In My Mailbox 122

This meme was started by the fabulous Kristi who was inspired by Alea. Check out their blogs for more information. All summaries are from the book jackets unless otherwise stated.

For review:

Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident – Eoin Colfer

Criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl never stops scheming...

Artemis’s father has been missing for almost two years. His location? The Arctic Circle, where the Russian Mafiya are holding his prisoner. Now Artemis must execute a daring  rescue operation to get his father back.

But that’s not his only problem. Since abducting one of an underground race of armed and dangerous fairies, Artemis has become their prime suspect for any human wrongdoing. Elfin Captain Holly Short has accused him of supplying illegal human power cells (aka AAA batteries) to the goblin gangs. There’s going to be a terrifying uprising – but at least it wil get Artemis away from his computer and he’ll meet some new people.

It’s just a pity most of them want to kill him

Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code – Eoin Colfer

Artemis Fowl is attempting to go straight. But there’s always time for one last job.

Artemis Fowl has created the most powerful new supercomputer known to man – using stolen technology from an elite race of underground fairies.

And when the computer falls into the hands of an IT billionaire with a shady past and an alleged mob connection, Artemis is in deep trouble. The consequences for humans and fairies alike are deadly. Only one person, well, fairy, can help him now.

If only Artemis Fowl wasn’t the faires’ public enemy number one...

I got these from the lovely Puffin. Be sure to look out for a guest post from Eoin Colfer next week.

Yesterday, I went up to London for the S&S Blogger’s Summer Presentation and as well as meeting the lovely Sarah Alderson and getting my books signed, I bagged myself these lovelies:

Love at Second Sight – Cathy Hopkins

Can once in a lifetime happen twice?

Jo has never been lucky in love, and as the boy she likes has a queue of girls after him, it doesn’t look like things are going to  change. But when she’s dragged along to see a clairvoyant by her two coupled-up best friends, Jo’s told that in a past life, she experienced true love and to be happy in this life, she needs to find her soulmate again in the present day. Jo doesn’t believe a word of it, but then a series of events begin to change her mind. With three boys in her life, she wonders how she is ever to recognice The One? Will looking back to the past help shape her future? And does true love really happen time after time?

This sounds cute, fluffy and perfect for a raint afternoon. Looking forward to this!

Zom-B – Darren Shan (ARC)

Can you love a bullying, racist thug if he’s your father?

Where do you hide when killer babies invade your dreams?

How do you react when confronted with your darkest inner demons?

What do you do when zombies attack?

B Smith is about to find out!

I’ve never read anything by Darren Shan before and I’m very curious about this.

Fury – Elizabeth Miles

The Furies are back, and Emily Winters is about to discover that their roots in Ascension are deeper than she ever imagined. With the help of her new friend, Drea, she vows to take them down. But it’s hard to focus when she’s desperate to make up with JD, and to figure out why Crow, a mysterious Ascension High School dropout, seems to be shadowing her.

Meanwhile, new girl, Skylar McVoy, is determined to leave her own dark past behind. So she’s thrilled when popular Gabby takes her under her wing, and the stunning and sophisticated Meg offers to give her a major makeover. But everyone knows what happens to the vainest girl of all...

It’s tempting to be naughty. But beware:

The Furies are always watching, and their power grows stronger by the day.

I wasn’t completely taken by Fury, but I am curious where the story will go next.

Sophie 

Heart-Shaped Bruise - Tanya Byrne

Heart-Shaped Bruise – Tanya Burne

Pages: 297

Publisher: Headline

Release Date: 10^th May 2012

Edition: UK proof, review copy

From Goodreads: They say I’m evil. The police. The newspapers. The girls from school who shake their heads on the six o’clock news and they say they knew there was something not quite right about me. And everyone believes it. Including you. But you don't know. You don't know who I used to be.

Who I could have been.

Awaiting trial at Archway Young Offenders Institution, Emily Knoll is going to tell her side of the story for the first time.

Heart-Shaped Bruise is a compulsive and moving novel about infamy, identity and how far a person might go to seek revenge. It was incredible.

I’m a big fan of the diary/journal format so I was really excited when I realised that that was exactly how Emily was going to tell her story. I have to admit that I was also very curious to see whether it would work as well as those I’ve previously loved. Most diary-format novels are light, fluffy and really funny like The Confessions of Georgia Nicolson or How to Keep a Boy as a Pet, but this is something completely different. It’s dark and twisty and completely involving and it really works.

