Almost

Title: Almost
Author: Anne Eliot
Genre: YA
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 4/10


I need to talk about the awesome that is this book. Fans of Beautiful Disaster (Jamie McGuire), Slammed (Colleen Hoover), Barely Breathing (Rebecca Donovan) and Thoughtless (S. C. Stephens), you're in for a treat!
Buckle up boys & girls, because Jess's past isn't pretty... but she doesn't remember it. At least, almost nothing of it. Not the night she revisits every time she falls alseep during dark hours, and not how what was meant to be rape was reduced to almost-rape. Everything about her life is almost. Almost remembered. Almost forgotten. Almost raped. Almost fine. Almost better. Almost dating...

It has many references to Pride & Prejudice, Titanic, Romeo & Juliet, and a few to Twilight. Because we all love popular references, and you know it.
But awesome references to gain (or lose... ahem) cookie points, Almost is a heart-wrenching tale of a teenage girl struggling to come to terms with the trauma in her past, while trying to convince her overbearing parents that she isn't made of glass, getting her younger sister to stop acting like the older sister for once, and falling in love - all at once. Oh, and she needs to fill in college applications, on the off chance that she can convince the parental entities that she's ready to move on - which is where Gray Porter comes in. Tall, dark and handsome with killer green eyes, he seems immune to Jess's death stares and not-so-subtle back-off hints. With an easy smile and the butterflies he gives her, she figures he'd be an okay candidate for number 3 on the list her sister made for her on How To Be Normal. #3 is getting a boyfriend. After some fast-talking and involuntary guilt-tripping, she gets Gray to go along with her plan... not knowing that Gray knows her deepest secrets, or that he's had a crush on her since freshman year, back when she was still a normal girl...

Almost is told in first person by both Gray and Jess, which I loved. Getting simultaneous intel inside both of their heads was wonderful. And let it be said - I love Gray Porter. And I want one of those BBB bumper stickers for myself! ;)

Cover Reveal: Clockwork Princess

That's right, it's here! There was a mad scramble on twitter today to help unveil Clockwork Princess's cover, and I must say -- it's such a beautiful cover for what will, without a doubt, be a very painful book to read!
I just wonder what book it is that Tessa is holding. My first hope was A Tale of Two Cities, but since it's, you know, shining, I think I'll go with the Grey Book. Which pretty much confirms she's a warlock... and I love her dress.

In Clockwork Princess, Tessa and her companions travel all over the world as they race to stop the clockwork army before it’s too late. As Jem’s health worsens alarmingly and his friends search desperately for a cure, can Tessa choose between the two boys she loves—even if it means never seeing the other one again?

Clockwork Princess will be out March 19th 2013.

Cover Reveal: Soulbroken

You can find my review of the first book on The Legacy of Tril, Soulbound, here. And today Auntie Heather released the cover for the second book, Soulbroken. Kaya is looking very femme fatale in the new cover, huh? I like it.
Beware of spoilers for Soulbound below.

In this follow up to Legacy of Tril: Soulbound, Kaya has learned that she is Soulbound to Darius, the Barron she secretly trained with at Shadow Academy. But he’s been sent away, leaving Kaya with questions about how he could be Soulbound to her and another Healer. Determined to find answers and prove herself worthy of fighting in the war against King Darrek and the Graplars, Kaya sneaks away, encountering a mysterious Barron named Gage in her travels. But Darius has shocking information about Gage—information that changes everything Kaya thought she knew about what it means to be Bound.

Soulbroken is scheduled for a late 2013 release.

The Golden Lily

Title: The Golden Lily (Bloodlines #2)
Author: Richelle Mead
Genre: YA
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 8/10

Sydney Sage is back! Along with Ivashkov, Eddie Castile, Jill (Jailbait) Mastrano-Dragomir, Angeline,  Sonya and *drumrolls, please* Dimitri Belikov... along with a few other characters from Bloodlines. But yes, LOTS of Dimitri Belikov. I'll try not to focus too much on him, though, since this is Sydney's book.

The one main difference I see between the Bloodlines series and the Vampire Academy series, aside from the obvious, is that the plot twists in Bloodlines seem to be so much more predictable. I mean, remember that whole Tasha Ozera conspiracy? That was genius, pure genius (still hate the bitch's guts though).
Sydney's riddles seem to come undone much easier than Rose's. This doesn't mean the book isn't entertaining, it just doesn't make the 'favourite' shelf.
The Golden Lily follows the crew as they try to remain anonymous in California. Their anonymity is almost compromised when a group of vampire hunters starts trying to stake Sonya, thinking that she's still a Strigoi (which is when we get to see badass Russian god in god form again). With all that, plus all Alchemists, who seem to believe that Sydney Sage can do nothing wrong and is the perfect example of what a young Alchemist should be, that very same Alchemist can't seem to stop getting closer to her vampire and half-vampire comrades (Yeah, I went there...). Adrian seems to be walking an ever-thinner  line between spirit-madnes, and... well, Adrian-madness.
After getting used to liking Adrian in #1, I all but fell in love with him now. The man is truly smitten, and I'm happy for him, though his bond with Jill kind of creeped me out at times. Rose and Lissa's bond never made Rose look at Christian all moony-eyed, so that gave me the heebie jeebies. Plus, he's always had the best one-liners, even back when I wanted to walk him off a cliff. Angeline is my mini-Rose. Her training sessions with Eddie (who Adrian calls mini-Dimitri, wink wink, nudge nudge), and all her grouching and complaints just kept reminding me of Rose, especially in Frostbite. Not to mention her punch-first-ask-later policy. I kept wishing someone would call in Rose to train her, because man, that would be just too good.
And talking about Rose... Dimitri. I honestly thought we'd see him in two scenes, tops, and then he'd be gone. Instead, we got an entire bookload of Russian., and I want to take the opportunity to thank Richelle profusely. I'd missed him. And I do love his cell phone. He should use it more. And Sydney should learn to eavesdrop. Eavesdropping can be perfectly fine at certain times. That was one of them.

