Blog Tour (Review): A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond #yalit #giveaway #BibPleaseReview

Title: A Song for Ella Grey
Author: David Almond
Publisher: Delacorte Press (Penguin Random House)
Release Date: October 13, 2015
Acquired Via: Publisher
Written in lyrical prose, this novel for fans of epic romances and mythology retellings explores themes of love, loss, fate, and destiny set against the dramatic and diverse backdrop of Northern England.

David Almond, recipient of the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award, a Printz Honor for Skellig, and the Printz Award for Kit’s Wilderness, has crafted an enchanting modern take on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.

Claire and Ella and their friends are bound by ties so strong they seem unbreakable. Then the strange and handsome Orpheus strolls onto the beach, and he sings them all into an astonishing new understanding of themselves. Ella is caught the hardest, fastest, deepest—and Claire is left with the pain of looking on.

Raw, emotional, lyrical, funny, and true, A Song for Ella Grey is a tale of the joys, troubles, and desires of modern teens. It takes place in the ordinary streets of Tyneside and on the beautiful beaches of Northumberland. It’s a story of first love, a love song that draws on ancient mythical forces. A love that leads Ella, Orpheus, and Claire to the gates of Death and beyond.

My Review

I'm a fan of literary fiction, so I am happy to give my reading time to any of that genre in the YA classification that catches my eye. A Song for Ella Grey definitely did that because I used to be obsessed with Greek mythology. However, the book has me a bit at a loss.

A Song for Ella Grey is young adult literature, but I think it is written for young people that are smarter than me. While I got the symbolism and all, I didn't quite "get" the book. It was hard for me to connect to the characters as a worrisome mom. I also had a hard time following what was going on. I have officially entered the dumb grown-up phase because it went completely over my head.

Waiting on Wednesday (121): Kingdom of Ashes by Rhiannon Thomas #waitingonwednesday #wow

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.



Title: Kingdom of Ashes (A Wicked Thing #2)
Author: Rhiannon Thomas
Publisher: HarperTeen (HarperCollins)
Release Date: February 23, 2016
The kiss was just the beginning . . . The second book in Rhiannon Thomas’s epic retelling of Sleeping Beauty combines adventure, magic, and romance for a sweeping fantasy about one girl’s journey to fulfill her destiny.

Aurora was supposed to be her kingdom’s savior. But when she was forced to decide between being loyal to the crown and loyal to her country, she set events in motion that branded her a traitor.

Now, hunted by the king’s soldiers, Aurora’s only chance of freeing her kingdom from the king’s tyrannical rule is by learning to control her magic. But Aurora’s powers come at a price—one that forces her to leave the only home she’s ever known, one that demands she choose between the man she loves and the people she seeks to protect, and one that will cause her to unravel the mysteries surrounding the curse that was placed on her over a century before . . . and uncover the truth about her destiny.


I don't remember a lot about reading A Wicked Thing earlier this year, but I do recall enjoying the fresh take on Sleeping Beauty. I'm also interested in seeing how Aurora continues to deal with her situation.

What are you waiting on this week?

Review: Alice by Christina Henry #AceRocStars #Horror #adultlit

Title: Alice
Author: Christina Henry
Publisher: Ace (Penguin)
Release Date: August 4, 2015
Acquired Via: Ace Roc Stars
A mind-bending new novel inspired by the twisted and wondrous works of Lewis Carroll…

In a warren of crumbling buildings and desperate people called the Old City, there stands a hospital with cinderblock walls which echo the screams of the poor souls inside.

In the hospital, there is a woman. Her hair, once blond, hangs in tangles down her back. She doesn’t remember why she’s in such a terrible place. Just a tea party long ago, and long ears, and blood...

Then, one night, a fire at the hospital gives the woman a chance to escape, tumbling out of the hole that imprisoned her, leaving her free to uncover the truth about what happened to her all those years ago.

Only something else has escaped with her. Something dark. Something powerful.

And to find the truth, she will have to track this beast to the very heart of the Old City, where the rabbit waits for his Alice.

My Review

If I could only choose two words to describe Christina Henry's Alice, they would be "whimsical" and "gruesome". The book deftly captures the essence of Lewis Carroll's classic, while giving it a gory twist that will thrill horror fans. Readers familiar with the original work will find most of their favorite characters, but none of them are as they will remember.

Blog Tour (10 Random Things): Neverland by Shari Arnold #Giveaway @MyShelfAndI

Neverland Tour Schedule
Official Blog Tour
Hosted by MMSAI Tours
May 4th - 8th & May 11th - 15th



Title: Neverland
Author: Shari Arnold
Publisher: Self
Blog Tour Organizer: MMSAI Tours
Release Date: April 28, 2015
It’s been four months since seventeen-year-old Livy Cloud lost her younger sister, but she isn’t quite ready to move on with her life — not even close. She’d rather spend her time at the Seattle Children’s hospital, reading to the patients and holding onto memories of the sister who was everything to her and more.

But when she meets the mysterious and illusive Meyer she is drawn into a world of adventure, a world where questions abound.

Is she ready to live life without her sister? Or more importantly, is she brave enough to love again?

In this modern reimagining of Peter Pan, will Livy lose herself to Neverland or will she find what she’s been searching for?

10 Random Things About Shari Arnold

1. I was born on Christmas Eve and came home from the hospital in a big red stocking.

2. I gave up red meat after eating a hamburger at the Hard Rock Café in London twenty years ago.

Waiting on Wednesday (105): A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.



Title: A Thousand Nights
Author: E.K. Johnston
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion (Hachette)
Release Date: October 6, 2015
Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to her village, looking for a wife. When she sees the dust cloud on the horizon, she knows he has arrived. She knows he will want the loveliest girl: her sister. She vows she will not let her be next.

And so she is taken in her sister's place, and she believes death will soon follow. Lo-Melkhiin's court is a dangerous palace filled with pretty things: intricate statues with wretched eyes, exquisite threads to weave the most beautiful garments. She sees everything as if for the last time.But the first sun rises and sets, and she is not dead. Night after night, Lo-Melkhiin comes to her and listens to the stories she tells, and day after day she is awoken by the sunrise. Exploring the palace, she begins to unlock years of fear that have tormented and silenced a kingdom. Lo-Melkhiin was not always a cruel ruler. Something went wrong.

Far away, in their village, her sister is mourning. Through her pain, she calls upon the desert winds, conjuring a subtle unseen magic, and something besides death stirs the air.

Back at the palace, the words she speaks to Lo-Melkhiin every night are given a strange life of their own. Little things, at first: a dress from home, a vision of her sister. With each tale she spins, her power grows. Soon she dreams of bigger, more terrible magic: power enough to save a king, if she can put an end to the rule of a monster.


The cover is sooooo pretty! Plus, I love a good retelling so I can't want to get my hands on this.

What are you waiting on this week?

Blog Tour (Review & Giveaway): Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran by Marion Grace Woolley

Title: Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran
Author: Marion Grace Woolley
Publisher: Ghostwood Books
Release Date: February 14, 2015
Acquired Via: TLC Book Tours
It begins with a rumour, an exciting whisper. Anything to break the tedium of the harem for the Shah’s eldest daughter. People speak of a man with a face so vile it would make a hangman faint, but a voice as sweet as an angel’s kiss. A master of illusion and stealth. A masked performer, known only as Vachon. For once, the truth will outshine the tales.

On her eleventh birthday, Afsar’s uncle tries to molest her, and her father, the Shah, gifts her a circus. With the circus comes a man who will change everything. Inspired by Gaston LeRoux’s The Phantom of the Opera, Marion Grace Woolley takes us on forbidden adventures through a time that has been written out of history books.

Praise

“A sumptuous dark treat of a novel, will keep you shocked and enthralled until the very last page.” – Will Davis, author of The Trapeze Artist

“Rising from the cracks and hints in Gaston Leroux’s classic, Those Rosy Hours delivers a striking and glorious original historical fantasy that sings across time from the heart of a lost empire.” – David Southwell, author of The Phoenix Guide to Strange England: Hookland

“…evocative and gripping. I missed several tube stops thanks to my immersion in [Those Rosy Hours]…” – Kate Harrad, author of All Lies and Jest

“Disquieting and enchanting.” – Peter Dawes, USA Today best-selling author of Pandora

My Review

I haven't written a negative review in a really long time, and, unfortunately, this is going to to be one. Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran was rife with gratuitous violenc and demented individuals, but lacking in characters that I cared anything about. The writing was not awful, but neither did it pull me into the story.

Review: A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas

Title: A Wicked Thing (A Wicked Thing #1)
Author: Rhiannon Thomas
Publisher: HarperTeen (HarperCollins)
Release Date: February 24, 2015
Acquired Via: Around the World ARC Tours
A spinning wheel.
A prick of a finger.
A Terrible curse.

One hundred years after falling asleep, Princess Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince and a broken kingdom that has been dreaming of her return. All the books say that she should be living happily ever after. But as Aurora understands all too well, the truth is nothing like the fairy tale.

Her family is long dead. Her "true love" is a kind stranger. And her whole life has been planned out by political foes while she slept. Everyone expects Aurora to marry her betrothed and restore magic and peace to the kingdom before revolution tears it apart. But after a lifetime spent locked in a tower for her own safety, Aurora longs for the freedom to make her own choices. When she meets a handsome rebel, she is tempted to abandon everything for a different kind of life.

As Aurora struggles to make sense of her new world, she begins to fear that the curse has left its mark on her, a fiery and dangerous thing that might be as wicked as the witch who once ensnared her. With her wedding day drawing near, Aurora must make the ultimate decision on how to save her kingdom: marry the prince or run.

A Wicked Thing is a surprising, spellbinding reimagining of what happens after happily ever after.

My Review

Rhiannon Thomas' A Wicked Thing is the biggest surprise for me so far in 2015. The story follows Aurora, the sleeping beauty, one hundred years after she fell asleep. It was handled in a way that surprised me (see, I said it again) because I was expecting a sappy romance or something with a lot of self-hatred because of the alleged wickedness. Then again, it may because I've read a really wonderful Sleeping Beauty retelling, and I was afraid that it would never compare. (It was different enough that it did.)

Waiting on Wednesday (89): Monstrous by MarcyKate Connolly

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.



Title: Monstrous
Author: MarcyKate Connolly
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
Release Date: February 10, 2015
The city of Bryre suffers under the magic of an evil wizard. Because of his curse, girls sicken and disappear without a trace, and Bryre’s inhabitants live in fear. No one is allowed outside after dark.

Yet night is the only time that Kymera can enter this dangerous city, for she must not be seen by humans. Her father says they would not understand her wings, the bolts in her neck, or her spiky tail—they would kill her. They would not understand that she was created for a purpose: to rescue the girls of Bryre.

Despite her caution, a boy named Ren sees Kym and begins to leave a perfect red rose for her every evening. As they become friends, Kym learns that Ren knows about the missing girls, the wizard, and the evil magic that haunts Bryre.

And what he knows will change Kym’s life.


This sounds like it was written just for me! Curses and beastly girls! I just love a good Beauty and the Beast retelling, especially one mixed with Frankenstein and has the girl as the beast.

What are you waiting on this week?

Waiting on Wednesday (67): Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.



Title: Princess of Thorns
Author: Stacey Jay
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: December 9, 2014
Game of Thrones meets the Grimm's fairy tales in this twisted, fast-paced romantic fantasy-adventure about Sleeping Beauty's daughter, a warrior princess who must fight to reclaim her throne.

Though she looks like a mere mortal, Princess Aurora is a fairy blessed with enhanced strength, bravery, and mercy yet cursed to destroy the free will of any male who kisses her. Disguised as a boy, she enlists the help of the handsome but also cursed Prince Niklaas to fight legions of evil and free her brother from the ogre queen who stole Aurora's throne ten years ago.

Will Aurora triumph over evil and reach her brother before it's too late? Can Aurora and Niklaas break the curses that will otherwise forever keep them from finding their one true love?


I would have wanted to read this one regardless because it is fantasy and involves a curse. But I HAVE to read it because it's a YA fantasy standalone - almost unheard of.

What are you waiting on this week?

Early Review: Winterspell by Claire Legrand

Title: Winterspell
Author: Claire Legrand
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Acquired Via: Edelweiss
Release Date: September 30, 2014
The clock chimes midnight, a curse breaks, and a girl meets a prince . . . but what follows is not all sweetness and sugarplums.

New York City, 1899. Clara Stole, the mayor's ever-proper daughter, leads a double life. Since her mother's murder, she has secretly trained in self-defense with the mysterious Drosselmeyer.

Then, on Christmas Eve, disaster strikes.

Her home is destroyed, her father abducted--by beings distinctly not human. To find him, Clara journeys to the war-ravaged land of Cane. Her only companion is the dethroned prince Nicholas, bound by a wicked curse. If they're to survive, Clara has no choice but to trust him, but his haunted eyes burn with secrets--and a need she can't define. With the dangerous, seductive faery queen Anise hunting them, Clara soon realizes she won't leave Cane unscathed--if she leaves at all.

Inspired by The Nutcracker, Winterspell is a dark, timeless fairy tale about love and war, longing and loneliness, and a girl who must learn to live without fear.

My Review

I picked up Winterspell because the connection to The Nutcracker was intriguing and I had never read anything by Claire Legrand. I was expecting a light fantasy based on fairies and a little magic, but I got so much more than that.

Audiobook Review: Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen

Title: Scarlet (Scarlet #1)
Author: A. C. Gaughen
Narrator: Helen Stern
Publisher: Walker Childrens (Bloomsbury)
Acquired Via: Purchase
Release Date: February 14, 2012
Many readers know the tale of Robin Hood, but they will be swept away by this new version full of action, secrets, and romance.

Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in.

It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for.

My Review

Scarlet is the best book I’ve read so far this year! It’s sad that I almost didn't even read it. The first time I tried to read this, I put it down probably without finishing the first chapter. I think I’ve figured out that I don’t like books written in dialect. It's the same reason that I couldn't get through Blood Red Road (maybe I'll get that on Audible now, too), even though I know that a lot of people love it. So I decided to try it on Audible, because I wouldn't have to read the dialect, just listen to it. Best. Decision. Ever.

Blog Tour (Excerpt & Giveaway): Miss Darcy Decides by Reina M. Williams

Title: Miss Darcy Decides (Love at Pemberley #2)
Author: Reina M. Williams
Release Date: January 22, 2014
Miss Darcy Decides is a light, sweet Pride and Prejudice novella, book two in the Love at Pemberley series.

While visiting a young woman—who was not so fortunate as Miss Georgiana Darcy in escaping the persuasions of a rogue—Georgiana meets Sir Camden Sutton, whose reputation causes Georgiana to wonder as to his motives. Her wondering soon turns to a different feeling when Sir Camden comes to stay at Pemberley, showing himself to be a very different man than was rumored. While Sir Camden struggles with his past and his commitment to his future, as well as the ill intentions of haughty Caroline Bingley, Miss Darcy must decide whether to listen to others, or the words written on her heart.

Buy Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo


About the Author

Review: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Title: Dorothy Must Die (Dorothy Must Die #1)
Author: Danielle Paige
Publisher: HarperTeen (HarperCollins)
Acquired Via: Around the World ARC Tours
Release Date: April 1, 2014
I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.

But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little bluebirds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still a yellow brick road—but even that's crumbling.

What happened?

Dorothy. They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas.

I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.

I've been trained to fight.

And I have a mission.

My Review

Dorothy Must Die is one of those books that I was aware of but never really intended to read because of my insane schedule. However, I read the first few chapters on Epic Reads back in March, and I was hooked. I loved Amy's sass and snark, and I wanted to see how she would fare in Oz with her attitude. Sadly, Dorothy Must Die was not the book that I assumed it would be based on the excerpt. (I only read the first three chapters - I never went to the other sites.) It lacked the sarcasm and self-deprecation that was hinted at in the beginning of the book. I'm not saying that Dorothy Must Die was a bad book - it wasn't - it was just not what I was anticipating or wanted to read. There were some inconsistencies in character behavior, but I am willing to write those off as rookie mistakes. (Just so you know I'm being fair and not just going by an unfinished copy, I bought and read the finished version.)

Review (Epic Recs): The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd

Since January, I've been doing Epic Recs with Becca of I'm Lost in Books. (She read and reviewed Cinder by Marissa Meyer at my suggestion.) Here is my teensy bit late review for February.



Title: The Madman's Daughter (The Madman's Daughter #1)
Author: Megan Shepherd
Narrator: Lucy Rayner
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Acquired Via: Personal Collection
Release Date: January 29, 2013
In the darkest places, even love is deadly.

Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.

Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father's madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island's inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius—and madness—in her own blood.

Inspired by H. G. Wells's classic The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Madman's Daughter is a dark and breathless Gothic thriller about the secrets we'll do anything to know and the truths we'll go to any lengths to protect.

My Review

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd is a difficult book for me to review. It's one that was not a bad book, just not something that swept me off of my feet. I think this may be a problem that I have sometimes with reimaginings that are infused with quite a bit of romance. And, truth be told, I don't have a lot of luck with YA horror. That being said, The Madman's Daughter is a reworked classic that stands well on its own.

Review: Prince of Shadows by Rachel Caine

Title: Prince of Shadows
Author: Rachel Caine
Publisher: NAL
Acquired Via: First to Read
Release Date: February 4, 2014
In the Houses of Montague and Capulet, there is only one goal: power. The boys are born to fight and die for honor and—if they survive—marry for influence and money, not love. The girls are assets, to be spent wisely. Their wishes are of no import. Their fates are written on the day they are born.

Benvolio Montague, cousin to Romeo, knows all this. He expects to die for his cousin, for his house, but a spark of rebellion still lives inside him. At night, he is the Prince of Shadows, the greatest thief in Verona—and he risks all as he steals from House Capulet. In doing so, he sets eyes on convent-bound Rosaline, and a terrible curse begins that will claim the lives of many in Verona…

…And will rewrite all their fates, forever.

My Review

I requested this book because it was written by Rachel Caine and looked like historical fiction. I really wish I would have read the blurb before I requested it. I didn’t realize that it was a retelling of Romeo and Juliet. If I had, I would not have requested it. I don’t consider Romeo and Juliet romantic; I think they were idiots. Apart from my initial struggle and dread at the beginning of the book, I enjoyed the book for the most part.

Review: Black Spring by Alison Croggon

Title: Black Spring
Author: Alison Croggon
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Acquired Via: Around the World ARC Tours
Release Date (US): August 27, 2013
In a savage land sustained by wizardry and ruled by vendetta, Lina is the enchanting but willful daughter of a village lord. She and her childhood companion, Damek, have grown up privileged and spoiled, and they’re devoted to each other to the point of obsession. But Lina’s violet eyes betray her for a witch, and witches are not tolerated in a brutally patriarchal society. Her rank protects her from persecution, but it cannot protect her from tragedy and heartbreak. An innocent visitor stands witness to the devastation that ensues as destructive longing unleashes Lina’s wrath, and with it her forbidden power. Whether drawn by the romantic, the magical, or the gothic, readers will be irresistibly compelled by the passion of this tragic tale.

Inspired by the gothic classic Wuthering Heights, this stunning new fantasy from the author of The Books of Pellinor is a fiercely romantic tale of betrayal and vengeance.

My Review

Promises of a willful daughter, wizardry, and vendettas brought me to Black Spring by Alison Croggon. I've never read Wuthering Heights because everyone says I should, but the idea of a retelling excited me nonetheless. Sadly, I found Black Spring to be a very dull and unsatisfying read. I was nearly convinced to give up on the book about five pages in, but I enforced my fifty page rule. Thankfully, the narration of poor little rich boy, Hammel, did not last long. The majority of the story was told by Anna, the best friend and servant of the doomed Lina.

Cover Reveal (Excerpt & Giveaway): Such Sweet Sorrow by Jenny Trout

Today Jenny Trout and Entangled Teen are revealing the cover for SUCH SWEET SORROW, which releases on February 4, 2014. Also enter below for a paperback of the book or an eBook!



Title: Such Sweet Sorrow
Author: Jenny Trout
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Release Date: February, 2014
Never was there a tale of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo…But true love never dies. Though they’re parted by the veil between the world of mortals and the land of the dead, Romeo believes he can restore Juliet to life, but he’ll have to travel to the underworld with a thoroughly infuriating guide.

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, may not have inherited his father’s crown, but the murdered king left his son a much more important responsibility—a portal to the Afterjord, where the souls of the dead reside. When the determined Romeo asks for help traversing the treacherous Afterjord, Hamlet sees an opportunity for adventure, and the chance to avenge his father’s death.

In an underworld filled with leviathan monsters, ghoulish shades, fire giants and fierce Valkyrie warriors, Hamlet and Romeo must battle their way through jealousy, despair, and their darkest fears to rescue the fair damsel. Yet finding Juliet is only the beginning, and the Afterjord doesn’t surrender souls without a price…

Excerpt

Prologue
Two figures, both alike in stature and purpose, ducked beneath a bridge in Verona. The swollen river made mud of its banks. The men slid and fought against it, their torches flickering.

"Let's turn back, Romeo," Friar Laurence urged, pushing down the hood of his rough brown robe. "Can we not let poor Juliet rest in peace?"

The younger man fixed his friend with a critical eye. "Peace? My Juliet knows no peace, only eternal torment. She took her own life, and that is my fault."

Review: Splintered by A.G. Howard

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

Title: Splintered
Author: A.G. Howard
Publisher: Amulet (ABRAMS)
Release Date: January 1, 2013
Acquired Via: Krazy Book Lady
My Review

As far as Writing goes, Splintered was a very easy read that had many of the same qualities of the classic work to which it pays homage. It does not have the scope of oddities and poetry as Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass, but A.G. Howard does plant poetry that plays off nursery rhymes and other bits of the classic story. Many of Carroll's original characters emerge in the story, but they are used in such a way that they are utterly unique creations. Anything more that I could share would potentially be a spoiler, and this is a book you do not want to have spoiled in the slightest.

Promo & Giveaway: Mystic City by Theo Lawrence

For fans of Matched, The Hunger Games, X-Men, and Blade Runner comes a tale of a magical city divided, a political rebellion ignited, and a love that was meant to last forever. Book One of the Mystic City Novels.

Aria Rose, youngest scion of one of Mystic City's two ruling rival families, finds herself betrothed to Thomas Foster, the son of her parents' sworn enemies. The union of the two will end the generations-long political feud—and unite all those living in the Aeries, the privileged upper reaches of the city, against the banished mystics who dwell below in the Depths. But Aria doesn't remember falling in love with Thomas; in fact, she wakes one day with huge gaps in her memory. And she can't conceive why her parents would have agreed to unite with the Fosters in the first place. Only when Aria meets Hunter, a gorgeous rebel mystic from the Depths, does she start to have glimmers of recollection—and to understand that he holds the key to unlocking her past. The choices she makes can save or doom the city—including herself.

You can check out my review of Mystic City HERE.

Review: Mystic City by Theo Lawrence

Title: Mystic City
Author: Theo Lawrence
Publisher: Delacorte Press (Random House)
Release Date: October 9, 2012
Acquired Via: Random Buzzers
Mystic City is the young adult debut novel by Theo Lawrence. It is set in an alternate Manhattan, or Mystic City, that has been built up by magic from the mystics, who are now drained and forced to live at the flooded ground level with the poor in their own semi-quarantined zone. The story centers on Aria Rose, the daughter of one of the ruling families of Manhattan, who is suffering from memory loss due to an overdose from Stic.

As many of you may have noticed by now, I have a pretty eclectic taste in books. I don't even know when I pick one up whether or not it will be for me. I was actually a little worried about this one when I received the ARC. I liked Romeo and Juliet (I've read books comparing the two, and the comparison is made in the book itself) just fine, but Shakespeare retellings are usually gag-inducing for me. I usually don't do well with love triangles, politics, forbidden romances, and so on. However, I really loved this book, and read it in less than 12 hours.

The Writing of Mystic City is a perfect example of what I have grown to love so much about young adult literature. I never felt like I was participating in a literary triathlon by trying to follow the story, but at the same time it never felt like it was dumbed down appeal to teenage readers. (I know not all YA books do that, but there are some. Oh yes, there are some.) Many of the same themes are present in Mystic City that were also part of Romeo and Juliet (warring families, forbidden love - basically the same things I mentioned before, except for the love triangle), but the novel was not just a fleshing out of the bones of the play. I would call it more of an homage than a retelling.