Waiting on Wednesday: When We Wake by Karen Healey

    This is Breaking the Spine's Waiting for Wednesday, where bloggers post about a book they just can't wait to get their hands on!       

 

  When We Wake by Karen Healey

February 21st 2013

My name is Tegan Oglietti, and on the last day of my first lifetime, I was so, so happy.

Sixteen-year-old Tegan is just like every other girl living in 2027--she's happiest when playing the guitar, she's falling in love for the first time, and she's joining her friends to protest the wrongs of the world: environmental collapse, social discrimination, and political injustice.
But on what should have been the best day of Tegan's life, she dies--and wakes up a hundred years in the future, locked in a government facility with no idea what happened.

Tegan is the first government guinea pig to be cryonically frozen and successfully revived, which makes her an instant celebrity--even though all she wants to do is try to rebuild some semblance of a normal life. But the future isn't all she hoped it would be, and when appalling secrets come to light, Tegan must make a choice: Does she keep her head down and survive, or fight for a better future?

Award-winning author Karen Healey has created a haunting, cautionary tale of an inspiring protagonist living in a not-so-distant future that could easily be our own.

Kinda sounds like Pearson's Fox series crossed with Revis' Universe series.  I think it sounds like a good combination!

Waiting on Wednesday: The Goddess Inheritance by Aimee Carter

    This is Breaking the Spine's Waiting for Wednesday, where bloggers post about a book they just can't wait to get their hands on!       

 

  The Goddess Inheritance by Aimee Carter

February 26th 2013

Love or life.
Henry or their child.
The end of her family or the end of the world.
Kate must choose.

During nine months of captivity, Kate Winters has survived a jealous goddess, a vengeful Titan and a pregnancy she never asked for. Now the Queen of the Gods wants her unborn child, and Kate can't stop her--until Cronus offers a deal.

In exchange for her loyalty and devotion, the King of the Titans will spare humanity and let Kate keep her child. Yet even if Kate agrees, he'll destroy Henry, her mother and the rest of the council. And if she refuses, Cronus will tear the world apart until every last god and mortal is dead.

With the fate of everyone she loves resting on her shoulders, Kate must do the impossible: find a way to defeat the most powerful being in existence, even if it costs her everything.

Even if it costs her eternity.

I can't wait for the conclusion of this great series!

Waiting on Wednesday: The Different Girl by Gordon Dahlquist

    This is Breaking the Spine's Waiting for Wednesday, where bloggers post about a book they just can't wait to get their hands on!       

 

  The Different Girl by Gordon Dahlquist

February 21st 2013

Four nearly identical girls on a desert island. An unexpected new arrival. A gently warped near future where nothing is quite as it seems.

Veronika. Caroline. Isobel. Eleanor. One blond, one brunette, one redhead, one with hair black as tar. Four otherwise identical girls who spend their days in sync, tasked to learn. But when May, a very different kind of girl—the lone survivor of a recent shipwreck—suddenly and mysteriously arrives on the island, an unsettling mirror is about to be held up to the life the girls have never before questioned.

Sly and unsettling, Gordon Dahlquist’s timeless and evocative storytelling blurs the lines between contemporary and sci-fi with a story that is sure to linger in readers’ minds long after the final page has been turned.

An interesting premise and a great girls' book, reminds me of Beauty Queens!

Waiting on Wednesday: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

    This is Breaking the Spine's Waiting for Wednesday, where bloggers post about a book they just can't wait to get their hands on!       

 

  Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

February 5th 2013

Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.

As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.

I loved Cinder, and the future adventures of our Cyborg Cinderella are certainly on top of my to-read list!

Waiting on Wednesday: Homeland by Cory Doctorow

    This is Breaking the Spine's Waiting for Wednesday, where bloggers post about a book they just can't wait to get their hands on!       

 

  Homeland by Cory Doctorow

February 5th 2013

In Cory Doctorow’s wildly successful Little Brother, young Marcus Yallow was arbitrarily detained and brutalized by the government in the wake of a terrorist attack on San Francisco—an experience that led him to become a leader of the whole movement of technologically clued-in teenagers, fighting back against the tyrannical security state.

