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 Unbinding of Mary Reade

by Mariam McNamara

hitting shelves Feb 6th, 2018

from Sky Pony Press

There’s no place for a girl in Mary’s world. Not in the home of her mother, desperately drunk and poor. Not in the household of her wealthy aunt, where a girl could never be named an heir. And certainly not in the arms of Nat, her childhood love who never knew her for who she was. As a hired sailor aboard a Caribbean merchant ship, Mary’s profession―and her safety―depend on her ability to disguise the fact that she’s a girl.

Leastways, that’s what she thinks is true. But then pirates attack the ship, and right in the middle of the swashbuckling crowd of bloodthirsty pirates, Mary spots something she never could have imagined: a girl pirate. The sight of a girl standing unafraid upon the deck, gun and sword in hand, changes everything. In a split-second decision, Mary turns her gun on her own captain and earns herself a spot among the pirates’ crew.

For the first time, Mary has a shot at freedom. But imagining living life as her true self is easier, it seems, than actually doing it. And when Mary finds herself falling for the captain’s mistress, she risks everything―her childhood love, her place among the crew, and even her life.

My thoughts: Can I just say that whoever is designing covers at Sky Pony Press this year is just doing amazing things. :D  As for the story, this sounds awesome. I do love girl pirate stories---from Dust of 100 Dogs to Daughter of the Pirate King---it's always been a subject that just draws me to it.  So I'll definitely be checking this one out!

What book are you eagerly anticipating this week?

Cover Story - TIMEKEEPER & CHAINBREAKER

GUYS. Today I feel absolutely compelled by the gorgeousness of these covers to share them with you!  As you can see from HERE and HERE,  Tara Sim's debut Timekeeper was one of my favorites of last year. SO exciting, unique, romantic, magical, steampunk...everything. Well, the sequel hits shelves this November, and as you can imagine, I am dying to get it in my hands!! I've also been eagerly anticipating the cover of book two, hounding the author's tweets and goodreads on a near daily basis (because you have to agree--three months prior to publication IS rather late in the game for a  cover reveal! LOL).  BUT guys, I am here to tell you---it was worth the wait.  Bustle revealed the glorious cover just yesterday, along with a redesign of Timekeeper. I don't think I've ever loved a redesign more (and if you've ever seen my Old Books, New Looks feature, you'll know I can be a bit nitpicky about them haha).  Here's the original (which quite honestly, I liked but always thought it was a bit drab).   (Also, sorry for my ridiculous overuse of parentheses in this post ;D).

And now, here's the redesigned cover:

And last but farthest thing from the least, 

CHAINBREAKER

SWWWOOOOOOOON.  Whose with me?

Chainbreaker releases on November 7th from Sky Pony Press. 

Cold Summer by Gwen Cole {blog tour review + giveaway}

Hey, all! I'm hosting today's stop on the Rockstar Book tour for 

Cold Summer by Gwen Cole

Haven't checked this one out yet? Well, I'm here to tell you..YOU NEED TO. 

Check out my full review below, and be sure to make it to the end of this post, where you can enter to win one of the 7, count em', SEVEN copies of Cold Summer being given away.

Cold Summer

by Gwen Cole

♦publisher: Sky Pony Press

♦release date: May 2nd, 2017
♦hardcover, 256 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Today, he’s a high school dropout with no future.

Tomorrow, he’s a soldier in World War II.

Kale Jackson has spent years trying to control his time-traveling ability but hasn't had much luck. One day he lives in 1945, fighting in the war as a sharpshooter and helplessly watching soldiers—friends—die. Then the next day, he’s back in the present, where WWII has bled into his modern life in the form of PTSD, straining his relationship with his father and the few friends he has left. Every day it becomes harder to hide his battle wounds, both physical and mental, from the past.

When the ex-girl-next-door, Harper, moves back to town, thoughts of what could be if only he had a normal life begin to haunt him. Harper reminds him of the person he was before the PTSD, which helps anchor him to the present. With practice, maybe Kale could remain in the present permanently and never step foot on a battlefield again. Maybe he can have the normal life he craves.

But then Harper finds Kale’s name in a historical article—and he’s listed as a casualty of the war. Is Kale’s death inevitable? Does this mean that, one of these days, when Kale travels to the past, he may not come back?

Kale knows now that he must learn to control his time-traveling ability to save himself and his chance at a life with Harper. Otherwise, he’ll be killed in a time where he doesn’t belong by a bullet that was never meant for him.

