by Kay | Jan 12, 2011 | Weekly Feature |
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that are being eagerly anticipated.
Exile by Rebecca Lim
Goodreads – June 9th 2011 (UK, US) by Harper Collins Children’s Books SUMMARY INCLUDES SPOILERS FOR MERCY!
Mercy’s search continues …
Mercy is an angel with a shattered memory, exiled from heaven for a crime she can’t remember committing.
So when she ‘wakes’ inside the body and life of eighteen-year-old Lela Neill, Mercy has only limited recall of her past life. Her strongest memories are of Ryan, the mortal boy who’d begun to fall for her – and she for him.
Mercy soon discovers that circumstances have forced Lela into waitressing at the Green Lantern, a busy city café frequented by suits, cab drivers, strippers, backpackers and the homeless, while caring for her terminally ill mother.
Just as Mercy is adjusting to Lela’s life, her beloved, Luc, reappears in her dreams, and she begins to glimpse her true nature and true feelings for Ryan. What she does not know is that her attempts to contact Ryan may have explosive consequences for everyone around her.
Meanwhile, ‘the Eight’ — the angelic beings responsible for her banishment — remain determined to keep Mercy and Luc apart, forever …
I really, really enjoyed Lim’s first book, Mercy, and am really looking forward to Exile and Muse (the third book in the series). If you haven’t read Mercy yet, I really think you should give it a go. It was – by far – the most angelic book about angels I have read. There have been a lot of angel books in YA as of late, but Mercy takes the cake.
Oh, and in case you are wondering, this is the Australian cover of the book. I’ve seen another cover floating about for the US/UK edition – but was less than impressed.
by Kay | Oct 20, 2010 | Weekly Feature |
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that are being eagerly anticipated.
Enclave by Ann Aguirre
Goodreads – April 12th 2011 by Feiwel & Friends
WELCOME TO THE APOCALYPSE
In Deuce’s world, people earn the right to a name only if they survive their first fifteen years. By that point, each unnamed ‘brat’ has trained into one of three groups-Breeders, Builders, or Hunters, identifiable by the number of scars they bear on their arms.
Deuce has wanted to be a Huntress for as long as she can remember. As a Huntress, her purpose is clear–to brave the dangerous tunnels outside the enclave and bring back meat to feed the group while evading ferocious monsters known as Freaks. She’s worked toward this goal her whole life, and nothing’s going to stop her, not even a beautiful, brooding Hunter named Fade.
When the mysterious boy becomes her partner, Deuce’s troubles are just beginning. Down below, deviation from the rules is punished swiftly and harshly, and Fade doesn’t like following orders. At first she thinks he’s crazy, but as death stalks their sanctuary, and it becomes clear the elders don’t always know best, Deuce wonders if Fade might be telling the truth.
Her partner confuses her; she’s never known a boy like him before, as prone to touching her gently as using his knives with feral grace. As Deuce’s perception shifts, so does the balance in the constant battle for survival. The mindless Freaks, once considered a threat only due to their sheer numbers, show signs of cunning and strategy… but the elders refuse to heed any warnings. Despite imminent disaster, the enclave puts their faith in strictures and sacrifice instead. No matter how she tries, Deuce cannot stem the dark tide that carries her far from the only world she’s ever known.
I adored Ann Aguirre’s Grimspace. I mean, truly, adored it. It was such a welcome breath of fresh air and made me run out and buy the rest of her books. So, Aguirre writing YA? Definitely up my alley. This book has seen a change of cover and title (Razorland), but still has my big fat seal of approval. MUST. READ.
by Kay | Sep 22, 2010 | Weekly Feature |
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that are being eagerly anticipated.
Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton
Goodreads – April 26th, 2011
For Nick Pardee and Silla Kennicot, the cemetery is the center of everything.
Nick is a city boy angry at being forced to move back to the nowhere town of Yaleylah, Missouri where he grew up. He can’t help remembering his mom and the blood magic she practiced – memories he’s tried for five years to escape. Silla, though, doesn’t want to forget; her parents’ apparent murder-suicide left her numb and needing answers. When a book of magic spells in her dad’s handwriting appears on her doorstep, she sees her chance to unravel the mystery of their deaths.
Together they plunge into the world of dark magic, but when a hundred-year-old blood witch comes hunting for the bones of Silla’s parents and the spell book, Nick and Silla will have to let go of everything they believe about who they are, the nature of life and death, and the deadly secrets that hide in blood.
I think everyone and their mother has posted this as their WoW post – but the cover has finally come out and has given us all a chance to squee. So here I am, SQUEEING!
Can we have a show of hands, those of us who think 2011 is going to be fantastic?
by Kay | Sep 1, 2010 | Weekly Feature |
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that are being eagerly anticipated.
Ripple by Mandy Hubbard
Goodreads – YA – July 21st 2011 by Razorbill/Penguin
Eighteen year old Lexi Wentworth is cursed. For as long as she can remember, she’s spent every night swimming. If she doesn’t, she’ll regret it – simply walking will be agony, as if she’s stepping on shattered glass. Her body craves the water, demands the water, until she can’t say no.
But it’s not the swimming that troubles Lexi. It’s the singing that goes with it.When she turned sixteen, her siren song killed the only boy she’s ever loved. Now, she avoids the popular shores of the Pacific in favor of a long forgotten lake up in the mountains, where she can swim and sing in peace, far from the population of her oceanside home.
Until, that is, Cole Mills discovers her lake. He’s new to Lincoln City High, and he doesn’t know about Lexi’s reputation as an ice queen – a reputation she’s carefully cultivated to keep everyone around her safe. He pushes her, talks to her, forces her to dream of what life could be like if she weren’t a siren.
Lexi can’t stop herself from warming to him, from falling for him. Soon, he’s demanding answers, following her to the lake, unknowingly risking his life. How can she keep him safe when the one thing she wants most – to hold him close – will endanger his life?
This book sounds fantastic. I absolutely love the idea of a cursed heroine who can’t be near her new boyfriend for fear of hurting him. It’s inverse Twilight and makes me want to go out and buy it right now. And aren’t the colours on this cover simply stunning? Are those tatoos or scales on her legs? *is intrigued*
by Kay | Aug 25, 2010 | Weekly Feature |
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that are being eagerly anticipated.
Pink by Lili Wilkinson Goodreads – YAFebruary 8th 2011 by HarperCollins PublishersThe pink jumper was glowing in my grey bedroom like a tiny bit of Dorothy’s Oz in boring black-and-white Kansas. Pink was for girls. Ava Simpson is trying on a whole new image. Stripping the black dye from her hair, leaving her uber-cool girlfriend, Chloe, behind. Ava is quickly taken under the wing of perky, popular Alexis who insists that: a) she’s a perfect match for handsome Ethan; and b) she absolutely must audition for the school musical. But while she’s busy trying to fit in – with Chloe, with Alexis and her Pastel friends, even with the misfits in the stage crew – Ava fails to notice that her shiny reinvented life is far more fragile than she imagined.
For some reason I am really attracted to this book. Probably because I love the idea of a character regressing to behaviour that is just not like them – a girl, out and proud, deciding to go backwards instead of forwards. I am also looking forward to the whole “it’s high school, you can still change who you are” aspect of this book. Hope this will be a great read!
