Book Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon&Shuster
Age Range: Young Adult
Publication Date: September 27, 2011

Author Web Page:

 

Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.

She’s wrong.

With a cover that will trigger the WOW factor on the reader, The Unbecoming of Mara Dayer will make the reader get lost between its pages until reading the very last sentence.The story begins with Mara waking up in the hospital after a terrible accident that took her boyfriend and best friend’s life. Without having a clue on how the events ocurred that fatal night, Mara tries to move on with her life, but she’s not aware on how she will be tormented and that only she has the key opening the doors to knowing what really happened that night. The Unbecoming of Mara Dayer has a complex but iviting and intriguing plot line. While the idea centers on the events ocurred, their repercussions will let us know who she really is and IT is what makes her different. The biggest credit I can give Hodkins is that without a doubt, she has a gift to tell a story and transport you towards it. Another aspect that called for my attention was the romance because it’s sexy, dark and it’s not until the end that the reader will get the idea on how it develops. The end will leave you with the expectation for more, wanting to solve the mystery of who is Mara Dyer. With a distinguished plot, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is the book you cannot miss this fall.

Book Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon&Shuster
Age Range: Young Adult
Publication Date: September 6, 2011

Author Web Page:

Abbey knows that Caspian is her destiny. Theirs is a bond that transcends even death. But as Abbey finally learns the full truth about the dark fate that links her to Caspian and ties them both to the town of Sleepy Hollow, she suddenly has some very hard choices to make. Caspian may be the love of her life, but is that love worth dying for?

A dark beautiful love story is the way to describe this last book in the Hallow Series.  Since The Hollow I was captivated by Verday’s dark beautiful world. The way words floated on the pages when Abby described how her perfumes were made or the Sleepy Hollow legend had an important role in the story and the romance between Caspian found me immersed in the story and where the characters were heading to. The Hidden is everything a reader could want for a serie’s culmination; Verday delivered the right end for her series. The Hidden begins where The Hunted ended, Abbey sees herself knowing her destiny and upon the mystery where Caspian is in the middle of changes as a shade that concerns both. I LOVED this book and it’s my favorite between the three. I love knowing more about The Revenants and their role in the story. Abbie and Caspian’s romance was simply perfect. I think the story’s most beautiful element was destiny and how it always manages to be accomplished.  The biggest compliment I can give Verday is the line she took her main characters, where decisions between correct and incorrect held their destiny. At the end Abby made me feel proud of her as a character and I confirm she was that girl in The Hollow who assured she love her best friend like a sister. The Hidden a beautiful love story in many ways with a touching bittersweet ending.

I will giveaway a copy of The Hidden between the people who comment on the review.

A group of three books cover images that I like the most from the titles to be released in the current month. Usually I already pre-ordered the titles or own them. I named the section like I did because I like thinking about these covers like they are something that its meant to look.

*Eye Candy: visual images that are pleasant to see.

Forget the world as you know it and try to imagine it if we lose our identity and the ability of deciding. This is what Julia Karr features in her impressive debut novel. XVI narrates Nina’s story, a normal girl about to turn sixteen, where society she lives on means sexual exploration with or without her consent. Lots of girls her age wish to turn sixteen and get marked with such enigmatic tattoo, but Nina is not one of those. Her life is altered when her mom is brutally murdered and asks her to go find her dad, whom she thought dead all her life. I’m really impressed with this book by the way Karr handles the topic on media governing society in all aspects of decisions, it’s interesting and invites you to meditate on it. One of the aspects I liked the most was the character’s platform, most of the main and secondary having self identity and not being each one’s clones. Nina’s aspect on trying to solve her dad’s enigma while assimilates certain information, protecting her sister and falling in love is really captivating. Another aspect which drew my attention was that regardless of the serious topics in the book, the character’s interactions as friends and the presentation of these bonds are beautiful. Romance is pleasant and does not outshine the main plot. The only thing I would have liked was knowing a little bit more about the past story; how this world got to be what it is in the story. Even having information, I would have liked more in order to understand certain things. XVI, the story of a society with no self identity where a youngster, along her friends and the resistance  fight for their identity and won’t stop until they win.

This book could be used as extra curricular material where teenagers can analyze how media defines their behavior or the way they interact actually and how they would do under the circumstances narrated in the story.

