Waiting on Wednesday (#8)

"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.

 

Last week I had a near publication pick, so this week's a little further afield. Just to torture myself.

I was really surprised by Prep School Confidential, in the best way possible. It was nothing like I thought it would be, and I loved it.

 

Wicked Little Secrets (Prep School Confidential #2) by Kara Taylor
Expected publication: March 4th 2014 by St. Martin's Griffin




Anne Dowling becomes entangled in a web of secrets involving a missing student and a conspiracy at Wheatley Prep in this fast-paced, juicy follow-up to Prep School Confidential

Anne Dowling—a fresh, original, and funny new YA heroine whose knowing, irreverent voice will remind readers of Pretty Little Liars and Private—is back for her second semester at Wheatley Prep. Although things have settled (somewhat) since her roommate Isabella’s death, Anne's still kind of obsessed with the disappearance of Wheatley student Matthew Weaver thirty years ago, since she found a picture of him and his crewmates with the words “they killed him” scrawled on the back among Isabella’s things.

When Anne learns that her boyfriend Brent’s dad is one of the now-powerful Wheatley alumni who rowed crew with Matthew, and that the crew team continues to induct new members with a creepy-sounding ritual called “The Drop,” she knows further investigation could put her relationship with Brent in danger. Determined to discover the truth, she reaches out to Anthony, Isabella’s townie brother, who helps her delve deeper into the secrets in Wheatley’s past. Secrets someone would kill to keep hidden. As the school’s Spring Formal—and its notorious afterparty—approaches, Anne sees the perfect opportunity to do some off-campus digging into the lives of Wheatley’s VIPs in this thrilling, unputdownable read—but if she’s not careful, she’ll be the next student who never comes back.



What's on yours this week? :)

 

 

Teaser Tuesday (7)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Right, my Teaser Tuesday is going to be early since I'm going to England tomorrow! On three hours sleep, I really hate my insomniac tendencies sometimes.

Title: I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You
Author: Ally Carter

Release date: August 20th 2009  

Publisher:  Disney Hyperion

Page: 29 on ADE 


Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school-that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but it's really a school for spies. Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she's an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real "pavement artist"-but can she manoeuvre a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her?

Cammie Morgan may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year, she's on her most dangerous mission-falling in love.

"Hello." It was the exact same thing Mr. Mosckowitz had said, but oh was it different. "Welcome to the Gallagher Academy. I hope you're considering joining us," he said, but I'm pretty sure Macey, Bex, and I all heard, I think you're the most beautiful woman in the world, and I'd be honored if you'd bear my children. (Really, truly, I think he said that.)

Did I mention how much I love this book?  Link me, and I'll check yours out when I get back. :)

Review: The Originals

The Originals
Author: Cat Patrick

Publication Date: May 7th 2013        

Publisher:  Little Brown Books for Young Readers     

 

17-year-olds Lizzie, Ella, and Betsey Best grew up as identical triplets... until they discovered a shocking family secret. They're actually closer than sisters, they're clones. Hiding from a government agency that would expose them, the Best family appears to consist of a single mother with one daughter named Elizabeth. Lizzie, Ella, and Betsey take turns going to school, attending social engagements, and a group mind-set has always been a de facto part of life...

Then Lizzie meets Sean Kelly, a guy who seems to see into her very soul. As their relationship develops, Lizzie realizes that she's not a carbon copy of her sisters; she's an individual with unique dreams and desires, and digging deeper into her background, Lizzie begins to dismantle the delicate balance of an unusual family that only science could have created

     

When they were younger, Lizzie, Ella and Betsey Best lived as triplets with their Mother, and believed they were so. Until they have to run and their Mother tells them the truth. They're identical, carbon copies of a supposed baby that had died, and used the DNA to clone the three. Now on the run for years,  Lizzie, Ella and Betsey live as one, one whole person, Elizabeth Best, and take a third of the day each, from school, to afternoon, to night work and college classes Lizzie takes the first half, Ella the second, which leaves Betsey to the night. They wear the same clothes, have to have the same hairstyle, everyday so nobody suspects they're anything but one person.

Stacking The Shelves (#7) & Recap

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

 

Netgalley

(Click on covers for goodreads!)

 

 

Oh. My. God. So after reading Prep School Confidential, I needed to read something like it, so on a whim I Bought...

 

 

 

Started it last night, where the hell was I? And why didn't anybody tell me about this series?! This morning, I proceeded to buy the other four and pre-ordered the 6th. Obsessed.

 

I'm also on my 4th book this week. My brain hurts.

 

What did you get this week? :) Link me!
 

 

A recap of posts this week

• Monday I reviewed In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters
• Teaser Tuesday from Poison by Bridget Zinn
• Waiting on Wednesday, Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson 
• Booking Through Thursday: Second First Time
• Friday I reviewed Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield  Cover Reveal: Immagica by K.A. Last  

This week I have read:

• Prep School Confidential  by Kara Taylor
• Poison by Bridget Zinn
• Skulk by Rosie Best

Review: Chantress

Chantress
Author: Amy Butler Greenfield

Publication Date: May 7th 2013        

Publisher:  Margaret K. McElderry Books     

 “Sing, and the darkness will find you.” This warning has haunted fifteen-year-old Lucy ever since she was eight and shipwrecked on a lonely island. Lucy’s guardian, Norrie, has lots of rules, but the most important is that Lucy must never sing. Not ever. Now it is 1667, Lucy is fifteen, and on All Hallows’ Eve, Lucy hears a tantalizing melody on the wind. She can’t help but sing—and she is swept into darkness.

