Recent YA Releases: Week of March 17th-March 23rd

I shall read some of these books... just as soon as I finish Mime Order (Samantha Shannon), and  Timeless (Gail Carriger), and every other title I said I would finish by last month... #BookwormWoes

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

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

I am SO EXCITED for this title. I actually got this one at ALA Midwinter 2015 in Chicago, but I haven't been able to read it because I am currently finishing up it's predecessor series The Parasol Protectorate (which is about Prudence's mother, Alexia Tabarotti). I absolutely love Alexia, and in the last book of her series, which I am currently reading, we get to meet Prudence as a young child. So far she seems to be a handful which is just about right considering who her mother is (not to mention her werewolf father).

In honor of Prudence's release I am going to be posted a special Dream Cast post, dream casting every character of importance in the Parasol Protectorate series as well as Prudence as a small child. I am extremely excited about this release!! If you haven't read the Parasol Protectorate series, or the Etiquette and Espionage series, you absolutely MUST! The dialogue in the books is reason enough, not to mention Alexia's character, the way Gail Carriger makes her scenery and characters just shine and click. She single-handedly got me into Steampunk genre.

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

 
  

If you happen to be looking for a stand alone title, well, you are certainly in luck cause this week it seems to be all about the stand alones! I am particularly interested in Never Gonna Tell because it sounds very ala Veronica Mars, and I LOVE VM. I am also interested in The Perilous Journey of the Not-So-Innocuous Girl (wow, a mouthful) because I've heard (well, read) good things. If you arelooking to read those two, and have a kindle, you are in luck cause Never Gonna Tell is only $.99 cents (quite possibly because it is self published) and then The Perilous Journey of the Not-So-Innocuous Girl (I'll be honest, I copied and pasted that title) in under $4.00. Quite a steal if you ask me.

If you are looking for sequels...



I shall be honest and say I have NOT read the first book in this series, but if you do, well, the next one is out tomorrow! This is the third installment in the series, with the first one being Pretty Crooked.

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 :)

Throwback YA Review: Tandem (Many-Worlds Trilogy) by Ana Jarzab

Title: Tandem
Author: Anna Jarzab
Series: Many-Worlds
Book #: 1
Pages: 428
Reading Level: NA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 3.81
Published: October 8th, 2013

Everything repeats.
You. Your best friend. Every person you know.
Many worlds. Many lives--infinite possibilities.
Welcome to the multiverse.

Sixteen-year-old Sasha Lawson has only ever known one small, ordinary life. When she was young, she loved her grandfather's stories of parallel worlds inhabited by girls who looked like her but led totally different lives. Sasha never believed such worlds were real--until now, when she finds herself thrust into one against her will.

To prevent imminent war, Sasha must slip into the life of an alternate version of herself, a princess who has vanished on the eve of her arranged marriage. If Sasha succeeds in fooling everyone, she will be returned home; if she fails, she'll be trapped in another girl's life forever. As time runs out, Sasha finds herself torn between two worlds, two lives, and two young men vying for her love--one who knows her secret, and one who thinks she's someone she's not.

Taschima's POV:

Something drew me to Tandem. I don't know if it was the quiet blue color of it's cover, the title, or the summary, quite possibly all three combined, but I knew I just HAD to read it right away. And thank goodness I did. I was on a sort of reading rut before I read Tandem and it managed to get me right off it. Tandem is a very solid start to what can possibly be an amazing series given the chance, specially with the ending it left us! I am full of questions and cannot wait for the sequel Tether.

Sasha is a normal girl, living her normal life, in a normal world. Everything is pretty ordinary for her, right until the most outgoing guy in her class (and most popular) asks her to prom. All of a sudden, without warning. She is a little hesitant but she still decides to give this guy a chance, I mean what could possibly go wrong? Big mistake. The guy ends up kidnapping her and taking her to another universe, parallel to her own, to fight a war that isn't hers and slip into the shoes of a stolen princess who looks exactly like her. Sasha is determined to go back home, but if the General has anything to way about it she will have to follow his orders without question in order for him to send her back home. In a world where the only person familiar to her is the guy who abducted her out of her reality, a guy who has now sworn to protect her and be by her side, nothing is what it seems. Enemies become friends, and what looked to be friends become enemies. Then again, isn't this how it goes when it comes to royal families? Nothing, and no one, is what it seems.

I liked the characters in Tandem. I liked Sasha and her determination. She is also very nice and caring. She is more of a princess than the real princess if I do say so myself. Julianna, Sasha's analog (like a double but not really), has the adventurous characteristic I usually love in characters but she can also be very selfish. None of these characters are black and white however so it is difficult to take sides or to judge their actions. Nothing is as it seems. Thomas is very swoon worthy. He is protective and everything, I mean he is a soldier, but he just has a special something about him. He is young, brave, and hopeful. I am expecting him to grow in more darker ways as the series progresses, but I hope he doesn't loose his inherit trust in people.

I am glad the YA universe is coming out with different stories. Parallel universes... Now that's something I hadn't read about too often. It is marvelous, and all I have to say is that once you head into this tale you have to suspend your beliefs and give a chance to the possibilities. The rules of this world aren't exactly like our own, and somethings may seem to unbelievable at first but they have a solid theory backing them up.

The only thing I could say that was off putting about Tandem was the fact that I just knew some of the key plot points. Like I could see them coming a mile off, but it still was very fun to see it play off anyways. Predictable maybe, but I am guessing the second book in the series may be less so, it could go soo many different ways it is kind of exciting to see what the author decides to go with.

