Cover Reveal: Losing Lila (Lila #2) by Sarah Alderson

Hi everyone! I hope all of you are having a great weekend. It's been almost a month since our summer vacation started, so right now our weekends had been filled with TV series marathons, afternoons with my friends, nights of reading and some days of hitting the pool or beach with the family. It won't be long for me though, since I'm going to have to study for an exam this May. 

Anyway, I just saw this around the blogosphere awhile ago and decided to show it to everyone who hasn't seen it yet. Hunting Lila is so far one of my favorite reads this year so I felt like I ought to unveil its sequel's cover with you guys. If you haven't read the first book, please do. It's brilliant. 


So here's the cover for Sarah Alderson's Losing Lila!

Goodreads Summary: Alex and Lila are on the run, desperately trying to stay one step ahead of the Unit, which somehow is managing to track their every move. Whilst Alex is determined to keep Lila safe and her ability secret at any cost, Lila’s only thought is of finding a way back to California so that she can rescue her brother and mother from the military base where they’re being held.

Struggling to control both her growing power and her deepening feelings for Alex, Lila decides the time has finally come to stop running and start fighting. Together with Alex, Demos, and the people she’s come to think of as family, Lila plans not just to save her brother and mother, but to completely destroy the Unit and everything it stands for. 

But the plan requires Lila to return alone to California, make friends with the enemy, and to risk losing everything - Alex, her family, and even her life.

This series has such great covers. I love this one as much as I did Hunting Lila's! Losing Lila will be released on August 2nd. :)

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Review: Song of the Red Cloak by Chantel Acevedo

 

Song of the Red Cloak by Chantel Acevedo

Paperback: 312 pages

Release date: July 26th, 2011

Publisher: Createspace
Goodreads Rating: 4.47

Summary: Two spartan boys grow up together, and become inseparable friends. One is a prince of Sparta, destined to rule this ancient Greek state, the other a slave, or helot, who serves the young prince. In the harsh training camps, or agoges, where boys are groomed to become the great warriors of Spartan fame, their skills are honed and brutally tested. Only citizens may aspire to the warrior's red cloak, and one of the tests is the annual crypteia, or hunting of the helots.

 A beautiful and mysterious young Sibyl speaks of an uprising of the slaves. The oracles warn of a deadly  conflict between two ruling factions. Evil forces will challenge the two boys and test their loyalties, as secret truths about their own identities are revealed.

 It is fast-paced story from a third person view giving more space to explore its surroundings and weigh each character's personality well. 'Song of the Red Cloak' made an impression to me for pricking my anticipation of what's going to happen next, after that and the following events then it surprised me for its twists and turns on some of which I did never expect to happen.

The two boys---Galen and Prince Nikolas---are two different characters but their loyalty and friendship unites them showing us of what true friendship means that it's not about your family background, status in the society, good looks or how wealthy you are but it's about accepting your friends for who they are and looking beyond their flaws and trying to look through their heart. They were put to tests that would measure their loyalty and that would strengthen their character which intensifies the plot of the story.

I'm impressed with this book because in spite of the fact that it didn't deal with plenty of love story but only with enough to show that the boys are still young and are trying to look for the girl of their dreams is still interesting to me because Acevedo did not rely on making her novel wonderful out of too much love story instead she worked greatly on touching some facts about Sparta's history during its Golden days like the story of the two ruling families, Crypteia, Helots, Sibyls or seers, Ephors and many more that does not make the story dull and lacklustre but adventurous and excting! The story is just a cliffhanger so I'm keeping tabs on the latest updates for the second book on this trilogy which is entitled 'Song of Glass and Dust'. Thumbs Up! I highly recommend this to all YA Historical fiction fans who wants to discover new characters with different identities from Sparta. S'agapo!

I wanted to use this time to give a huge thanks to Chantel Acevedo for the signed copies of her book which I won from one of her contests. It's a great pleasure to to read your book. S'agapo! :)

To know more about Chantel Acevedo you can check out my Author Interview with her through this link: A Pre-Christmas Author Interview with Chantel Acevedo.

