Can't Wait Wednesday: Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte

Four Dark Queens by Astrid Scholte 

Release date: February 26, 2019

Publisher: Putnam 

Reading level: Young Adult 

Genre: Fantasy 

Links: Author • Goodreads • Amazon 

A divided nation. Four Queens. A ruthless pickpocket. A noble messenger. And the murders that unite them.
​
Get in quick, get out quicker.
These are the words Keralie Corrington lives by as the preeminent dipper in the Concord, the central area uniting the four quadrants of Quadara. She steals under the guidance of her mentor Mackiel, who runs a black market selling their bounty to buyers desperate for what they can’t get in their own quarter. For in the nation of Quadara, each quarter is strictly divided from the other. Four queens rule together, one from each region:
Toria: the intellectual quarter that values education and ambition
Ludia: the pleasure quarter that values celebration, passion, and entertainment
Archia: the agricultural quarter that values simplicity and nature
Eonia: the futurist quarter that values technology, stoicism and harmonious community
When Keralie intercepts a comm disk coming from the House of Concord, what seems like a standard job goes horribly wrong. Upon watching the comm disks, Keralie sees all four queens murdered in four brutal ways. Hoping that discovering the intended recipient will reveal the culprit – information that is bound to be valuable bartering material with the palace – Keralie teams up with Varin Bollt, the Eonist messenger she stole from, to complete Varin’s original job and see where it takes them.

This sounds like a book that will have a ton of different things going on, but I like anything that involves powerful female leaders and a heroine working to save the day. I've been getting more and more into fantasy lately, so this debut looks like it will be right up my alley. Can't wait to check it out! 

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Can't Wait Wednesday: The Girl They Left Behind by Roxanne Veletzos

The Girl They Left Behind by Roxanne Veletzos 

Release date: November 13, 2018

Publisher: Atria Books

Reading level: Adult

Genre: Historical fiction 

Links: Author • Goodreads • Amazon 

On a freezing night in January 1941, a little Jewish girl is found on the steps of an apartment building in Bucharest. With Romania recently allied with the Nazis, the Jewish population is in grave danger, undergoing increasingly violent persecution. The girl is placed in an orphanage and eventually adopted by a wealthy childless couple who name her Natalia. As she assimilates into her new life, she all but forgets the parents who were forced to leave her behind. They are even further from her mind when Romania falls under Soviet occupation.
Yet, as Natalia comes of age in a bleak and hopeless world, traces of her identity pierce the surface of her everyday life, leading gradually to a discovery that will change her destiny. She has a secret crush on Victor, an intense young man who as an impoverished student befriended her family long ago. Years later, when Natalia is in her early twenties and working at a warehouse packing fruit, she and Victor, now an important official in the Communist regime, cross paths again. This time they are fatefully drawn into a passionate affair despite the obstacles swirling around them and Victor’s dark secrets.
When Natalia is suddenly offered a one-time chance at freedom, Victor is determined to help her escape, even if it means losing her. Natalia must make an agonizing decision: remain in Bucharest with her beloved adoptive parents and the man she has come to love, or seize the chance to finally live life on her own terms, and to confront the painful enigma of her past.

This was suggested for fans of LILAC GIRLS, which I thought was excellent. I love historical fiction and I am interested in reading about a Romanian's experience during World War II. This is also a debut!

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Waiting on Wednesday: The War Outside by Monica Hesse

The War Outside by Monica Hesse 

Release date: September 25, 2018

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers 

Reading level: Young Adult

Genre: Historical fiction

Links: Author • Goodreads • Amazon 

It's 1944, and World War II is raging across Europe and the Pacific. The war seemed far away from Margot in Iowa and Haruko in Colorado--until they were uprooted to dusty Texas, all because of the places their parents once called home: Germany and Japan.
Haruko and Margot meet at the high school in Crystal City, a "family internment camp" for those accused of colluding with the enemy. The teens discover that they are polar opposites in so many ways, except for one that seems to override all the others: the camp is changing them, day by day and piece by piece. Haruko finds herself consumed by fear for her soldier brother and distrust of her father, who she knows is keeping something from her. And Margot is doing everything she can to keep her family whole as her mother's health deteriorates and her rational, patriotic father becomes a man who distrusts America and fraternizes with Nazis.
With everything around them falling apart, Margot and Haruko find solace in their growing, secret friendship. But in a prison the government has deemed full of spies, can they trust anyone--even each other?

I love historical fiction, especially when it tackles a time in history that might not be as well known. It's important for people to understand what happened with the Japanese in the United States during World War II and I am eager to see how Monica Hesse handles this difficult subject. All of the early reviews I have seen have been fantastic, so I am eager to read this myself!

