Venom by Fiona Paul
Release Date: October 30, 2012
Publisher: Philomel
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 432
Summary: Love, lust, murder, mayhem and high society converge in one thrilling debut
Part Gossip Girl, part Edgar Allan Poe, and wholly beautiful, elegant and suspenseful, this novel set in Venice during the Renaissance is a true romantic thriller. When Cassandra Caravallo visits her friend Liviana's crypt and finds a murdered courtesan inside, her world is turned upside down. Before she knows it, Cass is involved with Falco, a grave-robbing artist, and on her way to discovering corruption in the elite Venetian society.
But will she find the man who's been savagely murdering beautiful young girls before he finds her? Will she stay true to her fiance, who's off studying law in France? Or will she succumb to Falco's charms? Beauty, love, romance and murder combine in a novel that's as seductive and stunning as Venice itself.
My Thoughts: When I first started this one, I wasn’t really enjoying it, but I was motivated to finish it. It wasn’t until about 100 pages in until I truly started to love it and enjoy the characters and plot.
We are introduced to Cassandra who is engaged to a man named Luca. He is away studying so it takes a while before we get to meet him. One night she finds a crypt that is supposed to contain the body of her friend, only it doesn’t. Inside is another girl. Cass is stunned and scared. She doesn’t know what to think. She meets a guy named Falco who is going to help her solve the mystery. In the process, she starts getting threats so she knows her life is in danger too.
Cass was a lovely girl. I really enjoyed learning all about her life and what she is going through emotionally. Falco, oh I really liked Falco. He was such a cutie, and so funny. He was mischievous. You can’t help fall in love with him, because he’s a riot. Of course, this presents the problem of the love triangle. Should Cass be with Falco or Luca? By the end of the novel, we find out who the killer is and we are faced with the ultimate decision of Luca or Falco? So tough!
Venom did take me awhile to get into but by the end I was totally loving it. Once I found a love for the historical part, I really enjoyed reading about what was going on in the city, and how things worked. I’m just not a historical reader, but this one did it for me.
This novel is really good, loved the pace, the setting, the plot, and the characters.
Overall: Like I said above, I have problems finding historical novels that I enjoy. I usually do not like them but there was something special about Venom that I really enjoyed. It was engaging and such a great story.
Cover: Love it! And I love her mask! The cover is what attracted me to this one. Love the cover!
What I'd Give It:
Innocent Darkness by Suzanne Lazear
Release Date: August 8, 2012
Publisher: Flux
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 408
Summary: A steampunk faerie tale with romance, danger, and a strong-willed heroine
When spirited sixteen-year-old Noli Braddock and her best friend Steven "V" Darrow take a flying car out for a joyride, neither expects Noli to be sent to reform school to mend her hoyden ways. While at the dreadful school, Noli's innocent mid-summer's eve wish summons Kevighn, a mysterious man who takes Noli with him to the Realm of Faerie. At first Noli believes she has been rescued. But the sinister reason behind the handsome huntsman's appearance quickly become clear--he wants to use Noli as a blood sacrifice to restore his dying world. V, who has secrets of his own, shows up to help Noli escape and return to the mortal realm--but first, they must navigate the dangerous intrigues of the Otherworld.
If they are successful, Noli will live. But if Noli lives, the entire Otherworld civilization will die.
My Thoughts: I have heard tons of good and bad things about this one. Some people expected it to be steampunk while others realized it was about faeries.
I went into it knowing it had a faerie element to it so I wasn’t surprised.
We are introduced to Noli who has had a rough life. She lives with her mother and has to help her out with all she can. Women aren’t supposed to work so Noli is “supposed” to grow up to be a lady but Noli likes other things. Like building things such as flying cars.
Noli also has a neighbor named V that she’s best friends with. I loved him! He was very very cool and you could tell he had a crush on Noli.
Noli gets sent away to basically a reform school. She has to learn how to be a lady. This really does despise her. She gets there, and isn’t too surprised that the headmaster is a mean old lady. She beats and tortures the girls who don’t follow her directions.
She meets a man outside one day and has the opportunity to trust him another and decides running away with him is better than staying there. So she goes. She ends up in another world, a world run by fairies.
Gosh, she learns that she is very special and can save a bunch of people. And than V comes back into the picture. Oh sweet sweet V. I knew there was something different about you.
I’m going to stop right there. This book was pretty interesting. I really did enjoy it. I can see why some people are either going to hate it or love it. If you like fairy books like me, you’ll probably enjoy it. If you know what you are going into from the get go, you’ll enjoy it. It isn’t exactly steampunk just a fair warning.
Overall: I really enjoyed this one! And I loved Noli and V so much. They were perfect for one another and they had a very nice spark for each other. Hehe. I’m glad where things went but now I want another novel from Lazear now!
Cover: Like it! It does look very steampunk though, right? I like this cover but don’t think it fits the novel very well.
What I'd Give It:
Burning Blue by Paul Griffin
Release Date: October 25, 2012
Publisher: Dial
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 288
Summary: How far would you go for love, beauty, and jealousy?
When Nicole Castro, the most beautiful girl in her wealthy New Jersey high school, is splashed with acid on the left side of her perfect face, the whole world takes notice. But quiet loner Jay Nazarro does more than that--he decides to find out who did it. Jay understands how it feels to be treated like a freak, and he also has a secret: He's a brilliant hacker. But the deeper he digs, the more danger he's in--and the more he falls for Nicole. Too bad everyone is turning into a suspect, including Nicole herself.
Award-winning author Paul Griffin has written a high-stakes, soulful mystery about the meaning--and dangers--of love and beauty
My Thoughts: This was a real fast read for me. I was engrossed in the plot very quickly and easily.
We are introduced to Nicole who is popular, nice, everything you could imagine. All the girls want to be her, and all the guys want to be with her. She seems to have everything. Until one day while walking down the hall at school, someone squirts a water bottle at her filled with acid. It gets on half of her face and her hands burning, destroying them.
Nicole goes into the hospital and has to have multiple surgeries and even after that she’s nowhere near as perfect as she used to be. She runs into a boy named Jay during one of her shrink visits. They click. They knew each other a bit before but didn’t run in the same circles and Jay has been homeschooled for a few years because he had his own set of problems.
Jay and Nicole begin to spend time together, as friends. But there is just something there. Jay needs to find out who did this to Nicole. He has to know, so he starts investigating and finds more than he bargained for. With the help of another hacker, they find the person behind it all. Somehow, I wasn’t expecting that. Everyone is a suspect at this point. Her boyfriend, friends, enemies, shrinks, everyone! Nobody is safe.
The culprit is revealed and it’s heartbreaking. Crazy, intense heartbreaking.
What else can I say? This novel was truly unique and even with the deranged storyline I enjoyed reading it. I liked the mystery and I wanted answers! I wanted to know who would hurt Nicole like this! And Jay was a pretty sweet guy. He had a lot going on in his life but he still went out of the way for others. He wanted to make sure this didn’t happen to anyone again, including a second attack on Nicole.
Burning Blue was a great novel.
Overall: I liked getting to know all the characters. I thought the plot was interesting. It kept me guessing up until the end. I felt like it wrapped up nicely. Burning Blue is definitely a mystery contemporary novel you should check out this year!
Cover: Like it! Its very appealing and I could see people picking this up at the bookstore.
What I’d Give It:
Crewel by Gennifer Albin
Release Date: October 16, 2012
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 368
Summary: Incapable. Awkward. Artless.
That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: she wants to fail.
Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very fabric of life. But if controlling what people eat, where they live and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn’t interested.
Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and wove a moment at testing, and they’re coming for her—tonight.
Now she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her Dad’s stupid jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.
Because once you become a Spinster, there’s no turning back.
My Thoughts: What a great novel. Crewel was fast paced, interesting, and awesome!
We are introduced to Adelice who lives with her younger sister and parents. Adelice has been taught all of her life to fake it. She fakes being able not to be a spinster and not know how to weave. All the girls want this gift, it means living in luxury and its a higher calling, but not to Adelice. She knows she’ll have to leave her family behind so she tries her best to pretend to not know how. Until one day, she messes up and accidently weaves. Oh no!
Adelice is whisked away from everything she knows to join the spinsters. Its not all glamour like everyone thinks, and Adelice is smart enough to know this and realize how things are going to be.
Of course, Adelice makes a lot of enemies right away and there are also love interests throughout this novel. Oh yes, I love this. This novel is kind of a mix between dystopia and maybe magic. So much happens, so many twists and turns. It held my attention all the way through. Adelice is such a complicated character, and the things she can do makes it even more neat.
This is one of those you don’t want to write too much about because you don’t want the reader to know much going in.You want them to experience it all by themselves.
Crewel is a bit confusing at first but quickly resolves itself. You understand it, you expect it, it's explained, and you either love or hate it. I loved it.
Awesome characters, awesome plot, awesome guys, and one awesome girl who is tougher than most heroines I read about.
Overall: Loved it! Probably one of the best books I read in August! Please read this novel now! Please tell me if you love or hate it. Which guy did you like most?
Crewel blew me away! I can’t wait to read the second one now!
Cover: Love it! Its so colorful. Adore it!
What I'd Give It:
This Is Not A Drill by Beck McDowell
Release Date: October 25, 2012
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 224
Summary: When high school seniors—and former couple—Emery and Jake find themselves held hostage in a first grade classroom, they must do all they can to protect the kids. Brian Stutts, a U.S. soldier suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after serving in Iraq, pulls out his gun to convince the teacher to hand over the son he’s not allowed to check out because of a custody battle. The situation turns deadly when a security guard appears at the door and Stutts impulsively opens fire. When the teacher is carried from the room, the children's fate is in the hands of Emery and Jake. While Jake searches for a way to communicate with the policemen surrounding the building, Emery, fighting her shyness, fear, and POTS symptoms, tries to reach out to the soldier. She gains a new understanding of what he faced in Iraq, and discovers remarkable strength in his small son.
My Thoughts: This Is Not A Drill was a pretty intense novel. It deals with a very serious subject and is very emotional.
We are introduced to Emery and Jake who had a rough breakup. Jake made some mistakes and Emery hasn’t forgiven him, and she plans on not forgiving him.
They are paired together to teach students at a elementary school. Just had to be karma that they get put together and have to work together as partners.
One day while at the elementary school, one of the children’s dad Brian comes in demanding to take his son out. The teacher encourages him to sit down and talk this out, but he refuses to listen. Brian has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from serving in Iraq and he is always on high alert to his surroundings. He takes the kids hostage and won’t let anyone go. Brian has gotten himself in quite the ordeal and he doesn’t know how to stop it or change things.
Gosh, this book was pretty frustrating for me. I liked it, but I felt like I was reliving the story over and over again because we are basically just getting to know him and what he went through. It was hard to stay focused because I just wanted him to let everyone go.
I get it, I do. He just wanted to take his child home and be able too. His wife had been having problems with him and was wanting a divorce. Brian is going through a lot after coming back. But I can understand why he can't take poor Patrick with him.
I loved seeing things from Jake and Emery’s point of view. This Is Not A Drill switched back and forth so we could see things from each side. We could get into the characters heads and know what they were thinking. I also liked seeing all the different sides of the children. Each one was so unique.
The ending, ouch. Can’t help but want things to end differently.
I liked this novel, I did. I just didn’t like it as much as I had hoped.
Overall: Probably more of a 3.5 cupcake novel for me. I did like it a bit more than a 3 but not quite as much as a 4. It’s always hard to rate these kind of books. This Is Not A Drill is an interesting look at how this could all go down. And I was so proud of both Emery and Jake for being so brave.
