Blog Tour: Bright Burning Stars by A.K. Small ~Spotlight + Giveaway~

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Bright Burning Stars by A.K. Small!  

Please see about the book below and enter the giveaway!

Bright Burning Stars
by A.K. Small
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Release Date: May 21, 2019
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery

Synopsis:

Best friends Marine Duval and Kate Sanders have trained at the Paris Opera Ballet School since childhood, where they’ve formed an inseparable bond forged by respective family tragedies and a fierce love for dance. When the body of a student is found in the dorms just before the start of their final year, Marine and Kate begin to ask themselves what they would do to win the ultimate prize: to be the one girl selected to join the Opera’s prestigious corps de ballet. Would they die? Cheat? Seduce the most talented boy in the school, dubbed the Demigod, hoping his magic would make them shine, too? Neither girl is sure.But then Kate gets closer to the Demigod, even as Marine has begun to capture his heart. And as selection day draws near, the competition—for the prize, for the Demigod—becomes fiercer, and Marine and Kate realize they have everything to lose, including each other.

Book Links

Goodreads│Amazon│Book Depository│B&N│iTunes│Kobo│Google Books

A.K. Small is thrilled for her debut novel, BRIGHT BURNING STARS, to come out May 21,2019 through publisher Algonquin Young Readers. Her talent for writing and passion for classical ballet fuse together in this novel and earned A.K.Small the honor of an Entertainment Weekly review.

In addition to BRIGHT BURNING STARS, A.K. Small spends time on short stories. Her short story, Anthrocon, 2017 was just nominated for a Pushcart prize by the Bellevue Literary Review. Other stories such as the Flour Baby and The Interior Designer were also nominated or runner-up to prizes.

She also ran a column titled, "A French Girl's View Du Monde" at Barrelhouse Magazine.

A.K. Small graduated from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2009 with an MFA in fiction. When she's not reading her favorite authors (Rainbow Rowell, Angie Thomas, Anna Gavalda, Jandy Nelson, Ann Hood, Sue Miller, Anais Nin, Tayari Jones, Joyce Carol Oates, Richard Wright, and J.R.R. Tolkien, to name a few!), she's studying her favorite dancers: Sylvie Guillem, Noella Pontois, Marie-Agnes Gillot, and Aurelie Dupont.

A.K. Small grew up near the Sacré Coeur in Paris and married her Tobagonian soulmate. She has three gorgeous daughters and owns a min-chi named Dallas.

Website│Goodreads│Facebook│Twitter│Instagram

Prize: Win (1) of (2) copy of BRIGHT BURNING STARS by A.K. Small

(US/CAN Only)

Start Date: May 13th2019

End Date: May 27th2019

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https://fantasticflyingbookclub.blogspot.com/2019/03/tour-schedule-bright-burning-stars-by.html

ARC Love of the Week! How To Make Friends With The Dark by Kathleen Glasgow

I was so excited to receive an advance reading copy of How To Make Friends With The Dark by Kathleen Glasgow.  Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy for review! This sounds like a tearjerker.  I'm definitely going to keep tissues nearby while I'm reading this one.  Kathleen Glasgow also wrote Girl In Pieces (which I haven't read yet).  I look forward to reading that one, too!

How To Make Friends With The Dark

by Kathleen Glasgow

Publication Date: April 9, 2019

by Delacorte Press

(Many thanks to Delacorte Press for letting me read and review this book!)

Here is what happens when your mother dies.
It’s the brightest day of summer and it’s dark outside. It’s dark in your house, dark in your room, and dark in your heart. You feel like the darkness is going to split you apart.
That’s how it feels for Tiger. It’s always been Tiger and her mother against the world. Then, on a day like any other, Tiger’s mother dies. And now it’s Tiger, alone.
Here is how you learn to make friends with the dark.

What upcoming releases are you most excited for? 

