Showing posts with label Margaret K McElderry. Show all posts

November 14, 2017

Can't-Wait Wednesday [#4]

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight the books we are eagerly awaiting. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Queen of Air and Darkness (The Dark Artifices #3)

Author: Cassandra Clare

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry

Expected Publication: December 4, 2018

What if damnation is the price of true love?

Innocent blood has been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred stronghold of the Shadowhunters. In the wake of the tragic death of Livia Blackthorn, the Clave teeters on the brink of civil war. One fragment of the Blackthorn family flees to Los Angeles, seeking to discover the source of the blight that is destroying the race of warlocks. Meanwhile, Julian and Emma take desperate measures to put their forbidden love aside and undertake a perilous mission to Faerie to retrieve the Black Volume of the Dead. What they find in the Courts is a secret that may tear the Shadow World asunder and open a dark path into a future they could never have imagined. Caught in a race against time, Emma and Julian must save the world of Shadowhunters before the deadly power of the parabatai curse destroys them and everyone they love.

I haven't even read The Dark Artifices series yet and I'm looking forward to this. Cassandra Clare has yet to write a book I didn't like. So I'm definitely looking forward to this! And isn't that cover gorgeous?!?!?! I love it!

May 12, 2013

Blog Tour: Review & Playlist for Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield

Thanks to Shane at Itching For Books for organizing this blog tour!

Chantress (Chantress #1)
Author: Amy Butler Greenfield
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Publication Date: May 7, 2013
Pages: 336
Source: E-ARC/Edelweiss
Purchase: Amazon

Lucy’s Chantress magic will make her the most powerful—and most hunted—girl in England.

“Sing, and the darkness will find you.” This warning has haunted fifteen-year-old Lucy ever since she was eight and shipwrecked on a lonely island. Lucy’s guardian, Norrie, has lots of rules, but the most important is that Lucy must never sing. Not ever. Now it is 1667, Lucy is fifteen, and on All Hallows’ Eve, Lucy hears a tantalizing melody on the wind. She can’t help but sing—and she is swept into darkness.

When she awakes in England, Lucy hears powerful men discussing Chantresses—women who can sing magic into the world. They are hunting her, but she escapes and finds sanctuary with the Invisible College, an organization plotting to overthrow the nefarious Lord Protector. The only person powerful enough to bring about his downfall is a Chantress. And Lucy is the last one in England.

Lucy struggles to master the song-spells and harness her power, but the Lord Protector is moving quickly. And her feelings for Nat, an Invisible College apprentice and scientist who deeply distrusts her magic, only add to her confusion...

Time is running out, and the fate of England hangs in the balance in this entrancing novel that is atmospheric and lyrical, dangerous and romantic.

Review: Overall I thought this was a good book! The first thing that really pulled me into the story was the thing about not singing! I was just so curious about what would happen if Lucy gave into it. Well. When she did she was taken back to England where its not such a good thing to be a Chantress. Even worse, Lucy didn't even know how to really be a Chantress... So not only was she not safe in England, but she didn't even know how to use her powers to protect herself. I didn't get why Scargrave was so intent on getting rid of Chantresses at first. I mean he had found out that they weren't the cause of the explosions in the past, but he still went after them anyways. Then we learned he was just power hungry. If there were no Chantresses left then no one would take away his precious Shadowgrims. He was just desperate to hold on to every ounce of power he had, even if it meant trying to kill any Chantresses. I think Lucy was right to fear him at first, but I also thought it was great that she was willing to stand against him when she knew she had the power to. Lucy showed a lot of growth throughout the book and that in itself made the book great for me. One thing I absolutely love is seeing a character really grow into someone strong and Lucy made that change.

