Now Available for US Pre-Order

Marta Acosta: MAKE IT CATCHY: THE QUINTESSENTIAL GUIDE TO WRITING QUERY LETTERS: Buy (US)
Jack Blaine: TWITCH: Buy (US)
Cecil Castellucci: TIN STAR: 25th February 2014: Buy (US)
Andrea Cremer: THE INVENTOR’S SECRET: 22nd April 2014: Buy (US)
Bailey Cunningham: PILE OF BONES: 30th July 2013: Buy (US)
Rinda Elliott: BLOOD OF AN ANCIENT: 22nd October 2013: Buy (US)
Colleen Hoover: MAYBE SOMEDAY: 18th March 2014: Buy (US)
Karen Ann Hopkins: FOREVER: 28th January 2014: Buy (US)
Stacia Kane: CLOSE TO YOU: 8th October 2013: Buy (US)
Gemma Malley: THE SYSTEM: 21st November 2013: Buy (US)
Diana Peterfreund: THE FIRST STAR TO FALL: Buy (US)
Tiffany Reisz (ed.): FELT TIPS (paperback): Buy (US)
Lila Veen: DROWNING IN A DREAM: Buy (US)

[REVIEW] The Nightworld – Jack Blaine

Jack Blaine
The Nightworld
HarperCollins (CA: 16th April 2012; US: 24th April 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

I don’t know who “Full Fathom Five, Inc” (the copyright holder) is, but it sounds like a book packager. I don’t like the idea of packagers – makes the books seem more written for business rather than for the love of the story. Thus the stories themselves are often a bit shallow.

Such is the case with The Nightworld. We barely get any details on the interesting stuff (Higgs particles, darkness all the time, the Optimus Prime device, a virus), and instead just get a run-of-the-mill thriller that tries to appeal to the Life As We Knew It crowd, but lacks the depth. It’s very short, so your male teen should speed through it, and the ending is a cliff-hanger, spelling sequel-bait. It’s a fun read, but I really wanted more details on the interesting stuff.

April 2012 Releases

Done with March 2012 Releases? Here are April 2012 Releases. For future releases, check Reading Wishlist.

4 New Covers (Battis, Blaine, Hayes, Tracey)

4 New Covers (Blaine, Lim, Meding, Vincent)

9 New Covers (Barnes, Blaine, Clark, Hudson, McCafferty, Peterfreund, Richardson, Williams, Winnacker)

January Through June 2011 Reads – Star Ratings

Books I read in January through June this year. Separated into star ratings, then listed by order in which I read them. All up at GoodReads. Some reviews here on my WordPress. Does not include books that I didn’t finish, because I’ve deleted them from my catalogue, and likely my memory.

Let me know if you decide to read or not to read them, based on my ratings. Because yes, I am that egocentric 😉

5 STARS: Rage (Jackie Morse Kessler), American Vampire (Jennifer Armintrout), Project 17 (Laurie Faria Stolarz), The Gathering (Kelley Armstrong), The Repossession Mambo/Repo Men (Eric Garcia), Moongazer (Marianne Mancusi), Wither (Lauren DeStefano), Girl Hero (Carrie Jones)

4 STARS: Outside In (Maria V. Snyder), Stocking Full of Coal (Amanda Feral), The Walled Garden (Michele Lang), The Shadow Runners (Liz Maverick), The Vespertine (Saundra Mitchell), Linger (Maggie Stiefvater), Dark Life (Kat Falls), Demonized (Naomi Clark), The Reckoning (Kelley Armstrong), Midnight Alley (Rachel Caine), Feast of Fools (Rachel Caine), Lord of Misrule (Rachel Caine), Carpe Corpus (Rachel Caine), Fade Out (Rachel Caine), Coming Home (P. D. Martin), Kiss of Death (Rachel Caine), XVI (Julia Karr), Ghost Town (Rachel Caine), The Girl in the Steel Corset (Kady Cross), Matched (Ally Condie), Uninvited (Amanda Marrone), The Bradbury Report (Steven Polansky), Uninvited (Justine Musk), Exile (Rebecca Lim), Helper12 (Jack Blaine), Darkness Becomes Her (Kelly Keaton)

3 STARS: Jealousy (Lili St. Crow), Among the Betrayed (Margaret Peterson Haddix), Among the Barons (Margaret Peterson Haddix), Becoming (Kelley Armstrong), Shadow Days (Andrea Cremer), Day of Fire (Kathleen Nance), Dreaming Anastasia (Joy Preble), Things Bogans Like, Beyond Heaving Bosoms (Sarah Wendell & Candy Tan), Fugitives (Alexander Gordon Smith), The Power of Two (Patti O’Shea), Coming Undone (Lauren Dane), In the Arms of Stone Angels (Jordan Dane), The Iron Witch (Karen Mahoney), Damaged (Yolanda Sfetsos), Falling Freestyle (Vivian Arend), Jeweled (Anya Bast), Thyla (Kate Gordon), It Takes a Village Idiot and I Married One (Alex Borstein & Cherry Chevapravatdumrong), Burn Bright (Marianne de Pierres), A Touch Mortal (Leah Clifford), Night and Chaos (Naomi Clark), Savage Transformation (Lexxie Couper), The Official Illustrated Guide (Stephenie Meyer), Exit Strategy (Kelley Armstrong), Made to Be Broken (Kelley Armstrong), You Are So Undead to Me (Stacey Jay), Hereafter (Tara Hudson), Relentless (Lauren Dane), The Scarlet Empress (Susan Grant), Close Encounters (Katherine Allred), Perfect Cover (Jennifer Lynn Barnes), Killer Spirit (Jennifer Lynn Barnes), West End (Laura Van Wormer), Moon Sworn (Keri Arthur)

2 STARS: Defiance (Lili St. Crow)

[REVIEW] Helper12 – Jack Blaine

Jack Blaine
Helper12
(US & UK: 1st June 2011) [eBook only]
Buy (US) Buy (UK)

Eighteen-year-old Helper12 works as a Baby Helper, taking care of babies until they reach six months of age, and move elsewhere. After witnessing an illegal adoption, the new parents purchase Helper12 to work as a Nanny, even though she’s not qualified.

The wealthy Sloanes aren’t as interested in their new child as they should be. The couple ships off on vacation, leaving Helper12 with the baby, a domestic Helper, and Driver. Thomas Sloane, the couple’s biological son, also stays at the mansion.

This is a YA dystopian, so you know what happens: Helper12 and Thomas fall in love and rebel against Society by planning an escape. More intriguing, however, is the mystery of a boy named Gregory, but otherwise it’s nothing new. That doesn’t make it less enjoyable, but rather less shocking. I linked the clues long before Helper12 did, and I wasn’t even trying. Still, fans of Ally Condie and Julia Karr should give Helper12 a whirl if looking for more of the same.