Something Strange and Deadly Review

Something Strange and Deadly

Susan Dennard (@stdennard)

July 24th 2012 by HarperTeen

Goodreads

The year is 1876, and there’s something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia…

Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about. Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks by. But this is nothing compared to what she’s just read in the newspaper—

The Dead are rising in Philadelphia.

And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor…from her brother.

Whoever is controlling the Dead army has taken her brother as well. If Eleanor is going to find him, she’ll have to venture into the lab of the notorious Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces. But as Eleanor spends more time with the Spirit-Hunters, including their maddeningly stubborn yet handsome inventor, Daniel, the situation becomes dire. And now, not only is her reputation on the line, but her very life may hang in the balance.

Something Strange and Deadly is such a grand adventure!  The whirlwind begins from the very beginning because Eleanor knows something is wrong when her brother, Elijah, doesn't return to Philadelphia as expected. Her family is struggling through hard times, and Eleanor and her mother are both counting on her brother to come home and help. In Susan Dennard's supernatural mystery, Something Strange and Deadly a missing brother and lack of funds are the least of Eleanor's worries, but are the just start of them.  Someone is building an army out of the newly risen Dead, and Eleanor fears her brother's disappearance is somehow mixed up in with this. What's a girl to do? Hopefully, survive!

Eleanor is willing to defy her strict and proper mother and go where no "lady" should go to look for help, because she is determined to figure out where her brother is and who is behind this new army of the Dead. Lucky for her, help comes from a group called the Spirit-Hunters who seem to have tools built and powers harnessed specifically for dealing with the Dead. As the reader, you will be taken on a journey from when the bodies rise from the dead to the nifty tools used to by the Spirit-Hunters to put them pack in the ground to the actual members of the Spirit-Hunters themselves - everything is strange and deadly!  You will not want to put this book down! You will be pulled into Eleanor's world, from the dirty back alleys to the posh theater of Philadelphia.

I was so enchanted by the world Dennard had built and all the possibilities within it.  The characters were amazing, (I think they make the book) and the action is nonstop! The mystery to figure out who is behind raising the Dead is one you will want to figure out soon! You will not want to put this book down. I loved how Eleanor has to deal with escaping her mother who wants to play matchmaker and marry her off, avoiding death at every corner, and hopefully find her brother somewhere in the middle of all this chaos.  I can't wait to read the sequel!

Lagniappe

Want some swag? Check out Susan's site where you can get signed bookplates, bookmarks, and character cards!  All you need to do is fill out the info required and then send a SASE to:

Attn: Susan Dennard, New Leaf Literary

110 West 40th St., Suite 410

New York, NY 10018

You could score awesome autographed swag, such as: a bookplate, a bookmark, an Eleanor Fitt character card, a Daniel Sheridan character card, a Jie Chen character card, and Joseph Boyer character card.

Check out the trailer just to entice you:

Anna Dressed in Blood Review & Interview

Anna Dressed in Blood
Kendare Blake (@kendareblake)
August 30th 2011 by Tor Teen
Goodreads

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story...

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

You guys...I just finished Anna Dressed in Blood Thursday morning. Why did I wait so long to read this book?  I have no idea. I bought a copy months ago because the cover drew me in, and I really liked what the story was about, but then summer vacation was over and the job picks back up. Books sit on my shelf, calling to me. I still have some doing it right now. I promise I'll get to you, Pandemonium! I was finally able to pick Anna up and read it because I have a committee meeting next month, and this is a book in the running for a YA list. It needed to be read, and it was calling my name.

I don't regret one single moment of this book. From the start I was drawn into this world Kendare Blake has written where Cas Lowood, a high school student, travels around, with his mother, and takes care of evil spirits. The opening scene was like something off of Supernatural with Cas picking up a hitchhiker who has nefarious plans for any good Samaritan along a certain stretch of road.  I was sucked in, and I just kept reading and reading. I looked at the clock only to see it 1:30 am. That is an excellent book!

In Anna, Blake gives readers Anna, a young Finnish girl who was murdered young. She haunts a house, killing anyone who enters in horrible ways. She is dressed in the gown she was murdered in, a pretty white gown, dripping with blood. I think she is such an brillant character. When Cas is meets Anna for the first time, I am scared as I read along.  For Cas, Anna is like nothing he has ever faced before, and he is determined to figure out why she haunts this house.

I can't wait to read book two in this series, Girl of Nightmares. It's due to come out August 7th.  If you haven't read Anna Dressed in Blood yet, I recommend you pick it up soon. This is a great paranormal, mystery, ghost story. I would recommend this for the guys and the girls.

Lagniappe:

5 Questions with Kendare Blake

Anna Dressed in Blood, Girl of Nightmares, and your upcoming Antigoddess series all seem to be deep into love, darkness, death, blood...do you see a recuring theme in your writing, or is just me, and why do think this is?

You know, I think it's Stephen King who says most writers have central themes that they find themselves coming back to. I tend to think a lot about existence and the human condition, but most of the heavy meditation is in my contemporary non-supernatural stuff. With the dark fantasy and horror, I'm still fascinated by the same ideas. Love, generally the hopeless kind, darkness, the finality or possibility of death, etc. There is a definite recurring theme, but I'm not thinking of that when I write. The similarity I feel between these books is the action. I was just thinking the other day that ANNA was the book of my guts, and ANTIGODDESS is the book of my fist.
    (can't wait to read this Antigoddess series!)

When you write, do you have set goals, say this certain scene/chapter/pages or do you just write until you stop, and how do you deal with writer's block if it should ever strike (music, dancing around the room, or banging your head against the table)?

Sometimes there are goals. Never pages, or word counts, but scenes. I need to get through this scene. I have to take it that far. I can't stop in the middle. Sometimes I start with a particular scene in mind, other times I write until I start to get tired, and just finish up the scene I'm in.

