Letterbox Love #12

Letterbox Love came about after some drama with the American book haul memes, so the UKYA bloggers came together on Twitter to organise one of our own. Summaries are taken from the cover, or Amazon/NetGalley/Goodreads in the case of e-books, unless otherwise stated. Hosted by Narratively Speaking.

For Review:

Picture Me Gone – Meg Rosoff (e-book)

From NetGalley: Picture Me Gone is the compelling new novel by the author of How I Live Now. Mila is on a roadtrip across the USA with her father. They are looking for his best friend but Mila discovers a more important truth. Sometimes the act of searching reveals more than the final discovery can. Adults do not have all the answers. It all depends on what questions you ask. A brilliantly atmospheric exploartionof someone on the brink adulthood from the prize-winning author Meg Rosoff, author of How I Live Now.

YES! I love me some Meg Rosoff. Thanks Penguin and NetGalley! Synopsis from NetGalley.

The Infinite Moment of Us – Lauren Myracle (e-book)

From NetGalley: For as long as she can remember, Wren Gray’s goal has been to please her parents. But as high school graduation nears, so does an uncomfortable realisation: Pleasing her parents once overlapped with pleasing herself, but now...not so much. Wren needs to honour her own desires, but how can she if she doesn’t even know what they are?

Charlie Parker, on the other hand, is painfully aware of his heart’s desire. A gentle boy with a troubled past, Charlie has loved Wren since the day he first saw her. But a girl like Wren would never fall for a guy like Charlie – at least not the sort of guy Charlie believes himself to be.

And yet certain things are written in the stars. And in the summer after high school, Wren and Charlie’s souls will collide. But souls are complicated, as are the bodies that house them...

Sexy, romantic, and oh-so-true to life, this is an unforgettable look at first love from one of young adult’s fiction’s greatest writers.

I think this sounds incredible and completely up my street. Thanks NetGalley and Amulet Books!

Every Day – David Levithan (paperback)

Every day I am someone else. I am myself – I know I am myself – but I am also someone else. It has always been like this.

Each morning, A wakes up in a different body. There’s never any warning about who it will be, but A is used to that.  Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

And that’s fine – until A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Becase A has found someone he wants to be with – every day...

YES! So freaking excited to read this! Thanks Electric Monkey!

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown – Holly Black (proof)

Welcome to Coldtown.

A Coldtown is a dangerous place; a glamorous cage.

A prison for the damned – and anyone interested in spending the rest of their lives partying with them...

Tara lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. It’s an eternal party, shown on TV 24 hours a day. A modern world, a society self-aware and turning a dark mirror on itself with endless up-close social media, but twistes a degree from today – where a deadly virus can mean the end of life as you know it, if not life itself.

I’m SO EXCITED for this! I love Holly Black and I’m really looking forward to seeing her tak eon vampires. Thanks Indigo!

Bought:

I took another trip to Foyles on Sunday when I introduced it to my former uni housemates. Naturally, I was the only one to actually buy anything...

Going Bovine – Libba Bray (paperback)

From acclaimed author Lobba Bray comes a dark comedic journey that poses the questions:

Why are we here? What is real?

What makes microwave popcorn so good?

Why must we die?

And how do we really learn to live?

All sixteen-year-old Cameron wants is to get through high school – and life in general – with a minimum of effort.  But that’s before he’s given some bad news: he’s going to die.

Hope arrives in the winged form of Dulcie, a loopy punk angel/possible hallucination with a bad sugar habit. She tells Cam there’s a cure – if he’s willing to go in search of it. With the help of Gonzo, a death-obsessed, video-gaming dwarf, and a yard gnome who just might be the Viking god Balder, Cam sets off on the mother of all road trips througha twisted America...into the heart of what matters most.

Finally! I wanted the hardback, but it’s always expensive so I just grabbed the paperback when I spotted it instead.

What We Lost – Sara Zarr (paperback)

There’s a blue ribbon around the mailbox. When we’re sitting out here two weeks from now, in a month, in a year, will the ribbon still be up? I wonder how you’re supposed to know the exact moment when there’s no more hope.

When thirteen-year-old Jody goes missing, the national spotlight turns to Samara Taylor’s small town of Pineview. With few clues for investigators to follow, everyone is a suspect, including Jodu’s older brother, Nick. But even as the town rallies in solidarity, Sam feels more alone than ever. Her mother is drifting farther and farther away while her father grows increasingly preoccupied as he steps in to help Jody’s family in the wake of the disappearance. During the tense, uncomfortable days that follow, Sam draws closer to Nick as the local tragedy intersects with her personal one.

National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr delivers a powerful novel about community, family, faith, and one girl’s realization that sometimes you have to lose everything to find what’s been missing all along.

This is the only one of Sara’s I haven’t read yet and it’s not published over here so I had to snap it up!

Kindle Bargains:

Game of Thrones – George RR Martin

Summers span decades. Winter can last a lifetime. And the struggle for The Iron Throne has begun.

As Warden of the North, Lord Eddard Stark counts it a curse when King Robert bestows on him the office of the Hand. His honour weighs him down at court where a true man does what he will, not what he must...and a dead enemy is a thing of beauty.

The old gods have no power in the south, Stark’s family is split and there is treachery at court. Worse, the vengeance-mad heir of the deposed Dragon King has grown to maturity in the exile in the Free Cities. He claims the Iron Throne.

I’m finally one of the cool kids! I’ve been a bit hesitant about giving this a go as I have a strange relationship with high fantasy, but again, 99p.

Life of Pi – Yann Martel

One boy, one boat, one tiger... After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, a solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild, blue Pacific. The only survivors from the wreck are a sixteen-year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a zebra (with a broken leg), a female orang-utan – and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger. The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary and best-loved works of literary fiction in recent years.

I really want to see the film, but I want to read this first! For only 99p it was a no-brainer.

Sophie