Waiting on Wednesday (4)

Now Playing: Hands in the Air - Ne-Yo (feat. Timbaland)
 

Feb. 5 releases!

Scarlet

 

Goodreads says: 

 Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.

As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.

Perfect Scoundrels

Goodreads say:

 Katarina Bishop and W.W. Hale the fifth were born to lead completely different lives: Kat comes from a long, proud line of loveable criminal masterminds, while Hale is the scion of one of the most seemingly perfect dynasties in the world. If their families have one thing in common, it's that they both know how to stay under the radar while getting--or stealing--whatever they want. No matter the risk, the Bishops can always be counted on, but in Hale's family, all bets are off when money is on the line. When Hale unexpectedly inherits his grandmother's billion dollar corporation, he quickly learns that there's no place for Kat and their old heists in his new role. But Kat won't let him go that easily, especially after she gets tipped off that his grandmother's will might have been altered in an elaborate con to steal the company's fortune. So instead of being the heir--this time, Hale might be the mark. Forced to keep a level head as she and her crew fight for one of their own, Kat comes up with an ambitious and far-reaching plan that only the Bishop family would dare attempt. To pull it off, Kat is prepared to do the impossible, but first, she has to decide if she's willing to save her boyfriend's company if it means losing the boy.

Etiquette & Espionage

 

Goodreads say:

 It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to finishing school.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is the bane of her mother's existence. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper etiquette at tea--and god forbid anyone see her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. She enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But little do Sophronia or her mother know that this is a school where ingenious young girls learn to finish, all right--but it's a different kind of finishing. Mademoiselle Geraldine's certainly trains young ladies in the finer arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also in the other kinds of finishing: the fine arts of death, diversion, deceit, espionage, and the modern weaponries. Sophronia and her friends are going to have a rousing first year at school.

First in a four book YA series set 25 years before the Parasol Protectorate but in the same universe.

It's fairytales! And cons!! And steampunk!!! February 5th is happy day!!!

Fairytales: Revamped

Now Playing: Help I'm Alive - Metric

By Marissa Meyer

Goodreads says:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Cinder is this synesthesia of sci-fi gadgets and backdrop with fairy tales that turns out to be a super entertaining two hour read. Our main protagonist, Cinder is a cyborg girl with a horrible stepmother.

Honestly, Meyer could've just made the stepmother this cruel woman, but she wasn't always like that. She blames Cinder for the death of her husband who [major spoilers] saved Cinder from where she was as she was dying and turned her into a cyborg to keep her alive. Thus, the stepmother's hatred isn't purely cruel, but any chance of her loving Cinder like a daughter is exterminated.

 

Cinder has two stepsisters, one that is cruel and one that isn't. The kinder sister is good friends with Cinder, but suddenly, she contracts a deadly disease when she goes with Cinder to a junkyard. Fueling the stepmother's hatred further with this revelation, she throws Cinder out and sells her to the government where they test out diseases and vaccines on them (which is harmful to them.) Yikes!

Then, the setting. On describing New Beijing, Meyer makes the streets come to life in front of you. The humidity, the crowded and bustling streets, the smell of Chinese delicacies filling your senses; it makes me wanna go on the first plane out to China to get some baozi! It's absolute fantastic what Meyer does with her writing, though it does get a bit tedious near the middle.

Prince Kai is sweet, so kind, super gracious, a bit of a badass if he needs to and just very awesome. In YA, there's a lot of the "bad boy with a heart of gold" thing going on as the love interest (and I'm not complaining!!) but sometimes you just need a break for the good guy. There's no fairy godmother here, but there is a doctor and he's kind of a badass too, even though you get some sketch readings on him in the beginning. Iko, Cinder's android and best friend, is a total crack-up! You'll definitely like reading their interactions. Fantastic writing, if a tad boring in the middle, but the ending! Near here, was the ballroom dance scene known best from the Cinderella story took place. It was a bit comical, but endearing. It's truly something you want to read.


The ending was a bit of a doozy, but some people saw it coming (hint: read the middle part). The next installment of the Lunar Chronicles, Scarlet, will focus on Red Riding Hood but find a way to tie into Cinder.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read and worth picking up!