Teaser Tuesday: Schnauze, es ist Weihnachten by Karen Christine Angermayer

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Schnauze, es ist Weihnachten by Karen Christine Angermayer.

Schnauze, es ist Weihnachten –
cbj Verlag

Soja has designed an Advent calendar for Bruno – all by herself! There is no chocolate inside but something sooooo much better!
Well, Bruno didn’t like day one all too much. But today is day two, he’ll like that one.
Maybe.
— Chapter 2

What do you do when you have absolutely no idea what to gift to the other? Especially if it’s supposed to be perfect?
— Chapter 19

International book time – haven’t done that in a while. However, I thought I’d share one of my favourite holiday books of the past years with you even if it’s not available in English (quote translations by me). The title in German has the wonderful ambiguity that “Schnauze” refers to an animal’s snout but is also used as an exclamation to shut up. So you can read it as “Shut up, it’s Christmas”.
The book is divided in 24 chapters so you can read them as an Advent calendar until Christmas Eve (which in the evening has the main event in terms of presents in Germany). And the first time around, you get to open up the pages because they are bound in a special way that seals the individual chapters. The story is simple yet complex and very, very heart-warming: Bruno, the dog, is very happy and content with his lot. Until Soja arrives at his house to spend the time until Christmas as her family is going on a trip. Soja is different from Bruno in every other way imaginable. You see the problem is … Soja is a C.A.T.! In the same house as Bruno! And not only that, she is also into such ridiculous things as sports, healthy eating, and she talks all the time. Conflict is sure to follow.
How Bruno and Soja survive the 24 days in December, how they argue and fight, find differences and similarities, and finally even develop an understanding and friendship that will support them for another couple of books is such a wonderful tale that I return to this book every Christmas season. Even if I no longer have the pleasure of getting to cut open the pages. But the humour and love and the beautiful illustrations that fit so well to the characters and their friendship adventure delight me each time anew.

I wish you all a very happy Christmas, a wonderful time with loved ones, and lots of fulfilled wishes, if you celebrate. In any case, have a great time and let me know which books you wish for or discovered in the comments.

Teaser Tuesday: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.

The Hate U Give –
Balzer + Bray

When I was twelve, my parents had two talks with me.
One was the usual birds and bees. […]
The other talk was about what to do if a cop stopped me.
Momma fussed and told Daddy I was too young for that. He argued that I wasn’t too young to get arrested or shot.
— Chapter 2

Once upon a time there was a hazel-eyed boy with dimples. I called him Khalil. The world called him a thug.
He lived, but not nearly long enough, and for the rest of my life I'll remember how he died.
— Chapter 26

If there was one book this summer that everyone was talking about, chances are that it was this one. Movement books and especially books like this one with such an important topic and message are at the same time so very important and also often cursed to fall short on their promises. Yet every once in a while such a book emerges and not only meets all those important parameters but basically shatters them and leaves them in the dust. And while I’m not the first (and not the last I suppose) to say so, this book more than delivers. The buzz was so great that I was a bit hesitant at first but that was completely unwarranted.
The scary thing is that the story itself is a short tale while everything around this seemingly basic plot is what makes this book so exceptional: On the way home from a party a girl and her friend are stopped by the police. The girl’s friend is shot and dies. The surrounding circumstances: The girl and her friend are black, the officer is white. The shot boy didn’t have a weapon nor did he do anything wrong. And the girl, Starr, is the only witness. It seems easy to say that she should speak up for justice but how can you trust a justice system where similar incidents had no consequences? Do you endanger the precarious balance in your community? And also your own exposed position, especially when you are one of only two black students at an all-white school? The punch line in all of this is that this is not a fictional world or a historical setting … it is so solidly contemporary it hurts. And the characters while fictional seem so real you want to meet them.
I liked how there are actually quite a few topics in this book apart from the big one. Maybe it is a bit tightly packed but this also begs the question of when did life and reality ever agree to give someone a break just because things got messy in one part? I want to argue that this adds to the feeling of reality that pervades the whole book.
Of course, with such an amazing source there is a movie coming. And again I am quietly hopeful that it will do the book justice. Not just because the author seems genuinely happy but also because of the overall importance that this is done just right. Otherwise, the riots towards the end of this story might be considered slight disturbances in comparison to possible reader riots.

What are your thoughts on buzz books? Has such a book kept its promises to you or were you disappointed? Share your experiences and teasers in the comments!

Teaser Tuesday: The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi.

The Gauntlet – Salaam Reads

It wasn’t a fair game anyway, when playing against someone much younger, and Farah was almost a teenager. She knew losing to Ahmad would build up his confidence and help her avoid his inevitable whining and wailing if he couldn’t claim victory.
— Prologue


“Um, guys? Do you feel something … weird?”
“We’re bunkering down in a sewer to avoid a sandstorm.” Farah sighed. “You’ll have to be more specific.”
— Chapter 14

Readers tend to also be board game players, at least to some extent. I’m not necessarily the best example but invite me to an evening of Settlers or Ticket to Ride and I’ll probably turn up. I would, however, never want to actually live inside any of the games we play. And if you know Jumanji and / or Zathura, you can probably guess what is about to unfold here: A group of friends and family gets involved in a magic game, has to solve dangerous riddles and quests, grow personally and as a group, and save themselves from becoming trapped inside the game universe by the malicious spirit of the game (rather than the elements of the game becoming real in their homes like in the aforementioned titles).
So far so good, you might think, what else is new, we’ve seen this before. And you probably have. But I dare you to find all these elements in an adventure book of this calibre and in this constellation. I don’t want to comment on the fact that this is from a publishing imprint that specialises on books with a Muslim background apart from the fact that I’ve just mentioned it. The protagonists in the book are children like any other with the same learning curves and challenges. This is just another aspect of their character.
The siblings in this book are quite special to me because their development towards understanding and respecting each other is so very organic and beautifully executed. In a similar fashion, the friendship between the characters develops in interesting ways and I liked how this is shown over the course of the novel. It is to be expected if you’re familiar with this type of narration but even then the plot managed to surprise me and I often found myself racing along the text to see if the task could be completed in time.
Safe to say just as I would be one of the first to exit the stage in the Hunger Games I also wouldn’t be able to escape the Gauntlet. Luckily, readers have books to take us to the places that are too scary and dangerous to visit in real life and make us see and experience things that would probably scare and break any real person.