The ending! Oh gosh, I can't get Tether here fast enough! Conspiracies need resolving, lovers need reacquainting, princesses need some spankings, and kingdoms need saving! It is very exciting, though it feels like a cliffhanger. It it, and it isn't. You'll know what I mean when you read the book yourself, it is well worth your time.

Next Book in the Series:

NA Review: Unseen (Unborn #2) by Amber Lynn Natusch

Title: Unseen
Author: Amber Lynn Natusch
Series: Unborn
Book #: 2
Pages: 288
Reading Level: NA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 4.01
Published: February 17th, 2015

Welcome to the Kingdom of Hades, where even its prodigal princess sleeps lightly.
After fighting Soul Stealers in Detroit, Khara hoped to return home to find answers in her father's realm. But the land of the dead offers little information, and far too much tragedy. Now cut off from her brothers, and left only with her dark and unreliable companion Oz, Khara must navigate the centuries-old webs of deceit and betrayal, all while eluding the Underworld's most depraved inhabitant. But she soon finds an unexpected ally in her adopted sister Persephone. Together, they endeavor to right a terrible wrong. And as Khara soon discovers, there's more riding on her success than she ever thought possible.
 

Taschima's POV:

 



I almost didn't even pick up Unseen. After Unborn I was well and ready to give up on the series, but then I thought about the boys (brothers) in the books and I felt an inkling of curiosity. So I said fuck it and went ahead and picked this one up, going against my better judgment. Unseen tries to improve on Unborn, and it really takes to heart things that were wrong with the previous title and tries to fix them, but then how come it still felt like it fell flat? Maybe this series, this story overall, just isn't for me. I still couldn't stand the "romantic" interest (actually, if it is even possible, I hated him even MORE in this title), I felt like for most of the book NOTHING was happening and we were just going round and round looking for answers no one was willing to provide, and I got to see little of the characters I loved and a lot of the characters I disliked in the previous novel. Which made for an overall bland and unexciting reading experience.

So after the mess of an ending that was Unborn Khara loses all sense and follows Oz into the Underworld to quote unquote "look for answers about her origins". But pretty much she gets to the Underworld and everybody brushes her off. Nobody wants to give her answers, they all just want to use her for their own purposes. Greed, revenge, sexual frustration, Khara seems to be in high demand as an object. Nobody wants to give her the light of day until they need something from her. Not even Oz. Specially Oz.

So Khara goes to the Underworld and she pretty much spends most of the book walking round and round in these never ending corridors that seem to be the Underworld's living quarters. Because this is how it is described. As never ending corridors. No real description is given, you take it or leave it. Make something up in your mind and hopefully it sticks.

I personally liked to imagined the Underworld as if it was  Castle Oblivion from Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.

I don't necessarily know why, but since so little was described in terms of setting I guess I just grasped at straws and came up with something that felt familiar. An endless stream of corridors, with little to no distinctions.

The story is much like the corridors, and endless quest to look for answers that keeps going and going with no answers on sight. The worst part of this is that you get to experience this with Oz right behind you.

"Same old ego-driven asshole."
"No," Oz countered. "Not the same ego-driven asshole. An even bigger one. One that can destroy you far more efficiently than before."

They keep talking about Oz and the power of the "Dark Ones" but other than some very big talk I saw nothing to back this up. But other than an attitude upgrade (or is it downgrade?) Oz just seems to be the same prick with double the confidence. He gets tiresome quick, his threats, his "you have to trust me just CAUSE I SAY SO", his machismo... I sincerely hate him as a character. Every time I think of him it makes me want to hit something, and if I have to result to violence well then all hope is lost.

"He stepped back from me enough to rake his eyes over my body as though he was trying to memorize it. As though he thought he might never see it again."

Hey there buddy, my eyes are up here.

Every other sentence allures to sex, which makes Unseen seem like Erotica for the NA crowd, with supernatural creatures! I want to be clear as to what I am reading (genre wise) so I don't create expectations. If I am told I am getting this (erotica) then I expect it and all the rest doesn't seem as bad.

"I have to say that I find it mildly amusing that you are now so dependent on these feelings of yours. This from the girl who formerly felt nothing? I cannot help but be skeptical of this new dependence,"

Before I criticized Khara because she seemed like an empty vessel. In fact, a lot of reviewers did this because she was utterly empty of emotions. Now in Unseen everybody (and by everybody I mean the characters) criticize her for being full of emotion. Although, I barely see it. Having the characters constantly refer to her "emotions" does not make for an emotional character, it just makes me annoyed. There is a difference between telling a reader, and showing a reader.

"I was not devoid of all emotion when we met," I countered. "There was a barely perceptible shift in me when I met my brothers, as if my being had finally found a place that it belonged to. I would not have fought to stay there is that had not been the case."

And she said this with a deadpan face and tone.

There was one point in the novel that Khara might have woken up completely naked next to a certain fellow (after he kind of punched her out of commission) and she didn't even throw a fit. After that I was dooone with the "romance", and lost a bit of respect for Khara. I would have had him HAVE IT. I would have KICKED HIS ASS. She didn't even argue! She was just like, "why did you do this?", explanation was given, "okay". If it was me, the situation might have gotten a little like this: "YOU DID WHAT?"

Overall Unseen was just not for me. In fact, the whole series might just not be for me. I gave it a second try and it just didn't work out. It is not you it's me? Although, I do think it is you so let's just agree to part ways amicably.

PS; OZ needs to die. Bring back the brothers for reals as necessary characters; Khara is doing better, keep it up girl. Please OZ, stop calling Khara "new girl", it is quite annoying.