The Lies That Bind and Third Lie's the Charm: A Liar Society Two-Fer!

Lies That Bind
by Lisa and Laura Roecker
The Liar Society, book two

Kate has heard of messages from beyond the grave, but she never expected to find one in a fortune cookie. Especially from her best friend, Grace—who's supposed to be dead.

At the elite Pemberly Brown Academy, nothing is as it seems. A popular girl has gone missing, and Kate owes it to Grace's memory to find out what happened. But in a school ruled by secret societies, who can she trust? Definitely not Bradley (despite his hotness) — he's one of them. Still, she may just have to get closer to him if she wants to get some answers. (Description from Amazon.com)

This series just keeps getting better.  Kate is one smart cookie and I love her sarcasm, loyalty, and determination.  I love her relationship with Seth, her next door neighbor, and I love seeing how she and Liam keep dancing around each other.  What I love best about these books, though, is the mysteries.  Every time I think I have it figured out, the Roeckers put another twist in Kate's path, throwing both her and me for a loop.  The stakes keep getting higher and let's just say that this book ends on a real doozy of a plot twist!

Third Lie's the Charm
by Lisa and Laura Roecker
The Liar Society, book three

Katie Lowry knows she could've stopped Alistair from doing something stupid if only she'd picked up the phone. Now she has to live with the guilt. She's sick of the lies, sick of the secret societies that rule life at Pemberly Brown Academy. But there's only one way to take them down: from the inside...

Following the HUGE twist of an ending in book two, Kate is out to get her final revenge...to avenge Grace's death and bring peace to Pemberly Brown once and for all. The only way to do that is from within the system she's struggling to bring down. To give up the boyfriend she loves, to fake her way to the top, and to...well go red (for rage, revenge, really who cares...red is bad@ss!).  Kate's emotions hit the wall in the third book and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing her finally get the closure she needed and deserved.  It was a journey well worth taking!

Full disclosure: Purchased for my Nook, eARC from Netgalley

I really can't recommend this series enough...they are fun, easy to read mysteries with a great main character and plots that will keep you on your toes.  Start with book one, The Liar Society, and you won't be sorry.

Relic: The Books of Eva

Relic
by Heather Terrrell
The Books of Eva, book one

When Eva’s twin brother, Eamon, falls to his death just a few months before he is due to participate in The Testing, no one expects Eva to take his place. She’s a Maiden, slated for embroidery classes, curtseys, and soon a prestigious marriage befitting the daughter of an Aerie ruler. But Eva insists on honoring her brother by becoming a Testor. After all, she wouldn’t be the first Maiden to Test, just the first in 150 years.

Eva knows the Testing is no dance class. Gallant Testors train for their entire lives to search icy wastelands for Relics: artifacts of the corrupt civilization that existed before The Healing drowned the world. Out in the Boundary Lands, Eva must rely on every moment of the lightning-quick training she received from Lukas—her servant, a Boundary native, and her closest friend now that Eamon is gone.

But there are threats in The Testing beyond what Lukas could have prepared her for. And no one could have imagined the danger Eva unleashes when she discovers a Relic that shakes the Aerie to its core. (Description from Goodreads.com) 

This post-apocalyptic dystopia opens a new series that is both an exciting tale of self-discovery and one of great societal commentary. In Eva’s world the polar ice caps have melted and modern civilization was destroyed. Survivors turned to a simpler lifestyle, one more easily controlled by those in power. It's a cold world, both climatically and in temperament. Eva feels stifled and longs to learn more about her world, an opportunity she can't turn down once she decides to undertake The Testing.

Slowly, you get to piece together New North’s history as Eva uncovers startling revelations about her own hidden background. Deft world-building creates a believable society in an icy clime with a strong and well-rounded main character. Eva’s choices for the future left me anxious to see her tale continue in the series’ next installment. I found this to be a refreshing new addition to the dystopian field. 

