Pawn by Aimée Carter

Title: Pawn
Author: Aimée Carter
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Released: November 26th 2013
Pages: 346 (eBook)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US
Add on Goodreads

YOU CAN BE A VII. IF YOU GIVE UP EVERYTHING. 

For Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as a III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most powerful family in the country. 

If she says yes, Kitty will be Masked—surgically transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister's niece, who died under mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart family, she will be famous. She will be adored. And for the first time, she will matter. 

There's only one catch. She must also stop the rebellion that Lila secretly fostered, the same one that got her killed …and one Kitty believes in. Faced with threats, conspiracies and a life that's not her own, she must decide which path to choose—and learn how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she's only beginning to understand.

I've had my eye on Pawn for quite a while, so once I got accepted for an eGalley of it, I was ecstatic. Despite the surge of dystopian novels over the last few years, many of them still manage to come up with original concepts; Pawn is a perfect example of this.

Netgalley November: Week 3 & 4 Wrap Up

I'm still awful at posting wrap ups! Oh well. Anyway - Netgalley November is over! I can't believe how quickly the month went, and how amazing some of the reads were.

Books I Finished in Week 1

Crash Into You by Katie McGarry

Books I Finished in Week 2

The Name on Your Wrist by Helen Hiorns / The Kissing Booth by Beth Reekles

Books I Finished in Week 3

Hidden Wings by Cameo Renae / Freakboy by Kristin Elizabeth Clark

Books I Finished in Week 4

Fireblood by Trisha Wolfe / Pawn by Aimee Carter

So there are the Netgalley books I read this month! To be honest, they were all good, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading each and every one of them. I managed to read 7 which is roughly half the maximum amount I thought I could get through, so I'm pretty pleased to be ranked Medium. It was wonderful to take part in Netgalley November, as it was lovely to see what everyone was reading and how everyone was doing. I'll most definitely be taking part next year!

Fireblood by Trisha Wolfe

Title: Fireblood
Author: Trisha Wolfe
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Release: December 17th 2013
Pages: 376 (Kindle)
Pre-Order: Amazon UK / Amazon US
Add on Goodreads

To save a kingdom, Zara must choose between a prince who could be the answer and a rising rebellion that threatens to take control.

When Zara Dane is chosen to marry Prince Sebastian Hart, son of the man who ordered her father’s capture, Zara knows she must fight to save everything she loves from ruin. 

Being betrothed to the prince means a life trapped behind the towering stone walls of the Camelot-forged realm. Under the watchful eye of the prince's first knight, Sir Devlan Capra, changing her future becomes difficult. 

When an unlikely rebel reveals the truth about the deadly secrets that fuel King Hart’s twisted world, Zara’s path to rescue her father becomes clouded by deception. The Rebels clear her path by forcing Zara’s hand with an ultimatum: sway Prince Sebastian to join the Rebels, convincing him of his father’s evil nature, or they will take him out. 

But Zara is uncertain about a future under the Rebels’ command and where the prince’s heart truly lies. She must decide who to trust, what to believe, and what she’s truly fighting for before the king destroys all of Karm, including her heart.

You know that feeling when you finish a book and you just become speechless? Yeah, I'm like that with Fireblood. I don't think there is any word in the dictionary that could properly sum up just how breathtaking it is. I went into it with high expectations - everyone has heard of Trisha Wolfe, and the reviews I've read have been nothing but praise for her writing. I finished the book with those expectations raised; Wolfe is a tremendous author, and I am now definitely on the bandwagon.

Hidden Wings by Cameo Renae

Title: Hidden Wings
Author: Cameo Renae
Publisher: Indie Inked
Released: January 16th 2013
Pages: 204 (Kindle)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US
Add on Goodreads

Seventeen is a life changing age for Emma Wise.
As her family's sole survivor in a car crash, she is left with a broken arm and a few scrapes and bruises. But these are only outward marks; inside, her heart is broken and the pieces scattered.

Whisked away to Alaska, to an aunt she’s never met, Emma starts over. Secrets unveil themselves and now…she doesn't even know who or what she is.

A centuries old prophecy places Emma in the heart of danger. Creatures of horrifying and evil proportions are after her, and it will take Emma, her aunt, and six, gorgeously captivating Guardians to keep her safe. But, if she can survive until her eighteenth birthday... things will change.

So ever since I saw Haley's review of this over at YA-Aholic, I've wanted to read it. So when I got accepted for a review copy, I was over the moon! I love angels and demons, and a few years ago I went through a complete stage of being obsessed with them - now I remember why! Hidden Wings was fast-paced and furious, with a witty band of characters and enemies like no other.

Freakboy by Kristin Elizabeth Clark

Title: Freakboy
Author: Kristin Elizabeth Clark
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Publishing Group
Released: October 22nd 2013
Pages: 448 (Kindle)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US
Add on Goodreads

From the outside, Brendan Chase seems to have it pretty easy. He’s a star wrestler, a video game aficionado, and a loving boyfriend to his seemingly perfect match, Vanessa. But on the inside, Brendan struggles to understand why his body feels so wrong—why he sometimes fantasizes having long hair, soft skin, and gentle curves. Is there even a name for guys like him? Guys who sometimes want to be girls? Or is Brendan just a freak?