If you liked Bloodlines, definitely read The Golden Lily. If you read Bloodlines, but are still a little iffy at the lack of Romitri, READ The Golden Lily. I promise you, there will be scenes to make you happy. Fans of Sydrian, have at it.

Broken

Title: Broken
Author: Megan Hart
Genre: Adult
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 5/10 

"This month my name is Mary. My name is different every month—Brandy, Honey, Amy…sometimes Joe doesn't even bother to ask—but he never fails to arouse me with his body, his mouth, his touch, no matter what I'm called or where he picks me up. The sex is always amazing, always leaves me itching for more in those long weeks until I see him again.

My real name is Sadie, and once a month over lunch Joe tells me about his latest conquest. But what Joe doesn't know is that, in my mind, I'm the star of every X-rated one-night stand he has revealed to me, or that I'm practically obsessed with our imaginary sex life. I know it's wrong. I know my husband wouldn't understand. But I can't stop. Not yet."

The first thing that got my attention was the bizarre description. I mean "this month my name is Mary" made me think of a felon; someone on the run, or something like that, but it just didn't fit with the rest of it, so I bought it more out of curiosity than anything else.

Allow me to explain. Sadie is really only called Sadie. Her husband had an accident during a ski trip four years ago and lost all feeling from his neck down. Two years ago, Sadie met Joe on a bench during lunch. Every first Friday of each month, Sadie and Joe have sat at their bench and talked. After some time, Joe started telling her stories about his conquests. Starved for love she no longer seems to find in her husband Adam, Sadie listens to Joe's stories and imagines herself as those girls he seduces for one-nighters. That's why "my name is Mary". Not because she's convicted of murder. As time goes on, Sadie's conscience starts making itself known - after all, just because she isn't sleeping with Joe and betraying Adam, doesn't mean that her feelings aren't betraying her husband...

Sadie's is a heart-wrenching trip to discovery, acceptance, love, redemption, loss and affection. And she isn't the only one taking the road of self-disocvery. Joe, Adam and even Sadie's mother are all in the same boat as her. It's a truly powerful read, and I'd recommend it to anyone who asks.

The False Princess

Title: The False Princess
Author: Eilis O'Neal
Genre: YA
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 7/10 I'm a little confused as to what the necklace is all about...


Sinda Azaway has spent the first sixteen years of her life believing she is the princess of Thorvaldor. When her entire life turns out to have been a ploy to keep the real princess safe from a threat that a prophecy about the princess, which said that she would die before the age of 16, Sinda is sent to live with an aunt she never knew she had.
Things don't go so well for Sinda after that. Without her best friend, Kiernan, son of the Earl of Rithia, Sinda feels empty and at a loss. Expected to help her aunt in household chores she hasn't a clue how to do, everything becomes even more complex when Sinda's magic, hidden because of the spell cast on her to make her look like princess Nalia, has finally bloomed, and she has no idea what to do with it, or worse, how to stop it from bursting out of her and burning things at random.
After she returns to the city to seek help with her magic, Sinda unravels a ploy deep within the heart of Thorvaldor, meant to dethrone the rightful princess. With time running out, and an uncertain hold on her magic at the best of times, Sinda will have to decide if getting to the end of the ploy is worth the price she'll have to pay.

Now, I need to say something here. This is one of those books. You know the kind. Fabulous plot, incredible characters (if a little transparent at times) and awesome pacing - even the down time is just right; not too long that you get bored, and not too short that it feels rushed. There were a few spelling mistakes that jumped out to me, but aside from that, The False Princess is, by all accounts, a wonderful read.
And it is. But... it's not one of those books that sticks with you after you finished, and that you keep thinking about, wondering about the characters, etc, which means it could have been even better. The ending seemed somewhat abrupt, and left a few strings still hanging. I felt certain there'd be a continuation, but I can't find anything that points to one, so I'll just assume it ends here. In that case, read it if you're looking for a good magical YA, with great humour, sweet romance and lots of intrigue.

Cover Reveal

If you haven't read Marissa Meyer's futuristic-with-a-hint-of-dystopian retelling of Cinderella called Cinder, you have no idea what you're missing out on.
And today, we got the cover for the second out of four novels. Scarlet is due for an early 2013 release.
Along with the cover, a snippet from chapter two has also been released, and can be found by clicking here. In that link, you will also find an interview with Meyer about the future of the series.