YA

Review: The Selection by @KieraCass

The Selection is the first in a bestselling trilogy. Be sure to check out the second, The Elite, and the novella, The Prince.
The_SelectionFor 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 a palace and compete for the heart of 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.

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Review: Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs @TracyWolff

Tempest Rising is the first in a trilogy. Check out the second, Tempest Unleashed, and the third, Tempest Revealed.

Tempest_Rising

Tempest Maguire wants nothing more than to surf the killer waves near her California home; continue her steady relationship with her boyfriend, Mark; and take care of her brothers and surfer dad. But Tempest is half mermaid, and as her seventeenth birthday approaches, she will have to decide whether to remain on land or give herself to the ocean like her mother.

The pull of the water becomes as insistent as her attraction to Kona, a gorgeous surfer whose uncanny abilities hint at an otherworldly identity as well. And when Tempest does finally give in to the water’s temptation and enters a fantastical underwater world, she finds that a larger destiny awaits her-and that the entire ocean’s future hangs in the balance.

Although Tempest’s mother is a mermaid, like many mermaid stories, Tempest and her family is fully aware of this, unlike many mermaid stories. She doesn’t stumble upon some hidden secret but is fully expecting her seventeenth birthday, the day she will either remain human or choose to be mermaid. (Although there is a secret involving Tempest’s future she has yet to discover.)

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Review: Legend by @Marie_Lu

Legend is the first in a trilogy. The second, Prodigy, was released earlier this year. The third, Champion, will be released in November.
LegendBorn into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

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Review: The Maze Runner by @JamesDashner

Valentine’s Day 2014, The Maze Runner is coming out as a movie. Which should give you plenty of time to read this action-packed book first. And then the rest of the trilogy. Check it out on IMBD.
The_Maze_RunnerWhen Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every thirty days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.

Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.

Confession. By the end of this book, I had a major character crush on Thomas. I hope that’s okay because he’s supposed to be 16, and I’m, well, not 16 and married.

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Review: A Million Suns by @BethRevis

A Million Suns is the second in a trilogy. Check out my review of the first, Across the Universe, and be sure to read the third, Shades of Earth.A_Million_Suns

It’s been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. Everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship Godspeed.

But there may be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He’s finally free to act on his vision—no more Phydus, no more lies.

But when Elder learns shocking news about the ship, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed. They must work together to unlock a mystery that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier. Their success—or failure—will determine the fate of the 2,298 passengers aboard Godspeed. But with each step, the journey becomes more perilous, the ship more chaotic, and the love between them more impossible to fight.

I love what Maggie Boyd wrote in her review of A Million Suns. “Growing pains can be a horrible thing, especially when those growing pains are experienced by hundreds of people.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.

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Book Review: Of Poseidon @ByAnnaBanks

Of Poseidon is Anna Banks’ debut novel. The sequel, Of Triton, released this year.

Of_PoseidonGalen is the prince of the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he’s heard can communicate with fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach. When she runs into Galen—literally, ouch!—both teens sense a connection. But it will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for Galen to be convinced of Emma’s gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma that she holds the key to his kingdom…

Of Poseidon is a fresh mermaid tale written from both Emma and Galen’s perspective. I’ve been on a mermaid kick lately, so I appreciate Banks’ thought and twist to mermaid lore, even going so far as to explain the difference in biology between humans and ‘maids. I especially loved the Syrena’s “pulse”, which is like a Syrena’s fingerprint whenever they touch water and can be felt even miles away. I wonder what my pulse would feel like . . .

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