Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

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Glass Houses
by Rachel Caine 


Format: Paperback
Pages: 348 pages
Release Date: May 26th 2008

Publisher: Allison & Busby
Source: For Review from Publishers
Buy it: Amazon
Add it: Goodreads


It's a small college town filled with quirky characters. But when the sun goes down, the bad comes out. Because in Morganville, there is an evil that lurks in the darkest shadows - one that will spill out into the bright light of day.

Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation. The popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks on the school's social scene: somewhere less than zero. And Claire really doesn't have the right connections - to the undead who run the town.


When Claire heads off campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Hew new roommates don't show many signs of life. But they'll have Claire's back when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood...  
My Thoughts
I LOVE this book. I LOVE this series. I LOVE vampires.
This obviouslly shows how much I loved reading this book as it is really very great. From the very first page all the way to the end of the book each part and every part was interesting not at all boring.

All the characters were appealing I even liked the evil 'Monica Morrel'. Claire, the main character, is just wonderful. I totally love her. I like how she's into studying, how she cares a great deal about others and that shes a positive character. Her 'roommates' or rather 'housemates' are all great too. Micheal and Shane are simply down to earth hotties. Micheal is more of the serious one as he is the oldest and the house they're living in belongs to him. Shane loves his video games and chilli and he's very flirty. I adore Eve especially her style of clothing is just fab.

Claire and Shane are perfect for each other. To be honest, I really didn't expect them to get together. I always thought it would have been Micheal and Claire but Claire and Shane suit better, obviously!

The way Rachel Caine flowed the events of this book is amazing. It always keeps you guessing and that's what I love the best. However,I just really hate how at the end of the book, its not an ending but a spinoff so the ending carry's on to the next book. I find that really fustrating! Now, you have to wait for the next book. And, hear me now when I say the ending to this book is just alarming. I actually screamed.

I don't want to give anything else away. Find out yourself. I assure you, this is a book worth reading. Go buy it! :)

A UK Morganville Vampire fan? Join the Facebook fan club!

In My Mailbox (9)

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In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It's a great way to showcase the books you've gotten over the week, whether they are bought, borrowed or free.
The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa
Fallen by Lauren Kate
 Blue Moon by Alyson Noel
Shadowland by Alyson Noel
Dark Flame by Alyson Noel
What's in your Mailbox?

Waiting on Wednesday (8)

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Delerium
by Lauren Oliver

Pages: 440
Release Date: February 1st 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Buy the Book: Amazon
 


Ninety-five days, and then I'll be safe. I wonder whether the procedure will hurt. I want to get it over with. It's hard to be patient. It's hard not to be afraid while I'm still uncured, though so far the deliria hasn't touched me yet. Still, I worry. They say that in the old days, love drove people to madness. The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don't.





What are you Waiting on Wednesday?
Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Breaking the Spine

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

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The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins

Pages:374
Release Date: October 1st 2008

Publisher: Scholastic
Series: The Hunger Games trilogy
Other books in series: Catching Fire and Mocking Jay

Buy it: AmazonAdd it: Goodreads


In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival.


My Thoughts
At first when I heard about The Hunger Games, I didn’t think that it would be a book that I would be interested in. I usually read books that dominantly revolve around romance. However, as I started reading the first few pages in the book, I instantly got absorbed into Katniss's world.

I absolutely love Katniss's character. The love for her sister Prim is beautifully conveyed as she takes her place in The Hunger Games. Katniss is brave, strong and a definite kick ass heroine.

I got really drawn to Gale's personality, his character and well everything about him. His relationship with Katniss is affectionate but not deep really showing how strong their friendship is. I remember really wanting his name to be picked out for the Hunger games so he can support Katniss. Though they're friends, I always thought it would eventually grow into something else and boy was I wrong.

