Sunday, March 13, 2011

IMM 24

Welcome to another edition of In My Mailbox :) As ever, IMM is hosted by the lovely Kristi at The Story Siren. Check her out.

Here are the books that I have recieved/bought over the last week. (This is actually two week's worth of books as I'm still catching up from no IMMs during the month of February)


The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff - Mackie Doyle is not one of us. Though he lives in the small town of Gentry, he comes from a world of tunnels and black murky water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. He is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now, because of fatal allergies to iron, blood, and consecrated ground, Mackie is fighting to survive in the human world.

Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice on his bass or spend time with his crush, Tate. But when Tate's baby sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably into the underworld of Gentry, known as Mayhem. He must face the dark creatures of the Slag Heaps and find his rightful place, in our world, or theirs
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This was sent via the lovely Lynsey Newton who runs the UK Book Tours. Thanks Lynsey! I don't actually remember signing up for this one, but it probably has something to do with the really creepy US cover that I love so much...

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Love Is the Higher Law by David Levithan - First there is a Before, and then there is an After. . . .

The lives of three teens—Claire, Jasper, and Peter—are altered forever on September 11, 2001. Claire, a high school junior, has to get to her younger brother in his classroom. Jasper, a college sophomore from Brooklyn, wakes to his parents’ frantic calls from Korea, wondering if he’s okay. Peter, a classmate of Claire’s, has to make his way back to school as everything happens around him.

Here are three teens whose intertwining lives are reshaped by this catastrophic event. As each gets to know the other, their moments become wound around each other’s in a way that leads to new understandings, new friendships, and new levels of awareness for the world around them and the people close by.

David Levithan has written a novel of loss and grief, but also one of hope and redemption as his characters slowly learn to move forward in their lives, despite being changed forever.


This book has been on my wishlist since forever and the lovely Sya from The Mountains of Instead kindly sent it to me as a gift! (Thank you again Sya!) I've already read it, and cried my way through it. Review coming soon.

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A Small Free Kiss in the Dark by Glenda Millard - Two young boys, an old tramp, a beautiful teenage dancer, and the girl's baby--ragtag survivors of a sudden war--form a fragile family, hiding out in the ruins of an amusement park. As they scavenge for good, diapers, and baby formula, they must stay out of sight of vicious gangs and lawless soldiers. At first they rely on Billy, the only adult in the group. But as civil life deteriorates, Billy starts to fall apart. Skip, who is barely into his teens, must take over and lead them on a search for sanctuary. This complex and haunting exploration of life on the edge and what it takes to triumph over adversity is a story about the indomitable nature of hope.

Here's a book that sounds quite interesting. I really can't pass up on a dystopic/post-apocalyptic YA book, thank you to Templar for providing this copy for review! You'll be hearing about this one soon enough from me :) Published in May 2011.

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The Fool's Girl by Celia Rees - Young and beautiful Violetta may be of royal blood, but her kingdom is in shambles when she arrives in London on a mysterious mission. Her journey has been long and her adventures many, but it is not until she meets the playwright William Shakespeare that she gets to tell the entire story from beginning to end. Violetta and her comic companion, Feste, have come in search of an ancient holy relic that the evil Malvolio has stolen from their kingdom. But where will their remarkable quest—and their most unusual story—lead? In classic Celia Rees style, it is an engrossing journey, full of political intrigue, danger, and romance.

This wholly original story is spun from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and includes both folly and suspense that would make the Bard proud.


I wasn't expecting this one, but it sounds interesting. I've not read anything by Celia Rees before and I've always meant to, so I hope that this will be a good place to start! Thank you to Emma at Bloomsbury :)

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Girl, Missing by Sophie McKenzie - Lauren has always known she was adopted but when a little research turns up the possibility that she was snatched from an American family as a baby, suddenly Lauren's life seems like a sham. How can she find her biological parents? And are her adoptive parents really responsible for kidnapping her? She manages to wangle a trip across the Atlantic where she runs away to try and find the truth. But the circumstances of her disappearance are murky and Lauren's kidnappers are still at large and willing to do anything to keep her silent…

This one has been on my wishlist for awhile and I found it today in a charity shop! I love the bargains that I find in charity shops. I really shouldn't be buying any more books with Operation Read Own Books in effect at the moment, but oh well. One more can't hurt, right? :) Plus I've really been meaning to read something by Sophie McKenzie...

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Chime by Franny Billingsley - Before Briony's stepmother died, she made sure Briony blamed herself for all the family's hardships. Now Briony has worn her guilt for so long it's become a second skin. She often escapes to the swamp, where she tells stories to the Old Ones, the spirits who haunt the marshes. But only witches can see the Old Ones, and in her village, witches are sentenced to death. Briony lives in fear her secret will be found out, even as she believes she deserves the worst kind of punishment.

Then Eldric comes along with his golden lion eyes and mane of tawny hair. He's as natural as the sun, and treats her as if she's extraordinary. And everything starts to change. As many secrets as Briony has been holding, there are secrets even she doesn't know.

