Category Archives: Young Adult

Review: The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

14 September, 2015 4:49 am , 8 Comments ,

18798983The Wrath and the Dawn
(The Wrath and the Dawn, #1)
By: Renee Ahdieh
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Published: May 12, 2015
Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating:
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Goodreads

One Life to One Dawn.

In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad’s dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph’s reign of terror once and for all.

Night after night, Shahrzad beguiles Khalid, weaving stories that enchant, ensuring her survival, though she knows each dawn could be her last. But something she never expected begins to happen: Khalid is nothing like what she’d imagined him to be. This monster is a boy with a tormented heart. Incredibly, Shahrzad finds herself falling in love. How is this possible? It’s an unforgivable betrayal. Still, Shahrzad has come to understand all is not as it seems in this palace of marble and stone. She resolves to uncover whatever secrets lurk and, despite her love, be ready to take Khalid’s life as retribution for the many lives he’s stolen. Can their love survive this world of stories and secrets?

 

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Posted in: YA Fantasy , Tagged:

Excerpt: The Angel Killer by Lisa Voisin

27 August, 2015 3:17 am , 3 Comments ,

nSJj1xQy39b_89AoQL_Glw17h8XBBakiMNsu-5QyCVAThe Angel Killer
(The Watcher Saga, #2)
By: Lisa Voisin
Publisher: InkSpell Publishing
Published: Jan. 5, 2015
Genre: Paranormal YA
Goodreads

Now that she’s found him again, all Mia Crawford wants is some downtime with her fallen angel boyfriend, Michael. But the call of duty keeps him away—from school and from her—with more demons to smite than ever.

When Michael is mortally wounded by a cursed sword, Mia must perform an ancient blood ritual to save him. But the spell exacts a price. Haunted by visions of war, torture, and despair, Mia discovers the world is in more danger than she ever imagined. Behind the scenes, an evil adversary pulls all the strings.

After redemption, there’s Hell to pay.

 

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Posted in: Excerpt, YA Fantasy , Tagged:

Review: Zeroboxer by Fonda Lee

24 August, 2015 7:03 am , 8 Comments ,

20320562Zeroboxer
By: Fonda Lee
Publisher: Flux
Published: April 8, 2015
Genre: Sci-fi YA
Rating:
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Goodreads

A rising star in the weightless combat sport of zeroboxing, Carr “the Raptor” Luka dreams of winning the championship title. Recognizing his talent, the Zero Gravity Fighting Association assigns Risha, an ambitious and beautiful Martian colonist, to be his brandhelm––a personal marketing strategist. It isn’t long before she’s made Carr into a popular celebrity and stolen his heart along the way.

As his fame grows, Carr becomes an inspirational hero on Earth, a once-great planet that’s fallen into the shadow of its more prosperous colonies. But when Carr discovers a far-reaching criminal scheme, he becomes the keeper of a devastating secret. Not only will his choices place everything he cares about in jeopardy, but they may also spill the violence from the sports arena into the solar system.

 

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Posted in: YA Sci-fi , Tagged: ,

Review: The 100 by Kass Morgan

29 July, 2015 4:41 am , 6 Comments ,

17332969The 100
(The Hundred, #1)
By: Kass Morgan
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: Sept. 3, 2013
Genre: YA Distopian
Rating:
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Goodreads

NO ONE HAS SET FOOT ON EARTH IN CENTURIES – UNTIL NOW.

Ever since a devastating nuclear war, humanity has lived on spaceships far above Earth’s radioactive surface. Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents – considered expendable by society – are being sent on a dangerous mission: to recolonize the planet. It could be their second chance at life… or it could be a suicide mission.

Clark was arrested for treason, though she’s haunted by the memory of what she really did. Wells, the chancellor’s son, came to Earth for the girl he loves – but will she ever forgive him? Reckless Bellamy fought his way onto the transport pod to protect his sister, the other half of the only pair of siblings in the universe. And Glass managed to escape back onto the ship, only to find that life there is just as dangerous as she feared it would be on Earth.

Confronted with a savage land and haunted by secrets from their pasts, the hundred must fight to survive. They were never meant to be heroes, but they may be mankind’s last hope.

 

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Posted in: YA Sci-fi , Tagged:

Review: My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

22 July, 2015 4:27 am , 6 Comments ,

MLNDMy Life Next Door
(My Life Next Door, #1)
By: Huntley Fitzpatrick
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Published: June 14, 2012
Genre: YA Romance
Rating:
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Goodreads

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, messy, affectionate. And every day from her rooftop perch, Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs up next to her and changes everything.

