“Come, fruit of my loins, we’re going for a walk.”

Title: Perception
Author: Kim Harrington
Release Date: March 1st, 2012
Publisher: Scholastic Point
Pages: 288
Edition: Hardcover
Source: For Review
Note: YEAH I KNOW, the quote is from Clarity but I just love it so much!
Cover Judge: Yeah....nope. Not working for me.
Goodreads: Link

When you can see things others can't, what do you do when someone's watching you?

Everybody knows about Clarity "Clare" Fern. She's the psychic girl in school, the one who can place her hands on something and see hidden visions from the past.

Only Clare would rather not be a celebrity. She prefers hanging back, observing. Her gift is not a game to her.

But then someone starts playing with her head . . . and heart. Messages and gifts from a secret admirer crop up everywhere Clare turns. Could they be from Gabriel, the gorgeous boy who gets Clare's pulse racing? Or from Justin, Clare's hopeful ex-boyfriend who'd do anything to win her back?

One thing is certain. Clare needs to solve this mystery, and soon. Because the messages are becoming sinister, and a girl in town has suddenly disappeared.

Harrington really knows how to write a fun, quirky mystery that keeps me guessing and this book is no exception!

Perception is just, essentially, a damn good book. Clare is one of the best snarky heroines I've ever read about, from her witty one-liners to her logical thinking when it comes to the mystery-aspect of the movie. Nothing ever feels forced coming out of her mouth and you basically want to be her best friend. I like that she stays consistent from one book to the next but still manages to come off more mature and definitely more determined when another murder pops up into town. She thinks like teens think and that's what makes her genuine and real.

Harrington's writing style is simply and easy to follow while still flowing seamlessly enough to keep the action going throughout the book. Not once are you bored because there's just so much going on! Between the murder mystery Clare is determined to solve (even if her mother doesn't approve), to her brother's mysterious ways of locking himself up in his room, and the full bloom of her love triangle between Justin and Gabriel, there isn't a dull moment in Clarity's life!

This love triangle better not turn you off because it's crazy well done! Justin is Clare's ex-boyfriend who made a mistake and is now desperate to get her back, and he really brings it to the table. He's sweet and funny and he acknowledges his mistakes and makes up for it by saving her life in Clarity and being himself in Perception! But ultimately, i'm a Gabriel girl myself. Funny, mysterious enough to keep me loving him but not enough to make me want to punch him in the face, and just sooo sweet. I like that neither side ever tried to force her to chose or gave her an ultimatum, they let her come up with whatever decision she wanted on her own. And while it was important, I like that it wasn't the only thing on Clare's mind! She approached the situation between the three of them calmly and rationally and sometimes, didn't even think about it at all!

The killer? Was my second guess! Although i'm kind of still suspicious about my first guess soooo...WHO KNOWS!

Overall, this series is funny, cute, and well-written! I can't wait to see what's coming next,
Happy Reading!

YA WATCH (2/18 - 2/25)

COVER NEWS:

Title: Ten
Author: Gretchen McNeil
Release Date: September 18th, 2012
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: --
Edition: Hardcover
Note: Reminds me of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie!
Goodreads: Link

And their doom comes swiftly.
It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives – an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school's most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury.
But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.
Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off the from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn't scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

Title: Shadow and Bone
Author: Leigh Bardugo 
Release Date: June 5th, 2012

Publisher: Henry Holt 

Pages: 365

Edition: Hardcover

Note: Read this one this week and it is my FAVORITE book of this year so far. Vivid, heart-wrenching, and absolutely stunning.
Goodreads: Link

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near-impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one unlikely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life– a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha… and the secrets of her heart.

Title: Defiance
Author: C.J Redwine
Release Date: August 28th, 2012
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 416
Edition: Hardcover
Note: One of my most anticipated books of the year! GAH.
Goodreads: Link

Within the walls of Baalboden, beneath the shadow of the city’s brutal leader, Rachel Adams has a secret. While other girls sew dresses, host dinner parties, and obey their male Protectors, Rachel knows how to survive in the wilderness and deftly wield a sword. When her father, Jared, fails to return from a courier mission and is declared dead, the Commander assigns Rachel a new Protector, her father’s apprentice, Logan—the same boy Rachel declared her love for two years ago, and the same boy who handed her heart right back to her. Left with nothing but fierce belief in her father’s survival, Rachel decides to escape and find him herself. But treason against the Commander carries a heavy price, and what awaits her in the Wasteland could destroy her.

At nineteen, Logan McEntire is many things. Orphan. Outcast. Inventor. As apprentice to the city’s top courier, Logan is focused on learning his trade so he can escape the tyranny of Baalboden. But his plan never included being responsible for his mentor’s impulsive daughter. Logan is determined to protect her, but when his escape plan goes wrong and Rachel pays the price, he realizes he has more at stake than disappointing Jared.

As Rachel and Logan battle their way through the Wasteland, stalked by a monster that can’t be killed and an army of assassins out for blood, they discover romance, heartbreak, and a truth that will incite a war decades in the making.

Title: The Lost Girl
Author: Sangu Mandanna
Release Date: August 28th, 2012
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 432
Edition: Hardcover
Note: Sounds SO GOOD.
Goodreads: Link

Eva’s life is not her own. She is a creation, an abomination—an echo. She was made as a copy of someone else, expected to replace a girl named Amarra, her “other,” if she ever died. Eva spends every day studying that girl from far away.
But fifteen years of studying never prepared her for this.
Now she must abandon everything and everyone she’s ever known—the guardians who raised her, the boy she’s forbidden to love—to move to India and convince the world that Amarra is still alive.

Title: Time Between Us
Author: Tamra Ireland Stone
Release Date: October 9th, 2012
Publisher: Hyperion
Pages: 384
Edition: Hardcover
Note: TIME TRAVEL WOO.
Goodreads: Link

Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet: she lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett’s unique ability to travel through time and space brings him into Anna’s life, and with him, a new world of adventure and possibility.

As their relationship deepens, they face the reality that time might knock Bennett back where he belongs, even as a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question. Against a ticking clock, Anna and Bennett are forced to ask themselves how far they can push the bounds of fate—and what consequences they can bear in order to stay together.

Title: The Unfailing Light
Author: Robin Bridges 
Release Date: October 9th, 2012
Publisher: Random House
Pages: 400
Edition: Hardcover
Note: The summary might have spoilers for book one!
Goodreads: Link

Having had no choice but to use her power has a necromancer to save Russia from dark forces, Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, now wants to forget that she ever used her special powers. She's about to set off to pursue her lifelong dream of attending medical school when she discovers that Russia's arch nemesis--who she thought she'd destroyed--is still alive. So on imperial orders, Katerina remains at her old finishing school. She'll be safe there, because the empress has cast a potent spell to protect it against the vampires and revenants who are bent on toppling the tsar and using Katerina for their own gains. But to Katerina's horror, the spell unleashes a vengeful ghost within the school, a ghost more dangerous than any creature trying to get in.

DEAL NEWS:

J.K. Rowling has a new book... and it's not for kids. The author has signed a world English deal with Little, Brown, selling print, e-book, and audio rights to her first novel for adults. Rumors have been going around it might be a CRIME FICTION NOVEL.

Scott Tracey's new series beginning with Moonset, about the five children of warlock terrorists, who must struggle against the descrutive legecy left behind by their parents, all while resisting their own capacity for darkness, to Brian Farrey-Latz at Flux, in a two-book deal, by Ginger Clark at Curtis Brown (World English)

Andrea Spooner at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers has signed SF author and 2011 Printz winner Paolo Bacigalupi to a three-book deal, including his first middle grade novel. That novel, Zombie Baseball Beatdown is slated for spring 2013; it follows three boys on a baseball team who discover that tainted meat from their town’s meatpacking plant is turning people and animals into zombies. After that, tentatively scheduled for fall 2013, will be Bacigalupi’s first contemporary YA novel, The Doubt Factory, about a teenage girl who discovers that her father heads an organization that provides dangerous false messaging to society about global warming and other issues. The final book of the deal, Seascape, a YA novel set in the same futuristic world of Ship Breaker and the forthcoming The Drowned Cities, is scheduled for fall 2014. Martha Millard at the Martha Millard Literary Agency brokered the deal for world English rights.

SNEAK PEEKS: 

Insurgent Excerpt

MOVIE NEWS:

‘The Selection,’ by Kiera Cass is set 300 years in the future where a lottery is set up to pick contestants in a competition to become queen of the nation. The novel was picked up by the CW as a television pilot – and Aimee Teegarden of Friday Night Lights, Scream 4, and Prom has been chosen for the lead according to TV Line! The concept and post-apocalyptic time period has brought comparisons to the hugely popular upcoming film and book series ‘The Hunger Games‘. I personally think the television show will be very different, but I am excited to have something exciting and dystopian as a TV show!

Lily Collins (Mirror, Mirror) is in talks to star in ‘Rosaline,’ a twist on Romeo and Juliet that’s based on Rebecca Serle’s debut novel When You Were Mine. Rosaline is the woman Romeo first claims to love from afar before he becomes enamored with Juliet. ‘Rosaline’ tells Romeo’s ex-girlfriend’s side of the story. Michael Sucsy is directing from a script by Scott Neustader and Michael H. Weber [(500) Days of Summer]. There had been talk of Hailee Steinfeld, Dave Franco and Deborah Ann Woll starring, but deals were never able to work out.

