Mini-Reviews

Another Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn

I wasn't really sure what to expect with this one, but what I got was dark, twisted, and riveting. I first heard about this one on the TeaTime weekly book chat, and it lived up to my expectations. It was creepy in the right way, and I can honestly say that I was not expecting the twist at the end.

The themes that the book focused on were great. Selfishness, consequences to actions, life's purpose...okay I know I'm doing a really bad job selling them. To summarize: the book may be dark and violent, but Quinn has a purpose for all of those scenes.

Overall: It was hard to sleep after this one, but it left me with some great existential questions.

Published by HarperTeen

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Well, I knew with all the Twitter outcry that the ending was going to be brutal. I somehow managed to avoid spoilers, and I'll do so here. What I will say is that I found the ending to be emotional (I totally cried), and satisfying.

There was some great twists, some scenes that caused me to scream "why" dramatically (my cat was not impressed by my dramatics), and the exploration of relationships between the characters really kept me engaged.

Overall: A nice wrap-up for the series. Can't wait for the movie, and for whatever Roth writes next!

Published by Katherine Tegen Books

 Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

I'm so behind in this series, but everything that I've read about it has been positive. It took me a while to adjust to the writing style, but once I did I couldn't set it down. I had to know what happened to Juliette, and I wanted to learn more about The Reestablishment.

The world that she lives in isn't a good one (in fact, I actually expect it to get worse in subsequent books). She's been imprisoned and abandoned, and oh my gosh is there a steamy romance. I will be grabbing the next in the series ASAP.

Overall: I understand the hype, and love the new covers (the cover to the left is the original).

Published by HarperTeen

Stacking the Shelves (December 15)

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews! It's a way to highlight the books that everyone got throughout the week.

Won from MacTeen Books (a huge thanks!)

Cress by Marissa Meyer

Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard.

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker—unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can.

Published by Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: February 4, 2014

Purchased 

Another Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn

The spine-tingling horror of Stephen King meets an eerie mystery worthy of Sara Shepard's Pretty Little Liars series in Kate Karyus Quinn's haunting debut.

On a cool autumn night, Annaliese Rose Gordon stumbled out of the woods and into a high school party. She was screaming. Drenched in blood. Then she vanished.

A year later, Annaliese is found wandering down a road hundreds of miles away. She doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know how she got there. She only knows one thing: She is not the real Annaliese Rose Gordon.

Now Annaliese is haunted by strange visions and broken memories. Memories of a reckless, desperate wish . . . a bloody razor . . . and the faces of other girls who disappeared. Piece by piece, Annaliese's fractured memories come together to reveal a violent, endless cycle that she will never escape—unless she can unlock the twisted secrets of her past.

Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale

 When Charlotte Kinder treats herself to a two-week vacation at Austenland, she happily leaves behind her ex-husband and his delightful new wife, her ever-grateful children, and all the rest of her real life in America. She dons a bonnet and stays at a country manor house that provides an immersive Austen experience, complete with gentleman actors who cater to the guests' Austen fantasies.

Everyone at Pembrook Park is playing a role, but increasingly, Charlotte isn't sure where roles end and reality begins. And as the parlor games turn a little bit menacing, she finds she needs more than a good corset to keep herself safe. Is the brooding Mr. Mallery as sinister as he seems? What is Miss Gardenside's mysterious ailment? Was that an actual dead body in the secret attic room? And-perhaps of the most lasting importance-could the stirrings in Charlotte's heart be a sign of real-life love?

The follow-up to reader favorite Austenland provides the same perfectly plotted pleasures, with a feisty new heroine, plenty of fresh and frightening twists, and the possibility of a romance that might just go beyond the proper bounds of Austen's world. How could it not turn out right in the end?

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

 Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people. Piecing together the tiniest details, she can tell you who you are and what you want. But it’s not a skill that she’s ever taken seriously. That is, until the FBI come knocking: they’ve begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie.

What Cassie doesn’t realize is that there’s more at risk than a few unsolved homicides— especially when she’s sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own.

Sarcastic, privileged Michael has a knack for reading emotions, which he uses to get inside Cassie’s head—and under her skin. Brooding Dean shares Cassie’s gift for profiling, but keeps her at arm’s length.

Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms closer than Cassie could ever have imagined. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive.