Review: The Selection

The Selection
By: Kiera Cass
Website: http://www.kieracass.com/
Release Date: April 24th 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: The Selection Series
Award: Abraham Lincoln Award Nominee (2015)
Rating:


The Selection is one of the books I looked at with curiosity but hesitation. I’m not one for girls in pretty ballgowns, I prefer heroines battling their own enemies while wearing pants and having swords clash around them. Still, America Singer’s story pulled me in. I am well aware this is not everyone’s cup of tea (reviews on Goodreads will show that) but let me explain why I give this a high rating and why you should at least give it a shot.

Review: Outlander (Outlander #1)

Outlander
By: Diana Gabaldon
Website: http://www.dianagabaldon.com/
Release Date: June 1, 1991
Publisher: Dell Publishing Company
Series: Outlander Series
Award: RITA Award by Romance Writers of America for Best Romance of 1991 (1992), Puddly Award for Romance (2001)
Rating:


 Not only is this book series originally published before I could pronounce the word Outlander it was published at perhaps the perfect time to receive the acclaim that it did. Now, with the books adapted to Starz as a regular series the popularity of the books has again been brought back to the forefront which is how I happened upon them. 

Diana Gabladon took a concept and literally ran with it throughout this series and I can safely say that I will be reading all of them. In the first installment we are asked to believe quite a bit but as a fantasy/sci-fi reader at heart I readily believed that the events in this book could happen and were indeed worth reading about. The question to everyone who is considering reading this series is can you believe in Gabladon’s story? 

Review: Survive the Night

Survive the Night
By: Danielle Vega
Website: http://www.daniellerollins.com/
Release Date: July 7th 2015
Publisher: Razorbill
Rating:


High hopes for this book were, unfortunately, dashed. The cover was intriguing and I had hoped for a great story. I don’t normally read what could be considered horror and so, given that I’d heard of the success of Vega’s other book The Merciless (which I have yet to read)  I took a chance. I sort of which I hadn’t.

Review: Nearly Found

Nearly Found
By: Elle Cosimano
Website: http://nearlygonebooks.com/
Release Date: June 2nd 2015
Publisher: Kathy Dawson Books
Series: Nearly Gone #2
Rating:


Nearly Boswell cannot catch a break! After the murder mystery in Book #1 of the series we see Nearly try, yet again, to keep herself focused on her future but trouble always finds her and this time it’s dragging her classmates and her family into it. 

In all seriousness this book was a good follow-up to book #1 Nearly Found and it helps give us some answers we didn’t get in the first book. Aside from a few questions I have that I’ll admit are me nitpicking at things that bothered me on such a minor level that I’ve decided that I need to get over it. Still, with more murders and more questions in her life it takes a huge effort by Nearly and her friends to once again help solve murders and get answers. 

Review – Styx by Bavo Dhooge

Styx
By: Bavo Dhooge
Release Date: November 3, 2015
Publisher: Simon & Shuster/Simon451
Rating:


I won’t lie. I picked up this book solely because the author has one of the most awesome sounding names I’ve ever come across. And I’m happy I gave this book a chance. Styx, written by Flemmish author Bavo Dhooge, is a mystery novel with what is probably the most original twist on a zombie story I’ve ever seen.

Review: Nearly Gone

Nearly Gone
By: Elle Cosimano
Website: http://nearlygonebooks.com/
Release Date: March 25th 2014
Publisher: Kathy Dawson Books
Series: Nearly Gone #1
Award: 2015 Edgar Award Nominee
Rating:


What draws you to a book? Is it the cover artwork? The title? The cover tagline? The synopsis on the back of the book? For me this time around it was all to do with the cover. The art was intriguing, showing only a portion of our main character Nearly Boswell’s face and, while her lips are on the cover it isn’t explicitly sensual. I tend to grow tired of the covers with beautiful girls in beautiful clothes in a beautiful scene somewhere. We all know that for most of those books the beautiful, idyllic cover is a lie. This time around, the haunting cover tells you everything you need to know, that nothing is okay and you’re in for an intense ride. 

Let me also state that this book has a very Pretty Little Liars feel to it in that teenagers are solving crimes and, in the process, getting themselves into trouble/making matters worse. Now that that’s out of the way let’s talk about the book itself. 

Review – Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffery Cranor

Welcome to Night Vale
By: Joseph Fink; Jeffery Cranor
Website: http://www.welcometonightvale.com/
Release Date: Oct 20, 2015
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Series: Welcome to Night Vale
Award: Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Science Fiction (2015)
Rating:


Have you ever listened to the Welcome to Night Vale podcast? Heard of it? Well, this is Welcome to Night Vale the book, written by the podcast’s creators Joseph Fink and Jeffery Cranor. Those who’ve never listened to the podcast, don’t be afraid. The book doesn’t require any previous knowledge of the world or plot of the podcast, though I do feel as though fans will get just a little more from this book than others as it does wrap up the Man in the Tan Jacket subplot.

Review: Champion by Marie Lu

Champion
By: Marie Lu
Release Date: November 5, 2013
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Series: Legend, Book #3
Rating:


Again, this time I didn’t tear through Champion. I was anxious to read this book and finish the series so once I got past the second chapter I went through it fairly quickly.

We open with Day and June apart, Day working within the military and June as the Princeps-Elect. As the Republic struggles towards a peace treaty with the Colonies a biohazard plague starts ripping through the Colonies.

Review – Beacon 23: The Complete Novel by Hugh Howey

Beacon 23: The Complete Novel
By: Hugh Howey
Website: http://www.hughhowey.com/
Release Date: August 12, 2015
Publisher: Self-Published
Series: Originally a series of short stories.
Award: Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Science Fiction (2015
Rating:


So, I’ve had a Kindle for years. Somehow, I missed that you could check out a book from the Amazon store as a library book. Once I figured out that (a) this was a thing and (b) how to do it, I borrowed Beacon 23: The Complete Novel by Hugh Howey. Despite actually owning his first novel, Wool, this is the first of his books I’ve read. (I know, I know. I’m a serial tbr pile neglector.)