,As a successful social media journalist with half a million followers, seventeen-year-old Cal is used to sharing his life online. But when his pilot father is selected for a highly publicized NASA mission to Mars, Cal and his family relocate from Brooklyn to Houston and are thrust into a media circus.

Amidst the chaos, Cal meets sensitive and mysterious Leon, another “Astrokid,” and finds himself falling head over heels—fast. As the frenzy around the mission grows, so does their connection. But when secrets about the program are uncovered, Cal must find a way to reveal the truth without hurting the people who have become most important to him.

Expertly capturing the thrill of first love and the self-doubt all teens feel, debut author Phil Stamper is a new talent to watch. (From the book blurb)

My thoughts:

This book was just impossible to put down, so I had to read it in one sitting!

Cal Lewis is a seventeen year old aspiring journalist and news reporter. He has been working very hard on building his account and follower base on a social media site. Cal is passionate about his videos and news updates because he believes people do not just want gossip- they want facts and real information that can help them make choices. Cal is also a planner. He has a schedule for his news updates, he knows what he is going to do in summer (his internship), next year, and how he is going to build his career. All of this comes to a screeching halt when his Dad announces he has just been selected for a NASA program as a potential astronaut on a mission to Mars. Cal's family are to move to Texas in ...a few days. The worst part is that Cal won't be able to post any more videos as all  filming rights are controlled by StarWatch Reality Show that has an exclusive contract with NASA.  Once in Texas, Cal meets another astro-family with two perfect teens, one of whom becomes his love interest.

Cal comes across as a bit self-centred, especialy if you consider his interactions with Deb, his best friend and ex-girlfriend who has much more serious problems and is nothing but supportive of Cal. Having said this,  there's so much energy in his character and so much drama! I really liked the social media career angle, and I sympathized when he felt his carefully laid out life plans were thwarted. Not that I didn't think that his Dad wasn't entitled to giving a shot to HIS dream of becoming an astronaut, but a bit more attention to how the change was going to affect the rest of the family was surely needed.
Cal's relationship with Leon was a bit too fast, and Leon himself seems to stay out of limelight all the time. Perhaps, it would have been more credible, if there were two points of view, or even more, if you want to cover all important people in Cal's life. Great rep for mental illness- Cal's Mom's anxiety and Leon's burnout and depression. These are important topics that require a lot of sensitivity, and Phil Stamper did a really good job here.

Overall, an original and upbeat coming-of-age novel dealing with topics of family relationships, first love, following one's dreams, social media authenticity and many others.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Bloomsbury YA for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

A Castle in the Clouds follows a girl as she navigates secrets, romance, and danger in an aging grand hotel.

Way up in the Swiss mountains, there's an old grand hotel steeped in tradition and faded splendor. Once a year, when the famous New Year's Eve Ball takes place and guests from all over the world arrive, excitement returns to the vast hallways.

Sophie, who works at the hotel as an intern, is busy making sure that everything goes according to plan. But unexpected problems keep arising, and some of the guests are not who they pretend to be. Very soon, Sophie finds herself right in the middle of a perilous adventure--and at risk of losing not only her job, but also her heart. (From the book blurb)

My thoughts:

This was a perfect winter read! The book is set in a beautiful hotel up in the Swiss Alps, while the main events take place between Christmas and New Year's Day, so I couldn't have asked for a more atmospheric YA book on this January morning.

Seventeen year old Sophie Spark is a high school dropout who is working as an intern in a luxury hotel. She is trying to find her own place in the world, however different it might be from her mother expectations and her friends' chosen lifepaths. Sophie is learning and trying out various jobs and tasks hotel staff do: she has been a chambermaid,  learnt ins and outs of running the laundryroom equipment, worked as the hotel spa assistant and baby-sitter. Sophie's a lovely girl with her own particular brand of humour. She's always smiling (maybe a bit too much) and has even occasionally burst into a song in the laundry room. She also gives milkroll crumbs to seven little jackdaws who coo outside the window of her tiny room. Sophie's also very independent and doesn't give in to peer pressure.
Ben Monfort is the the son of one of the hotel owners and is also working there for free during his winter holidays. Ben still needs to figure out his feelings towards the old hotel. On one hand, he has grown up in it and has known most of the staff since he was a toddler. On the other hand, he feels he will never be free to make his own choices in life. If you are not a fan of love triangles, I've got bad news for you as not only Ben, but also another mysterious, but utterly gorgeous hotel guest falls in love with Sophie.
There is a huge cast of characters. Some of them are nice and warm-hearted (or rather that's what Sophie thinks) or...the opposite. Sophie might be a bit quick to judge people, but perhaps it is just the prerogative of her age to find out that not everybody is what they seem to be at a first glance.
Several hotel guests are not what they want other people to believe-there is a Russian oligarch travelling incognito,  a PI following the trail of a criminal, a group of thieves, a famous writer... the list goes on. One of the guests pretends to be nice and meek, although deep down they are cruel and heartless, while another one who doesn't seem to have a kind bone in their body turns out to be not so bad.

