The Cerulean: {Waiting on Wednesday}

The Cerulean by Amy Ewing

Publication Date: February 5th, 2019

Publisher: HarperTeen

Sera has always felt as if she didn’t belong among her people, the Cerulean. She is curious about everything and can’t stop questioning her three mothers, her best friend, Leela, and even the High Priestess. Sera has longed for the day when the tether that connects her City Above the Sky to the earthly world below finally severs and sends the Cerulean to a new planet.

But when Sera is chosen as the sacrifice to break the tether, she doesn’t know what to feel. To save her City, Sera must throw herself from its edge and end her own life. But something goes wrong and she survives the fall, landing in a place called Kaolin. She has heard tales about the humans there, and soon learns that the dangers her mothers warned her of are real. If Sera has any hope to return to her City, she’ll have to find the magic within herself to survive.

Confessions of a Teenager Leper: {ARC Review}

Publication date: September 25th, 2018
Publisher: Penguin Teen
Series: None
Format: e-ARC
Source: Netgalley
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Abby Furlowe has plans. Big plans. She's hot, she's popular, she's a cheerleader and she's going to break out of her small Texas town and make it big. Fame and fortune, adoration and accolades. It'll all be hers. 

But then she notices some spots on her skin. She writes them off as a rash, but things only get worse. She's tired all the time, her hands and feet are numb and her face starts to look like day-old pizza. By the time her seventeenth birthday rolls around, she's tried every cream and medication the doctors have thrown at her, but nothing works. When she falls doing a routine cheerleading stunt and slips into a coma, her mystery illness goes into overdrive and finally gets diagnosed: Hansen's Disease, aka leprosy. 

Abby is sent to a facility to recover and deal with this new reality. Her many misdiagnoses mean that some permanent damage has been done, and all of her plans suddenly come tumbling down. If she can't even wear high heels anymore, what is the point of living? Cheerleading is out the window, and she might not even make it to prom. PROM!

But it's during this recovery that Abby has to learn to live with something even more difficult than Hansen's Disease. She's becoming aware of who she really was before and what her behavior was doing to others; now she's on the other side of the fence looking in, and she doesn't like what she sees. . . 

Bloodleaf: {Waiting on Wednesday}

Bloodleaf by Crystal Smith 

Publication Date: March 5th, 2019

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Aurelia is the first princess born to the Renaltan crown in two hundred years, destined to fulfill a treaty by journeying to marry the next prince of Achleva – Renalt’s greatest enemy. Surrounded by spirits and dogged by accusations of witchcraft, the only thing that eclipses Aurelia’s apprehension of her impending wedding is her fear of those who’d kill her to keep her from it.

When an assassination attempt forces Aurelia to use forbidden blood magic under the eyes of the court, she is driven from Renalt by the witch-hunting Tribunal and a mob out for blood. To escape with her life, she must cast off her name and crown and take refuge in the land she was once meant to rule: Achleva.

Alone and unknown for the first time, Aurelia throws herself into studying the magic that might one day help her reclaim her old life, even as she begins to imagine a new one with a man who could never rule beside her. But no matter how hard she wants to move forward and forget the past, her fate seems to be inextricably connected to the leader of the tyrannical Tribunal, the unquiet ghost of a forgotten queen, and the answer to an ancient mystery, hidden deep in a crumbling tower and a cage of poison vine called bloodleaf. 

Aurelia is an unwitting pawn in a centuries-long game of love, power, and war— and if she can’t change the game before the Tribunal closes in, she may face losses far more devastating than her crown.

Dread Nation: {Review}

Publication date: April 3rd, 2018
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Series: Dread Nation #1
Format: e-Book
Source: Library
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Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing America forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Reeducation Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.

But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose. But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies. And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems.

Outrun the Wind: {Waiting on Wednesday}

Outrun the Wind by Elizabeth Tammi 

Publication Date: November 27th, 2018

Publisher: Flux

The Huntresses of Artemis must obey two rules: never disobey the goddess, and never fall in love. After being rescued from a harrowing life as an Oracle of Delphi, Kahina is glad to be a part of the Hunt; living among a group of female warriors gives her a chance to reclaim her strength, even while her prophetic powers linger. But when a routine mission goes awry, Kahina breaks the first rule in order to save the legendary huntress Atalanta. 

