Most Anticipated: January 2019

Most Anticipated is a feature wherein I talk about new releases. This isn't an exhaustive list by any means, just the titles I'm most excited about. Guys, January is going to be awesome! So many sequels, follow-up novels, and more!

The Girl King by Mimi Yu [Goodreads]

Sisters, war, ambition, betrayal. Why are you hitting all my buzzwords at once? One of my best friends read this and LOVED it so I know it's going to be amazing. And I really, really like the cover.

The Wicked King by Holly Black [Goodreads]

I haven't actually read The Cruel Prince yet (although, I'm writing this October so maybe by the time it goes up, I will!) But that doesn't mean it's okay to exclude this from the list. Any new Holly Black title is going to excite me.

Undying by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner [Goodreads]

If you read Unearthed then YOU KNOW about that crazy ass ending. I need to know what happens and I need to know now!!

In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire [Goodreads]

I love this series so much. I didn't think the 3rd was the Best Ever, but that doesn't matter. When I heard the world was going to be expanded, I basically literally jumped for joy. The writing, the world, the characters, the premise--everything about this series is amazing.

Our Year of Maybe by Rachel Lynn Solomon [Goodreads]

I didn't even look at the blurb before snagging this arc and adding it to this list. I loved Solomon's debut to absolute pieces. It was just so authentic and realistic, the portrayal of surviving teenage girlhood and the beautiful and diverse representations of the Jewish faith and culture. I can't wait for more from this author.

The Cold is in Her Bones by Peternelle van Arsdale [Goodreads]

This is a Medusa retelling!!! MEDUSA. How often do you see THAT? I simply CANNOT WAIT.

Song of the Dead by Sarah Glenn Marsh [Goodreads]

Finally! I read an early copy of the first book so I've been waiting a while for this release. I am very interested in what's going to happen next, and I kind of feel an f/f/f love triangle brewing which makes me very excited.

Come Find Me by Megan Miranda [Goodreads]

I've enjoyed all the Megan Miranda books I've read so far, so I have high hopes for this. It sounds SO creepy, with weird alien messages and missing people. I hope it lives up!

99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne [Goodreads]

If you haven't read The Hating Game yet, what the heck are you waiting for? It's one of my all-time favorite romance novels. I didn't even need to check the blurb or anything before I pre-ordered this. I am sooooooo hype.

What new releases are coming in January are you most excited to read?

Book Review: Our Year of Maybe by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Book Title & Author: Our Year of Maybe by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Published by: Simon Pulse on January 15th, 2019
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 384
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
🌟🌟🌟🌟
Synopsis: 
From the author of You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone comes a stunning contemporary novel that examines the complicated aftermath of a kidney transplant between best friends.

Aspiring choreographer Sophie Orenstein would do anything for Peter Rosenthal-Porter, who’s been on the kidney transplant list as long as she’s known him. Peter, a gifted pianist, is everything to Sophie: best friend, musical collaborator, secret crush. When she learns she’s a match, donating a kidney is an easy, obvious choice. She can’t help wondering if after the transplant, he’ll love her back the way she’s always wanted.

But Peter’s life post-transplant isn’t what either of them expected. Though he once had feelings for Sophie too, he’s now drawn to Chase, the guitarist in a band that happens to be looking for a keyboardist. And while neglected parts of Sophie’s world are calling to her—dance opportunities, new friends, a sister and niece she barely knows—she longs for a now-distant Peter more than ever, growing increasingly bitter he doesn’t seem to feel the same connection.

Peter fears he’ll forever be indebted to her. Sophie isn’t sure who she is without him. Then one blurry, heartbreaking night twists their relationship into something neither of them recognizes, leading them to question their past, their future, and whether their friendship is even worth fighting for.

Review:
I was really nervous about this book because my feelings about Solomon's debut were so conflicting, but I always give authors a second or even third chance and in this case, I am really glad I did. I still had some conflicted feelings about this book, but overall, I enjoyed this more than I enjoyed the author's debut and that to me, says that the author has grown as a writer since her first book came out.

I was fully expecting to relate more to Peter. We both have chronic illnesses (though his is his kidneys and mine is my heart) and he's bisexual. Wait, before I continue on, I want to massively praise Solomon for making Peter bisexual. There aren't enough bisexual boys in books and I really hope that changes. Well, I want more bisexual characters period, but definitely more bisexual boys please. I also liked that Peter was Jewish. I've actually looked into converting to Judaism in the past 6 months or so, so I was really excited to see how Peter dealt with it.

Sophie is also Jewish, but she's more into the Jewish religion than Peter's family is. Sophie's the reason I had such complicated feelings about this book. Being willing to donate an organ is a big freaking thing and I don't want to discount that at all because her willingness to do that was totally awesome. But I had a nagging feeling that the only reason she was doing this was so Peter would magically fall in love with her and all her pining away for him would not be in vain. 

I had a strong suspicion that what Sophie desperately wanted was not going to happen. Especially once Peter met Chase. I think I might be in love with Peter and Chase as a couple. Their first kiss was probably my favorite first kiss this year. It was perfection and I could not stop smiling. These two are definitely on my shortlist for favorite literary couple of the year.

