YA Book Tour- New York

Libba Bray's The Diviners is representing the New York for the next stop on the United States of YA tour.  I am going to go ahead and put it out there, that I adore Ms. Bray's writing style, setting, and characters.

Evie O'Neill is too big for her hometown of Zenith, Ohio, and after a party gone wrong her parents ship her off to to her Uncle Will in New York City.  This is the place she was made for with its glamour and glitz, after all Evie is a modern flapper.  She is a live in the moment kind of girl with a secret talent.  She just happens to be able to read people's secrets from their personal items, which sometimes brings her big trouble.

As the story progresses, Evie becomes caught up in some crazy occult murders with her Uncle and his assitant Jericho.  There are, also, some subplots going on with other characters.

Memphis Campbell is a numbers runner in Harlem with dreams of being a poet like Langston Hughes.  He has a reoccurring dream of crossroads with a storm coming and an eye symbol.

There is Theta, a Ziegfield's girl with a haunted past.  Her best friend Henry with secrets of his own.

And then there is one of my personal favorites, Sam Llyod, who is quite the scoundrel, but lovable in his own way.

Ms. Bray has quite a way with imagery in the book.  You really feel as though you're transport to New York in 1926.  In the first chapter when she describes the wind traveling through the city and through time, it is written so beautifully that it is one of my favorite parts of the book.

She keeps you so interested in the book that just can't wait to see what happens next.  And the end leaves you wanting so much more, unfortunately the next book is not due out until next spring.  The end definitely hints at bigger things to come, and a possible love triangle between Evie, Sam, and Jericho.

On another note, if you are keeping up with the order, why yes I did skip the Virginia book.  I have it on hold at booklending.com, and will read it as soon as it is a available.  I will also be skipping Vermont's book, because it is not available on Kindle.  I will just have to wait until I get back to the states in August to read it.

Currently Reading:
Devilish
by Maureen Johnson

YA Book Tour- New Hampshire

New Hampshire is the next stop on the tour, and Sarah Tregay's Love and Leftovers is the pick.  It is not often that books leave me a little lost, but this one surely did.  Calling this a novel is using the word very, very loosely.

So the official description on Goodreads is this:
 My wish is to fall cranium over Converse in dizzy daydream-worthy love.

(If only it were that easy.

Marcie has been dragged away from home for the summer--from Idaho to a family summerhouse in New Hampshire. She's left behind her friends, a group of freaks and geeks called the Leftovers, including her emo-rocker boyfriend, and her father.

By the time Labor Day rolls around, Marcie suspects this "summer vacation" has become permanent. She has to start at a new school, and there she leaves behind her Leftover status when a cute boy brings her breakfast and a new romance heats up. But understanding love, especially when you've watched your parents' affections end, is elusive. What does it feel like, really? Can you even know it until you've lost it?

Love & Leftovers is a beautifully written story of one girl's journey navigating family, friends, and love, and a compelling and sexy read that teens will gobble up whole

Sounds like it could a good story about learning to deal with the curveballs life throws you, right.  And if you thought that you would be wrong.  It is basically reading the poetic ramblings of a teenage girl with a couple of songs and IM/phone conversations thrown in for good measure.

There must the some slim pickings for YA novels set in New Hampshire, because not only is this not really a novel, but only half the book takes place in New Hampshire.  The rest is in Idaho. So if you a skipping a United States of YA book, this would be the one to skip.

Currently Reading:
The Diviners
by Libba Bray

YA Book Tour- Maryland

And the book tour rolls on to the next stop, Maryland with Annette Curtis Klause's Blood and Chocolate. Going to go ahead and throw it out there that this was not my favorite stop on the tour, not the worst but nowhere near the top.

Vivian loves being loup garou, but her life has been in chaos since her pack was forced out their West Virginia home by a fire that killed her father.  She has an intense need to feel connected to someone, and tries for that in a human, or meat-boy, at school.

The pack is also going through some changes with having to find a new leader, and a new place to live because they cannot live in Maryland forever.  The front runner for the job is the young, but dangerous Gabriel.