If you had the choice, would you rather be sucked into a board game world or have elements from such a board game appear in your home? And which game would you choose? Share your thoughts and teasers in the comments!

Teaser Tuesday: 36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You by Vicki Grant

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You by Vicki Grant.

36 Questions
That Changed My Mind
About You – Hot Key Books

“You took Prince Charming by mistake.” Jeff raised his eyebrows. “Wonder what Dr. Freud would’ve said about that.”
— Chapter 1


“That’s the problem with parents. They keep turning out to be human.”
— Chapter 2

Gather round, it’s story time … A short one, I promise: In 2015 I read an article in some magazine about an old study that had something to do with questions and people getting to know each other so well that they might fall in love over this. I thought something along the lines of that’s interesting and would somehow be a good foundation for a book. And then I promptly forgot about it. End of story.
But no! (Because otherwise, I couldn’t possibly remember when I read that article.) Earlier this year I came across the announcement of this sweet little book and due to the title recalled the article (I’m linking to it here, in case you’re interested). Science, Love, and YA Literature, really the perfect mix to tackle this story foundation. There are quite a few things that could go wrong in this scenario no matter how great the idea because even with the best material and possibly the best intentions and craft in mind and at hand humans have a great capacity to make a mess of things. Not naming names and luckily this book also doesn’t fall into that category.
This could have been a sweet and fluffy read that would have been perfectly entertaining but not necessarily memorable. Could have been, but the author chose to add another twist and throw together not one but two onion-layer-characters, even though you wouldn’t quite expect one of them to be like that from the beginning. I quite liked that twist of almost being trope-y and then opening the whole thing up. (Could you be any vaguer? – Why yes, but I’m trying to interest you in a book here.) I really didn’t want this to end apart from wanting to get to the end of the list of questions and thus getting to know both protagonists even better. So I suppose the 36 questions definitely worked for me in that I fell in love with the characters a little. Does it work on the protagonists? Will they be brutally honest? Will there be tears? Running away? Coming back? Different means of communication? And radio silence? Secrets? And discoveries? Or flying fish? Well, maybe.
Scientific verdict: Great idea taken a step further and well-executed. I’d be very interested in a follow-up study, aka a next book, even if it’s just a check in with those characters. Maybe a sort of spin-off, cameo, companion thing?

Published study results or no, I’d like to know if this really works. But what if it does. What if it doesn’t? Both could be really awkward. I might be curious enough but most likely not brave enough. What do you think? Share your thoughts and teasers in the comments!

Teaser Tuesday: The Silver Mask by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The Silver Mask by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare.

The Silver Mask –
Scholastic Press

“I can’t believe your original escape plan requires another escape plan,” Jasper said. “You suck at escaping.”
Tamara fixed him with a glare. “I guess the more we escape, the better we’ get at it.”
— Chapter 5


“I didn’t see sense,” Call said. “He just threatened to kill me otherwise.”
— Chapter 13

Want to know one of my favourite English words? Penultimate. Not because I like the idea of things ending or being about to end. Just the look and sound of the word. And to be honest, it’s also kind of neat to use. Maybe not for the second book in a trilogy, that looks a little over the top, but for everything longer than that. So without further ado: the penultimate book in the Magisterium series.
There isn’t much that can be said about this book without severely spoiling the previous one. Let’s just say that the main character Call starts the book in a not very enviable place, gets rescued, and then goes to an even less enviable place … but with vastly improved company. Solitary fire to companionable frying pan so to say.
If you’ve read the previous book you’ll remember the heavy trauma and subsequent turmoil at the end. Rest assured, it gets worse before it gets a little better before things get really messed up. I can, without any spoiling, also quote the last sentence (not counting the epilogue), which perfectly describes the setup for the final book: Now what the heck are we going to do? Very good question, and I’m so looking forward to finding out. In the process of getting to that point, the story manages to be gripping and entertaining … and, of course, a little heart-breaking. What else was to be expected when you look at the names on the cover?

Imagine you could go to magic school, but would never be allowed to actually do any magic, would you still want to go? Share your thoughts and teasers in the comments.

Teaser Tuesday: Timeless: Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic by Armand Baltazar

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Timeless: Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic by Armand Baltazar.

Timeless – Katherine Tegen Books

“Everyone will eat what your cook has prepared. That is an order.”
— Chapter 8

“Am I forgiven or what?”
Lucy punched him in the arm. “Perhaps.”
Ouch! Diego winced. She’d hit his sore shoulder. “Yeah, well, you sure don’t punch—”
“Don’t say ‘like a girl’ or I’m leaving.”
— Chapter 17

