Waiting on Wednesday (29): Sequels, Part 1

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's theme is

SEQUELS

There were so many I've no choice but to split it up into two parts.

(in order of release date)

Title: It's Not Summer Without You (#2, The Summer I Turned Pretty) {goodreads}
Author: Jenny Han
Release Date (dd/mm/yy): 05/05/11 (UK PB)
Publisher: Razorbill UK

Why am I waiting on this?

I've already pre-ordered a copy, but how pretty are these covers? I used to prefer the US ones, but I'm a fan of the embossed patterns on the cover -- and the way it feels!

I wanted to wait until the last book (in UK PB) to release, but I don't think I can wait quite that long. Looks like so much fun!

Links:

Official Author Site
Tumblr | Twitter

Title: Circle of Fire (#3, Prophecy of the Sisters) {goodreads}

Author: Michelle Zink

Release Date (dd/mm/yy): 01/05/11

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Why am I waiting on this?

I loved the first book so much, and just received a copy of the second book (thanks, Skye!). If anyone knows the ISBN for the US PB (not the UK PB), please let me know! I want my covers to match. ;)

Links:

Official Site
Official Blog

Title: Never Have I Ever (#2, The Lying Game) {goodreads}
Author: Sara Shepard
Release Date (dd/mm/yy): 02/08/11
Publisher: Harper Teen

Why am I waiting on this?

I'm not sure if this series is a keeper just yet. I wasn't over the top impressed by what Shepard offered in the first book. I liked the first four books of Pretty Little Liars, but this is definitely not top priority . . . .

Links:

Official Author Site
Official The Lying Games Site
Twitter

Title: All You Desire (#2, The Eternal Ones) {goodreads}
Author: Kirsten Miller
Release Date (dd/mm/yy): 09/08/11 (US HB)
Publisher: Razorbill

Why am I waiting on this?

I loved The Eternal Ones. These new covers are beautiful. I totally dig them. I think that it could've been a standalone, and all of us thought it was for a while, but sneaky Miller wants to torture Beau and Haven and Iain even more! Can't wait. [I'm waiting for the Aussie paperbacks - no release date announced]

Links:

Official Site

Books without covers that I still want to mention (these will be featured at a later date):

- Pandemonium (#2, Delirium) by Lauren Oliver

- A Million Suns (#2, Across the Universe) by Beth Revis

- Frost (#2, Stork) by Wendy Delsol

I have also mentioned a handful of sequels in previous WoWs. And there are many sequels I want to read the previous books of, still! (such as Vixen, Ingenue)

Next week, I will be featuring SEQUELS, Part 2!

Thanks for visiting my weekly WoW post. ♥

Comment with your WoW post and I'll check it out!

[Review] The Lying Game by Sara Shepard (#1)

Title: The Lying Game

Author: Sara Shepard

Publication: 7th December 2010

Publisher: HarperTeen

Source: NetGalley

Pages: 300

My Rating:

Blurb:

I had a life anyone would kill for.

Then someone did.



The worst part of being dead is that there’s nothing left to live for. No more kisses. No more secrets. No more gossip. It’s enough to kill a girl all over again. But I’m about to get something no one else does—an encore performance, thanks to Emma, the long-lost twin sister I never even got to meet.

Now Emma’s desperate to know what happened to me. And the only way to figure it out is to be me—to slip into my old life and piece it all together. But can she laugh at inside jokes with my best friends? Convince my boyfriend she’s the girl he fell in love with? Pretend to be a happy, carefree daughter when she hugs my parents good night? And can she keep up the charade, even after she realizes my murderer is watching her every move?

From Sara Shepard, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Pretty Little Liars books, comes a riveting new series about secrets, lies, and killer consequences.

Let the lying game begin.

My thoughts: 

Heads up--Sara Shepard is back, and her new series holds the same formula that made the Pretty Little Liars series so successful--mystery, secrets and pretty girls with no clue!!

Being a huge fan of the Pretty Little Liars series, I was so excited to read her new series, despite not having finished the PLL series. I tried not to read the blurb or any reviews, since I wanted my thoughts to be purely my own and not influenced in any way. I seriously don't even know what I should say.

