What We’re Reading Wednesday- A Snapshot

Well good morning everyone! Haley here. Today we’re introducing a new feature inspired by WWW Wednesdays currently being hosted by Taking on a World of Words. Its a meme that takes a deep dive into what we’re reading and how we feel about it. Today, I want to tell you all about the books I’ve been reading recently and a few titles I can’t wait to sink my teeth into (metaphorically speaking of course!)

Recently Finished

The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on September 20, 2016
Pages: 352
Goodreads

A contemporary YA novel that examines rape culture through alternating perspectives.
Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it.
Three years ago, when her older sister, Anna, was murdered and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best—the language of violence. While her own crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people. Not with Jack, the star athlete who wants to really know her but still feels guilty over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered. And not with Peekay, the preacher’s kid with a defiant streak who befriends Alex while they volunteer at an animal shelter. Not anyone.
As their senior year unfolds, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting these three teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever.

I know I just bought this book on Friday but I finished it and I am so happy to have read it. I still think my favorite works by Mindy are This Darkness Mine and Heroine but this was an amazing, emotional and important read that should be on everyone’s TBR. Have you read it? What did you think?

Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly
Published by Scholastic Press on May 14, 2019
Pages: 352
Goodreads

Isabelle should be blissfully happy – she’s about to win the handsome prince. Except Isabelle isn’t the beautiful girl who lost the glass slipper and captured the prince’s heart. She’s the ugly stepsister who’s cut off her toes to fit into Cinderella’s shoe ... which is now filling with blood.
When the prince discovers Isabelle’s deception, she is turned away in shame. It’s no more than she deserves: she is a plain girl in a world that values beauty; a feisty girl in a world that wants her to be pliant.
Isabelle has tried to fit in. To live up to her mother’s expectations. To be like her stepsister. To be sweet. To be pretty. One by one, she has cut away pieces of herself in order to survive a world that doesn’t appreciate a girl like her. And that has made her mean, jealous, and hollow.
Until she gets a chance to alter her destiny and prove what ugly stepsisters have always known: it takes more than heartache to break a girl.

I LOVED this book. I had no idea what to expect when I picked it up, but hoped that the story was as beautiful as the cover and it was! I intend to write a review over on Goodreads when I get a spare moment because it was such an empowering, thought provoking story. If you love anti-hero protagonists, this book is for you!

Currently Reading

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James
Published by HarperTeen on July 3, 2018
Pages: 305
Goodreads

A surprising and gripping sci-fi thriller with a killer twist
The daughter of two astronauts, Romy Silvers is no stranger to life in space. But she never knew how isolating the universe could be until her parents’ tragic deaths left her alone on the Infinity, a spaceship speeding away from Earth.
Romy tries to make the best of her lonely situation, but with only brief messages from her therapist on Earth to keep her company, she can’t help but feel like something is missing. It seems like a dream come true when NASA alerts her that another ship, the Eternity, will be joining the Infinity.
Romy begins exchanging messages with J, the captain of the Eternity, and their friendship breathes new life into her world. But as the Eternity gets closer, Romy learns there’s more to J’s mission than she could have imagined. And suddenly, there are worse things than being alone….
Now nominated as a YALSA Quick Pick!

I feel like I have been reading this book forever. Honestly, I’ve been so tired now that my sleeping schedule has gotten back on track that I am only able to read about 25 pages before I fall asleep. I am loving it though. On the anxiety front, Romy is an incredibly sympathetic protagonist whose situation is growing more and more precarious with every page and I cannot wait to see where things go.

Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett
Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers on October 29, 2019
Pages: 288
Goodreads

In a community that isn't always understanding, an HIV-positive teen must navigate fear, disclosure, and radical self-acceptance when she falls in love--and lust--for the first time. Powerful and uplifting, Full Disclosure will speak to fans of Angie Thomas and Nicola Yoon.
Simone Garcia-Hampton is starting over at a new school, and this time things will be different. She's making real friends, making a name for herself as student director of Rent, and making a play for Miles, the guy who makes her melt every time he walks into a room. The last thing she wants is for word to get out that she's HIV-positive, because last time . . . well, last time things got ugly.
Keeping her viral load under control is easy, but keeping her diagnosis under wraps is not so simple. As Simone and Miles start going out for real--shy kisses escalating into much more--she feels an uneasiness that goes beyond butterflies. She knows she has to tell him that she's positive, especially if sex is a possibility, but she's terrified of how he'll react! And then she finds an anonymous note in her locker: I know you have HIV. You have until Thanksgiving to stop hanging out with Miles. Or everyone else will know too.
Simone's first instinct is to protect her secret at all costs, but as she gains a deeper understanding of the prejudice and fear in her community, she begins to wonder if the only way to rise above is to face the haters head-on...

