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Showing posts with label Susan Dennard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Susan Dennard. Show all posts

Friday, April 5, 2013

Fantastic Five: 2013 Sequels

Fantastic Five is a new-ish feature at The Hiding Spot! These posts will always feature five of something - whether it be forthcoming novels, favorite authors, books with a common theme, or newly released covers. 
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Sky on Fire by Emmy Laybourne (Monument 14 #2)
Feiwel & Friends/5.28.2013 

The world hasn't ended...yet.

In this sequel to MONUMENT 14, the group of survivors, originally trapped together in a superstore by a series of escalating disasters, has split in two. Most of the kids are making a desperate run on their recently repaired school bus for the Denver airport where they hope to reunite with their parents, be evacuated to safety, and save their dying friend. 

But the world outside is dark and filled with dangerous chemicals that turn people into bloodthirsty monsters, and not all the kids were willing to get on the bus. Left behind in a sanctuary that has already been disturbed once, the remaining kids try to rebuild the community they lost. But when the issues are life and death, love and hate, who can you really trust?
A Darkness Strange and Lovely by Susan Dennard
HarperTeen/7.23.13
Following an all-out battle with the walking Dead, the Spirit Hunters have fled Philadelphia, leaving Eleanor alone to cope with the devastating aftermath. But there’s more trouble ahead—the evil necromancer Marcus has returned, and his diabolical advances have Eleanor escaping to Paris to seek the help of Joseph, Jie, and the infuriatingly handsome Daniel once again. When she arrives, however, she finds a whole new darkness lurking in this City of Light. As harrowing events unfold, Eleanor is forced to make a deadly decision that will mean life or death for everyone.

Unbreakable by Elizabeth Norris (Unraveling #2)
Balzer + Bray/4.23.13

Four months after Ben disappeared through the portal to his home universe, Janelle believes she’ll never see him again. Her world is still devastated, but life is finally starting to resume some kind of normalcy. Until Interverse Agent Taylor Barclay shows up. Somebody from an alternate universe is running a human trafficking ring, kidnapping people and selling them on different Earths—and Ben is the prime suspect. Now his family has been imprisoned and will be executed if Ben doesn’t turn himself over within five days.

And when Janelle learns that someone she cares about—someone from her own world—has become one of the missing, she knows that she has to help Barclay, regardless of the danger. Now Janelle has five days to track down the real culprit. Five days to locate the missing people before they’re lost forever. Five days to reunite with the boy who stole her heart. But as the clues begin to add up, Janelle realizes that she’s in way over her head—and that she may not have known Ben as well as she thought. Can she uncover the truth before everyone she cares about is killed?

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
Henry Holt & Company/6.4.13

Darkness never dies.

Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. But she can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.

The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her–or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.


Curtsies and Conspiracies by Gail Carriger
Little, Brown BFYR/11.5.13

Does one need four fully grown foxgloves for decorating a dinner table for six guests? Or is it six foxgloves to kill four fully grown guests?

Sophronia's first year at Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality has certainly been rousing! For one thing, finishing school is training her to be a spy (won't Mumsy be surprised?). Furthermore, Sophronia got mixed up in an intrigue over a stolen device and had a cheese pie thrown at her in a most horrid display of poor manners.

Now, as she sneaks around the dirigible school, eavesdropping on the teachers' quarters and making clandestine climbs to the ship's boiler room, she learns that there may be more to a school trip to London than is apparent at first. A conspiracy is afoot--one with dire implications for both supernaturals and humans. Sophronia must rely on her training to discover who is behind the dangerous plot-and survive the London Season with a full dance card.

In this sequel to bestselling author Gail Carriger's YA debut Etiquette & Espionage, class is back in session with more petticoats and poison, tea trays and treason. Gail's distinctive voice, signature humor, and lush steampunk setting are sure to be the height of fashion this season
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There are so many great sequels releasing in the upcoming weeks and months! What sequels and series continuations are you waiting for??

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Review: Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

The year is 1876, and there’s something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia…

Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about. Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks by. But this is nothing compared to what she’s just read in the newspaper—  
The Dead are rising in Philadelphia.  
And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor…from her brother.

Whoever is controlling the Dead army has taken her brother as well. If Eleanor is going to find him, she’ll have to venture into the lab of the notorious Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces. But as Eleanor spends more time with the Spirit-Hunters, including their maddeningly stubborn yet handsome inventor, Daniel, the situation becomes dire. And now, not only is her reputation on the line, but her very life may hang in the balance.
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Susan Dennard's Something Strange and Deadly has catapulted itself onto my 2012 list of favorites. With a hint of romance, creepy zombies, voodoo, steampunk inventions, and unique, memorable characters, how could you not fall in love with this book?

One of the most defining aspects of Something Strange and Deadly was the main characters. Eleanor herself is full of spunk and sass, but then we add the three spirit-hunters to the mix and things really start getting interesting. They introduce Eleanor to whole world she wasn't aware existed and it's obvious that she'll never be the same again. 

The setting, 1876 Philadelphia, was perfect. Eleanor's adventures occur during the Centennial Exhibition - an exciting time in it's own right, but downright craziness with zombies flash mobbing the exhibits unexpectedly. I never felt that there was a dull moment in this book... Eleanor and the Spirit-Hunters were either fighting off zombies or trying to figure out why the zombies were attacking in the first place. There wasn't much time to take tea and relax, they had a city to save.

There is a touch of romance within Something Strange and Deadly's pages as well. It definitely isn't the focal point, but I found myself focusing on it... Daniel and Eleanor are both incredibly stubborn and come from entirely different worlds, so there conversation is never boring and always entertaining. I look forward to seeing if Dennard develops there relationship into something more than friends with possibility of more... I'd be interested in seeing how they handle the more.

This first installment ended on an interesting note, so I'm a bit anxious to get my hands on book two. Eleanor quickly became one of my favorite heroines and I will faithfully follow her into her next adventure... and I wouldn't mind seeing all the Spirit-Hunters again either!

HarperTeen, July 2012, Hardcover, ISBN: 9780062083265, 388 pages.



Check out the book trailer for Something Strange and Deadly below: