Happy Pub Day to these authors!
Thank you Penguin Teen Canada, Berkley, and Algonquin Young Readers for providing copies of these books!
What books are you most excited for this week?
Title: Sing Me to Sleep (Sing Me to Sleep #1)
Author: Gabi Burton
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: June 27, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★
In this dark and seductive YA fantasy debut, a siren must choose between protecting her family and following her heart in a prejudiced kingdom where her existence is illegal.
Saoirse Sorkova survives on lies. As a soldier-in-training at the most prestigious barracks in the kingdom, she lies about being a siren to avoid execution. At night, working as an assassin for a dangerous group of mercenaries, Saoirse lies about her true identity. And to her family, Saoirse tells the biggest lie of all: that she can control her siren powers and doesn’t struggle constantly against an impulse to kill.
As the top trainee in her class, Saoirse would be headed for a bright future if it weren’t for the need to keep her secrets out of the spotlight. But when a mysterious blackmailer threatens her sister, Saoirse takes a dangerous job that will help her investigate: she becomes personal bodyguard to the crown prince.
Saoirse should hate Prince Hayes. After all, his father is the one who enforces the kingdom’s brutal creature segregation laws. But when Hayes turns out to be kind, thoughtful, and charming, Saoirse finds herself increasingly drawn to him-especially when they’re forced to work together to stop a deadly killer who’s plaguing the city. There’s only one problem: Saoirse is that deadly killer.
Featuring an all Black and Brown cast, a forbidden romance, and a compulsively dark plot full of twists, this thrilling YA fantasy is perfect for fans of A Song Below Water and To Kill a Kingdom.
Saoirse Sorkova is a siren pretending to be a powerless fae in her soldier training. At night, she works as an assassin for an anonymous source. When she graduates from the academy, Saoirse is given the top job as a guard for Prince Hayes. However, she hates him, but she needs the money for her family. The royal family were responsible for destroying the sirens and other creatures, leaving Saoirse and her sister to grow up under false identities. Saoirse ends up helping Hayes investigate a series of deaths in the city. The problem is that Saoirse is the killer, giving her one more secret to hide.
This story is a fantastic debut! I loved the unique world and setting. Saoirse is a bit of a morally grey character. She didn’t mind killing people to keep her family’s secret, without thinking of that person’s family or friends. Even though she was supposed to hate Prince Hayes, they had an undeniable chemistry. I can’t wait to read the sequel!
Sing Me to Sleep is a beautiful fantasy debut!
Content warnings: death, murder, poisoning, kidnapping
Have you read Sing Me to Sleep? What did you think of it?
Title: The Brothers Hawthorne (The Inheritance Games #4)
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Thriller
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: August 29, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★
Four brothers. Two missions. One explosive read. Jennifer Lynn Barnes returns to the world of her #1 bestselling Inheritance Games trilogy, and the stakes have never been higher.
Grayson Hawthorne was raised as the heir apparent to his billionaire grandfather, taught from the cradle to put family first. Now the great Tobias Hawthorne is dead and his family disinherited, but some lessons linger. When Grayson’s half-sisters find themselves in trouble, he swoops in to do what he does best: take care of the problem—efficiently, effectively, mercilessly. And without getting bogged down in emotional entanglements.
Jameson Hawthorne is a risk-taker, a sensation-seeker, a player of games. When his mysterious father appears and asks for a favor, Jameson can’t resist the challenge. Now he must infiltrate London’s most exclusive underground gambling club, which caters to the rich, the powerful, and the aristocratic, and win an impossible game of greatest stakes. Luckily, Jameson Hawthorne lives for impossible.
Drawn into twisted games on opposite sides of the globe, Grayson and Jameson—with the help of their brothers and the girl who inherited their grandfather’s fortune—must dig deep to decide who they want to be and what each of them will sacrifice to win.
Though the games that Tobias Hawthorne left for his family have been completed, there are still games for the Hawthorne brothers to solve. When Grayson finds out that his half-sisters are in trouble, he goes to Phoenix to help them, since their father won’t be able to. Jameson finally finds his father in London, who asks him to infiltrate an exclusive and private club to win back his family’s estate. Both brothers have to solve these puzzles with the help of their two other brothers and Avery, their grandfather’s heiress.
This book started out feeling a little different from The Inheritance Games trilogy, since this book followed two of the Hawthorne brothers instead of Avery. She was still in many of Jameson’s scenes though since they’re a couple. I liked the alternating plot lines between Grayson and Jameson. The story really picked up in the middle when they both had intense puzzles to solve. I also liked that the puzzles were related to their fathers, who we didn’t know that much about in the original trilogy. The ending set up the next book in the series, which I can’t wait to read!
The Brothers Hawthorne is a fun continuation of The Inheritance Games.
Have you read The Brothers Hawthorne? What did you think of it?
Happy Pub Day to these authors!
Thank you Penguin Teen Canada, Harlequin, and Disney Books for providing copies of these books!
What books are you most excited for this week?
Title: A Smile in a Whisper
Author: Jacquelyn Middleton
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Kirkwall Books
Source: Tandem Collective Global
Format: Paperback
Release Date: August 10, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★
NOT ALL FAREWELLS ARE FOREVER…
Evie Sutherland throws herself into everything. Like many on Scotland’s picturesque Orkney Islands, she works several jobs: managing her family’s shop, researching genealogy for tourists, and writing historical romance novels. Evie aces most challenges—except love. With a childhood diagnosis of Crohn’s disease and a disastrous dating history, Evie has convinced herself that guys won’t date the “sick girl” and the blame falls on the shoulders of her first love, a famous boy from London who spent his summers on her island.
To the outside world, Nikolai Balfour lives a charmed life. Starring in a popular British TV series as a teen, young Nick stole fans’ hearts from the Isle of Wight to Shetland. However, that was a lifetime ago, and the years since have been filled with “Didn’t you used to be…” moments, career wrong-turns, and empty relationships. Now finding success behind the cameras, Nick is still racked with regret and guilt over how things ended with the Orcadian girl he’d loved and left behind.
But when a television series filming in Orkney blows Nick back into Evie’s quiet life, they’re forced to face their heartbreaking past and revisit old secrets that should never have been kept.
Unfolding in alternating past and present timelines, A Smile in a Whisper is a touching story of first love and second chances, and the enduring summer memories that shape us.
On the Scottish Orkney Islands, Evie Sutherland has had Crohn’s Disease since childhood but she lives a quiet life in her hometown. She blames her disease for her disastrous love life, starting with her first love, Nick Balfour. Nick visited the islands in the summer as a teen, when he was on a break from filming a popular teen soap opera. Now it’s been over a decade since their romance ended. Nick has returned to Orkney to produce a tv show and Evie is catering the food for the crew. They must revisit their past, learn each other’s secrets, and figure out if they can have a future together.
This was such a sweet second chance romance. The story alternated between their past and present relationships, which showed all the heartache they had both been through. There was great representation of Evie’s Crohn’s disease as well as Nick’s panic disorder and anxiety. I have IBS which has some of the same symptoms of Crohn’s, though not the damaging flare ups and hospital stays. I could relate to the way it affected Evie’s social life, food choices, and even clothing choices. I haven’t seen much representation that was as close to my lifestyle like this, so I really appreciated it! I think fans of second chance romances like Every Summer After will love this story!
A Smile in a Whisper is a beautiful summertime romance!
Thank you Tandem Collective and Jacquelyn Middleton for sending me a copy!
Content warnings: Crohn’s disease/chronic illness, panic attacks, hospital scenes, allergic reaction, underage drinking, and drug use
Have you read A Smile in a Whisper? What did you think of it?
Title: Their Vicious Games
Author: Joelle Wellington
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Thriller
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback arc
Release Date: July 25, 2023
Rating: ★★★★
A Black teen desperate to regain her Ivy League acceptance enters an elite competition only to discover the stakes aren’t just high, they’re deadly, in this searing thriller that’s Ace of Spades meets Squid Game with a sprinkling of The Bachelor .
You must work twice as hard to get half as much.
Adina Walker has known this the entire time she’s been on scholarship at the prestigious Edgewater Academy—a school for the rich (and mostly white) upper class of New England. It’s why she works so hard to be perfect and above reproach, no matter what she must force beneath the surface. Even one slip can cost you everything.
