Anticipation Friday: Renegades by Marissa Meyer

Goodreads Description
Secret Identities.
Extraordinary Powers.
She wants vengeance. He wants justice.The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies—humans with extraordinary abilities—who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone...except the villains they once overthrew.

Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes in justice—and in Nova. But Nova's allegiance is to a villain who has the power to end them both.

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Other info
Expected Date of Publication: November 7, 2017
Stand-Alone or Series: Series- Renegades #1
Genre: Fantasy

Why Am I Anticipating This Book?

• I have loved Marissa Meyer's previous books. Her Lunar Chronicles series is really interesting with her twist on fairy tale characters when they meet a sci-fi/fantasy genre. Her stand-alone, Heartless, gave light to how the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland becomes the Red Queen.
• I can tell that the line between vengeance and justice will be shown, or even a lack of a line.
• The cover looks extremely cool as the characters obviously feel like they have to be responsible for bringing order back to their society.
• Finally, I will be able to meet Marissa Meyer and get my book signed, which I am really looking forward to meeting her.

Anticipation Friday: Where the Past Begins by Amy Tan

Goodreads Description
In Where the Past Begins, bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and The Valley of Amazement Amy Tan is at her most intimate in revealing the truths and inspirations that underlie her extraordinary fiction. By delving into vivid memories of her traumatic childhood, confessions of self-doubt in her journals, and heartbreaking letters to and from her mother, she gives evidence to all that made it both unlikely and inevitable that she would become a writer. Through spontaneous storytelling, she shows how a fluid fictional state of mind unleashed near-forgotten memories that became the emotional nucleus of her novels.

Tan explores shocking truths uncovered by family memorabilia—the real reason behind an IQ test she took at age six, why her parents lied about their education, mysteries surrounding her maternal grandmother—and, for the first time publicly, writes about her complex relationship with her father, who died when she was fifteen. Supplied with candor and characteristic humor, Where the Past Begins takes readers into the idiosyncratic workings of her writer’s mind, a journey that explores memory, imagination, and truth, with fiction serving as both her divining rod and link to meaning.

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Expected Date of Publication: October 17, 2017
Stand-Alone or Series/Companion: Stand-Alone
Genre: Memoir

Why Am I Anticipating This Book?

• I have read one of Amy Tan's other books, Joy Luck Club, for school twice and I really liked it. All of her books are full of symbolism and themes, which makes it fun to read and find them all.
• She writes a lot of historical fiction pieces about Chinese immigration to the United States. Her books have a lot of Chinese-American culture in them, which I find interesting. There's often flashbacks of what it was like in China and how different life is as Chinese in the United States.
• I am actually going to meet her at the library in a week and a half where she will be discussing her newest book, Where the Past Begins.

Anticipation Friday: The Wish Granter by C.J. Redwine

Goodreads Description
An epic, romantic, and action-packed fantasy inspired by the tale of Rumpelstiltskin, about a bastard princess who must take on an evil fae to save her brother’s soul, from C. J. Redwine, the New York Times bestselling author of The Shadow Queen. Perfect for fans of Graceling and the Lunar Chronicles.

The world has turned upside down for Thad and Ari Glavan, the bastard twins of Súndraille’s king. Their mother was murdered. The royal family died mysteriously. And now Thad sits on the throne of a kingdom whose streets are suddenly overrun with violence he can’t stop.

Growing up ignored by the nobility, Ari never wanted to be a proper princess. And when Thad suddenly starts training Ari to take his place, she realizes that her brother’s ascension to the throne wasn’t fate. It was the work of a Wish Granter named Alistair Teague who tricked Thad into wishing away both the safety of his people and his soul in exchange for the crown.

So Ari recruits the help of Thad’s enigmatic new weapons master, Sebastian Vaughn, to teach her how to fight Teague. With secret ties to Teague’s criminal empire, Sebastian might just hold the key to discovering Alistair’s weaknesses, saving Ari’s brother—and herself.

But Teague is ruthless and more than ready to destroy anyone who dares stand in his way—and now he has his sights set on the princess. And if Ari can’t outwit him, she’ll lose Sebastian, her brother…and her soul.

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Other info
Expected Date of Publication: February 14, 2017
Stand-Alone or Series/Companion: Stand-Alone and Companion (Ravenspire #2)
Genre: Young Adult Fanatsy

Why Am I Anticipating This Book?

• The first book, The Shadow Queen, was a rendition of the Evil Queen. This one seems to be about Rumpelstiltskin as the Wish Granter.
• I'm pretty sure that the two main characters, Lorelai and Kolvanismir, from The Shadow Queen are going to show up sometime.
• I like how it starts with a set of twins where they both try to protect each other.
• Finally, I hope to see more of the world rather than Ravenspire.

Anticipation Friday: Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Goodreads Description
Long before she was the terror of Wonderland—the infamous Queen of Hearts—she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.

Long before she was the terror of Wonderland, she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love. Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next queen.

Then Cath meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the king and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into an intense, secret courtship. Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

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Other info
Expected Date of Publication: November 8, 2016
Stand-Alone or Series/Companion: Stand-Alone
Genre: Fantasy

Why Am I Anticipating This Book?

