Book provided from Netgalley

The Thing About Jellyfish: Really good premise. I loved the writing style. It was beautiful. Went straight to Netgalley to request the book.

These Shallow Graves: The dialogue felt forced and the writing style was not my cup of tea. As far as the plot goes, I'm confused. I didn't really get what it was about.

Inherit the Stars: So good! Immediately downloaded the whole book from Netgalley. Very promising YA sci-fi novel that I can't wait to read.

The Accident Season: Quite funny, but not a book I'll be reading, as it seemed to be a bit dull in the storyline.

Nightfall: This is supposed to be a horror/thriller, but that's not the vibe I got from it. The writing style somehow was too simple.

What We Saw: At first I thought this would be a horror story as well (based on the cover), but I've since learned it's about rape etc. I feel like the excerpt was way too short since not much happened. I'm curious towards this book, but this excerpts felt flat to me.

Illuminae: Very confusing. I pretty much had no idea what was going on. I guess it'll be clearer later on in the book (hopefully), but as it is now, I have no intensions to read on. All the 'attached files' didn't work too well in the earc which only added to the confusion, but I'm pretty sure that'll be sorted out before the book comes out. Maybe this is also the reasn I didn't get what I read of this book.

This Raging Light: What is up with this writing style? It sure is special and not quite my cup of tea. Within three pages it's just all over the place. I think this book is aimed at age 12-15. I certainly felt too old for this book, which is fine.

Not If I See You First: Aww. This one was so sweet! Definitely a must read. I love Parker Grant already! ♥

A Step Toward Falling: Hmm. Not sure about this one. I really wanted to like it because I loved [b:Say What You Will|18599754|Say What You Will|Cammie McGovern|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392738015s/18599754.jpg|26365948] by the author, but I feel ilke this one's too similar to that book :/

A History Of Glitter and Blood: This one was great! I absolutely loved the writing style, it was so so good and very unique. It definitely had some LOL-moments! Yes, I'm looking at you, end of chapter one! Oh dear... :'D Definitely a must read!!

Dumplin': It has potential, but it was too short for me to form an opinion.

The Rest Of Us Just Live Here: Okay, it seemed pretty good, but I don't think I'll be reading it because of my experience with [b:The Knife of Never Letting Go|2118745|The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking, #1)|Patrick Ness|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1277071696s/2118745.jpg|2124180] by the same author. However, if you've read both books, please answer this: Any animal deaths in this book? Chances are I might read the book if I know the answer to this question.

The Shrunken Head: I didn't really expect much from this book, because the two other books by [a:Lauren Oliver|2936493|Lauren Oliver|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1416335442p2/2936493.jpg] that I've read, I didn't really like. This one though...pretty good! I can easily imagine reading it to my future kids! I probably won't be reading it myself.

Are You Still There: ASDFGH!!!!! I need this book. Now. Gimme gimme gimme! Seriously. So good!!! *wanders off to Netgalley*

Hello, Goodbye, And Everything In Between: Sweet little contemporary romance excerpt. I'll probably read the book sometime this summer :)

i have rekindled my love for YA books and this catalog has been a great tool in helping me check out titles that i would have probably not heard of or missed out on.

for someone like me who believes that there is no such thing as too many books, this catalog is a perfect source to look for new titles and meet new authors. this is definitely a useful guide for the book fanatic who is constantly searching for the next great read! 

Just as the Young Adult edition I preferred this one to the last. A diverse mix of excerpts with the possibility to request many of the books on Netgalley. Many books looked appealing, but I'm limiting myself here to showing the books I've since been able to get a review copy of.

 

 

A rich and utterly absorbing novel about the life of King David, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of People of the Book and March
 
With more than two million copies of her novels sold, New York Times bestselling author Geraldine Brooks has achieved both popular and critical acclaim. Now, Brooks takes on one of literature’s richest and most enigmatic figures: a man who shimmers between history and legend. Peeling away the myth to bring David to life in Second Iron Age Israel, Brooks traces the arc of his journey from obscurity to fame, from shepherd to soldier, from hero to traitor, from beloved king to murderous despot and into his remorseful and diminished dotage.

The Secret Chord provides new context for some of the best-known episodes of David’s life while also focusing on others, even more remarkable and emotionally intense, that have been neglected.  We see David through the eyes of those who love him or fear him—from the prophet Natan, voice of his conscience, to his wives Mikal, Avigail, and Batsheva, and finally to Solomon, the late-born son who redeems his Lear-like old age. Brooks has an uncanny ability to hear and transform characters from history, and this beautifully written, unvarnished saga of faith, desire, family, ambition, betrayal, and power will enthrall her many fans.

