Defiance

TITLE: Defiance
AUTHOR: C.J. Redwine
RELEASE DATE: August 2012
PUBLISHER: Balzer + Bray
PAGES: 408 pages
SERIES: Defiance book #1
GENRE: Fantasy
OVERALL RATING: 2/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 7-12

SUMMARY: Rachel is not like other girls in her walled city of Baalboden. While they are taught to sew, cook, and be obedient; Rachel is learning to read, write and hunt. But when Rachel's father disappears beyond the wall, her life changes and all of her freedoms are gone. She must escape, go beyond the walls, and through the Wastelands to find her father.   

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: This story was just like every other typical Dystopian today. There is a city with walls and a terrible Wasteland beyond that isn't safe for anyone to live, most likely because mankind did something to destroy it (in this case, we brought forth giant snake creatures that live beneath the earth). But of course, the main character ( a girl) fights against all odds to save the world: enter danger, love story, and sequel. 

FAVORITE QUOTE: "I love how you still think if you tell me to do something, I'll just check my brain at the door and do it." This quote shows Rachel's stubbornness, especially toward Logan.

SERIES UPDATE: Book Two: Deception and Book Three: Deliverance

READALIKES: Graceling by Kirsten Cashore

BOOK TRAILER:

Rebel Mechanics

TITLE: Rebel Mechanics
AUTHOR: Shanna Swendson
RELEASE DATE: July 2015
PUBLISHER: Margaret Ferguson Books
PAGES: 310 pages
SERIES: Rebel Mechanics book 1
GENRE: Fantasy
OVERALL RATING: 5/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 7-12

SUMMARY: In 1888, New York City is under British control, specifically magical Magisters. Verity moves to the big city with hopes of becoming a nanny for a prestigious family. She never would have guessed that on her first day, she experiences a train robbery, rides in an illegal steam car, and is hired by a magical family. When Verity befriends a group of steampunk rebels, she will have to choose between spying on her family or being loyal to the ones trying to start a revolution. 

WHAT I LIKED: This book had three of my favorite things: magic, steampunk, and a love triangle, of course. I love reading about the time period of the 1800s, but this story added so much more by including magical families called Magisters, and also the group of inventors that are trying to undermine the need for magic by creating things using steam. 

SERIES UPDATE: Book Two: Rebel Magisters is available in ebook, hardback coming soon

READALIKES: Finishing School series by Gail Carriger

BOOK TRAILER: This trailer is not official, only created for the use of TLA's 2016 Lone Star list

The Sin Eater's Daughter

TITLE: The Sin Eater's Daughter
AUTHOR: Melinda Salisbury
RELEASE DATE: February 2015
PUBLISHER: Scholastic Press
PAGES: 312 pages 
SERIES: The Sin Eater's Daughter book 1
GENRE: Fantasy
OVERALL RATING: 2/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 9-12

SUMMARY: Twylla's mother is the Sin Eater, at every funeral, she is paid to eat the sins of the dead. Twylla was supposed to follow in her footsteps, but at the age of twelve, Twylla was taken to the castle of Lormere to become Daunen Embodied, the goddess whose touch can kill. For four years she is the queen's personal executioner and the prince's betrothed, until she begins to question it all. 

   

FAVORITE QUOTE:  "I am the perfect weapon, I can kill with a single touch." (Salisbury, )

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: I felt the storyline seriously lacked some details. The entire time I'm reading the book I'm asking questions, like "Why was Twylla chosen?". "Why can only the royal family touch her?", "Why hasn't she asked to see her family?", etc. I never really liked the character of Twylla, who would go into that kind of life so passively? This book would be great with a little more backstory, I felt there was no depth to the characters and because of that I felt absolutely no attachment to them while reading the story.

SERIES UPDATE: Book 2: The Sleeping Prince, and Book 3: The Scarecrow Queen due out in 2017

READALIKES: A Court of Thorn and Roses by Sarah J Maas, Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

BOOK TRAILER: Author Melinda Salisbury reads an excerpt from The Sin Eater's Daughter

A Court of Thorns and Roses

TITLE: A Court of Thorns and Roses
AUTHOR: Sarah J Maas
RELEASE DATE: May 2015
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury
PAGES: 419 pages 
SERIES: A Court of Thorns and Roses book 1
GENRE: Paranormal, Fantasy
OVERALL RATING: 4/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 8-12

SUMMARY: Feyre's homelife is depressing, their house is barely standing, her father can no longer work due to his injuries, her mother is dead, and her sisters treat her like trash; but still Feyre cares for them. One day while out on a hunt, while she is preparing to shoot a deer, a large wolf approaches, only considering her own protection, she shoots the wolf through the eye. Well, this wasn't any wolf walking through the forest, this was a Fae in his wolf form and according to the accords between the Fae and the Humans, it is a life for a life. Now the High Fae, Tamlin is demanding her life as punishment. He takes her into his kingdom, in the Fae world, and  Feyre must figure out how to survive long enough in this strange land before she can return to her family.