There is money laundering, kidnapping and jewellery theft, so the book is action-packed, although there are also a few very romantic scenes, including several almost-kisses and a spellbinding waltz on the hotel roof.
Hotels  have this special liminal quality that makes you believe anything can happen there, however strange, improbable or downright scary (picture Shining or even Psycho in your mind). You are also allowed to be anything you want (within reasonable limits) and that includes acting heroically to save somebody's life. I won't say more as I don't want to spoil the pleasure of reading this book.

Overall, entertaining, unusual. sentimental, A Castle in the Cluds has a lot to go for it. Not least, it has a cozy atmosphere, quirky characters, squeeky clean romance, and a feel-good-happy-ending.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

Good things don't happen to girls who come from nothing...unless they risk everything.

Fierce and ambitious, Aina Solís as sharp as her blade and as mysterious as the blood magic she protects. After the murder of her parents, Aina takes a job as an assassin to survive and finds a new family in those like her: the unwanted and forgotten.

Her boss is brutal and cold, with a questionable sense of morality, but he provides a place for people with nowhere else to go. And makes sure they stay there.

DIAMOND CITY: built by magic, ruled by tyrants, and in desperate need of saving. It is a world full of dark forces and hidden agendas, old rivalries and lethal new enemies.

To claim a future for herself in a world that doesn't want her to survive, Aina will have to win a game of murder and conspiracy—and risk losing everything.

Full of action, romance and dark magic, book one of Francesca Flores' breathtaking fantasy duology will leave readers eager for more! (From the book blurb)

My thoughts:
I am going to be honest - this book probably is going to get mixed reviews. Some people will be put off by the brutality of the world created by Francesca Flores. This world is full of violent gangs, ruthless assassins, orphans and spies. The religion is based on blood magic and can be used to either save lives and create shelter in case of need or to kill in the most horrible manner. This forbidden religion uses rough diamonds to focus the magic and has been outlawed by Steels, people who own technology and industry (we are talking about electricity, steel plants and factories, not computers or spaceships).
The protagonist of the book, Aina Solis was orphaned at the age of eight, when her parents were shot while practising their religion. Aina survived on the streets for four years and then was rescued by Kohl Pavel, the Blood King, who turned her into a trained assassin. He also brainwashed her into believing that 'good things do not happen to girls who come from nothing', instilled a fear of falling from her dubious grace and taught her to think of herself as a weapon, part of a service, not somebody responsible for taking away lives. When Kohl offers her an extremely dangerous job to do, almost a suicide mission, all she thinks about is not the person who is going to die, but the money she is going to earn and her freedom to open her own tradehouse.
Aina isn't exactly a likeable character, although you can see straighaway she is going to change and see the error of her ways. She is too confused, too mistrustful, too insecure. I had less trouble warming up to other characters: Teo who felt a life of crime was the only way to buy medicine for his dying mother, gentle Ryuu, almost too ready to understand and see the situation from the other person's point of view, even Tannis, another 'Blade' (Assassin) in Kohl's group of misfits and protegees.
The book is action-packed, although the pace is a bit uneven. There are also flashbacks to Aina's past to help the reader understand how she got to be what she is and her relationship with Kohl. I felt that some things were a bit repetitive and could have been edited to make the book shorter and more focused. Having said it, I read the book quite quickly and put aside other novels, because it does have that addictive quality that makes it difficult to put it down. Will be looking forward to reading the second part of this duology to see if Aina manages to save her dark world.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Wednesday Books for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

Camryn has been dating Marc FOREVER—since freshman year! She dropped out of volleyball to go to all his games, switched her schedule around to be in his favorite class, and has been busting her butt to get into Columbia so they can go to the same college. So when Marc suddenly, and very publically, breaks up with her a week into their senior year so that he can date the new transfer student, she’s absolutely devastated.

But why be sad, when you can get even? Inspired by her favorite movies, Camryn decides that the best revenge is a Senior Year well lived, starring a boy who is ever so much better than her ex. With a little help from her friends, Cam is going to have the Best. Senior. Year. Ever. (From the book blurb)

My thoughts:
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book! Fun and easy to read, it is also very relatable if you ever felt you lost yourself in a relationship.

