Category Archives: Young Adult

Sneak Peek Wednesday: All the Little Lights by Jamie McGuire

6 June, 2018 12:58 am , 4 Comments ,

All the Little Lights
by Jamie McGuire
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Publication date: May 29, 2018

The first time Elliott Youngblood spots Catherine Calhoun, he’s just a boy with a camera, and he’s never seen a sadder and more beautiful sight. Both Elliott and Catherine feel like outcasts, yet they find an easy friendship with each other. But when Catherine needs him most, Elliott is forced to leave town.

Elliott finally returns, but he and Catherine are now different people. He’s a star high school athlete, and she spends all her free time working at her mother’s mysterious bed-and-breakfast. Catherine hasn’t forgiven Elliott for abandoning her, but he’s determined to win back her friendship…and her heart.

Just when Catherine is ready to fully trust Elliott, he becomes the prime suspect in a local tragedy. Despite the town’s growing suspicions, Catherine clings to her love for Elliott. But a devastating secret that Catherine has buried could destroy whatever chance of happiness they have left.

 

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Posted in: Excerpt, YA Contemporary , Tagged: ,

Sneak Peek Wednesday: Looking for Dei by David A. Willson

30 May, 2018 12:09 am , 5 Comments ,

Looking for Dei
by David A. Willson
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: March 23, 2018
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Fifteen-year-old Nara Dall has never liked secrets. Yet it seems that her life has been filled with them, from the ugly scar on her back to the strange powers she possesses. Her mysterious father refuses to say anything about her origins, and soon, she and her best friend must attend the announcement ceremony, in which youths are tested for a magical gift.

A gifted youth has not been announced in the poor village of Dimmitt for decades. When Nara uncovers the reason, she uses her own powers to make things right. The decision sets her on a path of danger, discovery, and a search for the divine. In the process, she learns the truth about herself and uncovers the biggest secret of all: the power of broken people.

 

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Posted in: Excerpt, YA Fantasy , Tagged:

Sneak Peek Wednesday: Red by Jessi McPherson

23 May, 2018 12:13 am , 6 Comments ,

Red: A Modern Fairytale Retelling
by Jessi McPherson
Publisher: Zombie Cupcake Press
Publication date: April 4, 2018
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Everyone has read the tale of Little Red Riding Hood… Such a carefree, naïve girl who fell victim to the wolf and had to be saved by the Huntsman. I’d like to set that story straight. It all began with a girl, a curse, and wolf. We all have a hero inside. All it takes is to believe. Cara knew the legends of her village but she never thought she’d become one.

 

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Posted in: Excerpt, YA Fantasy , Tagged:

Review: Infinity by Jus Accardo

18 May, 2018 12:01 pm , 1 Comment ,

Infinity
(The Infinity Division #1)
by Jus Accardo
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication date: Nov. 1, 2016
Genre: Scifi Young Adult
Rating:

Nobody said being the daughter of an army general was easy. But when her dad sends a teenage subordinate to babysit her while he’s away… That’s taking it a step too far.

Cade, as beautiful as he is deadly, watches Kori with more than just interest. He looks at her like he knows her very soul. And when he saves her from a seemingly random attack, well, that’s when things get weird.

Turns out, Kori’s dad isn’t just an army general—he’s the head of a secret government project that has invented a way to travel between parallel dimensions. Dimensions where there are infinite Koris, infinite Cades…and apparently, on every other Earth, they’re madly in love.

Falling for a soldier is the last thing on Kori’s mind. Especially when she finds herself in a deadly crossfire, and someone from another Earth is hell-bent on revenge…

 

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Posted in: YA Sci-fi , Tagged: ,

Sneak Peek Wednesday: The Harper Effect by Taryn Bashford

9 May, 2018 12:01 am , 7 Comments ,

The Harper Effect
by Taryn Bashford
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Publication date: May 15, 2018
Genre: Young Adult Romance

Sixteen-year-old Harper was once a rising star on the tennis court–until her coach dropped her for being “mentally weak.” Without tennis, who is she? Her confidence at an all-time low, she secretly turns to her childhood friend, next-door neighbor Jacob–who also happens to be her sister’s very recent ex-boyfriend. If her sister finds out, it will mean a family war.

But when Harper is taken on by a new coach who wants her to train with Colt, a cold, defensive, brooding young tennis phenom, she hits the court all the harder, if only to prove Colt wrong. But as the two learn to become a team, Harper gets glimpses of the vulnerable boy beneath the surface, the boy who was deeply scarred by his family’s dark and scandalous past. The boy she could easily find herself falling for.

As she walks a fine line between Colt’s secrets, her forbidden love, and a game that demands nothing but the best, Harper must decide between her past and her future and between two boys who send her head spinning. Is the cost of winning the game worth losing everything?

 

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

Review: When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

27 April, 2018 12:43 am , 8 Comments ,

When Dimple Met Rishi
by Sandhya Menon
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication date: May 30, 2017
Genre: Young Adult Romance
Rating:

Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family, from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the “Ideal Indian Husband.” Ugh. Dimple knows they must respect her principles on some level, though. If they truly believed she needed a husband right now, they wouldn’t have paid for her to attend a summer program for aspiring web developers…right?

Rishi Patel is a hopeless romantic. So when his parents tell him that his future wife will be attending the same summer program as him—wherein he’ll have to woo her—he’s totally on board. Because as silly as it sounds to most people in his life, Rishi wants to be arranged, believes in the power of tradition, stability, and being a part of something much bigger than himself.

The Shahs and Patels didn’t mean to start turning the wheels on this “suggested arrangement” so early in their children’s lives, but when they noticed them both gravitate toward the same summer program, they figured, Why not?

Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.

 

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

Review: Unraveled by Kate Jarvik Birch

16 April, 2018 12:35 am , 20 Comments ,

Unraveled
(Perfected #3)
by Kate Jarvik Birch
Publisher: Entangled TEEN
Publication date: April 3, 2018
Genre: Young Adult Dystopia
Rating:

Ella isn’t anyone’s pet anymore, but she’s certainly not free.

After exposing the dark secrets about NuPet’s breeding program, forcing them to repeal the law that allowed genetically modified girls to be kept as pets, she thought girls like her would finally be free. She never dreamed that it would backfire. NuPet may have convinced the public of their intentions to assimilate pets back into society, but Ella knows it’s a lie.

They aren’t planning mass rehabilitation…they’re planning a mass extermination.

Now, with the help of a small group of rebels, Ella and Penn, the boy she’d give up her life for, set out to bring down NuPet for good. But when her group gets implicated in a string of bombings, no one is safe. If she can’t untangle the web of blackmail and lies that extends far beyond NuPet’s reach, she won’t just lose her chance at freedom, she’ll lose everyone she loves.

 

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Posted in: YA Sci-fi, Young Adult , Tagged: ,

Sneak Peek Wednesday: Isle of Blood and Stone by Makiia Lucier

11 April, 2018 9:34 am , 7 Comments ,

Isle of Blood and Stone
(Isle of Blood and Stone #1)
by Makiia Lucier
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication date: April 10, 2018
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Nineteen-year-old Elias is a royal explorer, a skilled mapmaker, and the new king of del Mar’s oldest friend. Soon he will embark on the adventure of a lifetime, an expedition past the Strait of Cain and into uncharted waters. Nothing stands in his way…until a long-ago tragedy creeps back into the light, threatening all he holds dear.

The people of St. John del Mar have never recovered from the loss of their boy princes, kidnapped eighteen years ago, both presumed dead. But when two maps surface, each bearing the same hidden riddle, troubling questions arise. What really happened to the young heirs? And why do the maps appear to be drawn by Lord Antoni, Elias’s father, who vanished on that same fateful day? With the king’s beautiful cousin by his side—whether he wants her there or not—Elias will race to solve the riddle of the princes. He will have to use his wits and guard his back. Because some truths are better left buried…and an unknown enemy stalks his every turn.

 

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Posted in: YA Fantasy , Tagged: ,

Sneak Peek Wednesday: Ouroboros by Genevieve Iseult Eldredge

4 April, 2018 1:13 am , 7 Comments ,

Ouroboros
(Circuit Fae #2)
by Genevieve Iseult Eldredge
Publisher: Monster House Books
Publication date: March 27, 2018
Genre: LGBTQ+, Young Adult Fantasy

All introverted geek girl Syl Skye wants is to get close to her girlfriend. But when you can kill with a simple touch, a normal date night’s not really in the cards.

As it happens, Syl is also a sleeper-princess of the fair Fae. Last year after a freak accident, her power Awakened, granting her white flame to purify the darkness.

Rouen Rivoche is that darkness—a dark Fae princess whose power to bewitch mortals is as terrifying as the violet lightning she controls. Rouen is Syl’s total opposite. Her mortal enemy.

She’s also Syl’s beloved girlfriend.

And even though they joined forces to defeat the evil Circuit Fae who harnessed the killing magic in technology to take over the school…that was so last year.

Now, Syl’s touch could mean Rouen’s death. Her increasing power is spiraling out of control, threatening to burn down everything she and Rouen have built together.

Their lives, their love, their very world.

 

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Posted in: YA Fantasy , Tagged:

Review: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

12 March, 2018 1:48 am , 30 Comments ,

The Hate U Give
by Angie Thomas
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: Feb. 28, 2017
Genre: Young Adult
Rating:

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

 

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Posted in: YA Contemporary, Young Adult , Tagged: ,