From the time Katniss mentioned Peeta I should have know really (especially with the 'bread incident') that something or the other will happen between them. I was quite dismayed knowing Gale was out the picture but from the time his name was picked for The Hunger Games and as the pages flew by, I came to the conclusion that I love Peeta. He's funny, supportive and always there for Katniss.

I an not a big fan for action as most of their time it is boring but this type of action is nothing but interesting and mind blowing. The ending is very dramatic as Peeta comes to know Katniss's true feeling leaving her back home with her family.

This book is not something you read once or simply pick up from the library, it's a book that has gotta be on your bookshelf! The Hunger Games is written to perfection. Seriously, I don't believe there's any flaws. Immensely powerful and utterly consuming, this is a book that will definitely get you reading!

In My Mailbox (8)

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In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It's a great way to showcase the books you've gotten over the week, whether they are bought, borrowed or free.

Review
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
 Winter Girls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Not only that...
I also recieved 10 samplers of Lament for giveaway!
But the giveaway is not going to be held right now so you'll have to wait a while =]
I really enjoyed reading and Shiver and Linger and I'm currently reading The Hunger Games- so far so good! Just Lament and Winter Girls left...
What's in your mailbox?

WEREWOLD: Rise of the wolf BLOG TOUR

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WEREWORLD: Rise of the Wolf
by Curtis Jobling


Format: Paperback
Pages: 384
Release Date: January 6th 2011
Publisher: Puffin
Overall: 4/5
Buy the Book: Amazon


'You're the last of the werewolves son. Don't fight it...Conquer it'. When the air is clear, sixteen year-old Drew Ferran can pick up the scent of a predator. When the moon breaks through the clouds, a terrifying fever grips him. And when a vicious beast invades his home, his gums begin to tear, his fingers become claws, and Drew transforms ...Forced to flee the family he loves, Drew seeks refuge in the most godforsaken parts of Lyssia. But when he is captured by Lord Bergan's men, Drew must prove he is not the enemy. Can Drew battle the werecreatures determined to destroy him - and master the animal within?


My Thoughts
Every werewolf book has its perks, needless to say, WEREWORLD: Rise of the Wolf is unquestionably a book which stands out from the rest. With its super attractive cover, I got consumed within a world of adventure, action and speck of romance.


The protagonist, Drew, is a character that’s empowered with strength, power and a whole lot of ability. There are many qualities I love however, the main thing I really love how he is extremely determined to do anything.


It was heartbreaking to witness Drew being forced to leave the people he loves, his family. He always grasped that they were keeping him in the dark- there was more than what met the eye. In Drew’s perspective, it was obvious that he was different from everybody else. At the time he discovered his true nature and what he really was he knew that his destiny was set.


This epic book of fantasy contains events of such that are constant but changing. The unexpected happen, a whole lot of fighting involved as Drew faces his battles. Others are there that join him and the story carries along with the many spins and turns that are to come.


The relationship between Drew and Hector is something special. It’s nice to distinguish how their bond of friendship strengthens and grows throughout the book.


I really love the style in which Curtis writes. It’s not the usual day to day words but writing that grips you to your seat. There is this magic and splendour to it that makes it unique.
This is a book that must be on your bookshelf :)


Check out the trailer:


Be sure to check out Curtis Jobling's official website!
MIA

Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel

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Infinite Days
by Rebecca Maizel

Pages: 310
Release Date: August 3, 2010
Publisher: Macmillan Childrens books
Buy it Amazon


Lenah Beaudonte is, in many ways, your average teen: the new girl at Wickham Boarding School, she struggles to fit in enough to survive and stand out enough to catch the eye of the golden-boy lacrosse captain. But Lenah also just happens to be a recovering five-hundred-year-old vampire queen. After centuries of terrorizing Europe, Lenah is able to realize the dream all vampires have -- to be human again. After performing a dangerous ritual to restore her humanity, Lenah entered a century-long hibernation, leaving behind the wicked coven she ruled over and the eternal love who has helped grant her deep-seated wish.