Book Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Pendrell
Age Range: Young Adult
Publication Date: August 8, 2010

Author Web Page:

Sixteen-year old Yara Silva has always known that ghosts walk alongside the living. Her grandma, like the other females in her family, is a Waker, someone who can see and communicate with ghosts. Yara grew up watching her grandmother taunted and scorned for this unusual ability and doesn’t want that to be her future. She has been dreading the day when she too would see ghosts, and is relieved that the usually dominant Waker gene seems to have skipped her, letting her live a normal teenage life. However, all that changes for Yara on her first day at her elite boarding school when she discovers the gene was only lying dormant. She witnesses a dark mist attack Brent, a handsome fellow student, and rushes to his rescue. Her act of heroism draws the mist’s attention, and the dark spirit begins stalking her. Yara finds herself entrenched in a sixty-year-old curse that haunts the school, threatening not only her life, but the lives of her closest friends as well. Yara soon realizes that the past she was trying to put behind her isn’t going to go quietly.

Gather: a peculiar girl, a boarding school, a hot guy with a peculiar talent, a “curse” and you’ll have Intrinsical / By: Lani Woodland. Intrinsical begins after Yara moves to her new school; Penderell along her best friend Cherie, who by some way or another, has always tried to contact the “supernatural” world. Ironically, Cherie lacks this gift while Yara is natural to it. After knowing details of Penderell’s “curse” with Brent, Yara will get to know more of her capabilities and what factor they will play to break the “curse” that has affected Penderell academy for decades. A word to summarize Intrinsical is; unpredictable, and I love that. Woodland teases the reader taking the story from one point to another gracefully, and what makes it more interesting are the clues left along the way. At lasts a story about humans but with a touch of fantasy for what readers are craving no matter what. I have liked the result from when all the pieces from the puzzle are over the table. The “curse’s” story itself possesses feeling and even for a second, the reader will feel some compassion for him or those involved. The role that Yara and Brent play or both of their families are a good touch that makes the story outstanding. My only point is that I would have liked to see more of Penderell Academy as a Boarding School with more strict laws, since it looked like the characters could come and go how they pleased. At the end, this doesn’t take anything from the story, but it would have been something nice to see. The end leaves a possibility for a sequel and if there’s one: where do I sign? Intrinsical, a great presentation letter for a debut author where a girl will not only fight to break a “curse”, save her life and her love interest’s, but overall, to settle terms with who she really is.

A group of three books cover images that I like the most from the titles to be released in the current month. Usually I already pre-ordered the titles or own them. I named the section like I did because I like thinking about these covers like they are something that its meant to look.

*Eye Candy: visual images that are pleasant to see.

Book Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Razorbill
Age Range: Young Adult
Publication Date: August 10, 2010

Author Web Page:

What if love refused to die?

Haven Moore can’t control her visions of a past with a boy called Ethan, and a life in New York that in fiery tragedy. In our present, she designs beautiful dresses for her classmates with her best friend Beau. Dressmaking keeps her sane, since she lives with her widowed and heartbroken mother in her tyrannical grandmother’s house in Snope City, a tiny town in Tennessee. Then an impossible group of coincidences conspire to force her to flee to New York, to discover who she is, and who she was.

Reincarnation, Mystery, Betrayal and Romance are the elements that center this presentation’s story.  The Eternal Ones narrates the story of Haven, a “different” girl who’s been always an outcast and many understand there’s something “off” in her.  Ever since she was a little girl, Haven’s had visions about other eras where she is another person called Costance and is in love with a boy called Ethan.  After a tragedy, Heaven tries controlling her visions for the repercussions they bring to her life but end up not being successful.  This one day she sees a guy named Iain while watching a program and it’s now when she decides to solve her vision’s mysteries and the role this guy plays in the story.  The story has a good concept and the union of diverse elements makes it more interesting.  Once Heaven and Iain reconnect the drama begins in the story, since there are constant problems and secrets that build the line for the past to repeat itself again.  lain keeps Haven in the “dark” about certain topics and his refusal about her joining Ouroboros Society gets her doubting if Iain bases his decisions for her own good “to protect her” or for his own benefit.  Secondary and tertiary characters are simply built, but they develop great potential on their respective roles.  Antagonists really show as the bad guys of the story and Beau, Heaven’s best friend, shines though his character for being any girls ideal friend.  The key under this story is that Miller uses romance as the small element in a mystery where the story per se of this characters is just a minimal detail in a  secret society full of mysteries.  The eternal ones, a love story narrated under a lost haunting love and then reborn of the eternal love flame in soulmates.

Book Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Egmont USA
Age Range: Young Adult
Publication Date: July 12, 2010

Author Web Page:

His love captivated her …  his secrets might kill her.

