WHY? Wing Jones by Katherine Webber Publisher: Walker Books "With a grandmother from China and another from Ghana, fifteen-year-old Wing Jones is often caught between worlds." I can sense a really unique voice in this YA novel Caraval (Caraval #1) by Stephanie Garber Publisher: Flatiron Books "Welcome, welcome to Caraval―Stephanie Garber’s sweeping tale of two sisters who escape their ruthless father when they enter the dangerous intrigue of a legendary game." I am so intrigued by this !!! Trans Voices: Becoming Who You Are by Declan Henry, Stephen Whittle (Foreword), Jane Fae (Afterword) Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers "This powerful book is an ideal introduction to those keen to understand more about contemporary trans issues as well as those questioning their own gender identity." Just because something doesn't involve you, doesn't mean that you should be ignorant towards it. Knowledge kills ignorance; Ignorance feeds hate. RoseBlood by A.G. Howard Publisher: Amulet Books This a retelling of The Phantom of the Opera that is written by A.G. Howard. Not only is the concept intriguing, but also the writing style is absolutely stunning! I have already started reading this book, and I'm loving it. Why? The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas Publisher: Balzer + Bray "Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this is a powerful and gripping YA novel about one girl's struggle for justice." A book that every library needs! Gilded Cage (Dark Gifts #1) by Vic James Publisher: Del Rey Books "Not all are free. Not all are equal. Not all will be saved." This blurb reminded me of Animal Farm by George Orwell, so consider me hooked! #famous by Jilly Gagnon Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books "Told in alternating points of view, #famous captures the out-of-control thrill ride of falling for someone in front of everyone." This book is going to show us the price and consequences of posting everything online. I definitely need to read this. Sad Perfect by Stephanie Elliot Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) "The story of a teen girl's struggle with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder and how love helps her on the road to recovery." I really love the theme in this books. Not only do I get to learn more about different illnesses, but also witness a love story. The Sky Between You and Me by Catherine Alene Publisher: Sourcebook Fire This is a story about an athletic girl, who develops an eating disorder. It is also written in verse!!!! (BINGO) Why? The Hidden Memory of Objects by Danielle Mages Amato Publisher: Blazer & Bray "Megan Brown’s brother, Tyler, is dead, but the cops are killing him all over again. They say he died of a drug overdose, potentially suicide—something Megan cannot accept." Mystery+Paranormal+Vengeance= Gimme that book! Why? One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus Publisher: Delacorte Press "One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide." I need to find out what happens next! Why? The Girl in Between by Sarah Carrol Publisher: Kathy Dawson Books "Told in the naive voice of a homeless girl sheltered by her mother from the world, this is a moving debut perfect for fans of David Almond, A Monster Calls, and Room." Sounds like the perfect book to make me see the world from a less fortunate perspective. Girl on the Verge by Pintip Dunn Publisher: Kensington "From the author of The Darkest Lie comes a compelling, provocative story for fans of I Was Here and Vanishing Girls, about a high school senior straddling two worlds, unsure how she fits in either—and the journey of self-discovery that leads her to surprising truths." I have loved every single book written by Pintip, which makes me more excited to read this Thai, own voices book. Follow Me Back (Follow Me Back #1) by A.V. Geiger Publisher: Sourcebook Fire 'Tessa Hart’s world feels very small. Confined to her bedroom with agoraphobia, her one escape is the online fandom for pop sensation Eric Thorn. When he tweets to his fans, it’s like his speaking directly to her…' Agoraphobia, Twitter, and stardom!! #Need Why? Enigma by Tonya Kupper Publisher: Entangled Teen "Escaping with Reid Wentworth should have been fun, but how can I enjoy it when I just (accidentally) killed someone, my mom and brother are in danger, and the Consortium is trying to enslave humanity?" I am really excited to read the sequel to Anomaly! The Disappearances by Emily Bain Murphy Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt "What if the ordinary things in life suddenly…disappeared?" Yeah! How, why, and who could do that??????? Why? Brooding Young Adult Hero's Guide to Achieving Main Character Status by Carrie Ann DiRisio Publisher: Skypony Press "Have you ever wished you could receive a little guidance from your favorite book boyfriend? Ever dreamed of being the Chosen One of a YA novel? Want to know all the secrets of surviving the dreaded plot twist?" Unless you've been living under a rock, you might have seen @broodingYAhero 's twitter account. It is hilarious & quirky, so of course I am so excited to read this book Which books intrigues you the most, and which ones are also on your list?