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Waiting on Wednesday: A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas

A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas
Release date: February 24, 2015
Publisher: Harper Teen
Reading level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Links: Author's Website/Goodreads

One hundred years after falling asleep, Princess Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince and a broken kingdom that has been dreaming of her return. All the books say that she should be living happily ever after. But as Aurora understands all too well, the truth is nothing like the fairy tale.
Her family is long dead. Her "true love" is a kind stranger. And her whole life has been planned out by political foes while she slept.
As Aurora struggles to make sense of her new world, she begins to fear that the curse has left its mark on her, a fiery and dangerous thing that might be as wicked as the witch who once ensnared her. With her wedding day drawing near, Aurora must make the ultimate decision on how to save her kingdom: marry the prince or run.

I love, love, love fairy-tale retellings and Sleeping Beauty is one of my favorites. I can't wait to see how Rhiannon Thomas reimagines Aurora's story.

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Waiting on Wednesday: I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios 
Release date: February 3, 2015
Publisher: Henry Holt BFYR
Reading level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Links: Author's Website/Goodreads 

If seventeen-year-old Skyler Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage-months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom—that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she’s ever worked for is on the line.
Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be. What brings them together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper. Gritty, romantic, and ultimately hopeful, I'll MEET YOU THERE explores the complicated lives of an unforgettable cast of characters. This is the story of teens outside the picket fence. It doesn’t soften the edges of adolescence or the individual consequences of war; it’s life on the fringes—maddening, weirdly endearing…and completely screwed up.

I have a strange obsession with contemporary YA of late and I'll Meet You There sounds like a heart-breaking blend of young love, broken dreams, and tragedy.

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Waiting on Wednesday: Love, Lucy by April Lindner

Love, Lucy by April Lindner 
Release date: January 27, 2015
Publisher: Poppy
Reading level: Young adult
Genre: Contemporary
Links: Author's Website/Goodreads

While backpacking through Florence, Italy, during the summer before she heads off to college, Lucy Sommersworth finds herself falling in love with the culture, the architecture, the food...and Jesse Palladino, a handsome street musician. After a whirlwind romance, Lucy returns home, determined to move on from her "vacation flirtation." But just because summer is over doesn't mean Lucy and Jesse are over, too.
In this coming-of-age romance, April Lindner perfectly captures the highs and lows of a summer love that might just be meant to last beyond the season.

I adore contemporary romances, but what makes this one even more special is the setting: Florence, Italy.

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Waiting on Wednesday: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir 
Release date: April 28, 2015
Publisher: Razorbill
Reading level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Links: Author's Website/Goodreads

Set in a terrifyingly brutal Rome-like world, An Ember in the Ashes is an epic fantasy debut about an orphan fighting for her family and a soldier fighting for his freedom. It’s a story that’s literally burning to be told.
LAIA is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Martial Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia goes undercover as a slave at the empire’s greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from rebel Scholars who claim that they will help to save her brother from execution.
ELIAS is the academy’s finest soldier— and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias is considering deserting the military, but before he can, he’s ordered to participate in a ruthless contest to choose the next Martial emperor.
When Laia and Elias’s paths cross at the academy, they find that their destinies are more intertwined than either could have imagined and that their choices will change the future of the empire itself.
Vow your blood and body to the empire.
Keep your heart for yourself.

I am fascinated with ancient Rome, so I love the idea of a fantasy romance taking place in a dark Rome-like setting. I can't wait for April!

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Waiting on Wednesday: The Wrong Side of Right by Jenn Marie Thorne

The Wrong Side of Right by Jenn Marie Thorne
Release date: March 17, 2015
Publisher: Dial
Reading level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Links: Goodreads

When Kate Quinn’s mother died a year ago in a tragic car accident, Kate assumed that the secret of her father’s identity died along with her. She never expected that she’d learn anything at all about him—especially not from a mob of screaming reporters.
But after a New York Times reporter discovers that the sixteen-year-old Kate is the illegitimate daughter of Senator Mark Cooper, presumptive Republican nominee for President, the press descends—and with it, the Cooper campaign. When Kate agrees to join the Coopers on the campaign trail as part of a desperate attempt at damage control, she’s plunged headlong into the cut-throat world of politics, hoping to both forge a connection with the family she never knew and find some answers about the mother she’s so recently lost.
Billed as The American President for teens, SPIN features Kate's journey along the presidential campaign trail, in a story about romance and betrayal, politics and scandal, friendship and family, and what it means to truly belong.

