For 2013, I’ve decided to change how I highlight new releases each month. It’s more condensed, which I think – hope – allows for quicker, easier reading. You can still find more about each book through clicking on the relevant cover.

Being Henry David, Cal Amistead. - 1st March (UK/US)
Let The Sky Fall, Shannon Messenger. – 5th March (UK/US)
Mind Games, Kiersten White. – 5th March (UK) | 19th Feb (US)
Pivot Point, Kasie West. - 5th March (UK) | 12th Feb (US)
Spellcaster, Claudia Grey. – 5th March (US) | 19th March (UK)

The Murmurings, Carly Anne West. – 5th March (UK/US)
Unremembered, Jessica Brody. – 28th Feb (UK) | 5th March (US)
When We Wake, Karen Healey. – 5th March (UK/US)
Mila 2.0, Debra Driza. – 12th March (UK/US)
Poison, Bridget Zinn. – 12th March (UK/US)

Hidden, Marianne Curley. - 14th March (UK) | 25th June (US)
Clockwork Princess, Cassandra Clare. -19th March (UK/US)
Pretty Girl-13, Liz Coley. – 19th March (UK/US)
The Art of Wishing, Lindsay Ribar. - 21st March (UK/US)
If You Find Me, Emily Murdoch. - 26th March (US) | 2nd May (UK)

March brings with it some amazing new releases! There is a lot of debuts on this list, so here is to discovering some new, awesome authors in YA.

What releases are you looking forward to this month?

*all release date information was found on Amazon UK/US and information is correct at time of posting.

First of all, I haven’t stopped book blogging. I couldn’t do that… Since 2011, this blog has been a big part of who I am and although at times things haven’t gone how I’d like… well I don’t think I’d ever have the heart to shut down this blog. Of course, there have been moments when I’ve considered it but I refer to a post I did back in October 2012: ‘Should I Stop Blogging?’ No, I won’t give up something I love.

Second: an explanation for the MIA status. Well, with three months left to go as a student, I have too much going on. It’s dissertation time and with other assignments on top of that, I have no life outside of work. Uni and part-time work is eating up all the time I have right now. When it isn’t, I need to relax. I’m human after all. So that’s the main reason for the absent posts. I don’t have the time.

But…

Be assured I am still working on reviews when I can. After all, I like doing them and on that rare occasion I’m not working, sometimes all I want to do is sit and write. Yet, I don’t have enough time to dedicate to personal reading right now, so there isn’t a lot I can review. (Unless I review a uni book on feminism… and I really don’t want to do that!)

I have decided to stop accepting review requests for the moment. I can’t commit to them with so much going on. Those I have agreed to, of course I will fulfill when I can! But right now, I need to prioritise and uni work comes first.

On May 20^th, I will officially finish my life as a student. It’s a scary thought. I mean, it’s been a HUGE part of my life and I can’t remember a time I wasn’t learning. It frightens me that I’m going to have to enter the real world in less than three months. I’m not quite prepared for it all to end.

But…

I’m looking forward to learning about life instead. I’m looking forward to taking a break and doing the things I’ve wanted to do for awhile, but haven’t had the time to do. I’m looking forward to dedicating more time to moving BTS forward.

Please don’t take this post as me bidding farewell for the next three months. I will do all I can to post when I can, but I hope people can appreciate that the posts won’t be frequent for a bit.  I hope those who read BTS continue to do so. I can’t wait to get back into the blogosphere soon! I’ve missed it, a lot!

Thanks to all those who understand. I know we have all been in a similar situation one time or another.

I plan on posting another post like this one in three months time, but I’m hoping it will be a lot more positive!

Now, back to dissertation writing… 

For 2013, I’ve decided to change how I highlight new releases each month. It’s more condensed, which I think – hope – allows for quicker, easier reading. You can still find more about each book through clicking on the relevant cover.

