The Elliott Review

Review: Fever (Chemical Garden 2) by Lauren DeStefano

2012-02-15T07:00:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion, but danger is never far behind.

Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago - surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness.

The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous - and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion...by any means necessary.

In the sequel to Lauren DeStefano’s harrowing Wither, Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price - now that she has more to lose than ever.

Details:

Publication date: February 21st 2012 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

The Elliott Review:

Fever picks up where Wither left off and doesn't let up. Although Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion of horrors, they are by no means out of danger in this part of their story. They barely have time to show each other the love that motivated them to flee in the first place. Survival in the outside world is not a given, especially with some of the twisted, strange people they meet along the way.

This book kept me in constant suspense, wondering how things would turn out for Rhine and Gabriel. The main heart of the story is Rhine as a character deciding how she will be able to live in this horrible new world. Will she find her brother? Will she be victimized? Will she be able to continue living with a strange sickness that doesn't seem to be something recognizable?

This book seemed like a wonderful transition to me. There is some important development, and the tension rises and rises as Rhine looks for Rowan. This is definitely something not to be missed!!

Young Adult Notes:

Prostitution, attempted rape, child abuse, forced marriage, torture/medical experimentation, mild language.

Source: Borrowed

Winner: The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison!!

2012-02-14T16:56:00.000-06:00

The winner of The Butterfly Clues is:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

who answered the question:
Did/do you have an item or some routine that comforts you when you are stressed/irritated/upset?

Great movies or books that I have loved. Cookies do the trick too.

Thanks to everyone who participated!! Also, a big thanks to Paper Lantern Lit for making this giveaway possible!

Don't forget - The Butterfly Clues is available for purchase today! :)

Review: Pure by Julianna Baggott

2012-02-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

We know you are here, our brothers and sisters . . .

Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost-how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers . . . to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.

Burn a Pure and Breathe the Ash . . .

There are those who escaped the apocalypse unmarked. Pures. They are tucked safely inside the Dome that protects their healthy, superior bodies. Yet Partridge, whose father is one of the most influential men in the Dome, feels isolated and lonely. Different. He thinks about loss-maybe just because his family is broken; his father is emotionally distant; his brother killed himself; and his mother never made it inside their shelter. Or maybe it's his claustrophobia: his feeling that this Dome has become a swaddling of intensely rigid order. So when a slipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks his life to leave the Dome to find her.

When Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again.

Details:

Publication date: February 8th 2012 by Grand Central Publishing

The Elliott Review:

The post-apocalyptic world Baggott has created draws the reader in with a sense of dark curiosity. It's a world where humans have fused with whatever was near them when the detonations occurred, eking out a meager, bleak existence while hoping for the day when they can possibly be rescued and taken inside the Dome where the Pures live.

Pressia has vague memories about what life was like before the detonations happened, leaving the doll she was holding forever connected to her wrist. She and her grandfather struggle to survive, and now that Pressia is coming of age, she has to deal with what might happen to her. As she gets to know a passionate young rebel named Bradwell, she feels things and considers ideas that she has never known before.

Partridge lives in a clean, sterile world where everything is very much controlled by those in charge - namely, by his father and others like him. The idea that perhaps his mother is still alive outside of the dome prLopels him to act, to get out, despite his confusing feelings for Lyda.

The way everything in this story is connected keeps the storyline fast-paced and exciting. This is definitely a read that lovers of post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction will gravitate towards.

Young Adult Notes:

Some language, violence, sensitive topics.

Source: Thanks to Grand Central Publishing for making this title available at Netgalley.

Author Interview + Giveaway: Julianna Baggott (Pure)

2012-02-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

Today on the blog I'm excited to have the chance to interview Julianna Baggott! Critically acclaimed, bestselling author Julianna Baggott also writes under the pen names Bridget Asher and N.E. Bode. She has published seventeen books over the last ten years. Film rights for her forthcoming novel PURE have been acquired by Fox 2000. The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted, written under pen name Asher, was published in spring 2011. There are approximately 50 foreign editions of her novels to date.

You have written many books over the last ten years. How have you been able to make the time to write?

It's not easy -- like making a loaf of bread from dust swept up in the corners. Making time is a creative act in and of itself. I have four kids and have been a full-time professorial type, so those are more demands -- ones I love. I have no hobbies. I have no spare time to cultivate them. I have a system of writing that helps. And yet I always heap more things on. I write essays -- sometimes political ones -- and poems, and my husband and I co-founded a nonprofit to get free books to underprivileged kids in Florida so that also slips in. I will say that my husband is the stay-at-home dad, the home-maker, as he likes to put it. It helps very much that my home is made -- by him. He's also my creative partner and we're tied together throughout each day. Somehow it works.

Has motherhood affected your writing in any way?

Absolutely. In fact, I wouldn't have written PURE without my specific life experience -- much of which has been defined by motherhood. On a general level, kids have mined my soul. But, too, the idea of fusings -- a defining element of PURE -- wouldn't have come to me without motherhood. There are characters in the book called The Mothers, and well, there you have it. My novels tend to be about family, even when they seem to be about something else.

What is the most difficult part of being a writer?

I need the writing part. I protect my relationship with the page. It's brutal there some days, but I don't want it to be easy. There are days where it should feel like bear-wrestling. Hard, but good hard. Now, the publication part -- that's work. It's a job. You think it will be the delightful reward for your labor, but it's hard -- for me at least -- to go public. To lay it out there. And sometimes it's simply like being a traveling salesman, which wasn't really what I'd ever imagined.

What is the best thing about writing for a young adult audience?

They leap. Adults don't. Often adults will dig their heels and refuse to go with you. You have to convince them, which is fine. I like a good debate. But there's something really liberating when the reader simply takes you on and meets you on your own path, right up to the cliff.

I see that you want the making of the PURE trilogy to be an interactive collaboration. How did you do come to that decision?

Maybe you're talking about the film deal. The film rights are with Fox2000 and I'm interested in what a director will bring to the work, visually. Oh, but maybe you're talking about PURE: THE INNER CIRCLE. I have a private blog that people can sign up for. That's where I post things about the process. And, in the near future, it's where the small band of followers will see the cover for FUSE and give feedback. They will also get early excerpts of FUSE... In return for their input, I write occasional behind-the-scenes updates, publishing-centric. It's not that it will be an interactive collaboration. (I've written a collaborative novel and two authors is hard enough.) But I do want input on some major decisions, yes. I want to know what readers are thinking. I didn't want to be completely cut off from readers.

How will the collaborative process work?

Here's the skinny: People can sign up HERE.

It's designed for articulate readers who are interested in the publishing industry as future writers, editors, publishers, art directors, copy editors, web designers, book critics, translators, as well as the process of books being made into films... I write the behind-the-scenes pieces at an invite only blogspot. We'll ask them to comment on things like book jacket covers, web design, book trailer, and apps. They’ll see early sections of the second and third books in the trilogy while still in edits. And they'll be able to submit questions to me.

What other projects do you have in the works that you can tell us about?

FUSE is Book II in the trilogy. I'm deep into edits now. In fact, this is a wonderful opportunity for me to slip away for a while. It's intense.

Follow Julianna:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Win a signed copy of PURE!

Please use the Rafflecopter widget to enter.

Good luck!

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Review: Beneath a Meth Moon: An Elegy by Jacqueline Woodson

2012-02-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

A stunning new novel from threetime Newbery Honor–winning author Jacqueline Woodson.

Laurel Daneau has moved on to a new life, in a new town, but inside she’s still reeling from the loss of her beloved mother and grandmother after Hurricane Katrina washed away their home. Laurel’s new life is going well, with a new best friend, a place on the cheerleading squad and T-Boom, co-captain of the basketball team, for a boyfriend. Yet Laurel is haunted by voices and memories from her past.

When T-Boom introduces Laurel to meth, she immediately falls under its spell, loving the way it erases, even if only briefly, her past. But as she becomes alienated from her friends and family, she becomes a shell of her former self, and longs to be whole again. With help from an artist named Moses and her friend Kaylee, she’s able to begin to rewrite her story and start to move on from her addiction.

Incorporating Laurel’s bittersweet memories of life before and during the hurricane, this is a stunning novel by one of our finest writers. Jacqueline Woodson’s haunting—but ultimately hopeful—story is beautifully told and one readers will not want to miss.

Details:
Publication date: February 2nd 2012 by Penguin Group USA, Inc

The Elliott Review:

This short elegy packs a powerful punch with relatively few words. Laurel's stream-of-conscious narrative brings readers into feeling her emotions, into seeing why she has become the addict she is. As she deals with the aftermath of the death of loved ones, she becomes extremely vulnerable and becomes addicted to meth. The narrative chronicles her struggle to get clean for those in her life that she still loves.

This is a beautiful, poetic treatment of a sensitive and ugly topic. Hope is infused throughout Laurel's dark circumstances - as she meets Moses, a street painter, who motivates her to change her life. The book shows the dangers of meth through an authentic voice that does not talk to down to readers. It simply paints a picture of a very true-ringing character.

This is a book that will definitely grip young adult readers.

Young Adult Notes:

Drug addiction, mild language.

Source: ALA

February ARC Giveaway!!!!

2012-02-02T07:00:00.000-06:00

This month, I'm giving away ARCS of four March releases to one lucky winner!!! Check out the synopses of these great books to decide if you'd like to be the winner!!! :)

The Difference Between You and Me by Madeleine George
Eye of the Storm by Kate Messner
Rock On by Denise Vega
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Ends February 15th!

US only.

Please use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter!

You don't have to do anything crazy to enter, but you can gain extra entries if you wish!!!

Good luck!

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International Giveaway: Signed Copy of The Butterfly Clues

2012-02-01T07:00:00.000-06:00

Win a signed copy of The Butterfly Clues!!!

Today is all about The Butterfly Clues. I read this book and LOVED it. If you've followed for long, you know how I have a special place in my heart for OCD characters, and the obsessive and sneaky Lo is no exception. Check out my review if you're curious.

To win, all you have to do is answer the question below in the comment section of this post (and log it in the Rafflecopter widget):

Did/do you have an item or some routine that comforts you when you are stressed/irritated/upset?

If you want, you can gain an extra entry by tweeting about the giveaway, as well!

The contest is INTERNATIONAL thanks to the awesome folks at Paper Lantern Lit.

Winner will be announced on February 14th, the day The Butterfly Clues will be available in stores!

Good luck everyone!

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Review: Incarnate (Newsoul 1) by Jodi Meadows

2012-01-31T07:00:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

NEWSOUL
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

NOSOUL
Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

HEART
Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.

Details:
Publication date: January 31st 2012 by HarperCollins Children's Books

The Elliott Review:

This book just killed me! I loved reading it so much! First of all, the prose is stunning. Since Ana is something new and delicate compared to everyone else who has lived many lives over the course of thousands of years, I felt that the way Jodi Meadows wrote her perspective was amazing. Ana's internal thoughts feel very fragile. The sense that she is experiencing things for the first time is amplified far beyond the normal experience of a teen since the rest of the citizens of Heart have all experienced being teenagers countless times before.

The world building in Incarnate is also very skilfully done. The elements of fantasy are plain to see in the the way everyone is reincarnated and also have to battle dragons and slyphs, and having this more ancient-feeling elements juxtaposed with certain modern conveniences keeps the brain guessing. The society that Ana must learn to fit in with bears resemblance to a dystopian society with elements of mystery and intrigue.

I also enjoyed the way Ana's relationship with Sam develops throughout the book. It's very organic and understated, yet there's a sense of passion and urgency because they don't know if Ana can live more than one life - and she doesn't know if he would want her, the Nosoul. Their feelings for each other make this book shine.

The symbol of Ana as a butterfly - beautiful, impulsive, fleeting, and very breakable - tied everything in the book together in such a beautiful way. I love the way the idea pops up again and again, and it really makes the beautiful cover of this book make sense.

This is an AMAZING book that you CANNOT miss.

Young Adult Notes:

Mild language, mild violence, mild sensual scenes.

Source: ALA

Review: The Rivals (The Mockingbirds 2) by Daisy Whitney

2012-01-30T07:00:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

When Alex Patrick was assaulted by another student last year, her elite boarding school wouldn't do anything about it. This year Alex is head of the Mockingbirds, a secret society of students who police and protect the student body. While she desperately wants to live up to the legacy that's been given to her, she's now dealing with a case unlike any the Mockingbirds have seen before.

It isn't rape. It isn't bullying. It isn't hate speech. A far-reaching prescription drug ring has sprung up, and students are using the drugs to cheat. But how do you try a case with no obvious victim? Especially when the facts don't add up, and each new clue drives a wedge between Alex and the people she loves most: her friends, her boyfriend, and her fellow Mockingbirds.

As Alex unravels the layers of deceit within the school, the administration, and even the student body the Mockingbirds protect, her struggle to navigate the murky waters of vigilante justice may reveal more about herself than she ever expected.

Details:

Publication date: February 6th 2012 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

The Elliott Review:

What I love most about this book is its idealism. As a teacher, it melts my heart to think of a group of students dedicated to nothing but simply doing the right thing. The fact that they have to do this because their school turns a blind eye to everything causes me to take a look at how I deal with things within my own classroom.

The Rivals picks up the year after the events of The Mockingbirds take place. Alex is still with Martin and still coming to terms with the date rape that she was victimized by the previous year. She's focused on trying to become a survivor and to lead the Mockingbirds to do right by other students just like they did with her case.

The mystery of who is behind the ring of drug-taking cheaters is Alex's to solve, and with the Mockingbirds and their motives being questioned and challenged, the stakes couldn't be higher. Alex finds herself in question more than she would like, and the problem is that she doesn't have any easy answers. Again, these are questions that someone with a high moral code would wrestle with, and I love the fact that this book wrestles with these issues.

The subject matter and themes of this book are heavy, but it is an engaging read that I would recommend to anyone, idealists especially.

Young Adult Notes:

Date rape, drug abuse, slurs against sexual orientation, mild violence, and mild language.

Source: Thanks to Little, Brown for making this title available in exchange for a fair review.

Winner: Drawn by Marie Lamba!!!

2012-01-29T23:16:00.003-06:00

The winner of DRAWN is....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks to everyone who participated! The winner has been contacted and has 48 hours to respond!!

Stay tuned for my upcoming giveaways this week!

In My Mailbox: ALA Craziness...