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Title: Optimists Die First Author: Susin Nielsen Publisher: Penguin Random House UK Children’s/ Andersen Publication Date: 02 Mar 2017 Genre: YA, Contemporary, Mental Illness Format: Ebook My Rating: 4/5 stars Links: GoodReads . Amazon Blurb: Petula has avoided friendship and happiness ever since tragedy struck her family and took her beloved younger sister Maxine. Worse, Petula blames herself. If only she'd kept an eye on her sister, if only she'd sewn the button Maxine choked on better, if only... Now her anxiety is getting out of control, she is forced to attend the world’s most hopeless art therapy class. But one day, in walks the Bionic Man: a charming, amazingly tall newcomer called Jacob, who is also an amputee. Petula's ready to freeze him out, just like she did with her former best friend, but when she’s paired with Jacob for a class project, there’s no denying they have brilliant ideas together – ideas like remaking Wuthering Heights with cats. But Petula and Jacob each have desperately painful secrets in their pasts – and when the truth comes out, there’s no way Petula is ready for it. My Review: I received an eARC copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange with an honest review. Want to start by saying how much the cat references made me laugh hysterically while reading this book. The author even dedicated this book to all of the people who are like me. " To all the other crazy cat people. You know who you are." Reading the title of this book, and this part of the blurb " ideas like remaking Wuthering Heights with cats." made me so excited to read this book. The start and end were absolute perfection; I just felt a little bit bored in the middle of the book. I also wished that somethings were a bit more descriptive, than they actually were. We meet Petula, who is more that just a pessimistic person. She is also struggling with anxiety. This was portrayed perfectly, that even those who believe that people with anxiety are over-reacters, would get to see the illness itself. Everything Petula does and believes may seem extreme at first, but all of that is 105% justified. I really do need to take a moment and applaud Susin because of what she has accomplished with this book. She was able to send a loud, clear message to shatter the ignorance of the disbelievers, without them even realizing that. I really want to read more books by Susin Nielsen. I absolutely loved Optimists Die first. I give it 4/5 stars. About the Author: Susin got her start feeding cast and crew on the popular television series, Degrassi Junior High. They hated her food, but they saw a spark in her writing. Nielsen went on to pen sixteen episodes of the hit TV show. Since then, Nielsen has written for over 20 Canadian TV series. Her first young adult novel, Word Nerd, was published in 2008 to critical acclaim. It won multiple Young Readers’ Choice Awards, as did her second novel, Dear George Clooney: Please Marry My Mom. Her third novel, The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen, was published in August 2012. It went on to win the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award, the Canadian Library Association’s Children’s Book of the Year Award, and a number of Young Readers’ Choice Awards. Author Wally Lamb named it his top YA pick for 2012 in his “First Annual Wally Awards,” and recently Rolling Stone magazine put it at #27 in their list of “Top 40 Best YA Novels.” Her books have been translated into multiple languages. Susin’s new novel, We Are All Made of Molecules, will be published in Canada, the US and the UK in Spring of 2015. She lives in Vancouver with her family and two naughty cats. She is delighted to have finally figure out how to "claim" her author profile on Goodreads! Title: The Infinity of You & Me Author: J.Q. Coyle Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin Publication Date: November 8th 2016 Genre: Fantasy,Fiction, YA Format: Ebook My Rating: 3.5/5 stars Links: GoodReads . Amazon Blurb: What if every life-altering choice you made could split your world into infinite worlds? Almost fifteen, Alicia is smart and funny with a deep connection to the poet Sylvia Plath, but she’s ultimately failing at life. With a laundry list of diagnoses, she hallucinates different worlds—strange, decaying, otherworldly yet undeniably real worlds that are completely unlike her own with her single mom and one true friend. In one particularly vivid hallucination, Alicia is drawn to a boy her own age named Jax who’s trapped in a dying universe. Days later, her long-lost father shows up at her birthday party, telling her that the hallucinations