Fall Festival: Waiting on Fall Relseases & Giveaway #4

One of the great things about fall is the huge number of amazing releases! I feel like every February/March I end up adding a ton of books to my Goodreads that are due out September-November...and I'm a super impatient person. Here are my most anticipated books of the fall (please note that the setup, for the sake of timeliness is inspired by Kristi at The Story Siren and her fabulous Books to Pine for posts): 

Relativity by Cristin Bishara - Published by Walker/Release Date: September 10 (Out Now!)

 Twinmaker by Sean Williams - Published by Balzer + Bray/Release Date: November 5

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes - Published by Disney-Hyperion/Release Date: November 5

Not A Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis - Published by Katherin Tegen Books/Release Date: September 24

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner - Published by Disney-Hyperion/Release Date: December 10, 2013

The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White - Published by HarperTeen/Release Date: September 10 (Out Now!)

Vicious by V.E. Schwab - Published by Tor/Release Date: September 24

The House of Hades by Rick Riordan - Published by Hyperion/Release Date: October 8

Beauty's Daughter by Carolyn Meyer - Published by HMH Books for Young Readers/Release Date: October 8

Hideous Love by Stephanie Hemphill - Published by Balzer + Bray/Release Date: October 1

United We Spy (Gallagher Girls #6) by Ally Carter - Published by Disney-Hyperion/Release Date: September 17 (Out Now!)

Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer by Katie Alender - Published by  Scholastic/Release Date: September 24

The Bride Wore Size 12 by Meg Cabot - Published by William Morrow/Release Date September 24

The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle 2) by Maggie Stiefvater - Published by Scholastic/Release Date: September 17 (Out Now!)

Check out Giveaway #1 and my favorite Halloween Movies here!
Check out Giveaway #2 and an author interview with Kim Askew & Amy Helmes Here!
Check out Giveaway #3 and Small-town Fall Activities here!

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Waiting on Wednesday (July 10)

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This weekly meme shares the upcoming books that I'm most excited about.

*SPOILER ALERT* The synopsis contains spoilers for the first four books. 

 The Bride Wore Size 12 (Heather Wells 5) by Meg Cabot

Heather Wells is used to having her cake and eating it too, but this time her cake just might be cooked.Her wedding cake, that is.

With her upcoming nuptials to PI Cooper Cartwright only weeks away, Heather's already stressed. And when a pretty junior turns up dead, Heather's sure things can't get worse—until every student in the dorm where she works is a possible suspect, and Heather's long-lost mother shows up.

Heather has no time for a tearful mother and bride reunion. She has a wedding to pull off and a murder to solve. Instead of wedding bells, she might be hearing wedding bullets, but she's determined to bring the bad guys to justice if it's the last thing she does . . . and this time, it just might be.

Published by HarperCollins
Release Date: September 24, 2013 (I will get no work done on this day)

Waiting on Wednesday (June 5)

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This weekly meme shares the upcoming books that I'm most excited about.

Awaken (Abandon 3) by Meg Cabot

Death has her in his clutches. She doesn’t want him to let go.

Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera knew by accepting the love of John Hayden, she’d be forced to live forever in the one place she’s always dreaded most: the Underworld. The sacrifice seemed worth it, though, because it meant she could be with the boy she loves.

But now her happiness — and safety — are threatened, all because the Furies have discovered that John has broken one of their strictest rules: He revived a human soul.

If the balance between life and death isn’t fixed, both the Underworld and Pierce’s home back on earth will be wiped away. But there’s only one way to restore order. Someone has to die. 

Published by Point

Release Date: July 2, 2013

Book Review: Underworld (Abandon Trilogy 2) by Meg Cabot

Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera isn’t dead.

Not this time.

But she is being held against her will in the dim, twilit world between heaven and hell, where the spirits of the deceased wait before embarking upon their final journey.

Her captor, John Hayden, claims it’s for her own safety. Because not all the departed are dear. Some are so unhappy with where they ended up after leaving the Underworld, they’ve come back as Furies, intent on vengeance…on the one who sent them there and on the one whom he loves.

But while Pierce might be safe from the Furies in the Underworld, far worse dangers could be lurking for her there…and they might have more to do with its ruler than with his enemies.

And unless Pierce is careful, this time there’ll be no escape. (From Goodreads)

*Warning, this review contains some mild spoilers for Abandon.

Best Bits: I still get giddy at this interpretation of the Persephone myth. Honestly, if I ever run into her on the street I'll probably drop down to the ground and bow to her. She will obviously think I'm mentally unhinged and will hurry off. Sadface. In Underworld the reader gets to see how conflicted Pierce is about what's happening to her. On one hand, she's safe with John, but she begins to realize what that means for her family...the ones who aren't out to get her, anyway. The change of scenery also allowed for some interesting information to be discovered. The reader gets to see exactly what John is responsible for in the underworld, and Pierce learns more about his past. There are some interesting supporting characters, too. I'm looking forward to seeing how they come into play during the final book. 

