Delightful Discoveries #59

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

Falls the Shadow

  

When Cate Benson was twelve, her sister died. 

Two hours after the funeral, they picked up Violet’s replacement, and it was like nothing had ever happened. Because Cate’s parents are among those who decided to grant their children a sort of immortality—by cloning them at birth. So this new Violet has the same smile. The same laugh. That same perfect face. Thanks to advancements in mind-uploading technology, she even has all the same memories as the girl she replaced. 

She also might have murdered the most popular girl in school. 

Or at least, that’s what the paparazzi and crazy anti-cloning protesters want everyone to think: that clones are violent, unpredictable monsters. Cate is used to hearing all that, though. She’s used to standing up for her sister too, and she’s determined to prove her innocence now—at whatever the cost. But the deeper she digs for the truth, the further Cate's carefully-constructed life begins to unravel, unveiling a world filled with copies and lies, where nothing and no one—not even her sister— is completely what they seem. 

In a pulse pounding debut, Stefanie Gaither takes readers on a nail-biting ride through a future that looks frighteningly similar to our own time and asks: how far are you willing to go to keep your family together?

Take Back the Skies by Lucy Saxon

Catherine Hunter is the daughter of a senior government official on the island of Anglya. She’s one of the privileged – she has luxurious clothes, plenty to eat, and is protected from the Collections which have ravaged families throughout the land. But Catherine longs to escape the confines of her life, before her dad can marry her off to a government brat and trap her forever.

So Catherine becomes Cat, pretends to be a kid escaping the Collections, and stows away on the skyship Stormdancer. As they leave Anglya behind and brave the storms that fill the skies around the islands of Tellus, Cat’s world becomes more turbulent than she could ever have imagined, and dangerous secrets unravel her old life once and for all . . .

Riot by Sarah Mussi

It is 2018. England has been struggling under a recession that has shown no sign of abating. Years of cuts has devastated Britain: banks are going under, businesses closing, prices soaring, unemployment rising, prisons overflowing. The authorities cannot cope. And the population has maxed out.

The police are snowed under. Something has to give. Drastic measures need taking.

The solution: forced sterilisation of all school leavers without secure further education plans or guaranteed employment.

The country is aghast. Families are distraught, teenagers are in revolt, but the politicians are unshakeable: The population explosion must be curbed. No more free housing for single parents, no more child benefit, no more free school meals, no more children in need. Less means more.

But it is all so blatantly unfair - the Teen Haves will procreate, the Teen Havenots won't.

It's time for the young to take to the streets. It's time for them to RIOT:

OUR RIGHT TO CHOOSE, OUR BODIES, OUR FUTURE

The Fever by Megan Abbott

  
The panic unleashed by a mysterious contagion threatens the bonds of family and community in a seemingly idyllic suburban community.

The Nash family is close-knit. Tom is a popular teacher, father of two teens: Eli, a hockey star and girl magnet, and his sister Deenie, a diligent student. Their seeming stability, however, is thrown into chaos when Deenie's best friend is struck by a terrifying, unexplained seizure in class. Rumors of a hazardous outbreak spread through the family, school and community.

As hysteria and contagion swell, a series of tightly held secrets emerges, threatening to unravel friendships, families and the town's fragile idea of security.

A chilling story about guilt, family secrets and the lethal power of desire,The Fever affirms Megan Abbot's reputation as "one of the most exciting and original voices of her generation" (Laura Lippman).

Deliver Me by Kate Jarvik Birch

One People. One Union. One Future. 

Wynne’s entire life is dictated by the Union: the clothes she wears, the books she reads, even the genes she inherited. And like every other girl in the Union, Wynne dreams of being chosen as a Carrier on her 16th birthday—one of the elite selected to carry the future generation within her womb. Wynne and her best friend Odessa are certain they will both make the cut, but when Odessa is chosen and whisked off to a life of privilege, Wynne is left behind to work as an assistant, delivering perfectly planned babies for the Union.

As Odessa slips deeper and deeper into the role of Carrier, Wynne begins to see the Union for what it really is: a society that criminalizes the notion of love, and forbids words like mother and family.

For the first time in her life, Wynne is faced with a choice: submit to the will of the Union, or find a way to escape and save Odessa before she is lost forever.

Waiting on Wednesday #104

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

The Body in the Woods by April Henry

June 17th 2014

In this new series told from multiple perspectives, teen members of a search and rescue team discover a dead body in the woods.

