Andye Reads

I recently read *ILLUMINAE by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. You may have already heard of this book, as everyone seems to be RAVING about it. But I thought I should just give you my thoughts, and a little caution before you decide to drop the big bucks on this one. THE 5 BIG PROBLEMS WITH ILLUMINAE  by Andye 1. The cover. Ok, yeah. The cover is freaking amazing. The problem, though, is that when you take off the dust-jacket, the naked book is JUST AS AMAZING . Or maybe more amazing, I don't even know. So, what am I supposed to do? Display it with the jacket on? Or off? How am I supposed to pick? Switch it back and forth every other day? And where do I put the jacket on the off days? It's going to get crinkled! So now I have to buy TWO copies, just so I don't have to stress out about this. Rude, Random House. Rude. 2. People are bothering me about it.  This goes along with problem #1. I took Illuminae with me to my son's baseball game so I could ...

Dark, twisted, unique, intense, amazing: these are the words that readers are using to describe SCYTHE by Neal Shusterman. Honestly, everything Shusterman writes is just so original and fascinating, he's an auto-buy author for us. Kit read SCYTHE and loved it, and immediately gave it to me. So excited for book two! If you're looking for something to give the reader in your family, look no further ! Read it now before THUNDERHEAD comes out in January. Here's what the booktube community has to say about SCYTHE. Age Range: 12 and up Grade Level: 7 - 9 Series: Arc of a Scythe (Book 1) Hardcover: 448 pages Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (November 22, 2016) Goodreads | Amazon Two teens must learn the “art of killing” in this Printz Honor–winning book, the first in a chilling new series from Neal Shusterman, author of the New York Times bestselling Unwind dystology. A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: humanity ha...

by Andye ZERO DAY by Jan Gangsei Hardcover: 368 pages Publisher: Disney-Hyperion (January 12, 2016) Language: English Goodreads | Amazon Eight years ago, Addie Webster was the victim of the most notorious kidnapping of the decade. Addie vanished-and her high-profile parents were forced to move on. Mark Webster is now president of the United States, fighting to keep the oval office after a tumultuous first term. Then the unthinkable happens: the president's daughter resurfaces. Addie is brought back into her family's fold, but who is this sixteen-year-old girl with a quiet, burning intelligence now living in the White House? There are those in the president's political circle who find her timely return suspicious. When a national security advisor approaches Darrow Fergusson, Addie's childhood best friend and the son of the president's chief of staff, he doesn't know what to think. How could the girl he's missed for all these years be a threat to na...

By Becca... THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE By Heidi Heilig Series: The Girl From Everywhere #1 Publisher: Greenwillow Books (February 16, 2016) Hardcover: 464 pages Ages: 13 up Grades: 8 up Goodreads | Amazon It was the kind of August day that hinted at monsoons, and the year was 1774, though not for very much longer. Sixteen-year-old Nix Song is a time-traveller. She, her father and their crew of time refugees travel the world aboard The Temptation, a glorious pirate ship stuffed with treasures both typical and mythical. Old maps allow Nix and her father to navigate not just to distant lands, but distant times - although a map will only take you somewhere once. And Nix's father is only interested in one time, and one place: Honolulu 1868. A time before Nix was born, and her mother was alive. Something that puts Nix's existence rather dangerously in question... Nix has grown used to her father's obsession, but only because she's convinced it can...

Review by Elisa   RIDERS by Veronica Rossi Publisher: Tor Teen (February 16, 2016) Publication Date: February 16, 2016 Sold by: Macmillan  Goodreads   | Amazon For eighteen-year-old Gideon Blake, nothing but death can keep him from achieving his goal of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger. As it turns out, it does. Recovering from the accident that most definitely killed him, Gideon finds himself with strange new powers and a bizarre cuff he can't remove. His death has brought to life his real destiny. He has become War, one of the legendary four horsemen of the apocalypse. Over the coming weeks, he and the other horsemen--Conquest, Famine, and Death--are brought together by a beautiful but frustratingly secretive girl to help save humanity from an ancient evil on the emergence. They fail. Now--bound, bloodied, and drugged--Gideon is interrogated by the authorities about his role in a battle that has become an international incident. If he stands any ch...