In Freakboy's razor-sharp verse, Kristin Clark folds three narratives into one powerful story: Brendan trying to understand his sexual identity, Vanessa fighting to keep her and Brendan’s relationship alive, and Angel struggling to confront her demons.

This is the second verse book I have read, and the first of which I have reviewed. I'm a keen supporter of LGBT rights, and I never turn down an opportunity to learn a bit more about the different situations people of the LGBT community have been through, fictional or otherwise. I've read a few novels centred around being transgender, and I'm honestly amazed at the strength these people have - how horribly they are judged, but how they still persevere to get what they know is right. Freakboy was an amazing story, and I'm just left in awe.

The Kissing Booth by Beth Reekles

Title: The Kissing Booth
Author: Beth Reekles
Publisher: Random House Children's
Released: December 13th 2012
Pages: 448 (Kindle)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US
Add on Goodreads

Meet Rochelle Evans: pretty, popular--and never been kissed. Meet Noah Flynn: badass, volatile--and a total player. And also Elle's best friend's older brother... 

When Elle decides to run a kissing booth for the school's Spring Carnival, she locks lips with Noah and her life is turned upside down. Her head says to keep away, but her heart wants to draw closer--this romance seems far from fairy tale and headed for heartbreak. 

But will Elle get her happily ever after?

I don't like cheesy books and I don't like cheesy couples yet I liked The Kissing Booth.  Please go and figure. Something about this read appealed to me, so despite it's vast amount of teen angst, I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you're looking for a light, easy-going read, I'd definitely recommend this.

Netgalley November: Week 1 & 2 Wrap Up

Hey guys! So last week I forgot to post a wrap up (I know, I'm a terrible human being!) so this week's counts for two!

Books I Finished in Week 1

Crash Into You by Katie McGarry

Books I Finished in Week 2

The Name on Your Wrist by Helen Hiorns / The Kissing Booth by Beth Reekles

What I'm Currently Reading

Freakboy by Kristin Elizabeth Clark

Although I'd hoped to be further ahead by this point, I have had blog tour books to read on top of school work and my part-time job, so all in all I'm not too far behind. This next week I'm hoping to get through three more books, so fingers crossed! Also look out for my review of The Kissing Booth.

The Name on Your Wrist by Helen Hiorns

Title: The Name on Your Wrist
Author: Helen Hiorns
Publisher: RHCP Digital
Released: July 15th 2013
Pages: 185 (eBook)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US
Add on Goodreads

It's the first thing they teach you when you start school. But they don't need to; your parents tell you when you're first learning how to say your name. It's drummed into you whilst you're taking your first stumbling steps. It's your lullaby. From the moment it first appears, you don't tell anyone the name on your wrist.

In Corin's world, your carpinomen - the name of your soul mate, marked indelibly on your wrist from the age of two or three - is everything. It's your most preciously guarded secret; a piece of knowledge that can give another person ultimate power over you. People spend years, even decades, searching for the one they're supposed to be with.

But what if you never find that person? Or you do, but you just don't love them? What if you fall for someone else - someone other than the name on your wrist?

And what if - like Corin - the last thing in the world you want is to be found?

I can't decide on a rating. I can't decide on a rating and I hate it when that happens! The Name on Your Wrist's synopsis piqued my interest, and whilst on one hand I want to sing its praises, on the other I just can't get over the fact that nothing happened.

Crash Into You by Katie McGarry

Title: Crash Into You
Author: Katie McGarry
Publisher:  Harlequin Teem
Release: November 26th 2013
Pages: 489 (Kindle)
Pre-Order: Amazon UK / Amazon US
Add on Goodreads

The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind. 

Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look. 

But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.

Am I the only girl stupid enough not to have fallen in love with Isaiah from book one? Yes? Well, better late that never! The Pushing the Limits trilogy is one of my favourite YA contemps out there, and you wouldn't believe how excited I was when I received an ARC of it. True to what is becoming McGarry's fashion, it was an absolutely breathtaking read - imagine my relief when I found out that the series wasn't ending here!

Netgalley November

Netgalley November is a month-long event where bloggers try to catch up with some of their TBR Netgalley titles. Personally I have quite a lot of these, so despite the fact that I have a few tour books to read and required reading books for my English class, I thought Heck, why not? There are five challenge categories, and despite the fact that I'll be lucky to read 10, I've picked 15 (just in case).

Challenge Categories:

Easy: 1-4

Medium: 5-10

Hard: 11-15

Difficult: 16-20

Netgalley Superstar: 21+

The Books:

Freakboy / Crash Into You / The Name on Your Wrist

Hidden Wings / The Kissing Booth / Fireblood

Pawn / Wild Cards / Inhuman

The Naturals / After Eden / Noble Conflict

Parasite / Freak of Nature / Countdown

So those are my targets for this month - what are yours? Leave a comment below, and I wish you all the best of luck!