The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Title: The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time
Author: Mark Haddon
Publisher: Random House
Released: July 31st 2003
Pages: 272 (Hardback)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US


The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a murder mystery novel like no other. The detective, and narrator, is Christopher Boone. Christopher is fifteen and has Asperger's Syndrome. He knows a very great deal about maths and very little about human beings. He loves lists, patterns and the truth. He hates the colours yellow and brown and being touched. He has never gone further than the end of the road on his own, but when he finds a neighbour's dog murdered he sets out on a terrifying journey which will turn his whole world upside down.

The Forsaken by Lisa Stasse

Title: The Forsaken
Author: Lisa Stasse
Publisher: Orchard Books
Released: July 10th 2012
Pages: 432 (Paperback)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US

Alenna Shawcross is a sixteen-year-old orphan growing up in a police state formed from the ashes of Canada, the US and Mexico after a global economic meltdown. 

But when she unexpectedly fails ‘the test’ - a government initiative which supposedly identifies teens destined to be criminals - she wakes up alone on a remote island reserved for the criminally insane. 

Terrified and confused, she soon encounters a group of other teen survivors battling to stay alive, including Liam, a boy who will become her love... and her lifeline. 

Soon Alenna makes the terrifying discovery that there’s more to the island (and her past) than she could ever have guessed... But who can she trust? And can she ever escape?


URRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH.

HATE!
I HAVE NOTHING BUT HATE FOR THIS BOOK!
I HAVE BECOME ILLITERATE!
I JUST I give up.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Title: Anna Dressed in Blood
Author: Kendare Blake
Publisher: Orchard Books
Released: August 30th 2011
Pages: 373 (Paperback)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US


Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story...

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Title: Across the Universe
Author: Beth Revis
Publisher: Razorbill
Released: January 11th 2011
Pages: 398 (Paperback)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US


Amy
has left the life she loves
for a world 300 years away.

Trapped in space and frozen in time, Amy is bound for a new planet. But fifty years before she's due to arrive, she is violently woken, the victim of an attempted murder. Now Amy's lost on board and nothing makes sense - she's never felt so alone.

Yet someone is waiting for her.
He wants to protect her - 
and more if she'll let him

But who can she trust amidst the secrets and lies?
A killer is out there - and Amy has nowhere to hide...

Mystic City by Theo Lawrence

Title: Mystic City
Author: Theo Lawrence
Publisher: Corgi
Released: October 1st 2012
Pages: 397 (Paperback)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US

For fans of Matched, The Hunger Games, X-Men, and Blade Runner comes a tale of a magical city divided, a political rebellion ignited, and a love that was meant to last forever. Book One of the Mystic City Novels.

Aria Rose, youngest scion of one of Mystic City's two ruling rival families, finds herself betrothed to Thomas Foster, the son of her parents' sworn enemies. The union of the two will end the generations-long political feud—and unite all those living in the Aeries, the privileged upper reaches of the city, against the banished mystics who dwell below in the Depths. But Aria doesn't remember falling in love with Thomas; in fact, she wakes one day with huge gaps in her memory. And she can't conceive why her parents would have agreed to unite with the Fosters in the first place. Only when Aria meets Hunter, a gorgeous rebel mystic from the Depths, does she start to have glimmers of recollection—and to understand that he holds the key to unlocking her past. The choices she makes can save or doom the city—including herself.

Between by Jessica Warman

Title: Between
Author: Jessica Warman
Publisher: Egmont Books
Released: August 2nd 2011
Pages: 437 (Paperback)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US

Elizabeth Valchar wakes up after spending her eighteenth birthday party on her family's yacht to investigate a thumping noise. What she finds will change everything she thought she knew about her life, her friends, and everything in between. As Liz begins to unravel the circumstances surrounding her birthday night, she will find that no one around her, least of all Liz herself, was perfect--or innocent.

So there's a bit of a backstory as to how I came across this novel in the first place. I work in my school's library, and I came up with the idea to host a book poster competition, where someone would design a poster advertising a favourite book of theirs, and would have to give a brief synopsis and explain why they liked it so much. I was part of the judging panel at the end, and the definite winner was a girl who designed a poster for Between. As soon as I read her reasoning for loving it, I knew I had to read it - and voila! The next week, the library had a brand new copy.

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Title: Just One Day

Author: Gayle Forman

Publisher: Random House

Released: January 8th 2013

Pages: 369 (Paperback)

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US

When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.