A few years later, California's economy collapses, but Marcus’s hacktivist past lands him a job as webmaster for a crusading politician who promises reform. Soon his onetime girlfriend Masha emerges from the political underground to gift him with a thumbdrive containing a Wikileaks-style cable-dump of hard evidence of corporate and governmental perfidy. It’s incendiary stuff—and if Masha goes missing, Marcus is supposed to release it to the world. Then Marcus sees Masha being kidnapped by the same government agents who detained and tortured Marcus years earlier.

Marcus can leak the archive Masha gave him—but he can’t admit to being the leaker, because that will cost his employer the election. He’s surrounded by friends who remember what he did a few years ago and regard him as a hacker hero. He can’t even attend a demonstration without being dragged onstage and handed a mike. He’s not at all sure that just dumping the archive onto the Internet, before he’s gone through its millions of words, is the right thing to do.

Meanwhile, people are beginning to shadow him, people who look like they’re used to inflicting pain until they get the answers they want.

Fast-moving, passionate, and as current as next week, Homeland is every bit the equal of Little Brother—a paean to activism, to courage, to the drive to make the world a better place.

This sounds even more complicated and deadly than Little Brother!

Waiting on Wednesday: Prodigy by Marie Lu

    This is Breaking the Spine's Waiting for Wednesday, where bloggers post about a book they just can't wait to get their hands on!       

 

 Prodigy by Marie Lu

January 29th 2013

June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request—June and Day must assassinate the new Elector.

It’s their chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long.

But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she’s haunted by the choice ahead. What if Anden is a new beginning? What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood—what if the Patriots are wrong?

In this highly-anticipated sequel, Lu delivers a breathtaking thriller with high stakes and cinematic action.

I loved Legend, and I hope this book takes just as many risks and is just as good!

Waiting on Wednesday: Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans

    This is Breaking the Spine's Waiting for Wednesday, where bloggers post about a book they just can't wait to get their hands on!       

 

 Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans

January 15th 2013

Three levels. Two loves. One choice. Debut novelist, Lenore Appelhans has written a thrilling otherworldly young adult novel about a place that exists between our world (Level 1) and what comes after life (Level 2).

'I pause to look around the hive - all the podlike chambers are lit up as the drones shoot up on memories ... I've wanted to get out of here before, but now the tight quarters start to choke me. There has to be more to death than this.'

Felicia Ward is dead. Trapped in a stark white afterlife limbo, she spends endless days replaying memories, of her family, friends, boyfriend ... and of the guy who broke her heart. The guy who has just broken into Level 2 to find her.

Felicia learns that a rebellion is brewing, and it seems she is the key. Suspended between heaven and earth, she must make a choice. Between two worlds, two lives and two loves.

Afterlife as a gaming metaphor?  Sounds intriguing!  I look forward to this debut novel!

Waiting on Wednesday: Prophecy by Ellen Oh

    This is Breaking the Spine's Waiting for Wednesday, where bloggers post about a book they just can't wait to get their hands on!       

 

Prophecy by Ellen Oh

January 2nd 2013

The greatest warrior in all of the Seven Kingdoms... is a girl with yellow eyes.

Kira’s the only female in the king’s army, and the prince’s bodyguard. She’s a demon slayer and an outcast, hated by nearly everyone in her home city of Hansong. And, she’s their only hope...

Murdered kings and discovered traitors point to a demon invasion, sending Kira on the run with the young prince. He may be the savior predicted in the Dragon King Prophecy, but the missing treasure of myth may be the true key. With only the guidance of the cryptic prophecy, Kira must battle demon soldiers, evil shaman, and the Demon Lord himself to find what was once lost and raise a prince into a king.

Intrigue and mystery, ancient lore and action-packed fantasy come together in this heart-stopping first book in a trilogy.

Girl fighter, magic and demons, and court intrigue?  Sounds like my kind of book!

Waiting on Wednesday: Prophecy by Ellen Oh

    This is Breaking the Spine's Waiting for Wednesday, where bloggers post about a book they just can't wait to get their hands on!       

Prophecy by Ellen Oh

January 2nd 2013

The greatest warrior in all of the Seven Kingdoms… is a girl with yellow eyes.

Kira’s the only female in the king’s army, and the prince’s bodyguard. She’s a demon slayer and an outcast, hated by nearly everyone in her home city of Hansong. And, she’s their only hope…

Murdered kings and discovered traitors point to a demon invasion, sending Kira on the run with the young prince. He may be the savior predicted in the Dragon King Prophecy, but the missing treasure of myth may be the true key. With only the guidance of the cryptic prophecy, Kira must battle demon soldiers, evil shaman, and the Demon Lord himself to find what was once lost and raise a prince into a king.

Intrigue and mystery, ancient lore and action-packed fantasy come together in this heart-stopping first book in a trilogy.

I'm a sucker for a good high fantasy, and this one sounds like a good one, and with a kick-ass girl fighter to boot!

Waiting on Wednesday: Crimson Frost by Jennifer Estep

    This is Breaking the Spine's Waiting for Wednesday, where bloggers post about a book they just can't wait to get their hands on!       

 

Crimson Frost by Jennifer Estep

December 24th 2012

For a moment, a face flashed before my eyes—the most hideous face I’d ever seen. No matter how hard I tried to forget what had happened, I saw him everywhere I went. It was Loki—the evil god that I’d helped set free against my will.

I should have known that my first official date with Logan Quinn was destined to end in disaster. If we’d gotten into a swordfight, or been ambushed by Reapers, I’d have been more prepared. But getting arrested mid-sip at the local coffee hangout? I didn’t see that one coming.

I’ve been accused of purposely helping the Reapers free Loki from his prison—and the person leading the charge against me is Linus Quinn, Logan’s dad. The worst part is that pretty much everyone at Mythos Academy thinks I’m guilty. If I’m going to get out of this mess alive, I’ll have to do it myself…

It's pretty clear where I stand on this series (addicted, seriously addicted).  I can't wait to unwrap this one, it'll be my best present to myself!

Waiting on Wednesday: Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder

    This is Breaking the Spine's Waiting for Wednesday, where bloggers post about a book they just can't wait to get their hands on!       

 

Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder

December 18th 2012

As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avery of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avery is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confident, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.

Though she should be in hiding, Avery will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations yet; an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat.

War is coming and Avery is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible ... again.

I think Maria V. Snyder's books are really good, and I can't wait to get my hands on the next book in her Touch of Power series!

Waiting on Wednesday: Prophesy Of Oz by Megan Shan

    This is Breaking the Spine's Waiting for Wednesday, where bloggers post about a book they just can't wait to get their hands on!       

  Prophesy Of Oz by Megan Shan

August 5th 2013

Helena's Aunt Dorothy has told her stories of Oz from a young age. When she finds a trunk with some Ruby Red slippers she finds herself in an adventure that will give her life long friends and will break every thing that she has ever believed.

Coming from Kansas I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Oz books.  I've even read a few of them (yes, there is more than just The Wizard of Oz!).  I think this sounds like a delightful return to the world and I look forward to a new author's take on things.

Waiting on Wednesday: Fox Forever by Mary E. Pearson

    This is Breaking the Spine's Waiting for Wednesday, where bloggers post about a book they just can't wait to get their hands on!       

  Fox Forever by Mary E. Pearson

March 19th 2013

Locke Jenkins has some catching up to do. After spending 260 years as a disembodied mind in a little black box, he has a perfect new body. But before he can move on with his unexpected new life, he’ll have to return the Favor he accepted from the shadowy resistance group known as the Network.

Locke must infiltrate the home of a government official by gaining the trust of his daughter, seventeen-year-old Raine, and he soon finds himself pulled deep into the world of the resistance—and into Raine’s life.

