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.

Winterspell

by Claire Legrand

hitting shelves September 30, 2014 from Simon & Schuster

description:

The clock chimes midnight, a curse breaks, and a girl meets a prince . . . but what follows is not all sweetness and sugarplums.

New York City, 1899. Clara Stole, the mayor's ever-proper daughter, leads a double life. Since her mother's murder, she has secretly trained in self-defense with the mysterious Drosselmeyer.

Then, on Christmas Eve, disaster strikes.

Her home is destroyed, her father abducted--by beings distinctly not human. To find him, Clara journeys to the war-ravaged land of Cane. Her only companion is the dethroned prince Nicholas, bound by a wicked curse. If they're to survive, Clara has no choice but to trust him, but his haunted eyes burn with secrets--and a need she can't define. With the dangerous, seductive faery queen Anise hunting them, Clara soon realizes she won't leave Cane unscathed--if she leaves at all.

Inspired by The Nutcracker, Winterspell is a dark, timeless fairy tale about love and war, longing and loneliness, and a girl who must learn to live without fear.

My thoughts: A paranormal YA take on The Nutcracker?? I AM IN. 

 

Becky's View: The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
♦publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
♦release date: March 4th, 2014
♦hardcover, 355 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: Winner's Trilogy, book 1
♦source: from publisher for honest review

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions.

One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin.

But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

Review: A Winner’s Curse is without a doubt one of the most anticipated books of the year among YA readers. And we can all see why:  with lots of early buzz, an enticing story premise, and one perfectly gorgeous cover, it drew us all in.  Marie Rutkoski delivers with writing that is absolutely gorgeous, a world that is intricately built, and two very strong-willed characters to acquaint ourselves with.

While I know many people who absolutely love this one, I found that I did really enjoy it, just not as much as I’d hoped or expected to.  Possibly this one fell victim to overblown hype or high expectations after seeing so many gushing reviews, but I was expecting to swoon like the girl on the cover, to be completely blown away,…and it fell just a little short of that.

Even so, I can’t deny that Marie Rutkoski has some serious writing style.  The language, the descriptions, the imagery, all gorgeously done. What I loved most about this story was Kestrel.  What a great heroine.  She is incredibly sharp, with a mind that her father, the General, covets to strategize his wars. She is determined not to join the military as her father wants and sees past his attempts to manipulate her.  Her passion is music, even though it’s unheard of among the high society.  She is constantly at war with herself, at being who she is within the aristocracy and who she truly is or wants to be inside, especially once Arin comes into her life. I especially loved the conflict and honor she wrestled with once the Herrani revolution began.

The love story took a long time for me to buy into, I loved Kestrel and Arin separately and each of their strength and spirit, but it took me a while to see why they would be so drawn to one another.  Still, by the middle of the story, I was rooting for them.

There is a good bit of history of the Herrani and the Valorians, and of Kestrel and Arin’s own lives, and sometimes I found it interesting, and sometimes I felt it drag a bit.  There is also extensive description of war strategy, which were exciting at times, but I admit my mind wandered a bit.  I found the pacing in the first half to be much slower than the second---it’s definitely the explosive events of the second half that really caught my attention and kept me reading to the end.

The Winner’s Curse is a beautiful intense story, one that I will most likely continue because the end leaves us at a great setup for both characters about to take on new adventures.  If there is one thing for sure, this taste of Rutkoski’s writing has left me hungry for more, and I’ll be seeking out her other work from now on.

Find Marie Rutkoski online:  Website  •  Twitter 

Purchase The Winner's Curse:  Amazon  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound

New Shelf Goodies & The Weekly Nutshell {81}

For New Shelf Goodies, I'll be showing you what lovely books I acquired this week, whether from publishers, or the library, or from whatever half-crazed book-buying binge I happened to go on. :D (Inspired by Tynga's Stacking the Shelves) The Weekly Nutshell will be just that...my week here at Stories & Sweeties, in a nutshell. (inspired by Ginger @ GReads and her recaps at the end of the TGIF posts)

It was a week of stand-out covers in my mailbox! 