Until, that is, Lenah draws her first natural breath in centuries at Wickham and rediscovers a human life that bears little resemblance to the one she had known. As if suddenly becoming a teenager weren’t stressful enough, each passing hour brings Lenah closer to the moment when her abandoned coven will open the crypt where she should be sleeping and find her gone. As her borrowed days slip by, Lenah resolves to live her newfound life as fully as she can. But, to do so, she must answer ominous questions: Can an ex-vampire survive in an alien time and place? What can Lenah do to protect her new friends from the bloodthirsty menace about to descend upon them? And how is she ever going to pass her biology midterm?




My Thoughts
I never would have thought this would be a book that revolved around vampires, but I guess the title days it all. It most definitely differs from all the other vampire novels seeing as in this one a girl- Lenah changes from a vampire into a human being.

A very enjoyable read. It’s packed with love, loss and humour. I loved how Lenah sees the world and how everything seems to affect her. Like, I don’t know why but I particularly found it amusing when she spoke to a closed door ordering it to ‘reveal yourself’.


I really connected with Tony. His character is jolly, fun and simply the best. It was clear that Lenah felt nothing for him. As their friendship grew each day, it seemed to blossom as they become the best of friends.


At first, I didn’t like Justin. There was just something about him I can’t put a finger on. But then, as his character starts to take more dominance, revealing his personality and his feeling towards Lenah, I really enjoyed reading about him more and more. He is understanding, caring and he does sound kinda hot


I didn’t expect the ending to have an end. It was shocking! I don’t want to give anything away but I can’t seem to register what happened. It was a definite change of events, considering how the very last pages left my mouth gaping. I loved reading this book. It was worth the time!

In My Mailbox (7)

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In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It's a great way to showcase the books you've gotten over the week, whether they are bought, borrowed or free.

Review
Matched by Ally Condie
Radience by Alyon Noel

 Library
Torment by Lauren Kate
What's in your mailbox?

Matched by Ally Condie

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Matched
by Ally Condie

Pages: 384
Release Date: November 30, 2010
Publisher: Penguin

Buy it: Amazon

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow...





My Thoughts
At first, I really wanted to read Matched. Everyone was talking about it and so it had me wondering how it was going to be. It was then I read a review on it which completely put me off. Seeing I received a review copy, I had to read it one day or another... and do you no what? I am so GLAD I picked up this book.

Matched is a book filled with individuality. With its mesmerizing cover, luring blurb and words filled with such simplicity, I truly got engaged into Matched. It was nothing I like I ever had read.

The first few chapters were a bit confusing. Seeing as though it was hard to understand what The Society really was without an explanation. Though as the story goes on I gained understanding of what it is all about.

I love all the names that Ally used in this book, Xander, Ky and Cassie. Cassie is a very explicit character. The main thing I really liked about her was the loving relationship between herself and her brother. She’s very caring but quite dull.

I always looked forward to the parts with Ky and Cassia. Ky is just great. Xander also. I love Xander's personality and everything about it him.

The last few chapters simply have the WOW effect. I craved to know what was going to and how the book will come to an end... and when I did I discovered that there’s another book after it. Great. The suspense is killing me. Crossed is to be released all the way in November 2011. What a bummer!

Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

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Hush Hush,
by Becca Fitzpatrick

Pages: 391
Release Date: 29th October 2009
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Childrens'
Series: Hush Hush
Other books in series: Crescendo and Silence
Buy the Book: Amazon



For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her...until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment, but after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is far more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.
For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life...



My Thoughts
Hush Hush is a great book, I must say. From the moment I opened it and entered the life on Nora Grey, to the moment I reached the action packed ending I couldn't stop reading.
Nora Grey is a teennage girl that has her priorities defined: she's a top student, she wants to go to an Ivy League university, she works in the school newspaper and never fell in love, though her best friend Vee incites her to do that.