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Trailer Blast: Hidden Pieces by Paula Stokes ~Book Trailer + Giveaway~

Hidden Pieces

by Paula Stokes

Publication Date: August 28, 2018

Synopsis:

Embry Woods has secrets. Small ones about her past. Bigger ones about her relationship with town hero Luke and her feelings for someone new. But the biggest secret she carries with her is about what happened that night at the Sea Cliff Inn. The fire. The homeless guy. Everyone thinks Embry is a hero, too, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Embry thinks she’ll have to take the secret to her grave, until she receives an anonymous note—someone else knows the truth. Next comes a series of threatening messages, asking Embry to make impossible choices, forcing her to put her loved ones at risk. Someone is playing a high stakes game where no one in Embry’s life is safe. And their last move...is murder.

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY

*EXCLUSIVE PRE-ORDER INCENTIVE*
Paula is running a pre-order incentive for HIDDEN PIECES from now until 11:59PM (PST) on August 28th. Paula will also honor any orders through the Nerd Blast until August 31st.

Praise for HIDDEN PIECES

“Stokes makes the landscape an integral part of the story. Characters, even minor ones, are well developed, as are the subplots. With overtones of Lois Duncan’s I Know What You Did Last Summer (1973), this has the OMG quality that makes you afraid to wonder what will happen next.” ―Booklist (starred review)

“A character-driven mystery perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Deb Caletti.” ―School Library Journal

About The Author

Paula Stokes is the author of several novels, most recently Vicarious and Girl Against the Universe. Her writing has been translated into eleven foreign languages. Paula loves kayaking, hiking, reading, and seeking out new adventures in faraway lands. She also loves interacting with readers. Find her online at authorpaulastokes.com or on twitter as @pstokesbooks.

PHOTO CONTENT FROM PAULA STOKES

WEBSITE│TWITTER│GOODREADS│FACEBOOK│INSTAGRAM

Book Trailer

Giveaway

--Giveaway is open to International. | Must be 13+ to Enter

- 1 Winner will receive a $25 gift card to Amazon, B&N, Etsy, or Society6.
- 1 Winner will receive a Choice of any Paula Stokes YA Novel.
- 3 Winners will receive a Hidden Pieces Swag Pack.

Ends: September 17, 2018

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Blog Tour: A Room Away From The Wolves by Nova Ren Suma ~Review & Giveaway~

Review: Invictus by Ryan Graudin

Invictus

by Ryan Graudin

Publication Date:  September 26, 2017

by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Genre:  Young Adult Fiction, Science Fiction

Pages: 465

Source:  Publisher via NetGalley

Format:  eARC

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐1/2 (3.5/5 Stars)

Amazon┃Kindle

*I received the advanced reader's copy of this book from the publisher for review.  This does not affect my opinion or the content of my review.  All thoughts/opinions are my own.  This post contains affiliate links.  I am an Amazon affiliate and I may receive a small commission if you make a purchase through one of my links.

November 2017 Book Releases ~YA Fiction~

Below are some young adult fiction books that are releasing this month!   

What books are you excited about? 

*This post contains affiliate links.  I am an Amazon affiliate and I may receive a small commission if you make a purchase through my affiliate links.  Book photos/synopsis from Goodreads.

New Book Releases ~YA Fiction~ Week of October 31st

Here are some new young adult fiction releases for the week of October 31st!  I forgot to post this last week.  😳

*This post contains affiliate links.  I am an Amazon affiliate and I may receive a small commission if you make a purchase through my affiliate links.  Book photos from Goodreads.

Blog Tour: The Dark Intercept by Julia Keller ~Review + Giveaway~

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for The Dark Intercept by Julia Keller!  

Check out my review and the giveaway below.

The Dark Intercept

by Julia Keller

Publisher: Tor Teen
Publication Date:  October 31, 2017

Synopsis:

The State controls your emotions. What would you pay to feel free?