Review: I had a feeling when I saw this synopsis that I might enjoy this one. But I had no idea just how much I would end up loving it.  It was beautiful and real and heart-wrenching and hopeful...so many feels. And tears. I don't cry often at books, sometimes there is one moment in a book that will really take me by the heart and bring me to tears---in Cold Summer there were a few. 

There were so many elements that drew me into this one:  a potential romance with years and years of history behind it, broken families working to rebuild themselves, good supportive friendships, great complex characters trying to find their places in a confusing world.  Not to say that they were perfect---oh, they definitely had their flawed moments and times where I just wanted to wring their necks and scream "Set your pride aside already, it will make things better for everyone!". But I understood how they might feel the way they did and my heart just went out to them. 

The time travel aspect was perfectly done. Time travel can be tricky and can trip over itself if it tries to over-analyze the hows and why's if you ask me.  Kale's strange ability just "is" and the story was less about the time travel itself and more about how it affected his relationship with the people who cared about him. 

I can't attest to how well or accurately PTSD was portrayed here as I have no experience with it, but it was definitely heart-wrenching to see a young man go through it, especially in a situation where it was fairly impossible for him to seek help.  

Cold Summer reads as a beautiful contemporary story with a bit of a sci-fi twist and I thought it was the perfect way to tell Harper and Kale's story, two teens who've known eachother all their lives falling in love in extraordinary circumstances. At it's heart, its a story of how each person finds their own meaning of family, home, and love. 

•ABOUT THE AUTHOR•

Gwen Cole writes Young Adult books and her debut novel, COLD SUMMER, will be released in the spring of 2017 with Sky Pony Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing.

She grew up in upstate New York, moved to Virginia where she did not graduate college, and worked a various number of jobs including pharmacy technician, meat clerk, ranch hand, and a receiving specialist at Target. She may or may not have written a number of books while working at certain jobs.

At the age of eighteen, Gwen played bass in a hardcore band and later married the lead guitarist. She can also play piano, guitar, and wishes she could play the cello. Her favorite place to vacation is Wyoming, where she gets to wear a cowboy hat and pretend she actually is one.

Gwen now lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband, daughter, and very large dog, where she longs to live in the country again.

WEBSITE  •  TWITTER  •  INSTAGRAM  •  GOODREADS

Purchase COLD SUMMER: 

 Indiebound   •  Amazon  •   Book Depository

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Visit ALL the tour stops!

Week One:

4/24/2017- Brittany's Book Rambles- Interview

4/25/2017- Just Commonly- Review

4/26/2017- Literary Meanderings- Guest Post

4/27/2017- Stories & Sweeties- Review

4/28/2017- Adventures of a Book Junkie- Interview

Week Two:

5/1/2017- Novel Novice - Review

5/2/2017- Fiction Fare- Guest Post

5/3/2017- Pretty Deadly Reviews- Review

5/4/2017- YA Books Central- Interview

5/5/2017- Owl Always Be Reading- Review

Timekeeper by Tara Sim {review + giveaway}

Timekeeper
by Tara Sim
♦publisher: Sky Pony Press
♦release date: November 8th, 2017
♦hardcover, 414 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: Timekeeper, book 1
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Two o’clock was missing. 

In an alternate Victorian world controlled by clock towers, a damaged clock can fracture time—and a destroyed one can stop it completely.

It’s a truth that seventeen-year-old clock mechanic Danny Hart knows all too well; his father has been trapped in a Stopped town east of London for three years. Though Danny is a prodigy who can repair not only clockwork, but the very fabric of time, his fixation with staging a rescue is quickly becoming a concern to his superiors.

And so they assign him to Enfield, a town where the tower seems to be forever plagued with problems. Danny’s new apprentice both annoys and intrigues him, and though the boy is eager to work, he maintains a secretive distance. Danny soon discovers why: he is the tower’s clock spirit, a mythical being that oversees Enfield’s time. Though the boys are drawn together by their loneliness, Danny knows falling in love with a clock spirit is forbidden, and means risking everything he’s fought to achieve.

But when a series of bombings at nearby towers threaten to Stop more cities, Danny must race to prevent Enfield from becoming the next target or he’ll not only lose his father, but the boy he loves, forever.

