Waiting on Wednesday #50 + WWW Wednesday #20

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.
It's a weekly meme about upcoming books we're excited about!

Born of Deception

(Born of Illusion #2)

by Teri Brown

Publication Date: June 10, 2014

From Goodreads:

Budding illusionist Anna Van Housen is on top of the world: after scoring a spot on a prestigious European vaudeville tour, she has moved to London to chase her dream and to join an underground society for people like her with psychic abilities. Along with her handsome beau, Cole Archer, Anna is prepared to take the city by storm.

But when Anna arrives in London, she finds the group in turmoil. Sensitives are disappearing and, without a suspect, the group's members are turning on one another. Could the kidnapper be someone within the society itself - or has the nefarious Dr. Boyle followed them to London?

As Cole and Anna begin to unravel the case and secrets about the society are revealed, they find themselves at odds, their plans for romance in London having vanished. Her life in danger and her relationship fizzling, can Anna find a way to track down the killer before he makes her his next victim - or will she have to pay the ultimate price for her powers?

Why I'm Excited

I really liked Born of Illusion. I liked Anna, I loved how the Author captured the era and the world of magicians and mediums and illusionists, and I even liked how she did the romance. I'm looking forward to seeing what Anna gets up to in London! I only hope her and Cole don't start fighting as badly as the synopsis implies. I hate romantic turmoil. It's just annoying.

Don't You Forget About Me

by Kate Karyus Quinn

Publication Date: June 10, 2014

From Goodreads:

Welcome to Gardnerville.

A place where no one gets sick. And no one ever dies.

Except. . . .

There's a price to pay for paradise. Every fourth year, the strange power that fuels the town exacts its payment by infecting teens with deadly urges. In a normal year in Gardnerville, teens might stop talking to their best friends. In a fourth year, they'd kill them.

Four years ago, Skylar's sister, Piper, was locked away after leading sixteen of her classmates to a watery grave. Since then, Skylar has lived in a numb haze, struggling to forget her past and dull the pain of losing her sister. But the secrets and memories Piper left behind keep taunting Skylar - whispering that the only way to get her sister back is to stop Gardnerville's murderous cycle once and for all.

Why I'm Excited

I've heard that this is a weird one, and that it dumps you right in the middle with little to no explanation. But that, if you stick with it, it pays off. I like books like that, and I'm definitely in the mood for one.

WWW Wednesday is hosted by Should Be Reading

What are you currently reading?

It is 1891. Almost a century ago, the Great Disruption threw all of the continents into different time periods, from prehistory to the far future. It remade the world. Explorers took their lives into their hands; mapmaking became a fine art, a mixture of science and magic.

When her uncle is kidnapped, Sophia Tims and her friend Theo are plunged into the heart of it all, encountering wonders and dangers no one could ever imagine. . . .

An ARC. I'm not very far in - mostly because I am experiencing a mild reading crash - but I am enjoying it. It's an extremely interesting world, and I like Sophia a lot. So far.

What have you recently read?

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.

I gave this book 2/5 strawberries, but it wasn't necessarily because I disliked it. I didn't; I am, in fact, still thinking about my feelings over this book. It wasn't quite what I was expecting. It was a very raw, serious, and even unsettling read. No lightness to be found here! If it hadn't ended the way it did, I wouldn't have liked it, because I would have had to ask: what was the point? If Laurel wasn't going to get help to fight her demons, why would want to read about her suffering? Thankfully, though, I did like the end. And I probably will up the rating once I've thought through all of my feelings and emotions towards this book.

What do you plan on reading next?

Trapped in a superstore by a series of escalating disasters, including a monster hailstorm and terrifying chemical weapons spill, brothers Dean and Alex learned how to survive and worked together with twelve other kids to build a refuge from the chaos. But then strangers appeared, destroying their fragile peace, and bringing both fresh disaster and a glimmer of hope.

Knowing that the chemical weapons saturating the air outside will turn him into a bloodthirsty rage monster, Dean decides to stay in the safety of the store with Astrid and some of the younger kids. But their sanctuary has already been breached once. . . .

Meanwhile, Alex, determined to find their parents, heads out into the darkness and devastation with Niko and some others in a recently repaired school bus. If they can get to Denver International Airport, they might be evacuated to safety. But the outside world is even worse than they expected. . . .

Book #2 in the Monument 14 series, and I am determined to read it before the big author event on June 19th! It's shorter than the first book, so I'm really looking forward to whipping my way through it.