To earn back Artemis’s favor, Kahina must complete a dangerous task in the kingdom of Arkadia— where the king’s daughter is revealed to be none other than Atalanta. Still reeling from her disastrous quest and her father’s insistence on marriage, Atalanta isn’t sure what to make of Kahina. As her connection to Atalanta deepens, Kahina finds herself in danger of breaking Artemis’ second rule.

She helps Atalanta devise a dangerous game to avoid marriage, and word spreads throughout Greece, attracting suitors willing to tempt fate to go up against Atalanta in a race for her hand. But when the men responsible for both the girls’ dark pasts arrive, the game turns deadly.

The Diminished: {Review}

Publication date: April 10th, 2018
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Series: Untitled Duology #1
Format: Hardcover, 454 pages
Source: B&N
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In the Alskad Empire, nearly all are born with a twin, two halves to form one whole…yet some face the world alone. 

The singleborn 

A rare few are singleborn in each generation, and therefore given the right to rule by the gods and goddesses. Bo Trousillion is one of these few, born into the royal line and destined to rule. Though he has been chosen to succeed his great-aunt, Queen Runa, as the leader of the Alskad Empire, Bo has never felt equal to the grand future before him. 

The diminished 

When one twin dies, the other usually follows, unable to face the world without their other half. Those who survive are considered diminished, doomed to succumb to the violent grief that inevitably destroys everyone whose twin has died. Such is the fate of Vi Abernathy, whose twin sister died in infancy. Raised by the anchorites of the temple after her family cast her off, Vi has spent her whole life scheming for a way to escape and live out what's left of her life in peace. 

As their sixteenth birthdays approach, Bo and Vi face very different futures—one a life of luxury as the heir to the throne, the other years of backbreaking work as a temple servant. But a long-held secret and the fate of the empire are destined to bring them together in a way they never could have imagined.

Is listening to an Audiobook considered reading? {Chat}

So I have seen this debate online where some people say that listening to audiobooks is cheating because it's not like you're reading an actual book. I'm going to chime in on this because I just can't believe some of the things I read.

1. Listening to Audiobooks is NOT cheating. It is still a form of reading, so don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

2. Some people have eye issues which prevent them from being able to read. Not necessarily meaning people that are legally blind, but anyone with dilapidating eye conditions that prevent them from reading. Migraine sufferers love listening to audiobooks because if you have ever had a migraine, you know how bad they can be.

3. There is also the lack of print books in some areas. Maybe audiobooks are the only escape people in those areas can get.

4. Commuters and busy people cannot always drop what they are doing to read a physical book. This is especially true for long commutes in a car or for new parents who can't just pop open a book. Audiobooks offer an escape for so many.


Those are just a few reasons why listening to Audiobooks is still considered reading. I'm sure that there are more reasons, but these were just ones that I came up with on the spot.

Please do not let anyone try to invalidate your reading experience. Whether you like to read physical books, on an e-Reader, or listen to Audiobooks,  ALL of those are valid ways to enjoy a good story.

Confessions of a Teenage Leper: {Waiting on Wednesday}

Confessions of a Teenage Leper by Ashley Little

Publication Date: September 25th, 2018

Publisher: Penguin Teen

Abby Furlowe has plans. Big plans. She's hot, she's popular, she's a cheerleader and she's going to break out of her small Texas town and make it big. Fame and fortune, adoration and accolades. It'll all be hers. 

But then she notices some spots on her skin. She writes them off as a rash, but things only get worse. She's tired all the time, her hands and feet are numb and her face starts to look like day-old pizza. By the time her seventeenth birthday rolls around, she's tried every cream and medication the doctors have thrown at her, but nothing works. When she falls doing a routine cheerleading stunt and slips into a coma, her mystery illness goes into overdrive and finally gets diagnosed: Hansen's Disease, aka leprosy. 

Abby is sent to a facility to recover and deal with this new reality. Her many misdiagnoses mean that some permanent damage has been done, and all of her plans suddenly come tumbling down. If she can't even wear high heels anymore, what is the point of living? Cheerleading is out the window, and she might not even make it to prom. PROM!

But it's during this recovery that Abby has to learn to live with something even more difficult than Hansen's Disease. She's becoming aware of who she really was before and what her behavior was doing to others; now she's on the other side of the fence looking in, and she doesn't like what she sees. . .