   

FAVORITE QUOTE: "I was as unburdened as a piece of dandelion fluff, and he was the wind that stirred me about the world." (Maas, ) 

WHAT I LIKED: This story is kind of like a retelling of the classic fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast. But in this story, the beast is a fae and the beauty is a tough

READALIKES: Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas, Graceling by Kristen Cashore

SERIES UPDATE: Book Two: A Court of Mist and Fury releases May 3, 2016

BOOK TRAILER: I wasn't able to find an official book trailer for A Court of Thorns and Roses, but I was able to find a video of the author, Sarah J. Maas, describing the book. 

I'll Give You The Sun

TITLE: I'll Give You The Sun
AUTHOR: Jandy Nelson
RELEASE DATE: September 2014
PUBLISHER: Dial Books
PAGES: 371 pages 
GENRE: Realistic Fiction
OVERALL RATING: 4/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 9-12

SUMMARY: Jude and Noah are twins and the very best of friends, together forever; until their mom dies in a car accident and both their lives spiral out of control. Noah was supposed to be the artist, but now he gets his thrills by jumping off the highest cliff to the water below. Jude was used to be confident and popular, but now she prefers to be alone while haunted by the ghost of her mother. Can the two put their past behind them in order to move forward together? 

   

FAVORITE QUOTE:  "Or maybe a person is just made up of a lot of people," I say. "Maybe we're accumulating these new selves all the time." Hauling them in as we make choices, good and bad, as we screw up, step up, lose our minds, find our minds, fall apart, fall in love, as we grieve, grow, retreat from the world, dive into the world, as we make things, as we break things. " (Jandy, )

WHAT I LIKED: I really enjoyed the different point of views: Jude as a seventeen-year-old and Noah's story being told from when he was fourteen. It helped you see how the past affected the future for both of the story lines.

READALIKES: Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

Zac and Mia

TITLE: Zac and Mia
AUTHOR: A.J. Betts
RELEASE DATE: May 2016
PUBLISHER: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
PAGES: 292 pages 
GENRE: Realistic Fiction
OVERALL RATING: 4/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 8-12 

SUMMARY: Zac has leukemia, after a bone marrow transplant, he is counting down the days he has to spend in the hospital til his immune system is back up so he can return to a normal life on his olive farm in Australia. Mia has osteosarcoma and isn't accepting her cancer as easily as Zac. Mia is angry; she screams at her mom, pushes her boyfriend away, and plays loud music in the hospital room next door. When Zac tries befriending Mia and showing her that her chances of survival are high, they embark on an adventure that ends up changing both their lives forever.

   

FAVORITE QUOTE: "When I was little I believed in Jesus and Santa, spontaneous combustion, and the Loch Ness monster. Now I believe in science, statistics, and antibiotics." (Betts, )

WHAT I LIKED: This book showed two different reactions to living with cancer. Zac understands cancer is a part of his life and has learned to deal with all of the shortcomings. Mia will not accept the fact that she has cancer, even hides it from all of her friends. Overall, this is a great way to show there are always two ways to handle a situation: deal with it or hide from it. Only one of those reactions is going to make the situation better.  

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Reading a book about two kids with cancer, you know the ending is not going to be "happily ever after". So other than the fact that ::spoiler alert:: someone dies, the book was a really great read. But doesn't every one hate when reading a book and investing time into a character only to see them not survive till the last page? 

READALIKES: The Fault In Our Stars by John Greene

BOOK TRAILER: 

The Glittering Court

TITLE: The Glittering Court
AUTHOR: Richelle Mead
RELEASE DATE: April 2016
PUBLISHER: Razorbill
PAGES: 400 pages
SERIES: The Glittering Court  book one
GENRE: Chick Lit
OVERALL RATING: 4/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 7-12  

SUMMARY: Adelaide is a high-borne, whose wealthy family is forcing her into a loveless marriage. So she decides to run away and join the Glittering Court, a group of low-borne girls who are trained in etiquette and dressed like beautiful jewels to eventually be sold to the highest bidder in a new land across the sea.

   

FAVORITE QUOTE: "We are all in charge of our own lives - and we have to live with the consequences that we make." (Mead, )

WHAT I LIKED: I liked that this book had a historic feel to it. The women all wore big dresses and had to make sure that they talked proper. But it all took place in town and a world that does not exist. Overall, it was a great book that I ended up finishing in just a day. 

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: The story started out a little slow. You begin to resent Adelaide because she is rich and has had everything given to her. In order to save her family and their fortune, she has to marry a man that she doesn't exactly like. Instead she decides to abandon her grandmother and disappear in a carriage under an assumed name with people she doesn't know to go to a place that is not even inhabited. Who does that?

SERIES UPDATE: Book 2: Midnight Jewel released April 25, 2017

READALIKES: The Selection by Kiera Cass

BOOK TRAILER: