Top Ten Tuesday is an original weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.
This Week’s Theme:
Anticipated Releases During
Second Half of 2016
Initial Thoughts:
Dear Late Summer 2016, Fall 2016, and Early Winter 2016.
…fuck you.
All the best,
Bank Statement
The Thousandth Floor
Reasons: DAT PENTHOUSE LIFE.
New York City as you’ve never seen it before. A thousand-story tower stretching into the sky. A glittering vision of the future, where anything is possible—if you want it enough.
…
And living above everyone else on the thousandth floor is Avery Fuller, the girl genetically designed to be perfect. The girl who seems to have it all—yet is tormented by the one thing she can never have.
Gemina
Reasons: Why am I excited for this book despite not having read Illuminae yet? It’s because I need this book to chill right next my copy of Illuminae. I’m such a hoarder, damnit.
But since all I can really do is prance around this cover. Let’s just talk about the blues. Not sure about the black though but I’m sure it’ll be passable.
[Blurb redacted due to potential spoilers for my sake and yours.]
This Savage Song
Reasons: I’ve heard this book to be a toss-up of terrible and amazing — but I’ll reserve judgment as she is easily rising up in auto-buy status.
Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August’s secret, and after a failed assassination attempt the pair must flee for their lives.
Crooked Kingdom
Reasons: WYLAN POV. KAZINEJ SHIP FEELS. JESPER HUMOUR. SQUAD GOALS. FUCK.
[Blurb redacted due to potential spoilers for your sake.]
Boy Robot
Reasons: Because I’m a sucker for SF-F dystopian fiction.
There once was a boy who was made, not created.
In a single night, Isaak’s life changed forever.
His adoptive parents were killed, a mysterious girl saved him from a team of soldiers, and he learned of his own dark and destructive origin.
An origin he doesn’t want to believe, but one he cannot deny.
Ever The Hunted (Summerill)
Reasons: I already ship the mentioned names in the blurb. I’m such trash LOL.
Seventeen year-old Britta Flannery is at ease only in the woods with her dagger and bow. She spends her days tracking criminals alongside her father, the legendary bounty hunter for the King of Malam—that is, until her father is murdered. Now outcast and alone and having no rights to her father’s land or inheritance, she seeks refuge where she feels most safe: the Ever Woods. When Britta is caught poaching by the royal guard, instead of facing the noose she is offered a deal: her freedom in exchange for her father’s killer.
However, it’s not so simple.
The alleged killer is none other than Cohen McKay, her father’s former apprentice. The only friend she’s ever known. The boy she once loved who broke her heart.
A Shadow Bright and Burning (Cluess)
Reasons: “When I grow up…I want to combust into flames!” Said no one ever.
Henrietta Howel can burst into flames.
Forced to reveal her power to save a friend, she’s shocked when instead of being executed, she’s invited to train as one of Her Majesty’s royal sorcerers.
Vassa in the Night (Porter)
Reasons: Dude, what? MC has a talking doll companion. A. Talking. Doll. (Granted, I get the heebie jeebies to anything porcelain-doll-like BUT WHATEVER IT’S ON OUR SIDE AND NOT SOME EVIL POSSESSED THING FROM THE UNDERWORLD.)
In the enchanted kingdom of Brooklyn, the fashionable people put on cute shoes, go to parties in warehouses, drink on rooftops at sunset, and tell themselves they’ve arrived. A whole lot of Brooklyn is like that now—but not Vassa’s working-class neighborhood. In Vassa’s neighborhood, where she lives with her stepmother and bickering stepsisters, one might stumble onto magic, but stumbling out again could become an issue. Babs Yagg, the owner of the local convenience store, has a policy of beheading shoplifters—and sometimes innocent shoppers as well. So when Vassa’s stepsister sends her out for light bulbs in the middle of night, she knows it could easily become a suicide mission.
