Binding of Bindings : 10 YA Books with Unique Concepts

May 19, 2020 JenAcideByBibliophile22 Comments

Wanna get weird?

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~* 10 YA Books with Unique Concepts *~

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1. Bone Crier’s Moon (Bone Grace, Book 1) by Kathryn Purdie

Genre: YA/Fantasy

Bone Crier’s Moon is the perfect way to kick off this ‘Unique Concepts‘ post, especially because it’s about a tribe of women who kill their soulmates so they can ferry souls across the gates of Heaven and Hell.

The women are called Leurress and their purpose is to guide the Chained and Unchained to the gates they belong to. In order to become a ferrier, each Leurress has to acquire three Grace Bones from animals they hunt and kill themselves. The “Graces” they receive from the animal – like the speed of a rabbit, the sight of a hawk, the stamina of…something – become abilities they then posses as long as they wear the bones.

Once they acquire all three bones, they must complete the final ritual. Using the sacred Bone Flute that opens the gates on ferrying night, the Leurress must play the flute and lure her soulmate to a bridge…and kill him.

(See my review here)

2. Last Girls by Demetra Brodsky

Genre: YA/Contemporary/Dooms Day Preppers (I told you it was a genre now)

I just read Last Girls last week, and it was fantastic. It’s a story of three sisters who live on a compound with other Dooms Day Preppers, where they train in hand to hand combat, hunting, survival skills, making bombs…you name it.

But there’s a story within this story, and it is epic.

The Juniper sisters are the “weird sisters” wherever they go. Honey is the responsible older sister whose job is to keep her sisters in line and together. Birdie is the middle sister who does what she wants, when she wants. She is the brash and fiery sister. Blue, the youngest, has cobalt blue hair and is the calm that holds the girls together. She also has a tendency to say odd little prophetic sentences at all times of the day and night.

(See my review here)

3. All Your Twisted Secrets by Diana Urban

Genre: YA/Contemporary/Mystery/Thriller

All Your Twisted Secrets:

SAW meets THE BREAKFAST CLUB.

Six seniors are locked in a room with a bomb, a syringe and a note instructing them to pick one person to kill. Before time is up, they must choose one person to inject with the lethal liquid, or they all die.

And Oh. My. Shit. is that ending going to blow your mind.

(See my review here)

4. The Hazel Wood series by Melissa Albert

Genre: YA/Fantasy

I personally thought the first book in this series was better, but the concept is still kickass.

It has all the twisted Grimm’s Brothers vibes you could want, and instead of it being a book of bubbly fairy tales and happy endings, it’s very much like a Once Upon a Time version where everything is actually quite fucked up.

The Hazel Wood is an estate where writer Althea Proserpine lives, and where she writes the haunting stories set in an eerie world called The Hinterland. Alice has never read the stories her grandmother wrote, and instead has been outrunning bad luck with her mother for years. But when her mother suddenly disappears, Alice is forced to find her grandmother, becomes it seems that her mother has been taken to a place that wasn’t supposed to be real – The Hinterland.

The world building is so cool, and the fairy tales are jacked up, so naturally I loved it. The Night Country was meh because it turns into more of an Urban Fantasy, but the world building was still amazing.

(See my reviews for The Hazel Wood here and The Night Country here)

5. A Danger to Herself and Others by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Genre: YA/Contemporary/Mental Health

THIS book.

What a psychological whirlwind this was.

It’s about a girl who is institutionalized for something that happened at school with one of her friends. She claims she didn’t do it and knows that she just has to prove that she is sane so they will let her go home.

But the truth of what happened is so unexpected and so heart-clenching...

…it was immediately one of my new favorite books, and still is.

READ THIS.

(See my review here)

6. Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold

Genre: YA/Fantasy/Retelling

Red Hood is a Little Red Riding Hood retelling, but so different and bizarre that you’ll be saying “wtf” while grinning from ear to ear.

This is a straight-up feminist retelling. And when I say feminist, I mean

FEM–IN–IST.

It dives deep into those womanly hardships of feeling unclean, unimportant, unsafe and unworthy. It is unhinging how gritty and purely raw this story is, and the author doesn’t hold back at all.

