2012 has come and gone, and I thought I would do a check-in about the things posted at Cornucopia of Reviews!
In June I returned to blogging after taking a year off. My schedule started to even out, and I finished my final academic courses in my graduate program (eep, I'm graduating in May).
June
Books Reviewed
Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
Mini-Reviews: A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, Surrender (Haunting Emma 3) by Lee Nichols, Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini, Wildfire by Karsten Knight, Spellbound (Hex Hall 3) by Rachel Hawkins, Crossed by Ally Condie
July (when I returned to blogging full-time)
Books Reviewed
Ashfall by Mike Mullin
Bitter End by Jennifer Brown
From What I Remember by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas
Transcendence by C.J. Omololu
Author Events
Author Interview: C.J. Omololu
August
Books Reviewed
7 Clues to Winning You by Kristin Walker
As Dead as it Gets by Katie Alender
Whispers in Autumn by Trisha Leigh
Author Events:
Guest Post: Trisha Leigh
September
Books Reviewed
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Freaks Like Us by Susan Vaught
Mini-Reviews: Princess for Hire By Lindsey Leavitt, Monument 14 By Emmy Laybourne
Ripple by Mandy Hubbard
Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff
Author Events:
Author Interview with Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas
Author Interview with Susan Vaught
October
Books Reviewed:
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Send Me a Sign by Tiffany Schmidt
Unlocking the Spell by E. D. Baker
Willful Impropriety Ed. by Ekaterina Sedia
Zombie Cat by Isabel Atherton and Bethany Straker
November
Books Reviewed:
Chasing the Skip by Janci Patterson
Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm by Philip Pullman
Halifax by Leigh Dunlap
Mini-Reviews: Vanish and Hidden by Sophie Jordan, Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler
Velvet by Mary Hooper
Author Events:
Author Interview: Janci Patterson
December
Books Reviewed:
Tempestuous by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes
The Farm by Emily McKay
Author Events:
Blog Tour: The Farm by Emily McKay
Blog Tour: Theresa McClinton
Guest Post: Kim Askew and Amy Helmes
Monday, December 31, 2012
The Year in Review
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Review: The Farm by Emily McKay
And when trust is a thing of the past, escape is nearly impossible.
Lily and her twin sister Mel have a plan. Though Mel can barely communicate, her autism helps her notice things no one else notices—like the portion of electrical fence that gets turned off every night. Getting across won’t be easy, but as Lily gathers what they need to escape, a familiar face appears out of nowhere, offering to help…
Carter was a schoolmate of Lily’s in the Before. Managing to evade capture until now, he has valuable knowledge of the outside world. But like everyone on the Farm, Carter has his own agenda, and he knows that behind the Ticks is an even more dangerous threat to the human race... (From Goodreads)
Best Bits: The twists! The suspense! The fact that this book kept me up until the wee hours of the morning on a work night... I really enjoyed the premise of The Farm. It's a mix between a zombie apocalypse and a vampire story, and it felt really fresh. It doesn't romanticize vampirism (which YA tends to do), and it's full of surprises. I think it takes a lot of skill to write a YA without falling prey to the some of the most common tropes and of the genre (tropes are really common plot points/character situations. They're not bad in general, but when it comes to vampires there are a lot of things that I can't read anymore). McKay avoided that. There's no tired love triangle, no insta-love because the characters new each other before the Ticks came into existence, and the danger is real. I wasn't prepared for the paranormal aspect of the book (beyond the ticks), and I can't give away what that is for fear of spoiling you, but let me just say that I was pleasantly surprised. I also really enjoyed the characters. With the exception of a couple of Lily's actions, I was rooting for her and Mel to get the heck off of the Farm.
Nit Picks: I only have one for The Farm, and it is related to the relationship between Lily and Carter. It's not the relationship itself that I have a problem with. In fact, I actually enjoyed the way that played out in the story (it wasn't insta-love). My issue is that Lily tended to put everyone in danger when Carter wasn't safe. During the first half of the book she's so focused on the safety of her sister that I was surprised that she would risk the lives of the group waiting for Carter.
The Farm
By Emily McKay
Published by Berkley Trade
420 Pages
Rating: B
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Waiting on Wednesday (December 19)
Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This weekly meme shares the upcoming books that I'm most excited about.
Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always exactly right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her—except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future.
Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways… or risking each other’s lives by refusing to obey.
In a stunning departure from her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, Kiersten White delivers a slick, edgy, heartstoppingly intense psychological thriller about two sisters determined to protect each other—no matter the cost.
Published by HarperTeen
Release Date: February 19, 2013
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Teaser Tuesday (December 18)
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.
"The only things Pemberly Brown took more seriously than its ranking on the Forbes list of top Ivy League feeder schools were the crazy traditions commonly referred to as Sacramenta. But this one hadn't been broadcast over the school's social network, Amicus, or sent out via mass text."
-The Lies that Bind, Page 2, by Lisa and Laura Roecker
Friday, December 14, 2012
"End of the World" Book Blast
Today I'm lucky enough to be a part of the book blast for The Stone Guardian by Theresa McClinton! Look below to find information about her book, see the trailer, and enter the awesome contest.
The Book BlurbLike any other teenager in America, Ashley just wants a normal life. But growing up in an orphanage for the insane is anything but normal. After endless therapy and increasing medication, her nightmares have only gotten worse.
Probably because they’re not nightmares.
When Ashley’s mysteriously abducted, she finds a reality even less normal than the orphanage. And she discovers something else—she’s no ordinary orphan. Faced with enemies thought to only exist in fairy tales, Ashley discovers she possesses a powerful Maya bloodline. She’s the daughter of an ancient Maya Guardian, whose duty is to protect the Stone of Muuk’ich, an enchanted relic blessed by the gods. But first she must get it back from Sarian, a power-hungry demigod who slaughtered the last guardian—Ashley’s mother. Without the stone, all will be lost.
When she meets Arwan, a hot Belizean time bender, his delicious olive skin and dark eyes make her feel a little less alone. But his gentle whispers and reassuring touch might not be all they seem. How can she balance love and duty when it’s up to her to prevent the rising of the underworld? Especially when the guy she loves might be its crown prince…
The Trailer
Since then, Theresa has gotten married, had three terrific kids, moved to central Ohio, and was repeatedly guilt tripped into adopting a menagerie of animals that are now members of the family. But don’t be fooled by her domesticated appearance. Her greatest love is travel. Having stepped foot on the soil of over a dozen countries, traveled to sixteen U.S. states—including an extended seven-year stay in Kodiak, Alaska—she is anything but settled down. But wherever life brings her, she will continue to weave tales of adventure and love with the hope her stories will bring joy and inspiration to her readers.
The Contest
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Author Guest Post: Kim Askew and Amy Helmes
Hi everyone, and thanks, Lizzy, for allowing us to drop by!
Tempestuous and Exposure, the first books in our Twisted Lit series, are modern-day spins on Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” and “Macbeth,” respectively. If you’re not gasping with excitement at the thought, you might be gasping with horror. In addition to being lauded as one of the greatest writers in the history of the English language, old Will manages to occasionally strike terror (or boredom) in people’s hearts, particularly anyone who’s sat through a poorly-performed play or a too-dull classroom lecture devoted to his work. To that end, we’ve decided to write a two-pronged guest blog post explaining why our books will appeal to both the Shakespeare fanatics of the world and the Shakespeare-phobes. Whether you fit into either end of the spectrum (or somewhere in between) we think our books offer a little something for everyone.
I HATE Shakespeare:
We get it. Having to translate all that Elizabethan mumbo-jumbo can be mind-numbing when all you really want to do is escape into a story. And picturing dudes wearing frilly lace collars and shoes with giant buckles? Yeah, uh...no thanks. Our books yank the Bard into the 21st century, taking his universal themes of love, revenge, loyalty, and death and setting them in situations that are thoroughly modern, with characters that are completely relatable. For example, Tempestuous, our take on “The Tempest,” takes place over the course of one night in a shopping mall, but thanks to our fresh spin, it embarks on an entirely new trajectory. We specifically wrote our novels so that you don’t have to be familiar with Shakespeare at all to appreciate them. So go ahead, pretend we never even mentioned him. (And if our books happen to be the “gateway drug” that convince you to give Shakespeare a second look, it’ll be our little secret.)