Emma Watson is in ‘final negotiations’ to take on the role of Belle in an adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) is officially on board to direct the new live-action adaptation. He was originally on board only as a producer. Andrew Davis (Bridget Jones’ Dairy) is set to write the screenplay. It was rumored almost seven months ago that del Toro was adapting this story with Emma Watson in mind, but only now does it appear it will actually happen.

According to Variety, Moira Buffini, who is the screenwriter of films such as Jane Eyre (starring Mia Wasikowska, and Michael Fassbender), Byzantium (Starring Saoirse Ronan), and more – has signed on to pen ‘The Night Circus‘ by Erin Morgenstern.

TOUR DATES:

Rachel Hawkins announced her Tour Dates this week!

MARCH 13: WASHINGTON D.C., Bethesda Public Library (with Ally Carter!)

MARCH 14: FAIRLESS HILLS, PA, Barnes and Noble (with Ally Carter SOME MORE!)

MARCH 15-16 : HARLEYSVILLE, PA AND DOYLESTOWN, PA, Harleysville Books and Booktenders.

MARCH 17: RALEIGH, NC, Quail Ridge Books (with Ally Carter again! YAY!)

MARCH 19: CORAL GABLES, FL, Books&Books. (And YES, I will be there!)

MARCH 22: DAYTON, OH, Books&Co.

MARCH 26: JACKSON, MS, Lemuria.

MARCH 27: OXFORD, MS, Square Books Jr.

MARCH 28: NASHVILLE, TN, Parnassus Books.

MARCH 30: BOSTON, MA, Wellesley Books.

Happy Reading!

Why Don't I Have A Genie? (1)

Inspired by features/memes like Books To Pine For and Waiting on Wednesday! But I dno't like being constricted to Wednesdays so here we go! And as for that title...I don't even know, guys. Just go with it.

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Title: Kill Me Softly
Author: Sarah Cross
Release Date: April 10th, 2012
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Pages: 314
Edition: Hardcover
Note: THAT COVER IS BEAUTIFUL. Gah.
Goodreads: Link

True love’s kiss just may prove deadly....

Mirabelle’s past is shrouded in secrecy, from her parents’ tragic deaths to her guardians’ half-truths about why she can’t return to her birthplace, Beau Rivage. Desperate to see the town, Mira runs away a week before her sixteenth birthday—and discovers a world she never could have imagined.

In Beau Rivage, nothing is what it seems—the strangely pale girl with a morbid interest in apples, the obnoxious playboy who’s a beast to everyone he meets, and the chivalrous guy who has a thing for damsels in distress. Here, fairy tales come to life, curses are awakened, and ancient stories are played out again and again.

But fairy tales aren’t pretty things, and they don’t always end in happily ever after. Mira has a role to play, a fairy-tale destiny to embrace or resist. As she struggles to take control of her fate, Mira is drawn into the lives of two brothers with fairy-tale curses of their own ... brothers who share a dark secret. And she’ll find that love, just like fairy tales, can have sharp edges and hidden thorns.

Title: What's Left of me
Author: Kat Zhang
Release Date: September 13th, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 336
Edition: Hardcover
Goodreads: Link

NEVER LET ME GO meets HIS DARK MATERIALS in a beautiful, haunting YA debut, the first book in The Hybrid Trilogy.

Eva and Addie live in a world where everyone is born with two souls, but where only the dominant one is allowed to survive childhood. Fifteen years old, and closer even than twins, the girls are keeping Eva, the ‘second soul’, a secret. They know that it’s forbidden to be hybrid, but how could they ever be apart?

When a dramatic event reveals what really happens to hybrids if they are discovered, Eva and Addie face a dangerous fight for survival, neither wanting to be the one left behind…

Title: Amelia Anne is Dead And Gone
Author: Kat Rosenfield
Release Date: July 5th, 2012
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Pages: 277
Edition: Hardcover
Goodreads: Link

On the night of Becca’s high school graduation, the discovery of an unidentified dead girl left to bleed out on the side of a dirt road sends the town—and Becca—into a tailspin. Becca has always longed to break free from her small home town, but as the violence of the outside world creeps into her backyard, she withdraws and retreats inward, paralyzed for the first time in her life.

Short chapters detailing the last days of Amelia Anne Richardson’s life are intercut with Becca’s own coming-of-age summer, unfolding into the parallel stories of two young women struggling with self-identity and tense romantic relationships as the summer’s tumultuous events twist Becca closer and closer to the truth about Amelia’s murder.

