ramblings of the perpetual new girl

Joe Benitez makes steampunk aesthetic come to life in a gritty, urban fantastic world featuring a kick-butt female lead. Of course, this lead struggles with identity and past and memory loss. It's a sci-fi treat, plotty and pretty. REVIEW:   Steampunk aesthetics influenced me greatly growing up because of my love of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen , Sherlock Holmes and Gaslight Novels. It is no surprise, one of my favorite Cons to attend is Dragon*Con given its elaborate grouping of steampunk enthusiasts and their top-notch, quality workmanship. Which is why, to some degree, I consider myself a bit of an expert in noticing niche, stand-out steampunk art.   In Joe Benitez's artwork, steampunk gets a gritty make-over... not enough for it to be classified cyber or industrial punk, but it is a fine-edged, Victorian combination that works great and makes for a highly attractive, kick-butt lady heroine. I adore how overly large the coloring pages feel with a lot of white s...

If you haven't had the chance to see it... Perpetual New Girls are gaping over this cover of the The Illustrated Edition of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Not sure if we like it or not, actually. What about you all? Yay or Nay? Pottermore unveiled the cover along with some inside illustrations that look more like what we expect from illustrator, Jim Kay. We do adore the Knight Bus though. Maybe once we get to see it in person, it will seem more impressive. This third book in the illustrated set will find its way into stores on October 3rd of this year and will feature over 115 new graphic illustrations and be translated into over 21 languages around the world! 

If you don’t remember the first stories of the  Heavy Influence  series, the scoop on all the books and where you can find them is HERE . The worry I believe most readers right now seem to be having is will we get that happy ending?! Life doesn't come with cut and dry answers, so why should romance? Because that's what readers are seeking out from such stories. Frohoff might be a big fan of open-ended; however, she has promised that the Heavy Influence series will end in a way that readers can walk away ... Happy! I like the quote that love is not always enough… however, there are many people who believe love conquers all. Spoilers possibly but which do you think Jake and Aly are headed towards — heartbreak or a happy ending?  Haha…hmmmm. I’m not a happy ending kind of person. I love stories that leave things open ended and force you to conclude for yourself. I know most people hate that…so I’m not going to do that to my readers. It’s going to be a happy ending,...

Some people write and write and the words they write come out fantastical. As if they’ve actually been transported to the place and time of their choice and come back as primary sources — eyewitnesses with first hand accounts of these new universes and the heroes that inhabit them — and they are the story-tellers of the future because of it. Archivists of fantasy and escapism and the brilliant spark of imagination that powers publishing today. Beth Revis  is one such powerhouse talent. She plots stories with checkmate endings, the type where you cannot safely predict if the lead character will indeed make it but you sure as heck hope so. The balance of power tips too often for surety though. If perchance, you’re the type of reader to care, immersing yourself in books without sparing a thought of the genius behind it; prepare to come out scathed to the core. Your insides exposed, scorched and tears streaking your cheeks. It won’t be a pretty sight, but you will sur...

Having had the opportunity to meet this lovely author and hear her speak surrounded by other amazing authors, I finally went looking for what's next on her list. This book looks to be right up my alley given that it is being touted as Mulan (my fave Disney film) meets Tamora Pierce (easily my fave YA author of all time!!!) on Amazon. Who went a bit delirious at that description?! DETAILS: Title:  Flame in the Mist Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers Publishing date:  May 2, 2017 Author(s):  Renée Ahdieh Series: Stand Alone (for now) EXCERPT: The daughter of a prominent samurai, Mariko has long known her place—she may be an accomplished alchemist, whose cunning rivals that of her brother Kenshin, but because she is not a boy, her future has always been out of her hands. At just seventeen years old, Mariko is promised to Minamoto Raiden, the son of the emperor's favorite consort—a political marriage that will elevate her fam...

Veronica Roth skyrocketed to book fame with her vividly compelling  ‘Divergent’  trilogy. Now a movie starring some of the most popular actors of this era, Roth watched her written worlds come to life on-screen. Huge and overwhelming, her life upturned from quiet to celebrity overnight, but she has stayed busy. ParnassusNext sent me a published sneak peek of Carve the Mark this week with my subscription book ( This Savage Song ) and reminded me of the brilliance of this book coming. I adore the character interaction already. Have you read the excerpt from EW? EW announced  the title and revealed the cover for  Carve the Mark ! It will be the first of two books. A sic-fi duology, with a hero and heroine leading the narration. Cyra and Akos might come from two very individual worlds, separated in a caste society; but they are destined to become unexpected allies. Neither present with a currentgift (unique powers to affect the future that everyone is meant to r...

So many of my favorite series come to an end this year! The third book of the "Young Elites" series - The Midnight Star - though, it is definitely one of my most anticipated "the end" reads. When Marie Lu unveiled the cover, the sensation that coming was a definitive closing to this story and that it will be painful. Even she was surprised by how much changed from start to finish in her completion of The Midnight Star , her keen sense of saying goodbye felt momentous to her. (queue symphonic sad song) Lu posted this quote, which… what?! Break my heart, why don’t you?! Oh God, there will be sobbing no doubt when I finally finish this book. “Teren smiles at me. His voice echoes in the chamber, low and smoky. ‘Mi Adelinetta.’ ” — The Midnight Star When Lu spoke to  Mashable  about the ending, she didn’t hesitate to talk about her style of writing off the cuff. I have also talked to her about this way of writing and how sometimes it even throws her o...

I've received three books of five that Melissa de la Cruz will release in 2016. She and her husband, Michael Johnston, put out the last novel in the  Heart of Dread  series –  Golden  – and fans are calling it an “epic conclusion.” On the same day,  Surviving High School , which de la Cruz penned along with social media mega-star Lele Pons found a spot on bookstore shelves. But there’s still more awesome to come! May 24th, de la Cruz put out  Return to the Isle of the Lost , the  Descendants  sequel finding its way to the public and already taking up space on my daughter's shelf. Her new YA contemporary novel,  Something in Between , which launches a new Seventeen magazine imprint with HarlequinTEEN, comes out on September 27th, and  Double Eclipse , the sequel to  Triple Moon  in the  Summer on East End  YA series, out November 8th. If that were not enough to keep de la Cruz busy, she is an active plan...