Friday, March 30, 2018

Book Trailer Friday [@FoxHomeEnt @alexbracken @DisneyHyperion] #TheDarkestMinds

This week the trailer I chose is not exactly for a book, rather it is for a movie based on a book: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken. The movie will be released in August and is not yet rated:




about The Darkest Minds:

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something frightening enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that got her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that had killed most of America’s children, but she and the others emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they could not control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones. When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. She is on the run, desperate to find the only safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who have escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents. When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at having a life worth living.




Book:
December 18, 2012 // Disney Hyperion // 488 pages // Goodreads // Book Depository // Amazon



Movie:
August 03, 2018 // 20th Century Fox // TheDarkestMinds.com

Thursday, March 29, 2018

A Map of the Dark ~ Karen Ellis review [@KatiaLief @mulhollandbooks]

A Map of the Dark (The Searchers #1)
Mullholand Books
January 02, 2018
292 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depository/or Amazon


A girl, missing
A woman, searching
A killer, planning...

FBI Agent Elsa Myers finds missing people.
She knows how it feels to be lost...

Though her father lies dying in a hospital north of New York City, Elsa cannot refuse a call for help. A teenage girl has gone missing from Forest Hills, Queens, and during the critical first hours of the case, a series of false leads hides the fact that she did not go willingly.

With each passing hour, as the hunt for Ruby deepens into a search for a man who may have been killing for years, the case starts to get underneath Elsa's skin. Everything she has buried - her fraught relationship with her sister and niece, her self-destructive past, her mother's death - threatens to resurface, with devastating consequences.

In order to save the missing girl, she may have to lose herself...and return to the darkness she's been hiding from for years.
It was great, when preparing this review, to find out that A Map of the Dark was the first in a series. Though this book concluded very well and did wrap up the story, I had hoped we would see more of at least some of the characters. Now, I am looking forward to the second book, Last Night.

Author Karen Ellis, a pseudonym of Katia Lief, gave readers thrilling read centered around a missing teen and an FBI agent with her own reasons for being so dedicated to finding the missing girl. I liked that Elsa's past played a roe in her joining law enforcement, but also in why she is so good at finding missing children. And that it was not the reason you, at first, believe.

Readers will see certain developments coming before (some of) the characters, but they seem to only be those that we are meant to anticipate, the ones that increase the tension. The story is full of a lot of surprises and anxiety, as well.

The more you know about the characters, the more you both want to know about them and the more you want them to be safe. I really loved that this was a great, thrilling mystery with a crime to be solved and someone(s) to be rescued but also gave us characters we could be invested in, care about and root for.

The crime aspect of this story and the investigation were well done and seemed realistic and I am hoping we will get to see more development of the characters and their relationships in the books to come. I highly recommend this first book in The Searchers series.




Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Waiting On Wednesday [@penguinrandom]

Waiting On Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

My pick for this week:



THE MUSEUM OF US by Tara Wilson Redd

Secrets are con artists: they trick you into letting them out.

Sadie loves her rocker boyfriend Henry and her running partner and best friend Lucie, but no one can measure up to her truest love and hero, the dazzling and passionate George. George, her secret.

When something goes wrong and Sadie is taken to the hospital calling out for George, her hidden life may be exposed. Now she must confront the truth of the past, and protect a world she is terrified to lose.


published June 26th by Random House/Wendy Lamb Books

add to your Goodreads shelf // pre-order from Book Depo // or Amazon


Why?

I don't think I actually have any idea, really, what The Museum of Us is about (obviously secrets) but I am absolutely intrigued. I really want to know who (or what or whatever) George is and how he is a part of Sadie's world and what it being a 'secret life,' really means.

This book's description definitely has me very curious and eager to read it and discover some of its secrets.



That's my pick for this week, what's yours? Tell me in the comments and/or link me to your own post!

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Waiting On Wednesday: Foreign Setting Books


This week's Ten:
10 Books in Another Country


I chose the ten books that most made me want to visit the country (or countries) in which they were set - some are historical, some are present day and some are a little magical or futuristic but they are all real countries. Also, these may or may not be ten of my favorite books, but they are the ten that most drew me to their setting(s).

