Review: Vitro by Jessica Khoury

Vitro
Jessica Khoury
Series: Origin (Companion)
Released: January 14th, 2014
Publisher: Razorbill
Rating: 4 stars
Word Rating: Fun fun fun
Reviewed by: Blythe

On a remote island in the Pacific, Corpus scientists have taken test tube embryos and given them life. These beings—the Vitros—have knowledge and abilities most humans can only dream of. But they also have one enormous flaw.

Sophie Crue is determined to get to Skin Island and find her mother, a scientist who left Sophie behind years ago. She enlists hunky charter pilot Jim Julien to take her there. But once on the island, Sophie and Jim encounter more than they bargained for, including a charming, brilliant Vitro named Nicholas and an innocent, newly awoken one named Lux.

In a race for their lives, Sophie and Jim are about to discover what happens when science stretches too far beyond its reach.

Review: The (False) Promise of Amazing

The Promise of Amazing
Robin Constantine
Series: None
Release: Tomorrow
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Rating: 2 stars
Word Rating: The Promise of Insta-Love *gags*
Reviewed by: Mel (and Blythe agrees wholeheartedly)

Wren Caswell is average. Ranked in the middle of her class at Sacred Heart, she’s not popular, but not a social misfit. Wren is the quiet, “good” girl who's always done what she's supposed to—only now in her junior year, this passive strategy is backfiring. She wants to change, but doesn’t know how.

Grayson Barrett was the king of St. Gabe’s. Star of the lacrosse team, top of his class, on a fast track to a brilliant future—until he was expelled for being a “term paper pimp.” Now Gray is in a downward spiral and needs to change, but doesn’t know how. 

One fateful night their paths cross when Wren, working at her family’s Arthurian-themed catering hall, performs the Heimlich on Gray as he chokes on a cocktail weenie, saving his life literally and figuratively. What follows is the complicated, awkward, hilarious, and tender tale of two teens shedding their pasts, figuring out who they are—and falling in love.

Review: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Code Name Verity
Elizabeth Wein
Series: Code Name Verity, #1
Released: May 15th, 2012
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Rating: 4 stars
Word Rating: *inhuman sobbing*
Reviewed by: Mel

Oct. 11th, 1943-A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun.

When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.

As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy? 

A Michael L. Printz Award Honor book that was called "a fiendishly-plotted mind game of a novel" in The New York Times, Code Name Verity is a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other.

Coming Attractions: Split Second by Kasie West

Coming Attractions is inspired by The Perpetual Page Turner's Save The Date. Coming Attractions showcases a book that is not released for a while that I've read, and gives you a sneak peek (like a pre-review, if you will) as to what I thought about the book, since I can't post the review until closer to the release date.

Split Second
Kasie West
Series: Pivot Point, #2
Release Date: February 11, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
Rating: I dunno. I. JUST. DON'T.
Word Rating:
Full review to come: January
Reviewed by: Mel

Life can change in a split second.

Addie hardly recognizes her life since her parents divorced. Her boyfriend used her. Her best friend betrayed her. She can’t believe this is the future she chose. On top of that, her ability is acting up. She’s always been able to Search the future when presented with a choice. Now she can manipulate and slow down time, too . . . but not without a price.

When Addie’s dad invites her to spend her winter break with him, she jumps at the chance to escape into the Norm world of Dallas, Texas. There she meets the handsome and achingly familiar Trevor. He’s a virtual stranger to her, so why does her heart do a funny flip every time she sees him? But after witnessing secrets that were supposed to stay hidden, Trevor quickly seems more suspicious of Addie than interested in her. And she has an inexplicable desire to change that.

Meanwhile, her best friend, Laila, has a secret of her own: she can restore Addie’s memories . . . once she learns how. But there are powerful people who don’t want to see this happen. Desperate, Laila tries to manipulate Connor, a brooding bad boy from school—but he seems to be the only boy in the Compound immune to her charms. And the only one who can help her.

As Addie and Laila frantically attempt to retrieve the lost memories, Addie must piece together a world she thought she knew before she loses the love she nearly forgot . . . and a future that could change everything.

Split Second was... CRAZY AWESOME. Can I end my pre-review there? I mean, there isn't anything else to say. Of course, I could just spill all my emotions out but I would spoil the book and would have 5000 million armed readers chasing me down. Now that, would be scary.

I thought I would be able to write something a little helpful or conventional if I left this review alone for a week. Turns out, my feelings are still so much very raw. So sorry if you wanted something helpful. I did try to be helpful, this is what I wrote before I deleted it.

Characters: Addie. Trevor. Laila. EEEEK! All my favs.
Plot: It's simple but fun and has some special secret power to make sure you won't put it down. I read this during school and actually slapped someone in the face for stealing it.

Romance: *deep breaths* ASDFGHJKL; PERFECT. ABSOLUTELY. FREAKING. PERFECT. I went nuts. Completely. Nuts. Drowning in it.

And Laila finds a special someone too...

Were my expecations met?



