8 New Covers (Aguirre, Armstrong, Bodeen, Grant, Hart, Keaton, Leicht & Neal, Showalter)

21st August 2012 Releases

Happy Release Day to:

S. A. Bodeen
The Raft
Review
Macmillan Feiwel & Friends (US: 21st August 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Robie is an experienced traveller. She’s taken the flight from Honolulu to the Midway Atoll, a group of Pacific islands where her parents live, many times. When she has to get to Midway in a hurry after a visit with her aunt in Hawaii, she gets on the next cargo flight at the last minute. She knows the pilot, but on this flight, there’s a new co-pilot named Max. All systems are go until a storm hits during the flight. The only passenger, Robie doesn’t panic until the engine suddenly cuts out and Max shouts at her to put on a life jacket. They are over miles of Pacific Ocean. She sees Max struggle with a raft. And then…she’s in the water. Fighting for her life. Max pulls her onto the raft, and that’s when the real terror begins. They have no water. Their only food is a bag of Skittles. There are sharks. There is an island. But there’s no sign of help on the way.

August 2012 Releases

Done with July 2012 Releases? Here are August 2012 Releases. Fur future releases, check Reading Wishlist.

[REVIEW] The Raft – S. A. Bodeen

S. A. Bodeen
The Raft
Macmillan Feiwel & Friends (US: 21st August 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

S. A. Bodeen’s first two novels, The Compound and The Gardener, are YA sci-fi thrillers, both excellent. This third book is a contemporary YA thriller. Actually, it’s more of a survivalist tome – this is another kettle of fish.

The Raft just doesn’t work for me, though I give it an extra star for the twist. Robie doesn’t appeal to me before the plane crash or after. Neither does Max.

And the pop culture references really annoy me, maybe because I don’t like any of them: Lost, Battleship Galactica, Taylor Swift. However, I totally want to eat the Better than Anything cake – you will, too.

[REVIEW] The Gardener – S. A. Bodeen

S. A. Bodeen
The Gardener
Macmillan Feiwel & Friends Square Fish (US: 1st March 2011)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

PLANT PEOPLE!

Before you tell me off for posting a spoiler without warning, check out the book’s front cover. If the publisher chooses to be upfront with spoilers, I may as well, too. Kudos to cover artist Matt Mahurin for his wonderfully creepy depiction.

The Gardener is at a slower pace than the author’s first novel, but just as creepy. Makes me wish I’d taken biology in high school. But maybe I’d have enjoyed this less had I been more educated in the ways of photosynthesis?

If you only read one novel about plant people this year, make it The Gardener. Hell, just read this anyway – I’ve never encountered anything like it before, but I love the eerie horror.

[REVIEW] The Compound – S. A. Bodeen

S. A. Bodeen
The Compound
Macmillan Feiwel & Friends Square Fish (US: 1st September 2009)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

The Yanakakis family is supposed to spend fifteen years in their underground bunker. Six years in, Eli will do anything to get out.

I haven’t been this crept out about milk since Emma Donoghue’s Room. Also awkward: mention of a human host…

A claustrophobic setting with family secrets, a puzzle to solve, and the threat of nuclear annihilation – all at a brisk pace and ideal for anyone looking for a quality teen thriller. The science afoot also contributes to this five-star read. Anyone else feel the need to read Nevil Shute’s On the Beach?

March 2011 Releases

Done with February 2011 Releases. Here are March’s. To see future titles and dates, check out Reading Wishlist.

May 2010 Releases

Done with April 2010 Releases? Here are May 2010 Releases. To see further into the future, check Reading Wishlist.

YA Releases – 2010 & Beyond

C. A. Moulton called out for a list of 2010 & 2011 YA fantasy fiction, but my list here contains other YA subgenres, too These are only the ones with known release dates – those without are on my Reading Wishlist. Release dates can and probably will change in the lead-up to the books’ publication. Some are re-releases, international editions, etc. Of course, I don’t list every single book – only the ones that I’ve heard of and am interested in.

ANN AGUIRRE – Razorland – Dec 2010
KELLEY ARMSTRONG – The Reckoning – 27 Apr 2010/6 May 2010
JENNIFER LYNN BARNES – Raised by Wolves – 8 Jun 2010
HOLLY BLACK – White Cat – 4 May 2010/17 Jun 2010/1 May 2011
S. A. BODEEN – The Gardener – 25 May 2010
RACHEL CAINE – Kiss of Death – 3 May 2010/4 May 2010
KRISTIN CAST et al – Kisses from Hell – 8 Aug 2010
CASSANDRA CLARE – The Clockwork Angel – 1 Sep 2010/14 Sep 2010
ANDREA CREMER – Nightshade – 14 Oct 2010
HEATHER DAVIS – The Clearing – 15 Mar 2010/12 Apr 2010
KAT FALLS – Dark Life – 29 Apr 2010/1 May 2010
CATHERINE FISHER – Incarceron – 26 Jan 2010
BECCA FITZPATRICK – Crescendo – 2010
AMY GARVEY – Cold Kiss – 2011
TERI HALL – The Line – 4 Mar 2010/9 Mar 2010
STACEY JAY – Undead Much? – 21 Jan 2010/26 Jan 2010
STACEY JAY – My So-Called Death – 1 Mar 2010/1 Apr 2010
CARRIE JONES – Captivate – 5 Jan 2010/5 Apr 2010
KELLY KEATON – Darkness Becomes Her – 2011
JACKIE MORSE KESSLER – Hunger – 11 Aug 2010
JACKIE MORSE KESSLER – Rage – 2011
KAREN KINCY – Other – 1 Jul 2010
GEMMA MALLEY – The Returners – 1 Feb 2010/2 Mar 2010
RICHELLE MEAD – Spirit Bound – 18 May 2010
JACKSON PEARCE – Sisters Red – 3 Jun 2010/7 Jun 2010
SUSAN BETH PFEFFER – This World We Live In – 4 Mar 2010/1 Apr 2010/3 May 2010
CARRIE RYAN – The Dead-Tossed Waves – 9 Mar 2010/8 Apr 2010/1 Mar 2011
JERI SMITH-READY – Shade – 4 May 2010/18 May 2010
MARIA V. SNYDER – Inside Out – 1 Apr 2010
LILI ST. CROW – Jealousy – 29 Jul 2010/3 Aug 2010
MAGGIE STIEFVATER – Linger – 20 Jul 2010
JESSICA VERDAY – The Haunted – 31 Aug 2010
ROBIN WASSERMAN – Wired – 14 Sep 2010

September 2009 Releases

Done buying August 2009 Releases? Now time for September 2009 Releases. As always, I got my info from Amazon, publishers’ websites and authors’ websites, so if I’m wrong…blame them, not me If you know of more September releases that aren’t here, it’s either because I don’t know of their existence, or I’m not interested. I play favourites, and there’s no shame in that

If you’re reading this in a feed, behind the cut you shall find my monthly summary. If you’re looking for stuff further into the future, check my Reading Wishlist.