The Lost Season of Love & Snow by Jennifer Laam
Goodreads / Review


The House Between Tides by Sarah Maine
Goodreads / Review


Hello, I Love You by Katie M Stout


Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna & the French Kiss #3) by Stephanie Perkins


Love, Lucy by April Lindner


I See London, I See France (#1) by Sarah Mlynowski


Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly


Just One Year (Just One Day #2) by Gayle Forman


The Night Parade by Kathryn Tanquary

Warcross (#1) by Marie Lu
Goodreads




Please leave a comment and let me know your favorite books set in another country (or countries)!

Monday, March 26, 2018

The Undertaker's Daughter ~ Sara Blaedel (earc) review [@sarablaedel @GrandCentralPub]

The Undertaker's Daughter (Ilka #1)
Grand Central Publishing
February 06, 2018
326 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depository/or Amazon

Already widowed by the age of forty, Ilka Nichols Jensen, a school portrait photographer, leads a modest, regimented, and uneventful life in Copenhagen. Until unexpected news rocks her quiet existence: Her father–who walked out suddenly and inexplicably on the family more than three decades ago–has died. And he’s left her something in his will: his funeral home. In Racine, Wisconsin.

Clinging to this last shred of communication from the father she hasn’t heard from since childhood, Ilka makes an uncharacteristically rash decision and jumps on a plane to Wisconsin. Desperate for a connection to the parent she never really knew, she plans to visit the funeral home and go through her father’s things–hoping for some insight into his new life in America–before preparing the business for a quick sale.

But when she stumbles on an unsolved murder, and a killer who seems to still be very much alive, the undertaker’s daughter realizes she might be in over her head . .

The Undertaker's Daughter was a different type of story than I was expecting. Based on the reviews quotes on its NetGalley page (and the one on the cover, as well), I thought it would be more of a crime thriller. Instead, it felt more like a literary fiction tale that included a mystery surrounding a crime. (Perhaps, a small bit of that had to do with the tone and attitude of the book; it was originally published in Danish and, generally, Scandinavian books feel less . . . intense than their US counterparts. I think, though, that it was just this story.)

This was a story about Ilka, a school photographer in Denmark. Her father left her and her mother when Ilka was a young girl and she never knew why. Now, with news that he has died, she has been summoned to Racine, Wisconsin to hear his will.

Wrapping things up so that she can return to Copenhagen and her life turns out to be much trickier than Ilka anticipated - both emotionally and logistically.

I did very much enjoy seeing Ilka try to figure out the new role she'd been suddenly thrust into while also trying to discover more about her father and to find the answers she was only just realizing how much she wanted. Adding in the small(ish) town politics, the murder mystery and present day repercussions (and possible actions) made for an interesting story. All of the interwoven tales and histories, along with the observations on the differences in Danish and American culture surrounding death and funerals, made for an intriguing read.

I do wish I had known when I started this book (or at any point while reading it) that this was the beginning of a series.. Some of the story does get concluded, but a lot more is left open and unresolved. So much so, actually, that the book ends with To be continued . . . Those endings work better when I know they're coming. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to the second book featuring Ilka and, hopefully, finding out what Racine has in store fro her - and if she stays.







digital review copy received from publisher, via NetGalley

Friday, March 23, 2018

Book Trailer Friday [@epicreads @justinaireland @harperteen]

Justina Ireland's new book Dread Nation (Dread Nation #1) will be out April 3rd - it's zombies and (American Civil War) historical fiction and looks so good -  here is the trailer:



about Dread Nation:
Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing America forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Reeducation Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.

But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose. But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies. And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems.




April 03, 2018 // Balzer + Bray // 464 pages // Goodreads // Book Depository // Amazon

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Close to Me ~ Amanda Reynolds (earc) review [@amandareynoldsj @QuercusBooks @Wildfirebks]

Close to Me
Wildfire
July 17, 2017
384 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depository/or Amazon


Close To Me is a gripping debut psychological drama that will appeal to fans of Liane Moriarty's bestselling The Husband's Secret, Clare Mackintosh's I Let You Go, and Linda Green's While My Eyes Were Closed.