I am actually listening to Full Disclosure as I write this and I am 100% here for strong, confident women who have to deal with real life issues. In this case, Simone is dealing with being HIV positive and trying to navigate her love life at a new school where no one knows here diagnosis. I love me my social issue-heavy contemporary stories with strong female leads. Have you read this one yet?

Waiting on My Nightstand

The Grand Dark by Richard Kadrey
Published by Harper Voyager on June 11, 2019
Pages: 432
Goodreads

The Grand Dark is a dark, stand-alone fantasy that immerses us in a world where the extremes of bleakness and beauty exist together in dangerous harmony in a city on the edge of civility and chaos.
The Great War is over. The city of Lower Proszawa celebrates the peace with a decadence and carefree spirit as intense as the war’s horrifying despair. But this newfound hedonism—drugs and sex and endless parties—distracts from strange realities of everyday life: Intelligent automata taking jobs. Genetically engineered creatures that serve as pets and beasts of war. A theater where gruesome murders happen twice a day. And a new plague that even the ceaseless euphoria can’t mask.
Unlike others who live strictly for fun, Largo is an addict with ambitions. A bike messenger who grew up in the slums, he knows the city’s streets and its secrets intimately. His life seems set. He has a beautiful girlfriend, drugs, a chance at a promotion—and maybe, an opportunity for complete transformation: a contact among the elite who will set him on the course to lift himself up out of the streets.
But dreams can be a dangerous thing in a city whose mood is turning dark and inward. Others have a vision of life very different from Largo’s, and they will use any methods to secure control. And in behind it all, beyond the frivolity and chaos, the threat of new war always looms.

This book is literally sitting on my nightstand, staring at me whenever I roll over to turn off my lamp and reminding me that I want to read it before the month is over. Fingers crossed I actually get to it, I find towards the end of the month my resolve to stick to my TBR wanes so only time will tell

The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters
Published by Crooked Lane Books on December 10, 2019
Pages: 583
Goodreads

A supernatural thriller in the vein of A Head Full of Ghosts about two young girls, a scary story that becomes far too real, and the tragic--and terrifying--consequences that follow one of them into adulthood.
Red Lady, Red Lady, show us your face...
In 1991, Heather Cole and her friends were members of the Dead Girls Club. Obsessed with the macabre, the girls exchanged stories about serial killers and imaginary monsters, like the Red Lady, the spirit of a vengeful witch killed centuries before. Heather knew the stories were just that, until her best friend Becca began insisting the Red Lady was real--and she could prove it.
That belief got Becca killed.
It's been nearly thirty years, but Heather has never told anyone what really happened that night--that Becca was right and the Red Lady was real. She's done her best to put that fateful summer, Becca, and the Red Lady, behind her. Until a familiar necklace arrives in the mail, a necklace Heather hasn't seen since the night Becca died.
The night Heather killed her.
Now, someone else knows what she did...and they're determined to make Heather pay.

This is an ARC from Netgalley that I have actually read the first chapter of and loved. I swear I have put it on my TBR every month since I got approved for it in July. So I am cautiously optimistic that November will be the month, since it comes out in December. I have high hopes that it will be a good, creepy read. Keep an eye out for it to make an appearance in one of my mini review posts before release day (hopefully).

The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air, #3) by Holly Black
on November 19, 2019
Pages: 320
Goodreads

After being pronounced Queen of Faerie and then abruptly exiled by the Wicked King Cardan, Jude finds herself unmoored, the queen of nothing. She spends her time with Vivi and Oak, watches her fair share of reality television, and does the odd job or two, including trying to convince a cannibalistic faerie from hunting her own in the mortal world.
When her twin sister Taryn shows up asking of a favor, Jude jumps at the chance to return to the Faerie world, even if it means facing Cardan, who she loves despite his betrayal.
When a dark curse is unveiled, Jude must become the first mortal Queen of Faerie and uncover how to break the curse, or risk upsetting the balance of the whole Faerie world.
The finale to the New York Times bestselling Folk of Air trilogy, that started with The Cruel Prince and The Wicked King, from award-winning author Holly Black.

The fact that I am picking this up very soon should surprise no one. We have all been waiting anxiously for the conclusion to Black’s Folk of the Air trilogy and now its finally here. I have the physical copy but I will probably end up getting the audio book from my library (I’m next in line) before I get around to reading the physical book.

What About You?

So what are you currently reading? What are you most excited to read next? Are any of the aforementioned books on your TBRs? Let us know in the comments!