Cover Reveal: Girl out of Water | A Million Worlds with You | Three Dark Crowns | Metaltown

There have been quite a few cover reveals in the bookish world lately. Here are a few that stand out to us. 

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Girl out of Water

Author: Nat Luurtsema

Release Date: June 2nd 2016

Publisher: Walker Books

A thoroughly British teen comedy starring a hilariously flawed heroine with a quip for every occasion.

Lou Brown’s life is going down the pan. Best friend Hannah sailed through the Olympic time trials and is off to her fancy-pants new swim training school, while Lou’s own failure to qualify leaves her without a hobby – or a friend. As Lou tries to navigate her post-swim world, a chance encounter with three boys with stars in their eyes takes her life in a surprising new direction. One that leads to a crazy world of underwater somersaults, talent show auditions, bitchy girls and one great big load of awkward boy chat.

Nat Luurtsema is a stand-up comedian, actor, BAFTA-nominated screenwriter and author of Cuckoo in the Nest, which is a Sunday Times Book of the Year.

Read more about this reveal here.

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A Million Worlds with You

Firebird #3

Author: Claudia Gray

Release Date: November 1st 2016

Publisher: HarperTeen

A million universes. A million dangers. One destiny.

The fate of the multiverse rests in Marguerite Caine’s hands. Marguerite has been at the center of a cross-dimensional feud since she first traveled to another universe using her parents’ invention, the Firebird. Only now has she learned the true plans of the evil Triad Corporation—and that those plans could spell doom for dozens or hundreds of universes, each facing total annihilation.

Paul Markov has always been at Marguerite’s side, but Triad’s last attack has left him a changed man—angry and shadowed by tragedy. He struggles to overcome the damage done to him, but despite Marguerite’s efforts to help, Paul may never be the same again.

So it’s up to Marguerite alone to stop the destruction of the multiverse. Billions of lives are at stake. The risks have never been higher. And Triad has unleashed its ultimate weapon: another dimension’s Marguerite—wicked, psychologically twisted, and always one step ahead.

In the epic conclusion to Claudia Gray’s Firebird trilogy, fate and family will be questioned, loves will be won and lost, and the multiverse will be forever changed. It’s a battle of the Marguerites . . . and only one can win.

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Three Dark Crowns

Untitled #1

Author: Kendare Blake

Release Date: September 20th 2016

Publisher: HarperTeen

Every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born: three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.

But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins. The last queen standing gets the crown.

If only it was that simple. Katharine is unable to tolerate the weakest poison, and Arsinoe, no matter how hard she tries, can’t make even a weed grow. The two queens have been shamefully faking their powers, taking care to keep each other, the island, and their powerful sister Mirabella none the wiser. But with alliances being formed, betrayals taking shape, and ruthless revenge haunting the queens’ every move, one thing is certain: the last queen standing might not be the strongest…but she may be the darkest.

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Metaltown

Author: Kristen Simmons

Release Date: September 20th 2016

Publisher: Tor Teen

Metaltown, where factories rule, food is scarce, and hope is in short supply.

The rules of Metaltown are simple: Work hard, keep your head down, and watch your back. You look out for number one, and no one knows that better than Ty. She’s been surviving on the factory line as long as she can remember. But now Ty has Colin. She’s no longer alone; it’s the two of them against the world. That’s something even a town this brutal can’t take away from her. Until it does.

Lena’s future depends on her family’s factory, a beast that demands a ruthless master, and Lena is prepared to be as ruthless as it takes if it means finally proving herself to her father. But when a chance encounter with Colin, a dreamer despite his circumstances, exposes Lena to the consequences of her actions, she’ll risk everything to do what’s right.

In Lena, Ty sees an heiress with a chip on her shoulder. Colin sees something more. In a world of disease and war, tragedy and betrayal, allies and enemies, all three of them must learn that challenging what they thought was true can change all the rules.

An enthralling story of friendship and rebellion, Metaltown will have you believing in the power of hope.

Blog Tour: The Next Together by Lauren James | Dream Cast | Excerpt | Giveaway

Welcome to our stop on The Next Together tour for Lauren James. This tour is hosted by The Fantastic Flying Book Club Tours.

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The Next Together
The Next Together #1
Author: Lauren James 
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Released: September 3rd 2015
Publisher: Walker

  

How many times can you lose the person you love?

Katherine and Matthew are destined to be born again and again, century after century. Each time, their presence changes history for the better, and each time, they fall hopelessly in love, only to be tragically separated.

Spanning the Crimean War, the Siege of Carlisle and the near-future of 2019 and 2039 they find themselves sacrificing their lives to save the world. But why do they keep coming back? What else must they achieve before they can be left to live and love in peace?

Maybe the next together will be different...

Dream Cast

Kate Finchley
Sassy, ginger, lewd sense of humour

Matt Galloway
Cautious, glasses, sweet.

Chapter 2

Southampton Harbour, England, 1854

Katy glanced up from the Times advertisement she held clutched in herhand and looked around, feeling a little displaced and self-conscious amid thecrowd of red-coated soldiers boarding the steamer. She was suddenly aware ofher clothing, the dull brown breeches, shirt and jacket she’d been wearing for years without worry – but it had been a long time since she’d met new people. She’d grown complacent about her ability to pass as male. It was easy to keep up the act of being a pre-adolescent servant boy when people already believed it. It was entirely different to persuade new people.
What if the journalist took one look at her and laughed her away, saying he’d wanted a man, not a skinny little girl?
Katherine knew that her features were a little feminine, but with cropped hair and clothing, she hoped she would easily pass for an undernourished fourteen-year-old-boy, instead of her sixteen years. If she wasn’t so proud of herself for her achievement, she might have been a little offended by it.
She squared her shoulders and berated herself for being stupid. Then she went to find her new employer, weaving her way through the crowd of tearful families waving off the soldiers.
Nearby a horse was being led reluctantly up the ramp to the ship, pausing every few feet to stare at the waves below, crashing against the dock. Katy climbed onto a crate of supplies waiting to be loaded onto the ramp, and looked out over the crowd. She spotted the journalist straight away.
He was reading a newspaper with bags of luggage at his feet. He looked completely out of place in his crumpled shirt and waistcoat among the crisply dressed soldiers.
He wasn’t what she’d been expecting, but she knew instinctively that it was him. He was young: only a few years older than her and almost as thin. He was a mess of scruffy hair and spectacles and looked barely strong enough to withstand the sea breeze that swept through the harbour, let alone a war. She suddenly felt a lot more confident. There was hardly anything to him!
“Mr Galloway?” she asked, stepping up the ramp to join him. The man looked up from his newspaper and smiled at her. He had high cheekbones that suddenly caught the light. They defined his face and − oh! − and he had dimples. Those were definitely dimples. Oh.
“You must be Christopher Russell! Matthew Galloway, pleased to meet you.”
“I— Hello.” She mentally shook herself. She sounded like a fool. She was all flustered, just because he was quite striking, in a posh sort of way, if − if you liked that sort of thing. She swallowed.
She took his proffered hand a little distractedly.
> First contact established in time-landscape 1854

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Lauren James is a scientist by day, writer by early hours of the morning. She graduated in 2014 with a first class Masters degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Nottingham, where she studied Chemistry and Physics.
She now lives in the village of Berkswell in the UK.

You can find her on Twitter at @Lauren_E_James, which she mainly uses to fancast actors as her characters and panic about all of the overly ambitious plans she has for her PhD, or her website at http://lauren-e-james.tumblr.com.

She likes strong, intelligent women, Dylan O’Brien, and things with plants on them. These are her favourite books: http://www.myindependentbookshop.co.uk/Laurenelizjames

  

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Waiting on Wednesday: Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Open Road Summer

Author: Emery Lord

Release Date: April 15th 2014

Publisher: Walker

After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence. This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking. A fresh new voice in contemporary romance, Emery Lord’s gorgeous writing hits all the right notes.

“A fabulously entertaining story of friendship, healing, and love. Filled with laughter, heart, and a side of sass, this rock star debut will have you cheering for an encore!”—Elizabeth Eulberg, author of Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality

Trailer Thursday: Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles Ep. 2 Reality Series

WILD CARDS

Wild Cards #1

Author: Simone Elkeles

Released: October 1st 2013

Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers
Wild Cards OUaT Review

After getting kicked out of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no choice but to live with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is deployed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she plans to move them back to her childhood home in Illinois. Derek’s counting the days before he can be on his own, and the last thing he needs is to get involved with someone else’s family drama.

Ashtyn Parker knows one thing for certain–people you care about leave without a backward glance. A football scholarship would finally give her the chance to leave. So she pours everything into winning a state championship, until her boyfriend and star quarterback betrays them all by joining their rival team. Ashtyn needs a new game plan, but it requires trusting Derek—someone she barely knows, someone born to break the rules. Is she willing to put her heart on the line to try and win it all?

Did you miss Ep. 1 of the Wild Cards reality series?

Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles - The Reality Series Ep. 1

Fans of Simone Elkeles will be excited to hear this news. Instead of a typical book trailer for the upcoming release of Wild Cards on October 1st. Simone created something completely new. She created a mini Reality Series teaser for Wild Cards. 

Today we share with you the first episode of the reality series. Feel free to share with your readers and spread this awesome video out. 

Check out our first review of Wilds Cards on OUaT.

Book Review: Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst

Conjured
Author: Sarah Beth Durst
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal/Magic
Release Date: September 3rd 2013
Review Source: NetGalley/Walker Childrens

Eve has a new home, a new face, and a new name—but no memories of her past. She’s been told that she's in a witness protection program. That she escaped a dangerous magic-wielding serial killer who still hunts her. The only thing she knows for sure is that there is something horrifying in her memories the people hiding her want to access—and there is nothing they won’t say—or do—to her to get her to remember.

At night she dreams of a tattered carnival tent and buttons being sewn into her skin. But during the day, she shelves books at the local library, trying to not let anyone know that she can do things—things like change the color of her eyes or walk through walls. When she does use her strange powers, she blacks out and is drawn into terrifying visions, returning to find that days or weeks have passed—and she’s lost all short-term memories. Eve must find out who and what she really is before the killer finds her—but the truth may be more dangerous than anyone could have ever imagined.

I tried my best to finish this book but hardly made it through. In my opinion this is a very slow read, not my cup of tea. The book is well written and very descriptive, yet leaves you with many unanswered questions.

The story is about a girl named Eve who doesn’t remember anything of her old life. Eve is in danger and in a witness protection program. The only way to remember is through dreams but getting her memory back may cause her life. Her dreams are very descriptive, she dreams of a circus, a very creepy circus that is.

The main character, Eve, is a bit confusing. I couldn’t connect with her, at all. I really never got the answer I needed to know in order to understand her. Most of the book she is just a lost as I was. This book should be about magic; however, I never received the magic! Every time she would perform anything extraordinary (which really wasn’t), she would faint and lose track of time. The only character I enjoyed was Zach. He was really cute and very lovable. He was sincere and just nerdy.

This book did not meet my expectation. There is no magic, the pace is off and I am still confuse about the main character.

Book Review: Also Known As by Robin Benway

Also Known As
AKA #1
Author: Robin Benway
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Mystery/Spy Thriller/Romance
Released: February 26th 2013
Review Source: Walker Childrens

Being a 16-year-old safecracker and active-duty daughter of international spies has its moments, good and bad. Pros: Seeing the world one crime-solving adventure at a time. Having parents with super cool jobs. Cons: Never staying in one place long enough to have friends or a boyfriend. But for Maggie Silver, the biggest perk of all has been avoiding high school and the accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple locker combinations.

Then Maggie and her parents are sent to New York for her first solo assignment, and all of that changes. She'll need to attend a private school, avoid the temptation to hack the school's security system, and befriend one aggravatingly cute Jesse Oliver to gain the essential information she needs to crack the case . . . all while trying not to blow her cover.

Maggie Silver the main character in this book lives in a family of Spies. She knows how to crack safes and she is only in High School. This book was a page turner and I couldn't put it done because it was such a awesome book. Sometimes I wished I had that life in High School. But there is a lot of disadvantages of being a spy. You can't tell anybody and you don't ever use your real name because your always undercover.

After the last mission that Maggie was on she found out that she was going to be moving to New York City and going to High school. The one catch was that she was going to have to be on a job. Her next assignment was to keep an eye out on Jesse Oliver. What she has been told was that his father was writing an article that was going to expose all the spies including her family. Her job was to try and find out the details of the story and stop Jesse father from writing it. Along the way she meets a friend in school that has her own personality and is always home alone because her parents are always gone. Maggie goes to parties and tries to keep to her assignment but the one thing that she was hoping wouldn't happen. She ends up falling in love with her assignment. Maggie can't keep her eyes off Jesse Oliver when she meets him. They end up hanging out and going on dates but the one thing she is always trying to do is stick to her job and find out why his father wants to expose them. She does end up getting a USB card but it ends up just having pictures on it of Jesse when he was little. So her family thinks she is getting to involved with him and can't even think straight because she is head over heels in love with him until something happens that changes her life forever. She finds out the guy that sent her on the mission was actually involved with the whole crime after all. She needs to find a way to stop him, get the article to not be published and try to keep her friends by her side. But she knows she has to tell her friend and the love of her life. She hopes when she tells them they will understand and stick by her and help her with her plan. In the end it turns out to be an awesome ending. 

I love when you come across those characters in the story that you hope fall in love and stay in love. You keep rooting them on. That's what I did with Jesse and Maggie right up until the end. Grab this book and read it. It's a wonderful book for all ages. You will love it...

Book Review: Dead Girls Don't Lie by Jennifer Shaw Wolf

Dead Girls Don't Lie
Author: Jennifer Shaw Wolf
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Mystery/ Thriller
Release Date: September 17th 2013
Review Source: NetGalley

Summary: (from goodreads) Rachel died at two a.m . . . Three hours after Skyler kissed me for the first time. Forty-five minutes after she sent me her last text. Jaycee and Rachel were best friends. But that was before. . .before that terrible night at the old house. Before Rachel shut Jaycee out. Before Jaycee chose Skyler over Rachel. Then Rachel is found dead. The police blame a growing gang problem in their small town, but Jaycee is sure it has to do with that night at the old house. Rachel’s text is the first clue—starting Jaycee on a search that leads to a shocking secret. Rachel’s death was no random crime, and Jaycee must figure out who to trust before she can expose the truth.
In the follow-up to her powerful debut, Jennifer Shaw Wolf keeps readers on their toes in another dark, romantic story of murder and secrets.

Dead Girls Don’t Lie is an intriguing mystery novel. Any Pretty Little Liars fans would enjoy this story.

Jaycee’s best friend, Rachel, was murder the night she was first kissed. She is conflicted with the fact that hours before her death, Rachel had sent her a text asking to meet her, in which she ignored. Since Jaycee is conflicted with guilt, she starts digging information about Rachel’s death. The police blame a growing gang problem in the community but Jaycee is realizing this is not true.

Throughout the book we are provided scenes with many clues indicting who the killer is. Rachel left Rachel a note stating not to trust anyone but E, along with other evidence to help her uncover the truth. However, Jaycee doesn’t do what she is told by her dead friend (hint the title of the book). At the end, Jaycee realizes her mistake and she may be too late, you will need to read to find out.

Jaycee is very naïve, innocent and she really doesn’t know who to really trust. It’s obvious who the killer is and because of this, I found myself getting frustrated. This is a good read, the book is very well written and the details are impeccable. There is one detail I completely missed, I found myself face palming at this evidence. I can’t really provide more information because as mentioned before all evidence points to the killer.