2012-01-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

courtesy of Ryan Gosling Reads Young Adult

I was really excited to be able to go to ALA Midwinter last weekend! I was able to go to the annual conference in New Orleans this summer, so it was fun to attend here in my very own Dallas. My main partners in crime were my sister, Jackie (My Tower of Books), and my crazy bibliophile teacher friend, Tara. Since I'm currently pregnant and having joint pain issues, I was not sure how this would go for me. I definitely knew I didn't want to punk out, but I just had no idea how I would hold up.

Due to teachers having to work till unsightly hours, we arrived a half an hour after the exhibits opened on Friday night. I was about ready to kill something waiting in traffic, but we did happen upon some great reads that night and I saw a few blogger friends, including Arena (The Nerd's Wife) carrying her super-uber cute little baby around!! :)

On Saturday, we somehow still managed to be a little late, but again - this was a great day. We saw tons of our favorite bloggers, authors, and ... books! By this point, all the carrying of heavy loads around was starting to wear on me, but I really never noticed until I sat down. Like a person high on some substance, I had no clue about the pain because I was in such an altered state of mine (high on books, not drugs). I got to hang out with Kari (A Good Addiction) and her friend Kelly along with some other bloggers and the fun/crazy Mary Lindsey! I had to leave early this day to go to a wedding in Granbury, but I still had a lot of fun. In the end, it was probably good I didn't stay longer than I did.

This morning, my sis and I arrived bright and early, got some great books, looked around at some stuff, and then decided that we both probably should be elsewhere. The walking and carrying had finally taken its toll of me, so I left and came home and passed out for a while!

Take a look at what I got!!!!

Thanks to all the amazing publishers who provided these awesome books and to the publicists and other employees who put up with a huge barrage of bloggers with a mostly wonderful spirit... We really did our best to try not to annoy anyone.

Winner: Tempest ARC!!!

2012-01-27T10:49:00.001-06:00

The winner of Tempest is:

Emily!!

The winner was chosen by Random.org. She has been contacted and has 48 hours to respond! :)

Thanks to all who participated! If you would like, check out my other giveaways... More coming soon!!

Review: Dead to You by Lisa McMann

2012-01-27T07:00:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

Ethan was abducted from his front yard when he was just seven years old. Now, at sixteen, he has returned to his family. It's a miracle... at first. Then the tensions start to build. His reintroduction to his old life isn't going smoothly, and his family is tearing apart all over again. If only Ethan could remember something, anything, about his life before, he'd be able to put the pieces back together. But there's something that's keeping his memory blocked. Something unspeakable...

Details:

Publication date: February 7th 2012 by Simon Pulse

The Elliott Review:

This is the story of Ethan's struggles as he is renewed with his family after a long period of time. His brother is angry with him for getting in the car with his abductors all those years ago and has a vendetta against him throughout the story. Ethan's own anxieties and hang ups further complicate family life to the point that the family is in a very rocky place.

Ethan doesn't remember anything from when he lived with his family, and he strives to recover this as he interacts with old friends and the people of his small town. Everything is complicated and difficult, leaving Ethan feeling like he doesn't belong. He also has varying memories about life with the woman who took him, and he can't help but feel toward her like he would toward his actual mother, which just adds even more complications into the mix.

This is a very interesting book, a quick read that delves into the psychology of what it is like to try to fit into your own family. The ending is a big cliffhanger that will leave readers gasping.

Young Adult Notes:

Mild language, sensitive topics.

Source: Borrowed

Winner: Large Box of Books Giveaway!!!

2012-01-26T08:26:00.001-06:00

The winner of my large box of books is:

Kelly D!!!

The winner was chosen by Random.org and has been contacted and has 48 hours to claim her prize!

Thanks to everyone who participated! Don't forget to check out my current giveaways!!

Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

2012-01-25T07:00:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit -- more sparkly, more fun, more wild -- the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket -- a gifted inventor -- steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

Details:

Published September 29th 2011 by Dutton

The Elliott Review:

Again, Stephanie Perkins and her amazing writing have pulled me out of my genre bias to love yet another one of her books! I was hesitant to read this book because this genre really isn't my thing. I was a little more trusting since I knew that I loved Anna and the French Kiss despite its genre. I was, yet again, confounded by the amazingness. I love the way Perkins can craft a perfectly light-hearted story that melts my inner-adolescent heart while at the same time layering said story with depth of emotion and experience that makes the story that much more powerful.

I love the way readers get to see Lola grow from the person she is at the start to the person she is at the end. She's caught between her current boyfriend, Max, and her long-time crush who is back in town once more. Who she chooses very much hinges on what direction she wants to take in life, who she wants to be. Not an easy decision to make as a teen, but everything is extremely believable and realistic while at the same time being satisfyingly fluffy and ... squee-worthy!

I love Cricket Bell! He's the perfect blend of nerdy, sincere, and trendy that makes him someone to swoon over. He endearingly helps Lola come to terms with who she is as a person, flaws and all, and to accept that person as she is. He's just a guy that a girl like me would actually want in real life in addition to being a great fictional character!

This is definitely a wonderful follow-up to Anna and the French Kiss, and it's one you won't want to miss if you have any sense of romance whatsoever.

Young Adult Notes:

Small amount of strong language, mild sensual scenes.

Source: ALA

New Blog Tagline Needed - please help!!!

2012-01-24T07:00:00.000-06:00

In May I am going to welcome a sweet baby boy into my family, but before that I am going on maternity leave from teaching and not going back. I'm going to embark on the adventure of being a domestic engineer doing lots of on the job training. I'm super-uber excited about this because it's really been my main "career" dream since I was young, and I'm also glad to get out of a profession that I feel has let me down in so many ways. There are some AMAZING teachers out there that were born to be teachers, and while I have learned so much from teaching and ultimately become the best teacher I can be... it's just not something that I feel innately called to do and have had a love-hate relationship with for eight years now. If I had been able to pursue my librarian aspirations, I believe I would be telling a very different story, but alas... It is what it is. That dream's not dead yet - just put on hold for a while.

So.... My blog's tagline (TEACHER-LIBRARIAN-FANGIRL) is going to need a serious update in May. I'm not really sure what direction I should go with it.

Here are some options I was thinking of...

Strike through the teacher-librarian and then add a dangling little "and mom" off of the fangirl part. That way I show all the facets of myself, the reviewer. I'm sure as I start reading to my son, I'm going to want to review those books, too... so that will be a part of the blog.
Change it to "A former teacher-librarian reviews" or something like that; after all, I'm not going to be able to review without thinking of it from a teacher or librarian's perspective.
I'm leaning more toward changing it to something that doesn't involve my profession or status in life at all... like "the rantings of a crazed bibliophile" or "bibliophile on the loose." The only problem is that I would still like there to be SOME kind of an educational slant obvious when visitors come to my blog

What do you think?? Any suggestions?? Am I being too OCD about this??

Review: Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J. Bick

2012-01-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

There are stories where the girl gets her prince, and they live happily ever after. (This is not one of those stories.)

Jenna Lord's first sixteen years were not exactly a fairytale. Her father is a controlling psycho and her mother is a drunk. She used to count on her older brother—until he shipped off to Afghanistan. And then, of course, there was the time she almost died in a fire.

There are stories where the monster gets the girl, and we all shed tears for his innocent victim. (This is not one of those stories either.)

Mitch Anderson is many things: A dedicated teacher and coach. A caring husband. A man with a certain...magnetism.

And there are stories where it's hard to be sure who's a prince and who's a monster, who is a victim and who should live happily ever after. (These are the most interesting stories of all.)

Drowning Instinct is a novel of pain, deception, desperation, and love against the odds—and the rules.

Details:

Publication date: January 28th 2012 by Lerner Publishing Group

The Elliott Review:

This book presents a realistic, non-stereotyped story to the point that it is very hard to tell who the victim is and who the monster is. Everyone is presented in his/her totality - flaws and strengths being show in equal measure. Although this book deals with a girl who struggles with cutting and with her relationship with her teacher, the layers of character really just leave the reader curious as to what will happen. This is not an "issue" book. These issues are present, but there is no preaching or simplification. Life is what it is in this story.

I began the book with mixed feelings, unsure about how I felt about the budding relationship between Jenna and her teacher. Obviously, as a teacher, the idea of such a relationship is against everything I stand for, definitely not something I would do myself. And yet. I found myself at times rooting for Jenna and Mitch even though I knew things were not headed in a positive direction.

Jenna has a heart-wrenching family situation that makes you see why she acts the way she does, making decisions many (myself included) would not advise. The more the reader learns about the characters, especially Jenna, the more their actions make sense for them as characters.

In a book like this, I often find myself expecting a sunny, happy ending. However, the fact that the entire book is made up of Jenna's testimony to a police officer after an obviously catastrophic event for her, I knew that things, no matter how well they seemed to be going, would end with something bad. That's not to say this is a moralistic tale because it's not. It just presents the reality of the situation in a gripping way.

This is a book for the open minded who want to think outside the box about why people do what they do. It's an extremely well-crafted tale.

Young Adult Notes:

Student/teacher relationship; strong language; substance abuse; sensitive issues such as self-harm, suicide, abortion, and incest.

Source: Thanks to the Lerner Publishing Group for making this title available at NetGalley.

Review: Everneath (Everneath 1) by Brodi Ashton

2012-01-20T07:00:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...

Details:

Publication date: January 24th 2012 by Harper Collins / Balzer + Bray

The Elliott Review

This book is really interesting, with a mythology all its own. It mixes traditional Greek myths with something totally the creation of the author. At times, it felt like the Everlivings and their Forfeits were somewhat like vampires and their subjugates. At other times, it seemed like the Everneath was a world of faeries seeking to entrap hapless victims. That aspect of the world building had a very unique feel.

I love that Nikki survives the feed based on her fleeting memory of Jack's face. It's interesting to follow her as she goes back to the Surface to spend a few fleeting months with him and her family. The setting switches between the current time and back before the feed, constantly updating where the scene takes place. I loved this because it helps to make sense of the mystery as to how and why Nikki actually chose to become a Forfeit.

As things come to a head, Nikki has to choose whether or not she will rule by Cole's side as his queen or if she will choose to stay until the last moment she is allowed on earth and then spend the rest of her existence in the tunnels, a hellish place where Forfeits are used to fuel the Everneath. I'll have to admit that it was hard for me to decide what would be best. I don't know what I would've done in Nikki's place.

The decision that is ultimately made is pretty shocking, and it definitely makes me die to have my hands on the next book. This book is definitely part of a series to watch.

Young Adult Notes:

Mild language, mild sensuality, mild violence.

Source: Thanks to Harper Collins for making this title available at NetGalley.

Guest Post + Giveaway: Why It's Positively Medieval! (Marie Lamba)

2012-01-19T07:00:00.000-06:00

A knight in shining armor… Yes, there’s definitely something swoon-worthy here. But why is a medieval hero so appealing?

It may have something to do with sheer strength, or perhaps with those high leather boots. But what I really think it’s about is a romantic sensibility that took root in those times. Tales of ill-fated lovers like Tristan and Isolde, or Guenevere and Lancelot. Countless ballads of longing and lost love.

This tradition definitely influenced me as I wrote Drawn. In the book, New Jersey teen artist Michelle De Freccio has just moved to England with her dad when a guy starts appearing in her sketches. When she meets him in person, she’s pretty sure she’s losing her mind. She’d definitely have to be crazy to fall for a guy who has been dead for several hundred years. Or to become entwined in his past and the mysteries and dangers that surround him…dangers that include treachery and murder. Talk about ill-fated.

Michelle tries not to get involved, but she’s drawn to Christopher:

He suddenly grabs my arm. Pulls me close. “You are the one who is not of this castle. No one knows of a Michelle from Jersey. Not one soul swapping the latest news in the castle courtyard has heard of you. What is your game?” When I don’t respond, he says through gritted teeth, “Tell me!”

“There’s no game,” I say, my voice unsteady.

“Liar. For some reason you are sent to undo me. Or you plot about things far worse, far more traitorous. And fool that I am, I had thought you were the one who would…”

We are very close now. His intense eyes grow sad. I am all too aware of his fingers wrapped around my arm. Of his face bent toward me. Of his auburn hair falling over his forehead. Of his soft full lips. I again feel myself drawn powerfully to him. Feel my breath catch as his grip loosens and his hand slides up my arm. This is crazy.

While writing this novel, I did a ton of research about the 1400s. I wanted to create the feel of another era, but I also wanted to connect to a world that really wasn’t so different from our own. What I found was that people back then spoke of love in ways we can still relate to today. In fact, at one point in Drawn I have Christopher express his feelings using words I’ve lifted from the Paston Letters (a collection of family letters that dates back to the Middle Ages). Here’s a glimpse at that scene in my book:

I feel Christopher’s hands tighten at my waist.

He swallows. “I realize you do not feel so of me, yet I must avow my heart to you. If we can secure my noble title and wealth through deeds for the Earl, then I will not have need of a wealthy wife.” He takes a deep breath. “And then I could lay my very life down to give you my protection and love, no matter what obstacles rest between us. Your indifference is to my heart a very spear. If I had even the slightest hope you would one day suffer to have me…”

And in a later scene in my book, I have a wounded Christopher sing the following authentic medieval ballad to Michelle:

Westron wind, when will thou blow?
The small rain down can rain.
Christ, that my love were in my arms,
And I in my bed again

As a writer, it’s fun to breathe fresh life into these long-forgotten words. And because some of the phrases I use in my book are from private letters, it feels a bit like spying and then tattling, which I find wickedly entertaining.

But back to the whole knight in shining armor thing. Maybe the appeal has to do with chivalry. A man who not only opened the castle door for his lady but also wore her scarf tucked in his armor as he fought to the death defending her honor. These days guys wear sneakers instead of those high boots, they wield cell phones instead of swords, and go off clubbing instead of off to battle…

Fortunately love and romance do remain today. In the pages of books like Drawn, in the stories and ballads of the past, and, yes, in the arms of modern guys, too. Sure, today’s guys may wear sneakers and carry cell phones, but the good ones are still propping open that castle door.

About Marie:

Marie Lamba (marielamba.com) is author of acclaimed young adult novels including What I Meant… (Random House), Over My Head, and Drawn. She lives in Pennsylvania with her two daughters and a husband who sometimes opens doors for her. She’s also an Associate Literary Agent at The Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency in NYC.

Follow Marie:

Blog | Facebook | Twitter

About Drawn:

Teen artist Michelle De Freccio moves to England in search of a normal life...instead she finds a hot medieval ghost with a sketchy past.

It all begins when a strange guy appears in Michelle's drawings. When she actually meets him at the town’s castle, she's unmistakably drawn to him. But something is definitely not right. For starters, he wears medieval garb, talks of ancient murders and tends to disappear each time they kiss.

