Review >> The Outliers

The Outliers (The Outliers #1) by Kimberly McCreight

 

Release Date: May 5, 2016

Publisher: HarperCollins

Format: Hardcover, 352 pages (9780062359094)

Source: ARC provided by publisher for an honest review

Goodreads -- Barnes and Noble

 

 

"Please, Wylie, I need your help." With these words, a desperate plea from a friend in need, Wylie Lang flees her home along with the beautiful but dangerous Jasper, in order to find her missing friend, Cassie. A series of clues leads the two on a wild chase, but Wylie senses that something is not quite right. Danger waits around every corner and it becomes clear there might be more to the story than a missing girl.

 

Review >> Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee

Release Date: January 28, 2014

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Format: Hardcover, 240 pages (9780385753555)

Source: ARC received from Net Galley

Goodreads -- Barnes & Noble -- Mysterious Galaxy

Ophelia Jane Worthington-Whittard believes there is a scientific explanation for everything. After her mother dies, her father packs up Ophelia and her sister and takes a job at a museum where Ophelia first discovers something is not quite right in this quiet town. For one thing, it always snows, museum exhibits appear to move, some of the portraits are almost too lifelike, a clock is counting down to...something, and then there's the strange encounter with the mysterious boy locked away in a far corner of the museum... Ophelia must set aside everything she thinks she knows about the world and find her courage in order to solve the mystery and help the nameless boy.

Review >> The Madman's Daughter (The Madman's Daughter #1)

The Madman's Daughter (The Madman's Daughter #1) by Megan Shepherd

Release Date: January 29, 2013

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Format: Hardcover, 420 pages (9780062128027)

Source: Purchased from Mysterious Galaxy

Goodreads -- Amazon -- Mysterious Galaxy

Juliet Moreau, who had only known a life of luxury and intrigue, has been sent to work as a maid at a medical school in London after her father is suspected of conducting horrific experiments. She is left orphaned and penniless in the growing industrial city, but soon uncovers a chilling clue that leads her to believe her father is alive and well... and continuing his gruesome experiments on a remote tropical island where he has been creating humans out of animals. With the help of her father's assistant, the handsome servant boy from her childhood, she sets off on a quest to uncover the truth of her father's work, and to discover whether or not she herself has the propensity for a bit of madness.

Review >> Lost Girls

Lost Girls by Ann Kelley

Release Date: July 10, 2012

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Format: Hardcover, 319 pages (9780316090629)

Source: ARC from ALA

Goodreads -- Amazon -- Mysterious Galaxy

The Amelia Earhart Cadets, military daughters living on base during the Vietnam War, are gearing up for a camping trip on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand. Bonnie MacDonald has been eagerly awaiting this trip to spend time away from her family to be with her friends and their glamorous chaperone. Their trip takes a turn for the worse when a devastating storm destroys their camp and leaves one girl dead and the others fighting for survival stranded on the "forbidden island." How many days can the girls survive and will they ever be rescued?

Review >> Dead Reckoning

Dead Reckoning by Mercedes Lackey & Rosemary Edghill

Release Date: June 5, 2012

Publisher: Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers

Format: Hardcover, 324 pages (9781599906843)

Source: Purchased from Barnes & Noble

Goodreads -- Amazon -- Mysterious Galaxy

The year is 1867, and Jett Gallatin is traveling the western frontier in search of her twin brother. Disguised as a boy and feared as a lawbreaker, her journey has taken her to Alsop, Texas, where a bar fight turns into a fight for survival after the town is overrun with the reanimated corpses of the recently deceased. Barely escaping with her life, Jett teams up with a spirited young inventor and a Native American raised scout in order to uncover who is controlling this undead army, before it wipes out every town in its path. Don't mess with Texas, especially when it's overrun with zombies!

Review >> Of Poseidon (Of Poseidon #1)

Of Poseidon (Of Poseidon #1) by Anna Banks

Release Date: May 22, 2012

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Format: Hardcover, 324 pages (9781250003324)

Source: Purchased from Mysterious Galaxy

Goodreads -- Amazon -- Mysterious Galaxy

Emma McIntosh has always felt a little different after a freak accident in the water left her convinced a school of fish saved her life. Years later, while on vacation in Florida with her best friend, Emma has a run-in with an attractive but strange young man who takes an immediate interest in her. Galen Forza, who happens to be a human ambassador for a species of merfolk called Syrena, can sense something is off about Emma, and his theory about the girl proves correct after a dangerous encounter with a shark. Now, he begins to wonder if she might be the one person who can unite the underwater kingdoms of Triton and Poseidon, but Galen is not the only one who recognizes this gift and an unknown underwater presence has also taken an interest in Emma. 

