Reader Girls Blog

Reading level: Young Adult Hardcover: 480 pages Publisher: Greenwillow Books (March 29, 2011) Summary: Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it's taken away. All of it. The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation. Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest. But there is a cost. The Keeper likes to keep things. Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late. My review:  Many book summaries can give away too much of the story, others can merely tease, alerting my brain's curiosity button. Then there are some which draw me to them for their covers. Entwined is one of those titles. The cover is gorgeous with its soft colors, an outdoor shot, the model running to s...

Reading level: Young Adult Hardcover: 432 pages Publisher: EgmontUSA (June 8, 2010) Summary: Adopted by the Alpha of a werewolf pack after a rogue wolf brutally killed her parents right before her eyes, fifteen-year-old Bryn knows only pack life, and the rigid social hierarchy that controls it. That doesn't mean that she's averse to breaking a rule or two.  But when her curiosity gets the better of her and she discovers Chase, a new teen locked in a cage in her guardian's basement, and witnesses him turn into a wolf before her eyes, the horrific memories of her parents' murders return. Bryn becomes obsessed with getting her questions answered, and Chase is the only one who can provide the information she needs. But in her drive to find the truth, will Bryn push too far beyond the constraints of the pack, forcing her to leave behind her friends, her family, and the identity that she's shaped? Our review: "I got bit." Three little words which se...

Reading level: Young Adult Paperback: 272 pages Publisher: Speak; Original edition (January 6, 2011) Book summary: Nina Oberon's life is pretty normal: she hangs out with her best friend, Sandy, and their crew, goes to school, plays with her little sister, Dee. But Nina is 15. And like all girls she'll receive a Governing Council ordered tattoo on her 16th birthday. XVI. Those three letters will be branded on her wrist, announcing to all the world-even the most predatory of men-that she is ready for sex. Considered easy prey by some, portrayed by the Media as sluts who ask for attacks, becoming a "sex-teen" is Nina's worst fear. That is, until right before her birthday, when Nina's mom is brutally attacked. With her dying breaths, she reveals to Nina a shocking truth about her past-one that destroys everything Nina thought she knew. Now, alone but for her sister, Nina must try to discover who she really is, all the while staying one step ahead of he...

Reading level: Young Adult Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: EgmontUSA (January 25, 2011) Summary:  Princess and heir to the throne of Thorvaldor, Nalia's led a privileged life at court. But everything changes when it's revealed, just after her sixteenth birthday, that she is a false princess, a stand-in for the real Nalia, who has been hidden away for her protection. Cast out with little more than the clothes on her back, the girl now called Sinda must leave behind the city of Vivaskari, her best friend, Keirnan, and the only life she's ever known. Sinda is sent to live with her only surviving relative, an aunt who is a dyer in a distant village. She is a cold, scornful woman with little patience for her newfound niece, and Sinda proves inept at even the simplest tasks. But when Sinda discovers that magic runs through her veins - long-suppressed, dangerous magic that she must learn to control - she realizes that she can never learn to be a simple village girl. Ret...

Our Waiting on Wednesday choice this week is Chain Reaction ( Perfect Chemistry #3 ) by Simone Elkeles. Summary: Luis Fuentes is a good boy who doesn't live with the angst that his big brothers, Alex and Carlos, have always lived with. Luis is smart, funny, and has big dreams of becoming an astronaut. But when he falls for the wrong girl, Luis enters a dark world he's never known, and just when he thinks he's got life all figured out, learns some disturbing news about his family that destroys his positive outlook on life. Will that Fuentes bad boy streak come out with a vengeance and lure Luis to live on the edge like his new girlfriend and his own father? Continuing all the steamy romance of the first two books, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Simone Elkeles gives fans one more satisfying taste of the irresistible Fuentes boys. Each of the titles in the Perfect Chemistry series have been, well, perfectly suited for their story and this is the hotte...

To participate in Teaser Tuesdays is simple: take your current read, choose two sentences from any page and post (be sure to not post any spoilers). Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of ShouldBeReading . "Even though I was big now, even though I knew that this was impossible and that it wasn't happening again, I couldn't stop myself from walking through the old, familiar motions. I peeked out of my hiding space under the sink, saw the man." This week's pick came from the paranormal YA book,  Raised by Wolves,  by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (hardcover, 418 pages, published by Egmont Books). Summary: Adopted by the Alpha of a werewolf pack after a rogue wolf brutally killed her parents right before her eyes, fifteen-year-old Bryn knows only pack life, and the rigid social hierarchy that controls it. That doesn't mean that she's averse to breaking a rule or two. But when her curiosity gets the better of her and she discovers Chase, a new te...

Reading level: Young Adult Hardcover: 448 pages Publisher: HarperTeen (January 4, 2011) Summary: Heaven-sent? Ellie was never particularly good at talking to boys—or anyone other than her best friend and fellow outcast, Ruth. Then she met Michael. Michael is handsome, charming, sweet. And totally into Ellie. It’s no wonder she is instantly drawn to him. But Michael has a secret. And he knows Ellie is hiding something, too. They’ve both discovered they have powers beyond their imagining. Powers that are otherworldly. Ellie and Michael are determined to uncover what they are, and how they got this way . . . together. But the truth has repercussions neither could have imagined. Soon they find themselves center stage in an ancient conflict that threatens to destroy everything they love. And it is no longer clear whether Ellie and Michael will choose the same side. Our review: Ellspeth (Ellie) Faneuil is a normal sixteen year old girl. She goes to school, loves her paren...