Could he possibly be a ghost? Could Michelle be losing her mind? Or has she simply uncovered a love so timeless it’s spanned the centuries…

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Win a copy of DRAWN!!

US and CAN addresses only.

Ends January 30th.

Please fill out THE FORM below to enter!!

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Just FYI, this is my first time using a Rafflecopter Giveaway, so do not feel obligated to do every single entry unless you want to... I'm just experimenting with it! :)

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Waiting on Wednesday: Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer

2012-01-18T07:00:00.000-06:00

What happens when happily ever after…isn’t?

Delilah is a bit of a loner who prefers spending her time in the school library with her head in a book—one book in particular. Between the Lines may be a fairy tale, but it feels real. Prince Oliver is brave, adventurous, and loving. He really speaks to Delilah.

And then one day Oliver actually speaks to her. Turns out, Oliver is more than a one-dimensional storybook prince. He’s a restless teen who feels trapped by his literary existence and hates that his entire life is predetermined. He’s sure there’s more for him out there in the real world, and Delilah might just be his key to freedom.

Delilah and Oliver work together to attempt to get Oliver out of his book, a challenging task that forces them to examine their perceptions of fate, the world, and their places in it. And as their attraction to each other grows along the way, a romance blossoms that is anything but a fairy tale.

Details:

Expected publication: June 26th 2012 by Simon Pulse

I'm DYING to read this book! Jodi Picoult is my #1 writing idol, and the fact that she has written a young adult book is just about too much for my simple mind to handle!!!

What book are you waiting on???

Author Interview: Megan Bostic (Never Eighteen)

2012-01-17T07:00:00.000-06:00

Today on the blog, Megan Bostic is visiting to answer a few questions about her newly released book, NEVER EIGHTEEN. I just had to chat with Megan about this book because it's topic is so close to my heart.

NEVER EIGHTEEN deals with an emotionally charged topic. How did writing it affect you emotionally?

Writing a book such as this is always an emotional drain. I honestly would get mentally and physically exhausted after a day of writing NEVER EIGHTEEN. However, I believe I write better when I am in that impassioned place with my emotions roiling. Maybe it’s why I choose to write difficult subject matter.

I read that NEVER EIGHTEEN was your NaNoWriMo novel in 2008. Did you finish the entire novel in one month? Did you have to extensively revise?

I did finish the novel, just over 50,000, words in one month. However, what you’ll read when the book comes out is very different than that original novel, thank goodness. I did extensive rewrites and revisions, fifteen to be exact, before landing my agent, two after. It’s a much better book than that first draft, and about 8,000 words lighter.

What was your path to publication like?

Slow at first, then gained speed toward the end. I had written a superhero series, finished in 2007. I received some interest from agents, but in the end no one wanted it. I probably have about 100 rejections on that one. Once I wrote Never Eighteen (then called Mending Fences, back in November of 2008, I decided to shelve the superhero and actively try to get NE published. I revised it, as I said above, quite a few times, then queried about twenty-five agents. I was about to give up and do another rewrite when a friend gave me the name of an agent I hadn’t queried yet. She loved it. I signed with her March of 2010. She sent it out to five publishers, and at the beginning of April I had a deal from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

What kind of topics would you like to explore in the future?

I love writing about teen issues. I have two finished YAs, one about a school shooting, one about a girl who wants to play high school football to win the affections of her estranged father. I’ve also delved into kidnapping, and am currently working on a story about a cutter. I have an idea for my next novel based on the tornado outbreak of this year.

Whose writing do you enjoy most?

That’s a loaded question. When I was a kid, I loved Judy Blume. She was my absolute favorite. There wasn’t much YA that I remember as a kid, except maybe S.E. Hinton, who I also loved. I went straight from that to Stephen King. If I were to judge my favorite writer by the amount of their books I’ve read, he would be it. I prefer YA now to adult novels, though I love a good mystery, Dennis Lehane and Harlan Coben being my favorites. Of the YA I’ve read, which isn’t a heck of a lot, mostly because of lack of time, I really enjoyed Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why, Elizabeth Scott’s Living Dead Girl, Gae Polisner’s The Pull of Gravity, Geoff Herbach’s Stupid Fast, Alissa Grosso’s Popular, Julia Karr’s XVI, and Chris Crutcher’s Deadline. I could go on and on, but those are a few of the favorites I’ve read the last few years in which the voices really stood out, and the storylines were evocative.

Thanks so much, Megan!

Don't forget to check out NEVER EIGHTEEN, everyone!!

Austin Parker is on a journey to bring truth, beauty, and meaning to his life.

Austin Parker is never going to see his eighteenth birthday. At the rate he’s going, he probably won’t even see the end of the year. The doctors say his chances of surviving are slim to none even with treatment, so he’s decided it’s time to let go.

But before he goes, Austin wants to mend the broken fences in his life. So with the help of his best friend, Kaylee, Austin visits every person in his life who touched him in a special way. He journeys to places he’s loved and those he’s never seen. And what starts as a way to say goodbye turns into a personal journey that brings love, acceptance, and meaning to Austin’s life.

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Follow Megan:

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Giveaway: Large Box of Books to One Winner!!!

2012-01-16T07:00:00.001-06:00

So... ALA Midwinter is coming up next weekend, and since I live in the Dallas area, I will be attending and finding some wonderful titles to read and promote. Add to that the fact that I will adding a sweet little bundle of joy named Evan to my family in May, and I have a serious problem... My library is an explosion of books, packing materials, bags, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Until I started cleaning it today, it kind of looked like an explosion worthy of hoarders. At least, my husband delivered the ultimatum that I had to clean.

Here's what I have available to one lucky US winner:

After Obsession by Carrie Jones and (ARC)
Frost (Stork 2) by Wendy Del Sol (ARC)
Life Eternal (Dead Beautiful 2) by Yvonne Woon (ARC)
Illusions (Wings 3) by Aprilynne Pike (ARC)
Hunted by D. J. De Smyter (ARC)
The Last Four Things (The Left Hand of God 2) by Paul Hoffman (ARC)
The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen (HC)
The Traitor's Smile by Patricia Elliott (ARC)
Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Celle 25 by Richard Paul Evans (ARC)
Ghost Town (Morganville Vampires 9) by Rachel Caine (HC)
Unforsaken (Banished 2) by Sohpie Littlefield (ARC)
The Magic of Recluce (Saga of Recluce 1) by L. E. Modesitt, Jr. (PB)
Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories edited by Kelly Link (ARC)
Bad to the Bone (WVMP Radio 2) by Jery Smith-Ready (PB)
Glass Houses (Morganville Vampires 1) by Rachel Caine (PB)

US addresses only, please.

Extra entry for tweeting about the giveaway.

Ends January 25th.

To enter, please fill out THE FORM below!

Good luck!

&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Loading...&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;

Winner: Switched by Amanda Hocking

2012-01-14T14:55:00.000-06:00

The winner of a signed copy of SWITCHED by Amanda Hocking is:

Melissa!!

Winner has been emailed and has 48 hours to claim prize.

Thanks to everyone who participated!!! Don't forget to check out my current giveaways.

First Come, First Served Audiobook Giveaway: AKA Library Cleanup Time

2012-01-14T14:42:00.000-06:00

I have some extra copies of audiobooks that I have received for review that are not necessarily my "thing." I mostly read YA books, for one thing, and listening to audiobooks is a HUGE commitment because you spend a lot of time listening. I have received some great books that I know would make the right reviewer's day, though. These are some titles by some big names. So...

This quick audiobook giveaway is simple.

If one of the audiobooks below IS your cup of tea and you make your best good-faith promise to review it on your blog, I will send it to you!

All you have to do is be the first to claim it by posting your name, email address, and link to your blog below.

I can only ship to US addresses on this one.. Sorry!!!

Again, first come, first served. If you claim, please, please review at some point...

Believing the Lie by Elizabeth George
(claimed)

Lunatics by Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel
(claimed)

D. C. Dead by Stuart Woods

(claimed)

The Prosperous Heart by Cameron Lively

The Devil's Elixir by Raymond Khoury
(claimed)

Death Benefit by Robin Cook

Core of Conviction by Michele Bachmann
(claimed)

Again, remember - first come, first served to US reviewers who plan to review... Please leave your name, email address, and link to your blog to claim.

I'm not going to hunt you down or anything, but claiming a title is saying that you plan to review.

Hope you find a good listen!!! :)

Genres - Which do you prefer??

2012-01-13T12:55:00.001-06:00

I usually read books that have a paranormal or fantasy or dystopian twist to them. Looking over my books read in 2011, the majority of the books I read were in those three genres. We're talking not very many contemporary or historical books at all. To me, reading is an escape from the stress of daily life, and jumping into a world so completely different from my own makes for a wonderful time away from reality. Strangely enough, the few contemporary novels that I actually did read were some of my top favorites for 2011.

This year so far, I have read five books, and only one of the five has been paranormal. The others? All contemporary. Many of the others I have planned to read in the near future are contemporary as well. I don't know if the shift is in the publishing world - that more contemporary novels are being published or if the change is in me, tastes modifying themselves.

At any rate, I think it's a good thing to get out of your favorite genre for a while and taste the other flavors of the rainbow. What about you? What are your favorite genres??

Review: Fracture by Megan Miranda

2012-01-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine - despite the scans that showed significant brain damage. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she's far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can't control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?

Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she's reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy's motives aren't quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature-or something much more frightening?

For fans of best-sellers like Before I Fall and If I Stay, this is a fascinating and heart-rending story about love and friendship and the fine line between life and death.

Details:

Publication date: January 17th 2012 by Walker & Company

The Elliott Review:

This book contains some powerful, solid writing that is really gripping. I love the way it combines a sense of realism with that of the other-worldly. Delaney's perspective is exceptionally well-done as she comes to terms with her near-death experience and has to reorient herself in the world after her unexpected full recovery. The fact that she is alive puzzles her and everyone around her. Her family struggles to understand, her friend Decker struggles with his feelings for her, and she struggles to find out this strange pull within her that guides her toward the dying.

Delaney's relationship to Decker is already complicated because of her making out with their friend Carson shortly before the accident, but it gets even more confusing as she has to keep secrets from him. She can't let him know about the strange things that have happened to her, and she can't explain why she's spending extra time with the attractive and mysterious Troy. Even as Delaney is drawn to both boys, her heart is in shambles.

I love the questions this raises about redemption and free will - kind of the Final Destination issue. What happens if you're supposed to die and you don't? What happens when you are in the process of dying - should that be helped along? Delaney has to answer these questions for herself and ultimately follow her heart.

Young Adult Notes:

Some language, mild sensual scenes, mild violence, sensitive issues.

Source: ALA

Books About Teens with Cancer

2012-01-11T14:44:00.001-06:00

I'm going to be the first to say that I hate cancer! It has taken grandparents from me early, and I just recently had to watch my mom struggle through the process of beating thyroid cancer. She's cancer free now, but she's leaving in a day to go visit/help her sister (my aunt) who just had a single mastectomy. It seems like cancer has our family's number, so... I hate it!

Anyway, that said, I am eager to read the books that have been coming out about teens with cancer. It's such a sensitive topic, but I think it's SO important that the issue is addressed. I haven't read any of these yet, but I know they will probably all be tearjerkers for me.

Dry, sarcastic, sixteen-year-old Cam Cooper has spent the last seven years in and out hospitals. The last thing she wants to do in the short life she has left is move 1,500 miles away to Promise, Maine - a place known for the miraculous events that occur there. But it's undeniable that strange things happen in Promise: everlasting sunsets; purple dandelions; flamingoes in the frigid Atlantic; an elusive boy named Asher; and finally, a mysterious envelope containing a list of things for Cam to do before she dies. As Cam checks each item off the list, she finally learns to believe - in love, in herself, and even in miracles.

A debut novel from an immensely talented new writer, The Probability of Miracles crackles with wit, romance and humor and will leave readers laughing and crying with each turn of the page.

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Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

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Austin Parker is on a journey to bring truth, beauty, and meaning to his life.

Austin Parker is never going to see his eighteenth birthday. At the rate he’s going, he probably won’t even see the end of the year. The doctors say his chances of surviving are slim to none even with treatment, so he’s decided it’s time to let go.

But before he goes, Austin wants to mend the broken fences in his life. So with the help of his best friend, Kaylee, Austin visits every person in his life who touched him in a special way. He journeys to places he’s loved and those he’s never seen. And what starts as a way to say goodbye turns into a personal journey that brings love, acceptance, and meaning to Austin’s life.

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How do you feel about reading books that touch really close to home for you??? Do you try to avoid them, or, like me, are you a glutton for punishment?

Review: Hallowed (Unearthly 2) by Cynthia Hand

2012-01-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

For months part-angel Clara Gardner trained to face the raging forest fire from her visions and rescue the alluring and mysterious Christian Prescott from the blaze. But nothing could prepare her for the fateful decisions she would be forced to make that day, or the startling revelation that her purpose—the task she was put on earth to accomplish—is not as straightforward as she thought. Now, torn between her increasingly complicated feelings for Christian and her love for her boyfriend, Tucker, Clara struggles to make sense of what she was supposed to do the day of the fire. And, as she is drawn further into the world of part angels and the growing conflict between White Wings and Black Wings, Clara learns of the terrifying new reality that she must face: Someone close to her will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning.

Details:

Publication date: January 17th 2012 by HarperCollins Publishers

The Elliott Review:

This novel is a great follow-up to Unearthly. It has the same authentic teen "flavor" that made the first novel such a hit in my opinion. Even though Clara has to deal with the forces of light and darkness and how they affect her, she is still very much just a normal teen dealing with normal teen issues. Also, her feelings are in knots due to the fact that she suspects her purpose must include Christian even though she doesn't want it to. It brings up a lot of questions about free will vs. destiny in not too heavy of a fashion.

I loved the love triangle before, but this book just intensifies it. Tucker is still Clara's endearing boyfriend, and I even loved him despite his cowboy-ness. He's just that amazing... Yet, Christian has that mysterious angst going on, and based on what is discovered about him in the first book, a little something extra. I found myself shifting back into being slightly more Team Christian. Clara worries she is destined to be with him, but strangely enough this didn't turn me off to him. In my opinion, them being together makes sense.

The book also dealt with some sensitive topics - the prospect that Clara's mother is nearing a death she can't avoid. This really hit me emotionally because of my own mom having some health issues in the last year. It was really well done. Again, I love that this book deals with some weightier issues in a way that is not too heavy for a teen audience to enjoy.

