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Đang hiển thị bài đăng từ Tháng 12, 2012

Splintered by A.G. Howard

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Alyssa Gardner is a decedent of Alice Liddell, the girl who inspired Lewis Carroll to write Alice in Wonderland, and all the women of her family have been cursed since Alice came back out of the rabbit hole. Alyssa is scared to succumb to the same crazy that has kept her mother living in an asylum for years, ever since she attacked Alyssa with a pair of pruning sheers.  Alyssa has reason to be scared, she can hear bugs and flowers talk, but she has kept this a secret from her father, and her best friend/secret crush Jeb. Then, Alyssa's mother's health takes a turn for the worse and Alyssa decides that she is going to enter Wonderland, break the family curse, and save her mother.  But, once she's there, Alice isn't sure who to trust, and finds herself torn between two worlds.  Nothing in Wonderland apparently is as it's described in the books. Howard's Wonderland is creepy, deadly, and beautifully described.  Alyssa is a likable character, torn between the mortal...
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Cinders & Sapphires (At Somerton) by Leila Rasheed

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Rose Cliffe has never met a young lady like her new mistress. Clever, rich, and beautiful, Ada Averly treats Rose as an equal. And Rose could use a friend-to the rest of the staff at Somerton Court she is the indulged favorite of the housekeeper, her mother. Especially now that she has risen to ladies' maid at barely sixteen. Rose knows she should be grateful to even have a place at a house like Somerton. Still, she can't help but wonder what her life might have been had she been born a lady like Ada. If she even had a father. Ada never believed that one encounter could so completely alter a young lady's heart. That was before her voyage to England. For the first time in a decade, the Averlys have returned to Somerton, their majestic ancestral estate. But terrible scandal has followed Ada's beloved father all the way from India. Now Ada finds herself torn between her own happiness and her family's honor.  Only she has the power to restore the Averly name-by marrying...
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The Sin-Eater's Confession by Ilsa J. Bick

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I was very excited to be approved for this ARC.  I mean look at the cover of this book!  It's awesome, and that alone made me want to read it.  Then there's the description: People in Merit, Wisconsin, always said Jimmy was . . . you know. But people said all sorts of stupid stuff. Nobody really knew anything. Nobody really knew Jimmy. I guess you could say I knew Jimmy as well as anyone (which was not very well). I knew what scared him. And I knew he had dreams—even if I didn't understand them. Even if he nearly ruined my life to pursue them. Jimmy's dead now, and I definitely know that better than anyone. I know about blood and bone and how bodies decompose. I know about shadows and stones and hatchets. I know what a last cry for help sounds like. I know what blood looks like on my own hands. What I don't know is if I can trust my own eyes. I don't know who threw the stone. Who swung the hatchet? Who are the shadows? What do the living owe the dead? Seriously...
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The Tragedy Paper by Elizabeth Laban

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At the Irving School (a boarding school in New York) it is tradition that the parting seniors leave a treasure behind for the next person to inherit their room.  Duncan arrives on his first day of his senior year concerned with two things, what his treasure will be, and what is he going to do about the Tragedy Paper that each senior must write. Duncan inherits Tim Macbeth's room, and the treasure left behind will influence Duncan's paper in ways he never thought. It's hard and also simple to describe what this book is really about.  It's a boarding school/mystery/coming of age type novel, but it's in many ways more complex than that.  The story is pretty straight forward, even though the description on Amazon focuses on Tim's story (which we learn about while Duncan listens through the Cd's Tim has left him), it isn't just about Tim.  It's about Duncan, and also how Duncan and Tim's interactions influence them both. There is a mystery with this b...
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Book Spotlight: Air

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On May 31, Air became available via Barnes & Noble - it's a new YA contemporary novel by Ryan Gattis. What's it about, you ask? Synopsis: When 17-year-old Grey witnesses the tragic death of his mother in Colorado, he is shipped off to live with his aunt in inner-city Baltimore. Grey struggles to fit in to his new school and environment until his new friend, Akil, introduces him to the enigmatic Kurtis, the leader of a group that uses high-octane sports as a form of social activism. By challenging the police with death-defying stunts and then posting videos of them online, Kurtis, Grey, and their group become unlikely heroes in the fight against the prejudice that surrounds them. As Kurtis takes Grey under his wing, they come up with a name, an insignia and attract more and more followers to their extreme acts. The lines between social activism and criminal behavior blur and their escalating stunts become a rallying point for the underprivileged and disenfranch...
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Book Promo - School of Deaths

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The Scythe Wielder’s Secret is a thrilling young adult fantasy/adventure series by Christopher Mannino. The first two books in the trilogy, School of Deaths and Sword of Deaths , are out now, with the third book Daughter of Deaths expected to be released next year. The Scythe Wielder’s Secret series has received rave reviews and been compared to bestsellers like Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and Percy Jackson. It is recommended for readers who enjoy magical realism, fantasy, paranormal, middle grade, young adult, and/or books with a strong female protagonist. School of Deaths ( The Scythe Wielder’s Secret, Book 1) : Thrust into a world of men, can a timid girl find bravery as the first female Death?  Suzie Sarnio is a thirteen-year-old whose world is turned upside down when she discovers that she is destined to be a Death. She always believed the Grim Reaper was a fairy tale image of a skeleton with a scythe, but now, forced to enter the College of Deaths, she finds ...
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Book Spotlight: Ninth City Burning

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This upcoming September, keep your eyes open for this red and orange cover! Ninth City Burning is the first in a new epic science fiction series from the debut novelist J. Patrick Black. As all best books are, it has a YA and mainstream crossover audience appeal. And if that doesn't whet your appetite enough already, below you'll find an excerpt and some additional info! Excerpt The Valentine War, Earth 500 Years Ago It starts with the world how it used to be, with countries and billions of people living everywhere. Back then there was no such thing as thelemity, and people built houses and machines sort of like they have in settlements today, but all of that changed when the Valentines came. The reason we call them the Valentines is that the day they first attacked, February 14 on the old Western Calendar, was called “Valentine’s Day”. We still don’t know what the Valentines call themselves, because we’ve never been able to talk to them. We don’t even know what they look like...
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