Demitria Lunetta's Blog, page 20

Win a Nook!

Check out this awesome Class of 2K13 year end giveaway and enter to win a Nook!

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How IN THE AFTER is Unique

Want to know how IN THE AFTER is different from other books out there? Of course you do! Head over to The Class of 2K13 site to check out my newest blog entry. While you're at it, enter to win a nook as well!

 

ARC Spotlight – THE CADET OF TILDOR by Alex Lidell

 Tamora Pierce meets George R. R. Martin in this smart, political, medieval fantasy-thriller.

There is a new king on the throne of Tildor. Currents of political unrest sweep the country as two warring crime families seek power, angling to exploit the young Crown's inexperience. At the Academy of Tildor, the training ground for elite soldiers, Cadet Renee de Winter struggles to keep up with her male peers. But when her mentor, a notorious commander recalled from active duty to teach at the Academy, is kidnapped to fight in illegal gladiator games, Renee and her best friend Alec find themselves thrust into a world rife with crime, sorting through a maze of political intrigue, and struggling to resolve what they want, what is legal, and what is right.

This is the best fantasy novel I’ve read in a while. It has all the things you’d expect from a good fantasy: mages, sword fights, royal intrigue, and plenty of plot twists. It also has a kick-ass MC, Renee. What sets it apart for me is that Renee has flaws, which makes her relatable to the reader. In the beginning of the book, she’s stubborn and willful and only sees the world in black and white. This allows for her character to grow through the book, giving her depth. She never loses her willfulness, but begins to see the complexities of her situation and begins to understand that not everything is black and white. I love when an MC not only goes on a journey, but also grows as a character.
 I also found the lack of romance refreshing. That’s not to say the Renee isn’t attracted to good looking men (she is sixteen after all) but the plot doesn’t fall into the all too common YA romance formula. I also like how Renee wants to be treated like her male counterparts, and ultimately is, including being trained, bruised, and battered.
THE CADET OF TILDOR will be out January 10th from Dial…so mark your calendars! This is a great fantasy read!

Bookmarks!

I've been sick the past week, neglecting the blog, but I just wanted to check in and mention that I have bookmarks now! I teamed up with my awesome Class of 2K13/HarperTeen buddy, Kate Karyus Quinn, so one side is for IN THE AFTER and looks like this:

   And the other side is for ANTOHER LITTLE PIECE and looks like this:


I'm beyond excited to have bookmarks! What do people think?

I'll be back Friday with another ARC Spotlight!

 

ARC Spotlight – ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE by Kate Karyus Quinn

 
 
A reckless wish taken from the darkest desires of the heart…

A bloody razor engraved with the names of the girls who turned to dust…

An endless cycle that feeds of loneliness and craves destruction…

Together, these pieces form a twisted puzzle that Annaliese Rose Gordon has to solve. Trapped in a body that isn’t hers—with no memory of how she got there—she must unlock the secrets of her past in order to escape the horrors of her future.
I loved this book! It is just the right amount of scary. The pacing is excellent, the story unfolds piece by piece, giving you just enough info about Annaliese to keep you burning though pages. The characters are all fantastic, Annaliese’s parents aren’t just caricatures, they’re real and you care for them, as does Annaliese. Although it has the feeling of a classic Stephen King story, it’s also new and edgy, definitely a YA must!
Another Little Piece is available for preorder and will be out June 11th from Harper Teen. 

ARC Spotlight - INK by Amanda Sun

On the heels of a family tragedy, the last thing Katie Greene wants to do is move halfway across the world. Stuck with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn’t know the language, she can barely hold a pair of chopsticks, and she can’t seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off whenever she enters a building.

Then there’s gorgeous but aloof Tomohiro, star of the school’s kendo team. How did he really get the scar on his arm? Katie isn’t prepared for the answer. But when she sees the things he draws start moving, there’s no denying the truth: Tomo has a connection to the ancient gods of Japan, and being near Katie is causing his abilities to spiral out of control. If the wrong people notice, they'll both be targets.

Katie never wanted to move to Japan—now she may not make it out of the country alive.
This book made me want to visit Japan! The main character, Katie, is immersed in Japanese culture, and it feels like you are too. You learn a bit about Japanese culture while reading an exciting story about Japanese gods. Oh, and what an amazing cover!
Ink will be available June 25th, 2013…the same day as my book! J

Comparable Titles for IN THE AFTER

Want to find out a few comparable titles for IN THE AFTER? Of course you do, so stop by the 2K13 site and check them out. While you're there, enter my giveaway. You could win not one, but two YA books. Here, I'll make it super easy and post it right below...

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Another Giveaway!

I'm sponsoring a giveaway at the Class of 2K13. You can win a copy of my Class of 2K12 mentor, Robin Bridge's book,  The Gathering Storm.

St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue.

An evil presence is growing within Europe's royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina's strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources . . . including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar's standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina's help to safeguard Russia, even if he's repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn.

The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart?

So enter below and check in at the 2K13 site tomorrow for my guest post on IN THE AFTER comparable titles.

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

E-reader Advice

So I’m finally going to get an e-reader!

 
But there are a lot of choices and I’d love some advice.
Which ones do you have? What do you love about them, hate about them? I’m leaning toward the Kindle…but am open to any suggestions.
Also…there’s still time to enter my giveaway so you can win an ARC of In the After. Just click on the giveaway tab!

ARC Spotlight – Gone Fishing by Tamera Wissinger

   

Nine-year-old Sam loves fishing with his dad. So when his pesky little sister, Lucy, horns in on their fishing trip, he’s none too pleased: “Where’s my stringer? / Something’s wrong! / The princess doll does not belong!” All ends well in this winsome book of poems—each labeled with its proper poetic form, from quatrain to tercet. Together the poems build a dawn-to-dusk story of a father-son bond, of sibling harmony lost and found—and most of all, of delicious anticipation. Charming line drawings animate the poetry with humor and drama, and the extensive Poet’s Tackle Box at the end makes this the perfect primer to hook aspiring poets of all ages.
Since I mostly read YA, I didn’t know how I would like this MG book, but I absolutely loved it. Gone Fishing explores many different types of poetry in a fun and interesting way. I love how the story unfolds, jumping from one type of poem to another. The illustrations work perfectly reminding me a bit of Roald Dahl’s. This book will definitely get younger children interested in poetry.
There are also extras at the back, telling you what each poem type is and the rules to writing that particular type of poem, which will encourage children to begin writing their own poems. Since they’re at the back of the book though, they don’t mess up the flow of the story.
Gone Fishingreleases 3/5/2013 and is currently available for pre-order.