In this story, men and boys who wish to hurt women are the wolves. But our main character Bisou, and her grandmother, are bestowed with a special gift that allows them to sense the wolves and kill them. But the real magic about this book, is that the shining star of it is PERIODS.

Yeah. I’m not kidding.

(See my review here)

7. The Door to January by Gillian French

Genre: YA/Fantasy/Paranormal/Mystery

The Door to January is a really interesting YA Paranormal/Mystery combo in that it has elements of spirits, murder, a fantasy door to the past, and very serious trauma.

It is about a girl named Natalie who went through a very traumatic experience in the woods two years prior to the reader meeting her. Now, after her family had moved away, Natalie keeps experiencing dreams of a door in a house she thinks is from back home. So when she ventures back to her hometown, and she and her cousin investigate the old house, spirits start to communicate with her.

This book is bursting with multiple plots and is completely unique.

(See my review here)

8. The Life of Death by Lucy Booth

Genre: Fiction/Fantasy

Ugh. What a whirlwind this story was!

The Life of Death is just like it sounds, it’s about the life of death – or the “Grim Reaper“.

As a woman is about to be hung for accusations of being a witch, she is visited in her cell by HIM. He offers her a deal, a chance at a life after death as death itself. And so she accepts.

And so for the next 500 years Elizabeth acts as death, guiding souls across the threshold. But in their dying moments, Elizabeth takes on the face and memories of a loved one that the dying most desires to see. She guides them along with love and compassion.

But when Elizabeth comes across a man whose wife she just helped cross over, she is suddenly struck by love and wants out. So HE gives her a task: HE will assign her five lives that she must take, and then she will be free.

And this is where things get fucked up and sad.

(See my review here)

9. The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

Genre: YA/Historical Fiction/Fantasy

What a lovely and fantastical story this is!

The Ten Thousand Doors of January is all about doors to other worlds, bad men trying to destroy the doors and keep the beautiful secrets inside for themselves, and a young woman trying to get to her father. It’s a tale of EPIC romance, and a coming-of-age fantasy period-piece that NEEDS to be a movie NOW!

Probably one of the best stories I have read in my lifetime, for its exquisite writing and amazing plot.

Just go buy it.

(See my review here)

10. Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Genre: YA/Horror/Mystery/LGBT

I know a lot of you have seen this one and read it already, but it deserves a spot on this list for it’s astounding yet horrific uniqueness.

Wilder Girls is the feminist Lord of the Flies that you didn’t know you needed. And as I said in my review:

This book will make your skin shift.

Though this is in the Horror category, and is definitely creepy, it isn’t a scary story. It’s creepy in the sense of science fiction in that a school for girls has been infected with a virus they call The Tox. And the Tox effects each girl differently when the flare-ups hit them – from seconds spines and hearts, scales growing on the hands or face to lesions or skin bubbling. The story tracks how the girls live among one another trying to survive, and then figuring out how to escape once the government stops sending them aid.

But the best part of this book is the unflinching unity between these girls who look like monstrous creatures, but have respect towards one another and don’t even bat an eye to one another over physical abnormalities.

Now THAT is an enviable world to live in.

(See my review here)

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Stay Witchy ❤

Binding of Bindings #34: 10 Chilling Reads from 2019

December 13, 2019 JenAcideByBibliophile21 Comments

10 books that will make you want to shed your own skin, cut out your own heart, and cry until the pain and truth of a cold reality escapes you.

These books are going to hit you where it hurts and leave you so cold, you’re burning hot.

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~10 Chilling Reads from 2019~

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1. The Cold Is in Her Bones by Peternelle van Arsdale

Genre: YA/Fantasy/Retelling

This is a Medusa retelling that is strange, eerie and weirdly sentimental. It has been months since I read it, but I am still blissfully disturbed by it.

The Cold Is in Her Bones tells the story of Milla as she spends her days doing chores and never leaving her home, despite her wishes to wander freely. But when the arrival of a family comes to live beside her home, she meets the first girl her own age that tells her of a curse. The curse comes to young women in the village, and is one of demonic possession.

This isn’t going to be the story you’re expecting, and I really recommend it to anyone that wants something different. Because it is VERY different. It touches on themes of kindness, not judging others, friendship and loyalty. It is a STRANGE story, but one that is so original and unique.

(See my review here)

2. A Danger to Herself and Other by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Genre: YA/Contemporary/Mental Health

THIS. STORY. IS. EVERYTHING.

You’re going to assume this book is going to go down a certain path, but you’re going to be dead wrong. The turn it takes is shocking and heart-shattering, but also so beautiful and soul-touching.

A Danger to Herself and Others is about a girl who finds herself placed in an institution after an accident that happened with her roommate during a summer program. Hannah is a very focused student and only wants to return to her life, so she does everything in her power to prove to the staff that she is completely sane and can go home.

*sigh*

Just thinking about this book makes me need to take a deep breath.

Your soul wants you to read this.

(See my review here)

3. Girls with Sharp Sticks (Book 1) by Suzanne Young

Genre: YA/Contemporary/Sci-Fi/Feminism

I just received an ARC of book two (Girls with Razor Hearts) in the mail from Simon & Schuster, and guys…it is taking all of my self-control not to devour it right now. It doesn’t release until March 17, 2020, so I need to wait a little bit. But I am seriously struggling.

Innovations Academy is an all-girl boarding school where math and science courses are non-existent, and growing beautiful gardens and being obedient is at the top of everyone’s to-do list. The girls of Innovation Academy are sweet, docile and humble creatures. Or…are they?

I literally cannot say more, but just know…Girls with Sharp Sticks is the most beautiful and sorrowful feminist Sci-fi/Fantasy ever.

(See my review here)

4. The Best Lies by Sara Lyu

Genre: YA/Contemporary/Mystery/Thriller

If you’re looking for a book that will leave you feeling lost, confused, unsure of your current relationships, angry, sad and utterly devastated…

…you’ve come to the right place.

The Best Lies is about toxic relationships, mental health, obsessive behaviors, manipulation, family dynamics, love, friendship and lies. It is a mystery/thriller but really, it should be categorized in the “Allow me to rip your heart out through your eye sockets“ genre.

This is one of the BEST books I have read in 2019.

It tells the tale of Remy Tsai as she recounts how her best friend Elise killed her boyfriend Jack. It’s a twisted web of intense love and loneliness, and one that I have been begging everyone to read.

(See my review here)

5. Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Genre: YA/Mystery/Horror/LGBT

“My other eye’s dead, gone dark in a flare-up. Lid fused shut, something growing underneath.

It’s like that with all of us here. Sick, strange, and we don’t know why. Things bursting out of us, bits missing and pieces sloughing off, and then we harden and smooth over.”

Wanting your heart to lurch and your skin to shift?

Read this.

Wilder Girls is the hauntingly beautiful and soul-dismantling feminist horror that you need. A virus breaks out at a private school located on an island, leaving the inhabitants to fend for themselves as the Tox takes hold of them. With each breakout comes a new torture for each girl. From bruising from the inside out, second spines and hearts, and a silver scaled hand to skin lesions and bubbles that grow worse by the day.

These girls are walking nightmares, but they look at each other with a dizzying amount of love and respect.

(See my review here)

6. The Surface Breaks by Louise O’Neill

Genre: YA/Fantasy/Retelling/Feminism

“…I sewed my own mouth shut in the hopes that a boy I barely knew could kiss it open again.”

The Surface Breaks is a Little Mermaid feminist re-imagining, and it’s going to shatter your soul into pieces.

My poor heart, is still breaking in two and filling over the brim from the sadness and strength I got from this book! This rendition is dark, gritty, and gets real AF. This isn’t a fluffy twist on mermaids and young love. It hits you where it hurts, yanks those heartstrings, and makes you rethink how much of yourself you are willing to shred apart in the name of love.

“’And the pain?’” I ask. ‘Will that go away?’

‘Oh no,’ she replies. ‘But women are meant to suffer.’”

(See my review here)

7. The Liar’s Daughter by Megan Cooley Peterson

Genre: YA/Contemporary/Religion-Cults

“The window is no more than two feet wide and maybe half a foot tall. I can’t squeeze through it. It’s meant to let in sunlight, not hope.”

