Under the Never Sky, by Veronica Rossi

Series: Under the Never Sky, #1
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: January 3, 2012
Hardcover: 374 pages
Genre: YA - Dystopian
Read it in: 6 days
Source: Library
Challenge: Debut Author, Dystopian
Rating: ★★★★★

Since she'd been on the outside, she'd survived an Aether storm, she'd had a knife held to her throat, and she'd seen men murdered. This was worse.
Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland - known as The Death Shop - are slim. If the cannibals don't get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She's been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He's wild - a savage - and her only hope of staying alive.
A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile - everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria's help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must accept each other to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.

Oh. My. God. SO many AMAZING dystopians for 2012. Seriously. I can't get enough of them. I checked this out from the library and made my husband read it while I was reading another  book. He likes Dystopians as well and I'm always throwing books at him to read. He liked it, so I knew I would definitely like it. Not that I didn't already know that from the summary!

I finished this over a week ago, but I still get all happy and excited when I think about it. It was just SO amazing. I seriously had to read TWO contemporary books just to try and get out of its world. The world that Aria lives in is REALLY scary. But so amazingly real! Every time I picked up this book to read I was drawn into it and felt like I was right there experiencing everything.

I got frustrated, and sad, and scared, and embarassed EVERYTIME Aria did. Her emotions were so well and the writing was so descriptive that everything was real. It's also told in alternating perspectives between Aria and Perry. I really loved being able to get into Perry's head. It really helps to understand the things he does and not just what Aria thinks he's doing when she experiences it.

At first I really wanted to smack Perry for being so mean to Aria, but I quickly fell in love with him and he's one of my top favorite characters from the book. I loved nearly all the characters, except for Soren and his dad and of course the creeps they met along the way. Not going to go into too much detail because you just really need to read it yourself.

Overall, this is a wonderful dystopian. I don't really have any complaints at all about it. If you haven't read this yet, do so immediately. Definitely addicting and one of my top favorite dystopians now.
                                                                                                                                                                                                   
Author Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Buy: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add It: Goodreads | Shelfari

The second book in this series is called Through the Ever Night. It will be released on January 8th, 2013. 

Also, as a side note, this is definitely one of the BEST book trailers I have ever seen. It seriously makes me want this book turned into a movie even more than I already do.

Past, Present, & Future Reads, #39

Past, Present & Future Reading Pile is a feature I do on my blog every Sunday to keep track of the books I read the week before, the book I'm currently reading, and the books I'm hoping to read in the upcoming week. 
                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Queen of Babble in the Big City, by Meg Cabot
(Queen of Babble, #2)
Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date: June 26, 2007

Lizzie Nichols is back, pounding the New York City pavement and looking for a job, a place to live, and her proper place in the universe (not necessarily in that order).
When "Summer Fling" Luke uses the L word (Living Together), Lizzie is only too happy to give up her plan of being postgrad roomies with best friend, Shari, in a one-room walk-up in exchange for cohabitation with the love of her life in his mother's Fifth Avenue pied-a-terre, complete with doorman and resident Renoir.
But Lizzie's not as lucky in her employment search. As Shari finds the perfect job, Lizzie struggles through one humiliating interview after another, being judged overqualified for the jobs in her chosen field--vintage-gown rehab--and underqualified for everything else. It's Shari's boyfriend Chaz to the rescue when he recommends Lizzie for a receptionist's position at his father's posh law firm. The nonpaying gig at a local wedding-gown shop Lizzie manages to land all on her own.
But Lizzie's notoriously big mouth begins to get her into trouble at work and at home almost at once--first at the law firm, where she becomes too chummy with Jill Higgins, a New York society bride with a troublesome future mother-in-law, and then back on Fifth Avenue, when she makes the mistake of bringing up the M word (Marriage) with commitment-shy Luke.
Soon Lizzie finds herself jobless as well as homeless all over again. Can Lizzie save herself--and the hapless Jill--and find career security (not to mention a mutually satisfying committed relationship) at last?