Nit Picks: I often find that the second book in a trilogy just doesn't quite live up to the first book in the series. This is because the characters have been introduced, we grow to understand and anticipate their reactions to certain people and situations, and it often feels like a transition. Alas, that was the case with Underworld. That's not to say that I hated it, because there were portions that I enjoyed. I just didn't feel the urgency of what was happening until the very end of the book. 

Underworld (Abandon Trilogy 2)
By Meg Cabot
Published by Point
336 Pages
Purchased
Rating: C

Stacking the Shelves (November 3)

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.

These books I've gotten over the past couple of weeks

Purchased

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating mistrust and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings. Now eighteen and emancipated from the system with nowhere to go, Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But an unexpected encounter with a mysterious stranger has her questioning what’s been missing in her life. And when she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness. (From Goodreads)

The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to an allying pirate clan: she wants to captain her own boat, not serve as second-in-command to her handsome yet clueless fiance. But her escape has dire consequences when she learns the scorned clan has sent an assassin after her. 

And when the assassin, Naji, finally catches up with her, things get even worse. Ananna inadvertently triggers a nasty curse — with a life-altering result. Now Ananna and Naji are forced to become uneasy allies as they work together to break the curse and return their lives back to normal. Or at least as normal as the lives of a pirate and an assassin can be. (From Goodreads)



Darkest Hour (Mediator 4) by Meg Cabot

When the nineteenth--century ghost of Maria de Silva wakes her up in the middle of the night, Suze knows this is no ordinary visitation -- and not just from the knife at her throat, either. In life, Maria was the fiancee of Jesse -- the same Jesse who was murdered a hundred and fifty years before. The same Jesse Suze is in love with.

Maria threatens Suze: The backyard construction must cease. Suze has a pretty good idea what -- or rather, who -- Maria doesn't want found. But in solving Jesse's murder, will Suze end up losing him forever? (For Goodreads)




For Review: 

Doomed by Tracy Deebs

Beat the game. Save the world.

Pandora’s just your average teen, glued to her cell phone and laptop, surfing Facebook and e-mailing with her friends, until the day her long-lost father sends her a link to a mysterious site featuring twelve photos of her as a child. Unable to contain her curiosity, Pandora enters the site, where she is prompted to play her favorite virtual-reality game, Zero Day. This unleashes a global computer virus that plunges the whole world into panic: suddenly, there is no Internet. No cell phones. No utilities, traffic lights, hospitals, law enforcement. Pandora teams up with handsome stepbrothers Eli and Theo to enter the virtual world of Zero Day. Simultaneously, she continues to follow the photographs from her childhood in an attempt to beat the game and track down her father, her one key to saving the world as we know it. Part The Matrix, part retelling of the Pandora myth, Doomed has something for gaming fans, dystopian fans, and romance fans alike. (From Goodreads)

Published by Walker Books
Release Date: January 8, 2013

Velvet by Mary Hooper

Velvet is a laundress in a Victorian steam laundry. With both her mother and father dead, she is an orphan and has to rely upon her own wits to make a living. The laundry's work is back-breaking and Velvet is desperate to create a better life for herself. Then Velvet is noticed by Madame Savoya, a famed medium, who asks Velvet to come to work for her. Velvet is dazzled at first by the young yet beautifully dressed and bejewelled Madame. But soon Velvet realises that Madame Savoya is not all that she says she is, and Velvet's very life is in danger ...A romantic and thrillingly exciting new novel from an acclaimed and much loved historical writer for teens. (From Goodreads)

Published by Bloomsbury USA

Tempestuous by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes

Recently banished, unfairly, by the school’s popular crowd, former “it girl,” Miranda Prospero, finds herself in a brave new world: holding dominion amongst a rag-tag crew of geeks and misfits where she works at the Hot-Dog Kabob in the food court of her local mall. When the worst winter storm of the season causes mall workers and last-minute shoppers to be snowed-in for the night, Miranda seizes the opportunity to get revenge against the catty clique behind her social exile. With help from her delightfully dweeby coworker, Ariel, and a sullen loner named Caleb who works at the mall’s nearby gaming and magic shop, Miranda uses charm and trickery to set things to right during this spirited take on Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

Published by Merit Press
Release Date: December 18, 2013

Halifax by Leigh Dunlap

When the Halifax siblings arrive at Lexham Academy, they don't seem any more or less odd than any other students. They have more important things to do, however, than take exams or find dates for the prom. They have aliens to kill. With the help of his sister Izzy and brother Rom, Farrell Halifax has to stop an escaped alien and save the Earth --- though that's hard to do when the captain of the basketball team is after you and you're falling in love with his cheerleader girlfriend --- who may or may not be an alien herself. Halifax is a teen Torchwood meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer --- with a little bit of The Breakfast Club thrown into the mix. (From Goodreads)