Nora is a likable character and in away she's somewhat like me (especially because she wants to control various aspects of her life, that are sometimes incontrollable) wich was really good because I love relating to the characters.

The rainy and foggy town where HUSH HUSH is set,it's perfect for this paranormal romance book because it creates an amazing atmosphere where anything can happen.

I love that this book had so many mystery. It gave so much more to the book and let me so interested that I probably wouln't have enjoyed this book as much if the mystery wasn't there.
Of course I loved as well the romance between Patch and Nora; it reminded me of Cathy and Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights.

Go and grab the book!

In My Mailbox (6)

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In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It's a great way to showcase the books you've gotten over the week, whether they are bought, borrowed or free.

Review
Forsaken by Jana Oliver
The Dark Prince by Eilzabeth Loraine
Grave Doubts and Heavent Sent by Meg Cabot
Lottie Biggs is NOT desperate by Hayley Long
Lament by Maggie Stiefvater
WEREWORLD: Rise of the wolf by Curis Jobling

--
Bought
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows by JK Rowling
What's in your mailbox?

Cover Alert: Passion by Lauren Kate!

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Ahhh... It has finally been revealed!
The cover to the third book in the fallen series, Passion by Lauren Kate has now been released...
Check it out!


Personally, I love the cover however they're not as stricking as the covers for the first two books in the series- Fallen and Torment.  It's still catching though. But I think If I  judged this book by it's cover, I wouldn't instantly read it.
Although, I've read the other books in the series and I extremely enjoyed them so I would really need to read this book and see what happens next.

What are your thoughts?

Waiting on Wednesday (7)

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Between shades of Gray
by Ruta Sepetys

Pages: 352
Release Date: 7th march 2011
Publisher: Puffin
Buy the Book: Amazon



Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when the Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young broteher slowly make their way north, crossing the Artic circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they're forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest conditions.
Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously - and at great risk - documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing jorney, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love and hope that Lina ultimately survives. Between Shades of Grey is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.


I really enjoy histoical fiction, and I never read anything about the Lithuaninan genocide. The synopsis really hooked me.

What are you waiting for?
Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted at Breaking the Spine.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

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Coraline
by Neil Gaiman

Format: Paperback
Pages: 192
Release Date: 6th October 2003
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Buy it: Amazon
The day after they moved in, Coraline went exploring....
In Coraline's family's new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close.
The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.
Only it's different.
At first, things seem marvelous in the other flat. The food is better. The toy box is filled with wind-up angels that flutter around the bedroom, books whose pictures writhe and crawl and shimmer, little dinosaur skulls that chatter their teeth. But there's another mother, and another father, and they want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.
Other children are trapped there as well, lost souls behind the mirrors. Coraline is their only hope of rescue. She will have to fight with all her wits and all the tools she can find if she is to save the lost children, her ordinary life, and herself.


My Thoughts
MILD SPOILER ALLERT!
Let me start by saying that I loved this book.

Neil Gaiman did an amazing job, while creating the "other world": the few descriptions were so vivid, and the characters were so believable (though their spookiness) that in a few pages I was already so engaged in the book that I shivered! Though the "other world" where Coraline finds herself in, is indeed different from her own world, there are a few similarities between this strange "other world" and the ordinary one from where Coroline comes from, that make it more spooky!
As many reviewers have said, this book resembles Alice in The Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, though in the world that Gaiman created the creepy factor is much higher!
Coraline is an amazing chracter . In spite she's young (her age is not specified, but I would say she is 9 or 10 years old) she's very smart and she has an interesting way of understanding the behavior of the "strange" adults around her. Besides that, Coraline is very courageous and she doesn't give up when she really wants something.
This book is directed for children but I believe teens and adults will appreciate it.

