Letterbox Love #70

Letterbox Love all of the lovely, lovely books I’ve gotten in the post, bought and everything else. 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:

Breaking the Rules, Katie McGarry (paperback)

‘I wish life could be like this forever,’ I say.

‘We’d be ok then. We’d forever be ok.’

For Echo Emerson, a road trip with her boyfriend is the perfect way to spend the last summer between school and college. It’s a chance to forget all the things that make her so different at home. But most of all it means almost three months alone with gorgeous Noah, the only boy who’s never judged her.

Echo and Noah share everything.

But, as their pasts come crashing back into their lives, it’s harder to hide that they come from two very different worlds. And, as the summer fades, Echo faces her toughest decision – struggle to face the future together or let her first love go...

I’ve read this already and though I really enjoyed it, I did have a few niggles... Review up tomorrow. Thanks Mira!

Rock War, Robert Muchamore (e-proof)

Meet Jay, Summer and Dylan.

Jay plays guitar, writes songs and dreams of being a rock star. But his ambitions are stifled by seven siblings and a terrible drummer.

Summer works hard at school, looks after her Nan and has a one-in-a-million singing voice. But can her talent triumph over her nerves?

Dylan is happiest lying on his bunk smoking, but his school rugby coach has other ideas, and Dylan reluctantly joins a band to avoid crunching tackles and icy mud.

They’re about to enter the biggest battle of their lives. And there’s everything to play for.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder for this!

Nightbird, Alice Hoffman (e-proof)

Twig lives in a remote area of town with her mysterious brother and her mother, baker of irresistible pies. A new girl in town might just be Twig’s first true friend, and an ally in vanquishing an ancient family curse. A spellbinding tale of modern folklore set in the Berkshires, where rumours of a winged beast draw in as much tourism as the town’s famed apple orchards.

I read Green Angel by Hoffman years ago and it was achingly beautiful so I have high hopes for this. Thanks S&S!

All Fall Down, Ally Carter (e-proof)

Grace is absolutely certain of three things:

1. She isn’t crazy.

2. Her mother was murdered.

3. Someday she’s going to find the man with the scar, and then she is going to make him pay.

As certain as Grace is about these facts, nobody else believes her – so there’s no one she can completely trust. Not her grandfather, a powerful ambassador. Not her new friends, who all live on Embassy Row. Not Alexei, the Russian boy next door who is keeping an eye on Grace for reasons she neither likes nor understands.

Everybody wants Grace to put on a pretty dress and a pretty smile, blocking out all her un-pretty thoughts. But they can’t control Grace – no more than Grace can control what she knows or what she needs to do.

Her past has come back to hunt her...and if she doesn’t stop it, Grace isn’t the only one who will get hurt.

Because on Embassy Row, the countries of the world all stand like dominoes, and one wrong move can make them all fall.

The excitement for this book is infectious and I’m looking forward to re-discovering Ally Carter – I’ve only read I’d Say I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You! Thanks Orchard.

Marly’s Ghost, David Levithan (paperback)

Love and I once had a great relationship, but I fear we’ve broken up. It cheated on me.

When Ben’s girlfriend, Marly, dies, he feels his life is over and the prospect of Valentine’s Day without her fills him with bitterness. But then Marly arrives – or at least, her ghost does – along with three other spirits. Now Ben must take a journey through valentines past, present and future – and what he learns will change him forever.

A remix of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol with a Vaeltnines twist and the Levithan magic.

This sounds all kinds of amazing. Thanks Electric Monkey!

A Christmas Package from Bloomsbury

Contained:

A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J Maas (proof)

Lose yourself in the first of a breathtaking new fantasy trilogy from the new York Times bestselling author of the Throne of Glass series, Sarah J Maas.

Feyre is a huntress. She thinks nothing of slaughtering a wolf to capture its prey. But, like all mortals, she fears what lingers mercilessly beyond the forest. And she will learn that taking the life of a magical creature comes at a high price...

Imprisoned in an enchanted court in her enemy’s kingdom, Feyre is free to roam but forbidden escape. Her captor’s body bears the scars of fighting, and his face is always masked – but his piercing stare draws her ever closer. As Fayre’s feelings for Tamlin begin to burn through every warning she’s been told about his kind, an ancient, wicked shadow grows. Feyre must find a way to break a spell, or lose her heart forever...

I’m not even going to pretend that this didn’t cause squealing and happy dancing. YES!

Apple and Rain, Sarah Crossan (hardback)

When Apple’s mother returns after eleven years away, Apple feels whole again. She will have an answer to her burning question – why did you go? But just like the stormy Christmas Eve when she left, her mother’s homecoming is bitter sweet. It’s only when Apple meets someone more lost than she is, that she begins to see things as they really are. Apple discovers something which can help her feel whole from the inside out, not just the outside in.

I’ve heard a lot about this in the last couple of months but didn’t really know that much about it. It sounds sweet and heartbreaking and I’m very much looking forward to it!

The Sleeper and the Spindle, Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell (hardback)

It was the closest kingdom to the Queen’s, as the crow flies, but not even crows flew it.

You may think you know this story. There’s a young queen, about to be married. There are some good, brave, hardy dwarfs; a castle, shrouded in thorns; and a princess, cursed by a witch, so rumour has it, to sleep forever.

But no one is waiting for a noble prince to appear on his trusty steed here. This fairy tale is spun with a thread of dark magic, which twists and turns and glints and shines. A queen might just prove herself a hero, if a princess needs rescuing...

Rather controversially, I’m not really a Gaiman fan, and nor am I particularly fond of graphic novels, but this is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever seen and that’s enough to make me want to give it a go.

A Cadbury’s hot chocolate sachet

Chocolate coins

A postcard set from The Imaginary by A.F. Harrold

A Harry Potter poster featuring images from the redesigns!

Thank you so much Bloomsbury! You made an awful week a whole lot better.

Sophie