Book Review: Buzz Books 2016: Young Adult Fall/Winter

Buzz Books 2016: Young Adult Fall/Winter – Publisher’s Lunch – Published 2 May 2016

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My thoughts

As always, Buzz Books Young Adult provides an exciting insight into the next season’s premier upcoming titles, with a great mix of new and returning authors. Here are the samples that caught my particular interest…. 

Kids of Appetite – David Arnold
What an intriguing story. “Victor Benucci and Madeline Falco have a story to tell.
It begins with the death of Vic’s father.
It ends with the murder of Mad’s uncle.
The Hackensack Police Department would very much like to hear it.”
I wouldn’t mind hearing it either. The excerpt starts with Vic in a police interrogation room. From what I can work out he is stalling while his friends play out the rest of their plan. It sounds adventurous, slightly crazy and yet dark and edgy.

Three Dark Crowns – Kendare Blake

Every generation three queens are born. They are raised separately, depending on their power’s affinity, by the elementals, poisoners or naturalists. In the year of their sixteenth birthday, they must engage in a battle for the crown – a battle that will see two sisters dead and the third crowned as the ruler of the kingdom.

This sounds to be a deadly and exciting book. And with any good book about royalty and battles there is sure be an abundance of politics, romance, murder, secret plots and self discovery. There is also more than meets the eye to these three sisters. We start with Katharine. She has been raised by the poisoners and has suffered under the weakness of her gift. Her immunity to poison is weak, leaving her and her chance to win the throne weakened. The perspective then switches to Arsinoe, who too only has the weakest of naturalist powers. They both strive to keep their powers, or lack of them, a secret from their sister Mirabella, but the battle is looming.

The Forgetting – Sharon Cameron 

Okay, forget the excerpt, let’s all just take a moment to enjoy that cover…

At first a little confusing, The Forgetting weaves an intriguing tale and asks the question what would you choose or do if you knew you and everyone else would forget it? Nadia is the only person who does not forget. Every twelve years the people of Canann go through the Forgetting. In her seventeen years the last time Nadia witnessed the Forgetting her whole world changed. Now, she explores beyond the wall that encompasses her city, until she is discovered by Gray, the glassblower’s son. And while the excerpt ends there, I feel that this will be a very interesting and beautiful book.

The Female of the Species – Mindi McGinnis

“This is how I kill someone.” With that as the first line, you know this book has no choice to be edgy and direct in its honesty.

The chapters alternate between three teens, Alex, Peekay and Jack. You can tell that this will be a book that doesn’t hold back and will appeal to the mature end of the ya market with great crossover potential. I enjoyed the excerpt and can’t wait to read the entirety of this book.

Love and First Sight – Josh Sundquist

I enjoyed this excerpt and Love and First Sight is set to fill the gap I’ve had since Eric Lindstrom’s Not If I See You First. Will Porter is going to high school. He expects to handle the transition to his new school just fine. It’s the rest of the school community who may not know how to best handle his blindness. On his first day he gropes a girl on the stars, makes another girl cry for ‘staring’ and makes friends by sitting on someone during lunch. Will narrates with an honest and humorous voice that is instantly likeable and authentic. I can’t wait to read the rest of the book.

The publishers provided a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

More information

Category: Young adult fiction.

Genre: Various

Published: 2 May  2016 by Publisher’s Lunch

Format: ebook. 320 pages.

ISBN: 9780997396027

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