Waiting on Wednesday - 23rd December

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Anyway, here is my WOW pick, let me know what you think and link me to yours!

Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski

March 10th 2016 by Bloomsbury Childrens

War has begun. Arin is in the thick of it, with the East as his ally and the empire as his enemy. He’s finally managed to dismiss the memory of Kestrel, even if he can’t quite forget her. Kestrel turned into someone he could no longer recognize: someone who cared more for the empire than for the lives of innocent people—and certainly more than she cared for him. At least, that’s what he thinks.

But far north lies a work camp where Kestrel is a prisoner. Can she manage to escape before she loses herself? As the war intensifies, both Kestrel and Arin discover unexpected roles in battle, terrible secrets, and a fragile hope. The world is changing. The East is pitted against the West, and Kestrel and Arin are caught between. In a game like this, can anybody really win?

I devoured the first two in this series earlier this year and now I am in stasis waiting for the last. Note: I absolutely love this cover :) The dress is so pretty and it will match the other pretties on my bookshelf! 

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Remembrance by Meg Cabot

February 2nd 2016, William Morrill

In REMEMBRANCE, the seventh installment of the Mediator series, all Susannah Simon wants is to make a good impression at her first job since graduating from college (and becoming engaged to Dr. Jesse de Silva).

But when she stumbles across an ancient murder, old ghosts—and ex-boyfriends—aren’t all that come back to haunt her.

OH MY GOD!
I used to write post #6 fanfiction about Suze and Jesse I love love loved them so I neeeeeeeeeed this like yesterday.

Review: A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

When Jafar steals the Genie’s lamp, he uses his first two wishes to become sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Agrabah lives in fear, waiting for his third and final wish.To stop the power-mad ruler, Aladdin and the deposed Princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion. But soon their fight for freedom threatens to tear the kingdom apart in a costly civil war.

What happens next? A Street Rat becomes a leader. A princess becomes a revolutionary. And readers will never look at the story of Aladdin in the same way again.

Call me boring, but I don't really see the charm in rereading the story of Aladdin down to a tee when I know the movie basically by heart. I really struggled with A Whole New World solely for that reason - the first quarter of the book was just a retelling of Aladdin - the Disney move - the last three quarters  was sincerely lacking in any development, expecting us to be familiar with the characters automatically. This meant that I really just had to push myself through this book.

I'm sure Liz Braswell is a wonderful author when she is working with original material, but she certainly didn't show that talent in just rehashing a 20 year old movie and not having any original characters to develop, that's why this book just succeeded in completely falling flat for me.  

Book released 1st September 2015 by Disney Press

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: This Raging Light by Estelle Laure

Can the best thing happen at the worst time?

Her dad went crazy. Her mom left town. She has bills to pay and a little sister to look after. Now is not the time for level-headed seventeen-year-old Lucille to fall in love. But love—messy, inconvenient love—is what she's about to experience when she falls for Digby Jones, her best friend's brother. With blazing longing that builds to a fever pitch, Estelle Laure's soulful debut will keep readers hooked and hoping until the very last page.

I wasn't expecting great things from This Raging Light - I expected it to be a pleasant read, something to pass the time with. About 20% into this book I realised just how wrong I had been - this was a brilliant book that really had me thinking. I cared so much about Lucille and Wren and Eden and Digby that I simply could not put this book down. I wanted things to work out for them so much.

I think most of my enjoyment stemmed from Laure's writing - she has such a unique, poetic and sometimes raw way of writing which sometimes comes across as quite harsh and sometimes comes across as quite purple prose-y, but the balance between these made the book a sheer pleasure to read. Despite the subject of the book not actually being that happy, I was sucked into the book and Laure made sure that this wasn't a 'problem' book, this was about Lucille and Digby's budding romance and all of the obstacles in their way -  one of them being Lucille's difficult life.

That made this book stand out from other contemporary books - there was something so unique about the tone set by Laure that I was smiling and laughing and sad all in one - she's definitely going onto my must read list.

At first, I felt that the whole Digby/Lucille thing felt very rushed and stereotypical and I was setting myself up to be disappointed, but 20% in I realised that I had misjudged this and I was so engaged. It was just great.

