She thought she'd be safe in the country, but you can't escape your own nightmares, and Lis London dreams repeatedly that someone is trying to kill her. Lis thinks she's being paranoid - after all who would want to murder her? She doesn't believe in the local legends of witchcraft. She doesn't believe that anything bad will really happen to her. You never do, do you? Not until you're alone in the woods, after dark - and a twig snaps... Hollow Pike - where witchcraft never sleeps.

My thoughts: This definitely sounds good and creepy. And what a brilliant cover!

Later:
Lucid
by Ron Bass & Adrienne Stolz

hitting shelves July 19, 2012 from Razorbill

description:
What if you could dream your way into a different life? What if you could choose to live that life forever?

Sloane and Maggie have never met. Sloane is a straight-A student with a big and loving family. Maggie lives a glamorously independent life as an up-and-coming actress in New York. The two girls couldn't be more different - except for one thing. They share a secret that they can't tell a soul. At night, they dream that they're each other.

The deeper they're pulled into the promise of their own lives, the more their worlds begin to blur dangerously together. Before long, Sloane and Maggie can no longer tell which life is real and which is just a dream. They realize that eventually they will have to choose one life to wake up to, or risk spiraling into insanity. But that means giving up one world, one love, and one self, forever.

My thoughts: This sounds really good. I've always been fascinated by stories about dreams and lucid dreaming!

Purple seems to be a popular color for covers this coming year! There are sure to be more of these purpley editions in the future! :)

Waiting on Wednesday - Perception and Probability Edition

"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. For my WoWs, I'll be choosing a Sooner (books released in the next month or so) and a Later (books further out). Here's what I'm eagerly anticipating:

Sooner:

The Probability of Miracles
by Wendy Wunder

hitting shelves December 8th, 2011 from Razorbill

description:
Dry, sarcastic, sixteen-year-old Cam Cooper has spent the last seven years in and out hospitals. The last thing she wants to do in the short life she has left is move 1,500 miles away to Promise, Maine - a place known for the miraculous events that occur there. But it's undeniable that strange things happen in Promise: everlasting sunsets; purple dandelions; flamingoes in the frigid Atlantic; an elusive boy named Asher; and finally, a mysterious envelope containing a list of things for Cam to do before she dies. As Cam checks each item off the list, she finally learns to believe - in love, in herself, and even in miracles.

A debut novel from an immensely talented new writer, The Probability of Miracles crackles with wit, romance and humor and will leave readers laughing and crying with each turn of the page.

My thoughts: After seeing a review of this at Katie's Book Blog, it immediately went on my official run-to-the-bookstore-the-day-it-comes-out list. So I guess I have a date with Barnes in a week. Who says bloggers don't sell books? :)

Later:

Perception
by Kim Harrington

hitting shelves March 1st, 2012 from Scholastic Press

description:
When you can see things others can't, what do you do when someone's watching you?

Everybody knows about Clarity "Clare" Fern. She's the psychic girl in school, the one who can place her hands on something and see hidden visions from the past.

Only Clare would rather not be a celebrity. She prefers hanging back, observing. Her gift is not a game to her.

But then someone starts playing with her head . . . and heart. Messages and gifts from a secret admirer crop up everywhere Clare turns. Could they be from Gabriel, the gorgeous boy who gets Clare's pulse racing? Or from Justin, Clare's hopeful ex-boyfriend who'd do anything to win her back?

One thing is certain. Clare needs to solve this mystery, and soon. Because the messages are becoming sinister, and a girl in town has suddenly disappeared.

My thoughts: Book one, Clarity, really drew me in. Can't wait for more!