ARC #Review: THE FANGIRL LIFE by Kathleen Smith

THE FANGIRL LIFE

Summary:
You'd probably know a "fangirl" when you see one, but the majority stay relatively closeted due to the stigma of being obsessed with fictional characters. However, these obsessions are sometimes the fangirl's solutions for managing stress, anxiety, and even low self-esteem. Fangirling is often branded as behavior young women should outgrow and replace with more adult concerns. Written by a proud fangirl, The Fangirl Life is a witty testament to the belief that honoring your imagination can be congruous with good mental health, and it's a guide to teach fangirls how to put their passion to use in their own lives.

The Fangirl Life encourages you to use an obsession not as a distraction from the anxieties of life, but rather as a test lab for your own life story: 

How can a character girl crush be useful instead of a waste of time?  
How can writing fan fiction be a launching point for greater endeavors?
How do you avoid the myths that fictional romance perpetuates? 

By showing you how to translate obsession into personal accomplishment while affirming the quirky, endearing qualities of your fangirl nature, The Fangirl Life will help you become your own ultimate fangirl.

Title: THE FANGIRL LIFE

Author: Kathleen Smith

Source: ARC via the Publisher

Publisher: TarcherPerigee

Publication Date: July 5, 2016

Rating: 5 stars

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

This is a non-fiction, self-help book about how to channel your inner BAMF Fangirl into a BAMF Fanwoman that can rock the world. I so so so wish I had read this while I was in university because it would have been so helpful. Instead, I had to do some trial and error to figure out how to use my skillz to advance myself in the Real World. I would recommend this for any teenage fangirl who is FREAKING OUT about college apps, life decisions, and how to balance real life and fangirl-ing. I would also recommend it to people like me who have some idea what they want to do but want their interests and their goals to overlap so we can get paid to do things we actually enjoy doing.

ARC #Review: THE CITY'S SON by Tom Pollock

THE CITY'S SON

Summary:
Running from her traitorous best friend and her estranged father, graffiti artist Beth Bradley is looking for sanctuary. What she finds is Urchin, the ragged and cocky crown prince of London’s mystical underworld. Urchin opens Beth’s eyes to the city she’s never truly seen-where vast spiders crawl telephone wires seeking voices to steal, railwraiths escape their tethers, and statues conceal an ancient priesthood robed in bronze.

But it all teeters on the brink of destruction. Amid rumors that Urchin’s goddess mother will soon return from her 15-year exile, Reach, a malign god of urban decay, wants the young prince dead. Helping Urchin raise an alleyway army to reclaim his skyscraper throne, Beth soon forgets her old life. But when her best friend is captured, Beth must choose between this wondrous existence and the life she left behind.

Title: THE CITY'S SON

Author: Tom Pollock

Series: The Skyscraper Throne #1

Source: eARC via the Publisher

Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books

Publication Date: April 5, 2016

Rating: 4 stars

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

"War's coming, Filius. The King of The Cranes and the Lady of the Streets will not share the city"

I was a bit skeptical when I first started this one because not only did it switch perspectives, but it also switched how these perspectives were told, and it was also about electric creature things that I'm still not sure what to call. But I am really glad I picked this one up because it was actually really good and a lot of fun for me to read.

ARC REVIEW: THE HIDDEN TWIN by Adi Rule

THE HIDDEN TWIN

Summary:
For eighteen years a girl with no name, a Redwing, has been hidden away in a small attic room within a city of hissing pipes and curving temples perched on the side of the great volcano, Mol, while her sister, Jey-identical except for her eyes-has lived her life in public as an only child. Their father had hoped the hidden girl would one day grow up to be a normal human girl and not the wicked creature mythology has promised, so he secretly spared her life as an infant.

But when she switches places with her sister, striking up a flirtation with the son of the Empress while working in the royal gardens and gets attacks by two suspicious priests on her journey home, she is forced to call forth fire to protect herself, unleashing her previously dormant powers and letting her secret out. She soon catches the attention of a cult with a thousand year old grudge as well as a group of underground rebels, both seeking her for their own gain. But when her sister goes missing and the Redwing uncovers a great plot to awaken Mol and bring fiery destruction upon them all, she is forced to embrace her powers.

In Adi Rule's new novel, The Hidden Twin, the girl with no name, must choose a name and a path for herself, drawing a line between myth and history to prove herself more than a monster if she is to save both her sister and her home.

Title: THE HIDDEN TWIN

Author: Adi Rule

Source: eARC via the Publisher

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Publication Date: March 22, 2016

Rating: 2.5 stars

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This one started off really confusing but ended up being pretty good. I think the mythology was good here but left some to be desired. I think we learned too little at the beginning that didn't really make sense and then once we actually saw it play out I understood it. The issue I had is that it felt like the author tried to make it sound much more poetic than it had to be and it ended up being more confusing than interesting. I spent a good chunk of the book being confused tbh.