Full disclosure: Review copy received from VOYA 

The Testing

The Testing
by Joelle Charbonneau

It’s graduation day for sixteen-year-old Malencia Vale, and the entire Five Lakes Colony (the former Great Lakes) is celebrating. All Cia can think about—hope for—is whether she’ll be chosen for The Testing, a United Commonwealth program that selects the best and brightest new graduates to become possible leaders of the slowly revitalizing post-war civilization. When Cia is chosen, her father finally tells her about his own nightmarish half-memories of The Testing. Armed with his dire warnings (”Cia, trust no one”), she bravely heads off to Tosu City, far away from friends and family, perhaps forever. Danger, romance—and sheer terror—await. (description from Amazon.com)

If you devoured The Hunger Games and having been struggling to find something with just the same bite to it, look no further. This is the book you've been waiting for... it is the closest I've come yet to the experience I had reading The Hunger Games. 

This book has the same danger, excitement, self-sacrifice, a hint of romance...and left me DESPERATE to get my hands on the second book. I highly recommend this one.

Monday's Movie and TV Talk! (8)

Welcome to Monday's Movie and TV Talk! I don't know if I'll do this every Monday, or just sporadically on Mondays, but I LOVE TV and movies, so I figured why not add some of that to the blog for fun?? It'll be especially awesome when I can tie things into the YA book world... 

Okay, so I've been a GLEEk since the beginning... I love high school dramas, I love singing...what was not to love? The first season was amazing and though the show struggled a little in season 3 (tacking on what I thought was a needlessly cruel final episode for the season), I persevered and hung on to see how the show's creators would continue in season 4. 

Now, though, I'm sad to say that I think GLEE has finally lost me. 

With storylines that are bouncing from one state to the next, characters being added, and old favorites taking on new (and mostly unwelcome) changes in their character choices, I just find that I no longer CARE.  

I LOVE THE MUSIC. I still love the music. I would watch just a 25 min compilation every week of their musical performances... I just have no desire to follow the character arcs anymore.  And, it breaks my heart. I used to be so invested in what was going to happen...who would find "true love," who would overcome adversity, who would back-stab whom... and now it all just seems meaningless. 

Has anyone else been experiencing this LACK of enthusiasm for GLEE?  Does anyone think I should hold on? I want to say I'll watch through the end of the season...but I'm not even motivated to watch the next episode... 

The False Prince

The False Prince

by Jennifer Nielsen

The Ascendance Trilogy, book one

 

In this first book in a remarkable trilogy, an orphan is forced into a twisted game with deadly stakes.

Choose to lie...or choose to die.

In a discontent kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the divided people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a cunning plan to find an impersonator of the king's long-lost son and install him as a puppet prince. Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant boy named Sage. Sage knows that Conner's motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword's point -- he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed. But Sage's rivals have their own agendas as well.

As Sage moves from a rundown orphanage to Conner's sumptuous palace, layer upon layer of treachery and deceit unfold, until finally, a truth is revealed that, in the end, may very well prove more dangerous than all of the lies taken together.  (description from Amazon.com)

 

Danger, political intrigue, secrets, lies... Sage's story is full of suspense and moments that may shock readers.  While I thoroughly enjoyed this book...and really loved the way the story was presented, when the "big reveal" came, I wasn't that surprised.  I was actually a little shocked at how easily I deduced what was going on. 

 

Despite that, I really enjoyed Sage's character, thought the premise was excellent, and was left clamboring for the next book.  All in all, a winner, despite the lack of surprise. 

 

Full disclosure: Borrowed from my library

Throne of Glass

Throne of Glass
by Sarah J. Maas

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After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.
Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined. (description from Amazon.com)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Celaena is a broken, yet resiliant character.  She's notorious and almost anonymous at the same time.  Though she's the kingdom's premier assassin, most have no idea what she looks like and no one knows her true past. She survived a year in a death camp, working the salt mines, and that is almost unbelievable. Is it any wonder that she terrifies and enchants almost everyone she meets?

Though love triangles start to feel old if they are not done well, in this book, the triangle totally worked for me.  Perhaps because Celaena continuously puts her own wellbeing first...the way things should work! Though she's entranced with the Crown Prince and would gladly be with him, if she is to be his Father's Assassin, a relationship could never work... and then there is the Captain of the Guard.  Though he does not elicit the same, ahem...lustful...feelings in her, there is a soul deep connection that can only make them truly friends...and perhaps more someday.

