Read ALL THE BOOKS Update: January

If you don't know what this post is about, you can read this introduction post. Basically, I realised I have way too many unread books on my shelves, and so I'm going to try read as many of them as possible in the coming months. I'll probably continue this feature until I finish them all...but I don't know whether that will actually happen seeing as though I keep buying books. And borrowing books from the library. And requesting eARCs. Tis a problem.

My definition for "unread" either means that I haven't read the book at all, or that I haven't read that particular copy of the book (might have read it before as an eARC or something)

I honestly thought I'd be reading a bit less because of my new placement which is at a hospital which is ridiculously far away, but, yet again, I underestimated my procrastireading skills and have read a crapload of books. I suppose it's also because I've been reading less of my eARCs because I've been wanting to make a bit of a dent in my physical TBR.

Anyway, here's my update for January!

Review: Empire of Shadows by Miriam Forster

Title: Empire of Shadows (Bhinian Empire #2)
Author: Miriam Forster
Genre: Young Adult, High Fantasy
Source: HarperTeen via Edelweiss
Goodreads

Cast out of her family three years ago, Mara turned to the only place that would take her—a school where students train to protect others. But Mara is stunned when guarding a noble girl in the Empire’s capital turns out to be more dangerous than she could’ve imagined. More shocking still, she finds the boy she thought she had lost forever outside the gates of her new home.

Mara knew her life in the dizzying Imperial city would hold dangers. How could she have known that her heart, as well as her life, would be at stake?

Empire of Shadows will take readers on a spellbinding journey into the world Miriam Forster first introduced in City of a Thousand Dolls—a world with a divided society, deadly courtiers, heroic traitors, and deeply laid conspiracies.

Review by Nara

Review: Exquisite Captive by Heather Demetrios

Title: Exquisite Captive (Dark Caravan Cycle #1)
Author: Heather Demetrios
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal (Portal) Fantasy
Source: Balzer + Bray via Edelweiss
Goodreads

Forced to obey her master.
Compelled to help her enemy.
Determined to free herself.

Nalia is a jinni of tremendous ancient power, the only survivor of a coup that killed nearly everyone she loved. Stuffed into a bottle and sold by a slave trader, she’s now in hiding on the dark caravan, the lucrative jinni slave trade between Arjinna and Earth, where jinn are forced to grant wishes and obey their human masters’ every command. She’d give almost anything to be free of the golden shackles that bind her to Malek, her handsome, cruel master, and his lavish Hollywood lifestyle.

Enter Raif, the enigmatic leader of Arjinna’s revolution and Nalia’s sworn enemy. He promises to free Nalia from her master so that she can return to her ravaged homeland and free her imprisoned brother—all for an unbearably high price. Nalia’s not sure she can trust him, but Raif’s her only hope of escape. With her enemies on the hunt, Earth has become more perilous than ever for Nalia. There’s just one catch: for Raif’s unbinding magic to work, Nalia must gain possession of her bottle…and convince the dangerously persuasive Malek that she truly loves him. Battling a dark past and harboring a terrible secret, Nalia soon realizes her freedom may come at a price too terrible to pay: but how far is she willing to go for it?

Inspired by Arabian Nights, EXQUISITE CAPTIVE brings to life a deliciously seductive world where a wish can be a curse and shadows are sometimes safer than the light.

Review by Nara

Review: Love and Other Theories by Alexis Bass

Title: Love and Other Theories
Author: Alexis Bass
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Source: HarperTeen via Edelweiss
Goodreads

If you want more, you have to give less.

That’s the secret to dating in high school. By giving as little as they expect to get in return, seventeen-year-old Aubrey Housing and her three best friends have made it to the second semester of their senior year heartbreak-free. And it’s all thanks to a few simple rules: don’t commit, don’t be needy, and don’t give away your heart.

So when smoking-hot Nathan Diggs transfers to Lincoln High, it shouldn’t be a big deal. At least that’s what Aubrey tells herself. But Nathan’s new-boy charm, his kindness, and his disarming honesty throw Aubrey off her game and put her in danger of breaking the most important rule of all: Don’t fall in love.

Review by Nara

Review: The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

Title: The Darkest Part of the Forest
Author: Holly Black
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Fantasy
Source: Bookworld
Goodreads

Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.

Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.

At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.

Until one day, he does…

As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?

Review by Nara

Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award

I was tagged for this by the awesome Joy @ Thoughts by J. Thanks, Joy!

I'm pretty sure I got tagged by someone else as well, but I can't remember who I'M SO SORRY ><

Nomination Rules:
1. Thank the blogger who nominated you, linking back to their website.
2. Put the award logo on your blog.
3. Answer the ten questions they've sent you.
4. Nominate 10 other bloggers to answer 10 questions that you pose to them

Review: I Was Here by Gayle Forman

Title: I Was Here
Author: Gayle Forman
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Release Date: 1 February, 2014
Source: Simon & Schuster via NetGalley and Bookworld
Goodreads

From the bestselling author of If I Stay - this summer's YA blockbuster film.
This characteristically powerful novel follows eighteen-year-old Cody Reynolds in the months following her best friend's shocking suicide.

As Cody numbly searches for answers as to why Meg took her own life, she begins a journey of self-discovery which takes her to a terrifying precipice, and forces her to question not only her relationship with the Meg she thought she knew, but her own understanding of life, love, death and forgiveness.

A phenomenally moving story, I Was Here explores the sadly all-too-familar issue of suicide and self-harm, addressing it in an authentic way with sensitivity and honesty.

Review by Nara

So...I got back from Europe to THIS.

The Search for the Panacea is my version of a Stacking the Shelves meme.

So, I got back from Europe to a crapload of packages! Not that I'm complaining haha. To be honest, it's probably not as many books as some of you guys would have gotten in that time lol.

Anyway, inside those packages were these books (plus a couple more that I forgot to include in the photo):

Review: Top Ten Clues You're Clueless by Liz Czukas

Title: Top Ten Clues You're Clueless
Author: Liz Czukas
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Source: HarperTeen via Edelweiss
Goodreads

Top Five Things That Are Ruining Chloe’s Day

5) Working the 6:30 a.m. shift at GoodFoods Market

4) Crashing a cart into a customer’s car right in front of her snarky coworker Sammi

3) Trying to rock the “drowned rat” look after being caught in a snowstorm

2) Making zero progress with her crush, Tyson (see #3)

1) Being accused—along with her fellow teenage employees—of stealing upwards of $10,000

Chloe would rather be anywhere than locked in work jail (aka the break room) with five of her coworkers . . . even if one of them is Tyson. But if they can band together to clear their names, what looks like a total disaster might just make Chloe’s list of Top Ten Best Moments.

Review by Nara

Review: Stray by Elissa Sussman

Title: Stray
Author: Elissa Sussman
Genre: Young Adult, High Fantasy
Source: Greenwillow via Edelweiss
Goodreads

I am grateful for my father, who keeps me good and sweet. I am grateful for my mother, who keeps her own heart guarded and safe. I am grateful for my adviser, who keeps me protected. I am grateful for the Path, which keeps me pure. Ever after.

Princess Aislynn has long dreamed about attending her Introduction Ball, about dancing with the handsome suitors her adviser has chosen for her, about meeting her true love and starting her happily ever after.

When the night of the ball finally arrives and Nerine Academy is awash with roses and royalty, Aislynn wants nothing more than to dance the night away, dutifully following the Path that has been laid out for her. She does not intend to stray.

But try as she might, Aislynn has never quite managed to control the magic that burns within her-magic brought on by wicked, terrible desires that threaten the Path she has vowed to take.

After all, it is wrong to want what you do not need. Isn’t it?

Review by Nara

Review: Captive by Aimee Carter

Title: Captive (The Blackcoat Rebellion #2)
Author: Aimee Carter
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian
Source: Harlequin Australia via NetGalley
Goodreads

For the past two months, Kitty Doe's life has been a lie. Forced to impersonate the Prime Minister's niece, her frustration grows as her trust in her fake fiancé cracks, her real boyfriend is forbidden and the Blackcoats keep her in the dark more than ever.

But in the midst of discovering that her role in the Hart family may not be as coincidental as she thought, she's accused of treason and is forced to face her greatest fear: Elsewhere. A prison where no one can escape.

As one shocking revelation leads to the next, Kitty learns the hard way that she can trust no one, not even the people she thought were on her side. With her back against the wall, Kitty wants to believe she'll do whatever it takes to support the rebellion she believes in—but is she prepared to pay the ultimate price?

Review by Nara

Review: Nona and Me by Clare Atkins

Title: Nona and Me
Author: Clare Atkins
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Source: Bookworld
Goodreads

Rosie and Nona are sisters. Yapas.

They are also best friends. It doesn’t matter that Rosie is white and Nona is Aboriginal: their family connections tie them together for life.

Born just five days apart in a remote corner of the Northern Territory, the girls are inseperable, until Nona moves away at the age of nine. By the time she returns, they’re in Year 10 and things have changed. Rosie has lost interest in the community, preferring to hang out in the nearby mining town, where she goes to school with the glamorous Selena, and Selena’s gorgeous older brother Nick.

When a political announcement highlights divisions between the Aboriginal community and the mining town, Rosie is put in a difficult position: will she be forced to choose between her first love and her oldest friend?

Review by Nara

2015 Releases I Am Dying For

Obviously there are a ton of books that I'm looking forward to, but I thought I'd give you a list of some of the ones I'm most anticipating (gah it was so tough narrowing it down). 2015 is promising to be a fantastic year in books (as is every year tbh haha. Such a great time to be a reader of YA novels) and most of the novels listed will be YA.