True Review

Title: Vanish (Firelight #2) Author: Sophie Jordan Publication Date: September 6th, 2011 Published By: HarperTeen Hardcover, 304 Pages Source: ARC received from the Publisher for an honest review Summary: "To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely-guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone. Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family’s. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride’s heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them b...

Title : Possess Author : Gretchen McNeil Publication Date : August 23rd, 2011 Published By : Balzer & Bray Hardcover, 384 Pages Source: ARC received for blog tour for an honest review Summary: "Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her mom, by the cute son of a local police sergeant, and by the eerie voices she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Unfortunately for Bridget, it turns out the voices are demons – and Bridget has the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from. Terrified to tell people about her new power, Bridget confides in a local priest who enlists her help in increasingly dangerous cases of demonic possession. But just as she is starting to come to terms with her new power, Bridget receives a startling message from one of the demons. Now Bridget must unlock the secret to the demons' plan before someone close to her winds up dead – or worse, the human vessel of a demon king." Review: **** 1/2 = 4.5 Sta...

Love Story by Jennifer Echols Publication Date: July 19th, 2011 Published By: MTV Books Paperback, 243 Pages Source: Review copy received from author for an honest review Summary: "For Erin Blackwell, majoring in creative writing at the New York City college of her dreams is more than a chance to fulfill her ambitions--it's her ticket away from the tragic memories that shadow her family's racehorse farm in Kentucky. But when she refuses to major in business and take over the farm herself someday, her grandmother gives Erin's college tuition and promised inheritance to their maddeningly handsome stable boy, Hunter Allen. Now Erin has to win an internship and work late nights at a coffee shop to make her own dreams a reality. She should despise Hunter . . . so why does he sneak into her thoughts as the hero of her latest writing assignment? Then, on the day she's sharing that assignment with her class, Hunter walks in. He's joining her class. And after he re...

Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep Publication Date: July 26th, 2011 Published By: Kensington Publishing Corporation Paperback, 350 Pages Source: Received from publishing company for honest review for blog tour Summary: "My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Academy — a school of myths, magic and warrior whiz kids, where even the lowliest geek knows how to chop off somebody's head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spartan guy in school, also happens to be the deadliest. But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jasmine Ashton was murdered in the Library of Antiquities. Then, someone stole the Bowl of Tears, a magical artifact that can be used to bring about the second Chaos War. You know, death, destruction and lots of other bad, bad things. Freaky stuff like this goes on all the time at Mythos, but I'm determined to find out who killed Jasmine and why—especially since I should have been the one who died. . ." Review: ****...

Misfit by Jon Skovron Publication Date: August 1st, 2011 Published By: Amulet Books Hardcover, 384 Pages Source: ARC Tour- Blog Tour Summary: "Jael has always felt like a freak. She’s never kissed a boy, she never knew her mom, and her dad’s always been superstrict—but that’s probably because her mom was a demon, which makes Jael half demon and most definitely not a normal sophomore girl. On her sixteenth birthday, a mysterious present unlocks her family’s dangerous history and Jael’s untapped potential. What was merely an embarrassing secret before becomes a terrifying reality. Jael must learn to master her demon side in order to take on a vindictive Duke of Hell while also dealing with a twisted priest, best-friend drama, and a spacey blond skater boy who may have hidden depths. Author Jon Skovron takes on the dark side of human nature with his signature funny, heartfelt prose." Review: **** = 4 Stars I believe this is going to be a book people either really like, ...

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi Publication Date: November 15th, 2011 Published By: HarperTeen Hardcover, 352 Pages Source: Received from publisher for an honest review Summary: "Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old-girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color. The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now. Juli...

Die for Me by Amy Plum Publication Date: May 10th, 2011 Published By: HarperTeen Hardcover, 352 Pages Source: ARC received from Inkpop/Publisher for Honest Review  Summary: "In the City of Lights, two star-crossed lovers battle a fate that is destined to tear them apart again and again for eternity. When Kate Mercier's parents die in a tragic car accident, she leaves her life--and memories--behind to live with her grandparents in Paris. For Kate, the only way to survive her pain is escaping into the world of books and Parisian art. Until she meets Vincent. Mysterious, charming, and devastatingly handsome, Vincent threatens to melt the ice around Kate's guarded heart with just his smile. As she begins to fall in love with Vincent, Kate discovers that he's a revenant--an undead being whose fate forces him to sacrifice himself over and over again to save the lives of others. Vincent and those like him are bound in a centuries-old war against a group of evil revenant...

