Recent YA Releases: Week of March 31st-April 6th (9 NEW Titles!)

Here are nine (!) titles that are going to be released within the next week:

If you are looking for a stand alone title...

  

I am currently reading Solitaire, and even though I found the beginning to be slow and quite mind numbing after the 25% mark it starts getting very interesting (mostly because the author finally explains why the main character is such a downer). It is about this depressing sort of girl who is living out her teenage years in a shell of her own making, not wanting to get close to people, hating everything and everyone, including herself. It is a very dark and often times depressing look at the teenage years, and then a ray of light starts to come out... I dare say the first 25% may be worth it. I am very interesting in reading Where Sea Meets Sky because it says to be a true depiction of your 20s (and I am currently going through those soo).

If you are looking for sequels...

  

  

I LOVE Chronicles of Nick! Such a boy series to read, but at the same time not. It is much fun and I love how it connects to Sherrilyn's adult series. I have yet to read Elusion (first book to  Etherworld), Prophecy (first book to King), or even Dorothy Must Die (first book to The Wicked Shall Rise)(though I really need too, heard such good things). I need more hours in the day!

If you are looking to start a brand new series...

 N/A

Currently Reading:

Reading Queue (list of books I WISH I could read at the same time):

  

For even MORE releases please visit my Pinterest at: TaschimaCullen.

In it I have individual boards dedicated to YA Releases from 2014- onward by month of release. I update it daily :)

YA Review: A Wicked Thing (A Wicked Thing #1) by Rhiannon Thomas

Title: A Wicked Thing
Author: Rhiannon Thomas
Series: A Wicked Thing
Book #: 1
Pages: 337
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 3.51
Published: February 24th, 2015

Rhiannon Thomas's dazzling debut novel is a spellbinding reimagining of Sleeping Beauty and what happens after happily ever after.

One hundred years after falling asleep, Princess Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince and a broken kingdom that has been dreaming of her return. All the books say that she should be living happily ever after. But as Aurora understands all too well, the truth is nothing like the fairy tale.

Her family is long dead. Her "true love" is a kind stranger. And her whole life has been planned out by political foes while she slept.

As Aurora struggles to make sense of her new world, she begins to fear that the curse has left its mark on her, a fiery and dangerous thing that might be as wicked as the witch who once ensnared her. With her wedding day drawing near, Aurora must make the ultimate decision on how to save her kingdom: marry the prince or run.

Taschima's POV:

"What had happened to make people obsess over a fairy tale? To make a prince believe a single kiss meant true love, and that a girl who knew so little could mean so much?"

While I found Aurora's struggle with her new reality believable and even relatable I just can't seem to muster the interest in a sequel. A Wicked Thing got a lot of things right I guess, technically and structurally, it is just so... unmemorable. It is the kind of book that you read, and then you just continue to the next thing without much of a fuss.

We ALL know Sleeping Beauty's story. Beautiful girl gets cursed as a baby by a PMS-ing evil witch who just wants the world to buuuurrrn. Princess then goes and does the ONE thing she shouldn't have done in her entire life, falls asleep, and then gets rescued by a noble prince who then whisks her off to a HEA.

Only in A Wicked Thing the girl falls asleep for 100 years; when she wakes up everybody she knows is dead, and her tragic story has been turned by the people into an impossible prophecy that foretells the end of their magic-less days once she wakes up. Also, there is some crap thrown in there about the princess being woken up by her one true love. This does not sit well with our Aurora who wakes up to have her reality completely changed.

"Whoever wakes up the princess with a kiss--they're destined to get married and live happily ever after."True love? Destiny? Perhaps he was a madman after all."

 

The thing is, I LIKED Aurora. Her inner monologue is relatable and even funny at times. Aurora is a girl who was raised in a very controlled environment, her parents over protected her due to her curse and so Aurora can come off as being naïve and kind of a push over. Inside her head she would think things that gave her a back bone but she would never act on her emotions. I could understand where she comes from, and I didn't reproach her for letting others dictate her life because of how she was raised and the many things she was going through. But I couldn't help wincing every single time she let somebody else push her around. Her character development is VERY slow, quite possibly in order to accommodate for a sequel.

All the side characters were, for the most part, pretty two dimensional. The prince that wakes up Aurora is a total bore and he is also quite the wimp. He lets himself be manipulated by his mother, who is of course the mean queen. The current king of the land presents a happy face but hides a black heart. I would say the only two interesting side characters were the prince's little sister (because she was adorable) and Finnegan (who is the prince of a far away land rumored to be occupied by dragons). Finnegan was interesting and daring and totally self involved, but at least he was honest about his self preserving nature.

For most of the novel there is nothing really driving you forward to the next page, other than Aurora's inner struggle. By the middle point or so some loosely put together rebellion is mentioned but I don't believe it is heart felt. At least I didn't buy it. I figured Aurora would be dying to know exactly why she woke up when she did, since she doesn't believe in the story they made up about her, but she was busier trying to stay afloat in her brand new world than trying to figure out WHY she was there in the first place.

A Wicked Lovely left a lot of things unanswered, like why did Aurora wake up when she did? I have a theory about how (magic is very rare in her new world, maybe the prince who woke her has a bit of magic in his veins...) but I wont know for sure until the next title. I figured a lot of things went unanswered to accommodate for a sequel, but what does it matter if the reader wont even make it to the sequel since there is nothing driving me to buy it? I had enough of Aurora's inner struggle, I don't buy the "rebellion", and the characters/world, aren't engaging enough to make me stick around. It would have been great as a stand alone but I find myself uninterested in a sequel. Perhaps I'll just read a review full of spoilers for the next title and continue on with my life.

Ps; Would recommend if you LOVE fairy tales and you don't mind slow progression. Aurora is engaging, her inner thoughts being the one thing that got me through the novel. I have a sweet spot for her I guess.

YA Review: Red Queen (Red Queen #1) by Victoria Aveyard

Title: Red Queen
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Series: Red Queen
Book #: 1
Pages: 320
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 4.11
Published: February 10th, 2015

The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.

To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.

Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of
those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.

But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?

Taschima's POV:

"They taint me, tease me, trying to make me crack. But I won't. I won't."

I am seriously divided in my rating here, because I seriously liked some aspects of Red Queen but at the same time during most of the middle of the book I was a bit bored. I guessed all the major "twists" in the plot from a mile away so it kind of threw a wet blanket on my reading experience. But then you get to the ending and it gets so exciting again, it made me want to pick up the sequel. So a solid 3 stars, good entertaining book that shouldn't be so damn obvious.

"A forgotten son, a vengeful mother, a brother with a long shadow, a strange mutation. Together, they've written a tragedy.

Mare Barrow is a girl down on her luck who feels like the only way to be useful to her family is to steal in order to put food on the table. She has no aspirations, and no time for dreams. Even if she did it wouldn't matter in the world she is from. You either are an apprentice or you are sent to fight in the war (where a death sentence is a sure thing). The Silvers (superior humans who have "powers") control her world and there is nothing to do but try and survive. That is until the day Mare, a Red, finds out she has super powers as well in front of a stadium full of Silvers. In order to cover up the Red's powers the Silver monarchy decide to give Mare a fairy tale story- she is now a long lost princess, daughter to a most respected general who died at war, who had been living under the roof of a Red her entire life. Sounds like a dream, only is anything but. Mare has tons of enemies, people who want to see her crash and burn, and only keeping quiet and acting the part might save her life. What IS Mare? Where do her powers come from? Will she find the strength within herself to survive the Silver world?

"I'm an accident. I'm a lie. And my life depends on maintaining the illusion."

Red Queen has a lot of the underlying YA tropes that we have all sort of come to expect. Love triangle (total check), main character who is extra special with a cherry on top (check), from poor to riches effect (check), bitchy/evil other girl who is that way just because she is born this way (check), all males want to bone the main character (check... well, at least 3 main ones want to). So it isn't completely original, but at the same time you can use these tropes and create a completely new story. Red Queen sort of did this, only I needed a little more explanation regarding the races (I have a ton of questions about the Silvers, their history, where DO they come from? Are they aliens from outer space--doubtful since they aren't very tech savy-- or are they angels, or gods? WHAT ARE THEY, and why do they have silver blood? Do they menstruate silver? Maybe a gross comment but it plays into my questioning of the story).

The only thing that seems to distinguish the Silvers from the Reds (other than the super powers) is that the Silvers bleed Silver and Reds bleed Red. So the story they use to cover up Mare's childhood to other Silvers is faulty in that it stands to reason Mare should have bled (one way or the other) at least ONCE in her life. And once she bled, everybody, including herself, would instantly know she was different. So why didn't the Silvers who were questioning her question this ONE fact? Why didn't they demand she bleed in front of them? Because it would have ended the ruse too quickly and destroyed the story. So I chilled out and tried to look past this obvious piece of information.

"The Mare Barrow of last week wouldn't know whether to laugh or cry at this version of herself. But she was a foolish girl and now I pay the price."

I liked Mare for the most part, which is why I liked the story so much. She reminds me of Katniss in a way, all about survival and she obviously hates the capitol monarchy. Her attitude I guess reminded me of Katniss. Also she has a fight inside her. My one concern when it comes to her is that she was able to be fooled so easily, she trusts too quickly and she let her emotions get the best of her in a number of parts. But then if she had questioned the obvious bad guy early on then we wouldn't have much of a story... And here is where the problem lies.

I knew who the bad guy was from the get go. I knew, and found myself questioning the intelligence of my main character because it seemed too damn obvious. By the end of the book however we are back on the same page, Mare and I, which is why I think the sequel stands a chance. For the most part I enjoyed learning about the different powers, and the characters are complicated and not so black and white. Both princes in the story are more than meets the eye, and they are both not perfect. I also enjoyed the character of Gisa, Mare's sister, who is just as awesome as Mare is (if not more). She reminds me of Prim, only older and with more snark. I liked that Gisa was her own woman, and I hope to read more from her character in the subsequent novels.

For new YA readers the Red Queen is a great introduction to the YA universe. It has good characters, good writing, an interesting premise, and the world building was better than most I've seen lately. To YA veterans you might think Red Queen is something that you may have read before (elements of Hunger Games, Pawn, Red Rising, etc) but it still has its own spark that makes the series worth picking up and giving it a go.  I am definitely curious to read the next titles and see where the story goes.

Recent YA Releases: Week of March 24th-March 30th (5 New Titles!)

Currently Reading: First Year (Black Mage #1) by Rachel E. Carter

Reading Queue (list of books I WISH I could read at the same time): Solitaire by Alice Oseman, The Treatment (The Program #2) by Suzanne Young, and Timeless by Gail Carriger.

Here are five (!) titles that are going to be released within the next week:

If you are looking for a stand alone title...

  

I am SO looking forward to The Walls Around Us!

"The Walls Around Us is a ghostly story of suspense told in two voices—one still living and one long dead."

  It seems to be a very good written weird/spooky story, on the lines of Bleeding Violet by Dia Reevs perhaps. Written in the Stars seems to be a YA diversity book (it is about a girl whose parents want to arrange marry her, and so they bring her back to their mother country -Pakistan- so she can learn about her culture... and find the perfect husband) all I am hoping for is that it does justice to the culture it represents. I have heard only good things about it so I am guessing it nails it.

If you are looking for sequels...

 

I have Half Bad in my TBR pile. I read an excerpt on that series and it was phenomenal, so I really need to get to it. Half Wild is a much buzzed about book so I have high hopes for that series. I haven't read the Wilde Island Chronicles, but I do have Dragoonswood in my TBR, only I didn't know that was a sequel.

If you are looking to start a brand new series...

...you may be out of luck this week. But you are more than welcome to look through last week's releases!


For even MORE releases please visit my Pinterest at: TaschimaCullen.

In it I have individual boards dedicated to YA Releases from 2014- onward by month of release. I update it daily :)

Review + Giveaway: A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab (Grey London Blog Tour Stop!)

Title: A Darker Shade of Magic
Author: V. E. Schwab
Series: A Darker Shade of Magic
Book #: 1
Pages: 400
Reading Level: Adult
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 4.26
Published: February 24th, 2015

Kell is one of the last Travelers—rare magicians who choose a parallel universe to visit.

Grey London is dirty, boring, lacks magic, ruled by mad King George. Red London is where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London is ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. People fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. Once there was Black London - but no one speaks of that now.

Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell smuggles for those willing to pay for even a glimpse of a world they’ll never see. This dangerous hobby sets him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a dangerous enemy, then forces him to another world for her 'proper adventure'.

But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive — trickier than they hoped.

Taschima's POV:

"But the thing about magic is that it preys on the strong-minded and the weak-willed, and one of the worlds couldn't stop itself. The people fed on the magic and the magic fed on them until it ate their bodies and their minds and then their souls."

I have the hardest time reviewing titles I enjoy (or love as in this case). I feel like I am all praise, and the praise just starts to blend together and what you are left with is one big gushing review full of compliments. Well, if I am to do that again I might as well do it for A Darker Shade of Magic, because hot damn does this title deserve the praise. It has it all, fantastic world building, relatable and boundary breaking characters, with a nice side plot to bring it all together.

A Darker Shade of Magic is my first V. E. Schwab read. I have other books by her, like her YA novel The Archived and The Near Witch as well as her debut adult novel Vicious (which I've heard is phenomenal), but while I have them I didn't feel as drawn to them as I felt to A Darker Shade of Magic. Maybe perhaps because of its beautiful cover, or maybe because this is Schwab's first honest to god foray into full on Fantasy.

"Grey for the magic-less city.
Red, for the healthy empire.
White, for the starving world."

I loved her world building. Creating one world is hard enough, but creating three four worlds which are situated in the same geographic location while being entirely different? It was something that if not done right could have made the read a terrible disaster. But V. E. Schwab paints these different worlds with such care and attention to detail that you are left with a clear picture in your head, a picture you wish you were able to visit for your own no matter the consequences. Gray London is just like our London, set in the Victorian era (there were corsets and swooning ladies), only drab and gray and not special in any way. Red London is where it is, it is majestic and full of magic, whimsical. You could say the world is perfect, only it is not. Red London flourished by letting their neighbor world, White London, take the blunt of the magical plague which was/is Black London. Thus White London ends up being a world that is best described by the worlds blood, ash, and metal. It is a desolate land that holds desperate souls. Black London... well no one speaks about it for a reason. There is no clear description of the setting, but the feeling you get from it from just the descriptions is enough. A hollow husk full of pure magic.

The characters were just as developed. You have Kell, the powerful Antari who is but a messenger between the worlds. He is one of the only two people in the world who gets to visit all the Londons. He is also royalty. He was raised by the king and queen of Red London (adopted of sorts), and finds a brother in their son Rhy. Kell has everything he could ever need, and yet he still feels hollow. He takes up smuggling items from one London to the Next as a way to distract himself, rebel, or maybe not feel like such a taken care of pet to the crown. He understands the reason the King and Queen take care of him, they need him, or so he tells himself. The only person he is sure that loves him in his life is his dear brother Rhy, and he will do anything in his power to make sure Rhy is protected. Even, perhaps, travel to the farthest reaches of his world in order to set things straight.

"A delicious thrill ran through her chest, spurned on by the closeness of danger, and Lila wondered, not for the first time, if something was wrong with her."

"Lila Bard knew in her bones that she was meant to be a pirate. All she needed was a working ship."

Lila is quite honestly a bad ass. She is sure she was born to be a pirate, to travel the world and discover new places. Little did she know that she was bound to meet the one person who could play the part of her ship and bring her to different worlds. Kell and Lila don't meet on the best of terms. Lila is an honest to god thief, though not completely ruthless she wouldn't mind killing you if you deserved it. So she naturally steals something from Kell, and Kell proceeds to hunt her ass down. There is no lost love between these two, they help each other more out of a sense of duty than anything else. Lila helps Kell because Kell has something she wants, and Kell lets her because he can't save the world on his own. Lila is also a great way to ground Kell, she gives it to him straight and doesn't worry about protecting his feelings. When Kell is being a whiny bitch Lila tells him so, and then tells him to get over himself. Did I mention I loved her?

"Why anyone would ever pretend to be weak was beyond her."

I think of A Darker Shade of Magic kind of like a prequel to when the real story begins. You get the sense that things are in peril in this novel, but you also don't really feel threatened or even that scare for your main characters because you just know that shit is about to hit the fan in the sequel. A Darker Shade of Magic worked to set up the stage, the rules of magic (very thoroughly), and allowed us to care about these characters. The sequel, I bet, is bound to just screw with the world we have come to care for in a number of ways we hadn't even expected. And I cannot wait.

Author Spotlight

Q: For each color London (Red, White, Gray... Maybe Black?), can you give us one book recommendation that would sort of be perfect for each setting?

V. E. Schwab: Oh, great question! Let’s see:

Grey London: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke or Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

 

Red London: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

White London: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

Black London: Sabriel by Garth Nix

GIVEAWAY: One copy of A Darker Shade of Magic and one double-sided signed poster that features the US and UK covers

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For more Darker Shade of Magic Bonus Content please visit:

Darker-Shade.com - a special website for A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC that is full of information and materials for readers.

·A video featuring V. E. Schwab exploring London and discussing the book.

·A fun Buzzfeed Quiz you and your readers can take that will sort you into a magical London.

DREAM Casting the Parasol Protectorate Series by Gail Carriger (Soulless)

 

Recently I have been re-reading, as well as finishing, the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger. I had previously read the series all the way to Heartless, and then other books got in the way of me actually finishing it. Now because of the release of Prudence (releases today!) I decided to finally finish off the series. I am right now in the last book, Heartless, and I think I am finally ready to put out my Alexia Tabarotti dream cast!

**The people I've cast may be impossible (like Lord Akeldama) but this is just to give you an idea of how these characters look in my head. I hope you like them, and please feel free to leave suggestions!!

Lucy Punch as

Ivy Hisselpenny

 

"Ivy Hisselpenny was the unfortunate victim of circumstances that dictated she be only just-pretty, only-just-wealthy, and possessed of a terrible propensity for wearing extremely silly hats."

 Ivy may be a little silly, but she is a loyal friend. She is also more than meets the eye, being instrumental in some of the information gathering missions Alexia goes on. She is Alexia's best friend, a lady of worth turned actress (actresses weren't all that big of a deal back then). She has a propensity for ugly hats that tend to put off those around her. She is cheerful and lovely, and a great friend to have.

Audrey Tautou as

Madame Lefoux

Character Study by Gail Carriger



"Alexia thought, without envy, that this was quite probably the most beautiful female she had ever seen. She had a lovely small mouth, large green eyes, prominent cheekbones, and dimples when she smiled, which she was doing now. Normally Alexia objected to dimples, but they seemed to suit this woman. Perhaps because they were offset by her thin angular frame and the fact that she had her brown hair cut unfashionably short, like a man's."

I love Madame Lefoux, not only because she is little Vieve from Etiquette and Espionage but because she turned out to be such a bad ass inventor. Madame Lefoux is the smartest woman Alexia knows, who is also full of soul. She is quite the coquette as well, flirting and sending hints to Alexia regarding her attraction. Alexia does not like her that way, but they end up being good friends...

Tom Cruise (circa Interview with a Vampire) as

Lord Akeldama

"Lord Akeldama might look and act like a supercilious buffoon of the highest order, but he had one of the sharpest minds in the whole of London."

"It was impossible not to grin at Lord Akeldama; his attire was so consistently absurd."

 



"His ethereal face was powdered quite unnecessarily, for he was already completely pale, a predilection of his kind. He sported round spots of pink blush on each cheek like a Punch and Judy puppet. He also affected a gold monocle, although, like all vampires, he had perfect vision."

I thought a lot about who to cast as Lord Akeldama, because he has such a character. For a moment I thought Neil Patrick Harris, but then as I was reading Heartless and Timeless I kept imagining Lord Akeldama as Tom Cruise circa Interview with a Vampire. They are both such drama queens (Lestat and Akeldama) that it just fits in my head. Mannerisms, character, physical description... It fits!!





Alexis Denisof as

 Proffessor Lyall

 

"Professor Lyall, the Beta in question, was a slight, sandy-haired gentleman of indeterminate age and pleasant disposition, as agreeable, in fact, as his Alpha was sour. He grinned at her and doffed his hat, which was of first-class design and sensible material. His cravat was similarly subtle, for, while it was tied expertly, the knot was a humble one."

Professor Lyall is the one who keeps everything, and everyone together. He blurs into the background and pretty much manages his Alpha. He is quiet but very proficient. He is there to be voice of reason and so much of the time you find him fixing both his Alphas' problems but he doesn't have much of a story for himself.



Joe Manganiello as

Lord Maccon

 

"The fourth Earl of Woolsey was much larger than Professor Lyall and in possession of a near-permanent frown. O at least he always seemed to be frowning when he was in the presence of Miss Alexia Tarabotti, ever since the hedgehog incident (which really, honestly, had not been her fault). He also had unreasonably pretty tawny eyes, mahogany-colored hair, and a particularly nice nose. The eyes were currently glaring at Alexia from a shockingly intimate distance."

This might have been too easy, and yes I know he already played a werewolf and that it is played out, but will you look at him? He is just ALPHA.



Asia Argento as

Alexia Tarabotti

"While Miss Tarabotti was a proper English young lady, aside from not having a soul and being half Italian, she did spend quite a bit more time than most other young ladies riding and walking and was therefore unexpectedly strong."

 

"Miss Tarabotti knew full well her own feminine appeal. The kindest compliment her face could ever hope to garner was "exotic," never "lovely". Not that it has ever received either. Alexia figured that vampires, like all predators, were at their most charming when cornered." 

"Miss Tarabotti might examine her face in the mirror each morning with a large degree of censure, but there was nothing at all wrong with her figure. He [Lord Maccon] would have to have had far less soul and a good fewer urges not to notice that appetizing fact. Of course, she always went and spoiled the appeal by opening her mouth. In his humble experience, the world had yet to produce a more vexingly verbose female."

Alexia is by far my favorite character of the series. She is smart, practical, and has hilarious interactions with everyone around her. She is very proper, a lady, yet she is progressive and an Alpha without having to be a werewolf. She is the one that figures out what the problem is because she needs the mess tidied up. I love her, and I hope she makes appearances in Prudence.

 There you have it. My very own Parasol Protectorate dream cast. Who would you cast?