I've decided to do something a littler different. Instead of picking new books that I'd like to read this month, I have decided that I want to start the new year by achieving something, so here is how I have decided what books will be going on my TBR this month.
The Goal: Read all of the books that I've previously started and put down for no good reason!
With that being said, here is my January TBR!
Numbers by Rachel Ward (Numbers #1)Starred by PW and SLJ! Now in paperback, Rachel Ward's gripping debut psycho-thriller that pairs futuristic sci-fi with a tender, touchingly real love story. Includes a teaser to the sequel!Ever since the day her mother died, Jem has known about the numbers. Numbers that pop into her head when she looks into someone's eyes. They're dates, the numbers. Dates predicting with brute accuracy each person's death. Burdened by such horrible knowledge, Jem avoids relationships. Until she meets Spider, another outsider, and takes a chance. Maybe they can find happiness together, if only in the brief time that remains before his expiration date. But on a trip to London, Jem foresees a chilling chain of events: The city's a target. The clock's running out. The countdown is on to a blowup!
With the help of her mysterious classmate Dylan Gilmore, Faith Daniels discovers that she can move objects with her mind. This telekinetic ability is called a “pulse,” and Dylan has the talent, too.
In riveting action scenes, Faith demonstrates her ability to use her pulse against a group of telekinesis masters who are so powerful they can flatten their enemies by uprooting streetlights, throwing boulders, and changing the course of a hurtling hammer so that it becomes a deadly weapon. But even with her unusual talent, the mind--and the heart--can be difficult to control. If Faith wants to join forces with Dylan and save the world, she’ll have to harness the power of both.
Patrick Carman’s Pulse trilogy is a stunning and epic triumph about the power of the mind--and of love
Midwinter Blood by Marcus SedgwickHave you ever had the feeling that you've lived another life? Been somewhere that has felt totally familiar, even though you've never been there before, or felt that you know someone well, even though you are meeting them for the first time? It happens. In 2073 on the remote and secretive island of Blessed, where rumour has it that no one ages and no children are born, a visiting journalist, Eric Seven, and a young local woman known as Merle are ritually slain. Their deaths echo a moment ten centuries before, when, in the dark of the moon, a king was slain, tragically torn from his queen. Their souls search to be reunited, and as mother and son, artist and child, forbidden lovers, victims of a vampire they come close to finding what they've lost. In a novel comprising seven parts, each influenced by a moon - the flower moon, the harvest moon, the hunter's moon, the blood moon - this is the story of Eric and Merle whose souls have been searching for each other since their untimely parting.
Hemlock Grove by Brian McGreevyThe body of a young girl is found mangled and murdered in the woods of Hemlock Grove, Pennsylvania, in the shadow of the abandoned Godfrey Steel mill. A manhunt ensues—though the authorities aren’t sure if it’s a man they should be looking for.
Some suspect an escapee from the White Tower, a foreboding biotech facility owned by the Godfrey family—their personal fortune and the local economy having moved on from Pittsburgh steel—where, if rumors are true, biological experiments of the most unethical kind take place. Others turn to Peter Rumancek, a Gypsy trailer-trash kid who has told impressionable high school classmates that he’s a werewolf. Or perhaps it’s Roman, the son of the late JR Godfrey, who rules the adolescent social scene with the casual arrogance of a cold-blooded aristocrat, his superior status unquestioned despite his decidedly freakish sister, Shelley, whose monstrous medical conditions belie a sweet intelligence, and his otherworldly control freak of a mother, Olivia.
At once a riveting mystery and a fascinating revelation of the grotesque and the darkness in us all, Hemlock Grove has the architecture and energy to become a classic in its own right—and Brian McGreevy the talent and ambition to enthrall us for years to come
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (The Infernal Devices #1)In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.
The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them....
Created by gingerreadslainey
Goodreads Group: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/118368-top-5-wednesday
Mid-2013 is when I fell back in love with reading. There was a giant gap between my junior/senior years of high school and my college years where I was lucky if I got through one book a year. I'm so glad that reading is a part of my life again, and I've read a lot of good books this year. Today I am going to share my top 5 with you.
5. In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang
Anda loves Coarsegold Online, the massively-multiplayer role-playing game where she spends most of her free time. It's a place where she can be a leader, a fighter, a hero. It's a place where she can meet people from all over the world, and make friends.
But things become a lot more complicated when Anda befriends a gold farmer--a poor Chinese kid whose avatar in the game illegally collects valuable objects and then sells them to players from developed countries with money to burn. This behavior is strictly against the rules in Coarsegold, but Anda soon comes to realize that questions of right and wrong are a lot less straightforward when a real person's real livelihood is at stake.
From acclaimed teen author (Little Brother, For the Win) and Boing Boing editor Cory Doctorow and Koko Be Good creator Jen Wang, In Real Life is a perceptive and high-stakes look at adolescence, gaming, poverty, and culture clash.
My review will be up on my YouTube channel very soon!
4. More Than This by Patrick Ness
A boy drowns, desperate and alone in his final moments. He dies.
Then he wakes, naked and bruised and thirsty, but alive.
How can this be? And what is this strange deserted place?