Cover: Like it. Think it fits perfectly, even the school desk. Very nice cover.
What I'd Give It:
Send Me A Sign by Tiffany Schmidt
Release Date: October 2, 2012
Publisher: Walker Childrens
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 384
Summary: Mia is always looking for signs. A sign that she should get serious with her soccer-captain boyfriend. A sign that she’ll get the grades to make it into an Ivy-league school. One sign she didn’t expect to look for was: “Will I survive cancer?” It’s a question her friends would never understand, prompting Mia to keep her illness a secret. The only one who knows is her lifelong best friend, Gyver, who is poised to be so much more. Mia is determined to survive, but when you have so much going your way, there is so much more to lose. From debut author Tiffany Schmidt comes a heart-wrenching and ultimately uplifting story of one girl’s search for signs of life in the face of death.
My Thoughts: Wow, what a novel! This one was awesome! Even though Mia was sick, it was still a thought provoking novel.
I usually hate cancer novels, who doesn’t? We hate cancer, it's bad, and hard to read about.
We are introduced to Mia who believes in horoscopes, lyrics in songs, and mostly everything else that can be told through fortunes or signs.
Mia is enjoying her summer days with her best friends, when she gets some really bad news. Mia has cancer. Mia doesn’t tell anyone except her parents (of course they know), her doctors, and her best friend and boy next door Gyver.
Mia’s life had started to become pretty good before this. She had the attention of the school popular boy Ryan, best friends, school, the idea of college, cheer-leading, just about everything a girl could want.
She decides not to tell her friends and spends most of the summer in the hospital while she tells her friends she is elsewhere.
Mia goes through the treatments with Gyver by her side. Man, where can I get me one of these Gyvers? Gyver was such a sweet boy. For some reason, I kept picturing him in my head as the blond headed kid from Jane By Design Billy. No idea why. That is how I seen him in my head.
Mia gets out of the hospital and tries to go back to her old life. She’s dating Ryan and hanging out with her best friends, until they start to get suspicious that something is happening but Mia wants to keep it a secret so she loses some of those friendships along the way for a bit.
Send Me A Sign is a great debut. Yes, it's sad but it’s also really addicting. I stayed up until 4 in the morning to finish this one. Once I started reading, I had to know what was going to happen.
There were times I wanted to slap Mia because I wanted her to be more open and accept that she needed to be, but she was scared and she had a hard time coping.
Send Me A Sign is a novel everyone should read. Even if you end up wiping tears away from your eyes a few times, it's one you can connect with on so many levels and plus there is a cute sweet boy in it!
Overall: Loved this one. One of the best debuts I’ve read this year. I felt so bad for Mia but I also wanted her to overcome this and get stronger! And I loved how she interacted with Gyver. Such a sweet yet heartbreaking novel.
Great characters, great plot, what more to ask for?
Cover: Love it! It’s so pretty yet makes me want to cry!
What I'd Give It:
Who I Kissed by Janet Gurtler
Release Date: October 1, 2012
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 320
Summary: She never thought a kiss could kill…
Samantha didn’t mean to hurt anyone. She was just trying to fit in...and she wanted to make Zee a little jealous after he completely ditched her for a prettier girl. So she kissed Alex. And then he died—right in her arms.
Was she really the only person in the entire school who didn’t know about his peanut allergy? Or that eating a peanut better sandwich and then kissing him would be deadly? Overnight Sam turns into the school pariah and a media sensation explodes. Consumed with guilt, abandoned by her friends, and in jeopardy of losing her swimming scholarship, she’ll have to find a way to forgive herself before anyone else will.
My Thoughts: Samantha didn’t know any better. She didn’t mean to do what she did. It was an accident pure and simple.
