Review - The Uninvited by Sophie Jordan
Title: The Uninvited (Uninvited #1) Author: Sophie Jordan Teaser: “They say she’s a killer. One day she will be.”...
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Title: YellowAuthor: Megan JacosonGenre: YA Paranormal MysteryReleased: February 1st, 2016Description:
If fourteen-year-old Kirra is having a mid-life crisis now, then it doesn't bode well for her life expectancy. Her so-called friends bully her, whatever semblance of a mother she had has been drowned at the bottom of a gin bottle ever since her dad left them for another woman, and now a teenage ghost is speaking to her through a broken phone booth. Kirra and the ghost make a pact. She'll prove who murdered him almost twenty years ago if he does three things for her. He makes her popular, he gets her parents back together, and he doesn't haunt her. Things aren't so simple however, and Kirra realises that people can be haunted in more ways than one.
Title: Shade Me (Nikki Kill #1)Author: Jennifer BrownTeaser: “White lies never fade to black.”Genre: YA Mystery ThrillerNumber of pages: 448Released: January 19th, 2016 by Katherine Tegen BooksDescription:Nikki Kill does not see the world like everyone else. In her eyes, happiness is pink, sadness is a mixture of brown and green, and lies are gray. Thanks to a rare phenomenon called synesthesia, Nikki’s senses overlap, in a way that both comforts and overwhelms her.
Always an outsider, just one ‘D’ shy of flunking out, Nikki’s life is on the fast track to nowhere until the night a mysterious call lights her phone up bright orange—the color of emergencies. It’s the local hospital. They need Nikki to identify a Jane Doe who is barely hanging on to life after a horrible attack.
The victim is Peyton Hollis, a popular girl from Nikki’s school who Nikki hardly knows. One thing is clear: Someone wants Peyton dead. But why? And why was Nikki’s cell the only number in Peyton’s phone?
As she tries to decipher the strange kaleidoscope of clues, Nikki finds herself thrust into the dark, glittering world of the ultra-rich Hollis family, and drawn towards Peyton’s handsome, never-do-well older brother Dru. While Nikki’s colors seem to help her unravel the puzzle, what she can’t see is that she may be falling into a trap. The only truth she can be sure of is that death is a deep, pulsing crimson.
Shade Me is award-winning author Jennifer Brown’s first book in a thrilling suspense series about Nikki Kill.
Title: Harmony HouseAuthor: Nic SheffGenre: YA HorrorNumber of pages: 320Released: March 22nd, 2016 by HarperTeenDescription:Jen Noonan’s father thinks a move to Harmony House is the key to salvation, but to everyone who has lived there before, it is a portal to pure horror.
After Jen’s alcoholic mother’s death, her father cracked. He dragged Jen to this dilapidated old manor on the shore of New Jersey to “start their new lives”—but Harmony House is more than just a creepy old estate. It’s got a chilling past—and the more Jen discovers its secrets, the more the house awakens. Strange visions follow Jen wherever she goes, and her father’s already-fragile sanity disintegrates before her eyes. As the forces in the house join together to terrorize Jen, she must find a way to escape the past she didn’t know was haunting her—and the mysterious and terrible power she didn’t realize she had.
A classic horror story finds a terrifying home in Harmony House, drawing on favorite tropes and edgy, modern characters to create a chilling tale of blame, guilt, and ghostly revenge.
Title: The Great HuntAuthor: Wendy HigginsTeaser: “Kill the beast. Win the girl.”Genre: YA High Fantasy Fairy Tale RetellingNumber of pages: 416Released: March 8th, 2016 by HarperTeenDescription:
A strange beast stirs fear in the kingdom of Lochlanach, terrorizing towns with its brutality and hunger. In an act of desperation, a proclamation is sent to all of Eurona—kill the creature and win the ultimate prize: the daughter of King Lochson’s hand in marriage.
Princess Aerity understands her duty to the kingdom though it pains her to imagine marrying a stranger. It would be foolish to set her sights on any particular man in the great hunt, but when a brooding local hunter, Paxton Seabolt, catches her attention, there’s no denying the unspoken lure between them…or his mysterious resentment.
