January 21 New Releases

Title: Evertrue
Author: Brodi Ashton
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Genre: Fantastic…ish? Mythology remix?
Blurb: Inspired by the Persephone myth, this stunning conclusion to the Everneath trilogy—whose captivating first book earned a VOYA Perfect Ten of 2011 and a Whitney Award—explores the resilience of the human spirit and the indomitable power of true love. (This is totally not the real blurb, but since I haven’t read the second book yet I didn’t want to look at it too closely.)
Excitement Factor: Maybe, if I’ve got nothing else to read. I enjoyed the first one but never got around to reading the second one, so if that ever happens, sure.

September 3 New Releases

It’s been several months, I know. All my writing projects hibernated for three months while I went a little manic in the unusually long Vancouver summer. But never fear, dear readers: it’s starting to rain, which means I am going to be forced to wither away indoors for nine months of dedicated writing. So, without further adieu, here are this week’s notable releases:

Title: The Lord of Opium
Author: Nancy Farmer
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Genre: Science Fiction
Blurb: Matt has always been nothing but a clone—grown from a strip of old El Patron’s skin. Now, at age fourteen, he finds himself suddenly thrust into the position of ruling over his own country. The Land of Opium is the largest territory of the Dope Confederacy, which ranges on the map like an intestine from the ruins of San Diego to the ruins of Matamoros. But while Opium thrives, the rest of the world has been devastated by ecological disaster—and hidden in Opium is the cure. And that isn’t all that awaits within the depths of Opium. Matt is haunted by the ubiquitous army of eejits, zombielike workers harnessed to the old El Patron’s sinister system of drug growing—people stripped of the very qualities that once made them human. Matt wants to use his newfound power to help, to stop the suffering, but he can’t even find a way to smuggle his childhood love, Maria, across the border and into Opium. Instead, his every move hits a roadblock, some from the enemies that surround him…and some from a voice within himself. For who is Matt really, but the clone of an evil, murderous dictator?
Excitement Factor: OMG. This is the sequel to one of my faves, The House of the Scorpion. If you haven’t read it, what the heck are you waiting for?

Title: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Genre: Horror-ish
Blurb: Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave. One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.
Excitement Factor: Yes, please! I love Holly Black.

 

 

June 4 and 11 New Releases

I’m a lazy cad, so here are the new releases that interest me from the past two weeks. Note: THERE ARE ONLY TWO OF THEM.

Title: Far Far Away
Author: Tom McNeal
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Genre: Fantasy/horror
Blurb: It says quite a lot about Jeremy Johnson Johnson that the strangest thing about him isn’t even the fact his mother and father both had the same last name. Jeremy once admitted he’s able to hear voices, and the townspeople of Never Better have treated him like an outsider since. After his mother left, his father became a recluse, and it’s been up to Jeremy to support the family. But it hasn’t been up to Jeremy alone. The truth is, Jeremy can hear voices. Or, specifically, one voice: the voice of the ghost of Jacob Grimm, one half of the infamous writing duo, The Brothers Grimm. Jacob watches over Jeremy, protecting him from an unknown dark evil whispered about in the space between this world and the next. But when the provocative local girl Ginger Boultinghouse takes an interest in Jeremy (and his unique abilities), a grim chain of events is put into motion. And as anyone familiar with the Grimm Brothers know, not all fairy tales have happy endings. . .
Excitement Factor: Yes, please!

Title: Siege and Storm
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Genre: Fantasy
Blurb: Darkness never dies.
Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. But she can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long. The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her–or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.
Excitement Factor: Even though I had tons of problems with the first book, I still found it compulsively readable so sure, why not.

May whatever new releases

I am making a resolution to try harder to keep on top of this blog. I have read TWO YA novels this month without reviewing them and this aggression will not stand. Also, when I tried to take out the third season of Battlestar Galactica from the library today it was CHECKED OUT, so I guess I have no choice but to stop being a couch potato and write.

(I miss Anders, though.)

Alas, there still hasn’t been much being published that has me too excited. Since there is absolutely nothing this week that has my panties in a bunch, here are a couple from earlier this month that I am at least moderately interested in:

Title: Yellowcake
Author: Margo Lanagan
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Genre: Fantasy/short stories
Blurb: Yellowcake brings together ten short stories from the extraordinarily talented Margo Lanagan–each of them fiercely original and quietly heartbreaking. The stories range from fantasy and fairy tale to horror and stark reality, and yet what pervades is the sense of humanity.  The people of Lanagan’s worlds face trials, temptations, and degradations. They swoon and suffer and even kill for love. In a dangerous world, they seek the solace and strength that comes from family and belonging. These are stories to be savored slowly and pondered deeply because they cut to the very heart of who we are.
Excitement factor: Yes please! Margo Lanagan is one of those weird fantasy writers I’ve been meaning and needing to read for some time now.

Title: The 5th Wave
Author: Rick Yancey
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Genre: Science Fiction
Blurb: After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one. Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother–or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.
Excitement factor: Yes, please! Even though I was the only person ever who didn’t love Rick Yancey’s The Monstrumologist (I couldn’t even finish it), this sounds soooo sweet I have to give him another try.

Next up: I am reading Quintana of Charyn and I swear to GODDESS that I will review it. Cross my heart and  don’t hope to die.