Review: This book was an absolute charmer. Even if you're eyeing this book thinking to yourself, 'I don't really like steampunk'---I still think anyone would really enjoy this one. I love steampunk stories, but only when it's not too too longwinded with the mechanical details, then I tend to get bored. But Timekeeper is what I'd call "steampunk-light". :) Just detailed enough that you get a perfect visual of the cool clockwork, plus it actually focuses more on the magical side of things, the spirit of the clock, and how the clocktowers and time are entwined. It was perfect. 

Danny is such a fun character to read. He's a perfectly realistic mix of determination, smarts, bumbling Britishness (sort of like very young Colin Firth ;D) and social and emotional insecurity.  He's not well liked among his peers but he knows he's good at what he does and he takes a lot of pride in that.   Danny's home life is strained since his father went missing, and he also suspects that his mom is not happy about his lifestyle choice.  You definitely feel for him and when he meets the clock spirit of Enfield, you just root for him to have that happiness, no matter how forbidden falling in love with a clock spirit was.  I loved his best friend, Cassie--a quick-tongued, ingenious auto mechanic---and also several other of the side characters that Danny's story entangles with.

The magic and world-building in this was wonderful and so well thought out. The idea that these clock towers actually control time for each region was such an interesting idea, and although I felt the intermittent chapters telling the backstory of the Gods interrupted the flow of the story a bit, it still added much needed info on how and why the world was the way it was.  The plot is full of mystery and wonder and danger and one of the sweetest, swooniest romances I've read in a while. I was completely enchanted from start to finish. 

•ABOUT THE AUTHOR•

Tara Sim is the author of Timekeeper (Sky Pony Press, Fall 2016) and writer of all things magic. She can often be found in the wilds of the Bay Area, California.

When she’s not writing about mischievous boys in clock towers, Tara spends her time drinking tea, wrangling cats, and occasionally singing opera. Despite her bio-luminescent skin, she is half-Indian and eats way too many samosas.

WEBSITE   •   TWITTER   •   INSTAGRAM

Purchase the book:   Indiebound   •   BookDepository   •   Amazon

*        *       *       *       *

So since I was fortunate enough to be sent a finished copy of this wonderful book that I was planning to buy anyhow, I'm going to order one to send to one lucky winner, anywhere in the world*! :D This books makes me happy and swoony---and that's the kind of thing that needs to be spread around! ♥

Enter below!

Open anywhere BookDepository ships*

Ends 1/28/17

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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 Hush

by Skye Melki-Wegner

hitting shelves June 6th, 2017

from Sky Pony Press

Chester has taken to the road, traveling from village to village desperately searching for his father, who has disappeared. One night while fiddling to earn a few coins, he accidentally connects to the Song—the music that fuels every aspect of the world, and that it’s illegal for him to interact with. He’s caught and sentenced to death for his crime. Only a licensed Songshaper can bend music to his will.

But someone in the crowd—a member of the infamous Nightfall Gang—stages a daring rescue and whisks Chester into the Hush, a shadowy nightmare mirror-world where Music can be deadly and Echoes can kill.

Susanna, the Captain of the Nightfall Gang has been watching Chester. She needs him to pull off an elaborate plan that will take down the governing body that keeps her an outlaw and made her the fragment she is. Susanna needs him to exact her revenge, even if he dies doing it. 

Combining complex stakes, shifting loyalties, nods to fairy tales, and a Western feel, The Hush is a lush and exhilarating fantasy perfect for fans of Catherine Fisher’s Incarceron and Paolo Bacigalupi’s Ship Breaker.

My thoughts:  What's this I see? Nods to fairy tales? A world where every aspect is fueled by a magical song?? A shadowy nightmare world where music can be deadly and echoes can kill???   Yes, to all of this...yes PLEASE. 

What book are you eagerly anticipating this week?

The Last Cherry Blossom by Kathleen Burkinshaw {review}

The Last Cherry Blossom 
by Kathleen Burkinshaw
♦publisher: Sky Pony Press
♦release date: August 2nd, 2016
♦hardcover, 240 pages
♦intended audience: Middle Grade
♦stand-alone
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Yuriko was happy growing up in Hiroshima when it was just her and Papa. But her aunt Kimiko and her cousin Genji are living with them now, and the family is only getting bigger with talk of a double marriage! And while things are changing at home, the world beyond their doors is even more unpredictable. World War II is coming to an end, and Japan's fate is not entirely clear, with any battle losses being hidden fom its people. Yuriko is used to the sirens and the air-raid drills, but things start to feel more real when the neighbors who have left to fight stop coming home. When the bomb hits Hiroshima, it’s through Yuriko’s twelve-year-old eyes that we witness the devastation and horror.

