Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray

Genre:  YA Historical Fantasy

The Diviners Series, Book 2

Libba Bray's website

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Goodreads):

The longing of dreams draws the dead, and this city holds many dreams.

After a supernatural showdown with a serial killer, Evie O’Neill has outed herself as a Diviner. With her uncanny ability to read people’s secrets, she’s become a media darling, earning the title “America’s Sweetheart Seer.” Everyone’s in love with the city’s newest It Girl…everyone except the other Diviners.

Piano-playing Henry DuBois and Chinatown resident Ling Chan are two Diviners struggling to keep their powers a secret—for they can walk in dreams. And while Evie is living the high life, victims of a mysterious sleeping sickness are turning up across New York City.

As Henry searches for a lost love and Ling strives to succeed in a world that shuns her, a malevolent force infects their dreams. And at the edges of it all lurks a man in a stovepipe hat who has plans that extend farther than anyone can guess…As the sickness spreads, can the Diviners descend into the dreamworld to save the city?

The world of Diviners from the early 1900s is back.  Our beloved characters including Evie, Henry, Jericho, Mabel, and others are back for another paranormal story.  We also get introduced to new characters like Ling and learn a few more back stories.  We're in New York City where a sleeping sickness is terrorizing Chinatown.  Within the dream, there's a girl who promises you the riches of the world and all you have to do is dream with her.  The only catch is you'll never wake up.

Evie now has her own radio talkshow as a diviner, and she's all about stirring up drama in order to get a story in.  The only problem is some of these fake stories she comes up with begin to stir a little bit of truth around until no one's sure what's fake anymore.  But she's just a side character in this story.  Henry is the one who stands out.  We learn so much about his past in New Orleans and how his dream-walking ability works.  And when he meets another dream-walker named Ling, they find themselves in the perfect dreamworld never wanting to leave.  Yet at the same time, there are plenty of people dying from the sleeping sickness.  Will Henry and Ling have enough willpower to leave their dreams behind and combat the evil creating this sickness?

I've got two opinions on this book.  On the one hand, Libba Bray is an excellent story-teller.  She weaves so many stories together into one, and they all happen to perfectly follow the plot.  On the other hand, did you see how big that book was?!  This book was huge and took a really long time to read.  But I don't want to say I wish it were shorter.  Maybe I just wish I read faster...

This series is from an interesting era where superstition and mysticism still existed.  And if you're a fan of historical paranormal fiction, I think you're going to love these books.  You just kind of have to get over how big the books are (still worth it).

The Killing Jar by Jennifer Bosworth

Genre:  YA Paranormal Fantasy

Jennifer Bosworth's website

Expected publication date:  January 12, 2016

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Goodreads):

“I try not to think about it, what I did to that boy.”

Seventeen-year-old Kenna Marsden has a secret.

She’s haunted by a violent tragedy she can’t explain. Kenna’s past has kept people—even her own mother—at a distance for years. Just when she finds a friend who loves her and life begins to improve, she’s plunged into a new nightmare. Her mom and twin sister are attacked, and the dark powers Kenna has struggled to suppress awaken with a vengeance.

On the heels of the assault, Kenna is exiled to a nearby commune, known as Eclipse, to live with a relative she never knew she had. There, she discovers an extraordinary new way of life as she learns who she really is, and the wonders she’s capable of. For the first time, she starts to feel like she belongs somewhere. That her terrible secret makes her beautiful and strong, not dangerous. But the longer she stays at Eclipse, the more she senses there is something malignant lurking underneath it all. And she begins to suspect that her new family has sinister plans for her…

Kenna is with her best friend Blake at an indie folk concert.  Everything seems to be going well for these maybe-more-than-best friends.  Blake surprised her by signing her up for the song competition.  And while Kenna is struggling with crowd butterflies, she performs her song well.  What seems to go down as the best night in history suddenly takes a turn for the worst when her past jumps into the present.

Kenna's mother only wants to protect her daughters, but she doesn't know how to help Kenna besides taking her to Eclipse.  And when Kenna is left there, she meets people who are like her.  She learns more about their way of life and realizes she's in paradise.  They have a laid-back way to life and don't have a lot of technology getting in the way.  But when Kenna's life from the real-world starts to invade her Eclipse-life, Kenna starts to suspect weird happenings.  In the end, Kenna is left with a choice that will ultimately define her future.

This was a fairly quick and easy read that had a unique paranormal piece.  But the feelings Kenna experiences with her abilities sounded way too much like someone in the real world doing drugs.  And while I could draw some parallels with the paranormal, I still felt like there was way too much drug-like sensations occurring in this book.  It ruined the story for me.  Minus the unique paranormal and my associating the story with drugs, you've got a pretty basic plotline for the story.

This one's probably going to be a love it or hate it.  I can see a lot of people being blown away by this novel as something new and cool.  But I can also see others calling it a knock-off of other things.  And then, maybe there will be people like me that just can't get rid of the drug-association.

Thanks goes to Around the World ARC Tours for providing me a review copy.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Genre:  YA Fantasy

Six of Crows Series, Book 1

Leigh Bardugo's website

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Goodreads):

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...

A convict with a thirst for revenge.
A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.
A runaway with a privileged past.
A spy known as the Wraith.
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first.

