It’s another Bookanista Thursday!  This week I’m talking about Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard. I loved nearly everything about this book – the historial zombie love story!!

So what did I love?

• The Characters. So many great characters in this novel. Eleanor’s unyielding determination and snarky voice. Daniel as the sullen (but hot) inventor with a dark past. Jie and her fierce but loyal friendships. I could go and on!
• The Setting. I loved all the details and immediately could sense the sweltering heat of a parasoled, corseted summer in 1876 Philly.
• The Twist. I’m not really a fan of zombies (I know, I know … how is that possible?) The only other zombie book I’ve ever liked was The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Now there’s a second on my list – and it’s this one.

Definitely pick this one up and let me know your thoughts!

Goodreads Synopsis:

The year is 1876, and there’s something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia…

Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about. Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks by. But this is nothing compared to what she’s just read in the newspaper—

The Dead are rising in Philadelphia.

And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor…from her brother.

Whoever is controlling the Dead army has taken her brother as well. If Eleanor is going to find him, she’ll have to venture into the lab of the notorious Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces. But as Eleanor spends more time with the Spirit-Hunters, including their maddeningly stubborn yet handsome inventor, Daniel, the situation becomes dire. And now, not only is her reputation on the line, but her very life may hang in the balance.

Elsewhere, the Bookanistas are talking about:

• Jessica Love covets the cover of THE LOST PLANET by Rachel Searles
• Tracey Neithercott is pepped about PIVOT POINT by Kasie West
• Shari Arnold marvels at THE REECE MALCOM LIST by Amy Spaulding
• Katy Upperman raves about some recent reads

It’s another Bookanista Thursday!  This week I’m talking about Rootless by Chris Howard. I thought I was kind of over dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels. Lucky for me (and for you) I discovered that I wasn’t!!

So what did I love?

• The Voice. I mean, I love a good male POV any day, but this one? SOO good. Banyan was so honest, so sarcastic, and I loved the added bit of futuristic references and slang.
• The Setting. A good post-apocalyptic novel makes you cringe at the thought of wanting to live there. This is definitely true of Rootless. No trees? Man-eating locusts? Dining on popcorn for all your meals? Dust … dust … and did I mention the dust?
• The Love Story. Yeah, I’m always a sucker for a good romance, but I especially loved Banyan and Alpha. They were such unique characters, and it was a slow build of their romance. As a reader you could sense the initial lusting, the heightened emotions of the circumstances, but also the sweetness of them truly caring for one another.

Definitely pick this one up and let me know your thoughts!

Goodreads Synopsis:

17-year-old Banyan is a tree builder. Using scrap metal and salvaged junk, he creates forests for rich patrons who seek a reprieve from the desolate landscape. Although Banyan’s never seen a real tree—they were destroyed more than a century ago—his father used to tell him stories about the Old World. But that was before his father was taken . . .

Everything changes when Banyan meets a woman with a strange tattoo—a clue to the whereabouts of the last living trees on earth, and he sets off across a wasteland from which few return. Those who make it past the pirates and poachers can’t escape the locusts—the locusts that now feed on human flesh.

But Banyan isn’t the only one looking for the trees, and he’s running out of time. Unsure of whom to trust, he’s forced to make an uneasy alliance with Alpha, an alluring, dangerous pirate with an agenda of her own. As they race towards a promised land that might only be a myth, Banyan makes shocking discoveries about his family, his past, and how far people will go to bring back the trees.

In this dazzling debut, Howard presents a disturbing world with uncanny similarities to our own. Like the forests Banyan seeks to rebuild, this visionary novel is both beautiful and haunting—full of images that will take permanent root in your mind . . . and forever change the way you think about nature.

Elsewhere, the Bookanistas are talking about:

• FIRST…Jessica Love welcomes our FIVE NEW BOOKANISTAS!
• Carrie Harris croons about THE COLLECTOR by Victoria Scott
• Corrine Jackson adores CONFESSIONS OF AN ANGRY GIRL by Louise Rozett
• Shelli Johannes-Wells hails HYSTERIA by Megan Miranda
• Stasia Ward Kehoe celebrates YALSA’s TEEN LIT DAY
• Gretchen McNeil adores UNREMEMBERED by Jessica Brody
• Rebecca Behrens andTracey Neithercott share why they’re excited to be newbie Bookanistas

It’s that time again … Bookanista Thursday!  This week I’m talking about The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay! I actually read this novel several months ago, but it still sticks with me as an amazing read and one I refer to others.

So what did I love?

• The Characters. Nastya and Josh are both so well developed. They are layered and they are broken and they screw things up. I even adored the sidekick character of Drew
• The Romance. There was no insta-love in this novel. I liked the slow build, getting to know the characters, watching the relationship build. It made you vested, it made you laugh, it made you cry.
• The Plot. Everyone talks about the slow-build of this novel. And I agree. But it works. It kept me turning the pages because I became very vested in these characters. I couldn’t wait to see how they interacted and what would happen next – even if it was just a scene in shop class!

Definitely pick this one up and let me know your thoughts!

Goodreads Synopsis:

I live in a world without magic or miracles. A place where there are no clairvoyants or shapeshifters, no angels or superhuman boys to save you. A place where people die and music disintegrates and things suck. I am pressed so hard against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk.

Former piano prodigy Nastya Kashnikov wants two things: to get through high school without anyone learning about her past and to make the boy who took everything from her—her identity, her spirit, her will to live—pay.

Josh Bennett’s story is no secret: every person he loves has been taken from his life until, at seventeen years old, there is no one left. Now all he wants is be left alone and people allow it because when your name is synonymous with death, everyone tends to give you your space.

Everyone except Nastya, the mysterious new girl at school who starts showing up and won’t go away until she’s insinuated herself into every aspect of his life. But the more he gets to know her, the more of an enigma she becomes. As their relationship intensifies and the unanswered questions begin to pile up, he starts to wonder if he will ever learn the secrets she’s been hiding—or if he even wants to.

The Sea of Tranquility is a rich, intense, and brilliantly imagined story about a lonely boy, an emotionally fragile girl, and the miracle of second chances.

Elsewhere, the Bookanistas are talking about:

• Christine Fonseca  marvels at MIND GAMES by Kiersten White
• Shelli Johannes-Wells  explores ESSENCE by Kimberly Derting
• Elana Johson  is gaga for GRAVE MERCY by Robin LaFever
• Stasia Ward Kehoe discusses THE DIFFERENT GIRL by Gordon Dahlquist
• Jessica Love delves into BITTERSWEET by Sarah Ockler
• Katy Upperman  wonders at IF I LIE by Corrine Jackson