Piper has one dream: to make her Father proud and to finally be initiated into the community as an adult. She has spent her entire life breathing in his teachings and doing anything in her power to make him proud. The outside world is toxic, and they are humanities only chance at survival. She knows the government seeks to control its people with pharmaceutical drugs and lies, pumping bodies full of toxins in order to keep them spending money. But Piper knows the truth.

The Liar’s Daughter is the story of Piper’s time in a cult. It is sad and upsetting, but it focuses on a survivors experience. The confusion, anger, sadness and betrayal that comes from learning the truth.

All I ask before you read this, is don’t look at the book description. It gives away the entire plot, and it angers me to no end.

If you want to experience the true sorrow of this story, just open it and start reading.

(See my review here)

8. Love, Heather by Laurie Petrou

Genre: YA/Contemporary/Re-Imagining

Love, Heather is a book I read in October and loved, but still haven’t written a review for. Ugh…I know.

It’s about two girls (Stevie and Dee) who enact revenge on the bullies of their high school by playing a few pranks, and signing them with Love, Heather. But what starts out as innocent retaliation, quickly turns into a violent mess as students start to join in by pulling their own vicious pranks. But as things start to spiral out of control, and Dee begins to take things too far, Stevie fights to get out before it takes her under.

This is a Heathers re-imagining and it is SO GOOD!

9. I Know You Remember by Jennifer Donaldson

Genre: YA/Mystery/Thriller

I participated in a Spooky Reads Campaign that Random House hosted in October, and my book to read and review was I Know You Remember.

I tells the story of Ruthie Hayden moving back to Anchorage, Alaska and seeking out her former best friend Zahra. But when she returns, she finds that Zahra is missing and everyone suspects foul-play. Ruthie takes it upon herself to go searching for his best friend and to bring home the only person who ever truly understood her.

This book, is twisted and so damn good. My mouth dropped open, and stayed open, as I sat in my reading spot wondering wtf I just read and how I didn’t see that ending coming.

(See my review here and a few mood boards and my dream casting)

10. Songs from the Deep by Kelly Powell

Genre: YA/Fantasy/Mystery/Historical Fiction

For fans of The Wicked Deep and sirens – you’re going to love Songs from the Deep.

The story centers on an island that is plagued by fear of the sirens that lurk in the waters. As children, islanders are taught to never go into the ocean, but Moira Alexander has always had a deep fascination for the frightening beauties of the deep. When a boy turns up dead on shore and the sirens are blamed, she takes it upon herself to find the true culprit.

This is a totally Gothic and eerie Tim Burton-esque tale that is dripping in mystery. It’s as creepy as it is beautiful, and a book I wish was series instead of a stand-alone.

(See my review here)

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Stay Witchy ❤

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Binding of Bindings #30: 10 Badass Female Leads…

September 20, 2019 JenAcideByBibliophile25 Comments

Murder, revenge, plotting, espionage, manipulation and sarcasm.

These ladies just don’t give a f**k.

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~* 10 Badass Female Leads…

That Will Kill You in Your Sleep *~

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1. Fortuna Sworn (Book 1) by K.J. Sutton

Genre: Fantasy/Romance

We’re starting this “Badass Bitch” list off with a true nightmare:

Fortuna Sworn.

Fortuna is literally a Nightmare – a creature whose face shifts and transforms in order to accommodate the onlookers tastes, but who can reach into your mind to find your fears, and make you think they are now reality.

Twisted, right?!

Not only is this lady FIERCE and lethal, but she says demented things like this:

“For a terrible moment, I considered snapping my brother’s neck.”

This Adult Fantasy is by the amazing Kelsey Sutton who has written a ton of fantastic YA novels, but this is her first adult Fantasy and it is hot, HOT, HOT! If you like a Fae story that shows off the evil side of those intoxicating creatures, then read this. It has ACOTAR and The Folk of the Air vibes ALL over it!

(See my review here)

2. Alarum (Walking Shadows, Book 1) by Talis Jones

Genre: YA/Dystopian/Sci-fi

Flinch, Vizsla, Kid, Fury.

All one person, and ALL total badassery!

Fury is the epitome of a ruthless, strong, sassy, resilient and dangerous woman. From being sold as a slave into a new world after the collapse of the United States, she is thrust into a simple lifestyle: kill or be killed. This tale tracks her childhood in a slave camp, her time working for a brutal family, and her transition into lawless renegade.