Smothered: {ARC Review}

Publication date: August 7th, 2018
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Series: None
Format: e-ARC
Source: Netgalley & Publisher
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Eloise “Lou” Hansen is graduating from Columbia University summa cum laude, and she's ready to conquer the world. Just a few minor problems: she has no job, no prospects, and she’s moving back into her childhood bedroom. Lou is grimly determined to stick to a rigorous schedule to get a job and get out of her parents’ house. Shelly “Mama Shell” Hansen, on the other hand, is ecstatic, and just as determined to keep her at home. Who else will help her hide her latest binge-shopping purchases from her husband, go to SoulCycle with her, and hold her hand during Botox shots?

Smothered is a hilarious roman à clef told via journal entries, text messages, emails, bills, receipts, tweets, doctor’s prescriptions, job applications and rejections, parking tickets, and pug pictures, chronicling the year that Lou moves back home after college. Told from Lou’s point-of-view, Smothered tells the story of two young(ish) women, just trying to get it right, and learning that just because we all grow up doesn’t mean we necessarily have to grow old. (After all, what is Juvaderm for?)

Ink, Iron, and Glass: {Review}

Publication Date: February 20th, 2018
Publisher: Macmillan/Imprint
Series: Ink, Iron, and Glass #1
Format: Hardcover, 336 pages
Source: Library
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Can she write a world gone wrong?

A certain pen, a certain book, and a certain person can craft entirely new worlds through a branch of science called scriptology. Elsa comes from one such world that was written into creation, where her mother―a noted scriptologist―constantly alters and expands their reality.

But when her home is attacked and her mother kidnapped, Elsa is forced to cross into the real world and use her own scriptology gifts to find her. In an alternative Victorian Italy, Elsa finds a secret society of young scientists with a gift for mechanics, alchemy, or scriptology―and meets Leo, a gorgeous mechanist with a smart mouth and tragic past. She recruits the help of these fellow geniuses just as an assassin arrives on their doorstep.

In this thrilling debut, worlds collide as Elsa unveils a deep political conspiracy seeking to unlock the most dangerous weapon ever created―and only she can stop it.

The Queen's Rising: {Review}

Publication Date: February 6th, 2018
Publisher: Harper Teen
Series: The Queen's Rising #1
Format: Hardcover, 464 pages
Source: Bookstore
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When her seventeenth summer solstice arrives, Brienna desires only two things: to master her passion and to be chosen by a patron.

Growing up in the southern Kingdom of Valenia at the renowned Magnalia House should have prepared her for such a life. While some are born with an innate talent for one of the five passions—art, music, dramatics, wit, and knowledge—Brienna struggled to find hers until she belatedly chose to study knowledge. However, despite all her preparations, Brienna’s greatest fear comes true—the solstice does not go according to plan and she is left without a patron.

Months later, her life takes an unexpected turn when a disgraced lord offers her patronage. Suspicious of his intent, and with no other choices, she accepts. But there is much more to his story, and Brienna soon discovers that he has sought her out for his own vengeful gain. For there is a dangerous plot being planned to overthrow the king of Maevana—the archrival kingdom of Valenia—and restore the rightful queen, and her magic, to the northern throne. And others are involved—some closer to Brienna than she realizes.

With war brewing between the two lands, Brienna must choose whose side she will remain loyal to—passion or blood. Because a queen is destined to rise and lead the battle to reclaim the crown. The ultimate decision Brienna must determine is: Who will be that queen?

Girls of Paper and Fire: {Waiting on Wednesday}

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

Publication Date: November 6th, 2018

Publisher: Jimmy Patterson Books

Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It's the highest honor they could hope for...and the most cruel.

But this year, there's a ninth girl. And instead of paper, she's made of fire.

In this lush fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most oppressed class in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards still haunts her. Now, the guards are back, and this time it's Lei they're after--the girl whose golden eyes have piqued the king's interest.

Over weeks of training in the opulent but stifling palace, Lei and eight other girls learn the skills and charm that befit being a king's consort. But Lei isn't content to watch her fate consume her. Instead, she does the unthinkable--she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens the very foundation of Ikhara, and Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide just how far she's willing to go for justice and revenge.

TW: violence and sexual abuse.