Also long-ish … I’m getting wordy. Sorry? This book is also so worth talking about though. Maybe sorter next week.
Get ready for some heavy literature. Not because the book I chose for today is hard to read but because it is literally a heavy book. The page count clocks in at 624 pages, which in itself is already quite a number. Add to that the fact that this is a book originally intended for a younger teen audience and you’ll probably call the book people a mad bunch. And yet … this book also has very specific paper requests. If you take a look at the excerpt here, you’ll know why. Yes, this book needs art paper, because there are more than 150 full-colour photorealistic illustrations inside. This could just as easily have been an art book; the author as a former animations movie designer certainly could have stopped at that. Luckily, he didn’t but decided to fulfil his son’s wish for a story that includes pirates, robots, dinosaurs, Roman legionnaires, and steampunk. Wait, what? That sounds totally over the top and unrealistic? Well, at first it might seem that way but once you’ve read this book you’ll wonder whatever made you think like that.
The solution is not time travel but almost the very opposite: A total collapse of the space-time continuum. Suddenly, Victorian England exists right alongside the pre-historic age as well as the Golden Twenties or the far future. Of course, this couldn’t have worked well from the very start but about fifteen years after this time collision the different cultures have grudgingly accepted that they have to co-exist in this new age. Or most of them have because there are also those who would do anything, really anything, to revert this. Even if that means sacrificing the lives of a generation that in their eyes was never meant to be.
Enter our newly 13-year-old hero and the unlikely group of kids, who have to face some challenges and overcome their own differences, before they can call themselves friends and, most importantly, face the threat not only to their lives but to the future of the only world they’ve ever known.
What I liked about this book, apart from the A-mazing illustrations (seriously, they look like stills from a movie shot in UHD), is that the story also stands on its own. It would have been easy to rely on the novelty of this enormous illustrated book and have a mediocre story to accompany it. But the characters are well-defined, they have flaws (some almost shake-worthy-ly so), and learning curves. The story while itself not new per se (save dad, save the world) is told in an appealing and paced way that also makes you look at parallels in the real world. This story is based on a heap of history after all. There are comments on society and our present if you care to look for them, but not in a raised voice or preachy tone.You can just as easily read this as a straightforward adventure and be swept away by the storytelling, which sometimes is also carried out by the illustrations alone with no accompanying text whatsoever in a very graphic novel style.
A book like a movie and this really begs to make it to the big screen (and my computer screen, I really want to be able to fly a gravity board and race against Lucy or escape from a hoard of allosaurs. On second thought, I’ll also be content with a real gravity board and no dinosaurs, thank you.). In the meantime, I’ll be waiting for book two. Because while the plot stands on its own, the story is far from over.

Have you been introduced to a surprising accumulation of plot points recently? Or maybe a new to you way of storytelling? Share your thoughts and teasers in the comments.

Teaser Tuesday: Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green.

Turtles All the Way Down –
Dutton Books

Who knows what lies I believe, or you do. Who knows what we shouldn’t doubt.
— Chapter 17

You get to pick the frame, you know? Maybe you don’t decide what’s in the picture, but you decide on the frame.
— Chapter 23

This is going to be long-ish. I’m (not) sorry, but I find that I have a lot to say about this precious book. Short version: I really liked it and it has made me think and feel and consider quite a bit. It’s not TFiOS, it doesn’t try to be, and it most definitely doesn’t have to be as it is special and important in its own right.
Longer version: With some authors, you just know that when you pick up their books the likelihood of experiencing severe emotional or other trauma is relatively minimal. You’ll be entertained, have a pleasant read, maybe laugh a little and overall enjoy the book. And then there are authors like John Green, where you can be almost certain that you won’t be the same person you were at the end of the book.
Following up on something like The Fault in Our Stars is … I can’t even imagine the sort of pressure that must have been. This book already had so much weight to carry before it ever got anywhere and it does that beautifully in my opinion. Is it as good as TFiOS? I don’t know. I’d say it’s different. The two books won’t occupy the same place in my reader’s heart and that is okay because they really shouldn’t have to be compared. Someone said that while TFiOS is the book you push onto everyone to read it (like that quote from the book itself) TAtWD is more the book you want to cherish and secrete away. I can agree with that if we add that one still silently wants everyone to read it.
This book is extremely captivating, sometimes almost painfully so. John Green has a way with language that at the same time has you aware that the effect is designed just so and also wondering why you suddenly find yourself almost breathless from the emotional turmoil you’ve just been through. Of course, I cried. At one point I was racing against myself to read the ever more panicked thoughts and I physically had to get the book away from me for fear that my own thoughts on the matter might go somersaulting off the tracks. And I think that was the moment I finally understood the very real imagined danger the main character finds herself in.
Aza’s searching for that essential part of who she is while at the same time fearing about already being invaded by a force she’s helpless against. Or maybe it’s already too late. While the book doesn’t actually play upon some of the fears I have, it manages to strike a very close nerve and inspire almost the same terror. Most people will relate to the “Don’t think about a pink elephant right now” phenomenon, but being so entangled and mentally bound in your own thoughts that you are certain you cannot escape is a horror that is hard to describe. The language nerd in me especially liked the observations this book seemingly casually makes on the shortcomings and failures of language. We almost treat things as non-existent just because we don’t have an adequate way to name them and therefore share them with each other. Physical pain is to some extent relatable and thus we use this imagery to liken it to other experiences. If I say I feel a pressure on my chest like a hippo is sitting on it, you can probably relate although I’d wager neither of us has ever had an actual hippo sit on us. Yet for a feeling as sadly universal as grief words utterly fail us. Or me at least. Because even if everyone experiences physical pain differently it is still sort of the same whereas feelings are so deeply personal that unless you were able to co-inhabit my thoughts you will never know the exact shape of those feelings.
I can only say this is masterfully written. If you absolutely have to compare it to TFiOS then I would maybe try to frame it like this: Both books have a main character on a journey to themselves and both are to some degree betrayed by their very selves. One on the physical level as her body is actively trying to destroy itself and the other on the psychological level seeing that her mind is permanently working against her. Both main characters are to varying degrees successful in fighting against their challenges and live and thrive despite and in some twisted way also because of them. Both are stories of illnesses healthy people only ever wish to hear about in the past tense as something you overcome, but some stories just don’t work out that way. I bow to John Green for having written yet another of these difficult stories in a meaningful and impactful way.
Sort of p.s.: Here is the one aspect where I think German has a slight advantage over English: English has as far as I’m aware no farewell that also clearly conveys the connotation of an also meeting again. German has “(auf) Wiedersehen” which convolutedly literally translates to “(until) reunion/reencounter/see again”. There is “see you (soon)” and all that jazz, but that doesn’t quite ring true. I very much hope that there will be a “Wiedersehen” with John Green because I really like the things he has to say.