You've got some awesome book covers for Anna and Girl. How involved are you in the development process for your book covers, and how are things looking for Antigoddess?

The ANNA books did get incredible covers, didn't they? Beautiful. So beautiful that all of the international editions I've seen are using variations of the same art, which I don't think happens that often. The artist is from Europe. Nekro. Amazing, and only works in black white and red. I wasn't really involved in the development process. The idea was my editor's, and then they just executed. I asked that we not see Anna's face, because I like to imagine.

As for ANTIGODDESS, we just had the first conversation about the cover, and I'm really excited about how things are shaping up. As long as the sales team thinks it's a good concept, I'm thinking it's going to get a beautiful cover. It was weird, because my editor and I had almost the exact same idea for it.

Any YA books on your bedside table you are either reading, dying to read, or just finished?

 Right now I'm reading BLACK CITY by Elizabeth Richards. I just finished THE NIGHTMARE AFFAIR by Mindee Arnett which I adored! Love the cover for it too; can't wait to yak about it with other readers. Then I'm on to RENEGADE by J.A. Souders. I'm really looking forward to DUALED, by Elsie Chapman, and loads of others!

    (added them to my TBR pile, thanks!)

 

What can we look forward to in Girl of Nightmares when it comes out in September?

Well, more of the blood, ghosts and gore. It also features some real haunted places, like the Tower of London, so you know there's travel. It's the end of the series, so expect things to wrap up. If you had questions about the knife, more is explained. If you had questions about Morfran...he still refuses to spill them.

~ Thanks so much!

Thank you for having me by Lagniappe! Very fun interview!
Cheers,  Kendare

Never Eighteen Review & Giveaway

Never Eighteen
Megan Bostic @meganbostic
January 17th 2012 by HMH Children's Books
Goodreads

I had the dream again. The one where I’m running. I don’t know what from or where to, but I’m scared, terrified really.

Austin Parker is never going to see his eighteenth birthday. At the rate he’s going, he probably won’t even see the end of the year. But in the short time he has left there’s one thing he can do: He can try to help the people he loves live—even though he never will.

It’s probably hopeless.

But he has to try.

I'm usually the girl with the dystopian or the paranormal books, but ever since John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, I've become a drawn to the emotional books. Don't ask me why. Nothing in my life at the moment is drawing me to them. It is just that these books are just so good. I'm not usually into books when I know someone is sick, because, really, I know I'm going to end up crying at some point, and I would try to avoid crying in my life if possible. So, I will tell you the truth: I adore this book.

You discover, when you read these emotional books, they have a way of have a way of grabbing you, hooking you, and then, you have read 50 pages without really meaning to do so. I was just glancing at the book as it came across my desk at the library one day and suddenly I was immersed in the story of Austin and his journey on his last "good" weekend with his best friend (and love of his life, even if he hasn't told her), Kaylee, who he gets to drive him around as he takes care of things weighing on his mind. Things like talking to his dead best friend's mother who is still grieving, his grandmother who is still bitter at his mother, the girl from high school who is going off on the wrong course after a extremely tragic occurrence, his father still living apart from his mother, and other people...these things are ripping me apart, and yet, I still read on. With each of these stops he listens to what they have to say and asks them: Why? Why are you living your life this way? Can you change? As a reader, you know Austin doesn't have long to live, and the other characters know it as well. Austin's questions are tiny seeds planted. He asks questions, offers suggestions, and then leaves, hoping change will occur for the better. These seeds are not only planted in the characters but also in the reader...very sneaky Megan Bostic...

Never Eighteen is bittersweet. You, as a the reader, think you know the ending, and to some degree you do. I don't really think that is the purpose of Never Eighteen. To me, the purpose of Never Eighteen is to make you think about how you are living you life. What if? What if you knew you only had so many days left? Would you live them differently? Would you talk to people differently? Tell someone something you had been meaning to tell them for a long time, but never had the courage? Never Eighteen offers the reality death does not discriminate by age. The young die just as the old do. How we chose to use our days is what matters. Can you make a difference? Big or small? Can your life impact one person or many? Never Eighteen, for me, reminds me that you are never too young or old to spread some love and change lives. :)

Lagniappe
So...I really like this book. I think you could tell. I'm going to spread this love around! That's right! This giveaway is international as long as The Book Depository ships to your country. Check here to make sure!




RULES

  ~13 years old or with parents' permission

  ~International

  ~fill out the Rafflecopter below

  ~giveaway runs from June 30 to end of July 6

  ~winner will be notified by email and have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Seraphina Review

Seraphina
Rachel Hartman / blog
July 10th 2012 by Random House Children's Books
Goodreads

Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.

Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen's Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.

In her exquisitely written fantasy debut, Rachel Hartman creates a rich, complex, and utterly original world. Seraphina's tortuous journey to self-acceptance is one readers will remember long after they've turned the final page.

The kingdom of Goredd is inhabited by both humans and dragons which make for some interesting (and unique) characters. As with any society trying to integrate two different cultures, you can always count on some who just don't seem to get along and want to cause dissension among the masses. At the castle Seraphina is drawn into the human-dragon drama and discovers the plot of would-be rebels which could destroy the decades of peace between humans and dragons and end up killing someone she loves.

I pretty much loved everything about this book: the cover, the characters, the world building, and Seraphina’s music. Seraphina has everything a great book needs: drama, intrigue, exceptionaly unique characters, fascinating plot, and flowing prose.  So, if you are looking for something different in between your dystopians and contemporaries, Seraphina is the book for you!
 
Lagnaippe

Be sure to check out the awesome book traier for Seraphia:

Seraphina is a great young adult fantasy novel by Rachel Hartman I am pleased recommend if you are thinking you have read one too many dystopian novels lately. Seraphina works as a musician in the royal court and also tutors the princess, but there is more to her than just the magnificent music she can produce. Seraphina has a secret which could get her killed.  Her father has protected Seraphina his whole life, perhaps even over-protected her, because you know that is possible for a father to do.

