This is how The Winner's Curse showed up at my house. How amazingly cool is that packaging?!
It really is cool-looking. I am never throwing it away.
Gifted:
The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart (Ruby Oliver #1) -- from the lovely Ellis
Sorrow's Knot ARC by Erin Bow
The Outside by Laura Bickle ARC (The Hallowed Ones #2) --- both from the awesome Ashleigh at the YA Kitten
Sent:
A Different Sun by Elaine Neil Orr (from TLC Book Tours and Berkley
The Winner's Curse ARC by Marie Rutkoski (than you to MacMillan)
Under the Wide and Starry Sky ARC by Nancy Horan (thanks TLC Book Tours, Ballantine Books!)
The Deepest Secret ARC by Carla Buckley (Thanks Bantam and TLC Book Tours!)
Gifted:
Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman (Noughts and Crosses #1) -- from Ellis at the Random Transliterator
Bought:
The Boy Book by E. Lockhart (Ruby Oliver #2)
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.
So I had an ARC of this but it expired and I went on my way. And then Going Rogue came out and everyone loved it. So, I bought this and got an ARC of the second. Woo!
There can only be one allegiance.
It’s her time to choose.
Some humans can see the fae. McKenzie Lewis can track them, reading the shadows they leave behind. But some shadows lead to danger. Others lead to lies.
A Houston college student trying to finish her degree, McKenzie has been working for the fae king for years, tracking vicious rebels who would claim the Realm. Her job isn’t her only secret. For just as long, she’s been in love with Kyol, the king’s sword-master—and relationships between humans and fae are forbidden.
But any hope for a normal life is shattered when she’s captured by Aren, the fierce and uncompromising rebel leader. He teaches her the forbidden fae language and tells her dark truths about the Court, all to persuade her to turn against the king. Time is running out, and as the fight starts to claim human lives, McKenzie has no choice but to decide once and for all whom to trust and where she ultimately stands in the face of a cataclysmic civil war.
I've had my eye on this for years, since it came out in 2011. Wendy Darling 5-starred it and that's enough to make me buy it when it's the Kindle Daily Deal.
(Magic Most Foul #2)
For Natalie Stewart, a normal life has never seemed so far away. Her only solace, Lord Jonathan Denbury, is wanted for murder. To clear his name, Denbury must return to England and assume the role of his demon doppelganger.
But Natalie begins to doubt his true motives, especially as a new gentleman begins whispering in her ear. Natalie and Denbury may be able to visit each other in their dreams, but they can’t escape the darkening shadows.
Amid spontaneous explosions, friends turned enemies and dangerous secrets revealed, there’s still a demon who has Natalie’s scent, and someone is trying to resurrect the ultimate evil.
I was a big fan of Darker Still, but this series had fallen off my radar. Once I was offered an ARC of the third book (The Double Life of Incorporate Things) I ran out and bought this ebook. Also -- look closely at this cover. Isn't it fabulous?
Unique talent always attracts attention…
In a world where magic is outlawed, ability with a sword is prized above all else. For Soren this means the chance to live out his dreams.
Plucked from a life of privation, he is given a coveted place at Ostenheim’s Academy of Swordsmanship, an opportunity beyond belief.
Opportunity is not always what it seems however, and gifts rarely come without conditions. Soren becomes an unwitting pawn in a game of intrigue and treachery that could cost him not just his dreams, but also his life.
I honestly know nothing about this, but it popped up on a lot of best-of-year-fantasy lists. As a huge fantasy nerd, that was enough to convince me.
Angus: My mixed-breed cat, half domestic tabby, half Scottish wildcat. The size of a small Labrador, only mad. Likes to stalk Mr. and Mrs. Next Door's poodle. I used to drag him around on a lead, but, as I explained to Mrs. Next Door, he ate it.
Thongs: Stupid underwear worn by old Swotty Knickers, Lindsay. What's the point of them, anyway? They just go up your bum, as far as I can tell.
Full-Frontal Snogging: Kissing with the trimmings, lip to lip, open mouth, tongues...everything (apart from dribble, which is never acceptable). As taught to me by a professional snogger.
In this wildly funny journal of a year in the life of Georgia Nicolson, British author Louise Rennison has perfectly captured the soaring joys and bottomless angst if being a teenager. In the spirit of "Bridget Jones' Diary," this fresh, irreverent, and simply hilarious book will leave you laughing out loud. As Georgia would say, it's "fabbity fab fab!"
Ellis made me. Okay, she didn't, but her love for this series convinces me. It sounds fantastic and if I am reading Noughts & Crosses, I am going to need some lighter fare to stop the tears.
No one wanted Ai Ling. And deep down she is relieved—despite the dishonor she has brought upon her family—to be unbetrothed and free, not some stranger's subservient bride banished to the inner quarters.
But now, something is after her. Something terrifying—a force she cannot comprehend. And as pieces of the puzzle start to fit together, Ai Ling begins to understand that her journey to the Palace of Fragrant Dreams isn't only a quest to find her beloved father but a venture with stakes larger than she could have imagined.
Bravery, intelligence, the will to fight and fight hard . . . she will need all of these things. Just as she will need the new and mysterious power growing within her. She will also need help.
It is Chen Yong who finds her partly submerged and barely breathing at the edge of a deep lake. There is something of unspeakable evil trying to drag her under. On a quest of his own, Chen Yong offers that help . . . and perhaps more.
First: ASIAN FICTION YES. Second: amazing cover. Third: I need to read this asap.
That's it for me. Christmas is in two days, and I hope I have some new books or giftcards on the way!
Merry Christmas! I hope it's wonderful for everyone!
That packaging! :O
ReplyDeleteI DIDN'T MAKE YOU DO NOTHING. Hahaha, I always get super defensive when people mention I've pushed books on them. I know I talk about certain books ... a lot ... and those books are featured here but I don't expect anyone to LISTEN. That being said, I hope you enjoy all your books. You'll definitely need something lighter after Noughts & Crosses. Meg was incapable of picking up another book for a day or two (which is very abnormal for her, because she's a speedreader, much like yourself). Georgia might do the trick, though I was a little whelmed by the first book. Just a fair warning! The packaging for The Winner's Curse is so gorgeous that everyone'd rather have the ARC than the actual book, I think. I hope you like Ruby! You're very welcome for the gifts and thank you thank you THANK YOU for The Piper's Son and Spindle's End. Merry Christmas, Jessie! <3
ReplyDeleteLISTEN TO ELLIS FOR SHE IS WISE. I will be stalking your updates for both Noughts and Crosses and the Georgia books, you have been warned.
ReplyDeleteGood god The Winner's Curse packaging is amazing. I hope you love iiiiiiit! Same with The Outside, I love that duology.
Merry belated Christmas! I hope it was lovely :D
That packaging is so cool! So creative!
ReplyDeleteHope you had a Merry Christmas! Can't wait to hear about all the books you got!
~Jess
Hahaha, we are both on The Deepest Secret tour. I think you and Lyn are pretty much my book soulmates, or at least as close as I am ever gonna get. :D
ReplyDeleteI love E. Lockhart but I still need to read the Ruby Oliver series. I REALLY want to though. It's brutal that I can't read fast enough. I am going to make my reading goal this year if it kills me. And it MAY.
That Winner's Curse packaging is quite possibly the coolest thing ever.
ReplyDeleteEllis recommended me Noughts & Crosses too but my library only has book one and that just won't work. Will have to save for the box set I guess! OH MY GOSH YOU BOUGHT GEORIGA! And The Shadow Reader is fantastic, I'm about to read the final two installments (because I heard book 2 sucks and you might as well save up and read both 2 and 3 back to back).