Between the Bookcovers

There are quite a few new releases in the next week, July 12-18:


Sass & Serendipity
Author: Jennifer Ziegler

Description from Goodreads:

For Daphne, the glass is always half full, a situation is better managed with a dab of lip gloss, and the boy of her dreams—the one she's read about in all of her novels—is waiting for her just around the corner.
For Gabby, nothing ever works out positively; wearing any form of makeup is a waste of study time, and boys will only leave you heartbroken. Her best friend, Mule, is the only one who has been there for her every step of the way.
But when the richest boy in school befriends Gabby, and Daphne starts to hang out more and more with her best friend, Mule, Gabby is forced to confront the emotional barriers she has put up to stop the hurting. And for once, her sassiness may fall prey to her definition of stupidity.


Sometimes it Happens
Author: Lauren Barnholdt

Description from Goodreads:

Author: Alex Flinn
Published: April 27, 2010
Pages: 400
Rating: 3/5 Stars

Description from Goodreads:

Talia fell under a spell...Jack broke the curse.
I was told to beware the accursed spindle, but it was so enchanting, so hypnotic...
I was looking for a little adventure the day I ditched my tour group. But finding a comatose town, with a hot-looking chick asleep in it, was so not what I had in mind.
I awakened in the same place but in another time—to a stranger's soft kiss.
I couldn't help kissing her. Sometimes you just have to kiss someone. I didn't know this would happen.
Now I am in dire trouble because my father, the king, says I have brought ruin upon our country. I have no choice but to run away with this commoner!
Now I'm stuck with a bratty princess and a trunk full of her jewels...The good news: My parents will freak!
Think you have dating issues? Try locking lips with a snoozing stunner who turns out to be 316 years old. Can a kiss transcend all—even time?

Review:

Jack and his friends are on a tour of Europe when they wonder off from their tour. They stumble on a village frozen in time. When he finds a beautiful girl (Talia) who is sleeping he is compelled to kiss her, breaking a curse that awakens her from a 300 year nap. The story follows Jack and Talia as they make their way back to the United States and Talia adapts to life in the modern world. Will it be the perfect love story or will the evil witch who cursed Talia win in the end?

Finn has adapted a classic fairy tale and added a twist of having to adapt to a new time period. The characters are well done and fun to watch. Talia is a typical spoiled princess at first but soon changes as she must rely on Jack to help her make her way in her new world. Jack has his own problems too, parents who expect him to do as told, and not choose a career that he desires. In the background is the wicked witch who placed the curse on Talia and is determined to recapture her.

The plot is predictable and at times funny, especially as Talia tries to adapt to the new technology she finds in Jack's world. I did find it an easy read, but saw the ending coming half way through the book. I enjoyed the novel, it is a light and fun book if you enjoy revisiting the fairy tales from your past with an updated twist.

Rating: An enjoyable, fun retelling of a classic fairy tale.

Author: Tabitha Suzuma
Published: June 28, 2011
Pages: 464
Rating: 5/5 Stars

Description from Goodreads:

She is pretty and talented - sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But ...They are brother and sister.



Review:

Lochan and his sister Maya have grown up in a dysfunctional family where they have been abandoned by their father, their alcoholic mother is absent most of the time and they and are struggling to keep their siblings together and out of the eye of social services. Close in age, they have grown up as best friends as well as brother and sister. Both are stunned when they realize they are falling in love with each other and that the feelings are mutual. This is an absorbing story of their dilemma and how they handle this taboo, and how it is likely to end.

Tabitha Suzuma has taken on a subject not often written about, especially in YA novels. But she has done a beautiful job in making the story of Lochan and Maya come alive and exploring the difficulties and heartbreak found when siblings fall in love. Incest is most often portrayed with an aggressor and a victim, here it is a mutual desire without victims, but not without consequences.

The chapters are in first person and alternate between Lochan and Maya, giving us a view from both main characters. This allows us to get inside their heads and get to know them both, and I found that I found myself thinking that they deserved to find the happiness they wanted and deserved. All characters were well developed, I found myself wanting to cry for the situation these siblings were left in by the adults who were supposed to care for them.

Despite the topic, I found that this was an incredibly well written book. I wanted for things to work out for Maya and Lochan, despite the views of society and the law, but I knew that the book was not destined to have a happy ending, stories like this never do. However, the ending was not what I expected and it was a tragic, heartbreaking conclusion to one of the better books I have read this year. This is definately written for the older set of teens, but anyone older will also find this an absorbing book.

Rating: An excellent book about a taboo subject, not to be missed

There are just a few new books being released this week.

Forbidden
Author: Tabitha Suzuma

Description from Goodreads:

She is pretty and talented - sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But ...They are brother and sister.








Lost Voices (Lost Voices #1)
Author: Sarah Porter

Description from Goodreads:

Fourteen-year-old Luce has had a tough life, but she reaches the depths of despair when she is assaulted and left on the cliffs outside of a grim, gray Alaskan fishing village. She expects to die when she tumbles into the icy waves below, but instead undergoes an astonishing transformation and becomes a mermaid. A tribe of mermaids finds Luce and welcomes her in—all of them, like her, lost girls who surrendered their humanity in the darkest moments of their lives. Luce is thrilled with her new life until she discovers the catch: the mermaids feel an uncontrollable desire to drown seafarers, using their enchanted voices to lure ships into the rocks. Luce possesses an extraordinary singing talent, which makes her important to the tribe—she may even have a shot at becoming their queen. However her struggle to retain her humanity puts her at odds with her new friends. Will Luce be pressured into committing mass murder?

The first book in a trilogy,Lost Voicesis a captivating and wildly original tale about finding a voice, the healing power of friendship, and the strength it takes to forgive.

Also, in June several books were released in paperback editions. You may want to check some of them out:

The In My Mailbox feature is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. I had a great week, considering I was moving. Here is what I received, let me know which one you would like to see reviewed next:















Welcome to all my new readers. I have been involved in moving so my blogging has not been as frequent as I like, but I hope to get back to my 5-7 posts a week. If there is anything you are really wanting to have reviewed, please leave me a comment and let me know.

Author: Charlie Higson
Published: June 14, 2011
Pages: 496
Rating: 5/5 Stars

Description from Goodreads:

THE DEAD begins one year before the action in THE ENEMY, just after the Disaster. A terrible disease has struck everyone over the age of sixteen, leaving them either dead or a decomposing, flesh-eating creature. The action starts in a boarding school just outside London where all the teachers have turned into zombies. Together they begin a terrifying journey to find safety, and home.

Review:

Ever since I finished reading The Enemy, I have been anxiously awaiting the publication of The Dead. And Higson didn't disappoint with this one. The book opens with the start of the disease, and the YouTube video of The Scared Kid. As the disease spreads a group of boys find themselves stranded at a boarding school, fighting off the teachers who have become living monsters who want to eat them. It follows them as they watch the progression of the disease through the staff until the kids are left to fend for themselves. Anyone over sixteen has been stricken, and once again we follow the trials of the kids as they look for ways to survive in a world where they have no adult assistance and have to fight for their lives.

Higson has given us several wonderful characters, all of whom have their own unique traits and you will find yourself hoping that they can figure out a way to survive in a world turned upside down. It is heartbreaking to follow them as they realize that their parents are likely dead or diseased and that the world as they knew it is gone.

There is plenty of zombie type violence here, but necessary for the kids to keep themselves safe. The journey they take from the countryside into London had me on the edge of my seat and I found I could not put this book down.

This book explains a lot of questions that I had after The Enemy, but if you have not read the first book you could start here and then read it. You will not be disappointed and this one is not for the YA audience alone, anyone who loves zombie books will find this series well done and worth your time. I hear that there are six book planned for this series, I cannot wait to see how the story progresses and this series at the top of my wish list. Oh, and make sure to stop by and see "The Scared Kid".

Rating: An outstanding series, do not miss this one!




Note: I received this book from the publisher via NeyGalley for review but did not get any compensation for the review.

Author: Jen Violi
Published: May 24, 2011
Pages: 336
Rating: 4/5 Stars

Description from Goodreads:

Since her father’s death four years ago, Donna has gone through the motions of living: her friendships are empty, she’s clueless about what to do after high school graduation, and her grief keeps her isolated, cut off even from the one parent she has left. That is until she’s standing in front of the dead body of a classmate at Brighton Brothers’ Funeral Home. At that moment, Donna realizes what might just give her life purpose is comforting others in death. That maybe who she really wants to be is a mortician.

This discovery sets in motion a life Donna never imagined was possible. She befriends a charismatic new student, Liz, notices a boy, Charlie, and realizes that maybe he's been noticing her, too, and finds herself trying things she hadn’t dreamed of trying before. By taking risks, Donna comes into her own, diving into her mortuary studies with a passion and skill she didn’t know she had in her. And she finally understands that moving forward doesn’t mean forgetting someone you love.

Jen Violi’s heartfelt and funny debut novel is a story of transformation—how one girl learns to grieve and say goodbye, turn loss into a gift, and let herself be exceptional...at loving, applying lipstick to corpses, and finding life in the wake of death.