In the slums of Ketterdam, Kaz is known as Dirtyhands, and he is well-known in the city.  This story starts off with him and his crew meeting another gang to discuss terms.  When this deal turns sour, we get a chance to see other members of his crew: Jesper the sharpshotter and Inej the Wraith.  Inej is the silent right-hand whose currency is information.  She knows everyone's dirty secrets because no one hears her coming.  And Jesper is always looking for a fight and action.  But when a job offer is brought to Kaz' attention, he finds it too good to refuse.

Kaz must pick his crew carefully to make sure no one backstabs him.  He turns to a Grisha who has connections to a convict that can help.  And the Grisha has a vested interest in this mission.  But these alliances are barely forged in trust and mainly rely on debts owed.  As the crew sets sail to break into an unbreakable city, we see how much this crew is willing to go through to finish the job and survive.

This was a good start to a new series set in the World of Grisha.  I enjoyed all of the characters and learning their backstories.  These little stories helped further the main story along.  And each chapter was from a different character's perspective and still fairly easy to follow.  We see a couple of love interests and coming-of-age things within the story.  And then it sets up for a cliffhanger to make you dying to read the next one.  Unfortunately, I have a while to wait.

For those who have never read Leigh Bardugo's books, I definitely recommend they start with Shadow and Bone.  I feel like this series is going to be a fun one, but I don't know if it'll live up to the other series.

Thanks goes to Around the World ARC Tours for providing me a review copy.

Hungry by HA Swain

Genre:  YA Dystopian

HA Swain's website

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from HA Swain's website):

In Thalia’s world, there is no more food and no need for food, as everyone takes medication to ward off hunger. Her parents both work for the company that developed the drugs society consumes to quell any food cravings, and they live a life of privilege as a result. When Thalia meets a boy who is part of an underground movement to bring food back, she realizes that there is an entire world outside her own. She also starts to feel hunger, and so does the boy. Are the meds no longer working?

Together, they set out to find the only thing that will quell their hunger: real food. It’s a journey that will change everything Thalia thought she knew. But can a “privy” like her ever truly be part of a revolution?

Thalia Apple lives in a world where there are no more animals nor plants.  One World has created a nutritional drink called Synthamil that everyone takes for nutrition.  The leading scientists have modified our genes so no one is ever hungry.  And Synthamil is free for everyone to have.  But when Thalia wakes up with her stomach growling, she begins to understand hunger.

Thalia has always been the oddball looking for relics and not always enjoying the linked-in technology that everyone else has.  When she meets a boy who helps her smell food from the past, she finds there's a resistance against One World and how they distribute Synthamil.  What she thought was a truly perfect society really has a dark secret that keeps them in business.  And when she becomes hungry, she finds Synthamil isn't enough to sate her curiosity and hunger.

This book was absolutely not what I was expecting.  I mean the first half and learning about the world she lives in was expected.  When Thalia discovers the truth and begins to revolt: all expected.  Even the boy that drove me absolutely bonkers was expected.  But about half way through the book when it could have ended or have been continued with another novel, everything slammed the brakes and took a different turn.  One I really didn't care for.  And as much as I tried to like this novel, I felt like it had way too much stuff going on which made it kind of chaotic and long.

This has a very good story going, but I didn't think highly of the execution of it.  I'd suggest readers check out other reviews before deciding whether or not to read this one.

Hotel Ruby by Suzanne Young

Genre:  YA Mystery/Contemporary/Horror

Suzanne Young's website

Expected publication date:  November 3, 2015

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Suzanne Young's website):

"Stay tonight. Stay forever."

When Audrey Casella arrives for an unplanned stay at the grand Hotel Ruby, she's grateful for the detour. Just months after their mother's death, Audrey and her brother, Daniel, are on their way to live with their grandmother, dumped on the doorstep of a DNA-matched stranger because their father is drowning in his grief.

Audrey and her family only plan to stay the night, but life in the Ruby can be intoxicating, extending their stay as it provides endless distractions--including handsome guest Elias Lange, who sends Audrey's pulse racing. However, the hotel proves to be as strange as it is beautiful. Nightly fancy affairs in the ballroom are invitation only, and Audrey seems to be the one guest who doesn't have an invite. Instead, she joins the hotel staff on the rooftop, catching whispers about the hotel's dark past.

The more Audrey learns about the new people she's met, the more her curiosity grows. She's torn in different directions--the pull of her past with its overwhelming loss, the promise of a future that holds little joy, and an in-between in a place that is so much more than it seems...

Welcome to the Ruby.

Audrey's father is taking her and her brother across state lines to live with their grandmother.  It seems no one is able to deal with the grief from losing a loved one in this family.  And in the middle of the road trip, Audrey's father takes them to the Hotel Ruby.  An intoxicating and inviting hotel smack-dab in the middle of nowhere.  But once they check in, will they ever want to leave?

Before going to her room, Audrey decides to explore the amenities of the hotel.  She meets a guest named Elias who offers to show her around.  But when night turns to day, she realizes something is a little off in this place.  And as more guests talk about the invitation-only event that happens every night, Audrey begins to wonder why she's the only one who's not invited.  And as her father continues to extend their stay, she wonders if they'll ever be able to leave the Ruby.

I had this pegged from the beginning.  And this one's a tough one to describe because I don't want to give it all away even though it's at the tip of my tongue.  This story just builds off of a web of lies and dreams, and it all captivates you.  The only thing that kind of haunts me is the ending.  I'm not sure I liked that.  It's definitely one I'm going to be thinking about for a while.

This book is a definite for Suzanne Young fans.  And if you haven't picked up her books yet, this would be a good mystery for you.

Thanks goes to Around the World ARC Tours for providing me a review copy.