Maas did a masterful job at worldbuilding in this book.  While the reader never truly gets the entire back story on the kingdom that Celaena finds herself in, Maas trickles little bits of information into the story as things develop, allowing readers to learn just enough to be aware of how things work, and also leave them salivating for more backstory.  In fact, I'm now working my way through the four e-pubbed novellas (The Assassin and the Pirate Lord, The Assassin and the Empire, The Assassin and the Desert, and The Assassin and the Underworld) in hopes of learning more before the next book...

In a kingdom where magic is forbidden, there is certainly a lot of weird, unexplainable things going on here.  There also seems to be a certain reason why a lot of these events seem to seek out Celaena... Maas again managed to blend the perfect amount of realism and the fantastic.  With characters that know things they shouldn't and those that seem to be perfectly in the dark... Celaena must determine who she can truly trust...her life most certainly depends on it. 

Fans of Tamora Pierce, Rae Carson, and other fantasy writers with strong female characters will devour this book!

Full disclosure: Review copy received from NetGalley, signed ARC received at BEA 2012.

 

Scary School

Scary School
by Derek the Ghost 

You think your school's scary?


Get a load of these teachers:

Ms. Fang, an 850-year-old vampire
Dr. Dragonbreath, who just might eat you before recess
Mr. Snakeskin—science class is so much more fun when it's taught by someone who's half zombie
Mrs. T—break the rules and spend your detention with a hungry Tyrannosaurus rex!

Plus gargoyles, goblins, and Frankenstein's monster on the loose, the world's most frighteningly delicious school lunch, and the narrator's an eleven-year-old ghost!

Join Charles "New Kid" Nukid as he makes some very Scary friends—including Petunia, Johnny, and Peter the Wolf—and figures out that Scary School can be just as funny as it is spooky! (description from Amazon.com)

What a cute start to a new "scary" but not too scary series. This would be great for kids who are desperate  to read Stine's Goosebumps series, but perhaps aren't quite ready yet. Then this would also segue really well  into these same kids reading Harrison's Monster High series when they got a  little older. 

With scary, but funny teachers, a weirdly fascinating and dangerous school, and kid characters that you immediately want to befriend,  this book was a quick and FUN read! Narrator and ghost, Derek, walks  us through the school year, introducing both teachers and classmates.  I  loved that there was a girl named Frank (that's pronounced RACHEL!) and that the school Librarian is a dinosaur and that the gourmet school lunches are cooked up by a giant octopus! One of my favorite scenes was when the half-dead sports coach gives a special anatomy lesson by peeling off his skin so that students can see his internal organs!

With a surprisingly good "moral" about friendship, Scary School begins a series that is sure to find fans among the chapterbook set! Book two,  Monsters on the March also just came out on June 26th.

Full disclosure: Review copy set to me by the author

Zan-Gah: a Prehistoric Adventure

Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure
by Allan Richard Shickman

Zan, about to become a man, petitions his tribe to be able to participate in a massive hunt. A lion has been picking off the weak from all the local tribes, so all the men, regardless of tribe, will come together to hunt and Zan wants to use this opportunity to show his strength and bravery. He does so in spades. Zan faces down an angry lioness alone and earns the name Zan-Gah, Zan of the Rock.

Once proven a man, Zan undertakes a second mission. His twin brother, Dael, disappeared and Zan-Gah was determined to find him and bring him home. His lone quest takes him to new lands, encounters with new, strange tribes, captivity, starvation, and some startling discoveries.

Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure is a book with an exciting premise. Zan-Gah faces down a lion alone. His bravery sets him up to become a leader to his people. He invents the slingshot. He gleans secrets from other tribes that will ensure the survival of his tribe for many more generations.

This book is fairly short and is written in short, easy to read sentences. Reluctant readers should find the subject matter compelling and will be hard pressed to put this book down. Shickman even sneaks in some interesting background information without detracting from the plot. I am curious to see what happens in the sequel Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country.

Full disclosure: Received from publisher for review