Alexis, Nick, and Ruby have very different backgrounds: Alexis has spent her life covering for her mom’s mental illness, Nick’s bravado hides his fear of not being good enough, and Ruby just wants to pursue her eccentric interests in a world that doesn’t understand her. When the three teens join Portland County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, they are teamed up to search for a autistic man lost in the woods. What they find instead is a dead body. In a friendship that will be forged in danger, fear, and courage, the three team up to find the girl’s killer—before he can strike one of their own.

This first book in April Henry’s Point Last Seen YA mystery series is full of riveting suspense, putting readers in the middle of harrowing rescues and crime scene investigations.

Teaser Tuesday #100 and Top Ten Tuesday #90

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading. Bloggers choose two

sentences out of our current read to peak others' curiosity.

Ashen Winter by Mike Mullen

                                 

It’s been over six months since the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. Alex and Darla have been staying with Alex’s relatives, trying to cope with the new reality of the primitive world so vividly portrayed in Ashfall, the first book in this series. It’s also been six months of waiting for Alex’s parents to return from Iowa. Alex and Darla decide they can wait no longer and must retrace their journey into Iowa to find and bring back Alex’s parents to the tenuous safety of Illinois. But the landscape they cross is even more perilous than before, with life-and-death battles for food and power between the remaining communities. When the unthinkable happens, Alex must find new reserves of strength and determination to survive.

Teaser:

"Yeah," I replied. "How about if I walk up there with my hands up and try to talk to them, and you turn Bikezilla around so that if they start shooting, we can ride out of here in a hurry."

Top Ten is an original feature/weekly meme created here at

The Broke and the Bookish that features a great bookish top ten every week.

My Top Ten really want to do before I die List. (book related)

1. Attend BEA. I really really want to go.... 
2. Finish my own novel.
3. Build my own library... huge, full of books, spiral staircase... yes I am dreaming but I would love a library in my home. 
4. I would love to get caught up on my reviews! 
5. Work in a bookstore. Yes I want to work in a bookstore... this will only happen if I can retire. 
6.  A Simple one... I would love to stay up for the full 24 hours for the Dewey's 24 hour read-a-thon. Still have not managed this. 
7.  Read Harry Potter with my grandson... this will happen... He is only 7 months old so I need to wait a bit. 
8. Reread all my favorite series... I have lots of them. 
9. Fill my author author autograph book to the fullest. 
10. Get a really cool book-work tattoo! 

Review: Inhuman by Kat Falls

Title: Inhuman 

Author: Kat Falls

Publisher:  Scholastic 
Publishing Date: September 24th 2013

Pages: 384
Genre:  YA Sci-Fi/Dystopian Adventure

Series: Fetch #1
Source: Hardcover

  

In a world ravaged by mutation, a teenage girl must travel into the forbidden Savage Zone to recover lost artifacts or her father’s life is forfeit.
America has been ravaged by a war that has left the eastern half of the country riddled with mutation. Many of the people there exhibit varying degrees of animal traits. Even the plantlife has gone feral.
Crossing from west to east is supposed to be forbidden, but sometimes it’s necessary. Some enter the Savage Zone to provide humanitarian relief. Sixteen-year-old Lane’s father goes there to retrieve lost artifacts—he is a Fetch. It’s a dangerous life, but rewarding—until he’s caught.
Desperate to save her father, Lane agrees to complete his latest job. That means leaving behind her life of comfort and risking life and limb—and her very DNA—in the Savage Zone. But she’s not alone. In order to complete her objective, Lane strikes a deal with handsome, roguish Rafe. In exchange for his help as a guide, Lane is supposed to sneak him back west. But though Rafe doesn’t exhibit any signs of “manimal” mutation, he’s hardly civilized . . . and he may not be trustworthy.

I was very excited to get to to this book. I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into but it sounded pretty awesome, mutation, adventure, and a bit of romance. It was quite a read. Intense at times and humorous at others. Very good read.

Lane lives in a time where a virus has taken over the world. The city is full of healthy people and life in the city is extreme. You sneeze you are quarantined. Everyone is a germaphobe. Very extreme. There is a wall surrounding the city.... Across that wall are the sick, the ones with the virus, the monstrous, the mutated. Lane is sent on a do or die mission to retrieve her father from over the wall. She heads off to journey through the land of the sick. Finds danger and boys, truth and adventure, she discovers herself and who her father really was.

