March {2018} New YA Book Releases

 

The Secrets We Bury by Stacie Ramey

Release Date: 1 March 2018

A Kiss in the Dark by Gina Ciocca

Release Date: 6 March 2018

 

After the Shot Drops by Randy Ribay

Release Date: 6 March 2018

Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough

Release Date: 6 March 2018

Dark Tracks by Philippa Gregory

Series: Order of Darkness #4
Release Date: 6 March 2018

 

Feeder by Patrick Weekes

Release Date: 6 March 2018

Genesis by Brendan Reichs

Series: Project Nemesis #2
Release Date: 6 March 2018

Hero at the Fall by Alwyn Hamilton

Series: Rebel at the Sands #3
Release Date: 6 March 2018

In Search Of by Ava Dellaira

Release Date: 6 March 2018

Inkmistress by Audrey Coulthurst

Release Date: 6 March 2018

Lies That Bind by Diana Rodriguez Wallach

Series: Anastasia Phoenix #2
Release Date: 6 March 2018

 

Mapping the Bones by Jane Yolen

Release Date: 6 March 2018

More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer

Release Date: 6 March 2018

 

No Filter by Orlagh Collins

Release Date: 6 March 2018

Pacifica by Kristen Simmons

Release Date: 6 March 2018

Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi

Series: Shatter Me #4
Release Date: 6 March 2018

 

Risen by Cole Gibsen

Release Date: 6 March 2018

 

The Beauty That Remains by Ashley Woodfolk

Release Date: 6 March 2018

The Case for Jamie by Brittany Cavallaro

Series: Charlotte Holmes #3
Release Date: 6 March 2018

 

The Final Six by Alexandra Monir

Release Date: 6 March 2018

 

The Heart Forger by Rin Chupeco

Series: The Bone Witch #2
Release Date: 6 March 2018

The Midnights by Sarah Nicole Smetana

Release Date: 6 March 2018

The Place Between Breaths by An Na

Release Date: 6 March 2018

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Release Date: 6 March 2018

 

The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

Release Date: 6 March 2018

 

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Release Date: 6 March 2018

 

What She Does Next Will Astound You by James Goss, Patrick Ness

Series: Class #
Release Date: 6 March 2018

 

Chaotic Good by Whitney Gardner

Release Date: 13 March 2018

 

Fum by Adam Rapp

Release Date: 13 March 2018

 

In Sight of Stars by Gae Polisner

Release Date: 13 March 2018

Nothing Left to Burn by Heather Ezell

Release Date: 13 March 2018

Obsidio by Jay Kristoff, Amie Kaufman

Series: The Illuminae Files #3
Release Date: 13 March 2018

Slay by Matthew Laurence

Series: Freya #2
Release Date: 13 March 2018

The Falling Between Us by Ash Parsons

Release Date: 13 March 2018

The Price Guide to the Occult by Leslye Walton

Release Date: 13 March 2018

The Radical Element: 12 Stories of Daredevils, Debutantes & Other Dauntless Girls by Jessica Spotswood

Release Date: 13 March 2018

Time Bomb by Joelle Charbonneau

Release Date: 13 March 2018

Along the Indigo by Elsie Chapman

Release Date: 20 March 2018

Finding Felicity by Stacey Kade

Release Date: 20 March 2018

 

Here So Far Away by Hadley Dyer

Release Date: 20 March 2018

 

Losing Leah by Tiffany King

Release Date: 20 March 2018

Miles Away From You by A.B. Rutledge

Release Date: 20 March 2018

 

Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen

Release Date: 20 March 2018

The Continent by Keira Drake

Series: The Continent #1
Release Date: 20 March 2018

And She Was by Jessica Verdi

Release Date: 27 March 2018

 

Damselfly by Chandra Prasad

Release Date: 27 March 2018

 

Divas Don’t Cry by Amir Abrams, Ni-Ni Simone

Series: Hollywood High #6
Release Date: 27 March 2018

Emergency Contact by Mary H. K. Choi

Release Date: 27 March 2018

 

Frat Girl by Kiley Roache

Release Date: 27 March 2018

 

I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman

Release Date: 27 March 2018

In Her Skin by Kim Savage

Release Date: 27 March 2018

Live In Infamy by Caroline Tung Richmond

Release Date: 27 March 2018

 