Paxton is not keen on marriage. Nor does he care much for spoiled royals and their arcane laws. He’s determined to keep his focus on the task at hand—ridding the kingdom of the beast and protecting his family—yet Princess Aerity continues to challenge his notions with her unpredictability and charm. But as past secrets collide with present desires, dire choices threaten everything Paxton holds dear.
Inspired by the Grimm Brothers’ tale, “The Singing Bone,” New York Times bestselling author Wendy Higgins delivers a dark fantasy filled with rugged hunters, romantic tension, outlawed magic, and a princess willing to risk all to save her people.
Title: Take the FallAuthor: Emily HainsworthTeaser: “Everyone has something to hide.”Genre: YA Contemporary MysteryNumber of pages: 368Released: February 16th, 2016 by Balzar + BrayDescription:WHO KILLED GRETCHEN MEYER?
Fear grips the residents of Hidden Falls the night Sonia Feldman and her best friend, Gretchen Meyer, are attacked in the woods. Sonia was lucky to escape with her life, but Gretchen’s body is discovered at the bottom of a waterfall. Beautiful, popular, and seemingly untouchable, Gretchen can’t be gone. Even as Sonia struggles with guilt and confusion over having survived, the whole town is looking to her for information…could she have seen something that will lead the police to the killer?
At the top of the list of suspects is Gretchen’s ex-boyfriend—and Sonia’s longtime enemy—Marcus Perez. So when Marcus comes to Sonia for help clearing his name, she agrees, hoping to find evidence the police need to prove he’s the killer. But as Gretchen’s many secrets emerge and the suspects add up, Sonia feels less sure of Marcus’s involvement, and more afraid for herself. Could Marcus, the artist, the screwup, the boy she might be falling for have attacked her? Killed her best friend? And if it wasn’t him in the woods that night…who could it have been?
Title: Reign of ShadowsAuthor: Sophie JordanTeaser: “When the darkness descended, her fate was sealed.”Genre: YA High FantasyNumber of pages: 304Released: February 9th, 2016 by HarperTeenDescription:Seventeen years ago, an eclipse cloaked the kingdom of Relhok in perpetual darkness. In the chaos, an evil chancellor murdered the king and queen and seized their throne. Luna, Relhok’s lost princess, has been hiding in a tower ever since. Luna’s survival depends on the world believing she is dead.
But that doesn’t stop Luna from wanting more. When she meets Fowler, a mysterious archer braving the woods outside her tower, Luna is drawn to him despite the risk. When the tower is attacked, Luna and Fowler escape together. But this world of darkness is more treacherous than Luna ever realized.
With every threat stacked against them, Luna and Fowler find solace in each other. But with secrets still unspoken between them, falling in love might be their most dangerous journey yet.
With lush writing and a star–crossed romance, Reign of Shadows is Sophie Jordan at her best.
Title: Shallow GravesAuthor: Kali WallaceTeaser: “Her end was just the beginning.”Genre: YA Paranormal FantasyNumber of pages: 368Released: January 5th, 2016 by Katherine Tegen BooksDescription:Breezy remembers leaving the party, the warm, wet grass under her feet, her cheek still stinging from a slap to the face. But when she wakes up, scared and pulling dirt from her mouth, a year has passed and she can’t explain the necklace of bruises around her neck. She also can’t explain the man lying at her grave, dead from her touch.
Returning home seems impossible. Her parents and sisters have clearly grieved and struggled to move on, and Breezy can’t begin to answer their inevitable questions. Her heartbeat comes and goes, she doesn’t need to eat or drink, she can see the inky memories of murderers, and she can somehow pull on this dark guilt to kill them. Haunted by the happy memories from her life and disgusted by the half-dead creature she’s become, Breezy embarks on a reckless quest to find answers and a dangerous healing magic…but the cure is as dark and terrible as the disease.
Set in a gorgeous, terrifying world, Shallow Graves is a stunning novel about the heartbreaking trauma of a girl’s life cut short and her struggle to reconcile her humanity with the creature she’s become.