ARC REVIEW: THE SERPENT KING by Jeff Zentner

THE SERPENT KING

Summary:
Dill has had to wrestle with vipers his whole life—at home, as the only son of a Pentecostal minister who urges him to handle poisonous rattlesnakes, and at school, where he faces down bullies who target him for his father’s extreme faith and very public fall from grace.

He and his fellow outcast friends must try to make it through their senior year of high school without letting the small-town culture destroy their creative spirits and sense of self. Graduation will lead to new beginnings for Lydia, whose edgy fashion blog is her ticket out of their rural Tennessee town. And Travis is content where he is thanks to his obsession with an epic book series and the fangirl turning his reality into real-life fantasy.

Their diverging paths could mean the end of their friendship. But not before Dill confronts his dark legacy to attempt to find a way into the light of a future worth living.

Title: THE SERPENT KING

Author: Jeff Zentner

Source: ARC via Stefani & also I bought it from TBD

Publisher: Crown BFYR

Publication Date: March 8, 2016

Rating: 5 stars

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

I have been sitting on writing up this bit of a review for three days because I don't think I can adequately put into words how amazing THE SERPENT KING is. I am an avid reader of contemporary novels, but if you only read one more contemporary novel in your entire life, make sure it is THE SERPENT KING. I just. The writing, the characters, the feeling of moving on, it is all so beautifully done and written that I just cannot handle how amazing this is.

ARC #Review: THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU by Lily Anderson

THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU

Summary:
Trixie Watson has two very important goals for senior year: to finally save enough to buy the set of Doctor Who figurines at the local comic books store, and to place third in her class and knock Ben West--and his horrendous new mustache that he spent all summer growing--down to number four.

Trixie will do anything to get her name ranked over Ben's, including give up sleep and comic books--well, maybe not comic books--but definitely sleep. After all, the war of Watson v. West is as vicious as the Doctor v. Daleks and Browncoats v. Alliance combined, and it goes all the way back to the infamous monkey bars incident in the first grade. Over a decade later, it's time to declare a champion once and for all.

The war is Trixie's for the winning, until her best friend starts dating Ben's best friend and the two are unceremoniously dumped together and told to play nice. Finding common ground is odious and tooth-pullingly-painful, but Trixie and Ben's cautious truce slowly transforms into a fandom-based tentative friendship. When Trixie's best friend gets expelled for cheating and Trixie cries foul play, however, they have to choose who to believe and which side they're on--and they might not pick the same side.

Title: THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU

Author: Lily Anderson

Source: eARC via the Publisher

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Publication Date: May 17, 2016

Rating: 4 stars

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a cute and fun retelling of Much Ado About Nothing which if you haven't read it (or watched an adaptation), you really should. This is most definitely my favourite Shakespearian comedy and I would recommend this retelling to everyone. Anderson writes a cute narrative that will have you laughing and swooning at the same time.

ARC #Review: DON'T GET CAUGHT by Kurt Dinan

DON'T GET CAUGHT

Summary:
10:00 tonight at the water tower. Tell no one. -Chaos Club

When Max receives a mysterious invite from the untraceable, epic prank-pulling Chaos Club, he has to ask: why him? After all, he's Mr. 2.5 GPA, Mr. No Social Life. He's Just Max. And his favorite heist movies have taught him this situation calls for Rule #4: Be suspicious. But it's also his one shot to leave Just Max in the dust...

Yeah, not so much. Max and four fellow students-who also received invites-are standing on the newly defaced water tower when campus security "catches" them. Definitely a setup. And this time, Max has had enough. It's time for Rule #7: Always get payback.

Let the prank war begin. 

Title: DON'T GET CAUGHT

Author: Kurt Dinan

Source: eARC via the Publisher

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publication Date: April 1, 2016

Rating: 4 stars

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

That was a fun read but a tad bit predictable tbh. I had one of the character's ending pegged immediately, like 10-15% in, and little things along the way just confirmed my suspicions. There were some things that looking back made sense, like who was running the club, but I took a bit of issue with someone that was in the club because it felt to me like it came out of nowhere. 

ARC REVIEW: SUMMER OF SUPERNOVAS by Darcy Woods

SUMMER OF SUPERNOVAS

Summary:
As the daughter of an expert astrologer, Wilamena Carlisle knows that the truth lies within the stars. So when she discovers a rare planetary alignment, she is forced to tackle her worst astrological fear – The Fifth House of Relationships and Love. But Wil must decide whether a cosmically doomed love is worth rejecting her mother’s legacy, when she falls for a sensitive guitar player hailing from the wrong side of the chart.

