Top Ten Tuesday: Fall TBR List [@epicreads @merit_press @hmhkids @randomhousekids @simonteen @FierceReads @RP_Kids @SourcebooksFire]

hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's Ten:

10 Books On My Fall TBR List

Speed of Life by J.M. Kelly
(October 11th ~ HMH Books for Young Readers)

Twins Crystal and Amber have the same goal: to be the first in their family to graduate high school and make something of their lives. When one gets pregnant during their junior year, they promise to raise the baby together. It’s not easy, but between their after-school jobs, they’re scraping by.

Crystal’s grades catch the attention of the new guidance counselor, who tells her about a college that offers a degree in automotive restoration, perfect for the car buff she is. When she secretly applies—and gets in—new opportunities threaten their once-certain plans, and Crystal must make a choice: follow her dreams or stay behind and honor the promise she made to her sister.

Feminist readers in particular will appreciate this strong young woman who doesn’t conform to gender norms.. -Kirkus

Replica (Replica #1) by Lauren Oliver
(October 4th ~ HarperCollins)

Gemma has been in and out of hospitals since she was born. 'A sickly child', her lonely life to date has revolved around her home, school and one best friend, Alice. But when she discovers her father's connection to the top secret Haven research facility, currently hitting the headlines and under siege by religious fanatics, Gemma decides to leave the sanctuary she's always known to find the institute and determine what is going on there and why her father's name seems inextricably linked to it.

Amidst the frenzy outside the institute's walls, Lyra - or number 24 as she is known as at Haven - and a fellow experimental subject known only as 72, manage to escape. Encountering a world they never knew existed outside the walls of their secluded upbringing , they meet Gemma and, as they try to understand Haven's purpose together, they uncover some earth-shattering secrets that will change the lives of both girls forever...

Look Past by Eric Devine

(October 4th ~ Running Press Kids)

Someone brutally murdered Mary Mathison, daughter of a prominent and very conservative local pastor. Whoever it was is now taunting Avery, a transgender boy, with disturbing messages, claiming that Mary’s murder was revenge for her relationship with Avery. The killer’s demands are simple and horrific: Avery must repent for changing his gender identity, or he will be the next one killed.
Can Avery deny who he is to catch Mary’s killer? Or will sacrificing himself be the ultimate betrayal?

What Light by Jay Asher

(October 11th ~ Razorbill)

From Jay Asher, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Thirteen Reasons Why, comes a romance that will break your heart, but soon have you believing again. . . .

Sierra's family runs a Christmas tree farm in Oregon—it's a bucolic setting for a girl to grow up in, except that every year, they pack up and move to California to set up their Christmas tree lot for the season. So Sierra lives two lives: her life in Oregon and her life at Christmas. And leaving one always means missing the other.

Until this particular Christmas, when Sierra meets Caleb, and one life eclipses the other.

By reputation, Caleb is not your perfect guy: years ago, he made an enormous mistake and has been paying for it ever since. But Sierra sees beyond Caleb's past and becomes determined to help him find forgiveness and, maybe, redemption. As disapproval, misconceptions, and suspicions swirl around them, Caleb and Sierra discover the one thing that transcends all else: true love.

What Light is a love story that's moving and life-affirming and completely unforgettable.

The Homecoming by Stacie Ramey

(November 1st ~ Sourcebooks Fire)

Forced to return to his estranged family, John discovers how hard it is to truly go home.

It's been a year since John lost his girlfriend, Leah, to suicide. Living with his uncle keeps his mind from the tragedy and his screwed up family-until he gets into trouble and a judge sends him back home. With a neglectful mother and abusive brother, John's homecoming is far from happy.

As he tries to navigate and repair the relationships he abandoned years ago, Emily, the girl next door, is the only bright spot. She's sweet and smart and makes him think his heart may finally be healing. But tragedy isn't far away, and John must soon face an impossible decision: save his family or save himself.

Teach Me to Forget by Erica M Chapman

(December 2nd ~ Merit Press)

Ellery's bought the gun, made arrangements for her funeral, and even picked the day. A Wednesday. Everything has fallen into place.

Now all she has to do is die.

When her plans go awry and the gun she was going to kill herself with breaks, she does the one thing she has control over--return it and get a new one. After tormenting the crusty customer service associate by trying to return the gun with the wrong receipt, Ellery gets caught by the security guard who also happens to be someone she knows--the annoyingly perfect Colter Sawyer from her English class.

Colter quickly uncovers what she's hiding and is determined to change her mind. After confessing a closely held secret of his own, he promises not to tell hers. Ellery tries to fight her attraction to him as the shadows of her past cling tight around her, but when she's faced with another tragedy, she must decide whether her love for one boy is more important than a lifetime of pain.

Spare and Found Parts by Sarah Maria Griffin

(October 4th ~ Greenwillow Books)

Nell Crane has always been an outsider. In a city devastated by an epidemic, where survivors are all missing parts—an arm, a leg, an eye—her father is the famed scientist who created the biomechanical limbs everyone now uses. But Nell is the only one whose mechanical piece is on the inside: her heart. Since the childhood operation, she has ticked. Like a clock, like a bomb. As her community rebuilds, everyone is expected to contribute to the society’s good . . . but how can Nell live up to her father’s revolutionary idea when she has none of her own?

Then she finds a mannequin hand while salvaging on the beach—the first boy’s hand she’s ever held—and inspiration strikes. Can Nell build her own companion in a world that fears advanced technology? The deeper she sinks into this plan, the more she learns about her city—and her father, who is hiding secret experiments of his own.

Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

(October 18th ~ Knopf Books for Young Readers)

The highly anticipated sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller that critics are calling “out-of-this-world awesome.”

Moving to a space station at the edge of the galaxy was always going to be the death of Hanna’s social life. Nobody said it might actually get her killed.

The sci-fi saga that began with the breakout bestseller Illuminae continues on board the Jump Station Heimdall, where two new characters will confront the next wave of the BeiTech assault.

Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy’s most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion.

When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station’s wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands.

But relax. They’ve totally got this. They hope.

Once again told through a compelling dossier of emails, IMs, classified files, transcripts, and schematics, Gemina raises the stakes of the Illuminae Files, hurling readers into an enthralling new story that will leave them breathless.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

(November 8th ~ Feiwel & Friends)

Long before she was the terror of Wonderland — the infamous Queen of Hearts — she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the yet-unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend and supply the Kingdom of Hearts with delectable pastries and confections. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next Queen.

At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the king's marriage proposal, she meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the King and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into an intense, secret courtship.

Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

and I'm leaving #10 open because I know there are a lot of fall books I forgot to add to my Goodreads shelves!

Please leave a comment and let me know the top books from your TBR list this fall!

The Sister Pact ~ Stacie Ramey (earc) review [@stacieramey @SourcebooksFire]

The Sister Pact
Sourcebooks Fire
November 3, 2015
320 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depository/or Amazon

A suicide pact was supposed to keep them together, but a broken promise tore them apart

Allie is devastated when her older sister commits suicide - and not just because she misses her. Allie feels betrayed. The two made a pact that they'd always be together, in life, and in death, but Leah broke her promise and Allie needs to know why.

Her parents hover. Her friends try to support her. And Nick, sweet Nick, keeps calling and flirting. Their sympathy only intensifies her grief.

But the more she clings to Leah, the more secrets surface. Allie's not sure which is more distressing: discovering the truth behind her sister's death or facing her new reality without her.

The Sister Pact has such a misleading - though not exactly ill fitting - cover. Even after reading that book's description, something about that cover made me think it was going to be a lighter read. It is not.

Allie's older sister Leah committed suicide. On top of missing her sister and trying to understand why she chose to leave, Allie feels betrayed, left behind. Suicide was something they were supposed to do together; one of them was not supposed to leave the other behind.

Now as her parents deal - in their way - with the twin heartbreaks of one daughter who died and one who thought she should have, Allie has to face (and figure out how to handle) them and the new attention on her. Everyone's trying to help, but it is not what Allie needs.

I loved how art was included in The Sister Pact. Leah was the extremely talented dancer and Allie paints. Or she did. The pairing of her grief and her struggle to find her art, find her colors, again was brilliant. How not only Allie's desire to paint, but the physical paintings themselves and, even, her studio played into her character's journey was so great. While she and others question if she's painting again, if she is able - and then her attempts, we learn a lot about her character, her sister, their past and their family.

Allie and Leah's family is ont a healthy one. There are the more obvious issues (with their mother, their father's girlfriend) bit the more we learn, seemingly about the sister's pact, about Leah's suicide, the more screwed up we see her parents are.

There were several times I could not believe the choices her parents were making, the things they were allowing - or trying to prohibit - and why they could not see the potential harm.

When you have finished The Sister Pact, you will understand not only Allie, but hopefully her sister Leah, much better. You may even understand them (and their family dynamics and issues) better as an outsider, and you will definitely feel for both girls. The inclusion of Allie's 'everyday' life, with her relationships (new and old) gives us a fuller picture of her and the loss of Leah. (And their relationship while she was alive.)

It is not a book that makes sugarcoats things, or makes them easy. Allie repeatedly says something complimentary of Leah, only to follow it with, "Until she killed herself." She may not know they why, she may not understand the abandonment, but she isn't giving her sister a pass. As much as it could be hard to read, I appreciated that we saw all of Allie's bad choices, her grief and confusion. We saw those things, and how they echoed into the other parts of her life, and we saw her struggle with whether to move forward.

The Sister Pact takes readers and Allie on a powerful journey, into pain, grief and heartache, but hopefully into understanding and maybe hope.

What I do love about the book's cover are the colors. The way colors and finding the right ones are a part of the novel is such a fantastic part of Allie's character that I love that it's what I first notice about the cover. (Though, part of me still wishes it had been done like a painting.)

(The preview below is because I wanted you to read the part [pg 8] from , 'I want to hear how Allie feels, through the following paragraph [her response].)





Other Books You May Also Enjoy: I Was Here by Gayle Forman and Hold Still by Nina LaCour





digital copy received, for review, from publisher, via NetGalley