And it does. One fight, one moment of lost control, leaves Adina blacklisted from her top choice Ivy League college and any other. Her only chance to regain the future she’s sacrificed everything for is the Finish, a high-stakes contest sponsored by Edgewater’s founding family in which twelve young, ambitious women with exceptional promise are selected to compete in three mysterious the Ride, the Raid, and the Royale. The winner will be granted entry into the fold of the Remington family, whose wealth and power can open any door.
But when she arrives at the Finish, Adina quickly gets the feeling that something isn’t quite right with both the Remingtons and her competition, and soon it becomes clear that this larger-than-life prize can only come at an even greater cost. Because the Finish’s stakes aren’t just make or break…they’re life and death.
Adina knows the deck is stacked against her—it always has been—so maybe the only way to survive their vicious games is for her to change the rules.
Adina Walker has always been on a scholarship at Edgewater Academy, an upper class (and mostly white) school, because her parents work there. After losing control in a moment with a former friend, Adina had her admission to Yale revoked. Adina will do anything to get that admission back, even compete in a high-stakes game that the Remington family hosts called the Finish. Several young women in Edgewater compete in the Finish to be accepted by the Remington family and have all the advantages of their wealth and power. However, the stakes of this game aren’t what Adina predicted. She must change the rules to survive the Remington’s vicious games.
This was an intense competition story that reminded me of The Hunger Games and Ace of Spades. The game had deadly stakes, which wasn’t what Adina had expected. There was some racism and classism in the story, since Adina was the only Black girl in the game as well as the only girl who didn’t move in the same circles of the Remingtons. I found myself holding my breath while reading this because I didn’t know what twists the games would reveal next.
Their Vicious Games is an intense and twisty story!
Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book!
Content warnings: racism, death, murder
Have you read Their Vicious Games? What did you think of it?
Happy Pub Day to these authors!
Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, and Shadow Mountain for providing copies of these books!
What books are you most excited for this week?
Title: We Ship It
Author: Lauren Kay
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: June 20, 2023
Rating: ★★★★
This rom-com debut has the fierce girl energy of the movie Booksmart, blended with the awkwardness of Kelly Quindlen’s Late to the Party, topped with a thrilling international meet-cute a la Love and Gelato. Olivia Schwartz has a plan. It’s even color-coded. And the plan is a perfect SAT score, a prestigious college, and a straight path towards her dream of becoming a doctor. The last thing she wants to do—the summer before her senior year of high school, no less—is go on a cruise. Especially with her parents, younger brothers, and all the unspoken things between them since her older brother’s death so many years ago. Then Olivia meets Sebastian. He’s everything she’s charming, exciting, willing to take risks and run with them. For the first time, Olivia feels like she can have fun… But there’s a lot bubbling up under the surface on this cruise, and when past secrets begin to come to light, Olivia must face all the truths that she’s ignored for so about herself, Sebastian, her brother, the past she thought she understood, and the future she’s always planned.
Seventeen-year-old Olivia Schwartz has a plan to become a cardiologist. During spring break, she plans to do a project with her friend so they can win an internship. However, her parents surprise her with a cruise for their whole family, including her younger twin brothers. This cruise would have been a dream come true for Olivia’s older brother, who died when he was seventeen of a sudden heart attack. Olivia isn’t that close to her parents since they never want to talk about her older brother. Then Olivia meets Sebastian, a charming boy who gives her feeling she’s never had before. She opens up to him about her brother and starts to learn more about herself. Olivia decides to let loose and have fun on this cruise, but then she has to face the truths that she’s been avoiding for a long time.
This was a rom com with a serious undertone. Olivia went on a fun cruise with her family but they had the secret of her older brother’s death hanging between them. Her parents didn’t like to talk about him, but she didn’t know why. The romance between Olivia and Sebastian was cute, but it seemed short lived since they didn’t live anywhere near each other. I was surprised at the ending, when all the secrets everyone was keeping were revealed. I didn’t expect the ending to be so emotional, based on the cute cover and the rom com description.
We Ship It is a cute vacation rom com with an emotional side to it.