Which book has last irreversibly affected you? Share your thoughts and teasers in the comments!

Teaser Tuesday: An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson.

An Enchantment of Ravens –
Margaret K. McElderry Books

We aren’t ageless creatures who watch centuries pass from afar. Our worlds are small, our lives are short, and we can only bleed a little before we fall.
— Chapter 4

“In this matter, you might prefer ignorance.”
“Believe me, I never do.”
— Chapter 7

Anyone can do vampires and werewolves on Halloween, let’s take a different approach and ready something with faeries … was not why I picked up this book. As a matter of fact, Halloween sneaked up on me a little and I don’t think that it will be observed more than by enjoying the extra reading time on this public holiday today to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the reformation. But I digress.
I had no expectations for this book, which is a rather uncommon thing for me as I almost always already have an initial inkling of what to expect before I start reading. For this book, however, I basically fell in love with the title and didn’t look any further. That can be a really bad decision, but here the title lived up to the task of providing an engaging and mysterious story as well. It’s not the sweeping and opulent fantasy world, but a contained, almost quaint bubble of a fantasy realm. There is the world beyond, but it doesn’t really matter to the story and is only mentioned in passing. There is a history, but it’s accepted and not really dwelt upon. And there are social rules and behaviours to be followed, but you can more or less easily figure them out as you read along.
What I really liked about this is the snowball-like plot development, which starts rather unassumingly and quietly gathers more and more substance and momentum until it rushes past mightily and destructively and then almost explodes to be immediately over. It made a lot of sense that way, even if the epic fantasy reader in me would have loved to have a longer denouement … which probably wouldn’t have sat well with me as not fitting to the overall story arc had it been there, so don’t actually listen to me. The plot development is very fitting just as it is. Just the little voice of always wanting more of a good thing talking here.
I also liked that there is a romance at the very core of this, yet I would not say this is a romantic book. The romance is, after all, forbidden and, apart from a few short scenes, not front and centre. Unless you count all the lovely quiet moments, which I certainly do, and then it definitely is a very sweet and romantic book amidst all the turmoil and adventure.
A lovely read for anyone who appreciates a quiet yet meaningful romantic plot and a certain dash of adventure with maybe a little too abrupt an ending. Very, very maybe there is potential to add another book to this story? I would love to know what happens next but will be content if it’s just this standalone.

What’s the last book you started without any further expectations, be they positive or maybe negative? And how did the book turn out to be? Share your experiences and teasers in the comments!

What was the last book with a plot twist that had you disbelievingly staring at the page? Share your experiences and teasers in the comments!

Teaser Tuesday: Warcross by Marie Lu

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Warcross by Marie Lu.

Warcross – G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Death has a terrible habit of cutting straight through every careful line you’ve drawn between your present and your future.
— Chapter 2

“I thought that was just some science fiction myth.”
“Everything’s science fiction until someone makes it science fact.”
— Chapter 8

First things first: I desperately need someone to devise a hack to get me the second book as quickly as possible. To make this even more clear: To say this book had me glued to the pages from beginning to end would be a vast understatement.
Mari Lu has always been a champion in creating diverse, multi-layered, fascinating characters and this is no exception. Add to that this overwhelming extra layer of a virtual world with all its nooks and crannies and this book will suck you right in. I was, I admit, already composing part of my reaction in the middle with a sentence that would convey that I had guessed the adversary quite quickly, which is a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it proves that the plot makes so much sense that this revelation has to be a logical consequence. And on the other hand, this sort of predictability takes away some of the fun for experienced readers (meaning that one already knows how to follow the clues in the story due to reading so much). BUT: I was also WRONG! Yes, I guessed part of the revelation, but the other, much bigger, part literally had me gaping at the book. I must have looked like a strangled fish on land. And if that wasn’t enough there was even more. Let’s just say that my heart is a mangled, stomped upon mess somewhere in the general vicinity of my chest cavity. Just wow, what a brilliant twist and how beautifully executed.
If gaming and computers aren't exactly your cup of tea, don’t worry, this is nothing like a hacking manual … just like Hunger Games isn’t all sports and survival. But if that is your thing, that’s also perfect, because the thrill and the hunt and the game will have even more immediacy for you. I am so psyched to find out how this story continues. And how our heroine will continue on. I know that Mari Lu is capable of writing a great villain story as well and who that villain is might depend entirely on the point of view.

What was the last book with a plot twist that had you disbelievingly staring at the page? Share your experiences and teasers in the comments!

Teaser Tuesday: The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan.

The Ship of the Dead –
Disney-Hyperion

You can’t hold on to hate forever. It won’t do a thing to the person you hate, but it’ll poison you, sure enough.
— Chapter 14

“Ah.” That awkward moment when you jump out a window because your friend jumped out a window, then you remember that your other friend can fly.
— Chapter 32

It is very likely that there isn’t any more I can say about Rick Riordan than I already have without transforming into an over-enthusiastic reader puddle. You’d think that at some point I might get bored by all those myths and save the world from certain doom scenarios. Nope, one of the biggest nopes that ever noped. There is still so much surprise and variety, so many unexplored possibilities. And while some characters share similarities (because they have to, there aren’t too many types of people who would sail off into certain death to claim that tiny chance of possibly winning against all odds), there are still enough differences to make them distinct, lovable, and that particular thing that will make me, now that this third book is over and the trilogy concluded, miss them like really good friends who moved halfway across the world. You still hear from them (thank the gods for cameos, hi Percy and Annabeth), but not as regularly or in person.
The chapter titles alone had me in stitches. I think the man next to me on the train was trying to figure out if I had seizures (I tried to keep the giggling under control, emphasis on tried). I couldn’t keep in that squee though … you know when that thing happened during the almost freezing to death part. Also general cuteness and snark. Publicly bookishly weird and mostly fine with it.
There was this short part at the very end that ties this series to – I suspect – the next Trials of Apollo book next May, which has me a little worried, but what else is new? Worried about beloved characters seems to be my default setting. It might be otherwise if I’d choose other authors to love. Which is not only a ridiculous idea but also utterly impossible.

I really hope that we will get to see Magnus, Alex, and the rest of Floor 19 again in a prominent capacity. Which characters from which series would you like to see (guest-)starring elsewhere? Share ideas and teasers in the comments!

Teaser Tuesday: Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness.

Shadow of Night – Viking Penguin

The family never puts ‘surely’ and ‘Philippe’ in the same sentence. It always ends badly.
— Chapter 12

“But it’s so …”
“Messy? So is life. Stop trying to be perfect. Try being real for a change.”
— Chapter 37

There is an annual real-time reading for the All Souls trilogy, which is a brilliant idea to revisit this wonderful, dense, and overall impressive series. Each time I start, I try to pace myself and only read the so to say assigned chapters for the days and weeks. That works for about six days and then I suddenly … magically? … find myself way ahead of the schedule. Because no matter how well I remember the plot, at some point I simply have to read on. Or in this case listen on, as I opted for the audio version this year, which is also really well done. I have finished by now and realised that I never had a teaser from the second book, so here you go.
In addition, there is now a television series in the works and from the posts by the author herself I have a very good feeling about this. It’s certainly a good idea to have the author involved in this as much as possible seeing that she put so much research into the series to make it this rich and engrossing. Seriously, I can almost certainly promise that you have never read a book so vivid in its descriptions that you actually smell what is described. Maybe aside from Perfume, but that’s really not the point. It will be so interesting to see how this experience is translated to the screen.

Do you have books that you re-read regularly or other examples of times read-alongs? I’d love to know if there are other events organised this way. Share recommendations and teasers in the comments!

Teaser Tuesday: Gilded Cage by Vic James

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Gilded Cage by Vic James.

Gilded Cage – Pan Books

Was that cowardly? Maybe. But it didn’t mean it wasn’t true.
— Chapter 11

Trust was what made everything possible. Trust lent you someone else’s eyes, someone else’s strong arms, or quick brain. Made you bigger than just yourself.
— Chapter 12

I was going to apologise for missing last week, but that would feel dishonest as the only thing I’d be sorry for would be that I didn’t have anything to share ... and that couldn’t be helped. Sometimes, a reading break is just as relaxing and let’s you return to your books with a new appreciation. Or at least I find that true for me.
This first book in a proposed trilogy is every historical reader’s dream, provided they also like a touch of fantasy, a good dose of political intrigue, and quite a bit of social commentary. The characters are all (and there are quite a few) very nuanced and I’m not sure of all of their motives yet. As is often the case, I find myself drawn to one of the more obscure and mysterious characters and have little patience for some of the others, who seem deliberately straightforward, but who I suspect will also turn out to have more up their sleeve than is apparent.
The setting is quite unique in an England reminiscent of the era past the industrial revolution, but within a class division and a master-slave-system still firmly in place. The worldbuilding is quite strong as it isn’t too unsettling to enter this in some cases familiar and in other aspects very alien environment. One of the most interesting aspects to me is that the ruling class is made up of those who would traditionally have been hunted down and executed for their powers, but here they are too strong and too feared. And how they treat those weaker than themselves is hauntingly familiar ... even if quite different in practice. I look forward to finding out how the plot will unfold further and I really hope for a more prominent role for a certain string pulling character.

Do you take reading-breaks? If so, do you plan on taking them or do you decide spontaneously? Share your thoughts and teasers in the comments!

Teaser Tuesday: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab.

A Darker Shade of Magic –
Titan Books

“I said Rhy forgave them.” Kell pushed to his feet. “I never said I did.”
— Part X – II

“I apologize for anything I might have done. I was not myself.”
“I apologize for shooting you in the leg,” said Lila. “I was myself entirely.”
— Part XIV – III

Ever since I can remember, London has been one of my favourite places in the world even before I could explain why ... I still can’t quite pinpoint it. So whenever London is a central place in a story that’s certain to get me to pick up the book at some point. And here there are actually several Londons. The more the better! And also with magic, intrigue, mystery, a really interesting couple of leading characters, and an overall fascinating plot construct.
For various and mostly external reasons it took me a while to dive into this book. It is very accessible through its interesting characters and universe, but apparently I needed some time to acclimatise to these new surroundings. It really helped when one of the characters was also thrown into a new to her world and had to learn about its different and various rules. Maybe Lila was a little too accepting of all of it for my taste, but I could understand where it came from, because it fit well with her overall character. It will be really interesting to see how she adapts to her new reality in the following books. I really hope that this will play a role.

Which book setting is a guaranteed pick up reason for you? And have you been to that place in person or just as a reader? Share destinations and teasers in the comments!

Teaser Tuesday: In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan.

In Other Lands – Big Mouth House

You will never find me in trouble. You will find me in the library. If you can remember where that is.
— Part 2

This immunity toward sarcasm must mean Dale had such a peaceful life. It also meant he and Elliot were basically speaking different languages.
— Part 4

