Out This week (December 1-7)

Not a ton of stuff coming out this week, but there are some awesome-looking titles. Check it out... 

• 12.3.13 Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally
• 12.3.13 Lost Covenant: A Widdershins Adventure by Ari Marmell

•  12.3.13 The Third Lie's the Charm (The Liar Society) by Lisa and Laura Roecker
• 12.3.13 Rebel Spring (Falling Kingdoms #2) by Morgan Rhodes

• 12.3.13 Deadly (Pretty Little Liars #14) by Sara Shepard
• 12.3.13 Ink is Thicker Than Water by Amy Spalding

Out This Week (Nov 17-23)

It's not a big week in YA publishing, but there are some cool things coming our way. Have a look... 

• 11.19.13 He Said, She Said by Kwame Alexander
• 11.19.13 Captive Maiden by Melanie Dickerson

•  11.19.13 World After (Penryn and the End of Days #2) by Susan Ee
• 11.19.13 Horizon (Soul Seekers #4) by Alyson Noel

• 11.19.13 The Fiery Heart (Bloodlines #4) by Richelle Mead
• 11.19.13 The Severed Tower (Conquered Earth #2) by J. Barton Mitchell

Out This Week (Nov 10-16)

A great bunch of YA titles coming out this week. Have a look... 

• 11.12.13 Splendor by Elana K. Arnold
• 11.12.13 Foul Trouble by John Feinstein

•  11.12.13 Save the Enemy by Arin Greenwood
• 11.12.13 Loud Awake and Lost by Adele Griffin

•  11.12.13 Full Ride by Margaret Peterson Haddix
• 11.12.13 The F- It List by Julie Halpern

•  11.14.13 Firebrand: An Elemental Novel by Antony John
• 11.12.13 Afterglow by Karsten Knight

• 11.12.13 Hostage Three by Nick Lake
• 11.12 13 The Living by Matt de la Pena

• 11.12.13 Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher
• 11.14.13 The Wicked Game by Michelle Zink

Out This Week (Nov 3-9)

There are a ton of sequels coming out this week. Take a look...

• 11.8.13 Pirouette by Robyn Bavati
• 11.5.13 Daylighters (Morganville Vampires #15) by Rachel Caine

•  11.5.13 Curtsies and Conspiracies (Finishing School #2) by Gail Carriger
• 11.5.13 Swagger by Carl Deuker

• 11.5.13 The Royal Ranger (Ranger's Apprentice #12) by John Flanagan
• 11.5.13 The Trap (Hunt Trilogy #3) by Andrew Fukuda

• 11.8.13 Sometimes Never, Sometimes Always by Elissa Janine Hoole
• 11.5.13 Champion (Legend #3) by Marie Lu

• 11.5.13 The In-Between by Barbara Stewart
• 11.5.13 Cold Spell by Jackson Pearce

• 11.5.13 Engines of the Broken World by Jason Vanhee
• 11.5.13 Palace of Spies by Sarah Zettel

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Title: Allegiant
Author: Veronica Roth
ISBN: 9780062024060
Publisher: HarperCollins
Released: October 22, 2013
Series: Divergent #3
Page #: 544
Source: Own Purchased Copy

Summary:
"The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love."
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First Lines:

"I pace in our cell in Erudite headquarters, her words echoing in my mind: My name will be Edith Prior, and there is much I am happy to forget." 
Page 1
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Review:

**SPOILER WARNING: Obviously there will be spoilers from Divergent and Insurgent. If you haven't read those books yet, please be aware that there will be spoilers. I apologize!!** 
Man, how in the world can I review this book? I have been waiting like crazy for this one and I devoured it as slowly as I could. Drinking in all of the details and being shocked by many revelations. But it was worth it.

Okay. Third book in the Divergent trilogy... Tris and Four have uncovered the biggest secret about their world - that it isn't real. They realize that the only way to figure things out and have a better life is to escape their society. Once outside, they begin to understand the magnitude of the deception. Lots of secrets are revealed and plans hatched to fix things. The only question now is how they are going to live with all of the things they have learned.

I thought it was really clever the way Roth set up the world outside of the walls. It all makes a lot of sense and truly seems likely - that we would effectively quarantine people and start from scratch when things got so bad. It seems pretty logical, actually. But the people have their memories wiped and new ideas planted. It's a crazy concept, but if the world were bad enough, it might seem pretty tempting.

In the act of wrapping up the Divergent story, there were tons of facts thrown at you during the first half of this book. It was a little more instructional and giving you the basics of how the world works. That sort of world-building typically happens in the first of a series. But once your entire perspective changes during this third book, you need that re-learning about the world. That was interesting, for sure, but it took me a while to really get into it. 

I don't think I can complete this review without discussing the ending. I'm going to color block this section because of serious spoilers... so read at your own discretion:
I know that a lot of people have been really upset about the way the book ended. I'd be lying if I said I was totally cool with it, myself. But I kind of get it. I mean, Roth completely tied up any loose ends and made it where there really cannot be another book. But it seems pretty intense to kill off your main character. And I really wonder how that is going to play in a movie - if they end up making second and third ones. It was shocking, for sure. And I really didn't think it would end up that way. The epilogue was really very sweet, but still left me feeling sad. I was hoping for a more hopeful and happy ending for Tris, but we certainly didn't have that. I'm still a little in shock about the whole thing. Well written, but damn! 

While I know there have been mixed reviews about this final book, I still recommend the series to everyone I know. It's well done and so thought out. I'm looking forward to the movie that comes out in a few months. Fingers crossed that it does the books justice! I'm sort of sad that this series is finally over... but I cannot WAIT to see what Veronica Roth does next. Cause I'll definitely be on board.
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Other Blog Reviews:

Helen's Book Blog
Book. Blog. Bake. 
Cuddlebuggery Book Blog
The Book Smugglers
Nerdy Book Club
Alexa Loves Books
Just a Lil' Lost
Book Hooked Blog
Vilma's Book Blog
Planet Print

Out This Week (Oct 27- Nov 2)

It's another small week in YA publishing, but the things coming out this week look awesome. Here's the line up:

•  10.29.13 Altered by Gennifer Albin
• 10.29.13 Horde (Enclave #3) by Ann Aguirre

•  10.29.13 The Shadowhunters Codex by Cassandra Clare and Joshua Lewis
• 10.29.13 The Iron Traitor by Julie Kagawa

• 10.29.13 Jet Black and the Ninja Wind by Leza Lowitz and Shogo Oketani
• 10.29.13 In the Age of Love and Chocolate by Gabrielle Zevin

Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson

Title: Confessions of a Murder Suspect
Author: James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
ISBN: 9781619695146
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Released: September 25, 2012 
Series: Teen Detective #1
Duration: 6 hours, 4 minutes
Source: Audiobook from my public library

Summary:
"Tandy Angel isn't a normal girl, and she knows it. For one thing, her family is magnificently wealthy and lives in a massive apartment in the famous Dakota building in New York City. Her parents are the head of a prominent hedge fund and the CEO of a large pharmaceutical company. She has been told from a very young age that her detachment from any kind of emotion is a superb trait. In fact, her parents have tried to cultivate a lack of emotion in all four of their children in order to encourage perfection of the highest level. But now the four siblings are tested in a way they never imagined—their parents have been murdered, and the kids are the number one suspect. Tandy decides that she'll have to solve the crime and clear their names, but digging deeper into her parent's affairs is a dangerous—and revealing—game. Spurred by her findings, Tandy begins to remember flashes of past events that were long ago buried in her memory, and she's suddenly unable to trust anyone, not even her siblings to tell her the truth. She might not even be able to trust herself. Who knows what the Angel children are truly capable of?"
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First Lines:

"I have some really bad secrets to share with someone, and it might as well be you - a stranger, a reader of books, but most of all, a person who can't hurt me. So here goes nothing, or maybe everything. I'm not sure if I can tell the difference anymore." 
Page 1
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Review:

This is the story of a crazy family who lives in New York City - their lives aren't normal by far. But when Tandy's parents are discovered dead in their apartment, it is up to her to figure out what happened. She was trained to be emotionless and clinical from a young age, so this is something she should be able to do. Soon, she starts to uncover some secrets that make her rethink everything she knows about her parents. And her family. She just has to solve the mystery and everything can go back to normal.

I've read plenty of other YA books from Patterson (and his team), and they all sort of have the same feel. The main voice in the story is talking directly to the reader, the plot is laid out very cleanly, and things wrap up pretty effectively by the end of the book. I do think it's a pretty good formula, and this book fits in it perfectly. Tandy and her siblings feel a lot like the kids in the Maximum Ride books... in a good way. It's all very formulaic, but it's a recipe that works.

As a mystery, I think they did a really good job. You are truly kept guessing throughout the whole story. I didn't expect the answer that I got, for sure. Tandy goes through the entire family and their staff to attempt to rule them out one by one. It's not a small thing to accuse your brothers of murdering their parents, but this family is anything but normal. They were taught to be cruel and calculating to become the best adults they could be. So it wasn't far-fetched to think they could do something that horrible.

There were some parts of the story that I would have liked to see fleshed out a little bit more. There's a whole saga about her parent's lives and how they have treated their children. I would have loved to find out more about the life before. I'm sure some of that will come in future books. As you can imagine. I'll definitely be looking out for the second one.  

Also: Shout out to the audiobook version - it was really well done. The reader did an awesome job. I'll definitely be listening to #2.

I have thought that true mysteries for teens have been lacking in the past few years, and this book fits perfectly in the genre. It's definitely growing right now and I think this will be a great addition to those collections. Any fans of Patterson's YA stuff will love this book as well. It's an easy read with a satisfying conclusion. I'm also sure this book will be good for middle grade collections as well - which is a plus. Definitely give this one a try if you're looking for an easy mystery.
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Other Blog Reviews:

Candace's Book Blog
Kidz World
We're All Mad Here Book Blog
Willa's Ramblings
Xpresso Reads
Effortlessly Reading
FireStar Books
Booklady's Booknotes
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The Book Babe's Reads