Young Adult Notes:

Mild sensual scenes, mild language, mild violence, sensitive topic - death .

Source: Thanks to HarperCollins for making this title available at NetGalley.

Trailer:

Review: The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison

2012-01-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

Penelope (Lo) Marin has always loved to collect beautiful things. Her dad's consulting job means she's grown up moving from one rundown city to the next, and she's learned to cope by collecting (sometimes even stealing) quirky trinkets and souvenirs in each new place--possessions that allow her to feel at least some semblance of home.

But in the year since her brother Oren's death, Lo's hoarding has blossomed into a full-blown, potentially dangerous obsession. She discovers a beautiful, antique butterfly pendant during a routine scour at a weekend flea market, and recognizes it as having been stolen from the home of a recently murdered girl known only as "Sapphire"--a girl just a few years older than Lo. As usual when Lo begins to obsess over something, she can't get the murder out of her mind.

As she attempts to piece together the mysterious "butterfly clues," with the unlikely help of a street artist named Flynt, Lo quickly finds herself caught up in a seedy, violent underworld much closer to home than she ever imagined--a world, she'll ultimately discover, that could hold the key to her brother's tragic death.

Details:

Publication date: February 14th 2012 by EgmontUSA

The Elliott Review:

I love to read books with OCD characters, so I couldn't pass this one up. Lo has various obsessions - counting, repeating words, hoarding, stealing. Basically all of these methods help her feel that everything is right. Since her brother's death, stealing and hoarding are the only things that help her cope. One night, while sneaking around houses in the rundown part of town known as Neverland, she gets more than she bargained for when she hears gunshots and later finds out that she was at the scene of the crime when it was going down. Lo is a well-developed character with strengths to compensate for the inherent weaknesses encompassing her OCD.

What I love about this book is the sense of unease. I was unsure of everyone in the book, thinking that Lo shouldn't trust them in her search for answers. For instance, there's Flynt, an extremely attractive and even sweet guy, who seems to have a connection with Sapphire and possibly to the crime. As Lo gets closer to him, I started freaking out, hoping she wasn't getting in over her head.

I love how each clue is unveiled, giving a better perspective into what happened to Sapphire, about how the justice system basically let her down. The tension gets really high as Lo comes closer to the identity of the murderer, finding out what happened to her brother along the way.

This book is an interesting read, a very great contemporary fiction break for me.

Young Adult Notes:

Some language, some sensuality, violence, mention of rape.

Source: Thanks to Egmont USA for making this title available at NetGalley.

Review + Giveaway: Tempest (Tempest 1) by Julie Cross

2012-01-05T07:00:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

The year is 2009. Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.

That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.

Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.

But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler. Recruit… or kill him.

Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.

Details:

Publication date: January 17th 2012 by St. Martin's Griffin

The Elliott Review:

This book has had so much good press so far and achieved so much success, and when I finally got to sink my reading teeth into it, I was ecstatic to find out why! First of all, I love it that it starts off with Jackson and Holly being together in college. That's something you don't see a lot in YA, so it was different and interesting. Jackson and his nerdish friend Adam experiment with Jackson's abilities while Jackson leaves Holly basically in the dark about what he can do.

When Holly is murdered in front of him, Jackson goes back two years in time and gets stuck. He finds out that his father has not been up front with him about his own birth and background, so in addition to getting to know the Holly of that time period, Jackson also seeks to find out the truth about himself. I loved that the entire book is from his perspective. He is a typical boy that tries to deal with his deeper feelings in typical boy fashion.

The pacing of the novel kept me breathless and guessing and reading as fast as I possibly could. I can definitely see why this book has already been optioned by Summit Entertainment. The fast-paced action mixed with the romance and feelings and interesting take on time travel all combine to be amazing in book form, and I believe some of the book's cinematic qualities would translate very easily into a movie.

I'm already dying for the next book in the series to come out!!!!

Young Adult Notes:

Some strong language, a few risque sensual scenes, violence.

Source: Thanks to St. Martin's Griffin for providing a copy of this title for a fair review.

Trailer:

Win an ARC of Tempest!!

Ends January 26th!

US only.

Fill out THE FORM below to enter!!

Good luck!

A Case of Jace (or, Covers That Killed Me Today)

2012-01-04T22:16:00.000-06:00

I was shocked to be clicking around on the future releases section of Barnes and Noble only to find that Split, my favorite book of 2011, has a new cover in its paperback release form. The original cover is cool, but this one.... it devastates and wows me at the same time while also managing to be smexy. It fully captures the brokenness that is Jace.

And, City of Lost Souls had its lovely cover released today! I like this one... I love seeing their faces and seeing them together... The model for Jace here does live up to the way I picture Jace, though I'm not sure about Clary. This book just has my nerves all worked up... The end of City of Fallen Angels made me crazy (in a sort of good way).

What do you think of these covers????

Trailer: Cinder (Lunar Chronicles 1) by Marissa Meyer

2012-01-03T17:20:00.001-06:00

Released Today!

About Cinder:

Cinder: Book One in The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

Even in the future, the story begins with Once Upon a Time…. Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future.

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There will be a Facebook/Twitter party with Marissa Meyer at 7:00 EST on January 9th. It sounds like it will be a lot of fun!!

Watch the Trailer:

Review + Giveaway: Switched (Trylle Trilogy 1) by Amanda Hocking

2012-01-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

When Wendy Everly was six-years-old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. It isn't until eleven years later that Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed - a world both beautiful and frightening, and Wendy's not sure she wants to be a part of it.

Details:

Publication date: January 3rd 2012 by St. Martin's Griffin (first published July 12th 2010)

The Elliott Review:

Switched is a simply yet beautifully told story of Wendy, a girl who constantly feels like she doesn't belong. Due to her mother's attempted murder of her when she was young, she's always been cared for and loved by her aunt and brother, but she still struggles and moves from school to school, never finding a good fit.

Then she meets Finn. He's strange, kind of otherworldly, and she doesn't know exactly what to make of him. Yet, still she finds herself attracted to his smouldering good looks and trusts him. When he informs her that she's a trylle (or troll) changeling, she comes to believe him pretty quickly and even leaves with him when danger threatens her family.

Her life with her real mother in trylle society is anything but blissful. She's a Princess, set to inherit the throne after her mother. Learning to use her powers, along with many social customs she doesn't appreciate, Wendy has to decide what matters most to her.

Finn is definitely my favorite part of the book. He's so noble and dutiful while at the same time being very hot and sweet and caring toward Wendy, doing what he thinks is best for her even if it's not the easy thing to do.

I really enjoyed this story. It's a quick read, and it left me wanting to read the next book.

Young Adult Notes:

Mild language, mild violence, and a little kissing. :)

Source: Netgalley. Thanks to Jessica at St. Martin's for providing a copy of this title for giveaway.

Trailer:

Win a copy of SWITCHED!

US only.

Ends January 13th.

Extra entries for following The Elliott Review and/or tweeting about the giveaway.

Fill out THE FORM below to enter.

Good luck!

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Guest Post: You Are Beautiful (Amy Machelle)

2011-12-22T07:00:00.000-06:00

When I was asked to do a guest post here, I struggled with what to write. “It just needs to be writing related,” Florence, Tell-Tale Publishing’s director of PR, told me. “Writing related? That could cover any number of things,” I thought, but the more I contemplated it, the more I knew I wanted to direct this post to struggling writers out there. I could have used this tour stop to answer more interview questions, but I’ve done that at several stops already. I wanted to speak to you, the inspired creators in the world, because I know how difficult it can be to share your creations. I hope you’ll read this and be encouraged. If you’re not a writer, please don’t let that keep you from reading. I think you’ll find inspiration here as well.

I’ll start by saying every step toward Saving Elizabeth’s publication has been a milestone – a smoothing of the rough edges each writer begins his journey with, but there are many rough edges yet to be smoothed. I’m not convinced there will ever come a time when any of us step back, look at ourselves in the mirror and think there’s no sand papering needed … no growth left to do. As a matter of fact, one of my jagged edges, “fear of man,” recently reared its ugly head during the publication of Saving Elizabeth. As much as I’d like to tell you otherwise, what people think or say means a lot to me….more than it probably should. People -pleasing was ingrained in me at an early age, and for as long as I can remember, I’ve done my best to make everyone happy, despite how unhappy living up to others’ expectations may have made me. I’m a perfectionist, to say the least, but I’m also a very passionate person who wears her emotions on her sleeve. When combined, those two character traits can create a wonderful novel. Unfortunately, they can also create a doubtful, nervous author who’s sometimes afraid of reading reviews. I imagine I’m not alone in these character traits. Have you ever been afraid to share your writing with others?

I thought so.

I wish I could give you an easy solution that would erase your fears. Someone once said that when a writer screams at the page, the reader only hears a whisper. How true that is! Writers are passionate people by design. Our emotions must lie close to the surface in order for us to easily tap into them and create something that moves readers. We feel deeply, which means rejection often crushes us to the core. There’s no built in emotional switch that can be flipped on when it’s time to write, and then flipped off when our work is finally presented to the world. We must realize we are who we are. Our work is beautiful, regardless of what others have to say about it. It always has been, and always will be because essentially, it’s us on the page. It’s our thoughts, our ideas, our emotions, our desires that make up our stories, and what right does anyone have to tell us that we are not beautiful? At a recent writing conference, Tosca Lee shared this quote by Marianne Williamson. “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?”

Translation? When you shove your writing in a drawer because you’re afraid of what people will say, remember, you and your writing are both brilliant. Keep dreaming. Keep writing. Keep bleeding on the page despite what others might think. A few may not be ready for it, but there are others out there who NEED to hear your stories. Happy writing!

Amy is a teacher who uses writing to escape after long days of tying shoelaces, opening ketchup packets, and begging children to please use tissues instead of sleeves. While it had always been a hobby for her, writing swiftly turned into an obsession during the sweltering summer of 2009. A year of clacking away on her laptop later, she typed the final period of her young adult paranormal romance, Saving Elizabeth. Satisfied, she packed her laptop away, but the characters she'd invested a year of her life in insisted on being shared with the world. Keep your eyes peeled for Saving Elizabeth, coming sooon from Tell-Tale Publishing.

Blaming God for the death of her father, sixteen year old Elizabeth Bridges denounces her faith and vows never to utter His name again. She tries to distance herself from anything spiritual, but the events that occur after an unwanted move make that difficult.

First, the dreams come – dreams of evil creatures, and rendezvous with the gorgeous stranger she thinks her mind created to escape her miserable life. But her first day at Glacier High proves there’s more to it than that.

Elizabeth meets Riel, the boy from her dreams, and he knows more about her than is humanly possible. He says she possesses a coveted gift that all of Hell is clamoring to seize. The monsters she dreams of are real, and they’re battling for her soul. Soon, Elizabeth is thrust into a spiritual realm where she doesn’t know friend from foe. She battles demons in the storage closets of her high school, with Riel, her only protection.

Will Elizabeth be able to trust Riel and help him save what matters most, or will they both join forces with darkness and turn their backs forever on the only One who can offer them the love and peace they so deeply desire?

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Review: A Million Suns (Across the Universe 2) by Beth Revis

2011-12-21T09:54:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

Godspeed was fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos.

It's been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. And everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship Godspeed. But there may just be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He's finally free to enact his vision - no more Phydus, no more lies.

But when Elder discovers shocking news about the ship, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed. They must work together to unlock a puzzle that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier, unable to fight the romance that's growing between them and the chaos that threatens to tear them apart.

In book two of the Across the Universe trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Beth Revis mesmerizes us again with a brilliantly crafted mystery filled with action, suspense, romance, and deep philosophical questions. And this time it all builds to one mind-bending conclusion: They have to get off this ship.

Details:

Publication date: January 10th 2012 by Razorbill

The Elliott Review:

I'm always terrified of second books. There's this sense of uncertainty, wondering if it will measure up to the first book that got you hooked. Well, um, let me just say that A Million Suns has that same breathless suspense that Across the Universe has. From start to finish, I was totally absorbed in Amy and Elder's story. Their voices resonate so much that I felt entirely wrapped up in what happened to both of them.

Now Elder is in control of the ship, attempting to rule fairly without controlling people with Phydus in their water and without other dictatorial measures taken by Eldest. However, with their increased self-awareness, the people of the ship start hungering for revolution against the whole Eldest system, and they are beyond unwilling to accept a sixteen-year-old as their leader. When someone starts killing, leaving messages that say "Follow the leader," everyone assumes that Elder is behind it all, secretly as dictatorial as Eldest. Things become dangerous for him and for Amy, the freak who doesn't look like everyone else.

Furthermore, Orion has left video clues for Amy, letting her know why he acted the way he did before he was frozen. Although Amy hates him for the intended murder of her frozen parents, Amy and Elder follow the clues to the most shocking revelation yet. I'm going to come out and proudly say that I called it from the last book. I don't know why, but I had already guessed it. This makes me feel proud, especially since I hardly ever do that! However, although I knew what was up, I had no idea why... And that is the most disturbing part of what Amy and Elder uncover.

I still love the bloody pants off Elder, too. He has sacrificed everything he has believed in to do the right thing, only to be unappreciated and challenged and threatened. Glimpses into his childhood also make me want to just give him a hug. Living with Eldest was no picnic, but he managed it with strength. His feelings for Amy mixed with his uncertainty are a powerful combination.

This book is just so amazing, I considered immediately re-reading it when I finished. It's part of a series that cannot be missed.

Young Adult Notes:

Mention of rape, mild sensual scenes, mild language, mild violence.

Source: Thanks to Razorbill for providing a copy of this title in exchange for a fair review.

Guest Post: Christmas Card Writer's Block (Suzi Davis)

2011-12-20T07:00:00.000-06:00

I’ve always been a perfectionist. I prefer to think of myself as “detail-oriented” as opposed to the oh-so-flattering term “anal-retentive”. Whatever. It doesn’t bother me what other people think. Actually, that’s a complete lie. I’m a horrible liar. It does bother me – a lot. I’m my own worst enemy and my own biggest critic, and basically, I stress myself out! This is my excuse for why, less than ten days before Christmas, 40 cards are sitting beside me, unsent and unaddressed, watching me with their blank expressions and envelopes.

Maybe I am a bit like Grace, the protagonist in my Young Adult, paranormal romance, Amber Frost (don’t you love a subtle plug?). We are both very aware of the expectations of others and don’t like to disappoint. As a writer, I feel the pressure (both real and imagined) on me this time of year as I struggle to find something personal and brilliant to write in each of my Christmas cards – and I come up with nothing. I have a bad case of CCWB (Christmas-card-writer’s-block).