Lost Crow Conspiracy by Rosalyn Eves

Series: Blood Rose Rebellion #2
Release Date: 27 March 2018

Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter

Release Date: 27 March 2018

Nothing But Sky by Amy Trueblood

Release Date: 27 March 2018

 

Reflection by Elizabeth Lim

Series: Twisted Tales #4
Release Date: 27 March 2018

The Beloved Wild by Melissa Ostrom

Release Date: 27 March 2018

The Invasion by Peadar O’Guilin

Series: The Call #2
Release Date: 27 March 2018

The Pros of Cons by Michelle Schusterman, Lindsay Ribar, Alison Cherry

Release Date: 27 March 2018

 

The Way The Light Bends by Cordelia Jensen 

Release Date: 27 March 2018

Top Ten Tuesday - Love Freebie: My favorite YA Romances

Hey Y'all - welcome to another round of Top Ten Tuesday - a weekly blog meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week's theme is Love Freebies.  My love freebie choice is My Favorite YA Romances.  So - here you go:

   

Who's That Girl - Blair Thornburgh

Title: Who's That Girl
Author: Blair Thornburgh
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 3 Stars

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Junior Nattie McCullough is totally OK with her place in life: Latin whiz. Member of the school’s gay-straight alliance. Joni Mitchell superfan. Seventeen-year-old who has never been kissed. So when last summer’s crush and her former classmate—Young Lungs lead singer Sebastian Delacroix—comes back to town with his new hit single “Natalie,” she can’t bring herself to believe it could possibly be about her…could it?

As Nattie sorts through the evidence (the lyrics, Sebastian’s elusive text messages, and their brief romantic encounter last year), the song’s popularity skyrockets, and everyone starts speculating about “Natalie’s” identity. If that wasn’t mortifying enough, Nattie runs into another problem: her confusing, flirtation-packed feelings for her good friend Zach. With her once-average life upended, Nattie is determined to figure out once and for all if her short-lived past with Sebastian was something love songs are made of—or just a one-hit wonder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, I was intrigued by the description of this book, and the cover looks pretty cool, too.  This was a book I really wanted to Love, but ended up just liking instead.

The book is about a girl who has recently discovered that her crush wrote a song about her for his band, The Young Lungs.  The song explodes and suddenly everyone knows who Natalie is.  There's some love, and a lot of planning for their LGBTQIA group dance as well - so you know, fun!  (Sorry, I am not being sarcastic, I love that there is a ton of LGBT+ rep in this book.)

Things I liked about this book:
1. Zach West, AKA, Zach the Anarchist, has 2 moms!

2. The LGBT community is treated as totally normal in this book (which you would think would happen all the time, but it doesn't!)  Also, there are discussions about how certain people and activities (like homecoming dances) are still very heteronormative.

Things I Didn't Really Care For:
1. Where were Zach's Parents in the entire novel?!  Seriously, I know he's just a secondary character, but you would think we would have met his parents at least ONCE since he and Nattie hang out at his house every week baking cookies?!

2. The characters were not as well developed as they could have been.  They felt one dimensional.  This could have been because Nattie was the main focus of attention.  I wouldn't expect the secondary characters to be the primary focus in a book, but the fact that even their conversations and lives all seemed to revolve around Nattie made it hard to get to know them, or to develop them.  Plus, they were too fucking happy all the time.  Has the author ever met a teenager, or even another human?!  Nobody is that happy all the damn time. 

3. The "crush" between Nattie and Sebastian - how could they possibly have had a thing for each other when they never spent any time together and they only interacted with each other on Pixtagram?!  Seriously, they saw each other in person TWICE.  All their other communication was done over the internet and it was very surface interaction.  There is no way they could have actually liked each other.  It would have purely been for looks.  (Which means, yes Nattie, the song was just for attention and didn't really mean anything.)

There just wasn't enough story or character development here to really make me care about this book.  If you are looking for something light without a whole lot of depth, then this book will be a good fit.  Otherwise, move along.

February {2018} TBR

Hey y'all!  What's more fun than talking about our TBR Piles?!  Right now, nothing.  Here's what I have on my TBR Pile for February.