Forged cover art revealed

I totally fell in love with Erin Bowman and the world she created in Taken when it came out last year and one thing that clinched it for me was the stunning cover... Fast forward 12 months and the cover for Frozen, the second book in the trilogy had me all over again and whilst I haven't read it yet, it is on the tbr pile and I cannot wait to get around to it.

But now Erin has unveiled the cover for Forged, the third and final book in the trilogy and boy is it a stunner!! Check it out!

WOW! Right? Isn't it beautiful? I love the colours, the reflection and the fact that it matches the other 2! I love love love love love it and I cannot wait to see what happens in the book when it comes out next April!

Bravo HarperCollins on designing yet another stunning cover! 

Taken Novella due February 2014 - Cover revealed!

I've run on and on and on and on about Taken by Erin Bowman. Both on twitter, my review (which can be found here) was a massive gushfest and I am so excited to read the second book, Frozen which is due next April so the news that there is going to be a novella set in the Taken world has me one very happy and excited boy! 

Stolen will be published on 4th February (and I have it straight from Erin it will be released in the UK at the same time too, thank heavens because I couldn't wait a second longer than I already have to!) and the cover is so beautiful, just like those of the main books in the trilogy...

AHHHHH! Just look at it. So beautiful. It's a shame Kindles don't have colour screens but it'll still look epic!

A brief synopsis has also been released to whet the appetites of those ravenous readers like me who can't wait to read it...

"Before Gray Weathersby uncovered the truth about Claysoot and the Laicos Project, a girl named Bree came of age in the coastal settlement of Saltwater—and made her own surprising journey to the world beyond its borders. In Stolen,discover the story of Bree’s life before she was Snatched from her home, before she joined the rebellion, and before she met a boy named Gray…"

I for one shall be sat with my Kindle in hand come release day just waiting for it to download!

Frozen cover released!!!

Earlier this year, a novel was published in the US of A that I loved loved loved the idea of so much that I just had to get a copy shipped over, even though I'd gotten a digital arc from the US publisher - thank goodness for the wonder that is The Book Depository - it was just so darn awesome looking. I mean that cover. Eeeep. That book was Erin Bowman's Taken, and it was a stunner and well worth the wait.

So cue my exitement to learn this is a trilogy and book 2 is out next year. We already know it's called Frozen, and that it comes out next April, but this week Erin unveiled the cover art and boy is it a beauty!

Wow-eee... Right?! I mean look at it. It's beautiful. I love that they're sticking with the same style and if this is improvement they've made from book 1 to book 2 what on earth is the cover for book 3 going to look like? I can't even begin to imagine for fear my brain might explode!

I really cannot wait to read this as I loved Taken so much. If you live in the UK like me, I urge you to get a copy - they're available on the Book Depo, free postage, and I believe on Amazon as well - and if you live in the US and haven't read it yet, pop along to your nearest book store. It really is a great, refreshing and addictive read!

Roll on 2014!

Title for Taken 2 is unveiled...

I for one adored Taken the first book in the (well...) Taken trilogy (I think it's a trilogy, it's a trilogy right? Correct me if I'm wrong please...) by Erin Bowman and I have been anticipating news on the second book ever since! If you haven't read Taken yet, you need to right this wrong right away, and why not check out my review (which can be found here) if you need any more persuading...

Well just moments ago, I got my wish. Erin herself has just unveiled the title for book 2! ARGH! Without further ado it is...

Oh man I love it. I cannot wait. She also revealed the official publication date. Mark 15th April 2014 in your diaries, calendars  smartphones or whatever else it is you use to mark important dates!

If you're in America you can get Taken right now at all book shops. If not, and you're from the UK like me, or elsewhere, why not check out The Book Depository? Free delivery world wide folks! That's where I got my hardback from and it was super cheap. I'll pop the link down below!

What do you think of the title? Are you going to read Frozen? Taken first though, yeah?!

Buy Taken from The Book Depository

Taken by Erin Bowman [Review]

Written by: Erin Bowman.

Published by: HarperCollins.

Format: Hardback.

Released: 16th April 2013.

Rating: /5.

Official synopsis: "There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone. They call it the Heist. Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive. Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?"