I'm completely smitten!

Waiting on Wednesday: The Raven Boys and Lonely Souls

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

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Hardcover:  416 pages

Release date: September 18th, 2012

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Goodreads Summary: “There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before. 

I just finished The Scorpio Races last night and it reminded me why Maggie Stiefvater is one of my most favorite authors. Now I'm more than excited about  her new series.

  

Lonely Souls by Karice Bolton 

Hardcover

Release date: June, 2012

Publisher: Purely Persistent

Goodreads summary: It's two weeks before Triss turns 18, and her world is about to change into the most magical one imaginable as she readies herself to enter The Witch Avenue Order... that is until her mother's disappearance. Determined to find out what happened to her mother, Triss uncovers cryptic messages that lead her to the dark side of magic that she never wanted to believe existed. Forced on a journey that may not give her the answers she was hoping for, it's up to Triss not to fall victim to the realm of Lonely Souls.

I love the cover of this one, and it's about witches and magic.

What are you anxiously waiting on this week? Just leave a comment of the link to your WoW post!

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Teaser Tuesday: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser for this week is from The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater.
  

Summary: It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

Teaser:

"Puck Connolly," says the old man. "Don't be looking at him like that."
Such a statement is too tantalizing to ignore. "Who is he?"
"Lord, that's Sean Kendrick," the old man says.

How about your teaser for this week? Please leave a link in the comments so I can check them out :))

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New Releases: April 15-22 2012

The Last Echo (The Body Finder #3) by Kimberly Derting 

Hardcover: 358 pages
Release date: April 17th, 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins

Goodreads Summary: In the end, all that's left is an echo...

Violet kept her morbid ability to sense dead bodies a secret from everyone except her family and her childhood-best-friend-turned-boyfriend, Jay Heaton. That is until forensic psychologist Sara Priest discovered Violet's talent and invited her to use her gift to track down murderers. Now, as she works with an eclectic group of individuals—including mysterious and dangerously attractive Rafe—it's Violet's job to help those who have been murdered by bringing their killers to justice. When Violet discovers the body of a college girl killed by "the girlfriend collector" she is determined to solve the case. But now the serial killer is on the lookout for a new "relationship" and Violet may have caught his eye....

 

172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad, Tara F. Chace

Hardcover: 268 pages

Release date: April 17th, 2012

Publisher: ATOM

Goodreads Summary: 

Three teenagers are going on the trip of a lifetime. Only one is coming back.

It’s been more than forty years since NASA sent the first men to the moon, and to grab some much-needed funding and attention, they decide to launch an historic international lottery in which three lucky teenagers can win a week-long trip to moon base DARLAH 2—a place that no one but top government officials even knew existed until now. The three winners, Antoine, Midori, and Mia, come from all over the world.

But just before the scheduled launch, the teenagers each experience strange, inexplicable events. Little do they know that there was a reason NASA never sent anyone back there until now—a sinister reason. But the countdown has already begun. . .

 

Glimmer by Phoebe Kitanidis

Hardcover: 352 pages
Release date: April 17th, 2012
Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Goodreads Summary: What if you forgot your identity and had to rely on other people to tell you who you were?

And what if to discover your true self, you first had to unravel a mystery so big and terrifying you were not sure you’d survive solving it?

When Marshall and Elyse wake up in each other’s arms with zero memory of how they got there or who they are, it’s the start of a long journey through their separate pasts and shared future.

Terrified by their amnesia, the two make a pact to work together to find the answers that could jog their missing memories. As they piece together clues, they discover they’re in the idyllic mountain resort town of Summer Falls, where everyone seems mysteriously happy, but as Marshall and Elyse quickly learn, darkness lurks beneath the town’s perfect facade. Not only is the town haunted by sinister ghosts, but none of its living inhabitants retain bad memories of anything—not the death of Marshall’s mom, not the hidden shame in Elyse’s family, not even the day-to-day anguish of high school.

