Stories & Sweeties: skyscape

Showing posts with label skyscape. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

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 Casquette Girls

by Alys Arden

hitting shelves November 17th, 2015

from Skyscape

Seven girls tied by time.
Five powers that bind.
One curse to lock the horror away.
One attic to keep the monsters at bay.

After the storm of the century rips apart New Orleans, sixteen-year-old Adele Le Moyne wants nothing more than her now silent city to return to normal. But with home resembling a war zone, a parish-wide curfew, and mysterious new faces lurking in the abandoned French Quarter, normal needs a new definition.

As the city murder rate soars, Adele finds herself tangled in a web of magic that weaves back to her own ancestors. Caught in a hurricane of myths and monsters, who can she trust when everyone has a secret and keeping them can mean life or death? Unless . . . you’re immortal.

My thoughts: A southern gothic horror story with myths and monsters and magic in the French Quarter...Yes, please. :)

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

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.

Gateway to Fourline

by Pam Brondos

hitting shelves December 1st, 2015

from Skyscape

Years before, a gateway opened between their world and ours. Sending one young woman through may be the key to survival for the kingdom of Fourline.

Strapped for cash, college student Natalie Barns agrees to take a job at a costume shop. Sure, Estos—her classmate who works in the shop—is a little odd, but Nat needs the money for her tuition.

Then she stumbles through the mysterious door behind the shop—and her entire universe transforms.

Discovering there’s far more to Estos than she ever imagined, Nat gets swept up in an adventure to save his homeland, an incredible world filled with decaying magic, deadly creatures, and a noble resistance of exiled warriors battling dark forces. As she struggles with her role in an epic conflict and wrestles with her growing affection for a young rebel, Soris, Nat quickly learns that nothing may go as planned…and her biggest challenge may be surviving long enough to make it home.

My thoughts: This sounds like such a fun fantasy!! I hadn't heard of this one until just today, and the protaganist is college age, which I guess makes this NA, not YA? Regardless, this looks wildly entertaining and I'll definitely be checking this out!

Friday, October 3, 2014

Gates of Thread and Stone by Lori M. Lee {review}

Gates of Thread and Stone
by Lori M. Lee
♦publisher: Skyscape
♦release date: August 5th, 2014
♦hardcover, 335 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: Gates of Thread and Stone, book 1
♦source: from publisher for honest review

In the Labyrinth, we had a saying: keep silent, keep still, keep safe.

In a city of walls and secrets, where only one man is supposed to possess magic, seventeen-year-old Kai struggles to keep hidden her own secret—she can manipulate the threads of time. When Kai was eight, she was found by Reev on the riverbank, and her “brother” has taken care of her ever since. Kai doesn’t know where her ability comes from—or where she came from. All that matters is that she and Reev stay together, and maybe one day move out of the freight container they call home, away from the metal walls of the Labyrinth. Kai’s only friend is Avan, the shopkeeper’s son with the scandalous reputation that both frightens and intrigues her.

Then Reev disappears. When keeping silent and safe means losing him forever, Kai vows to do whatever it takes to find him. She will leave the only home she’s ever known and risk getting caught up in a revolution centuries in the making. But to save Reev, Kai must unravel the threads of her past and face shocking truths about her brother, her friendship with Avan, and her unique power.

Review: Gates of Thread and Stone is a true high fantasy, with a detailed world built from the ground up. There are hints that it is a futuristic society, with mentions of “how things used to be” that sound like the world of today, but the world that this story plays out in is definitely unique. I found it worked both for this story and against it, as it takes a while to really get into the thick of the story and get really immersed in the world, but once it takes hold, it’s really quite fascinating and immensely creative.

I loved Kia's determination and her close relationship with her adoptive brother who raised her. She never stops trusting in their bond, and that is what drives the story and her quest to find him after he suddenly disappears. She is never deterred from saving him, and can never be convinced that he is lost to her, even when things look pretty grim. The love interest, Avan even mentions feeling like there may be no room in her heart for anything else. I did like the romance in this one especially with Kai and Avan’s long history together. There is a tiny bit of a love triangle---not sure if we’ll see more of that develop in the future of this series, especially with the way this one ended!

