Inevitable Reads

11 Feb 2012 2 Comments

Inevitable Reads: Flawless Girls & Grim Reapers

Happy Saturday!

Inevitable Reads is a weekly feature we’ve thrown together to highlight titles that we simply, without-a-doubt, must get our hands on; the stories we’ve been waiting for ever since we heard the author was writing them.

Sometimes the end is just the beginning.

Gabby lived under the radar until her makeover. Way under. but when she started her senior year as a blonder, better-dressed version of herself, she struck gold: Billy Nash believed she was a the flawless girl she was pretending to be. The next eight months with Billy were bliss…Until the night Gabby woke up on the ground next to the remains of his BMW without a single memory of how she got there.
And Billy’s nowhere to be found.
All Gabby wants is to make everything perfect again. But getting her life back isn’t difficult, it’s impossible. Because nothing is the same, and Gabby’s beginning to realize she’s missed more than a few danger signs along the way.

It’s time for Gabby to face the truth, even if it means everything changes.

Especially if it means everything changes.

Sixteen-year-old Lex Bartleby has sucker-punched her last classmate. Fed up with her punkish, wild behavior, her parents ship her off to upstate New York to live with her Uncle Mort for the summer, hoping that a few months of dirty farm work will whip her back into shape. But Uncle Mort’s true occupation is much dirtier than that of shoveling manure.

He’s a Grim Reaper. And he’s going to teach her the family business.

Lex quickly assimilates into the peculiar world of Croak, a town populated entirely by reapers who deliver souls from this life to the next. Along with her infuriating yet intriguing partner Driggs and a rockstar crew of fellow Grim apprentices, Lex is soon zapping her Targets like a natural born Killer.

Yet her innate ability morphs into an unchecked desire for justice—or is it vengeance?—whenever she’s forced to Kill a murder victim, craving to stop the attackers before they can strike again. So when people start to die—that is, people who aren’t supposed to be dying, people who have committed grievous crimes against the innocent—Lex’s curiosity is piqued. Her obsession grows as the bodies pile up, and a troubling question begins to swirl through her mind: if she succeeds in tracking down the murderer, will she stop the carnage—or will she ditch Croak and join in?

by Jennifer in Features, Inevitable Reads Tags: Ann Redisch Stampler, Croak, Gina Damico, Where It Began

04 Feb 2012 1 Comment

Inevitable Reads: Oppression by Jessica Therrien

Inevitable Reads is a weekly meme we’ve thrown together to highlight titles that we simply, without-a-doubt, must get our hands on; the stories we’ve been waiting for ever since we heard the author was writing them.

I’m not sure how I missed Oppression by Jessica Therrien. However, I did. Thankfully, I roamed the internet long enough today that I found a book I can’t live without. HOORAY! Oppression sounds like a fantastic read. I’d sell my…er…something insane to have a copy of this debut. Well maybe I’ll just wait until the Oppression book birthday rolls around. Either way, I’m getting this baby for my collection.

Check out this amazing cover. Isn’t it pretty? It also marks the beginning of what I hope is a fabulous series, Children of the Gods.

Elyse knows what it means to keep a secret. She’s been keeping secrets her whole life. Two, actually. First, that she ages five times slower than the average person, so that while she looks eighteen years old, she’s closer to eighty. Second, that her blood has a mysterious power to heal. For Elyse, these things don’t make her special. They make life dangerous.

After the death of her parents, she’s been careful to keep her secret as closely guarded as possible. Now, only one other person in the world knows about her age and ability. Or so she thinks. Elyse is not the only one keeping secrets. There are others like her all over the world, descendants of the very people the Greeks considered gods. She is one of them, and they have been waiting for her for a long time. Some are waiting for her to put an end to centuries of traditions that have oppressed their people under the guise of safeguarding them. Others are determined to keep her from doing just that.

But for Elyse, the game is just beginning – and she’s not entirely willing to play by their rules.

by Jennifer in Features, Inevitable Reads Tags: 2012 debut, Children of the Gods, Jessica Therrien, Oppression

28 Jan 2012 2 Comments

Inevitable Reads: All Souls Trilogy

When Deborah Harkness released A Discovery of Witches, I immediately added it to my must-read list but have yet to dive into the trilogy. Why? While there are tons of great reviews on the web, I’m beginning to hear a few complaints about the pace of the story and lack of action. I think I checked out ADOW from the library but couldn’t get to it before someone else wanted it. Honestly, it sounds like a fascinating story, and I love witches (and vamps too), so I’ll read it, no matter what.

If you’ve read A Discovery of Witches, I’d love to hear what your thoughts are, and if you plan to continue to read the trilogy.

The Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

A richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together.

Deep in the stacks of Oxford’s Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
Release date: July 10, 2012

Shortly after Diana Bishop and Matthew Clairmont timewalk to London, 1590, they discover that the past may not provide a safe haven after all. Reclaiming his former identity as poet and spy Matthew Roydon, the vampire falls back in step with a group of radicals known as the School of Night who share dangerous ideas about God, science, and man. Many of his friends are unruly daemonsn – the creative minds of the age who walk the fine line between genius and madness – including playwright Christopher Marlowe and mathematician Thomas Harriot. Matthew, himself, is expected to continue to spy for Queen Elizabeth, which puts him in close contact with London’s cutthroat underworld.

Together, Matthew and Diana scour the bookstalls and alchemical laboratories of London where they follow the elusive trail of Ashmole 782 – and search for the witch who will teach Diana to control her powers.

by Jennifer in Features, Inevitable Reads Tags: A Discovery of Witches, All Souls Trilogy, Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night