Anyone who knows me is aware of the fact that I love my YA series, and I’m always whining that my favorite authors just don’t write fast enough to keep me in the lives of my favorite fictional people. You won’t hear me complaining this month, though, with a brand-new series to follow and new titles from two of my favorite authors.
The moment I cracked the spine of the advanced reading copy of Struck by Jennifer Bosworth, I knew I was in for an electrifying ride!
Mia Price is a strong character who struggles with an addiction to lightning. What she views as a curse may just be the salvation for a society that has been devastated by a catastrophic earthquake. Mia fights to keep her family from falling apart, all while trying to unravel the mystery behind a cult with a leader controlling the lost souls of the city. Mia meets a stranger whose actions seem focused on her protection, and he may just be the key to helping her understand herself as well as finding love.
As I read this exciting new book I was completely wrapped up in my amusement, anxiety and disbelief; a shocking twist kept me reading until I was all the way through it! Bosworth’s breakthrough novel has me anticipating her future endeavors. Lucky me, I got to talk with her and get the inside scoop. Her follow-up novel, The Hive, is a ghost story set in a claustrophobic small town—a religious community she describes as a mash-up of Big Love, The Ring and The Stepford Wives. Her other new project is a post-apocalyptic fantasy Western called The Knife Sharpener’s Daughter. All she would spill about that one is that it’s crazy and the protagonist, Jane Darkly, kicks some serious butt! I personally can’t tell you which I’m more excited for. They both sound right up my alley. Struck, by the way, is now available in stores.
The eagerly anticipated sequel to Divergent by Veronica Roth hit shelves this month. Insurgent is no let-down! Tris returns into her chosen faction after the initiation day. Faced with war, sides form and new secrets are brought to light that force Tris to embrace her divergence. From page one of this thrill-ride, the fast-paced plot kept me turning the pages into the wee hours—way past this booksellers’ bedtime.
Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore is the long-awaited sequel to Graceling and companion to Fire. Reading Bitterblue I immediately rejoined the characters I missed for so long; it felt like coming home to family. After escaping her father’s clutches and freeing the kingdom in Graceling and discovering a hidden kingdom in Fire, Bitterblue has to learn to rule her land. Learning which of her closest friends and advisors to trust, Bitterblue struggles with her role in repairing herself and her people while trying to keep peace along her borders. Visiting the Graceling realm again left me longing to return to it once more. I don’t know if that’s going to happen anytime soon. Cashore took three years to get out Bitterblue, and her web site doesn’t share updated info. All I can say is that Bitterblue ends in a way that leads me to believe there will be a companion to Fire in the future.
Other titles I tackled this month and highly recommend include Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin, Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J. Bick, Ascend by Amanda Hocking, Revived by Cat Patrick and Dragonswood by Janet Lee Carey. All of these books rock! Happy reading!
Angela Hanson is a bookseller at Klindt’s in The Dalles, OR, and a regular contributor to NWBL. Last June, she helped coordinate a popular YA event called Got Books? and is now hard at work on the follow-up, which will be June 2. Read more about the event here.