Cam Roth is a good student, a good sister, a  good friend and a good, supportive girlfriend to her boyfriend of three years, Marc Gebler. Cam has a sunny, optimistic personality, but she is also ...a bit pushy or let's say very determined to get what she wants. Right now it is being in the same art class as Marc. Looking into long-tem future, it is getting into Columbia, Marc's dream college. When the school councellor tells her to lower her sights and think of other less prestigious schools as her lack of extra-curricular activities  on her application might not allow her get into Columbia, Cam needs Marc to comfort her and help her brainstorm ideas how to turn the situation round. Only Marc has his own ideas about their future. He would like them to go their separate ways in their senior year. If you've ever been on the receiving end of a break-up, you will understand how miserable, angry and confused she feeels. Luckily, her friends are on her side and as she also finds out the entire cheerleader squad as well. A week later, Cam finds out that Marc left her for a new student Lissi and that they had been dating over summer, while she was working as a camp counselor, stealing away in her rare free moments to phone or text Marc and tell him how much she was missing him.

Cam decides to live her senior year as well as she can, and try to find a new boyfriend. Okay, part of her motivation is making Marc jealous and getting him want to get back together. Did I mention that Cam is a big fan of romance books and films, and that one of her favourite tropes is second-chance love? She is so much out of practice with flirting that she desperately needs her friends' help. A few unsuccessful attempts (good stories to share with your friends and laugh at yourself during the school lunch break), she ends up with a cute boy, but will she prioritise his interests over hers the way she did with Marc or will she stand up for herself, spend quality time with her girlfriends and work out what she really wants for her future?

I think in this book I've found my new favourite trope: (re)discovering yourself and what you are capable of with the help of your amazingly loyal friends!

Thank you to Edelweiss and Swoon Reads Macmillan for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

       

Seventeen-year-old Lake spends her days searching a strange, post-apocalyptic landscape for people who have forgotten one very important thing: this isn’t reality. Everyone she meets is a passenger aboard a ship that’s been orbiting Earth since a nuclear event. The simulation that was supposed to prepare them all for life after the apocalypse has trapped their minds in a shared virtual reality and their bodies in stasis chambers.

No one can get off the ship until all of the passengers are out of the sim, and no one can get out of the sim unless they believe it's a simulation. It's up to Lake to help them remember.

When Lake reveals the truth to a fellow passenger, seventeen-year-old Taren, he joins her mission to find everyone, persuade them that they’ve forgotten reality, and wake them up. But time’s running out before the simulation completely deconstructs, and soon Taren’s deciding who’s worth saving and who must be sacrificed for the greater good. Now, Lake has no choice but to pit herself against Taren in a race to find the secret heart of the sim, where something waits that will either save them or destroy them all. (From the book blurb)

My thoughts:
The topic and setting of virtual reality seemes all rage now with multiple books exploring this subject coming out this winter. Well, science-fiction by its nature is the genre that looks into near future and explores what problems we might have if we stay on our current course.
So, the premise of this book is something I was fascinated by and invested in. I also enjoed the pace of the story - it never slowed down or dragged for me.
Pick this book, if you are interested in survival stories and virtual reality and like exploring big ideas in sci-fi context. It won't disappoint, as the author is obviously very talented and original.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Tor Teen for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

In the sequel to New York Times bestselling A Curse So Dark and Lonely, Brigid Kemmerer returns to the world of Emberfall in a lush fantasy where friends become foes and love blooms in the darkest of places.

Find the heir, win the crown.
The curse is finally broken, but Prince Rhen of Emberfall faces darker troubles still. Rumors circulate that he is not the true heir and that forbidden magic has been unleashed in Emberfall. Although Rhen has Harper by his side, his guardsman Grey is missing, leaving more questions than answers.

Win the crown, save the kingdom.
Rumored to be the heir, Grey has been on the run since he destroyed Lilith. He has no desire to challenge Rhen--until Karis Luran once again threatens to take Emberfall by force. Her own daughter Lia Mara sees the flaws in her mother’s violent plan, but can she convince Grey to stand against Rhen, even for the good of Emberfall?

The heart-pounding, compulsively readable saga continues as loyalties are tested and new love blooms in a kingdom on the brink of war. (From the book blurb)

My thoughts:
If you  like fairy-tale retellings and are a fan of YA fantasy genre, by now you must have read A Curse So Dark and Lonely, which is a fantastic retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
If you haven't, I'm going to put a page break here (Read More) because this review is going to be full of spoilers.

 
The oasis saved them. But who will save them from the oasis?

Alif had exciting summer plans: working on her father’s archaeological dig site in the desert with four close friends . . . and a very cute research assistant. Then the sandstorm hit.

With their camp wiped away, Alif and the others find themselves lost on the sands, seemingly doomed . . . until they find the oasis. It has everything they need: food, water, shade—and mysterious ruins that hide a deadly secret. As reality begins to shift around them, they question what’s real and what’s a mirage.

The answers turn Alif and her friends against one another, and they begin to wonder if they’ve truly been saved. And while it was easy to walk into the oasis, it may be impossible to leave . . .