Content warnings: death of sibling, underage drinking, heart attack, overdose
Have you read We Ship It? What did you think of it?
Title: Everyone Here Is Lying
Author: Shari Lapena
Genre: Thriller, Contemporary
Publisher: Penguin Random House Canada
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback
Release Date: July 25, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★
Welcome to Stanhope! A safe neighborhood. A place for families.
William Wooler is a family man, on the surface. But he’s been having an affair, an affair that ended horribly this afternoon at a motel up the road. So when he returns to his house, devastated and angry, to find his difficult nine-year-old daughter, Avery, unexpectedly home from school, William loses his temper.
Hours later, Avery’s family declares her missing.
Suddenly Stanhope doesn’t feel so safe. And William isn’t the only one on his street who’s hiding a lie. As witnesses come forward with information that may or may not be true, Avery’s neighbors become increasingly unhinged.
Who took Avery Wooler?
Nothing will prepare you for the truth.
William Wooler has been having an affair, but his mistress ends it one afternoon. He goes home and finds his difficult nine-year-old daughter home alone, when she should still be at school. They have an argument and William loses his temper and slaps her. He storms out of the house after apologizing. However, a little while later, William is called home because Avery has disappeared. Everyone on their street is a suspect, and everyone has secrets.
This was another awesome fast-paced Shari Lapena thriller. It was told through small scenes that alternated between all the characters which gave some insight into what everyone was thinking. It was still hard to figure out who was behind her disappearance because they were all guilty of something in their lives. The story took a surprising twist that I didn’t see coming. The ending was great and satisfying!
Everyone Here Is Lying is a fast-paced thriller!
Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for providing a copy of this book.
Content warnings: murder, child abuse, mentions of drug abuse, mentions of sexual assault
Have you read Everyone Here Is Lying? What did you think of it?
Title: Los Monstruos: Felice and the Wailing Woman
Author: Diana López
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Contemporary
Publisher: Kokila
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Paperback arc
Release Date: April 18, 2023
Rating: ★★★★
The twelve-year-old daughter of La Llorona vows to free her mother and reverse the curses that have plagued the magical town of Tres Leches in this delightfully sweet and spellbinding adventure by beloved author Diana López.
When Felice learns that she’s the daughter of La Llorona, she catches a ride to the magical town of Tres Leches, where her mother is said to be haunting the river. Growing up with her uncle Clem in Corpus Christi, Felice knew that she had been rescued from drowning—it’s where her intense fear of water comes from—but she had no idea her mother remained trapped between worlds, looking for her. Guided by the magical town’s eccentric mayor, Felice vows to help her mother make peace with the events that turned her into the most famous monstruo of US–Mexico border lore. Along the way, she meets the children of other monstruos, like La Lechuza and the Dancing Devil, and together they free Tres Leches from magical and metaphorical curses that have haunted its people for generations.
Diana López’s electric return to middle grade—the first in a series—brims with magic, adventure, and Mexican folklore, and is perfect for fans of Ghost Squad by Claribel Ortega and the Jumbies series by Tracey Baptiste.
Twelve-year-old Felice grew up with her Uncle Clem in Corpus Christi after her mother and brothers drowned in a river in their hometown of Tres Leches. When her uncle’s friend comes to tell them that Felice’s mother is haunting the river as La Llorona, Felice runs away to go meet her mom. However, Felice has a strong fear of water, so she can’t even approach the river. She meets two children who also have parents known as Los Monstruos. With her new friends, Felice must figure out how to save Tres Leches from La Llorona.
This was a fun middle grade story. I enjoyed the representation of Mexican culture. The descriptions of the food made me so hungry! I also liked the representation of phobia and anxiety. Since Felice knew the river killed her mother and brothers, she had a phobia of water. She couldn’t even stand being near rain without having a panic attack. She had to figure out how to manage and conquer her fear, rather than letting it control her life. This was a positive message for kids.
Felice and the Wailing Woman is a great middle grade book!
Thank you Penguin Teen Canada for providing a copy of this book!
Content warnings: death of parents, death of siblings, parental abandonment, drowning
Have you read Los Monstruos: Felice and the Wailing Woman? What did you think of it?
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