Review: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Outlander

Author: Diana Gabaldon

Release: June 1st 1991

Genre: Romance, Historic, Time Travel, Adult

#1 in the Outlander series

Sequels: Dragonfly in Amber (#2), Voyager (#3), Drums of Autumn (#4), The Fiery Cross (#5), A Breath of Snow and Ashes (#6), An Echo in the Bone (#7), Written in my own Heart's Blood (#8), Untitled (#9)

Plot:

The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of Our Lord...1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life, and shatter her heart. For here James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire—and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

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Review: The Wondrous and The Wicked by Page Morgan

The Wondrous and The Wicked

Author: Page Morgan

Release: April 14th 2015

Genre: Historical, Supernatural, Gargoyles, YA

#3 in the Dispossessed trilogy

Series: The Beautiful and The Cursed (#1), The Lovely and The Lost (#2)

Plot:

Since the Waverlys arrived in Paris, the streets have grown more fearsome by the day. As Ingrid learns to master her lectrux gift, she must watch Axia's power grow strong enough to extend beyond her Underneath hive. By all indications, the fallen angel's Harvest is near-and the timing couldn't be worse.

Targeted by vengeful gargoyles, Gabby has been exiled to London for her own protection. Meanwhile, the gargoyle castes are in disarray, divided between those who want Luc to lead them and those who resent him and his fondness for humans. The Alliance is crumbling from the inside as well, its members turning against one another, and possibly against the Waverlys, too.

Axia has promised that the world will burn. And now, unable to trust the Alliance, separated from Luc, Gabby, and her twin, Grayson, Ingrid is left to face the demon uprising alone.

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Review: To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

To All The Boys I've Loved Before

Author: Jenny Han

Release: April 15th 2014

Genre: Contemporary, YA

#1 in the To All the Boys I've Loved Before duology

Sequel: P.S. I Still Love You (#2)

Plot:

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all.

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Review: Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge

Crimson Bound

Author: Rosamund Hodge

Release: May 5th 2015

Genre: Fantasy, Retellings, YA

Companion novels: Cruel Beauty, Gilded Ashes

Plot:

When Rachelle was fifteen she was good—apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. But she was also reckless— straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat.

Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in an effort to atone. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand—the man she hates most—Rachelle forces Armand to help her find the legendary sword that might save their world. As the two become unexpected allies, they uncover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic, and a love that may be their undoing. In a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night?

Inspired by the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, Crimson Bound is an exhilarating tale of darkness, love, and redemption.

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March Recap

Review: Catalyst by Lydia Kang

Catalyst

Author: Lydia Kang

Release: March 24th 2015

Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia, YA

#2 in the Control duology

Series: Control (#1)

Plot:

For fans of Uglies and The Maze Runner comes a complex, thrill-filled love story that will make you question exactly what it means to be human

In the past year Zel lost her father, the boy she loves, her safety, and any future she might have imagined for herself. Now she, her sister, and the band of genetic outcasts they've come to call their family are forced on the run when their safe house is attacked by men with neural guns. But on the way to a rumored haven in Chicago, Zel hears something--a whisper from Cy, the boy who traded himself for her sister's safety. And when she veers off plan in order to search for him, what she finds is not what she expected. There's more to their genetic mutations than they ever imagined...aspects that make them wonder if they might be accepted by the outside world after all.

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Review: Unleashed by Sophie Jordan

Unleashed

Author: Sophie Jordan

Release: February 24th 2015

Genre: Dystopia, Science Fiction, Thriller, YA

#2 in the Uninvited duology

Series: Uninvited (#1)

Plot:

Unleashed, the romantic, high-stakes sequel to New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan's Uninvited, is perfect for fans of James Patterson's Confessions of a Murder Suspect.

Davy has spent the last few months trying to come to terms with the fact that she tested positive for the kill gene HTS (also known as Homicidal Tendency Syndrome). She swore she would not let it change her, and that her DNA did not define her . . . but then she killed a man.

Now on the run, Davy must decide whether she'll be ruled by the kill gene or if she'll follow her heart and fight for her right to live free. But with her own potential for violence lying right beneath the surface, Davy doesn't even know if she can trust herself.

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Review: Burning Kingdoms by Lauren DeStefano

Burning Kingdoms

Author: Lauren DeStefano

Release: March 10th 2015

Genre: Utopia, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, YA

#2 in the Internment Chronicles trilogy

Series: Perfect Ruin (#1), Broken Crowns (#3)

Plot:

Danger descends in the second book of The Internment Chronicles, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Chemical Garden trilogy.

After escaping Internment, Morgan and her fellow fugitives land on the ground to finally learn about the world beneath their floating island home.

The ground is a strange place where water falls from the sky as snow, and people watch moving pictures and visit speakeasies. A place where families can have as many children as they want, their dead are buried in vast gardens of bodies, and Internment is the feature of an amusement park.

It is also a land at war.

Everyone who fled Internment had their own reasons to escape their corrupt haven, but now they’re caught under the watchful eye of another king who wants to dominate his world. They may have made it to the ground, but have they dragged Internment with them?

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February Recap

Review: A Cold Legacy by Megan Shepherd

A Cold Legacy

Author: Megan Shepherd

Release: January 27th 2015

Genre: Historical, Mystery, Horror, YA

#3 in the Madman's Daughter trilogy

Series: The Madman's Daughter (#1), Her Dark Curiosity (#2)

Plot:

After killing the men who tried to steal her father’s research, Juliet—along with Montgomery, Lucy, Balthazar, and a deathly ill Edward—has escaped to a remote estate on the Scottish moors. Owned by the enigmatic Elizabeth von Stein, the mansion is full of mysteries and unexplained oddities: dead bodies in the basement, secret passages, and fortune-tellers who seem to know Juliet’s secrets. Though it appears to be a safe haven, Juliet fears new dangers may be present within the manor’s own walls.

Then Juliet uncovers the truth about the manor’s long history of scientific experimentation—and her own intended role in it—forcing her to determine where the line falls between right and wrong, life and death, magic and science, and promises and secrets. And she must decide if she’ll follow her father’s dark footsteps or her mother’s tragic ones, or whether she’ll make her own.

With inspiration from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, this breathless conclusion to the Madman’s Daughter trilogy is about the things we’ll sacrifice to save those we love—even our own humanity.

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