I LOVE Shakespeare:
Are you the sort of person who dreams in iambic pentameter? Have you seen Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, like, 73 times? Okay, great then, we’re speaking the same language. In that case, you’re likely to pick up on all the subtle Shakespeare references we’ve sprinkled throughout our books, and you’ll probably swoon over our chapter titles, which are direct lines from the Bard himself. Yet because you’re so well-versed in Shakespeare’s most popular plays, our aim in writing the series was to entice you with something a little bit different. To that end, Tempestuous and Exposure (which is our homage to “Macbeth”) aren’t “paint-by-numbers” retellings. Instead, we used Shakespeare as a springboard for our own unique, 21st-century take on the stories. (We’ve added substantially more girl power, for starters.) There’s a good reason we named our series Twisted Lit, and we sincerely hope you’ll give our version of Shakespeare a shot.
Best,
Kim and Amy
 |
| Amy (with Kim's dog Macbeth) and Kim |
Kim Askew and Amy Helmes are the authors of the Shakespeare-inspired YA series Twisted Lit. Tempestuous will be available on December 18, 2012 and Exposure will be available January 18, 2013 from Merit Press. Kim and Amy been writing together since 2004, when they launched Romancing the Tome, a blog dedicated to their obsession with book-to-film adaptations. For more information on their books, visit TwistedLitBooks.com.
A huge thanks to Kim and Amy for taking the time to stop by! You can check out my review of one of their books, Tempestuous, here.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Waiting on Wednesday (December 12)
Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This weekly meme shares the upcoming books that I'm most excited about.
When madness stalks the streets of London, no one is safe…
There’s a creepy new terror haunting modern-day London. Fresh from defeating a Jack the Ripper killer, Rory must put her new-found hunting skills to the test before all hell breaks loose…
But enemies are not always who you expect them to be and crazy times call for crazy solutions. A thrilling teen mystery.
Published by HarperCollins
Release Date: February 26, 2012
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Teaser Tuesday (December 11)
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.
"Some days, you just want to let the bad guys win. My mom, the pro bono lawyer, used to say that to me sometimes, back in the Before."
-The Farm, Page 1, by Emily McKay
Monday, December 10, 2012
Review: Tempestuous by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes
Best Bits: A modern re-telling of The Tempest with Prospero as an ousted private-school princess? Yes, please. I enjoyed the fact that Miranda wasn't your typical mean girl. She enjoys classic literature and cares for others...most of the time. The cast of characters, similar to the source material, are fabulous. Ariel serves as a replacement (and let's be real, a better) best friend to Miranda after her old crew ditches her. They work together at Hog-Dog Kabob, and anyone who can stand by you when you're wearing a hot dog on your head is truly a friend. Add in Caleb, who works at the mall's game shop, a giant snowstorm, and plans for revenge and you've got a great read. Did I also mention that there is a mystery to solve? The various plot lines didn't overwhelm me. In fact, they all fit together very smoothly. I enjoyed the excitement that the mystery added to the story. Finally, and most importantly, I enjoyed the growth of Miranda. She begins the book wishing that she could go back to her old way of life, before she was falsely accused of setting up the cheating ring. It was refreshing to see her character come to the realization that being a part of the mall food court gang was more meaningful than being an "it girl".
Nit picks: I wish that Miranda could have matured more in terms of her behaviors. She directly confronts her attitudes about the mall, friendship, and revenge, but she never really addresses the fact that she uses her status and beauty to manipulate people.
Tempestuous
By Kim Askew and Amy Helmes
224 Pages
Published by Merit Press
Release Date: December 18, 2012
Received for review
B Rating
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Stacking the Shelves (December 9)
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.
For Review:
Life was different in the Before: before vampires began devouring humans in a swarm across America; before the surviving young people were rounded up and quarantined. These days, we know what those quarantines are—holding pens where human blood is turned into more food for the undead monsters, known as Ticks. Surrounded by electrical fences, most kids try to survive the Farms by turning on each other…
And when trust is a thing of the past, escape is nearly impossible.
