ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES by Jennifer Niven

Published:  January 6^th, 2015
Synopsis:
When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

My Review:

I tried to go into this book without too many expectations. There was a lot of buzz circulating this book, but many of the early reviews compared it to The Fault in Our Stars or Eleanor and Park. Even a magazine ad paired it with the other two novels. But I wanted this to be a book of its own; so I avoided reviews and attempted to go into it blindly.

 I was happy with what I found.

All The Bright Places is written between alternating chapters giving us excellent perspective for both characters. The characters developed beautifully throughout the novel and there was no conflict between actions taken compared to character personalities.

The love story between Violet and Finch is messy and complicated and real. At times, this book was almost hard to read. It accurately reflects the manic highs and terrifying lows associated with mental disorders such as depression as well as grief.

Finch is an important literary character for one reason; he’s raw and honest. Jennifer Niven didn’t create a character with romantic suffering. She wrote a character who embodies the truth behind mental illness and sucks us into the labyrinth of depression until we're gasping for air.

This book, as I’m happy to write here, is not another love story between two suffering teens. This book is too horrifyingly honest, too haunting, and too important to be compared to other contemporary YA books.
I could not imagine a more perfect book.

Follow Jennifer Niven:  Twitter
Goodreads: All The Bright Places
Follow me: _BookSniffer_

15 MOST ANTICIPATED IN 2015

This is my 15 most anticipated list for 2015. All cover photos were found on Goodreads. The dates include the ESTIMATED month and day that the book will be released.


             

15) VANISHING GIRLS by Lauren Oliver 3/10

14) THE WITCH HUNTER by Virginia Boecker 6/2

13) FAIREST by Marissa Meyer (novella) 1/27

                    

 

12) TWISTED FATE  by Norah Olson 1/20

11) A COLD LEGACY by Megan Shepherd 1/27

10) INVADED by Melissa Lander 2/2

9) THE WICKED WILL RISE by Danielle Paige 3/31

8) WINTER by Marissa Meyer 11/24 (no cover)

7) SISTERS OF BLOOD AND SPIRIT by Kady Cross 3/31

 

 

6) THE DEATH CODE by Lindsay Cummings 4/21

5) A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES by Sarah J Maas 5/5

4) THE HEIR by Kiera Cass 5/5

 

3) SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA by Becky Albertalli 4/7

2) RED QUEEN by Victoria Aveyard 2/10

1) PALE BLUE FLAMES by Adrian Phoenix ??/?? (no cover)



Top 2014 RELEASES

We saw some very impressive debuts this year and some new releases from some old favorites. 2014 was a great year for literature and an even better time to be a reader. I’m excited to post my top five books of 2014 as we eagerly await the arrival of many anticipated 2015 releases!

There are a LOT of books that I would have loved to throw on this list, but I only wanted to include books that I actually read. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get as many books read as I would have liked, but overall I am very pleased with the books I did pick up.

5. DOROTHY MUST DIE by Danielle Paige

Dorothy Must Die was a really fun read for me. It takes us back to the Land of Oz that we all grew up with, but with a frightening twist; Dorothy’s not so sweet anymore and Oz has lost its magic. It’s up to spunky heroine Amy Gumm to save Oz, defeat Dorothy’s classic-turned-scary friends, and then…”Dorothy Must Die”. My review of this debut novel can be found in a previous post. Goodreads here.

4. THE MERCILESS by Danielle Vega

The Merciless is Danielle Vega’s debut novel and it sure makes an impression. The book is devilishly stunning with a bright pink cover, but the novel itself is nothing short of intense. This book is a fun, fast-paced, and sometimes unnerving tale that will leave you wanting more from this author. My review for this book can be found below.  Goodreads here.

3. THE ONE by Kiera Cass

Kiera Cass is one of the best new writers in the YA world and she proved it yet again with her new addition to the Selection series. This series is all around great. It’s the right amount of girly and catty and the love plots aren’t completely nauseating! I’m eagerly awaiting the next installment for this series!  Goodreads here.

2. MY LAST KISS by Bethany Neal

My Last Kiss is probably one of my favorite debut novels (and the cover is pretty amazing). I had the pleasure of meeting Bethany Neal at a local book fair where I bought her book. My Last Kiss follows a dead girl who, as a ghost, attempts to solve the mystery surrounding her supposed suicide. This book is written beautifully and I absolutely cannot wait to read more of Bethany’s work. Goodreads here.

