The Mall by Megan McCafferty

The year is 1991. Scrunchies, mixtapes and 90210 are, like, totally fresh. Cassie Worthy is psyched to spend the summer after graduation working at the Parkway Center Mall. In six weeks, she and her boyfriend head off to college in NYC to fulfill The Plan: higher education and happily ever after.

But you know what they say about the best laid plans...

I think everyone wants to escape 2020 right now. Travel back in time 1991 and check out The Mall by Megan McCafferty. I loved this book, I could actually smell the Parkway Center Mall and relished riding the wave of 90s nostalgia all throughout the novel. Despite being set in a simpler time, the themes of finding yourself and learning who your true friends are is timeless. While Cassie is the star of this novel, I thought it was her friend Drea who really shined the most here and I would love, love, love  if McCafferty gives us a follow-up novel starring Drea.

🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 

Visit the publisher’s website for ordering info and pick up The Mall today!!

Special Thanks to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

P.S. - Anyone know where I can get a Pineapple Orange Julius that tastes as good as it did in the 90s? 

Meme Crush Monday

Forget about “Man Crush Monday’s,” here #MCM means Meme Crush Monday! For those who don’t have access or don’t wish to use Instagram, I’ll share a bookish meme right here weekly on the blog.

This Week’s #MCM Meme Crush Monday:

I saw this making the rounds on Facebook this weekend and had to laugh. I hope you’re all staying safe, practicing social distancing and taking care of yourselves. 

Now, tell us who is your favorite dystopian heroine and why? 

The Perfume by Caroline B. Cooney

Welcome to the 8th installment of Summer of Fear,  a weekly series of posts where I will review/revisit a classic YA Horror/Thriller from the 70s-90s. This week I read The Perfume by Caroline B. Cooney which was originally published in 1992. 

When fifteen-year-old Dove Daniel’s friends discover the new perfume called Venom, they become infatuated. They have Obsession and Poison; now they simply must have Venom. When they discover it’s available at Dry Ice, the coolest store in the local mall, they rush over after school. But to Dove, Venom seems inexplicably terrifying, as does the store that carries it. If she breathes in its potent scent, she is sure something terrible will happen. At first whiff, she senses something primitive and dark. Once she’s inhaled the scent, she begins to feel something . . . different . . . and her heart beats in double time. What has Venom’s bite awakened inside her? 
-openroadmedia.com

I am a huge fan of Caroline B. Cooney’s book The Face on the Milk Carton and all the books in the “Janie” series. Prior to reading The Perfume last night, I hasn’t read any of her horror novels. This book is extremely well written but also bizarre. I couldn’t tell if was a commentary on what it may be like to have a mental illness such as Dissociative Identity Disorder or if Dove is truly possessed by an evil Druid spirit.  My heart broke for Dove in the beginning when she first starts to hear and respond to the voices in her head and thinks “she decided against describing what was going on inside her skull. The world did not sound sympathetic.” Ultimately Dove’s workaholic distracted parents take her for mental health counseling at a facility full of the worst bad stereotypes of mental health clinics which was truly horrifying. The resolution is also abrupt. 

🌟🌟🌟/5

Have you read The Perfume? Please share if you have, I’d love for some feedback as I’m still trying to process this book myself. 

The Perfume is currently physically out of print but is available as an e-book. Click on the publisher link above for ordering information. I borrowed my copy through Kindle Unlimited. 

Seven Days of You by Cecilia Vinesse

Since it’s YA week, I thought I’d review the last YA book I read and adored.

Seven Days of You by Cecilia Vinesse is sweet romance that tells the story of Sophia (Sofa to her friends) and her last 7 days in Tokyo before her mother relocates the family back to NJ for work. All Sophie wants to do is spend her final week taking advantage of the beautiful city that’s been her home for the last few years and savor final moments with her besties. Then Jamie, a former classmate from the US shows up and he inadvertently upsets all her plans leading her to discover who her true friends and what type of person she truly is.

I loved that this book was not just a “girl meets or re-meets boy” story. It’s a story about love of self, family, friends and home. Ms. Vinesse also does a fantastic job of making Tokyo come to life on the pages. It’s almost a character in itself. I’d love to visit Tokyo on day.

If you’re a fan of contemporary YA romance, don’t miss Seven Days of You by Cecilia Vinesse. You won’t be disappointed.

