Genre Definition and Recommendation #54

Genre Definition and Recommendation is a feature where I will define a genre and a sub-genre definition and the make some recommendations.  

Fantasy - Definition found on Wikipedia

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary plot element, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common. Fantasy is generally distinguished from the genre of science fiction by the expectation that it steers clear of scientific themes, though there is a great deal of overlap between the two, both of which are subgenres of speculative fiction.

Dark Fantasy Definition found on Wikipedia   

Dark fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy which can refer to literary, artistic, and filmic works that combine fantasy with elements of horror. The term can be used broadly to refer to fantastical works that have a dark, gloomy atmosphere or a sense of horror and dread.

My Recommendations: 

Splintered by A.G. Howard 

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

The Diviners by Libba Bray 

  

Do you believe there are ghosts and demons and Diviners among us? Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It's 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.Evie worries he'll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfurled in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened....Printz Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Libba Bray opens a brand-new historical series with The Diviners, where the glittering surface of the Roaring Twenties hides a mystical horror creeping across the country.

What Do you Recommend? 

Stacking the Shelves #67

Stacking The Shelves is a hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Come join the fun and share all the book you received this week. 

For Review:

Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly

         

The first in a series of three epic tales set in the depths of the ocean, where six mermaids seek to protect and save their hidden world.

Deep in the ocean, in a world not so different from our own, live the merpeople. Their communities are spread throughout the oceans, seas, and freshwaters all over the globe.

When Serafina, a mermaid of the Mediterranean Sea, awakens on the morning of her betrothal, her biggest worry should be winning the love of handsome Prince Mahdi. And yet Sera finds herself haunted by strange dreams that foretell the return of an ancient evil. Her dark premonitions are confirmed when an assassin's arrow poisons Sera's mother. Now, Serafina must embark on a quest to find the assassin's master and prevent a war between the Mer nations. Led only by her shadowy dreams, Sera searches for five other mermaid heroines who are scattered across the six seas. Together, they will form an unbreakable bond of sisterhood and uncover a conspiracy that threatens their world's very existence.

Sing Sweet Nightingale by Erica Cameron

     

Mariella Teagen hasn't spoken a word in four years. 

She pledged her voice to Orane, the man she loves—someone she only sees in her dreams. Each night, she escapes to Paradise, the world Orane created for her, and she sings for him. Mariella never believed she could stay in Paradise longer than a night, but two weeks before her eighteenth birthday, Orane hints that she may be able to stay forever. 

Hudson Vincent made a pledge to never fight again.

Calease, the creature who created his dream world, swore that giving up violence would protect Hudson. But when his vow caused the death of his little brother, Hudson turned his grief on Calease and destroyed the dream world. The battle left him with new abilities and disturbing visions of a silent girl in grave danger—Mariella.

Now, Hudson is fighting to save Mariella's life while she fights to give it away. And he must find a way to show her Orane’s true intentions before she is lost to Paradise forever.

Half Bad by Sally Green

                            

A stunning, magical debut. An international sensation.

In modern-day England, witches live alongside humans: White witches, who are good; Black witches, who are evil; and fifteen-year-old Nathan, who is both. Nathan’s father is the world’s most powerful and cruel Black witch, and his mother is dead. He is hunted from all sides. Trapped in a cage, beaten and handcuffed, Nathan must escape before his sixteenth birthday, at which point he will receive three gifts from his father and come into his own as a witch—or else he will die. But how can Nathan find his father when his every action is tracked, when there is no one safe to trust—not even family, not even the girl he loves?

In the tradition of Patrick Ness and Markus Zusak, Half Bad is a gripping tale of alienation and the indomitable will to survive, a story that will grab hold of you and not let go until the very last page.

     

AUDIO:

Feature and Follow Friday #96

Feature Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Rachel of Parajunkee and Alison of Alison Can Read!

Featured Blog:

TeenBookHoots

and

Featured Question:

Question of the Week: 
What is the last book that made me cry?

Answer:

That should be easy. I am a crybaby and I cry just about anytime I read a book with good character building and a sensitive scene. The last book that really made me cry, more than just a couple tears of joy or sadness here and there was... Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott 

I just read this book last week. I haven't done the review yet. It was a very emotional read. It was a sensitive subject and one that totally wrapped me up in the situation. This author always pulls me into the emotions of the characters and this one for sure had me bawling. 