Review >> Changeling (Order of Darkness #1)

Changeling (Order of Darkness #1) by Philippa Gregory

Release Date: May 24, 2012

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Format: Hardcover, 256 pages

Source: Purchased from Barnes & Noble

Goodreads -- Amazon -- Mysterious Galaxy

"The hammering on the door shot him into wakefulness like a handgun going off in his face."

It 1453 Italy, and the vast amount of unsolved mysteries and curious events has led people to believe that it is the end of times. Seventeen-year-old Luca Vero has just been expelled from his monastery and recruited by a secretive order commanded by Pope Nicholas V in order to travel to the far reaches of the world, documenting and defeating the fears of Christendom. His first mission lands him in an abbey whose most recent Lady Abbess, Isolde, is facing accusations of witchcraft. Little does Luca know that both the abbey and Isolde have secrets of their own, and an inquisition into the strange sleepwalking and stigmata plagued inhabitants may uncover more mysteries than answers.

Review >> Masque of the Red Death (Masque of the Red Death #1)

Masque of the Red Death (Masque of the Red Death #1) by Bethany Griffin
Read the chapter excerpt!

Masque of the Red Death (Masque of the Red Death #1) by Bethany Griffin -- April 24, 2012 -- Hardcover, 319 pages, Harper Teen (Greenwillow Books) (9780062107794)

"The charcoal sky spits cold rain as we rumble to a stop at a crossroad. A black cart blocks the road, and even in an armored carriage we know better than to force our way past."

Araby Worth is not just watching her own life crumble around her after the death of her twin brother, she is also living in a city infested with plague and falling into despair. She opts to forget her troubles by spending her nights in the Debauchery Club, an aristocratic hangout where anything and everything is available for your pleasure. She unknowingly stumbles upon a rebellious plot brewing in the halls of the club, and everyone seems to be holding secrets, including the handsome club worker, Will, and the devilishly sneaky aristocrat Elliott. Araby finds herself thrust into a life of rebellion, giving her hope in a seemingly hopeless world.

Tom Banwell Designs

Review >> Courtney Crumrin Volume 1: The Night Things

Courtney Crumrin Volume 1: The Night Things by Ted Naifeh

Courtney Crumrin Volume 1: The Night Things by Ted Naifeh -- April 11, 2012 -- Hardcover, 137 pages, Oni Press (9781934964774)

"'Careful now. Old Professor Crumrin doesn't take kindly to youngsters gally-vantin' in 'is backyard.'"

The already eccentric loner Courtney Crumrin has enough to deal with in her life, but now her moocher parents have run out of money and have relocated the family to the posh town of Hillsborough to live with Uncle Aloysius in his creepy mansion. Now poor Courtney has to deal with being an outcast at her new school, making new friends, adjusting to life inside Uncle Aloysius's mansion, and dealing with dopplegangers, spellbooks, goblin cities, and the creatures that roam the shadows called "the night things."

Review >> The Disenchantments

The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour

The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour -- February 16, 2012 -- Hardcover, 307 pages, Dutton Books (9780525422198)

"Bev says when she's onstage she feels the world holding its breath for her. She feels electric, louder than a thousand wailing sirens, more powerful than God."

Colby and his best friend Bev couldn't wait for high school to end so they could spend the summer touring the West coast with Bev's band, The Disenchantments, and traipsing around Europe after their farewell show. Just as the tour is about to kick off with fellow members Meg and Alexa, Bev announces to Colby that she is not going to Europe after all, and has decided to head off to college. Colby has spent his entire high school career waiting for this trip, all the while coping with his growing feelings for Bev. Now, he must reexamine his life and his relationship with Bev in order to figure out his own uncertain future.

Review >> Derby Girl

Derby Girl by Shauna Cross

Derby Girl by Shauna Cross -- September 4, 2007 -- Hardcover, 240 pages, Henry Holt and Co. (9780805080230)

"I don't know how it happened or what sort of backroom deal went down, but apparently I'm living in a small Texas town with two culturally clueless impostors for legal guardians, when I just know my real parents are out there somewhere."

Bliss Cavendar feels like an outcast in the small, middle of nowhere town of Bodeen, Texas. With her love for Indie rock, thrift store clothing, and dyed blue hair, she doesn't exactly fit in with the other beauty pageant girls, and of course she resents the fact that her mother is trying to force her into the same lifestyle. Then Bliss stumbles across the hardcore, "be your own hero" sisterhood of roller derby, and she finally feels like she belongs. So she straps on some Barbie skates and joins the Hurl Scouts, gaining the nickname Babe Ruthless and learning that sometimes you have to make waves to make your own path in life.

Review >> 172 Hours On the Moon

172 Hours On the Moon by Johan Harstad

172 Hours On the Moon by Johan Harstad -- April 17, 2012 -- Hardcover, 355 pages, Little, Brown (9780316182881)

"'Gentlemen, it's time,' Dr. ---- said, eyeing the seven men in suits seated around a large conference table. They were some of the most powerful people in the country, together in the largest meeting room at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C."

The year is 2010, and the people of NASA are desperately looking for a way to acquire funding to send astronauts back to the moon and man, what was top secret up until this point, a research station built on the moon itself called DARLAH 2. The solution: garner media attention and public support by holding a contest to select 3 teenagers the opportunity of a lifetime to accompany these astronauts to the moon. However, the research team is not being entirely truthful about their true intentions for lunar habitation, and the secrets they hold may prove deadly for not just the crew, but for humanity itself.

Review >> The Hunt (The Hunt #1)

The Hunt (The Hunt #1) by Andrew Fukuda

The Hunt (The Hunt #1) by Andrew Fukuda -- May 8, 2012 -- Hardcover, 293 pages, St. Martin's Griffin (9781250005144)

"There used to be more of us. I'm certain of this. Not enough to fill a sports stadium or even a movie theater, but certainly more than what's left today."

Gene is hiding a big secret, a secret that could prove fatal if ever revealed to those around him. He is forced to shave his body and trim his nails every single day, never tan his skin, and clean and apply razor sharp fangs before heading off to night school attended by vampires. This is because Gene is one the last remaining humans. And you thought your teen years were tough! Now, the nocturnal citizens are given the opportunity of a lifetime- participate in an event hunting down the last known humans in an exciting televised hunt. When Gene is chosen by lottery to participate in the event, he must decide once and for all if his facade of a life is worth continuing, or find another reason to hold on to the last remnants of his humanity.

Review >> Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1)

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer -- January 3, 2012 -- Hardcover, 387 pages, Feiwel and Friends (9780312641894)

"While her sisters were given beautiful dresses and fine slippers, Cinderella had only a filthy smock and wooden shoes."

New Beijing market is rife with skilled vendors and tradesmen working tirelessly night and day peddling their merchandise and skills. Among the occupied booths lining the streets sits Linh Cinder, a highly skilled mechanic who also happens to be a cyborg. One day, Cinder is visited by the handsome and eligible heir to the throne, Prince Kai, who has a very important and secretive task for her to complete- repair one of the prince's androids before the ball. But this android may be holding more secrets than Cinder is prepared to uncover, secrets that could potentially bring about intergalactic war with the Lunars. And her problems escalate when her stepsister and only human friend contracts a deadly plague which has already decimated most of the human population, a plague that may have a cure, for the right price.

Review >> Unleashed (Wolf Springs Chronicles #1)

Unleashed by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie

Unleashed (Wolf Springs Chronicles #1) by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie -- November 22, 2011 -- Hardcover, 382 pages, Delacorte Books (9780385740982)
THE EDITION REVIEWED HERE IS AN UNCORRECTED ADVANCED READER'S COPY

"'Things that love night Love not such nights as these...'"


Katelyn McBride's whole world is turned upside down one night after a horrifying accident leaves her mother dead and Katelyn homeless. Now, she must leave her home in California and her best friend Kimi to move in with her reclusive and socially odd grandfather, Mordecai, in the small and strange town of Wolf Springs, Arkansas, hidden away from big city life in the Ozark Mountains. Katelyn is having a hard enough time fitting in because she is the new girl, but now she is finding that the inhabitants of Wolf Springs are not just odd, they seem to be keeping secrets, and these secrets may change Katelyn's world, and the live's of Wolf Spring's inhabitants, forever.

Review >> Bunheads

Bunheads by Sophie Flack

Bunheads by Sophie Flack -- October 10, 2011 -- Hardcover, 294 pages, Poppy (9780316126533)

"My name is Hannah Ward. Don't call me a ballerina."

19 year old Hannah Ward is having the time of her life living out her dreams of becoming a dancer in the prestigious Manhattan Ballet Company. She and her friends rehearse every single day, subject themselves to grueling after-class training, adhere to strict regimens, and devote their entire existence to their art. After a night out enjoying the city, where she meets the handsome and artistic Jacob, Hannah begins to question whether or not there is more to life than dancing, and finds herself wanting more and more to leave behind her pointe shoes for a life of freedom. But is she willing to sacrifice all the hard work she has put into becoming a ballerina?

Review >> Born Wicked

Born Wicked (The Cahill Witch Chronicles #1) by Jessica Spotswood -- February 7, 2012 -- Hardcover, 330 pages, Putnam (9780399257452)

"Our mother was a witch, too, but she hid it better."

Cate Cahill and her sisters, Tess and Maura, are different from the other girls in town. They're too educated, too well read, and keep to themselves most of the time. They're also hiding a very big secret: they're all witches, just like their deceased mother. However, being a witch in 19th century Chatham is dangerous business, especially when accusations of witchery have become unbearably rampant in recent years. The Brotherhood is starting to crack down on the women of the town, and targeting young girls who are a bit odd, or defiant, or who exhibit lustful behavior. The girls are then sent to a prison ship, or Harwood Asylum, but more often than not, the girl's are never heard from again. Now, Cate must do everything in her power to protect her sisters from exposing their powers to anyone other than themselves, lest they be punished for their wicked deeds. The situation is made even more complicated when a handsome suitor and Cate's childhood friend, Paul, shows up to ask for her hand in marriage, a role she would happily accept if it weren't for the fact that she'd have to leave her sisters in Chatham unprotected, and she is finding herself falling in love with the reclusive but kind gardener, Finn.

Review >> Harbinger

Harbinger by Sara Wilson Etienne

Harbinger by Sara Wilson Etienne -- February 2, 2012 -- Hardcover, 309 pages, Putnam (9780399256684)

"'Nay, are there not moods which shall find no expression unless there be men who dare mix heaven, hell, purgatory, and faeryland together, or even to set the heads of beasts to the bodies of men, or to thrust the souls of men into the hearts of rocks?'"

Harbinger is the story of a young girl's struggle to supress the horrific images she sees when looking into other people's eyes, and her inability to cope with the reality of everyday life in a world nearly destroyed by humanity. Her parents decide to send her away to Holbrook Academy, a boarding school for misguided youths, under the guidance of the head caretaker, Dr. Murdoch. Feeling betrayed and abandoned, Faye must accept the help Holbrook Academy has to offer, or face the abuse of the sadistic groundskeepers called Takers. However, she soon learns that there is more to this mysterious institution than the cookie-cutter facade presented in the brochures sent to her family. Now, Faye and her "family" of misfits at Holbrook, including the elusive and brooding Kel, find themselves involved in an ancient ritual involving crude talismans, symbols drawn in red, hidden rooms, and a foreboding prophecy predicting the end of life on Earth.

Review >> Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf (Wereworld #1)

Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf (Wereworld #1) by Curtis Jobling -- September 20, 2011 -- Hardcover, 412 pages

Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf takes place in a fantasy world full of werelords, men and women of noble breeding who have the ability to transform into a variety of animals at will, inlcuding foxes, rats, lions, and even sharks. The wolf lord has been overthrown, and all of his kin destroyed as the new king takes over all of the realms. Drew, a young farmboy who feels a little out of place in his own family, finds himself confronted by a werecreature one night, and during a scuffle his mother is slain. Drew is blamed by his father, and banished to the Dyrewoods to fend for himself. While here, he learns of his heritage as the last of the werewolves, and begins a journey to fulfill the prophecy of reclaiming the thrown of which he is the sole heir.

I really wanted to like this book. It was advertised at San Diego Comic Con 2011 where I received an ARC for review. They described the book as Game of Thrones light, and had me hooked when they mentioned the appearance of a wereshark. However, this story was far too flat and cliche to maintain my interest.

Drew is the protaganist of the novel, but he lacks any sort of personality or, how shall I say, the balls to complete any tasks set out before him. His journey is predictable, the settings have all been written before, the characters are flat and lack substance, and I just found the flow of the entire book to be slow and boring. I'm sure this might appeal to someone, maybe a younger boy who is looking for a mildly violent fantasy adventure featuring werecreatures, but as a YA novel this book is written far too young. As far as writing, the POV flips back and forth between characters, making it very frustrating when you are trying to figure out what is going on. Overall, I would say skip this one, read Game of Thrones if you are looking for a similar fantasy novel with a bit more meat to it.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Review >> Crossed (Matched #2)

Crossed (Matched #2) by Ally Condie - November 1, 2011 - Dutton, Hardcover, 384 pages

Summary: Crossed picks up right where Matched left off. Ky has been captured by the Society and forced to work in the Outer Provinces, where few people have been able to survive for extended periods of time. In order to find out what has become of Ky, Cassia must somehow escape from the clutches of the Society and find her way to the Outer Provinces. However, she is now torn between saving one person, and saving an entire nation with the aid of the Rising.

Review: I loved the premise of the first book in this promising series, but Crossed, like most 2nd books in a trilogy, falls in the zone of the Outer Provinces. There just was not enough story to keep the novel flowing, and even the characters lost my interest this time around. Cassia, who was in a way brainwashed by the Society all of her life, had a much stronger voice in Matched and consistently put herself in danger by going against what the government demanded of its people. That was not the case in Crossed, where we see our heroine loose what little backbone she obtained in the first book and uses up all her energy pining over her lost love in a pathetic, needy way. There were a few interesting storylines that were brought up in Crossed, but failed to have any sort of resolution by the end of the novel. The same is true of the characters- no one grows or changes or makes any sort of intelligent decision concerning the main story arc of the series. What we are left with, my dears, is a cliff hanger that will leave you wanting to read the next book, but with the unfortunate dusty taste of emptyness in your mouth.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars