***The Tales Compendium blog is currently on hiatus. However you can still following along via the Instagram feed!***

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Done!

And......they're done!

You may have noticed my lack of posts recently. This has been due to a self-imposed ban of reading and reviewing as I finished my final assignments for my university units.

But it's now official. I handed in my last two assignments this morning so I now have six whole weeks of freedom and I plan on spending my time catching up on my massive TBR pile (see below) and finally giving The Tale Compendium a long awaited makeover!

Just some of the books I have to get through out of six TBR shelves!

I'm looking forward to once again immersing myself in the wonderful book blogosphere. Oh how I have missed thee!

Jess xx

Friday, May 11, 2012

The Industry by Rose Foster

Title: The Industry
Author: Rose Foster

Release Date: 20th March 2012

My Rating: 3/5

Blurb:
Kirra Hayward is an ordinary sixteen year old - smarter than most, but otherwise completely anonymous. When she solves an unusual decrypting puzzle on the internet to fill in a moment of boredom at school, she has no idea of what she's letting herself in for.

Kidnapped by a shadowy organisation of mercenaries known only as The Industry, Kirra soon discovers how valuable her code-breaking skills are. And when she stubbornly refuses to help them, they decide to break her ... by any means at their disposal.

Kirra knows that to protect herself, she must trust no one, not even her fellow prisoner, Milo. But as time goes by she wonders if he is the only person she can rely on.

In A Nutshell:
Kirra’s in a no-win situation. She struggles with the moral dilemmas that are put in front of her and tries to pick the lesser of two evils. But can she live with herself over the choices she makes? Part psychological thriller, part espionage conspiracy, I look forward to seeing what direction Foster will take in the sequel.

My Review:
Unlike a lot of teen crime style books, Kirra isn’t a spy. She has, quite seriously, been kidnapped. We’re not talking about a nice kidnapper, who lets her watch TV and sleep in a relatively comfy room until her parents pay a ransom. No, for Kirra, there is no ransom; money can’t buy what Kirra can offer. She spends her days in a freezing cold cell, with a metal toilet, 24/7 guards, supervised showers, meals if the guards remember, and torture if she doesn’t comply with her kidnapper, Latham’s, requests. She suffers hypothermia and watches the closest person she has to a friend be executed. She’s been transported somewhere overseas and she knows they will never release her. As her incarceration passes six months, her hope and resolve begin to fade away. She’s a long way from her invisible existence back in her quiet Australian suburb.

Kirra’s in a no-win situation. She struggles with the moral dilemmas that are put in front of her and tries to pick the lesser of two evils. But can she live with herself over the choices she makes? I think the sequel is going to be really interesting as Kirra is thrown deeper into The Industry, whether she wants to be or not.

The character of Kirra is an interesting one. I really liked her at the beginning; her feelings of isolation at school and in her family were really sad and not unusual for many teenagers. I really liked her relationship with her brother Mitchell and I hope he is brought back into the story in some way. I personally found Kirra to be less likeable the further the story went on and even though she attempts to stand up for herself, I don’t think she will really come into her own skin until the sequel.

I’d love to find out more about the mysterious Desmond and why he is apparently so infamous. As for Latham, I thought the inclusion of his daughter, Simone, was interesting. Generally bad guys like to keep their families as separate from their dealings as possible, but here, Simone is living metres away from Latham’s prisoners. With Milo, I made assumptions about him from the start and I was glad to see I was correct. The development of Milo and Kirra’s relationship came as no surprise to me. Perhaps I’ve read and seen too many espionage/crime books, TV shows and films to know that bonds are always formed between prisoners. I won’t say any more on the topic as I’m sure many readers will come to different conclusions.

I’m looking forward to seeing which direction Foster will develop the story in. My guess is it will either take an espionage/Cherub series direction, or a more psychological thriller route.

Friday, May 4, 2012

BEA Booklist Announced!

A list has been compiled by Publishers Weekly of the galley's that will be available this year at BEA. It's times likes these that I wish I lived in America!

I thought I would share with you the titles I am most looking forward to this year. And, you know, if anyone wants to get me any of these, that would be beyond awesome ;)

Every Day by David Levithan
(28th August)
A genderless entity named “A” wakes up in a new body each day.

Speechless by Hannah Harrington
(28th August)
A high school gossip loses her queen-bee throne and takes a vow of silence.

Henry Franks by Peter Adam Salomon
(September)
A scarred and motherless teenager discovers his mysterious, horrific past.



Personal Effects by E.M. Kokie
(11th September)
After his older brother dies in Iraq, Matt makes a shocking discovery.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
(18th September)
Mystery, romance, and the supernatural suffuse the first in a new four-book series from the author of the Shiver trilogy.

Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin
(18th September)
This continues the near-future tale of a reluctant young mobster that began with All These Things I’ve Done.



Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
(24th September)
The initial entry in Patterson’s first mystery series for teens finds a wealthy girl accused of killing her parents.

The Infects by Sean Beaudoin
(25th September)
This follows a group of juvenile delinquents into the wilderness, where their counsellors turn into flesh-eating zombies.

Zom-B by Darren Shan
(27th September)
A series confronting issues of racism, religion, politics, and more – against the backdrop of a zombie invasion.

Poison Princess by Kresley Cole
(2nd October)
The first YA novel from the author of the Immortals After Dark series (and the first in the Arcana Chronicles) concerns a wealthy Louisiana girl whose life is upended by an apocalyptic event.



Endangered by Eliot Schrefer

(1st November)
A girl must save a group of bonobos – and herself – from a violent coup.

Immortal Beloved: Eternally Yours by Cate Tiernan
(6th November)
Former party girl and ancient immortal Nastasya rounds out this series by ending a 450-year-old feud.

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
(18th December)
Ruby must escape from a government-run “rehabilitation camp” for teens with paranormal powers.



Return to Me by Justina Chen
(15th January 2013)
Three months before Rebecca Muir is set to begin college, her father reveals that he’s leaving.

Deviants by Maureen McGowan
(no date)
Book one of the Dust Chronicles is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which a 16-year-old orphan with mutated DNA must protect her younger brother.

*********

So what do you think? Which titles are you looking forward to?

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Preloved by Shirley Marr

Title: Preloved
Author: Shirley Marr

Release Date: 1st April 2012

My Rating: 4/5

Blurb:
If you had a second chance at love, would you do it all over again?

Amy has enough to deal with for one lifetime. A superstitious Chinese mother. A best friend whose mood changes as dramatically as her hair colour. A reputation for being strange. The last thing she needs is to be haunted by someone only she can see.

Logan is a ghost from the Eighties. He could be dangerous. He's certainly annoying.

He might also be Amy's dream boy.

In A Nutshell:
Preloved is a story filled with Chinese superstitions, ghost tales, 80’s fashion, an obsession with The Princess Bride and quotes from Labyrinth. It is a story about letting go, reincarnation, letting love in all its forms in, and accepting yourself. A story for the younger YA market although will be adored by those of us who wish we had grown up in the 80’s.

My Review:
Amy doesn’t want to get caught up in stereotypes. She shuns most people, trying to avoid being associated with the other Asian students in the ‘Minority Group’. Ironically, her best and only friend Rebecca also attempts to shun stereotypes but is possibly the biggest one of all. Amy believes she would have fitted in much better had she grown up in the 80’s and while she loves being friends with Rebecca, she pretends that she doesn’t have a problem with always being in her shadow. She shuts everyone out in an attempt not to end up hurt like her mum did after her parents divorced.

When the ghost of Logan, a teenage boy from the 80’s appears out of an old locket, Amy is at first frustrated by the belief that Rebecca was supposed to find the locket, but later grows attached to Logan and his endless 80’s infused commentary and fascination with new technology. As usual, Amy is too preoccupied dealing with Rebecca and her admirers, and this new found ghost only she can see, to realise she may just have an admirer of her own.

I loved the references to 80’s movies (The Breakfast Club, Never Ending Story, Labyrinth, The Princess Bride) and music (Boy George, Michael Jackson, Kylie Minogue and Icehouse) as well as mix tapes, which, as someone who used to make these before CD’s took over, I miss the effort it took to create such a collection and the meaning behind them!

I was also excited to find a reference to Etsy that was slipped in, as well as my favourite David Levithan book. There were also some character similarities to Lane from TV’s Gilmore Girls, another of my favourites!

Preloved is a story filled with Chinese superstitions, ghost tales, 80’s fashion, an obsession with The Princess Bride and quotes from Labyrinth. It is a story about letting go, reincarnation, letting love in all its forms in, and accepting yourself. A story for the younger YA market although will be adored by those of us who wish we had grown up in the 80’s.

And as a side note, this cover is stunning! I think it has to be one of my favourite YA covers of the year!
Thankyou to Walker Books for this review copy.
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