This is a story that offers young readers insight into how children lived during the war, while also introducing them to Japanese culture. Based loosely on author Kathleen Burkinshaw’s mother’s firsthand experience surviving the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, The Last Cherry Blossom hopes to warn readers of the immense damage nuclear war can bring, while reminding them that the “enemy” in any war is often not so different from ourselves.

Review: The Last Cherry Blossom is a very personal look at the bombing of Hiroshima and the days of one girl's life that led up to it. The story is based on the author's mother's account of living through such a horrific event, and knowing this going in made reading The Last Cherry Blossom all the more poignant.

Yuriko was a great character to read, just a normal 12-year-old who tries hard in school, likes to laugh with her best friend, and loves her Papa.  Her days are becoming more and more shadowed by the war, but on top of that, there is a mysterious family secret that unfolds for Yuriko and it really sheds a light on the cultural views of family and honor, especially in the way that it was handled after it came to light.  With everything that Yuriko goes through, I loved her bravery and resilience though it all. 

Each chapter starts with an announcement of war propaganda, most of them dated. This cast an eerie shadow over the story in two ways: it shows how the government was hiding losses from it's people and it gave the reader a way to feel the day of the bombing approach.  There was something very intense about reading even the most mundane details of Yumiko's daily life while in the back of your mind knowing the date of the bombing is creeping closer and closer. The war is going on outside of their city, and while some effects of it touch her life, like a neighbor's son going off to war or her best friend starting work in the plane factory, you know  that what feels a bit calm and normal for her is about to come to a horrible end.

While I loved all the Japanese culture that is included in this story, there were some parts of it that felt like it was forced in, not woven into the story organically.  There were times when Yuriko would take notice of some detail or explain something to another character that felt like it was just there to educate the reader. But still, it added to my own enjoyment to learn about the customs and ceremonies of this rich culture.  This is a beautiful but absolutely devastating glimpse into a terrifying event and a great lesson that in every conflict, there are real people on every side.

•ABOUT THE AUTHOR•

Kathleen Burkinshaw wrote The Last Cherry Blossom based on her own mother’s story of growing up in Hiroshima during World War II. She was twelve years old when the bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945. Kathleen lives with her husband and daughter in Charlotte, North Carolina.

WEBSITE  •  TWITTER  

Purchase the book:  Indiebound  •  BookDepository  •  Amazon

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.

Timekeeper

by Tara Sim

hitting shelves November 1st, 2016

from Sky Pony Press

In an alternate Victorian world controlled by clock towers, a damaged clock can fracture time—and a destroyed one can stop it completely.

It’s a truth that seventeen-year-old clock mechanic Danny Hart knows all too well; his father has been trapped in a Stopped town east of London for three years. Though Danny is a prodigy who can repair not only clockwork, but the very fabric of time, his fixation with staging a rescue is quickly becoming a concern to his superiors.

And so they assign him to Enfield, a town where the tower seems to be forever plagued with problems. Danny’s new apprentice both annoys and intrigues him, and though the boy is eager to work, he maintains a secretive distance. Danny soon discovers why: he is the tower’s clock spirit, a mythical being that oversees Enfield’s time. Though the boys are drawn together by their loneliness, Danny knows falling in love with a clock spirit is forbidden, and means risking everything he’s fought to achieve.

But when a series of bombings at nearby towers threaten to Stop more cities, Danny must race to prevent Enfield from becoming the next target or he’ll not only lose his father, but the boy he loves, forever.

The stunning first novel in a new trilogy by debut author Tara Sim, Timekeeper is perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare and Victoria Schwab.

My thoughts:  So, another cover that I am not super in love with, BUT OH MAN give me all the steampunkery and time-stopping and clock spirits?? How cool does that sound?? This is one of the main titles that makes me so sad to be missing ALA, as the author will be signing! :'(  But this is definitely on my must-read list for November. 

What book are you eagerly anticipating this week?

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.

Black Flowers, White Lies

by Yvonne Ventresca

hitting shelves October 4th, 2016

from Sky Pony Press

Her father died before she was born, but Ella Benton knows they have a supernatural connection. Since her mother discourages these beliefs, Ella keeps her cemetery visits secret. But she may not be the only one with secrets. Ella’s mother might be lying about how Dad died sixteen years ago. Newfound evidence points to his death in a psychiatric hospital, not as a result of a tragic car accident as her mother always claimed. After a lifetime of just the two of them, Mom suddenly feels like a stranger.