This one is written in a strange way. Sutton Mercer, one of the twins, is dead right from the get-go, and she is the narrator. She sees everything through the eyes of Emma, the other twin, the one with the not-so charmed life; and so the perspective can be a little confusing at times, but I must commend Sara for the originality.
Sara's writing style remains generally the same as it had been all through her last series. Her prose is both simple and descriptive and easy to read. The dialogue is meaningful to the plot. The language allows the book to be recommended for 12+, but, same as with the Pretty Little Liars series, drugs and language are ever-present. Perhaps not quite as prominent, but it does push the age group to at least 16+.

In The Lying Game, Emma becomes homeless after her recent foster family throws her out for something she didn’t do. Shortly after, she discovers that she may have a long-lost twin, and so she travels in hopes that she may have a new home. What she doesn’t know though, is that Sutton has been murdered, and although she has come back as some form of spirit, she has been stripped of all possible memories. She doesn’t know who has killed her, and now Emma must live the life of Sutton: “no body, no crime”.
Anyone is suspect—but after a close encounter at a sleepover, it is absolute that someone who was very, very close with Sutton pulled it off, and if Emma is next if she doesn’t play along.

I loved the mystery elements, as well as the character interactions. So much of it frustrated me, just because Emma's life remains to be hard, even when she has been promised a better one. I loved Ethan. He's so sweet and charming, and it's sad but I reckon something is going to happen to him in the next book. There's a lot of cattiness going on with her friends. At this point, I'm not sure who did it—they all had motives.

Overall, this series is one you should keep a close eye on.

Buy:
Live in Australia?
Fishpond | Readings | Dymocks | Angus & Robertson | Borders | The Nile

Live elsewhere?

Amazon | The Book Depository

I have received this review copy in return for an honest review.




Series:


Never Have I Ever (#2)
The Dead Life (#3)?

Learn more about The Lying Game and read more reviews at Goodreads! 

[Review] Killer (#6 of PLL series) by Sara Shepard

* I updated my giveaways page, with most of the contests for until the end of this month. Go check it out!

Review - Killer by Sara Shepard (#6 of PLL series)
Oh boy, this book took so long to finish. Not because it was boring or anything-- I just had a busy packed week, full of blood, sweat and tears (in the literal sense) and finished it all this morning snuggled up in bed.
*There are spoilers in this post, so if you have not read it already DO NOT READ AHEAD!

Blurb:
In picture-perfect Rosewood, Pennsylvania, ash-blond highlights gleam in the winter sun and frozen lakes sparkle like Swarovski crystals. But pictures often lie—and so do Rosewood's four prettiest girls.
Hanna, Aria, Spencer, and Emily have been lying ever since they became friends with beautiful Alison DiLaurentis. Ali made them do terrible things—things they had to keep secret for years. And even though Ali was killed at the end of seventh grade, their bad-girl ways didn't die with her.
Hanna's on a mission to corrupt Rosewood's youth, starting with a very attractive sophomore. Aria's snooping into her boyfriend's past. Spencer's stealing—from her family. And pure little Emily's abstaining from abstinence. The girls should be careful, though. They thought they were safe when Ali's killer was arrested and A's true identity was finally revealed. But now there's a new A in town turning up the heat. And this time Rosewood is going to burn.

Review:
So, what do we have here? "Killer" is a book that shot me with surprises, twists and turns-- I felt about as lost (but getting closer to the truth) as the girls. I felt that their own story lines weren't too interesting- they were good, yes, but not AMAZING. My favourites for this one were Emily's and Spencer's. Emily is engaged in a relationship with a guy, Isaac who, unlike Ben (the boyfriend we meet Emily with), provided her with comfort and someone who would actually care for her. They lose their virginity to one another, and his mum finds out (or just really hates all his girlfriends), and so she plots to destroy their relationship. Spencer has more family problems, and with the aid of Andrew, she signs up to an "adopted children's" thing in the hopes that she is adopted. Unfortunately for her, in the end she's scammed off all her bank funds and left feeling used and lost.
What really gave me that satisfied feeling towards this book was the clever tying together of everything that has happened up until now. The little clues they all found out, and then they come together and everything just fits. We are left to wonder whether "A" is ally or foe. The end was astonishing. I had dismissed *** dead quite a while ago, so I was completely shocked. Shepard ends each book with great cliffhangers that leaves readers wanting more. I can't wait to read the final two installments of the series, but at the same time I'm sad that there are only two more left. I also am worried. Is the ending going to be satisfying enough for me to continue loving the series as a whole?

Rating: 4/5

Buy Killer at Amazon, The Book Depository