When writing fiction, I’m never short on ideas. I find inspiration for my stories in my life, my dreams and my imagination. Art also plays a strong influence on my writing and specifically, on the storyline behind The Lost Magic series. My love of art is demonstrated in the beautiful scenery, the vivid descriptions, and the Celtic designs, tattoos and images that are woven throughout the tale. Give me 300 pages and I can create a whole world of magic, love and wonder. But tell me to write a clever one-liner and I’m kinda hooped.

Perhaps this is the reason why I avoided Twitter for so long. Creating the perfect “tweet” causes just too much anxiety. And isn’t a Christmas card salutation just another “tweet”? Hope u have a gr8 xmas. TTYS! I don’t think Grandma will get it.

I find myself leaning towards, “Have a very, merry Christmas.” What do you think? Beautiful in its simplicity or completely uninspired? Is it too “holly-jolly”? Do people even read their Christmas cards? Sigh. It’s things like this that keep me up at night (actually it’s a three-month old baby and his 2 year old brother but that’s beside the point).

I’m feeling the pressure of this rapidly approaching deadline. I was once blacklisted by my Gran for not sending her a Christmas card on time. Seriously. She keeps track – there’s a list. Having attended a “self-paced learning” high school, and being a procrastinator throughout my University career, deadlines are a fairly new concept for me. It was something I struggled with while working on Silver Dew (Book Two of The Lost Magic) but thanks to a flexible publisher and a supportive family, my book made it out before Christmas - just! But the cards… it’s not looking good. At some point, I’ll just have to take a deep breathe, pick up the pen and write. Here goes.

Enjoy the holidays!

With Love and Best Wishes for the New Year.

Suzi.

Suzi Davis is the author of the Young Adult, paranormal romance series The Lost Magic (Book One – Amber Frost, Book Two – Silver Dew). When she isn’t writing (or obsessing over details) Suzi works as a Special Education assistant and Autism Interventionist. Suzi lives on the West Coast of Canada with her husband and young sons.

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Amber Frost and Silver Dew, Books One and Two of The Lost Magic are available in both ebook and paperback formats through ireadiwrite Publishing and Central Avenue Publishing. Check them out at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Chapters/Indigo.

Amber Frost Trailer:

2011 YA Scavenger Hunt

2011-12-19T07:00:00.000-06:00

I'm today's hunt stop for the 2011 YA Story Scavenger Hunt!

Follow the hunt every day during the month of December! Answer the daily trivia questions from MG and YA books published during 2011 to be entered into the YA book giveaway.

Today's question is from Defiance by Lili St. Crow.

Question #38: What does kochana mean?

Remember to fill out your answer in the form at Most Important Letter here!

Good luck!!!

Review: Darkness Falls (Immortal Beloved 2) by Cate Tiernan

2011-12-16T07:00:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

Nastasya has lived for hundreds of years, but for some reason, life never seems to get any better. She left her spoiled, rich girl life to find peace at River's Edge, a safe haven for wayward immortals. There, she learned to embrace River's Edge, despite some drama involving the sexy Reyn, who she wants but won't allow herself to have. But just as she's getting comfortable, her family's ties to dark magick force her to leave.

She falls back into her old, hard partying ways, but will her decision lead her into the hands of a dark immortal? Or will it be her first step to embracing the darkness within her?

Details:

Publication date: January 2nd 2012 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

The Elliott Review:

This book picks up from the end of Immortal Beloved with Nas at River's Edge continuing to try to improve her life and move on from the 400+ years she's lived with only her best interests in mind. She is truly committed to the process of changing and healing, but she still can't quite allow herself to truly feel things, especially her feelings for Reyn. To make matters worse, after her magical new year's resolution to release the darkness within her, it seems that a cloud of darkness has fallen over everything she does. Spells go wrong, her attempts at making peace with others fail. She doesn't know what to do. Through a series of strange events, she ends up back with Innocencio and her old friends. He doesn't seem to be as evil as Nas's dreams have led her to believe, but there is something there lurking beneath the surface.

My favorite part of this book, just like it was in the first book, is Reyn. I love his extremely tough, extremely attractive self. Even though his past involves a lot of darkness, he's making the effort at change and struggling with his feelings for Nastasya as she continues to reject him. There is one scene, just let me say, that was everything I dreamed it could be! The tension and history between these two just crackles!

This book is a great follow up for Immortal Beloved and leaves the reader anticipating the next installment to see what will ultimately happen between Nas and Reyn.

Young Adult Notes:

Scenes of a mild sexual nature, moderate language, and moderate violence.

Immortal Beloved Covers:

Old cover

New cover

What do you think of the new covers? I didn't dislike the original cover for Immortal Beloved, but I really love the new look! I think it's very attention-grabbing and still keeps the same general mood.

Source: Thanks to Little, Brown for providing a copy of this title for a fair review.

Guest Post: From Sketch to Chapter Art, an Illustrator at Work (Richard Due)

2011-12-15T07:00:00.000-06:00

For me, getting to work with Carolyn Arcabascio was a dream come true. On The Moon Coin, we worked from a master list of scene options, with Carolyn picking out scenes she liked and making sketches. For the prologue, Carolyn drafted three options. All three were great, but two in particular were spectacular. I first went with option 3 (one of my scene suggestions). I think we spent more time on this sketch and subsequent color drawing than on any other piece. But it never seemed right. At the eleventh hour, I asked Carolyn how hard she’d hit me if I suggested scrapping the thing and instead going with the pinky promise scene you see below (one of her scene suggestions). Carolyn responded: "There would be no hitting involved!" and told me it wouldn't be a problem. You sure can't ask for better than that.

From the Prologue: Bedtime Tales

Click on image to enlarge.

Richard: Did you make all these sketches in the same location, Carolyn?

Carolyn: Yes, I do all of my work at a drafting table that's situated in a little nook of my apartment in Acton, Massachusetts. There's a bookshelf to my right and a wall of "inspiration" to my left, where I hang prints of other artists' and illustrators' work. On either side of my drafting table are drawers of supplies, and stacks of sketchbooks and old paintings. The drafting table faces a window overlooking a quiet street and the woods beyond it.

From Chapter Two: A Coin of the Realm

Click on image to enlarge.

Richard: Do you use models when you're sketching?

Carolyn: I use a combination of models and photo references. If I need to work out the nuances of a character's posture and really understand the perspective of it, I'll ask whatever friend or family member is handy to pose for a sketch. Often, I'll get into the position myself or mimic the facial expression I want to portray in order to get the feel of it. And sometimes, if there's a character being portrayed multiple times across scenes, I'll make a rough model of their head out of clay so I'll have it to refer to.

From Chapter Four: To Barreth

Click on image to enlarge.

Richard: When drawing fantastical creatures, do you use bits and pieces of real animals for inspiration, or have you actually seen a wirtle and you're just not telling us? ;)

Carolyn: No wirtles native to Massachusetts, fortunately! When figuring out the look of fantastical creatures, I use photo references of different animals to understand the way the anatomy might work, and then combine features as I see fit and as the story calls for. To understand the wirtle's legs and paws, for example, I referred to a series of photographs of show dogs leaping over hurdles. The severely arched, scruffy back was influenced by photos of hyenas on the prowl. The bone-structure of the face ended up being something of a cross between a cow and a warthog, and I wanted the snout to be bare—kind of gross and raw-looking. Add it all up and, voila! We have a wirtle.

The Moon Coin, by Richard Due, is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the iBookstore for $2.99.

Review: Wintertown by Stephen Emond

2011-12-14T07:00:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

Every winter, straight-laced, Ivy League bound Evan looks forward to a visit from Lucy, a childhood pal who moved away after her parent's divorce. But when Lucy arrives this year, she's changed. The former "girl next door" now has chopped dyed black hair, a nose stud, and a scowl. But Evan knows that somewhere beneath the Goth, "Old Lucy" still exists, and he's determined to find her... even if it means pissing her off.

Garden State meets Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist in this funny and poignant illustrated novel about opposites who fall in love.

Details:

Published December 5th 2011 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

The Elliott Review:

This book drew me in with its realistic characters and situations. I felt like I was reading an account of actual people and the events that happened to them over the course of their lives. The story starts from Evan's perspective, and I loved his way of approaching the world. He's intelligent and hard-working and obedient - all the things his parents love, but he's also creative and fun-loving deep down, something that has become somewhat surpressed over the years in his attempt to please his parents.

When Evan sees Lucy again this year, the comfortable and familiar things about her seem to have disappeared. Even as he wonders about her, Lucy is hiding things in her new life from him, aching to tell him and really, really scared. Halfway through, the narrative switches to Lucy's perspective and the reader is able to see the mess her life as become, how confused and scared she is. Seeing Evan from her eyes makes him even more lovable.

My favorite part about this book is that it wasn't your typical ending where all problems are fixed absolutely. In keeping with the realism of the story, the resolution of the plot is real. For Evan and Lucy to have any kind of a future together, they have to grow and change, and that process is not easy.

I also really enjoyed the comic strips interspersed throughout the text along with the illustrations. It helps showcase the eclectic, interesting friendship that Evan and Lucy have built over time as well as Evan's talent.

Young Adult Notes:

Mild sexual references, mild language, sensitive topics.

Source: Thanks for Faye at Little, Brown for providing a copy of this title for a fair review.

Attention Aspiring Writers! - Manuscript Feedback for Essay Contest Winner!!!

2011-12-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

The president of the Book Wish Foundation let me know about this awesome contest that may interest some of my readers! I know if I actually had a manuscript ready to show, I would be all a bout doing this myself! You have the chance to win a literary agent or acclaimed author's feedback on your unpublished manuscript for young adult or middle grade readers! This rare opportunity is being offered to the six winners of an essay contest recently announced by the literacy charity Book Wish Foundation. See http://bookwish.org/contest for full details.

You could win a manuscript critique from:

Laura Langlie, literary agent for Meg Cabot

Nancy Gallt, literary agent for Jeanne DuPrau

Brenda Bowen, literary agent and editor of Karen Hesse's Newbery Medal winner Out of the Dust

Ann M. Martin, winner of the Newbery Honor for A Corner of the Universe

Francisco X. Stork, winner of the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award for The Last Summer of the Death Warriors

Cynthia Voigt, winner of the Newbery Medal for Dicey's Song and the Newbery Honor for A Solitary Blue

All that separates you from this prize is a 500-word essay about a short story in Book Wish Foundation's new anthology, What You Wish For. Essays are due Feb. 1, 2012 and winners will be announced around Mar. 1, 2012. If you win, you will have six months to submit the first 50 pages of your manuscript for critique (which means you can enter the contest even if you haven't finished, or started, your manuscript). You can even enter multiple times, with essays about more than one of the contest stories, for a chance to win up to six critiques.

If you dream of being a published author, this is an opportunity you should not miss. To enter, follow the instructions at http://bookwish.org/contest.

Good luck and best wishes!

Review: Death Cloud (Young Sherlock Holmes 1) by Andrew Lane

2011-12-12T10:29:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

It is the summer of 1868, and Sherlock Holmes is fourteen. On break from boarding school, he is staying with eccentric strangers—his uncle and aunt—in their vast house in Hampshire. When two local people die from symptoms that resemble the plague, Holmes begins to investigate what really killed them, helped by his new tutor, an American named Amyus Crowe. So begins Sherlock’s true education in detection, as he discovers the dastardly crimes of a brilliantly sinister villain of exquisitely malign intent.

Details:

Published February 1st 2011 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

The Elliott Review:

I was instantly engaged with this book because of the voice. Young Sherlock comes across as a very realistic young teen, and I was really pulling for him throughout the book. I was intrigued by the way Lane envisions the iconic character as a boy, aptly showing events that formed what we know of him in later years.

When, due to an emergency, Sherlock is left to stay with an aunt and uncle that he doesn't know, he expects to have a boring, uneventful break from boarding school. However, right away the presence of mysterious deaths cause him to get involved in intrigues that are, at this point, out of his league. With the help of Matty Arnatt, an orphan that Sherlock befriends, he sets about getting down to the bottom of things, even if it means risking his own life.

Thankfully, his tutor, Amyus Crowe, is skilled in tracking and hunting down criminals due to his own mysterious past. In his logical reasoning skills, one can glimpse some of what will make Sherlock so successful in later years. Amyus and his beautiful daughter, Virginia, get involved in hunting down the mysterious baron who may be behind the deaths. With one dangerous situation after another, Sherlock and his gang get closer to unearthing the truth.

Action packed and suspenseful, this book will also be of particular interest to boys, although anyone is sure to enjoy it.

Young Adult Notes:

Appropriate for all ages.

Additional Covers:

US Paperback Cover

UK Cover

Source: Thanks to Ksenia at Macmillan Children's Publishing for providing a copy of this title for a fair review.

Stolen Saturday! - Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

2011-12-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

I was so happy when my finished copy of this book came in the mail because 1) it is one of my favorite books of the year and 2) the cover is even more gorgeous in person and 3) the letters inside are RED, which I didn't know about until I opened it. I almost didn't put this on my classroom shelf simply because I knew it was risky. I mean, this book is HOT!

I don't know if ANNA even lasted a week on the shelf. I put it there. I remember seeing one kid read it at his desk. And then the next time I thought about it, it was gone. Not checked out or anything.

Somewhere a thieving 8th grader is enjoying the marvelousness! :)

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What book would you steal???

Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone 1) by Laini Taylor

2011-12-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Details:

Published September 27th 2011 by Little, Brown & Company

The Elliott Review:

This book is its own special breed. It's mysterious and beautiful in a creepy, other-wordly, and even at times weird way. At the beginning of the book, I felt that Karou was almost an intangible entity. The pieces of the world the reader is allowed to see make her seem quite different from a run-of-the-mill heroine. Even the setting in Prague is not something that I expected to find. The more we see of Karou's strange world, her strange "family," and her lack of knowledge about her background, the stranger she seems.

As she goes on an errand for her father-like figure, she meets Akiva, a brilliantly beautiful and dangerous angel who, she learns, she has the power to oppose. The two have an instant connection that it's hard for me to describe adequately. It has this mystical feel to it, something urgent and palpating and ... woo! Very nice. At this point, the idea of angels and demons are introduced. Karou and Akiva are on opposing sides of a war that has lasted for eons, but they can't deny this attraction between them.