This sounds awesome! I am fascinated with politics and campaigning, so I can't wait to see what this debut is going to be like.

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Waiting on Wednesday: Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid

Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid
Release date: July 29, 2014
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Reading level: Young Adult

Genre: Contemporary

Links: Author's Website/Goodreads

Five strangers. Countless adventures. One epic way to get lost.
Four teens across the country have only one thing in common: a girl named LEILA. She crashes into their lives in her absurdly red car at the moment they need someone the most.
There's HUDSON, a small-town mechanic who is willing to throw away his dreams for true love. And BREE, a runaway who seizes every Tuesday—and a few stolen goods along the way. ELLIOT believes in happy endings…until his own life goes off-script. And SONIA worries that when she lost her boyfriend, she also lost the ability to love.
Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia find a friend in Leila. And when Leila leaves them, their lives are forever changed. But it is during Leila's own 4,268-mile journey that she discovers the most important truth— sometimes, what you need most is right where you started. And maybe the only way to find what you're looking for is to get lost along the way.

I love books about friendship and road trips, so I think this will be an awesome read! Luckily, this one releases next month so I won't have too long to wait!

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Waiting on Wednesday: Even in Paradise by Chelsey Philpot

Even in Paradise by Chelsey Philpot
Release date: October 14, 2014

Publisher: HarperCollins

Reading Level: Young Adult

Genre: Contemporary

Links: Author's Website/Goodreads

When Julia Buchanan enrolls at St. Anne’s at the beginning of junior year, Charlotte Ryder already knows all about the former senator’s daughter. Most people do... or think they do.
Charlotte certainly never expects she’ll be Julia’s friend. But almost immediately, she is drawn into the larger than-life-new girl’s world—a world of midnight rendezvous, dazzling parties, palatial vacation homes, and fizzy champagne cocktails. And then Charlotte meets, and begins falling for, Julia’s handsome older brother, Sebastian.
But behind her self-assured smiles and toasts to the future, Charlotte soon realizes that Julia is still suffering from a tragedy. A tragedy that the Buchanan family has kept hidden … until now.

Contemporary YA has always had a special place in my heart and the comparisons to The Great Gatsby have only strengthened my eagerness to read this one!

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Waiting on Wednesday: Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine

Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine
Release date: August 5, 2014

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Reading level: Young Adult

Genre: Paranormal

Links: Author's Website/Goodreads 

There are whispers of a ghost in the slaughterhouse where sixteen-year-old Wen assists her father in his medical clinic—a ghost who grants wishes to those who need them most. When one of the Noor, men hired as cheap factory labor, humiliates Wen, she makes an impulsive wish of her own, and the Ghost grants it. Brutally.
Guilt-ridden, Wen befriends the Noor, including their outspoken leader, a young man named Melik. At the same time, she is lured by the mystery of the Ghost and learns he has been watching her … for a very long time.
As deadly accidents fuel tensions within the factory, Wen must confront her growing feelings for Melik, who is enraged at the sadistic factory bosses and the prejudice faced by his people at the hand of Wen’s, and her need to appease the Ghost, who is determined to protect her against any threat—real or imagined. She must decide whom she can trust, because as her heart is torn, the factory is exploding around her … and she might go down with it.

Everything about this sounds dark and mysterious... not only is there a slaughterhouse, but there are also ghosts! Plus, I love the cover. Can't wait for this one to be released!

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Waiting on Wednesday: Winterspell by Claire Legrand

Winterspell by Claire Legrand 
Release date: September 30, 2014

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

Reading level: Young Adult

Genre: Historical fantasy

Links: Author's Website/Goodreads

The clock chimes midnight, a curse breaks, and a girl meets a prince . . . but what follows is not all sweetness and sugarplums.
New York City, 1899. Clara Stole, the mayor's ever-proper daughter, leads a double life. Since her mother's murder, she has secretly trained in self-defense with the mysterious Drosselmeyer.
Then, on Christmas Eve, disaster strikes.
Her home is destroyed, her father abducted--by beings distinctly nothuman. To find him, Clara journeys to the war-ravaged land of Cane. Her only companion is the dethroned prince Nicholas, bound by a wicked curse. If they're to survive, Clara has no choice but to trust him, but his haunted eyes burn with secrets--and a need she can't define. With the dangerous, seductive faery queen Anise hunting them, Clara soon realizes she won't leave Cane unscathed--if she leaves at all.
Inspired by The Nutcracker, Winterspell is a dark, timeless fairy tale about love and war, longing and loneliness, and a girl who must learn to live without fear.

A retelling of The Nutcracker? Count me in! I love dark fairytales and the early buzz for this has been fantastic.

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Uninvited by Sophie Jordan 

You can’t change your DNA…even when it says you’re a murderer.
When Davy tests positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome, aka “the kill gene,” she loses everything. Once the perfect high school senior, she is uninvited from her prep school and abandoned by her friends and boyfriend. Even her parents are now afraid of her—although she’s never hurt a fly. Davy doesn’t feel any differently, but genes don’t lie. One day she will kill someone.
Without any say in the matter, Davy is thrown into a special class for HTS carriers. She has no doubt the predictions are right about them, especially Sean, who already bears the “H” tattoo as proof of his violence. Yet when the world turns on the carriers, Sean is the only one she can trust. Maybe he’s not as dangerous as he seems. Or maybe Davy is just as deadly.

March 2014/HarperTeen/Young Adult 

-- I loved Sophie's Firelight series and Uninvited sounds fantastic, yet completely different. This plot is something fresh and new and I'm interested to see how everything will play out, especially with the mystery guy Sean.

Links: Author's Website/Goodreads

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This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales 

Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. All throughout her life, she’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; and most importantly, a love for DJing.
Told in a refreshingly genuine and laugh-out-loud funny voice, THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE is an exuberant novel about identity, friendship, and the power of music to bring people together.

September 17, 2013/Farrar, Straus, and Giroux (BYR)/288 Pages/Young Adult 

-- I am a huge fan of contemporary YA and this sounds fantastic! I adored both of Leila's previous novels and I am sure This Song Will Save Your Life will be just as hilarious and relatable. 

Links: Author's Website/Goodreads 

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A Most Dangerous Deception by Sarah Zettel

A warning to all young ladies of delicate breeding who wish to embark upon lives of adventure: Don't. Sixteen-year-old Peggy is a well-bred orphan who is coerced into posing as a lady-in-waiting at the palace of King George I. Life is grand, until Peggy starts to suspect that the girl she's impersonating might have been murdered. Unless Peggy can discover the truth, she might be doomed to the same terrible fate. But in a court of shadows and intrigue, anyone could be a spy—perhaps even the handsome young artist with whom Peggy is falling in love . . . History and mystery spark in this effervescent series debut.

November 5, 2013/Harcourt Children's Books/320 Pages/Young Adult/Book One 

-- I adore historical fiction and add in royalty, murder, romance, and impersonation and I'm hooked! This sounds like it will be an exciting new series! 

Links: Author's Website/Goodreads 

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The Falconer by Elizabeth May

Lady Aileana Kameron can sing, paint prettily, and murder the fae as easily as dancing a waltz. But how far is she prepared to go for vengeance . . . ?
Edinburgh, Scotland, 1844
18-year-old Lady Aileana Kameron, the only daughter of the Marquess of Douglas, was destined to a life carefully planned around Edinburgh’s social events – right up until a faery kills her mother.
Now it’s the 1844 winter season. Between a seeming endless number of parties, Aileana slaughters faeries in secret. Armed with modified percussion pistols and explosives, every night she sheds her aristocratic facade and goes hunting. She’s determined to track down the faery who murdered her mother, and to destroy any who prey on humans in the city’s many dark alleyways.
But she never even considered that she might become attracted to one. To the magnetic Kiaran MacKay, the faery who trained her to kill his own kind. Nor is she at all prepared for the revelation he’s going to bring. Because Midwinter is approaching, and with it an eclipse that has the ability to unlock a Fae prison and begin the Wild Hunt.
A battle looms, and Aileana is going to have to decide how much she’s willing to lose – and just how far she’ll go to avenge her mother’s murder.

September 19, 2013/Chronicle Books/288 Pages/Young Adult

-- This really does sound fantastic! Historical Scotland? Royalty? Faeries? The Wild Hunt? Sign me up!

Links: Author's Website/Goodreads 

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Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland 

For Cricket Thompson, a summer like this one will change everything. A summer spent on Nantucket with her best friend, Jules Clayton, and the indomitable Clayton family. A summer when she’ll make the almost unattainable Jay Logan hers. A summer to surpass all dreams.
Some of this turns out to be true. Some of it doesn’t.

When Jules and her family suffer a devastating tragedy that forces the girls apart, Jules becomes a stranger whom Cricket wonders whether she ever really knew. And instead of lying on the beach working on her caramel-colored tan, Cricket is making beds and cleaning bathrooms to support herself in paradise for the summer.
But it’s the things Cricket hadn’t counted on--most of all, falling hard for someone who should be completely off-limits--that turn her dreams into an exhilarating, bittersweet reality.
A beautiful future is within her grasp, and Cricket must find the grace to embrace it. If she does, her life could be the perfect shade of Nantucket blue.