Debut author Darcy Woods explores love in all its complexities and how to best honor the loved ones who have passed before us, in a novel packed with both humor and heart.

Title: SUMMER OF SUPERNOVAS

Author: Darcy Woods

Source: Won an ARC in a Giveaway!

Publisher: Crown BFYR

Publication Date: May 10, 2016

Rating: 4.5 stars

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

Disclaimer: I won a free copy of this book in a giveaway! Thanks to Darcy Woods for my copy and the personalization.

This book was one of the cutest contemporary novels I have read in a long time. I loved the introspection of how people can hold so tightly onto something that they forget to live for themselves. I also loved that while this was about romance, when it came down to it, it was about Wil's love for her friends and family as well. 

ARC REVIEW: ALICE AND THE FLY by James Rice

ALICE AND THE FLY

Summary:

Greg is cripplingly shy, afraid of spiders, and obsessed with Breakfast at Tiffany's. He's not exactly the most popular kid at his high school. In fact, he pretty much goes out of his way to avoid talking to anybody he doesn't have to. And it doesn't help that he has a severe lisp.

But Greg's English teacher, Miss Hayes, can see that there's something different about him. He's insightful and sensitive beyond his years, and maybe--just maybe--he'll use these strengths to break out of his shell someday. Miss Hayes urges Greg to keep a journal. "This isn't an assignment," she tells him, "just write down your thoughts."

Greg begins to write about everything from his mother's ill-conceived interior decorating ideas to his job at the local butcher's shop. When Greg begins to take an interest in a girl at his school named Alice, he realizes that he will have to face his most paralyzing anxieties if he wants to befriend Alice and help her escape from her violent family life.

Title: ALICE AND THE FLY

Author: James Rice

Source: eARC via the Publisher

Publisher: Quercus

Publication Date: May 3, 2016

Rating: 4/5 stars

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"It's amazing how much damage we did just by leaving, just by not being there."

I really enjoyed this one. I liked that we got to see schizophrenia in this manner because it felt so real. I also really liked the inclusion of the police transcripts in between. I thought they added clarity to the narrative. I liked that we got it from Greg's point of view rather than from the outside. I think it would have been difficult to connect with Greg if we hadn't been so deep inside his head. The hardest part for me to get through were the "Date Unknown" sections because of the way they were written. I mean, it was necessary for the book and to understand Greg's mind, but those bits took me double the amount of time to read. 

ARC REVIEW: WATER'S WRATH by Elise Kova

WATER'S WRATH by Elise Kova

Summary:
Librarian turned sorcerer. Sorcerer turned hero. Hero turned puppet.

The Solaris Empire found victory in the North and, at the cost of her heart and her innocence, Vhalla Yarl has earned her freedom. But the true fight is only beginning as the secret forces that have been lurking in the shadows, tugging at the strings of Vhalla’s fate, finally come to light. Nowhere is safe, and Vhalla must tread carefully or else she’ll fall into the waiting arms of her greatest foe. Or former lover. 

Title: WATER'S WRATH

Author: Elise Kova

Series: Air Awakens #4

Source: eARC via the Publisher

Publisher: Silver Wing Press

Publication Date: April 26, 2016

Rating: 5/5 stars

Purchase:

Amazon

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is BOOK FOUR in a series! I do my best not to spoiler anything from Books 1-3 but some things are unavoidable. You can see my previous reviews for Air Awakens, Fire Falling, and Earth's End.

Perfection doesn't even begin to describe this one. Where do I start? The end? The middle? The end? The part I desperately don't want anyone to mention to me ever again? The beginning where I thought everything was going to be okay because there's still one more book? I don't know because all of it was perfection. 

ARC Review: LOVE & GELATO by Jenna Evans Welch

LOVE & GELATO

Summary:

Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home.

But then Lina is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept from Lina for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything she knew about her mother, her father—and even herself.

People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more.

Title: LOVE & GELATO

Author: Jenna Evans Welch

Source: ARC via the Publisher

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publication Date: May 3, 2016

Rating: 4 stars

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

This was really cute and clever and while I was completely enthralled by the story, I also felt like there was something missing. I think it's because Lina makes all these decisions before she gets to the end of the story and it doesn't really make sense to me. I feel like once she got an idea she just jumped on it rather than think things through and IDK FINISH THE JOURNAL.

ARC REVIEW: A FIERCE AND SUBTLE POISON by Samantha Mabry

ARC REVIEW: A FIERCE AND SUBTLE POISON

Summary:
In this stunning debut, legends collide with reality when a boy is swept into the magical, dangerous world of a girl filled with poison.