Hysteria, Megan Miranda. - 5th Feb (UK/US)
Scarlet, Marissa Meyer. – 5th Feb (US) | 7th Feb (UK)
Dance of Shadows, Yelana Black. – 12th Feb (UK/US)
Override, Heather Anastasiu. – 12th Feb (UK/US)
Pivot Point, Kasie West. - 12th Feb (US) | 5th March (UK)

Sever, Lauren DeStefano. - 12th Feb (US) | 14th Feb (UK)
The Gathering Dark, Christine Johnson. – 12th Feb (US) | 14th Feb (UK)
The Indigo Spell, Richelle Mead. – 12th Feb (UK/US)
Mind Games, Kiersten White. – 19th Feb (US) | 5th March (UK)
Neferet’s Curse, P. C. & Kristin Cast. – 19th Feb (UK/US)

Dualed, Elsie Chapman. – 26th Feb (UK/US)
Me, Him, Them and It, Caela Carter. – 26th Feb (UK/US)
Pulse, Patrick Carman. – 26th Feb (UK/US)
Altered, Jennifer Rush. - 1st Jan (UK) | 28th Feb (US)
Unremembered, Jessica Brody. – 28th Feb (UK) | 5th March (US)

I can’t wait to get my hands on some of these!

What are you looking forward to being released this month? 

*all release date information was found on Amazon UK/US and information is correct at time of posting.

Quick Stats:

Books Read – 8
No. of Pages Read – 3527
Books Reviewed – 8
No. of Books Awaiting Review – 15

Books Read:

Books Reviewed:

1. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
2. Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead
3. Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
4. Frostbite by Richelle Mead
5. What’s Left of Me by Kat Zhang
6. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
7. My Love Lies Bleeding by Alyxandra Harvey
8. Tempest by Julie Cross

Book of the Month:

The review posted yesterday was the 100^th review posted here on Books that Spark.

To celebrate this achievement, I wanted to give back to all those awesome people who have followed BTS over the past 100 reviews and so I’ve decided to host a contest.

I’ve read and reviewed some great books and I want to give you a chance to read some of them.

There are two prizes up for grabs!

Prize #1: 2 books from the BTS review archive.
Prize #2: 1 book from the BTS review archive.

You can check out the full list here, but here are some examples of what you could win:

please note: the review archive might be updated throughout the contest and the books added, can be chosen as a prize. the final list to select books from is the archive as it stands on 5th feb 2013, 00:00am (GMT).

The contest is international*.

If you want a chance to win, enter with the form below!

Terms and Conditions:

• Please follow the instructions in the rafflecopter form to enter.
• Entrants must be 13 years of age or older
• *This contest is open to those countries the Book Depository website offers free delivery to.
• Please ensure you have consulted the BTS review archive here before entering, to ensure there are books you would like as a prize in the event that you are the winner. Only books in the review archive list can be won and no other prize can be offered in its place.
• The winner(s) will be announced on the rafflecopter form soon after the contest ends.
• Winner(s) will be notified via email and it is essential a response is received within 48 hours, or a new winner will be selected.
• Consult the contest policy for further guidelines.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Vampires. Werewolves. Faeries. Shapeshifters.

Evie’s always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormal’ glamours, but still. Normal.

Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie’s dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths, and even worse, that she is at the centre of a dark prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

Review

Evie wants nothing more but to be a ‘normal’ teenager: to go to school, have friends and she even fantasises about having her own locker. Yet despite her best efforts, Evie will never be ‘normal’. See, Evie is different. She can see through the glamours that all kinds of paranormal creatures put in place to appear human to the world. Her unusual ability has resulted in her becoming an employee of the International Paranormal Containment Agency (IPCA): an organisation which is responsible for policing the rogue paranormals of the world. Evie is a valuable asset to the IPCA and as a result, she has resigned herself to a life of working for them. That is, until there is a break in at the centre and she comes across a different type of paranormal: one she has never encountered before. Lend is a shape-shifter of some kind and he broke into the agency looking for information. All Evie has believed is turned upside down when, as she gets to know Lend, she learns that paranormals are being killed. She and Lend team together to get to the bottom of the killings and along the way, she begins to question her position in the IPCA and in the paranormal world when Lend asks: What kind of paranormal is she?

When I first came across Paranormalcy, I liked the sound of it. It seemed like a novel I’d enjoy, but for one reason or another, I never got around to reading it. So when I came across it while browsing the shelves at my local library, I checked it out with feelings of excitement about finally reading it.

What surprised me most about Paranormalcy was how fresh and unique it was compared to anything I’ve read in young adult fiction before. For starters, I was gripped from the first page. There was waiting around for something to happen, readers dive straight into the action alongside Evie. The whole idea of the IPCA was an interesting one and while it was described in some detail, I appreciated that the main focus in this novel was Evie and her life. She is our protagonist after all!

