Waiting for Wednesday (8)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted Jill at by Breaking the Spine.

Breaking Beautiful

by Jennifer Shaw Wolf


Publisher: Walker Childrens
Pages: 368 pages
Release Date: April 24, 2012

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Allie lost everything the night her boyfriend, Trip, died in a horrible car accident—including her memory of the event. As their small town mourns his death, Allie is afraid to remember because doing so means delving into what she’s kept hidden for so long: the horrible reality of their abusive relationship.


When the police reopen the investigation, it casts suspicion on Allie and her best friend, Blake, especially as their budding romance raises eyebrows around town. Allie knows she must tell the truth. Can she reach deep enough to remember that night so she can finally break free? Debut writer Jennifer Shaw Wolf takes readers on an emotional ride through the murky waters of love, shame, and, ultimately, forgiveness.

Abusive relationship? budding romance? I'm In!

I've been so drown to YA contemporary fiction especially this year. Although they may not always turn out the way you expect, I love how books in this particular genre almost has something to say. YA contemporary fiction is what I consider my comfort zone and I'm dying to get back to it.

Waiting on Wednesday (7)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted Jill at by Breaking the Spine.

Insignia (Insignia #1)

by S.J. Kincaid 



Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Pages: 400 pages
Release Date: July 10, 2012

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More than anything, Tom Raines wants to be important, though his shadowy life is anything but that. For years, Tom’s drifted from casino to casino with his unlucky gambler of a dad, gaming for their survival. Keeping a roof over their heads depends on a careful combination of skill, luck, con artistry, and staying invisible. 


Then one day, Tom stops being invisible. Someone’s been watching his virtual-reality prowess, and he’s offered the incredible—a place at the Pentagonal Spire, an elite military academy. There, Tom’s instincts for combat will be put to the test, and if he passes, he’ll become a member of the Intrasolar Forces, helping to lead his country to victory in World War Three. Finally, he’ll be someone important: a superhuman war machine with the tech skills that every virtual-reality warrior dreams of. Life at the Spire holds everything that Tom’s always wanted—friends, the possibility of a girlfriend, and a life where his every action matters—but what will it cost him? 


Gripping and provocative, S. J. Kincaid’s futuristic thrill ride of a debut crackles with memorable characters, tremendous wit, and a vision of the future that asks startling, timely questions about the melding of humanity and technology.

I'm not crazy about the YA dystopian trend that goes on right now, but the premise of this one is interesting. Besides it has a male main character, which is refreshing. I really miss those. Most YA books I come across nowadays feature female protagonists and it's not always pleasant. Dystopia is one of my favorite genres so these books are hard to ignore.

Waiting on Wednesday (6)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted Jill at by Breaking the Spine.

Storybound 
by Marissa Burt




Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 416 pages
Release Date: April 3, 2012

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In the land of Story, children go to school to learn to be characters: a perfect Hero, a trusty Sidekick, even the most dastardly Villain. They take classes on Outdoor Experiential Questing and Backstory, while adults search for full-time character work in stories written just for them. 

In our world, twelve-year-old Una Fairchild has always felt invisible. But all that changes when she stumbles upon a mysterious book buried deep in the basement of her school library, opens the cover, and suddenly finds herself transported to the magical land of Story. 
But Story is not a perfect fairy tale. Una’s new friend Peter warns her about the grave danger she could face if anyone discovers her true identity. The devious Tale Keeper watches her every move. And there are whispers of a deadly secret that seems to revolve around Una herself....  

With the timeless appeal of books like A Wrinkle in Time and the breathtaking action of Inkheart, Storybound has all the makings of a new classic. Brimming with fantastical creatures, magical adventure, and heart-stopping twists, Storybound will leave readers wishing they too could jump through the pages into this enchanting fairy-tale world.

I love middle grade fantasies. This one looks so charming! I can understand how this is compared to Inkheart. The way it uses storytelling elements is somewhat similar to that book. For me, I feel this book has some of the classical elements I love. I can't wait to read it.

Waiting on Wednesday (5)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted Jill at by Breaking the Spine.




For Darkness Shows the Stars 
by Diana Peterfreund




Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 416 pages
Release Date: June 12, 2012

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Generations ago, a genetic experiment gone wrong—the Reduction—decimated humanity, giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.
Eighteen-year-old Luddite Elliot North has always known her place in this caste system. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family’s estate over love. But now the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress and threatening Luddite control; Elliot’s estate is floundering; and she’s forced to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth—an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliott wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she abandoned him.
But Elliot soon discovers her childhood friend carries a secret—-one that could change the society in which they live…or bring it to its knees. And again, she’s faced with a choice: cling to what she’s been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she’s ever loved, even if she has lost him forever.
Inspired by Jane Austen’s PERSUASION, FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.

For Darkness Shows the Stars is a dystopian novel that's inspired by Jane Austen's Persuasion. Any Jane Austen fan wouldn't resist. The novel seems like an ambitious project. I just hope this is not part of a series. I think this book's potential to be a fantastic novel would be higher if it was a stand-alone. Imagine the possibilities the author could do with such premise! I'm not crazy about the cover though. It's gorgeous, but this girl-in-a-dress cover trend is getting old. I certainly don't want my shelf to be filled with these covers in the future.