Out now as an e-book

In My Mailbox (July 15)

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi of The Story Siren. Here's what I got this week:



All links go to Goodreads

Books Mentioned:
Bitter End by Jennifer Brown
Hush by Donna Jo Napoli
Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne
Princess for Hire by Lindsey Leavitt
For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund
Size 12 and Ready to Rock by Meg Cabot
7 Clues to Winning You by Kristin Walker
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin
Won from Epic Reads: A Midsummer Tights Dream by Lousie Rennison

Book Review: Abandon By Meg Cabot

Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid.

Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away . . . especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.

But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld. (From Goodreads)

I always start a review of a Meg Cabot book by expressing my love for her writing. The stories are funny, and my go-to for entertaining reads. While Abandon was more of a serious book, I really enjoyed it. 

This summer seems packed with mythology, and I love it! I wasn't sure how Cabot was going to rework the myth of Persephone, but I guessed that the two main characters would be modern-day versions of the originals. I was right in some respects, Pierce does mirror Persephone, except her trip to the underworld occurs because she's dead. John is also a bit like Hades, although I should clarify that he isn't actually Hades. I won't share any more similarities/differences between the two for fear of spoiling things. I'll just leave you with the information that together they're dealing with some mythological baddies. 

The Underworld was only briefly visited during the story, so I'm interested to read more about it in the sequel. Because I was expecting most of the book to take place there, I was a bit disappointed that it was really only a flashback scene. On the other hand, I really liked what I saw. I can't wait for Cabot's next release!

Abandon 

By Meg Cabot

Published by Point

320 Pages

Purchased

Rating: B

Waiting on Wednesday (May 25) & Teaser Tuesday (on Wednesday)

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This weekly meme shares the upcoming books that I'm most excited about.

Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber

The Picture of Dorian Gray meets Pride and Prejudice, with a dash of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

New York City, 1882. Seventeen-year-old Natalie Stewart's latest obsession is a painting of the handsome British Lord Denbury. Something in his striking blue eyes calls to her. As his incredibly life-like gaze seems to follow her, Natalie gets the uneasy feeling that details of the painting keep changing...

Jonathan Denbury's soul is trapped in the gilded painting by dark magic while his possessed body commits unspeakable crimes in the city slums. He must lure Natalie into the painting, for only together can they reverse the curse and free his damaged soul

Published by Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: November 1, 2011

I'm currently reading Abandon by Meg Cabot, and thought I would put a teaser up today (since I didn't participate yesterday). 

"That's how I hadn't noticed the evil. Not the kind people like to pretend is real, the kind they tell ghost stories and make horror movies about. But the real evil that had been roaming the halls of the Westpot Academy for Girls, looking for the sweetest, most innocent victim it could find." 

-Abandon, page 116, by Meg Cabot

Avalon High Previews

I'll be honest, I haven't been interested in a new Disney Channel movie since I was a pre-teen. When I saw the preview for the adaptation of Meg Cabot's book, I actually thought to myself, "I'm going to watch that". Watch the preview below, and tune in this friday, November 12!

Book Review: Runaway (Airhead 3) by Meg Cabot

Emerson Watts is on the run: from school, from work, from her family, from her friends, from herself.

With everyone she loves furious with her for something she can't explain, and nothing but the live Stark Angel fashion show on New Year's Eve to look forward to, Em's reached the end of her rope. . .what's the point of even going on?

But when she discovers the truth about Nikki's secret, she knows there's only one person she can turn to.

Will Christopher be able to put aside his personal feelings and help her expose her employer to the world? Is it even fair to get Christopher involved--since if he agrees, there's every chance that Stark Enterprises will try to have them both killed--this time, permanently?

Maybe it would be better for Em to just keep on running.

Part of Around the World Tours - Review is based on ARC edition, and is subject to change

Runaway is the final book in the Airhead series, and it wrapped everything up nicely. At the end of the previous book, Being Nikki, we find out that it wasn't a coincidence that Nikki was struck down at the Stark Megastore all those months ago. We're also now aware that Mr. Stark, CEO of Stark, is hiding a huge secret. Em is forced to work together with her ex, Brandon, in an attempt to take Stark down, and to keep everyone she cares about safe.

The action starts back up the moment Runaway begins. Em is on a "secret love getaway" (more like a hostage situation), as she and Brandon try to figure out what secrets Nikki knew about Stark. As with the previous two books in the series, Cabot mixes some humor, and romance in with the action. I also really noticed the changes that Em had made over the course of the three books. She was still as smart as she had been in the first book, but she was definitely more sure of herself. She's gone from an outcast, to someone with caring friends (the fabulous Lulu, Stephen, Gabriel Luna, etc).

