Category Archives: Brenna Yovanoff

17th May 2016 Releases

Happy Release Day to:

Madeline Ashby
Company Town
Macmillan Tor (US: 17th May 2016)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

New Arcadia is a city-sized oil rig off the coast of the Canadian Maritimes, now owned by one very wealthy, powerful, byzantine family: Lynch Ltd. Hwa is of the few people in her community (which constitutes the whole rig) to forgo bio-engineered enhancements. As such, she’s the last truly organic person left on the rig – making her doubly an outsider, as well as a neglected daughter and bodyguard extraordinaire. Still, her expertise in the arts of self-defence and her record as a fighter mean that her services are yet in high demand. When the youngest Lynch needs training and protection, the family turns to Hwa. But can even she protect against increasingly intense death threats seemingly coming from another timeline? Meanwhile, a series of interconnected murders threatens the city’s stability and heightens the unease of a rig turning over. All signs point to a nearly invisible serial killer, but all of the murders seem to lead right back to Hwa’s front door. Company Town has never been the safest place to be – but now, the danger is personal.

Justine Larbalestier
Razorhurst
Random House Soho (US: 17th May 2016)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Sydney’s deadly Razorhurst neighbourhood, 1932. Gloriana Nelson and Mr. Davidson, two ruthless mob bosses, have reached a fragile peace – one maintained by “razor men.” Kelpie, orphaned and homeless, is blessed (and cursed) with the ability to see Razorhurst’s many ghosts. They tell secrets that the living can’t know about the cracks already forming in the mobs’ truce. Kelpie meets Dymphna Campbell, Gloriana’s prize moll, over the body of the latest of Dymphna’s beaus to meet an untimely end – a string that’s earned her the nickname the “Angel of Death.” Dymphna can see ghosts, too, and she knows that Gloriana’s hold is crumbling one henchman at a time. As loyalties shift and betrayal threatens the two girls at every turn, Dymphna is determined to rise to the top with Kelpie at her side.

Jenny Martin
Marked (Tracked, Book 2)
Penguin Dial (US & CA: 17th May 2016)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Cash, the prince of Bisera and leader of the rebellion, is missing. Phee’s uncle James is dead. And Charles Benroyal, once again, is behind it all. Caught between grief, thoughts of revenge, and traumatizing flashbacks of battle, Phee struggles to aid the resistance and prove her worth, even as she attempts to reconcile her growing romantic feelings for Bear with her loyalty to Cash. But when Benroyal’s attacks grow bolder, no one is prepared for the sacrifices Phee will have to make to win this war once and for all.

Tiffany Schmidt
Hold Me Like a Breath (Once Upon a Crime Family, Book 1)
Bloomsbury (US: 17th May 2016)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

In Penelope Landlow’s world, almost anything can be bought or sold. She’s the daughter of one of the three crime families controlling the black market for organ transplants. Because of an autoimmune disorder that causes her to bruise easily, Penny is considered too “delicate” to handle the family business, or even to step foot outside their estate. All Penelope has ever wanted is independence – until she’s suddenly thrust into the dangerous world all alone, forced to stay one step ahead of her family’s enemies. As she struggles to survive the power plays of rival crime families, she learns dreams come with casualties, betrayal hurts worse than bruises, and there’s nothing she won’t risk for the people she loves.

Robin Wasserman
Girls on Fire
HarperCollins (US & CA: 17th May 2016)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Hannah Dexter is nobody, ridiculed at school by golden girl Nikki Drummond and bored at home. But in their junior year of high school, Nikki’s boyfriend walks into the woods and shoots himself. In the wake of the suicide, Hannah finds herself befriending new girl Lacey and soon the pair are inseparable, bonded by their shared hatred of Nikki. Lacey transforms good girl Hannah into Dex, a Doc Marten and Kurt Cobain fan, who is up for any challenge Lacey throws at her. The two girls bring their combined wills to bear on the community in which they live; unconcerned by the mounting discomfort that their lust for chaos and rebellion causes the inhabitants of their parochial small town, they think they are invulnerable. But Lacey has a secret, about life before her better half, and it’s a secret that will change everything…