Do I need to say that Sarah Rees Brennan is one of my instant-buy-no-questions-asked and also drop-everything-else-and-read-immediately (if my idiot self hadn’t accidentally ordered the book right to the city I was leaving for two weeks when it arrived) authors? If you didn’t know before, now you do. And this book is SO!WORTH!IT! ... if you are like me and one of your teachers reprimanded you early on that irony and sarcasm are (apparently) part of a language not spoken by everyone and please stop tormenting other pupils with it. Which I did immediately ... right along with becoming a star athlete and after I got rid of my pesky language nerdishness. If you’ve read only one page of this book (the first chapter is available here), you’ll see why Elliot is the sort of main character I fell for instantly
There is so much to love about this ingenious, wonderful book: Elves! Harpies! Mermaids! Oh, and totally likeable but still to be kept away to some extent humans, I suppose. Surprisingly no witches or other magical magic. A big adventure of (not) fighting wars with (swords, bow and arrow) pen, paper, words and wit. And during that also managing growing up, falling in love, finding friends, and making other big discoveries (some of which are really spoiler-y and I’m almost bursting with glee just thinking about them). One of the best things is the clever and humorous not really subtle but still not in your face running commentary on society and gender expectations. I’m so obscenely in love with the narrative style, it’s almost absurd. I had so many snort-giggle-laugh moments even if it really shouldn’t be funny but it is just because of that. Don’t get me wrong there are also really heart-wrenching and anxious sad parts ... wouldn’t be Sarah Rees Brennan without them.
Maybe you’ve read this story when it was free on the internet, but don’t be fooled this version is everything you didn’t think this story also needed and then some. Plus: if you get a physical copy you can hug it while sighing contentedly. It’s so pretty! And I totally plan on getting it signed ... no idea how I’ll manage that, as Germany is sort of off track in terms of English language author tours. But I will ... there, I said it and so I shall. In the meantime, I hope for many more books where this one came from. And I’ll keep pushing this book into the hands of anyone who knows and tolerates me.

Do you have authors that make you pause whatever else you’re reading and get their new releases? Share your loves and teasers in the comments.

Teaser Tuesday: Wesley James Ruined My Life by Jennifer Honeybourn

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Wesley James Ruined My Life by Jennifer Honeybourn.

Wesley James Ruined My Life –
Swoon Reads

“Yes, well, that was the plan.” The smile hasn’t slipped from his face, but he won’t meet my eyes.
— Chapter 13

“You’re blinded by his stupidly handsome face.”
“Ha! I knew you thought he was cute.”
— Chapter 17

Holding a grudge can be an art form. Or a bad habit. Or a really big misunderstanding. And sometimes it’s a safety blanket and a shield. The protagonist Quinn certainly has the art form part of this down and the other options didn’t just spring to mind out of nowhere either. This was a quick and entertaining read which also touched upon some heavier topics like trust and loss and other family issues. I liked how there wasn’t just the one big thing dominating the whole book but rather a number of things adding up around this one central issue. I forget who said it (and am too lazy to look it up right now) but books have it way harder than real life because they have to be realistic and make sense ... and when does life ever revolve around just one really big plot point? But in contrast to real life I somehow expect these issues to be somewhat resolved by the end of the book in a satisfying and not glossed over manner. So books really have to pass a higher bar than real life.
Of course the danger of such a multitude of issues is that in order to fit them into a manageable length something else has to fall by the wayside. In this case I have the feeling that the secondary characters had to carry the brunt of the cut. There are quite a few of them and they all have some really interesting aspects and backgrounds, but they felt a little flat to me. This doesn’t distract from the overall enjoyability of the book, but this is the rare case where I think another 50 or so pages would have done the book a big service in terms of depth and character development. But I also realise that this might not be the ambition and in that case, this really fits the bill of an entertaining, romantic, summery read.

Are you someone who holds grudges? I’ll admit that I have been known to do so on occasion (I’m still not over the fact that someone “lost” me in the middle of Alice’s Labyrinth in Disney Land when I was five ... just saying.) Share your teasers (and grudges if you like) in the comments.

Teaser Tuesday: The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson.

The Heart of Betrayal –
Henry Holt and Company

“As you command, Komizar. I will sleep well tonight if I must slit my own throat to do it.”
He smiled. “I think we’re beginning to understand each other at last.”
— Chapter 36

“The rules of reason build towers that reach past the treetops. The rules of trust build towers that reach past the stars.”
— Chapter 47

How little and how much can you say about the second book in an extremely close-knit trilogy with a staggering number of layers and secrets that on the one hand conveys the art of this kind of story telling while also preserving the secrets and twists? Because it makes a very big difference if you read the first book with too much knowledge. (I know this because I had to skim through Kiss of Deception before starting this one to jog my memory a bit and just knowing who is who in terms of two central characters changed my perspective quite a bit. It’s so much fun just to speculate about their identities.)
This second book opens up the world quite a bit to a whole new part of the continent and also further introduces political intrigues on top of personal ones. Add to that the history of this fictional world and the layers and possible ramifications go through the roof. If you’ve read the novella as well and realise the misunderstandings due to time, distance, and perspective, you gain another layer ... add the personal deceptions and lies and the times you want to throw these characters into a cell and only let them out when they’ve talked it out become immeasurable.
A wonderful second book that not only lives up to the first but also lays a great foundation for a high-heart-rate finale.

Sometimes the narrator of a book is unreliable, but sometimes it’s just the narration itself that adds to the mystery through its information management. Which book has stayed on your mind because of its narrative style recently? Share your thoughts and teasers in the comments!

Teaser Tuesday: When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon.

When Dimple Met Rishi –
Simon Pulse

“So what if your art’s not practical? If you love it, you should do it. What’s the point of anything otherwise?”
— Chapter 10

“I feel like I need to speak out, because if no one speaks out, if no one says, This is me, this is what I believe in, and this is why I’m different, and this is why that’s okay, then what’s the point? What’s the point of living in this beautiful, great melting pot where everyone can dare to be anything they want to be?”
— Chapter 21

There has been so much positive buzz about this book. Or it seems to me like that at least. Let me add to that a little. This is a cute girl meets boy, they connect, have some obstacles, but ultimately fall in love story. You can leave it at that and have a very pleasant read, just like hundreds of other books and movies. So why is this one of the books that gets talked about? Because, a little sad as it is, there is the added cultural background that is still enough of a novelty that it gets to be specifically addressed. At the same time for this books it is so intricately woven into the whole plot that there is at no point a moment to question it or to feel alienated. Because at the surface and all the way down these teenage characters have the same problems of finding themselves and their place in life and society as everyone else. And their path is riddled with hilarious and sometimes baffling detours.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story and wll recommend it to anyone in search of a well-crafted romantic read with a little backbone.

Summer holidays are slowly winding down here although I feel that the weather at least has cheated me out of at least three weeks. At least my summer reads have mostly held up their end of the deal. How do you feel about seasonal reads that deliver on anything but their season relevance? Share thoughts and teasers in the comments.

Teaser Tuesday: The Savage Dawn by Melissa Grey

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The Savage Dawn by Melissa Grey.

The Savage Dawn – Delacorte Press

But the words engraved in the marble columns betrayed the lie. Language knew. Language remembered.
— Chapter 14

Hate is a choice. And it’s not one I’m interested in making.
— Chapter 39

This is the final book in the Girl at Midnight trilogy – and I don’t want it to be over. Yes, it is totally in accordance with the previous books and I understand why it has to be this way, but that doesn’t mean that in my heart of hearts I wasn’t hoping for something else. Everyone always says that they appreciate a bitter sweet ending, myself included, yet if I’m completely honest I mostly like my chocolate to be that way and hope for my books for a sweeter solution. There is room for interpretation and maybe I’m just a little raw at the moment. Which actually says a lot about how much this series and its characters have come to mean to me. They sort of snuck up on me and now I’m sad to let them go when I was so unprepared for this amount of parting pain.
There were way too many quotes to choose from, which was also true for the previous books. Echo is the sort of main character that especially speaks to me with her love for language and literature, which is reflected in the wonderful writing. And then there are the twists and high stakes that will suck you right in and will make you want to hold on for dear life.
If Urban Fantasy is your thing and you haven’t read this series maybe now that it is complete give it a chance. I know that I will have to come back for a re-read in the not too distant future. And maybe, just maybe there is a chance that it isn’t completely over? I mean there are so many possibilities of stories yet to tell. One can hope, right?

Which bitter sweet ending has last left you satisfied and yet laid waste to you? Share them along with your teasers in the comments!

Teaser Tuesday: Just Friends by Tiffany Pitcock

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Just Friends by Tiffany Pitcock.

Just Friends – Swoon Reads

“I’ll dust!” he cried, running to the supply closet. “You win, I’ll dust!”
— Chapter 5

Just like that Jenny Wessler lost it.
She closed her eyes and started chucking dictionaries.
— Chapter 31

“No, it’s not like that, we’re just friends.” Countless hearts have probably been battered and bruised by such an utterance. On the other hand, why is it “just” friends? Sure, you can be in love with multiple people, but acting on all those feelings at once is generally frowned upon whereas you can be friends with however many people you like. It helps if your partner is also a good friend, but they don’t have to be the best friend ... if the partnership and friendship can handle each other.
Which brings us to the premise of this book. It’s not a play on the trope that boys and girls can’t ever be friends without developing feelings for each other. It’s also not about one of them being n love with the other for a long time before the other suddenly realises their feelings as well. And not unrequited love either. Although that aspect is not completely absent in theory. And now that you know what it’s not, I’ll let you figure out what it’s actually about.
A very cute and quick read with a lot of miscommunication-face-palm-potential and a good portion of great humour. As I am a sucker for character development I would have loved to see a little more of that concerning the minor cast. The protagonists have a very steep arc in relation to the length or brevity of the plot, but it mostly fits with the overall pace. It’s not all fluff and butterflies, too. There is actually quite a lot of heavy stuff woven into this, almost in a when it rains it pours way. For this alone, I really would have liked the book to be a little longer to address the issues with more depth. It’s a very nice read, but I think there is a lot more potential that could have been explored ... overall quite an accomplishment for a contemporary debut and certainly an aspiring author to watch.

Are you a friends first and then fall in love or a love at first sight advocate ... speaking about reading habits for the most part here. Share preferences and teasers in the comments!

Teaser Tuesday: Flame in the Mist by Renée Ahdieh

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Flame in the Mist by Renée Ahdieh.

Flame in the Mist –
G. P. Putnam’s Sons

Perhaps too clever, as her father always said. It had never been meant as a compliment, though she had always taken it as one.
— Chapter 7

“I am not a hero. Don’t forget it for a moment. I will not save you again.”
Mariko sat up abruptly, her features defiant. “I don’t want you to be a hero. And I don’t need anyone to save me.”
— Chapter 23

First of all: Apologies for the layout disaster last week. Big fun all around, but I hope things are back to working order now. Give me a shout if you encounter any image irregularities. And now on to the gushing and raving, which is not only more fun but for this book also absolutely necessary.
It’s probably no secret that I easily fall for books with densely crafted cultural backgrounds and while the author already did exceedingly well in her initial YA books with Arab culture, this is a completely different level. I felt transported into the story and the rich and vibrant world of this book. If it had been at all possible, I would have stayed in there a lot longer. But that wasn’t even an option because the plot commands a breakneck reading speed to get behind all the mystery and secrets as soon as possible.
Mariko was a little difficult to empathise with for me at first, but that, in my opinion, is quite intentional as it emphasises how she has been living a life that is so very removed from the average life of her culture. Granted, we’re probably not any closer to that as well, but this alienation and ignorance of her (and at the beginning almost nerve-wracking naiveté) makes her character’s growth even more admirable.
I won’t go into any more detail about the other characters for fear of spoiling any surprises because there are a lot. But should you happen to struggle with Mariko at the beginning, I urge you to take this as a vital part of her development and give her a chance to prove herself. Others in the book have to do the same so maybe you will feel closer to them and understand them better. And if you’re struggling with the end, I invite you to join me at Club Cliffhanger for a nice bottle of anticipation-sake or impatience-tea.

If you had the opportunity to drop into a foreign culture of a book, which book and which culture would you choose? Let me know about your choices and teasers in the comments!