Croak Review

Croak
Gina Damico @ginadamico
March 20th 2012 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Goodreads

Sixteen-year-old Lex Bartleby has sucker-punched her last classmate. Fed up with her punkish, wild behavior, her parents ship her off to upstate New York to live with her Uncle Mort for the summer, hoping that a few months of dirty farm work will whip her back into shape. But Uncle Mort’s true occupation is much dirtier than that of shoveling manure.

He’s a Grim Reaper. And he’s going to teach her the family business.

Lex quickly assimilates into the peculiar world of Croak, a town populated entirely by reapers who deliver souls from this life to the next. Along with her infuriating yet intriguing partner Driggs and a rockstar crew of fellow Grim apprentices, Lex is soon zapping her Targets like a natural born Killer.

Yet her innate ability morphs into an unchecked desire for justice—or is it vengeance?—whenever she’s forced to Kill a murder victim, craving to stop the attackers before they can strike again. So when people start to die—that is, people who aren’t supposed to be dying, people who have committed grievous crimes against the innocent—Lex’s curiosity is piqued. Her obsession grows as the bodies pile up, and a troubling question begins to swirl through her mind: if she succeeds in tracking down the murderer, will she stop the carnage—or will she ditch Croak and join in?

I really enjoyed Croak with its spunky lead character and hilarious humor. Lexington Bartleby is a troublemaker whose parents have reached their limits and decided to ship her off to her uncle's house. They tell her it's for her own good and all that other stuff parents tell a kid hoping they will understand why they have to do what they are doing, but for Lex, it still sucks. She really doesn't want to go to work on a farm for the summer. I don't really blame her!  On the way there, Lex sees the light - no, not the "light" as in the error of her ways - literally the "light." She sees a soul on its way to where ever souls go when they depart the body.  Lex is just a bit freaked out...okay, more than a bit.

She arrives to meet her Uncle Mort and finds out Croak is not your ordinary farming community.  Croak is a town full of reapers, people who help delivers the souls of the recently dead, and Lex is one of them like her Uncle Mort. Uh huh, yep. That's why she's been full of mood swings and the need to punch anyone who looks at her funny. She has been turning into a Grim. Luckily, her uncle heard about it and brought her here for training. With Croak, Damico provides a mystery as Lex and her new partner Driggs are investigating weird deaths - people who shouldn't be dying, but are, and a comedy because they characters are a riot. Did I mention Lex has a twin named Cordy, short for Concord...Lexington and Concord...and their mother is a history teacher.  It's little zingers like this that keep a smile on my face as I read Croak.  I can't wait for Scorch which comes out in September.

Lagniappe
One upcoming appearance:

Saturday, June 23 - Beyond Words: an author panel featuring me, Hilary Graham, Diana Renn, and AC Gaughen
1:00-3:00pm
Tatnuck Bookstore
Westborough, MA

Hemlock Review

Hemlock
Kathleen Peacock (@kathleenpeacock)
May 8th 2012 by Katherine Tegen Books
Goodreads

Mackenzie and Amy were best friends. Until Amy was brutally murdered.

Since then, Mac’s life has been turned upside down. She is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac’s hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy’s killer: A white werewolf.

Lupine syndrome—also known as the werewolf virus—is on the rise across the country. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but bloodlust is not easy to control.

Wanting desperately to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate Amy’s murder herself. She discovers secrets lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, secrets about Amy’s boyfriend, Jason, her good pal Kyle, and especially her late best friend. Mac is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her life at risk.

When Mackenzie's friend Amy is found murdered, the town of Hemlock believes she is just the latest victim of a werewolf which has been hunting in the city. Lupine syndrome infecting many people in the country, and some try to hide their infection, but some embrace it. Mac is determined to figure out exactly what went on the night of Amy's death, because she knows Amy should have been with her boyfriend Jason, but why did Amy call their friend Kyle multiple times that night? Mac has other questions: Why was Amy alone on the street the night she was killed?  Why is Jason drinking himself stupid everyday and picking fights? Where was Kyle that night, and what secrets is he hiding from her?

Before Mac can have any questions answered the Trackers show up. Trackers are an extremist group put together to come to towns to hunt werewolves as last resort for the police department. It usually means mayhem is out of control, the local police can't handle it and need some help. The Trackers are not always the best choice. They're rough, wild, tattooed, and rule breakers. They really don't care who is a werewolf. They just want him or her dead.  To find out just what went down that night Mac has to race against time and the Trackers, figure out why Jason has decided his best option is to become a Tracker, and what Kyle wants to tell her but can't.  Hemlock is full of questions, fear, lies, love, and trust. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series!

Lagniappe
Check out the playlist For Hemlock (Book #1) found at Kathleen Peacock's website!

Track	Artist
While We Were Hunting Rabbits	Matthew Good
D’You Know What I Mean?	Oasis
Weapon	Matthew Good
Chasing Cars	Snow Patrol
Think I’m in Love	Beck
Cosmic Love	Florence + the Machine
The Scientist	Aimee Mann
It’s Been Awhile	Staind
The Con	Tegan and Sara
Burn	The Cure
Born Losers	Matthew Good
Photobooth	Death Cab For Cutie
Foundations	Kate Nash
Don’t Talk Down	The Stills
We Looked Like Giants	Death Cab for Cutie
In The House – In A Heartbeat	John Murphy
Walking with a Ghost	Tegan and Sara
Bonnie and Clyde	Luna
Mad World	Gary Jules
My Body is a Cage	Arcade Fire

Have you heard any of these songs before? Do you think they fit the mood of the novel?