Mary E. Pearson brings the story she began in The Adoration of Jenna Fox and continued in The Fox Inheritance to a breathtaking conclusion as Locke discovers that being truly human requires much more than flesh and blood.

The Fox books are great.  I loved both The Adoration of Jenna Fox and The Fox Inheritance, and I can't wait to see where the story goes next!  Be sure to get your pre-orders in now for this book!

Waiting on Wednesday: Touched by Corrine Jackson

    This is Breaking the Spine's Waiting for Wednesday, where bloggers post about a book they just can't wait to get their hands on!       

Touched by Corrine Jackson

November 27th 2012

Remy O’Malley heals people with touch—but every injury she cures becomes her own. Living in a household with an abusive stepfather, she has healed untold numbers of broken bones, burns,and bruises. And then one night her stepfather goes too far.

Being sent to live with her estranged father offers a clean start and she is eager to take it. Enter Asher Blackwell. Once a Protector of Healers, Asher sacrificed his senses to become immortal. Only by killing a Healer can a Protector recover their human senses. Falling in love is against the rules between these two enemies. Because Remy has the power to make Protectors human again, and when they find out, they’ll becoming for her—if Asher doesn’t kill her first.

This is Book One in the Touched trilogy.

I love the unique premise with this book, and I'll be watching for it!

Waiting on Wednesday: Undeadly by Michele Vail

    This is Breaking the Spine's Waiting for Wednesday, where bloggers post about a book they just can't wait to get their hands on!       

Undeadly by Michele Vail

November 20th 2012

The day I turned 16, my boyfriend-to-be died. I brought him back to life. Then things got a little weird...

Molly Bartolucci wants to blend in, date hottie Rick and keep her zombie-raising abilities on the down-low. Then the god Anubis chooses her to become a reaper-and she accidentally undoes the work of another reaper, Rath. Within days, she’s shipped off to the Nekyia Academy, an elite school that trains the best necromancers in the world. And her personal reaping tutor? Rath. Who seems to hate her guts.

Rath will be watching closely to be sure she completes her first assignment-reaping Rick, the boy who should have died. The boy she still wants to be with. To make matters worse, students at the academy start turning up catatonic, and accusations fly-against Molly. The only way out of this mess? To go through hell. Literally.

The taken-to-hell books are becoming really popular right now, but I've not seen one that uses ancient Egyptian mythology, which gives this book edge enough that I'll try it out.

Waiting on Wednesday: Luminosity by Stephanie Thomas

    This is Breaking the Spine's Waiting for Wednesday, where bloggers post about a book they just can't wait to get their hands on!       

Luminosity by Stephanie Thomas

November 13th 2012

Beatrice, whose Visions are clearer than those of the other Seers, trains to defend the Institution and the City from the Dreamcatchers. As the City prepares for an invasion, a Dreamcatcher named Echo tells Beatrice that war is imminent, and they must save each other in order to survive. Beatrice keeps this information from her best friend, Gabe, jeopardizing her allegiance to him and the Seers. Now, threatened by both the Seers and the Dreamcatchers, Beatrice must learn who she can trust, and make decisions that may cause her to lose Gabe or Echo forever.

This book sounds like a mix between magic fantasy and dystopian sf, which really intrigues me.  I'll be watching for this book!

Waiting on Wednesday: Reached by Ally Condie

    This is Breaking the Spine's Waiting for Wednesday, where bloggers post about a book they just can't wait to get their hands on!       

Reached by Ally Condie

November 13th 2012

Cassia faces the ultimate choices in the long-anticipated conclusion to the "New York Times" bestselling Matched Trilogy.

After leaving Society and desperately searching for the Rising--and each other--Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again: Cassia has been assigned to work for the Rising from within Society, while Ky has been stationed outside its borders. But nothing is as predicted, and all too soon the veil lifts and things shift once again. 

In this gripping conclusion to the #1 "New York Times" bestselling Matched Trilogy, Cassia will reconcile the difficulties of challenging a life too confining, seeking a freedom she never dreamed possible, and honoring a love she cannot live without.