Lonely in this world of happy zombies, Marsh and Elyse fall into an intense relationship...but the secrets they uncover could be the death of this growing love—and the death of everyone, and everything, they love in Summer Falls.

 

Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moskowitz

Hardcover: 288 pages

Release date: April 17th, 2012

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Goodreads Summary: 

In the wake of the post-9/11 sniper shootings, fragile love finds a stronghold in this intense, romantic novel from the author of Break and Invincible Summer.

It's a year after 9/11. Sniper shootings throughout the D.C. area have everyone on edge and trying to make sense of these random acts of violence. Meanwhile, Craig and Lio are just trying to make sense of their lives. Craig’s crushing on quiet, distant Lio, and preoccupied with what it meant when Lio kissed him...and if he’ll do it again...and if kissing Lio will help him finally get over his ex-boyfriend, Cody.Lio feels most alive when he's with Craig. He forgets about his broken family, his dead brother, and the messed up world. But being with Craig means being vulnerable...and Lio will have to decide whether love is worth the risk.

This intense, romantic novel from the author of Break and Invincible Summer is a poignant look at what it is to feel needed, connected, and alive.

 

 

The Chaos by Nalo Hopkinson

Hardcover: 256 pages
Release date: April 17th, 2012
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Goodreads Summary: An acclaimed fantasy author navigates the world between myth and chaos in this compelling exploration of identity, told with a Caribbean lilt.Sixteen-year-old Scotch struggles to fit in—at home she’s the perfect daughter, at school she’s provocatively sassy, and thanks to her mixed heritage, she doesn’t feel she belongs with the Caribbeans, whites, or blacks. And even more troubling, lately her skin is becoming covered in a sticky black substance that can’t be removed. While trying to cope with this creepiness, she goes out with her brother—and he disappears. A mysterious bubble of light just swallows him up, and Scotch has no idea how to find him. Soon, the Chaos that has claimed her brother affects the city at large, until it seems like everyone is turning into crazy creatures. Scotch needs to get to the bottom of this supernatural situation ASAP before the Chaos consumes everything she’s ever known—and she knows that the black shadowy entity that’s begun trailing her every move is probably not going to help.
A blend of fantasy and Caribbean folklore, at its heart this tale is about identity and self acceptance—because only by acknowledging her imperfections can Scotch hope to save her brother. f

 

Kill Switch by Chris Lynch

Hardcover: 176 pages

Release date: April 17th, 2012

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Summary: 

Some things are best left forgotten. A gripping account of espionage and loyalty from National Book Award Finalist Chris Lynch. All Daniel wants to do is spend one last summer with his grandfather before he moves away for college and his grandfather’s dementia pulls them apart. But when his dear old Da starts to let things slip about the job he used to hold—people he’s killed, countries he’s overthrown—old work “friends” show up to make sure he stays quiet. Was his grandfather really involved in a world of assassinations and coups, or are the stories just delusions of a crumbling mind? On the run from the police (and possibly something worse) before he has time to find out, Daniel may have to sacrifice everything to protect his grandfather from those who would do him harm.

Mister Death's Blue-Eyed Girls by Mary Downing Hahn

Hardcover: 330 pages
Release date: April 17th, 2012
Publisher: Clarion Books

Goodreads Summary: Based on an actual crime in 1955, this YA novel is at once a mystery and a coming-of-age story. The brutal murder of two teenage girls on the last day of Nora Cunningham's junior year in high school throws Nora into turmoil. Her certainties, friendships, religion, her prudence, her resolve to find a boyfriend taller than she is - are shaken or cast off altogether.

Most people in Elmgrove, Maryland, share the comforting conviction that Buddy Novak, who had every reason to want his ex-girlfriend dead, is responsible for the killings. Nora agrees at first, then begins to doubt Buddy's guilt, and finally comes to believe him innocent - the lone dissenting voice in Elmgrove.

Told from several different perspectives, including that of the murderer, Mister Death's Blue-Eyed Girls is a suspenseful page-turner with a powerful human drama at its core.