The Fault in Our Stars Review

The Fault in Our Stars

John Green (@realjohngreen)

January 10th 2012 by Dutton Books
Goodreads

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

I adore this book. Hazel and Augustus. John Green's writing style. Everything about this book brings a smile to my face. I know it's a cancer book, but it's so much more than this, people.  Green didn't try to hide the cancer from you. It right there in the synopsis.  Just accept that there is cancer in this book, kinda like the characters have 2 arms, and I think you will be fine. Really, I do.

Hazel and Augustus meet in a cancer support group for kids. They are both just quirky enough to get each other. Cancer changes who you are to the core, and only someone else going through the same thing is able to see it. For Hazel and Augustus, meeting at this support group will allow them to form a friendship that will take them far, and I'm not just talking metaphorically, I'm talking across the Atlantic. The two chase their dreams, deciding now is the time to stand up for what they believe and if they questions, demand answers. The Fault in Our Stars is a journey for Hazel and Augustus and the reader. I'm not going to lie. I cried reading this book. Not many books can get me to cry, but this one did. It's not for the reason you're thinking. It's because The Fault in Our Stars changes Hazel, Augustus, and you as the reader. As you read this novel you will think about the two characters and how they interact and react, and it will cause you to evaluate your life. I really enjoy books that leave an impression on me like this.

Lagniappe

You may or maynot be aware of the Nerd Fighters (John and brother, Hank) or Vlog Brothers, but just to give you a taste of the hilarity you will find on their webiste or YouTube channel, I give you :

Delirium Review

Delirium
Lauren Oliver (@OliverBooks)
Book #1 - Delirium series
August 2nd 2011 by HarperCollins Publishers
Goodreads

Ninety-five days, and then I’ll be safe.

I wonder whether the procedure will hurt.

I want to get it over with.

It’s hard to be patient.

It’s hard not to be afraid while I’m still uncured, though so far the deliria hasn’t touched me yet.

Still, I worry.

They say that in the old days, love drove people to madness.

The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don’t.

In Lena's world love is a disease that will kill you. Everyone wants to avoid falling in love. There is even a "cure" for love.  Love as a disease is called Amor Deliria Nervosa which makes it a mental disorder. Love is not emotions or something you feel with your heart and soul. It is a diagnosable disease with symptoms and stages.  Lena is counting down the days until she can receive the cure because after watching her mother fall victim to love and try to be cured three times, she wants to make sure she doesn't ever fall in love.  She doesn't want to be one to rebel against the government, instead she has accepted what has been told to her. Love will kill her, so she will kill love.  Then, Lena meets Alex.  Everything in Lena's world changes.  Alex encourages Lena to look beyond what she has been taught to believe about love. 

Luckily Delirium will grab hold of you and infect you like no other book has.  It will leave to wanting more...luckily you have Pandemonium. I know I will get to book two soon because I have to know what has happened to these characters!  Lena and Alex are great characters andLauren Oliver’s book is a gripping and intense read, and I highly recommend it.

Lagniappe

An interactive book trailer for Delirium:

172 Hours on the Moon Review

172 Hours on the Moon
Johan Harstad
April 17th 2012 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Goodreads

It's been decades since anyone set foot on the moon. Now three ordinary teenagers, the winners of NASA's unprecedented, worldwide lottery, are about to become the first young people in space--and change their lives forever.

Mia, from Norway, hopes this will be her punk band's ticket to fame and fortune.

Midori believes it's her way out of her restrained life in Japan.

Antoine, from France, just wants to get as far away from his ex-girlfriend as possible.

It's the opportunity of a lifetime, but little do the teenagers know that something sinister is waiting for them on the desolate surface of the moon. And in the black vacuum of space... no one is coming to save them.

172 Hours on the Moon. Thanks, Mr. Harstad. You freaked me out pretty well.  I used to think if I could just somehow get off this planet and into outer space, imagine the greatness of space and the infinite possibilities of what could happen.  When I was younger, I thought I might want to be an astronaut, but then I grew up and saw the big suits, how they had to go to the bathroom (so not going to happen), and the incredible pressure astronauts were under as the rockets blasted into space. I have since rethought my dream and decided to go with reading about kids who were able to travel to space. A much better dream, especially after finishing 172 Hours on the Moon.

172 Hours on the Moon is the story of Antoine, Mia, and Midori, three teenagers who are chosen to be part of a mission to the moon. They are chosen as part of a contest put on by NASA and spend a week on a moon base named DARLAH2.  Each of the three teenagers has his or her own reasons for signing up: parents’ demands, dreams of a new future, or to forget the past. Once on the moon they will encounter something NASA did not prepare them for because something is on the moon.  NASA did not want anyone to know about, so they lied to the astronauts, the public, and the teenagers. They lied to the public about why they were sending a mission back to the moon. So now the questions are: What exactly is out on the moon? and Can the crew make it back to Earth alive, or are they doomed?

This novel is intense, shiver inducing, and makes me peek around the corner, and it should be your next YA read. 172 Hours on the Moon was a novel I had to read constantly.  I read in the morning for five minutes before leaving for work, at lunch, when I got home, and before I went to bed. I think the best thing about 172 Hours on the Moon is the way you, as the reader, know something is going to happen on the moon, and you know the teens and the crew don't know it's coming, so you are even more hyperaware of what is going to happen.  I love books like this!

Lagniappe

Don't you want to go to the moon?

Black Dawn Review

Black Dawn

Rachel Caine (@rachelcaine)
Bk #12 in Morganville Vampires series
May 1st 2012 by NAL Hardcover
Goodreads

The hotly-anticipated twelfth instalment in the Morganville Vampires series

In Last Breath, the rain brought a new and dire threat to Morganville and its vampires... their ancient enemies, the draug. Now, the vampires are fighting a losing war, and it will fall to the residents of the Glass House: Michael, Eve, Shane and Claire, to take the fight to an enemy who threatens to destroy the town, forever.