 I wasn't very far into this book when I posted last week's P, P, & F post. But I finished it on Monday and it was really good! LOVE this series.

Queen of Babble Gets Hitched, by Meg Cabot
(Queen of Babble, #3)
Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date: June 24, 2008

Big mouth. Big heart.Big wedding. Big problems.It's the wedding of the century.
Things are looking up at last for Lizzie Nichols. She has a career she loves in the field of her choice (wedding gown restoration), and the love of her life, Jean-Luc, has finally proposed. Life's become a dizzying whirl of wedding gown fittings--not necessarily her own--as Lizzie prepares for her dream wedding at her fiance's chateau in the south of France.
But the dream soon becomes a nightmare as the best man--whom Lizzie might once have accidentally slept with . . . no, really, just slept--announces his total lack of support for the couple, a sentiment the maid of honor happens to second; Lizzie's Midwestern family can't understand why she doesn't want to have her wedding in the family backyard; her future, oh-so-proper French in-laws seem to be slowly trying to lure the groom away from medical school and back into investment banking; and Lizzie finds herself wondering if her Prince Charming really is as charming as she once believed.
Is Lizzie really ready to embrace her new role as wife and mistress of Chateau Mirac? Or is she destined to fall into another man's arms . . . and into the trap of becoming a Bad Girl instead?

Oh. My. God. I wish I could tell you! :O I finished this on  Tuesday. I wish there were books in the series. :(
                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Everneath, by Brodi Ashton
(Everneath, #1)
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date:  January 24, 2012

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.
Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.
As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen.
"Everneath" is a captivating story of love, loss, and immortality from debut author Brodi Ashton.

I have less than a hundred pages left of this to read. I started reading this on Wednesday. It's really interesting. :D Already know I'm going to be impatiently awaiting the next book.
                                                                                                                                                                                                   

The Near Witch, by Victoria Schwab
Publisher: Hyperion 
Release Date: August 2, 2011

"The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children. "" ""If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company. "" ""And there are no strangers in the town of Near." These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life. But when an actual stranger--a boy who seems to fade like smoke--appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true. The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him. As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi's need to know--about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy. Part fairy tale, part love story, Victoria Schwab's debut novel is entirely original yet achingly familiar: a song you heard long ago, a whisper carried by the wind, and a dream you won't soon forget.  

 After I finish Everneath I plan to read this one. I've been wanting to for a while, but I still haven't gotten to. By the way, I thought I'd mention that Victoria Schwab is hilarious on Twitter....
Wings of the Wicked, by Courtney Allison Moulton
(Angelfire, #1)
Publisher: Katherine Tegen
Release Date: January 31, 2012

Life as the Preliator is harder than Ellie ever imagined.Balancing real life with the responsibility of being Heaven’s warrior is a challenge for Ellie. Her relationship with Will has become all business, though they both long for each other. And now that the secret of who she really is has come out, so have Hell’s strongest reapers. Grown bold and more vicious, the demonic threaten her in the light of day and stalk her in the night.
She’s been warned.Cadan, a demonic reaper, comes to her with information about Bastian’s new plan to destroy Ellie’s soul and use an ancient relic to wake all the souls of the damned and unleash them upon humanity. As she fights to stay ahead of Bastian’s schemes , the revelations about those closest to her awaken a dark power within Ellie that threatens to destroy everything—including herself.
She’ll be betrayed.Treachery comes even from those whom she loves, and Ellie is broken by the deaths of those who stood beside her in this Heavenly war. Still, she must find a way to save the world, herself, and her love for Will. If she fails, there will be hell to pay.

 Ever since finishing Angelfire, I've been DYING to read this. Just haven't gotten to it....But anyway, I'm SO excited!

Waiting on Wednesday, #63

Waiting on Wednsday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine. WOW spotlights upcoming releases that you are dying to read and can't wait to get your hands on! 
                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Undeadly, by Michele Vail
(The Reaper Diaries, #1)
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: Novemebr 20, 2012
Pre-Order: Amazon

The day I turned 16, my boyfriend-to-be died. I brought him back to life. Then things got a little weird...
Molly Bartolucci wants to blend in, date hottie Rick and keep her zombie-raising abilities on the down-low. Then the god Anubis chooses her to become a reaper-and she accidentally undoes the work of another reaper, Rath. Within days, she’s shipped off to the Nekyia Academy, an elite school that trains the best necromancers in the world. And her personal reaping tutor? Rath. Who seems to hate her guts.
Rath will be watching closely to be sure she completes her first assignment-reaping Rick, the boy who should have died. The boy she still wants to be with. To make matters worse, students at the academy start turning up catatonic, and accusations fly-against Molly. The only way out of this mess? To go through hell. Literally.

Why Do I Want It?

This sounds REALLY good and unique.  The only books I think I've read that have reapers in it is the Soul Screamers books by Rachel Vincent, which I absolutely LOVE. And there's an academy for necromancers?! Can't wait to get my hands on a copy of this book to read! 

What are you waiting for this week??

Incarnate, by Jodi Meadows

Series: Newsoul, #1
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: January 31, 2012
Hardcover: 374 pages
Genre: YA - Dystopia
Read it in: 2 days
Source: Library
Challenge: Dystopian
Rating: ★★★★★

New soul
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.
No soul
Even Ana's own mother thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?
Heart
Sam believes Ana's new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana's enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else's life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?
Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.

Wow. That is the word that still comes to mind when I think about this book.  I finished this book on the 3rd of this month and the power of this book still stays with me. It completely blew me away and makes me want to go back right away and re-read it. I wish I would of been able to read this sooner!

As some of you may know, I'm a sucker for the Dystopian genre. And this Dystopian? Wow! This book was SO unique! I love Dystopians, but if you read a lot of Dystopians you see that some of them may be unique, but also have around the same type of things in them. (If that makes sense!) But I can't think of ANYTHING that is anywhere near this book.

Another thing that I happen to love and be really interested in is reincarnation. Which is also something that really drew me to this book. (Other than that GORGEOUS cover! I mean look at it! Every time I see it I have to stare at it for at least 5 minutes straight.) There is just something about reincarnation that is really interesting. And the people in this book know everything about their past lives! It's SO cool!

One thing bad about them knowing, is that they have all known each other for millions of years so when it comes to a random person popping up with a new and fresh soul, no one really signs up for the welcome committee. Except, for you know, Sam. *swoon* Saaaammmm. Him alone makes me want to grab a copy of this and read it again. He's so sweet and caring and hot and smart and is it getting hot in here?? *Shakes head to clear it.* Anyway, I absolutely LOVED his character. LOVED. I can't wait to see what will happen with him and Ana in the sequel. ( I am dying for the sequel SOOO bad. Anyone have an extra copy they want to send me as a Christmas prezzie? :P)

Although Ana bothered me sometimes, I really liked her character. She kept her guard up when it was needed and she was really smart. She may have been a newsoul and didn't have millions of years of experience, but she was really smart. And even when a lot of the people didn't welcome her with open arms, she still put her life at stake to help protect them when it was needed. She's extremely brave, and I really liked that about her. Plus, she was just fresh. You know what I mean, right?

Also, just to let you know, a lot of characters in YA nowadays are falling in love at first sight, which gets really old. That didn't happen with Sam and Ana. Yes, Sam was friendly toward Ana and they both put their lives at stake to help each other. But their relationship grew and grew after spending time with each other and as they learned more about each other. And their relationship was so pure and beautiful and after a while I was BEGGING for something to happen with them. It drove me CRAZY, but in a good frustrating way.

Overall, this book was amazing. I am definitely getting my own pretty copy soon so I can read it over and over again. It had everything in it that a great, amazing, and just beautiful book needs! Oh, and some dragons and sylphs too! :P  If you haven't read this book, you need to ASAP. And if you don't have it on your TBR list yet, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! :O
                                                                                                                                                                                                   
Author Info: Website | Facebook | Twitter
Buy: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add it: Goodreads | Shelfari

The second book in this series is called Asunder. It will be released on January 29, 2013.