Although I can’t claim to 100% relate to Evie or imagine being in her shoes, she was a likable character. She has such a great zest for life and at times her upbeat attitude was contagious. She wasn’t annoying with it. She was more admirable for her strength to keep going when things got tough. Plus, she offers a few laughs here and there and I love a protagonist who can make me laugh.

There were some other great characters in Paranormalcy too. Take Lend for instance. He is the mysterious shape-shifter who enters Evie’s life under strange circumstances. It was interesting to see how Evie and Lend’s relationship developed and I am pleased to say there was no insta-love here. In fact, it was refreshing to see that the romance took a backseat to the overall plot. That’s quite rare in paranormal young adult fiction these days.

I can only describe the plot as fun. Of course there were complicated moments but overall White has created a world with a whole array of paranormal creatures – including mermaids and faeries – that isn’t too deep but was a lot of fun to read. If you are looking for something a bit darker or elaborate, Paranormalcy might not be the book for you. But if you want a read that’s fun and light-hearted, with a unique take on the paranormal world – give it a try!

It’s springtime at St. Vladimir’s Academy and Rose is close to graduation, but since making her first Strigoi kills, things haven’t felt quite right. She’s having dark thoughts, behaving erratically, and worst of all… might be seeing ghosts.

Consumed by her forbidden love with her tutor Dimitri and protecting her best friend, the Moroi princess Lissa, Rose is in no state to see the deadly threat that will change her entire world—and make her choose between the two people she loves most.

Review

Stop right there! Have you read the first two books in the Vampire Academy series yet? If not… well proceed with caution. This is a review for book number three of the series and a lot has happened. Reading this review could spoil things for you. You might prefer to start with book one and two first.

Shadow Kiss, instalment number three of the Vampire Academy series, sees guardian-in-training Rose Hathaway face her biggest challenge yet. Following the traumatic events of Frostbite, her emotions are all over the place. With graduation fast approaching, the future Rose has always dreamed of is within reach. But ever since she killed two Strigoi and lost a close friend in the process, she is struggling to keep her life from crumbling around her.

The problems don’t end there. The field experience she has been preparing for her entire academic life has finally arrived. The field experience is a practical assessment which see’s Rose guarding a Moroi for six weeks, testing her ability to protect her charge from attacks from ‘Strigoi’ – or in this case her instructors. But when her test arrives, Rose does something she’s never done before – she freezes. The ghost of the close friend she lost appears and he doesn’t look pleased. This is the beginning of a time in Rose’s life when she begins to question everything. Is she really seeing ghosts or is she going crazy? And is the unusual bond she shares with best friend Lissa responsible?

With her future already hanging in the balance, she is not prepared for what comes next. When a group of Strogoi – the real deal – attack the academy, Rose finds herself right in the middle of it all. This is a battle she can’t afford to lose and which will force her to make the biggest choice of her life: Lissa or Dimitri?

One of the best parts about this series is the on-going character development. I mean, I don’t think I could name another series that develops and matures its characters like this one does. Rose goes through an awful lot in Shadow Kiss. For the first time she begins to question her role as Lissa’s guardian. She has grown up with the motto “They come first” embedded into her brain, but can she sit back and watch the things she wants in life pass her by? Lissa has been her best friend forever and as revelations are made about the unusual bond they share, Rose begins to realise that being linked to Lissa could lead to fatal consequences for her. Shadow Kiss see’s Rose experience some of the most happiest and traumatic moments of her life so far and as a reader, I was gripped. I love Rose as a character. She is quite vulnerable at times and far from perfect, but her inner strength and her attitude make her both relatable and entertaining to read about.

Mead didn’t choose to develop Rose’s character and forget about the others. In fact, I saw a change in almost all of the characters in this instalment. I saw a different and somewhat selfish side to Lissa. I got a glimpse of the real Adrian, behind the flirting and cheekiness. Dimitri… Oh well, he allowed himself to give into what he wants and some of that control he’s always tried to uphold, slips. Each character is put to the test in Shadow Kiss and the outcome wasn’t always pretty.

It’s not only the characters that move forward in this book, the plot does too. So far each book in this series has brought with it something new. Shadow Kiss is no different; apart from I would say it is the most action-packed book yet. So much happens, so its little wonder I was transfixed enough to finish it very quickly. Most of all, the ending was the biggest shock for me. Of course I’m not going to reveal anything but WOW. I should have seen that coming. I’m heart broken.