When a handprint much like the one Ella left on her father’s tombstone mysteriously appears on the bathroom mirror, at first she wonders if Dad is warning her of danger as he did once before. If it’s not a warning, could her new too-good-to-be-true boyfriend be responsible for the strange occurrences? Or maybe it’s the grieving building superintendent whose dead daughter strongly resembles Ella? As the unexplained events become more frequent and more sinister, Ella becomes terrified about who—or what—might harm her.

Soon the evidence points to someone else entirely: Ella herself. What if, like her father, she’s suffering from a breakdown? In this second novel from award-winning author Yvonne Ventresca, Ella desperately needs to find answers, no matter how disturbing the truth might be.

My thoughts:  Ahh, this sounds so incredibly creepy and perfect for a little pre-Halloween spookiness!  Love the father/daughter tie, a little paranormal ghostliness going on, and the promise of sinister family secrets!

What are you waiting on this week?

The Wanderers by Kate Ormand {review}

The Wanderers
by Kate Ormand
♦publisher: Sky Pony Press
♦release date: September 1st, 2015
♦hardcover, 320 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand alone
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Flo lives an eccentric life—she travels with a popular circus in which the main acts star orphaned children with secret shape-shifting abilities. Once Flo turns sixteen, she must perform, but she’s not ready. While practicing jumping a flaming hurdle in a clearing beside the circus, she spots a dark figure in the trees and fears he saw her shift. The news sends the circus into a panic.

In Flo’s world, shifters are unknown to humans with the exception of a secret organization—the EOS, referred to as “hunters.” Hunters capture and kill. They send some shifters to labs for observation and testing—testing they don’t often survive—and deem others useless, a danger to society, and eliminate them. To avoid discovery, shifters travel in packs, constantly moving and keeping themselves hidden. Up until now, the circus was the perfect disguise. 

Believing she has brought attention to the group, Flo feels dread and anxiety, causing her to make a mistake during her performance in front of the audience—a mistake that triggers a violent attack from the hunters.Flo manages to flee the torched circus grounds with Jett, the bear shifter who loves her; the annoying elephant triplets; and a bratty tiger named Pru. Together they begin a new journey, alone in a world they don’t understand and don’t know how to navigate. On the run, they unravel secrets and lies that surround the circus and their lives—secrets and lies that all point to the unthinkable: Have they been betrayed by the people they trusted most?

Review: While everyone knows not every book can be for every reader, The Wanderers was one I had high hopes for and found myself sorely disappointed . With the promise of a circus setting, a unique cast of shapeshifters, and a merciless powerful enemy, I was hoping to be drawn in, enchanted, and kept on the edge of my seat. Sadly, none of that happened. 

The story did flow along at a good pace.  There were a few moments that were really exciting or horrifying and kept me turning pages, wondering if maybe this would be the moment the story finally clicked for me. However, there were too many other plot twists that felt contrived, anticlimactic, or just not plausible. The storyline as a whole was okay, entertaining enough to get me to see it to the end.

My main issues with this book were with the writing style and the characters. The style felt choppy and disjointed and just wasn't appealing to me.  The story involves a huge cast of characters, most of which are unlikable and just awful towards each other, with the exception of Jett who is so "good" in contrast, he feels like an overly wise and angelic voice among them.  At times the other characters (including Flo, the main character) felt so immature and juvenile for their supposed ages,  it had me wondering if this was originally written as a middle grade. I might have been able to forgive a bit more whining, pouting, and childish behavior if they were suppose to be a bit younger. It almost felt like that was the case, and then the decision was made to up their ages, so a little romance, some graphic violence, and a few awkward swear words were thrown in. There were some good emotional moments that showed the characters caring for each other or their plight to find where they belong in the world, but it wasn't enough to overcome my frustration with all of them.  

The villians turn out to be the most obvious choice and though it tries to then make the reader feel a bit of compassion for them, I just wasn't biting. It may just be me, but when the synopsis of a book asks "have they been betrayed by the people they trusted most?", I kind of don't expect that to be the actual outcome.  The ending wraps up this chapter of the characters lives but leave it a bit open for a possible series. Unfortunately neither the story or the characters appealed to me enough to want to follow them into a second adventure.  

Find Kate Ormand online: Website  •  Twitter  •  Instagram

Purchase The Wanderers: Indiebound  •  BookDepository  •  Amazon