What books are you waiting for?

Waiting on Wednesday (4)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted Jill at by Breaking the Spine.




Forgotten Country
by Catherine Chung


Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Pages: 304 pages
Release Date: March 1, 2012

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On the night Janie waits for her sister, Hannah, to be born, her grandmother tells her a story: Since the Japanese occupation of Korea, their family has lost a daughter in every generation, so Janie is charged with keeping Hannah safe. As time passes, Janie hears more stories, while facts remain unspoken. Her father tells tales about numbers, and in his stories everything works out. In her mother's stories, deer explode in fields, frogs bury their loved ones in the ocean, and girls jump from cliffs and fall like flowers into the sea. Within all these stories are warnings.
Years later, when Hannah inexplicably cuts all ties and disappears, Janie embarks on a mission to find her sister and finally uncover the truth beneath her family's silence. To do so, she must confront their history, the reason for her parents' sudden move to America twenty years earlier, and ultimately her conflicted feelings toward her sister and her own role in the betrayal behind their estrangement.
Weaving Korean folklore within a modern narrative of immigration and identity, "Forgotten Country" is a fierce exploration of the inevitability of loss, the conflict between obligation and freedom, and a family struggling to find its way out of silence and back to one another.

I have a friend who is a good friend of this author. She told me about this book a while ago and I've been excited about it ever since.

Book Trailer

Waiting on Wednesday (3)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted Jill at by Breaking the Spine.

Title: The Book of Blood and Shadow

Author: Robin Wasserman

Publisher: Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers 

Release Date: April 10, 2012

It was like a nightmare, but there was no waking up.  When the night began, Nora had two best friends and an embarrassingly storybook one true love.  When it ended, she had nothing but blood on her hands and an echoing scream that stopped only when the tranquilizers pierced her veins and left her in the merciful dark. But the next morning, it was all still true: Chris was dead.  His girlfriend Adriane, Nora's best friend, was catatonic. And Max, Nora's sweet, smart, soft-spoken Prince Charming, was gone. He was also—according to the police, according to her parents, according to everyone—a murderer.Desperate to prove his innocence, Nora follows the trail of blood, no matter where it leads. It ultimately brings her to the ancient streets of Prague, where she is drawn into a dark web of secret societies and shadowy conspirators, all driven by a mad desire to possess something that might not even exist. For buried in a centuries-old manuscript is the secret to ultimate knowledge and communion with the divine; it is said that he who controls the Lumen Dei controls the world. Unbeknownst to her, Nora now holds the crucial key to unlocking its secrets. Her night of blood is just one piece in a puzzle that spans continents and centuries. Solving it may be the only way she can save her own life.

I heard some people compare this book to the The Da Vinci Code. It sounds really intriguing.




What books are you waiting for?

Waiting in Wednesday (2)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted Jill at by Breaking the Spine.

Title: Shooting Stars

Author: Allison Rushby

Publisher: Walkern Childrens

Release Date: February 28, 2012

Meet Josephine Foster, or Zo Jo as she’s called in the biz. The best pint-sized photographer of them all, Jo doesn’t mind doing what it takes to get that perfect shot, until she’s sent on an undercover assignment to shoot Ned Hartnett—teen superstar and the only celebrity who’s ever been kind to her—at an exclusive rehabilitation retreat in Boston. The money will be enough to pay for Jo’s dream: real photography classes, and maybe even quitting her paparazzi gig for good. Everyone wants to know what Ned’s in for. But Jo certainly doesn’t know what she’s in for: falling in love with Ned was never supposed to be part of her assignment.

Shooting Stars just sounds really cute. I've never read celebrity-related contemporaries before!

Waiting On Wednesday (1)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted Jill at by Breaking the Spine.

Slide (Slide #1)

by Jill Hathaway

Release Date: March 27,2012

Summery

Vee Bell is certain of one irrefutable truth—her sister’s friend Sophie didn’t kill herself. She was murdered. 

Vee knows this because she was there. Everyone believes Vee is narcoleptic, but she doesn’t actually fall asleep during these episodes: When she passes out, she slides into somebody else’s mind and experiences the world through that person’s eyes. She’s slid into her sister as she cheated on a math test, into a teacher sneaking a drink before class. She learned the worst about a supposed “friend” when she slid into her during a school dance. But nothing could have prepared Vee for what happens one October night when she slides into the mind of someone holding a bloody knife, standing over Sophie’s slashed body. 

Vee desperately wishes she could share her secret, but who would believe her? It sounds so crazy that she can’t bring herself to tell her best friend, Rollins, let alone the police. Even if she could confide in Rollins, he has been acting off lately, more distant, especially now that she’s been spending more time with Zane. 

Enmeshed in a terrifying web of secrets, lies, and danger and with no one to turn to, Vee must find a way to unmask the killer before he or she strikes again.