aren’t hallucinations, but real worlds; she and Jax are bound by a strange past and intertwining present. This leads her on a journey to find out who she is while trying to save the people and worlds she loves. J.Q. Coyle’s The Infinity of You & Me is a wild ride through unruly hearts and vivid worlds guaranteed to captivate. My Review: I received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange with an honest review. A Great concept, with beautiful lines that are 101% quotable. I absolutely loved the idea behind this book. Alicia is misdiagnosed with many mental illnesses, where she tends hallucinate a lot. Her hallucinations keep her jumping from one world to the next, each of which has a different versions of the main characters. I want to talk about one of the main characters, Hafiz, who is actually Alicia's best friend. I was really happy to see a Muslim character with an Arabic name in the book, yet I was disappointed. The only scene present in this book was when he was bullied in school and called a terrorist. Now, I am glad to see that author is trying to fight the wrong Stigma that is always thrown at muslims, but that was the only scene that showed me that Hafiz is a muslim. I am really disappointed because this scene is always present whenever a secondary main muslim character is introduced in a book. I believe that it makes people think of terrorism whenever they hear the words: Muslim/Islam. I also didn't like how certain things were explained in this book. I have already talked to the author privately about it, and it is a thing that not everyone would sense while reading it. She listened and acknowledged what I had to say, which was great. But I hope that in the future, books with diverse characters would be beta read by at least 5 beta readers who are a part of that diverse characterization. I really enjoyed reading this book. It will take you places that you will be thrilled to see. I will definitely pick up more books written by J.Q. Coyle. I give it 3.5/5 stars. About the Author Growing up, J.Q. COYLE was a fan of stories. But more than that, a fan of possibilities. So, it only seemed only natural to write a story in which the possibilities are limitless. Title: Stranger Things Have Happened Author: Jeff Strand Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire Publication Date: April 4th 2017 Genre: Humor, Teens & YA Format: Ebook My Rating: 2/5 stars Links: GoodReads . Amazon Blurb: Jeff Strand pulls another winner out of his hat with this hilarious tale of illusions and self-discovery At 15, Marcus Millian III, the great-grandson of the famous Zachary the Stupendous, is already a talented illusionist. But when Marcus chokes during a card trick and leaves the audience unimpressed, prideful Zachary promises that he and Marcus are working on an illusion that will shock, stun, and astonish. That night, Zachary dies in his sleep. To uphold the honor of Marcus's beloved great-grandfather, the show must go on, and Marcus will need to make a shark disappear in front of everybody. It would take a sorcerer to pull this off, but, hey, Marcus is the next best thing…right? My Review: I recieved an eARC of Stranger Things Have Happened from the publisher via netgalley, in exchange with an honest review. I was really excited to read a book that revovles around the art of magic and the concept of illusions. The story itself was okay. I was kind of hoping to see more of the "science* behind complicated magic tricks, but I enjoyed the ones present in this book. Usually, I would have loved the kind of humor that is present in this book, which involves Tangent conversations. However, the way it was done in this book was the reason why I lowered my rating from a 3, to a 2. The thing is, such methods of speaking is a unique characterization for a character, but this isn't the case. Almost every single character in this book had multiple ( going off a tangent) speeches, which in my opinion, is such a drawback. The characters were even in different age groups, yet they all acted like children. Also, such conversations would go on & on for so long, constituting almost 50% of the written story. This probably wasn't my cup of tea, so I want to try to read something else by Jeff Strand. I give it 2/5 stars. About the Author: Author of a bunch of demented books, including PRESSURE, DWELLER, A BAD DAY FOR VOODOO, WOLF HUNT, SINGLE WHITE PSYCHOPATH SEEKS SAME, BENJAMIN'S PARASITE, FANGBOY, THE SINISTER MR. CORPSE, and lots of others. Three-time Bram Stoker Award finalist. Three-time Bram Stoker Award loser. Four-time Bram Stoker Award Master of Ceremonies. |
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