I saw this on the wonderful Lynsey Newton’s blog Narratively Speaking (here) and thought it sounded really interesting, so I’ve decided to sign myself up.
UKYABB Secret Santa is a Secret Santa set up for UK YA Book Bloggers, if you want to find out more information about it then you can do so by clicking the logo above or by clicking here. Sign-ups end on 8th November 2012. To participate you must by a UK Young Adult Book Blogger who has had their blog for 3 months or more.
My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent
Title: My Soul to Steal (Soul Screamers #4)
Author: Rachel Vincent
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: MiraInk (21st October 2011)
Blurb:
SOMETIMES DREAMS
DO COME TRUE . . .
AND THAT’S THE LAST
THINK KAYLEE NEEDSWorking things out with Nash – her maybe boyfriend – is hard for Kaylee. She’s already coping with being a teenage banshee. Worse, Nash’s gorgeous ex-girlfriend just transferred to their school.
Sabine’s no ordinary girl. She’s a mara, a real-life walking nightmare. Draining people’s energy through their darkest dreams sustains Sabine . . . and makes her Kaylee’s top suspect in a cluster of sup-creepy deaths.
To win back Nash, Kaylee’s determined to unearth the truth. But Sabine knows the deathly secrets of Kaylee’s subconscious – and she’s not afraid to use them to get whatever and whoever she wants . . .
Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:
My Soul to Steal is the fourth book in Rachel Vincent’s brilliant Soul Screamers series. It continues the story of Kaylee and her friends as they struggle against the forces of the Netherworld.
In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren, it is a weekly meme where people record what books they received that week. As I don’t receive books every week, I do the meme as and when I can.
Sorry about the photo quality, I took them with my phone (and yes, they are the same photos that appeared on Twitter).
So that was what’s in my mailbox this week. Leave a comment and let me know what’s in yours.
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
Title: Paranormalcy (Paranormalcy #1)
Author: Kiersten White
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: Harper Collins (date)
Blurb:
VAMPIRES
WEREWOLVES
FAERIES
SHAPESHIFTERSEvie’s always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shapeshifter and she’s the only person who can see through paranormal’s galmours, but stil. Normal.
Only now Paranormals are dying and Evie’s dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She begins to suspect there is a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths, and even worse, that she is a the centre of a dark prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.
Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:
Paranormalcy is the first book in Kiersten White’s Paranormalcy trilogy. It tells the story of Evie, who thinks she is as ‘normal’ as every other human being – except for being able to see through paranormal’s glamours .
Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating. The book’s blurb has been taken from Goodreads.com All publish dates are according to Amazon.co.uk
This week I am “Waiting On”…
Something Like Normal
by Trish Doller
Published: 26th October 2012.
When Travis returns home from a stint in Afghanistan, his parents are splitting up, his brother’s stolen his girlfriend and his car, and he’s haunted by nightmares of his best friend’s death. It’s not until Travis runs into Harper, a girl he’s had a rocky relationship with since middle school, that life actually starts looking up. And as he and Harper see more of each other, he begins to pick his way through the minefield of family problems and post-traumatic stress to the possibility of a life that might resemble normal again. Travis’s dry sense of humor, and incredible sense of honor, make him an irresistible and eminently lovable hero.
I have wanted to read this book for a while, and I almost added it to my last amazon.co.uk order but it wouldn’t have arrived in time, so it is definitely going in my next shopping basket. Who knows, I may see it on the shelves before then…
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Title: Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Sword and Sorcery, Young Adult
Publisher: Bloomsbury (2nd August 2012)
Blurb:
MEET CELAENA SARDOTHIEN.
BEAUTIFUL. DEADLY.
DESTINED FOR GREATNESS.In the dark, filthy mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake. She got caught.
Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament – fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin’s heart be melted?
Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:
Throne of Glass is Sarah J. Maas’s brilliant debut novel. In it we are told the story of Celaena Sardothien, an assassin, who is offered the chance of earning her freedom by entering in a tournament that could mean her death.
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: Penguin USA (4th August 2011)
Blurb:
Can Anna find love in the City of Light?
Anna is happy in Atlanta. She has a loyal best friend and a crush on her coworker at the movie theater, who is just starting to return her affection. So she’s not too pleased when her father decides to send her to a boarding school in Paris for her senior year. But despite not speaking a word of French, Anna meets some cool new friends, including a handsome Étienne St. Clair, who quickly becomes her best friend. Unfortunately he’s taken – and Anna might be, too. Will a year of romantic near misses end with the French kiss she’s been waiting for?
Rating: ***** (5 stars)
Review:
Anna and the French Kiss tells the story of Anna Oliphant; an American teenager sent to Paris by her father to go to boarding school for her senior year. Stephanie Perkins relates a brilliant tale of contemporary romance for Young Adult readers in this book.
I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have To Kill You by Ally Carter
Title: I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have To Kill You (Gallagher Girls #1)
Author: Ally Carter
Genre: Spy, Young Adult
Publisher: Orchard Books (6th May 2010)
Blurb:
“Do you ever feel like you’re invisible? I know I do – just call me Cammie the Chameleon. But at my [blank] school, that’s seen as cool. Why? Because Gallagher Academy might say it’s for geniuses, but it’s really a school for spies.”
Cammie Morgan might be capable of killing a man in seven different ways, but she’s about to begin her most dangerous mission yet: falling in love.
Rating: ** (2 stars)
Review:
I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have To Kill You is the first book in Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girls series. The series is about a group of girls who go to an all-girl boarding school, where they just happen to learn how to be spies. The series stars, and is narrated, by Cammie Morgan.
Fire by Kristin Cashore
Title: Fire (Graceling Realm, #2)
Author: Kristin Cashore
Genre: Sword and Sorcery, Young Adult
Publisher: Gollancz Fiction (6th January 2011)
Blurb:
HER BEAUTY IS A WEAPON – AND FIRE IS GOING TO USE IT.
Fire’s exceptional beauty gives her influence and power. People who are susceptible to it will do anything for her attention, and for her affection.
But beauty is only skin deep, and beneath it Fire has a human appreciation of right and wrong. Aware of her inability to influence others, and afraid of it, she lives in a corner of the world away from people – not only to protect them, but also to protect herself from their attention, their distrust, and even their hatred.
Yet Fire is not the only danger to the Dells. If she wants to protect her home, if she wants a chance to undo the wrongs of the past, she must face her fears, her abilities, and a royal court full of powerful people with reason to distrust her.
Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:
Fire is the second book in Kristin Cashore’s Graceling Realms series. In it we are introduced to a new world and new characters; it tells the story of Fire, a girl born with incredible beauty who sees it only as a curse.
Destined by P.C. and Kristin Cast
Title: Destined (House of Night, #9)
Author: P.C. and Kristin Cast
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: Atom (28th June 2012)
Blurb:
‘Zoey, what is it?’ Stark said softly. I didn’t answer Stark. Instead I faced Neferet. Somewhere in the back of my mind I could hear the buzz and the whispers of the kids around me, and I knew forcing a confrontation with Neferet here and now wasn’t smart. But I couldn’t stop myself . . .
Zoey is finally home where she belongs, safe with her Guardian Warrior, Stark, by her side, and preparing to face off against Neferet – which would be a whole lot easier if the High Counsel saw the ex-High Priestess for what she really is.
But there are new forces at work at the House of Night. An influx of humans threatens its precarious stability. And then there’s the mysterious Aurox, a jaw-droppingly gorgeous boy who is actually more – or possibly less – than human. Only Zoey can sense the human compassion that wars with his Dark calling. Will Neferet’s true nature be revealed before she succeeds in silencing them all? And will Zoey be able to touch Aurox’s humanity in time to protect him – and everyone – from his own fate?
Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:
Destined is the ninth book in the House of Night series by P.C. and Kristin Cast. The story of Zoey and her friends/circle continues as they struggle against the forces of darkness.
The Flutterby Room 