I’m yet to find a fault with this series. Hands down it is one of – if not THE – best vampire series around. Mead has delivered the best book yet with Shadow Kiss and to say I can’t wait to the next book, Blood Promise, is a huge understatement.

“I won’t tell anyone, Echo. I promise.” Noah tucked a curl behind my ear. It had been so long since someone touched me like he did. Why did it have to be Noah Hutchins? His dark brown eyes shifted to my covered arms. “You didn’t do that-did you? It was done to you?” No one ever asked that question. They stared. They whispered. They laughed. But they never asked.

So wrong for each other…and yet so right.

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with “freaky” scars on her arms. Even Echo can’t remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo’s world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she’ll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

Review

Echo used to have it all: popularity, amazing grades, lots of friends and the boyfriend everyone wanted. Then she disappeared. When she returns to school, she is no longer the confident, popular girl she used to be. She now wears long-sleeved shirts to hide the scars she got in a traumatic accident that almost killed her. The thing is, Echo can’t remember what happened the night of the accident. Those around her know, but it’s down to Echo to remember when her brain decides it can cope with the details. Add this to her struggle to grieve for her brother who died in Afghanistan a few years ago, her father’s preference of his new pregnant wife – who was once her babysitter – and the fact that she is being kept from her mother… well Echo wishes things would go back to normal and she believes this will happen if she could remember that night.

Noah is in foster care. Following a house fire that killed both his parents, leaving him and his two brothers orphaned, he has struggled to cope. He used to be clean-cut, got good grades and the school’s star of basketball. That all changed following the fire. Moving from one foster home to another and limited visits with his brothers, Noah’s life has been slipping. In an ongoing battle to gain custody of his brothers, Noah seeks comfort in the only way he now knows how: drugs and girls. He wants things back to normal and to do that, he believes he needs to get his brothers back so they can be a family again. Yet no one is going to let a stoner look after two kids, so Noah has to clean up his act and that means better grades.

Both Echo and Noah both see a counselor for their individual issues. Mrs. Collins comes up with a plan that will help Echo earn some money to fix her brother’s car and will help Noah get his grades up. Echo and Noah’s lives are thrown together when she becomes his tutor and both embark on a mission to gain the ‘normal’ they have been so keen to regain. But what if the ‘normal’ they are looking for doesn’t exist anymore?

It’s quite surprising that I haven’t read a lot of contemporary young adult fiction. That’s not to say that Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry was the first book I’ve read from the genre, but I tend to read books which are either fantasy, paranormal or dystopian. I guess you could say I enjoy the escape these types of books offer me. So when the opportunity arose to read Pushing the Limits, while the concept was definitely intriguing, I wasn’t expecting to become as engrossed in it as I was.

Told through two different perspectives, those of Echo and Noah, readers are able to form a greater understanding of each of these characters, as well as being able to see how each of them saw the other. I tend to avoid multiple perspectives if I can. I don’t dislike them, but I prefer having one protagonist telling the story. Yet, in Pushing the Limits, the multiple viewpoints blended together so well. I feel it was essential that readers were given access to both Echo and Noah’s inner thoughts, as each of their lives is full of a lot of complications and emotions. I was able to learn about Echo and Noah as individuals, as well as their relationship with each other. Both had their own distinctive voice and as the novel progressed, I felt I got to know each of them better.

It was an emotional read, one which focused more on character growth than dramatic plot developments. If you follow my reviews, you may know that characters are very influential in whether or not I like a book. I liked Echo and Noah, albeit for different reasons. Most of all, I liked how they complimented each other and the chemistry they shared.

Although there are elements of romance in this book, it was so much more than your typical love story. There was mystery surrounding Echo’s accident and surprises when revelations were made. But above all, Pushing the Limits is a tale of two messed-up teenagers, who take comfort in one another as they both slowly try to put the pieces of their lives back together again.

Like I mentioned earlier, I’m not a big reader of contemporary fiction but Pushing the Limits has succeeded in making me want to read more from the genre. This book will make you feel all kinds of emotions, but it is definitely worth a read!

This weeks topic is: ”Top Ten 2013 Debuts I’m Looking Forward To‘.

