Teaser Tuesdays (8) - Black City by Elizabeth Richards

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
To participate, do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the Title and Author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"We have all faced difficult challenges as we've struggled to rebuild our great nation after the war ended almost one year ago, and no one has suffered more than the people of this city. The Sentry government understands this better than anyone, and we've allowed many misdeeds to go unpunished in our efforts to make this transition easier for you. However, the time for leniency is over."

-- Black City by Elizabeth Richards

Page 50 (ARC)

Release Date: November 13, 2012

G.P. Putnam's Sons (Penguin)

Available to Preorder
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Fishpond

Fall Into Fantasy Giveaway Hop (INT)

Welcome to my stop on the Fall Into Fantasy Giveaway Hop hosted by the fantastical blogs, I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and The Write Path!
I am super excited about this hop because fantasy was my favorite genre growing up, and there were actually times that I ran out of books to read. Let me tell you that it is a horrible feeling, and I hope you never experience it.My very favorite author until I finally got Tolkien in my teen years was Piers Anthony. My mom introduced his books to me while we were on vacation, and I had run out of books to read.

What You Can Win

I started out with Mr. Anthony's Xanth novels (though all of his books are fantastic), and that's what you can win today. You will get to choose any one Xanth novel, but I ask that we do the paperback version. These books are completely safe for readers of all ages, and they also stand alone.

Giveaway Requirements

• Be thirteen (13) years old, have parental consent, or lie about it. (Please don't do that.)
•  Live somewhere that can get shipments from Amazon, Fishpond, or the Book Depository for free.
• Be Awesome (and fill out the Rafflecopter).
• Following is NOT required, but it is always appreciated. Your options are on my sidebar, but I will tell you that I am yet to figure out Linky.
• You can help me spread the word, but it isn't required either.

Review: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: The Raven Boys
Author: Maggie Stiefvater Publisher: Scholastic
Release Date: September 18, 2012
Acquired Via: Southern Book Bloggers
The Raven Boys is the latest novel from popular young adult novelist, Maggie Stiefvater. It tells the story of Blue Sargent, who lives with her mother in a household of psychics, and four boys who attend Aglionby Academy - Gansey, Adam, Ronan, and Noah. Blue has always been told that her true love would die if she ever kissed him, but she did not know that the first ghost she would ever see belonged to someone who hasn't died.

Even though I've never been a fan of Maggie Stiefvater, there is no denying the beautiful style of her Writing - especially in The Raven Boys. We're given a lovely blend of mysteries, ghosts, leylines, Welsh mythology, brotherhood, and just a touch of romance. The storytelling and writing is smooth, though luscious, and will appeal to both teen and crossover adult audiences. I can also see it appealing just as much to male teens with the novel centering more on mystery and mythology than the romantic aspect of things.

October New Release Giveaway Hop (INT)

Welcome to my stop on the October New Release Giveaway Hop! It is being hosted by the magnificent O'Dell at Book Twirps and the glorious Dani at Refracted Light Reviews. It is very awesome of them to host the hop, because I cannot imagine how much work it requires. Shall we send them special e-hugs?

What You Can Win

Just so you know, I'm letting your choose which book you win, granted that it's less than $15US. The above collage is just some suggestions.

The Giveaway

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.

Blog Tour (Guest Post): The Reluctant Bachelorette

Unknowingly cast as the bachelorette for her town’s charity event, Taycee Emerson wants out. Especially when she discovers her old teenage crush, Luke Carney, is one of the bachelors and it's up to the viewers--not her--to decide which bachelors stay or go.

Coerced into participating, Taycee does what any self-preserving girl would do. She launches a subtle attack on Luke’s good name with the hope of getting him voted off the show. Unfortunately, Luke's an eye-for-an-eye kind of guy, and when he discovers what she's up to, it means revenge.

But when their pranks go south, will they screw up any chance they have at a future together, or will they be able to forgive and forget and prove that love really does conquer all?

The Date That Never Ends
by Rachael Renee Anderson
You know that song, "This Is the Song That Never Ends?" Get that firmly, annoyingly stuck in your mind, and you'll know how I felt the day of my senior prom. It was like a blind date, because I didn't know the guy who asked me. I guess a friend suggested my name, and my date followed through with it. But seriously, who takes a blind date to senior prom? Wouldn't you want to make sure you had a connection with someone first? It's not exactly a cheap date. Well, apparently my date didn't care. I could have turned him down, I know, but I had been trained by my sweetheart of a mother to always say yes--at least for a first date. So I did. With trepidation.

Book Blast (Giveaway): Gallagher's Hope by MK McClintock

Gallagher's Hope
by MK McClintock

She sought a new beginning.

He sought what he didn’t know was missing.

Together they would discover hope in unlikely places.

Isabelle Rousseu must escape New Orleans and the memory of her family’s tragic loss. With her younger brother in tow, she accepts a position as the new schoolteacher in Briarwood, Montana. Desperate to keep what’s left of her family together, Isabelle joins her life with a stranger only to discover that trust and hope go hand in hand.

Gabriel Gallagher lived each day as it came believing he had everything he could possibly want...until a determined woman and her brother arrive with a little luggage and a lot of secrets.

It will take a drastic choice to protect her and give them both, hope for the future.

Teasers

Excerpt One:

Nothing existed of the life she had known.