Everyone knows the legends about the cursed girl--Isabel, the one the senoras whisper about. They say she has green skin and grass for hair, and she feeds on the poisonous plants that fill her family’s Caribbean island garden. Some say she can grant wishes; some say her touch can kill.

Seventeen-year-old Lucas lives on the mainland most of the year but spends summers with his hotel-developer father in Puerto Rico. He’s grown up hearing stories about the cursed girl, and he wants to believe in Isabel and her magic. When letters from Isabel begin mysteriously appearing in his room the same day his new girlfriend disappears, Lucas turns to Isabel for answers--and finds himself lured into her strange and enchanted world. But time is running out for the girl filled with poison, and the more entangled Lucas becomes with Isabel, the less certain he is of escaping with his own life.

A Fierce and Subtle Poison beautifully blends magical realism with a page-turning mystery and a dark,  starcrossed romance--all delivered in lush, urgent prose.

Title: A FIERCE AND SUBTLE POISON

Author: Samantha Mabry

Source: eARC via the Publisher:

Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers

Publication Date: April 12, 2016

Rating: 3.5/5

Purchase:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was a little underwhelmed by this one but it was still a good book. I guess I thought from the description that there would be a bit more magic and a little less introspection. It was almost as if the book couldn't decide if it wanted to fully be magical realism or not. I think I was anticipating more magic or at least have it be integrated into the world a bit more. I thought that there just wasn't enough. But let's break it down.

ARC REVIEW: THE STEEP AND THORNY WAY by Cat Winters

ARC REVIEW: THE STEEP AND THORNY WAY

Summary:
A thrilling reimagining of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, The Steep and Thorny Way tells the story of a murder most foul and the mighty power of love and acceptance in a state gone terribly rotten.

1920s Oregon is not a welcoming place for Hanalee Denney, the daughter of a white woman and an African-American man. She has almost no rights by law, and the Ku Klux Klan breeds fear and hatred in even Hanalee’s oldest friendships. Plus, her father, Hank Denney, died a year ago, hit by a drunk-driving teenager. Now her father’s killer is out of jail and back in town, and he claims that Hanalee’s father wasn’t killed by the accident at all but, instead, was poisoned by the doctor who looked after him—who happens to be Hanalee’s new stepfather.

The only way for Hanalee to get the answers she needs is to ask Hank himself, a “haint” wandering the roads at night.

Title: THE STEEP AND THORNY WAY

Author: Cat Winters

Source: eARC via the Publisher

Publisher: Amulet Books

Publication Date: March 8, 2016

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I liked that it was built out of the basic premise for Hamlet and that there were references to the play but it was entirely it's own story and one that needed to be told. I think the best part is that it was "accessible" to people because, even if you haven't read Hamlet, you know the general story line so you had a bit of an idea of what was going to happen. However, this story is so much more than just about Hanalee finding her father's killer and I highly recommend this one.

ARC REVIEW: STILL MINE by Amy Stuart

STILL MINE by Amy Stuart

The Girl on the Train meets The Silent Wife in this taut psychological thriller.

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU VANISH FROM YOUR LIFE AND LEAVE NO STORY BEHIND?

SOMEONE WILL MAKE ONE UP FOR YOU.

Clare is on the run.

From her past, from her ex, and from her own secrets. When she turns up alone in the remote mining town of Blackmore asking about Shayna Fowles, the local girl who disappeared, everyone wants to know who Clare really is and what she's hiding. As it turns out, she's hiding a lot, including what ties her to Shayna in the first place. But everyone in this place is hiding something from Jared, Shayna's golden-haired ex-husband, to Charlie, the charming small-town drug pusher, to Derek, Shayna's overly involved family doctor, to Louise and Wilfred, her distraught parents.

Did Shayna flee? Was she killed? Is it possible she's still alive?

As Clare uncovers the mysteries around Shayna's disappearance, she must confront her own demons, moving us deeper and deeper into the labyrinth of lies and making us question what it is she's really running from. Twisting and electrifying, this is a get-under-your-skin thriller that will make you question what it means to lose yourself and find yourself in the most unlikely places.

Title: Still Mine

Author: Amy Stuart

Source: ARC via the Publisher

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

 Publication Date: March 1, 2016

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD   

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This one was good, but it had some problems, in my opinion. I think because it focused so much on Clare and her problems and story more than Shayna and finding her that it took away from the mystery surrounding Shayna's disappearance. As well, the summary makes it seem as though Clare and Shayna have some sort of shared past, but this is not the case. I think it lacked something on the suspense side as well. It was clear to me from about 25% what had happened to Shayna and everything in the story after that just added to my assumptions until they were proved to be correct.