September 2015 ~ Well Read Novel

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

W.O.W. & Wishlist Wednesday #22

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Wishlist Wednesday, hosted by Dani at Pen to Paper & Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine to post books that you have been really wanting for a long time.

Title: The Dark Days Club

Author: Alison Goodman

Series: Lady Helen #1

Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers

Release Date: January 26th 2016

New York Times bestseller Alison Goodman’s eagerly awaited new project: a Regency adventure starring a stylish and intrepid demon-hunter!

London, April 1812. On the eve of eighteen-year-old Lady Helen Wrexhall’s presentation to the queen, one of her family’s housemaids disappears-and Helen is drawn into the shadows of Regency London. There, she meets Lord Carlston, one of the few who can stop the perpetrators: a cabal of demons infiltrating every level of society. Dare she ask for his help, when his reputation is almost as black as his lingering eyes? And will her intelligence and headstrong curiosity wind up leading them into a death trap?

Review: Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway

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Title: Emmy & Oliver

Series: Standalone

Author: Robin Benway

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: June 23, 2015

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Reading Source: library

Length: 352

Format: e-book

Cover Art: 5/5

Overall: 5/5

Emmy’s best friend, Oliver, reappears after being kidnapped by his father ten years ago. Emmy hopes to pick up their relationship right where it left off. Are they destined to be together? Or has fate irreparably driven them apart?

Emmy just wants to be in charge of her own life.

She wants to stay out late, surf her favorite beach—go anywhere without her parents’ relentless worrying. But Emmy’s parents can’t seem to let her grow up—not since the day Oliver disappeared.

Oliver needs a moment to figure out his heart.

He’d thought, all these years, that his dad was the good guy. He never knew that it was his father who kidnapped him and kept him on the run. Discovering it, and finding himself returned to his old hometown, all at once, has his heart racing and his thoughts swirling.

Emmy and Oliver were going to be best friends forever, or maybe even more, before their futures were ripped apart. In Emmy’s soul, despite the space and time between them, their connection has never been severed. But is their story still written in the stars? Or are their hearts like the pieces of two different puzzles—impossible to fit together?

Readers who love Sarah Dessen will tear through these pages with hearts in throats as Emmy and Oliver struggle to face the messy, confusing consequences of Oliver’s father’s crime. Full of romance, coming-of-age emotion, and heartache, these two equally compelling characters create an unforgettable story.

Review:

This book deals with the aftermath of a child that has been abducted.

After of being neighbors ever since they were seven, Emmy and Oliver were the best of friends.

One day after school Oliver's father picks him and he never returns, until ten long years. But once he comes back nothing is the same. Oliver feels like a stranger in his own home. His mother has re-married and has two daughters. And everyone at school treats him like an outcast. Emmy just wants things to go back to the way they were before Oliver was kidnapped.

I really liked all the characters in the book. The relationship between Emmy and Oliver was believable, it felt real and not forced. Caro and Drew, Emmy's friends, were wonderful side characters.

Review: An Inheritance of Ashes by Leah Bobet

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Title: An Inheritance of Ashes

Series: Standalone

Author: Leah Bobet

Publisher: Clarion Books

Publication Date: October 6, 2015

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Reading Source: NetGalley

Length: 400

Format: e-ARC

Cover Art: 5/5

Overall: 2/5

The strange war down south—with its rumors of gods and monsters—is over. And while sixteen-year-old Hallie and her sister wait to see who will return from the distant battlefield, they struggle to maintain their family farm.

When Hallie hires a veteran to help them, the war comes home in ways no one could have imagined, and soon Hallie is taking dangerous risks—and keeping desperate secrets. But even as she slowly learns more about the war and the men who fought it, ugly truths about Hallie’s own family are emerging. And while monsters and armies are converging on the small farm, the greatest threat to her home may be Hallie herself.

Review:

The story takes place in the south where a war between humans, The Wicked God and Twisted Things has just ended. While sisters, Hallie and Martha, wait for Martha's husband to return, with winter coming on they decide to hire a veteran to help with the farm.

I had a hard time getting into this book, I'm not going to lie. There was a whole lot that didn't come together for me. The pacing was slow, my mind kept wondering and I lost interest easily. I had questions while reading the book and after finishing the book I'm still left with a lot of questions. The Twisted Things were something that resembled a bird. I'm still not sure what they are, where they came from or who their God was.

I couldn't connect to any of the characters. I didn't like the relationship between Hallie and Martha. I wish Martha was a little me nicer to Hallie, she was really rude to her. I know she was pregnant but I don't think she should of took out her aggravation on her sister.

I did like the atmosphere of the book, it was creepy. I just kind of wish the plot was a little faster.

Thank you to Clarion Books and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

W.O.W & Wishlist Wednesday #21

Posted by SarahS. with No comments

Wishlist Wednesday, hosted by Dani at Pen to Paper & Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine to post books that you have been really wanting for a long time.

Title: This Is Where The World Ends

Author: Amy Zhang

Series: N/A

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Release Date: March 22nd 2016

The heart-wrenching new novel about best friends on a collision course with the real world, from the author of Falling into Place.

Janie and Micah, Micah and Janie. That’s how it’s been ever since elementary school, when Janie Vivian moved next door. Janie says Micah is everything she is not. Where Micah is shy, Janie is outgoing. Where Micah loves music, Janie loves art. It’s the perfect friendship, as long as no one finds out about it.

But when Janie is date-raped by the most popular guy in school—a guy she’s had a crush on for years—she finds herself ostracized by all the people she thought were her friends. Now only Micah seems to believe she’s telling the truth. But when even Micah expresses doubt about whether or not she was “asking for it,” it leads to disastrous consequences, and Janie Vivian goes missing.

Using a nonlinear writing style and dual narrators, Amy Zhang’s astonishing second novel masterfully reveals the circumstances surrounding Janie’s disappearance.

W.O.W. & Wishlist Wednesday #20

Posted by SarahS. with No comments

Wishlist Wednesday, hosted by Dani at Pen to Paper & Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine to post books that you have been really wanting for a long time.

Title: The Sister Pact

Author: Stacie Ramey

Series: No

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: November 1st 2015

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 secretes surface. Allie's not sure which is more distressing: discovering the truth behind her sister's death or facing her new reality without her.