Monthly Archives:: March 2016

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

A Tyranny of Petticoats edited by Jessica Spotswood

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A Tyranny of Petticoats edited by Jessica SpotswoodA Tyranny of Petticoats by Jessica Spotswood
Published by Candlewick Press on March 8th, 2016
Genres: Historical, YA
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From an impressive sisterhood of YA writers comes an edge-of-your-seat anthology of historical fiction and fantasy featuring a diverse array of daring heroines.

Criss-cross America — on dogsleds and ships, stagecoaches and trains — from pirate ships off the coast of the Carolinas to the peace, love, and protests of 1960s Chicago. Join fifteen of today’s most talented writers of young adult literature on a thrill ride through history with American girls charting their own course. They are monsters and mediums, bodyguards and barkeeps, screenwriters and schoolteachers, heiresses and hobos. They're making their own way in often-hostile lands, using every weapon in their arsenals, facing down murderers and marriage proposals. And they all have a story to tell.

I don’t usually read anthologies and I find it even harder to review them because there are so many stories and so many different feelings about the stories.

But, A Tyranny of Petticoats did say it was about badass girls and who doesn’t want to read stories about badass girls? If you don’t you have come to the wrong place so toodooloo. It was nice knowing you.

So, I read the stories. I didn’t love all of them yet here I am, reviewing the anthology as a whole. The thing is, whether or not I loved every single story is beside the point. What makes this anthology special is the diversity in it. I think historical fiction has a tendency to privilege white voices over other voices just because that is the way history is told and I love that this anthology didn’t do that. We got a multitude of voices spanning over two centuries and all of these voices have one thing in common: badass women.

Not all of the stories are memorable and some of them, I spaced out while reading, but as a whole, this anthology stands strong. There are many big name authors involved but I would say that authors who aren’t as big shined out to me in this anthology. Through this anthology, I discovered authors that had previously been unknown to me and now my to-be-read pile is bigger.

Overall, I’d definitely recommend this anthology because of the diversity of characters and diversity in story-telling.

Fresh Batch (March 27th – April 2nd)

Fresh Batch (March 27th – April 2nd)

Posted by on 03/26/2016 • 2 Comments

Fresh Batch, posted weekly, keeps you up to date on the hottest releases of the upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

The Winner’s Kiss Marie Rutkoski Series: The Winner’s Trilogy #3 Publication date: March 29th 2016by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

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War has begun. Arin is in the thick of it with untrustworthy new allies and the empire as his enemy. Though he has convinced himself that he no longer loves Kestrel, Arin hasn’t forgotten her, or how she became exactly the kind of person he has always despised. She cared more for the empire than she did for the lives of innocent people—and certainly more than she did for him.

At least, that’s what he thinks.

In the frozen north,…

Fresh Batch (March 20th – 26th)

Fresh Batch (March 20th – 26th)

Posted by on 03/19/2016 • 2 Comments

Fresh Batch, posted weekly, keeps you up to date on the hottest releases of the upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

The Way I Used to Be Amber Smith Publication date: March 22nd 2016by Margaret K. McElderry Books

Goodreads Purchase

In the tradition of Speak, this extraordinary debut novel shares the unforgettable story of a young woman as she struggles to find strength in the aftermath of an assault.

Eden was always good at being good. Starting high school didn’t change who she was. But the night her brother’s best friend rapes her, Eden’s world capsizes.

What was once simple, is now complex. What Eden once loved—who she once loved—she now hates. What she thought she knew to be true, is now…

Review: Night Speed by Chris Howard

Posted by on 03/18/2016 • 7 Comments

A Young Adult book with high-intensity action, drugs, and catching villains in the metropolitan city in the US of A. That sounds like a pretty good premise, don’t you think? Reminds me of all those superhero books we all adore, except this one has young teenagers taking drugs to give them superstrength/speed/and whatever super-what-have-you. Reading this book a few weeks ago, it actually was pretty enjoyable…

…until it didn’t.

Here’s the thing: this book had potential. The first seventy percent was such an amazing ride. Here we are, introduced to a main character who is supposedly the best runner in her department. Her job as a teenage tool of the government? To use the Tetra (which is the drug, if the cliché drug name itself wasn’t self-explanatory enough) to catch people…

Review: Nightstruck by Jenna Black

Posted by on 03/17/2016 • 4 Comments

This book was creepy and dark and very enjoyable for the most part. I did feel like there was a whole lot of waiting going on and things weren’t really moving forward, but there was always plenty going on. I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense. What I mean is there is all sorts of creepy, crazy things happening even when the story didn’t seem to be moving forward that fast. I did feel like I wasn’t really sure what was going on, but since this is a start to a series I am assuming that we we get more information in the next ones. I think that it is a great start to a series and am interested to continue with it and see where things go….

Fresh Batch (March 13th – 19th)

Fresh Batch (March 13th – 19th)

Posted by on 03/12/2016 • 4 Comments

Fresh Batch, posted weekly, keeps you up to date on the hottest releases of the upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

The First Time She Drowned Kerry Kletter Publication date: March 15th 2016by Philomel Books

Goodreads Purchase

The beautiful struggle of a girl desperate for the one relationship that has caused her the most pain

Cassie O’Malley has spent the past two and a half years in a mental institution—dumped there by her mother, against her will. Now, at 18, Cassie emancipates herself, determined to start over. She attends college, forms new friendships, and even attempts to start fresh with her mother. But before long, their unhealthy relationship threatens to pull Cassie under once again. As Cassie struggles to reclaim her life, childhood memories persist…

Blog Tour: Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood by Liesl Shurtliff – Review

Posted by on 03/11/2016 • 4 Comments

 

Hello everyone!! I am honored to be participating in this huge blog tour for Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood. I adore fairy tales and I love retellings, so naturally I had to take part. This tour has been running for about a month and there is plenty more to come. You can refer to the tour schedule that will be at the end of this post. Don’t forget to check out the other stops for really great guest posts and fun things! For my post I am doing a review of this book.

This book was all sorts of fun. The characters were fantastic and the storyline was great. There was a bit of mystery to it as well as magic (of course), friendships, and adventure….