Review: Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Sinner (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #3.5)
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic
Acquired Via: ALA Las Vegas
Release Date: July 1, 2014
Sinner follows Cole St. Clair, a pivotal character from the #1 New York Times bestselling Shiver trilogy.

found.

Cole St. Clair has come to California for one reason: to get Isabel Culpeper back. She fled from his damaged, drained life, and damaged and drained it even more. He doesn't just want her. He needs her.

lost.

Isabel is trying to build herself a life in Los Angeles. It's not really working. She can play the game as well as all the other fakes. But what's the point? What is there to win?

sinner.

Cole and Isabel share a past that never seemed to have a future. They have the power to love each other and the power to tear each other apart. The only thing for certain is that they cannot let go.

My Review

I loved Stiefvater’s first book in The Wolves of Mercy Falls, Shiver, but was extremely disappointed in how she ended the series in Forever. I thought I would never read anything else by her until I read, and fell in love with, The Scorpio Races. I wasn't sure if I would read Sinner until Kayla awesomely scored me an ARC, and I held it in my hands.

Early Review (Giveaway): Famous Last Words by Katie Alender

Title: Famous Last Words
Author: Katie Alender
Publisher: Scholastic
Acquired Via: Around the World ARC Tours
Release Date: September 30, 2014
Hollywood history, mystery, murder, mayhem, and delicious romance collide in this unputdownable thriller from master storyteller Katie Alender.

Willa is freaking out. It seems like she's seeing things. Like a dead body in her swimming pool. Frantic messages on her walls. A reflection that is not her own. It's almost as if someone -- or something -- is trying to send her a message.

Meanwhile, a killer is stalking Los Angeles -- a killer who reenacts famous movie murder scenes. Could Willa's strange visions have to do with these unsolved murders? Or is she going crazy? And who can she confide in? There's Marnie, her new friend who may not be totally trustworthy. And there's Reed, who's ridiculously handsome and seems to get Willa. There's also Wyatt, who's super smart but unhealthily obsessed with the Hollywood Killer.

All Willa knows is, she has to confront the possible-ghost in her house, or she just might lose her mind . . . or her life.

Acclaimed author Katie Alender puts an unforgettable twist on this spine-chilling tale of murder, mystery, mayhem -- and the movies.

My Review

Famous Last Words was weird. Really weird. I mean, I know Katie Alender's last book - Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer - was quite strange, but Famous Last Words really takes the cake. There is a touch of paranormal in a contemporary setting, and Willa, the main character who is dealing with the loss of her father two years previous and moving to L.A. from the East Coast with her mother and movie director new stepfather.

Blog Tour (Review): Curses and Smoke by Vicky Alvear Shecter

Title: Curses and Smoke: A Novel of Pompeii
Author: Vicky Alvear Shecter
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic)
Acquired Via: Historical Fiction Blog Tours
Release Date: May 27, 2014
When your world blows apart, what will you hold onto?

TAG is a medical slave, doomed to spend his life healing his master’s injured gladiators. But his warrior’s heart yearns to fight in the gladiator ring himself and earn enough money to win his freedom.

LUCIA is the daughter of Tag’s owner, doomed by her father’s greed to marry a much older Roman man. But she loves studying the natural world around her home in Pompeii, and lately she’s been noticing some odd occurrences in the landscape: small lakes disappearing; a sulfurous smell in the air…

When the two childhood friends reconnect, each with their own longings, they fall passionately in love. But as they plot their escape from the city, a patrician fighter reveals his own plans for them — to Lucia’s father, who imprisons Tag as punishment. Then an earthquake shakes Pompeii, in the first sign of the chaos to come. Will they be able to find each other again before the volcano destroys their whole world?

My Review

I was so excited to be given the opportunity to review Curses and Smoke by Vicky Alvear Shecter because I'm always on the lookout for YA historical fiction. I loved studying Roman history in college (yes, I was lucky enough to have a class through two semesters devoted to the rise and fall of the Roman Empire), so I squeed a bit when this book popped onto my Kindle. I never once worried about the historical accuracy of Curses and Smoke - Scholastic puts out stellar books - but I did worry about how much my recent watching of the movie, Pompeii, would have on my reading. In actuality, it wasn't much except that Lucia looked like Emily Browning and Tages looked like Kit Harington. Yummy!

Book Blast (Giveaway): Curses and Smoke by Vicky Alvear Shecter

Title: Curses and Smoke: A Novel of Pompeii
Author: Vicky Alvear Shecter
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic)
Genre: YA Historical
Release Date: May 27, 2014
When your world blows apart, what will you hold onto?

TAG is a medical slave, doomed to spend his life healing his master’s injured gladiators. But his warrior’s heart yearns to fight in the gladiator ring himself and earn enough money to win his freedom.

LUCIA is the daughter of Tag’s owner, doomed by her father’s greed to marry a much older Roman man. But she loves studying the natural world around her home in Pompeii, and lately she’s been noticing some odd occurrences in the landscape: small lakes disappearing; a sulfurous smell in the air…

When the two childhood friends reconnect, each with their own longings, they fall passionately in love. But as they plot their escape from the city, a patrician fighter reveals his own plans for them — to Lucia’s father, who imprisons Tag as punishment. Then an earthquake shakes Pompeii, in the first sign of the chaos to come. Will they be able to find each other again before the volcano destroys their whole world?

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About the Author

Review: Manor of Secrets by Katherine Longshore

Title: Manor of Secrets
Author: Katherine Longshore
Publisher: Scholastic
Acquired Via: Around the World ARC Tours
Release Date: January 28, 2014
It's DOWNTON ABBEY for teens! Gorgeous gowns, handsome boys, delicious intrigue, and upstairs-downstairs drama collide in the British countryside of 1911.

At The Manor, nothing is as it seems...

Lady Charlotte Edmonds: Beautiful, wealthy, and sheltered, Charlotte feels suffocated by the strictures of upper-crust society. She longs to see the world beyond The Manor, to seek out high adventure. And most of all, romance.

Janie Seward: Fiery, hardworking, and clever, Janie knows she can be more than just a kitchen maid. But she isn't sure she possesses the courage--or the means--to break free and follow her passions.

Both Charlotte and Janie are ready for change. As their paths overlap in the gilded hallways and dark corridors of The Manor, rules are broken and secrets are revealed. Secrets that will alter the course of their lives...forever.

My Review

Oh historical fiction, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height... Okay, okay, I won't wax poetic (cut and paste poetic, rather) about Katherine Longshore's Manor of Secrets, but it's hard not to because it has everything I love about period pieces - promise of scandal, fabulous clothes, intrigue, betrayal, and swoonworthy romance. It is pretty typical of what I expect from Edwardian-era stories, but it was still enjoyable nonetheless.

Review: A Spark Unseen by Sharon Cameron

Title: A Spark Unseen (The Dark Unwinding #2)
Author: Sharon Cameron
Publisher: Scholastic
Acquired Via: Around the World ARC Tours
Release Date: September 24, 2013
The thrilling sequel to Sharon Cameron's blockbuster gothic steampunk romance, THE DARK UNWINDING, will captivate readers anew with mystery and intrigue aplenty.

When Katharine Tulman wakes in the middle of the night and accidentally foils a kidnapping attempt on her uncle, she realizes Stranwyne Keep is no longer safe for Uncle Tully and his genius inventions. She flees to Paris, where she hopes to remain undetected and also find the mysterious and handsome Lane, who is suspected to be dead.

But the search for Lane is not easy, and Katharine soon finds herself embroiled in a labyrinth of political intrigue. And with unexpected enemies and allies at every turn, Katharine will have to figure out whom she can trust--if anyone--to protect her uncle from danger once and for all.

Filled with deadly twists, whispering romance, and heart-stopping suspense, this sequel to THE DARK UNWINDING whisks readers off on another thrilling adventure.

My Review

A Spark Unseen is the sequel to to last year's The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron. Katharine Tulman has grown up a little (it's been a year or two since the events in the first book), and dear Uncle Tully is still what most people would consider to be insane. Unfortunately, an invention from the last novel proves that Uncle Tully is a genius, and two governments are after him. It becomes necessary for Katharine, Mary, and the wonderful lawyer Mr. Babcock to "kidnap" Uncle Tully, fake his death, and whisk him away from Paris. There is intrigue, murder, betrayal, bothersome neighbors, a hot French guy, and an imperial ball. Oh, and the hired help isn't as creepy by half.

Review: The Black Circle (The 39 Clues)

Title: The Black Circle (The 39 Clues, Book 5)

Author: Patrick Carman

Publisher: Scholastic

Release Date: August 11, 2009

The Black Circle is the fifth installment of the multi-author collaborative series, The 39 Clues. These middle-grade books focus on Amy and Dan Cahill's race to find the thirty-nine clues their ancestors have hidden across the world, after the death of their grandmother. This novel was written by Patrick Carman, who has written more than twenty books.

Dan, Amy, and their au pair, Nellie, are still in Cairo following Beyond the Grave. As the children search out a hidden message, they find themselves caught in a whirlwind, time sensitive mini-treasure hunt. Since they are forced to leave Nellie in Egypt, Amy and Dan find themselves in Russia at the mercy of their secret helper (who may be leading them into a trap). They must form alliances with former opponents for the clues in order to find their fifth clue before their time runs out.

I really enjoyed The Black Circle because of the extensive character development. We are given a more positive insight into the Holt family, as well as Irina's relationships with other members of the Lucian branch. I would have enjoyed seeing more of Nellie and the Kabras, but Irina Spasky and Hamilton Holt are now two of my favorite Cahills in the series. I am still in love with these books, and I began In Too Deep immediately after this one.