As the two fall fiercely for each other, stumbling through the awkwardness and awesomeness of first love, Jase’s family embraces Samantha – even as she keeps him a secret from her own. Then something unthinkable happens, and the bottom drops out of Samantha’s world. She’s suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

 

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Posted in: YA Contemporary, YA Romance , Tagged: ,

Review: Naked by Stacey Trombley

7 July, 2015 3:21 am , 6 Comments ,

23014838Naked
By: Stacey Trombley
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Release Date: July 7, 2015
Genre: YA
Rating:
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Goodreads

The best place to hide is in a lie…

I could never fit in to the life my parents demanded. By the time I was thirteen, it was too much. I ran away to New York City…and found a nightmare that lasted three years. A nightmare that began and ended with a pimp named Luis. Now I am Dirty Anna. Broken, like everything inside me has gone bad.

Except that for the first time, I have a chance to start over. Not just with my parents but at school. Still, the rumors follow me everywhere. Down the hall. In classes. And the only hope I can see is in the wide, brightly lit smile of Jackson, the boy next door. So I lie to him. I lie to protect him from my past. I lie so that I don’t have to be The Girl Who Went Bad.

The only problem is that someone in my school knows about New York.

Someone knows who I really am.

And it’s just a matter of time before the real Anna is exposed…

 

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Posted in: YA Contemporary , Tagged: ,

Review: Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

1 July, 2015 11:04 am , 4 Comments ,

20613470Heir of Fire
(Throne of Glass, #3)
By: Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: Sept. 2, 2014
Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating:
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Goodreads

She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.

Celaena Sardothien has survived deadly contests and shattering heartbreak—but at an unspeakable cost. Now she must travel to a new land to confront her darkest truth…a truth about her heritage that could change her life—and her future—forever.

Meanwhile, brutal and monstrous forces are gathering on the horizon, intent on enslaving her world. To defeat them, Celaena must find the strength to not only fight her inner demons but to battle the evil that is about to be unleashed.

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Posted in: YA Fantasy , Tagged: ,

Review: The Jewel by Amy Ewing

8 June, 2015 2:53 pm , 5 Comments ,

16068780The Jewel
(The Lone City, #1)
By: Amy Ewing
Publisher: HarperTeen
Published: Sept. 2, 2014
Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating:
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Goodreads

The Jewel means wealth. The Jewel means beauty. The Jewel means royalty. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Not just any kind of servitude. Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty—because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring.

Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel’s glittering facade: the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life.

Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence… and try to stay alive. But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentleman hired as a companion to the Duchess’s petulant niece. Though his presence makes life in the Jewel a bit brighter, the consequences of their illicit relationship will cost them both more than they bargained for.

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Posted in: YA Fantasy , Tagged: ,

Review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

3 June, 2015 3:20 am , 4 Comments ,

17167166Crown of Midnight
(Throne of Glass, #2)
By: Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: Aug. 27, 2013
Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating:
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Goodreads

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena’s world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie… and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.

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Posted in: YA Fantasy , Tagged: ,

Review: Sweet by Emmy Laybourne

30 May, 2015 3:06 am , 3 Comments ,

18657784Sweet
By: Emmy Laybourne
Publisher: Macmillan
Release Date: June 2, 2015
Genre: YA
Rating:
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Goodreads

*People would kill to be thin.*

Solu’s luxurious celebrity-filled “Cruise to Lose” is billed as “the biggest cruise since the Titanic,” and if the new diet sweetener works as promised—dropping five percent of a person’s body weight in just days—it really could be the answer to the world’s obesity problem. But Laurel is starting to regret accepting her friend Viv’s invitation. She’s already completely embarrassed herself in front of celebrity host, Tom Forelli (otherwise known as the hottest guy ever!) and she’s too seasick to even try the sweetener. And that’s before Viv and all the other passengers start acting really strange.

*But will they die for it, too?*

Tom Forelli knows that he should be grateful for this job and the opportunity to shed his childhood “Baby Tom-Tom” image. His publicists have even set up a ‘romance’ with a sexy reality star. But as things on the ship start to get a bit wild, he finds himself drawn to a different girl. And when his celebrity hosting gig turns into an expose on the shocking side effects of Solu, it’s Laurel that he’s determined to save.

Emmy Laybourne, author of the Monument 14 trilogy, takes readers on a dream vacation that goes first comically, then tragically, then horrifyingly, wrong.

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Posted in: YA Contemporary , Tagged: ,