Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd

Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd
"Back in London after her trip to Dr. Moreau's horrific island, Juliet is rebuilding the life she once knew and trying to forget her father's legacy. But soon it's clear that someone—or something—hasn't forgotten her, as people close to Juliet start falling victim to a murderer who leaves a macabre calling card of three clawlike slashes. Has one of her father's creations also escaped the island? As Juliet strives to stop a killer while searching for a serum to cure her own worsening illness, she finds herself once more in a world of scandal and danger. Her heart torn in two, past bubbling to the surface, life threatened by an obsessive killer—Juliet will be lucky to escape alive."- summary from Amazon

I loved Shepherd's debut and was so excited to read this follow-up. It's so cool seeing classics being used as a foundation for each book in the trilogy (in this case, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde). I really enjoyed following Juliet along on this journey and it's a heart-stopping, page-turning adventure the whole way through. I'm usually not a fan of historical novels but these are just simply fantastic. Shepherd does a great job with the romantic aspect in the books too; there is a love triangle but I feel like it generally doesn't overpower the rest of the story.

Overall, a fantastic follow-up to The Madman's Daughter, and I'm eager to see what will happen next and how the story will end in the final book! I highly recommend this series.

FTC: Received ARC from publisher. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.

Author Interview- Lisa McMann

1)You're in the middle of two series now- is it difficult to go back and forth writing them, especially since one is middle-grade and the other is Young Adult? How many books are projected for each series?

I actually love going back and forth between Visions and Unwanteds. It keeps the writing fresh for me, and works great with my short attention span. Visions (Crash, Bang, Gasp) is a trilogy. Gasp will be out June 3, 2014. The Unwanteds plan is seven books and I’m writing book 5 now. Book 4, Island of Legends, will be out September 2, 2014.


2)After your Wake trilogy, you wrote a couple stand-alone books but now you're back writing series. Do you prefer one over the other, or do you just follow your ideas whether they're a stand-alone or a series idea?

I just follow my ideas. I don’t ever want to make a series out of something that is clearly a stand-alone, because I think that cheats the reader and they end up angry. So I only consider writing a series if there is a clear path with plenty of substance for each book. And I don’t really prefer one over the other – they both have positives to them. Stand-alones are fun because you can develop the entire story in one book. Series’ are fun because you get to expand on existing characters.


3)It's been several years since I last interviewed you and a lot has changed since then. Can you tell us about your favorite fan experience?

Well, I have come to love seeing you in a variety of tour places, James! That’s definitely a favorite. Another favorite happened in March 2013 at the Tucson Festival of Books, when I got to talking to a great 12-year-old girl at my signing. She told me all about her own book she was writing, and we got along really well and I’ve run into her a couple times since then. I think she’s going to be a great writer one day, and I can’t wait to sit in the audience at her book signing some day.


4)What book(s) are you currently reading, or are about to start?

I’m reading The Center of Everything by Linda Urban (MG) and Restaurant Man by Joe Bastianich (Memoir).


5)What's your favorite Jelly Belly flavor(s)?

Popcorn!


6)You wrote one of the seven books in the Infinity Ring series (Book 3- The Trap Door). How did you get involved with that, and was it difficult to write the book considering it was in the middle of the series and various other authors are writing the other books? What was the process like for that?

I loved working with the authors in this series! I was first approached by David Levithan at Scholastic, who asked if I’d be interested in being a part of a writing team for a historically accurate time-travel series. It sounded cool. Writing book three was great—I got to pick the time period and the historical figures I wanted our characters to visit, and I got to expand on characters who were already developed, which is a real time-saver in the writing process. Telling Riq’s backstory in my book was a real highlight, and it has been a blast reading the subsequent books to see what the other authors did with characters.

The process was pretty exhilarating. We all got together in NYC to talk about the general idea of the series arc, but there was no formal outline, so we had a lot of freedom. With each book in the series coming out every 3 months or so, the schedule was quick. I read the manuscript of book 1 (by James Dashner) in early December 2011, got the rough draft of book 2 from Carrie Ryan on Christmas day, and spent all of January 2012 writing book 3, which I had to turn in to my editor February 1^st, I also gave it to Matt de la Peña so he could start writing book 4 and get his manuscript to Matthew J Kirby and Jennifer Nielsen so they could start writing their books. It was a fun challenge and absolutely the best team of writers to work with.

Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles

Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles
"After getting kicked out of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no choice but to live with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is deployed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she plans to move them back to her childhood home in Illinois. Derek’s counting the days before he can be on his own, and the last thing he needs is to get involved with someone else’s family drama.

Ashtyn Parker knows one thing for certain--people you care about leave without a backward glance. So when her older sister comes home after abandoning her ten years earlier, with her hot new stepson in tow, Ashtyn wants nothing to do with either of them. Then she comes up with a plan that would finally give her the chance to leave, but it requires trusting Derek—someone she barely knows, someone born to break the rules. Is she willing to put her heart on the line to try and get the future she wants?"- summary from Amazon

I've been hearing wonderful things about Elkeles' books for years now and I finally got around to reading one. Unfortunately, I didn't really like it. I hope that this is a rare stumble for her and that her other books are better, but this book was just okay. While I appreciated the dual narrative and it allowed the reader to get to know both Ashtyn and Derek a little more, it really felt like a lot of telling rather than showing. I just didn't feel a connection to either of them; the story was compelling enough and Elkeles' writing made for a quick read so I finished the book, but I wasn't really hooked by the characters. I don't really know what else to say about it.

Overall, just an okay, middle-of-the-road YA romance. Has anyone else read Elkeles? Are her other books better than this one? It just felt very basic and by-the-numbers to me.

FTC: Received e-galley from Netgalley. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.

Catherine by April Lindner

Catherine by April Lindner
"A forbidden romance. A modern mystery. Wuthering Heights as you've never seen it before.

Catherine is tired of struggling musicians befriending her just so they can get a gig at her Dad's famous Manhattan club, The Underground. Then she meets mysterious Hence, an unbelievably passionate and talented musician on the brink of success. As their relationship grows, both are swept away in a fiery romance. But when their love is tested by a cruel whim of fate, will pride keep them apart?

Chelsea has always believed that her mom died of a sudden illness, until she finds a letter her dad has kept from her for years -- a letter from her mom, Catherine, who didn't die: She disappeared. Driven by unanswered questions, Chelsea sets out to look for her -- starting with the return address on the letter: The Underground."- summary from Amazon

I'd been wanting to read one of Lindner's books for the longest time, pretty much ever since Jane came out a few years ago. I saw it all over the place at BEA and Meg Cabot had it on her forums as the book of the month. But I never got around to reading either one of her books until I met her at a signing and she hooked me up with an e-galley of Catherine. It still took me a while to read, but once I did, I was so glad for it.

The story goes back and forth between Chelsea and Catherine, which was a great choice to do. We get to see a first-hand account from Catherine as well as through some diary entries in Chelsea's parts toward the end of the novel. I really enjoyed the mystery of Catherine's life and disappearance, and Lindner handled it really well. All the characters are written well, and I really enjoyed spending time with them.

Overall, I'm so glad I finally read this and will have to check out Jane soon. Catherine is out in hardcover now, but will be released in paperback this August!

FTC: Received e-galley from publisher and Netgalley. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
"A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth."- summary from Amazon

I absolutely adore E. Lockhart and her books, and was eagerly anticipating her newest YA novel from the moment the sale was announced. I was extremely lucky to receive an advance copy of it and while I wasn't as enamored by it as a lot of my peers, it is still a very good book. Think 4.5 stars instead of 5, lol. For some reason, it just didn't leave me feeling as breathless or with "all the feels" as it did with a lot of my friends. I do still highly recommend it though.

It's a very interesting novel, told in 1st person like a lot of YA novels but for me at least, it really had a 3rd person feel to it- a sort of detached look at events, people, places and things that keeps the reader from really getting to know Cadence. The book is broken up into five parts- the first three parts set everything up; there's a lot of background information, flashbacks, learning more about members of the Sinclair family. It flows along nicely, if sometimes a little boring. I did particularly enjoy the short little fairy tale retellings though. I don't want to say too much else though; it really is a novel to be discovered knowing as little as possible and to just go along with the journey and experience it.

Overall, this is a smart, expertly told book about family and friends, success and failure, lies and love, and so many other things. I can't even really put it into words very well. And if you haven't read Lockhart before, start with this and then read everything else she's done; you will not be disappointed.

FTC: Received ARC from publisher. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.