Part of the appeal of Heart-Shaped Bruise is Emily. She’s the type of character who you expect to not like or at least feel vaguely wary of when you begin reading, but I didn’t. I pretty much loved her, and I really felt like I shouldn’t. Logic said that she should be intimidating, a little bit scary and slightly insane, and while she was all of those things, what stood out to me was her utter brokenness. While certain things that she said were unnerving, my heart ached for her and everything that she had gone through. I think that the storyline with Sid made her human and took away some of the brutal edges of Emily's actions and downright worrying thought-processes. Tanya Byrne showed us Emily at her most vulnerable, at her most raw, in the build-up to the incident that landed her at Archway. She’s a fascinating character.

Alongside Emily’s telling of her story, she also detailed what was happening in her current life at Archway. I always looked forward to Emily’s sessions with her psychiatrist, Dr Gilyard, as the mind games that Emily attempted to play were absorbing and I was always really curious to see what she would reveal about herself. I also loved the camaraderie between the girls in the institution. I kind of expected to see fighting, bitchiness and a constant battle to one-up each other but that wasn’t what it seemed like at all. The way that Emily omitted some of the things that the other girls said or did or experienced to respect their privacy and not attempt to tell their story surprised me and really enamoured me to her. Emily may have serious issues, but I love her.

Tanya Byrne’s debut is one of my favourites so far this year and I’m still thinking about it days later. I think Tanya may be another author on my auto-buy list.

For my 2012 Debut Author Challenge and 2012 Contemporary YA Challenge

Thank you to Headline for providing me with a review copy.

Sophie 

The Selection - Kiera Cass

The Selection – Kiera Cass

Pages: 327

Publisher: HarperCollins

Release Date: 7^th June 2012

Edition: UK paperback, review copy

In a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels THE SELECTION is the chance of a lifetime to compete for gorgeous Prince Maxon’s heart. But for America Singer it means turning her back on a secret love, and leaving home for a prize she doesn’t want.

Then America meets Maxon and all her plans start to crumble. Can the life she’s always dreamed of compare to a future she never imagined?

I had mixed feelings about The Selection before I’d even started reading it because there was a little bit of drama surrounding the author and I’d read some rather mixed reviews, but I ended up enjoying it.

For the first half of Kiera Cass’s debut I wasn’t very impressed. I thought the whole idea was rather sexist and old-fashioned: girls competing to marry a prince and sometimes sold off into doing so and being chosen on their level of attractiveness. Add into that a rather uninspiring heroine and I trudged through the first one hundred and fifty pages with a bit of a judgemental and sour expression on my face. And then America had her first encounter with Maxon...

I have to admit that while I was right about The Selection being sexist, America wasn’t a bad heroine at all. I actually ended up really loving her. She’s honest, brave, loyal and not afraid to make a stand which turned the whole sexist regime of The Selection on its head a little bit. Oh, and Maxon. I swooned nearly every time he spoke. He’s a proper prince; a Disney prince and I fell for him. And when they were together it was perfect in the way it was anything but – I loved it.

Other than the sexism, my major criticism of The Selection was that America’s world, Illéa, felt like a rip off of Panem from The Hunger Games. You have the country divided into castes instead of disctricts all dedicated to providing one service for everyone else, a contest where young people compete for a life-changing prize and a society riddled with poverty and strict rules and regulations with severe punishments for stepping out of line. It was a little too close for me. But unlike Panem, Kiera Cass’s world wasn’t nearly as developed as it had the potential to be. Even though during America’s lessons at the palace more information was revealed, I didn’t really feel like I properly discovered this new version of the US.

As I said earlier on, I had read some reviews of The Selection prior to starting it and I was fully prepared for what quite a few bloggers had proclaimed an evil cliffhanger. That’s not quite what it felt like to me, though. Although there was a conclusion, it didn’t seem big enough or final enough to end a book and I felt like the story kind of just stopped. I realise that Kiera Cass was just clearly setting up the sequel, but it just didn’t sit right with me.

Even though I had some major issues with The Selection, I did end up enjoying it in an ‘I really shouldn’t be enjoying this’ kind of way and I will read the sequel, The Elite.

For my 2012 Debut Author Challenge and 2012 YA Dystopia Challenge

Thank you to HarperCollins for providing me with a review copy.

Sophie 

Chain Reaction - Simone Elkeles

Chain Reaction – Simone Elkeles

Pages: 308

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Release Date: 5^th July 2012

Other Titles in this Series: Perfect Chemistry, Rules of Attraction

Like his brothers, Luis Fuentes is a risk taker; whether he’s scaling the Rocky Mountains or dreaming of a future as an astronaut, he’s always looking for the next thrill.

Nikki Cruz lives her life by certain rules – don’t trust a boy who says “I love you”, boys lie to get their own way, and never date a boy from the south side of Fairfield. Then she meets Luis at his brother Alex’s wedding and suddenly she’s tempted to break all her rules.

