Waiting On Wednesday ......... 99 Days

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

My pick this week is 99 Days by Katie Cotungo

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

Day 1: Julia Donnelly eggs my house my first night back in Star Lake, and that’s how I know everyone still remembers everything—how I destroyed my relationship with Patrick the night everything happened with his brother, Gabe. How I wrecked their whole family. Now I’m serving out my summer like a jail sentence: Just ninety-nine days till I can leave for college, and be done.

Day 4: A nasty note on my windshield makes it clear Julia isn’t finished. I’m expecting a fight when someone taps me on the shoulder, but it’s just Gabe, home from college and actually happy to see me. “For what it’s worth, Molly Barlow,” he says, “I’m really glad you’re back.”

Day 12: Gabe got me to come to this party, and I’m actually having fun. I think he’s about to kiss me—and that’s when I see Patrick. My Patrick, who’s supposed to be clear across the country. My Patrick, who’s never going to forgive me.

So this has been described as having things in common with Dirty Dancing and I was immediately sold. This sounds super cute, and fun. Its a perfect spring read that I am pretty sure will be filled with adorable (and awkward) moments. Sadly, it's a bit of a wait for this one, but I expect it'll be worth it.

Oh, and the Polaroids. I have a soft spot for  Polaroid photos! I love that they are becoming a thing again (thanks, Taylor).

Expected release date - April 21, 2015

Saying Goodbye to Mara....

The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Release Date - November 4, 2014

Publisher Website - Simon and Schuster
Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages - 470 pages
My Rating - 5/5
**received in exchange for an honest review**

**SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST TWO BOOKS IN THE SERIES**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

Mara Dyer wants to believe there's more to the lies she’s been told.
There is.

She doesn’t stop to think about where her quest for the truth might lead.
She should.

She never had to imagine how far she would go for vengeance.
She will now.

Loyalties are betrayed, guilt and innocence tangle, and fate and chance collide in this shocking conclusion to Mara Dyer’s story.
Retribution has arrived.

Dear Michelle (and Mara)...

I sat down to write this review many times, and everything I wrote felt wrong. Unworthy of your brilliant story. I realized immediately what I wanted, and that was my own way to say goodbye. Instead of a review, I am writing this letter instead.

Retribution has arrived, and with it a bittersweet ending to the story that began with an unbecoming. You put Mara through hell and back, and sent her back again during this series. I love that she always crawls out fighting though, no matter what crushing thing happened to her. It's inspiring. Speaking of inspiring, this series, especially after this installment, is incredibly inspiring. You talked a lot about owning yourself, and accepting yourself in various ways during these three novels. This message is kicked up a million notches in this final chapter in Mara's story as she embraces the bad girl within her.

This amazing internal speech she gives left me breathless...

'I'd wasted so much time wishing I could be different, wishing I could change things, change myself. If given the chance, I would've shed myself and become a different girl. Slipped on a name like Clara or Mary, docile and gentle and smiling and kind. I thought it would be easier to be someone else than to be who I was becoming...'

I wanted to highlight this passage, put stars around it, and underline it for good measure. Girls are often told to be docile and gentle. Don't be too opinionated. Don't cause a scene. Here you (and Mara) are saying CAUSE A SCENE AND ENJOY IT IF YOU WANT TO. Don't hide who you are, and don't change who you are. You're responsible for your own happiness and part of that is being happy with yourself. A million trillion thank yous for such a positive, electrifying message.

Noah. Noah. Noah. There is so much to say about him, but as I do not want to give spoilers, I'll simply say that you've raised the stakes in terms of book boyfriends. He is one of the most stunning, swoon worthy, and interesting love interests I've read, and I am pretty sure the entire YA fanbase thanks you for creating him. Now if only we could make him real and clone him. Many were, understandably, upset with the events at the end of Evolution, but I knew that whatever Noah's fate that it would make sense for the story (and it does).