Lily and her twin sister Mel have a plan. Though Mel can barely communicate, her autism helps her notice things no one else notices—like the portion of electrical fence that gets turned off every night. Getting across won’t be easy, but as Lily gathers what they need to escape, a familiar face appears out of nowhere, offering to help…
Carter was a schoolmate of Lily’s in the Before. Managing to evade capture until now, he has valuable knowledge of the outside world. But like everyone on the Farm, Carter has his own agenda, and he knows that behind the Ticks is an even more dangerous threat to the human race...
Thanks to Caitlin at Penguin!
Won from the fabulous gals at WinterHaven Books:
Swag! There are lots of doubles and triples of signed bookmarks, and other goodies. Expect those to feature in a future giveaway.
My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel HarrisOn the precipice of her sixteenth birthday, the last thing lone wolf Cat Crawford wants is an extravagant gala thrown by her bubbly stepmother-to-be and well-meaning father. So even though Cat knows the family’s trip to Florence, Italy, is a peace offering, she embraces the magical city and all it offers. But when her curiosity leads her to an unusual gypsy tent, she exits . . . right into Renaissance Firenze.
Thrust into the sixteenth century armed with only a backpack full of contraband future items, Cat joins up with her ancestors, the sweet Alessandra and protective Cipriano, and soon falls for the gorgeous aspiring artist Lorenzo. But when the much-older Niccolo starts sniffing around, Cat realizes that an unwanted birthday party is nothing compared to an unwanted suitor full of creeptastic amore.
Can she find her way back to modern times before her Italian adventure turns into an Italian forever?
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Waiting on Wednesday (December 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.
THE CHOSEN ONE MUST BE RETRIEVED FROM EARTH
HE WILL BRING DOWN THE WALL AND RESTORE THE KINGDOM TO GLORY
HIS NAME IS TOM PARKING
With this mysterious yet oddly ordinary-looking prophecy, Tom's fate is sealed: he's been plucked from his life and whisked away to a magical kingdom to be its Chosen One.
There's just one problem: The kingdom is mostly made of garbage from Earth. Okay, well, two problems: the king hates Tom. Also, the princess likes to wear fake mustaches. And being Chosen One seems to consist mainly of cleaning out rats' noses at the Royal Rat-Snottery.
So, basically, the kingdom sucks.
When Tom turns down the job of Chosen One, he thinks he's making a smart decision. But when Tom discovers he's been replaced by his best friend Kyle, who's always been cooler, more athletic, and better with girls, Tom wants Crap Kingdom back—at any cost. And the hilarity that ensues will determine the fate of the universe. (Goodreads)
Published by Viking Juvenile
Release Date: March 7, 2013
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
The Farm Blog Tour and Giveaway
I'm pleased to be a part of the blog tour for The Farm, and to celebrate the release today! Read below for some exclusive content from author Emily McKay, and a contest for a copy of the book and a vampire survival guide (awesome, and necessary)!
And when trust is a thing of the past, escape is nearly impossible.
Lily and her twin sister Mel have a plan. Though Mel can barely communicate, her autism helps her notice things no one else notices—like the portion of electrical fence that gets turned off every night. Getting across won’t be easy, but as Lily gathers what they need to escape, a familiar face appears out of nowhere, offering to help…
Carter was a schoolmate of Lily’s in the Before. Managing to evade capture until now, he has valuable knowledge of the outside world. But like everyone on the Farm, Carter has his own agenda, and he knows that behind the Ticks is an even more dangerous threat to the human race...
You can learn more about The Farm and look for some giveaways on the book website:
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Stacking the Shelves (December 1)
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.
For Review:
Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black
Dancing with someone is an act of trust. Elegant and intimate; you're close enough to kiss, close enough to feel your partner's heartbeat. But for Vanessa, dance is deadly – and she must be very careful who she trusts . . .
Vanessa Adler attends an elite ballet school – the same one her older sister, Margaret, attended before she disappeared. Vanessa feels she can never live up to her sister's shining reputation. But Vanessa, with her glorious red hair and fair skin, has a kind of power when she dances – she loses herself in the music, breathes different air, and the world around her turns to flames . . .
Soon she attracts the attention of three men: gorgeous Zep, mysterious Justin, and the great, enigmatic choreographer Josef Zhalkovsky. When Josef asks Vanessa to dance the lead in the Firebird, she has little idea of the danger that lies ahead – and the burning forces about to be unleashed.