If ever there is a book that is just screaming out to be made into an action-packed, Hollywood blockbuster, then here it is. Taken is a heart-pounding, nerve-racking, mind blowing roller-coaster of emotions, action, battles and a kiss or two.

At present, this book does not have a UK publisher (something that needs to change right this instant) and I was lucky enough to get an eARC for my Kindle thanks to the awesome Harper US team on Edelweiss and I was so so so excited to read it. I did hold off a little but but the temptation finally got the better of me and I just had to start it. 

And boy did I fall head over heels for this book. The writing is so clear, so crisp and so engaging that I was right there in Claysoot with Gray, Blaine and co as they prepared for Blaine's heist. Blaine is Gray's older brother, and we meet them on Blaine's eighteenth birthday. Everyone knows that all the boys are heisted when they turn eighteen. Nothing can stop it. No one knows where they go. No one knows what happens to them or if they live beyond the heist itself. It is just one of life's mysteries. But soon after Blaine is gone, questions start to spring up in Gray's mind, a year younger than his brother, he is tired of waiting. He wants answers. And Gray doesn't have the patience to sit around and wait for the answers to come to him - he's impulsive and goes to the answers himself. But that means climbing the Wall. Everyone that has ever done it before has died. But when Gray finds out that all is not as it seems and that he has missed his own heist, can he survive beyond the confines of the wall as well?

I'm going to say it. I love Gray. He is just... GAH! Amazing. He's impulsive, rash, dark and brooding. He's just a brilliant, brilliant main character, main protagonist. His voice is so right and guides you smoothly through the world in which the characters live in. I don't want to give much away but this book is so twisty and tightly wound that anything I could say could give things away...

Everything about Taken is so vivid. From the stunning cover you can see above, to the imagery and the contrast between Claysoot and Taem (wait till you get to Taem...) and the two completely different worlds in which they live was fascinating. I'd find myself querying my own mind. Wait... a minute ago they were all using bows and arrows and didn't have electricity... and now there are light bulbs .. huge screens... guns... Oh... yeah! Duh, did you not just read that last bit... As you were. It's just so cool and something that made this a fun read as well.

Something that has struck me is that there are few books that fall under the dystopian genre that are narrated by a guy... And this was refreshing. In a world of Katniss, Triss and co, we needed a Gray in there to shake things up, throw something new into the mix, and thankfully Taken has answered our prayers.

The other characters besides the swoon-worthy Gray are well balanced too. Emma - Gray feels for her but doesn't want to get too close, a result of the way life is back in Claysoot, he doesn't want to have to leave. Blaine - the big brother who is always looking out for his kid brother, making sure he is okay over himself. And Bree - the rebel who Gray is drawn to.

Full of sacrifice, heartache, questions that demand answers - I just cannot explain just how much I love this book. Like I am already having withdrawal symptoms and I didn't finish the book even an hour ago! I need Book Two now. Like right now. I need to see what happens next. I just need it for my sanity. 2014 is a very, very long way away. I might just go into hibernation... That sounds like a very good plan to me!

Just get this book, at any and all costs - you will not be disappointed!

2013: Books of Interest (Part 2)

I did, rather shamefully, miss a title I can't wait for from February but the post got so long... Anyway... Fragments by Dan Wells is the sequel to this years amazing Partials. A book I adored and I cannot wait to see just what happens next...

"Kira Walker has found the cure for RM, but the battle for the survival of humans and Partials is only just beginning. Kira has left East Meadow in a desperate search for clues as to who she is. That the Partials themselves hold the cure for RM in their blood cannot be a coincidence-it must be part of a larger plan, a plan that Kira knows she is a part of, a plan that could save both races. Her allies are Afa Demoux, an unhinged drifter and former employee of ParaGen, and Samm and Heron, the Partials who betrayed her and saved her life, the only ones who know her secret. But can she trust them?

Meanwhile, back on Long Island, what's left of humanity is gearing up for war with the Partials, and Marcus knows his only hope is to delay them until Kira returns. But Kira's journey will take her deep into the overgrown wasteland of postapocalyptic America, and they will both discover that their greatest enemy may be one they didn't even know existed.

The middle installment in the pulse-pounding Partials saga is the story of the eleventh hour of humanity's time on earth, a journey deep into places unknown to discover the means-and even more important, a reason-for our survival."

MARCH sees the release of a book that I am so excited about, I just might wee a little the moment my copy drops in my letter box!

Department 19: Battle Lines is the third book in Will Hill's phenomenal Department 19 series. I fell in love with book one, and last years sequel, The Rising, only cemented my love for Will and his freaking awesome work! There are two (only two... welp) books to come after Battle Lines so I intend to savour every blood-dripping, scream ripping and nightmare inducing second of it!

"Dracula is on the verge of coming into his full power. Department 19 is on the back foot. Ladies and gentlemen: welcome to war. The stakes? Mankind’s very survival… As the clock ticks remorselessly towards Zero Hour and the return of Dracula, the devastated remnants of Department 19 try to hold back the rising darkness. Jamie Carpenter is training new recruits, trying to prepare them for a fight that appears increasingly futile. Kate Randall is pouring her grief into trying to plug the Department's final leaks, as Matt Browning races against time to find a cure for vampirism. And on the other side of the world, Larissa Kinley has found a place she feels at home, yet where she makes a startling discovery. Uneasy truces are struck, new dangers emerge on all sides, and relationships are pushed to breaking point. And in the midst of it all, Department 19 faces a new and potentially deadly threat, born out of one of the darkest moments of its own long and bloody history. Zero Hour is coming. And the Battle Lines have been drawn."

It also sees the release of The Life Beyond by Susanne Winnacker. The sequel to the fantastic The Other Life, I cannot wait to see what happens next!

"15, 323 hours since Sherry listened to one of her father's bedtime stories. 30, 657 minutes since she heard his laughter. Sherry's father's life is hanging in the balance... And if he turns into a Weeper, Sherry and Joshua know that the only way to save him lies on the other side of the fence - the barrier cutting them off from the rest of the world. With Tyler and Rachel, they set off into the unknown, driven by the promise of a cure, and the hope of reclaiming the life they once knew. But they find that there are more than just Weepers standing in their way... There is no going back. There is only beyond."

Another release that I cannot wait for is the new book from Mr. Tom Clempson! His first book, One Seriously Messed-Up Week in the Otherwise Uneventful and Mundane Life of Jack Samsonite was one of my favourite books from 2011 and the wait for this second instalment, the equally long-titled One Seriously Messed-Up Weekend in the Otherwise Un-Messed-Up Life of Jack Samsonite, has been a murderous one. Devilishly funny and rude, appealing to the giggling little boy in all of us (or girl...) and perfect for fans of The Inbetweeners, I cannot wait to read it and giggle along at every page just like I did with the first book!

"Jack Samsonite's Foolish Plan for Being Amazing at Everything (including getting a life, getting into Film School, and getting into a girl's knickers).

1.Make an amazing(ly bad) short film about zombies . . . or maybe superheroes . . . or just three idiot friends. It has to be deep and meaningful and (most importantly) has to have a scene where I kiss a girl on the mouth.

2.Write the world's best university application ever! (Or at least one that doesn't make me seem like a nob).

3.Don't get expelled trying to complete 1 & 2.

It can't possibly fail . . . right?"

APRIL sees the release of a book that I am very excited about. It's called Taken and it's written by Erin Bowman, and at the moment there's no UK publisher that I'm aware of for the book, but I managed to snag a copy for my Kindle thanks to the awesome website Edelweiss! It sounds fantastic, it's keeping with the current influx of dystopia fiction, but this one sounds a little different. I aim to read it soon, so a review for this one is a dead cert...

"There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone. They call it the Heist. Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive. Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?"

April also brings on another US import! The Program by Suzanne Young!

"In Sloane’s world, true feelings are forbidden, teen suicide is an epidemic, and the only solution is The Program. Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane’s parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they’ll do anything to keep her alive. She also knows that everyone who’s been through The Program returns as a blank slate. Because their depression is gone—but so are their memories. Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can. The only person Sloane can be herself with is James. He’s promised to keep them both safe and out of treatment, and Sloane knows their love is strong enough to withstand anything. But despite the promises they made to each other, it’s getting harder to hide the truth. They are both growing weaker. Depression is setting in. And The Program is coming for them."