Honestly Vivian many times seems too self involved for her own good.  She even, at one point, wonders if the reason she doesn't make friends at school is because she is too beautiful.  Really, what 16 year old girl ever truly has that thought.  The author does not put an effort into making her a likable character.

Aiden, the meat-boy, is a hippie at the wrong time, or so he believes.  It just comes off as an attempt to be rebellious against his parents.  As someone who constantly talks about the possibilities of the universe, he is quite the closed minded jerk at the end.

I did like the character of Gabriel, and really wished he had been more prominent throughout the book.  It is not until the end that the author really brings him to life.

The story drags a lot in the beginning, and it was hard to get into.  It isn't until over half way through the book that the story truly gets interesting.  The author spent way too much time focusing on the Vivian-Aiden relationship, and not nearly enough time establishing the relationship between Vivian and Gabriel.

Currently Reading:
Love and Leftovers
by Sarah Tregay

YA Book Tour- Massachusetts

Massachusetts is the next stop on the YA book tour and Josephine Angelini's Starcossed is representing.

Helen Hamilton has always felt different from everyone else, and tried her best to hide it in every way possible.  That becomes a lot harder to do once the Delos show up, especially as soon as she sees Lucas Delos, she wants to to kill him. In fact, every time she is near one of them, she is haunted by these creepy women who make her homicidal.

That all changes one night after she learns she can fly, and Lucas saves her from death.  The creepy women, who it turns out the the Furies of ancient Greece, are no longer haunting any of them.

Helen and Lucas begin a strange relationship somewhere between friendship and romance.  Helen learns more of who and what she is from the Delos family, and just how different she is from normal humans.

The story has several little twist that kept me interested despite the characters seem a little cookie cutter to YA fiction.  Some of the twist you can see coming, and others hit you from no where.  While in general I liked Helen, Lucas, and the rest of the Delos family, they did feel like characters I had encountered before in other novels at times.

I do enjoy the story idea, and the healthy mix of Greek mythology in it, which I have always liked.  I know the mythology is not spot on to traditional myths, but the difference keep it a little fresher.  I am interested to see who the series will progress, especially seeing the prophecy that the author gives toward the end.

Currently Reading:
Blood and Chocolate
by Annette Curtis Klause

YA Book Tour- Connecticut

Rolling across America on the YA book tour and the next stop is Connecticut with Huntley Fitzpatrick's My Life Next Door.  This is one of those just perfect YA books about dealing with life.

Samantha Reed's mother runs a strict and sterile home.  Everything has its place and schedule are made, and kept.  Chaos is not tolerated in the Reed house.  The neighbors, the Garretts, are none of that.  Chaos seems to reign over there, and it is definitely not sterile.  Naturally, Samantha spends most nights on her roof outside her window watching them.

Samantha has her summer all planned out because that is how things are done in the Reed house.  Then one night, her mother comes home with a man, Clay, who appears to be here to stay for a while.  Clay is a bossy prick from the beginning, which annoys Samantha to no end.  But her night meeting Clay is not all bad, because it is the same night she meets Jase Garrett.

Jase brings her in to the Garrett house, where she thrives and really learns the meaning of family.  As the summer moves along she is faced with best friend issues and most importantly how to do what is right, even when someone you love may be hurt by it.

I absolutely love the characters of Samantha and Jase.  They are both so well developed and deep characters. I couldn't help but wish I could be their friend. Samantha is a mature and loyal young lady, who doesn't seem to know her own beauty, which makes her all the more enduring character.

And Jase, who would not love to have a guy like that to take home to mom.  He is smart, caring, and can fix just about anything.  Oh, and he loves animals, which makes him a star in this vet student's heart.  I love that his snake is named Voldemort (any author who can make a Harry Potter reference gets a kudos from me).

The rest of the Garrett family is pretty fantastic, too, especially George.  Adorably cute and paranoid George, and love the nickname he gives to Samantha, Sailor Supergirl.