When she awakes in England, Lucy hears powerful men discussing Chantresses—women who can sing magic into the world. They are hunting her, but she escapes and finds sanctuary with the Invisible College, an organization plotting to overthrow the nefarious Lord Protector. The only person powerful enough to bring about his downfall is a Chantress. And Lucy is the last one in England.

Lucy struggles to master the song-spells and harness her power, but the Lord Protector is moving quickly. And her feelings for Nat, an Invisible College apprentice and scientist who deeply distrusts her magic, only add to her confusion...

Time is running out, and the fate of England hangs in the balance in this entrancing novel that is atmospheric and lyrical, dangerous and romantic

 

Review

Fifteen year old Lucy, is secluded on an nomad Island with her only companion and guardian, Norrie. Norrie's strict, and has a lot of rules,  but she's the only person Lucy has since her mother died years before when Lucy was 8, and they shipwrecked onto the Island.

Now, All Hallows’ Eve in 1667, Lucy starts hearing notes of music in the wind, calling to her, and she's lulled by it and despite the warning that she's always been told, “Sing, and the darkness will find you.” she sings. The music transports her back home, and she's lost Norrie in the process. But England is not how she remembers it either, though she doesn't remember much, and once she escapes the library she transported to, all she feels is fear.

Cover Reveal: Immagica by K. A. Last

I am so excited to be participating in the cover reveal of Immagica by K.A. Last, we also have an excerpt!

 

Title: Immagica

Author: K. A. Last

Genre: YA Fantasy/Adventure

Expected Date of Publication: November 2013

Word Count: approximately 66,000

Cover Illustration: Lawrence Mann

Cover Designer: KILA Designs
Goodreads: Immagica

Immagica…

Where anything is possible, but not always controllable.

Enter at your own risk

The night before her fifteenth birthday, Rosaline Clayton receives an amulet from her deranged father. He tells her she must find the book, and begs her to save him. Rosaline is used to her father not making any sense, and she dismisses their conversation as another of his crazy rants.

Rosaline and her younger brother, Elliot, find the old, leather-bound book tucked away in their Nana’s attic, and it sucks them into its pages. They land in a magical world where anything is possible, but when Rosaline and Elliot are separated, the only thing Rosaline wants is to find her brother and go home.

The creatures of Immagica have other ideas. Rosaline befriends a black unicorn, two fairies, and a girl named Brynn, who are under threat from a menacing dragon. Rosaline discovers she is bound to Immagica in ways she doesn’t understand, and the fate of this magical world rests entirely on her shoulders.

 

 

Excerpt

The book flew open and a gust of wind whipped my curls around my face. The pages riffled back and forth before coming to a halt, open at the first page. This was getting a little weird. I was about to slam the book shut when words began to appear of their own volition, right before our eyes.

“Um, Elliot. Can you see that? Or am I as crazy as Dad?”

“I can see it,” he whispered.

Immagica, the place where anything is possible, but not always controllable.

                                                           Enter at your own risk.

 

 “What a load of crap,” I said, picking the book up. The new line of text flickered gold and pulsed, on then off, then on again, like a flashing, neon sign. I gingerly picked up the corner of the page and peeked under it to the next, but it was blank.

“How do we enter?” Elliot asked, leaning into me and staring at the book.

"Why do you keep asking me all these questions? You’re here, you know as much as I do.”

“You’re older, and always acting so much smarter than me,” Elliot said. I poked my tongue out. “That’s real mature.” He rolled his eyes.

“Oh, so you’re Mr Maturity now you’re a teenager.”

“Sometimes I’m more mature than you!”

While we argued, we were oblivious to what was happening. The book riffled its pages again, and another gust of wind hit our faces. Before we knew what was happening, the golden glow exploded from the book and sucked us in. That’s the best way I can describe it. One minute we were in my room, surrounded by my grandmother’s elegant interior decorating, and the next we were enveloped with gold light.

At first I felt Elliot beside me, but then he was gone. The light was warm, like a soft, fuzzy blanket. Then the ground hit me in the face. It was hard and rough. The force of my landing knocked the wind out of me, and I tumbled over myself before coming to a halt on my back. Above me was an azure sky dotted with fluffy, marshmallow clouds. I turned my head and spotted the book lying closed on the ground a few metres away. I tried to move to retrieve it, but it took a few moments before I could roll onto my side and get to my knees.

When I finally managed to stand, I took in my surroundings with wide eyes. The sky may have been blue, but the ground was dirty charcoal. Lumps of gravel mixed with sand and dead grass. It stretched on, and on, nothing but barren wasteland no matter which way I turned. The only break in the landscape was where the horizon met the sky.

A lump of fear rose in my throat. Where was Elliot?

I didn’t know where I was, and I was completely alone.

K. A. Last was born in Subiaco, Western Australia, and moved to Sydney with her parents and older brother when she was eight. Artistic and creative by nature, she studied Graphic Design and graduated with an Advanced Diploma. After marrying her high school sweetheart, she concentrated on her career before settling into family life. Blessed with a vivid imagination, she began writing to let off creative steam, and fell in love with it. She now resides in a peaceful, leafy suburb north of Sydney with her husband, their two children and a rabbit named Twitch.

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