This book is so unlike any other book I've read for a while. The mythology is completely creative. Although it involves angels and demons, these are not the angels and demons that we would recognize from religious tradition. They are from another realm altogether, and the story behind them is so intricately woven that it feels like it just might be from an actual religion somewhere. The descriptions are also beautiful, furtive, and even kind of magical.

The reason Karou and Akiva are so strangely connected is wrapped in mystery for most of the book, but when everything comes together, it's quite amazing. The ending of the book leaves you wishing for more and glad another book will be coming up.

Young Adult Notes:

Mild sensuality and language

Source: Thanks to Little, Brown for providing a copy at ALA.

Spoiler-Free Review: Clockwork Prince (Infernal Devices 2) by Cassandra Clare

2011-12-08T11:28:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will; the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.

Details:

Published December 6th 2011 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

The Elliott Review:

This book was breathtaking. Every second of it. Cassandra Clare has that special talent to know just what kind of things that I, personally, love to read about and writes them in the most heartrending fashion possible. I always have to take little breaks from reading her writing because sometimes the emotional punch is so intense you just have to back away from it for a second. The emotions are so raw and real and the world so cinematic that I have to process it in little chunks. I also want to be sure to savor every morsel of goodness. As I read, I find myself bookmarking my favorite passages for rereading later, which I don't do with any anything else I read.

Without spoiling anything, this book contains a lot of what Infernal Devices fans are hoping for. Some amazing Tessa/Jem and some amazing Tessa/Will. I have always been very solidly Team Jem, so I there are some parts of the book that just made me jaw drop - like whoah! And I still love Will even though I don't picture him with Tessa, so there were some amazing moments with him as well. There are not many books where I severely care about both guys in the love triangle, but this ... oh ... Too much! It's such an impossible situation!

Tension is rising as the Magister and his plots against Shadowhunters and London itself continue to unfold. There's that feeling of urgency and dread throughout the novel that makes it a delight to read. Also, many characters and situations felt very Dickensian to me, and mixing that world with the world of the Shadowhunters is full of win! I also loved the heartfelt conversations among all of the characters. I also bookmarked some great sections where Will is talking to Magnus or Jem. Seriously, this book just gets to the heart of each situation in a way that keeps you thinking about it long after you've finished the book.

Young Adult Notes:

Mild sensuality, mild violence, mild language

Source: Purchased for my NOOK

Guest Post: Leah Clifford on Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey

2011-12-05T07:02:00.000-06:00

In Mary Lindsey’s novel Shattered Souls, Lenzi hears voices. Turns out those voices are ghosts. Luckily, this isn’t something I have to deal with…much.

Years ago, I lived in Colorado with my then-boyfriend. I worked at a cave giving tours and pointing out the formations. The cave has been in operation since 1881, so you can guess there’s a lot of history and quite a few ghost stories that go along with working there. In the furthest back part of the cave, up some stairs and through narrow, winding tunnels was the section where we held the Lantern Tours. This part of the cave was unfinished—no lights, no paved trails or handrails. The tour required us dressing in 1880’s clothing and carrying kerosene lanterns. Often, the tourists would ask about the other guides they saw…ones that seemed to follow the group or disappear around corners too quickly, hover just out of the flame’s glow.

It wasn’t long after I started that I heard my name being called in the gift shop, eerie and silent after we’d closed for the night. The first few times I turned, but there was no one there. And then I started hearing strange things at the apartment where I lived. I was always alone when I heard it, my boyfriend at work while I passed my day off reading. The sobbing would start quietly, gut wrenching and heartbreaking, coming from the vents of the apartment above us. My boyfriend never heard it. Later, we found out the apartment above us was vacant.

Like Lenzi, I thought I was losing my mind, wondered if it was some sort of psychotic break. And then one day in the gift shop, I was mid-conversation with one of my friends when just over my shoulder, I heard my name. I didn’t react, but my friend did. Her eyes went wide. “Who just called your name?”

It’s been years since I moved back to Ohio, and years since I’ve heard anyone calling my name when there was no mortal there to do so. I’ll never be quite sure what it was. Who knows, maybe I’m more like Lenzi than I care to admit.

The author of the A Touch Trilogy (A Touch Mortal, A Touch Morbid), Leah Clifford currently lives in Ohio with her (mostly) blind cat and her roommate, who she's been friends with since sixth grade. In her spare time she loves to travel and has been known to drive over two hours to get kickass quesadillas. So far for jobs she's sold corn at a roadside stand, been a pizza delivery girl, a camp counselor, an extreme cave tour guide, a flight attendant, a waitress (x3), a grocery store clerk and a writer. Out of all of them, writing has been the most fun. She's pretty sure she's gonna stick with it.

Follow Leah: Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Mary's writing is a natural expression of her love of reading and a fascination with the flexibility of the human imagination. Books make the impossible possible. Prior to attending University of Houston Law School, Mary received a B.A. in English Literature with a minor in Drama from the University of Houston. She has taught drama and playwriting in a large public high school and English in a private school. Currently, Mary teaches acting to children and teens at a private studio in Houston, Texas. Mary lives in Houston with her husband, three kids, two dogs, her daughter's pet rats, an Australian Bearded Dragon and dozens of Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. (The roaches are long story—don'task.)

Follow Mary: Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

A thrilling debut story of death, love, destiny and danger.

Lenzi hears voices and has visions - gravestones, floods, a boy with steel gray eyes. Her boyfriend, Zak, can't help, and everything keeps getting louder and more intense. Then Lenzi meets Alden, the boy from her dreams, who reveals that she's a reincarnated Speaker - someone who can talk to and help lost souls - and that he has been her Protector for centuries.

Now Lenzi must choose between her life with Zak and the life she is destined to lead with Alden. But time is running out: a malevolent spirit is out to destroy Lenzi, and he will kill her if she doesn't make a decision soon.

Add to Goodreads

2011 YA Story Scavenger Hunt!!

2011-12-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

I'm today's hunt stop for the 2011 YA Story Scavenger Hunt!

Follow the hunt every day during the month of December! Answer the daily trivia questions from MG and YA books published during 2011 to be entered into the YA book giveaway.

Today's question is from What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen.
Question #6: What school do the students of Jackson High wish to go to?

Remember to fill out your answer in the form at Most Important Letter here!

Good luck!

Top Ten Reasons You Need a Dog (W. Bruce Cameron)

2011-12-02T07:00:00.000-06:00

10. Without a dog, you’ll have to hump the neighbor’s leg yourself.

9. Without a dog, you won’t have anyone to dig up your carefully planted flowers.

8. Someone has to bark when the doorbell rings. Who’s going to do it, you?

7. It’s so much more enjoyable to eat with someone staring at you, wondering when you’re going to drop a piece of food on the floor.

6. Wouldn’t it be nice to take a car ride to the grocery store with someone who thinks it’s the most fun in the world?

5. Tell your dog you invented bacon. He’ll take it at your word.

4. Without you even asking, your dog will make sure none of your tennis balls are too dry.

3. Your dog will always remind you when you forgot to put the lid on the garbage can.

2. Your dog will always be happy when you walk back in the door. Can you say that about anyone else in your life?

1. No matter what you do, what mistakes you make, what failures you have, your dog will think you are the best. No one else in the world will ever believe in you like your dog.

Follow Bruce:

Websit e | Blog | Twitter | Faceboo k

Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

2011-11-29T10:55:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

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.

Details:

Published September 27th 2011 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

The Elliott Review:

I love the way this book starts with a mystery and keeps you guessing through out. We mainly see Mara reacting to life in the aftermath of the strange accident that killed her friends but left her alive and struggling to deal with what she sees and hears. Filled with repressed memories that are slowly leaking out of her, Mara and her family moves to a new city in the hopes that she will be able to find some peace.

Of course, in the midst of all the drama that comes with going to a new school, Mara meets Noah Shaw, a brutally good looking, insolent boy who both frustrates and intrigues her. She seems to be thrown together with him a lot, and the two gradually get to know more about each other and the mystery surrounding Mara. Noah was definitely a highlight of the book for me - he is so intense, so passionate, and even in the midst of his issues, very sensitive and caring. I haven't reacted to a male love interest like this since Edward Cullen (book version). Not saying that Noah is a carbon copy of Edward, but he has that epic je ne sais quoi that makes me love him oh so much!

I also really like the way the mystery builds and builds until the reader finds out what is really going on. I don't want to say too much, but the idea of these strange abilities that certain characters have is brilliantly done. The ending also is just a cruel yet genius cliffhanger that already has me signed up for the next book in this series!!

Young Adult Notes:

Probably for teens a bit older - A bit of language, scenes of a mild sexual nature, reference to rape, a serial killer mentioned, etc.

Source: Thanks to Simon and Schuster for providing a copy of this book at ALA.

Review: Hunted by Cheryl Rainfield

2011-11-28T07:00:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

Caitlyn, a telepath, lives in a world where all paranormal talents are illegal. She is on the run from government ParaTroopers. When Caitlyn falls for Alex, a Normal, and discovers dangerous renegade Paranormals, she must choose between staying in hiding to protect herself or taking a stand to save the world.

Details:

Publication date: December 2nd 2011 by WestSide Books

The Elliott Review:

From the first page, Hunted is almost non-stop suspense and tension. It takes place in a world that is very familiar. It borders so close to our own and draws such powerful parallels to the prejudices that are alive in the real world. The difference is that instead of being judged by their race, sex, size, age, or class; the conflict is between Normals and Paranormals, or Paras.

Normals are in the seat of power and have spent there resources hunting Paras. They then turn around and force them to use their powers against their own kind. Paras are seen as evil, less than human and once captured are mistreated and abused. Hateful propaganda has influenced a huge portion of the population. Paras must keep their gift a secret at all costs or suffer the consequences.

Caitlyn has been on the run for years. She’s experienced so much hate and anger, but doesn’t wallow in self-pity. Her father died, her brother was taken away and the connection she had with her mom is gone. Instead of plotting revenge against Normals or viewing the world pessimistically, she wants to end the division between the two groups. She even crosses the divide and falls for a Normal guy, which shows that true love has no prejudice.

Source: Thanks so much to Cheryl Rainfield for providing an e-ARC for a fair review.

Review: The Name of the Star (Shades of London 1) by Maureen Johnson

2011-11-15T14:22:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it's the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.

Soon "Rippermania" takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn't notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.

Details:

Published September 29th 2011 by Putnam Juvenile

The Elliott Review:

The thing I loved the most about this book was Rory's voice. As she encounters her news school in London along with the panicked conditions caused by the modern-day Ripper, the reader gets a great sense of who she is as a person, quirks and all. The idea of an American in a London boarding school was also pulled off very well, with believable characters and situations.

I really enjoyed the supernatural element of the book, the way, after a near-death accident, Rory can see ghosts, most notably a creepy bald guy that just happens to be on the scene at several of the Ripper kill sites. As the story progresses, we learn that ghosts can move things, including weapons and people. Anyway, I love the secret law enforcement group that Rory gets involved with as she gets pulled deeper and deeper in the the mystery surrounding the Ripper, as her life is continually threatened along with the lives of her friends.

The scene that is painted is extremely creepy. I'll be honest - my husband was out of town, so I actually ended up spending the night with my parents. Yes, as a 30-year-old. Pretty sad. This book has it all - romance, danger, mystery, ghosts, and LONDON!

Young Adult Notes:

Mild violence, language, scenes of a mild sexual nature

Source: ALA

Review: Death Sentence (Escape from Furnace 3) by Alexander Gordon Smith

2011-11-14T15:45:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

Alex's second attempt to break out of Furnace Penetentiary has failed. This time his punishment will be much worse than before. Because in the hidden, bloodstained laboratories beneath the prison, he will be made into a monster. As the warden pumps something evil into his veins - a sinisterly dark nectar - Alex becomes what he most fears . . . a superhuman minion of Furnace. How can he escape when the darkness is inside him? How can he lead the way to freedom if he is lost to himself?

Details:

Published August 2nd 2011 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

The Elliott Review:

This book had me dying to read it and waiting for it to come to me. I knew horrible, horrible things would happen to Alex in this book, but I still couldn't avoid it. As it turns out, the process of Alex being turned into a super-powered monster a la Frankenstein on steroids was not as graphic as I thought it would be which was great! As he is pumped full of the dark nectar created by Alfred Furnace, Alex is indoctrinated into the ways of Furnace, trained to be a blacksuit - one of them. Remembering only that he can't forget his name, he manages to hold onto some semblance of himself, only stronger.

After his transformation is complete, Alex goes psycho on the warden and attempts another escape with Zee and Simon. Alfred Furnace still has some horrible tricks up his sleeve as he begins to squash the riot caused within the prison.

This book is just as suspenseful and heart-wrenching and disturbing as the others in the series. I am DYING for the next book to come out in the US.

Young Adult Notes:

Violence, psychological violence, mind control

Source: Library

Review: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

2011-11-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

Synopsis:

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

Details:

Published October 18th 2011 by Scholastic Press

The Elliott Review:

This book is a book of substance. There is love, excitement, danger, and all the things that make books amazing, but I don't feel that the book is just about any one of those things. It's a life book, depicting the two main characters in crucial times in their lives. Are they falling for each other? Yes. Is the book only about that? No. It's definitely about a whole lot more.

The characterization and gradual release of the plot does a lot to make this book feel so realistic, like the characters are actually living and breathing entities you might actually meet could you go to their island. Even the mythology of the water horses is so deftly and simply drawn that I had to Google cappail uisce to make sure that I hadn't missed some strange breed of horse that actually does exist (to save you the time - it really is mythological. I don't feel stupid or anything...).

I love the way the characters are revealed gradually. How we come to know what really matters to Sean Kendrick, how we see Puck gathering her courage to do what she has to for the family. The way the two lives begin to intersect because of the Scorpio races is just beautiful. It's very subtle, the way they start to feel for each other, and in that way it's very real.

When Sean can only buy Corr, the horse he loves like a family member, from his boss if he wins the races and Puck can only keep her house from being foreclosed on if she wins the races, the stakes in the book are raised so high. Throughout the whole ending I was preparing to be heartbroken in one way or another. I won't give that away. But I will say that, to me, the ending was just perfect. It's the sort of ending that's my favorite!

Young Adult Notes:

Mild violence

Source: Thanks to Scholastic for providing a copy of this book at ALA.

Greetings From NaNoWriMo!!

2011-11-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!!! I may be a little scarce around here during the month of November! I'm currently trying to finish a novel in a month! I'm writing my "big" idea that I think can go somewhere someday... This won't be easy with work being stressful, being preggo and EXTRA tired, and, well, actually getting over the inner critic is never easy.

