Waiting on Wednesday: An Ember in the Ashes

Breaking the Spine features a weekly event where we talk about the books we can't wait to read.

An Ember in the Ashes

By: Sabaa Tahir

Release Date: April 28, 2015

Publisher: Razorbill

Set in a terrifyingly brutal Rome-like world, An Ember in the Ashes is an epic fantasy debut about an orphan fighting for her family and a soldier fighting for his freedom. It’s a story that’s literally burning to be told.
LAIA is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Martial Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia goes undercover as a slave at the empire’s greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from rebel Scholars who claim that they will help to save her brother from execution.
ELIAS is the academy’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias is considering deserting the military, but before he can, he’s ordered to participate in a ruthless contest to choose the next Martial emperor.
When Laia and Elias’s paths cross at the academy, they find that their destinies are more intertwined than either could have imagined and that their choices will change the future of the empire itself.

I love that it's in a Rome-like world. I love that it's an epic fantasy. I love that it's a debut novel. So many things to love! Can't wait for this book to come out.

Waiting on Wednesday: In A World Just Right by Jen Brooks

Breaking the Spine features a weekly event where we talk about the books we can't wait to read.

In A World Just Right

By: Jen Brooks

Release Date: April 28, 2015

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

High school senior Jonathan Aubrey creates worlds at will. In Kylie-Simms-is-my-girlfriend, he’s given himself everything he doesn’t have in real life-–the track team, passing grades, and his dream girl–-until one day he confuses his worlds and almost kisses the real Kylie Simms. Now his girlfriend Kylie and the real Kylie are changing, and Jonathan must solve the mystery of his own life to save his love from a gruesome fate.

This book sounds almost creepy, but still so interesting. In my mind Creepy + Interesting = Great potential for Awesome. I'm hoping this is a more than him just living in a dream world, but even if that's all it is, if it's written right it could be great.

Waiting on Wednesday: Distance Between Lost and Found by Kathryn Holmes

Breaking the Spine features a weekly event where we talk about the books we can't wait to read.

Distance Between Lost and Found

By: Kathryn Holmes

Release Date: February 17, 2015

Publisher: Harper Teen

Ever since the night of the incident with Luke Willis, the preacher’s son, sophomore Hallelujah Calhoun has been silent. When the rumors swirled around school, she was silent. When her parents grounded her, she was silent. When her friends abandoned her … silent.
Now, six months later, on a youth group retreat in the Smoky Mountains, Hallie still can’t find a voice to answer the taunting. Shame and embarrassment haunt her, while Luke keeps coming up with new ways to humiliate her. Not even meeting Rachel, an outgoing newcomer who isn’t aware of her past, can pull Hallie out of her shell. Being on the defensive for so long has left her raw, and she doesn’t know who to trust.
On a group hike, the incessant bullying pushes Hallie to her limit. When Hallie, Rachel, and Hallie’s former friend Jonah get separated from the rest of the group, the situation quickly turns dire. Stranded in the wilderness, the three have no choice but to band together.
With past betrayals and harrowing obstacles in their way, Hallie fears they’ll never reach safety. Could speaking up about the night that changed everything close the distance between being lost and found? Or has she traveled too far to come back?

This book interests me because I've been reading a lot of speculative fiction (and I'm not tired of that genre by any means) but I also like contemporary. This story has the grounding of contemporary and the fast pace thrill of speculative, so I am excited to read it when it comes out.

Waiting on Wednesday: Zeroboxer by Fonda Lee

Breaking the Spine features a weekly event where we talk about the books we can't wait to read.

Zeroboxer

By: Fonda Lee

Release Date: April 8, 2015

Publisher: Flux

Eighteen-year-old Carr “the Raptor” Luka is an athletic phenom, a rising star in the weightless combat sport of zeroboxing. Training and competing aboard the lunar orbiting city-station of Valtego (where It’s More Fun on the Dark Side TM), all he’s ever wanted is to win the championship title.
His talent and marketability don’t go unnoticed by the top brass of the Zero Gravity Fighting Association. They assign him a brandhelm; after all, anyone who wants to be anyone needs a dedicated personal marketing strategist. Beautiful and ambitious, Risha is one of the genetically engineered Martian colonists that Earth dwellers view with resentment and suspicion. It isn’t long before she’s made Carr into a popular celebrity, and stolen his heart along the way.
But success could be the worst thing that happens to them. As his fame grows, Carr must come to terms with the fact that he’s become an inspirational hero on Earth, a once-great planet now angry at falling into the shadow of its more prosperous colonies. When Carr learns of a far-reaching criminal scheme, he becomes the keeper of a devastating personal secret. Not only will his choices place into jeopardy everything he holds dear, they may spill the violence from the sports arena out into the solar system.

