Waiting on Wednesday (4)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine that highlights upcoming books that you are excited to read!   This week, the book I can't wait for is Diviners by Libba Bray.  I love all things Libba Bray especially A Great and Terrible Beauty and I really can't wait for this one to come out this September.

Summary from Amazon:

Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is pos-i-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies."

When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer--if he doesn't catch her first.

Book Review: Code Name Verity - Elizabeth Wein

This is a harrowing, fictional account of a Scottish young lady captured and tortured by the Nazi’s in occupied France. It is in her own words as she writes her story while in prison detailing all of the secrets she’s been giving away in order to keep herself alive.  She is Queenie, Eva, Julie and Verity and through it all we must figure out who the real her is.  She’s an unreliable narrator of the highest order and while we try to unravel the truth or la vérité we come to understand her, love her and ache for her and what she is going through.

I wish I had better to words to describe this novel to you and give the story all its due, but I don’t.  I don’t want to give anything away so what I will say is that I loved it.  The writing was exceptional and the story original and the characters – their strength, hope and courage above all else was heartbreaking and inspiring.  It’s one of my favorite World War II books that I’ve read since The Book Thief.  You must read it!

Book Review: Bittersweet - Sarah Ockler

Overview:  Hudson is a dependable junior in high school who helps her mom out at the diner, takes care of her little brother and has one close friend.  Her only claim to fame is the inventive cupcakes she makes for her mom’s diner which has earned her the nickname “Cupcake Queen”.  Everything begins to change as she starts secretly ice skating again (a sport that was once her passion) which leads to helping out the hockey team, which leads to lots of cute hockey players, which leads to Hudson dreaming of a different life.  All of these changes cause Hudson to spread herself a little too thin and eventually something will have to give.  But, what will it be?

Review:  One of the things I really liked about this book was that every chapter began with a specialty cupcake heading.  These were usually very humorous.  For instance, the “No One Wants to Kiss a Girl Who Smells Like Bacon, So I Might as Well Get Fat Cupcakes” Ha!  Each chapter heading gives a clue as to what is to come as well as a description of these amazing sounding cupcakes!  It made me really wish there were recipes at the end of the book but unfortunately there were not :(

However, that’s okay because the story was delicious on its own!  Hudson is a really likable character.  She is easy to root for and believe in although at times I also found myself wanting to shake her and say “What are you thinking?!?!?”.  She sometimes makes decisions that us readers know are bad ones but that really propel the story forward and give her a chance to grow.  She wants to be a good daughter, good sister, good friend, good coach, good skater, and good baker but at some point she can’t be all things to all people and be good to herself.  There are also multiple cute boys that come into her life and seeing her navigate that confusion and figure out what she wants is a lot of fun! 

This book delves into themes of family, friendship, hope, forgiveness and second chances and I would highly recommend this to Sarah Dessen fans and those who enjoy a romantic contemporary read!   

Book Review: Froi of the Exiles

Wow! If you enjoyed Finnikin of the Rock, you will love this book! I sure did.  It starts three years after Finnikin of the Rock finishes and we are back in Lumatere where Evanjalinn and Finn are beginning to rebuild their kingdom.  However, while we are in Lumatere occasionally, this is Froi's journey. And what a perilous journey it is.  Since returning to Lumatere, he has been training to join the Queen's Guard, become very disciplined and has become much loved to those in Lumatere.  He's almost unrecognizable from the Froi we once knew.  When an opportunity arises for him to sneak into Charyn and assassinate the King, he is ready for the honor to pay retribution to those who had harmed Lumatere before.  However, things in Charyn are not as they seem from afar and Froi must quickly decide who to trust and who's worth saving. 

Marchetta's writing is once again masterful. The journey for Froi and those in this book is a hard one. Many choices and personal sacrifices must be made and one must wonder: How far would you go to protect your home, your kingdom? And what, if anything, is too far?  This one definitely leaves you wanting, much, much more and  I can't wait to see what happens in the third book!

Waiting on Wednesday (3)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine that highlights upcoming books that you are excited to read!   This week, the book I can't wait for is Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.  I've heard lots of good things about this one and luckily won't be waiting long since it comes out next week!

Summary from Amazon: 

Oct. 11th, 1943—A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun.

When “Verity” is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn’t stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she’s living a spy’s worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.

As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage and failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?

Harrowing and beautifully written, Elizabeth Wein creates a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other. Code Name Verity is an outstanding novel that will stick with you long after the last page.

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Book Review: The Last Princess - Galaxy Craze

The Last Princess by Galaxy Craze
Review Copy:  ARC from Publisher
Available now!!


What a great debut novel by Galaxy Craze.  And by the way, how awesome is that name?  Love it!!

This novel takes place in Great Britain in the year 2090.  A revolution is brewing against the monarchy but the Windsor children, Mary, Eliza and young Jamie have been kept in the dark about that.  However, all that changes in an instant when their father is killed and Mary and Jamie are abducted.  Eliza escapes and makes a hard decision, to join the turdor army in order to get closer to the enemy and hopefully find her siblings.  What she doesn't count on is getting closer to another soldier, but is he friend or foe?  And how long can her charade last?  Those questions and more are answered in this consuming novel.

I found Eliza to be a force to be reconned with: she's headstrong, smart, compassionate and very easy to root for.  Her journey isn't an easy one and while the pace of this novel is very fast, it wasn't fast enough for me.  I couldn't reach the end quick enough!  This book is filled with lots of action and adventure, a little romance, and definitely some intrigue.  I recommend this first in a trilogy to fans of The Hunger Games as well as anyone looking for a quick, fun read!

Waiting on Wednesday (2)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine that highlights upcoming books that you are excited to read!   This week, the book I can't wait for is The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.  I love all of Maggie's books and even though this one doesn't come out until September, it's definitely one to keep on your radar!

Summary from Amazon:

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.