Review by Jenn N.

Special thanks to Netgalley for the digital ARC!

Blog Tour: As You Lay Sleeping by Katlyn Duncan

Today we're proud to be one of the stops on the "As You Lay Sleeping," by Katlyn Duncan blog tour.

As You Lay Sleeping 
by Katlyn Duncan 
Published by: HQ Digital
Publication date: February 20th 2017
Genres: Thriller, Young Adult

I did it all for you…

Cara’s boyfriend is dead.

When fingers start pointing at her, she knows she’s in more trouble than she originally thought. Because Cara can see that something isn’t right.

As her carefully constructed life begins to crumble, Cara isn’t sure who she is anymore.

But maybe that’s exactly what someone wants her to think…

"As You Lay Sleeping," is a great teen mystery.  The action is fast paced and you're kept guessing as to who the killer really is until the very end as there are a lot of red herrings throughout the book.  I especially loved Cara's character growth throughout the novel.  At the onset, she's unnecessarily mean and selfish but once she connects with Ryan, she starts to change for the better and the story really takes off.  What I would've liked to have seen was more background involving Cara's sister Alice.  Alice's secret is revealed but not really explored. Overall this was a fun, quick read that I'd recommend to fans of contemporary YA mysteries.

For additional reviews and information of "As You Lay Sleeping," please visit the rest of the stops on the blog tour.

Xpresso Book Tours is also sponsoring a tour wide giveaway. Visit Rafflecopter for your chance to win!

Tour-wide giveaway (INTL) ends March 2, 2017

• 1st prize: $25 Barnes & Noble egift card
• 2nd prize: ecopy of Soul Taken, This Summer, or Darkest Dawn
• 3rd prize: ecopy of Elixir Bound by Katie Carroll
• 4th prize: ecopy of Cruel Summer by K.R. Conway
• PLUS:
• 1000 entries will unlock: paperback copy of That Moment When: An Anthology of Young Adult Fiction (Katlyn's short story 'Reflection' is included among 40 other stories from YA authors in all different genres)
• 2000 entries will unlock: signed paperback copy of Undertow by K.R. Conway
• 3000 entries will unlock: paperback copy of Tell Me No Lies by Lisa Hall
• 4000 entries will unlock: paperback copy of Unnatural Deeds by Cyn Balog 

Special Thanks to Xpresso Book Tours, NetGalley, and HQ Digital for providing an ARC in exchange for a free and honest review.

10 Things I Loved About The Agency Series by Y. S. Lee

Mary Quinn was only twelve years old when she was sentenced to death. Turning to thievery after the death of her parents, she managed to scrape out an existence on the streets of Victorian London, but after being rescued from the gallows and given a home in a school for girls, her life took a turn for the better. Now she's seventeen and learns that the school is more than it seems. She's given the chance to train as a spy in an agency of women who take advantage of the way girls and women are overlooked and taken for granted. As she faces a variety of mysteries, villains, challenges, and a chance at romance, Mary has to deal not only with the dangers of her work but also with the weight of her past and her heritage. Can she come to grips with who she is or will she lose everything she's worked to gain?

I received the second book of the series - The Body at the Tower - at BookExpo America several years ago. I couldn't read them out of order, of course, so I tracked down the first book. After reading the first two I had to read the third and fourth as well!
This review contains some mild spoilers for the series, since I'm looking at it as a whole, but I'll try to keep it as spoiler free as possible.
So here we go - 10 things I loved about Y. S. Lee's Agency series