Mark of the Plague (Sands)
Reasons: The Blackthorn Key is legit one of my top 2015 reads. And I need me more of my pigeon feels. AND I SWEAR TO GOD IF THIS BRIDGET (PIDGEON) DIES I WILL DESTROY YOU SIMON AND SCHUSTER.
The Black Death has returned to London, spreading disease and fear through town. A mysterious prophet predicts the city’s ultimate doom—until an unknown apothecary arrives with a cure that actually works. Christopher’s Blackthorn shop is chosen to prepare the remedy. But when an assassin threatens the apothecary’s life, Christopher and his faithful friend Tom are back to hunting down the truth, risking their lives to untangle the heart of a dark conspiracy.
Scythe (Schusterman)
Reasons: This book better be light years better than Messenger of Fear (Grant) because it has almost the same type of idea and I ripped MoF to shreds.
In a world where disease has been eliminated, the only way to die is to be randomly killed (“gleaned”) by professional reapers (“scythes”). Citra and Rowan are teenagers who have been selected to be scythe’s apprentices, and—despite wanting nothing to do with the vocation—they must learn the art of killing and come to understand the necessity of what they do.
Three Dark Crowns (Blake)
Reasons: This book reiterates my love for competitions. Damnit, wallet, stop it.
Every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born: three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.
But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins. The last queen standing gets the crown.
The Diabolic (Kincaid)
Reasons: Notwithstanding this “RED QUEEN” meets “HUNGER GAMES” nonsense, it sounds solid because SPACE OPERA. When’s the last time I read one of thooooose?
A Diabolic is ruthless. A Diabolic is powerful. A Diabolic has a single task: Kill in order to protect the person you’ve been created for.
Nemesis is a Diabolic, a humanoid teenager created to protect a galactic senator’s daughter, Sidonia. The two have grown up side by side, but are in no way sisters. Nemesis is expected to give her life for Sidonia, and she would do so gladly. She would also take as many lives as necessary to keep Sidonia safe.
Replica (Oliver)
Reasons: 10/10 blurb writing A+ would read again. Not even going to include the cover because the blurb is so good.
Strange the Dreamer is the story of:
the aftermath of a war between gods and men
a mysterious city stripped of its name
a mythic hero with blood on his hands
a young librarian with a singular dream
a girl every bit as perilous as she is imperiled
alchemy and blood candy, nightmares and godspawn, moths and monsters, friendship and treachery, love and carnage.Welcome to Weep.
Metaltown (Simmons)
Reasons: Potential love triangle aside (read the full blurb and not my excerpt below), it sounds so dirty and atmospheric. Like…a dirty because I’m out working all day dirty; a fun in the sun kind of dirty. Not like sexy times dirty or unhygenic–YOU KNOW WHAT? WHATEVER. JUST READ THE BLURB.
Metaltown, where factories rule, food is scarce, and hope is in short supply.
The rules of Metaltown are simple: Work hard, keep your head down, and watch your back. You look out for number one, and no one knows that better than Ty. She’s been surviving on the factory line as long as she can remember. But now Ty has Colin. She’s no longer alone; it’s the two of them against the world. That’s something even a town this brutal can’t take away from her. Until it does.
Last Seen Leaving (Roehrig)
Reasons: So you read the blurb and think “okay, contemporary thriller” then you check the side genre classification and see LGBT…and now you are intrigued. I’m a wizard.
Flynn’s girlfriend, January, is missing. The cops are asking questions he can’t answer, and her friends are telling stories that don’t add up. All eyes are on Flynn—as January’s boyfriend, he must know something.
But Flynn has a secret of his own. And as he struggles to uncover the truth about January’s disappearance, he must also face the truth about himself.
