Books I'm squeeing about in April

So April looked like it was going to be a quiet month - to start with Cassandra Clare's 'City of Fallen Angels' was the only book on the list. So I started digging and realized there was actually a gold mine of new releases (admittedly some of them are being released in April in the U.S with a later release date in the U.K) but I am now so unbelievably excited about April you would no believe. 

So without further ado, here are the awesome new releases I will be pawning my belongings to purchase. And they are good...


Wither – Book 1 of The Chemical Garden Series
By: Lauren DeStefano
Released: 22^nd March 2011 U.S.A
              4^th August 2011 U.K

Sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery has only four years left to live when she is kidnapped by the Gatherers and forced into a polygamous marriage. Now she has one purpose: to escape, find her twin brother, and go home – before her time runs out forever.
What if you knew exactly when you would die?
Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb – males only live to age twenty-five and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.
When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden’s genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape – to find her twin brother and go home.
But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden’s eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant she trusts, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.


I seem to be gradually making my way into the dystopian new society novels (see Matched and Delirium) and this blurb creeps me out and intrigues me. Mostly the intriguing. What more can I add to that blurb, except it looks so awesome I’ve given up on UK release dates and already have a copy winging its way to me across the Atlantic – and I cannot wait to get my sticky little mitts on it.

City of Fallen Angels – Book 4 of The Mortal Instruments Series
By: Cassandra Clare
Released: 5^th April 2011 U.S.A
              7^th April 2011 U.K

The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She's training to become a Shadowhunter and – most importantly of all – she can finally call Jace her boyfriend. But nothing comes without a price. Someone is murdering the Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine's Circle, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second, bloody war. And when Jace begins to pull away from her without explaining why, Clary is forced to delve into the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare: she herself has set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves. Even Jace.

I get chills just reading that. HOW AM I GOING TO SURVIVE WHEN FACED WITH THE WHOLE BOOK??? I don’t care. It will be epic. And worth any amount of spine tingles. I love all of Cassie’s books, she has an incredible imagination, and I feel so privileged that she chooses to share it with us. So when the original trilogy of books for The Mortal Instruments was suddenly bumped into six books, I had to lie down for a little while. This is book four, the start of the new cycle, and I am just so excited to see where the characters go, and what’s going to happen next. And so relieved that I don’t have to say good bye to them just yet.

Red Glove – Book 2 of the Curse Workers Series
By: Holly Black
Released: 5^th April 2011 U.S.A
              16^th June 2011 U.K

Curses and cons. Magic and the mob. In Cassel Sharpe's world, they go together. Cassel always thought he was an ordinary guy, until he realized his memories were being manipulated by his brothers. Now he knows the truth—he’s the most powerful curse worker around. A touch of his hand can transform anything—or anyone—into something else.
That was how Lila, the girl he loved, became a white cat. Cassel was tricked into thinking he killed her, when actually he tried to save her. Now that she's human again, he should be overjoyed. Trouble is, Lila's been cursed to love him, a little gift from his emotion worker mom. And if Lila's love is as phony as Cassel's made-up memories, then he can't believe anything she says or does.
When Cassel's oldest brother is murdered, the Feds recruit Cassel to help make sense of the only clue—crime-scene images of a woman in red gloves. But the mob is after Cassel too—they know how valuable he could be to them. Cassel is going to have to stay one step ahead of both sides just to survive. But where can he turn when he can't trust anyone—least of all, himself?
Love is a curse and the con is the only answer in a game too dangerous to lose.

I don’t think I can explain my love for this series. I love all Holly Black’s books, but this series is by far her best. White Cat is incredible, and I can’t wait to re-immerse myself in it in preparation for Red Glove. This is another one I’m going to cave and get early from America – but if any book is worth it, it is this one. If you haven’t tried Holly Black yet, go and read White Cat – magic, mobs and awesome, and all with Holly’s trademark horror twist that makes everything that bit more real, dark and terrifying.

The Dark and Hollow Place – Book 3 of The Forest of Hands and Teeth Series
By: Carrie Ryan
Released: 7^th April 2011 U.K
              22^nd March 2011 U.S.A

There are many things that Annah would like to forget: the look on her sister's face before Annah left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her first glimpse of the Horde as they swarmed the Dark City, the sear of the barbed wire that would scar her for life. But most of all, Annah would like to forget the morning Elias left her for the Recruiters.

Annah's world stopped that day, and she's been waiting for Elias to come home ever since. Somehow, without him, her life doesn't feel much different than the dead that roam the wasted city around her. Until she meets Catcher, and everything feels alive again.

But Catcher has his own secrets. Dark, terrifying truths that link him to a past Annah has longed to forget, and to a future too deadly to consider. And now it's up to Annah: can she continue to live in a world covered in the blood of the living? Or is death the only escape from the Return's destruction?

I adore this series, Carrie Ryan’s writing is such a beautiful mix of lyrically haunting prose and high terror that makes you want to turn on all the lights in the house. The first book was amazing, and I’m in the middle of the second book at the moment, and I can’t wait to launch straight into the third book as soon as it’s released. A genius dystopian society with zombies thrown into the mix, Ryan’s books offer you a terrifying glimpse into a world destroyed – which is even scarier to read with the world falling apart around us.

My Soul To Keep – Book 3 of the Soul Screamers Series
By: Rachel Vincent
Released: 15^th April  2011 U.K

When teenager Kaylee screams, someone dies. And Kaylee s about to scream her head off... A banshee like Kaylee, Nash understands her like no one else. Nothing can come between them. Until something does. Demon breath. No, not the toothpaste-challenged kind. The netherworld kind. The kind that really can kill you. Somehow the super-addictive substance has made its way to the human world. But how? Kaylee and Nash have to cut off the source and protect their friends one of whom is already hooked. But so is someone else. Nash.

Oh I’m excited. I adored the first book in the series – literally could not put it down – but found the second book to not be quite as gripping. However, with a synopsis like that, I can’t wait to get my hands on the third instalment. It looks like the set up from the second book is really going to pay off, and I’m curious to see how the golden boy falls…

The Goddess Test
By: Aimee Carter
Released: 19^th April 2011 (U.S.A?)

EVERY GIRL who has taken the test has DIED.

Now it’s KATE’S TURN.

It’s always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate’s going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won’t live past the fall. Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he’ll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests. Kate is sure he’s crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she’ll become Henry’s future bride, and a goddess.

If she fails…

This book went on to my pre-order list without even reading the blurb. I knew nothing about the book apart from the title, and the fact that so many people were saying on Twitter how awesome the book was. I was intrigued. So this is my wild card of the month, the one I know very little about but makes me curious. And having since read the blurb, I am so glad it’s on my list – it sounds awesome.

The Last Little Blue Envelope
By: Maureen Johnson
Released: 26^th April 2011

Ginny Blackstone thought that the biggest adventure of her life was behind her. She spent last summer traveling around Europe, following the tasks her aunt Peg laid out in a series of letters before she died. When someone stole Ginny's backpack—and the last little blue envelope inside—she resigned herself to never knowing how it was supposed to end.
Months later, a mysterious boy contacts Ginny from London, saying he's found her bag. Finally, Ginny can finish what she started. But instead of ending her journey, the last letter starts a new adventure—one filled with old friends, new loves, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Ginny finds she must hold on to her wits . . . and her heart. This time, there are no instructions.

The amount of love that’s out there for this series is awesome to see, so I have Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes all queued up to read on my kindle, and am looking forward to reading the sequel at the end of the month.  I’ve loved Maureen Johnson’s books in the past, and can’t believe how long it’s taken me to get round to these, but given the reviews out there, it will have been well worth the wait.