Yearly Archives:: 2017

Saturday, February 18, 2017

Fresh Batch (February 19th-25th)

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

Flavor of the week:

Long May She Reign
Rhiannon Thomas
Publication date: February 21st 2017
by HarperTeen

Goodreads Purchase

The Girl of Fire and Thorns meets The Queen of the Tearling in this thrilling fantasy standalone about one girl’s unexpected rise to power.

Freya was never meant be queen. Twenty third in line to the throne, she never dreamed of a life in the palace, and would much rather research in her laboratory than participate in the intrigues of court. However, when an extravagant banquet turns deadly and the king and those closest to him are poisoned, Freya suddenly finds herself on the throne.

Freya may have escaped the massacre, but she is far from safe. The nobles don’t respect her, her councillors want to control her, and with the mystery of who killed the king still unsolved, Freya knows that a single mistake could cost her the kingdom – and her life.

Freya is determined to survive, and that means uncovering the murderers herself. Until then, she can’t trust anyone. Not her advisors. Not the king’s dashing and enigmatic illegitimate son. Not even her own father, who always wanted the best for her, but also wanted more power for himself.

As Freya’s enemies close in and her loyalties are tested, she must decide if she is ready to rule and, if so, how far she is willing to go to keep the crown.

Other releases this week:
* In no particular order *


– Setting Free the Kites by Alex George [Purchase]
– Royally Matched (Royally #2) by Emma Chase [Purchase]
– Damage Control (Dirty Money #2) by Lisa Renee Jones [Purchase]
– The Dragon’s Price (Transference #1) by Bethany Wiggins [Purchase]


– Roman (Cold Fury Hockey #7) by Sawyer Bennett [Purchase]
– The Education of Margot Sanchez by Lilliam Rivera [Purchase]
– Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham [Purchase]
– Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen [Purchase]


– Beautiful Broken Girls by Kim Savage [Purchase]
– Reignited (Reawakened 0.5) by Colleen Houck [Purchase]
– A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic #3) by V.E. Schwab [Purchase]
– Curse of Stars (Diamond Crier #1) by Donna Compositor [Purchase]


– The Piper’s Price (The Neverland Wars #2) by Audrey Greathouse [Purchase]
– Ronit & Jamil by Pamela L. Laskin [Purchase]
– Everything Beautiful Is Not Ruined by Danielle Younge-Ullman [Purchase]
– Against All Silence (SOS #2) by E.C. Myers [Purchase]


– Stormfront (Lords of Arcadia #4) by John Goode & J.G. Morgan [Purchase]


Anything on your wishlist this week?

Find previous Fresh Batch posts here!

 

A Fun Mystery: To Catch a Killer by Sheryl Scarborough

Posted by on 02/17/2017 • 6 Comments

This book has an unfortunate cover given that its insides are so different. To Catch a Killer as pitched as being great for fans of Veronica Mars yet this cover screams cheesy mystery. Luckily, To Catch a Killer is a well-written mystery that is fun to follow along and hella engaging. It is one of those books you are going to stay up reading saying just ONE MORE CHAPTER (spoiler alert, its never one more chapter, its usually the entire fucking book.)

Sometimes I’ll read mysteries and wonder how the MCs have the resources and ability to solve the big case just based on educated guesses but To Catch A Killer throws in forensics into the mix and everything is GREAT. EVERYTHING MAKES SENSE. I totally guessed the murderer a couple pages in but…

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The Infinite Variants of YA: Interview with Lilliam Rivera (The Education of Margot Sanchez)

Posted by on 02/16/2017 • 1 Comment

Hello and welcome to our first official post of THE INFINITE VARIANTS OF YA series! Today we have the absolutely lovely Lilliam Rivera on the blog answering a series of Would You Rather questions (which if you know me, I tend to ask really stupid qs sometimes so she was an absolute champ for putting up with me.)

SO, lets give it up for Lilliam Rivera!!!

A Game of Would You Rather with Lilliam Rivera!

Would you rather have a ginormous family or be an only child?

As much as I used to complain about growing up in a big, loud Puerto Rican family (three brothers, one older sister), I wouldn’t have it any other way. I loved it. You can always find someone to talk to and there are…

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The Holiday Novel I Didn’t Know I Needed: We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

Posted by on 02/15/2017 • 2 Comments

I have no idea how to start this review because I just want to throw We Are Okay in everyone’s faces and get them to read it. What drew me to the book was Nina LaCour and the pretty cover. While I haven’t read anything solely written by her, I had read You Know Me Well by her last year which she co-authored with David Levithan and fell in love with her writing.

LaCour’s writing just makes me wish I was buried under a ton of blankets with a book and a nice, warm cup of hot cocoa. We Are Okay is everything I didn’t even know I wanted from a holiday-themed book. It is complex, cozy and gut wrenching. It uses the tropes from common holiday novels but…

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10 Non-Het Romance Books to Read on Valentine’s Day (or any other day of the year)

Posted by on 02/14/2017 • 9 Comments

Tired of all the het romances in the spotlight come Valentine’s day? Here is a list of 10 non-het romances to read instead + a bonus movie to watch! This list is by no means cumulative but the books have strong romance elements and HEAs (unless I seriously screwed up while researching.)

1. Tell Me Again How A Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan

Interracial romance, QPOC, #ownvoices.

2. Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst

A fantasy world where society isn’t homophobic. #ownvoices.

3. When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore

Interracial romance, QPOC, #ownvoices.

4. Simon Vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

oreos.

5. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Latinx main characters. #ownvoices.

6. Ash by Malinda Lo

Cinderella…

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Q&A With S. Jae Jones

Posted by on 02/13/2017 • 2 Comments

Hello and welcome to Xpresso Reads’ tour stop for Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones. Today we have a Q&A with the author and hopefully they’ll make you feel even more excited about reading the book!

Please give a round of applause for S. Jae-Jones!

Q&A With S. Jae-Jones

What was your favorite part about writing this book? What was your favorite scene to write?

I loved that I was able to draw on so many things that inspired or influenced me aesthetically as I wrote this book. I love goth stories, Death and the Maiden tropes, Jacques Cocteau movies, Phantom of the Opera, glitter, David Bowie, Mozart, and all of that made it into my book in some form or another. I don’t have a favorite scene,…

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Fresh Batch (February 12th-18th)

Fresh Batch (February 12th-18th)

Posted by on 02/11/2017 • 3 Comments

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

Flavor of the week:

The Valiant Lesley Livingston Series: The Valiant #1 Publication date: February 14th 2017by Razorbill

Goodreads Purchase

Lost to history, the story of the female gladiator has never been told. Until now.

Fallon is the daughter of a proud Celtic king and the younger sister of the legendary warrior Sorcha. When Fallon was just a child, Sorcha was killed while defending their home from the armies of Julius Caesar.

On the eve of her seventeenth birthday, Fallon is excited to follow in her sister’s footsteps and earn her place in her father’s war band. She never gets the chance.

Fallon is captured by ruthless…

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The Last Harvest by Kim Liggett

Posted by on 02/10/2017 • 1 Comment

I have no idea how I am supposed to feel about this book. I love how the author builds tension throughout the book and I love the general creepiness of it but I struggled with a lot of other aspects of the book. The characters, the romance, and even some of the horror elements of the book.

I think my biggest qualm in terms of the actual horror parts of the book is how much they are based on Christian myth. This is obviously a very personal qualm and not all readers will have that same experience but as someone who exists outside of that narrative, it can be a little unsettling to have all this info forced down ones throat. It isn’t even just the satanic elements but rather the…

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