1. Mary - I liked how resourceful and determined she was. Yet she really struggled with how to survive in a world where she was considered a second class citizen on several different levels. She has to learn how to be comfortable with who she is and with the choices she's made.
2. James - The banter between Mary and James was probably my favorite part of the books (and there was far too little of it in the fourth one!). I liked how he developed as a character. It was nice that he had his own family and other things to deal with, even though the series was focused on Mary.
3. Their relationship - minor spoilers - I really appreciated that Mary and James went their separate ways at the end of the first book. And I liked the way Lee brought them believably back together again. The development of their relationship happened at a good pace, I thought.
4. Spies! - I really enjoyed the way Lee played with the cultural mores in Victorian England. And even if there wasn't a female agency like this, I know there had to be women who would have excelled at that kind of subterfuge. Because women were often overlooked and would have been able to gain information as servants, governesses, etc.
5. The setting - Lee did a good job of evoking Victorian England through the little details - the clothes, the food, the descriptions of setting woven in through the mystery.
6. The ethnic issues - minor spoiler - Mary is half Chinese and I really appreciated the way Lee dug into the prejudices and challenges of Asian people in London at the time. It's not something I've ever really heard about before and she wove it into the narrative in such an interesting way.
7. The mysteries - I liked the way that each book had its own distinct mystery which was wrapped up by the book's end. There were larger threads that carried through the series and call backs to earlier events and people, but it was kind of nice having a sense of closure at the end of each book. Also, each mystery was different and had its own challenges and approaches to solving it.
8. The layers - There was the larger mystery, but there were also plenty of other things going on to flesh out the stories and the characters - conflict in the Agency, Mary's conflicted feelings for James, trying to figure out who she is apart from the Agency, dealing with her past, James dealing with his brother and familial obligations - it just made for a much more interesting larger story. And I thought Lee did a good job of balancing all those different layers.
9. A complete story - I'm kind of glad I didn't get around to reading this until now, because I was able to read all four books one right after the other and get the whole story. I thought Lee did a good job of keeping you reading and wanting to know what happens in the next book and then by wrapping it up well in the fourth book. There's a real sense of closure but also a recognition that there are still a lot of possibilities left for Mary (and James).
10. The ending - Spoilers! - I liked the way the fourth book tied back to the first book and wrapped up the loose ends from the first mystery. I especially liked the way Lee wrapped up Mary's family story as well. It just completed the larger story pieces really nicely.

The Girl I Used to Be by April Henry

Fourteen years ago, Ariel’s parents took her to the forest to cut down a Christmas tree—and never come back. When a three-year-old is found at a Wal-Mart, it takes time for authorities to connect her with a missing family over a hundred miles away.

Then Ariel's mother's body is found in the woods. She's been stabbed 19 times. Since she had a rocky relationship with Ariel's father, everyone figures he just snapped. Ariel ends up in foster care, and eventually a failed adoption leaves her with a new name: Olivia.

Now a human bond found in the woods has changed what everyone thought was true about that day. He was killed along with her mother, and it was the killer who took the girl to the Wal-Mart.

Now Ariel/Olivia is determined to uncover the truth.

But can she do that before the killer tracks her down first?

-aprilhenrymysteries.com

​

Prior to this book, it’d been a year since I read a contemporary YA novel.  Nothing out there was really speaking to me but then I read the synopsis for “The Girl I Used to Be,” and I remembered the girl I used to be in the 90s, a teenager who loved YA mysteries from authors such as Lois Duncan and Joan Lowery Nixon.  This novel was similar in tone to those books and it was a nice throwback for me.  What I loved about “The Girl I Used to Be,” was that it was a great mystery that kept the suspense going but it was not gory or grizzly.  I also found the characters and their lifestyle to be very realistic and relatable.   

Olivia does not have any superpowers, nor was she wealthy, she’s just a regular young woman, working hard to keep roof over her head while dealing with extraordinary tragedy.  I also adored Olivia's neighbor, Nora. Check out the author's website for the touching inspiration behind Nora and other elements of the novel. 

I felt the ending was a tad rushed but it was still a satisfying conclusion.  I recommend it for readers 13 and up.  ****/5 stars

Head on over to the publisher’s website for a chance to win a copy of “The Girl I Used to Be,” along with April Henry’s backlist titles. 

Special Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Little Lit: Black Widow: Forever Red by Margaret Stohl

Summary:
Ava Orlova hasn't had what you might consider a normal childhood. She was experimented on by the evil Ivan Somorodov, the same man who trained and tortured Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, until Natasha rescued her and turned her over to S.H.I.E.L.D. Ava grew up in isolation until she ran away. Now she's a teen living on her own in Brooklyn, trying to have a normal life, despite the weird dreams she keeps having about a boy she's never met. Her best friend drags her to a fencing competition and Ava finds herself face to face with Alex, the boy from her dream, and then finds herself on the run from someone trying to kill her and reunited with Natasha. As things start to spiral out of control Ava has to decide if she can trust Natasha after she abandoned her years before and if she has the strength to face the weight of her past before it catches up and destroys her.