You guys, this was pitched as Rocky meets Gattacca, I'm sold.

Also, I like the idea of a fighter who is trying to make it (I loved Real Steel, I cried at the end of that movie).

(And Axie has obviously influenced me because I am super psyched to see an awesome new diverse author writing Sci-Fi. #weneeddiversebooks for the win!)

Waiting on Wednesday: Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Breaking the Spine features a weekly event where we talk about the books we can't wait to read.

Fairest

By: Marissa Meyer

Release Date: January 27th 2015

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.
Mirror, mirror on the wall,Who is the fairest of them all?
Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now. 
Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series

I love this series (see my review of the first three books here). I love the fairytale retelling aspect and the great ensemble cast. But I particularly like the very well-developed creepy antagonist, Levana. So the fact that this book will tell her story is very exciting for me. Also, I always like to think there's more to people's actions than them just being innately good or evil.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Way We Bared Our Souls by Willa Strayhorn

Breaking the Spine features a weekly event where we talk about the books we can't wait to read.

The Way We Bared Our Souls

By: Willa Strayhorn

Release Date: January 15, 2015

Publisher: Razorbill

If you could trade your biggest burden for someone else’s, would you do it?
Five teenagers sit around a bonfire in the middle of the New Mexico desert. They don’t know it yet, but they are about to make the biggest sacrifice of their lives.

Lo has a family history of MS, and is starting to come down with all the symptoms.
Thomas, a former child soldier from Liberia, is plagued by traumatic memories of his war-torn past.
Kaya would do anything to feel physical pain, but a rare condition called CIP keeps her numb.
Ellen can’t remember who she was before she started doing drugs. 
Kit lost his girlfriend in a car accident and now he just can’t shake his newfound fear of death.
When they trade totems as a symbol of shedding and adopting one another’s sorrows, they think it’s only an exercise.
But in the morning, they wake to find their burdens gone…and replaced with someone else’s.
As the reality of the ritual unfolds, this unlikely group of five embarks on a week of beautiful, terrifying experiences that all culminate in one perfect truth: In the end, your soul is stronger than your burdens

I don't know why but this strikes me as Breakfast Club meets a John Green novel. I like the idea of people being shown what matters in life and I also like the idea that the way to do this is to understand someone else better. So I am very intrigued by this book.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Storyspinner by Becky Wallace

Breaking the Spine features a weekly event where we talk about the books we can't wait to read.

The Storyspinner (The Keepers' Chronicles #1)

By: Becky Wallace

Release Date: March 3, 2015

Publisher: Margaret K McElderry

Drama and danger abound in this fantasy realm where dukes play a game for the throne, magical warriors race to find the missing heir, and romance blossoms where it is least expected.
In a world where dukes plot their way to the throne, a Performer’s life can get tricky. And in Johanna Von Arlo’s case, it can be fatal. Expelled from her troupe after her father’s death, Johanna is forced to work for the handsome Lord Rafael DeSilva. Too bad they don’t get along. But while Johanna’s father’s death was deemed an accident, the Keepers aren’t so sure.
The Keepers, a race of people with magical abilities, are on a quest to find the princess—the same princess who is supposed to be dead and whose throne the dukes are fighting over. But they aren’t the only ones looking for her. And in the wake of their search, murdered girls keep turning up—girls who look exactly like the princess, and exactly like Johanna.
With dukes, Keepers, and a killer all after the princess, Johanna finds herself caught up in political machinations for the throne, threats on her life, and an unexpected romance that could change everything.

Fantasy worlds are awesome, and fantasy worlds that have a little bit of a carnival feel are even more awesome. Also, missing-long-thought-dead-princesses are always a great story. (I obviously loved Anastasia as a child) 

Waiting on Wednesday: The Unhappening of Genesis Lee by Shallee McArthur

Breaking the Spine features a weekly event where we talk about the books we can't wait to read.

