The Girl at Midnight

TITLE: The Girl at Midnight
AUTHOR: Melissa Grey
RELEASE DATE: June 2016
PUBLISHER: Delacourt Press
GENRE: Fantasy
SERIES: The Girl At Midnight #1
OVERALL RATING: 4/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 8-12 

SUMMARY: When the Ala, a magical, feathered being, caught Echo trying to pick her pocket as a child, she didn't see a homeless orphan, she saw hope. But now Echo is stuck in the middle of a war between the Avicen that she considers family and the dragon-like Drakharin. Only by teaming up with the Dragon Prince to find the Firebird can Echo finally end this centuries-old war.  

   

FAVORITE QUOTE: "The young always think they're invincible, right until the moment they learn otherwise. Usually the hard way." (Grey, )

WHAT I LIKED: I love the idea of a secret world full of magical creatures taking place right in the world of New York City (or should I say under it). The story starts out with the Ala visiting the New York City Public Library after hours with sunglasses and a scarf to cover her head of feathers. It makes you wonder how often magical people are hiding among us.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: There is so much backstory to this book that I feel like it barely skims the surface. I really think this book series needs a prequel. I would LOVE to hear Rose's story. 

READALIKES: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

SERIES UPDATE: Book 2: The Shadow Hour, Book 3: The Savage Dawn will release July 11, 2017

BOOK TRAILER: official book trailer not available at the time this blog was published

Ink and Ashes

TITLE: Ink and Ashes
AUTHOR: Valynne E. Maetani
RELEASE DATE: June 2015
PUBLISHER: Tu Books
PAGES: 386 pages
GENRE: Adventure, Mystery
OVERALL RATING: 2/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 

SUMMARY: Claire Takata is your typical high school girl, she loves playing soccer, and hanging out with her brothers and best friends. But all that changes when she comes across a strange letter from her deceased father to her step father. Claire begins to question her father's death and her entire family's future. Digging deeper, she finds only secrets and lies from her mother and stepfather. But what happens when she digs too deep and finds that her father belonged to the yukuza, the Japanese mafia. Has she uncovered a secret that was better left buried? Has she put the rest of her family in danger? 

WHAT I LIKED: This book definitely kept me on my toes. I don't normally read mysteries because I can always figure out the ending too early. However, this book definitely throws you for a couple of loops before finally finding the actual culprit. 

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Throughout the book Claire gets into a lot of trouble: things are stolen from her locker, eye balls are left wrapped like a present in her backpack, she's run off the road, and someone almost bombs her house. I seriously just wanted to shake the girl and say "Call the police! Tell your parents!" Its like any scary movie you watch, "Don't run up the stairs!" 

READALIKES: How to Disappear by Ann Redisch Stampler

BOOK TRAILER: not the official Book Trailer, but a pretty good one as far as being created by a student. Credit: Tobie Cattarin

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