Afterthoughts:
Oh shit I went to 15…
Cheers,
Joey
connect:
afterthoughtAn // twitter
anotherafterthought // goodreads
picturevomit // instagram
I cannot wait for Gemina– let’s hope it’s as good as Illuminae! (which you should definitely read ASAP) I think this is actually the first time I’ve read the blurb for This Savage Song, even though I’ve been eagerly awaiting its release. At this point, I figure that anything written by V.E. Schwab has to be good! 🙂
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These all sound so good. Especially Ever the Hunted and This Savage Song.
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The power of curiousity is strong at The Savage Song. Look how weird it is!
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I haven’t read Illuminae yet either, but I know I am going to want Gemina LOL! I haven’t read Six of Crows yet, but I also know I am going to be dying to get Crooked Kingdom after I do read it. I have Ever the Hunted on my list. I need it and mostly because the cover is so damn pretty! It sounds so good too though, 😛 and The Diabolic tooooooo! I loved Red Queen (still can’t bring myself to read Glass Sword though lol – everyone has me nervous about this) and the Hunger Games, so I am dying to see how this is going to turn out.
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Oh my bank statement is not going to thank you for this post! Ever the Hunted, Three Dark Crowns and The Thousandth Floor sound amazing :O Here’s my TTT!
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Cool, some of our books overlap. I think the cover A Shadow Bright and Burning is so beautiful…I WANT IT NOW, LOL.
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Gemina! Gemina! Ahhh! I want it so bad! 😀
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Totally feeling you on Gemina, I haven’t read the first either yet I want the sequel! Oh the crazy hoarding urges!
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Hey, no worries–I definitely went over 10 too! We have quite a few in common like A Shadow Bright and Burning and Ever the Hunted. I haven’t read Illuminae either but I really should get on that! I vaguely remember hearing about Metaltown here and there on Twitter but I haven’t heard too much.
Thanks for stopping by Princessica of Books!
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All fantasy. Bah. I just ordered Savage Song. Whoop.
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I draw the line at talking dolls! Boy Robot sounds pretty awesome though…because that’s totally different…right!? That Thousandth Floor one sounds pretty epic too – not seen that before.
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Love the intro! Those books look really interesting!
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Personally, I’m really enjoying This Savage Song. It’s not a blow your mind book but it’s still fun and as always has an abundance of morally ambiguous characters.
Gemina. The fact that it has my favourite shades of blue on the cover give it brownie points. I can’t wait for that book.
Your initial thoughts basically summed up my bank account for the rest of the year. Why must things be so costly!!
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Oh YES, The Thousandth Floor, I definitely want to read that one.
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Three Dark Crowns and The Thousandth Floor definitely!!
I adore their covers as well!
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I love your Initial thoughts, I think my wallet said something similar. I can’t wait for Gemina and this Savage Song!
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OMG, will there be a Wylan POV in Crooked Kingdom?? Or are you just hoping for that? 0-o
Whoa, Boy Robot sounds like it could be really good. I’m not usually a sci-fi reader, but I’d like to try that.
A talking-doll sidekick could be awesome, but super creepy at the same time. I like the sound of that!
And finally, I almost added Scythe to mine, too! But I wanted to keep it to 10, heh. Really curious about that one.
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Oh man, so many books I didn’t know about. I want them all.
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You have books on your list that I completely forgot about! The second half of 2016 better not let me down with amazing books… Great list!
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Definitely would like a copy of the Schwab book.
Lynn 😀
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I want Boy Robot so bad! I don’t want to get my hopes up too high though. Low expectations are always best right? Haha
Great list Joey!
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You have some really great picks! I really need to sit down and read Illuminae. I’ve never read anything by Neil Shusterman but Scythe looks interesting! I’m adding a few of these to my TBR 👌🏼😁
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Reading the blurb for Last Seen Leaving really sparked my interest! It sounds good. I’m also with you on Gemina. I own Iluminae, but haven’t gotten to it yet. But together on a shelf they’d be gorgeous!
Oh, and I think Crooked Kingdom wins the lists today. It’s EVERYWHERE!