If I had just one thing that lets this book down, it's that we weren't giving much of the set up - why did their mother leave them and never come back, it seemed totally out of the blue and this rocked me for a bit. I also felt that the ending did feel too sudden, like Laure had though 'well Wren and Lucille are looked after and Lucille and Digby are together, I can't be bothered to resolve the rest of the plot so I'll end on a note of hope and leave it be'. Like one second we are in full story mode and the next it just jolts to a halt.

Overall, This Raging Light was such an enjoyable novel. Estelle Laure has such a unique voice and I completely was sucked into her writing. The characters and relationships were great, but development and ending definitely felt a little lacking for me.  

Book released 22nd December 2015 by HMH Books for Young Readers

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Thicker Than Water by Kelly Fiore

Cecelia Price killed her brother. At least, that’s what the police and the district attorney are saying. And although Cecelia is now locked up and forced into treatment, she knows the real story is much more complicated.

Cyrus wasn’t always the drug-addled monster he’d become. He was a successful athlete, but when an injury forced him off the soccer field and onto pain medication, his life became a blur of anger, addiction, and violence. All CeCe could do was stand by and watch, until she realized one effective way to take away her brother’s drugs while earning the money she needed for college: selling the pills.

Soon, CeCe becomes part drug dealer, part honor student. But even when all she wants is to make things right, she learns that sometimes the best intentions lead to the worst possible outcome.

Oh wow. What a book.

Seriously, I'm struggling to scrape up the words to describe the way Thicker Than Water hit me - I was so amazed that I even had to read the acknowledgements because Fiore's writing was so amazing that I didn't want to stop reading it, and that made me even more amazed because I learned that this book to some degree was based on the author's own experience with a drug addict brother and that was why the book felt so unbelievable raw and real.

I started Thicker Than What somewhat nervously. 'Problem books' like this are a bit hit or miss for me and they can either kick me right in the feels relentlessly or leave me feeling a little bit numb and let down, thankfully this book came into the first category. I mean, I cannot write this review without firstly commending Kelly Fiore - this woman is an outstanding writer with the ability to write a damaged, flawed character with just the right amount of character development that has me cheering her corner. This is a book about a girl who makes some absolutely idiotic decisions that lead to disastorous consequences, but it's also about the same girl realising that it wasn't just her actions that led to this, but a culmination of others; actions, the story was engaging, raw, heartbreaking and most importantly real as were all of the characters.

I love this writing style - the combination of flashbacks and the present day and the journal entries could have felt chaotic but in this book they stitch together seamlessly, creating this story so rich with background and development, and allowing a glimpse into the world through CeCe's eyes. We can see why she came to make the choices she did and how she became the girl we first meet in the present day.

Seriously though, I can't find a single flaw in this book. I was gripped from the first page until the end and when I put it down I just couldn't stop thinking about it - that is the highest praise I can give, because I have a very low attention span most of the time....

Book released 5th January 2016 by HarperTeen

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Winter by Marissa Meyer

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?

Happy ever afters are like, the best thing ever, and there was no way that after investing myself in Cinder, Scarlet, Cress and even Winter's stories so much I was going to settle for anything less. I just need to read Fairest now, and yes I am completely obsessed with this series. Let me try and find coherent thoughts...

Okay, I think I've got it. Let's get onto the actual review. Now, Winter was actually my least favourite of the Lunar Chronicles, but I still loved it. The book is quite long and this meant that there was quite a bit in there that was quite irrelevant and repetitive. I also just didn't connect with Winter the same way I did the other girls so I didn't support her budding relationship with Jacin as much as I did the other romances in the series. On it's own, Winter was a good book, but comparing it to the others makes it seem a little less engaging.

Still, Meyer's writing is absolutely flawless and I just love what she brings to the genre. There's something totally original and engaging in her tone and the storylines are so well thought out and the way each individual storyline intertwines is so brilliant. I love how witty and individual each character and their dialogue was and despite the fact that Winter was a ittle underwhelming, I can't say it was a bad ending.