1. AFTERWORLDS by Scott Westerfeld

 Afterworlds was by far my favorite book of 2014. I had really high expectations going into this book and am thrilled to say that I was not disappointed. This book is told in alternating chapters between a debut teenage author and her novel. It’s set up brilliantly. Both stories within this book are exciting and finishing this book was extremely sad. You never want it to end! Goodreads here.

 

THRONE OF GLASS by Sarah J Maas

Published: August 2012
Synopsis:
After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.
Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.
Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another.




Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

My Review:

I wish I would have picked this series up sooner! I cannot say enough good things about this novel. Throne of Glass is refreshing, elegant, and just plain exciting.

Celaena Sardothien is the YA heroine we’ve all been waiting for. What I really loved about Celaena is that 1) she’s not overwhelmingly girlish, and 2) She’s not a heroine that has been drained of all emotion and been hardened into a robotic assassin. Celaena is the perfect balance of these two extremes. She’s a teenage girl! She cares about her looks, doesn’t mind the occasional ball, and hasn’t lost her emotions. But on the same token, she is as dangerous as a snake and as cunning as a fox, not to mention, the empire’s most notorious assassin.

Then we have Dorian (the Crown Prince) and Chaol (the Captain of the Guard), who have come to take Celaena from her prison in the mines of Endovier to offer her freedom if she can win a competition to become the King’s champion. It’s a fascinating concept from the very beginning and, again, I want to point out the outstanding character growth throughout the first book. Dorian and Chaol aren’t characters that you would expect to like in the first few chapters, but once the plot starts moving, they become really intricate and pleasant to read.

Once Celaena arrives in the castle, the competition gets underway and the plot gets more intense. Celaena is attempting to hide who she is from other competitors while getting back into shape and staying in the competition. But when competitors start getting murdered (and their organs missing from their bodies) Celaena is called upon by otherworldly forces to stop the evil lurking in the castle.

Things only get more twisted from here as we’re now thrown into a suspenseful mystery, a potential love triangle, fierce competition, and a useful alliance with an Eyllwe princess.

Throne of Glass, overall, is a great addition to any shelf. It’s a fun, fast-paced read that is sure to please any reader of YA. The plot lags in very few places and flows easily between point-of-view and settings. I encourage anyone who appreciates fiction literature to give this series a chance as it is potentially one of the best new YA series to hit shelves.

Follow Sarah J. Maas: Twitter
Visit her site: THRONE OF GLASS
Follow Me: Lux McGuinn

CINDER by Marissa Meyer

Published: January 3^rd, 2012

Synopsis:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

My thoughts:

Cinder (book one of the Lunar Chronicles) is everything you want a futuristic fairy-tale retelling to be. It’s not the same old story with a few thrown-in elements; it’s a whole new story with the feel of comfortable familiarity.

Our heroine, Cinder is not only a cyborg (yeah, as in part robot), but she’s also a mechanic. This kind of goes along with the whole Cinderella being a housekeeper, right? Right? It’s a refreshing change anyway and, honestly, it’s nice to see a fairy-tale style female protagonist that isn’t spending all her time sewing or cleaning. Gender equality for the win.

But she IS a girl. So, enter, Prince Kai. Handsome, kind…it’s not a spoiler that she’s completely head over heels for him. Let’s just say that I found Prince Kai to be likeable, if not a little annoying sometimes. He just seemed so flustered and lost throughout the whole book. Like a puppy.

And it wouldn’t be CINDERella without an evil stepmother and stepsisters. In this story, however, the sisters (or at least one of them) is actually an extremely nice girl. So, of course, illness must befall her. Have I mentioned the plague yet?

The plague sweeping Earth is definitely a huge deviation from the fairy-tale this started out as. It adds a whole new dimension to tension throughout the novel and no doubt increases human on cyborg hate.

Oh…and people live on the moon. That’s pretty cool, no? Okay so it seems like there’s a lot going on here when you first tackle this book. It sounds crazy and a little too busy. But Marissa Meyer’s writing style flows so elegantly that CINDER is one of the best books I’ve read this year. It keeps you on your toes and you’ll definitely be picking up the second book in the series after reading this exciting ending! The second and third books, SCARLET and CRESS are also currently available novels from the Lunar Chronicles Series.

