Hello, my beautiful bookworms! September is coming up soon (does anyone know where August went? It was here for like three seconds, and now it's almost ending!) and with it a batch of new book releases! From the Goodreads September 2014 YA Releases page, I chose the ten books I'm most excited about.
*Note: I didn't include sequels so that nobody will feel left out over having not read the first or second book. That being said, September will bring us Sarah J. Maas' final Throne of Glass novel, as well as Rick Yancey's sequel to The 5th Wave. SQUEE!
(all credits go to Google Images for le book pics)
Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini (September 2)
I've been a fan of Josephine Angelini since her Starcrossed trilogy, which is probably the only supernatural romance series I really like and don't find as cheesy as a pizza (though I wish some of those human + vampire/angel/devil/witch novels out there were as good as pizza). Trial by Fire, from what I can see, is set in a boarding school and revolves around the Salem witch culture. That's a perfect follow-up for me, because I've just finished Conversion, which also delves into the Salem witch trials, and I absolutely loved it [insert Salve's promise of a review here]. The whole boarding school plus magic premise seems like it could easily turn into a novel of clichés, but the thing I love about Angelini is that she puts the mythology first, rather than the romance. Starcrossed, instead of being a romance that just so happens to feature Greek gods, was a family saga of Olympian proportions (heh) that just so happened to have a love story in the plot. I really, really hope that Angelini does the same mythology research for Trial by Fire, and that she won't fall into a sophomore slump.
The Jewel by Amy Ewing (September 2)
This book has been on my radar for quite some time, and I'm so happy that it's almost time for its release. The first thing that I noticed about the book and its cover is the striking similarity to The Selection trilogy. The plot, like The Selection, is about a poor girl thrust into the royal life. She's supposed to be a royal surrogate, which at this point, I have no bloody idea is. The whole summary (at least the one on Goodreads), really, is quite vague. I'm not too sure if the Jewel is a place or a status, or something else entirely. I guess I'll see in a few weeks.
This book has been on my radar for quite some time, and I'm so happy that it's almost time for its release. The first thing that I noticed about the book and its cover is the striking similarity to The Selection trilogy. The plot, like The Selection, is about a poor girl thrust into the royal life. She's supposed to be a royal surrogate, which at this point, I have no bloody idea is. The whole summary (at least the one on Goodreads), really, is quite vague. I'm not too sure if the Jewel is a place or a status, or something else entirely. I guess I'll see in a few weeks.
MARY: The Summoning by Hillary Monahan (September 2)
Guys, it's a novel about Bloody Mary. 'Nuff said.
Crown of Ice by Vicki L. Weavil (September 9)
This is a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, and unlike Disney's adaptation of it, Crown of Ice seems like it'll stay true to the original fairytale, broken mirror and all. The only other retelling of The Snow Queen I've read was Cameron Dokey's Winter's Child, and I'm really excited to read another variation on it.
Of Monsters and Madness by Jessica Verday (September 9)
Out of all the books on this list, I gotta say I am most excited about this one. It's a retelling of Edgar Allan Poe's poem Annabel Lee, which has got to be one of my favorite poems of all time (you can listen to the incredible Matthew Gray Gubler do a reading here). It's also a period murder mystery (let me digress for two seconds and say I've tried avoiding using the term "period" when referring to novels and films that take place in the past because once I said it in front of friends and they all thought I was talking about films and books that were all about the menstrual cycle). The only thing that could possibly bring this novel down for me is the fact that, surprise surprise, it's got a love triangle. I really hope that one day the YA industry realizes it doesn't need to have two guys fighting over a girl to make a great love story rife with conflicts. On the other hand, this novel could create a triangle as great as the Tessa Gray-Jem Carstairs-Will Herondale relationship from Cassandra Clare's The Infernal Devices, so it could be a terrific novel.
Egg and Spoon by Gregory Maguire (September 9)
I'm going to be honest and say that I've never read a Gregory Maguire novel in my life. I have Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister that has been festering on my TBR bookshelf, and as much as I adore the Wicked musical, I've never read the novel. From what I've heard though, he is an amazing author with worldbuilding skills like the best of them, which is why I'm so pumped to read his version of czarist Russia in Egg and Spoon.
Being Audrey Hepburn by Mitchell Kriegman (September 16)
Critics have apparently dubbed this "The Nanny Diaries meets The Devil Wears Prada", so it's got that going for it. The plot summary seems a bit clichéd in my opinion--Jersey girl puts on Audrey Hepburn's dress and becomes a whole new person, yadda yadda, but who knows? And, as I've said in The Heiresses review, I'm always on the search for a good Gossip Girl successor, so my fingers are crossed for this.
Blackbird by Anna Carey (September 16)
In all honesty, I'm not too psyched about Blackbird's plot. It seems to be your average dystopian OMG-the-government-wants-me-for-diabolical-purposes-run-Forrest-run story. However, Anna Carey is the author of the grossly underrated Eve trilogy. While it did share a lot of similarities with other dystopian novels, Anna Carey's portrayal of her protagonist, Eve, made it stand out from the rest. She writes about emotion in a way that tugs at your heart instead of making you roll your eyes. And that, my dear bookworms, is a compliment coming from my ice cold heart that cringes at the sight of emotion.
Famous Last Words by Katie Alender (September 30)
Katie Alender has perfected the "pretty-horror" sub-genre in YA. Her series Bad Girls Don't Die claims the title Eeriest Covers On Salve's Bookshelf, and I've featured her novel Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer on @cuckooforbooks for Craziest Title and Premise (That title isn't some metaphor. It is literally about Marie Antoinette's ghost going on a murder spree). That's why I feel like I shouldn't judge Famous Last Words by its fluffy, girly, generic cover. I don't doubt that this novel will be just as spine-tingling as Alender's previous ones.
Winterspell by Claire Legrand (September 30)
At first glance I thought this wasn't going to be an interesting book. Oh look, another cover with a pretty girl in a dress looking mysterious while the edges of the book seem to fade away in glitters and Photoshop. But then I saw the knife and everything got ten times more intriguing. Is she holding it to protect herself? Is she grudgingly going to kill her lover? Is she going to ram it up her own chin? Who knows? What we do know so far is that it's a retelling of The Nutcracker. I feel like everybody's forgotten about The Nutcracker nowadays, save for six-year-old ballerinas who dream of playing the sugar plum fairy or princess or whatever, so I think it'd be interesting to see an all-grown up version of The Nutcracker. I still think she could've chosen a less generic name though. Seriously. Winterspell. That's a candle scent, not a book title.
So it looks like September will be a busy reading month for me! This was an extremely fun post to write, and I hope I'll be able to get off my lazy bum and make another one for October releases. In the meantime, excuse me while I get back to marathoning Law & Order: SVU.
xoxo,
Salve
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