The Unhappening of Genesis Lee

By: Shallee McArthur

Release Date: November 4, 2014

Publisher: Sky Pony Press

Seventeen-year-old Genesis Lee has never forgotten anything. As one of the Mementi—a small group of genetically-enhanced humans—Gena remembers everything with the help of her Link bracelets, which preserve memories perfectly. But Links can be stolen, and six people have already lost their lives to a memory thief, including Gena’s best friend.
Anyone could be next. Which is why Gena is less than pleased to meet a strange but charming boy named Kalan who claims that they’ve not only met, but that Gena knows who the thief is.
The problem is, Gena doesn’t remember Kalan, she doesn’t remember seeing the thief, and she doesn’t know why she’s forgetting things— or how much else she might forget. As growing tensions between Mementi and ordinary humans drive the city of Havendale into chaos, Gena and Kalan team up to search for the thief. And as Gena loses more memories, they realize they have to solve the mystery fast.
Because Gena’s life is unhappening around her.

I am on a hard-core Sci-Fi kick (probably because I write Sci-Fi). This book makes me happy because it has things that I love in it.  Also, the idea of a memory thief is so insidious and creepy.

Waiting on Wednesday: Conviction by Kelly Loy Gilbert

Breaking the Spine features a weekly event where we talk about the books we can't wait to read.

This week I'm waiting on:

Conviction

By: Kelly Loy Gilbert

Release Date: May 15, 2015

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
Ten years ago, God gave Braden a sign, a promise that his family wouldn’t fall apart the way he feared.
But Braden got it wrong: his older brother, Trey, has been estranged from the family for almost as long, and his father, the only parent Braden has ever known, has been accused of murder. The arrest of Braden’s father, a well-known Christian radio host, has sparked national media attention. His fate lies in his son’s hands; Braden is the key witness in the upcoming trial.
Braden has always measured himself through baseball. He is the star pitcher in his small town of Ornette, and his ninety-four-mile-per-hour pitch al- ready has minor league scouts buzzing in his junior year. Now the rules of the sport that has always been Braden’s saving grace are blurred in ways he never realized, and the prospect of playing against Alex Reyes, the nephew of the police officer his father is accused of killing, is haunting his every pitch.
Braden faces an impossible choice, one that will define him for the rest of his life, in this brutally honest debut novel about family, faith, and the ultimate test of conviction.

I am excited to read this book, contemporary YA books that are not so cut-and-dried (aka, I can't always predict what the ending will be or even if it will be happily-ever-after) always make me feel so many emotions. I can already imagine that this book will be a roller-coaster ride. I am looking forward to seeing where Kelly Loy Gilbert takes us with this story.

Also, I was lucky enough to win a critique prize from the Freshman Fifteen (authors who are going to be published in 2015), so I can honestly say that Kelly Loy Gilbert is a super nice and cool person.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan

Breaking the Spine features a weekly event where we talk about the books we can't wait to read.

The Blood of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus #5)

By: Rick Riordan

Release Date: October 7, 2014

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Though the Greek and Roman crewmembers of the Argo II have made progress in their many quests, they still seem no closer to defeating the earth mother, Gaea. Her giants have risen—all of them—and they're stronger than ever. They must be stopped before the Feast of Spes, when Gaea plans to have two demigods sacrificed in Athens. She needs their blood—the blood of Olympus—in order to wake.
The demigods are having more frequent visions of a terrible battle at Camp Half-Blood. The Roman legion from Camp Jupiter, led by Octavian, is almost within striking distance. Though it is tempting to take the Athena Parthenos to Athens to use as a secret weapon, the friends know that the huge statue belongs back on Long Island, where it "might" be able to stop a war between the two camps.
The Athena Parthenos will go west; the Argo II will go east. The gods, still suffering from multiple personality disorder, are useless. How can a handful of young demigods hope to persevere against Gaea's army of powerful giants? As dangerous as it is to head to Athens, they have no other option. They have sacrificed too much already. And if Gaea wakes, it is game over.

