Spotlight: Five 2014 Titles I'm Highly Anticipating!

SPOTLIGHT:

Five 2014 Titles I'm Highly Anticipating!

I was re-organizing all of my ARCs and review books recently, and the stuff I want to read most is on top.

I am so crazy excited for so many upcoming 2014 releases, some of which haven't generated much buzz as-of yet, and I wanted to share them with you now!

Title: A CREATURE OF MOONLIGHT

Author: Rebecca Hahn

Release Date: Out May 6, 2014

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt  

SUMMARY:

A stunning debut novel about a girl who is half dragon, half human, and wholly herself. 

As the only heir to the throne, Marni should have been surrounded by wealth and privilege, not living in exile-but now the time has come when she must choose between claiming her birthright as princess of a realm whose king wants her dead, and life with the father she has never known: a wild dragon who is sending his magical woods to capture her. 

Fans of BITTERBLUE and SERAPHINA will be captured by A CREATURE OF MOONLIGHT with its richly layered storytelling and the powerful choices its strong heroine must make.

The first thing to catch my eye? It is blurbed by Kristin Cashore. That right there speaks volumes.

Plus, the summary sounds AMAZING!

As soon as it arrived in the mail, I happy-danced...then cried because I had no time to squeeze it in right away!

Title: SHE IS NOT INVISIBLE

Author: Marcus Sedgwick

Release Date: Out April 22, 2014

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press / Macmillan

SUMMARY:

Laureth Peak's father has taught her to look for recurring events, patterns, and numbers--a skill at which she's remarkably talented. Her secret: She is blind. But when her father goes missing, Laureth and her 7-year-old brother Benjamin are thrust into a mystery that takes them to New York City where surviving will take all her skill at spotting the amazing, shocking, and sometimes dangerous connections in a world full of darkness. She Is Not Invisible is an intricate puzzle of a novel that sheds a light on the delicate ties that bind people to each other.

When I was younger, there was a series I adored about a girl who was deaf who went around solving mysteries (I don't remember the name now, but there were 4-6 of them). In this book, Laureth is blind. I always have a soft spot for characters able to overcome hardship and disabilities in order to thrive. I'm really excited about this one!

Title: LOVE LETTERS TO THE DEAD

Author: Ava Dellaira

Release Date: Out April 1, 2014

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan

SUMMARY:

It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May did. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to people like Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Amelia Earhart, Heath Ledger, and more; though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating new friendships, falling in love for the first time, learning to live with her splintering family. And, finally, about the abuse she suffered while May was supposed to be looking out for her. Only then, once Laurel has written down the truth about what happened to herself, can she truly begin to accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she was; lovely and amazing and deeply flawed; can she begin to discover her own path.

At first, this wasn't one I really wanted to read. I didn't request it specifically, but I did ask Macmillan to send me a title they were hotly anticipating, which I do every season ever since I thought I'd hate SHADOW AND BONE by Leigh Bardugo, which they blind-sent. (And I loved it!)

This wasn't one I looked at twice online, but when it came! Well! There's a blurb on the cover from Stephen Chbosky (PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER), and the back cover features blurbs from Laurie Halse Anderson, Jay Asher, Gayle Forman, and Lauren Myracle. Okay, I'm sold! I officially want you, book!

Title: DANGEROUS

Author: Shannon Hale

Release Date: Out March 4, 2014

Publisher: Bloomsbury

SUMMARY:

Maisie Danger Brown just wanted to get away from home for a bit, see something new. She never intended to fall in love. And she never imagined stumbling into a frightening plot that kills her friends and just might kill her, too. A plot that is already changing life on Earth as we know it. There's no going back. She is the only thing standing between danger and annihilation. 

From NY Times bestselling author Shannon Hale comes a novel that asks, How far would you go to save the ones you love? And how far would you go to save everyone else?

I absolutely ADORE Shannon Hale. I own just about everything she's ever written. Her books just get better and better as her writing matures, too!

She's been talking about Maisie Danger Brown forever. And now it's finally time for us to love her as much as Shannon does! Be still my heart. I honestly don't even care what DANGEROUS is about. I already know I'll love it!

Title: CRUEL BEAUTY

Author: Rosamund Hodge

Release Date: Out Jan. 28, 2014

Publisher: Balzer & Bray

SUMMARY:

Graceling meets Beauty and the Beast in this sweeping fantasy about one girl's journey to fulfill her destiny and the monster who gets in her way-by stealing her heart. 

Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny. 

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him. 

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people. 

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her. 

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

GRACELING meets BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. What else do I need to know???

I will consider most things compared to Kristin Cashore and GRACELING. I will read most fairy tale retellings, and especially love B&B ones. I'm IN!

Title: THE WINNER'S CURSE

Author: Marie Rutkoski

Release Date: Out March 4, 2014

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan

SUMMARY:

In the tradition of Kristin Cashore and Cassandra Clare comes this brilliant, unputdownable, star-crossed romance about the curse of winning. 

Seventeen-year-old Kestrel is an aristocratic citizen of Valoria, a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers. Here, a girl like Kestrel has two choices: join the military or get married. Despite her skills in military strategy, Kestrel’s real passion is music.Which is why she feels compelled to buy Arin, a slave with a talent for singing, at auction. It’s not long before she finds herself falling in love with Arin, and he seems to feel the same for her. But Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for Arin is much higher than she ever could have imagined. 

Set in a new world, THE WINNER'S CURSE is a story of wicked rumors, dirty secrets, and games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

I'm cheating, I know. This makes SIX, not FIVE books. But I can cheat because I was lucky enough to actually read this one MONTHS ago. The others are just "I WANT to read this." And it is so good. I've been dying to talk to you about it!

And the cover? Instant Want-to-Own! This is a Day One Buy for me. I loved it! Can't wait for the sequel...!

I'd wanted to read this ever since Marie Rutkoski mentioned it at a local Fierce Reads Tour (Full audio here), and then it was a special gift from Macmillan at BEA. This one will be heavily promoted, and I will share my love with you soon now!