What I Liked:

• This fit well into the Marvel movie canon. I thought that Natasha, as well as Coulson and Tony (who make brief appearances) were written really well. I could hear and see them in my head.
• I liked the format of the book with the official investigation transcripts. They did give away where part of the book was going, but it worked more to keep a certain event from being there just for shock factor.
• I liked the revelations about Natasha's past that came out through the development of her relationship with Ava.
• I liked Ava's character. I enjoyed her sass and completely understood her distrust of Natasha and struggle to trust Alex.

What I Would Have Liked:

• I would have liked for it to be about Natasha instead of about Ava, but I can understand why to some extent. I'm just really glad that I read a review that said the book wasn't about Natasha  before I started reading. I think I would have enjoyed it less if I'd had different expectations going in.
• I would really really have liked for the book to actually be copy edited. There were egregious copywriting mistakes throughout. Repeated lines, double or missing punctuation, sentences that were rewritten, but both versions of the sentence were still there. Stupid mistakes that ruined a book that deserved much more, especially being put out by such a big publisher and connected with Marvel by a fairly high profile YA author.

Verdict:

• I enjoyed this. It was like watching a teen Marvel movie - which is basically what it was.
• People who enjoy superhero movies or television shows should enjoy this, as long as they realize that this isn't the Black Widow origin story we were hoping for.

Little Lit: After by Amy Efaw

Summary:
Devon Davenport was driven to succeed. She played soccer every spare moment, excelled in school, and vowed that she would never be like her mother. Then The Night happens and now Devon's in jail facing charges after her baby is found in the garbage outside her apartment.What could have brought her to this point? And can she face what happened or will she end up forfeiting her future as well?

What I Liked:

• I found myself confused at the beginning, but Efaw crafts the story that way very intentionally. As Devon deals with what happened and slowly comes to remember and work through the events that led her to this point, we learn it along with her and I found it an effective way of drawing our sympathy to Devon's point of view.
• I was nervous for the ending, but Efaw ends it on a perfect note, especially for Devon's personal journey.

What I Would Have Liked:

• Just a little less chaos in the narration. I did like the way the writing echoed Devon's internal struggle, but there were a few times that it was just a little too scattered or confusing for me. Not much, just a bit.
• More of Devon's mother. I understand why it played out the way it did, but she kind of ended up feeling superfluous. Which might have been intentional, but she was in it just little enough to make me feel a little frustrated.

Verdict:

• This was a really tough topic to deal with and Efaw does a really great job of exploring the reasons behind one imaginary, but realistic, instance of attempted infanticide. It could easily have gotten too dark or too glib, but Efaw merely unfolds Devon's perspective and thoughts and allows the readers to draw their own conclusions.
• People who like YA fiction that deals with gritty, serious issues should enjoy this.

Little Lit: Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit

Summary:
Anna is seven years old and has lived in a world of languages and friends when her professor father leaves her with a friend and never comes back. It's 1939 in Poland and Anna finds herself alone in an unfriendly world until a tall, thin man sees her. He calls down birds to cheer her up and then warns her not to be seen. Anna follows him out of Krakow and through the Polish countryside. As they wander together, avoiding the dangerous Bears and Wolves that would hunt them down, Anna has to learn the best ways to survive in a hostile world.

What I Liked:

• I liked the view of this time period from a very different perspective.
• I loved the poetry of the language.
• I liked the concept of someone being able to change languages by the day and the way that makes someone think about language and what people are saying or not saying through words.

What I Would Have Liked:

• An explanation - I fully expected there to be some author's note at the end to clarify some of the very vague references that are made (especially near the end). I feel like I missed something even though I'm pretty sure I didn't. It started to feel like it was based on a true story of someone, but without an explanation, these very specific (yet vague) details left me confused and a little frustrated.
• A better sense of time - Part of this is just the way the book is, but I would have liked a better sense of how much time had passed. Because I felt it was important to know Anna's age to better grasp her reactions to some of the events.
• There was one scene near the end of the book that just felt gratuitously unnecessary. It didn't really add to the book or to the story. I understand bad things happen, but this particular scene (I don't want to be more specific because spoilers) didn't seem to serve a real purpose.

Verdict:

• Overall I thought this was a beautifully written book. The ending felt a bit rushed to me, but the use of language made me glad that I read it.
• Anyone interested in history, World War II, stories of growing up, or poetically written prose will enjoy this book.

I received this book as an advance reader copy at BookExpo America.

Little Lit: The Third Twin by CJ Omololu

I heard about this book during a Twitter chat that popped up on my feed. I then got sucked into the fun that was going on there and my interest was piqued by the description. (Note: social media marketing, when done right, with people that actually care about the people not just the marketing, does work!)

So hold on for my mini review of CJ Omololu's The Third Twin.

Summary:
When Lexi and Ava were little they invented Alicia. She was the imaginary third twin who ate the cookies in the pantry, broke the lamp, and generally took the blame. Now that they're teenagers, the twins use Alicia as an opportunity to go out with guys they wouldn't normally date or visit parties they wouldn't go to themselves. Lexi's ready to let Alicia go when suddenly ominous things start happening. Alicia starts taking on a life of her own and when the first body turns up Lexi doesn't know who she can trust. Is Ava involved? Or is there really an Alicia out there? And who wants to set Lexi up for murder?

What I Liked:

• I really enjoyed the premise. I liked the way Omololu took the traditional "twin" story - identical sisters who switch places - and twisted it, adding the invention of the imaginary twin into the mix.
• I liked the twists and turns, including one that really did shock me. Omololu certainly wasn't afraid to take some risks and it paid off.
• I enjoyed the small, but not insignificant character development of Lexi as she comes to better understand herself through dealing with the various identities of her sister and imaginary twin.

What I Would Have Liked:

• The ending twist was certainly a bit of a shock and it did work, but I would have liked it better if it had been set up just a little more throughout the book. I would have preferred to look back and see more clues planted throughout to make the twist more of a "how did I not see that; now these things make sense" than a "what".
• I would have liked just a little bit more development of some of the secondary characters. Some of them are fairly important, but they fell a little bit flat for me, including Lexi's father and even, to some extent, Zane. It's not that they weren't developed, I just wanted a bit more.

Verdict:

• Definitely worth the read and I will check out more things by this author in the future!
• If you like a twisty turny thriller that isn't too gory, this is your book.

10 Things I Loved About A Girl Named Digit by Annabel Monaghan

Farrah is good at math. Really good. As in, she has a gift, good. But all she wants is to be normal, so her friends don't know. Then one night she spots a code embedded in one of the teen shows she watches with her friends and when the code leads her to a terrorist plot, Farrah suddenly finds herself on the run for her life with a young and admittedly cute FBI agent. As the threat to her safety escalates (as well as her attraction to John), Farrah has to let her true self shine or risk losing everything.
So here are my 10 (non-spoilery) Things I Loved about Annabel Monaghan's A Girl Named Digit:

1. Farrah aka Digit: I really enjoyed her story arc. I totally understood her desire to hold back on her math/pattern intelligence as a way to just get through her senior year of high school, but I appreciated the way her perception of herself (and her friends) grew over the course of the book. I also liked the way both sides of her "gift" were presented - both the positive (the good that was done through applying it) and the negative (the OCD type tendencies she could fall into).
2. Her parents: I liked the fact that they cared for her and that Digit got along with them as well. It was nice to see a cohesive family unit in a young adult novel.
3. Her brother, Danny: who is the main person to call her Digit. I liked that the siblings got along okay as well. It was refreshing to not have the tension be in the main character's family for once.
4. John: I liked the way his character was slowly built throughout the novel. Monaghan did a good job of revealing things just slowly enough to keep the interest going.
5. John's dad: Cracked me up. I really liked his character, for the short amount of time he was there.
6. Farrah's friend Olive: Even though she isn't present in much of the book, her character really shone through the brief bits that are there. Enough so that she left an impression and I want to see more of her!
7. The codes: I've always been fascinated with secret codes and I loved the way they all worked together to crack the various messages and codes to uncover the terrorist plot.
8. The action: Running for their lives, trying to solve the mystery in time to save people, being betrayed - all made for a quick read as I wanted to find out what happened next!
9. The camp: Okay, so there are bits of this that are a bit cheesy and a few things about the plot (particularly the very end) that stretch believability a bit. But it's a good and enjoyable kind of cheesy (at least it was for me). It's hard to have a light-hearted romance-y novel that's dealing with a girl running from terrorists who want to torture and kill her, but somehow Monaghan manages to pull it off.
10. There's a sequel. I'm definitely going to be looking up the next chapter in Digit's adventures.

10 Things I Loved About The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

Finley has known for a while that she's different. She's stronger than she should be and sometimes she can sense something dark and almost sinister taking over when she feels threatened. When she's attacked by her new employer's ne'er do well son and almost kills him, she knows she has no choice but to run. Griffin King has a lot of things on his mind so he almost doesn't see Finley when she runs out into the street in front of him. He feels responsible, but his friends fear that Finley's not what she appears to be. As Finley gets sucked into a world of power and intrigue she finds herself trying to master the darkness growing inside her.

Here's 10 things I loved about The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross:

1. Steampunk: I think this is my first real foray into steampunk and I absolutely loved it. I loved the way these pieces were all woven together.
2. Finley: She's not proper, but she's not a total rebel either. She's strong physically, but in other ways as well. And she's not afraid to admit to her weaknesses either. She knows when to rely on other people and when she needs to handle things herself. And she's snarky as all get out, which I loved.
3. Finley's parents: I really really really liked that Finley had a good relationship with her mother and step-father. They weren't clueless or stupid or cruel or indifferent. They care about Finley, but don't smother her. And she knows she can turn to them, though she cares about them and doesn't want to be a burden on their limited resources.
4. The genre blending: I know that this goes along with the steampunk, but in addition to the mix of history and science fiction, there are also elements of fantasy and mystery. And it's all mashed together into one interesting tale.
5. Emily: Mega brains - like brilliant - but also feminine and friendly. I loved her character.
6. Evil robots: I can't say more without spoiling, but EVIL ROBOTS.
7. Jack Dandy: You really shouldn't like him, but you just can't help it.
8. The clothes: Oh, the clothes. I loved the descriptions of the clothes (including the titular steel corset), yet it wasn't overwhelming or onerous. Just enough to make it interesting and really ground you in the world.
9. Sam: I found his character to be so interestingly conflicted. I really liked his character arc.
10. There's more! This is the first in a series and I already own the second one, so I don't have to wait to find out what happens next :D

Happy Reading!

Laydown Lowdown

Summer storms are in the air.  What a perfect time to relax with a new book.

"Deadfall," the follow-up to Anna Carey's "Blackbird," is available today in Young Adult along with "Blood Will Tell," by April Henry, "After Hours," by Claire Kennedy, "Get Dirty," by Gretchen McNeil, and "Hungry," by H.A. Swain.

Over in Romance,  you'll have to wait until Thursday for "Grey," by E.L. James, a retelling of "Fifty Shades of Grey," from Christian's point of view.  In the meantime,, you can check out "Opening Up," by Laure Dane and "Loving Dallas," by Caisey Quinn.

Fans of  Elmore Leonard will enjoy "Charlie Martz & Other Stories: The Unpublished Stories" from the late author.  Other new releases in Mystery/Thriller include "Death in Salem," by Eleanor Kuhns, "Paradise Sky," by Joe. R. Lansdale, and "The Precipice," by Paul Doiron.

In Science Fiction/Fantasy, you can pick up "Pure Blooded,' by Amanda Carlson "Beyond Redemption," by Michael R. Fletcher, and "The Library at Mount Char," by Scott Hawkins.

Will any of these books make your "to-read" list?  Share with us!  Happy Reading and remember to support your local bookstore whenever possible.

Laydown Lowdown

I'm back from Book Expo America and so is the Laydown Lowdown!  There are lots of great new reads this week so, let's get right to it.

If you're yearning for Romance this summer, check out "Crave the Night," by Lara Adrian,  "Beyond the Cut," by Sarah Castle, "One Night With a Billionaire," by Jessica Clare, "Suddenly One Summer," by Julie James, "All the Right Places," by Jenna Sutton, and "Moonlight on Nightingale Way," by Samantha Young."

If you're looking for thrills and chills, you can pick up "Finders Keepers," by Stephen King today as well as "Hell's Gate," by Richard Crompton, "The Evidence Room," by Cameron Harvey, "The Governor's Wife," by Michael Harvey, and "The Missing and the Dead," by Stuart MacBride in Mystery/Thriller/Horror.

Or maybe you'd prefer an out of this world escape with the latest Science "Nemesis Games," by James S.A. Corey, "The Fold," by Peter Clines, "From a Drood to a Kill," by Simon R. Green, and "Drink Deep," by Chloe Neill.

 You could load up a suitcase with today's Young Adult releases. Stock up with "The Witch Hunter," by Virginia Boecker, "The Devil You Know," by Trish Doller, "Charlie, Presumed Dead," by Anne Heltzel, "The Good Girls," by Sara Shepard, "Because You'll Never Meet Me," by Leah Thomas and "Siren's Fury," by Mary Weber.

Will any of these books make your "to-read" list?  Share with us!  Remember to support your local bookstore whenever possible.  Happy Reading.

10 Things I Loved About The Young World by Chris Weitz

A sickness has swept across the globe killing all adults and little kids. In the time that has followed teens have found different ways to adapt, but when they turn 18 the sickness overwhelms then and they're dead within days or even hours. A group of teens have set up a workable community in Washington Square. Jefferson finds himself in charge after the death of his brother so when Brain Box thinks he might have a lead on finding out what really happened the two of them, along with Donna, Peter, and See Through head out to face the wilds of New York City. As they encounter other bands of teens who have found various ways to survive, they get closer to the truth. But are any of them prepared to face what's coming to find them?

1. The world - The way that the different groups have adapted to living on their own and developed very different ecosystems and means of survival felt so realistic. I really appreciated that there were so many different types of systems as well - that they had developed differently depending on a variety of factors.
2. Donna - I loved Donna. So much. And it's something I don't know if I would have realized even a few months ago. But I loved the fact that she was the smart mouthed, brash, snarky voice while Jefferson was the more thoughtful, calm, and sensitive voice (more about Jefferson in a minute). I hadn't realized how often it's the other way around until I saw it flipped. I also loved that she didn't lose her femininity. She wasn't "butch." Just snarky and a little harsh and very much a young woman. Also a virgin (can we talk about how rare those are getting to be in YA fiction? but that's another post altogether). She felt so vividly real. I also loved the way she narrated in dialog tags with less description. For me it just fit her character and added to who she was and how she thought.
3. Jefferson - I also really love Jefferson's character. I appreciated the way he felt conflicted in his feelings for Donna, the way he wanted to lead to support his brother's memory, but also wasn't sure that he was the best one to do it. I liked the way he was the more rational, calm person of the group but also could be forceful and was the natural spokesperson for the group at most times. He's also super socially awkward at times, especially around Donna, and I found it hilarious and endearing.
4. The secondary characters - each of them were different, diverse, and added to the narrative. I particularly found Brain Box to be a fascinating character and would have liked to see more from him!
5. The premise - This book was a great example of how to weave in large chunks of exposition without dragging down the story. It's not a new premise - mysterious illness wipes out huge chunks of the population, the few survivors strive to find a cure to save humanity - but Weitz's execution of that premise is so fascinating and well done.
6. The time - closely related to the premise, but a separate point. I really liked the way that this was set only a couple years after the end of civilization rather than decades. For me it made the book much more immediate (though I would imagine that in a decade or so it will read as very dated because of all the pop culture references).
7. The language - as I said above, not that much time has passed, so there aren't huge numbers of strange words or new syntax, but there are differences that have developed between the different clans. I also really liked the way both Donna and Jeff would just say "after it happened" or "before it." I don't know if "it" was actually italicized as I listened to this on audio, but I could hear it and it made sense that they would not have labeled the sickness since they didn't really know what had happened and they weren't scientists.
8. The narrators - as I said in the previous point I listened to this on audio and the narrators did a fantastic job of bringing the world and the characters to life. A narrator can make or break a narrative, and when you have more than one you have twice the opportunity for things to go wrong, but both José Julián and Spencer Locke did a wonderful job.
9. The diversity - With We Need Diverse Books on my radar, I really appreciated the variety of ethnicities portrayed in the book, both in main and secondary characters. And it never felt like token or lip service. They just aren't only white - totally accurate for New York City and sad that it was so refreshing to find.
10. The ending - Talk about a cliffhanger! It was a perfect ending to the story, bringing some closure while opening up a huge twist making the next book an absolute must read! Now to wait for the release of The New Order.