In a radiant world of endless summer, the Intercept keeps the peace. Violet Crowley, the sixteen-year-old daughter of New Earth’s Founding Father, has spent her life in comfort and safety. Her days are easy thanks to the Intercept, a crime-prevention device that monitors and provokes emotion. But when her long-time crush, Danny Mayhew, gets into a dangerous altercation on Old Earth, Violet launches a secret investigation to find out what he's hiding. An investigation that will lead her to question everything she's ever known about Danny, her father, and the power of the Intercept.

 AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY

Praise for THE DARK INTERCEPT

“The Dark Intercept grabbed me from the first page and shook me until the last. A riveting and suspenseful story of love, risk, and betrayal.” —EMMY LAYBOURNE, author of Berserker, Sweet, and the Monument 14 trilogy

“A chilling and thought-provoking look at the power of weaponized emotion.” —MELISSA LANDERS, author of the Alienated trilogy and Starflight

“Both cautionary and hopeful—a rare, literary feat.” —GENNIFER ALBIN, New York Times bestselling author of the Crewel World trilogy

“A stormy, spine-tingling ride in which everything remembered and once felt in your life can be used against you.” —BLUE BALLIETT, author of Chasing Vermeer and The Calder Game

“The Dark Intercept goes straight to the heart of why privacy matters in today's world. Keller has written an accessible coming-of-age adventure where the teenage protagonist comes to understand the consequences of living in a society that monitors everyone's emotions, including her own.” —MICHAEL C. ROBINSON, Chair of the American Library Association Intellectual Freedom Committee's Privacy Subcommittee

“Julia Keller writes so viscerally that she takes the readers with her into the worlds she has created. The Intercept is a fascinating springboard which she uses to explore the importance of feelings, and how they affect our lives and choices.” —BETSY FRASER, Selector, Calgary Public Library (Alberta, Canada), and 2016 YALSA/ABC-CLIO/Greenwood Service to Young Adults Achievement Award-winner

Photo Credit: Elaine Phillips

Julia Keller, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and former cultural critic at the Chicago Tribune, is the author of many books for adults and young readers, including A Killing in the Hills, the first book in the Bell Elkins series and winner of the Barry Award for Best First Novel (2013); Back Home; and The Dark Intercept. Keller has a Ph.D. in English literature from Ohio State and was awarded Harvard University’s Nieman Fellowship. She was born in West Virginia and lives in Ohio.

WEBSITE┃TWITTER┃GOODREADS┃FACEBOOK

I thought The Dark Intercept was a very interesting and engrossing read.  The story was unique, gripping, and filled with action and drama.  Set in the future in a divided world, split between New Earth and Old Earth, the story focuses on Violet Crowley and her search for the truth.  Violet's investigation into her crush Danny Mayhew leads to surprising revelations about Danny, the Intercept, and her family.

Violet was an interesting character.  She's the daughter of New Earth's founder, Ogden Crowley, and she helps out with surveillance for the Intercept--a crime prevention device that all citizens wear, that monitors everyone's emotions.  Violet becomes curious when she observes her crush Danny get into an altercation on Old Earth and she doesn't give up until she finds out what secrets Danny is hiding.  I thought Violet was quite a strong and gutsy character, but she did take a lot of crazy risks throughout the story.

I loved the world building in this book.  Old Earth and New Earth were fascinating settings that were complete opposites of one another.  Old Earth was gritty, dark, and home to the unfortunate people who remained stuck there, while New Earth was clean, modern, and home to the fortunate ones who were chosen to live there.  I thought both worlds were well detailed and described.  Of course, the people on both Earths were never really free since they had to all be monitored by the Intercept.  A person's emotions can be used against them at any time and their emotions can become weapons against them.  It's scary to think about living in a future where you are constantly monitored and controlled, where your emotions can be used against you at any time.

There were plenty of surprises in this story and I loved reading about Violet's investigation into Danny and the stunning revelations that are uncovered throughout the story.  There was a lot going on in this book and some things became a little confusing and hard to follow, but ultimately, I really liked the plot, the characters, and the author's writing. I definitely look forward to the next book in this thrilling series.

   (4/5 Stars)

*I received an advanced reader's copy of this book from the publisher for review.  This did not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.  Thanks to the publisher and Jean Book Nerd for letting me be a part of this tour.

--Giveaway is open to International. | Must be 13+ to Enter

- 3 Winners will receive a The Dark Intercept Swag (Tote Bag, Notebook and Copy) by Julia Keller.

Ends: November 25, 2017

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Spotlight Blog Tour: Alone by Cyn Balog ~Excerpt + Giveaway~

Alone
By Cyn Balog
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: November 7, 2017

Synopsis:

This must-read for lovers of Stephen King's The Shining will leave readers breathless as Seda and her family find themselves at the mercy of a murderer in an isolated and snowbound hotel.

When her mom inherits an old, crumbling mansion, Seda's almost excited to spend the summer there. The grounds are beautiful and it's fun to explore the sprawling house with its creepy rooms and secret passages. Except now her mom wants to renovate, rather than sell the estate—which means they're not going back to the city...or Seda's friends and school.

As the days grow shorter, Seda is filled with dread. They're about to be cut off from the outside world, and she's not sure she can handle the solitude or the darkness it brings out in her.

Then a group of teens get stranded near the mansion during a blizzard. Seda has no choice but to offer them shelter, even though she knows danger lurks in the dilapidated mansion—and in herself. And as the snow continues to fall, what Seda fears most is about to become her reality...

 Amazon | B&N | BAM | !ndigo | IndieBound | Kindle |  Nook

Advance Praise for Alone

“Even careful readers will be caught off guard by twists and unexpected but divine surprises. This first-rate thriller delivers everything a thriller should, and adds more. With a wink and a nod to Stephen King’s The Shining, Balog provides a shocker for the young adult crowd.” –VOYA Magazine, VOYA Perfect 10 Review

“This is the perfect premise for a chilling tale, and Balog fills every inch with classic horror references, red herrings, and uncertain motivations. As Balog gradually builds tension and paranoia, she manipulates reader expectations to set up several possible endings, yet still manages to end with a shocker. This is fantastically creepy psychological horror.” –Booklist

"A bloody, wonderfully creepy scare ride." –Kirkus Reviews

About The Author

Cyn Balog is the author of a number of young adult novels. She lives outside Allentown, Pennsylvania with her husband and daughters. Visit her online at www.cynbalog.com.