Review by Andye LADY MIDNIGHT The Dark Artifices book #1 by Cassandra Clare Hardcover: 720 pages Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books; 1 edition (March 8, 2016) Language: English Goodreads | Amazon The Shadowhunters of Los Angeles star in the first novel in Cassandra Clare’s newest series, The Dark Artifices , a sequel to the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series. Lady Midnight is a Shadowhunters novel. It’s been five years since the events of City of Heavenly Fire that brought the Shadowhunters to the brink of oblivion. Emma Carstairs is no longer a child in mourning, but a young woman bent on discovering what killed her parents and avenging her losses. Together with her parabatai Julian Blackthorn, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches across Los Angeles, from the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica. If only her heart didn’t lead her in treacherous directio...

From Becs... SALT TO THE SEA by Ruta Sepetys Hardcover: 400 pages Publisher: Penguin Teen (February 2, 2016) Language: English Goodreads | Amazon The author of  Between Shades of Gray  returns to WWII in this epic novel that shines a light on one of the war's most devastating—yet unknown—tragedies. In 1945, World War II is drawing to a close in East Prussia, and thousands of refugees are on a desperate trek toward freedom, almost all of them with something to hide. Among them are Joana, Emilia, and Florian, whose paths converge en route to the ship that promises salvation, the  Wilhelm Gustloff . Forced by circumstance to unite, the three find their strength, courage, and trust in each other tested with each step closer toward safety. Just when it seems freedom is within their grasp, tragedy strikes. Not country, nor culture, nor status matter as all ten thousand people aboard must fight for the same thing: survival. Dear Salt to ...

Review by Sara... HELLRAISERS (The Devil's Engine) by Alexander Gordon Smith Hardcover: 352 pages Publisher: Macmillan (December 1, 2015) Language: English Goodreads | Amazon The Devil’s Engine is a machine from the darkest parts of history. It can make any wish come true—as long as you are willing to put your life on the line. When a sixteen-year-old asthmatic kid named Marlow Green finds himself trapped in a surreal firefight against nightmarish creatures in the middle of his New York City neighborhood, he discovers a squad of secret soldiers dedicated to battling the legions of the Devil himself. Faced with monstrous apparitions, ancient weaponry, and his own hellishly tedious high school existence, Marlow submits to a demonic deal with the infernal device that enables him to join the battle—if it doesn’t kill him first. Hellraisers is the first in a new series by Alexander Gordon Smith. This author has a talent for throwing his main characters into th...

DNF Review by Emily ZEROES by Scott Westerfeld Series: Zeroes (Book 1) Hardcover: 560 pages Publisher: Simon Pulse; 1st edition (September 29, 2015) Goodreads | Amazon Don’t call them heroes. But these six Californian teens have powers that set them apart. Take Ethan, a.k.a. Scam. He’s got a voice inside him that’ll say whatever you want to hear, whether it’s true or not. Which is handy, except when it isn’t—like when the voice starts gabbing in the middle of a bank robbery. The only people who can help are the other Zeroes, who aren’t exactly best friends these days. Enter Nate, a.k.a. Bellwether, the group’s “glorious leader.” After Scam’s SOS, he pulls the scattered Zeroes back together. But when the recue blows up in their faces, the Zeroes find themselves propelled into whirlwind encounters with ever more dangerous criminals. At the heart of the chaos they find Kelsie, who can take a crowd in the palm of her hand and tame it or let it loose as she pleases.  My ...

Review by Krista (The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch #1) by Daniel Kraus Hardcover, 656 pages Published October 27th 2015 Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers  Goodreads | Amazon May 7, 1896. Dusk. A swaggering seventeen-year-old gangster named Zebulon Finch is gunned down on the shores of Lake Michigan. But after mere minutes in the void, he is mysteriously resurrected. His second life will be nothing like his first. Zebulon's new existence begins as a sideshow attraction in a traveling medicine show. From there, he will be poked and prodded by a scientist obsessed with mastering the secrets of death. He will fight in the trenches of World War I. He will run from his nightmares—and from poverty—in Depression-era New York City. And he will become the companion of the most beautiful woman in Hollywood. Love, hate, hope, and horror—Zebulon finds them. But will he ever find redemption? Ambitious and heartbreaking, The Death & Life of Zebulon Finch, Volume ...