I expected to be an emotional mess about one of my favourite series ending. I really did. Even knowing that I was unprepared for the amount of emotion this novel made me feel. You had me laughing at Jamie's brilliant one liners, gripping the novel in apprehension, and flat out bawling during one scene (you know which one, Michelle. You know exactly what brutally cruel scene I am referring to, and it was brilliant). As each layer of Mara's story is revealed, and we find out the whys to things that have been building since the beginning, the biggest feeling was a sense of awe. You had tied everything together perfectly and packed in a few surprises even with the clues you peppered in along the way.

Lastly I just want to say thank you. Thank you, Michelle, for writing this series. Thank you for dedicating this particular chapter to the bad girls (and the boys who love them). Thank you for the inspiring message of owing yourself, being happy with yourself (especially if that self is different), and mostly for the most perfect ending to Mara's story. It could not have ended any other way. As bittersweet and tragic as the story is, I think her story needed to end the way it does. I like to imagine what comes next in her story, and I know that even if it's horrible, she's been left where she should be. She's on the path that she should walk.

I cannot wait to read whatever comes next, and meet the new characters that will steal my heart, and captivate me.

Sincerely,

Kathy

p.s. A last thank you for this delicious piece of writing that sent shivers up my spine and left me with goosebumps...

'{Retracted for spoilers} kisses me and it is sugar on my tongue, and champagne in my blood'

Unteachable by Leah Raeder

Unteachable by Leah Raeder

Release Date - October 14, 2014

Publisher Website - Simon and Schuster
Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages - 320 pages
My Rating - 4/5
**received in exchange for an honest review**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

Maise O’Malley just turned eighteen, but she’s felt like a grown-up her entire life. The summer before senior year, she has plans: get into a great film school, convince her mom to go into rehab, and absolutely do not, under any circumstances, screw up her own future.

But life has a way of throwing her plans into free-fall.

When Maise meets Evan at a carnival one night, their chemistry is immediate, intense, and short-lived. Which is exactly how she likes it: no strings. But afterward, she can’t get Evan out of her head. He’s taught her that a hookup can be something more. It can be an unexpected connection with someone who truly understands her. Someone who sees beyond her bravado to the scared but strong girl inside.

That someone turns out to be her new film class teacher, Mr. Evan Wilke.

Maise and Evan resolve to keep their hands off each other, but the attraction is too much to bear. Together, they’re real and genuine; apart, they’re just actors playing their parts for everyone else. And their masks are slipping. People start to notice. Rumors fly. When the truth comes to light in a shocking way, they may learn they were just playing parts for each other, too.

Smart, sexy, and provocative, Unteachable is about what happens when a love story goes off-script.

Student teacher relationships are often the 'go to' for forbidden love stories. Society seems to almost fetishize them. Unteachable takes one of these relationships and holds it under a microscope to see all the gritty, stark realism underneath. It burns, and twists your insides, and yet is somewhat hopeful and romantic.

Maise is an eighteen year old who is going on thirty. Having had to grow up quickly she seems wise beyond her years. Her abrasive, tough exterior masks a beaten, scared interior that makes you feel protective of her. She comes across as real. She's the type of character that all too easily imagined living and breathing off the pages she exists on.

Evan is someone with demons and issues of his own. He's broken in his own way, and often seems to be struggling with adulthood. He's not immature, he's just barely treading water. At times he seems untrustworthy, and at others you want Maise to run off with him into the sunset. Your feelings are just as conflicted about this character as they should be, and it creates a tension in the novel that is subtle.

These two coming together not only make sense, but feels logical as you get to know them. The sting of the student/teacher relationship is some what lessened by the notion that Maise is eighteen. If she wasn't his student it would be a relationship that perhaps raised eyebrows only because of the age gap. It allows you to see the romantic side to their relationship and the good that they bring out in each other.