I wasn't so big into the second book of this trilogy, but there's enough promise in the plot that I'll be picking up the sequel to see if it can get better.

Waiting on Wednesday: Rebel Heart by Moira Young

    This is Breaking the Spine's Waiting for Wednesday, where bloggers post about a book they just can't wait to get their hands on!     

 

  Rebel Heart by Moira Young

October 30th 2012

Nothing is certain and no one is safe in the second book in the highly praised Dust Lands trilogy, which MTV's Hollywood Crush blog called "better than "The Hunger Games.""It seemed so simple: Defeat the Tonton, rescue her kidnapped brother, Lugh, and then order would be restored to Saba's world. Simplicity, however, has proved to be elusive. Now, Saba and her family travel west, headed for a better life and a longed-for reunion with Jack. But the fight for Lugh's freedom has unleashed a new power in the dust lands, and a formidable new enemy is on the rise.

What is the truth about Jack? And how far will Saba go to get what she wants? In this much-anticipated follow-up to the riveting Blood Red Road," a fierce heroine finds herself at the crossroads of"danger and destiny, betrayal and passion.

Saba's Back!  What more do you need?

Waiting on Wednesday: Gravity by Melissa West

    This is Breaking the Spine's Waiting for Wednesday, where bloggers post about a book they just can't wait to get their hands on!     

 

  Gravity by Melissa West

October 16th 2012

In the future, only one rule will matter: Don’t. Ever. Peek.

Seventeen-year-old Ari Alexander just broke that rule and saw the last person she expected hovering above her bed--arrogant Jackson Locke, the most popular boy in her school. She expects instant execution or some kind of freak alien punishment, but instead, Jackson issues a challenge: help him, or everyone on Earth will die.

Ari knows she should report him, but everything about Jackson makes her question what she’s been taught about his kind. And against her instincts, she’s falling for him. But Ari isn’t just any girl, and Jackson wants more than her attention. She’s a military legacy who’s been trained by her father and exposed to war strategies and societal information no one can know--especially an alien spy, like Jackson. Giving Jackson the information he needs will betray her father and her country, but keeping silent will start a war.

I'll admit it, I'm anxious for this book because it has such a stunning cover.  The inside sounds interesting too though!  Since it came out yesterday I've already got my copy and can't wait to dive in!

Waiting on Wednesday: Beta by Rachel Cohn

    This is Breaking the Spine's Waiting for Wednesday, where bloggers post about a book they just can't wait to get their hands on!     

 

  Beta by Rachel Cohn

October 16th 2012

In a world constructed to absolute perfection, imperfection is difficult to understand—and impossible to hide.

Elysia is a clone, created in a laboratory, born as a sixteen year old girl, an empty vessel with no life experience to draw from. She is a Beta, an experimental model of teenaged clone. She was replicated from another teenage girl, who had to die in order for Elysia to be created.

Elysia's purpose is to serve the inhabitants of Demesne, an island paradise for the wealthiest people on earth. Everything about Demesne is bioengineered for perfection. Even the air there induces a strange, euphoric high that only the island's workers—soulless clones like Elysia—are immune to.

At first, Elysia's new life on this island paradise is idyllic and pampered. But she soon sees that Demesne's human residents, the most privileged people in the world who should want for nothing, yearn. And, she comes to realize that beneath its flawless exterior, there is an undercurrent of discontent amongst Demesne's worker clones. She knows she is soulless and cannot feel and should not care—so why are overpowering sensations clouding Elysia's mind?

If anyone discovers that Elysia isn't the unfeeling clone she must pretend to be, she will suffer a fate too terrible to imagine. When Elysia's one chance at happiness is ripped away from her with breathtaking cruelty, emotions she's always had but never understood are unleashed. As rage, terror, and desire threaten to overwhelm her, Elysia must find the will to survive.

I think this will be a great thinking book to explore the boundaries of cloning and what results from it.