Since her sister’s mysterious death, Persephone “Phe” Archer has been plagued by a series of disturbing dreams. Determined to find out what happened to her sister, Phe enrolls at Devenish Prep in Shadow Hills, Massachusetts the subject of her sister’s final diary entry.   After stepping on campus, Phe immediately realizes that there’s something different about this place—an unexplained epidemic that decimated the town in the 1700s, an ancient and creepy cemetery, and gorgeous boy Zach and somehow she’s connected to it all.   But the more questions she asks and the deeper she digs, the more entangled Phe becomes in the haunting past of Shadow Hills. Finding what links her to this town … might cost her her life.

Gathering elements like Science, Fantasy, Mystery and Romance together, Shadow Hills is without a doubt a PAGE TURNER.  This first delivery by Hopcus narrated the story of Persephone “Phe” after her sister’s terrible death and her life’s changes because of some dreams she can’t figure out. Putting together info with secret entries from her sister’s journal, Persephone decides to switch schools to Shadow Hills, Massachusetts, a place described in the very last entry of the journal.  Once in Shadow Hills, Persephone tries to reveal the mystery behind her sister’s death no matter what, the meaning of her dreams and which puzzle piece the place plays. This will take her to open doors towards knowledge in a place where mystery and singularity of its inhabitants will leave her with more questions than answers while getting close to a costly truth.  I really liked Persephone as narrator. She is a strong, decided character which is featured to the reader in a simple way, which makes it easy to identify with.  Secondary and tertiary characters are well defined in their respective roles and allow the narrative to flow properly.  Romance in the story is interesting with both; character aspect and the chemistry between him and Persephone.  It’s really interesting and the elements Hopcus uses to develop the relationship are good for the reader. Fans of this type of reading will not be let down, on the contrary, they will count the days to read the sequel.  I must mention that the most fascinating aspect is that something is happening ALL the time and when the pieces come together it’s just wonderful to see the way the author combined all the elements. This is the major compliment I can give Hopcus for the presentation of this first novel. Shadow Hills; where the secrets of a town, a love tempted in so many ways and the singularity of a young girl collide in a novel full of emotions to which you won’t be able to stop reading until the last page.

I received some swag material that the lovely Anastasia Hopcus sent me.  I will give them between those who comment on the review.

Book Type: Softcover
Publisher: Lands Atlantic Publishing
Age Range: Young Adult
Publication Date: August 19, 2010

Author Web Page:

In the aftermath of Sophie’s ordeal, Weston will make some uncharacteristic decisions to distance himself from the past in an attempt to change the future.  But, while venturing into the improbable, the present sneaks up in a chilling way that will lead to Wes’ unexpected submission. Suddenly, Sophie will find herself watching as both his immortal secret and his own existence are threatened.

With its two main topics; Science and Spirituality, The Broken Lake brings a love story that flows harmoniously thanks to the combination of romance, suspense and some humoristic touches.  The Broken Lake narrates the story of Sophie and Weston picking up just where The Pace ended.  In this release by Shorts we will have our main characters battling to conquer the “clock” and the way each one fights internally and externally with their own issues.  This book is surrounded by an invisible X element that’s waiting to surface to complicate the lives of our main characters.   I have really liked the main character developing in this sequel and the inclusion of secondary and tertiary characters. Certainly you can see a different Sophie who will not give up without fighting hard in the process. I have really liked seeing her more self concentrated, in her love for Weston and slowly leaving behind the girl she used to be. Weston is adorable and the characteristics I liked about him in The Pace are still shining. The tenderness his love for Sophie evokes is certainly deep and at the same time the weakness any enemy could use against him. Sophie and Weston’s relationship in the Broken Lake is addictive, the reader has the pleasure to see their love flourish and regardless their “history”, they keep writing new pages without attempting to lose anything. My favorite moment occurs during the narration on pages 236-243 (ARC) and let me tell you page 241 (ARC) took my breath away.  I’ve read a lot of  YA books already and something that really turns me off are those relationships where “I saw you, you saw me, you’re the love of my life, I’ll die for you even though I don’t know anything about you”, and this is where the difference lies within this book series. Sophie and Weston have history rounding a century and those who have read The Pace know this factor. Their way of thinking is: we loved once, twice and now again, let’s fight destiny, re write our story and conquer it. This sequel possesses a huge heart among The Pace series and will set bases for the journey remaining to our characters, I just wish to see them get where I’m hoping. The Broken Lake, where destiny and love meet again in a battle to defeat the pace of time.

A group of three books cover images that I like the most from the titles to be released in the current month. Usually I already pre-ordered the titles or own them. I named the section like I did because I like thinking about these covers like they are something that its meant to look.

*Eye Candy: visual images that are pleasant to see.