Brenna Yovanoff
Places No One Knows
Random House Delacorte (US & CA: 17th May 2016)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Waverly Camdenmar spends her nights running until she can’t even think. Then the sun comes up, life goes on, and Waverly goes back to her perfectly hateful best friend, her perfectly dull classes, and the tiny, nagging suspicion that there’s more to life than student council and GPAs. Marshall Holt is a loser. He drinks on school nights and gets stoned in the park. He is at risk of not graduating, he does not care, he is no one. He is not even close to being in Waverly’s world. But then one night Waverly falls asleep and dreams herself into Marshall’s bedroom – and when the sun comes up, nothing in her life can ever be the same. In Waverly’s dreams, the rules have changed. But in her days, she’ll have to decide if it’s worth losing everything for a boy who barely exists.

May 2016 Releases

Done with April 2016 Releases? Here are May 2016 Releases. For future releases, check Reading Wishlist.

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[REVIEW] The Anatomy of Curiosity – Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton, & Brenna Yovanoff

Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton, & Brenna Yovanoff
The Anatomy of Curiosity (Anthology)
Lerner Carolrhoda Lab (US: 1st October 2015)
Buy (US Kindle Edition) Buy (US Hardcover) Buy (UK Kindle Edition) Buy (UK Hardcover) Buy (CA Kindle Edition) Buy (CA Hardcover) Buy (Worldwide)

I’ve read and enjoyed some Maggie Stiefvater books, I own but haven’t yet read some Brenna Yovanoff novels, and while I’m not interested in any of Tessa Gratton’s works she seems like an awesome person on social media. The Anatomy of Curiosity is a great opportunity to get into the authors’ heads a bit to see how stories develop out of vague ideas.

Three different authors; three different approaches. Maggie starts with characters, Tessa begins with a world, and Brenna has a topic. They ask themselves questions, rule out possibilities in order to get to the heart of what they want to focus on, and sometimes they meander around in several different ways until finally figuring out what and how they want to say.

Maggie Stiefvater’s “Ladylike” sparked from an idea about an older woman and a teen. The story doesn’t particularly intrigue until the appearance of a guy in the woman’s apartment, and waiting for that to happen includes plodding through some pretentiousness. To the poetry’s credit, when checking on Wikipedia to determine if a poet mentioned in the story was real (he was), the word “algolagnia” added to my vocabulary, so that’s a positive.

When the lady talks about context, and how pieces of the creator end up in their creations, it makes you wonder. A common discussion among readers is how to deal with problematic authors – and by that, do we stop reading their books entirely? Or continue to read them, whilst knowing that some of the authors’ worse personality aspects may end up in their characters? Will disliking parts of the author affect enjoyment of their works?

Tessa Gratton’s idea of magical bombs is intriguing, but the way she tells it doesn’t really appeal to me. I have no interest in made-up lands; I prefer to read about real places. I’m definitely an urban fantasy fan, not one of traditional/epic/high.

But while the author’s inspiration focuses on world-building, based on “Desert Canticle” her strong point is characterisation. The big reveal doesn’t come until the story’s midpoint, but from then on the tale really makes a stand. If Tessa Gratton ever writes a contemporary, it would be awesome.

I’m not sure how to follow Brenna Yovanoff’s “Drowning Variations”, so I’ve decided that it shows several drafts of wandering and explaining, the author talking to the reader about how she found the right story in which to incorporate a teen drowning. And so I believe “The Drowning Place” is the REAL story, and everything else is just leading up to and discussing it. “The Drowning Place” is four-star quality. As for the other “variations”, they take the place of margin notes (which the other authors’ contributions had, but this one doesn’t).

The Anatomy of Curiosity shows how authors’ minds work in different ways, and may give readers new methods of idea development to try. It may not really connect as a fiction anthology, but as a reference text it’s well worth rereading.

4 New Covers (Barnes, Day, Kenner, Yovanoff)

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1st October 2015 Releases

Happy Release Day to:

Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton, & Brenna Yovanoff
The Anatomy of Curiosity (Anthology)
Lerner Carolrhoda Lab (US: 1st October 2015)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

In an unassuming corner of Brooklyn, a young woman learns to be ladylike, to love context, and to speak her mind from a very curious sort of tutor. In a faraway land convulsed by war, a young soldier hears the desert’s curious hum as he disarms bombs with the person he doesn’t know how to love. In a place so shrivelled by drought that any drowning is a curiosity, a young writer tries again and again to tread water beneath the surface of a vast and unusual sea. Three new stories – complete with commentary on the creative process – from three acclaimed young adult authors working at the height of their powers. Curious?

