Waiting on Wednesday (161)

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

Royals by Rachel Hawkins  

(May 1st, 2018!) 

Meet Daisy Winters. She’s an offbeat sixteen-year-old Floridian with mermaid-red hair; a part time job at a bootleg Walmart, and a perfect older sister who’s nearly engaged to the Crown Prince of Scotland. Daisy has no desire to live in the spotlight, but relentless tabloid attention forces her join Ellie at the relative seclusion of the castle across the pond. 

While the dashing young Miles has been appointed to teach Daisy the ropes of being regal, the prince’s roguish younger brother kicks up scandal wherever he goes, and tries his best to take Daisy along for the ride. The crown–and the intriguing Miles–might be trying to make Daisy into a lady . . . but Daisy may just rewrite the royal rulebook to suit herself.

"He's no prince. But he sure is charming." 
That's it. I'm sold! 

Basically, Rachel Hawkins is one of my favorite YA authors (side note: If you haven't read Hex Hall you're not living your bookish life to the fullest!), and I would read anything she writes! 

Add on Goodreads! 

Find out More about the Author: 

Twitter | Website 

My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, and Brodi Ashton
(Coming June 26, 2018)

You may think you know the story. After a miserable childhood, penniless orphan Jane Eyre embarks on a new life as a governess at Thornfield Hall. There, she meets one dark, brooding Mr. Rochester. Despite their significant age gap (!) and his uneven temper (!!), they fall in love—and, Reader, she marries him. (!!!)

Or does she?

Prepare for an adventure of Gothic proportions, in which all is not as it seems, a certain gentleman is hiding more than skeletons in his closets, and one orphan Jane Eyre, aspiring author Charlotte Brontë, and supernatural investigator Alexander Blackwood are about to be drawn together on the most epic ghost hunt this side of Wuthering Heights. 

My Lady Jane was EPIC...royals, romance, horse jokes...it doesn't get much better than that, my friends! So to say I'm excited about My Plain Jane would be a serious understatement. I pretty much try to contain myself from jumping up and down every time I think about this book lol Also I LOVE the cover!!  

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Find out More about the Authors: 

Website 

Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins

*Spoilers from the first book are present, so if you have not read it and/or don't want the book be spoiled, please do not read this review.*

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:

Sophie Mercer thought she was a witch. That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (aka witches, shapeshifters, and fairies). But that was before she discovered the family secret, and that her hot crush, Archer Cross, is an agent for The Eye, a group bent on wiping Prodigium off the face of the earth. Turns out, Sophie's a demon, one of only two in the world—the other being her father. What's worse, she has powers that threaten the lives of everyone she loves. Which is precisely why Sophie decides she must go to London for the Removal, a dangerous procedure that will destroy her powers.

But once Sophie arrives she makes a shocking discovery. Her new friends? They're demons too. Meaning someone is raising them in secret with creepy plans to use their powers, and probably not for good. Meanwhile, The Eye is set on hunting Sophie down, and they're using Acher to do it. But it's not like she has feelings for him anymore. Does she?

Review:

After reading the spectacular prequel to this, I couldn't wait to read more about Sophie, Archer, and the rest of their friends and foes. Thankfully, Demonglass is not only better than Hex Hall,surprisingly enough, but it also has made me love this series and its author even more.

Demonglass continues the story of Sophie, a girl who is facing quite the load of problems lately. For one, she's just found out that she's not a witch, but rather demon-one that can kill people- thanks to her family's lineage. Furthermore, it doesn’t help that her crush/sort-of-boyfriend is from a line of people whose main purpose in life is to kill her kind. With all this info, she knows she has to go to London for the Removal- it's life or death, in her opinion. However, when her dad appears, he offers her one choice: she can go through the Removal, but only if she comes to England first to learn about her kind before officially deciding. Now off to England with her two of her friends, she's not sure what she should think, especially when she meets two other teen demons and her sort-of-boyfriend makes a grand entrance. Will Sophie discover what and whom she wants? Better yet, when she discovers a life-changing secret, will she be able to change everything before it's too late? Moreover, what about Archer- does she still love him? Only time and more pages will tell in Demonglass, the fast-paced continuation that will leave nearly any fan of Sophie and Archer's begging for more.

Just like in Hex Hall, a strong selling point in this novel would have to be the characters. For one, I love Sophie. Strong, witty, and full of spunk, it's hard to imagine she could ever have any haters. The same goes for her friends Jenna and Cal. Best of all, Archer makes his grand return in this, leaving Sophie as well as me completely bedazzled.

Rachel Hawkins' also stepped it up majorly with the plot. Full of twists, turns, and secrets, there wasn't a time I wasn't sitting on the edge of my seat, curious to know what would happen next. Would Sophie and Archer ever reunite? Who was raising the demons? Would Sophie go through the Removal? There was just so many! Better yet, I loved the introduction of the new characters, such as Daisy and Nick, because they lead for even more drama and secrets to be revealed.

Hawkins' writing also improved for the best, in my opinion. She did a fantastic job of fleshing out the characters and plot lines even more. In addition, the ending was evil, yes, but perfect nerveless.

In all,  Demonglass is one of the best sequels I've read in ages, which is a very high compliment coming from me!

Grade: A+

Demonglass is now out!

Source: Library

Quick Qs and As with Rachel Hawkins

Rachel Hawkins is the debut author of an amazing book called Hex Hall, which is now out!  So, without a futher ado, here's my interview with Rachel.