She can't remember the last year. Her husband wants to keep it that way.

When Jo Harding falls down the stairs at home, she wakes up in hospital with partial amnesia-she's lost a whole year of memories. A lot can happen in a year. Was Jo having an affair? Lying to her family? Starting a new life?

She can't remember what she did-or what happened the night she fell. But she's beginning to realise she might not be as good a wife and mother as she thought.


Close to Me reminds you just how much you, as a reader, rely on the narrator. Whether or not you may realize it. I loved that author Amanda Reynolds kept readers just as in the dark - and sometimes even more so - as Jo.

The story is told alternating between the year that Jo has now forgotten and her life after her fall, trying to discover what all she has forgotten, how her family came to be so very different . . . and why she feels so unsettled around the husband she can only ever remember loving and trusting.

While it could be frustrating to be just on the cusp of discovering something, some informative truth or tidbit, only to have the timeline shift or Jo never quite mention it, it did definitely make for a better read. We were never ahead of either  past or present Jo when it came to any of the 'why's or the bigger pieces of the puzzle. Sometimes you knew what would happen but not why or when or, really, even if.

The way this story is told really keeps you just as engrossed in both of the timelines and anxious to find out what happens (or happened). At times, it's hard to even know if you like Jo and whether she -and what she did over that forgotten year - was in the right or the wrong.It was startling to realize just how much I was relying on Jo's interpretation of events, her memories, her impression of people and/or relationships to inform my understanding of things. I loved that it was not a third person narration; it left for a lot more questions and uncertainties. Sure Jo thought X was true or this person felt this way, but was it true?

There were a few more unanswered questions at the end of the novel than I would have liked. Things didn't need to be all tied up with a neat little bow or anything, but I was not sure enough about where or how certain characters were to even guess about their future. I will read more from this author, but I hope future books allow for more development of the characters' relationships.







digital review copy received from publisher, via NetGalley

Waiting On Wednesday [@demetrabrodsky @torteen]

Waiting On Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

My pick for this week:



DIVE SMACK by Demetra Brodsky
Theo Mackey only remembers one thing for certain about the fire that destroyed his home: he lit the match.

Sure, it was an accident. But the blaze killed his mom and set his dad on a path to self-destruction. Everything else about that fateful night is full of gaping holes in Theo’s mind, for good reason. Maybe it’s better that way. As captain of the Ellis Hollow Diving Team, with straight A's and solid friends, he's only one semester away from securing a scholarship, and leaving his past behind.

But when a family history project gets assigned at school, new memories come rushing to the surface, memories that make him question what he really knows about his family, the night of the fire, and if he can trust anyone—including himself.

published June 19th by Tor Teen

add to your Goodreads shelf // pre-order from Book Depo // or Amazon


Why?

To start with: that title has me curious enough that I would probably want to read it even if the book's description was not also really making me want to read this.

I tend to really enjoy novels where the characters are experiencing some sort of memory problems, especially when those missing (or compromised or repressed) memories are of some sort of tragic event that may or may not be the character's fault.  It can make for a great read when you don't know whether or not to trust the character (and, maybe, neither do they).

I'm curious what Theo's dad's path to self destruction entails and intrigued by the fact that its' set as Theo's about to graduate, leave town.



That's my pick for this week, what's yours? Tell me in the comments and/or link me to your own post!

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday: Spring TBR


This week's Ten:
10 Books on my Spring TBR List



The Complication (The Program #6) by Suzanne Young
Goodreads/Book Depo/Amazon


Suitors and Sabotage by Cindy Anstey
Goodreads/Book Depo/Amazon


Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson
Goodreads/Book Depo/Amazon


Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris
Goodreads/Book Depo/Amazon


LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff
Goodreads/Book Depo/Amazon


On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
Goodreads/Book Depo/Amazo


Paper Ghosts by Julia Heaberlin


Onyx and Ivory by Mindee Arnett


Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake


The Diminished (#1) by Kaitlyn Sage Patterson




Please leave a comment and let me know what books are your top Spring TBR picks -maybe I'll find some I don't know, yet, that I want to read!

