Waiting on Wednesday (123)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that highlights future releases that we are excitedly anticipating.



By Cora Carmack
Publication Date: October 28, 2014

In this second book in "New York Times" and "USA Today" bestselling author Cora Carmack s New Adult, Texas-set Rusk University series, which began with "All Lined Up," a young woman discovers that you can t only fight for what you believe in sometimes you have to fight for what you love.

Dylan fights for lost causes. Probably because she used to be one.

Environmental issues, civil rights, corrupt corporations, and politicians you name it, she's probably been involved in a protest. When her latest cause lands her in jail overnight, she meets Silas Moore. He's in for a different kind of fighting. And though he's arrogant and infuriating, she can't help being fascinated with him. Yet another lost cause.

Football and trouble are the only things that have ever come naturally to Silas. And it's trouble that lands him in a cell next to do-gooder Dylan. He's met girls like her before fixers, he calls them, desperate to heal the damage and make him into their ideal boyfriend. But he doesn't think he's broken, and he definitely doesn't need a girlfriend trying to change him. Until, that is, his anger issues and rash decisions threaten the only thing he really cares about: his spot on the Rusk University football team. Dylan might just be the perfect girl to help.

Because Silas Moore needs some fixing after all.


By Mary Amato
Publication Date: October 28, 2014

In this poignant, realistic, contemporary YA by a state master list star, perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Gayle Forman, a young songwriter builds a substitute family with her friends in place of the broken family she grew up with.

A hip high school girl who loves music, writes songs, and is desperate for a ukelele, learns to her shock that her father did not abandon her years ago and has been trying to keep in touch. She begins to investigate him, only to discover that he has a new life with a new family, including the perfect stepdaughter, a girl who Minerva despises.








By Michelle Hodkin
Publication Date: November 4, 2014

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.

The Evolution Of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

* * * * *

Mara Dyer believes life can’t get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed.

There is.

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.

She’s wrong.

 

As soon as I started reading Evolution I knew I'd have trouble breaking away from it. It didn't take long for the familiar creepy feeling from the first book to sink back in to be completely enthralled in Mara's dysfunctional world.

Mara is facing the consequences of events that she helped manipulate in the previous book. Her dad's recovering from that gunshot wound. She's in the hospital after her shock at seeing her ex-boyfriend Jude (who's supposed to have died in that building collapse) at the police station when she went to turn herself in.  Her mother is convinced that Mara is suffering a mental breakdown and now needs to have professional counseling. She's sent to outpatient counseling where the other kids in her group are just as mentally disturbed as she is. She's constantly under supervision and her family walks the tightrope of being too protective and too lax with the rules . But don’t worry, Noah is still in the picture, having charming his way into her family's good graces. He’s the only one who believes her when she says that Jude is still alive and is stalking her.

What makes Evolution so riveting is that Mara’s mind is cracking to where she’s distrusting of everyone around her, including herself. Her constant nightmares, memories of the building collapse, the danger that she is to her family and Jude's presence have thrown her off balance. She's barely holding it together.  Noah being the only one who believes her does what he can to investigate and protect her.

And thank goodness for Noah! Evolution is so much darker but Noah brings some relief. He’s always there to ease the tension and soothe her. His humor and snarkiness are perfect for distracting Mara from getting too lost in her mind’s mess.  There were plenty of times when I laughed aloud because of their silly banter –  I'm sure I rolled my eyes at Noah as much as Mara did.

When Mara’s not too busy sliding into insanity or making out with Noah, they’re researching the source of their special “powers”. They’re exploring all kinds of options ranging from genetics to familial connections and even psychics.  But everywhere they turn, there’s a new mystery to solve.

The Evolution of Mara Dyer is thrilling and alarming. I’m not keen on scary reads but the suspense here is all psychological. What makes this book stand out completely is that I had absolutely no frigging idea where the story was headed. I loved feeling as in the dark as Mara felt. 

So I say yes, definitely read this. Don't try and solve the mystery. Just read and follow the descent into madness and by the end you'll be just as astonished as I was. And then you'll be mad because Michelle Hodkin wrote such a brilliant book and she's making us wait another year for the next one. 

 

~ Bel

 

A Peek in the Bibliobin (43)

Welcome to our Stacking the Shelves post! Stacking the Shelves (or as we like to call it, A Peek in the Biblio-Bin) has been created by the lovely ladies at Tynga Reviews.

Stacking the Shelves is a way for bloggers to share what books they have won, received for review, bought from the bookstore, borrowed from the library or friend, etc.

This is what we have in our bin this week. Tell us what's in your Biblio-bin!

Bought
Glass Heart by Amy Garvey
Rescue My Heart by Jill Shalvis (Shel found this early at BooksAMillion!)

Borrowed
Evolution of Mara Dyer

 

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer Book Trailer

Shel and I have discussed book trailers a number of times.  She hates them.  Mostly because she hates any kind of spoiler (knowing that the word "and" is in a book is a spoiler to her - she is so going kick my butt for saying that).  I am not a big fan either.  Spoilers don't bother me too much.  For me, there is something about book trailers that always feels wrong.  No offense to the awesome actors and videogrophers that make these videos.  I don't know what it is.  Maybe I am just too used to the gloss of Hollywood.  Which really is an unfair comparison as a trailer for a book is always going to be considerably different than a trailer for a movie.  Well whatever it is, the trailer for Michelle Hodkins' The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer has taken me by complete surprise.  It is FRAKKIN' AWESOME.  Seriously.  5*'s to the trailer alone.  And I haven't even read the book...yet.  It will be released next week and I will be picking it up as soon as I can.  So check it out and tell us what you think of this trailer and book trailers in general.