Getting Nikki to give him a chance is Luis’s biggest challenge, until he’s tempted by a gang-member to enter the same dark and violent world that nearly destroyed his brothers’ lives. Will Luis’s feelings for Nikki be enough to stop him from taking the ultimate risk?

I have devoured every book in the Perfect Chemistry series and Chain Reaction was no exception. I adored it.

With the legacy of the gorgeous Alex and the crazy Carlos, the youngest Fuentes brother had a lot to live up to. Although Alex is still my favourite, I think Luis held his own very well. He has a nice mix of the trademarks of his older brothers as well as his own kick to top it off. I still very glad that Alex and Carlos had quite a presence in Chain Reaction though – it was so nice to catch up with them and see how the relationships that I fell in love with in the earlier books were going, and if they were still going. It’s one of my favourite things about series' like this.

Chain Reaction had all of the elements of a Perfect Chemistry novel that I’ve come to love and expect: the terrifying Latino Blood and their endless threats, good ole’ Mrs Peterson and her fateful Chemistry class, poor boy/rich girl, the snippets of Spanish and some seriously steamy scenes. Even when Luis did some rather stupid things and made some rather questionable decisions, I still loved him and really wanted him to make it work with Nikki who is all at once ballsy, fierce and still vulnerable. I think she’s definitely on par with Brittany and Kiara.

Unlike the first two novels in this series, there was a bit of a mystery running through Chain Reaction. We’re left to wonder just what the leader of the Latino Blood, Chuy, wants from Luis and just how far he’ll go to get it. I have to admit that when all was revealed, I was very surprised and it really set Chain Reaction apart as a clearly different book to both Perfect Chemistry and Rules of Attraction. It did have the trademark cheesy, happy ending in an epilogue that I adore, though. I don't care that’s it’s pure cheese and harks back to the very beginning with Brittany and Alex, in fact, it makes it that much better. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy finishing a book with a chest full of the warm fuzzies and a massive grin? Exactly.

I loved Chain Reaction and I’m now crossing my fingers and toes that one day the escapades of the second generation of Fuentes boys will make it to the page.

For my 2012 Contemporary YA Challenge

Sophie 

In My Mailbox 121

This meme was started by the fabulous Kristi who was inspired by Alea. Check out their blogs for more information. All summaries are from the book jackets unless otherwise stated.

For review:

Shadows – Ilsa J Bick

From Quercus: Alex has escaped from Rule - but what new horrors face her in the ravaged world outside? 

Tom is safe - but what will he risk to find Alex? 

Chris - how much does he really know about the terrible darkness of Rule? And what are his true feelings for Alex? 

Ellie - where is she? 

The terrifying follow-up to the hugely popular Ashes.

At the Cat Clarke party thrown by the lovely Sarah, Alice and Niamh of Quercus on Wednesday, I managed to nab myself a copy of this which I am VERY excited. Thanks, Quercus!

Lance of Truth – Katherine Roberts

The quest for Camelot’s survival continues...

King Arthur’s secret daughter Rhianna Pendragon has faced mortal danger, ice-breathing dragons and dark magic to win Excalibur, the Sword of Light. But the sword is just one of four magical Lights that she must find to restore Arthur’s soul to his body and bring him back to life. Now Rhianna must head into the wilds of the northern land sin search of the second Light, the Lance of Truth, before her evil cousn Mordred claims it.

But Mordred is holding her mother Guinevere captive – can Rhianna stay true to her quest for the Lights and save the mother she’s never known, before Mordred wreaks his terrible revenge.

This was a surprise arrival from Templar. I haven’t read the first book in this series so it’s unlikely I’ll get around to it.

Torn – David Massey

Afganistan. In the heat and dust, young British army medic Elinor Neilson watches an Afghan girl walk into a hail of bullets.

But when she runs to help, Ellie finds her gone. Who is she? And what’s happened to her? What Ellie discovers leads her to question everything she believes in – even her feelings for the American lieutenant who takes her side...

So excited for this! Thanks, Chicken House!

Rebel Heart – Moira Young

There’s a price on Saba’s head.

They call her the Angel of Death. She defeated a tyrant, but victory has come at a cost. Haunted by the ghosts of her past, she needs Jack. His moonlit eyes, his reckless courage, his wild heart. But Jack has left, and a ruthless new enemy searches for Saba across the Dustlands...

YAY! I squeaked when I opened this. Thanks, Scholastic!

At Quercus I also picked up finished copies of Ashes by Ilsa J Bick and Entangled by Cat Clarke which I got her to sign.

Sophie