So yeah, there it is. Just a bunch of craziness. And a note on my rating, I cannot really rate this right now. But definitely a 4, 4.5 or 5 star.

Full review to come on the blog in January.

Review: These Broken Stars

These Broken Stars
Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Series: Starbound, #1
Released: December 10, 2013
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Rating: 5 stars
Word Rating: Hell yeahs!
Reviewed by: Mel

It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?

Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.

--

A timeless love story, THESE BROKEN STARS sets into motion a sweeping science fiction series of companion novels. The Starbound Trilogy: Three worlds. Three love stories. One enemy.

“She’s not looking at me and seeing a guy brought up on the wrong type of planet. She’s not seeing a soldier, or a war hero, or an uncultured lout who doesn’t understand how hard this is for her, or an idiot who knows nothing about the right kind of anything.
She just sees me.”

Coming Attractions: Maybe One Day

Coming Attractions is inspired by The Perpetual Page Turner's Save The Date. Coming Attractions showcases a book that is not released for a while that I've read, and gives you a sneak peek (like a pre-review, if you will) as to what I thought about the book, since I can't post the review until closer to the release date.

Maybe One Day
Melissa Kantor
Series: None
Release Date: February 18, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
Rating: 4 stars
Word Rating: Must. Stop. Crying.
Full review to come: February
Reviewed by: Mel

Critically acclaimed author Melissa Kantor masterfully captures the joy of friendship, the agony of loss, and the unique experience of being a teenager in this poignant new novel about a girl grappling with her best friend's life-threatening illness.

Zoe and her best friend, Olivia, have always had big plans for the future, none of which included Olivia getting sick. Still, Zoe is determined to put on a brave face and be positive for her friend.

Even when she isn't sure what to say.

Even when Olivia misses months of school.

Even when Zoe starts falling for Calvin, Olivia's crush.

The one thing that keeps Zoe moving forward is knowing that Olivia will beat this, and everything will go back to the way it was before. It has to. Because the alternative is too terrifying for her to even imagine.

In this incandescent page-turner, which follows in the tradition of The Fault in Our Stars, Melissa Kantor artfully explores the idea that the worst thing to happen to you might not be something that is actually happening to you. Raw, irreverent, and honest, Zoe's unforgettable voice and story will stay with readers long after the last page is turned.

This book. Wowza. Just...gosh. If you are looking for a book with an achingly beautiful friendship, this is the one to seek out. Also, if you are interested in a little bit of insanely sweet romance, this is also the book to get. And if you want to be thrown off your feet; this one is your book. Read it and you won't be sorry.

What didn't work for me:

THE CONSTANT CRYING: I get it. Your best friend has leukaemia and you feel absolutely hopeless. What do you do? You cry. That is perfectly okay. Touching even. But when you start crying because you made someone else cry or just crying for the slightest little problem is just plain annoying. And very wimpy. And not pitiful at all.

What did work for me:

THE FRIENDSHIP: This, ladies and gents is how you write a good friendship. Zoe and Olivia's friendship was heart-achingly deep and genuine. We all have friends, but there are only one or two that we can spill everything; our troubles, thoughts, fears and passions towards. To be honest, I felt like crying halfway just because it was so authentic and I could completely relate to their relationship. I have a best friend that I treat like I sister, so when I read this, I was completely immersed. This friendship of Zoe and Olivia's had flaws. They have fights. But they soon forget and forgive after realising how stupid the fight was. This friendship had me in more fangirling moments than I normally do when I start shipping a romantic couple.

THE ROMANCE: Melissa Kantor's latest novel is not about finding your true love. It's about friendships and futures and hope. It's about finding strength to live even though the thing you loved most is no longer by your side. Yet I still couldn't help but love the romance in Maybe One Day. It may start with a bit of lust but the feeling between the two soon catch up and seriously, Melissa Kantor nailed the romance and what it's like when one of them is experiencing a difficult time to cope with the world around them.

PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING: My main two loves was the friendship and romance but everything else that was combined into this novel was pretty much close to perfection. The characters, all so deftly drawn and easily distinguishable grew onto me like a leech.

This is my first 2014 favourite, and I have a feeling it could be one of the best I'll ever read.

Full review to come on the blog in February.

Waiting on Wednesday - Complicit

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine where we post upcoming releases we're highly anticipating. My pre-publication selection for this week's Waiting on Wednesday is Complicit by Stephanie Kuehn.

Complicit

Stephanie Kuehn

Series: None

Release Date: June 24th, 2014

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Waited on by: Blythe

Two years ago, fifteen-year-old Jamie Henry breathed a sigh of relief when a judge sentenced his older sister to juvenile detention for burning down their neighbor's fancy horse barn. The whole town did. Because Crazy Cate Henry used to be a nice girl. Until she did a lot of bad things. Like drinking. And stealing. And lying. Like playing weird mind games in the woods with other children. Like making sure she always got her way. Or else.

But today Cate got out. And now she’s coming back for Jamie.

Because more than anything, Cate Henry needs her little brother to know this one simple truth: she’s not the crazy one and never has been.

He is.