Teaser Tuesday: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken.

The Darkest Minds – Hyperion

She had every right to be terrified of the half-crazed girl chasing after her. I could waste time feeling bad about it later; but, for now, my mind had gotten a whiff of hope, and it wasn’t about to let it escape through a parking lot.
— Chapter 8

When a girl cries, few things are more worthless than a boy. Having two of them just meant that they stared at each other helplessly instead of at me.
— Chapter 19

Dear English language, you seriously lack an accurate word to convey the whole scope of “Vorfreude”, pleasant anticipation is nice and all, but really doesn’t cut it when it comes to what I feel towards the movie version of this series. (Yes, I know that this is dangerous business as there is always potential for disappointment, yet the cast and overall advance information feel very right.) Sometimes the movie rights have been optioned or sold for a while and you don’t actually think that it will amount to anything, because it’s been a while and let’s not talk about all those dormant rights ... looking at you, Looking for Alaska. But sometimes it actually just takes time and in a few cases good things come to those who wait and all that jazz.
There have been a number of dystopian series published in the years since, but I still think that this is one of the better crafted and sophisticated ones will always remain one of my benchmarks in terms of character building and development. Ruby is one of the most realistic protagonists when it comes to self-consciousness and self awareness. And I won’t even start on the swoony-ness of Liam or the adorableness of Chubs or cuteness of Suzume and so on. Seriously, if you are at all interested in dystopias and haven’t read this series, do so before the movie hits theatres next year. Or wait a little until the special editions with the bonus content are published ... in January 2018 ... how big is you TBR?

Are you waiting for the announcement of a movie for one of your favourite books? Do you have any frustrating optioned but not pursued cases? Share thoughts and your teasers in the comments!

Teaser Tuesday: Legion by Julie Kagawa

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Legion by Julie Kagawa.

Legion – Harlequin TEEN

“If my plan was to lead you into a trap, it would be rather silly for me to open the prison cell, where you were already trapped, and let you out, wouldn’t it?”
— Chapter 25

“Even though they’re supposed to be mortal enemies who hate each other. Like the Montagues and Capulets.”
“If Romeo didn’t die from poison,” I finished. “And Juliet was a fire-breathing dragon.”
— Chapter 36

Looking at my reading log I came to realise that this is the 15th book I’ve read by Julie Kagawa. When did this happen? I don’t want to compare her series with each other because they each have different strengths and weaknesses, but overall you can clearly see her development as a writer as her stories are now much more plot driven (at least in my opinion, even though I really still miss Ash and Puck from her very first series).
I don’t often make remarks on my reading during the process of it. Usually because I am too busy reading and dont’t want to interrupt the flow ... along with several other overly involved reasons. I made an exception for this one as you may have seen on Twitter last week. At one point I really had to put down the book and take a breather. I’m not a squeamish reader (as opposed to viewer that’s totally different, go figure), or at least I wouldn’t think that I am, and graphic scenes of whatever calibre wouldn’t deter me from reading on. However, there I have so far discovered two things that are really difficult for me to get through: One of them relates to things that involve eyes and the other is anything that messes with a person’s brain/mind. Maybe some deep rooted fear because I’m such a head person, who knows. So yeah, that happened ... Nevertheless, this of course couldn’t keep me from the book for long as I simply had to read on.
The previous book ended on a Major Cliffhanger (note capitalisation, not a joke. I need to stop doing this to myself, otherwise medicine might soon have its first proven case of bookish cardiac arrhythmia, possibly flutter or rupture ...). and thankfully it’s resolved fairly quickly in this one. Not that this means the reader gets a break or that there is any slack in the tension. And then that twist where I had to take a short break because my brain rebelled at the thought of what was happening. I honestly don’t know if I could have read on if that had gone any longer than it did. Still gives me the shivers. And it might not even be that bad for other readers, but in my personal book this comes very close to my ultimate nightmare hell, don’t judge and I won’t hold your fear of moths against you (points if you know the book I’m referencing).
The end is not a cliffhanger of the capital letter variety, but it ramps up enough tension for the final book ...which of course is another year away. Story of my (reading) life. There better not be a funeral at the beginning of that one!

Now that we’ve talked about personal nightmare hells ... or at least I have, why not share some of your most beloved paradise dreams (or hells, if you really wish to do so) along with your teasers in the comments.

Teaser Tuesday: P.S. I Like You by Kasie West

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

P.S. I Like You by Kasie West.

P.S.  Like You – Point

“When I was dating, my girlfriends and I used to say, ‘Don’t cry in front of him before date three.’”
“Cry?” I echoed, frowning.
“Yeah. Guys gets skittish when you cry.”
“I don’t think I have to worry about that one.”
“You don’t cry?”
“I don’t make it to date three.”
— Chapter 15

So had we called a truce or not? Sealing a truce with insults didn’t seem like a very promising start.
— Chapter 30

Show of hands: Who has ever doodled on their table during a boring lecture? I’m not going to rat you out, no worries. But now imagine that when you came back to that table someone else had replied to your thoughts to the void. As a minor queen of tragic passed notes romance (thanks for that random remembrance embarrassment) this idea of anonymous communication immediately appealed to me.
The endgame is maybe a little too obvious, but in my opinion for this kind of book it’s more of a journey rather than destiny kind of thing. And in this case the journey is quietly remarkable. Lily is at the same time the relatable heroine for the quiet, stuck in their own head book nerd, yet she can also be so frustratingly dense. I don’t know how often I wanted to shake her to get her act together and consider the wider picture ... but that’s also to beauty of it, because in reality who does that? Stepping back from our frog’s perspective on the situation that is our personal life. It’s possibly the hardest thing to do, if not quite impossible to accomplish completely. That’s what books are for and I enjoyed how this one explored and toyed with the experience.

This one firmly belongs on a Summer Reads list. Do you have any recent books to add? Share ideas and teasers in the comments!