Follow Marissa: Twitter

Visit her site: Marissa Meyer

Follow Me: Lux McGuinn

Visit the GoodReads page: CINDER

FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell

Publication date: September 10th 2013

                                                                Synopsis:

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan . . . But for Cath, being a fan is her life — and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fanfiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fanfiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

My thoughts:

I absolutely adored FANGIRL, as I always do enjoy a Rainbow Rowell novel. I read it this past summer and immediately purchased the special UK edition that comes with a poster and a fancy etching of Simon & Baz on the cover. Fangirl is yet another book made perfectly for YA readers or anyone who’s ever devoted their lives to fandoms.

The Simon Snow aspect of the novel definitely has its parallels to the Harry Potter fandom and Cath’s devotion to the Simon Snow franchise is scarily similar to my own obsession with HP. But this novel actually taught me something about letting go.

This novel was not only hilarious with excellent character development and witty dialogue. But it was also serious in a way that Cath is making major changes in her life and having to move on from a fandom she’s loved for years. And let’s face it. We’ve all been through this.

Cath’s college adventures, anxiey-filled visits to the cafeteria, and a confusing relationship with her roommate are exactly what young adults need to read. Personally, Fangirl taught me that moving on with your life and making changes does not mean that you have to leave everything in your past behind you. But you can’t let those things take over your life either.   
As I stated above, this book is brilliantly written, as all of Rowell’s books are. Rowell deserves all the recognition she’s gained and then some; she is by far my favorite author of 2014.

I can’t wait to read more of Simon Snows adventures in her upcoming book: Carry On
And I look forward to reading her work for years to come.   

Follow Rainbow: RAINBOW's Twitter
Visit her site: RAINBOW
Follow Me: Lux McGuinn Twitter
Visit the GoodReads page: FANGIRL

THE MERCILESS by Danielle Vega

Debut author Danielle Vega did NOT write another Mean Girls style YA to top off the ever-growing pile of queen B glamour. Don’t let the cotton candy pink cover fool you. This book is brutal!

I picked up The Merciless mainly due to the cover (let’s face it, we all judge books by their covers). It has a brilliant design. The inverted pentagram on a seemingly innocent girly hardback is not only bright enough to stick out amongst a shelf of dark spines, but also intriguing enough to want to see what’s inside. Hat’s off to whoever made the artistic choices!

Reading the book, is just as satisfying as staring at the cover.

The novel follows a girl named Sofia who has just moved into a new town seemingly centered on religion. In no time, she’s taken under the wings of a trio of the most popular girls in school. Soon after, however, they involve Sofia in a plot to grant “salvation” to a girl (Brooklyn) they believe is possessed.
Exorcisms rarely go as planned. And this one is no exception. The girls kidnap Brooklyn to perform their exorcism and the entire night turns into a cringe-worthy, don’t-read-in-the-dark type of experience.

With continuous macabre on every page and insane plot twists, The Merciless delivers a horror story that will keep readers looking over their shoulders long after reaching the final page. Just wait until the move is released!

The Merciless is chilling, creepy, and just plain exciting! I cannot wait until Danielle Vega’s next release and, hopefully, it’ll be just as gory as the first.    

Read the synopsis here: Goodreads

Follow Danielle Vega: DVegaBooks
Follow Me: Lux McGuinn

DOROTHY MUST DIE by Danielle Paige

From the first chapter, I adored Dorothy Must Die. Our heroine, Amy Gumm, is a snarky outsider on the bottom of the high school food chain. She’s a misfit with bright pink hair and a virtually

absentee mother who seems to care more about a pet rat than her daughter.

Fast forward through the oh-so-familiar-story of a tornado and a crash landing, and we’re suddenly in Oz, saved and greeted by a hot, mysterious guy with emerald eyes. Not such a bad landing after all.

Dorothy Must Die is the fresh, sassy continuation of the fairy tale we all know and love. But Dorothy’s not so sweet and charming anymore. With lines blurred between wicked and good, the magic quickly depleting from Oz, and Dorothy’s old friends (Tin Man, Lion, and Scarecrow) policing the lands, it’s up to Amy Gumm to save Oz along with a quite unexpected group of mentors. And have I mentioned the goth munchkin?
 
This first novel in the Dorothy Must Die series is full of suspense and surprises that will leave the reader hanging on to every word. This story goes from funny to creepy in all the right places and gives a whole new meaning to the term “There’s no place like home”.
The remainder of the series can only get more intense from here as Amy tries to restore magic to the land of Oz. But first… Dorothy MUST Die.

 Read the synopsis here: Goodreads

Follow Danielle Paige: Danielle Paige

Follow me on Twitter: Lux McGuinn