Book Review: Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Title: Unraveling

Author: Elizabeth Norris

Genre: Science Fiction YA

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Release date: April 24, 2012

Challenge: Debut Author Challenge

Source: DAC ARC Tour

Summary: Two days before the start of her junior year, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed—as in blinding light, scenes of her life flashing before her, and then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she’s opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And even though it isn’t possible, she knows—with every fiber of her being—that Ben has somehow brought her back to life.

But her revival, and Ben’s possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI agent father’s files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something—but to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what’s right in front of her: Everything that’s happened—the accident, the murder, the countdown clock, Ben’s sudden appearance in her life—points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she’s going to need to uncover Ben’s secrets—and keep from falling in love with him in the process.

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Waiting on Wednesday (23): Crewel by Gennifer Albin

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. I love it because it is basically a squee-fest where book lovers can choose one book that they are DYING to get their hands on. Check it out!

Crewel (Crewel World #1)

by Gennifer Albin

Incapable. Awkward. Artless.

That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: she wants to fail.

Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very fabric of life. But if controlling what people eat, where they live and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn’t interested.

Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and wove a moment at testing, and they’re coming for her—tonight.

Now she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her Dad’s stupid jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.

Because once you become a Spinster, there’s no turning back.

Guys, I’m really intrigued by this “weaving time with matter” concept going on in CREWEL, the debut from Gennifer Albin. In fact, the whole world in this book sounds BANANAS. I’m not sure whether to call this one dystopian, science fiction, or fantasy, but whatever it is, I’m in. PLUS, I love the sound of the last hour. Tons of jeopardy, heartbreak, and FEELINGS it seems like. I’m curious, too, whether the book takes place over just that hour, which would be a little insane, or if the story takes Adelice on the run, like a YA The Fugitive. 

You know what else I like the sound of in CREWEL, although I’m SURE that it’s just a matter of something being left out of the synopsis? There’s no love interest. Now. I’m no hater of love drama. In fact, I’m a pretty big fan. But I also appreciate a good story that features a character trying to figure out her own business without things getting complicated further by boys. Let’s hope that things go one way or another–boy all over the place, or boy nowhere–because there’s NOTHING less satisfying than a sort-of couple, amirite? But whatever. I’m in no matter what!

CREWEL (CREWEL WORLD #1) is coming out October 16, 2012 from Farrar, Straus and Giroux BFYR.

Waiting on Wednesday (20): Through To You by Emily Hainsworth

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. I love it because it is basically a squee-fest where book lovers can choose one book that they are DYING to get their hands on. Check it out!

Through To You

by Emily Hainsworth

Camden Pike has been grief-stricken since his girlfriend, Viv, died. Viv was the last good thing in his life: helping him rebuild his identity after a career-ending football injury, picking up the pieces when his home life shattered, and healing his pain long after the meds wore off. And now, he’d give anything for one more glimpse of her. But when Cam makes a visit to the site of Viv’s deadly car accident, he sees some kind of apparition. And it isn’t Viv.

The apparition’s name is Nina, and she’s not a ghost. She’s a girl from a parallel world, and in this world, Viv is still alive. Cam can’t believe his wildest dreams have come true. All he can focus on is getting his girlfriend back, no matter the cost. But things are different in this other world: Viv and Cam have both made very different choices, things between them have changed in unexpected ways, and Viv isn’t the same girl he remembers. Nina is keeping some dangerous secrets, too, and the window between the worlds is shrinking every day.

As Cam comes to terms with who this Viv has become and the part Nina played in his parallel story, he’s forced to choose—stay with Viv or let her go—before the window closes between them once and for all.

Whew. WHOA, guys. This summary kind of blows my mind. Dead girlfriend IS ACTUALLY ALIVE in a PARALLEL UNIVERSE, except things over there are very different. So many juicy things are alluded to in this summary, I can’t even handle it. My mind is literally scrambling to wrap itself around all of this potential AWESOME. I love the idea of the parallel world being different from the current one. I’m imagining that maybe Cam and Viv aren’t together in the alternate reality, and that maybe Cam and Nina had something going on. But seriously, I know NOTHING. (Woop! Unintentional Jon Snow reference for all you Thronies!) But I can’t wait to read this book and FIND OUT. Just this synopsis had my pulse going a little bit. THROUGH TO YOU sounds majorly gripping and dramatic. I have this feeling that I’m going to read it and it’s going to leave me breathless from all of the things. Huzzah!

THROUGH TO YOU is coming out October 9, 2012 from Balzer + Bray.

Book Review: Tempest by Julie Cross

Title: Tempest

Author: Julie Cross

Series: Tempest, book 1

Genre: Science Fiction YA, Time Travel

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

Published on: January 17, 2012

Challenge: Debut Author Challenge

Source: ARC from the Publisher

Summary: The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.
That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.
Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.
But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler.  Recruit… or kill him.
Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.