Waiting on Wednesday #100

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine which spotlights highly anticipated upcoming releases.

Title: When I Am Through With You
Series: None
Author: Stephanie Kuehn
Genre: Young Adult, Thriller
Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers 
Publication Date: August 1, 2017

“This isn’t meant to be a confession. Not in any spiritual sense of the word. Yes, I’m in jail at the moment. I imagine I’ll be here for a long time, considering. But I’m not writing this down for absolution and I’m not seeking forgiveness, not even from myself. Because I’m not sorry for what I did to Rose. I’m just not. Not for any of it.”
Ben Gibson is many things, but he’s not sorry and he’s not a liar. He will tell you exactly about what happened on what started as a simple school camping trip in the mountains. About who lived and who died. About who killed and who had the best of intentions. But he’s going to tell you in his own time. Because after what happened on that mountain, time is the one thing he has plenty of.

Find When I Am Through With You online

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Why I'm Waiting on When I Am Through With You this Wednesday: I don't normally go for thrillers but I was captured by the cover for this book.  It's so striking and made me interested to figure out what exactly happened and what the cliff has to do with it.  I'm looking forward to getting my hands on this one and figuring it out!

What books are you waiting on this Wednesday?  Also, sorry for the sporadic posting this week! It's my first week back at school and it's been a little crazy getting used to my classes and doing homework.  

Review: The Martian

Title:  The Martian
Series:  N/A
Author:  Andy Weir 
Genre:  Adult, Sci-fi, Thriller, Adventure
Publisher:  Crown
Publication Date:  February 11, 2014
Source:  Borrowed (Thanks, Tyler!)

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.
After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate the planet while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded on Mars' surface, completely alone, with no way to signal Earth that he’s alive — and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone years before a rescue could arrive.
Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark's not ready to quit. Armed with nothing but his ingenuity and his engineering skills — and a gallows sense of humor that proves to be his greatest source of strength – he embarks on a dogged quest to stay alive, using his botany expertise to grow food and even hatching a mad plan to contact NASA back on Earth.
As he overcomes one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next, Mark begins to let himself believe he might make it off the planet alive – but Mars has plenty of surprises in store for him yet.
Grounded in real, present-day science from the first page to the last, yet propelled by a brilliantly ingenious plot that surprises the reader again and again, The Martian is a truly remarkable thriller: an impossible-to-put-down suspense novel that manages to read like a real-life survival tale.

Find The Martian online

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So, my main motivation for reading this book was the fact that the movie was releasing soon.  I have this thing where I absolutely hate to watch the movie before having read the book.  I want to be able to imagine the faces of the characters and the setting and everything without having those images already in my head, like they would be if I saw the movie first.  That being said, The Martian was an absolutely amazing book.  While it involved a lot of technical talk and planning, the story never lulled and the humor of the narrator kept me smiling even in the most tense situations.   

Easily my favorite part of this book was Mark Watney and his humor.  From the very first line to the end, I was laughing out loud.  Like, I honestly just thought everything he said was hilarious.  The way he explained things, his bluntness, and his reactions to certain situations.  He talked about plants and I was sitting there giggling.  If this guy ever wanted to step back from the space/plants/science field, he could totally make it as a comedian.  Just saying'. 

I thought the technical aspects in this book would really hold it back.  Math and science are absolute nightmares for me.  They both send me running for the hills and make my brain cry so knowing this book would be filled with a lot of calculations and experiments made me worry.  But I had no need to.  While I'll admit I did skim some of the longer and more in depth sciencey explanations, the ones that I did read were just as entertaining as the rest of the book.  Watney has a way of making everything sound interest and like I can't stop saying hilarious.  

“Problem is (follow me closely here, the science is pretty complicated), if I cut a hole in the Hab, the air won't stay inside anymore.”

Full of fantastic one-liners and a narrator that keeps dark situations light and fun, The Martian is a book that makes me wish I could go back in time and relive the entire thing over again.  It's easily one of my favorite adult books and has really raised the bar for other sci-fis out there.  I don't know if the author will be releasing more books, but if he does I'm excited to see what he comes out with!

“I can't wait till I have grandchildren. When I was younger, I had to walk to the rim of a crater. Uphill! In an EVA suit! On Mars, ya little shit! Ya hear me? Mars!” 

Five Teapots

Waiting on Wednesday #75

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine which spotlights highly anticipated upcoming releases.

Title:  Six of Crows 

Series:  Six of Crows #1

Author:  Leigh Bardugo (Website | Twitter) 

Age Group:  Young Adult 

Publisher:  Henry Holt and Company 

Publication Date:  September 29, 2015

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.

Find Six of Crows online

Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Goodreads | The Book Depository

Why I'm waiting on Six of Crows this Wednesday:  While I have yet to finish Leigh Bardugo's other series, I am so so so excited for this one.  It sounds amazing and I'm so intrigued by character hints we were given in the summary. 

Are you excited for Six of Crows?  What are you waiting on this Wednesday?  Leave me your links in the comments below!

Review: Dangerous Boys

Title:  Dangerous Boys
Series:  None
Author:  Abigail Haas (Website | Twitter)
Age Group:  Young Adult
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster
Publication Date:  August 14, 2014
Source:  Gifted

Three teens venture into the abandoned Monroe estate one night; hours later, only two emerge from the burning wreckage. Chloe drags one Reznick brother to safety, unconscious and bleeding; the other is left to burn, dead in the fire. But which brother survives? And is his death a tragic accident? Desperate self-defense? Or murder?
Chloe is the only one with the answers. As the fire rages, and police and parents demand the truth, she struggles to piece together the story of how they got there-a story of jealousy, twisted passion, and the darkness that lurks behind even the most beautiful of faces… 

Find Dangerous Boys online

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This was actually the first Abigail Haas book I wanted to read, the one that initially reeled me in like a fish on a hook with that wonderful blurb and gorgeous cover.  Of course, when I realized she had also previously release Dangerous Girls, I had to read that one first and, let me tell you, it BLEW MY MIND.  So I expected nothing short of amazing and mind bending and awesome from this one.  It definitely delivered and I can't believe I didn't see what happened coming because I was totally waiting for it the whole time.  Like, how does Abigail do this?!? Every single time I finish one of her books, I'm left sitting there like an idiot, mouth hanging open and eyes wide in shock, until I finally gather myself and reread the last couple of pages because no, no way, I couldn't have read the right...no...no....what?!?!  How?!?!?  Basically, my brain is like putty in the hands of this woman and will believe almost anythings she writes out and releases to the world.  

The one thing that I do find whenever I read one of her books, is that I don't particularly enjoy her main characters.  Like, I find them extremely interesting and flawed and engaging but there's no way in hell I'd ever find myself spending time with them.  Chloe, our main character, was no different.  While she wasn't necessarily mean or nasty, there was just something about the way to was around the two boys that turned me off from her.  The two boys, however, I very much liked (but was also creeped out by) because they were so...well, dangerous and interesting and mysterious and I wanted to know everything about them.  Particularly Oliver.  He grabbed my attention from the moment he stepped onto the page.  

I don't want to say too much about the overall plot because I don't want to spoil this amazingness for anyone.  But just trust me when I tell you that Abigail Haas is a master of weaving tricky, slippery, and unpredictable stories.  I'm so so SO excited to see what she has in store for us next.  I have no doubt it will leave me just as shocked as this one has.

“Some pieces couldn’t be glued back together. Some people weren’t for fixing.

Sometimes, the only thing to do was burn the whole fucking world down and start again.” 

Five Teapots

Review: The Devil You Know

Title:  The Devil You Know
Series:  None
Author:  Trish Doller (Website | Twitter)
Age Group:  Young Adult 
Publisher:  Bloomsbury Childrens
Publication Date:  June 2, 2015
Source:  Bought

Eighteen-year-old Arcadia wants adventure. Living in a tiny Florida town with her dad and four-year-old brother, Cadie spends most of her time working, going to school, and taking care of her family. So when she meets two handsome cousins at a campfire party, she finally has a chance for fun. They invite her and friend to join them on a road trip, and it's just the risk she's been craving-the opportunity to escape. But what starts out as a fun, sexy journey quickly becomes dangerous when she discovers that one of them is not at all who he claims to be. One of them has deadly intentions.
A road trip fling turns terrifying in this contemporary story that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

Find The Devil You Know online

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So, this book would have been a lot better if Arcadia, our main character, hadn't made so many stupid decisions, the biggest of which being running off with two strange men that she knew for less than a day.  I just...my brain couldn't understand why.  Why, Arcadia?!?!  Why would you do something so completely idiotic?  I enjoyed the mystery aspect more than anything and the creep factor definitely got me.  It was a subtle and the sort of freaky that really crept up on me.  But still, I was pretty disappointed I hadn't liked this read more; I was really excited about reading it and it didn't quite meet my expectations.  It just left me kind of meh once I have finally turned the final page.

Like I said, my biggest problem with this novel was the main character.  Arcadia honestly just got on my nerves.  I didn't understand her reasoning behind almost everything she did.  Like, I got that she wanted a bit of freedom and adventure but this was just too much.  If you want freedom and adventure, go out with people that you know, not random dudes that you meet in the woods.  It was just so stupid, I couldn't bear it.  Even when things began looking really sketchy, Arcadia refused to admit that she may have done something wrong.  Her stubbornness and complete disregard for the feelings of her dad and brother really turned me off from liking her.  

Now, of course, the two random guys that Arcadia runs away with soon become potential love interests.  One, a bad boy with a violent past, the other, a goody-goody that is super caring and sweet.  I honestly didn't like either of them.  Mostly because their relationships with Arcadia were built around her stupidity and lack of self preservation and just felt all around too rushed.  I was suspicious of them both the entire time we were with them but guess pretty early what was going on with the creepy mystery aspect of this book.  It was fairly predictable with the way the guys acted and I wasn't shocked in the slightest when the big reveal happen.  I still enjoyed the mystery though and see it all unfold.  

Overall, I didn't really like this book.  The mystery aspect was the only part I thoroughly enjoyed and even that was fairly predictable and even felt a little rushed at the end.  Still, I was a pretty easy and fast read so if you don't mind some serious eye-rolling and a drive-you-crazy MC, it's worth check out.  

"I rationalized everything, telling myself that I earned this time away from home. But now, with too much time to do nothing but think, I wonder if I was just plain selfish. Just … stupid."

Two Teapots

P.S.:  Wonderland's Reader recently turned three and I recently turned nineteen!  To celebrate, I'm hosting a big giveaway where you have the chance to win a $25 B&N gift card or a book of your choice!  Don't miss your chance to win.  Enter here.