Title: A Study in CharlotteAuthor: Brittany CavallaroTeaser: “You’ve never seen Watson and Holmes like this before.”Genre: YA Contemporary MysteryNumber of pages: 336Released: March 1st, 2016 by Katherine Tegen BooksDescription:The last thing sixteen-year-old Jamie Watson–writer and great-great-grandson of the John Watson–wants is a rugby scholarship to Sherringford, a Connecticut prep school just an hour away from his estranged father. But that’s not the only complication: Sherringford is also home to Charlotte Holmes, the famous detective’s enigmatic, fiercely independent great-great-granddaughter, who’s inherited not just his genius but also his vices, volatile temperament, and expertly hidden vulnerability. Charlotte has been the object of his fascination for as long as he can remember–but from the moment they meet, there’s a tense energy between them, and they seem more destined to be rivals than anything else.
Then a Sherringford student dies under suspicious circumstances ripped straight from the most terrifying of the Holmes stories, and Jamie and Charlotte become the prime suspects. Convinced they’re being framed, they must race against the police to conduct their own investigation. As danger mounts, it becomes clear that nowhere is safe and the only people they can trust are each other.
Equal parts tender, thrilling, and hilarious, A Study in Charlotte is the first in a trilogy brimming with wit and edge-of-the-seat suspense.
Title: NightstruckAuthor: Jenna BlackTeaser: “The nightmare begins at sundown.”Genre: YA HorrorNumber of pages: 288Released: April 5th, 2016 by Tor TeenDescription:It starts with a cry in the night. Becket, a teenage girl walking her dog one winter evening, fears it's the cry of an abandoned baby. But it is something else—something evil—and it tricks Becket into opening a doorway to another realm, letting a darkness into our world, a corruption that begins transforming Philadelphia into a menacing version of itself…but only at night.
The changes are subtle at first, causing Becket to doubt her senses and her sanity, but soon the nightmarish truth is impossible to deny. By day, the city is just a city, but by night it literally comes alive with malevolent purpose. Brick and steel transform into bone, streetlights become gallows, and hungry alleys wait to snare mortal victims. Terrified citizens huddle indoors after dusk, even as others succumb to the siren song of the night, letting their darker sides run wild.
Once, Becket’s biggest problems were living up to her police commissioner father’s high expectations and a secret crush on her best friend’s boyfriend. But now she must find a way to survive--and to protect her loved ones--before the darkness takes her as well.
Title: Down with the ShineAuthor: Kate Karyus QuinnTeaser: “Close your eyes. Take a sip.”Genre: YA ParanormalNumber of pages: 355Released: April 26th, 2016 by HarperTeenDescription:
There's a reason they say "be careful what you wish for." Just ask the girl who wished to be thinner and ended up smaller than Thumbelina, or the boy who asked for "balls of steel" and got them-literally. And never wish for your party to go on forever. Not unless you want your guests to be struck down by debilitating pain if they try to leave.
These are things Lennie only learns when it's too late-after she brings some of her uncles' moonshine to a party and toasts to dozens of wishes, including a big wish of her own: to bring back her best friend, Dylan, who was abducted and murdered six months ago.
Lennie didn't mean to cause so much chaos. She always thought her uncles' moonshine toast was just a tradition. And when they talked about carrying on their "important family legacy," she thought they meant good old-fashioned bootlegging.
As it turns out, they meant granting wishes. And Lennie has just granted more in one night than her uncles would grant in a year.
Now she has to find a way to undo the damage. But once granted, a wish can't be unmade... -
Title: TenAuthor: Gretchen McNeilTeaser: “Ten teens. Three days. One killer.”Genre: YA Contemporary Horror/ThrillerNumber of pages: 296Released: September 18th, 2012 by Balzer + BrayDescription:SHHHH!
Don't spread the word!
Three-day weekend. Party at White Rock House on Henry Island.
You do NOT want to miss it.
It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school’s most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury.
But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.
Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?Positives:-There aren’t too many YA Horror books with this type of Horror story. It’s like a ‘teen scream’ movie, but in book form. Personally, I have a sweet spot for silly movies like those. So I loved that aspect.-YA Horror. I love the genre! And this was YA Horror with a bunch of supernatural elements.-The Who-Done-It reveal at the end actually surprised me!Negatives:-Portrayal of Bipolar bothered me a little bit. I feel like it somewhat fed into certain stereotypes. Not as bad as it could have been, but it still did.-I like the genre, but the book is what it is. There isn’t some hidden plot or need for sequels. It’s a who-done-it horror ‘flick’ of a book. I liked that, but some people wouldn’t.Overview:Well, I guess first of all I will explain what I mean about the portrayal of Bipolar being a bit stereotypical. The main character’s best friend has Bipolar, and goes through the whole book determined to ‘keep her secret’ as if being Bipolar is some big horrible thing. She is constantly expecting her best friend to all of a sudden ‘go off’ and lose her cool. She more than expects it. She waits for it to happen and somewhat treats the girl like a child.Now, I get that things like this –can- happen with people that are Bipolar, but it isn’t like you can’t manage yourself in the face of difficult situations ever. This book made it seem like if something bad happened, the bipolar girl freaked out. It also made the Bipolar girl actually kind of annoying. I didn’t like her. Although I know this happens, I would like to see a less stereotypical betrayal of Bipolar, but instead one where the girl shows that people with Bipolar are NORMAL.One good thing the author included in this is that the main character was reflective on the fact that she was holding her friend back. I was waiting for her to realize that the whole book. Her constant babying was in a lot of ways more for her than her friend, for when her friend didn’t need it the main character got a little upset.Okay. Done with that. As for the plot? It is straight forward and unexpected. I really didn’t know who was going to die next. I actually thought that because it was YA that all the people that were being killed off would suddenly be all alive in the end, like it was some joke. I couldn’t believe that a YA book would kill off people in so many ways. It was great to see, actually. I would love to see more YA Horror books like this. The plot itself goes by quick, so the read is also. Nothing amazing or extravagant, just a good quick read.There is a bit of a romance in the book, which I actually enjoyed. It was realistic and had a history to it that was explained as you read along. And a big plus – it was a biracial relationship. More diversity in YA! JDespite the fact that I loved the genre, love a quick read now and then, and enjoyed the book… I am giving this 3 wands just because I NEED a book that plays those with Bipolar in a better light.Rating:
Recommended to:-Those who enjoy YA Horror or silly horror movies.-Those who need a ‘breath’ between heavy books.Not Recommended to:-Those who hate straightforward books and can’t accept them for what they are.About the Author:
Gretchen McNeil is the author of the standalone YA horror novels POSSESS, TEN (2013 YALSA Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, aRomantic Times Top Pick, a Booklist Top Ten Horror Fiction for Youth, a finalist for Washington state’s 2015 Evergreen Young Adult Book Award and Vermont’s 2014-2015 Green Mountain Book Award, and was nominated for “Best Young Adult Contemporary Novel of 2012″ by Romantic Times) and 3:59, as well as GET EVEN and GET DIRTY, part of her mystery/suspense series Don't Get Mad, all with Balzer + Bray for HarperCollins. In 2016, Gretchen will publish two novels: RELIC, a YA horror novel, with HarperCollins/EpicReads Impulse on March 8, 2016, and in the fall, I’M NOT YOUR MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRL, her first YA contemporary, with Balzer + Bray. Gretchen also contributed an essay to the Dear Teen Me anthology from Zest Books.
Gretchen is a former coloratura soprano, the voice of Mary on G4's Code Monkeys and she sings with the LA-based circus troupe Cirque Berzerk. She is repped by Ginger Clark of Curtis Brown, Ltd. You can find Gretchen on Twitter,Facebook, and on her blog. -
I have spent a lot of time lately adding to my TBR list with 2016 and even some 2017 books. BLARG I can't stop. I am an addict to adding more and more to my TBR. Here are some recent cover releases for this Monday of some books I am looking forward to!
