Something Strange and Deadly Book Club Week 4

Aww, it's the final week of the Something Strange and Deadly Book Club! I wish it could just go on forever hehe. Almost makes me want to organise something myself. Maybe in the holidays... Anyway, this week's question:

“‘Eleanor, you have a choice,’ [Jie] said softly. ‘You always have a choice’” (p. 166, Something Strange & Deadly)

How do you think this quote relates to the overall theme of Something Strange and Deadly? Do you think Eleanor behaves as if she has a choice at the start of the book? What about at the end of the book? And do other characters behave as if they have a choice or do some see themselves as victims of circumstance?

ARC Review: The Returned by Jason Mott

Title: The Returned
Author: Jason Mott
Genre: Adult, Paranormal Fantasy
Release Date: 27 August, 2013
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Goodreads | The Reading Room

Jacob was time out of sync, time more perfect than it had been. He was life the way it was supposed to be all those years ago. That's what all the Returned were.

Harold and Lucille Hargrave's lives have been both joyful and sorrowful in the decades since their only son, Jacob, died tragically at his eighth birthday party in 1966. In their old age they've settled comfortably into life without him, their wounds tempered through the grace of time ... Until one day Jacob mysteriously appears on their doorstep—flesh and blood, their sweet, precocious child, still eight years old.

All over the world people's loved ones are returning from beyond. No one knows how or why this is happening, whether it's a miracle or a sign of the end. Not even Harold and Lucille can agree on whether the boy is real or a wondrous imitation, but one thing they know for sure: he's their son. As chaos erupts around the globe, the newly reunited Hargrave family finds itself at the center of a community on the brink of collapse, forced to navigate a mysterious new reality and a conflict that threatens to unravel the very meaning of what it is to be human.

With spare, elegant prose and searing emotional depth, award-winning poet Jason Mott explores timeless questions of faith and morality, love and responsibility. A spellbinding and stunning debut, The Returned is an unforgettable story that marks the arrival of an important new voice in contemporary fiction.

Review by Nara

ARC Review: Thin Space by Jody Casella

Title: Thin Space
Author: Jody Casella
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Fantasy
Release Date: 10th September, 2013
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Goodreads | The Reading Room

Ever since the car accident that killed his twin brother, Marshall Windsor has been consumed with guilt and crippled by secrets of that fateful night. He has only one chance to make amends, to right his wrongs and set things right. He must find a Thin Space—a mythical point where the barrier between this world and the next is thin enough for a person to step through to the other side. 

But, when a new girl moves into the house next door, the same house Marsh is sure holds a thin space, she may be the key—or the unraveling of all his secrets.

As they get closer to finding a thin space—and closer to each other—Marsh must decide once and for all how far he’s willing to go to right the wrongs of the living…and the dead.

Review by Nara

Review: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon (Chantelle)

Title: The Bone Season (The Bone Season #1)
Author: Samantha Shannon
Genre: Fantasy

Goodreads rating: 3.88 out of 5.00 (710+ ratings)
Goodreads | The Book Depository |


It is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing.

But when Paige is captured and arrested, she encounters a power more sinister even than Scion. The voyant prison is a separate city—Oxford, erased from the map two centuries ago and now controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. These creatures, the Rephaim, value the voyants highly—as soldiers in their army.

Paige is assigned to a Rephaite keeper, Warden, who will be in charge of her care and training. He is her master. Her natural enemy. But if she wants to regain her freedom, Paige will have to learn something of his mind and his own mysterious motives.

Review by Chantelle

ARC Review: Earth Star by Janet Edwards

Title: Earth Star (Earth Girl #2)
Author: Janet Edwards
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Release Date: 1st September, 2013 (Aus)
Source: HarperCollins Australia. Thank you!!
Goodreads | The Reading Room

18-year-old Jarra has a lot to prove. After being awarded one of the military’s highest honours for her role in a daring rescue attempt, Jarra finds herself – and her Ape status – in the spotlight. Jarra is one of the unlucky few born with an immune system that cannot survive on other planets. Derided as an ‘ape’ – a ‘throwback’ – by the rest of the universe, Jarra is on a mission to prove that Earth Girls are just as good as anyone else.

Except now the planet she loves is under threat by what could be humanity’s first ever alien contact. Jarra’s bravery – and specialist knowledge – will once again be at the centre of the maelstrom, but will the rest of the universe consider Earth worth fighting for?

Review by Nara

Review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas

Title: Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2)
Author: Sarah J Maas
Genre: Young Adult, High Fantasy
Release Date: 21 August, 2013 (Australia)
Source: Bloomsbury Sydney. Thank you!!
Goodreads | The Reading Room

Eighteen-year-old Celaena Sardothien is bold, daring and beautiful – the perfect seductress and the greatest assassin her world has ever known. But though she won the King’s contest and became his champion, Celaena has been granted neither her liberty nor the freedom to follow her heart. The slavery of the suffocating salt mines of Endovier that scarred her past is nothing compared to a life bound to her darkest enemy, a king whose rule is so dark and evil it is near impossible to defy. Celaena faces a choice that is tearing her heart to pieces: kill in cold blood for a man she hates, or risk sentencing those she loves to death. Celaena must decide what she will fight for: survival, love or the future of a kingdom. Because an assassin cannot have it all . . . And trying to may just destroy her.

Love or loathe Celaena, she will slice open your heart with her dagger and leave you bleeding long after the last page of the highly anticipated sequel in what is undeniably THE hottest new fantasy series.

Review by Nara

Book Discussion: Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Title: Forbidden
Author: Tabitha Suzuma
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Fiction

Goodreads rating: 4.07 out of 5.00 (12, 230+ ratings)
Goodreads | The Book Depository |

She is pretty and talented - sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But... they are brother and sister.

Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As defacto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives—and the way they understand each other so completely—has also also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right. As the novel careens toward an explosive and shocking finale, only one thing is certain: a love this devastating has no happy ending.

Review by Chantelle

PANACEA CANDIDATE

Discussion: Predictability in Books

Before I start this discussion, I have to let you know that I read a LOT of books (about a book every day or two). Maybe it's because of the sheer volume of books that I read, but I find that not many young adult books these days really, truly surprise me. But is this a good thing or a bad thing?

A to Z Survey: Nara

I'm sure you all know about the A to Z survey already! It's been circulating in the blogging world recently and was the idea of Jamie from The Perpetual Page Turner. So without further ado, my answers:

ARC Review: All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill (Nara)

Title: All Our Yesterdays
Author: Cristin Terrill
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Release Date: 1 August, 2013 (UK/ANZ), 3 September, 2013 (US)
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Goodreads | The Book Depository | Amazon

A brilliantly brain-warping thriller and a love story that leaps back and forth in time - All Our Yesterdays is an amazing first novel, perfect for fans of The Hunger Games.

Em is locked in a bare, cold cell with no comforts. Finn is in the cell next door. The Doctor is keeping them there until they tell him what he wants to know. Trouble is, what he wants to know hasn't happened yet.

Em and Finn have a shared past, but no future unless they can find a way out. The present is torture - being kept apart, overhearing each other's anguish as the Doctor relentlessly seeks answers. There's no way back from here, to what they used to be, the world they used to know. Then Em finds a note in her cell which changes everything. It's from her future self and contains some simple but very clear instructions. Em must travel back in time to avert a tragedy that's about to unfold. Worse, she has to pursue and kill the boy she loves to change the future.

Review by Nara

Beat the Heat Read-a-Thon Progress Post

Well, it's been a while since the read-a-thon started, but here's our progress so far!

Waiting on Wednesday: September Books

Time for Nara's monthly Waiting on Wednesday post. Without further ado, here are the top two September release titles that I can't wait for!

Review: The Weight of Souls by Bryony Pearce

Title: The Weight of Souls
Author: Bryony Pearce
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Fantasy
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Goodreads | The Reading Room

Sixteen year old Taylor Oh is cursed: if she is touched by the ghost of a murder victim then they pass a mark beneath her skin. She has three weeks to find their murderer and pass the mark to them – letting justice take place and sending them into the Darkness. And if she doesn’t make it in time? The Darkness will come for her…

She spends her life trying to avoid ghosts, make it through school where she’s bullied by popular Justin and his cronies, keep her one remaining friend, and persuade her father that this is real and that she’s not going crazy.

But then Justin is murdered and everything gets a whole lot worse. Justin doesn’t know who killed him, so there’s no obvious person for Taylor to go after. The clues she has lead her to the V Club, a vicious secret society at her school where no one is allowed to leave… and where Justin was dared to do the stunt which led to his death.

Can she find out who was responsible for his murder before the Darkness comes for her? Can she put aside her hatred for her former bully to truly help him?

And what happens if she starts to fall for him?

Review by Nara

ARC Review: All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill (Chantelle)

Title: All Our Yesterdays
Author: Cristin Terrill
Genre: Young Adult Thriller, Science Fiction
Source: Bloomsbury Australia

Goodreads rating: 4.22 out of 5.00 (440+ ratings)
Goodreads | The Book Depository |

Em is locked in a bare, cold cell with no comforts. Finn is in the cell next door. The Doctor is keeping them there until they tell him what he wants to know. Trouble is, what he wants to know hasn't happened yet.

Em and Finn have a shared past, but no future unless they can find a way out. The present is torture - being kept apart, overhearing each other's anguish as the Doctor relentlessly seeks answers. There's no way back from here, to what they used to be, the world they used to know. Then Em finds a note in her cell which changes everything. It's from her future self and contains some simple but very clear instructions. Em must travel back in time to avert a tragedy that's about to unfold. Worse, she has to pursue and kill the boy she loves to change the future


Review by Chantelle

Discussion: Judging a Book by its Genre

We all know about judging a book by its cover (guilty!) but what about judging a book by its genre?

Review: Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

Title: Dangerous Girls
Author: Abigail Haas
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery
Release Date: August 1, 2013
Source: Simon&Schuster Australia. Thank you!
Goodreads | The Book Depository

It's Spring Break of senior year. Anna, her boyfriend Tate, her best friend Elise, and a few other close friends are off to a debaucherous trip to Aruba that promises to be the time of their lives. But when Elise is found brutally murdered, Anna finds herself trapped in a country not her own, fighting against vile and contemptuous accusations. As Anna sets out to find her friend's killer; she discovers hard truths about her friendships, the slippery nature of truth, and the ache of young love.

As she awaits the judge's decree, it becomes clear that everyone around her thinks she is not just guilty, but dangerous. When the truth comes out, it is more shocking than one could ever imagine...

Review by Nara

Blog Tour: The Fairest of Them All by Carolyn Turgeon

Title: The Fairest of Them All
Author: Carolyn Turgeon
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Source: Publisher as part of the blog tour
Release Date: August 6, 2013
Goodreads

What if Rapunzel was Snow White’s evil stepmother? From the author of Godmother and Mermaid, The Fairest of Them All explores what happens when fairy tale heroines grow up and don’t live happily ever after.

Living in an enchanted forest, Rapunzel spends her days tending a mystical garden with her adoptive mother, Mathena. A witch, Mathena was banished from court because of her magic powers, though the women from the kingdom still seek her advice and herbal remedies. She waits, biding her time to exact revenge against those who betrayed her.

One day Rapunzel’s beautiful voice and long golden locks captivate a young prince hunting in the forest nearby. Overcome, he climbs her hair up to her chamber and they fall into each other’s arms. But their afternoon of passion is fleeting, and the prince must return to his kingdom, as he is betrothed to another.

Now king, he marries his intended to bring peace to his kingdom. They have a stunning daughter named Snow White. Yet the king is haunted by his memories of Rapunzel, and after the mysterious death of his wife, realizes he is free to marry the woman he never stopped longing for. In hopes of also replacing the mother of his beloved daughter, the king makes Rapunzel his queen.

But when Mathena’s wedding gift of an ancient mirror begins speaking to her, Rapunzel falls under its evil spell, and the king begins to realize that Rapunzel is not the beautiful, kind woman he dreamed of.

Review by Nara and Chantelle

Book Discussion: Losing Hope by Colleen Hoover

Title: Losing Hope (Hopeless #2)
Author: Colleen Hoover
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Goodreads

In the follow-up to Colleen Hoover’s #1 New York Times bestseller Hopeless, the charming and irresistible Dean Holder tells the passionate story that has melted thousands of hearts.

In Hopeless, Sky left no secret unearthed, no feeling unshared, and no memory forgotten, but Holder’s past remained a mystery.

Still haunted by the little girl he let walk away, Holder has spent his entire life searching for her in an attempt to finally rid himself of the crushing guilt he has felt for years. But he could not have anticipated that the moment they reconnect, even greater remorse would overwhelm him…

Sometimes in life, if we wish to move forward, we must first dig deep into our past and make amends. In Losing Hope, bestselling author Colleen Hoover reveals what was going on inside Holder’s head during all those hopeless moments—and whether he can gain the peace he desperately needs.

Review by Nara

Stacking the Shelves [12]

So, starting from this month, my Stacking the Shelves posts is going to be slightly different. On the first Saturday, I'll be posting my monthly for review ebook haul. And then physical copies on the second Saturday. Therefore, here is my ebook haul from July:

ARC Review: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon (Nara)

Title: The Bone Season (The Bone Season #1)
Author: Samantha Shannon
Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult/New Adult/Adult????
Release Date: 20th August, 2013
Source: The Reading Room reviewer program
Goodreads

It is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing.

But when Paige is captured and arrested, she encounters a power more sinister even than Scion. The voyant prison is a separate city—Oxford, erased from the map two centuries ago and now controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. These creatures, the Rephaim, value the voyants highly—as soldiers in their army.

Paige is assigned to a Rephaite keeper, Warden, who will be in charge of her care and training. He is her master. Her natural enemy. But if she wants to regain her freedom, Paige will have to learn something of his mind and his own mysterious motives.

The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine—a young woman learning to harness her powers in a world where everything has been taken from her. It also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.

Review by Nara

Summer Giveaway Hop

Time for another giveaway! This time we'll be interviewing author Misti Parker about her novel Hearts in Exile (which we reviewed here) and we'll be giving away a copy of her book and a $10 Amazon GC, which Misti has kindly donated!