Blog Tour and Guest Post: Snakeroot by Andrea Cremer

Today we have the pleasure of hosting rhe Snakeroot Blog Tour!!  Andrea has been amazing and written a guest post.

Snakeroot sets up a new conflict and the two characters pitted against each other should be very familiar to Nightshade fans: Ariadne (Adne) the Weaver and Logan Bane. Adne and Logan struck me as natural opponents who were destined to clash in a way that would have cataclysmic ramifications for everyone around them.



While Adne and Logan are very different people, they have more in common than one might expect. At the opening ofSnakeroot, Adne is the sole living member of her family. The Witches War took her father, mother and the brother she’d barely begun to know. Though she finds comfort in her relationship with Connor, the toll of so many losses has left Adne vulnerable. In the final battle of the war, Adne discovered she possessed powers unlike those of any other Searcher – powers that Bosque Mar recognized. Adne’s dreams are full of strange, disturbing visions that make her question her place among her peers and her own sanity. Her doubts, fears, and desire for knowledge could pull her away from the ones she loves and into the arms of her oldest enemy.



Like Adne, Logan’s family has been destroyed by the war, turning his world upside and sapping the powers he’d always taken for granted. Though Logan colluded with the Searchers in the final battle, thinking it was the only way to save his own skin, he’s decided that losing his status as a Keeper might be more than he can bear. Logan is used to giving orders, but now he’s forced to ask for help as he searches for a way to regain access to the dark magics that made his privileged life possible.



While their aims diverge, Adne and Logan find themselves following similar paths. Each finds that they may be able to use the other to their own advantage. But trickery and manipulation create a dangerous game and neither Adne nor Logan can be certain who will win.



SNAKEROOT Synopsis:



Picking up right where BLOODROSE left off, SNAKEROOT follows two characters readers know well from the original Nightshade trilogy.  Adne, one of the Searchers and Ren's half-sister, is plagued by nightmares featuring the evil Bosque Mar, now trapped in the Nether and looking for a way out.  Adne's power draws him to her, and he wants, more than anything, for her to come to the side of dark magic and free him. Logan Bane, the Keeper who was once set to rule Calla and Ren's Haldis pack, is one of the few of his kind left, after he helped Shay close the rift between our world and the Nether.  But he wants to re-open that rift so he can re-create Guardians and reclaim the Keepers' magic. He raids the Rowan Estate to find what he needs to perform dark, ancient rituals, but Bosque Mar has turned his back on Logan for his treachery, and without his help, Logan is lost.  The two teens are both battling Bosque Mar--one who wants to be left alone, and the other who wants help.



About Andrea Cremer:

Andrea Cremer is the internationally bestselling author of the Nightshade series, which includes the critically acclaimed Nightshade, Wolfsbane, Bloodrose, Rift and Rise. She went to school until there wasn't any more school to go to, ending with a Ph.D. in early modern history--a reflection of her fascination with witchcraft and warfare--and taught for years at Macalester College.  She grew up roaming the forests and lakeshores of northern Wisconsin, but now lives in New York City, where she roams the sidewalks and riverbanks of the concrete jungle she calls home.www.andreacremer.com  @andreacremer

Blog Tour Guest Post: Blythewood by Carol Goodman

 

At seventeen, Ava Hall is already orphaned and working at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory when her life is turned upside down by the horrific fire that kills her best friend and leaves her questioning her sanity.  After a summer locked away in a mental institution, Ava is sent to Blythewood, the boarding school where Ava's mother spent the happiest years of her life.  But Blythewood is no ordinary finishing school for young ladies:  it's a training ground for magical warriors who form the mortal world's only line of defense against the evil world of Faerie.  

As Ava develops her own powers, she seeks to solve the many mysteries in her life:  Who was the handsome young man who helped save her from the fire-- and why does she remember him having wings?  Why did her mother commit suicide?  Who is the sinister stranger who's been following her from the city, and what's his connection with the deaths and disappearances that are plaguing Blythewood?  When evil broadens its scope beyond the Blythewood campus to impact world events, Ava must decide whom to align herself with, and figure out how to stop the dark forces, even if that means going against everything she’s been taught.

Set in New York's Hudson Valley in the early 1900s, the gothic Blythewood Trilogy vividly portrays a world-- both real and imagined--on the brink of change, and one girl's quest for the truth about her world, her school, and herself. 

