(ARC) YA Book Review: Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Release Date: 3 April 2012

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Format: ARC
Source: Around the World ARC Tours

Goodreads description:

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae's most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

My Thoughts...

Ismae's life has been a struggle to survive from before she was even born.  When someone tries to end your life before it begins, how much hope can you truly hold for your own future?  When Ismae is spirited away in the night from her brutal arranged marriage, she discovers that there's a whole world of opportunities waiting for her should she choose to join with the convent and dedicate her life to Death...

Ismae is a fierce young woman whose life hasn't been easy but she's made it through.  The sisters at St. Mortain offer her the chance of a lifetime--to seek retribution.  She's really a natural at it too.  She's immune to poisons and skilled in the arts that the sisters of St. Mortain teach her.  I thoroughly enjoyed her quick decision-making skills (even if she didn't always make the "right" choice) and her strong, take-no-crap personality.

The male love interest as it were was interesting to me and by the end I found that I really liked him.  His relationship with Ismae developed at a reasonable pace and her reactions to him felt fairly suited to someone unfamiliar with dealing with men (she did, after all, often skip out on that class).  She didn't simply bend to the wiles of a man either--her relationship with him felt like a natural extension of her personal development.

The combination of setting, action, and characters made this a stellar read for me.  I enjoyed the descriptions that Ms. LaFevers puts into your imagination ranging from the harsh countryside to the stark convent and then into the bustling court.  The characters each carry their own weight and fill their roles well and it reads much like a historical fiction novel, if you're into that sort of thing.  Full of religion, court politics, and romance, Grave Mercy is a book that I won't soon forget and I'm quite excited to read the sequel!

Waiting on Wednesday (53)

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where book bloggers discuss the books that they are most anxiously waiting for! (And this fabulous button was designed by my dear blogger friend Lindsay at The Violet Hour)

This week I'm waiting on...

Elemental by Antony John
© 21 November 2012 by Dial

A lost colony is reborn in this heart-pounding fantasy adventure set in the near future . . .

Sixteen-year-old Thomas has always been an outsider. The first child born without the power of an Element—earth, water, wind or fire—he has little to offer his tiny, remote Outer Banks colony. Or so the Guardians would have him believe.

In the wake of an unforeseen storm, desperate pirates kidnap the Guardians, intent on claiming the island as their own. Caught between the plague-ridden mainland and the advancing pirates, Thomas and his friends fight for survival in the battered remains of a mysterious abandoned settlement. But the secrets they unearth will turn Thomas’ world upside-down, and bring to light not only a treacherous past but also a future more dangerous than he can possibly imagine

(ARC) YA Book Review: The Weepers: The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker

Release Date: 1 May 2012 (1 Feb 2012 UK)

Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Preorder a copy! Amazon | B&N

Goodreads description:

3 years, 1 month, 1 week and 6 days since I’d seen daylight. One-fifth of my life.

Sherry and her family have lived sealed in a bunker in the garden since things went wrong up above...and two minutes ago they ran out of food. Sherry and her father leave the safety of the bunker and find a devastated and empty LA, smashed to pieces by bombs and haunted by ‘Weepers’ - rabid humans infected with a weaponized rabies virus.

While searching for food in a supermarket, Sherry’s father disappears and Sherry is saved by Joshua, a boy-hunter. He takes her to Safe-haven, a tumble-down vineyard in the hills outside LA, where a handful of other survivors are picking up the pieces of their ‘other lives’. As she falls in love for the first time, Sherry must save her father, stay alive and keep Joshua safe when his desire for vengeance threatens them all.

My Thoughts...

@EntangledPub Cover Reveal & Excerpt: Pretty Amy by Lisa Burstein

Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Release Date: November 2012

Amy is fine living in the shadows of beautiful Lila and uber-cool Cassie, because at least she’s somewhat beautiful and uber-cool by association. But when their dates stand them up for prom, and the girls take matters into their own hands—earning them a night in jail outfitted in satin, stilettos, and Spanx—Amy discovers even a prom spent in handcuffs might be better than the humiliating “rehabilitation techniques” now filling up her summer. Worse, with Lila and Cassie parentally banned, Amy feels like she has nothing—like she is nothing.

Navigating unlikely alliances with her new coworker, two very different boys, and possibly even her parents, Amy struggles to decide if it’s worth being a best friend when it makes you a public enemy. Bringing readers along on an often hilarious and heartwarming journey, Amy finds that maybe getting a life only happens once you think your life is over.

Add it to your "To Read" List on Goodreads!
(There's even a current giveaway for Pretty Amy on GR!)
Pre-order the paperback from Amazon


Check out this excerpt that I've been luck enough to get to share with you!!!

Excerpt from Pretty Amy:

I was just about to put out my cigarette and go back inside when I heard a skateboard coming down the street. It sounded like waves, like a conch shell against your ear. That full, empty sound. Maybe it was Aaron. I conjured up my stupid daydream, the one I used to fill my head when I couldn’t deal with any of the other stuff in there—that he would find me, that he would apologize, that he would tell me that prom night hadn’t been his fault.

The difference this time was that when I looked toward the sound, he really was there.

It was him. 


Aaron.