1. The Collector by Victoria Scott
“Dante Walker is flippin’ awesome, and he knows it.” That first line of the synopsis pretty much hooked me. You know I love a bad boy and it sounds like Dante Walker is going to be the baddest yet. In a bid to get out of Hell, he collects souls for his boss. But when he goes to collect Charlie Cooper’s soul, he embarks on his most challenging assignment to date. Sounds awesome, right?

2. Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza
Mila was built in a lab and programmed to do things that ‘real’ people wouldn’t ever do. Facing termination as she knows too much, Mila goes on the run from the operatives who want her terminated and a group who want to capture her to unlock her advanced technology. Mila 2.0 sounds very intriguing and if the synopsis is anything to go by, it’s going to contain a lot of action!

3. After Eden by Helen Douglas
When Eden meets Ryan, on the surface he is your typical American teenager. But as she grows closer to him, Eden learns more about a secret he has been hiding. When she stumbles across a biography of her best friend – written over 50 years in the future – in his bedroom, Eden learns that Ryan has come into her life for an important purpose. WOW! After Eden sounds like a novel I’m going to love. A guy from the future comes back for an important purpose? What is that purpose? What’s going to happen? I haven’t even started reading it yet and I already want to know.

4. Pivot Point by Kasie West
Addie is a Searcher. When she is faced with a choice, she can look into the future and see both outcomes.  When her parents announce their divorce, Addie has to look into the future and decide which parent she wants to live with. Two alternate potential futures, each with love and loss, Addie has to decide which life she lives. Pivot Point has a concept I’ve not come across before, so I’m pretty excited to explore it.

5. Dualed by Elsie Chapman
In the world of Dualed, everyone has a genetic Alternate. An Alt is a twin raised by another family and by their twentieth birthday, each person must prove their worth by eliminating their Alts. Success will lead to a better life overall. I love dystopian books and Dualed sounds like it’s going to be an interesting read.

6. Linked by Imogen Howson
Elissa has been suffering from terrifying hallucinations the past three years. She is promised a cure but on the eve of the procedure, she discovers she has been seeing the world through another girl’s eyes. Elissa follows her visions and comes face-to-face with a girl who looks exactly like her. A twin sister she never even knew existed. The sisters are now on the run from the government who will stop at nothing to reclaim Lin and the secrets she knows. Linked, one again, sounds like a book I’m going to like. With an intriguing concept like this one, it’s no surprise I can’t wait until it’s released in June.

7. Transparent by Natalie Whipple
Fiona is an invisible girl and for as long as she can remember, her Father has been using her for his dirty work. She has had enough and decides to flee with her Mother. Fiona, for once in her life, feels normal, but her Father isn’t about to give up finding her. transparent sounds unique and something I might like. There is always a first for everything and I have never came across a young adult novel that explores the idea of someone being invisible. I’m very intrigued!

8. Another Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn
Annaliese Rose Gordon is trapped in a body that doesn’t belong to her and has no recollection of how she got there. Woah, now if that doesn’t grab your interest, I don’t know what will. The synopsis of Another Little Piece hints that it will be perhaps a bit of a ‘horror’. That might just be me but either way, I plan on reading to find out.

9. Altered by Jennifer Rush
When her Father’s work sees him monitoring and administering treatments of four genetically altered boys in the lab below their house, Anna is left with an important decision to make. Sam is one of the four boys and he’s stolen Anna’s heart. When he decides to escape with the other boys, Anna is left with an important decision to make. She can follow Sam or remain in her safe everyday life. Forced to flee, Anna soon learns that none of the boys remember anything before living in the lab. On the run, Anna learns that she is connected to Sam in a way that neither of them ever expected. I can’t wait to get my hands on Altered. Although it didn’t immediately jump out at me as a book I have to read like some of the other choices on this list did, I’ve found myself more and more eager to read it. I am curious to find out more about the genetically altered boys and the connection Anna shares with Sam.

10. Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans
Level 2 follows Felicia Ward. Felicia is dead and is trapped in an afterlife limbo, replaying the memories of her life before. When a guy who broke her heart breaks into Level 2 in hopes of finding her, Felicia learns that a rebellion is brewing and she plays an important role. Stuck between heaven and earth, she has to make a very important choice. I tend to really enjoy stories with that ‘afterlife’ element within them. So, I’m hoping I’ll love Level 2. It sounds like just my kind of book!