Lovers of Morganville, rejoice: Black Dawn takes the intrigue, romance and nail-biting suspense of the series to its highest level yet!

Black Dawn is the twelfth book in the Morganville Vampire series, and the momentum has not slowed down. Wow. What an accomplishment for Rachel Caine.  In Black Dawn, the residents are still being plagued by the horrible draug who have infested Morganville.  Many including Michael and Amelie were hurt by the draug in the last book, Last Breath. The draug live in water, even the smallest puddle, and have a way of calling to vampire similar to the sirens of mythology. The vampires can't help but go when they hear the draug calling. When the draug capture the vampires, it usually means the end.  They drain the vampires of all their blood, sometimes slowly, sometimes not so slowly. When the draug have you in their thrall, it's intense.  During a raid to kill the druag, Shane is captured by the druag, and as he is being drained, the draug show him possibilities. Possibilities for Michael, Eve, and Claire. What-could-happen. For Shane, it is all real.

Black Dawn is an intense, rollercoaster ride full of emotional scenes, battle scenes, love scenes, and death scenes. As a reader, you are taken from high to low and high again. You really don't know who is going to survive or die in this book. When the enemy can move through water, even the rain is your enemy. Black Dawn brilliantly holds you in its grip waiting as you read the page as fast as you can.  I am eagerly awaiting Bitter Blood in November.

Lagniappe
Check out the amazing book trailer for Black Dawn:




And, if you ever want to channel Myrnin, these vampire bunny slippers are available at Think Geek,  Amazon, and Computer Gear & More.

The Way We Fall Review

The Way We Fall
Megan Crewe (@megancrewe)
January 24th 2012 by Disney-Hyperion
Goodreads

It starts with an itch you just can’t shake. Then comes a fever and a tickle in your throat. A few days later, you’ll be blabbing your secrets and chatting with strangers like they’re old friends. Three more, and the paranoid hallucinations kick in.

And then you’re dead.

When a deadly virus begins to sweep through sixteen-year-old Kaelyn’s community, the government quarantines her island—no one can leave, and no one can come back.

Those still healthy must fight for dwindling supplies, or lose all chance of survival. As everything familiar comes crashing down, Kaelyn joins forces with a former rival and discovers a new love in the midst of heartbreak. When the virus starts to rob her of friends and family, she clings to the belief that there must be a way to save the people she holds dearest.

Because how will she go on if there isn’t?

The Way We Fall pulled me in from the moment I started this book to the second I finished it.  I was drawn into Kaelyn's world on a island off the coast, of what I'm assuming, is Canada. Everything is going great, she is smart, has an adorable cousin, and loves nature. It's when her friend's father makes an unusual comment one day when Kaelyn is over at their house, Kaelyn gets her first clue of things to come.  Friends start sneezing and coughing and then, insane itching that won't stop no matter how much you scratch begins...and more and more people become infected and dying, and the island is quarantined by the government. What Kaelyn does not know is this virus will devastate her family and her small community and force everyone to decide exactly what they will do to survive.

I love how The Way We Fall was written in a diary format.  You don't know if this diary is Kaelyn's up-to-date account of the events or something someone found years after the catastrophic events which killed everyone.  I went through the story hoping it was the first, but fearing it was the second. What really got to me while reading this book was how I became a part of this story. If I sneezed or had an itch, just for a moment, I would pause and think to myself, what if this is the beginning?  What if this guy coughing next to me in line at the grocery store is how an epidemic begins? The Way We Fall creeped me out even when I wasn't reading it!  That's the sign of a great story!

Lagniappe

Check out the great book trailer for The Way We Fall:




 

Books recommended by Megan Crewe for after you read The Way We Fall

If you liked The Way We Fall, check out these stories of suspense and survival:

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden

Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien

Plague by Jane Ure

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Taylor Five by Ann Halam

If I Stay by Gayle Foreman



Shatter Me Review

Shatter Me
Tahereh Mafi (@taherehmafi)
November 15th 2011 by HarperCollins
Goodreads
Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.



In Shatter Me, Juliette doesn't have to imagine knowing her touch could kill.  One day, just a day like any other day, she didn't know her touch could kill, and she touched someone at the grocery store. It was just an accident. She had no idea. She didn't mean to kill the little boy. Now this accident, no, murder, has Juliette lock up in prison. She has touched another person, or been touched herself by any person in 264 days. To test her, "they" put someone, a boy, in her cell with her. Who is Adam, and what does he represent to Juliette? Why would they do this to her? Don't they know how dangerous this is to him and to her?

After all this time alone the Reestablishment has decided Juliette's power could be harnessed as a weapon . She can be used to fight. The only problem is Juliette doesn't want to fight for the Reestablisment. Will she be able to break free?  Does Juliette have a curse, or a gift? Is she lethal, or is she powerful? Can she fight back? Will she be strong enough? Is she alone in her fight or are there others with powers?

This book left me with so many questions! I enjoyed this book, and I think Shatter Me was an enjoyable read, but at the end, when I set it down to think about it, I needed more!!! Which I guess is an indicator of a good cliffhanger.  I understand it is the first book in a trilogy, and I can't wait for the next book in this series.

I love the world Mafi built in Shatter Me.  This is one intense ride.  In Shatter Me you have the sweet good guys, the creepy bad guys, and a very believable threat to Juliette. This trilogy can only get better!

Lagniappe

Check out the awesome book trailer for Shatter Me:

 

The Hunt Review

The Hunt

Andrew Fukuda (@andrewfukuda)

May 8th 2012 by St. Martin's Griffin

Goodreads

Don’t Sweat.  Don’t Laugh.  Don’t draw attention to yourself.  And most of all, whatever you do, do not fall in love with one of them. Gene is different from everyone else around him.  He can’t run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t have an unquenchable lust for blood.  Gene is a human, and he knows the rules.  Keep the truth a secret.  It’s the only way to stay alive in a world of night—a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood.

When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him.  He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible—and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever—but is it worth the cost of his humanity?

In Andrew Fukuda's The Hunt, life is hard for Gene.  Gene knows no other humans. He is constantly on guard hoping his every move will allow him to survive, unlike his parents and sister. Unlike most other humans. For years he has to hide the truth about who he really is from everyone around him for one reason.  The truth will get him killed.  The truth is Gene is not a vampire. His father has trained him everyday to keep his humanity a secret: to always bathe, to never smile or cry, to always remain stoic because emotions will give him away, and to stay out of the sun. Because if he is a vampire, how will Gene ever be able to explain a sunburn or suntan? Gene lives everyday, especially at school, by these rules just trying to survive one more day.

Then life gets difficult. The vampire ruler announces to everyone a heper hunt will take place for the last surviving humans. Everyone gathers to see if his or her lottery number is chosen.  All want to patricipate in the hunt.  Just waiting to see who will be picked, the vampires can almost smell the hepers' blood, imagine chasing them down, tearing into them as they wait to see who will be the lucky winners. As the numbers are called out one by one, and vampire by vampire is out of the running, Gene finds himself one of the "lucky" one...one of the winners. Now, he is in the spotlight, after years of following the rules and laying low. He is now surrounded by vampires being trained in ways to hunt humans. Can Gene survive in this extremely hostile environment? Will he somehow find a way to overcome the stronger, faster, and deadlier vampires?

The Hunt is an insane adventure as you run along with Gene trying to outsmart the vampires.  This novel was an interesting take on the vampire as the bad guy after so many books where the vampire is the good guy.  I loved Fukuda's vampires beliefs about humans, and how vampires are surprised humans had higher brain function, knew how to use tools, or didn't understand why the humans would sing.  I read The Hunt with a sense of dread from the moment Gene knew he was going to the hunt.  I was so invovled in this plot I had to know how Gene was going to survive!  If you are looking for something different in the vampire world, maybe a story of a human survival, then The Hunt is the book for you.

Lagniappe

So, if you want to get a visual to go along with the book, just so you can freak yourself out even more while you read the book, check out the book trailer:

  

Immortal City Review

Immortal City
Scott Speer (@_scott_speer)
April 3rd 2012 by Razorbill
Goodreads

Jackson Godspeed is the hottest young Angel in a city filled with them.
He's days away from becoming a full Guardian, and people around the world are already competing for the chance to be watched over by him. Everyone's obsessed with the Angels and the lucky people they protect - everyone except for Madison Montgomery.

Maddy's the one girl in Angel City who doesn't breathlessly follow the Angels on TV and gossip blogs. When she meets Jackson, she doesn't recognize him. But Jackson is instantly captivated by her, and against all odds the two fall in love.

Maddy is swiftly caught up in Jackson's scene, a world of glamour, paparazzi - and murder. A serial killer is on the loose, leaving dead Angels' wings for the police to find on the Walk of Fame. Even the Guardians are powerless to protect themselves in the face of this threat & and this time it's up to Maddy to save Jackson.

I love a good angel book like most YA readers, and I was hooked pretty much right away with Immortal City. I don't know what exactly it was, but I was caught, and I'm thinking it was Maddy. I read this book in 2 days because I had to know what was going to happen to Maddy & Jackson!

If you love angels and are into those reality TV shows and magazines, I think you will like Immortal City. If you are looking for an inside scoop into the world of angels.   Immortal City offers readers a look at Jackson Godspeed, next in line to become a Guardian Angel.  He is not just any angel. He is handsome, rich, and his gorgeous face graces billboards all across Angel City. You can't go anywhere or be anyone without knowing who or what Jackson Godspeed is, right?  He has everything going for him, everything he could every ask for or want is given to him. 

Maddy lives with her uncle and is a waitress in his diner before and after school. All she is wants is to go college and work on her scholarship applications so she can hopefully, one day soon, leave Angel City. She is the one person in Angel City who doesn't care about the angels or the media surrounding them. So, one night when Jackson ducks in to the diner to avoid trouble, she has no idea who he is. The connection is made, although both sets of parental units wish otherwise. What is it between the human and angel that has hostile words flying?  Why should Maddy and Jackson avoid each other? Very interesting situation...read to find out!

If angels and forbidden friendships weren't enough, someone is killing angels in Angel City, and that someone can only be another angel.  All angels are on guard as more angels start dying.  All signs point to Jackson as the next in line to be killed.  Will the killer be found in time? Will Maddy and Jackson be able to deal with their differences? Scott Speer offers readers an action,  mystery, and romance novel all rolled into one! This book has glamour, guys, fights, fashion, intensity, and intrigue - everything! I couldn't put it down!

Lagniappe
For your entertainment purposes, the awesome book trailer to Immortal City:

Wanderlove Review

Wanderlove

Kirsten Hubbard

@kirstenhubbard

March 13th 2012 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Goodreads

It all begins with a stupid question:

Are you a Global Vagabond?

No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path.

Bria's a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan's a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they discover what they've got in common: both seek to leave behind the old versions of themselves. And the secret to escaping the past, Rowan’s found, is to keep moving forward.

But Bria comes to realize she can't run forever, no matter what Rowan says. If she ever wants the courage to fall for someone worthwhile, she has to start looking back.

Kirsten Hubbard lends her artistry to this ultimate backpacker novel, weaving her drawings into the text. Her career as a travel writer and her experiences as a real-life vagabond backpacking Central America are deeply seeded in this inspiring story.

Wow. I truly enjoyed Wanderlove.  I don't know if my review will do it justice, especially with the great synopsis above. I found everything good in YA contemporary fiction in this novel. I found real teens with real questions about life dealing with real situations. Yes, maybe you will not decide one day to just pack up a suitcase and head to Central America, but your journey can be small steps. Just take the first step, right? :)

Finding yourself is never easy, especially as a 17 or 18 year old, ready to head off to college. In Wanderlove, Bria, after a breakup with her boyfriend, a personal loss with something with something essential to her very core and future, decides to strike out on her own, not counting the tour group she signed up with, and have an adventure - to find herself, a couple of cute guys, and just live the good life. Too bad life has a funny way of turning what you expect on its head!

Wanderlove is about dealing with you you were, learning about who are becoming, and somehow accepting the two parts of yourself. If you happen to have an adventure riding in chicken trucks, seeing beautiful lakes, meeting fascinating people you will never forget, doesn't that just shape you into a better person (especially the chicken truck)?

Lagniappe

FAQ for Kirsten Hubbard from her website:

*Name five random things about yourself.

I have a fraternal twin sister. I love to draw, but I fail at crafts — except, inexplicably, steampunk jewelry. I am a food hippie. Some of my favorite books include Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, Watership Down by Richard Adams, Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta, Feed by M.T. Anderson, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, and The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I played water polo and worked in a pet store in high school. Yes, there were chinchillas.

*Why Wyoming? I was raised in Southern California, but the Wyoming badlands are in my blood. My mother grew up in a small Wyoming town, and we visited my grandparents there many times. I was fascinated with the small town way of life, and the starkly beautiful badlands.

*Where did you come up with the name Mandarin?
When I was 13-15, I was obsessed with unusual names. (Still am.) I also kept elaborate sketch journals documenting my life. In every volume, I created a different girl, who I drew comics about throughout the book. One of these girls was named Mandarin. Another was named Starling – a character in Wanderlove. I love paying homage to these imaginary girls from my past in the books I’m writing now.

*Did you have a Mandarin Ramey?
Not one in particular, but there were always girls throughout my teen years I longed to be like. There are still girls I long to be like! Such as Natalie Portman. She’s amazing.

*Where’s your favorite place you’ve traveled? That’s really hard. I’ll name a few: Utila, Honduras. Ko Phi Phi, Thailand. Ljubljana, Slovenia. Lake Tonle Sap, Cambodia. Budapest, Hungary. Boquete, Panama. Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, and the Belizean Cayes – both a huge part of Wanderlove. And of course, the Wyoming badlands.

*Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
First, embrace the power of setting – both on a large scale, and a scene-by-scene scale. Second, give your readers what they want, not what they expect. In other words, surprise them with a story that takes them unpredictably perfect places. Third, and most importantly, write that next book. Nothing helps beat the rejection blues like a new project you’re excited about. Don’t wait around! Keep writing, and writing, and writing.

*What’s your life philosophy?
Live simply so others can simply live. Also, Googling “baby sloth photos” helps cure every heartsickness.

A Catastrophic History of You and Me Review

The Catastrophic History of You and Me
Jess Rothenberg
(@jessrothenberg)
February 21st 2012 by Penguin Young Readers Group
Goodreads

Dying of a broken heart is just the beginning.... Welcome to forever.

BRIE'S LIFE ENDS AT SIXTEEN: Her boyfriend tells her he doesn't love her, and the news breaks her heart—literally.

But now that she's D&G (dead and gone), Brie is about to discover that love is way more complicated than she ever imagined. Back in Half Moon Bay, her family has begun to unravel. Her best friend has been keeping a secret about Jacob, the boy she loved and lost—and the truth behind his shattering betrayal. And then there's Patrick, Brie's mysterious new guide and resident Lost Soul . . . who just might hold the key to her forever after.

With Patrick's help, Brie will have to pass through the five stages of grief before she's ready to move on. But how do you begin again, when your heart is still in pieces?

Have you ever started a book and then stayed up until almost 2 am, just because you had to know what happened to a character? Let me tell you right now, this happened to me with this book. Rothenberg pulled me in and never let me go!

Brie's story is not happy-go-lucky one: imagine you literally drop dead of a broken heart at dinner with your now ex-boyfriend. Yes, it happened, and now Brie finds herself in the afterlife. Like any teenager would, she drifts around, looking after her family and friends, and also like anyone else, watches her own funeral.  Deciding to move on...you know what I mean...she winds up in a pizza parlor, Slice of Heaven.  Cheesy name (very punny, I know), but this pizza parlor is full of kids, all dead, who are all waiting.  These kids of different ages have all passed on.  One of these kids, Patrick, becomes her guide as Brie goes through the five stages of grief.  Patrick helps Brie come to terms with dying, what is going on with her family and friends, and helps her make some important decisions about what to do with her future. Patrick is able to guide Brie to look closer and become aware of what else was going on around her. Brie comes to realize there was more to her death than just a broken heart.

The Catastrophic History of You and Me had some really great things going for it, especially the chapter titles which were all song titles to go along with what was happening in the coming chapter. When Brie dies of a broken heart - "Take Another Little Piece of My Heart Now Baby". When she finds herself by herself, kind of exploring the afterlife - "The Cheese Stands Alone". I loved having a soundtrack playing in my head as I read this book. Loved it! The second thing I loved was Brie's Basset hound, Hamloaf, who was the only one from her old life able to see her after she died. He was adorable! I also enjoyed how even though Brie was dead, she was going through the five stages of grief. It was an interesting concept to see someone dead to through denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance just like you see the living go through. Rothenberg's writing really showed what it would be like for a 15, almost 16, year old girl to have suddenly died and have to deal with all the emotions this brings up.

Lagniappe
Interested in the soundtrack to The Catastrophic History of You and Me? Want to have it playing as you read the book? That is an awesome idea!  Check Jess Rothenberg's website for the playlist!

I would like to end this with a video of Jess with her new debut book dance. This is hilarious!