 For review:

The Violet Hour by Whitney Miller
Cults and mind powers and horror...creepy.

Eleanor by Johnny Worthen
I was told this had a native american folklore twist to it..couldn't resist. 

Great by Sara Benincasa 
Gatsy retelling. Really excited for this one. 

 (Don't You) Forget About Me by Kate Karyus Quinn
Oh my, this looks eerie and so good.

Gifted:

Rain by Amanda Sun 
I was so excited about the first book, but never got to it. I will have to tacked them both!

Dark World by Cara Lynn Shultz
I Wow'ed this one a few weeks ago. Looks really fun. 

Many thanks to Flux Books, Jolly Fish Press, & Harper Teen for these!

The Weekly Nutshell: 
{Monday} Cover Story
{Tuesday} Waiting on Wednesday: Love, Lucy by April Lindner
{Wednesday} Review: Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski

Slow week. There was suppose to be one more review up this week on Friday, but guys, I literally sat in front of a blank page for an hour on Thursday trying to write this review and when I did get a few paragraphs out, it was just not coming out right.  Ever have a review that just refuses to be written? LOL  So I cut myself a break and let it slide until next week.
This week I started reading The Taking by Kimberly Derting. Really enjoying it so far---the beginning reminded me of the old Disney movie, Flight of the Navigator, and that made me so nostalgic.  I must have watched that movie a hundred times when I was little! :)

Hope everyone had a great week! :D
 

Becky's View: Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski

Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynoski
♦publisher: Delacorte Press
♦release date: March 11th, 2014
♦hardcover, 336 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone
♦source: from publisher for honest review

We weren't always like this. We used to be average New York City high school sophomores. Until our homeroom went for flu shots. We were prepared for some side effects. Maybe a headache. Maybe a sore arm. We definitely didn't expect to get telepathic powers. But suddenly we could hear what everyone was thinking. Our friends. Our parents. Our crushes. Now we all know that Tess is in love with her best friend, Teddy. That Mackenzie cheated on Cooper. That, um, Nurse Carmichael used to be a stripper.

Since we've kept our freakish skill a secret, we can sit next to the class brainiac and ace our tests. We can dump our boyfriends right before they dump us. We know what our friends really think of our jeans, our breath, our new bangs. We always know what's coming. Some of us will thrive. Some of us will crack. None of us will ever be the same.
So stop obsessing about your ex. We're always listening.

Review: With such a crazy and unusual premise, I went into this book knowing there were going to be some hilarious moments.  I was not disappointed, and this story is so much more than that.  These poor kids, just trying to get through the daily high school grind: parents, dating, flirting, looks, weight issues, friends, enemies…we’ve all been there, we know it’s plenty hard enough as it is. Already in real high school life, privacy is hard to come by with the way news spreads in a school situation.  But imagine if what little privacy you had was gone.  Everyone could hear your every thought, and you were forced to listen to every opinion around you. UGH.  

For the kids of homeroom 10B, that’s exactly what life has become. They are all very different people, some of them friends, some not so much, but they have to band together to figure out how to handle their new powers and how to keep everyone from finding out so they don’t end up as guinea pigs, or worse.  Some will use it to their advantage, some will let dark secrets slip, and some will find their whole world crumbling around them.  A lot of it is pretty humorous, but their powers also bring about some very tough and touching moments.  They can’t hide, but they also see through every lie, and they’ll all soon find out that that can be a blessing or a curse. 

The story is told as if the group, "The Espies" as they start to call themselves, is relaying how it all started.  Mostly told in third person, it would sometimes drop into a first person "we" perspective. Something dramatic would happen to one of them and they would all weigh in.  It was a really cute and unique way to tell the story, but it can feel a bit odd until you get used to it.  You really get to know this wide variety of characters (much more than they would want you to, I’m sure!), though I admit that at times there are so many of them its hard to keep track of who is who. But you can’t help but feel for their various mishaps and scandals and heartbreaks set off by this mysterious side effect. 