In fact, the end of Winter brought me to tears - I was so emotional because I have been so engaged in this series for so long and the ending brought me all of the things that I wanted to see. Awww, I'm getting teary eyed even thinking of it now!

Book released 10th November 2015 by Fiewel and Friends (US) and 12th November 2015 by Puffin (UK)

Book purchased by myself

Review: Walk On Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson

Lee Westfall has a strong, loving family. She has a home she loves and a loyal steed. She has a best friend—who might want to be something more.

She also has a secret.

Lee can sense gold in the world around her. Veins deep in the earth. Small nuggets in a stream. Even gold dust caught underneath a fingernail. She has kept her family safe and able to buy provisions, even through the harshest winters. But what would someone do to control a girl with that kind of power? A person might murder for it.

When everything Lee holds dear is ripped away, she flees west to California—where gold has just been discovered. Perhaps this will be the one place a magical girl can be herself. If she survives the journey.

Look at that cover - isn't it gorgeous? It speaks of fantasy magic, gold in every step. It speaks of a girl with a power and all of the obstacles in her way! It gave me such high expectations for this book that unfortunately were just not met. This is a pity, because I will continue to love and read Rae Carson's books, just not this series.

Lee is a girl with the power to sense gold, she comes from a good family but that is all thrown into the air when her father is assassinated - Lee becomes property of her uncle, who wants to use her as a house slave, but Lee ain't having none of that so she flees west, trying to catch up to her best friend/love interest who joined the gold rush. 

The problem for me was that I never really became invested in Lee's story. She was a nice enough girl, but she was obvious and made some stupid decisions through out the story. I felt that I just didn't see enough of her interactions with people to make her likeable to me and so I didn't really care about her journey.

The story itself was nothing special - I absolutely adored the setting of the gold rush, it was so rich and lush and gorgeous and made me want to play Oregon Trail over and over again - but I felt that Carson didn't use this unique setting to her potential so I felt a little let down. The book didn't feel complete, but I just wasn't connected enough to want to pick up any future books. There was some romance, which would usually grip me, but it felt forced. There was barely any mention of Lee's abilities and that annoyed me - I feel like I was wrongfully sold his magical, rich story and instead landed something flat and boring.

Overall, Walk On Earth a Stranger just didn't strike a chord with me - we just didn't connect so I did feel let down, despite the setting being well written (Carson is a great writer, despite her plot not working for me). 

Book released 22nd September 2015 by Greenwillow

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Future Perfect by Jen Larson

Every year on her birthday, Ashley Perkins gets a card from her grandmother—a card that always contains a promise: lose enough weight, and I will buy your happiness.

Ashley doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with the way she looks, but no amount of arguing can persuade her grandmother that “fat” isn’t a dirty word—that Ashley is happy with her life, and her body, as it is.
But Ashley wasn’t counting on having her dreams served up on a silver platter at her latest birthday party. She falters when Grandmother offers the one thing she’s always wanted: tuition to attend Harvard University—in exchange for undergoing weight loss surgery.

As Ashley grapples with the choice that little white card has given her, she feels pressured by her friends, her family, even administrators at school. But what’s a girl to do when the reflection in her mirror seems to bother everyone but her?

Through her indecisions and doubts, Ashley’s story is a liberating one—a tale of one girl, who knows that weight is just a number, and that no one is completely perfect.

The problem with Future Perfect is that it came out around the same time as Dumplin' by Julie Murphy and I read the two books back to back. Both are about accepting yourself for who you are, but Dumplin' just stood out to me as the better one.

Ashley just wasn't the most real character to me - she didn't really stand out. Her life dream is to attend Harvard, but I didn't real see that - she judges other people easily (such as the druggies in San Francisco) despite the fact that Larson keeps trying to push the fact that she is very accepting onto us (because Ashley is clearly the most open person in the world as she has a transgender friend?).

I felt like I didn't connect with this book and I ended up skimming through it just to see if she went through with the weight loss surgery. I won't spoil how the book ends, but I am going to end this review here because there isn't a lot to say.

This book didn't put across the message it aimed for in the best way, but I don't have reason to rant about it, nor can I really say it was an awful read. I just... didn't enjoy it personally.

Book released 6th October 2015 by HarperTeen

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review