Confessions of a Bibliovore

Title: Clean Author: Amy Reed Publisher: Simon Pulse Release date: May 8th 2012 Pages: 304 Genre: Young Adult contemporary Source: Traded the BEA Blogger Picnic - thank you to whoever brought this! Add to Goodreads  |  Purchase from Amazon Olivia, Kelly, Christopher, Jason, and Eva have one thing in common: They’re addicts. Addicts who have hit rock bottom and been stuck together in rehab to face their problems, face sobriety, and face themselves. None of them wants to be there. None of them wants to confront the truths about their pasts. And they certainly don’t want to share their darkest secrets and most desperate fears with a room of strangers. But they’ll all have to deal with themselves—and one another—if they want to learn how to live. Because when you get that high, there’s nowhere to go but down, down, down. My rating: 4 out of 5 stars I went into this one with low expectations because I didn't think a rehab story could work if it's written from five different POVs. T...

Title: How We Fall Author: Kate Brauning Publisher: Merit Press Release date: November 3rd 2014 Pages: 304 Genre: Young Adult contemporary romance/mystery Source: BEA 2014 Add to Goodreads  |  Purchase from Amazon Ever since Jackie moved to her uncle's sleepy farming town, she's been flirting way too much--and with her own cousin, Marcus. Her friendship with him has turned into something she can't control, and he's the reason Jackie lost track of her best friend, Ellie, who left for...no one knows where. Now Ellie has been missing for months, and the police, fearing the worst, are searching for her body. Swamped with guilt and the knowledge that acting on her love for Marcus would tear their families apart, Jackie pushes her cousin away. The plan is to fall out of love, and, just as she hoped he would, Marcus falls for the new girl in town. But something isn't right about this stranger, and Jackie's suspicions about the new girl's secrets only drive the wedg...

Title: Side Effects May Vary Author: Julie Murphy Publisher: Balzer + Bray Release date: March 18th 2014 Pages: 330 Genre: Young Adult contemporary Source: Bought Add to Goodreads   |  Purchase from Amazon What if you’d been living your life as if you were dying—only to find out that you had your whole future ahead of you? When sixteen-year-old Alice is diagnosed with leukemia, her prognosis is grim. To maximize the time she does have, she vows to spend her final months righting wrongs—however she sees fit. She convinces her friend Harvey, whom she knows has always had feelings for her, to help her with a crazy bucket list that’s as much about revenge (humiliating her ex-boyfriend and getting back at her arch nemesis) as it is about hope (doing something unexpectedly kind for a stranger and reliving some childhood memories). But just when Alice’s scores are settled, she goes into remission. Now Alice is forced to face the consequences of all that she’s said and done, as well a...

Title: Life by Committee Author: Corey Ann Haydu Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books Release date: May 13th 2014  Pages: 304 Genre: Young Adult contemporary Source: BEA 2014 Add to Goodreads  |  Purchase from Amazon Tabitha might be the only girl in the history of the world who actually gets less popular when she gets hot. But her so-called friends say she’s changed, and they’ve dropped her flat. Now Tab has no one to tell about the best and worst thing that has ever happened to her: Joe, who spills his most intimate secrets to her in their nightly online chats. Joe, whose touch is so electric, it makes Tab wonder if she could survive an actual kiss. Joe, who has Tabitha brimming with the restless energy of falling in love. Joe, who is someone else’s boyfriend. Just when Tab is afraid she’ll burst from keeping the secret of Joe inside, she finds Life by Committee. The rules of LBC are simple: tell a secret, receive an assignment. Complete the assignment to keep your secret s...

Title: Gracefully Grayson Author: Ami Polonsky Publisher: Disney-Hyperion Release date: November 4th 201 4 Pages: 208 Genre: middle grade contemporary Source: NetGalley - I received a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks! Add to Goodreads  |  Purchase from Amazon Alone at home, twelve-year-old Grayson Sender glows, immersed in beautiful thoughts and dreams. But at school, Grayson grasps at shadows, determined to fly under the radar. Because Grayson has been holding onto a secret for what seems like forever: “he” is a girl on the inside, stuck in the wrong gender’s body. The weight of this secret is crushing, but leaving it behind would mean facing ridicule, scorn, and rejection. Despite these dangers, Grayson’s true self itches to break free. Strengthened by an unexpected friendship and a caring teacher who gives her a chance to step into the spotlight, Grayson might finally have the tools to let her inner light shine. My rating: 4 out of 5 s...

Title: Criminal Author: Terra Elan McVoy Publisher: Simon Pulse Release date: May 7th 2013 Pages: 288 Genre: Young Adult contemporary Source: BEA 2014 Add to Goodreads  |  Purchase from Amazon Nikki’s life is far from perfect, but at least she has Dee. Her friends tell her that Dee is no good, but Nikki can’t imagine herself without him. He’s hot, he’s dangerous, he has her initials tattooed over his heart, and she loves him more than anything. There’s nothing Nikki wouldn’t do for Dee. Absolutely nothing. So when Dee pulls Nikki into a crime – a crime that ends in murder – Nikki tells herself that it’s all for true love. Nothing can break them apart. Not the police. Not the arrest that lands Nikki in jail. Not even the investigators who want her to testify against him. But what if Dee had motives that Nikki knew nothing about? Nikki’s love for Dee is supposed to be unconditional…but even true love has a limit. And Nikki just might have reached hers. My rating: 4 out of 5 star...

Bookish Anticipation is a feature I do every once in a while to spotlight future releases I'm excited for. It was inspired by  Breaking the Spine 's Waiting on Wednesday. You can check out more of my Bookish Anticipation posts  here . The Distance Between Lost and Found by Kathryn Holmes Release date: February 17th 2015 Ever since the night of the incident with Luke Willis, the preacher’s son, sophomore Hallelujah Calhoun has been silent. When the rumors swirled around school, she was silent. When her parents grounded her, she was silent. When her friends abandoned her … silent. Now, six months later, on a youth group retreat in the Smoky Mountains, Hallie still can’t find a voice to answer the taunting. Shame and embarrassment haunt her, while Luke keeps coming up with new ways to humiliate her. Not even meeting Rachel, an outgoing newcomer who isn’t aware of her past, can pull Hallie out of her shell. Being on the defensive for so long has left her raw, and she doesn’t kno...

Title: Get Happy Author:  Mary Amato Publisher: EgmontUSA Release date: October 28th 201 4 Pages: 256 Genre: Young Adult contemporary Source: NetGalley - I received a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks! Add to Goodreads  |  Purchase from Amazon In this poignant, realistic, contemporary YA by a state master list star, perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Gayle Forman, a young songwriter builds a substitute family with her friends in place of the broken family she grew up with. A hip high school girl who loves music, writes songs, and is desperate for a ukelele, learns to her shock that her father did not abandon her years ago and has been trying to keep in touch. She begins to investigate him, only to discover that he has a new life with a new family, including the perfect stepdaughter, a girl who Minerva despises. My rating: 2 out of 5 stars Get Happy is a super-short read. It's only 256 pages, and the spacing makes it even shorter th...

Title: Glory O'Brien's History of the Future Author: AS King Publisher: Little Brown BYR Release date: October 14th 2014 Pages: 320 Genre: Young Adult Source: BEA 2014 Add to Goodreads  |  Purchase from Amazon Graduating from high school is a time of limitless possibilities--but not for Glory, who has no plan for what's next. Her mother committed suicide when Glory was only four years old, and she's never stopped wondering if she will eventually go the same way...until a transformative night when she begins to experience an astonishing new power to see a person's infinite past and future. From ancient ancestors to many generations forward, Glory is bombarded with visions--and what she sees ahead of her is terrifying: A tyrannical new leader raises an army. Women's rights disappear. A violent second civil war breaks out. And young girls vanish daily, sold off or interned in camps. Glory makes it her mission to record everything she sees, hoping her notes will som...

Title: Open Road Summer Author: Emery Lord Publisher: Walker Childrens Release date: April 15th 2014 Pages: 352 Genre: Young Adult contemporary romance Source: Bought Add to Goodreads  |  Purchase from Amazon After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence. This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking.  My rating: 4 out of 5 stars I had a gut feeling that this book would be g...

To celebrate the release of the movie version of The Best of Me , Relativity Media is giving away two copies of the movie tie-in edition of the book! This is what The Best of Me  is all about: Based on the bestselling novel by acclaimed author Nicholas Sparks, The Best of Me tells the story of Dawson and Amanda, two former high school sweethearts who find themselves reunited after 20 years apart, when they return to their small town for the funeral of a beloved friend. Their bittersweet reunion reignites the love they've never forgotten, but soon they discover the forces that drove them apart twenty years ago live on, posing even more serious threats today. Spanning decades, this epic love story captures the enduring power of our first true love, and the wrenching choices we face when confronted with elusive second chances. The Best of Me stars James Marsden, Michelle Monaghan, Luke Bracey and Liana Liberato. In theaters October 17. And make sure to check out the trailer: You can ...

Title: The Jewel (The Lone City #1) Author: Amy Ewing Publisher: HarperTeen Release date: September 2nd 2014 Pages: 358 Genre: Young Adult dystopian Source: BEA 2014 Add to Goodreads  |  Purchase from Amazon The Jewel means wealth. The Jewel means beauty. The Jewel means royalty. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Not just any kind of servitude. Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty—because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring. Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel’s glittering facade: the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life. Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence... and try to stay alive. But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentleman ...

New releases: Bleed Like Me by Christa Desir: October 7th Kiss Kill Vanish  by Jessica Martinez: October 7th The Perfectionists  by Sara Shepard: October 7th They All Fall Down  by Roxanne St. Claire: October 7th Damsel Distressed  by Kelsey Mackie: October 14th Even in Paradise  by Chelsey Philpot: October 14th Trust Me, I'm Lying  by Mary Elizabeth Summer: October 14th Damaged by Amy Reed: October 14th Famous in Love  by Rebecca Serle: October 21st Get Happy by Mary Amato: October 28th What October releases are you most excited about?