I didn't like how long some things were dragged out though... I really felt that Lucy's training with her Godmother was dragged out. It got kinda boring to read during that whole period. It was just a repeat of Lucy trying to do song-spells, failing a lot and then finally succeeding. I only enjoyed those chapters when her Godmother would fight with her. Because it gave Lucy that much more determination to get things right and master her song-spells. I also didn't like how her Godmother treated her sometimes. She put so much pressure on Lucy to learn the song-spells and just got frustrated with her so easily. I hated when she yelled at Lucy because she wasn't getting everything down in her time frame.

Nat. I had mixed-feelings for this guy for most of the book. I couldn't get a feel on him. It was like one minute he showed genuine interest in Lucy, but then he was all serious and back to business and doubting her powers. He didn't keep one mood long enough to figure out how he really felt about her. It annoyed me a lot that he kept going back and forth because not only was in confusing to Lucy but it was also a little confusing to the reader trying to figure him out. But by the end of the book I was finally able to tell which way he was truly leaning and I lightened up on him. I think he's an overall good guy and I really cant wait to see where his relationship with Lucy will go in the next book. I also cant wait to see what happens with Lucy in relation to her powers...

4 Stars!

Amy Butler Greenfield was a grad student in history when she gave into temptation and became a writer. Since then, she has become an award-winning author.
Born in Philadelphia, Amy grew up in the Adirondack Mountains and later studied history at Williams College, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Oxford. She now lives with her family in England, where she writes, bakes double-dark-chocolate cake, and plots mischief.

Official links: www.amybutlergreenfield.com | twitter.com/ab_greenfield

Playlist!

Ok, So until I figure out my prob with being able to post YouTube vids into my blog posts like I should be able to I'm only gonna post one song. But when I get my Blogger/YouTube issue solved I'll add more. But I just don't have the patience to fight with formatting with how I have to add in vids at the current moment. So one song it is for now (hopefully I figure out this vid prob soon though).

The song that I really felt for me just summed up the entire book was this:

Do You Believe In Magic by Aly & AJ

This song was just in my head throughout the entire book and I think it just fits this book so well overall.

Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

September 19, 2012

Review: Tilt by Ellen Hopkins

Tilt
Author: Ellen Hopkins
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Publication Date: September 11, 2012
Pages: 604
Source: Hardcover/Library

Love—good and bad—forces three teens’ worlds to tilt in a riveting novel from New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins.

Three teens, three stories—all interconnected through their parents’ family relationships. As the adults pull away, caught up in their own dilemmas, the lives of the teens begin to tilt….

Mikayla, almost eighteen, is over-the-top in love with Dylan, who loves her back jealously. But what happens to that love when Mikayla gets pregnant the summer before their senior year—and decides to keep the baby?

Shane turns sixteen that same summer and falls hard in love with his first boyfriend, Alex, who happens to be HIV positive. Shane has lived for four years with his little sister’s impending death. Can he accept Alex’s love, knowing that his life, too, will be shortened?

Harley is fourteen—a good girl searching for new experiences, especially love from an older boy. She never expects to hurdle toward self-destructive extremes in order to define who she is and who she wants to be.

Love, in all its forms, has crucial consequences in this standalone novel.

Review: I absolutely loved this book! I am one of the people who read Triangles so I really enjoyed not only reading about the kids lives during what was happening, but also what the kids perspective of their parents struggles were. This book definitely took you on an emotional roller coaster and really confronted those real life issues so many teenagers deal with! You definitely don't want to miss this book!

I want to start with Mikayla. She's the typical almost 18 year old whose head over heels for her boyfriend, Dylan. So at first I thought they were great together. They definitely loved each other when there was nothing complicated about their relationship. But as soon as the pregnancy happened, it was like Dylan shut off. I immediately started disliking him after that. He had no regard for Mikayla's feelings whatsoever regarding the baby. Mikayla really needed him! She was really struggling with her decision about what to do concerning the baby. And all Dylan was telling her was to get an abortion or he'll just leave her. That was seriously messed up and honestly, I'm glad he left Mikayla, not because she deserved it, but because she didn't need someone like that in her life and she was better off without him. I definitely thought Mikayla made the right choice to keep the baby. She struggled with that decision but she decided it was right to keep it in the end and i really respected her for that. Unlike Dylan, she didn't take the easy way out and she earned a lot of respect for stepping up with that.