~~

1) First off, I’m going to give you a couple of categories and I would like you to list your favorite.

Food? Tacos
Drink? Earl Grey Tea
Book? Waaaay too many to list, but I'll go Old School and say The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope and the Anne of Green Gables books.
Author? Diana Gabaldon and George R.R.Martin
Movie? Again, with the lots, but I ADORE Marie Antoinette and all the Lord of the Rings movies.
Season? Autumn

2) Can you describe Hex Hall in three words?

Funny, Spooky, Hawt (and yes, that spelling is intentional!)

3) What was the inspiration behind Hex Hall?

Probably the biggest inspiration is a lifetime of watching old, spooky, haunted house movies with my mom. I was always drawn to those kind of stories, with the big, Gothic houses, and the seeekkkriiiits, and the wandering around at night with candles, and what have you. Secondly, I was teaching high school when I started writing Hex Hall, so being around teenagers all day was definitely a big inspiration! Of course, a lot of Hex Hall started with a simple question I found myself thinking late one night: What if you got sent to Hogwarts, and instead of being awesome and magical, it Totally Sucked Out Loud?

4) In Hex Hall, the main character is sent to a boarding school for supernatural creates including witches, warlocks, vampires and fairies among a few others which leaves me to wonder which you would want to be if you had to pick one.

Well, I like garlic way too much to ever be a vampire, faeries have all those stupid courts and rules (not to mention lame names like ThiggyWhistle or whatever), and shapeshifters have the whole Hair Issue, so I would defintely go with witch!

5) One of my favorite aspects of this novel was the main character- Sophie- because she was so much fun to read about. So, are you similar to her in any ways?

First of all, THANK YOU! So glad you enjoyed Sophie! I think she definitely has my deep, deep love for The Snark, as well as my appreciation for boys with dark hair and eyes (although I ended up married to a blue-eyed redhead!) She's also unsure of herself, which I very much was at 16, and I like to think I'm as loyal to my friends as she is! That said, she's WAY bolder than I am, and she definitely angsts more than me!

6) Do you have a favorite scene or line in Hex Hall? If so, would you mind sharing a glimpse of it with us?

I have two. The first is the prologue, where you see the disastrous love spell that lands Sophie at Hecate Hall, just because it was so much fun to write! The second is a scene that happens towards the end of the book. It involves a cellar and a hot warlock. That's all I have to say about that. ;-)

7) What’s your favorite thing about being an author so far? Least favorite?

My favorite part is hearing from people who've read the book and fallen in love with Sophie and Co! There is absolutely nothing better! Least favorite is that there are lots of times when EVERYTHING else in life has to go to the back burner, whether it's because you're working on a deadline, or you've reached a part of the book where you just HAVE to keep writing. There have been too many nights my family has sat in a messy house and eaten take-out!

8) You’re part of an awesome group called the 10’ers which leaves which leaves me to wonder what your experience has been like being a 10‘er.

I really can't say enough good about the Tenners and how much I've LOVED being a part of them for the past year, SO PREPARE FOR GUSHING! They are just the most fabulous, supportive, HILARIOUS group of people, and I've made some lifelong friendships through it. Publishing can be overwhelming- especially when it's your first book!- and to have so many people going through the same thing at the same time is a godsend. Plus, I get to read a lot of their books early, and if you know anything about how CRAZY TALENTED the Tenners are, then you know why that's such a big deal! *ends gushing*

9) What’s up next for you book-wise?

There are 2 more books in the Hex Hall series scheduled to come out in 2011 and 2012, respectively (oh, please, Mayans, don't let the world in before Hex Hall 3 comes out, m'kay?). I'm also working on a standalone YA about a Southern Belle turned Superhero/Bodyguard, as well as more books set in the Hex Hall universe.

10) Is there anything else you would like to add?

 

Just thank you so much, both for asking me to do this, and for all your nice comments about Hex Hall! So, so appreciated!!
 
~~~
 
Thanks Rachel! Now what are you waiting for? Go check out her book (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indie Bound) and vist her on her blog, website or twitter.

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Summary:

When Sophie Mercer turned thirteen, she discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-Gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hecate Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward prodigium, a.k.a. witches, fae, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard. Three powerful enemies who look like supermodels; a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock; a creepy, tag-along ghost; and a new roommate, who happens to be the most-hated person and only vampire on campus. Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her friend Jenna is the number one suspect. Meanwhile, Sophie has a more personal shock to grapple with. Not only is her father the head of the prodigium council, he's the most powerful warlock in the world, and Sophie is his heir. As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all prodigium, especially her.

Review:

It's been awhile since I've read anything featuring a witch as one of the primary characters, so I was so ecstatic to read this book the moment it ended up in my hands! Luckily, Hex Hall is a hilarious and fun addition to the Supernatural YA genre making this a series that has major promise in my opinion.
Sophie Mercer was a character that was so hard not to love and root for from the beginning. Since, she was laugh-out-loud funny and just had this complete sweet and normal tone to her. Plus, Archer Cross was divine, leaving me to really hope he somehow redeems himself in future books!

The plot was awesome and always packed in a twist that you didn't see coming. I loved seeing the different types of supernatural beings abilities, powers, exc. and the system of government they all basically were under. Plus, everything was felt just so original even with some tiny cliché’s it had!

In all, Hex Hall is a book to read this upcoming March! My only complaint? I can't believe I have to wait SO LONG to read the sequel!
 
Grade: A+

Hex Hall will be released March 2, 2010!

Source: Publisher. Thanks Hallie!