New Releases: August 2016

 August 2

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

Genre: New Adult Romance

The Beauty of Darkness (The Remnant Chronicles #3) by Mary E. Pearson

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst by Jeffrey Toobin

Genre: Nonfiction

An Accident of Stars (The Manifold Worlds #1) by Foz Meadows

Genre: Fantasy

August 9

Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1) by Jay Kristoff

Genre: Fantasy

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood

Genre: Fiction

The Last Days of New Paris by China Mieville

Genre: Science Fiction

The Girl Before by Rena Olsen

Genre: Mystery

Adnan's Story: Murder, Justice, and the Case that Captivated a Nation by Rabia Chaudry

Genre: Nonfiction

Three Years with the Rat by Jay Hosking

Genre: Fantasy

Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton

Genre: Fiction

August 16

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer

Genre: Humor

The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth #2) by N.K. Jemisin

Genre: Fantasy

The Architect of Song (Haunted Hearts Legacy #1) by A.G. Howard

Genre: New Adult Fantasy

August 23

The Perfect Horse: The Daring American Mission to Rescue the Priceless Stallions Kidnapped by the Nazis by Elizabeth Letts

Genre: Nonfiction

The Rat Prince by Bridget Hodder

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Breath of Earth by Beth Cato

Genre: Fantasy

August 30

A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes #2) by Sabaa Tahir

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Kingdom of Ash and Briars by Hannah West

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

The Darkest Secret by Alex Marwood

Genre: Mystery

The Thousandth Floor (The Thousandth Floor #1) by Katharine McGee


Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown


Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Suicide Reviews: A Cold Season by Alison Littlewood

 

Summary: After the battlefront loss of her husband, a soldier, in the sands of the Middle East, a distraught Cass moves to the bucolic, picture-perfect village of Darnshaw with her young son. Since Cass's website design business can be run from anywhere with an internet connection and Ben could benefit from a change of scenery, a move to the highlands village seems like just the thing. 

But the locals aren't as friendly as she had hoped and the internet connection isn't as reliable as her business requires. And when Ben begins to display a hostility that is completely unlike his usual gentle nature, Cass begins to despair. Finally, the blizzards thunder through, marooning Darnshaw in a sea of snow.

When things look their blackest, Cass finds a sympathetic ear in the person of Mr.Remick, the substitute headmaster at Ben's school. But Remick's attentions can't put to rest her growing anxiety about her son and her business. And soon, she finds herself pitted against dark forces she can barely comprehend. The cold season has begun.

Date Published: January 1, 2012

Published By: Jo Fletcher

Number of Pages: 290

Rating: 3.5/5

A Cold Season is the kind of story that will discourage you from ever moving to a small town. Or going outside during winter. Or just going outside, period. 

Cass and her son Ben find themselves stranded in Darnshaw after a snowstorm makes all the roads impassable. This gives the book an incredibly claustrophobic atmosphere - the feeling of being smothered by snow leeches out of the pages and into the reader's brain. The gnawing sense of isolation and paranoia continues to build as ominous things keep happening. Twice, Cass tries to escape - and both times, she fails. You get the sense that she is trapped there and it's pretty darn freaky.

There are a lot of disturbing moments in the book but they're never in-your-face terrifying - it's a more subtle kind of uneasiness. Something strange will happen and it will kind of sit there in the back of your head, and then the next thing will happen, and the next - so the tension slowly builds and builds until all of a sudden you find yourself gripping the pages, overwhelmed by dread. It's incredibly effective - more so, I would say, than splattering guts and gore all over the place. 

I will say I found the climax to be a little underwhelming and predictable, but the author makes up for it by delivering a truly chilling final page. Once I finished reading it, I had to go snuggle with my cat for awhile to make myself feel better. 

A Cold Season reads like a mash-up of The Shining and The Exorcist. I wouldn't say it's a must-read, but fans of occult horror will probably enjoy it. Or, if you like horror but not gore, this book is perfect for you.

Suicide Reviews: The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave #1) by Rick Yancey

 

Synopsis: After the 1st Wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th Wave, just one rule applies: trust no one.

Now it's the dawn of the 5th Wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan may be Cassie's only hope for rescuing her brother - or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up. 