Despite this aspect, the author never lets the reader forget that she IS his student. It's laced through every interaction, every touch, and every stolen moment. It's the nagging doubt in the back of Maise's head (and the reader as well) and it's always present. The brutal, honest way it's looked at makes the novel feel realistic. It's not making excuses, but showing how this type of situation could be plausible. It shows you how this type of relationship could happen. Does it make it right? This novel would rather leave the notions of right and wrong out of the discussion, and instead lets the reader see it as complicated. You feel that Maise is making choices rather than having them made for her, but you still see the fragile child underneath. It creates this conflicting push and pull within the reader regarding the relationship that is done rather well. Parts of the novel make you uncomfortable, but that's because they are supposed to.

I love that this novel doesn't pretend that they can fix each other. Two broken people coming together and there being no magical fix. It shows that maybe you're just the right kind of broken for someone else. Maybe they ease your pain, and you ease their own, but that the only person who can fix you is yourself.

The only, tiny, issue I had was the ending. After such a spiraling mess of emotions while reading, I felt the ending didn't fit. It didn't feel like the ending the story being told needed. It might be the ending a majority of people would want, but I think the ending needed to be more ambiguous. I wanted an ending with a few more cracks in it, like the rest of the novel. It tightrope walked the moral line, and I think that should have been reflected in it's ending.

A searing, crushing story about  a forbidden love and all it's complications. A unflinchingly realistic look at a beautiful, broken, twisted relationship and the messed up people in it. The emotional impact left in it's wake will stay with you long after you've finished, and leave you itching to discuss it. 

New To My Book Closet

It's that time of the week again. Time to show you what bookish goodies made their way into my home and book closet (to be saved from the evil book eating cat monster named Aria). This is inspired by the various "mailbox" posts out there (eg. In My Mailbox by The Story Siren, and Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Reviews).

Some amazing books made their way into my mailbox this week! 

The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin (goodreads)

Me Before You by Jo Moyes (goodreads)

The Kiss of Deception by  Mary E. Pearson (goodreads)

The Young Elites by Marie Lu (goodreads)

I also got the Frozen soundtrack thanks to a Twitter contest, and my Lindor chocolate countdown to Christmas calendar! 

Thanks to Jessica for lending me The Kiss of Deception and The Young Elites.

What books made their way into your mailbox this week?

Happy weekend, and happy reading!

Weekly Obsessions

The awesome Kelly at KellyVision started posting a weekly post highlighting whatever she happened to be obsessed with that week. I LOVE this idea, so much in fact that I will be doing it myself every Saturday.

BOOK

Cover of Anne and Henry by Dawn Ius (goodreads)

Super cute right? I helped reveal the cover and think it's fun and eye catching! I love the idea of a modernized version of the story of Anne Boleyn and King Henry, too. I think it's going to be a really interesting read.

As I Descended by Robin Talley (goodreads)

Kelly (from Kellyvision) and I were just discussing that when people do a retelling of Shakespeare it's normally Romeo and Juliet. We expressed how badly we wanted a Macbeth retelling and the book gods listened because Harper Collins is giving us one!

As I Descended is...

a retelling of Macbeth set at a contemporary Virginia boarding school. It centers around a lesbian couple who set out to dethrone the school's resident Mean Girl, only to find themselves struggling to hang onto their sanity and their lives when they accidentally summon a trio of brutal, manipulative ghosts. 

Sounds amazing right? I basically need this book immediately. It doesn't come out until 2016 though.

TV/MOVIE

Into The Woods trailer

I love this trailer. This is the first time we're hearing the singing part of this musical and I am REALLY excited now. I cannot wait to go see this. I am hoping Boxing Day with some friends.

OTHER

Christmas shopping (and other Christmas stuff)

I've officially started my Christmas shopping. I already have 5 people done (my three nieces included) and hope to be done early this year.

I am also taking part in the Secret Santa thing hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Last year was a lot of fun so I am excited to go shopping for that. The Ottawa bloggettes are also hosting a holiday celebration and I am excited to shop for my person for that gift exchange.