What do you think?
CLARISSE

New books released this January

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A new month brings new books!
Now this January, many thrilling books have been released, sitting in the bookstores waiting for people like you and me to pick it up and indulge
Here are a few...
Prom and Prejudice
by Elizabeth Eulberg
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 231 pages
Release Date: January 1st 2011
Publisher: Point
Buy the Book: Amazon

After winter break, the girls at the very prestigious Longbourn Academy become obsessed with the prom. Lizzie Bennet, who attends Longbourn on a scholarship, isn’t interested in designer dresses and expensive shoes, but her best friend, Jane, might be — especially now that Charles Bingley is back from a semester in London.


Lizzie is happy about her friend’s burgeoning romance but less than impressed by Charles’s friend, Will Darcy, who’s snobby and pretentious. Darcy doesn’t seem to like Lizzie either, but she assumes it’s because her family doesn’t have money. Clearly, Will Darcy is a pompous jerk — so why does Lizzie find herself drawn to him anyway?


Will Lizzie’s pride and Will’s prejudice keep them apart? Or are they a prom couple in the making? Whatever the result, Elizabeth Eulberg, author of The Lonely Hearts Club, has concocted a very funny, completely stylish delight for any season — prom or otherwise.


Unearthly
by Cynthia Hand

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 448
Release Date: January 4th 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Buy the Book: Amazon

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.



Choker
by Elizabeth Woods


Format: Hardcover
Pages: 240
Release Date: January 4th 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's
Pre-order: Amazon


What if the only friend you could trust turned out to be dangerous?
A new thriller from debut author Elizabeth Woods!




Forsaken
by Jana Oliver

Format: Paperback
Pages: 420
Release Date: January 7th 2011
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Pre-order: Amazon

Riley has always wanted to be a Demon Trapper like her father, and she's already following in his footsteps as one of the best. But it's tough being the only girl in an all-guy world, especially when three of those guys start making her life more complicated: Simon, the angelic apprentice who has heaven on his side; Beck, the tough trapper who thinks he's God's gift, and Ori, the strikingly sexy stranger who keeps turning up to save her ass. One thing's for sure - if she doesn't keep her wits about her there'll be hell to pay


Across the Universe
by Beth Revis

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 400
Release date: January 11th 2011

Publisher: Razorbill
Pre order: Amazon


Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone--one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship--tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.



Timeless
by Alexandra Monir

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 288
Release Date: January 11th 2011
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Pre-order: Amazon

When tragedy strikes Michele Windsor’s world, she is forced to uproot her life and move across the country to New York City, to live with the wealthy, aristocratic grandparents she’s never met. In their old Fifth Avenue mansion filled with a century’s worth of family secrets, Michele discovers a diary that hurtles her back in time to the year 1910. There, in the midst of the glamorous Gilded Age, Michele meets the young man with striking blue eyes who has haunted her dreams all her life – a man she always wished was real, but never imagined could actually exist. And she finds herself falling for him, into an otherworldly, time-crossed romance.

Michele is soon leading a double life, struggling to balance her contemporary high school world with her escapes into the past. But when she stumbles upon a terrible discovery, she is propelled on a race through history to save the boy she loves – a quest that will determine the fate of both of their lives

Drought
by Pam Bachorz


Format: Hardcover
Pages: 400
Release Date: January 25th 2011
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Pre-order: Amazon

Ruby Prosser dreams of escaping the Congregation and the early-nineteenth century lifestyle that’s been practiced since the community was first enslaved.


She plots to escape the vicious Darwin West, his cruel Overseers, and the daily struggle to gather the life-prolonging Water that keeps the Congregants alive and gives Darwin his wealth and power. But if Ruby leaves, the Congregation will die without the secret ingredient that makes the Water special: her blood.
So she stays.
But when Ruby meets Ford, the new Overseer who seems barely older than herself, her desire for freedom is too strong. He’s sympathetic, irresistible, forbidden—and her only access to the modern world. Escape with Ford would be so simple, but can Ruby risk the terrible price, dooming the only world she’s ever known

What do you want to read or need to read?
Mia