From award-winning author Rick Yancey comes a gripping epic of catastrophic loss, unthinkable odds, and unflinching courage.

Date Published: May 7, 2013

Published By: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Number of Pages: 457

Rating: 5/5

I am so glad this book lived up to the hype. Even though I'm excited for the upcoming film adaptation, I know it will only pale in comparison to this epic sci-fi tale of survival and resilience. 

From the very first page I was sucked into the story. I plowed through the first hundred pages without looking up, and when I did, it was like waking from an incredibly vivid dream. I actually had to remind myself that aliens hadn't invaded the planet in reality (at least not yet.) That type of realism for such a fantastical story is awe-inspiring. It made me think that if aliens did invade our planet, it would happen exactly as it did in The 5th Wave.

I loved all of the characters and the complex, ever-shifting dynamics between them. The relationship between Cassie and Evan Walker is particularly intriguing. I won't spoil anything, but I did figure out what eventually happens between them long before it actually happened. Of course, this may have been because I saw the trailer for the movie, and guessed the twist from there. (Come on, movie trailers, could you be any more obvious?)  

The aliens in this book are some of my favorite that I've ever come across in science fiction. Of course, I'll always have a soft spot for sexy aliens, like Daemon Black from the Lux series, but, man, do I love me some evil, destructive aliens hell-bent on world domination. The structure Yancey uses to describe the invasion with the different Waves is masterful - both chilling and completely convincing. 

The 5th Wave is exactly the kind of post-apocalyptic alien-invasion story I've been looking for. I can't believe it's taken me this long to read it. This book isn't just for young adult sci-fi fans - adult readers will love it too. 

The 5th Wave Movie Trailer 

Suicide Reviews: The Miniarturist by Jessie Burton

  

Synopsis: On a brisk autumn day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman arrives in Amsterdam to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt. But her new home, while splendorous, is not welcoming. Johannes is kind yet distant, always locked in his study or at his warehouse office - leaving Nella alone with his sister, the sharp-tongued and forbidding Marian.

But Nella's life changes when Johannes presents her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. To furnish her gift, Nella engages the services of a miniaturist - an elusive and enigmatic artist whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in eerie and unexpected ways...

Johannes's gift helps Nella pierce the closed world of the Brandt household. But as she uncovers its unusual secrets, she begins to understand - and fear - the escalating dangers that await them all. In this repressively pious society where gold is worshiped second only to God, to be different is a threat to the moral fabric of society, and not even a man as rich as Johannes is safe. Only one person seems to see the fate that awaits them. Is the miniaturist the key to their salvation...or the architect of their destruction? 

Enchanting, beautifully written and exquisitely suspenseful, The Miniaturist is a magnificent story of love and obsession, betrayal and retribution, appearance and truth.

Date Published: August 26, 2014

Published By: Ecco

Number of Pages: 400

Rating: 4/5

The Miniaturist is one of those books where I ended up reading a completely different story from what I was expecting. This seems to be happening a lot lately. (For my review of another unexpected story, see here.)

I was under the impression that Nella, a newly-married woman would end up having an affair with the Miniaturist, an artist who specializes in crafting miniature replicas.

Nope. Not even close.

Instead, The Miniaturist is a story of family secrets, gold, God, and betrayal. It's all very intriguing, actually, and I was pleased by the unique storyline. It has a bit of magical realism feel to it as well which makes the story all the more fascinating. Just who is the elusive Miniaturist? And just how much power does this mysterious figure have over Nella's life?

The Miniaturist seems to be well-researched and gives us a glimpse into 17th-century Dutch society. I loved how the author incorporated the infamous Dutch East India Company into her storyline. You might think the parts about trading and gold and guilds would be a bit dull but they're not. This is what I love about historical fiction - being able to travel back in time and get an idea about the way things were - and marvel at how much things have remained the same.

Jessie Burton writes beautifully, every sentence a polished gem. Her words flow like poetry, making every scene richer and more atmospheric. The vividness of her images helps to transport the reader even deeper into her world. Sights, sounds, smells, tastes - all are rendered so convincingly that I could almost feel the bitter wind of winter or taste the sugared marzipan.

If you're a historical fiction fan, or just have an appreciation for lyrical writing, I strongly urge you to give The Miniaturist a try.