Library Loot (2.5) & review copies

A big thank-you to all the publishers (and my postman!) who've sent out books this week. So many exciting titles.



Library

Doctor Who: The Way Through the Woods by Una McCormack
‘As long as people have lived here, they've gone out of their way to avoid the woods...’

Two teenage girls disappear into an ancient wood, a foreboding and malevolent presence both now and in the past. The modern motorway bends to avoid it, as did the old Roman road. In 1917 the Doctor and Amy are desperate to find out what’s happened to Rory, who’s vanished too.

But something is waiting for them in the woods. Something that’s been there for thousands of years. Something that is now waking up.

Doctor Who: Touched by an Angel by Jonathan Morris
‘The past is like a foreign country. Nice to visit, but you really wouldn’t want to live there.’

In 2003, Rebecca Whitaker died in a road accident. Her husband Mark is still grieving. He receives a battered envelope, posted eight years ago, containing a set of instructions with a simple message: “You can save her.”

As Mark is given the chance to save Rebecca, it’s up to the Doctor, Amy and Rory to save the whole world. Because this time the Weeping Angels are using history itself as a weapon.

Review

Panic: The Ultimate Edition by Jeff Abbott (ATOM, out now?)
Evan Casher had a perfect life: great parents, his first girlfriend and a huge online following for his films. But when he comes home from school to find his father missing and his mother dead, Evan's going to learn the hard way that the people he trusted most were the people he knew least. And that a 16 year old boy might be the only one that can bring a murderer to justice.

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi (ATOM, out now)
Nailer's time is running out. He's getting too big for his work ? stripping copper wire from old oil tankers ? and once he's off the crew he's on his own, stuck in a shack on the beach with no food, no money and no way of earning his keep. He has one last chance. The thing all crew members dream about, a lucky strike, has hit in the shape of a clipper ship beached during the last hurricane. If he can hold off the rest of the scavengers long enough to get the oil out, he might just have a future. But oil's not the only thing on the ship. And what Nailer finds is going to change his life forever.

Dragon's Oath by PC & Kristin Cast (ATOM, 12 July)
The all-new House of Night Novellas will delve into the backgrounds of some of the Tulsa House of Night's most important - and mysterious - professors. Beginning with Dragon Lankford, DRAGON'S OATH tells the story of the House of Night's formidable fencing instructor and warrior, whose mercy for one beast in the past will come back to haunt him in the future.

Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer (ATOM, 26 July)
You're an alpha, a leader. That's what we need. It's what we've always needed. When Calla Tor wakes up in the lair of the Searchers, her sworn enemies, she's certain her days are numbered. Then the Searchers make her an offer, one that gives her the chance to destroy her former masters and save her pack - and the boy - she left behind. Is Ren worth the price of her freedom? Will Shay stand by her side no matter what? Now in control of her destiny, Calla must decide which battles are worth fighting and how many trials love can endure.

Legend by Marie Lu (Puffin, 1 Dec)
The United States is gone, along with its flooded coasts. North America's two warring nations, the western Republic and the eastern Colonies, have reached a breaking point. In the midst of this broken continent and dark new world are two teenagers who will go down in history ....

Born into the slums of the Republic's Lake sector, fifteen-year old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. A mysterious boy with no recorded image or fingerprints. A boy who should no longer exist. A boy who watches over his family until one evening, when the plague patrols mark his family's door with an X--the sign of infection. A death sentence for any family too poor to afford the antidote. Day has no choice; he must steal it.

Born to an elite family in the wealthy Ruby sector, fifteen-year old June is the Republic's most promising prodigy. Obedient, passionate, and committed to her country--until the day her brother Metias is murdered during a break-in at the plague hospital.

Only one person could be responsible.

Day.

And now it's June's mission to hunt him down.

The truth they'll uncover will become legend.

The first in an epic dystopian trilogy and a brilliant reimagining of Les Misérables.

Lottie Biggs is not Tragic by Hayley Long (Macmillan Children's Books, 5 Aug)
Just when things were starting to look up for Lottie her life's gone a bit pear-shaped, wonk-ways and downside up again. Her mum's all soppy over a bloke with a horrible shemo* daughter, her best pal Goose has disappeared in a cloud of nerd-gas and Lottie's in the midst of an existential crisis. There's only one thing to do - get the hell out of Cardiff and go on the road with the gorgeous Gareth Stingecombe (and his manly thighs). But things don’t go to plan, and Lottie starts to realise she might have been a bit me me me lately. . .

*a female emo, obviously

Everlasting by Alyson Noel (Macmillan Children's Books, out now)
With 3.2 million copies of her Immortals series in print, Alyson Noël is one of the hottest paranormal teen authors writing today. EVERLASTING is the sixth and final instalment of the epic love story that has enchanted readers across the world. Ever and Damen have spent centuries facing down bitter rivals, jealous friends and their own worst fears—all in the hope of being together forever. Now in EVERLASTING, their destiny is finally within reach.

Will they be united . . . or torn apart forever? Readers will finally discover the truth in this anxiously awaited conclusion!

Stealing Phoenix by Joss Stirling (OUP Oxford, Sep) (:))))))) & signed!
What do you do when your soulmate turns out to be a thief? Steal her, of course. Phoenix was raised within the Community, a gang of thieves with paranormal powers, under the control of a harsh master known as the Seer. The notion that there's a soulmate out there for every person with a paranormal gift is mere myth in Phoenix's world. That is until the Seer gives Phoenix the details of her next target, Yves Benedict. He's more than just her next victim, he is her destiny. To be together, Phoenix must break away from the Community but resistance against the Seer puts them both in mortal danger. Phoenix has never trusted anyone before, now it's time to trust Yves with her life

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (Hodder & Stoughton, 29 Sep)
There once was a young artist called Karou who drew tales of monsters and demons that delighted and enthralled those around her.

But she has a secret, a secret that ties her to a dusty subterranean chamber, where her beloved guardian brokers dark deals in a place that is not here. A place that is Elsewhere.

Living with one foot in each world, Karou has never really known which one is her true home.

Now the doors to Elsewhere closing . . .