Sophie's attitude towards Peter's new life was really bothersome to me. I understood that she felt left out of stuff, but Peter had finally gotten a kidney and his life didn't have to be so sedentary anymore. Sophie should have been thrilled about that, but instead she pouts and whines about how Peter never has time for her anymore and that his new friends are more important than she is. Really, she should have taken the opportunity to develop new friends, new routines and new activities, and to some extent she does, but never without wondering where Peter is and why he is doing whatever he's doing.

I wish I could remember who called their relationship codependent, because it was and I had been trying to put my finger on the correct word for the majority of the book. Sophie and Peter's friendship was very codependent and after he got his transplant, Peter seemed a lot more willing to break free of it than Sophie was.

I wish we had seen more of Sophie's sister, Tabby because in a lot of ways, Tabby was a lot more grown up, responsible & mature than her older sister Sophie was. Granted that probably had to do with getting pregnant at fifteen. Tabby's situation, while not uncommon, seemed a little too idyllic, and not representative of a lot of families. She was very lucky to have the support of her family, her baby's father and his family.

Final thoughts: This book packed a lot into it, but it was done really well and I look forward to seeing what Solomon writes next.

Book Review: The Similars by Rebecca Hanover

Book Title & Author: The Similars by Rebecca Hanover
Published by: Sourcebooks Fire on January 1st, 2019
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2
Synopsis:When six clones join Emmaline’s prestigious boarding school, she must confront the heartbreak of seeing her dead best friend’s face each day in class.
The Similars are all anyone can talk about at the elite Darkwood Academy. Who are these six clones? What are the odds that all of them would be Darkwood students? Who is the madman who broke the law to create them? Emma couldn't care less. Her best friend, Oliver, died over the summer and all she can think about is how to get through her junior year without him. Then she comes face-to-heartbreaking-face with Levi—Oliver's exact DNA replica and one of the Similars.

Emma wants nothing to do with the Similars, but she keeps getting pulled deeper and deeper into their clique, uncovering dark truths about the clones and her prestigious school along the way. But no one can be trusted…not even the boy she is falling for who has Oliver's face.

Review:
Oh boy, let's see if I can do this crazy-awesome book justice, because it really deserves it. I was nervous about this one because I've been disappointed in the first next year book I've read. I wanted to be totally obsessed with this book, but I was terrified I'd be disappointed. But I wasn't. I was totally thrilled with this book. 

It took me on a wild roller coaster ride that just never let up. I love books where I get pulled into the story immediately and that's exactly what happened with this one. It started off really promising and before I was even a quarter of the way through it, I was hooked! Love when a book can do that. Especially a book that has science fiction elements, murder mystery elements and boarding school elements. Boarding school in particularly is a buzz-phrase for me. If I see a book takes place at a boarding school, I'm gonna wanna read it. That's just the way it is.

Emmaline was a fascinating character. My heart broke when I learned of her losses. Yes, she had lost more than her best friend in her lifetime and that was hard to read about. She seemed to have a good friend in Prudence though, so at least she had someone to turn to when things got really hard. I couldn't imagine how Emmaline was feeling when Oliver's Similar appeared at Darkwood. Obviously it wasn't easy for her and it also wasn't easy for the Similar, Levi, as well. Both of them struggled knowing that Levi's face & his DNA was the same as a dead boy's.

I loved the element of the Ten students. It actually reminded me a little bit of Dead Poets Society, one of my all time favorite movies. It was like a secret society, only it wasn't secret. It was exclusive, only the brightest students who earned the highest "stratums" or scores would be inducted into the Ten. It didn't really surprise me how many of the Ten's family members had also been Tens in their times at Darkwood.

Some of the Similars got really fleshed out, and we got to know them well. Levi, Pippa and Maude were all really fleshed out and I could see them in my mind. Then again, Theodora, Jago & Ansel were not as fleshed out as I was hoping they would be. I don't know a whole lot about those three as opposed to Levi, Pippa and Maude. I wanted more information on Theodora, Jago & Ansel. I wanted to know so much more about them other than who their Originals were.

I really want to just keep talking and talking about this book because it gets even better and crazier as the book continues. But, I want to avoid spoilers and there's a lot that I could spoil about this book.

Final thoughts: If science fiction or boarding school or murder mysteries are you thing, you need to pick this book up when it's released.

Alexia's November Book Haul

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been sorta absent from the blog lately. At the beginning of November we got a nasty surprise and that was that our landlord was going to be selling the house we're currently living in. So, we started looking for a new rental. And then, my grandma surprised my mom & I by saying that she & her husband were going to help us buy a home.

Needless to say, we've been frantically house shopping for the last 3 weeks. It's not as straightforward as one might think because I am in a wheelchair, so I need a house with lots of open space. I don't wanna be trying to squeeze between a couch & a kitchen counter.

Obviously, I haven't been reading a whole lot. Hoping I can read again once we've found a place and are in escrow.

Thanksgiving was PERFECT this year. So thankful for that because last year's sucked. I hope all of you who celebrate it, had a great thanksgiving as well.

eARCs For Review

A Place for Wolves by Kosoko Jackson
A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

From the Publisher

How She Died, How I Lived by Mary Crockett
An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

Hope your November was awesome!