The description of her power to hold the threads of time was also really good and a unique gift to have, especially in a perilous moment! Plus I love how it tied in to the mythology of the tale, a really well-thought out heirarchy of immortals that control death, famine, time, etc.

The pace of the story is up and down. It's compelling and exciting as they set off on their journey, but after they get where they are going and make a few interesting discoveries, there is a bit of a long lull. I find this often happens in stories where the hero has to go through some sort of training and then they are just waiting around for the next phase while picking up bits of backstory. It picks up again as they set their plan of attack into motion and barrels into an action-packed, suspenseful, and surprising ending. As a matter of fact, it was just enough of a lift in the last third of the book to convince me to continue with this series! I recommend giving this one a try---it's a solid start for this high fantasy series.

Find Lori M. Lee online: Website • Twitter • Facebook

Purchase Gates of Thread and Stone: Indiebound • Bookdepository • BN.com

Friday, August 15, 2014

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?

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

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.

Ticker

by Lisa Mantchev

hitting shelves December 1st, 2014 from Skyscape

description:

A girl with a clockwork heart makes every second count.

When Penny Farthing nearly died, the brilliant surgeon Calvin Warwick managed to implant a brass “Ticker,” transforming her into “the first of the Augmented!” But soon it was discovered that Warwick kidnapped and killed dozens of people striving to perfect another Ticker for Penny.

The last day of Warwick’s trial, the Farthing factory is bombed, Warwick disappears, and Penny and her brother, Nic, receive a ransom demand for all of their Augmentation notes if they want to see their parents again. Who is trying to stop their work? Or to control it? Or is the motive more sinister?

Determined to solve the mystery and reunite their family, the Farthings recruit their closest friends: fiery baker Violet Nesselrode and gentleman-about-town Sebastian Stirling. Unexpectedly leading the charge is Marcus Kingsley, the young army general who has his own reasons for wanting to lift the veil between this world and the next. Wagers are placed, friends are lost, romance stages an ambush, and time is running out for the girl with the clockwork heart.

My thoughts: Yay for more from this wonderful author! Her Theatre Illuminata was a most bizarre and mezmerizing series, and I loved it! I can't wait to see what she does with a steampunk setting! :)

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

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.

Gates of Thread and Stone

by Lori M. Lee

hitting shelves August 5th from Skyscape

description:
In the Labyrinth, we had a saying: keep silent, keep still, keep safe.

In a city of walls and secrets, where only one man is supposed to possess magic, seventeen-year-old Kai struggles to keep hidden her own secret—she can manipulate the threads of time. When Kai was eight, she was found by Reev on the riverbank, and her “brother” has taken care of her ever since. Kai doesn’t know where her ability comes from—or where she came from. All that matters is that she and Reev stay together, and maybe one day move out of the freight container they call home, away from the metal walls of the Labyrinth. Kai’s only friend is Avan, the shopkeeper’s son with the scandalous reputation that both frightens and intrigues her.

Then Reev disappears. When keeping silent and safe means losing him forever, Kai vows to do whatever it takes to find him. She will leave the only home she’s ever known and risk getting caught up in a revolution centuries in the making. But to save Reev, Kai must unravel the threads of her past and face shocking truths about her brother, her friendship with Avan, and her unique power.

My thoughts: Gorgeous cover!! Wow. This will be one that I have to have on my shelves just for the prettiness alone! As for the story, it sounds amazing as well. So curious about her time-weaving powers and her origins and this sketchy shopkeeper! LOL Very excited for this one!

Monday, April 21, 2014

Cover Story

For all of us who just spent the day munching on Peeps and chocolate bunnies, I thought some eye candy was in order :)

And for everyone else, too :D