May 7, 2013/Disney Hyperion/304 Pages/Young Adult

-- I love a good contemporary novel, especially one set at the beach! I love Nantucket and this sounds like it will be an emotional and heart-wrenching read. I wonder if Cricket is a nickname? 

Links: Author's Website/Goodreads 

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The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers studies the rich like her own personal science experiment, and after years of observation she’s pretty sure they’re only good for one thing—spending money on useless stuff, like the porcelain dolls in her mother’s shop.
So when Xander Spence walks into the store to pick up a doll for his grandmother, it only takes one glance for Caymen to figure out he’s oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and that he’s one of the first people who actually gets her, she’s smart enough to know his interest won’t last. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned from her mother’s warnings, it’s that the rich have a short attention span. But Xander keeps coming around, despite her best efforts to scare him off. And much to her dismay, she's beginning to enjoy his company.
She knows her mom can’t find out—she wouldn’t approve. She’d much rather Caymen hang out with the local rocker who hasn’t been raised by money. But just when Xander’s attention and loyalty are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn’t a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she’d ever realized. And that Xander’s not the only one she should’ve been worried about.

July 2, 2013/HarperTeen/320 Pages/Young Adult

-- I adore a good contemporary novel and this one sounds original and intriguing. I've heard incredible things about Kasie's debut, Pivot Point (coming in February) so it will be interesting to see how she tackles a completely different genre. Plus, the cover is gorgeous-- I adore her outfit!

Links: Author's Website/Goodreads

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Born of Illusion by Teri Brown 

Anna Van Housen is thirteen the first time she breaks her mother out of jail. By sixteen she’s street smart and savvy, assisting her mother, the renowned medium Marguerite Van Housen, in her stage show and séances, and easily navigating the underground world of magicians, mediums and mentalists in 1920’s New York City. Handcuffs and sleight of hand illusions have never been much of a challenge for Anna. The real trick is keeping her true gifts secret from her opportunistic mother, who will stop at nothing to gain her ambition of becoming the most famous medium who ever lived. But when a strange, serious young man moves into the flat downstairs, introducing her to a secret society that studies people with gifts like hers, he threatens to reveal the secrets Anna has fought so hard to keep, forcing her to face the truth about her past. Could the stories her mother has told her really be true? Could she really be the illegitimate daughter of the greatest magician of all?

Born of Illusion is the first book in a new series. Each book in the series will introduce a new historical figure, whose legend is shrouded in magic, along with the young woman whose fate is irrevocably tied to his. The through line in each of the books will be The Ghost Club, the real life secret society that was founded in 1862 by the likes of Charles Dickens, Sir Conan Doyle, and W. B. Yeats to advance mankind’s knowledge of the paranormal. The first three books in the series will deal with Houdini, Aleister Crowley and Rasputin.

June 11, 2013/Balzer + Bray/245 Pages/Young Adult/

-- I love anything that takes place in the Roaring Twenties, plus toss in some magic and mystery and I'm sold. Plus, this series sounds like it is going to be amazing. Charles Dickens, Rasputin, Houdini? I cannot wait to see what Brown has in store for us!

Links: Author's Website/Goodreads 

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Gated by Amy Christine Parker

Do the gates keep the unchosen out or the chosen in?
In Mandrodage Meadows, life seems perfect. The members of this isolated suburban community have thrived under Pioneer, the charismatic leader who saved them from their sad, damaged lives. Lyla Hamilton and her parents are original members of the flock. They moved here following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, looking to escape the evil in the world. Now seventeen, Lyla knows certain facts are not to be questioned:
Pioneer is her leader.
Will is her Intended.
The end of the world is near.
Like Noah before him, Pioneer has been told of the imminent destruction of humanity. He says his chosen must arm themselves to fight off the unchosen people, who will surely seek refuge in the compound's underground fortress--the Silo.
Lyla loves her family and friends, but given the choice, she prefers painting to target practice. And lately she'd rather think about a certain boy outside the compound than plan for married life in the Silo with Will. But with the end of days drawing near, she will have to pick up a gun, take a side, and let everyone know where she stands.

 August 27, 2013/Random House Children's/384 Pages/Young Adult

-- This sounds intense and action-packed! I wonder what Lyla will do? This is Amy's debut and I cannot wait to read it.

Links: Author's Website/Goodreads  

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