 

The Springsweet (The Vespertine #2) by Saundra Mitchell

Hardcover: 175 pages

Release date: April 17th, 2012

Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books

Goodreads Summary: 

Heartbroken over the tragic death of her fiancé, seventeen-year-old Zora Stewart leaves
Baltimore for the frontier town of West Glory, Oklahoma, to help her young widowed
aunt keep her homestead going. There she discovers that she possesses the astonishing
ability to sense water under the parched earth. When her aunt hires her out as a
“springsweet” to advise other settlers where to dig their wells, Zora feels the burden of
holding the key to something so essential to survival in this unforgiving land.
Even more, she finds herself longing for love the way the prairie thirsts for water.
Maybe, in the wildness of the territories, Zora can finally move beyond simply surviving
and start living.

 

Liberator (Worldshaker #2) by Richard Harland

Hardcover: 496 pages
Release date: April 17th, 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Summary: CONSPIRACY MURDER STEAM-POWERED ACTION
Col and Riff lead the oppressed Filthies to victory, but now the revolution on their mountain-sized juggernaut is falling apart. A saboteur strikes, and suspicion and paranoia reign.
Will Riff deny her love and brand Col a traitor? Can anyone stop the extremists taking over? And can they defeat the Imperialist juggernauts massing for war?

Liberator picks up the story three months after the revolution. The Filthies have given Worldshaker a new name—it's now Liberator. But the revolution is under threat on all sides: from a secret saboteur on board the juggernaut, from other Imperialist juggernauts that want to crush this liberated society, and from fanatical extremists who want to push the revolution into a new form of tyranny.

Col and Riff could stand against the extremists if they could stand together at all. As a member of the old elite, Col is persecuted by Riff's friends and fellow Council members, until she's embarrassed to be seen talking to him. A reign of terror, an ultimate battle —and the story of the juggernaut that was WORLDSHAKER and is now LIBERATOR drives on to its shattering conclusion.

 

The Wicked and the Just by J. Anderson Coats

Hardcover: 352 pages

Release date: April 17th, 2012

Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books

Goodreads Summary: 

Cecily’s father has ruined her life. He’s moving them to occupied Wales, where the king needs good strong Englishmen to keep down the vicious Welshmen. At least Cecily will finally be the lady of the house.

Gwenhwyfar knows all about that house. Once she dreamed of being the lady there herself, until the English destroyed the lives of everyone she knows. Now she must wait hand and foot on this bratty English girl.

While Cecily struggles to find her place amongst the snobby English landowners, Gwenhwyfar struggles just to survive. And outside the city walls, tensions are rising ever higher—until finally they must reach the breaking point.

Everlasting Embrace (Embrace #4) by Charlotte Blackwell

Paperback
Release date: April 17th, 2012
Publisher: World Castle Publishing

Goodreads Summary: Sophia Pierce has walked the earth for over a century. She’s struggled, but finally found meaning to her existence. She found love, friendship and an amazing family. Now with the love of her life by her side, Sophia feels strong enough to conquer anything. Even raising a baby, born as his mother died at the hands of the Cerberus, evil Vampires. Sophia helps her best friend deal with the loss of her husband and raising their daughter. Stronger than ever, Sophia isn’t prepared for everything she’s about to learn.

Good versus evil seems like a pretty easy concept, but that’s not always true. When an Angel hunter comes for Nathanial’s friend Ben a Nephilim, Sophia and the Pierce family vow to protect him. Ben finds safety in the new Supernatural school created by the Pierce family, their shape shifter allies and the Magnificent Ones. With Caspian’s at the head of the school, things are bound to get exciting. 
Everlasting Embrace will take you on an exciting journey, of danger, love and life. When one love leaves, can another be found? Can that love return to you once they left? Sophia Pierce will learn the answers to this and so much more as she helps the ones she loves heal.

There's so many books releasing this Tuesday! Don't forget that the Book Depository is having a sale until May 14th and you can get a 10% discount off everything. Just enter the code APMA12 at check out.

Get started by clicking the picture below that will take you to the site.

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