Title: The Abyss Surrounds UsAuthor: Emily SkrutskieGenre: YA Science Fiction GLBT with PIRATES!Number of Pages: 288Release Date: February 8th 2016 by FluxBlurb:
For Cassandra Leung, bossing around sea monsters is just the family business. She’s been a Reckoner trainer-in-training ever since she could walk, raising the genetically-engineered beasts to defend ships as they cross the pirate-infested NeoPacific. But when the pirate queen Santa Elena swoops in on Cas’s first solo mission and snatches her from the bloodstained decks, Cas’s dream of being a full-time trainer seems dead in the water.There’s no time to mourn. Waiting for her on the pirate ship is an unhatched Reckoner pup. Santa Elena wants to take back the seas with a monster of her own, and she needs a proper trainer to do it. She orders Cas to raise the pup, make sure he imprints on her ship, and, when the time comes, teach him to fight for the pirates. If Cas fails, her blood will be the next to paint the sea.But Cas has fought pirates her entire life. And she's not about to stop.
Title: The Shadow QueenAuthor: C.J. RedwineGenre: YA High Fantasy Fairy Tale RetellingNumber of Pages: 400Release Date: February 23rd 2016 by Balzer + BrayBlurb:
Lorelai Diederich, crown princess and fugitive at large, has one mission: kill the wicked queen who took both the Ravenspire throne and the life of her father. To do that, Lorelai needs to use the one weapon she and Queen Irina have in common—magic. She’ll have to be stronger, faster, and more powerful than Irina, the most dangerous sorceress Ravenspire has ever seen.In the neighboring kingdom of Eldr, when Prince Kol’s father and older brother are killed by an invading army of magic-wielding ogres, the second-born prince is suddenly given the responsibility of saving his kingdom. To do that, Kol needs magic—and the only way to get it is to make a deal with the queen of Ravenspire, promise to become her personal huntsman…and bring her Lorelai’s heart.But Lorelai is nothing like Kol expected—beautiful, fierce, and unstoppable—and despite dark magic, Lorelai is drawn in by the passionate and troubled king. Fighting to stay one step ahead of the dragon huntsman—who she likes far more than she should—Lorelai does everything in her power to ruin the wicked queen. But Irina isn’t going down without a fight, and her final move may cost the princess the one thing she still has left to lose.
Title: Sword and VerseAuthor: Kathy MacMillanGenre: YA High FantasyNumber of Pages: 400Release Date: January 19th 2016 by HarperTeenBlurb:
Raisa was only a child when she was kidnapped and enslaved in Qilara. Forced to serve in the palace of the king, she’s endured hunger, abuse, and the harrowing fear of discovery: everyone knows she is Arnath, but not that Raisa is a Learned One, a part of an Arnath group educated in higher order symbols. In Qilara, this language is so fiercely protected that only the King, the Prince, and Tutors are allowed to know it. So when the current Tutor-in-training is executed for sharing the guarded language with slaves, and Raisa is chosen to replace her, Raisa knows that—although she may have a privileged position among slaves—any slip-up could mean death.That would be challenging enough, but training alongside Prince Mati could be her real undoing. And when a romance blossoms between them, she’s suddenly filled with a dangerous hope for something she never before thought possible: more. Then she’s propositioned by the Resistance—an underground army of slaves—to help liberate the Arnath people. Joining the rebellion could mean freeing her people…but she’d also be aiding in the war against her beloved—an honorable man that she knows wants to help the slaves.Working against the one she loves—and a palace full of deadly political renegades—has some heady consequences. As Raisa struggles with what’s right, she unwittingly uncovers a secret that the Qilarites have long since buried…one that, unlocked, could bring the current world order to its knees.And Raisa is the one holding the key.
Title: A Drop of NightAuthor: Stefan BachmanGenre: YA Mystery ThrillerNumber of Pages: 384Release Date: March 15th 2016 by Greenwillow BooksBlurb:
Five gifted teenagers are selected out of hundreds of other candidates to fly to France and help with the excavation of a vast, underground palace buried a hundred feet below the suburbs of Paris. Built in the 1780's to hide an aristocratic family and a mad duke during the French Revolution, the palace was sealed after the aristocrats fled there. No one has set foot in it for over two centuries.Now, in the present day, the teenagers enter with cutting-edge technology, state-of-the-art security, scientists and chaperones. And then a brutal accident occurs. No way out. Caught in the dark.They will have to fight to survive. But are they really alone in the depths?
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