This lady is the shit!

Plus, Alarum will most likely make you cry…so that’s a plus.

(See my review here)

3. Serpent & Dove (Book 1) by Shelby Mahurin

Genre: YA/Fantasy/Romance

No list is complete without a Witch to spice things up, right?!

Allow me to introduce the one and only, both incredible and crude, yet arrogant and hilarious, Louise le Blanc.

Look, a woman that will scream a pub song called “Big Tiddy Liddy” at the top of her lungs is a winner in my book. But throw in some SERIOUS Witch heritage, insane abilities, and murderous tendencies…then I will just turn to jello.

Serpent & Dove is a newly released YA Fantasy about Witches vs Church. Our main character is forced into marrying a guard of the church, even though he is unaware that she is actually a Witch and is VERY good at gutting people.

A Witch marrying a Witch Hunter.

Romance.

(See my review here)

4. Glitter (Book 1) by Aprilynne Pike

Genre: YA/Historical Fantasy/Dystopian

Versailles, ball gowns and royals, high-tech automation and a courtier selling makeup with drugs in it?

Get it, girl!

Glitter doesn’t seem to be a super well-known series, and I am wondering WHY?! It has everything us YA book lovers need! Romance, scandal, an asshole young king and a leading female who just wants to take those bastards down…one jar of rouge at a time!

It’s a Historical Fantasy with a Science Fiction twist and it is SUPREMELY amazing!

(See my review here)

5. 13 Minutes by Sarah Pinborough

Genre: YA/Mystery/Thriller

Drownings, scandals, near decapitations…OH MY!!

13 Minutes is a slinky little YA Contemporary Thriller that will have you mumbling “wtf” while also grinning from ear to ear. I really can’t say who the badass is in this without giving EVERYTHING away, but just know…it’s delightful.

It follows Natasha as she wakes up in the hospital after being washed up on an embankment. Nobody knows how she got there, and worst of all, she can’t remember anything. Natasha links up with her friends and a former friend to find out what really happened, and the truth is…shocking.

But just know this, these girls are t–w–i–s–t–e–d.

(See my review here)

6. With Malice by Eileen Cook

Genre: YA/Contemporary/Thriller/Mystery

Want to be completely blindsided, infuriated AND appreciative of the truly devious acts of women?

You’ve come to the right place.

With Malice is exactly as the title describes: Malicious.

It is another story about a girl waking up in the hospital not remembering what happened to her. Slowly it becomes revealed that she was involved in a car accident, and there was someone else involved.

There are some serious Amanda Knox trial vibes going on here, and involves some cutthroat behavior by a female that I just can’t help but slow-clap for. This book has a twist and an ending that will make you just

(See my review here)

7. The Surface Breaks by Louise O’Neill

Genre: YA/Fantasy/Retelling/Feminism

You know what I love?

A feminist retelling of men being drowned for treating women like they’re nothing.

The Surface Breaks showcases a mermaid named Gaia who starts out as a meek and subservient daughter of the Sea King, but swiftly turns into a truly glorious character hellbent on standing up for herself and her sisters.

It’s a darker version to the original Little Mermaid tale you know, but one that NEEDS to be read!

(See my review here)

8. Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Genre: YA/Mystery/Horror/LGBT

I am obsessed with this book, and even more obsessed with the female characters that grace its pages!

Wilder Girls is a YA Horror/Mystery filled with a collection of girls who are as freakish as they are resilient. These girls will claw at each other for food and kill you on the spot, but their hearts are filled with immense love and loyalty for one another.

This breathtaking and eerie story is about a school on an island that has been quarantined after a Tox infiltrates their walls. The girls are mutated and dying, and it is downright DARK! But oh so good.

(See my review here)

9. Darkness of Light (Book 1) by Stacey Marie Brown

Genre: New Adult/Fantasy/Paranormal/Romance

Looking for another Celaena Sardothien and Rowan Whitethorn to swoon over?

Okay, technically this isn’t like TOG at all, but it’s Fantasy, it’s hot and I just love a female who can fight alongside some fantastical creatures!

Darkness of Light is an Adult Fantasy series filled with demons, fae, goblins and dark dwellers. This series is exciting and soooo romantic, but most importantly, it gives you a female lead who is SO saucy and fierce!

I am planning on reading it again this weekend, so jump on the train with me and let’s all just drool over this series together!

(See my review here)

10. Killing November (Book 1) by Adriana Mather

Genre: YA/Mystery/Thriller/Contemporary

Killing November is not high on my list of favorite books…at all, but it IS stuffed full and exploding with various characters who are all passionate about one thing:

Killing. ❤

Academy Absconditi is a school for assassins and spies in training. Classes range from poisons, knife throwing and plain old manipulation. So in this case, there is a whole host of badass females who will kill you in your sleep…literally.

(See my review here)

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Stay Witchy ❤

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Book Review: Wilder Girls by Rory Power

July 11, 2019 JenAcideByBibliophile15 Comments

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by the publisher, Random House Children’s – Delacorte Press, via NetGalley for an honest review.

Genre: YA/Horror/LGBT/Mystery

Plot: It’s been eighteen months since the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine. Since the Tox hit and pulled Hetty’s life out from under her.

It started slow. First the teachers died one by one. Then it began to infect the students, turning their bodies strange and foreign. Now, cut off from the rest of the world and left to fend for themselves on their island home, the girls don’t dare wander outside the school’s fence, where the Tox has made the woods wild and dangerous. They wait for the cure they were promised as the Tox seeps into everything.

But when Byatt goes missing, Hetty will do anything to find her, even if it means breaking quarantine and braving the horrors that lie beyond the fence. And when she does, Hetty learns that there’s more to their story, to their life at Raxter, than she could have ever thought true.

Opinion:

“My other eye’s dead, gone dark in a flare-up. Lid fused shut, something growing underneath.

It’s like that with all of us here. Sick, strange, and we don’t know why. Things bursting out of us, bits missing and pieces sloughing off, and then we harden and smooth over.”

This book will make your skin shift,

your toes coil,

and your breath hurt.

With every page it slowly peels away layers of your heart while simultaneously sewing those pieces back together; until you’re left with nothing, but this mismatched, lumpy, irregular beating organ lost inside your chest that you aren’t even sure is yours anymore.

There is a rawness and truth hidden in these beautifully writhing words.

So make sure you’re listening.

“…and I miss the way the wind steals your breath like it never belonged to you in the first place.”

A year and a half ago, the Tox infiltrated their island. It crept its way through the trees and animals, tickled the locks on the gates and doors. It sighed through the ventilation like a whisper after lights out, and it took a hold of every girl with a beating heart and a smile. The Navy said they were looking for a cure. That there is still hope, they just needed more time. But the girls at Raxter don’t have time. The Tox is ripping them apart one by one, making them turn on one another, or worse, making them turn on themselves. But Hetty, Byatt and Resse have each other. And as long as they stick together, they can survive anything.

Unless the next flare-up shreds them from the inside and turns their bodies black.

“About three months into the Tox, they came back from the woods with their names torn out of their heads. The Tox took what they were, took everything except how to hold a knife. It made them stick each other in the main hall during dinner, made them watch themselves bleed dry.”

This book took my body through a mess of psychological and physical torment. My stomach is still writhing around and trying to jump out of my throat, and I’m honestly more than a little concerned that something might be crawling around inside me now. Wilder Girls…is wild. Rory Power has taken the typical “virus outbreak” story and dipped it in a drum barrel of mental terrorism to give you a tale of graceful misery and unorthodox beauty.

Because that is exactly what this toxic storm of starvation, terror, and savagery is.

It’s beauty.

“His skin peels off like strips of paper, gathering under my nails, soft and pulpy.”

These sweet, innocent and delicate young girls are trapped in an asylum that keeps them cut-off from the rest of existence. Their once normal lives have been drowned; washed away by an outbreak that leaves behind unpredictable flare-ups that leave the girls in a state of physical insanity. Bruising from the inside out, second spines and hearts, a silver scaled hand, skin lesions and bubbles. Each girl is a walking nightmare. A grotesque and brutal version of their former selves. But what makes these girls truly breathtaking and beautiful, is that they look at one another without judgement.

