by Maria V. Snyder
Series: Healer #1
Release Date: December 20, 2011
by Mira
Goodreads / Purchase / My Review
Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan assumes their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Territories, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos.
Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for her capture. Their leader, an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own, is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince—leader of a campaign against her people. As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for. Because the price of peace may well be her life....
Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for her capture. Their leader, an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own, is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince—leader of a campaign against her people. As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for. Because the price of peace may well be her life....
Scent of Magic
by Maria V. Snyder
Series: Healer #2
Release Date: December 18, 2012
by Mira
Warning: This is the sequel to the book above, so if you haven't read Touch of Power I don't recommend you read this summery because could be spoilery for the first book.
Hunted, Killed—Survived?
As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confident, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.
Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations yet; an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat.
War is coming and Avry is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible ... again
As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confident, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.
Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations yet; an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat.
War is coming and Avry is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible ... again
Shatter Me
by Tahereh Mafi
Series: Shatter Me #1
Release Date: November 15, 2011
by Harper
Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.
The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.
The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.
Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.
The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.
The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.
Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.
This Is Not A Test
by Courtney Summers
Release Date: June 19, 2012
by St. Martin's Griffin
It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self. To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live. But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside. When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?
Grave Mercy
by Robin LaFevers
Series: His Fair Assassin #1
Release Date: April 3, 2012
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?
Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.
Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?
Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.
Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?
The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins
Series: The Hunger Games #1
Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun...
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, the shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before--and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, the shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before--and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
For Darkness Shows the Stars
by Diana Peterfreund
Series: For Darkness Shows the Stars #1
Release Date: June 12, 2012
by Balzer + Bray
It's been several generations since a genetic experiment gone wrong caused the Reduction, decimating humanity and giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.
Elliot North has always known her place in this world. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family's estate over love. Since then the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress, and Elliot's estate is foundering, forcing her to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth--an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliot wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she let him go.
But Elliot soon discovers her old friend carries a secret--one that could change their society . . . or bring it to its knees. And again, she's faced with a choice: cling to what she's been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she's ever loved, even if she's lost him forever.
Inspired by Jane Austen's Persuasion, "For Darkness Shows the Stars" is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.
Elliot North has always known her place in this world. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family's estate over love. Since then the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress, and Elliot's estate is foundering, forcing her to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth--an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliot wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she let him go.
But Elliot soon discovers her old friend carries a secret--one that could change their society . . . or bring it to its knees. And again, she's faced with a choice: cling to what she's been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she's ever loved, even if she's lost him forever.
Inspired by Jane Austen's Persuasion, "For Darkness Shows the Stars" is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.
The Dark Light
by Sara Walsh
Release Date: August 28, 2012
by Simon Pulse
Mia is torn between two guys—and two worlds—in this epic, romantic fantasy.
Mysterious lights have flickered above Crownsville for as long as Mia can remember. And as far as she’s concerned, that’s about the only interesting thing to happen in her small town.
That is, until Sol arrives. Mia’s not one to fall for just any guy, but she can’t get Sol—or the brilliant tattoo on his back—out of her mind.
Then Mia’s brother goes missing, and Mia’s convinced that Sol knows more than he’s sharing. But getting closer to Sol means reevaluating everything Mia once believed to be true. Because Sol’s not who Mia thought he was—and neither is she.
Mysterious lights have flickered above Crownsville for as long as Mia can remember. And as far as she’s concerned, that’s about the only interesting thing to happen in her small town.
That is, until Sol arrives. Mia’s not one to fall for just any guy, but she can’t get Sol—or the brilliant tattoo on his back—out of her mind.
Then Mia’s brother goes missing, and Mia’s convinced that Sol knows more than he’s sharing. But getting closer to Sol means reevaluating everything Mia once believed to be true. Because Sol’s not who Mia thought he was—and neither is she.
Wings of the Wicked
by Courtney Allison Moulton
Series: Angelfire #2
Release Date: January 31, 2012
by Katherine Tegen
Note: This book is the second book in a series, the first one being Angelfire, which I absolutely loved but didn't read in 2012 (even though I'm re-reading it right now) so the summery might be a bit spoilery for the first book if you haven't read it.
Life as the Preliator is harder than Ellie ever imagined.
Balancing real life with the responsibility of being Heaven’s warrior is a challenge for Ellie. Her relationship with Will has become all business, though they both long for each other. And now that the secret of who she really is has come out, so have Hell’s strongest reapers. Grown bold and more vicious, the demonic threaten her in the light of day and stalk her in the night.
She’s been warned.
Cadan, a demonic reaper, comes to her with information about Bastian’s new plan to destroy Ellie’s soul and use an ancient relic to wake all the souls of the damned and unleash them upon humanity. As she fights to stay ahead of Bastian’s schemes , the revelations about those closest to her awaken a dark power within Ellie that threatens to destroy everything—including herself.
She’ll be betrayed.
Treachery comes even from those whom she loves, and Ellie is broken by the deaths of those who stood beside her in this Heavenly war. Still, she must find a way to save the world, herself, and her love for Will. If she fails, there will be hell to pay.
Balancing real life with the responsibility of being Heaven’s warrior is a challenge for Ellie. Her relationship with Will has become all business, though they both long for each other. And now that the secret of who she really is has come out, so have Hell’s strongest reapers. Grown bold and more vicious, the demonic threaten her in the light of day and stalk her in the night.
She’s been warned.
