Waiting on Wednesday (#99)

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

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Expected publication: October 20th 2015 by Knopf Books for Young Readers

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she'd never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

 My dear trusted friends who have already read this, you're mean for making me want to read it now because I have to wait and I'm impatient. ;)

What're you reading?

Review: Made You Up (hug the book, just hug it)

Made You Up
Author: Francesca Zappia
Publication Date: May 19th 2015
Publisher:  Greenwillow Books
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

Reality, it turns out, is often not what you perceive it to be—sometimes, there really is someone out to get you. Made You Up tells the story of Alex, a high school senior unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. This is a compelling and provoking literary debut that will appeal to fans of Wes Anderson, Silver Linings Playbook, and Liar.

Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, her camera, a Magic 8-Ball, and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college. She’s pretty optimistic about her chances until classes begin, and she runs into Miles. Didn't she imagine him? Before she knows it, Alex is making friends, going to parties, falling in love, and experiencing all the usual rites of passage for teenagers. But Alex is used to being crazy. She’s not prepared for normal.

Funny, provoking, and ultimately moving, this debut novel featuring the quintessential unreliable narrator will have readers turning the pages and trying to figure out what is real and what is made up.

Made You Up is a...touchy one to review, which is why I'm doing more of a What I Liked Vs Issues. But, I just have to say, though I haven't read many (if any) books about Schizophrenia, this has to be the best one I've read (I know, totally illogical, but whatever). I loved how it was explored and felt more  of a positive story than a negative one. 

Review: Deadfall (I'm so not forgiving you, Anna Carey)

Deadfall
Author: Anna Carey
Publication Date: July 16th 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

 In the compelling sequel to Blackbird, Anna Carey delivers a gritty and adrenaline-filled story of a girl desperate to escape her mysterious and terrifying assailants. Told in second person, this heart-pounding thriller puts the reader in front of the target.

A week ago, you woke up in Los Angeles with no memory of who you are. The only thing you knew: people are trying to kill you. You put your trust in Ben, but he betrayed you and broke your heart. Now you've escaped to New York City with a boy named Rafe, who says he remembers you from before. But the two of you are not safe. The same people who are after you are tailing Rafe as well. As the chase heats up, your memory starts to return, but your past cannot save you from the terrifying circumstances of your present, or the fact that one wrong move could end this game forever.

With enemies on every side, and not a reprieve in sight, Deadfall will grab readers and refuse to let go. Perfect for fans of the Maze Runner series and the Legend series.

• Warning! There might be some slight spoilers for Blackbird ahead!

I really enjoyed Blackbird last year, while I know some had a problem with the second person narration, I loved it and it worked so well with the plot and story, and I don't think it would have worked any other way.

Blackbird and Deadfall have a lot of things working for it in YA, it's original, I haven't read another book like it, it runs and feels like a movie, which I always love when books can do that, they're fast paced to the point where they don't let you get comfortable with the story so you feel how intense it is and it creates the dangerous atmosphere and keeps you on your toes. It isn't predictable and while one major thing felt predictable in Blackbird, it set things up perfectly for Deadfall, which I have to say, is more intense, crazy and twisted than I thought it would be.

Guest Review by Amber: Possess

Possess
Author: Gretchen McNeil
Publication Date: August 23rd 2011
Publishe  Balzer + Bray

Pages : 382

Rough estimate of time it took to read: 8 Hours

Source: Gifted by Kirsty 

Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her overprotective mom, by Matt Quinn, the cute son of a local police sergeant, and by the eerie voices she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Unfortunately for Bridget, the voices are demons - and Bridget possesses the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from. Literally.

Terrified to tell her friends or family about this new power, Bridget confides in San Francisco's senior exorcist, Monsignor Renault. The monsignor enlists her help in increasingly dangerous cases of demonic possession, but just as she is starting to come to terms with her freakish new role, Bridget receives a startling message from one of the demons. And when one of her oldest friends is killed, Bridget realizes she's in deeper than she ever thought possible. Now she must unlock the secret to the demons' plan before someone else close to her winds up dead - or worse, the human vessel for a demon king.

 Reaaaally enjoyed this book a lot, so I'm suddenly really glad Kirsty's pawning off her DNF'S to me. I've you've been reading my reviews (or even just checking out the ratings) then you would know I have only really disliked one or two books, although it is rare for me to hate a book, since I always like to see the good in a book more than being technical (or if you've read some of Kirsty's DNF reviews, cynical sorrynotsorry)

Now, onto Possess...

Waiting on Wednesday (#98)

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

After the Woods by Kim Savage

Expected publication: February 23rd 2016 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Janine O'Malley at Farrar, Straus and Giroux acquired a debut YA novel, After the Woods by former journalist Kim Savage, in a pre-empt. It’s a psychological thriller about two friends in the aftermath of an abduction, where one risked her life to save the other and spent a night in the woods she wants to forget. Now, nearly a year later, a girl’s body is found, and dark secrets are tearing the best friends apart. Publication is scheduled for 2016; Sara Crowe at Harvey Klinger did the two-book deal for world English rights.

Okay, we don't know much about it yet, but I don't care. Psychological Thriller. I'm so in.


What're you waiting on?

Review: Emmy & Oliver

Emmy & Oliver
Author: Robin Benway
Publication Date: June 23rd 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

Emmy’s best friend, Oliver, reappears after being kidnapped by his father ten years ago. Emmy hopes to pick up their relationship right where it left off. Are they destined to be together? Or has fate irreparably driven them apart?

Emmy just wants to be in charge of her own life.

She wants to stay out late, surf her favorite beach—go anywhere without her parents’ relentless worrying. But Emmy’s parents can’t seem to let her grow up—not since the day Oliver disappeared.

Oliver needs a moment to figure out his heart.

He’d thought, all these years, that his dad was the good guy. He never knew that it was his father who kidnapped him and kept him on the run. Discovering it, and finding himself returned to his old hometown, all at once, has his heart racing and his thoughts swirling.

Emmy and Oliver were going to be best friends forever, or maybe even more, before their futures were ripped apart. In Emmy’s soul, despite the space and time between them, their connection has never been severed. But is their story still written in the stars? Or are their hearts like the pieces of two different puzzles—impossible to fit together?

Readers who love Sarah Dessen will tear through these pages with hearts in throats as Emmy and Oliver struggle to face the messy, confusing consequences of Oliver’s father’s crime. Full of romance, coming-of-age emotion, and heartache, these two equally compelling characters create an unforgettable story

Oh, Emmy & Oliver, I want to hug you. Literally. I wish you were real, and not just because the characters felt so real and were pretty damn awesome. But, the story of Emmy & Oliver is sadly one that we've seen more frequently over the years. A parent taking their child away. Fortunately, Oliver's story has an outcome that we only sometimes get to see, Emmy & Oliver begins with an ending.

Oliver's found.