One Word Kill – Mark Lawrence

One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Thomas Allen & Son
Published: May 2019
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Recommended Age: 12+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Friendship Dynamics

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REVIEW:

This is a cool, nerdy book. I don’t remember the last time I said that about a book, but despite some atrocious events that happen in the story, I would have liked to be part of Nick’s crew and play Dungeons & Dragons with him and his friends.

Mystery of the Ghost Ship – Philip Pullman

The Adventures of John Blake: Mystery of the Ghost Ship by Philip Pullman

My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
Publication Date: May 30th, 2017
Publisher: Graphix
Recommended Age: 13+
Pacing: Slow
Genres & Themes: Graphic Novel, Time Travel

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BLURB:

Trapped in the mists of time by a terrible research experiment gone wrong, John Blake and his mysterious ship are doomed to sail between the centuries, searching for a way home. In the ocean of the modern day, John rescues a shipwrecked young girl his own age, Serena, and promises to help.

But returning Serena to her own time means traveling to the one place where the ship is in most danger of destruction. The all-powerful Dahlberg Corporation has an ambitious leader with plans far greater and more terrible than anyone has realized, and he is hot on their trail. For only John, Serena, and the crew know Dahlberg’s true intentions, and only they have the power to stop him from bending the world to his will . . .

Review: The Devil’s Intern by Donna Hosie

The Devil’s Intern by Donna Hosie

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: Thomas Allen & Son
Publication Date: August 31st 2014
Publisher: Holiday House
Point of View: 1st Person & Masculine
Recommended Age: 13+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Death, Fantasy, Time Travel, Romance, Humor

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BLURB:

“How did you die?”

It’s the most popular question in Hell, and Mitchell Johnson has been answering it ever since he was hit by a bus at age seventeen and inexplicably ended up in the Underworld. Now Mitchell is The Devil’s intern in Hell’s accounting office. Lately, he’s noticed a disturbing trend: the volume of new arrivals is straining Hell’s limited resources. Then Mitchell overhears his boss discussing plans to limit newcomers with a legendary time travel mechanism. With a device like that, Mitchell realizes, he could change history and prevent his own death.

Mitchell’s plot goes awry when his three closest friends—Alfarin, the Viking prince; Elinor, from 17th-century London; and Melissa, from 1960s San Francisco—insert themselves into his plans. It soon becomes clear that the fates of all four are entwined in dangerous and unpredictable ways. With unforgettable characters and a thrilling premise, this original novel is by turns funny, poignant, and thought-provoking.

Review: Saving Hamlet by Molly Booth

Saving Hamlet by Molly Booth

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Hachette Book Group Canada
Publication Date: November 1st, 2016
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 12+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Time-Travel, First Love, Drama Club, LGBT

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BLURB:

Emma Allen couldn’t be more excited to start her sophomore year. Not only is she the assistant stage manager for the drama club’s production of Hamlet, but her crush Brandon is directing, and she’s rocking a new haircut that’s sure to get his attention. But soon after school starts, everything goes haywire. Emma’s promoted to stage manager with zero experience, her best friend Lulu stops talking to her, and Josh–the adorable soccer boy who’s cast as the lead–turns out to be a disaster. It’s up to Emma to fix it all, but she has no clue where to start.

One night after rehearsal, Emma stays behind to think through her life’s latest crises and distractedly falls through the stage’s trap door . . . landing in the basement of the Globe Theater.

Waiting on Wednesday (#14)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly post created by Breaking the Spine that features our most anticipated books to be released.

When I first saw this book, I didn’t think much of it, but then I saw that it incorporates the steampunk genre (which we need more of) and the LGBT theme (which we need a lot more of!) so now I’m extremely excited for this book.

Review: The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood

The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: Raincoast Books
Publication Date: May 3rd 2016
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Point of View: 1st Person Feminine
Recommended Age: 12+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Time-Travel, Romance, Family

BLURB:

This is what it means to love someone. This is what it means to grieve someone. It’s a little bit like a black hole. It’s a little bit like infinity.

Gottie H. Oppenheimer is losing time. Literally. When the fabric of the universe around her seaside town begins to fray, she’s hurtled through wormholes to her past:

To last summer, when her grandfather Grey died. To the afternoon she fell in love with Jason, who wouldn’t even hold her hand at the funeral. To the day her best friend Thomas moved away and left her behind with a scar on her hand and a black hole in her memory.

Although Grey is still gone, Jason and Thomas are back, and Gottie’s past, present, and future are about to collide—and someone’s heart is about to be broken.

With time travel, quantum physics, and sweeping romance, The Square Root of Summer is an exponentially enthralling story about love, loss, and trying to figure it all out, from stunning debut YA voice, Harriet Reuter Hapgood.

Review: The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: Borrowed
Publication Date: January 26th 2016
Publisher: Razorbill
Point of View: 1st Person Feminine
Recommended Age: 12+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Soulmates, Time-Travel, Family, Ghosts

BLURB:

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.

Review: Dissonance (Dissonance #1) by Erica O’Rourke

Dissonance by Erica O’Rourke

My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Received: bought
Publication Date: July 22nd 2014
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Pacing: fast
POV: 1st person & female
Genres & Themes: YA, Science Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Time-Travel, Secrets.

BLURB:

Delancy Sullivan has always known there’s more to reality than what people see. Every time someone makes a choice, a new, parallel world branches off from the existing one. Eating breakfast or skipping it, turning left instead of right, sneaking out instead of staying in bed ~ all of these choices create an alternate universe in which an echo self takes the road not travelled and makes the opposite decision. As a Walker, someone who can navigate between these worlds, Del’s job is to keep all of the dimensions in harmony.

Normally, Del can hear the dissonant frequency that each world emits as clear as a bell. But when a training session in an off-key world goes horribly wrong, she is forbidden from Walking by the Council. But Del’s not big on following the rules and she secretly starts to investigate these other worlds. Something strange is connecting them and it’s not just her random encounters with echo versions of the guy she likes, Simon Lane.

But Del’s decisions have unimaginable consequences and, as she begins to fall for the Echo Simons in each world, she draws closer to a truth that the Council of Walkers is trying to hide ~ a secret that threatens the fate of the entire multiverse.

Review of Carnelian by B. Kristin McMichael

Carnelian by B. Kristin McMichael

My rating: 1 of 5 stars
I know some people have in mind to be more fond/easy on indie authors because of obvious reasons. Unfortunately, I am not one of those. For me, a book is a book and each one of them has to be treated equally. You can agree or you can not agree, but I’m staying with this rating anyway and with that thought as well. I believe full honesty from reviewers is the best way for them (authors in general) to overcome their weaknesses.

Carnelian has such a beautiful cover and a plot that seems promising.

I have been fooled once more needless to say.