Anyway, my username at the NaNoWriMo site is: sicaelliott ... if you would like to join me over there!!

Anyone else writing this month???

Review: Hex Hall (Hex Hall 1) by Rachel Hawkins

2011-11-01T14:27:00.000-05:00

Synopsis:

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire student on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

Details:

Published March 2nd 2010 by Hyperion Book CH

The Elliott Review:

In this book, Sophie's voice grabbed me right away and kept me hooked into reading. It was wonderful getting to see from her perspective as she begins attending Hecate Hall, a school for supernatural delinquents. It did take me a while to become completely sold on the plot, but once I was, I was.

I really, really enjoyed the character of Archer Cross. He's the type of boy that we all love - inaccessible, cocky. He's kind of sardonic, but he seems to be a lot deeper than he would let anyone thing. He has secrets that Sophie knows nothing about. And when she discovers them! Whoah - watch out!

I would definitely recommend this book. It ends on a cliffhanger that just hooked me in to wanting to read more and more.

Young Adult Notes:

Kissing, mild language, mild violence

Source: Library

Winner: Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout!!

2011-10-28T11:59:00.002-05:00

The winner of Half-Blood is:

Sarah E. C.!!

Thanks to all who participated!!!

Don't forget to check out my other giveaways!

Review: Solitary (Escape from Furnace 2) by Alexander Gordon Smith

2011-10-27T10:34:00.000-05:00

Synopsis:

Alex Sawyer and his mates should have known there was no way out of Furnace Penitentiary. Their escape attempt only lands them deeper in the guts of this prison for young offenders, and then into solitary confinement. And that's where a whole new struggle begins—a struggle not to let the hellish conditions overwhelm them. Because before another escape attempt is even possible, they must first survive the nightmare that now haunts their endless nights.

Details:

Published December 21st 2010 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

The Elliott Review:

This book continues Alex's journey after his first unsuccessful attempt to escape from furnace. He and Zee are placed in solitary confinement in the underbelly of the prison for one month. Usually, no one can survive even a week in that hellish environment. Alex and Zee develop a strange, banging code to communicate with each other. They also find that the intrigue of the prison extends beyond what anyone in the general population comprehends.

Beneath the prison is where the wheezers conduct their tormenting experiments on inmates, changing them into super-powered, mutant monsters. Some of these experiments have gone horribly awry, and these creatures live beneath the surface, always threatening to eat the prisoners in solitary. Alex finds an ally in Simon, one of these experiments who has not lost his sense of self. Together with Zee, they concoct an escape plan.

There are so many moments in the book that make me want to look away, but I just can't. I'm like, "No, this is horrible. I can't believe I'm reading this. How could they do this? This is so evil and demented and twisted." And I put the book down for a minute, but then I can't stop thinking about it and pick it back up again. Every moment spent reading this book is one of utter terror and disgust and very intense interest. There are so many heart-rending moments, disturbing moments, and even humorous moments that kept me completely gripped from start to finish.

Based on the summary of the next book, Death Sentence, it's pretty obvious what will be happening to Alex and Zee next, and even though the thought of that horrifies me, I am pretty much dying to get my hands on it!!!

Young Adult Notes:

Mention of suicide, grotesque violence, torture

Source: Won

Review: Lockdown (Escape from Furnace 1) by Alexander Gordon Smith

2011-10-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

Synopsis:

Details:

Published August 3rd 2010 by Square Fish (first published October 27th 2009)

The Elliott Review:

I expected this book to be intense, but I didn't expect that it would scare the crap out of me the way it did. This is something utterly original, fast-paced, and horrifying! As Alex learns the ropes of his new life in Furnace Penitentiary, I felt as though I was being sucked into the abyss with him. This book is unlike any prison book that I've ever read. There are so many dark, raw secrets here, but surprisingly none of them involve any kind of prison rape like one might expect. The horrors that Furnace holds are a terror all their own.

After a string of gang murders one summer, the nation decides that a hellish prison for juveniles is the way to deter murders. Alex, after being framed for the murder of his best friend by some of the prison's worst masters, is thrown into this hell hole for life without parole. With the help of his cellmate, Donovan, he learns the ropes - how to navigate the gangs, hard labor, and nightly terrors. Eventually Alex and his friends find a way that could be an escape, and they grasp onto that hope against all the dangers they face.

There are so many disturbing events in this book, and I mean this in a good way. I kept reading and reading kind of like people passing a car wreck keep looking and looking. I wash terrified at what I might see, but I wanted to find out how Alex would deal with each thing he encounters. This book had me riveted from start to finish with the quick flow of writing, likeable characters, and unique content.

Although I think a wide readership would enjoy this, I think that boys would be especially drawn to the fast paced adventure and disturbing horror.

Young Adult Notes:

Violence and grotesque images; no language or sexual content

Source: Thanks to Zeitghost Media and Macmillan Publishing for providing a copy of this book for a fair review.

Review: The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus 2) by Rick Riordan

2011-10-22T08:24:00.000-05:00

Synopsis:

Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
To storm or fire the world must fall.
An oath to keep with a final breath,
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.

Percy is confused. When he awoke from his long sleep, he didn't know much more than his name. His brain fuzz is lingering, even after the wolf Lupa tol him he is a demigod and trained him to fight with the pen/sword in his pocket. Somehow Percy manages to make it to a camp for half-bloods, despite the fact that he has to keep killing monsters along the way. But the camp doesn't ring and bells with him. The only thing he can recall from his past is another name: Annabeth

Hazel is supposed to be dead. When she lived before, she didn't do a very good job of it. Sure, she was an obedient daughter, even when her mother was possessed by greed. But that was the problem - when the Voice took over he mother and commanded Hazel to use her "gift" for and evil purpose, Hazel couldn't say no. Now because of her mistake, the future of the world is at risk. Hazel wished she could ride away from it all on the stallion that appears in her dreams.

Frank is a klutz. His grandmother says he is descended from heroes and can be anything he wants to be, but he doesn't see it. He doesn't even know who his father is. He keeps hoping Apollo will claim him, because the only thing he is good at is archery - although not good enough to win camp war games. His bulky physique makes him feel like an ox, especially infront of Hazel, his closest friend at camp. He trusts her completely - enough to share the secret he holds close to his heart.

Beginning at the "other" camp for half-bloods and extending as far as the land beyond the gods, this breathtaking second installment of the Heroes od Olympus series introduces new demigods, revives fearsome monsters, and features other remarkable creatures, all destined to play a part in the Prophesy of Seven.

Details:

Published October 4th 2011 by Hyperion Book CH

The Elliott Review:

I had been dying for this book to come out, and I bumped it to the top of my way-behind reading list as soon as it arrived in the mail. There is so much about this book that is amazing, even epic (that's literally epic, not figuratively for emphasis), that I don't know where to start. Once again, Riordan brings some amazing new characters to the plate in addition to further developing Percy's character. I hate to compare this brand of greatness with something else, but there were even some moments in this book that hit me as hard as some of the more emotional moments toward the end of Deathly Hallows.

As a whole, at the outset of this adventure, the reader initially knows more about what is going on because of Jason's experiences in The Lost Hero. As Percy becomes aware of what is happening to him and leaves Camp Jupiter on a seemingly impossible quest to unchain Death so that monsters can once again be defeated, he and his new friends are driven by the prophecy of the seven. The alternating points of view brings so much richness in depth to the narrative just as it did in The Lost Hero.

It has been awhile since I read the Percy Jackson series, and obviously I didn't get to experience Percy in this series yet. So getting to see things through Percy's eyes once again was refreshing. I realized that I really missed his boyish outlook and sense of heroism. Even without knowing precisely who he is or where he came from, Percy does remember Annabeth exists, and that drives him to stay alive so that he can reunited with her and his other friends. Percy's character growth just floored me in this book.

In addition to Percy, the amazing characters he shares his journey with are important in their own right, adding so much depth to the story. I think it goes without saying that Rick Riordan's writing is so open to representing the underrepresented right from the beginning. Percy (and most demigods) as dyslexic and ADHD and in this series a cast of well-developed multicultural characters who bring their own traditions and flavor to the story.

There's Hazel whose voodoo mama mated with Pluto (er, Hades) and made some bad decisions to the point that Hazel is cursed with a girft that has brought her pain and suffering - and caused her to inadvertently almost raise a monster for the evil earth-mother Gaea. Her memories of her past life in the 1940s are painful, and since she's living on borrowed time she doesn't know for sure if she will be allowed to live once they free Death. I love the angst that she brings, and she has an interesting connection to Leo Valdez from The Lost Hero.

And then there's Frank. He is one of my new favorites. He's a boy in a big body with untapped-into powers that he doesn't understand. Still dealing with bitterness over the purpose of his mother's death in Afganistan, Frank realizes that Mars (aka Ares) is his father. Although he displays bravery in battle throughout the quest, Frank still doesn't understand the godly heritage he received from his ancient Chinese family. It's through accepting that Death is a part of life and that duty is more important than anything else, that he comes to learn precisely what he can do.

When the trio finally arrives in Alaska to free Death, the battle is just - whoah! Seeing Percy's immense power through the eyes of the others shows how he has grown up. He's not just some little ADHD kid that haplessly saves the world. And Frank! Frank and his sense of duty brings about things that gave me chills.

I LOVE the way the book teaches so much about gods and goddesses and history while at the same time is a delectable fun treat, filled with laugh out loud moments as well as suspense and heartbreak all mixed together!

Young Adult Notes:

Pretty much perfectly clean; I do happen to love the way cussing is mentioned but never actually shown.

Source: Purchased

Guest Post + Giveaway: Stories Are Simple (Ryan Jacobson)

2011-10-19T20:40:00.000-05:00

Stories are simple. Most of them do exactly the same thing—in their own, unique ways. This doesn’t mean that writing a story is easy, but it does mean that aspiring writers need not be quite so scared or intimidated by the big, bad “story.” You just need to understand what you’re trying to do.

And what is that? What’s this “same thing” I just mentioned? Well, it goes a little something like this: There’s this character. S/he suddenly has a problem. The problem gets worse…and worse…and worse. Then the character solves the problem (or doesn’t). The end.

That’s it. That’s a story. The truly brilliant ones do it with a few surprises and twists, but most storylines can be boiled down to two basic components: (1.) a character with a goal and (2.) conflict.

When I work with writing students, I tell them to start with a goal. What does the main character want to do? Destroy a precious ring? Get a guy to dump her in 10 days? Win the lead in the high school musical? Overthrow an evil galactic empire? The goal can be just about anything. (One of my favorite student stories was about two kids who wanted to buy a bag of Skittles.) But there’s a catch. In order for a story to work, the goal has to be really important to the character. More on that in a minute.

Next comes the fun part. Conflict is, quite simply, anything and everything that prevents the character from achieving the goal. That’s easy enough to add—whether your conflict is a blizzard, Darth Vader, an overbearing mom, a best friend who’s dating your character’s secret crush or an evil stick of butter. Writing conflict is great because this is where you get to let loose your inner monster (bwahahaha)! You get to make life miserable for your character. The trick is to keep cranking up the conflict throughout the story. Don’t let up. Don’t give your character an easy way out. Make the conflict/problem worse…and worse…and worse. I mean, even in Disney movies, there’s always a tear-jerker song just before things get better.

This brings us back to the goal. Why does it need to be really important to the character? Because if it isn’t, either the character will give up (boring!) or the story will not be believable (bad!). I mean, let’s say your character’s goal is to balance her checkbook. All of a sudden, a crazy man with a hockey mask and a chainsaw shows up and tells her to stop. Um, yeah, I’m pretty sure she’s going to stop. Right? As it stands, the goal isn’t important enough; it’s definitely not worth battling a crazy man with a chainsaw. Now, if she were racing to balance her checkbook to win Justin Bieber tickets, that’s another story…

See? That’s not so bad. Your story awaits. All you need is a character, a goal and problem. But remember, the evil stick of butter was my idea.

Follow Ryan:

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Review: Half-Blood (Covenant 1) by Jennifer Armentrout

2011-10-18T08:43:00.000-05:00

Synopsis:

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi - pure-bloods - have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals - well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures. Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1: Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

Details:

Publication date: October 18th 2011 by Spencer Hill Press

The Elliott Review:

I fell in love with Alex's character in Armentrout's prequel story, Daimon. I continued to love and be entertained by her bad-assery in Half-Blood. Her quirky attitude had me laughing out loud at times, wondering how she is ever going to be allowed to stay. I love that she projects an attitude of strength to the outside world despite the fact she really is weakened and hurting over her mother's death. She's very well-rounded and seeing things from her perspective makes this a great read in and of itself.

The politics between Pures and Halfs that Alex has to deal with at the Covenant sets the stage for many issues. We discover that Alex's reputation as a troublemaker in the past has her in a precarious position upon returning, and her catch-up training sessions with Aiden are her only hope for becoming a Sentinel rather than a slave. The high stakes that infuse Alex and Aiden's sessions together adds to the tension between them.

And of course Aiden, the Pure that Alex falls hard for against all rules, is an extreme hottie. His intensity and focus, the way he tries to help and protect Alex really drew me to him. There are a lot of amazing scenes with him, but there is a certain one that sticks in my mind and drives me mentally insane (in a good way). And then when Seth comes along with a unique position to Alex, it raises the stakes and the tension and just makes this book almost explode with win!

Young Adult Notes:

There is a bit of language and a few steamy scenes and some violence

Source: Thanks to Spencer Hill Press for providing a copy of this book for a fair review.

Review: The White Devil by Justin Evans

2011-10-13T10:09:00.000-05:00

Synopsis:

A fierce and jealous ghost . . .

A young man's fight for his life . . .

The Harrow School is home to privileged adolescents known as much for their distinctive dress and traditions as for their arrogance and schoolboy cruelty. Seventeen-year-old American Andrew Taylor is enrolled in the esteemed British institution by his father, who hopes that the school's discipline will put some distance between his son and his troubled past in the States.

But trouble—and danger—seem to follow Andrew. When one of his schoolmates and friends dies mysteriously of a severe pulmonary illness, Andrew is blamed and is soon an outcast, spurned by nearly all his peers. And there is the pale, strange boy who begins to visit him at night. Either Andrew is losing his mind, or the house legend about his dormitory being haunted is true.

