Book Haul #5

I haven't been getting as much recently, so I haven't done this in a while (and keep forgetting when I have had something to post). But here are some books I've received lately.

All Synopses are from Netgalley or BookBridgr respectively.

Netgalley

The Witch of Salt and Storm by Kendall Kulper

Sixteen-year-old Avery Roe wants only to take her rightful place as the sea witch of Prince Island, making the charms that keep the island's whalers safe and prosperous at sea. But before she could learn how to control her power, her mother - the first Roe woman in centuries to turn her back on magic - steals Avery away from her grandmother. Avery must escape before her grandmother dies, taking with her the secrets of the Roe's power.

The one magical remnant left to Avery is the ability to read dreams, and one night she foresees her own murder. Time is running short, both for her and for the people of her island who need the witches' help to thrive.

Avery has never read a dream that hasn't come true, but a tattooed harpoon boy named Tane tells her he can help her change her fate. Becoming a witch may prevent her murder and save her island from ruin, but Avery discovers it will also require a sacrifice she never expected. And as she falls in love with Tane, she learns it is his life and hers that hang in the balance.

.I like books about witches like this. Historical or sort of historical with different opinions about witches. I'm hoping for a bit of persecution but we'll see. Thanks Hachette! 

Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer

I was sent here because of a boy. His name was Reeve Maxfield, and I loved him and then he died, and almost a year passed and no one knew what to do with me.

A group of emotionally fragile, highly intelligent teenagers gather at a therapeutic boarding school where they are mysteriously picked for 'Special Topics in English'. Here, they are tasked with studying Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar and keeping a journal.

Each time the teens write in their diaries they are transported to a miraculous other world called Belzhar, a world where they are no longer haunted by their trauma and grief - and each begins to tell their own story.

This looks really interesting. I can't wait to read it. Though I feel that having emotionally fragile teenagers reading Sylvia Plath is not going to end well. Thanks Simon and Schuster. 

The Iron Trial by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black 

Think you know magic? 

Think again.

The Magisterium awaits . . .

Most people would do anything to get into the Magisterium and pass the Iron Trial.

Not Callum Hunt. 

Call has been told his whole life that he should never trust a magician. And so he tries his best to do his worst – but fails at failing.

Now he must enter the Magisterium. 

It's a place that's both sensational and sinister. And Call realizes it has dark ties to his past and a twisty path to his future.

The Iron Trial is just the beginning. Call’s biggest test is still to come . . .

I actually managed to buy and read this before getting approved on Netgalley (review on Monday). Thanks Random House. 

Lockwood & Co. The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud

Ghosts and ghouls beware! London’s smallest, shabbiest and most talented psychic detection agency is back. 

Life is never exactly peaceful for Lockwood & Co. Lucy and George are trying to solve the mystery of the talking skull trapped in their ghost jar, while Lockwood is desperate for an exciting new case. 

Things seem to be looking up when the team is called to Kensal Green Cemetery to investigate the grave of a sinister Victorian doctor. Strange apparitions have been seen there, and the site must be made safe. As usual, Lockwood is confident; as usual, everything goes wrong – a terrible phantom is unleashed, and a dangerous object is stolen from the coffin. 

Lockwood & Co must recover the relic before its power is unleashed, but it’s a race against time. Their obnoxious rivals from the Fittes agency are also on the hunt. And if that’s not bad enough, the skull in the ghost-jar is stirring again…

I finished the first Lockwood book yesterday and it stopped me sleeping. So here's hoping this book is just as good. (Review of both on Thursday provided I read fast enough). Thanks Random House!

A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond

I'm the one who's left behind. I'm the one to tell the tale. I knew them both... knew how they lived and how they died."

Claire is Ella Grey's best friend. She's there when the whirlwind arrives on the scene: catapulted into a North East landscape of gutted shipyards; of high arched bridges and ancient collapsed mines. She witnesses a love so dramatic it is as if her best friend has been captured and taken from her. But the loss of her friend to the arms of Orpheus is nothing compared to the loss she feels when Ella is taken from the world. This is her story - as she bears witness to a love so complete; so sure, that not even death can prove final.

The first 200 or so pages of this are great, but due to technical difficulties, I can't seem to read the rest. The review may have to wait until the book is out. Thanks Hachette. 

The 100 by Kass Morgan

No one has set foot on Earth in centuries -- until now.

Ever since a devastating nuclear war, humanity has lived on spaceships far above Earth's radioactive surface. Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents -- considered expendable by society -- are being sent on a dangerous mission: to recolonize the planet. It could be their second chance at life...or it could be a suicide mission.

CLARKE was arrested for treason, though she's haunted by the memory of what she really did. WELLS, the chancellor's son, came to Earth for the girl he loves -- but will she ever forgive him? Reckless BELLAMY fought his way onto the transport pod to protect his sister, the other half of the only pair of siblings in the universe. And GLASS managed to escape back onto the ship, only to find that life there is just as dangerous as she feared it would be on Earth.

Confronted with a savage land and haunted by secrets from their pasts, the hundred must fight to survive. They were never meant to be heroes, but they may be mankind's last hope.

I've been watching the TV series of this on E4 and, dialogue aside, it's enjoyable to watch. I figured the book is probably better so I thought I'd give it a go. Thanks Little Brown Books.

Bookbrigr

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey 

Alaska, the 1920s. Jack and Mabel have staked everything on a fresh start in a remote homestead, but the wilderness is a stark place, and Mabel is haunted by the baby she lost many years before. When a little girl appears mysteriously on their land, each is filled with wonder, but also foreboding: is she what she seems, and can they find room in their hearts for her?

This looks so awesome! Not just because it's based on a Russian Fairytale. Really looking forward to reading it. Thank you Tinder Press!