Review by Leydy NOT AFTER EVERYTHING by Michelle Levy Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: Dial Books (August 4, 2015) Language: English Amazon | Goodreads Tyler has a football scholarship to Stanford, a hot girlfriend, and a reliable army of friends to party with. Then his mom kills herself. And Tyler lets it all go. Now he needs to dodge what his dad is offering (verbal tirades and abuse) and earn what his dad isn’t (money): He needs a job. It’s there that he reunites with Jordyn, his childhood best friend, and now the token goth girl at school. Jordyn brings Tyler an unexpected peace and, finally, love. But with his family in shambles, he can’t risk bringing Jordyn too deeply into his life. So when violence rocks Tyler’s world again, will it be Jordyn who shows him the way to a hopeful future? Or after everything, will Tyler have to find it in himself? Not After Everything is a story not to be taken lightly. This story deals with suicide, abuse and violet. Yet, this story i...

Review by Rachel & Andye THE DEAD HOUSE by Dawn Kurtagich Hardcover: 432 pages Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (September 15, 2015) Language: English Program Type: Audiobook Version: Unabridged Publisher: Hachette Audio Hardcover | Audiobook | Goodreads Welcome to the Dead House. Three students: dead. Carly Johnson: vanished without a trace. Two decades have passed since an inferno swept through Elmbridge High, claiming the lives of three teenagers and causing one student, Carly Johnson, to disappear. The main suspect: Kaitlyn, "the girl of nowhere." Kaitlyn's diary, discovered in the ruins of Elmbridge High, reveals the thoughts of a disturbed mind. Its charred pages tell a sinister version of events that took place that tragic night, and the girl of nowhere is caught in the center of it all. But many claim Kaitlyn doesn't exist, and in a way, she doesn't - because she is the alter ego of Carly Johnson. Carly gets th...

Review by Krista  The Nest by Kenneth Oppel Expected publication: October 6th 2015 by Simon & Schuster Goodreads | Amazon Steve just wants to save his baby brother—but what will he lose in the bargain? This is a haunting gothic tale for fans of Coraline, from acclaimed author Kenneth Oppel (Silverwing, The Boundless) with illustrations from Caldecott Medalist Jon Klassen. For some kids summer is a sun-soaked season of fun. But for Steve, it’s just another season of worries. Worries about his sick newborn baby brother who is fighting to survive, worries about his parents who are struggling to cope, even worries about the wasp’s nest looming ominously from the eaves. So when a mysterious wasp queen invades his dreams, offering to “fix” the baby, Steve thinks his prayers have been answered. All he has to do is say “Yes.” But “yes” is a powerful word. It is also a dangerous one. And once it is uttered, can it be taken back? Celebrated author Kenneth Oppel creates a...

Review by Paola THE MARVELS by Brian Selznick Hardcover: 640 pages Publisher: Scholastic Press (September 15, 2015) Goodreads | Amazon Two seemingly unrelated stories--one in words, the other in pictures--come together. The illustrated story begins in 1766 with Billy Marvel, the lone survivor of a shipwreck, and charts the adventures of his family of actors over five generations. The prose story opens in 1990 and follows Joseph, who has run away from school to an estranged uncle's puzzling house in London, where he, along with the reader, must piece together many mysteries. Sometimes you look at a book and think "I'm going to love this book." I had a good feeling about The Marvels and I'm happy to report that I was right. This book is gorgeous inside and out. It just oozes magic and wonder from the very first page.    source I think the best way to read this book is to go into it without knowing anything about it. I read the blurb after ...

Review by Jackie The Lost Girl  by R. L. Stine Series: Fear Street Hardcover: 272 pages Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (September 29, 2015) Language: English Goodreads | Amazon Generations of children and teens have grown up on R.L. Stine's bestselling and hugely popular horror series, Fear Street and Goosebumps. Now, the Fear Street series is back with a chilling new installment, packed with pure nightmare fodder that will scare Stine's avid fan base of teen readers and adults. New student Lizzy Palmer is the talk of Shadyside High. Michael and his girlfriend Pepper befriend her, but the closer they get to her, the stranger she seems… and the more attractive she is to Michael. He invites her to join him on a snowmobile race that ends in a tragic accident. Soon, Michael's friends start being murdered, and Pepper becomes convinced that Lizzy is behind the killings. But to her total shock, she and Michael are drawn into a tragic story of ...