Review: A Mad Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller

Title: Mad Wicked Folly

Author: Sharon Biggs Waller

Publisher:   Viking Juvenile 
Publishing Date: January 3rd 2014

Pages: 448
Genre:  YA Historical Fiction

Series: stand alone
Source: audio

  

Welcome to the world of the fabulously wealthy in London, 1909, where dresses and houses are overwhelmingly opulent, social class means everything, and women are taught to be nothing more than wives and mothers. Into this world comes seventeen-year-old Victoria Darling, who wants only to be an artist—a nearly impossible dream for a girl.After Vicky poses nude for her illicit art class, she is expelled from her French finishing school. Shamed and scandalized, her parents try to marry her off to the wealthy Edmund Carrick-Humphrey. But Vicky has other things on her mind: her clandestine application to the Royal College of Art; her participation in the suffragette movement; and her growing attraction to a working-class boy who may be her muse—or may be the love of her life. As the world of debutante balls, corsets, and high society obligations closes in around her, Vicky must figure out: just how much is she willing to sacrifice to pursue her dreams?

The cover to this book really drew me in. I wasn't real sure what it was about when I decided to read it. What I knew... historical fiction, beautiful cover, takes place in Europe, about a girl who wants to be an artist. I was in for quite a surprise.There was so much more to this book and I enjoyed every bit of it. A very emotional read for me. Not a tear jerker, but it was a bit of an anger maker. In a good way. 

Vicky wants to be an artist in 1909, in England. She is from a very high society family and what is expected of her is to marry, be a socialite, wife, and mother. Vicky has other plans. After posing nude for an art class in Paris, her parents bring her back to London and attempt to repair her reputation. Word got a around and her parents are not happy. They decided to announce her eligible for marriage and make a deal with her. Her boring Aunt's in the country or marry a rich high standing man. She decides marrying this man is her only hope to go to art school. This book is the journey she takes in a society that doesn't make easy for to her make her own dream come true. 

I love historical fiction, mainly because I love to feel the era and learn of the ways people lived in the past. I must be drawn into the setting to see clearly the time I am reading about. I want the language, the descriptions, and the characters to bring history to life for me. I don't know much about history but I know when it feels right. This book felt right. The author did an amazing job of making me live 1909 in London. The setting, the tone, the characters, it was all there. The writing was just right. 

I loved the story. The story had so much depth. Any person, especially women, know what women through in the past in order to receive rights, rights to speak, rights to an opinion, rights to vote. Its in all our history books, Although I learned the American journey in school, I was pretty sure it was much the same in England. This book really brought forth what women went through. How they were treated and how far they have come to be respected. It was a hard journey and the main character, Vicky, did what she could to prove she was as capable as any man with same dream. It was nice to see her fight, but it was also nice to clearly see the fight all around. The story wasn't just about Vicky, although she was the focus, the story went into many issues with woman's rights in this time period. It made me angry then made me proud. It was a feel good book in the end. 

Vicky was a wonderful main character. Defiant, independent, stubborn, determined. Everything that is good in a main character. She also had her flaws. Sometimes she made me want to hit something. She was clueless at many moments in the story, but it was pretty much expected of her knowing her upbringing. I was happy to watch how she grew as she strengthened herself and her proved her independence. She was strong and I just adored her. 

I also loved her friends, Sophie and Lucy. Lucy was bit annoying at the beginning but she grew on me. She was a true leader and she did what she had to do bring attention to her cause. She was committed. She was also a loyal friend. I just loved Sophie. She was also very independent and defiant. She just went about it a bit quieter than some. She was also a very loyal friend. 

The romance in the book was just right for me. Sweet and passionate. The love interest, Will, was definitely swoon worthy, sweet, noble, a real hero. Loved loved loved him. The romance was paced well. It started off friendship then led to more and I was so rooting for Will throughout the entire book. 

Another aspect of the book I really enjoyed was the art world of the story. The writing of the art world was done very well. It was very interesting to read about Vicky's artwork, how she posed models, how she started her drawings and finished them. It felt very authentic. 

The pacing was very good for the story. I fell into the story very quickly and it wasn't so much as a page turner but it kept my interest steady throughout the read. It was a very easy enjoyable read with just enough excitement to keep me feeling completely satisfied with the ride. 