October 2015 Releases

Done with September 2015 Releases? Here are October 2015 Releases. For future releases, check Reading Wishlist.

TRIGGER WARNING: The cover image for Andrea Kleine’s Calf (13th October) is confronting.

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Now Available for US Pre-Order

Kelley Armstrong: DRIVEN: 31st January 2016: Buy (US)
Jennifer Lynn Barnes: THE FIXER paperback: 10th May 2016: Buy (US)
Laura Bickle et al: A FANTASY MEDLEY 3: 31st December 2015: Buy (US)
Laura Bickle: untitled 3rd Dark Alchemy novel: 12th April 2016: Buy (US)
Rachel Caine: MIDNIGHT BITES: 1st March 2016: Buy (US)
Rhiannon Held: WOLFSBANE: 29th September 2015: Buy (US)
Darynda Jones: BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN: 6th October 2015: Buy (US)
Andrea Kleine: CALF: 13th October 2015: Buy (US)
Seanan McGuire: CHAOS CHOREOGRAPHY: 1st March 2016: Buy (US)
Amy Plum: UNTIL THE BEGINNING (paperback): 3rd May 2016: Buy (US)
Tiffany Schmidt: HOLD ME LIKE A BREATH (paperback): 17th May 2016: Buy (US)
Tiffany Schmidt: BREAK ME LIKE A PROMISE: 7th June 2016: Buy (US)
Robin Wasserman: GIRLS ON FIRE: 3rd May 2016: Buy (US)
Brenna Yovanoff: PLACES NO ONE KNOWS: 3rd May 2016: Buy (US)

4 New Covers (Armstrong; Landers; Stiefvater, Gratton, & Yovanoff; Sun)

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Now Available for US Pre-Order

Maree Anderson: FREAKS UNDER FIRE: 31st March 2015: Buy (US)
J. C. Carleson: PLACEBO JUNKIES: 27th October 2015: Buy (US)
Cassandra Rose Clarke: OUR LADY OF THE ICE (hardcover): 27th October 2015: Buy (US)
Ally Condie: ATLANTIA (paperback): 20th October 2015: Buy (US)
Jeaniene Frost: THE BEAUTIFUL ASHES (mass market paperback): 29th September 2015: Buy (US)
Colleen Hoover & Tarryn Fisher: NEVER NEVER PART TWO: 17th May 2015: Buy (US)
Kelly Keaton: HEART OF STONE: 17th February 2015: Buy (US)
Tiffany Reisz: THE QUEEN: 27th October 2015: Buy (US)
Maggie Stiefvater: THE RAVEN KING: 29th September 2015: Buy (US)
Maggie Stiefvater, Brenna Yovanoff, & Tessa Gratton: THE ANATOMY OF CURIOSITY: 1st October 2015: Buy (US)

Now Available for US Pre-Order

Carolyn Lee Adams: RUTHLESS: 2nd June 2015: Buy (US)
Sharon Cameron: ROOK: 28th April 2015: Buy (US)
Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff: ILLUMINAE: 7th July 2015: Buy (US)
Michele Lang: THE WITCH OF BUDAPEST: 30th September 2014: Buy (US)
Demitria Lunetta: IN THE END (paperback): 23rd June 2015: Buy (US)
Tracey O’Hara: SECRET CONFESSIONS: SYDNEY HOUSEWIVES: DARLA: 19th March 2015: Buy (US)
Anna Sheehan: NO LIFE BUT THIS: 18th December 2014: Buy (US)
Alexandra Sirowy: THE CREEPING: 18th August 2015: Buy (US)
Laurie Faria Stolarz: WELCOME TO THE DARK HOUSE (paperback): 23rd June 2015: Buy (US)
Carol Lynch Williams: SIGNED SKYE HARPER (paperback): 12th May 2015: Buy (US)
Brenna Yovanoff: FIENDISH (paperback): 11th August 2015: Buy (US)