As he struggles to understand what is happening, the boy dares to hope. Might this not be the end? Might there be more to this life, or perhaps this afterlife?
From multi-award-winning Patrick Ness comes one of the most provocative and moving novels of our time
WATCH MY VIDEO REVIEW
3. The Evolution of Mara Dyer
[CAUTION: SPOILERS FOR THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER BELOW]
Mara Dyer once believed she could run from her past.
She can't
She used to think her problems were all in her head.
They aren't
She couldn't imagine that after everything she's been through, the boy she loves would still be keeping secrets.
She's wrong.
In this gripping sequel to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, the truth evolves and choices prove deadly. What will become of Mara Dyer next?
2. The Young Elites by Marie Lu
I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.
Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.
Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.
Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.
Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.
It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.
MY REVIEWS
Watch my video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfwF-JIEgx0&list=UUa5SehEe3ZjeA4weaOThf8A
Read my Review: http://acciobooksreviews.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-young-elites-by-marie-lu-review.html
1. The Archived by Victoria Schwab
Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books.
Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive. Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was: a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often-violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive.
Being a Keeper isn't just dangerous-it's a constant reminder of those Mac has lost. Da's death was hard enough, but now that her little brother is gone too, Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall.
In this haunting, richly imagined novel, Victoria Schwab reveals the thin lines between past and present, love and pain, trust and deceit, unbearable loss and hardwon redemption.
The Young Elites (Book #1) by Marie Lu (Spoiler Free) Review
The Young Elites is a new YA Fantasy series by Marie Lu. Marie Lu also wrote The Legend Trilogy which I read and really enjoyed. (Which I did a review of, I’ll link it below) When I heard she had a new book coming out I have to admit that I was pretty excited.
I picked up this book shortly after it was released and started reading it around the end of October. I finished most of the book before November started and I started NaNoWriMo, but during November I found myself extremely busy with 1.) My novel, and 2.) General holiday madness!
Needless to say, I didn’t read very much and I was not able to get through those last 100 pages until the very beginning of December.
The Young Elites is about a girl named Adelina who is a malfetto. A malfetto is a survivor of blood fever that swept through the land ten years previously. Malfetto’s are usually easy to spot, the fever left them with a physical deformity. Some have an unnatural hair or eye color, while some have markings on their skin. The malfettos are looked down on in their society. They are said to be demonic or bad luck and most people do not want to associate with them, but not all malfettos are created equally. Some malfettos were gifted with a power and these malfettos are called The Young Elites.
I picked up this book shortly after it was released and started reading it around the end of October. I finished most of the book before November started and I started NaNoWriMo, but during November I found myself extremely busy with 1.) My novel, and 2.) General holiday madness!
Needless to say, I didn’t read very much and I was not able to get through those last 100 pages until the very beginning of December.
The Young Elites is about a girl named Adelina who is a malfetto. A malfetto is a survivor of blood fever that swept through the land ten years previously. Malfetto’s are usually easy to spot, the fever left them with a physical deformity. Some have an unnatural hair or eye color, while some have markings on their skin. The malfettos are looked down on in their society. They are said to be demonic or bad luck and most people do not want to associate with them, but not all malfettos are created equally. Some malfettos were gifted with a power and these malfettos are called The Young Elites.
One night Adelina over hears her father making a deal to sell her to a man as his mistress. That night she runs away from home and in a turn of events a power within her awakens and she discovers that she is a Young Elite.
I gave this book a 4.5/5 (5/5 on the Goodreads star rating system) stars. It had its flaws, but if the entertainment value of this book hadn’t been so high the flaws would have pushed it down to a 4/5 stars.
The beginning of the novel was bit slow, but I find that this is the case with a lot of fantasy books, especially the first installment in a series.
I felt that the world building was lacking something, but I just can’t put my finger on what. However, I found the snippets of Kenettrian literature used at the beginning of each of Adelina’s chapters to really help bring the world to life, and it was also a really unique characteristic of this novel.
Some of the characters felt flat, but that may work itself out in the upcoming books. I found that I really only cared about Adelina and Raffaele for the majority of the book, but there was one incident when Enzo showed a more vulnerable side of himself and I found myself beginning to like him.
Adelina was a very strong and unique protagonist. She is somewhat of an anti-hero, and I really loved that aspect of this novel. She also has some very interesting features. The blood fever forced them to remove one of her eyes and she has silver hair. There are very few characters that I have read about in YA books that have these sorts of physical deformities.
Though the world building may have been lacking Marie Lu’s writing was fantastic. She can paint a scene so perfectly and with such detail that I feel like I’m there. I felt the same way when I was reading the Legend trilogy.
The most action seems to be at the end of the book. It was packed and it took me on a crazy ride. Adelina was fighting a battle within herself while fighting a real battle and that just made everything so much more suspenseful.
If I’m being honest here, I would have to say that I enjoyed this book much more than the Legend trilogy. I feel that Marie Lu’s writing is either improving or I just like the style she used in this book.
I would recommend this book for the older YA readers. For readers who are around 12 and 13 I think that the suggestive themes and violence may be a little too heavy in this novel.