He was skateboarding down the sidewalk like it was made of water, wearing the same loose, worn jeans from his Facebook picture. He carried a backpack, like he might have been coming from the library, but I doubted he ever went to the library.

I lit another cigarette with the end of my last one; any excuse to stay put. Then I remembered I was wearing a suit.

“You got another one of those?” he asked. His eyes were blue. I hadn’t noticed that in his picture.

My hands shook as I gave him a cigarette. He brought a silver-and-black Zippo to his mouth, flipped it open with one hand, lit his cigarette, and slapped it shut. The whole thing took seconds, but it felt like he was doing it in slow motion. “Thanks,” he said.

Maybe he had just stopped to get a cigarette. Maybe it had nothing to do with me.

It probably had nothing to do with me.

“I know you,” he said. “Where do I know you from?”

I couldn’t tell him. Telling him that he’d stood me up for my own prom would have been way too embarrassing. It would tell him that I still cared enough to remember.

“I’m friends with Lila and Cassie,” I said, wishing that my hair wasn’t pulled back in a headband like I was a nun.

“What are you all dressed up for?” he asked.

Of course he didn’t know me. If he had, he would have known that I’d just come from court and that I was trying to do everything I could to forget it. “I work here,” I said, thinking fast. “I’m supposed to be a librarian.”

“You don’t have to lie,” he said, laughing.
 “I’m Aaron.”

“Amy,” I said, waving hello with the cigarette in my hand.

He smiled. “Though you do make a cute librarian.”

I tried to keep myself from coughing. “This suit sucks,” I said. It seemed cooler than saying thank you. It seemed cooler than getting all squishy over what he said, even though that was how I felt.

I looked at his skateboard.
 “You wanna try it out?” he asked.
 The deck had a mural of blue sky and white-capped mountains hand-painted on it. The wheels were covered with stop-motion birds, so that when they spun it must have looked like the birds were flying.

There was more to this boy. More that I wanted to know.

“I guess I could,” I said, but then I remembered my mother. She would come looking for me soon.

I shook my head. “I should go.”

“You got a cell phone?” he asked.

“Not that I’m allowed to use anymore.”

“Parents,” he said. He pulled a sketchbook from his backpack. Maybe he had painted that beautiful mural. He ripped out a piece of paper, wrote something down, and handed it to me.
It was his phone number.

I tried not to act surprised, tried to act like boys gave me their numbers all the time, especially when I hadn’t asked for them.

“See you around, Amy,” he said. He dropped the skateboard next to him. It landed perfectly on its wheels like a cat would on its legs.

As he skated away, I looked at his number; the paper was as soft as fabric. I folded it smaller and smaller and hid it in my bra. Maybe he hadn’t said what I wanted him to say, but he had found me.

He had found me.

AND that's not all! Entangled Publishing will be hosting a WORST PROM PHOTO CONTEST in the weeks leading up to PRETTY AMY's release on May 15. So make sure to dust off your old prom photos—the more tulle, bows, and big hair the better!—and watch Lisa's site, http://www.lisaburstein.com, for details on how to submit/enter to win a beauty package.

Lisa Burstein is a tea seller by day and a writer by night. She wrote her first story when she was in second grade. It was a Thanksgiving tale from the point of view of the turkey from freezer to oven to plate. It was scandalous.

 She was a lot like Amy when she was in high school.

 She is still a lot like Amy.

In My Mailbox (26)

"In My Mailbox" is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi of The Story Siren where we can show some love to all the books that we got in the mail or otherwise!

Hello, my lovelies!!! I was totally going to do a video blog this week, but I have so many that are eBooks this time around that I decided I'd just stick with the picture post this time. :)

For Review:

 

 Thank you to NetGalley & Bloomsbury Children's! I was really excited to see both of these show up on NG--check them out!!

Thanks to NetGalley & Flux! How AWESOME does this book look?!

Thanks to NetGalley & Marshall Cavendish! Road trip!!!

Bought:

eBooks:

 

Physical Books:

What's in YOUR mailbox? :)

Friday Fling! Lucky Girl by Cate Lord @EntangledPub

 

During Friday Fling , I share with you a "just for fun" romance book or novella that I read and really enjoyed.  It will generally be a "mini review" instead of a full review and I'll often stray from my YA focus into the realm of adult romance (which, in case you're curious, is my guilty pleasure).  These are books that I think are fun, quick reads that are definitely worth checking out!




Gosh, at this rate, Entangled Publishing books are going to take all of my birthday money! If you enjoy romance and you haven't check out their books, I suggest you do it post-haste. :)

Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Release Date: September 2011
Get it! (for only $4.99!) Amazon | B&N

Jessica Devlin isn't looking for love--just a fling, some romance to help mend her broken heart. She never thought she had a chance with sexy playboy Nick, but he certainly seems interested. When the two finally get together, sparks fly and the love Jessica wasn't looking for might just sneak up on her.

Lucky Girl is fabulously fun, sexy, and laced with emotion.  Jessica is highly relateable in her insecurities.  I think more than one female reader will also relate with her goddess and dating mantras.  Nick is super sexy in all his British-ness (everyone loves a sexy accent) and well, even if he wasn't British he would still be the fabulously charming character that steals your (and Jessica's) heart.

For those looking for a fun romance, look no farther.