Now I Rise by Kiersten White
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
Publication Date: June 27th, 2017
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Point of View: 3rd Person & Alternative
Recommended Age: 13+
Pacing: Normal
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Alternate History
BLURB:
As nations fall around them, the Dracul siblings must decide: what will they sacrifice to fulfill their destinies? Empires will topple, thrones will be won . . . and souls will be lost. Continue reading
Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
Publication Date: August 30th, 2016
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 13+
Pacing: SUPER slow
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Mental Illness
BLURB:
Charlotte Davis is in pieces. At seventeen she’s already lost more than most people lose in a lifetime. But she’s learned how to forget. The broken glass washes away the sorrow until there is nothing but calm. You don’t have to think about your father and the river. Your best friend, who is gone forever. Or your mother, who has nothing left to give you. Every new scar hardens Charlie’s heart just a little more, yet it still hurts so much. It hurts enough to not care anymore, which is sometimes what has to happen before you can find your way back from the edge. Continue reading
The Flame Never Dies by Rachel Vincent
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
Publication Date: August 16th, 2016
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 13+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Paranormal, Action, Demons
BLURB:
Nina Kane was born to be an exorcist. And since uncovering the horrifying truth—that the war against demons is far from over—seventeen-year-old Nina and her pregnant younger sister, Mellie, have been on the run, incinerating the remains of the demon horde as they go.
In the badlands, Nina, Mellie, and Finn, the fugitive and rogue exorcist who saved her life, find allies in a group of freedom fighters. They also face a new threat: Pandemonia, a city full of demons. But this fresh new hell is the least of Nina’s worries. The well of souls ran dry more than a century ago, drained by the demons secretly living among humans, and without a donor soul, Mellie’s child will die within hours of its birth.
Nina isn’t about to let that happen…even if it means she has to make the ultimate sacrifice. Continue reading
The Girl in the Picture by Alexandra Monir
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
Publication Date: November 15th 2016
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Point of View: 1st Person & Alternative
Recommended Age: 12+
Pacing: Normal
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Mystery, Contemporary, Romance, Boarding School
BLURB:
After high school heartthrob Chace Porter is found dead in the woods near the school, the police are in search of the girl whose picture with Chace is the only clue found amongst his personal belongings. A girl who no one knew was even close to Chace–and whose dormmate, Lana Rivera, was Chace’s girlfriend.
Nicole is that girl and now she’s the primary suspect in his murder.
But what really happened that night? Were Nicole and Chace dating behind Lana’s back; were he and Lana over? Could either of them have killed him?
Told in alternating points of view, that of our suspect, Nicole Morgan, and her former best friend and roommate, Lana Rivera, readers will piece together the story of a starcrossed love, a fractured friendship–and what really happened the night Chace was killed. Continue reading
And I Darken by Kiersten White
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
Publication Date: June 28th, 2016
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Point of View: 3rd Person & Alternative
Recommended Age: 13+
Pacing: Slow
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, War-setting, Family, LGBT, Romance
BLURB:
No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.
Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.
But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.
Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Received: Borrowed
Publicatio Date: April 5th, 2016
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Point of View: 1st Person Feminine
Recommended Age: 13+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, High School, Death, Humor
BLURB:
Everything about Jessie is wrong. At least, that’s what it feels like during her first week of junior year at her new ultra-intimidating prep school in Los Angeles. Just when she’s thinking about hightailing it back to Chicago, she gets an email from a person calling themselves Somebody/Nobody (SN for short), offering to help her navigate the wilds of Wood Valley High School. Is it an elaborate hoax? Or can she rely on SN for some much-needed help?
It’s been barely two years since her mother’s death, and because her father eloped with a woman he met online, Jessie has been forced to move across the country to live with her stepmonster and her pretentious teenage son.
In a leap of faith—or an act of complete desperation—Jessie begins to rely on SN, and SN quickly becomes her lifeline and closest ally. Jessie can’t help wanting to meet SN in person. But are some mysteries better left unsolved?
Julie Buxbaum mixes comedy and tragedy, love and loss, pain and elation, in her debut YA novel filled with characters who will come to feel like friends. Continue reading
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Received: borrowed
Publication Date: June 10th 2014
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Genres & Themes: YA, Supernatural, Witches, Magic, Romance, Action.
BLURB:
If high school is all about social status, Indigo Blackwood has it made. Sure, her quirky mom owns an occult shop, and a nerd just won’t stop trying to be her friend, but Indie is a popular cheerleader with a football-star boyfriend and a social circle powerful enough to ruin everyone at school. Who wouldn’t want to be her?
Then a guy dies right before her eyes. And the dusty old family Bible her mom is freakishly possessive of is stolen. But it’s when a frustratingly sexy stranger named Bishop enters Indie’s world that she learns her destiny involves a lot more than pom-poms and parties. If she doesn’t get the Bible back, every witch on the planet will die. And that’s seriously bad news for Indie, because according to Bishop, she’s a witch too.
Suddenly forced into a centuries-old war between witches and sorcerers, Indie’s about to uncover the many dark truths about her life—and a future unlike any she ever imagined on top of the cheer pyramid.
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