 

 

From the award-winning,  New York Times bestselling author of  The Monsters of Templeton  and  Arcadia, an exhilarating novel about marriage, creativity, art, and perception. 

Fates and Furies is a literary masterpiece that defies expectation. A dazzling examination of a marriage, it is also a portrait of creative partnership written by one of the best writers of her generation. 

Every story has two sides. Every relationship has two perspectives. And sometimes, it turns out, the key to a great marriage is not its truths but its secrets. At the core of this rich, expansive, layered novel, Lauren Groff presents the story of one such marriage over the course of twenty-four years.

At age twenty-two, Lotto and Mathilde are tall, glamorous, madly in love, and destined for greatness. A decade later, their marriage is still the envy of their friends, but with an electric thrill we understand that things are even more complicated and remarkable than they have seemed. With stunning revelations and multiple threads, and in prose that is vibrantly alive and original, Groff delivers a deeply satisfying novel about love, art, creativity, and power that is unlike anything that has come before it. Profound, surprising, propulsive, and emotionally riveting, it stirs both the mind and the heart.

 

 

The International Bestseller

Warning: once you let books into your life, the most unexpected things can happen…

This is a book about books. All sorts of books, from Little Women and Harry Potter to Jodi Picoult and Jane Austen, from to Stieg Larsson to Joyce Carol Oates to Proust. It’s about the joy and pleasure of books, about learning from and escaping into them, and possibly even hiding behind them. It’s about whether or not books are better than real life.

It’s also a book about a Swedish girl called Sara, her elderly American penfriend Amy and what happens when you land a very different kind of bookshop in the middle of a town so broken it’s almost beyond repair.

Or is it?

The Readers of Broken Wheel has touches of 84 Charing Cross Road, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Chocolat, but adds an off-beat originality and intelligence all its own.

I liked this edition better than last one. Not that the books were so much better or more divers (though there seems to be a great mix of Young Adult and Middle Grade books and also from different genres), but because it was nicer/better/easier to request the books from Netgalley this time. The only thing I remembered from the last edition is that there were many books not available outside the US, or not yet available for requesting and one actually had a widget for an already archived book (I read the Buzz Books immediately when they were published so it was not my fault). Luckily these problems were not here this time.

 

So, now it time to look at the new additions! I've been able to get a review copy so far of the following books:

 

 

A stunning debut about how grief can open the world in magical ways.

After her best friend dies in a drowning accident, Suzy is convinced that the true cause of the tragedy was a rare jellyfish sting. Retreating into a silent world of imagination, she crafts a plan to prove her theory--even if it means traveling the globe, alone. Suzy's achingly heartfelt journey explores life, death, the astonishing wonder of the universe...and the potential for love and hope right next door.

This one I already read and it was one of the top reads of the year for me so far!

 

 

Three royal houses ruling three interplanetary systems are on the brink of collapse, and they must either ally together or tear each other apart in order for their people to survive.

Asa is the youngest daughter of the house of Fane, which has been fighting a devastating food and energy crisis for far too long. She thinks she can save her family’s livelihood by posing as her oldest sister in an arranged marriage with Eagle, the heir to the throne of the house of Westlet. The appearance of her mother, a traitor who defected to the house of Galton, adds fuel to the fire, while Asa also tries to save her sister Wren's life . . . possibly from the hands of their own father.

But as Asa and Eagle forge a genuine bond, will secrets from the past and the urgent needs of their people in the present keep them divided?

Author Tessa Elwood's debut series is an epic romance at heart, set against a mine field of political machinations, space adventure, and deep-seeded family loyalties.

 

 

Sixteen-year-old Beckan and her friends are the only fairies brave enough to stay in Ferrum when war breaks out. Now there is tension between the immortal fairies, the subterranean gnomes, and the mysterious tightropers who arrived to liberate the fairies.

But when Beckan's clan is forced to venture into the gnome underworld to survive, they find themselves tentatively forming unlikely friendships and making sacrifices they couldn't have imagined. As danger mounts, Beckan finds herself caught between her loyalty to her friends, her desire for peace, and a love she never expected.

This stunning, lyrical fantasy is a powerful exploration of what makes a family, what justifies a war, and what it means to truly love.