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We’ve got quite an overlap between our lists this week but The Thousandth Floor sounds SO CRAZY AMAZING. How have I not heard of this book before? The reviews on Goodreads seem a bit mixed (3.88 this early in the game, hmmm) but the concept is super fun. 😛
And Last Seen Leaving! I have an ARC for it and I’m hoping it lives up to the intrigue. I don’t think I’ve actually read a YA contemporary thriller before…
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Scythe was on my list this week too.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2016/06/14/top-ten-tuesday-61/
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So. Much. Fantasy… So. Many. Books. To. Add. To. TBR.
No, for real. Some of these sound so fucking perfect. I don’t even really know what the Thousandth Floor is about, but do I want it? Yes.
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Yes to Scythe! I’m totally gaga over that cover. I haven’t heard of Boy Robot, but it does sound like an interest science fiction novel.
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A Shadow Bright and Burning I’ve seen around a lot in the last few weeks. The cover looks mighty interesting. Great list.
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Looks like everyone wants to get their hands on Gemina. 🙂 Last Seen Leaving intrigued me, sounds good. Maybe I will add it to my TBR pile.
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Oh this reminds me I need to read The Blackthorn Key…
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That metaltown cover looks so steampunk. I love steampunk. Will be checking that one out.
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LOLOL. I was scrolling down and went, “huh this sure is a long list for ten books,” then I read that you went to 15. Good luck with that!
Totally forgot about Scythe so I’m adding that to my to-buy list. I have faith on Shusterman, more than I have on Grant anyway (imo, Gone >> BZRK > MoF > Eve and Adam) although Front Lines was great.
Also, WYLAN! 😀
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The Thousandth Floor looks SO good!
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Your initial thoughts are the same thing my bank account is going to be screaming at me soon, I can always sense the massive amount of money Amazon will be taking from me in the next few months.
But oh I’ve seen The Thousandth Floor around a but recently and I just added it to my to-read list, it actually looks really amazing. Pretty much everything you’ve picked this week is a book I can’t wait to get my hands on (hence my screaming bank account!)
Great picks for this week! 😀
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Great pick! This is the first time I heard of The Thousandth Floor and I’m intrigued. Will definitely check it out when it comes out 🙂
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YAS THIS SAVAGE SONG WHAAAAT UPPPPPP
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I swear to God I must live under a rock because there are only a select few of these that I’ve heard of. However, I’m right there with you on Gemina, except I have the opposite problem. I have an ARC for Gemina (they had leftovers at BookCon and who can resist FREE books???), but I have yet to read Illuminae. I have a copy of it staring me in the face though.
Ever the Hunted, Mark of the Plague, and Vassa in the Night sound really intriguing though. (I mean, they all do but those stood out.)
Great list!
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Great list! Gemina is definitely on top of my list. I’m also excited for Ever the Hunted and Vassa in the Night! I don’t know the authors but the blurb seemed SO interesting and I hope it turns out awesome! 😀
My TTT : https://pupuutc.wordpress.com/2016/06/14/top-10-tuesday-most-anticipated-releases-for-the-2nd-half-of-2016/
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My feelings on The Savage Song are… mixed. It’s my least favourite Victoria Schwab because I feel like she rehashed things she has done before and done better in ADSOM and Vicious… I am in the minority, though.
I never got into Illuminae so I am not really feeling Gemina. But I need Vassa in the Night because omg cover. Crooked Kingdoms because all my babies MUST BE OK GODAMNIT.
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This Savage Song and A Shadow Bright and Burning seem to be a couple of top picks for the rest of the year. I’m excited for a lot of books, but mostly Empire of Storms and Strange the Dreamer.
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Soooooo many new books to add to my TBR. ::D
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I’m anticipating quite a few of these, too! Especially Vassa in the Night, since I’ve read a lot of books with Baba Yaga as a character, or inspired by Baba Yaga stories before, but this is the first time I’ve seen a book based on Vasilisa the Beautiful 😀
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