Friday, March 9, 2018

Book Trailer Friday [@tomi_adeyemi @fiercereads]

The trailer this week is for Tomi Adeyemi's Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orisha #1) because it is a book I very much want to read. It came out this past Tuesday, the 6th and here is the trailer:



about Children of Blood and Bone:

Tomi Adeyemi conjures a stunning world of dark magic and danger in her West African-inspired fantasy debut, perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Sabaa Tahir.

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zelie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.

But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were targeted and killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Now, Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.

Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers—and her growing feelings for the enemy.



March 06, 2018 // Henry Holt Books for Young Readers // 525 pages // Goodreads // Book Depository // Amazon

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Waiting On Wednesday [@somiayadaud @Flatironbooks]

Waiting On Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

My pick for this week:



MIRAGE (#1) by Somaiya Daud

In a star system dominated by the brutal Vathek empire, eighteen-year-old Amani is a dreamer. She dreams of what life was like before the occupation; she dreams of writing poetry like the old-world poems she adores; she dreams of receiving a sign from Dihya that one day, she, too, will have adventure, and travel beyond her isolated moon.

But when adventure comes for Amani, it is not what she expects: she is kidnapped by the regime and taken in secret to the royal palace, where she discovers that she is nearly identical to the cruel half-Vathek Princess Maram. The princess is so hated by her conquered people that she requires a body double, someone to appear in public as Maram, ready to die in her place.

As Amani is forced into her new role, she can’t help but enjoy the palace’s beauty—and her time with the princess’ fiancé, Idris. But the glitter of the royal court belies a world of violence and fear. If Amani ever wishes to see her family again, she must play the princess to perfection...because one wrong move could lead to her death.


published August 26th by Flatiron Books

add to your Goodreads shelf // pre-order from Book Depo // or Amazon


Why?

It's in space and there are royals which has so many possibilities right there. Then our main character is a girl who doesn't fit in and is the evil princess' doppelganger? This book sounds like so much fun (and drama and emotion and awesomeness).!

Oh, but I want to read this one and discover Dihya and about the Vathek empire and meet Amani and find out what happens to her.

You can preview  Mirage on Entertainment Weekly's website, here.




That's my pick for this week, what's yours? Tell me in the comments and/or link me to your own post!

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday: Book Quotes


This week's Ten:
10 13 Favorite Book Quotes


This list could definitely have been three (or more) times as long, so I selected quotes that were particularly memorable for me and/or that expressed something in a new/eloquent way and/or just had beautiful, evocative language. 


". . . to a cul-de-sac where rainbows and unicorns came to die."
Made You Up by Francesca Zappia (pg 350)


"Growing apart doesn't change the fact that for a long time we grew sie by side, our roots will always be tangled. I'm glad for that." 
Matched by Ally Condie


"Ruby's stories didn't have morals. They meant one thing in the light and one thing in the dark and another thing entirely when she was wearing sunglasses." 
Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Sima


"I shake my head, watching snow tumble and swirl from an all-white sky. The world seems so clean if you only look up." 
Wither by Lauren DeStefano


"We notice the silence of men. We depend upon the silence of women." 
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire


"Do you know how magic works? . . . Hope. That's how. Without hope, there would be no magic." 
The Girl Who Saved Christmas by Matt Haig (pg 11)


"I'm not depressed. I'm unhappy. It's different. . . Depression is irrational. I'm unhappy because my life sucks. That's rational." 
Placebo Junkies by J.C. Carleson (pg 185)


“It’s easy to talk about things we hate, but sometimes it’s hard to explain exactly why we like something."
Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins


"The room had never felt this empty. Like I was trapped between the space of an echo and a scream."
The Star Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi (pg 14) 


"'What color is hope?'
'I hope in all the colors,' Dovie said. 'That's what makes it hope.'"
Learning to Swear in America by Katie Kennedy


"You go to a Quaker school. Isn't it against your religion to be a jackass?
Where You'll Find Me by Natasha Friend


"...She sits at the piano; it's a concert Steinway as ebony as the night, and just as long."
Unwind by Neal Shusterman


"Her voice was soft, but not like a pillow. Like a pile of fine metal shavings or powdered glass." 
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner (pg 326)





Please leave a comment and let me know your favorite quotes from books!

