“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that are being eagerly anticipated.
Public Enemies by Ann Aguirre
Goodreads – Paranormal YA – August 4th 2015 by Feiwel & Friends
In Book 2 of the Immortal Game trilogy, Edie must learn the rules of the game . . . and then play better than anyone else.
Through a Faustian bargain, Edie Kramer has been pulled into the dangerous world of the Immortal Game, where belief makes your nightmares real. Hungry for sport, fears-made-flesh are always raising the stakes. To them, human lives are less than nothing, just pieces on a board.
Because of her boyfriend Kian’s sacrifice, she’s operating under the mysterious Harbinger’s aegis, but his patronage could prove as fatal as the opposition. Raw from deepest loss, she’s terrified over the deal Kian made for her. Though her very public enemies keep sending foot soldiers–mercenary monsters committed to her destruction–she’s not the one playing under a doom clock. Kian has six months…unless Edie can save him. And this is a game she can’t bear to lose.
OK, it is WAY too soon to be featuring Ann Aguirre on my WoW again but… JFC THIS COVER! I just spotted it today and HAD to feature it! Even if Aguirre weren’t already one of my auto-buy authors, this book would be on my list. What can I say, I am a sucker for a great cover!
Edie Kramer has a score to settle with the beautiful people at Blackbriar Academy. Their cruelty drove her to the brink of despair, and four months ago, she couldn’t imagine being strong enough to face her senior year. But thanks to a Faustian compact with the enigmatic Kian, she has the power to make the bullies pay. She’s not supposed to think about Kian once the deal is done, but devastating pain burns behind his unearthly beauty, and he’s impossible to forget.
In one short summer, her entire life changes, and she sweeps through Blackbriar, prepped to take the beautiful people down from the inside. A whisper here, a look there, and suddenly… bad things are happening. It’s a heady rush, seeing her tormentors get what they deserve, but things that seem too good to be true usually are, and soon, the pranks and payback turns from delicious to deadly. Edie is alone in a world teeming with secrets and fiends lurking in the shadows. In this murky morass of devil’s bargains, she isn’t sure who—or what–she can trust. Not even her own mind…
OMG a new Ann Aguirre book! Having finished her YA Enclave trilogy – which I loved – I am super super excited about her coming out with MORE YA novels. She is one of my all-time favourite authors.
Down below, she was considered an adult. Now, topside in a town called Salvation, she’s a brat in need of training in the eyes of the townsfolk. She doesn't fit in with the other girls: Deuce only knows how to fight.
To make matters worse, her Hunter partner, Fade, keeps Deuce at a distance. Her feelings for Fade haven’t changed, but he seems not to want her around anymore. Confused and lonely, she starts looking for a way out.
Deuce signs up to serve in the summer patrols—those who make sure the planters can work the fields without danger. It should be routine, but things have been changing on the surface, just as they did below ground. The Freaks have grown smarter. They’re watching. Waiting. Planning. The monsters don’t intend to let Salvation survive, and it may take a girl like Deuce to turn back the tide.
Thoughts: I loved Outpost. It was rough, tough, gritty and glorious.
Ann Aguirre is one of those authors whose works I end up hoarding. I want to keep her books for “rainy days” because her work is flawless. But sometimes this hoarding can lead to me disliking a book, because I’ll have waited too long and end up not remembering a thing. I adored Enclave when I read it in 2011, but that was a whopping 2.5 years ago. Perhaps I wouldn’t fall back in love with Deuce and Fade? Perhaps I should have read this book last year when my memory was still fresh? *frets*
Luckily, this was not the case! Despite taking a 2+ year break from the Razorland series, I fell straight back into sync after only 5 or so pages. Aguirre does a great job at reminding you of previous events – using some strategic-and-short flashbacks and some seamless references – without making it feel like she is Reminding You (TM).
Anyhow, on to the book.
Deuce has started to work her way up my list of all time favourite heroines. She is courageous, kind in her own way and possesses a level of pragmatism that I envy. She understands those who hate her, though she won’t let them get in her way. She doesn’t let a bit of emotional turmoil stop her, and she certainly won’t let some man “own” her. She is also developing from the soldier she was trained to be: thinking for herself, and not accepting things at face value. This girl is a leader.
Deuce is also confident in her romantic feelings, thank god almighty. Yes, there is a “romantic triangle” of a sort in Outpost, but it is not a psychological triangle. Deuce always knows what she wants, which made me accept and even enjoy the wee bit of romantic tension that played out in Outpost.
Moving away from Deuce’s awesomeness, Outpost was also a fantastically plotty novel. We learn a whole lot more about the origins of Aguirre’s post-apocalyptic world and we gain some amazingly creepy insight into the “Freaks”. Just… OMG. I really, really, really need to know more. It kills me that there is only one book left in this trilogy, because I want a prequel, a sequel and a tie-in novel.
There was also a wealth of wonderful secondary characters and sub-plots in Outpost. A lot is going on in the background and we get to see peaks of it all through Deuce’s eyes. Aguirre has built a fantastically complex world; you can tell there’s a backstory behind every little detail. Now that’s my kind of storyteller.
Bottom line? This is my first 5 star rating of the year, and I’d give it six stars if I could. Brilliant book in a brilliant series.