The story is engaging without being over the top.  It keeps you interested from beginning to end, and I just loved it.

Currently Reading:
Starcrossed
by Josephine Angelini

YA Book Tour- New Jersey

New Jersey is up next with Holly Black's White Cat.

In Cassel's world there are people who are called curse workers, or workers for short.  They basically have magic and can use it on you by skin to skin touch.  There are different kinds of magic, ones that influence your emotions, luck, and some that even work on the physical body.  Here is the thing, "working" is banned in the U.S. which forces many workers to a life of crime and working for large crime families.

Cassel is from a family of workers.  His mother workers emotions, his grandfather is a death worker, and both of his brothers have talents.  Too bad Cassel did not get any working talents. He did, however, get his mother's talent for running a con.  Even at his school, he is the resident bookie. Oh, and he killed his best friend, Lila, when he was 14.

The book starts with Cassel waking up on the roof of his dorm, not sure how he got there.  After that happens, the school forces him to take medical leave until a doctor gives him to okay to come back to school.  His brother Philip takes him home, where Cassel begins to suspect that not everything is what is he thought it was.

He continues to sleepwalk, and has a recurrent dream with a white cat.  His brothers seem to be very secretive, more than usual, lately. Oh, and he gets the feeling that parts of his memory are missing.  Someone is working him with a memory curse.

Cassel is a complex character, who is trying to balance a normal life with his criminal life. He doesn't have problems blending in with people, but at the same time he is not really a part of the crowd.  He doesn't really have true friends until about half way through the book, but Sam and Daneca are really great friends.

Ms. Black captures the fear of having everything you thought was true be a lie really well.  What is scary than knowing that your memories, things that define you, may not be real or are missing.

Here is my problem with the book, while an enjoyable read, it does not really inspire me to know more about the characters or the world it creates.  And I have a personal belief that if you write a series, then at the end of your first book I should be so hooked that I can't wait to start the next one, and White Cat did not do that for me.  It was good, just not good enough.

Currently Reading:
My Life Next Door
by Huntley Fitzpatrick

YA Book Tour- Pennsylvania

Next up on the United States of YA is Pennsylvania represented by Sara Shepard's Pretty Little Liars. This book is definitely deliciously scandalous.

Alison, Spencer, Hanna, Aria, and Emily were the best of friends in the seventh grade. Then the horrible happened, Alison went missing that summer.  The others girls began to avoid each other, and drifted apart.

Fast forward three years, and everyone is starting their junior year of high school, and each girl has there own issues.

Spencer is trying to be the perfect student and constantly in competition with her sister.  She seems to have a serious case of boyfriend envy when it comes to her sister's new boyfriend, but not like that hasn't happened before.

Hanna has major body issues, especially after clawing herself for the chubby dorky girl she used to be by any means necessary.  Not to mention the daddy issues she is harboring making things worse.

Aria has just returned from three years in Iceland, and she seems the most well adjusted of the girls.  Too bad she is attracted to a guy that is totally off limits, and she is still haunted by her father's secret.

Emily strives to be the perfect daughter.  Being a star swimming, and even her boyfriend is a swimmer.  Too bad Emily thinks she doesn't really like boys and not sure is swimming is really her thing.

As the school year starts, each girls begins to to get mysterious text and notes from -A, who seems to know all their secrets.

This book keep the intrigue coming to the very end, and really makes me want to go on and dive into the next book (too bad I have other books on my list to read first).  The author does a great job of leaving you wanting more at the end of each chapter, and at the end of the book.  The characters where all wonderfully flawed with each dealing with their own issues. Ms. Shepard appeals to one of humans darkest fears, the fear of someone knowing our deepest secrets and threatening to tell.  I am excited to see where she will go with this series.

On another note, I finished my finals yesterday, so two and half weeks of freedom from school.  That should mean that I am getting a lot more reading done.  Hopefully a big dent in my YA book tour, and for all you readers (all 2 of you) more blog post.

Currently Reading:
White Cat
by Holly Black