Shane. He was dealing with a whole different set of issues. His sister is dying, he's gay and his own dad doesn't even respect him because of that AND his parents have grown a million miles apart. I felt so bad for him sometimes, especially with his sister dying. He knew it was coming, yet all he could do was wait for it to happen and he couldn't help her in anyway. Then there's the fact that he's gay. So many other people accepted him for who he was but one of the people who mattered the most couldn't, his dad. His dad was just so rude to him for a while just because he was gay. I had no problem with him. I loved Alex as well. Alex coming into Shanes life made it ten times better. He lit up Shanes life and it just made him a happier person, even in spite of the bad things happening around him. I was however happy that Shanes dad did finally come around to accepting him AND accepting Alex along with him. I felt for his entire family (and Alex) when Shelby died! They all loved her s much and it really hurt them all. Though it was hard seeing Shane spiral out of control after Shelby's death. And especially with what happened to Shane at the end. That scared everyone so much and I'm glad hes ok. Alex seriously saved him!

Harley. She is younger than both Mikayla and Shane. She's all concerned about losing weight, and getting boys to notice her like they do her best friend Bri. She also wanted to experience new things, which I thought wasn't exactly the best at her age (because of the type of experiences that kept coming up). She really let herself experience new things when she met Lucas and she really changed herself into someone she wasn't with him and that kinda upset me, reading it, and her friends. You shouldnt have to change yourself for a guy to like you. They should like you for who you are and if they dont well, it sucks for them. I really hated what happened to her at the end, because it was just wrong and no one should be taken advantage of like that, but I also felt like she fell right into Lucas' trap by being so naive and believing everything he said.

5 Stars!

September 16, 2012

Review: Red Glove by Holly Black

Red Glove (Curse Workers #2)
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Publication Date: April 5, 2011
Pages: 325
Source: Paperback/Library

The cons get craftier and the stakes rise ever higher in the riveting sequel to White Cat—now in paperback!After rescuing his brothers from Zacharov’s retribution and finding out that Lila, the girl he has loved his whole life, will never, ever be his, Cassel is trying to reestablish some kind of normalcy in his life. That was never going to be easy for someone from a worker family that’s tied to one of the big crime families—and whose mother’s cons get more reckless by the day. But Cassel is coming to terms with what it means to be a transformation worker, and he’s figuring out how to have friends.

Except normal doesn’t last very long. Soon Cassel is being courted by both sides of the law and is forced to confront his past—a past he remembers only in scattered fragments, and one that could destroy his family and his future. Cassel will have to decide whose side he wants to be on, because neutrality is not an option. And then he will have to pull off his biggest con ever to survive….

Review: I thought this was a great sequel to White Cat! I felt kinda bad for Cassel with the whole Lila being cursed to love him thing. That would suck. Actually loving someone and not knowing if they actually love you back because they were cursed to love you. That's unfair. I also felt for him losing his brother. I mean granted, it wasn't like they were the closest but still, losing a family member is hard. I loved this whole investigation into who actually murdered Cassel's brother, though I did not like the way the Feds felt the need to do it. They blackmailed him! It was like are you kidding me! I loved how he fought back though!

I was so lost as to who killed Cassel's brother. I mean, its been a while since I read White Cat so I might have missed the subtle hint but ya. I do have to say I wasn't surprised when I found out who did it. It made sense. I also loved how Cassel pulled off a huge con just to protect that person. I was definitely impressed with his con skills in that one! I was so shocked though when we found out who else was a Worker though! I so did not see that coming! Though one thing definitely made sense when it was revealed. And last but not least. Lila. The end.. Just wow. That's all I have to say about that.