Title: When You Were Mine
Author: Rebecca Serle
Release Date: May 1st, 2012
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 334
Edition: Hardcover
Goodreads: Link

"What's in a name, Shakespeare? I'll tell you: everything."
Rosaline knows that she and Rob are destined to be together. Rose has been waiting for years for Rob to kiss her--and when he finally does, it's perfect. But then Juliet moves back to town. Juliet, who used to be Rose's best friend. Juliet, who now inexplicably hates her. Juliet, who is gorgeous, vindictive, and a little bit crazy...and who has set her sights on Rob. He doesn't even stand a chance.
Rose is devastated over losing Rob to Juliet. This is not how the story was supposed to go. And when rumors start swirling about Juliet's instability, her neediness, and her threats of suicide, Rose starts to fear not only for Rob's heart, but also for his life. Because Shakespeare may have gotten the story wrong, but we all still know how it ends.

What do you think? Sound amazing, RIGHT?
Happy Reading!

“When the worst happens and you still survive, it sets you free from fear.”

Title: Don't Breathe A Word
Author: Holly Cupala
Release Date: January 3rd, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 299
Edition: Paperback
Source: For Review
Goodreads: Link

Joy Delamere is suffocating...

From asthma, which has nearly claimed her life. From her parents, who will do anything to keep that from happening. From delectably dangerous Asher, who is smothering her from the inside out.

Joy can take his words - tender words, cruel words - until the night they go too far.

Now, Joy will leave everything behind to find the one who has offered his help, a homeless boy called Creed. She will become someone else. She will learn to survive. She will breathe... if only she can get to Creed before it’s too late.

Don't Breathe A Word is an interesting book and definitely a quick read!

The story centers around a girl named Joy who has severe asthma and is constantly under watch by her parents until her brother moves out, her primary care-taker. Then, her boyfriend Asher starts to take over. And when I say "take-over", I literally mean take over. He's rude, abusive in both a mental, verbal, and eventually physical way, and you start the story with Joy simply unable to take it anymore, causing her to run away and become homeless.

Holly Cupala has the kind of writing style that packs a punch without being too flowery or over-descriptive. She alludes to the "incident" that caused Joy to run away in the first place any times, making it something Joy keeps thinking about in small pieces until you finally get the whole picture. As for Joy herself...I wasn't really feeling her. I felt like she grew a lot throughout the book but, especially with scenes that included Asher, I was like: GIRL WHAT ARE YOU DOING? She comes into her own in her own way though, which I can appreciate.

Something that did confuse me however was the fact that she had severe asthma and I kept thinking that this was going to be a major problem because you don't usually put SEVERE in front of something if it's not...you know, severe. And it's a problem, but it's not anything big. As long as she had her meds, even in the Winter, she was alright. I don't know how asthma works since I don't have it, but I felt that was just brushed over when  it was supposed to be an important part of the story (in my mind).

Asher was a total asshat and I think that's what frustrated me the most about Joy. You get to see when she first meets him and he was...not appealing in any way. He's not charming or sweet in the beginning; he's pushy and arrogant and pretentious and I just have no idea what she saw in him. I understand the idea of Joy wanting something that was always in control in her life, because DUDE. NOTHING APPEALING.

On the other hand, I did love Creed. Tortured street musician that's sweet, caring, and a really friendly guy, he gave Joy the love that she needed.

As for the ending, that ALSO didn't rub me the right way. I'm a optimistic person guys, you know me. But the ending ties up in this perfect little bow that kind of just...didn't seem realistic at all. Some of the side-character gets into some pretty deep crap and suddenly, at the end, everything's okay! Nothing happened! Everyone's fine! Especially May? I was completely surprised.

Happy Reading!

Food For Thought -- Heroines And Their Abilities (1)

This is a feature that'll do every once in a while where I just talk a little bit about something that's bothering me at the moment and then you comment and we can discuss in the comments! Sound good? AWESOME.

THOUGHT: Why do heroines get so mad when the love interest/family member doesn't tell them about their power? 

So I was reading a book recently where the heroine gets all angry and says she was "betrayed" by her love interest because he didn't tell her she was a supernatural creature until they had proof to show her.

And that's always something that's confused me in books because would you really have believed them if they'd told you without having any sort of proof? If they just told you outright without any sort of way to show they're not crazy; I'd think you were crazy for believing them!

And ON A SIDE NOTE: why does this always cause them to run into the arms of the enemy? Because honestly, they're as likely (and probably will) lie to you if they have to.

And it's swoony to lie to protect you, but isn't keeping it a secret until you're ready for it some form of protection?

Leave your thoughts down in the comments and we'll talk!
Happy Reading!