I loved the Percy Jackson series. I thought it was an awesome way to reimagine the Greek gods. And I L-O-V-E the Heroes of Olympus series because it does that same thing with Roman gods. PLUS it ties in the differences between Greek and Roman interpretations of these gods. PLUS, it has awesome action, adventure, friendship, and love. 

Just like Harry Potter, the Percy Jackson series have grown with their audience, and now we are well into YA territory. I love when series do this and I can't wait for Blood of Olympus to come out.

Waiting on Wednesday: A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Breaking the Spine features a weekly event where we talk about the books we can't wait to read.

This week I'm waiting on:

A Thousand Pieces of You (Firebird #1)

By: Claudia Gray

Release Date: November 4, 2014

Publisher: Harper Teen

Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their most astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite’s father is murdered, the killer—her parent’s handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.

Marguerite can’t let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul’s guilt—and her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is more sinister than she ever could have imagined.

A Thousand Pieces of You explores a reality where we witness the countless other lives we might lead in an amazingly intricate multiverse, and ask whether, amid infinite possibilities, one love can endure.

I saw this book at the ALA 2014 and I was immediately excited about the cover, the premise, the whole idea of this book. I can't wait for it to come out. I love Portal fantasies and parallel universes. 

Waiting on Wednesday: In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken

Breaking the Spine features a weekly event where we talk about the books we can't wait to read.

This week I'm waiting on:

In the Afterlight (Darkest Minds #3) 

By: Alexandra Bracken

Release Date: October 28, 2014

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Ruby can't look back. Fractured by an unbearable loss, she and the kids who survived the government's attack on Los Angeles travel north to regroup. With them is a prisoner: Clancy Gray, son of the president, and one of the few people Ruby has encountered with abilities like hers. Only Ruby has any power over him, and just one slip could lead to Clancy wreaking havoc on their minds. 
They are armed only with a volatile secret: proof of a government conspiracy to cover up the real cause of IANN, the disease that has killed most of America's children and left Ruby and others like her with powers the government will kill to keep contained. But internal strife may destroy their only chance to free the "rehabilitation camps" housing thousands of other Psi kids.
Meanwhile, reunited with Liam, the boy she would-and did-sacrifice everything for to keep alive, Ruby must face the painful repercussions of having tampered with his memories of her. She turns to Cole, his older brother, to provide the intense training she knows she will need to take down Gray and the government. But Cole has demons of his own, and one fatal mistake may be the spark that sets the world on fire.

My sister has a rule that she doesn't start addictive series until all of the books are out. I can completely understand because I am obsessed with The Darkest Minds series and I have been waiting for In the Afterlight to come out. I love Alexandra Bracken as an author and just as a human being (she's so cool and fun to listen to at book signings). Also I was so excited to learn the title of the book because all three make up a sentence: The Darkest Minds Never Fade In the Afterlight,

Waiting on Wednesday: Falls the Shadow by Stefanie Gaither

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Breaking the Spine which highlights the upcoming books we're most anticipating.

This week I'm looking forward to:

Falls the Shadow

By: Stefanie Gaither

Release Date: September 16, 2014

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

When Cate Benson was a kid, her sister, Violet, died. Two hours after the funeral, Cate’s family picked up Violet’s replacement. Like nothing had happened. Because Cate’s parents are among those who decided to give their children a sort of immortality—by cloning them at birth—which means this new Violet has the same smile. The same perfect face. Thanks to advancements in mind-uploading technology, she even has all of the same memories as the girl she replaced.

She also might have murdered the most popular girl in school.

At least, that’s what the paparazzi and the anti-cloning protestors want everyone to think: that clones are violent, unpredictable monsters. Cate is used to hearing all that. She’s used to defending her sister, too. But Violet has vanished, and when Cate sets out to find her, she ends up in the line of fire instead. Because Cate is getting dangerously close to secrets that will rock the foundation of everything she thought was true.

In a thrilling debut, Stefanie Gaither takes readers on a nail-biting ride through a future that looks frighteningly similar to our own time and asks: how far are you willing to go to keep your family together?

This book is like The Good Son meets The Island. The idea of clones is just so strange and intriguing to me. I don't know why (because I know it is probably not super ethical) but I always wonder what kind of world would create and need/utilize clones.

But you guys, seriously, let's never make clones. It's not cool man.