Review: Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Published: 9th July 2019 | Publisher: Delecorte Press | Cover Designer: Regina Flath | Cover Art: Aykut Aydoğdu| Source: Won in a giveaway.
Rory Power's Website

It's been eighteen months since the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine. Since the Tox hit and pulled Hetty's life out from under her.

It started slow. First the teachers died one by one. Then it began to infect the students, turning their bodies strange and foreign. Now, cut off from the rest of the world and left to fend for themselves on their island home, the girls don't dare wander outside the school's fence, where the Tox has made the woods wild and dangerous. They wait for the cure they were promised as the Tox seeps into everything.

But when Byatt goes missing, Hetty will do anything to find her, even if it means breaking quarantine and braving the horrors that lie beyond the fence. And when she does, Hetty learns that there's more to their story, to their life at Raxter, than she could have ever thought true. From Goodreads.

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Rep: Lesbian protagonist/narrator, lesbian main character, secondary black character.

Trigger Warnings: This book features blood, vomit, death, mutations, graphic and gorey violence, descriptions of wounds, self-defense killing, experiments on people, self-harm, suicide ideation, suicide, gassing. Also, see Power's own list of trigger and content warnings.

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Review: House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

Published: 6th August 2019 | Publisher: Delacorte Press | Cover Designer: Alison Impey | Source: Won in a giveaway
Erin A. Craig's Website

Four of Annaleigh Thaumas's eleven sisters have returned to the Salt, the brackish water that surrounds their lonely island home, their lives cut short, each more tragically than the last. Whispers throughout the Highmoor estate say the girls have been cursed by the gods.

When Annaleigh finds out that her sisters have been sneaking out to attend glittering midnight balls and dance until dawn, she's not sure whether to stop them--or join them. And when she begins to see a series of horrific, ghostly visions and more sisters die, she realizes she must solve the mystery--with the help of Cassius, a sea captain who knows much more about her than he should--and unravel the Thaumas curse before she descends into madness or... it claims her next. From Goodreads.

Book Depository | Wordery | Goodreads

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features sex, death, grief, funerals, discussion of suicide, descriptions of multiple dead bodies, murder, the idea of "madness" born of magic, pregnancy, birth, a stillborn baby, and mention of violence against women.

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Review: The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman (#Ad)

I was sent this review copy for free by Titan Books for the purposes of providing an honest review.

The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman

Published: 16th April 2019 | Publisher: Titan Books | Cover Designer: Natasha MacKenzi | Source: Publisher
Christine Lynn Herman's Website

Branches and stones, daggers and bones,
They locked the Beast away.

After the death of her sister, seventeen-year-old Violet Saunders finds herself dragged to Four Paths, New York. Violet may be a newcomer, but she soon learns her mother isn't: They belong to one of the revered founding families of the town, where stone bells hang above every doorway and danger lurks in the depths of the woods.

Justin Hawthorne's bloodline has protected Four Paths for generations from the Gray—a lifeless dimension that imprisons a brutal monster. After Justin fails to inherit his family's powers, his mother is determined to keep this humiliation a secret. But Justin can't let go of the future he was promised and the town he swore to protect.

Ever since Harper Carlisle lost her hand to an accident that left her stranded in the Gray for days, she has vowed revenge on the person who abandoned her: Justin Hawthorne. There are ripples of dissent in Four Paths, and Harper seizes an opportunity to take down the Hawthornes and change her destiny-to what extent, even she doesn't yet know.

The Gray is growing stronger every day, and its victims are piling up. When Violet accidentally unleashes the monster, all three must band together with the other Founders to unearth the dark truths behind their families' abilities—before the Gray devours them all. From Goodreads.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features physical violence, death, grief, dead bodies, animal death, kidnap, and a cult.

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Review: How It Feels to Float by Helena Fox

How It Feels to Float by Helena Fox

Published: 7th May 2019 | Publisher: Dial Books | Cover Designer: Kristie Radwilowicz | Cover Illustrator: Karolis Strautiekas | Source: Bought
Helena Fox's Website

Biz knows how to float. She has her people, her posse, her mom and the twins. She has Grace. And she has her dad, who tells her about the little kid she was, who loves her so hard, and who shouldn't be here but is. So Biz doesn't tell anyone anything. Not about her dark, runaway thoughts, not about kissing Grace or noticing Jasper, the new boy. And she doesn't tell anyone about her dad. Because her dad died when she was seven. And Biz knows how to float, right there on the surface--normal okay regular fine.