Monday, March 5, 2018

Internet Famous ~ Danika Stone (earc) review [@danika_stone @SwoonReads]

Internet Famous
Swoon Reads
June 06, 2017
312 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depository/or Amazon

High school senior and internet sensation Madison Nakama seems to have it all: a happy family, good grades, and a massive online following for her pop-culture blog. But when her mother suddenly abandons the family, Madi finds herself struggling to keep up with all of her commitments.

Fandom to the rescue! As her online fans band together to help, an online/offline flirtation sparks with Laurent, a French exchange student. Their internet romance—played out in the comments section of her MadLibs blog—attracts the attention of an internet troll who threatens the separation of Madi’s real and online personas. With her carefully constructed life unraveling, Madi must uncover the hacker’s identity before he can do any more damage, or risk losing the people she loves the most… Laurent included.

Internet Famous was one of those books where I had forgotten much of the premise before I started the book (that or it was from Swoon Reads so I didn't really read all of what it was about) so a lot of the story was a surprise for me. A very pleasant surprise.

This is absolutely a very sweet and cute romance, but the other parts of the story - and Madi's life - really take the story to the next level. The different dynamics at play in Madi's family were unexpected but something I was all to glad to see.

"Difficult sibling dynamics are rarely explored in teen films, and this was one of many happy surprises from this rewatch." (pg 253)

Switch up a few words in Madi's statement (films to books, rewatch to read) and you have my feelings about this novel. Madi and Sarah's relationship was not your typical, teenage sisters relationship and the responsibilities Madi had to shoulder put her in more of a parental role sometimes. I really appreciated that we not only got to see her struggle with all of that, but that it was addressed by the characters, as well. The girls' relationships with their mother and father could also be strained and tricky. These extra layers of stress made Madi, her life and her story fuller.

One of the problems Madi encounters did not garner as much sympathy from me as, maybe, it was supposed to . .. I felt bad for her but also did not think she was wrongly penalized.

Madi's blog, MadLibs was fun and something different for a character. I liked how, while it was her escape, it had also impacted her daily life - and then was impacted by it, too.

I began reading Internet Famous expecting a cute, fun, if somewhat fluffy romance. It was definitely cute and fun (and sweet and romantic and goofy) but it was not fluffy. There was an unexpected depth to the story and Madi's character that rally impressed me. I will be reading the author's previous novel All the Feels (which includes some of the same fictional fandom) and anything upcoming.









digital review copy received from the publisher, via NetGalley

Friday, March 2, 2018

Book Trailer Friday [@JPierce_Books]

The trailer I wanted to feature this week is for Jessica Pierce's debut YA, due out March 27th, Atlas Fallen (Cyber Crown #1):



about Atlas Fallen:
One space station.

One throne.

And the girl who holds the key.


Tesla Petrov, daughter of an infamous traitor, no longer lives a life of promise in the Atlas space station's elite flight training program. Stripped of her military rank and banished to the slums, she now scrapes out a brutal existence competing in illegal robot fights for Minko, ruthless leader of the Red Ashes crime syndicate. But when a wrong move costs her a fight—and a fortune—for the crime lord, Tesla knows her days aboard the Atlas are numbered.

Daxton Larose isn't just visiting the station to celebrate the Centennial of the Crown—he's hunting a terrorist threatening to end a century of peace on Earth. To do so, he’ll need someone who knows the station. Someone willing to strike a deal at any cost.

Someone like Tesla.


But as the hunt for the terrorist uncovers dangerous secrets from both their pasts, Tesla and Daxton realize that nothing, and no one, is what it seems.




March 27, 2018 // ebook // 360 pages // Lost City Publishers // Goodreads // Author Website

Book Trailer Friday [@RandomHouse @TransworldBooks]

Beth Dorey-Stein's From the Corner of the Oval  - a tale of being the White House stenographer during the Obama administration will be ...