When the school's poet-in-residence, Piers Fawkes, is commissioned to write a play about Byron, one of Harrow's most famous alumni, he casts Andrew in the title role. Andrew begins to discover uncanny links between himself and the renowned poet. In his loneliness and isolation, Andrew becomes obsessed with Lord Byron's story and the poet's status not only as a literary genius and infamous seducer but as a student at the very different Harrow of two centuries prior—a place rife with violence, squalor, incurable diseases, and tormented love affairs.

When frightening and tragic events from that long-ago past start to recur in Harrow's present, and when the dark and deadly specter by whom Andrew's been haunted seems to be all too real, Andrew is forced to solve a two-hundred-year-old literary mystery that threatens the lives of his friends and his teachers—and, most terrifyingly, his own.

Details:

Published May 1st 2011 by Harper

The Elliott Review:

I've been dying to read this book for a while now. The synopsis of this book had me enthralled instantly - Byron and a Byronic sort of character, a ghost, and English boarding school with a tainted past. What I found was a book filled with chilling and disturbing events, gripping me from start to finish. The mood is cold and foreboding - the perfect atmosphere for an angry ghost.

Andrew is an American with secrets and a past of his own that he comes to Harrow to escape. It's basically his last step before getting thrown out of his parents lives forever. Upon arriving at Harrow, he senses that something is not quite right and begins having such clear dreams and visions that disturb him for multiple reasons, including the fact that he knows the ghost that is haunting him committed a murder at some point. The stakes are raised when Andrew witnesses the ghost murdering his first friend at Harrow. The autopsy points to tuberculosis, but Andrew alone knows what really happened.

Befriended by the school's only girl, Persephone, and his own very washed-up house-master, the has-been Piers Fawkes, Andrew begins to close in on the identity of the ghost as well as the reason he seems to be obsessed with Andrew. In researching Lord Byron's time at Harrow, they discover that a boy named John Harness was Bryon's lover for a time. After things went wrong, Harness's jealousy and rage toward Byron's new love caused him to become stalker-like and violent.

As Harness infects the students of Harrow one by one in an attempt to have Andrew (Byron) to himself, Andrew and his friends race against the clock to exorcise the demons of Harness's past before it is too late for some of them.

This book is definitely an interesting read. It has very scholarly qualities mixed with haunting, creepy descriptions juxtaposed with a the power of sexuality for good or evil. This is a must-read for fans of history, the written word, and of ghost stories!

Young Adult Notes:

This book is an adult level book for good reason. It contains violence, graphic sexual themes, and a tone that is not easily accessible for many young adults. However, I do see it having some crossover appeal since the protagonist is a young adult and the ghost story involves young adults. This may be of interest to mature teens.

Source: Borders sale.

Guest Post: My Favorite YA Paranormal Romance Books (DJ DeSmyter)

2011-10-11T12:00:00.000-05:00

Why, hello, loyal followers of Elliott Review! My name is DJ and I’m the author of Hunted, a young adult werewolf love story. Now, I know Twilight kind of inadvertently killed the YA paranormal-romance genre because of all the spin-offs its success spawned, but I also know there are still a bunch of crazies who still love the genre. So, today I’m going to list some of my all-time favorite books in the genre and hopefully find a few that pique your interest.

1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Say what you will about the series, but I love it. Love, love, love it. Stephenie Meyer truly does have a talent for drawing the reader in and making them feel as if they’re living Bella’s life, that they’re the ones falling in love with Edward. Twilight is the book that started it all for me, so I will always love it.

2. The Pace by Shelena Shorts

This book falls more into the science-fiction/supernatural category, but it’s amazing, so it belongs on the list. J Shelena Shorts has not only written a beautiful love story, but she has also created a mythology that is, in my opinion, pretty spectacular. Wes and Sophie make such a great couple and you can’t help but fall in love with them.

3. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

I heart Patch. Who doesn’t? Seriously, though, this book has it all: suspense, drama, angels, and the right amount of sexiness. This was one of the first fallen angel books I ever read and it’ll always be one of my favorites. The writing is, for lack of a better term, atmospheric, and I mean that in a good way.

4. Firelight by Sophie Jordan

I’ve always found dragons cool, but I have a newfound appreciation for them thanks to Sophie Jordan. This book is so refreshing, what with the main character being the fantastical being and all. Plus, Will makes for a great love interest, and the drama between him and Jacinda is never over the top, which is the problem with so many books out there.

5. Fall of Angels Series by Keary Taylor

Ms. Taylor’s take on angels is dark and rather terrifying, but she presents such a well-thought out mythology and a romance that will have people swooning all over the place. There’s a particular scene in the second book, Forsaken, that is so cute I frequently turn to that page and re-read it. If you’re looking for a unique angel series, try this one. I promise you’ll love it.

Thanks, Jessi, for having me and thank you to all of you who are still reading this. I know I only listed five books, so please list your faves in the comments and I’ll be sure to check them out!

JE: DJ, thanks so much for stopping by! Everyone, don't forget to check out DJ's book, Hunted!

Seventeen-year-old Lily Atwater has always kept to herself, living a lonely life with her workaholic dad. Not the most thrilling life, but it’s quiet and ordinary, two things she’s come to expect from living in Victor Hills, Michigan.

When kind and mysterious Alex takes refuge in her home, she is suddenly thrown into his world of werewolves, a world he wants to keep her safe from. But while the two of them grow closer, a relentless hunter continues his search, stalking the woods with hopes of catching the wolf that got away…

Follow DJ:

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Winner: My Brother's Shadow by Monika Schroeder

2011-10-10T16:00:00.000-05:00

The winner of My Brother's Shadow is:

Anita Y.

Thanks to all who entered! Don't forget to check out my current giveaways!

Author Interview + Giveaway: Jennifer L. Armentrout (Half-Blood)

2011-10-10T11:20:00.000-05:00

Today on the blog, I have the privilege of interviewing Jennifer Armentrout. When she’s not hard at work writing, she spends her time, reading, working out, watching zombie movies, and pretending to write. She shares her home with her husband, his K-9 partner named Diesel, her hyper Jack Russell Loki, and her pet turtle called Michelangelo. Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent her time writing short stories. Therefore explains her dismal grades in math. She writes Adult and Young Adult Urban Fantasy and Romance. Half-Blood, the first book in a the Covenant series, is her debut novel.

So, you live in West Virginia… Do you take any flak for that? (I did when I lived there, so I’m just saying…)

Oh geez. You can’t believe the stuff I hear. I think people watch movies like Wrong Turn or interviews with people who claimed to have seen the Mothman, and really believe that’s an accurate description of WV. Some even think WV is still a part of VA. I kid you not. Now there are some places in WV I’d be weary to venture into, but honestly it’s like any other state. AND Deliverance was not filmed nor did it take place in WV… so if I hear “Squeal like a pig, boy!” one more time, I might drop kick someone.

Did majoring in psychology and sociology have any effect on the direction of your writing?

I like to think so. Mainly because it helps me feel good about having school loans, but seriously, I think it helps me understand motivations of characters and how they would truly react in a situation.

Which god or goddess do you think you are most like?

Hermes. I’m always doing something stupid or something I shouldn’t be doing.

What is your favorite thing about Half-Blood (or the Covenant series in general)?

I’d have to say the characters. They’re so fun to write and explore. I think they back the Covenant series what it is, not the mythology. But there are some pretty cool fight scenes in there.

Is your husband jealous of Aiden (or any of your hot characters)?

I don’t think my husband knows Aiden exists. He doesn’t read my books, which I’m kind of glad. I get the heebie jeebies when people I know personally read my stuff.

How do you get in the writing “zone”?

Down a jug of caffeine, do some stretches, chase my dog for a little while, surf twitter and Goodreads, and then force myself to stare at my MS.

You seem to enjoy a great relationship with Spencer Hill Press. What is that like?

I do have a great relationship with them. I feel so lucky. I’ve heard horror stories with small and big presses alike and other stories of how great their pubs are, and I really, really am truly grateful for Spencer Hill. One day, when I am rolling around in cash like I’m sure Stephanie Meyer does, I’ll have SHP to thank for giving me this huge opportunity.

At this point, how do you keep all your novels straight?

Funny you mention that. Just the other day I had the dates all kinds of messed up in my little brain. I only work on one novel at a time and when I’m done, I move onto the other series. Right now I have three different series, with only one left to write in the Covenant series, one definitely in the Cursed world, and I’m almost halfway through the 2nd novel for adult series. I think I will be working on the sequel to Cursed next (beside a billion edits that will be coming in).

Do you always have Count Chocula up in your house?

Ha! No, I don’t. Actually, I’ve never tried Count Chocula.

Thank you for having me!

Follow Jennifer:

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi-pure-bloods-have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals-well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1: Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden.Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

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Review: If I Die (Soul Screamers 5) by Rachel Vincent

2011-10-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

Synopsis:

The entire school's talking about the gorgeous new math teacher, Mr. Beck. Everyone except Kaylee Cavanaugh. After all, Kaylee's no ordinary high-school junior. She's a banshee—she screams when someone dies.

But the next scream might be for Kaylee.

Yeah—it's a shock to her, too. So to distract herself, Kaylee's going to save every girl in school. Because that hot new teacher is really an incubus who feeds on the desire of unsuspecting students. The only girls immune to his lure are Kaylee and Sabine, her boyfriend's needy ex-girlfriend. Now the unlikely allies have to get rid of Mr. Beck…before he discovers they aren't quite human, either.

But Kaylee's borrowed lifeline is nearing its end. And those who care about her will do anything to save her life.

Anything.

Details:

Published September 27th 2011 by Harlequin

The Elliott Review:

This book was the most exciting in the series so far - amazing. It had so many components of books that just make me squeal! With the prospect of Kaylee's death, the atmosphere really changes. Kaylee really starts to get a certain perspective and maturity that I don't know that she had before. The suspense and the fact that anything could happen kept me on the edge of my proverbial reading seat with this one. I'm afraid to say much for fear of spoiling, so I am going to focus on my favorite aspect!!

The main thing that wowed me was the dynamic between Kaylee and Tod in this book. Finally! For a while I've been very annoyed with Nash as her boyfriend, and I have been dying for something (anything - even something small!) to happen between Kaylee and Tod! Let's just say that I in this book I get my wish!! Tod's character in general blew me away. I love his angsty sweetness, and getting to know more about his past and how he died just endeared him to my heart even more. I'm glad to see that I wasn't just dreaming about Tod for no reason.

As for Nash... In this book he really, really started to annoy me. Up until this point, I've been fine with him as a person but not really with Kaylee's boyfriend. All the drama with Sabine in this book made me dislike him even more. The choices he continually makes in the last couple of books should make Kaylee's choice even easier.

The tension that spirals out of control in this book - definitely a must-read!!

Source: Thanks to Harlequin Teen and Kismet Book Touring for providing a copy of this book for a fair review.

The Elliott Review

Review: Fever (Chemical Garden 2) by Lauren DeStefano

Winner: The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison!!

Review: Pure by Julianna Baggott

Author Interview + Giveaway: Julianna Baggott (Pure)

Review: Beneath a Meth Moon: An Elegy by Jacqueline Woodson

February ARC Giveaway!!!!

International Giveaway: Signed Copy of The Butterfly Clues

Review: Incarnate (Newsoul 1) by Jodi Meadows

Review: The Rivals (The Mockingbirds 2) by Daisy Whitney

Winner: Drawn by Marie Lamba!!!

In My Mailbox: ALA Craziness...

Winner: Tempest ARC!!!

Review: Dead to You by Lisa McMann

Winner: Large Box of Books Giveaway!!!

Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

New Blog Tagline Needed - please help!!!

Review: Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J. Bick

Review: Everneath (Everneath 1) by Brodi Ashton

Guest Post + Giveaway: Why It's Positively Medieval! (Marie Lamba)

Waiting on Wednesday: Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer

Author Interview: Megan Bostic (Never Eighteen)

Giveaway: Large Box of Books to One Winner!!!

Winner: Switched by Amanda Hocking

First Come, First Served Audiobook Giveaway: AKA Library Cleanup Time

Genres - Which do you prefer??

Review: Fracture by Megan Miranda

Books About Teens with Cancer

Review: Hallowed (Unearthly 2) by Cynthia Hand

Review: The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison

Review + Giveaway: Tempest (Tempest 1) by Julie Cross

A Case of Jace (or, Covers That Killed Me Today)

Trailer: Cinder (Lunar Chronicles 1) by Marissa Meyer

Review + Giveaway: Switched (Trylle Trilogy 1) by Amanda Hocking

Top 20 Books Read in 2011 (Part 4 of 4)

Top 20 Books Read in 2011 (Part 3 of 4)

Top 20 Books Read in 2011 (Part 2 of 4)

Top 20 Books Read in 2011 (Part 1 of 4)

Guest Post: You Are Beautiful (Amy Machelle)

Review: A Million Suns (Across the Universe 2) by Beth Revis

Guest Post: Christmas Card Writer's Block (Suzi Davis)

2011 YA Scavenger Hunt

Review: Darkness Falls (Immortal Beloved 2) by Cate Tiernan

Guest Post: From Sketch to Chapter Art, an Illustrator at Work (Richard Due)

Review: Wintertown by Stephen Emond

Attention Aspiring Writers! - Manuscript Feedback for Essay Contest Winner!!!

Review: Death Cloud (Young Sherlock Holmes 1) by Andrew Lane

Stolen Saturday! - Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone 1) by Laini Taylor

Spoiler-Free Review: Clockwork Prince (Infernal Devices 2) by Cassandra Clare

Guest Post: Leah Clifford on Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey

2011 YA Story Scavenger Hunt!!

Top Ten Reasons You Need a Dog (W. Bruce Cameron)

Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Review: Hunted by Cheryl Rainfield

Review: The Name of the Star (Shades of London 1) by Maureen Johnson

Review: Death Sentence (Escape from Furnace 3) by Alexander Gordon Smith

Review: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Greetings From NaNoWriMo!!

Review: Hex Hall (Hex Hall 1) by Rachel Hawkins

Winner: Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout!!

Review: Solitary (Escape from Furnace 2) by Alexander Gordon Smith

Review: Lockdown (Escape from Furnace 1) by Alexander Gordon Smith

Review: The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus 2) by Rick Riordan

Guest Post + Giveaway: Stories Are Simple (Ryan Jacobson)

Review: Half-Blood (Covenant 1) by Jennifer Armentrout

Review: The White Devil by Justin Evans

Guest Post: My Favorite YA Paranormal Romance Books (DJ DeSmyter)

Winner: My Brother's Shadow by Monika Schroeder

Author Interview + Giveaway: Jennifer L. Armentrout (Half-Blood)

Review: If I Die (Soul Screamers 5) by Rachel Vincent