Friday, March 28, 2014

Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski

Genre: YA Fantasy, paranormal
Release Date: March 11, 2014
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Format: ebook                     Pages: 336
Sources: Netgalley

Goodreads Synopsis:

Don't Even Think About ItContemporary teen fiction with romance, secrets, scandals, and ESP from the author of Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn't Have).

We weren't always like this. We used to be average New York City high school sophomores. Until our homeroom went for flu shots. We were prepared for some side effects. Maybe a headache. Maybe a sore arm. We definitely didn't expect to get telepathic powers. But suddenly we could hear what everyone was thinking. Our friends. Our parents. Our crushes. Now we all know that Tess is in love with her best friend, Teddy. That Mackenzie cheated on Cooper. That, um, Nurse Carmichael used to be a stripper.

Since we've kept our freakish skill a secret, we can sit next to the class brainiac and ace our tests. We can dump our boyfriends right before they dump us. We know what our friends really think of our jeans, our breath, our new bangs. We always know what's coming. Some of us will thrive. Some of us will crack. None of us will ever be the same.
So stop obsessing about your ex. We're always listening.

"Smart and frequently hilarious." --Publishers Weekly, starred

“Hilarious, moving, and utterly ingenious.” —Robin Wasserman, author of The Book of Blood and Shadow and The Waking Dark

“Sarah Mlynowski does it again with a fresh, fun, and fabulous story filled with secrets, surprises, and a sixth sense. Don’t even THINK about passing up this hilarious read!” —Elizabeth Eulberg, author of The Lonely Hearts Club

“Finally, someone understands that if you develop powers as a teenager, it’s not the government you have to watch out for—it’s your best friends. Funny, realistic, heartfelt, satiric, and unpredictable.” —Ned Vizzini, New York Times bestselling author of It’s Kind of a Funny Story.

Monday, March 17, 2014

Me Since You by Laura Wiess

Release Date: February 18, 2014
Publisher: MTV Books
Format: ARC                                Pages: 368
Genre: YA Contemporary              Sources: Netgalley

Goodreads Synopsis: 
Me Since YouLaura Wiess captures the visceral emotion of a girl’s journey from innocence to devastating loss and, ultimately, to a strange and unexpected kind of understanding--in this beautiful and painfully honest new novel.

Are there any answers when someone you love makes a tragic choice?

Before and After. That's how Rowan Areno sees her life now. Before: she was a normal sixteen-year-old--a little too sheltered by her police officer father and her mother. After: everything she once believed has been destroyed in the wake of a shattering tragedy, and every day is there to be survived.

If she had known, on that Friday in March when she cut school, that a random stranger's shocking crime would have traumatic consequences, she never would have left campus. If the crime video never went viral, maybe she could have saved her mother, grandmother--and herself--from the endless replay of heartache and grief.

Finding a soul mate in Eli, a witness to the crime who is haunted by losses of his own, Rowan begins to see there is no simple, straightforward path to healing wounded hearts. Can she learn to trust, hope, and believe in happiness again?

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Forbidden: Discover the Legend by Tina Smith

Genre: YA Fantasy, romance, paranormal, werewolves
Release Date: July 20, 2012
Publisher: OUTSKIRTS PRESS
Format: ebook                     Pages: 380
Series: Wolf Sirens #1      Sources: Netgalley

This review contains spoilers. Normally, I do not include spoilers; I hate spoilers, but I used some points to support my comments in my review.

Goodreads Synapsis:

Forbidden: Discover the Legend (Wolf Sirens, #1)The Mystical Bond, the Fatal Allure ... of Hunter & Prey

Misunderstood seventeen year old Lila Crain unwillingly moves to the foreboding town of Shade, prepared to face her punishment - Shade High. But she can't begin to anticipate the life-altering events that lie in wait for her. 

The dark and charismatic Reid has a wolfish grin and amber eyes that would make any girl blush and he has his sights set on the new girl in school. 
Reid's stunning friends - including icy top dog Sam - invite Lila into their clique. Suspicious, yet flattered by their attention she answers the intriguing call like a moth to a flame.

Thrillingly introduced to the local nightlife by the enigmatic group, Lila finally feels like she belongs. But her newly found friendships threaten to turn sour when she unwittingly develops feelings for the leader's off-limits boyfriend, Sky. 
Tensions rise further when a quirky local named Cresida warns Lila to stay away from the clique at all costs.

Undeterred, she is irresistibly drawn to uncover the truth behind their mysterious lifestyle.
Lila unwittingly starts off a chain of events that will forever alter fate for both hunter and hunted as she learns they have been waiting for her...

Inspired by the legend of the femme fatale goddess, Artemis, Wolf Sirens is a compelling gothic masterpiece of paranormal romance. 

Forbidden, Fever, Night Fall and the soon to be released Dusk in Shade - all continue the tale of Lila Crain, the heroine with the chip on her shoulder, on an epic paranormal journey in which forbidden love threatens to destroy the underworld.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Cursed by Lizzy Ford

Genre: YA, Paranormal, Fantasy
Release Date: March 6, 2014
Publisher: Evatopia Press
Format: ebook                       Pages: 246
Series: Voodoo Nights #1    Sources: Netgalley

Goodreads Synopsis:
Cursed (Voodoo Nights #1) The Red Man is coming ...

Five years after her sister disappeared, seventeen-year-old Adrienne finds the strength to return to her father’s home in New Orleans. But soon after she arrives, the mark of a curse appears on her, leaving her worried. Will she be the next victim of a four-hundred-year old family curse ... the next to be claimed by a serial killer roaming the back alleys of the city?

The day before his senior year begins, Jayden is given a skeleton key passed down through his family for generations -- a gruesome reminder of how his ancestors betrayed their own people and sold them into slavery. He doesn’t believe in the curse the key allegedly bears and puts it away with the intention of forgetting about its message. Until he meets Adrienne, a girl he’s compelled to for more reasons than her beauty. 

He’s not the only one who notices her. A man in a skeleton mask and a voodoo gang member are also drawn to Adrienne. One is determined to protect her. The other intends to mislead her. Haunted by the mythical Red Man, all are connected to the ancient curse.

Can they overcome their misgivings about one another and prevent the dark prophecy looming over them? Or will they be lured away from each other by evil’s siren song?

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Being Sloane Jacobs by Lauren Morrill

Release Date: January 7, 2014
Publisher: Delacorte
Format: ARC                                Pages: 352
Genre: YA Contemporary              Sources: Netgalley

Goodreads Synopsis:

Being Sloane JacobsMeet Sloane Emily Jacobs: a seriously stressed-out figure-skater from Washington, D.C., who choked during junior nationals and isn’t sure she’s ready for a comeback. What she does know is that she’d give anything to escape the mass of misery that is her life.

Now meet Sloane Devon Jacobs, a spunky ice hockey player from Philly who’s been suspended from her team for too many aggressive hip checks. Her punishment? Hockey camp, now, when she’s playing the worst she’s ever played. If she messes up? Her life will be over.

When the two Sloanes meet by chance in Montreal and decide to trade places for the summer, each girl thinks she’s the lucky one: no strangers to judge or laugh at Sloane Emily, no scouts expecting Sloane Devon to be a hero. But it didn’t occur to Sloane E. that while avoiding sequins and axels she might meet a hockey hottie—and Sloane D. never expected to run into a familiar (and very good-looking) face from home. It’s not long before the Sloanes discover that convincing people you’re someone else might be more difficult than being yourself