Gimme the Books (2)

I’ve written a few posts to talk about books I’m super excited about that haven’t been released yet, but I felt like adding to that title repeatedly like I had been doing was a bit much. See early posts here: 1, 2, and 3. I decided to make this into a realistic regular feature where I do kind of a Waiting on Wednesday wrap-up post for when I add books to my TBR and “jazzed up for this” Goodreads shelf.

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If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say by Leila Sales {May 2018}

Synopsis: This provocative and relevant young adult novel is about Winter, a one-time National Spelling Bee Champ with a bright future ahead of her. That all changes after she haphazardly writes a racially offensive tweet that she thought was a harmless joke. What unfolds is a barrage of Internet shaming and rejection from her community and closest friends. Winter seeks to redeem herself, but first must come to terms with what she wrote and understand why there was so much backlash.

Excitement: This is definitely a timely book. I have a feeling it will make me uncomfortable and get some second-hand embarrassment. I think that the book blogging universe is sensitive to these issues more than my other “personal” Twitter is, so I’m curious to see what the masses think of this topic instead of just us bloggers. Do you give the person another chance? Do you write them off?

My Lady’s Choosing by Kitty Curran & Larissa Zageris {April 2018}

Synopsis: This scandalous chooseable-path romance novel demands you determine your own romantic adventure-and satisfy all your earthly desires along the way! Endless scenarios of high romance, deep desire, and quivering…comedy await your tender caress in this chooseable path romance novel. You are the plucky but penniless heroine in the center of 19th-century society, the courtship season has begun, and your future is at hand… Whether it’s forlorn orphans and fearsome werewolves, mistaken identities and swashbuckling swordfights, or long-lost lovers and pilfered Egyptian artifacts, every delightful twist and turn of the romance genre unfolds at your behest! Prepare to open your heart, open your mind, and open-this book.

Excitement: I used to LOVE choose-your-own-adventure books and this “grown-up” romance one is definitely exciting for me! I’m really curious to see how they pull it off and if the story feels like a real STORY instead of something a little less pulled together? It may feel choppy or something…

 

Now You See Her by Lisa Leighton & Laura Stropki {June 2018}

Synopsis:  AMELIA has always felt like a happy life is just out of reach. Having moved every few years with her mom and sister, she’s always had a hard time making and keeping friends; there’s never enough time, and never enough money to stay in one place. And now, in her senior year, right before tennis season, Mom wants to move again… SOPHIE has a perfectly curated, Instagram-ready life, from her first singles wins to her cute, long-term boyfriend to the beautiful, landscaped home where she lives with her parents. Though they’re tennis teammates, the two girls almost never speak… But then one night changes everything. When Amelia’s car breaks down on the side of the road in a rainstorm, a man she thinks is a Good Samaritan pulls over to help her. When he tries to abduct her instead, she escapes into oncoming traffic. In one inexplicable moment, Amelia and Sophie switch bodies. Amelia wakes up in Sophie’s body. Amelia’s body is in a coma. Now Amelia needs to find a way to switch back into her own life—but before that, she must retrace her steps to unravel the mystery of the accident, her attempted abduction, and how it’s all tied to her mother’s secret past.

Excitement: Any kind of Freaky Friday book is going to make in on my TBR. I love the idea of a creepier, more sinister version though. The near abduction being tied to her mother’s secret past? Sign me up. I’m curious about the two different girls and how they’re connected in this way as well.

Sam & Ilsa’s Last Hurrah by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan {April 2018}

Synopsis: Siblings Sam and Ilsa Kehlmann have spent most of their high school years throwing parties for their friends–and now they’ve prepared their final blowout, just before graduation… The rules are simple: each twin gets to invite three guests, and the other twin doesn’t know who’s coming until the partiers show up at the door. With Sam and Ilsa, the sibling revelry is always tempered with a large dose of sibling rivalry, and tonight is no exception… One night. One apartment. Eight people. What could possibly go wrong? Oh, we all know the answer is plenty. But plenty also goes right, as well…in rather surprising ways.

Excitement: When Cohn and Levithan come together, the book goes on my list. I have to be honest and say I’ve only read Dash & Lily out of their collected works, but this one sounds very intriguing to me. I love the whole “last hurrah” before graduation piece here.