I'd not heard of this book before it was sent to me for review by Bloomsbury (thanks Emma!) but it sounds very interesting and I look forward to it!


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Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta - At the age of nine, Finnikin is warned by the gods that he must sacrifice a pound of flesh in order to save the royal house of his homeland, Lumatere.

And so he stands on the rock of three wonders with his childhood friend Prince Balthazar and the prince's cousin, Lucian, and together they mix their blood. And Lumatere is safe.

Until the 'five days of the unspeakable', when the King and Queen and their children are slaughtered in the palace. And an imposter king takes the throne.
And a curse is put on Lumatere, which traps those caught inside and forces thousands of others to roam the land as exiles, dying of fever and persecution in foreign camps.

But ten years later Finnikin is led to another rock to meet the young novice, Evanjalin. A girl plagued by dark dreams, who holds the key to their return to the Land of light...


I am ridiculously excited about this one! The absolutely amazing and very generous blogger The Slowest Bookworm sent this one to me and I couldn't be happier about it. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Melina Marchetta has to be my favourite author at the moment and while I know Finnikin of the Rock will be very different to her other books I've read, I'm pretty sure I'll love it anyway. Might just have to rearrange my entire reading schedule to fit this one in though.

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And there we have it! Those are the books that I have acquired - which books came into your possesion recently?

17 comments:

  1. Oooh I see lots of fab books this week! Hope you enjoy them :)

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  2. I have Chime coming from Keris, I can't wait to read it. Some fabulous books there.

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  3. Great IMM! I haven't heard of A Small Free Kiss in the Dark but it sounds like an amazing read. Also, Chime is another one I haven't seen before but looks interesting. Hope you enjoy them and I look forward to seeing what you think of them :)

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  4. You've had some great books this week. I am looking forward to reading The Replacement when I get it back off my mother (I think I am the local library for my family lol). Chime looks and sounds great! Glad you're happy with Finikin.

    Hope you enjoy all your books this week :)

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  5. i'm reading The Replacement right now. so far so good :D

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  6. I love Celia Rees! The Fool's Girl was good imo, but not my favourite...I'd recommend Witch Child as an amazing read!

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  7. Those are some good looking books. I bought The Replacement last month but I'm glad I got the US one. The author happens to be local to the state below where I live, so I even found a signed copy of the novel in a bookstore there. Missed seeing the author by 2 days though.

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  8. You've got some really good books this week, by the look of it. I've seen a few people who got The Fool's Girl this week and it sounds really good :)

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  9. fab books this week! i still need to read the replacement had it on my shelf for ages

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  10. Chime and The Replacement look great! And A Small Free Kiss in the Dark too. I've also heard a lot of good things about Finnikin of the Rock, though I'm yet to read it, so I hope you enjoy it!

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  11. Great books this week, Chime and The Replacement sound fab, happy reading :D

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  12. I thought Love is the Higher Law had a beautiful message. I shed some tears while reading that one.

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  13. Great haul, Michelle! Loving the sound of Love is the Higher Law! Is it something that would work for D&B Month do you think? Could I stick on the list for further reading?

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  14. Jess- Thanks! I hope I do.

    Viv - I hadn't heard of Chime before, but it sounds pretty good!

    TLO- I hadn't heard of it before the publisher contacted me, but it sounds really good! Hopefully my reviews of both that and Chime will be up soon :)

    Karen - Ha :) I don't know anyone to lend my books to IRL.. Thank you again for Finikin :) And the lovely bookmark!

    Laura - Yeah? Good. I only just started it, so I'm just a few pages in. Need to send it off soon *eep*

    Lyndsey - Witch Child. I'll have a look for that one, thank you :) Unless, of course I hate Fool's Girl, but I doubt it!

    Dawn - Yay for local authors! I adore the US cover WAY more than the UK one. Shame about missing her though..

    TBB- Yeah, I'm looking forward to it, my first from that author.

    Kirsty - Yeah, I really need to finish The Replacement, to send it off on tour, but the first few pages were pretty good!

    Liz - All great books this week, I've been very lucky :)

    Jesse - Thank you, same to you!

    Charley - I started sobbing in the first few chapters seeing what happened from Claire's perspective. Brought everything back tome.

    Jo - I'm not sure how well it would fit in with DBiTL. It's more about how the three of them react and move forward from a traumatic event rather than something specific about death or bereavement. I think, anyway.

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  15. You absolutely absolutely absolutely NEED to read Girl, Missing right now! It is brilliant, one of my favourite books of all time!

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  16. A Small Free Kiss in the Dark looks really good. Looks like you've got a lot of awesome reads this week!

    Here's my IMM for this week!

    New follower!

    Happy reading!

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  17. Cliona - Wow, that is high praise! I will definitely move it up the pile! :)

    wildirishrose33 - Thank you for following :) I'm really intrigued by A Small Free Kiss in the Dark and I think I'll make it my next read :)

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