New YA: February 1-8.
New hardbacks:
The Girls of No Return, by Erin Saldin:
The Girls of No Return is absolutely, completely gripping—once I’d started reading, I didn’t put it down, not even while I was giving blood—and despite its subject matter, it’s never exploitative. It never compromises its emotional core, and never feels like anything but The Truth. It left me feeling wrought-out and wrecked, but in a good, subtly supercathartic way.
The Shadow Collector's Apprentice, by Amy Gordon
Amazon | Indiebound.
Racing California, by Janet Nichols Lynch
Amazon | Indiebound.
No Crystal Stair, by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and R. Gregory Christie
Amazon | Indiebound.
The Knife and the Butterfly, by Ashley Hope Pérez
Amazon | Indiebound.
The Exceptionals, by Erin Cashman
Amazon | Indiebound.
Drowning Instinct, by Ilsa J. Bick
Amazon | Indiebound.
Catch & Release, by Blythe Woolston:
So, on one hand, reading this book was a little like repeatedly punching myself in the face for two hours. I found it that painful. Polly is angry and hurting and angry some more and hurting some more. But, on the other hand, the last few pages—in which you finally get to hear what Odd thinks—made all of that pain worthwhile, and then going back and reading the first few pages and seeing all of the little details that show how much the roadtrip has changed her... well. Lovely, that.
Voyage of the Sea Wolf, by Eve Bunting
Amazon | Indiebound.
Harbinger, by Sara Wilson Etienne
Amazon | Indiebound.
Beneath a Meth Moon, by Jacqueline Woodson
Amazon | Indiebound.
The Rivals, by Daisy Whitney
Amazon | Indiebound.
DJ Rising, by Love Maia
Amazon | Indiebound.
Somebody, Please Tell Me Who I Am, by Harry Mazer and Peter Lerangis
Amazon | Indiebound.
The Miseducation of Cameron Post, by Emily M. Danforth
Amazon | Indiebound.
The Lying Game #3: Two Truths and a Lie, by Sara Shepard.
Amazon | Indiebound.
Dead to You, by Lisa McMann
Amazon | Indiebound.
Born Wicked: The Cahill Witch Chronicles, Book One, by Jessica Spotswood
Amazon | Indiebound.
New paperbacks:
Clarity, by Kim Harrington:
My main issue with the book—and this is very blunt—was the writing. Much of it is stilted and bland, with a lot of telling rather than showing, and the dialogue is rarely believable. A couple of examples (there were others I'd liked to have used, but they were spoiler-y):
He bent to pick up a candy wrapper. "Like this litter on the boardwalk," he said. "And most shocking of all, a tourist getting killed! Tourists have never been killed before in this town." He poked my shoulder as he asked, "What is your beloved Mayor Spellman going to do about this disgrace?" (pg 53: This, by the way, is a teenager speaking.)
Choker, by Elizabeth Woods:
The dialogue occasionally gets a bit stilted, there are some lines ("The words stabbed Cara like a knife") that we've all heard before, most of the secondary characters are two-dimensional and towards the end, the ultimate arc of the story gets a bit LIKE WHOA OVERBOARD, but it's a decent read.
Girl, Stolen, by April Henry
Amazon | Indiebound.
Department 19, by Will Hill
Amazon | Indiebound.
A Kingdom in a Horse, by Maia Wojciechowska
Amazon | Indiebound.
Green Heart, by Alice Hoffman
Amazon | Indiebound.
The Golden Bull, by Marjorie Cowley
Amazon | Indiebound.
The Freak Observer, by Blythe Woolston
Amazon | Indiebound.
Everything I Was, by Corinne Demas
Amazon | Indiebound.
Empty, by Suzanne Weyn
Amazon | Indiebound.
Daughters of the Sea #2: May, by Kathryn Lasky
Amazon | Indiebound.
Angelina's Secret, by Lisa J. Rogers
Amazon | Indiebound.
This One Time with Julia, by David Lampson
Amazon | Indiebound.
Chopsticks, by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral
Amazon | Indiebound.
Northanger Alibi (Jane Austen Diaries), by Jenni James
Amazon | Indiebound.
Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein
Amazon | Indiebound.
Immortal Longings: A Vampire Novel, by Diane Dekelb-Rittenhouse
Amazon | Indiebound.
Mr. Was, by Pete Hautman.
Amazon | Indiebound.
No Limit, by Pete Hautman.
Amazon | Indiebound.
All-in, by Pete Hautman.
Amazon | Indiebound.
Once: Before Midnight; Golden; Wild Orchid, by Cameron Dokey
Amazon | Indiebound.
The One That I Want, by Jennifer Echols
Amazon | Indiebound.
Delirium, by Lauren Oliver
Amazon | Indiebound.
Evercrossed, by Elizabeth Chandler
Amazon | Indiebound.
The Wood Queen: An Iron Witch Novel, by Karen Mahoney
Amazon | Indiebound.
Almost Everything: A Vampire Princess Novel, by Tate Hallaway.
Amazon | Indiebound.
Crazy, by Han Nolan
Amazon | Indiebound.
A Summer of Kings, by Han Nolan
Amazon | Indiebound.
In Too Deep, by Amanda Grace
Amazon | Indiebound.