 

The Lies They Tell by Gillian French {May 2018}

Synopsis: Everyone in Tenney’s Harbor, Maine, has heard of the Garrison tragedy. A mysterious fire. A family of five reduced to one. For people like Pearl Haskins—whose dad was the caretaker of the Garrison property when the house went up in flames—the whispers about that night are more than upsetting. They hurt. With her disgraced father now trying to find steady work in between booze benders, Pearl is stuck waiting tables at the town’s country club where the rich townspeople come in the summer to flaunt their money and gossip about one another… This year, a group of privileged boys has made a point of sitting in Pearl’s section—throwing careless insults her way while also attempting to flirt. Though she’s repulsed by everything they stand for, she’s drawn to the quiet leader of the pack, Tristan—the last surviving Garrison. He wasn’t home the night a blaze took his entire family, and the sadness coming off him in waves is hard to ignore. Befriending the summer boys might irk her to her core, but inside their fold of elite parties and reckless whims could be answers to what happened the night of the fire. And that’s just what she finds… Hidden beneath the glittering façade of wealth and luxury, Pearl discovers a dark and twisted web of lies and betrayals that, once untangled, will leave no life in Tenney’s Harbor unchanged. That is…if it doesn’t take Pearl’s first.

Excitement: Obviously this synopsis had me at “Maine” and continued to grab me with other words like “tragedy,” “country club,” and “elite parties and reckless whims.” I love when an outsider-type goes along with the in-crowd and learns all of their secrets… very Gatsby!

The Last Best Story by Maggie Lehrman {August 2018}

Synopsis: Rose Regnero was a star reporter for her high school paper, destined for a career in journalism, when she abruptly quit two months ago, leaving behind her very-nearly-sort-of-boyfriend and editor-in-chief, Grant. Now she is trying to be normal at her senior prom, with a new boy and new interests, and isn’t looking back… Grant was totally blindsided when Rose walked away from the Gazette. After all, they’d dedicated their lives to it for the past four years, had even planned on majoring in journalism together at Northwestern—which is why Grant is determined to entice Rose back. But whether it’s really to the paper or to him he’s not entirely sure… When an alarm is set off at prom and the school goes on lockdown, Grant discovers that someone is loose in the building with a gun. But Rose, caught outside of the gym, knows differently. Will her instincts for a good story win out against her resolve to leave Grant and the paper behind?

Excitement: I’m always intrigued by a possible second-chance romance, especially when the breakup is somewhat fresh. The prom story with a rumored gunman definitely makes this more interesting. I don’t get the sense that this is a really sad book, like the last school shooting book I read, but I’m curious to learn more.

 

The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas {July 2018}

Synopsis: There are no more cheerleaders in the town of Sunnybrook. First there was the car accident—two girls gone after hitting a tree on a rainy night. Not long after, the murders happened. Those two girls were killed by the man next door. The police shot him, so no one will ever know why he did it. Monica’s sister was the last cheerleader to die. After her suicide, Sunnybrook High disbanded the cheer squad. No one wanted to be reminded of the girls they lost… That was five years ago. Now the faculty and students at Sunnybrook High want to remember the lost cheerleaders. But for Monica, it’s not that easy. She just wants to forget. Only, Monica’s world is starting to unravel. There are the letters in her stepdad’s desk, an unearthed, years-old cell phone, a strange new friend at school. . . . Whatever happened five years ago isn’t over. Some people in town know more than they’re saying. And somehow Monica is at the center of it all. There are no more cheerleaders in Sunnybrook, but that doesn’t mean anyone else is safe.

Excitement: I’ve definitely been on a mystery/thriller kick and this one sounds pretty awesome. I love the idea of gathering secrets and information to try to figure out what happened back then. I haven’t read any of her other books, but Thomas seems to have some creepy options that would normally be way outside of my comfort zone!

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo {TBD 2019}

Synopsis: Nikolai Lantsov has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country’s bloody civil war—and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, the young king must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army… Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha Squaller, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But some secrets aren’t meant to stay buried—and some wounds aren’t meant to heal.

Excitement: Oh god, where do I even BEGINNN with this book. The Grishaverse is somewhere Leigh Bardugo keeps returning to and I don’t think any of us fans are mad about that! Nikolai is definitely/obviously/of course one of my favorite characters from this universe and I have been essentially dying for him to have his own spin-off. Here we goooo.

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