Published by Bloomsbury USA
Release Date: February 12, 2013
Won from the fabulous gals at WinterHaven Books:
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.
Published by Feiwel & Friends
Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?
Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.
Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Touch of Death by Kelly Hashway
Jodi Marshall isn’t sure how she went from normal teenager to walking disaster. One minute she’s in her junior year of high school, spending time with her amazing boyfriend and her best friend. The next she’s being stalked by some guy no one seems to know.
After the stranger, Alex, reveals himself, Jodi learns he’s not a normal teenager and neither is she. With a kiss that kills and a touch that brings the dead back to life, Jodi discovers she’s part of a branch of necromancers born under the 13th sign of the zodiac, Ophiuchus. A branch of necromancers that are descendents of Medusa. A branch of necromancers with poisoned blood writhing in their veins.
Jodi’s deadly to the living and even more deadly to the deceased. She has to leave her old, normal life behind before she hurts the people she loves. As if that isn’t difficult enough, Jodi discovers she’s the chosen one who has to save the rest of her kind from perishing at the hands of Hades. If she can’t figure out how to control her power, history will repeat itself, and her race will become extinct.
Published by Spencer Hill Press
Purchased:
Reached by Ally Condie
After leaving Society and desperately searching for the Rising—and each other—Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again: Cassia has been assigned to work for the Rising from within Society, while Ky has been stationed outside its borders. But nothing is as predicted, and all too soon the veil lifts and things shift once again.
In this gripping conclusion to the #1 New York Times-bestsellingMatched trilogy, Cassia will reconcile the difficulties of challenging a life too confining, seeking a freedom she never dreamed possible, and honoring a love she cannot live without.
Published by Dutton
The Lies That Bind by Lisa & Laura Roecker
Just when Kate Lowry thought she had life at elite private school Pemberly Brown figured out, she cracks open a fortune cookie to find a message from her best friend Grace--who's supposed to be dead.
Another Sister Gone
A classmate has gone missing, and Kate soon realizes that the disappearance is tied to the secret societies that rule her private school. Her best friend died for their secrets, and there's no way she'll let them get away with it twice. It's up to quirky outsider Kate to get some answers, but in a school where every answer leads to more questions and nothing's as it seems, who can she trust?
Published by Sourcebooks Fire
What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang
I should not exist. But I do.
Eva and Addie started out the same way as everyone else—two souls woven together in one body, taking turns controlling their movements as they learned how to walk, how to sing, how to dance. But as they grew, so did the worried whispers. Why aren’t they settling? Why isn’t one of them fading? The doctors ran tests, the neighbors shied away, and their parents begged for more time. Finally Addie was pronounced healthy and Eva was declared gone. Except, she wasn’t . . .
For the past three years, Eva has clung to the remnants of her life. Only Addie knows she’s still there, trapped inside their body. Then one day, they discover there may be a way for Eva to move again. The risks are unimaginable-hybrids are considered a threat to society, so if they are caught, Addie and Eva will be locked away with the others. And yet . . . for a chance to smile, to twirl, to speak, Eva will do anything.
Published by HarperCollins
Christmas Wishes by Debbie Macomber
Christmas Letters
Katherine O'Connor (known as K.O.) adores her five-year-old twin nieces; and strongly objects to her sister's plans to dispense with Christmas. Zelda is following the theories of child psychologist Wynn Jeffries, author of The Free Child (and, as it happens, K.O.'s neighbor). K.O. is particularly horrified by his edict to "bury Santa under the sleigh," and she's out to prove that Wynn and his ideas are full of snow. He's not going to ruin her nieces' Christmas! Too bad the guy's so darned attractive!
Rainy Day Kisses
Seventeen years ago Susannah Simmons was a career girl who knew nothing about babies. But after babysitting her infant niece, Michelle, Susannah learned that one determined and screaming baby can make the corporate world look like child's play. Thank goodness for her charming neighbor Nate Townsend. Now he's her charming husband, and Susannah's a mother as well as an aunt. And every Christmas Eve, Michelle tells her cousins how their mom met their dad a story in which she plays a starring role!