 

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Carol on Blythewood:

 

One of my favorite things about writing BLYTHEWOOD was writing an all-girls school.  I went to Vassar which is one of the Seven Sisters, which are the Colleges that were the female counterparts to a lot of the elite colleges from the days when schools like Harvard or Yale would not allow women.  So, the idea of an all-female institution has been floating around my head for a while.  There are a few all-girls high schools and colleges still around (Smith and Mount Holyoke both only accept women and Miss Porter’s is probably the most famous all-girls high school still around) but I feel like they in many ways are emblematic of an era that ended in the early 20^th century.  What’s so special about Blythewood being a girls school is that women are in charge of everything and can’t be sidelined like they very much were in the world at that time.  Blythewood is a school run by women for training girls into guardians of the magical world.   Having Blythewood by a girls school also allows me to develop the girls’ dynamics with each other better.  My three main girls, Ava, Helen, and Daisy, all have romantic entanglements but those relationships are not the same as the friendship they have with each other, and those friendships are really the focus of BLYTHEWOOD.

 

 

About Carol Goodman:

Bestselling author Carol Goodman’s books have been nominated for the IMPAC award twice, the Simon & Schuster/Mary Higgins Clark award, and the Nero Wolfe Award. Her second novel, The Seduction of Water, won the Hammett Prize in 2003. Visit her at carolgoodman.com. 

Teaser Tuesday: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading!

To participate all you have to do is:

•Grab your current read

•Open to a random page

•Share "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page

•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)

 

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Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke
Published by Dial (Penguin)
Release Date:  On Shelves NOW!!!

"People said time was relative, and I guess that explained why my life before River felt line a handful of seconds--brief flashes of small events that added up to very little. But my life after River was a three-volume saga. Epic. With quests and villains and murderers and unsatisfactory resolutions and people being torn apart." Pg 364

"River leaned over me, wrapped his fingers around my neck, and pulled my ear to his lips. "I'll make you dinner when I get back, and afterward, I'll be answering questions,' he whispered." Pg 132

 

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This book rocked my world.  The language was beautiful--I could have written down quotes all day.  Be sure to check out my review during my blog tour stop tomorrow!!!!!  Leave a link to your TT or TTT and I'll comment back (when I get back into town from my vacay!)

Imposter by Susanne Winnacker Review and Giveaway

Imposter by Susanne Winnacker

Received from Razorbill

Available Now

Reviewed by:  Middle Sis Jenn

The Sisters Say:  Suspenseful, Thrilling, and Spectacular

Can Tessa pose as Madison . . . and stop a killer before it’s too late? 

Tessa is a Variant, able to absorb the DNA of anyone she touches and mimic their appearance. Shunned by her family, she’s spent the last two years training with the Forces with Extraordinary Abilities, a secret branch of the FBI. When a serial killer rocks a small town in Oregon, Tessa is given a mission: she must impersonate Madison, a local teen, to find the killer before he strikes again.

Tessa hates everything about being an impostor—the stress, the danger, the deceit—but loves playing the role of a normal girl. As Madison, she finds friends, romance, and the kind of loving family she’d do anything to keep. Amid action, suspense, and a ticking clock, this super-human comes to a very human conclusion: even a girl who can look like anyone struggles the most with being herself.

I LOVED this one!!!  I really wish there were more thrillers like this one in the YA genre.  From Chapter 1, I was completely hooked, and no matter how fast I turned the pages, it wasn’t fast enough.  I couldn’t wait to discover the villain and watch as Tessa finally discovered the strength in herself.

I really enjoyed the idea of “Variants,” people with extraordinary abilities living among us.  This book has a flare of X-Men to it with the suspense and mystery of any great thriller (you name it—Bourne, Bond, etc.).  Seeing all the different abilities was intriguing, but more importantly, I really enjoyed seeing how having these abilities transformed and altered their views on the simplest things—safety, love, truth, friendship.  There is always an air of danger to their lives and their relationships, and it really makes them more vulnerable than most—despite their powers that put them above most of mankind.

Tessa was a great main character.  She was strong and confident, but she was also realistic—making some really dumb moves at times.  Her vulnerability in her feelings for Alec also added to her realism.  Many people will think that her heartsickness over him is annoying, but I thought it made her more human in a book where normal humans were few and far between.  In truth though, I’m hoping she ends up with Devon—the brother of the girl Tessa is sent to impersonate.  He’s a bit on the mysterious side, and I love the boys with secrets!

Of course, Alec definitely has secrets of his own, and I don’t think we are finished discovering them all.  Alec is kind of like Superman (minus the flying)—he’s much stronger and much faster than most humans.  Therefore, you can imagine what swooniness could come about if Tessa were to, I don’t know, faint and have to be carried home?   Still, all the strength in the world and he can’t muster up the courage to tell Tessa how he feels, even though it is so obvious from the first page.

I really liked that Susanne kept her story succinct, but not so short that it felt unfinished.  There was action in every chapter, and I never got bored with the characters.  The pacing was great because it wasn’t drawn out just to hit a certain number of pages.  The plot carried on perfectly, without extraneous details that usually drive me nuts.  I am definitely looking forward to the sequel!

Overall, this was a great read, and I am definitely sorry I didn’t pick it up sooner.  The mystery and suspense were great, and although many are claiming that the plotline is cliché or generic, I totally disagree.  I was hypnotized by these powerful Variants, and I am dying to find out what happens next.

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Star Cursed by Jessica Spotswood Review and Giveaway

Star Cursed by Jessica Spotswood

ARC received from Penguin

On Shelves Now

Reviewed by:  Middle Sis Jenn

The Sisters Say:  Beautiful, Infuriating, and Chilling

With the Brotherhood persecuting witches like never before, a divided Sisterhood desperately needs Cate to come into her Prophesied powers. And after Cate's friend Sachi is arrested for using magic, a war-thirsty Sister offers to help her find answers—if Cate is willing to endanger everyone she loves.

Cate doesn't want to be a weapon, and she doesn't want to involve her friends and Finn in the Sisterhood's schemes. But when Maura and Tess join the Sisterhood, Maura makes it clear that she'll do whatever it takes to lead the witches to victory. Even if it means sacrifices. Even if it means overthrowing Cate. Even if it means all-out war.

In the highly anticipated sequel to Born Wicked, the Cahill Witch Chronicles continue Cate, Maura and Tess's quest to find love, protect family, and explore their magic against all odds in an alternate history of New England.

This is by far my favorite series that centers around witches.  I love how Jessica weaves magic into a world full of prejudice and fear—a world rife to explode at any moment.  Fans of Born Wicked will find themselves on the edge of their seats—watching and waiting for the oracle to come forth, for love to be discovered, and for a war to begin.

My favorite aspect of this series is the setting.  I love the picturesque setting of quaint towns on the brink of a new century coupled with the tension and paranoia that bubbles through those very streets.  I’ve always been fascinated with historical tragedies such as the witch trials and Salem, and Jessica does very well in showing how a small spark of fear can catch hold and become an inferno.  The terror and suspicion is evident in every action, every word, and every character. 

I still love Cate as a main character, and what I love even more is that Jessica doesn’t hold true to the ya stereotype that the main character is the most important one.  It makes it so that the story is told from a different point of view in a sense.  I thought this made Cate even stronger character because everyone has been looking to her for guidance, so she knows the pressure of what is expected.  SPOILER:  We get a very strong hint as to who the prophesied witch is at the end of Born Wicked, and I got frustrated that the beginning of this book acted like the final scene in BW never happened.  It was like everyone (including Cate) didn’t have any clue as to who the prophesied witch actually was.  It kind of made me feel like Cate was a bit daft in the head.

Maura was just as infuriating as ever, which is a good and bad thing.  It was great because you know an author has written a character well if you wish that you could grab the girl’s hair and pull as hard as you can just so she can get a small glimpse of the pain she causes.  But, then it’s a bad thing because I truly loathe her.  She’s nieve, obnoxious, reckless, prideful, and just plain mean.  One might say she suffers from the “quintessential middle child syndrome” but I think that’s a bunch of quackery because I’m a middle child and I’m not a crazy, hateful (insert bad word).

Finn was just as delightful as ever, and I found myself disappointed that he wasn’t in more scenes—especially since his scenes are so yummy!  I loved the protective side of Finn; and on more than one occasion I just wanted Cate to run away with him and forget about the rest of the world.  But of course Finn is too honorable for that (I keep wanting to say Flynn because my son is watching Tangled!). 

The pacing of the book was up and down for me.  I felt like everyone was constantly on the edge of a cliff, teetering and almost falling over.  The problem was they were there for the entire book, and it got to the point where I just wanted something big to happen to start the impending war.  Something big does happen, but it’s not until the last 3 pages.  I wanted more action, more magic.

Overall, this was a great sequel, even though it did, at times, fall into the 2^nd book slump.  But the bang of an ending makes up for it, and I am so ready for their world to implode.  Allegiances have been declared, deceit has been unmasked, and the war has started.

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Waiting on Wednesday: Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. It spotlights books that have not yet been released, but ones that you should pre-order today! This week's book that we are anxiously awaiting is ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER by Stephanie Perkins.   ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER releases on September 17, 2013 from Dutton (Penguin).

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From the glittering streets of Manhattan to the moonlit rooftops of Paris, falling in love is easy for hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh. But as they begin their senior year in France, Isla and Josh are quickly forced to confront the heartbreaking reality that happily-ever-afters aren’t always forever.

Their romantic journey is skillfully intertwined with those of beloved couples Anna and Étienne and Lola and Cricket, whose paths are destined to collide in a sweeping finale certain to please fans old and new.

 

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I am so excited for this one!  I loved Lola and Anna, and I can't wait to see what happens with Isla and Josh.  Plus, we get more of my favorite couples!!!!  Yay!!!

 

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff

Published by Razorbill (Penguin)

On Shelves Now

Reviewed by Middle Sis Jenn

The Sisters Say:  Creepy and Thrilling with a touch of sweet romance

The city of Ludlow is gripped by the hottest July on record. The asphalt is melting, the birds are dying, petty crime is on the rise, and someone in Hannah Wagnor’s peaceful suburban community is killing girls.

For Hannah, the summer is a complicated one. Her best friend Lillian died six months ago, and Hannah just wants her life to go back to normal. But how can things be normal when Lillian’s ghost is haunting her bedroom, pushing her to investigate the mysterious string of murders? Hannah’s just trying to understand why her friend self-destructed, and where she fits now that Lillian isn’t there to save her a place among the social elite. And she must stop thinking about Finny Boone, the big, enigmatic delinquent whose main hobbies seem to include petty larceny and surprising acts of kindness.

With the entire city in a panic, Hannah soon finds herself drawn into a world of ghost girls and horrifying secrets. She realizes that only by confronting the Valentine Killer will she be able move on with her life—and it’s up to her to put together the pieces before he strikes again.

Paper Valentine is a hauntingly poetic tale of love and death by the New York Times bestselling author of The Replacement and The Space Between.

This is one of those books where you read it and then wonder, “Why did I wait so long to read this?”  I’ve had an eARC of this book since at least November, but I kept putting it off because I just didn’t know how much I would enjoy it.  Now that I have read it, I can say without a doubt that Brenna Yovanoff knows how to give you that fearful tingle that travels slowly up your spine until you want to run through your house and turn on every light!

The whole serial killer aspect of the story was slow starting—I think it was only mentioned once in the first 30% of the book, but after the murders start escalating, then the book really takes off.  Now that doesn’t mean that the first part of the book is boring—I actually really enjoyed it.  You get to see inside Hannah’s mind and into her life, and its heartbreaking watching her deal with the ghost of her dead best friend, Lillian.   She’s angry at Lillian because she doesn’t understand how Lillian let herself waste away, never fighting the ugly thoughts in her head; and that anger defines Hannah’s current personality.  I related to Hannah even though I had never been in that situation because Brenna’s writing just made the strained relationship come to life (in the face of death).

I really enjoyed the thriller aspect of this story, and no matter how hard I tried, I could not figure out the identity of the killer.  I think I went through 5 different suspects before the truth was revealed!  I never saw that ending coming, and that was what made this so great!  I love books where I can’t predict what is going to happen, and unfortunately, predictability seems to be a common problem in the YA genre.  I also loved the psychological side of this book.  You get Lillian’s inferiority complex and low self-esteem and Hannah’s brokenness and add that to Finny’s (the love interest) danger-seeking, destroy me attitude and there are certain to be fireworks.  Plus, you have a serial killer who stages his scenes like something out of a deranged toy store and the creep factor just zooms to new levels.

Perhaps my favorite part of the story was watching Hannah and Finny fall for each other.  They are both so broken in their own way, so it’s heart-wrenching to see them cling to each other for support and trust.  However, the waves of doubt that seem to ripple through their relationship make them all the more relatable and tender to read about.  I loved that Brenna gave us a sweet romance to offset the brutality of the murders and the creepiness of the hauntings.

The only issue I had with it (and this is what makes me go with 4 stars instead of 5) is that there are some plot holes that are left unexplained.  For example, Hannah is being haunted by Lillian, the ghost of her best friend.  Is this the only paranormal element that exists in her world?  Or could there be something else?  How the ghosts appear is never explained, and Hannah never even questions the how or why of it.  I just find that a bit strange.  Furthermore, it never explains why Hannah is the only one who can see the ghosts.  I would really have liked to know if it is a power she has or if ghosts can reveal themselves to chosen people or what not.  That was never explained and it still leaves me wondering about it now.

Overall, this was a great read and it was definitely something different in the YA genre (at least for me).  I have not read many ya thrillers, so the psychological warfare and the murders were new to me.  I really did enjoy it, though, and I look forward to more from Brenna and this particular sub-genre in ya.