Future Imperfect by K. Ryer Breese Publication Date: April 26th, 2011 Published By: St. Martin's Griffin Paperback, 320 Pages Source: ARC received from published, Teen Book Scene Blog Tour Summary: "Ade Patience can see the future and it's destroying his life. When the seventeen-year-old Mantlo High School student knocks himself unconscious, he can see days and decades into his own future. Ade's the best of Denver's "divination" underground and eager to join the heralded Mantlo Diviners, a group of similarly enabled teens. Yet, unlike the Diviners, Ade Patience doesn't see the future out of curiosity or good will; Ade gives himself concussions because he's addicted to the high, the Buzz, he gets when he breaks the laws of physics. And while there have been visions he's wanted to change, Ade knows the Rule: You can't change the future, no matter how hard you try. His memory is failing, his grades are in a death spiral, and both Ade...

Compulsion by Heidi Ayarbe Publication Date: May 1st, 2011 Published By: Balzer&Bray(HarperCollins Imprint) Hardcover, 304 Pages Source: ARC, Teen Book Scene Blog Tour Summary: "Today has to be perfect. Magic. I look at the clock. 10:14 am. Ten fourteen. One plus one is two plus four is six plus ten is sixteen minus one is fifteen minus two is thirteen. OK. I turn from the clock and walk into the hallway. "Ready.” Saturday will be the third state soccer championship in a row for Jake Martin. Three. A good number. Prime. With Jake on the field, Carson City High can’t lose, because Jake has the magic: a self-created protection generated by his obsession with prime numbers. It’s the magic that has every top soccer university recruiting Jake, the magic that keeps his family safe, and the magic that suppresses his anxiety attacks. But the magic is Jake’s prison, because getting it means his compulsions take over nearly every aspect of his life. Jake’s convinced the magi...

Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz Publication Date: April 19th, 2011 Published By: Simon Pulse Paperback, 336 Pages Source: Simon&Schuster Galley Grab for Honest Review Summary: "Noah’s happier than I’ve seen him in months. So I’d be an awful brother to get in the way of that. It’s not like I have some relationship with Melinda. It was just a kiss. Am I going to ruin Noah’s happiness because of a kiss? Across four sun-kissed, drama-drenched summers at his family’s beach house, Chase is falling in love, falling in lust, and trying to keep his life from falling apart. But some girls are addictive.... Not your typical beach read" Review: **** 1/2 = 4.5 Stars I read Hannah's first book, Break, last year, and I loved it. I am very glad that Invincible Summer was great as well, and has lived up to its hype, IMHO. Hannah writes with a certain roughness. I don't mean the writing itself, but the characters and relationships. Break was very gritty and powerful ...

The Other Side of Life by Jess C. Scott Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy #1 Publication Date: 2011 (First Published in 2010) Published by CreateSpace Paperback, 234 Pages Source: Ebook Courtesy of Jess C. Scott / Teen Book Scene Blog Tour Summary: "A thieving duo’s world turns upside down when an Elven rogue uncovers the heinous dealings of a megacorporation. * Recommended for adults or young adults seeking cyberpunk themes (not hardcore sci-fi), and a love story (not fluffy romance)." EXCERPT: Nin knew how much humans loved money, riches, and material things — though he never really could understand why. The more technologically advanced the human species got, the more isolated they seemed to become, at the same time. It was alarming, how humans could spend entire lifetimes engaged in all kinds of activities, without getting any closer to knowing who they really were, inside. My Review: **** = 4 Stars I was interested in reading this book because of the elements in\t comb...

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton Publication Date: Feburary 15th, 2011 Published By: HarperCollins / Katherine Tegan Books Hardcover, 464 Pages Source: ARC / Teen Book Scene   Summary: "When seventeen-year-old Ellie starts seeing reapers - monstrous creatures who devour humans and send their souls to Hell - she finds herself on the front lines of a supernatural war between archangels and the Fallen and faced with the possible destruction of her soul. A mysterious boy named Will reveals she is the reincarnation of an ancient warrior, the only one capable of wielding swords of angelfire to fight the reapers, and he is an immortal sworn to protect her in battle. Now that Ellie's powers have been awakened, a powerful reaper called Bastian has come forward to challenge her. He has employed a fierce assassin to eliminate her - an assassin who has already killed her once. While balancing her dwindling social life and reaper-hunting duties, she and Will discover Bastian is se...

Divergent by Veronica Roth Publication Date: May 3rd, 2011 Published By: HarperCollins/Katherine Tegan Books Hardcover, 496 Pages Source: ARC received from Publisher for honest review Summary: "One choice. One choice decides your friends, defines your beliefs, and determines your loyalties . . . forever. Or, one choice can transform you. In Veronica Roth's debut novel, Divergent, a perfect society unfolds into a dystopian world of electrifying decisions, stunning consequences, heartbreaking betrayals, and unexpected romance." My Review: ***** + = 5+ Stars (NO SPOILERS) If you compile a list of compliments that you would give an outstanding book, they would all apply to how I feel about Divergent. Amazing, fascinating, marvelous, stunning, surprising, and wonderful, I could keep going but the list on this one would be never ending. In a future society in Chicago, the lives of the citizens are split into five different factions. Each faction represents a virtue, ...