Each girl is wild, untamed and ferocious. They are monstrous creatures with brave hearts and convictions. They go to physical blows over scraps of food, but protect one another with a passion and savagery that is…enviable. These girls push through their bleak existence to find love and comfort in one another. It’s a story of strength and iron-will. Of yearning and love that doesn’t need to be explained. These girls aren’t pushed into categories and stigmas, they just ARE.

“Reese and Byatt, they’re mine and I’m theirs.”

The three main girls are Hetty, Byatt and Reese. The story mainly unfolds by the voice of Hetty, but flips over to Byatt’s viewpoint occasionally as it progresses. Hetty and Byatt are extremely close, to the point of near obsession for Hetty. She wants to be everything that Byatt needs, and credits Byatt for being the one to show her who she really is. But somehow, this obsession doesn’t feel poisonous or harmful. It feels loving, respectful and protective.

“Byatt was the one who put the bones in my body.”

The romance in this story is slight, but it is absolutely heartfelt and soft. It isn’t lustful or forced, and it doesn’t take away from the plot. To be honest, it’s one of the only truly good feeling moments in Wilder Girls. The sweetness of it is quick and will be gone before you know it, so enjoy that moment while it lasts. Because this book isn’t going to lull you into blissful dreams.

“My back arches, eyes slamming open. Thrashing against the straps pinning me, throwing my weight from side to side. Paretta, at the foot of my gurney, saying my name, but she’s the one who did this to me. I scream.”

This is a horror story, and it is indeed horrific. It is eerie, creepy and doused in a gloom so thick you can barely focus your eyes. It made me cringe. It made me disgusted. It made me keep the lights an hour after I finished the book. But most of all, it created a pit in my stomach that I still can’t seem to shake. And honestly, that is all I ever want from a book.

For it to leave my body in a state of confusion.

“…I start to know what the rope is for. But I don’t do anything. I sit so my legs are tucked under me. I watch the Tox go to work. On his knees. A rope into a noose. His eyes never close. His grip never changes. He is pulling right until the end.”

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Binding of Bindings #22: My Top 10 Anticipated July Book Releases

June 21, 2019 JenAcideByBibliophile6 Comments

Do you hear that…?

Someone’s knocking…

I think it’s July book releases.

Sent up from the depths of Hell to drag you into a deep, dark, black abyss of book obsessions and character addictions.

So…what do we do?

We help them into the damn tower, of course!

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~* My 10 Anticipated July Book Releases *~

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1. The Best Lies by Sarah Lyu

Release Date: July 2, 2019

Genre: YA/Contemporary/Mystery

I am starting this beautiful babe tonight, and I cannot wait!

The Best Lies is about a girl named Remy who had an amazing life, until her best friend Elise shot her boyfriend.

Devastated and shocked, Remy sifts through her memories to find ANY plausible explanation for what happened. The story showcases toxic relationships, jealousy and revenge, and is said to be a Thelma and Louise meets Gone girl psychological thriller!

2. The Beckoning Shadow (Book 1) by Katharyn Blair

Release Date: July 2, 2019

Genre: YA/Fantasy

This book has AMAZING reviews all over Goodreads already, and with a cover and plot like this, I’m simply not surprised.

The Beckoning Shadow follows Vesper (sick name, right?) has the ability to summon one’s worst nightmares and make them real, but her unique power has lead her down a road of regret. So when she is thrust into the Tournament of the Unraveling to compete for a chance to rewrite the past, she desperately works to win with the help of Sam Hardy – a former MMA fighter with a past just as tragic.

3. Season of the Witch (The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Book 1) by Sarah Rees Brennan

Release Date: July 9, 2019

Genre: YA/Fantasy/Horror

*Commence the obnoxiously loud fan-girl screams*

I KNOW!

THIS. Is ACTUALLY. HAPPENING!!!!!

Season of the Witch is a prequel to the Netflix series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and documents the summer before we all meet her. This is the summer that she and Harvey first get together, but she isn’t sure of Harvey’s feelings for her. By her cousin Ambrose’s suggestion, Sabrina performs a spell, but it backfires.

