Tag Archives: margaret k mcelderry books

Book Title:
People Kill People
Book Author:
Ellen Hopkins
Page Count:
448
Publishing Date:
September 4th, 2018
Publisher:
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Date Read:
September 6th, 2018
Source:
I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review - Thank you!

Synopsis

Someone will shoot. And someone will die.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins tackles gun violence and white supremacy in this compelling and complex novel.

People kill people. Guns just make it easier.

A gun is sold in the classifieds after killing a spouse, bought by a teenager for needed protection. But which was it? Each has the incentive to pick up a gun, to fire it. Was it Rand or Cami, married teenagers with a young son? Was it Silas or Ashlyn, members of a white supremacist youth organization? Daniel, who fears retaliation because of his race, who possessively clings to Grace, the love of his life? Or Noelle, who lost everything after a devastating accident, and has sunk quietly into depression?

One tense week brings all six people into close contact in a town wrought with political and personal tensions. Someone will fire. And someone will die. But who?

My Review

Ellen Hopkins is known for her honest, gripping, and raw novels that combine different writing styles, characters, and harrowing experiences that are sure to shock you and will make you think. I fell in love with her writing back when … Continue reading

4 stars
1 Comment
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Book Title:
See All The Stars
Book Author:
Kit Frick
Page Count:
320
Publishing Date:
August 14th, 2018
Publisher:
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Date Read:
August 9th, 2018
Source:
I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review - Thank you!

Synopsis

Part love story, part thriller, We Were Liars meets Goodbye Days in this suspenseful, lyrical debut.

It’s hard to find the truth beneath the lies you tell yourself.

THEN They were four—Bex, Jenni, Ellory, Ret. Electric, headstrong young women; Ellory’s whole solar system.

NOW Ellory is alone, her once inseparable group of friends torn apart by secrets, deception, and a shocking incident that changed their lives forever.

THEN Lazy summer days. A party. A beautiful boy. Ellory met Matthias and fell into the beginning of a spectacular, bright love.

NOW Ellory returns to Pine Brook to navigate senior year after a two-month suspension and summer away—no boyfriend, no friends. No going back. Tormented by some and sought out by others, troubled by a mysterious note-writer who won’t let Ellory forget, and consumed by guilt over her not entirely innocent role in everything and everyone she’s lost, Ellory finds that even in the present, the past is everywhere.

The path forward isn’t a straight line. And moving on will mean sorting the truth from the lies—the lies Ellory has been telling herself.

My Review

To be completely honest, I didn’t have any idea what this book was about when I started reading it.  I had read about it in the past and I thought it sounded really good, but by the time I got … Continue reading

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Book Title:
Shimmer and Burn
Book Author:
Mary Taranta
Book Series:
Shimmer and Burn, #1
Page Count:
352
Publishing Date:
August 8th, 2017
Publisher:
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Date Read:
September 5th, 2017
Source:
I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review - Thank you!

Synopsis

To save her sister’s life, Faris must smuggle magic into a plague-ridden neighboring kingdom in this exciting and dangerous start to a brand-new fantasy duology.

Faris grew up fighting to survive in the slums of Brindaigel while caring for her sister, Cadence. But when Cadence is caught trying to flee the kingdom and is sold into slavery, Faris reluctantly agrees to a lucrative scheme to buy her back, inadvertently binding herself to the power-hungry Princess Bryn, who wants to steal her father’s throne.

Now Faris must smuggle stolen magic into neighboring Avinea to incite its prince to alliance—magic that addicts in the war-torn country can sense in her blood and can steal with a touch. She and Bryn turn to a handsome traveling magician, North, who offers protection from Avinea’s many dangers, but he cannot save Faris from Bryn’s cruelty as she leverages Cadence’s freedom to force Faris to do anything—or kill anyone—she asks. Yet Faris is as fierce as Bryn, and even as she finds herself falling for North, she develops schemes of her own.

With the fate of kingdoms at stake, Faris, Bryn, and North maneuver through a dangerous game of magical and political machinations, where lives can be destroyed—or saved—with only a touch.

My Review

When I first realized that this gorgeous book was something I absolutely had to read, I had no idea that it was a duology.  I guess I missed that part, but for whatever reason, I thought it was a standalone.  … Continue reading

5 stars
12 Comments
Book Title:
The Beast is an Animal
Book Author:
Peternelle van Arsdale
Publishing Date:
March 7th, 2017
Publisher:
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Date Read:
March 8th, 2017
Source:
ARC from publisher - Thank you!

Synopsis

Alys was seven the first time she saw the soul eaters. Twin sisters, they radiated an energy that excited Alys. Through them she felt the wildness of the fforest, and The Beast within it. Too late, she learned of their power to destroy.

By the time she is fifteen, Alys knows too much about both the lure and the danger of the soul eaters. She lives in a world of adults who are terrified of their power, and who cower behind high walls and grim rules. Fear of the soul eaters—and of The Beast—rules their lives. Even more, they fear the ways in which The Beast may lurk among them—and within a girl like Alys.