I adore Meg Cabot, and while the first two books in the series weren't my favorite of her books, I was pleasantly surprised at how this book wrapped the story up. What I love most about Cabot's books is her ability to add humor to her stories, and her likable characters. Plus, she has a hilarious blog. I know, I found like a fangirl...but it's true! So, even though there are some tense parts in Runaway, I laughed quite a bit. I do wish that the ending had been drawn out a little bit more, but that was my only complaint.

Runaway
By Meg Cabot
Published by Scholastic
Release Date: April 20, 2010
352 Pages
Rating: B+

Check out Meg Cabot's Blog

Teaser Tuesday (April 6)

What is teaser tuesday?
It's a meme hosted by Should Be Reading and here are the rules:
Grab your current read...
Open to a random page
Share two teaser sentences from somewhere on the page
Don't include spoilers

"Oh, hey, Brandon," he added, casually. "You know your Lamborghini is on fire, right?"

- Runaway, Page 19, by Meg Cabot (ARC edition, subject to change)

Teaser Tuesday (February 2)

Happy February!

What is teaser tuesday?
It's a meme hosted by Should Be Reading and here are the rules:
Grab your current read...
Open to a random page
Share two teaser sentences from somewhere on the page
Don't include spoilers

"I checked the call ID (I'd totally learned not to pick up unless I recognized the name. Otherwise I'd find myself at the receiving end of a long harangue about why I hadn't called in so long and how much someone with a name like Eduardo was just dying to fly to Paris with me again) and was surprised to see that it wasn't Brandon at all, but Lulu."

-Being Nikki, Page 13, by Meg Cabot

Waiting on Wednesday (October 28)

This was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. Basically, these are books that haven't been released yet, but that I can't wait for.

Runaway (Airhead #3) by Meg Cabot

Emerson Watts is on the run: from school, from work, from her family, from her friends, from herself.

With everyone she loves furious with her for something she can't explain, and nothing but the live Stark Angel fashion show on New Year's Eve to look forward to, Em's reached the end of her rope. . .what's the point of even going on?

But when she discovers the truth about Nikki's secret, she knows there's only one person she can turn to.

Will Christopher be able to put aside his personal feelings and help her expose her employer to the world? Is it even fair to get Christopher involved--since if he agrees, there's every chance that Stark Enterprises will try to have them both killed--this time, permanently?

Maybe it would be better for Em to just keep on running.

Published by Scholastic

Release Date: June 1, 2010

In My Mailbox (May 31)

In my mailbox was created by Kristi of The Story Siren, who was inspired by Pop Culture Junkie. Here are the books I got this week...

Being Nikki by Meg Cabot
Published by Scholastic, Inc.

Things aren't pretty for Emerson Watts.

Em was sure there couldn't be anything worse than being a brainiac the body of a teenaged supermodel.

But it turned out she was wrong. Because that supermodel could turn out to have a mother who's gone mysteriously missing, a brother who's shown up on her doorstep demanding answers, a former best friend who's intent on destroying Stark Enterprises to avenge the death of his lost love, and a British heartthrob who's written a song about her that's topping the charts.

How can Em balance all that with school, runway shows, and weekend jaunts to St. Johns - especially when she's got ex-boyfriends crawling out of the woodwork who want more than just a photo op; a sister who is headed to the high school cheerleading championships; a company she represents that seems to be turning to the dark side...

Not to mention trying to convince the love of her life that models aren't really airheads after all...especially one model in particular.

But then, nobody said it was going to be easy being Nikki.

Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner

Published by Random House

The war between humanity and Faerie devastated both sides. Or so 15-year-old Liza has been told. Nothing has been seen or heard from Faerie since, and Liza’s world bears the scars of its encounter with magic. Trees move with sinister intention, and the town Liza calls home is surrounded by a forest that threatens to harm all those who wander into it. Then Liza discovers she has the Faerie ability to see—into the past, into the future—and she has no choice but to flee her town. Liza’s quest will take her into Faerie and back again, and what she finds along the way may be the key to healing both worlds.

Watersmeet by Ellen Jensen Abbot

Published by Marshall Cavendish

From her birth, Abisina has been outcast--for the color of her eyes
and skin, and for her lack of a father. Only her mother's status as the
village healer has kept her safe. But when a mythic leader arrives,
Abisina's life is ripped apart. She escapes alone to try to find the father and
the home she has never known. In a world of extremes, from the deepest
prejudice to the greatest bonds of duty and loyalty, Abisina must find her
own way and decide where her true hope lies.