From the reviews I have read, it would be a good idea to watch the first season of the show before you read this. It might give some spoilers away if you haven’t seen the show yet, and who wants that?!

Obviously, I am SUPER excited for this release. My witchy heart can barely contain itself!!

4. Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Release Date: July 29 2019

Genre: YA/Horror/Mystery/LGBT

This is probably the third or fourth time I have posted about this book, but can you blame me?

You can’t.

Wilder Girls is the private school meets fast-spreading virus meets feminist vibes story that you obviously just need. A virus breaks out at a private school located on an island, and three girls are forced to fight for their lives as it spreads. Reviewers are describing it as a Feminist Lord of the Flies.

Intrigued?

Of course you are.

5. Heartwood Box by Ann Aguirre

Release Date: July 9, 2019

Genre: YA/Mystery/Thriller

Heartwood Box is a dark romantic YA Mystery that follows Araceli (again with the cool names) as she is sent to live with her great-aunt in a Victorian home. But this new town isn’t as quaint and normal as Araceli expected. There are countless “missing” posters everywhere, a creepy lab on the outskirts of town nobody talks about, and her aunt is a little…unhinged.

The mysterious conspiracies may commence now.

6. Vox by Christina Dalcher

Release Date: July 16, 2019

Genre: Fiction/Feminism/Science Fiction

If you’ve got a hardcore addiction for The Handmaid’s Tale, because you like your heart being ripped out each week – Read THIS!

I started it a few days ago and let me just tell you…

…it’s f***ed.

Vox is a re-release Dystopian Feminist story set in America where women are only allotted a total of 100 words to speak in a day. Similar to The Handmaid’s Tale, slowly women are stripped of their rights, and thrust into bracelets that counts their words and gives them electric shocks if they exceed their limit.

To make it worse, female children are given these bracelets too and never taught to read or write.

This book is told from Dr. Jean McClellan’s point of view, and it is…hard to read.

*Sigh* my heart!

7. The Phantom Forest by Liz Kerin

Release Date: July 16, 2019

Genre: YA/Fantasy

The Phantom Forest is a story for every Underworld loving creature of the night out there!

The Forest of Laida is the most holy place of the Underworld, and each tree houses a soul that is able to return to the mortal world for another life. But when Seycia’s (seriously, THE NAMES!) father is killed and she is chosen as a human sacrifice, she is thrust into the Underworld to protect her family.

I received this from Netgalley (you can still get a copy) and I am SO stoked to get it started!

8. Before I disappear by Danielle Stinson

Release Date: July 23, 2019

Genre: YA/Fantasy

Before I Disappear is a story about every soul in a town disappearing into thin air, except for five teens.

Rose arrived in Fort Glory, Oregon to start a new life with her family, but everything changes when they suddenly vanish. Now she is trapped in the Fold with four other teens – a place in the woods that is somewhere between the real world and the lost town – and everyone is starting to turn deadly.

This has Stephen King vibes all over it…DOWN!

9. The Merciful Crow (Book 1) by Margaret Owen

Release Date: July 30, 2019

Genre: YA/Fantasy

THIS looks like it is going to be a BIG winner for fans of Six of Crows, so get your wallets out kids.

The Merciful Crow is set in a world that follows a caste system, and main character Fie belongs to the Crows – undertakers and murderers who are paid to collect the dead. But when Fie is sent on a job she knows will pay big, things turn for the worst when it comes to light that her target, Prince Jasimir and his bodygaurd, have faked their deaths in order to prevent his Kingdom from siege.

I mean…look.

Just take my money.

10. The Surface Breaks by Louise O’Neill

Release Date: July 30, 2019

Genre: YA/Fantasy/Retelling/Feminism

Another re-release, but another book you will be happy to get your hands on!

The Surface Breaks is a Little Mermaid Retelling (try not to scream) set off the Irish coast. Gaia is the most prized daughter of the Sea King, but dreams of escaping her fathers control. Living in a world where only the beautiful are kept, and the ugly or deformed are banished, Gaia wants nothing more than to be free. And so upon her first swim to the surface, she is captivated by a human boy, who she is prepared to sacrifice everything for.

This book is a FEMINIST version of the tale we know and love, and is said to be a dark and emotional version that is going to strike some serious feels.

Sign me up!