• Marissa Meyer's first series, The Lunar Chronicles, was an excellent. I have been really anticipating this since I've heard of it because she expertly executed The Lunar Chronicles' four main character chapter splits.
• Who doesn't like the world of Alice in Wonderland? This is about the Queen of Hearts so this story discusses a story that isn't about Alice like the original story. I like how this is an origin story.
• The cover is also very beautiful partly because it is simplistic with the red roses and thorns in front of a black background. Maybe the red is the blood that has been shed and why her heart has turned black.

Anticipation Friday: The Black Key by Amy Ewing

Goodreads Description
For too long, Violet and the people of the outer circles of the Lone City have lived in service to the royalty of the Jewel. But now the secret society known as the Black Key is preparing to seize power.

And while Violet knows she is at the center of this rebellion, she has a more personal stake in it—her sister, Hazel, has been taken by the Duchess of the Lake. Now, after fighting so hard to escape the Jewel, Violet must do everything in her power to return to save not only Hazel, but the future of the Lone City.

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Expected Date of Publication: October 4, 2016
Stand-Alone or Series//Companion: Series- Lone City #3
Genre: Young Adult Dystopian Society, Young Adult Fantasy

Why Am I Anticipating This Book?

•  The cover of this is very interesting to me. It's very abstract looking. The girl is wearing the same dress as in the first two books. If you look close enough, there are faces of different people.
• This is the final book to the Lone City series and it left at such a cliff hanger that it has been bothering me for a year of what will happen.
• When I found out that Violet's beloved sister, Hazel, was taken from Violet's old evil master, Duchess of the Lake, I got really upset. Stay innocent, Hazel! Stay innocent!

Anticipation Friday: Spindle by Shonna Slayton

Goodreads Description
Set during the Industrial Revolution, Sleeping Beauty's happily ever after isn't the end of the story...

In a world where fairies lurk and curses linger, love can bleed like the prick of a finger.

Briar Rose knows her life will never be a fairy tale. She’s raising her siblings on her own, her wages at the spinning mill have been cut, and the boy she thought she had a future with has eyes for someone else. Most days it feels like her best friend, Henry Prince, is the only one in her corner…though with his endless flirty jokes, how can she ever take him seriously?

When a mysterious peddler offers her a “magic” spindle that could make her more money, sneaking it into the mill seems worth the risk. But then one by one, her fellow spinner girls come down with the mysterious sleeping sickness—and Briar’s not immune.

If Briar wants to save the girls—and herself—she’ll have to start believing in fairy tales…and in the power of a prince’s kiss.

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Other info
Expected Date of Publication: October 4, 2016
Stand-Alone or Series: Stand-Alone
Genre: Historical Fiction

Why Am I Anticipating This Book?

• First off, it's historical fiction. I have not read any books written during America's Industrial Revolution, which should be a breath of fresh air. I'm not complaining and I really love World War II era books, but I'm just ready to read something different and more unique.
• I also love fairy tales and twists that could come to them. I have not read a twist on the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty yet so I am really excited about this one.
• I have read another work by this author and enjoyed it so I am sure I will enjoy this one just as much.
• The cover of the book looks interesting but beautiful which still continues to peak my interest

Anticipation Friday: The Crown by Kiera Cass

Goodreads Description
Twenty years have passed since the events of The One, and America and Maxon’s daughter is the first princess to hold a Selection of her own. Princess Eadlyn didn’t think she would find a real partner among the Selection’s thirty-five suitors, let alone true love. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you... and now Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more difficult—and more important—than she ever expected.

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Expected Date of Publication: May 3, 2016
Stand-Alone or Series/Companion: Series- The Selection #5
Genre: Young Adult Dystopian Society

Why Am I Anticipating This Book?

First off, the cover (like all the other covers) are beautiful and so aesthetically pleasing. Doesn't this cover make you want to be Eadlyn.

I also have loved the original trilogy about her mother and the first book to Eadlyn's duology so I am excited to see where Eadlyn's love will go. Based on the previous book, this has less of a love triangle than the first set of books.

I also love Eadlyn's character. She is strong, spunky, and stubborn like her mother but she knows the importance of running a country and finding the right man to become king to help her rule like her father.



Anticipation Friday: Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

Goodreads Description
passage, n.
i. A brief section of music composed of a series of notes and flourishes.
ii. A journey by water; a voyage.
iii. The transition from one place to another, across space and time.

In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.

Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them— whether she wants to or not.

Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are play­ing, treacherous forces threaten to sep­arate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home . . . forever

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Other info
Expected Date of Publication: January 5, 2016
Stand-Alone or Series/Companion: Series- Passenger #1
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Why Am I Anticipating This Book?

There so many things that has caused me to anticipate this book. It takes many things I love in life and put it in one book.
Based on the description, it immediately caught my eye. The very beginning gives a few definitions to the word passage, which are totally separate from each other. I am excited how Bracken is going to incorporate all 3 of those definitions. I also know how to play violin (played for over 10 years), and I have an appreciation for anyone who can learn an instrument, especially the violin, because it is very hard to master it. I also love to travel, especially by the sea. I have also tall shipped sailed on a "pirate ship" and I want to do it again. Who doesn't love adventure?!
Based on the cover, I just love it. I have lived in a city all my life so it feels very homey. The ship that is a reflection makes me think that is somewhat like a dream, which I think is cool. I also like how the city is in a glass bottle because it probably has some symbolism to it. Plus, everyone associates a tall ship to one in the movies or in a glass bottle.
Based on rumors, I heard from (the author) that there is no love triangle, which is great because I am not a fan of love triangles.