Reviews

Category

City of Bones – Cassandra Clare

TITLE: City of Bones AUTHOR: Cassandra Clare SERIES: The Mortal Instruments, #1 RELEASED: March 27th, 2007; Margaret K. McElderry Books GENRE: Fantasy AGE RANGE: YA SYNOPSIS: When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else...

When My Heart Joins the Thousand – A. J. Steiger (ARC Review)

TITLE: When My Heart Joins the Thousand AUTHOR: A. J. Steiger RELEASES: February 6th, 2018; HarperTeen GENRE: Contemporary AGE RANGE: YA SYNOPSIS: Alvie Fitz doesn’t fit in, and she doesn’t care. She’s spent years swallowing meds and bad advice from doctors and social workers. If she can make it to her eighteenth birthday without any major mishaps, she’ll be legally emancipated. Free. But if she fails, she’ll become a ward of the state and be sent back to the group home. All she wants...

Every Heart a Doorway – Seanan McGuire

TITLE: Every Heart a Doorway AUTHOR: Seanan McGuire SERIES: Wayward Children, #1 RELEASED: April 5th, 2016; Tor.com GENRE: Fantasy AGE RANGE: Adult SYNOPSIS: Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere… else. But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children. Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced… they change a person. The children under Miss...

The Dollmaker of Krakow – R. M. Romero

TITLE: The Dollmaker of Krakow AUTHOR: Romero, R. M. RELEASED: September 17th, 2017; Delacorte Press GENRE: Fantasy/Historical Fiction AGE RANGE: MG SYNOPSIS: In the land of dolls, there is magic. In the land of humans, there is war. Everywhere there is pain. But together there is hope. Karolina is a living doll whose king and queen have been overthrown. But when a strange wind spirits her away from the Land of the Dolls, she finds herself in Krakow, Poland, in the company of the Dollmaker, a...

Nice Try, Jane Sinner – Lianne Oelke (ARC Review)

TITLE: Nice Try, Jane Sinner AUTHOR: Lianne Oelke RELEASED: January 9th, 2018; Clarion Books/HMH Teen GENRE: Contemporary AGE RANGE: YA SYNOPSIS: The only thing 17-year-old Jane Sinner hates more than failure is pity. After a personal crisis and her subsequent expulsion from high school, she’s going nowhere fast. Jane’s well-meaning parents push her to attend a high school completion program at the nearby Elbow River Community College, and she agrees, on one condition: she gets to move out. Jane tackles her housing problem by signing up for House of Orange, a student-run reality show...

The Assassin’s Blade – Sarah J. Maas

TITLE: The Assassin’s Blade AUTHOR: Sarah J. Maas RELEASED: March 4th, 2014; Bloomsbury USA Childrens GENRE: Fantasy AGE RANGE: NA SYNOPSIS: Celaena Sardothien is her kingdom’s most feared assassin. Though she works for the powerful and ruthless Assassin’s Guild, Celaena yields to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. When Celaena’s scheming master, Arobynn Hamel, dispatches her on missions that take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, she finds herself acting independently of his wishes—and questioning her own allegiance. Along the...

The Cruel Prince – Holly Black

  TITLE: The Cruel Prince AUTHOR: Holly Black RELEASED: January 2nd, 2018; Little, Brown Books for Young Readers GENRE: Fantasy AGE RANGE: YA SYNOPSIS: Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever. And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe. Jude was seven years old when her parents...

Reign of the Fallen – Sarah Glenn Marsh (Spoiler-Free ARC Review)

TITLE: Reign of the Fallen AUTHOR: Sarah Glenn Marsh RELEASES: January 23, 2018; Razorbill GENRE: Fantasy AGE RANGE: YA SYNOPSIS: Odessa is one of Karthia’s master necromancers, catering to the kingdom’s ruling Dead. Whenever a noble dies, it’s Odessa’s job to raise them by retrieving their souls from a dreamy and dangerous shadow world called the Deadlands. But there is a cost to being raised–the Dead must remain shrouded, or risk transforming into zombie-like monsters known as Shades. If even a hint of flesh is exposed,...

Sea of Strangers – Lang Leav (ARC Review)

I have always loved Lang’s poetry, ever since I can remember knowing it existed. I used to read her work over and over as a teen, getting lost in how emotive and haunting it was. When I saw that she was releasing a new collection, I couldn’t wait to read it, and was so grateful to get my hands on it. She’s been sitting on some of this work for a decade, but man, was it worth the wait. Greet...

The Atrocities – Jeremy C. Shipp (ARC Review)

TITLE: The Atrocities AUTHOR: Jeremy C. Shipp RELEASES: April 17, 2018; Tor.com Publishing GENRE: Horror AGE RANGE: Adult SYNOPSIS: When Isabella died, her parents were determined to ensure her education wouldn’t suffer. But Isabella’s parents had not informed her new governess of Isabella’s… condition, and when Ms Valdez arrives at the estate, having forced herself through a surreal nightmare maze of twisted human-like statues, she discovers that there is no girl to tutor. Or is there…? {GOODREADS . AMAZON . BOOKDEPOSITORY} Turn left at the screaming woman with...