I am even looking forward to Christmas music. Everything is still shiny, and happy and magical (ask me again mid December) so I am loving it. I am also loving that there is basically candy cane EVERYTHING right now.

What are you obsessed with this week?

Follow Friday

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. It's a great way to meet new blogger friends.

This weeks question is: 

Craziest thing you'd be willing to do for an ARC you are dying to read (aka what would you doooo-ooo for that ARC you want?

Hmmm... I feel like waiting for the actual book to come out is not the worst thing ever, but if it was something I REALLY wanted to read I could see myself going above and beyond. Maybe something really fun like publicly professing my love of that author's work in an embarrassing/funny way.

Honestly though, I think short of entering some contests like crazy, and retweeting (stuff like that) I can't see myself doing much else.

Happy Weekend!

A Thousand Pieces Of You by Claudia Gray

A Thousand Pieces Of You by Claudia Gray

Release Date - November 4, 2014

Publisher Website - Harper Collins
Publisher Social Media - Twitter/Facebook/SavvyReader/Frenzy
Pages - 368 pages
My Rating - 4/5
**received in exchange for an honest review**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

Every Day meets Cloud Atlas in this heart-racing, space- and time-bending, epic new trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray.

Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their most astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite’s father is murdered, the killer—her parent’s handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.

Marguerite can’t let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul’s guilt—and her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is more sinister than she ever could have imagined.

A Thousand Pieces of You explores a reality where we witness the countless other lives we might lead in an amazingly intricate multiverse, and ask whether, amid infinite possibilities, one love can endure.

A novel with parallel universes offers up endless possibilities. You're only as restricted as your imagination, and Claudia Gray shows that she is going to take full advantage of this fact in her new series. A fun, twisty, and engaging read that will immediately make you wish that you could time travel yourself.

The world building, obviously, is stunning. There is not just one world being explored and built, but many. The ease in which it all ties together and blends into the story is well crafted and executed. The novel truly shines when focusing on the endless possibilities that time/space travel opens up. When and where can our characters go? The answer, much to my delight, is anywhere and everywhere. There are rules and logic built into the theory and laws of the world, which add another layer to the story. There is thought and planning put into the dynamics at play in this novel, and it shows.

Every single thing that you think you know going into this novel will be shattered. There are so many twists, turns, and reveals that you'll be totally engrossed. I am talking 'miss your bus stop, and stay up until two in the morning' engrossed. You may think you know what is going on, and how the story will go, but Claudia Gray offers up surprises at every turn.

I hesitate to call this science fiction but there are elements of it throughout the entire novel. It's sort of 'sci-fi light' and very accessible to those who think this type of novel may not be for them. Multiple universes, and time travel can get intricate and complicated but Claudia Gray keeps it clear and concise. Those looking for an in depth time travel/science heavy novel may be disappointed, as this is much more mystery and character driven than it appears.

While the story is moved forward by the characters, I didn't feel like I got to know them as well as I would have liked. They are interesting, and there are hints of things to come. This is a series that revolves around its complicated world building, and plot rather than its characters though. The potential is there for more character growth and development in the future installments, and I hope it is utilized.

The romance in this story is extremely steamy with plenty to swoon over. These connections are really captivating, and immediately makes you invested in the people involved. This love triangle works, and it's because both boys involved have secrets they are hiding. Their true intentions are always hidden and it creates an element of extra danger to the emotional ties Marguerite (and the reader) is developing with both guys. The two boys have a connection and purpose outside the triangle which adds a depth to the romance and the story. It makes the romance feel organic, instead of forced into the story.

A book that offers up plenty of fun, romance, and surprises. It's world building opens up the entire world, with limitless possibilities. It's one trip you'll want to take, as it can lead anywhere. I eagerly await it's sequels to see how the world, it's characters and the mystery deepens and changes.