Don’t Even Think About It is just a really enjoyable read.  I definitely recommend this one next time you’re in the mood for something with a perfect mix of a few good laughs and just a touch of tough emotional subjects. Or perhaps the next time you get a flu shot---it will make you grateful all you get from it is a stick in the arm!

Find Sarah Mlynowski online: Web  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase Don't Even Think About It: 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.

 

 

Love, Lucy 

by April Lindner

 

hitting shelves January 15, 2015

from Poppy

 

description:

While backpacking through Florence, Italy, during the summer before she heads off to college, 17-year-old Lucy Sommersworth finds herself falling in love with the culture, the architecture, the food...and Jesse Palladino, a handsome street musician. After a whirlwind romance, Lucy returns home, determined to move on from her "vacation flirtation." But just because summer is over doesn't mean Lucy and Jesse are over, too.

Inspired by E.M. Forster's A Room with a View.

 

My thoughts:  Now, I never did get to read April Lindner's Catherine, but I absolutely ADORED Jane, her take on Jane Eyre.  This author has got a real knack for brilliant retellings of classic literature. So I'm excited for more.   And the cover...perfection.

Cover Story

I spied some new fantastic covers this week!

Mojave Green

by The Brother's Washburn

Jolly Fish Press, October 7th, 2014

Drowned

by Nichola Reilly

Harlequin Teen, June 24, 2014

The Halcyon Bird

by Kat Beyer

Egmont USA, November 11, 2014

The Last Good Day of the Year
by Jessica Warman
Walker Books, September 9, 2014

Maid of Deception

by Jennifer McGowan

Simon & Schuster,  August 26, 2014

 

Messenger of Fear

by Michael Grant

Katherine Tegan Books, September 23, 2014

The Furies

by Mark Alpert

Thomas Dunne Books, April 22, 2014

Vampires of Manhattan

by Melissa De La Cruz

Hyperion, September 9, 2014

Mojave Green's cover freaks me out just as much as the first book did! But I love it.  I love the colors on The Furies.  And the new cover style for the Maid of Secrets/Maid of Deception series is defintiley growing on me.  What do YOU think of these new book covers?

New Shelf Goodies & The Weekly Nutshell {80}

For New Shelf Goodies, I'll be showing you what lovely books I acquired this week, whether from publishers, or the library, or from whatever half-crazed book-buying binge I happened to go on. :D (Inspired by Tynga's Stacking the Shelves) The Weekly Nutshell will be just that...my week here at Stories & Sweeties, in a nutshell. (inspired by Ginger @ GReads and her recaps at the end of the TGIF posts)

Here's what's new to my shelves this week:

 Bought: 

The Seers by Julianna Scott
Book one of this series actually made it to my top books list for 2013...can't wait to start this!

For Review: 

Dead Silent by Sharon Jones
 Dead Jealous started this series off great, and this one looks even better!

The Mirk and Midnight Hour by Jane Nickerson
 Looking forward to another eerie atmospheric read like Strands of Bronze and Gold!

Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski
Nice to have a finished copy! I reviewed the ARC and that will be up this week!

Never Ending by Martyn Bedford
This looks really good--though the character that is dead shares my youngest son's name...not sure I could handle that. :(

Kissing in Italian by Lauren Henderson

This looks really cute---I haven't read this author before!

Many thanks to Hachette UK and Random House for these!

The Weekly Nutshell 

{Tuesday} Waiting on Wednesday: The Last Changeling
{Wednesday} Review: Dorothy Must Die
{Friday} Review: Tsarina

 Aw, guys, it's daylight savings time here in the US...and not the good one where we gain an hour (another reason I favor fall lol) but the crappy one where we "spring ahead" and lose a precious hour of sleep. Boooo.  This week I read Don't Even Think About It---such a cute story so look out for my review this week. And I'm half-way through Winner's Curse, and I hate to admit I'm not enjoying it as much as I'd hoped. I know I'm in the minority on this one, so I can't help but wonder if it's just me! LOL  Maybe I'm distracted or I'm missing something...it's good so far, just not great.  Maybe the second half will amaze me...here's hoping. 

So that's my week in books---hope everyone has a great week coming up!