I AM TORN BETWEEN RATING THIS WITH FOUR OR FIVE STARS! You'd think that since I've read both If I Stay and Where She Went, I'd get used to Forman's happy but torturous endings, but nope, I fell for it yet again and am now wallowing in a pit of my own sorrow. I suppose that I had better explain.

Blog Tour: I Am Alive by Cameron Jace

As soon as I read the synopsis, I was hooked. Give a Hunger Games fan a book that promises an arena, contestants and whole lot of blood, and they'll love you forever. I Am Alive by Cameron Jace is a novel you've got to look out for - and I got the absolute honour of getting to participate in the blog tour!

About The Author

Wonderlander, Neverlander, Unicorn-chaser, enchanter, musician, survived a coma, & totally awesome. Sometimes I tell stories. Always luv the little monsters. I write young adult paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and science fiction mostly. The Grimm Diaries series is a seven book saga that deals with retellings of fairy tales from a young adult POV - it connects most of the fairy tales together and claims to be the truth about fairy tales. I live in San Fransisco and seriously think circles are way cooler than triangles.

Cover Reveal (#5)

SQUEE! I am so so so excited for this book to be released! Back in October, I took part in a blog tour for Debbie Dee's novel, The Last Witch. I absolutely adored it, so when Debbie contacted me about a week-long cover reveal for the sequel, The Underground Witch, how could I refuse?

As the last of the Incenaga Witches, Emmeline has been tortured, abused, and forced to use her power to kill. But unlike the Incenagas before her, she has survived. With her freedom restored, she should feel safe, invincible even. After all, she has the protection of Erick’s army and a power strong enough to obliterate any enemy. Yet Emmeline lives in fear for the next person who will try to control her, and no one can seem to find the tyrant threatening to claim her.

Until it’s too late.

With everything on the line, and the enemy at her throat, Emmeline has no choice but to convince Erick she no longer loves him (or risk him following her) and disappear with the one person she vowed to hate. But when she finds a way to take back her freedom and fight for Erick, will Emmeline be able to use her power like never before? Even if it kills her?

In The Underground Witch, the second novel of the Incenaga Trilogy, Debbie Dee delivers enough adventure, heartbreak, and suspense to captivate readers at every turn.

How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr

Title: How to Save a Life
Author: Sara Zarr
Publisher: Little, Brown Books
Released: October 18th 2011
Pages: 368 (Paperback)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US

Jill MacSweeney just wishes everything could go back to normal. But ever since her dad died, she’s been isolating herself from her boyfriend, her best friends—everyone who wants to support her. And when her mom decides to adopt a baby, it feels like she’s somehow trying to replace a lost family member with a new one.

Mandy Kalinowski understands what it’s like to grow up unwanted—to be raised by a mother who never intended to have a child. So when Mandy becomes pregnant, one thing she’s sure of is that she wants a better life for her baby. It’s harder to be sure of herself. Will she ever find someone to care for her, too?

As their worlds change around them, Jill and Mandy must learn to both let go and hold on, and that nothing is as easy—or as difficult—as it seems.

Blog Tour and Author Interview: Liesel Hill

Are you as excited as I am? I hope so! Today, I'm bringing to you an author interview with Liesel Hill, the amazing author to Persistence of Vision. Check it out to discover the secrets behind some of her fabulous ideas!

Where did the idea of the Arachnimen originate from?

The Arachnimen came when I was trying to figure out bad guys. I took some small inspiration from the Death Squads in Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series, but I tried to focus on what scares people. Some of the most universal fears include spiders and clowns. Clowns wouldn't have worked very well in this story and I already have something else that involves killer clowns, so I went with spiders. From there, they developed to fit the story.

Did you base the main character, Maggie, on any of your own personal traits?

Somewhat. She’s not me, exactly, but she does have a lot of me in her. In truth, all characters have at least something of their creators in them, and perhaps main characters more than others. As I said, she’s not entirely me, but many of her thought processes are mine. She’s definitely cooler than I am—who I want to be in that situation, perhaps.

How did you decide what the seven different prophetical jobs and abilities would be?

Book of the Month: February

This month, it feels as if I have barely read anything at all! Unfortunately, my exams are looming, and I'm beginning to spend more time revising and less time reading, much to my displeasure. However, I did come across some very good novels this month, but the winner is obvious: The Maze Runner by James Dashner.

Although I ended the review by saying I didn't want to continuing reading the series as it doesn't sound as good, this book kicked the whole saga off to an amazing start. The concept was completely unique, and just the way Dashner stylized and characterised it made it perfect! If you love dystopian novels with a science-fiction twist, then you've got to read this - even if you don't like male POV's, I really think this is a novel that all should read.