Katya de Becerra’s new supernatural thriller hides a mystery in plain sight, and will keep you guessing right up to its terrifying conclusion. (From the book blurb)











My thoughts:
What an exciting thriller this book proved to be! Although set in an entirely different context this book made me think about two of my favourite reads from long time ago -Solaris by Stanslaw Lem and The Roadside Picnic by brothers Strugatsky.

Alif Scholl's parents are archeologists, so she has grown up around various digs and actually enjoys the task of washing and labelling archeological finds. She is thrilled to spend her summer at her father's current dig near Dubai. Alif's friends- Minh, Lori, Rowen and Luke- are joining her. There's also Tommy Ortiz, Alif's father's student and assistant. On their way to the site Alif reads a blog post about the site which claims that there is a kind of curse on it. She brushes it off as a publicity trick, but later Tommy tell her that there was indeed a strange accident in which two people were hurt. Another strange event happens when a young exhausted and severely dehydrated Frenchman wanders into the camp and whispers the name of a Messopotamian deity. Alif manages to get a few more sentences from him before he is taken away to a hospital.
Everything is going well and the friends are beginning to get the hang of the dig site routine, when a terrible sandstorm hits. When it passes and Alif comes round, she sees no sign of the camp. Her friends and Tommy have to get back to civilisation, but they have no idea what their current location is. When the situation begins to seem desperate, they reach an oasis with crystal clear water and abundance of fruit. But can they trust the oasis and can they trust each other? Soon strange dreams begin...

Alif and her five friends are all flawed characters with their own distinct personality (something that becomes very important at the end of the book). The group dynamics was quite complex. Bear in mind, we only get Alif's perspective and as the book progresses, it becomes clear that she is an unreliable narrator.

I really enjoyed Katya de Berrera's seemingly effortless writing style and the way she kept my attention throughout the book. I did wonder quite often whether the events were just a hallucination brought by the gruelling journey through the desert under the unforgiving sun or whether the (post)-oasis events are manifestations of PTSD and then the author surpassed all my expectations by giving us a mind-bending explanation.

I had a bit of trouble trying to categorize this book in terms of its genre: a thriller? a horror? fantasy? science fiction? Oasis is a gripping genre-bending story that will be appreciated by those who like a good adventure book set in a fascinating location.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Imprint Macmillan for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

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Quinn and Grayson have been fierce speech and debate rivals for years. They can't stand one another, either in competition or in real life.

But when their AP Government teacher returns their school assignments to the wrong cubbies, they begin exchanging anonymous notes without knowing who the other is.

Despite their differences, the two come together through their letters and find themselves unknowingly falling for the competition. Before the state tournament, the two of them need to figure out what they want out of life, or risk their own future happiness. After all, what’s the point of speech and debate if you can't say what's in your heart? (From the book blurb)











My thoughts:
This unexpectedly sweet and delightful teen rom-com introduced me to apparently super competitive world of Speech and Debate Tournaments. I never realised how interesting this extra-curricular activity can be and how much preparation goes into being able to deliver one's arguments smoothly and effectively.
Quinn and Grayson, the protagonists of the book, are both successful debaters and even become co-captains of their school team, so they have to work together to help the others improve their perfomances. The problem is they do not really get along. At least, this is what Quinn thinks. While she has to work extremely hard on every single aspect of her life (and that includes memorising her speeches), Grayson seems to win it all hands down. He is gorgeous, charming, smart, comes from a well-off family, and is a straight A  student. Quinn, on the other hand, is about to fail her AP Government. One day the AP Government teacher puts a wrong assignment in her locker. Quinn leaves it in the right one and adds a note. Her notes gets a response and so begins a fascinating exchange, where both teens remain anonymous, but gradually open up to each other and speak about their everyday problems, worries as well as bigger dreams and aspirations.
The story may be predictable (although the author throws in a few spanners in the works), but it is, nevertheless, very entertaining and easy to read. I loved the way neither Quinn, nor Grayson are perfect. Quinn is overthinking everything, but she is also feisty and witty. Grayson's charm grows on you as you continue reading and by the end of the book you will become his fan. He has his share of worries. Being a politician's son, he doesn't feel he is free to choose his career path because of his family expectations.
I thought the anonymous note exchange part was fun, although it did make me think about our digital world where we form relationships and friendships with people we've never met in real life. Sometimes we open up and share our innermost thoughts and get great advice from people who are not blinded by their knowledge of what we look like or sound like, or all the cute and embarrassing things they remember us doing.
There was a very strange love triangle /triangles in this story (the protagonists of the story and the anonymous note-writer) and before you say 'Oh no, not again!' I want to say that liking several people and having to work out your feelings is also a part of high school experience. Just be honest with them and yourself, and behave according to your beliefs.
Lighthearted, clean, and entertaining. Recommended for all romantics looking for a quick and enjoyable read.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Swoon Reads for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.