Fluent Fridays 3 - Promising Books of January 2014

With a new year comes lots and lots of new literature! It seems that every year, there are more and more Young Adult books published. So many, in fact, that when I look at a list that features as many of those releases as possible, my mind screams in delight as my wallet weeps. Boy this genre is sure popular.

Instead of putting a list of ALL the YA novels that are coming out this year, I'm just going to mention a few that I think look *promising*. Get your 'To Be Read' lists ready, people!

January 2014

Title - Cruel Beauty
Series - Cruel Beauty Series #1
Release Date - January 28th, 2014
Author - Rosamund Hodge

Goodreads

Based on the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle, a shifting maze of magical rooms, enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

Pre-order: Amazon ˚ Barnes & Noble ˚ Book Depository 

Title - Into the Still Blue
Series - Under the Never Sky #3 (FINALLY)
Release Date - January 28th, 2014
Author - Veronica Rossi

Sneak Peek

Goodreads

Their love and their leadership have been tested. Now it's time for Perry and Aria to unite the Dwellers and the outsiders in one last desperate attempt to bring balance to their world.

The race to the Still Blue has reached a stalemate. Aria and Perry are determined to find this last safe-haven from the aether storms before Sable and Hess do-and they are just as determined to stay together.

Meanwhile, time is running out to rescue Cinder, who was abducted by Hess and Sable for his unique abilities. And when Roar returns to camp, he is so furious with Perry that he won't even look at him, and Perry begins to feel like they have already lost.

Out of options, Perry and Aria assemble a team to mount an impossible rescue mission-because Cinder isn't just the key to unlocking the Still Blue and their only hope for survival, he's also their friend. And in a dying world, the bonds between people are what matter most.

In this final book in her stunning Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi raises the stakes to their absolute limit and brings her epic love story to an unforgettable close.

Pre-order: Amazon ˚ Barnes & Noble ˚ Book Depository

Title - Her Dark Curiosity

Series - The Madman's Daughter #2

Release Date - January 28th, 2014

Author - Megan Shepherd

Goodreads

Months have passed since Juliet Moreau returned to civilization after escaping her father's island-and the secrets she left behind. Now back in London once more, she is rebuilding the life she once knew and trying to forget Dr. Moreau's horrific legacy-though someone, or something, hasn't forgotten her.

As people close to Juliet fall victim one by one to a murderer who leaves a macabre calling card of three claw-like slashes, Juliet fears one of her father's creations may have also escaped the island. She is determined to find the killer before Scotland Yard does, though it means awakening sides of herself she had thought long banished, and facing loves from her past she never expected to see again.

As Juliet strives to stop a killer while searching for a serum to cure her own worsening illness, she finds herself once more in the midst of a world of scandal and danger. Her heart torn in two, past bubbling to the surface life threatened by an obsessive killer-Juliet will be lucky to escape alive.

With inspiration from Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this is a tantalizing mystery about the hidden natures of those we love and how far we'll go to save the, from themselves.

Pre-order: Amazon ˚ Barnes & Noble ˚ Book Depository

 

Title - Minders

Series - None

Release Date - January 30th, 2013

Author - Michelle Jaffe

Goodreads

Q: If the boy you love commits a crime, would you turn him in?

Sadie Ames is a type-A teenager from the wealthy suburbs. She's been accepted to the prestigious Mind Corps Fellowship program, where she'll spend six weeks as an observer inside the head of Ford, a troubled boy with a passion for the crumbling architecture of the inner city. There's just one problem: Sadie's fallen in love with him.

Q: What if the crime is murder?

For Winter is haunted by the murder of his older brother, James. As Sadie falls deeper into his world, dazzled by the shimmering pinpricks of color that forms images in his mind she begins to think she knows him. Then Ford does something unthinkable.

Q: What if you saw it happen from the inside of his mind?

Back in her own body, Sadie is faced with the ultimate dilemma. With Ford's life in her hands, she must decide what is right and what is wrong. And how well can she really ever know someone, even someone she loves?

Pre-order: Amazon ˚ Barnes & Noble ˚ Book Depository

 

Title - The Rule of Three

Series - None

Release Date - January 21st, 2014

Author - Eric Walters

Goodreads

One shocking afternoon, computers around the globe shut down in a viral catastrophe. At sixteen-year-old Adam Daley's high school, the problem first seems to be a typical electrical outage, until students discover that cell phones are down, municipal utilities are failing, and a few computer-free cars like Adam's are the only vehicles that function.

Driving home, Adam encounters a storm tide of anger and fear as the region becomes paralyzed. Soon- as resource dwindle, crises mount, and chaos descends-he will see his suburban neighborhood band together for protection. And Adam will understand that having a police captain for a mother and a retired government spy living next door are not just facts of his life but the keys to his survival in, The Rule of Three by Eric Walters.

Pre-order: Amazon ˚ Barnes & Noble ˚ Book Depository

Other Upcoming 2014 Releases

And now for other releases that I simply cannot wait for!!

*All images lead to Goodreads.

  

  

This was part of:

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke

Title - Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Author - April Genevieve Tucholke
Series - Between
Release Date - August 15th, 2013
Publisher - Dial
Format Acquired - Hardcover

River rents the guesthouse behind Violet's crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard. 

Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be be something more? Violet's grandmother always warned her about the Devil, but she never said he could be a dark-haired boy who takes naps in the sun, who likes coffee, who kisses you in a cemetery... who makes you want to kiss back. Violet's already so knee-deep in love, she can't see straight. And that's just how River likes it.

I had been looking forward to reading this book for quite a while now, and finally, I gave myself the opportunity by going ahead and buying a copy! I cannot say that I regret it. At all.

The first thing that attracted me to this book was the cover art. Yes, it is overshadowed by the big and looming letters of the title, but it still speaks to me. The cover art is simply too beautiful to not make someone wonder what's going on beyond the hard cover.

At first, I thought the book was alright; the first couple of pages where the main character, Violet, is talking about her grandmother dragged on a bit too much for my tastes, but I prefer not to judge a book until I've read at least a hundred (100) pages of the story. It soon became clear that I didn't need to go that far before I took a liking to Violet White's peculiar ways, her twin brother Luke's bad attitude, and their neighbor Sunshine's laid-back existence. I was also very intrigued by the Whites' family history!

The storyline seemed as fluid as water to me. You read one page, move on to the next and the next, and before you know it, you're done!! I don't think it would have been possible if the characters weren't molded as they were. Each and everyone of them are quirky (some are even beyond creepy), but they're such irregular people that it just seems normal. I for one think that that is pretty cool. Abnormal things happen in a lot in Violet's little town; the residents question it but at the same time, they weirdly let it roll off their shoulders...

And the relationships? Complex! Violet hates but loves her misogynist brother Luke who seems to blame everything that is wrong in the world on his sister all the while worrying about her? Then there is Sunshine who likes to stare into the horizon for hours while engrossed in her thoughts, wants to be kissed and groped by Luke (it happens all the time) and is Violet's somewhat friend. River is the boy who just popped up in town one day and who brings everything the strange with him wherever he steps foot.

One thing that I didn't like about this book is the amount of times the word "Devil" was used. It was always the Devil this and the Devil that. It was used so many times that it just became extremely annoying. If this was revised and the use of this particular word was reduced to more than half, it would still be a really good story. So the Devil? Unnecessary.

Cannot wait for book number two.~

Link Out - Amazon ˚ Barnes and Noble

End 2013 - Start 2014

It is, at last, the end of 2013 and the beginning of a new year that will hopefully be filled with wondrously wonderfully new books by all of our favorite authors!

It was not long ago that I decided to work on this little blog of mine. I've found out that being a full time university student takes a lot out of a person's day; so much in fact that reading in the pace I'm used to in the past is almost impossible! x.x

BUT! But but but...

Things will be different during 2014. New semester, new schedule. So what have I done? I've made sure that I would have plenty of time to read, blog, and be more involved in the book blogging community.

So farewell 2013! I'm ready to take on another year of reading, reading, and even more reading.

Happy Bookish Holidays

Happy Holidays everyone! I don't know what you celebrate exactly, but I know for a fact that t'is the time to appreciate books and their authors!

What did I wish for this Christmas? Books, duh! Books, books and more books! And I did get books, from myself? I suppose no one would know which ones I wanted better than me. xD

Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday. And remember, the only way to make it a great holiday is to curl yourself up with a good book in hand.