Website | Twitter | Facebook 

Excerpt from Alone

     Sometimes I dream I am drowning.
     Sometimes I dream of bloated faces, bobbing on the surface of misty waters.
     And then I wake up, often screaming, heart racing, hands clenching fistfuls of my sheets.
     I’m in my bed at the top of Bug House. The murky daylight casts dull prisms from my snow globes onto the attic floor. My mom started collecting those pretty winter scenes for me when I was a baby. I gaze at them, lined neatly on the shelf in front of my window. My first order of business every day is hoping they’ll give me a trace of the joy they did when I was a kid.
     But either they don’t work that way anymore, or I don’t.
     Who am I kidding? It’s definitely me.
     I’m insane. Batshit. Nuttier than a fruitcake. Of course, that’s not an official diagnosis. The official word from Dr. Batton, whose swank Copley Square office I visited only once when I was ten, was that I was bright and intelligent and a wonderful young person. He said it’s normal for kids to have imaginary playmates.
     But it gets a little sketchy when that young person grows up, and her imaginary friend decides to move in and make himself comfortable.
     Not that anyone knows about that. No, these days, I’m good about keeping up appearances.
     My second order of business each day is hoping that he won’t leak into my head. That maybe I can go back to being a normal sixteen--year--old girl.
     But he always comes.
     He’s a part of me, after all. And he’s been coming more and more, invading my thoughts. Of course I’m here, stupid.
     Sawyer. His voice in my mind is so loud that it drowns out the moaning and creaking of the walls around me.
     “Seda, honey?” my mother calls cheerily. She shifts her weight on the bottom step, making the house creak more. “Up and at ’em, buckaroo!”
     I force my brother’s taunts away and call down the spiral staircase, “I am up.” My short temper is because of him, but it ends up directed at her.
     She doesn’t notice though. My mother has only one mood now: ecstatically happy. She says it’s the air up here, which always has her taking big, deep, monster breaths as if she’s trying to inhale the entire world into her lungs. But maybe it’s because this is her element; after all, she made a profession out of her love for all things horror. Or maybe she really is better off without my dad, as she always claims she is.
     I hear her whistling “My Darlin’ Clementine” as her slippered feet happily scuffle off toward the kitchen. I put on the first clothing I find in my drawer—-sweatpants and my mom’s old Boston College sweatshirt—-then scrape my hair into a ponytail on the top of my head as I look around the room. Mannequin body parts and other macabre props are stored up here. It’s been my bedroom for only a month. I slept in the nursery with the A and Z twins when we first got here because they were afraid of ghosts and our creepy old house. But maybe they—-like Mom—-are getting used to this place?
     The thought makes me shudder. I like my attic room because of the privacy. Plus, it’s the only room that isn’t ice cold, since all the heat rises up to me. But I don’t like much else about this old prison of a mansion.
     One of the props, Silly Sally, is sitting in the rocker by the door as I leave. She’d be perfect for the ladies’ department at Macy’s if it weren’t for the gaping chest wound in her frilly pink blouse. “I hate you,” I tell her, batting at the other mannequin body parts descending from the rafters like some odd canopy. She smiles as if the feeling is mutual. I give her a kick on the way out.
     Despite the morbid stories about this place, I don’t ever worry about ghosts. After all, I have Sawyer, and he is worse.
     As I climb down the stairs, listening to the kids chattering in the nursery, I notice the money, accompanied by a slip of paper, on the banister’s square newel post. The car keys sit atop the pile. Before I can ask, Mom calls, “I need you to go to the store for us. OK, Seda, my little kumquat?”
     I blink, startled, and it’s not because of the stupid nickname. I don’t have a license, just a learner’s permit. My mom had me driving all over the place when we first came here, but that was back then. Back when this was a simple two--week jaunt to get an old house she’d inherited ready for sale. There wasn’t another car in sight, so she figured, why not? She’s all about giving us kids experiences, about making sure we aren’t slaves to our iPhones, like so many of my friends back home. My mother’s always marching to her own drummer, general consensus be damned, usually to my horror. But back then, I had that thrilling, invincible, first--days--of--summer--vacation feeling that made anything seemed possible. Too bad that was short lived.
     We’ve been nestled at Bug House like hermits for months. Well, that’s not totally true. Mom has made weekly trips down the mountain, alone, to get the mail and a gallon of milk and make phone calls to civilization. We were supposed to go back to Boston before school started, but that time came and went, and there’s no way we’re getting off this mountain before the first snow.
     Snow.
     I peer out the window. The first dainty flakes are falling from the sky.
     Snow. Oh God. Snow.

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New Book Releases ~YA Fiction~ Week of October 24th

Here are some new young adult fiction releases for the week of October 24th!

*This post contains affiliate links.  I am an Amazon affiliate and I may receive a small commission if you make a purchase through my affiliate links.  Book photos from Goodreads.

Book Review: There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

*I received an advance reading copy from the publisher via NetGalley for review.  This did not affect my opinion or the content of my review.  This post contains affiliate links.  I'm an Amazon affiliate and I may receive a small commission if you make a purchase through one of my links.

There's Someone Inside Your House 

by Stephanie Perkins

Publication Date:  September 26, 2017 

by Dutton Books for Young Readers

Genre:  Young Adult; Horror

Pages:  289

Source:  NetGalley eARC

My Rating:  ⭐⭐1/2 (2.5/5 Stars)

New Book Releases ~YA Fiction~ Week of October 17th

Here are some new young adult fiction releases for the week of October 17th!

Blog Tour: Ultimate Sacrifice by S.E. Green ~Excerpt + Giveaway~

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Ultimate Sacrifice by S.E. Green.  

Check out an excerpt from the book below and enter the giveaway!

Ultimate Sacrifice

S.E. Green

Publication date: October 3rd 2017

Genres: Horror, Young Adult

Goodreads │ Amazon

Synopsis:

Vickie has always lived a quiet, ordinary life in an equally quiet and ordinary small town. Yet one fateful night a child turns up dead in the woods behind her house in a ritualistic slaughter. Vickie and her family are suddenly thrown into a national spotlight. But as the investigation unfolds, she begins to realize her family isn’t so ordinary after all. Evil is inching closer to those she holds dear and Vickie isn’t sure who she can ultimately trust.

S. E. Green (aka Shannon Greenland) is the award winning author of the thriller, KILLER INSTINCT, the spy series, THE SPECIALISTS, and the romances, THE SUMMER MY LIFE BEGAN and SHADOW OF A GIRL. She lives off the coast of Florida with her very grouchy dog. ULTIMATE SACRIFICE is her debut YA horror, due out October 2017. 

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

 I’ve always been an average, ordinary girl, born to an equally ordinary family. Mom is an elementary teacher, and Dad and Uncle Jerry are partners in a home improvement business. I go to church once a week at First Baptist. I run track. PaPaw used to be a child psychiatrist and now he’s retired and enjoying his goat farm that I help with when I get a chance. Aside from my numerous freckles, there is nothing unique about me.

Yes, average and ordinary . . . until now.

Travis pulls his old Chevy truck into the student parking lot at County High. It’s Monday morning, just twenty four hours since Michelle was found in our woods.

“You okay?” I ask Travis. “Because Dad was right. We don’t have to be here today.” When Dad told us that this morning, I was completely on board with the idea, but both of my brothers wanted to come, so here we are.

“It’s better than being at home,” Kevin mumbles before wedging open the passenger door and heading across the rows of vehicles to join a few of his ninth grade friends.
Travis doesn’t respond at all. He simply turns the ignition off, opens his own door, and is out and walking toward the student entrance, leaving me sitting in the center of the bench seat alone. Of the three of us kids, he is usually the most talkative. Perhaps that’s why his complete and utter silence unsettles me so.

“Hey, you coming in or what?”

I glance up to see Honey, Travis’s girlfriend, smiling at me through the open door. I like Honey, always have. Everything about her is sweet—her name, her smile, her personality. She and Travis have been together since we were all freshmen. They are “the” couple. So in love.

She gives Travis’s retreating back a quick glance. “He called me last night and told me all about it.”

“Did he? Good. Because he hasn’t said a word to me. To any of us.” I slide across the seat and jump down, and together, we start across the parking lot.

“How’s your family doing?” she asks.

“Awful. Dad was up all night sitting on our porch with a shot gun. Mom was nervously pacing. Kevin and Travis were in their rooms. I was in mine. All of us are just scared, I guess. I mean, my God, whoever killed Michelle is out there, you know?”

Honey shakes her head. “That poor little girl.”

“I know,” I whisper as morbid thoughts start to swirl in my head again. “I hate that Travis found her.”

She squeezes my arm. “Me, too. Just be there for him. That’s all any of us can do.”

I open the door to the student entrance and to a hallway crammed with people. No one says a word as everyone stands, all eyes upward to the flat screen monitor that has local news playing. Honey and I wedge our way in and turn to see what is holding everyone’s attention. It’s footage of our property, and the words along the bottom read:

LOCAL GIRL MURDERED IN POSSIBLE SATANIC RITUAL

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