For Alys has a connection to the soul eaters, and The Beast. And she hides a truth about herself that she can reveal to no one, for fear she will be called a witch. As the threat posed by the soul eaters grows, Alys must undertake a journey through the wild danger of the fforest. But the greatest danger is not outside her. Alys’s secret about who—and what—she is terrifies her most of all. And in order to save her world, she must also risk losing herself.

My Review

I came across The Beast is an Animal a while ago, and I was so excited to read it – horror is probably my all time favorite genre, so I expected to be pretty scared when I picked this one … Continue reading

4 stars
10 Comments
Book Title:
The You I've Never Known
Book Author:
Ellen Hopkins
Publishing Date:
January 24th, 2017
Publisher:
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Date Read:
January 16th, 2017
Source:
I received a copy from the publisher - Thank you!

Synopsis

How do you live your life if your past is based on a lie? A new novel in both verse and prose from #1 New York Times bestselling author, Ellen Hopkins.

For as long as she can remember, it’s been just Ariel and Dad. Ariel’s mom disappeared when she was a baby. Dad says home is wherever the two of them are, but Ariel is now seventeen and after years of new apartments, new schools, and new faces, all she wants is to put down some roots. Complicating things are Monica and Gabe, both of whom have stirred a different kind of desire.

Maya’s a teenager who’s run from an abusive mother right into the arms of an older man she thinks she can trust. But now she’s isolated with a baby on the way, and life’s getting more complicated than Maya ever could have imagined.

Ariel and Maya’s lives collide unexpectedly when Ariel’s mother shows up out of the blue with wild accusations: Ariel wasn’t abandoned. Her father kidnapped her fourteen years ago.

What is Ariel supposed to believe? Is it possible Dad’s woven her entire history into a tapestry of lies? How can she choose between the mother she’s been taught to mistrust and the father who has taken care of her all these years?

In bestselling author Ellen Hopkins’s deft hands, Ariel’s emotionally charged journey to find out the truth of who she really is balances beautifully with Maya’s story of loss and redemption. This is a memorable portrait of two young women trying to make sense of their lives and coming face to face with themselves—for both the last and the very first time.

My Review

This is the first book written by Ellen Hopkins that I have had the chance to read, and let me start this review off by telling you that it definitely won’t be my last. Sometimes it can be hard to … Continue reading

5 stars
8 Comments
Book Title:
The Cursed Queen
Book Author:
Sarah Fine
Book Series:
The Impostor Queen, #2
Publishing Date:
January 3rd, 2017
Publisher:
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Date Read:
January 8th, 2017
Source:
I received a copy from the publisher - Thank you!

Synopsis

Ansa has always been a fighter.

As a child, she fought the invaders who murdered her parents and snatched her as a raid prize. She fought for her place next to Thyra, the daughter of the Krigere Chieftain. She fought for her status as a warrior in her tribe: blood and victory are her way of life. But the day the Krigere cross the great lake and threaten the witch queen of the Kupari, everything changes.

Cursed by the queen with fire and ice, Ansa is forced to fight against an invisible enemy—the dark magic that has embedded itself deep in her bones. The more she tries to hide it, the more dangerous it becomes. And with the Krigere numbers decimated and the tribe under threat from the traitorous brother of the dead Chieftain, Ansa is torn between her loyalty to the Krigere, her love for Thyra, and her own survival instincts.

With her world in chaos and each side wanting to claim her for their own, only one thing is certain: unless Ansa can control the terrible magic inside her, everything she’s fought for will be destroyed.

My Review

For those who know me, you’ve probably seen me gushing over Sarah Fine’s The Impostor Queen since before it was even published last year – it was instantly one of my favorite books.  To be completely honest, this is only … Continue reading

4 stars
2 Comments
Book Title:
The Impostor Queen
Book Author:
Sarah Fine
Book Series:
The Impostor Queen, #1
Publishing Date:
January 5th, 2016
Publisher:
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Date Read:
December 24th, 2015
Source:
ARC from publisher - Thank you!

Synopsis

Sixteen-year-old Elli was a small child when the Elders of Kupari chose her to succeed the Valtia, the queen who wields infinitely powerful ice and fire magic. Since then, Elli has lived in the temple, surrounded by luxury and tutored by magical priests, as she prepares for the day when the Valtia perishes and the magic finds a new home in her. Elli is destined to be the most powerful Valtia to ever rule.

But when the queen dies defending the kingdom from invading warriors, the magic doesn’t enter Elli. It’s nowhere to be found.

Disgraced, Elli flees to the outlands, the home of banished criminals—some who would love to see the temple burn with all its priests inside. As she finds her footing in this new world, Elli uncovers devastating new information about the Kupari magic, those who wield it, and the prophecy that foretold her destiny. Torn between the love she has for her people and her growing loyalty to the banished, Elli struggles to understand the true role she was meant to play. But as war looms, she must align with the right side—before the kingdom and its magic are completely destroyed.

My Review

Before I started reading this book, I hadn’t read anything else by Sarah Fine, but I was curious, because I know that she has quite a few successful books out.  So when I saw this, and read that synopsis, I … Continue reading

4.5 stars
3 Comments