 A very good read. I really thought it was gonna be the same old story of mutation... zombieish or vampireish or something of that nature. This story was original and crazy. The mutations were those of animals and humans morphed together. The virus sometimes takes years to finish the full mutation from human to animal and sometimes not quite as long. There are many interesting "manimals" in the story and it kept things from getting boring.

The story was great, the writing was pretty awesome. The writing style fit the story well. Lots of adventure but also quite a bit of world building and character development. I was able to bring the story to life in my mind and connected with the characters as much as enjoy the adventure at hand.

I really liked the main character, Lane.  She had her "duh" moments, but for the most  part she was very intelligent. She was kept in the dark for long, the "duh" moments were honest. She was also very resilient. She knew her mission and she knew the price for failing... so she wasn't going to fail and wasn't going to let anyone stand in her way. She was a strong, independant character but she was still soft enough to need a little help through out the story. Of course that help came from two pretty hot guys. Yes there is a love triangle but not really. I mean it doesn't take over the story but there are two guys vying for the same girl. The only thing that bothered me about Lane, she was a bit ditsy when it came to the truth of the boys feelings. Yes oblivious.

I really can't say which boy I liked better. There was the classic bad boy an the classic hero. Both arrogant, but stupid, both pretty darn cute. I think I knew which one Lane should end up with but.... I liked them both... bunches. Rafe was a bit of an ass throughout most of the book, but he grew up beyond the wall. I am not sure he knew how to be any different. He was a survivior and he didn't like to have anyone depend on him. It would cause all kinds of issues. He had mad respect for Lane's father and I loved that about him.... Then there is Everson. He was the valiant one, the one that wanted to win the girls heart by protecting but not much more than that. He was sweet, but that was about it. He was the good boy and he was good at it.

The romance was very much on the light side, so the love triangle didn't take away from the story and I'm really not sure if it ever will. The story is mainly a survival story and it looks like it will lead the the epic rebellion fighting back. So I look forward to that. It was very fast paced and moved well from beginning to end. The ending sucked a bit. Left me hanging. That was the biggest downside for me.

It;s a keeper for me. Look forward to reading the next book. 

Kat Falls lives in Evanston, Illinois with her husband, theater director Robert Falls, their three children and a whole slew of pets. She grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as an undergrad and went on to receive an MFA from Northwestern University where she now teaches screenwriting.

Genre Definition and Recommendation #58

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

Suspense- Definition found on Wikipedia

Suspense is a feeling of pleasurable fascination and excitement mixed with apprehension, tension, and anxiety developed from an unpredictable, mysterious, and rousing source of entertainment. The term most often refers to an audience's perceptions in a dramatic work. 

Psychological Thriller Definition found on Wikipedia

Psychological thriller is a fictional thriller story which emphasizes the psychology of its characters and their unstable emotional states.[1] In terms of classification, the category is a sub-genre of the broader ranging thriller category,[1] with similarities to Gothic and detective fiction in the sense of sometimes having a "dissolving sense of reality", moral ambiguity, and complex and tortured relationships between obsessive and pathological characters.[2] Psychological thrillers often incorporate elements of mystery, drama, and horror, particularly psychological horror. They are usually books or films.

My Recommendations: 

Stained by Cheryl Rainfield

An intensely powerful account of a teen, bullied for her port-wine stain, who must summon her personal strength to survive abduction and horrific abuse at the hands of a deranged killer.

Sixteen-year-old Sarah Meadows longs for "normal." Born with a port wine stain covering half her face, all her life she's been plagued by stares, giggles, bullying, and disgust. But when she's abducted on the way home from school, Sarah is forced to uncover the courage she never knew she had, become a hero rather than a victim, and learn to look beyond her face to find the beauty and strength she has inside. It's that-or succumb to a killer.

All The Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry

  

Four years ago, Judith and her best friend disappeared from their small town of Roswell Station. Two years ago, only Judith returned, permanently mutilated, reviled and ignored by those who were once her friends and family. Unable to speak, Judith lives like a ghost in her own home, silently pouring out her thoughts to the boy who’s owned her heart as long as she can remember—even if he doesn’t know it—her childhood friend, Lucas. But when Roswell Station is attacked, long-buried secrets come to light, and Judith is forced to choose: continue to live in silence, or recover her voice, even if it means changing her world, and the lives around her, forever. This startlingly original novel will shock and disturb you; it will fill you with Judith’s passion and longing; and its mysteries will keep you feverishly turning the pages until the very last.

What Do you Recommend?