Young Adult

Review: Torn by Amanda Hocking

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Trylle Trilogy #2

Torn by Amanda Hocking

Title: Torn (Trylle Trilogy #2)
Author:  Amanda Hocking
Genre:  Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher:  TOR (1st March 2012)
Blurb:

Acknowledging that she was different from everyone else wasn’t difficult for Wendy Everly – she’d always felt like an outsider. But a new world and new family is a little hard for any girl to accept. Leaving behind the mysterious country of her birth, she is determined to fit back into normal life. But the world she’s left behind won’t let her go that easily . . .

Kidnapped and imprisoned by her family’s enemies, Wendy soon learns that the between good and evil aren’t as defined as she thought. And those things that she’d taken for granted may have been lies all along. With the help of the dangerously attractive Loki, she escapes back to the safety of Förening – only to be confronted by a new threat.

It’s time to make a choice – can she put aside her personal feelings for the sake of her country? Torn between duty and love she must a choice that could destroy her one chance at true happiness.


Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

Torn is the second book in Amanda Hocking’s Trylle Trilogy. It continues Wendy’s story after the events of Switched.

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Review: Faery Tales & Nightmares by Melissa Marr

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Faery Tales & Nightmares by Melissa Marr

Title: Faery Tales & Nightmares
Author: Melissa Marr
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher:  HarperCollins (1st March 2012)
Blurb:

Dangerous promises and beguiling threats swirl together in a dozen stories of enchantments, light and dark.

Uncanny and unexpected creatures appear from behind bushes, rise from under the seas, or manifest for seasonal storms to pursue the objects of their attention – amorous or sinister intent – relentlessly.

Takes of favourite characters from Marr’s Wicked Lovely novels mix with accounts of new characters for readers to fall in love with . . . or fear.

Rating: ***** (5 stars)

Review:

Faery Tales & Nightmares is a collection of short stories by Melissa Marr, some of which are set in her Wicked Lovelyuniverse – answering questions that weren’t answered in the books – whilst others are of new characters and places. There are twelve stories in total in the collection.

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Review: A Witch in Winter by Ruth Warburton

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Winter Trilogy #1

A Witch in Winter by Ruth Warburton

Title: A Witch in Winter (Winter Trilogy #1)
Author: Ruth Warburton
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher:  Hodder Children’s Books (5th January 2012)
Blurb:

When love is tangled up in magic, how do you know what’s real?

When Anna meets Seth, it’s magic. But her hidden powers unleash a spell that sparks a war among witches and enslaves Seth’s heart.

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Review:

A Witch in Winter is Ruth Warburton’s debut novel and the first book in her Winter Trilogy. In it we meet Anna Winterson, a teenager who has recently moved from London to the town of Winter into Wicker House.

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Review: Until I Die by Amy Plum

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Revenants #2Title: Until I Die (Revenants #2)
Author: Amy Plum
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher:  Atom (3rd May 2012)
Blurb:

MY LIFE HAD ALWAYS BEE BLISSFULLY, WONDERFULLY NORMAL. BUT IT ONLY TOOK ONE MOMENT TO CHANGE EVERYTHING.

Kate had chosen to leave the comfort and safety of her human life in order to join Vincent in the dangerous supernatural world he inhabits. For his part, he has sworn to go against his very nature and resist the repeated deaths that are his fate as a revenant – even though it will bring him immeasurable suffering.

Desperate to help him, Kate’s search for answers takes her from the glamorous streets of Paris to the city’s squalid underbelly. But when she stumbles across a secret that should overthrow their enemies for ever, Kate unwittingly puts everyone she loves at risk. And puts herself in the midst of an ancient and deadly war, not as a bystander . . . but as a target.

Rating: **** (4 stars)

Review:

Until I Die is the second book in Amy Plum’s fantastic Revenants trilogy, continuing the story of Kate and Vincent. The story starts around five months after the events of Die For Me. I started reading this straight after I finished the first book, and boy am I glad there wasn’t any wait. As I mentioned in my review of Die For Me (which can be found here), I fell in love with this world and with Kate, so I was a bit worried going into this book – but I was not disappointed.

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Review: Die For Me by Amy Plum

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Revenants #1

Die For Me by Amy Plum

Title: Die For Me (Revenants #1)
Author: Amy Plum
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher:  Atom (5th May 2011)
Blurb:

MY LIFE HAD ALWAYS BEEN BLISSFULLY, WONDERFULLY NORMAL. BUT IT ONLY TOOK ONE MOMENT TO CHANGE EVERYTHING.

Suddenly, my sister Georgia and I were orphans. We put out lives into storage and moved to Paris to live with our grandparents. And I knew my shattered heart, my shattered life, would never feel normal again. Then I met Vincent.

Mysterious, sexy and unnervingly charming, Vincent Delacroix appeared out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. Just like that, I was in danger of losing my heart all over again.

Of course, nothing is ever that easy. Because Vincent is no normal human. He has a terrifying destiny, one that puts his life at risk every day. He also has enemies . . . immortal, murderous enemies who are determined to destroy him and all of his kind.

While I’m fighting to piece together  the remnants of my life, can I risk putting my heart – as well as my life and my family’s – in jeopardy for a chance at love?

A STUNNING NOVEL OF LIFE, DEATH AND THE LENGTHS WE GO TO FOR LOVE.

Rating: ***** (5 stars)

Review:

Die For Me is Amy Plum’s debut novel and the first book in her Revenants trilogy.  In Die For Me we are introduced to Kate, a sixteen-year-old who moves from Brooklyn to Paris with her elder sister Georgia after the death of her parents to live with her grandparents. The death of her parents hits Kate, and her sister, hard. Whilst she is learning to cope with their loss she encounters Vincent.

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Review: Dark Parties by Sara Grant

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Dark Parties by Sara Grant

Title: Dark Parties
Author: Sara Grant
Genre: Dystopian, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher:  Indigo (22nd December 2011)
Blurb:

Neva keeps a list of The Missing – people like her grandmother who have vanished. The people that everyone pretends never existed.

In a world isolated by the Protectosphere – a dome which protecrs, but also imprisons – Neva and her friends dream of freedom.

But a forbidden party leads to complications. Suddenly, Neva’s falling for her best friend’s boyfriend, uncovering secrets and lies that threaten to destroy her world – and learning he truth about what happens to The Missing . . .

Rating: ** (2 stars)

Review:

Dark Parties is Sara Grant’s debut novel. It tells the story of Neva, a sixteen-year-old girl in a dystopian world, who feels trapped in a world she cannot connect with.

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Review: Night School by C. J. Daugherty

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Night School #1

Night School by C. J. Daugherty

Title: Night School (Night School #1)
Author: C. J. Daugherty
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher:  Atom (5th January 2012)
Blurb:

Allie’s world is falling apart . . .

She hates her school. Her brother has run away. She’s just been arrested. Again. And now her parents are sending her away.

But instead of hating boarding school, Allie is happy. She’s making friends. And there’s Carter, a brooding loner with whom she feels an instant connection.

Cimmeria Academy is no ordinary school. Her classmates – and maybe some of the teachers – are hiding a secret. And soon it begins to feel like a very dangerous place . . .

Rating: **** (4 stars)

Review:

Night School is C. J. Daugherty’s debut novel, and the first book in her Night School series – the second installment is expected to be published in the UK in January 2013. In it we are introduced to Allie who is slowly falling apart after the disappearance of her brother.

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Review: Heist Society by Ally Carter

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Heist Society #1

Heist Society by Ally Carter

Title: Heist Society (Heist Society #1)
Author: Ally Carter
Genre: Contemporary, Crime, Young Adult
Publisher:  Orchard (1st September 2011)
Blurb:

Kat’s got a deadline – two weeks to pull off the biggest heist in history . . .

When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her to the Louvre . . . to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her uncle travelled to Austria . . . to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she conned her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. But now her dad’s life is on the line, and Kat must go back to the world she tried so hard to escape . . .

Rating: ***** (5 stars)

Review:

Heist Society is the first book in Ally Carter’s new series of the same name. It tells the story of Kat, a girl born into a world of crime who doesn’t see things in quite the same way as the rest of her family.

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Review: Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

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Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

Title: Struck
Author: Jennifer Bosworth
Genre: Dystopian, Young Adult
Publisher:  Doubleday Childrens (26th April 2012)
Blurb:

My name is Mia Price and I am a
LIGHTNING ADDICT.

I want the lightning to find me. I crave it like
LUNGS CRAVE OXYGEN.

Nothing makes you feel more alive than being
STRUCK.

Rating: ** (2 stars)

Review:

There has always been something about lightning that has interested me, even if I am terrified of the reality. The idea of a “lightning addict” sounded really interesting, so I thought I’d give Mia’s story a try.

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Review: Entwined by Heather Dixon

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Entwined by Heather Dixon

Title: Entwined
Author: Heather Dixon
Genre: Fairy Tale Re-Telling, Young Adult
Publisher:  Greenwillow (29th March 2011)
Blurb:

Azalea is trapped.

Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it’s taken away. All of it.

The Keeper understands. He’s trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation.

Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room and dance in his silver forest.

But there is a cost.

The Keeper likes to keep things.

Azalea might not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Review:

In Entwined Heather Dixon re-tells the story of The Twelve Dancing Princesses by the Brothers Grimm. Dixon reimagines the story from the point of view of the eldest daughter, Azalea.

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