But after what happens on the beach--first in the ocean, and then in the sand--the tethers that hold Biz steady come undone. Dad disappears, and with him, all comfort. It might be easier, better, sweeter to float all the way away? Or maybe stay a little longer, find her father, bring him back to her. Or maybe--maybe maybe maybe--there's a third way Biz just can't see yet. From Goodreads.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features sex shaming, hallucinations, disassociation, anxiety and panic attacks, depression, suicide ideation, and discussion of suicide.

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Review: The Waking Forest by Alyssa Wees

The Waking Forest by Alyssa Wees

Published: 12th March 2019 | Publisher: Delacorte | Cover Designer: Leo Nicholls | Source: Bought
Alyssa Wees' Website

The waking forest has secrets. To Rhea, it appears like a mirage, dark and dense, at the very edge of her backyard. But when she reaches out to touch it, the forest vanishes. She’s desperate to know more—until she finds a peculiar boy who offers to reveal its secrets. If she plays a game.

To the Witch, the forest is her home, where she sits on her throne of carved bone, waiting for dreaming children to beg her to grant their wishes. One night, a mysterious visitor arrives and asks her what she wishes for, but the Witch sends him away. And then the uninvited guest returns.

The strangers are just the beginning. Something is stirring in the forest, and when Rhea’s and the Witch’s paths collide, a truth more treacherous and deadly than either could ever imagine surfaces. But how much are they willing to risk to survive? From Goodreads.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features creepy hallucinations, anxiety, death, grief, visceral descriptions - of a dead body, and, separately, of the chest cavity.

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Review: The Truth About Keeping Secrets by Savannah Brown (#Ad)

I received this eProof for free from Penguin via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

The Truth About Keeping Secrets by Savannah Brown

Published: 7th March 2019 | Publisher: Penguin | Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Savannah Brown's Website

Sydney's dad is the only psychiatrist for miles around their small Ohio town.

He is also unexpectedly dead.

Is Sydney crazy, or is it kind of weird that her dad-a guy whose entire job revolved around other peoples' secrets-crashed alone, with no explanation?

And why is June Copeland, homecoming queen and the town's golden child, at his funeral?

As the two girls grow closer in the wake of the accident, it's clear that not everyone is happy about their new friendship.

But what is picture perfect June still hiding? And does Sydney even want to know?

THE TRUTH ABOUT KEEPING SECRETS is a page-turning, voice led, high school thriller. From Goodreads.

Trigger Warning: This book features discussion and description of multiple deaths, discussion of elements of the embalming process, discussion of an abusive relationship: controlling and manipulative behaviour, stalking, abduction, attempted murder, discussion of racism, and homophobia.

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Review: The Burning by Laura Bates (#Ad)

I received this eProof for free from Simon & Schuster Children's Books via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

The Burning by Laura Bates

Published: 21st February 2019 | Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Books  | Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Everyday Sexism | Everyday Sexism on Twitter

Fire is like a rumour. You might think you’ve extinguished it but one creeping, red tendril, one single wisp of smoke is enough to let it leap back into life again. Especially if someone is watching, waiting to fan the flames ...

New school.
Tick.
New town.
Tick.
New surname.
Tick.
Social media profiles?
Erased.

There’s nothing to trace Anna back to her old life. Nothing to link her to the ‘incident’.

At least that’s what she thinks … until the whispers start up again. As time begins to run out on her secrets, Anna finds herself irresistibly drawn to the tale of Maggie, a local girl accused of witchcraft centuries earlier. A girl whose story has terrifying parallels to Anna’s own…

The compelling YA debut from Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism Project and bestselling author of Girl Up. From Goodreads.

Trigger Warnings: This book features rape, non-consensual  pornography, sex shaming, victim blaming, bullying, discussion of abuse due to abortion, and discussion of death from cancer.

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