Outpost Audiobook
Thanks to Outpost’s publishers, I am happy to be including an fabulous 10 min excerpt from the audiobook version of Outpost. Give it a listen!
One of my resolutions for 2013 was to “read my favourites” – the books from series I loved that I hoarded away for a “rainy day”. What’s the point in keeping those books if I am not going to read them, you ask? … Fair point.
So this month, I am going to read the final books from the trilogies and series that I’ve loved. A lot of these books are going to elicit the reaction “OMG YOU HAVEN’T READ THAT YET?!” but… don’t judge me! As I mentioned in my resolutions post: I kinda have a problem.
The ones that have been on the shelves… a while:
Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead – This is one of those series I loved so much I physically couldn’t pick it up. Instead, I checked out spoilers when it came out because the Rose/Dmitri/Adrian thing was too painful to sit through. I should really know better by now!
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater – Again, stop it with the judging.
Endgame by Ann Aguirre – I don’t want it to end!!!!
The Rising by Kelley Armstrong (not pictured) – I don’t know what my life is going to be like without a Darkest Powers/Darkness Rising release every year. No, really. I am rather at a loss.
Just putting this list together has made me rather emotional. Why must things end?? Why can’t writers just keep going and going and going? Why can’t my book series just continue on forever like Eastenders?? Why??
Michael Fassbender knows my pain.
To be honest, these aren’t even all my last-in-a-series books… I have more that I haven’t gotten to that I’ve left out out of fear of this post becoming a “confessions of book blogger”. On a happier note, if you are looking for a series/trilogy that I whole-heartedly recommend, check out any of these. They are all 5 star reads that deserve all the love they can get!
2012 was actually a very busy year for me, reading-wise…. but not book-wise! I read a lot of fanfiction – 98% of it absolutely brilliant – and only a few books. Truth is, most of the books I picked up I did not enjoy. I have quite a big pile of books in my room half-read… including some from series I adore.
But there have been some great books in 2012. Here’s a wrap-up of them all with the help of The End of the Year Book Survey hosted at Perpetual Page Turner!
1. Best Book You Read In 2012?
There are three that come to mind immediately… but I’d have to say If I Die by Rachel Vincent. One of the reasons I loved this book so much was because it was such a surprise – I expected a good-or-just-OK novel, and instead got a brilliant one.
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
Easy: The Shadow Reader by Sandy Williams. God, this book was just so frustrating. I had read so many great reviews of the book but found riddled with cliches and featuring the most idiotic of love triangles. Never got round to reviewing it as I couldn’t face revisiting it…
3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012?
Darkness Falls by Cate Tiernan – I enjoyed the first book in this series, but didn’t think it anything special. This book proved me wrong!
4. Book you recommended to people most in 2012?
The Soul Screamers series, by far.
5. Best series you discovered in 2012?
The Wallflowers series by Lisa Kleypas – I am not really a romance reader, let alone a historical romance reader… but the first two books in this series were just SO entertaining and well written.
6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2012?
Again, Lisa Kleypas.
7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?
I’d say the Vampire Academy graphic novel. I was my first full-length graphic novel ever, and I really enjoyed it!
8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2012?
Instead of a single book, I’d say the entire Soul Screamers Series by Rachel Vincent. Even in my reading slump, I devoured these.
9. Book You Read In 2012 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year.
Probably A Study in Scarlet by ACD – it’s a classic for a reason.
10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2012?
The UK cover of Muse by Rebecca Lim, by FAR.
11. Most memorable character in 2012?
I adored Mercy Thompson in River Marked by Patricia Briggs this year. She has always been exceptional, but she was even more badass in that book.
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2012?
Meh… none of them. All great – none “beautiful”.
13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012?
I’d say Pure Blood by Caitlin Kitteredge… and not for a good reason. I loved the first book in this series, but this book made me want to hit things. That it came after reading two other UF novels with similar female leads didn’t help…
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2012 to finally read?
Doubleblind by Ann Aguirre. I had adored the first two books in the Jax series, and I wish I had dived into the sequels sooner!
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2012?
“What you do in this world is a matter of no consequence. The question is what can you make people believe you have done.” – A Study in Scarlet
16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2012?
I think the longest book I read this year was actually only half a book: A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin. I read the first 500 pages, but put it down as it was getting horribly depressing… The shortest would have to be Mercy Thompson: Homecoming by Patricia Briggs (graphic novel).
17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!
The scene with Faythe and Jace in Prey by Rachel Vincent – I knew it was coming but… WTF?!
18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2012 (be it romantic, friendship, etc).
Vel and Jax in the Sirantha Jax series – I heart these two SO MUCH, even in spite of one of them being a bug alien… rather impressive, me thinks.
19. Favorite Book You Read in 2012 From An Author You Read Previously.
River Marked by Patricia Briggs: the woman is a legend for a reason.
20. Best Book You Read That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else.
It is really rare for me to read a book without first getting a recommendation from someone… so, all of them.
Public Enemies by Ann Aguirre
Outpost by 
One of my 
2012 was actually a very busy year for me, reading-wise…. but not book-wise! I read a lot of fanfiction – 98% of it absolutely brilliant – and only a few books. Truth is, most of the books I picked up I did not enjoy. I have quite a big pile of books in my room half-read… including some from series I adore.