Taken at Dusk Review

Taken at Dusk

Book 3 - Shadow Falls
C.C. Hunter (@cchunterbooks)
April 10th 2012 by St. Martin's Press

Step into Shadow Falls, a camp for teens with supernatural powers. Here friendship thrives, love takes you by surprise, and our hearts possess the greatest magic of all.

Kylie Galen wants the truth so badly she can taste it. The truth about who her real family is, the truth about which boy she’s meant to be with—and the truth about what her emerging powers mean. But she’s about to discover that some secrets can change your life forever…and not always for the better.

Just when she and Lucas are finally getting close, she learns that his pack has forbidden them from being together. Was it a mistake to pick him over Derek? And it’s not just romance troubling Kylie. An amnesia-stricken ghost is haunting her, delivering the frightful warning, someone lives and someone dies. As Kylie races to unravel the mystery and protect those she loves, she finally unlocks the truth about her supernatural identity, which is far different—and more astonishing—than she ever imagined.

Taken at Dusk was a great additon to the "Shadow Falls" series. Kylie is a few steps closer to discovering who or what she may be is, in supernatural terms, that is.  Life at Shadow Falls is still hard for Kylie.  She has finally connected with her real father. Yes, he is a ghost, but a girl takes what she can get.  He can't tell her exactly what she is, so she is determined to trace her family line back and hopefully find his birth parents.  Easier said than done. Let's just say mayhem ensues.

Kylie still has Red chasing after her in person and in her dreams, ghosts popping up to ask for help, friends with romance problems, her old and new life almost combust at Family Day, and then, there's Lucas and Derek. Yep. Still Lucas and Derek. Just when Kylie thinks she is over Derek and ready to commit to Lucas, she gets hit with some heartbreaking news.  Turns out werewolf packs, if they're being honest, do not like to mix. That means Kylie, with her half-human, half-unknown status, is a big, fat question mark in the pack's eyes. Kylie really doesn't think she is a werewolf, so where does that leave her and Lucas?  Then, Derek confesses...read the book to find out what he confesses. It's worth it!

With Taken at Dusk, Hunter shows Kylie growing more into her powers, yet still searching for exactly what she is and what it means. Why can she run fast like werewolves, heal people, and talk to spirits? What is she? Hopefully, Whipers at Moonries will give us more answers in October, because I really want to know, don't you?

Lagniappe

Sign up for C.C.'s newletter here.

Events with C.C. Hunter this summer:

Austin RWA, May 8th, 7 - 9 PM.

Barbara Bush Library, May 12th, 2 - 4 PM. 

Houston SCBWI chapter, June 4th

Euless, Texas Library, May 9th.

RWA National conference and Literacy Autographing in Anaheim, California, July 25th, 5- 8 PM

The Selection Review & Giveaway

The Selection

Series: Book 1 - The Selection
Kiera Cass (@kieracass)
April 24th 2012 by HarperTeen
Source: Publisher

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

I enjoyed this book so much I stayed up until 3 am reading it.  Really.  The Selection introduces readers to America Singer, our protagonist, living in a future dytopian setting.  She has been selected by a lottery to travel to the royal palace and compete with other girls from different regions for Prince Maxon's hand in marriage.  At the palace, she will have to deal with cattiness, backstabbers, and those girls who feel entitled just because they come from a higher class with in the caste system.  Can America handle the girls who have been selected, Prince Maxon's quest to find a future queen for his country, the demands from her family back home, and figure out who/what she really wants to be?

What's good about being selected?
America's family receives compensation for her being away at the palace which they dearly need, because in this world's caste system they're not doing so well, and every little bit helps.  The longer she stays in the competition, they more she will make for her family.  Just by being chosen, America is elevated to a higher class with in the caste system.  She is also able to leave heartbreak behind, and hopefully grow stronger personally, make new friends, and forge a new future for herself.  The selection, for America, is an opportunity to speak her mind, and her voice is heard by the young prince.  Could she possibly influence change for caste system and help the people?

What's bad about being selected?
For America, being selected causes her to rethink all she has thought about love and marriage.  If she married who she loved back home, Aspen, she would lose respectability, and lower herself class-wise, but if she goes on with this competition, will she lose who she everything she stands for?  Is there anyway to make everyone happy?  Her mother wants her to have a better life, her father wants her to be happy, and Aspen wants to take care of her, but his lower caste hinders this.  Will the selection help her with any of this?

So...
So, if reading about a poor girl "winning" a lottery, traveling to the royal palace, competing to marry the prince, all while braving the ins & outs and highs & lows of a future caste system that makes it hard to rise above your station, then The Selection could be the book for you. Cass writes America, Aspen, and Maxon so well you will feel connected to them. You will want America to succeed in her quest to make a better life for herself, which will be hard in this society. 

The Selection is book one in a series, which I was unaware of as I finished the book.  So, when I got to the end of the book I experienced major anxiety over not knowing what was going to happen! Seriously! How could you do this to me, Kiera Cass? Hopefully, I'll be getting my fix in another way.

Lagniappe (a little something extra)
Did you know The Selection is already in the makings for a CW TV series?  Well,  it is!  Let's take a look at who is going to be who!

Aimee Teegarden as America Singer

You may know her from Friday Night Lights (tv show) and Prom.

Ethan Peck as Prince Maxon

William Moseley as Aspen Leger

You may know him from The Chronicles of Narnia movies.

Giveaway Rules

*Please fill out the Rafflecopter form below to enter the giveaway.
*You must be 13 years of age or older.
*This contest is open to wherever the Book Depository ships, so check to make sure your country is listed.
*The winner will be announced on this blog post at the conclusion of the contest, be notified by email, and will have 48 hours to reply or a new winner will be chosen.
*Please do not put your email address in the comment section.  Please do write a comment. :)

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