Lovelornness aside, there's also a big reveal about Julian's real role at the LA Institute that doesn't quite work. Most readers will suspect this big secret much earlier -- and will wonder why they put the clues together before Emma did. Cutting that part out would make Lady Midnight a more digestible length and get us all to the fantastically culty-creepy climactic action faster. That's when the book is finally full of surprises.
2.
Glass Sword (Red Queen #2)
Writer Victoria Aveyard
Series: Red Queen
Genres Romance, Pretend Dystopia
Source: Purchased
ABOUT (by writer) :
I’m a writer repped by Suzie Townsend at New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc. I split my time between my hometown East Longmeadow, Massachusetts and Los Angeles. After graduating with a BFA in Screenwriting from the University of Southern California, I decided to try my hand at writing a novel. My debut RED QUEEN came out of the terrifying, unemployed year after college. The sequel GLASS SWORD released in February 2016.
Currently I’m working on the third book in the RED QUEEN series, along with pursuing other projects in literature and film. My proudest achievements are riding a horse in the mountains of Montana and navigating from London to Edinburgh without GPS.
ABOUT:
“Mare Barrow’s world is divided by blood—those with red and those with silver. Mare and her family are lowly Reds, destined to serve the Silver elite whose supernatural abilities make them nearly gods. Mare steals what she can to help her family survive, but when her best friend is conscripted into the army she gambles everything to win his freedom. A twist of fate leads her to the royal palace itself, where, in front of the king and all his nobles, she discovers a power of her own—an ability she didn’t know she had. Except … her blood is Red.
To hide this impossibility, the king forces her into the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks her new position to aid the Scarlet Guard—the leaders of a Red rebellion. Her actions put into motion a deadly and violent dance, pitting prince against prince—and Mare against her own heart.
From debut author Victoria Aveyard comes a lush, vivid fantasy series where loyalty and desire can tear you apart and the only certainty is betrayal.”
REVIEW: Mare Barrow’s blood is red—the color of common folk—but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court tries to control.
The crown calls her an impossibility, a fake, but as she makes her escape from Maven, the prince—the friend—who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: she is not the only one of her kind.
Pursued by Maven, now a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join in the struggle against her oppressors.
But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat.
Will she shatter under the weight of the lives that are the cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever?
3. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Originally published: July 31, 2016
Series: Harry Potter (Literary Series)
Original language: English language
Playwrights: J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, John Tiffany
Genres: Fantasy literature, Drama
ABOUT : Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is an upcoming two-part West End stage play written by Jack Thorne and based on a story by author J. K. Rowling, Thorne and director John Tiffany.
RIVIEW : It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.
While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.
4. The Crown (The Selection)
Author Kiera Cass
Date Published : May 3, 2016
Publisher : HarperTeen
Pages : 288 (hardcover), 352 (e-book)
ABOUT : The Crown is a sequel to The Heir. It was released on May 3, 2016. The sequel is the final full-sized novel in The Selection Series, and the end of Eadlyn Schreave's Selection.
RIVIEW : Kiera Cass’s #1 New York Times bestselling Selection series has captured the hearts of readers from its very first page. Now the end of the journey is here. Prepare to be swept off your feet by The Crown—the eagerly awaited, wonderfully romantic fifth and final book in the Selection series.
In The Heir, a new era dawned in the world of The Selection. Twenty years have passed since America Singer and Prince Maxon fell in love, and their daughter is the first princess to hold a Selection of her own.
Eadlyn didn’t think she would find a real partner among the Selection’s thirty-five suitors, let alone true love. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you… and now Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more difficult—and more important—than she ever expected.
The Selection series has sold more than 3 million copies and captured the hearts of fans around the world. This swoonworthy final installment is the happily ever after they’ve all been waiting for.
5. A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses)
Author : Sarah J Maas
Genre : Young/New Adult, Fantasy
Release Date : May 3rd, 2016
Series : A Court of Thorns and Roses trilogy
Pages : 624
Publisher : Bloomsbury Children's
ABOUT : “For love,
She cheated death.
For her world.
She will become a weapon.”
–The tagline on the UK cover of A Court of Mist and Fury
A Court of Mist and Fury is the second book of the A Court of Thorns and Roses trilogy by Sarah J. Maas. It is preceded by A Court of Thorns and Roses and succeeded by the Third Book. It was released on May 3rd, 2016. Like the previous novel, this novel with have fairy tale/mythological connections, with Hades and Persephone as this book's theme.
RIVIEW : Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court--but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can't forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people .
Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms--and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future--and the future of a world cleaved in two.
With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas's masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.
6. Passenger (Passenger)
Originally published: January 5, 2016
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Publisher : Disney-Hyperion, 2016
Length : 496 pages
ABOUT : Violin prodigy Etta Spencer had big plans for her future,but a tragic accident has put her once-bright career at risk. Closely tied to her musical skill,
PASSENGER is an epic thriller about two teen time-travelers. Etta Spencer is a 17-year-old violin prodigy in modern-day New York City on the brink of her professional debut. Nineteen-year-old Nicholas is the adopted son of an 18th-century sea captain trying to escape his nefarious biological family, the Ironwoods, who want little to do with him, since his mother was their slave. Etta doesn't know she's a time traveler, but when she's kidnapped through a "passage" at the Metropolitan Museum, she ends up in 1776 on Nicholas' ship, to be taken back to the Ironwoods as part of a contract he'd like to fulfill so he can then be done with the Ironwoods forever. That is, until he actually meets Etta and realizes she has no idea who the Ironwoods are and what they want from her. Old Mr. Ironwood blackmails Etta to find a mysterious device he claims her mother (also, obviously, a time traveler) stole from him years ago and hid in another century. If she can't find it by a certain date, he'll kill her mother. Ironwood also coerces Nicholas to accompany Etta -- to make sure the device is brought back to him. As Etta and Nicholas set off across centuries and continents, they forge first a friendship and then something more, but time is not on their side.
RIVIEW: Readers will get a taste of what the various time periods were like, from descriptions of clothing and architecture to major historical events, real people and places, and laws and customs. Nicholas and Sophia explain to Etta why she must dress and behave a certain way to blend in with that time's propriety. It will be eye-opening for some readers to see how, despite being a free man, Nicholas, who is half black, must resign himself to the prejudice and institutional racism -- such as legal slavery and miscegenation laws -- that forbid him from living as he pleases or loving Etta openly without inviting scorn (or worse). Teens will get a sense of how challenging it was (and is) being a person of color -- or a woman -- in any historical time period.
Passenger points out how much racism costs people of color who must deal with and overcome discrimination in myriad ways that others can't understand. It also reveals the way women must endure being underestimated or excluded from accessing power due to sexism. Nicholas and Etta are stronger together than apart.
Nicholas and Etta are both smart, strong, courageous, and talented. Nicholas has managed to thrive despite the pervasive racism of his original time, and Etta goes from being someone who must overcome crippling stage fright to someone who can fiercely protect herself and those she loves.
A slow-burning romance between older teens (she's nearly 18, he's nearly 20) includes several blush-worthy moments, such as when he helps her unlace her corset and she notices he's shirtless, but eventually their obvious yearning culminates in passionate kisses and one love scene, but it's "fade to black" style, with the language concentrating on the couple's overwhelming feelings rather than what they're doing physically. It should be noted, however, that there's no mention of birth control.
7.The Last Star (The Last Star (The 5th Wave)
Originally published: May 7, 2013
Author: Rick YanceySeries: The 5th Wave
Followed by: The Infinite Sea
Adaptations: The 5th Wave (2016)
Page count: 457
ABOUT : The 5th Wave is a young adult, science fiction novel. Written by Rick Yancey, the novel was published in 2013 and is the first installment in a trilogy. Critics have compared the book favorably to The Hunger Games and The Road, and noted that it "should do for aliens what Twilight did for vampires.
REVIEW : THE 5TH WAVE explores an apocalyptic scenario that still has some juice in it. By making the motives of the alien invaders opaque, author Rick Yancey keeps readers guessing and the level of suspense high throughout the book. Readers will find echoes of The Hunger Games, Ender's Game, and Stephen King's The Stand, but The 5th Wave displays plenty of originality. It's a nail-biter from beginning to end.
Parents need to know that The 5th Wave is an emotionally intense science fiction adventure set in the aftermath of an alien invasion that has killed billions. It contains a high level of physical violence, resulting in main characters being seriously injured or forced to kill their perceived enemies at a distance or very up close. Younger, more sensitive readers might find the plotting too intense. The language is sometimes rough, with multiple instances of "hell," "damn," "son of a bitch," "bastard," "piss," and "s--t" and two or three uses of "f--k."
8. When Breath Becomes Air
Originally published: January 12, 2016
Author: Paul Kalanithi
ABOUT : For readers of Atul Gawande, Andrew Solomon, and Anne Lamott, a profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir by a young neurosurgeon faced with a terminal cancer diagnosis who attempts to answer the question What makes a life worth living?
RIVIEW : Paul Kalanithi’s memoir, “When Breath Becomes Air,” written as he faced a terminal cancer diagnosis, is inherently sad. But it’s an emotional investment well worth making: a moving and thoughtful memoir of family, medicine and literature. It is, despite its grim undertone, accidentally inspiring.
In 2013, Kalanithi, a 36-year-old neurosurgeon, was found to have lung cancer. A nonsmoker who enjoyed reading and the outdoors, Kalanithi was rising through the ranks at Stanford University School of Medicine when weight loss and severe back pain sent him hobbling to the doctor. Kalanithi knew what was coming even before the CT scan results revealed multiple tumors. In that single moment, he writes, “the future I had imagined, the one just about to be realized, the culmination of decades of striving, evaporated.” Now, he’d wear a light blue hospital gown instead of a surgical one. The diagnosis stole not only his future, but also his identity. “Who would I be, going forward, and for how long?” he asks.
Kalanithi’s diagnosis is both a death sentence and an opportunity — albeit an unwanted one — for the kind of introspection that many of us claim to want but that never seems possible unless forced by tragedy. Raised on a steady diet of literature — Sartre, Twain, Thoreau — assigned by his mother when he was a boy in Arizona, Kalanithi is a deeply philosophical sort (his master’s thesis in literature at Stanford was “Whitman and the Medicalization of Personality”). His book, adapted parts of which appeared in the New York Times and The Washington Post, showcases his learned background, his contemplative disposition and his kindness. His decision to go to medical school, he writes, was an effort “to forge relationships with the suffering, and to keep following the question of what makes human life meaningful, even in the face of death and decay.”
Kalanithi writes in great detail about his years of training, and in these parts of his memoir, you might forget for a minute that you are reading the words of a dying man. You’re drawn in — as you might be by the work of Atul Gawande, Oliver Sacks or Jerome Groopman — learning about the cases, the patients, the dilemmas.
9.The Nest
Authors : Kenneth Oppel, Jon Klassen
Illustrated by Jon Klassen
Edition : illustrated, reprint
Publisher : Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, 2016
Length : 272 pages
Subject : Fiction › Literary
ABOUT : "When wasps come to Steve in a dream offering to fix his sick baby brother, he thinks all he has to do is say yes. But yes may not mean what Steve thinks it means"
RIVIEW : With expert pacing, hopeful messages of accepting faults and struggles, and creepy tension, it's hard to decide what to like best about this tiny but significant novel. Author Kenneth Oppel, who wrote the equally enthralling The Boundless only a year before THE NEST -- he's really on a roll -- presents a family struggling with the stress of a sick baby through the eyes of Steve, a boy whose age isn't given (but he's probably in middle school). He's anxious enough to see a therapist, washes his hands too often, and is afraid to even say the name of the family's new baby who's come into the house and may not live.
That in itself would be a compelling story in Oppel's hands. But then there are Steve's dreams about the wasps that are way too real. And a scary knife sharpener with missing fingers who goes door to door. And a toy telephone the little sister answers to talk to "Mr. Nobody." Readers will be torn like Steve about what to believe is real and who's really on his side. The tension builds right after Steve makes a profound decision about what he stands for. And he's willing to risk his life for it. After readers close the book and the tension of the climax fades, the beautiful themes in The Nest linger. A favorite: that Steve's family will have struggles and his brother won't be perfect but he's part of the family and is loved and valued for who he is, just as Steve is loved and valued.
10.One with You (Crossfire)
Originally published: April 5, 2016
Author: Sylvia Day
Preceded by: Captivated By You
ABOUT: The final chapter in the global blockbuster Crossfire quintet. Gideon Cross. Falling in love with him was the easiest thing I've ever done. It happened instantly. Completely. Irrevocably. Marrying him was a dream come true.
RIVIEEW : This was one of my most highly-anticipated books of the year and it delivered everything I’d hoped for and more!! The Crossfire series is one of my all-time favorites. Gideon and Eva’s tumultuous and intensely passionate love story first captured my heart years ago and this final book kept me glued to the page from the moment I started until the very end. I adored every word and I couldn’t be happier with the ending. It’s extraordinarily gratifying to read about these two damaged people who love each so deeply and with such intensity working as hard as they can to build a healthy relationship and emerging stronger as a couple in a way that makes you truly believe that their love will last forever and ever and ever.
His hand curved around my nape, the hold possessive and tender at once. His face was impassive, giving nothing away, but his eyes… those blue, blue eyes… they raged with emotion. “We’re going to make it, angel.”
I’m not going to mention the plot at all in this review because if you’ve read the series, then you know where Gideon and Eva are at and if you haven’t, then I don’t want to give anything at all away. So this review is more about my reaction TO the book.
The one thing I’ve loved since the first book was that you are always made to believe that Gideon and Eva’s love for each other is the kind of love that transcends pure desire, but has the depth to wether any storm. Even when they fight (as any couple naturally would in a growing relationship), you can always feel that there’s a genuine reason behind their disagreements. Given their respective painful and damaging pasts, being open and communicative is an area that is shaky for them and so you definitely see them stumble and fall, but they always get up stronger. You genuinely see the strength of their relationship grow over the series. I really applaud Sylvia Day for writing such an incredibly erotic series that was balanced with so much depth and complexity that it truly made this story one that you can’t stop thinking about.
So often it’s people’s insecurities and fears that are the root cause behind actions that might seen irrational or unwarranted but in this book, Gideon and Eva have grown so much and we’re always shown the causes of their actions. It’s like getting an exclusive behind-the-scenes view into their minds and you don’t just see their actions, you see why they’re acting a certain way. It’s the ultimate example of ‘showing not telling’ with writing and this level of emotional depth and detail kept me constantly connected to the these characters. More than anything, this quote represents the book so much to me:
