Posts tagged with teen-literature
The Serpent King, by Jeff Zentner
Jeff Zentner's debut book The Serpent King reminds me of a teen-friendly version of Grace Metalious's infamous novel Peyton Place. Both stories feature small-town settings, twisted family lives, and dark secrets, but Zentner's book is approximately 1,000,000 times better-written...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Serpent King, by Jeff Zentner
This week's Book Giveaway is Jeff Zentner's debut novel The Serpent King, which I chose based on its attractively gritty cover art and my mother's recommendation. (She has a terrible habit of reading the last chapter of books first, and assures me that Mr. Zentner's book ends really well.) A full review will follow later today...
The Dark Days Club, by Alison Goodman
Reading Alison Goodman's new YA novel The Dark Days Club is a bit like eating a ten course meal: the individual elements were delicious, but eventually I found myself too full to properly appreciate them...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Dark Days Club, by Alison Goodman
This week's Book Giveaway is Alison Goodman's new YA novel The Dark Days Club. Goodman is the author of the brilliant Eon and Eona, so my hopes for this book are sky-high. Admittedly, the story loses a few points for the blurb on the back that proclaims it "Not your mother's Regency romance!" (a phrase that always strikes me as ageist and sexist; my mother is a badass and so is her taste in Regency romances), but...
The ABC's of Kissing Boys, by Tina Ferraro
If Beth Reekles's The Kissing Booth had been written by an actual adult, it probably would have resembled Tina Ferraro's The ABC's of Kissing Boys. The two books have a lot in common, but Ferraro's novel is smarter, more substantial, and infinitely less cheesy...
Raging Sea, by Michael Buckley
The horror in Michael Buckley's Undertow trilogy is largely evoked via ghastly migrant camps, bigoted politicians, and intense racism. These books should have been deliciously pulpy YA sci-fi/fantasy, but considering the current political climate, large portions of them feel uncomfortably realistic...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Raging Sea, by Michael Buckley
This week's Book Giveaway is Michael Buckley's Raging Sea, the second book in his Undertow trilogy. I gave the first book in the series a very positive review last year (good sign), but I find that I don't actually remember much of it (bad sign). I'm clearly going to need to refresh my memory, but my hopes for this middle installment are high...
Autumn's Kiss, by Bella Thorne (and Elise Allen)
Once again, I am staggered to find myself endorsing a novel “written” by teen actress Bella Thorne (along with co-author Elise Allen, whose name only appears in teeny-tiny font on the title page). This is totally damning with faint praise, but Autumn's Kiss, the sequel to...
Dash and Lily's Book of Dares, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Dash & Lily's Book of Dares is the third collaboration between YA authors Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. Once again, Cohn and Levithan have chosen to write about bored, too-clever teenagers, and—also once again—their story constantly veers between adorable and irritating as hell...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
One of my 2016 resolutions is to make a visible dent in the massive Wordcandy slush pile. I'm pretty good about getting rid of books we're never going to review (depressing memoirs, anything about eating disorders, and sequels to earlier books that we never received go right out the door, for example), but that still leaves hundreds of books...
Weekly Book Giveaway: These Shallow Graves, by Jennifer Donnelly
This week's Book Giveaway is Jennifer Donnelly's These Shallow Graves. Somewhat to my chagrin, it seems that this is not a book about zombie prom-goers*, but instead a combination of "dark mystery" and historically-accurate depiction of the Gilded Age. A full review will follow shortly...
The Masked Truth, by Kelley Armstrong
Kelley Armstrong's standalone novel The Masked Truth is the YA version of the movie Speed: instantly absorbing, action-packed, and blessed with Grade-A chemistry between its two leads...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Masked Truth, by Kelley Armstrong
This week's Book Giveaway is Kelley Armstrong's The Masked Truth, which, if my eyes do not deceive me, is actually a standalone. This earns the book several points before I've even read it, because I don't have the patience to sit through another Armstrong series. Our review will follow later today...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Silver Eve, by Sandra Waugh
This week's Book Giveaway is Sandra Waugh's Silver Eve, the sequel to last year's excellent Lark Rising. I'm still a little sad this book will shift the focus to a new heroine, but I'm hoping I'll like her just as well...
Reawakened, by Colleen Houck
Several people have compared Colleen Houck's new novel Reawakened to Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson books. Both are aimed at younger teens, feature a mixture of human and demigod characters, and rely on a lot of PG-13 action sequences to push their plots along. Unfortunately, Reawakened doesn't share Riordan's greatest strength: his ability to create relatable characters, no matter how over-the-top their abilities or adventures...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Reawakened, by Colleen Houck
This week's Book Giveaway is Colleen Houck's novel Reawakened, the first novel in a "multibook series". (Note: this means I have no idea how long we'll have to wait for actual plot resolution. Sorry!) Reviewers keep favorably comparing Reawakened to Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, so I'm excited. A full review will follow later today...
Goodbye Stranger, by Rebecca Stead
This is going to sound a little random, but Rebecca Stead's Goodbye Stranger reminds me of a young-reader take on Jennifer Crusie's wonderful romance novel Bet Me. Both books focus on the various forms of love (familial, platonic, romantic), and both are simultaneously incredibly sweet and unexpectedly profound...
The Diviners, by Libba Bray
Libba Bray's books remind me of cheesecake—good cheesecake, sure, but the basic kind without bittersweet chocolate or lime zest or whatever. Her writing is always rich, carefully crafted, and satisfying, but despite her many excellent qualities, it's just not that memorable...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Diviners, by Libba Bray
In the spirit of summer vacation, this week's Book Giveaway pick is Libba Bray's The Diviners. I was looking for something both satisfyingly hefty and sufficiently entertaining to offset my other beach reading choice—a book about the plague outbreak in the 14th century. At 608 presumably Black-Death-free pages, Ms. Bray's book seems like just the ticket. A review will follow shortly...
Ink and Bone: The Great Library, by Rachel Caine
Rachel Caine's new book Ink and Bone: The Great Library is set in an alternate universe where the world is (unofficially) ruled by the Great Library of Alexandria, a ruthless organization that controls all access to knowledge. Caine's protagonist is sixteen-year-old Jess Brightwell, the son of a successful book smuggler...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Ink and Bone, by Rachel Caine
This week's Book Giveaway is Rachel Caine's Ink and Bone: The Great Library, which blends a fantastic idea—an alternate universe in which the Great Library of Alexandria has survived for centuries—with some tried-and-true dystopian teen-lit trappings. A full review will follow shortly (I'm on chapter three), but so far, so good...
And Then Everything Unraveled, by Jennifer Sturman
I feel like I've been complaining about this a lot recently, but seriously, authors: if your book is a series installment, you need to make that clear from the start. I really liked Jennifer Sturman's debut YA novel And Then Everything Unraveled, but I was not best pleased to discover that it was only half of a story...
Weekly Book Giveaway: And Then Everything Unraveled, by Jennifer Sturman
This week's Book Giveaway is Jennifer Sturman's 2009 novel And Then Everything Unraveled, which comes highly recommended by Meg Cabot, who claims "Jennifer Sturman's YA debut is a delight. You'll love [the heroine], and watching her come unraveled is pure fun." I'm putting my trust in you, Meg. Our review will follow shortly...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Flirting in Italian, by Lauren Henderson
After staring long and hard at the book I meant to review today (Laurell K. Hamilton's Dead Ice), I decided to skip it favor of something else. Anything else. I just can't face Laurell this early in the week, particularly not when the book in question seems to kick off on an exceptionally disgusting note, even for her...
Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters, by Natalie Standiford
Natalie Standiford's Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters seems like it's one of the many trashy thrillers out there about wealthy, pretty kids behaving badly, but the plot summary and glossy cover art are misleading. I'm not sure what I could compare this story to, but it's definitely no Gossip Girl rip-off...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters, by Natalie Standiford
This week's Book Giveaway is Natalie Standiford's 2010 novel Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters. I've always been put off by the generic cover art and the characters' names ("Sassy" is a name for an elderly Shih Tzu, not a human female), but I'm told the story is actually really good. A full review will follow shortly...
The Secret Ingredient, by Stewart Lewis
Stewart Lewis's The Secret Ingredient has a great cover, a great hook, and the foundations of at least two—maybe more—great YA novels. Unfortunately, he seems incapable of delivering on any of that promise, and once again produces a book that is simultaneously overly dramatic and underdeveloped...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Secret Ingredient, by Stewart Lewis
This week's Book Giveaway is Stewart Lewis's The Secret Ingredient, which I suspect will hone pretty closely to the tone and style of his first book, You Have Seven Messages. I was underwhelmed by Messages, but...
Undertow, by Michael Buckley
Michael Buckley's Sisters Grimm is one of my all-time favorite kids' series. The books have their problems—actually, some really big problems—but they are so funny, romantic, and action-packed that it's easy to overlook their flaws. Buckley's new YA novel Undertow is much darker than his previous books, but...
Fairest, by Marissa Meyer
Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles are a sci-fi blend of classic fairytales, Sailor Moon, and modern fantasy/adventure. Meyer has a gift for mashing all of her various inspirations into a seamless whole, but her constant borrowing makes it difficult to judge her books on their own merits...