Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Waiting on Wednesday (104): WAKING DARK & PROJECT CAIN


THE WAKING DARK by Robin Wasserman
September 10th, 2013
"They called it the killing day. Twelve people dead, all in the space of a few hours. Five murderers: neighbors, relatives, friends. All of them so normal. All of them seemingly harmless. All of them now dead by their own hand . . . except one. And that one has no answers to offer the shattered town. She doesn't even know why she killed—or whether she'll do it again.

Something is waking in the sleepy town of Oleander's, Kansas—something dark and hungry that lives in the flat earth and the open sky, in the vengeful hearts of upstanding citizens. As the town begins its descent into blood and madness, five survivors of the killing day are the only ones who can stop Oleander from destroying itself. Jule, the outsider at war with the world; West, the golden boy at war with himself; Daniel, desperate for a different life; Cass, who's not sure she deserves a life at all; and Ellie, who believes in sacrifice, fate, and in evil. Ellie, who always goes too far. They have nothing in common. They have nothing left to lose. And they have no way out. Which means they have no choice but to stand and fight, to face the darkness in their town—and in themselves."
Sounds very eerie. I enjoy eerie books, so I'm excited for this one. 

PROJECT CAIN by Geoffrey Girard
September 3rd, 2013

"Fifteen-year-old Jeff Jacobson had never heard of Jeffrey Dahmer, the infamous serial killer who brutally murdered seventeen people more than twenty years ago. But Jeff’s life changes forever when the man he’d thought was his father hands him a government file telling him he was constructed in a laboratory only seven years ago, part of a top-secret government cloning experiment called ‘Project CAIN’.

There, he was created entirely from Jeffrey Dahmer’s DNA. There are others like Jeff—those genetically engineered directly from the most notorious murderers of all time: The Son of Sam, The Boston Strangler, Ted Bundy . . . even other Jeffrey Dahmer clones. Some raised, like Jeff, in caring family environments; others within homes that mimicked the horrific early lives of the men they were created from.

When the most dangerous boys are set free by the geneticist who created them, the summer of killing begins. Worse, these same teens now hold a secret weapon even more dangerous than the terrible evil they carry within. Only Jeff can help track the clones down before it’s too late. But will he catch the ‘monsters’ before becoming one himself?"

This story sounds intriguing, and that cover is incredible! His reflection? Very, very creepy (it kind of reminds me of the cover for DUALED).

What are you waiting on this week?

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Monday, March 4, 2013

Review: PAPER VALENTINE by Brenna Yovanoff

Title: PAPER VALENTINE
Author: Brenna Yovanoff
Published: January 2013
Genre: YA, mystery, paranormal
Publisher: Razorbill
POV: 1st person
Pages: 306
Format: Advanced Reader's Copy, paperback
Source: Unsolicited from Publisher
"The city of Ludlow is gripped by the hottest July on record. The asphalt is melting, the birds are dying, petty crime is on the rise, and someone in Hannah Wagnor’s peaceful suburban community is killing girls.

For Hannah, the summer is a complicated one. Her best friend Lillian died six months ago, and Hannah just wants her life to go back to normal. But how can things be normal when Lillian’s ghost is haunting her bedroom, pushing her to investigate the mysterious string of murders? Hannah’s just trying to understand why her friend self-destructed, and where she fits now that Lillian isn’t there to save her a place among the social elite. And she must stop thinking about Finny Boone, the big, enigmatic delinquent whose main hobbies seem to include petty larceny and surprising acts of kindness.

With the entire city in a panic, Hannah soon finds herself drawn into a world of ghost girls and horrifying secrets. She realizes that only by confronting the Valentine Killer will she be able move on with her life—and it’s up to her to put together the pieces before he strikes again."

From the first chapter, it was easy to notice: Yovanoff's writing has a lovely yet strange flow / ring to it. At times, her word choice for certain descriptions was unexpectedly odd yet fitting as the words evoked the underlying emotion and meaning. Yovanoff gives the narrator, Hannah, a voice is decidedly "Hannah," unique to her personality and utterly captivating. I was worried that Hannah's budding relationship with Finny would detract from the mystery at hand, but it instead allowed the story and Hannah's character to grow a bit stronger. Hannah's relationships – familial, friendship, and romantic – all became intriguing plot points.

PAPER VALENTINE may meander along at a languid pace, but this allows the new string of murders to become all the more chilling and unsettling. With each new discovery, the tension grows until it is like a rubber band on the verge of snapping – but it never grows into too much. It's a soft yet unsettling eeriness that lingers in the background, perfectly mixed in with the surprising amount of more lighthearted moments. Also, while this story is a murder mystery, PAPER VALENTINE is also a ghost story centering around friendship. Hannah's best friend, Lillian, died six months ago, but Lillian's still hanging around as a ghost, pushing Hannah to dig deeper into the killings. These two bring out the best and worst in each other, and it was nice to see how they both evolved throughout the story. PAPER VALENTINE has a couple flaws, but is nonetheless an unexpected pleasant surprise that delivers in more ways than one. 

Highlights: Hannah's POV was similataneously expected and unexpected. On the one hand, she's what I expected from a YA novel heroine. On the other hand, her voice is very distinct and I enjoyed her peculiar descriptions and flashbacks. I like that Yovanoff didn't settle with only telling a murder mystery, but she instead built a community and inhabited it with imperfect, realistic characters that capture the reader's attention. I enjoyed the emphasis on family and sisterhood in this story. The Valentine Killer surprised me, because I was simultaneously incorrect and correct regarding the identity of the killer. 

Lowlights: Slightly predictable. The middle suffered a bit due to the slower pacing. I'm not a fan of the (sort of a spoiler - highlight to read) villain-confesses-all-before-trying-to-murder-the-hero(ine) ending, and that's unfortunately used here. It felt like a lot was happening in this story, which isn't necessarily bad, but it seemed like the story got off track a few times.


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Saturday, March 2, 2013

The Queen's Library (26)

For Review from Netgalley
A CORNER OF WHITE by Jaclyn Moriarty

Purchased for Kindle
SHUTTER ISLAND by Dennis Lehane
JELLICOE ROAD by Melina Marchetta (such an incredible novel!)
THE NAME OF THE STAR by Maureen Johnson

Freebies for Kindle 
THE TAKEN by Vicki Pettersson
THE TORN WING by Kiki Hamilton

Many thanks to Netgalley + Scholastic for the review book!



What books did you get this week? Leave a link!

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The feature is inspired by Pop Culture Junkie's This Week In Books, The Story Siren's In My Mailbox, and Mailbox MondayThe Queen's Library is a way for me to feature books that I add to my bookshelves and a place to post my weekly recommendations. This is not a meme, but merely an adjusted feature that is better suited to my blog.