Cadan, a demonic reaper, comes to her with information about Bastian’s new plan to destroy Ellie’s soul and use an ancient relic to wake all the souls of the damned and unleash them upon humanity. As she fights to stay ahead of Bastian’s schemes , the revelations about those closest to her awaken a dark power within Ellie that threatens to destroy everything—including herself.
She’ll be betrayed.
Treachery comes even from those whom she loves, and Ellie is broken by the deaths of those who stood beside her in this Heavenly war. Still, she must find a way to save the world, herself, and her love for Will. If she fails, there will be hell to pay.
Perfect Chemistry
by Simone Elkeles
Series: Perfect Chemistry #1
Release Date: December 23, 2008
by Walker Books for Young Readers
A fresh, urban twist on the classic tale of star-crossed lovers.
When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created “perfect” life is about to unravel before her eyes. She’s forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she's worked so hard for—her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect. Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more. In a passionate story about looking beneath the surface, Simone Elkeles breaks through the stereotypes and barriers that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart.
When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created “perfect” life is about to unravel before her eyes. She’s forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she's worked so hard for—her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect. Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more. In a passionate story about looking beneath the surface, Simone Elkeles breaks through the stereotypes and barriers that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart.
And that concluded my first post out of five I will be doing for this event. Like I said, these are my favorite books that I read in 2012, and I highly recommend each and every one of them. And don't get them from the library-buy them! You will not regret it!!
I read to read more Maria V Snyder books. I've only read Poison Study but I have the others in that series and then I want to check out her Healer series. Grave Mercy is my next audio book read and I'm really looking forward to For Darkness Shows the Stars! Nice picks!!!
ReplyDeleteThe Dark Light! I've been meaning to read my copy for so long! One of those books that slipped me by. Hopefully I can find time on early 2013. Same with Grave Mercy. Shatter Me is such an awesome book too. Looking forward to the sequel. Great list! :)
ReplyDeleteI am such a huge fans of the Angelfire series so I love that you included them. I seriously need to read Grave Mercy soon!
ReplyDeleteTeresa @ Readers Live A Thousand Lives
Great picks! I definitely LOVED Shatter Me and This Is Not a Test!
ReplyDeleteI LOVED Shatter Me and Perfect Chemistry!! Both are some of my favourites ever books! Awesome list. :)
ReplyDeleteHey there, I have read both Touch of Power and Scent of Magic and they are both AMAZING! I have now added most of Maria V. Snyder's other novels and I'm sure they will be just as great. Great Selection!
ReplyDelete~Daniel~
http://bookomatic.blogspot.com.au
I still haven't read Touch of Power yet which is weird because Maria V Snyder is one of my favourite authors. I'm having Shatter Me as my first 2013 read as I always try to start the year with a heavily recommended title.
ReplyDeleteMy Top 10 of 2012 is here if you'd like a look :)
i have dark light . stillh busy w/ that ;/ . i really liked shatter me and can't wait for the sequel
ReplyDeletegr8 list
my top 10
Great list! I have read Shatter Me, This is not a Test, Hunger Games and Grave Mercy. I will have to read the other ones!
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to read Perfect Chemistry forever! Shatter Me is great! I included the sequel on my list. Also dying to read This Is Not A Test and For Darkness Shows the Stars!
ReplyDeleteMy Top 10
I loved Shatter Me! It's definitely one of my favorite debuts last year. I haven't read a Maria V Snyder book but that's going to change next year! It's also nice to see THG, an all-time favorite of mine, on this list. Thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteDea
Teen Readers' Diary
Oh Perfect Chemistry is amazing. Have you read Pushing the limits? I think you will like it too.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any books by Maria V Synder. I have heard a lot of praise for her work.
Great list! :)
Okay! I see a ton of your books that I'm planning on reading... with a few that I have read :P After reading your list, I'll be sure to check them out!
ReplyDeletehttp://siriusyareader.blogspot.com/ my list!
I've read The Hunger Games and Perfect Chemistry. I loved Perfect Chemistry. I've read some things by Maria V. Snyder, but not the ones you've got here. Great list!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed Grave Mercy and I LOVED Shatter Me (it was my first pick for my top 10 of 2011)!!!
ReplyDeleteYay for Grave Mercy, For Darkness Shows the Stars and This is Not a Test. I read The Hunger Games last year - I've only read the first book - and it's definitely a top 10 worthy book :)
ReplyDeleteGreat list! The ones I've read from your list, I loved! I still need to read Scent of Magic, I'm hoping to get to it soon :)
ReplyDeleteFab list! So many books that I want to read! But I agree with This is Not a Test, it was SO good!
ReplyDeleteHappy Holidays :-D
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi, from a new GFC follower.
ReplyDeleteA great selection: I haven’t read all of these, but quite a few are on my TBR list! :)
I loved The Hunger Games . . . it is on my list as well!
My Top 10 Reads: http://coffeecookiesandchilipeppers.blogspot.com/2012/12/top-10-of-2012-best-books-read-in-2012.html
I've read some of those lists, and plan to read some of the others (Shatter Me seems to be very popular!) :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Holidays!
Patricia
I also loved Shatter Me and The Hunger Games <3
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my post! :D
- Kazhy @ My Library in the Making
Great choices! Maria's books will always have a place in my heart :)
ReplyDeleteJaime @ Two Chicks On Books
I've heard so many great things about Grave Mercy. I almost hated Shatter Me. I'm in the minority though.
ReplyDelete