Those are the words Samantha needs to hear herself say. One night she is trying to make another boy jealous named Zee whom she likes when she kisses his best friend Alex. His best friend has a severe allergic reaction and dies. All of this because of a peanut butter sandwich?
Samantha is horrified. She’s given up on swimming, she’s given up on her friends (the few she had because she’s at a new school) and basically her life. Why should she have a happy life when he can’t?
Who I Kissed was an amazing novel. I really enjoyed learning about Samantha’s struggle and seeing how everything turned out. It was an intense beautiful novel.
This novel is very emotional and a definite struggle to read. While on one hand I wanted to keep reading, I also felt kind of depressed because I felt bad for everyone involved.
And, the ending, the way things happened, crazy.
Wow, what a novel. This is one you need to read this year.
Overall: Crazy, intense, real. Oh Samantha, Zee, and Alex I loved hearing your story.
Cover: Like it! It would make me pick it up!
What I’d Give It:
Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone
Release Date: October 9, 2012
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 384
Summary: Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet: she lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett’s unique ability to travel through time and space brings him into Anna’s life, and with him, a new world of adventure and possibility.
As their relationship deepens, they face the reality that time might knock Bennett back where he belongs, even as a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question. Against a ticking clock, Anna and Bennett are forced to ask themselves how far they can push the bounds of fate—and what consequences they can bear in order to stay together.
Fresh, exciting, and deeply romantic, TIME BETWEEN US is a stunning and spellbinding debut from an extraordinary new talent in YA fiction.
My Thoughts: Oh Anna and Bennett how I loved going on this ride with you!
This novel tells the wonderful romance story of Anna and Bennett who travel together and have a lot of weird moments together. They are adventurous to say the least. Bennett shows up at Anna’s school one day, and she becomes smitten with him. Of course, there is more to his story than the average new boy. He is from the future and he can time travel. Anna is living in 1995 and Bennett is from the future, 2012. They aren’t supposed to know each other or fall in love with one another. They aren’t meant to be together, according to time and space.
Of course this doesn’t stop them. Bennett takes Anna places she could never even imagine going. Anna falls deeply in love with him but she knows there may be consequences and she could lose him any day. He can’t always control where he goes or how long he stays.
Things aren’t all candy canes and sugar plums, Anna and Bennett face a lot of challenges on being together. And Bennett had a mission on why he came back.
Oh, and Anna works in a bookstore, score!
I don’t want to say much else about this, because I don’t want to ruin it. What if you could travel anywhere in the world in an instant, go back in time and do things over? Wouldn’t it be pretty amazing? I say yes!
Time Between Us was a fantastic novel! I loved it so much. It had romance, drama, best friends, time traveling, and everything else I wanted! I loved it! It was sweet and from the first few chapters on, I enjoyed reading it and didn't want to stop when I had to.
Overall: Oh man, I’ll say it again, please read this novel! Time Between Us was nicely done! It was beautiful, it was captivating, and a real page turner! Can’t wait to hear everyone else’s thoughts! Please add this to your 2012 reading list!
Cover: Really like it! It has that beauty feel to it. Could totally see Anna being this girl, and she has pretty hair.
What I’d Give It:
The Waiting Sky by Lara Zielin
Release Date: August 2, 2012
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 224
Summary:One summer chasing tornadoes could finally change Jane's life for the better
Seventeen-year-old Jane McAllister can't quite admit her mother's alcoholism is spiraling dangerously out of control until she drives drunk, nearly killing them and Jane's best friend.
Jane has only one place to turn: her older brother Ethan, who left the problems at home years ago for college. A summer with him and his tornado-chasing buddies may just provide the time and space Jane needs to figure out her life and whether it still includes her mother. But she struggles with her anger at Ethan for leaving home and feels guilty--is she also abandoning her mom just when she needs Jane most? The carefree trip turned journey of self-discovery quickly becomes more than Jane bargained for, especially when the devilishly handsome Max steps into the picture.
My Thoughts: I really loved this one! The part about tornadoes grabbed my attention right away!
We are introduced to Jane who lives with her mother. Her mother is an alcoholic and that's all Jane has ever really known. Jane has been the mom of the family, taking care of herself mostly.
One day, Jane’s mom gets into a car accident with Jane and her best friend inside. Jane knows something needs to change. She decides to get away for a while and goes to stay with her brother. She is on the road chasing tornadoes with him. She takes pictures for the website. She loves taking pictures.
Jane gets to know her brother better, herself, and it doesn't hurt there is a cute guy on the road as well.
I don’t want to give everything away about this one. It was such a fun and bittersweet read, and probably one of my favorites of the year. I just loved Jane’s character and I loved her voice.
And the romance, oh sweet!!!!
Please add The Waiting Sky to your TBR pile now!!
Overall: Loved it! Raced through this one and didn't want it to end. That is how you know a book is good! Really loved everything about this one!
Cover: So pretty! Love the tornado in a bottle!!! Awesome!
What I’d Give It:
Feedback (Variant #2) by Robison Wells
Release Date: October 2, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 356
Summary: Benson Fisher escaped from Maxfield Academy’s deadly rules and brutal gangs.
Or so he thought.
But now Benson is trapped in a different kind of prison: a town filled with hauntingly familiar faces. People from Maxfield he saw die. Friends he was afraid he had killed.
They are all pawns in the school’s twisted experiment, held captive and controlled by an unseen force. As he searches for answers, Benson discovers that Maxfield Academy’s plans are more sinister than anything he imagined—and they may be impossible to stop.
Variant blew readers away with its breakneck pacing, flawless plotting, and impossibly high stakes. It earned starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and VOYA, which described it as “an exciting, edge-of-your-seat read that combines psychological themes from works like Lord of the Flies, The Hunger Games, and Ender’s Game in a truly unique way.”
In Feedback, Robison Wells delivers all the answers you’ve been craving—with enough twists and turns to keep readers guessing until the very last page.
My Thoughts: I remember last year when I read Variant. I thought it was really good. It was kind of odd, but good.
If you haven’t read Variant yet, do not read this review! Feedback reunites us with Benson Fisher. Benson and his friend Becky have escaped the school finally and are out in the woods when they run into Jane. The real Jane. Becky is close to death but Benson won’t let her go. If he has to carry her, he will!
Jane introduces Benson to a group of students he already kind of knows. Most of them at the school were either robots or have gotten sent to detention. The robots are the dupes of these kids. Basically their emotions are tied together and when they go active, they can feel their feelings and what is going on, as known as feedback. All these kids are forced to live in this small town and make it function. They can’t leave, they have no way to leave. They don’t even know how far it is to get to other people.
Feedback focuses on Benson and the gang trying to find out a way to escape and get to civilization and find a way to get everyone out in the real world and expose the school. It sure isn’t an easy task since the leaders of the school come and monitor all of them. They have trackers that make it physically impossible to leave. Whenever they come on the property Becky and Benson must hide and fast.
Variant had such a major cliffhanger I couldn’t wait to read Feedback! Honestly, I really enjoyed Variant and I also enjoyed Feedback but not quite as much. Almost. Almost. At times though, it felt like it got slow and nothing was really happening but then it would speed up again.
I’m happy to say this. I’m glad that all those characters I thought who died didn’t die. Especially all of those who were sent to detention. I’m glad they weren’t murdered.
Feedback was an enjoyable read, and I’m happy to be back with Benson and to see him figure out what to do. But, to warned! I need another book now!!! The cliffhanger didn’t leave me with my mouth hanging open like Variant did, but I need to know what happens next!
Overall: Really liked it a lot. Less talk, more action! haha! When does the next one come out again? Give this series a chance but make sure you have both books when you read them!!! Or else after Variant, you’ll want to throw it across the room!
Cover: Like it! It totally goes with the first cover! At least we kind of know what Benson looks like, kinda.
What I'd Give It:
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