YA Review: THE DREAM THIEVES by Maggie Stiefvater

I read the first book in this series–THE RAVEN BOYS–earlier this year, but when I finished it, I had a hard time putting into words what I liked about it. I think I’ve figured it out, so I’m ready to review the most recent book, THE DREAM THIEVES. While you should read THE RAVEN BOYS…

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YA Review: BABE IN BOYLAND by Jody Gehrman

It’s been months since I wrote a young adult review, so I figured it was time. Plus, it helps that I just read a great one :). Natalie is Dr. Aphrodite–the love guru for her high school paper. But Natalie’s relationship advice is totally bombing, especially when it comes to knowing what guys really think…

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Why The Supplementary Novella Trend Works

I am really loving this trend of authors writing novellas to supplement a series. With the exception of authors I’ve been reading for years, I typically don’t buy books unless I’ve already read them. Plus, let’s be honest, it would get very expensive to buy every book I want to read. So, I check them…

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Make Your Pitches Specific and Other WriteOnCon Takeaways

Another WriteOnCon is over, and once again I feel energized and ready to get back out there with my manuscript. It’s amazing to me how different the conference is from one year to the next. The organizers do a great job coming up with new topics and presenters. In case you missed it, here is…

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YA Review and Giveaway: THE ARCHIVED by Victoria Schwab

Remember when I said there was another author at the event with Ally Carter? Well, it was Victoria Schwab, and although I’d heard of her, I’m not sure I would have picked up a copy of THE ARCHIVED anytime soon without the event. So, a note to authors: events work! And I’m so glad. I…

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SCARLET, A Perfect Follow-Up to CINDER

Those of you who have been following me for a while might recall that my favorite young adult book of 2012 was CINDER by Marissa Meyer. The day after I posted my review of CINDER last fall, I discovered Marissa Meyer was coming to town as part of the Fierce Reads Tour and I got…

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YA Review: SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY

I’m excited to be writing my first YA review of the year. I picked up SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY mainly because I’d read so many helpful blog posts by Susan Dennard. I wanted to support her book since I’ve learned from what she shares online, so … good marketing strategy on her part! But, even…

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Why Pride and Prejudice Stands the Test of Time

I’ve read PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen so many times I’ve lost count. I first read it in 9th grade, when my English teacher told us to pick a classic to read for extra credit. I selected it because I’d read numerous historical romance novels where the heroines read this “scandalous” new book. I…

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YA Review: A MILLION SUNS

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE is one of those books everyone was talking about last year, and I finally picked it up in January. Although I thoroughly enjoyed it, I didn’t have the urge to immediately go read the next one. Part of that was due to the fact that I was focusing on reading MG as…

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YA Series Recommendation: MATCHED by Ally Condie

I picked up MATCHED shortly after it came out in 2010 and loved it. So when Ally Condie made a stop in St. Louis on her CROSSED tour last fall, I had to go see her. It was my first author event, and I loved hearing about her inspiration for each book. These books are…

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Character Flaws and Why We Have to Care

Over the past few days, I reread two of my favorite romance novels. Although I read much more MG and YA these days, I grew up reading romance novels, starting when I was 11. This may seem young, but there wasn’t the strong category of YA or MG books then that there is now, and…

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