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Fri, December 14, 2012

Eve and Adam by Grant & Applegate Review

Eve and Adam
By Michael Grant & Katherine Applegate
Publication date: Oct. 2, 2012
Feiwel & Friends, 291 pages
Source:

And girl created boy…

In the beginning, there was an apple—

And then there was a car crash, a horrible injury, and a hospital. But before Evening Spiker’s head clears a strange boy named Solo is rushing her to her mother’s research facility. There, under the best care available, Eve is left alone to heal.

Just when Eve thinks she will die—not from her injuries, but from boredom—her mother gives her a special project: Create the perfect boy.

Using an amazingly detailed simulation, Eve starts building a boy from the ground up. Eve is creating Adam. And he will be just perfect… won’t he?

— Goodreads.com description

I think the universal response to Eve and Adam seems to be: “I wanted to like it more than I did.” Unfortunately, I felt the same way.

The concept here is very cool: A girl gets hit by a car and is swept away to her mother’s high-tech laboratory. She quickly realizes she’s healing faster than normal and has been a secret experiment of her mother’s for years. And that’s just the start of the experimentation: Signs point to unethical experimentation in cloning and more.

It’s high-stakes, creepy, sci-fi and full of adventure and intrigue. For me, though, the character development just fell flat. There was so much that could have been done with this book, but no matter how hard I tried, I just didn’t connect. The potential to make it a little darker, a little creepier was high, but it stayed very surface-level the whole time. Disappointing!

Wed, May 23, 2012

Waiting on Wednesday – Foretold and More

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine to shine a spotlight on upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Foretold: 14 Tales of Prophecy and Prediction
By Richelle Mead, Simone Elkeles, Meg Cabot, Heather Brewer, Saundra Mitchell, Diana Peterfreund, Laini Taylor, Margaret Stohl, Matt de la Pena, Kami Garcia, Malinda Lo, Lisa McMann and Michael Grant (edited by Carrie Ryan)
304 pages
Random House Children’s Books, to be released Aug. 28, 2012

Have you ever been tempted to look into the future? To challenge predictions? To question fate?

It’s human nature to wonder about life’s twists and turns. But is the future already written—or do you have the power to alter it?

From fantastical prophecies to predictions of how the future will transpire, Foretold is a collection of stories about our universal fascination with life’s unknowns and of what is yet to come as interpreted by 14 of young adult fiction’s brightest stars.

— Goodreads.com description

Um, whoa. I’m pretty sure the author list speaks for itself.

The Almost Truth
By Eileen Cook
272 pages
Simon Pulse, to be released Dec. 4, 2012

When a teenaged con artist realizes that she looks like an age-enhanced photo of a missing child, she decides to pull the ultimate con–until she begins to suspect she may actually be the missing child.

— Goodreads.com description

This sounds like the very definitely of “An Anna Book.” I need this book!

What’s Left of Me
By Kat Zhang
336 pages
Harper, to be released Sept. 18, 2012

NEVER LET ME GO meets HIS DARK MATERIALS in a beautiful, haunting YA debut, the first book in The Hybrid Chronicles.

Eva and Addie live in a world where everyone is born with two souls, but where only the dominant one is allowed to survive childhood. Fifteen years old, and closer even than twins, the girls are keeping Eva, the ‘second soul’, a secret. They know that it’s forbidden to be hybrid, but how could they ever be apart?

When a dramatic event reveals what really happens to hybrids if they are discovered, Eva and Addie face a dangerous fight for survival, neither wanting to be the one left behind…

— Goodreads.com description

I’m dying to read this one. I think it’s gonna be HUGE.

Wed, May 16, 2012

Waiting on Wednesday – Eve and Adam and More

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine to shine a spotlight on upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Eve and Adam
By Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant
304 pages
Feiwel & Friends, to be released Oct. 2, 2012

Sixteen-year-old Evening Spiker lives an affluent life in San Francisco with her mother, EmmaRose, a successful geneticist and owner of Spiker Biotech. Sure, Evening misses her father who died mysteriously, but she’s never really questioned it. Much like how she’s never stopped to think how off it is that she’s never been sick. That is, until she’s struck by a car and is exposed to extensive injuries. Injuries that seem to be healing faster than physically possible.

While recuperating in Spiker Biotech’s lush facilities, she meets Solo Plissken, a very attractive, if off-putting boy her age who spent his life at Spiker Biotech. Like Evening, he’s never questioned anything… until now. Solo drops hints to Evening that something isn’t right, and Emma-Rose may be behind it. Evening puts this out of her mind and begins her summer internship project: To simulate the creation of the perfect boy. With the help of Solo, Evening uncovers secrets so big they could change the world completely.

— Goodreads.com description

Lies! Conspiracy! This one seems like it’ll be such a thriller…

Over You
By Emma McLaughlin and Nicolas Kraus
304 pages
HarperTeen, to be released Aug. 2012

After the grand explosion of her relationship, seventeen-year-old Max Scott developed what every girl in the history of the world has been waiting for: a way to get over being dumped. Now Max is the go-to guru for heartbroken high-school girls all over NYC. But when her ex unexpectedly shows up in her neighborhood, Max’s carefully controlled world starts to unravel. With her clients’ hearts hanging in the balance, Max will have to do the seemingly impossible: get over him once and for all.

Brilliant at bringing humor to the trials and tribulations of the lovestruck, #1 New York Times bestselling authors Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus have crafted a tale that will resonate with any girl who has ever been in love or had her heart broken. It brims with smart observations, features a pitch-perfect teen voice, and will attract fans of Jenny Han, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Barnholdt. Readers are sure to fall head-over-heels for this sharp spin on breaking up, making up, and getting even.

— Goodreads.com description

I loved McLaughlin and Kraus’ The Nanny Diaries when I first read it years ago, and I’m excited they’re giving YA a shot. I think their smart and humorous writing will make Max a standout character for me this year. Fingers crossed!

The Dark Unwinding
By Sharon Cameron
352 pages
Scholastic Press, to be released Sept. 2012

A spine-tingling tale of steampunk and spies, intrigue and heart-racing romance!

When Katharine Tulman’s inheritance is called into question by the rumor that her eccentric uncle is squandering away the family fortune, she is sent to his estate to have him committed to an asylum. But instead of a lunatic, Katharine discovers a genius inventor with his own set of rules, who employs a village of nine hundred people rescued from the workhouses of London.

Katharine is now torn between protecting her own inheritance and preserving the peculiar community she grows to care for deeply. And her choices are made even more complicated by a handsome apprentice, a secretive student, and fears for her own sanity.

As the mysteries of the estate begin to unravel, it is clear that not only is her uncle’s world at stake, but also the state of England as Katharine knows it. With twists and turns at every corner, this heart-racing adventure will captivate readers with its intrigue, thrills, and romance.

— Goodreads.com description

I haven’t had a lot of luck in the past with steampunk novels, yet…I’m willing to give them another chance. And the description on this one definitely won me over!