A great book I would recommend any historical reader or readers who would love to give historical fiction a shot. 

 Sharon Biggs Waller grew up around artists and developed a passion for Edwardian history and the Pre-Raphaelites when she moved to England in 2000. She did extensive research on the British suffragettes for her novel, A MAD, WICKED FOLLY when she wasn’t working as a riding instructor at the Royal Mews in Buckingham Palace and as a freelance magazine writer. She also writes non-fiction books about horses under her maiden name, Sharon Biggs. She is a dressage rider and trainer and lives on a 10-acre sustainable farm in Northwest Indiana with her British husband, Mark. Visit her atwww.sharonbiggswaller.com.

Delightful Discoveries #54

Delightful Discoveries are books that I have discovered recently... old, new, just released... from blogs, Goodreads, libraries, friends, or bookstores. 

Learning No to Drown by Anna Shinoda

  

Family secrets cut to the bone in this mesmerizing debut novel about a teen whose drug-addicted brother is the prodigal son one time too many.

There is a pecking order to every family. Seventeen-year old Clare is the overprotected baby; Peter is the typical, rebellious middle child; and Luke is the oldest, the can’t-do-wrong favorite. To their mother, they are a normal, happy family.

To Clare, they are a family on the verge of disaster. Clare: the ambitious striver; Peter: the angry ticking time bomb; and Luke: a drug-addicted convicted felon who has been in and out of jail for as long as Clare can remember—and who has always been bailed out by their parents.

Clare loves Luke, but life as his sister hasn’t been easy. And when he comes home (again), she wants to believe this time will be different (again). Yet when the truths behind his arrests begin to surface, everything Clare knows is shaken to its core. And then Luke is arrested. Again.

Except this time is different, because Clare’s mom does the unthinkable on Luke’s behalf, and Clare has to decide whether turning her back on family is a selfish act…or the only way to keep from drowning along with them.

Debut novelist Anna Shinoda's raw, gritty, powerful novel cuts right to the bone and brings to life the skeletons the lurk in the closet.

The Traveling Tea Shop by Belinda Jones

A delectable tale of friendship, love and cake for fans of Jenny Colgan and Sophie Kinsella...

Laurie loves a challenge. Especially if it involves anything beautiful, baked and frosted. The brief is simple: With three other women, Laurie will board a London bus - kitted out as an English tea shop - on a deliciously different road trip of the USA.

Their mission: To bring home-grown classics like Battenberg, Victoria sponge and scones to the land of cupcakes, whoopie pies and gold-leafed chocolate sundaes.

And to show them how a real cup of tea is made. All of the women have their own secrets and heartaches to heal. As well as a grand appreciation of cupcakes, there's also the chance for romance...

But will making whoopee lead to love?

All aboard for: New York - Connecticut - Rhode Island - Massachusetts - Maine - New Hampshire - Vermont.

Blackfin Sky by Kat Ellis

Just like any other morning, Skylar Rousseau is late for school, but when she is greeted by a blanket of silent stares upon entering Blackfin High, she discovers that the whole town thought she fell from the pier and drowned on her sixteenth birthday three months earlier. However, Sky remembers the last three months living her life as normal, and since she is a full, living breathing human being, she has no idea whose body is buried underneath her tombstone. Everyone seems reluctant to help except her steadfast friend and crush, Sean . . . and a secretive man who draws her to a mysterious circus in the woods.
Sky must wade through impossibilities and lies to discover the truth about what happened to her, which proves to be a bit difficult when someone is following her every move with the intent to harm her. And Sky’s only hope of finding the answers she seeks may have already been turned to ashes.

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

  
In this timeless new trilogy about love and sacrifice, a princess must find her place in a reborn world.

In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia’s life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight—but she doesn’t—and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom—to a prince she has never met.

On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assasin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—even as she finds herself falling in love.

 Echo Boy by Matt Haig

Audrey's father taught her that to stay human in the modern world, she had to build a moat around herself; a moat of books and music, philosophy and dreams. A moat that makes Audrey different from the echoes: sophisticated, emotionless machines, built to resemble humans and to work for human masters. Daniel is an echo - but he's not like the others. He feels a connection with Audrey; a feeling Daniel knows he was never designed to have, and cannot explain. And when Audrey is placed in terrible danger, he's determined to save her. The Echo Boy is a powerful story about love, loss and what makes us truly human.