Titles I've read from the Abrams Spring 2014 catalog:
Splintered, by A. G. Howard:
Like Carroll's Alice, much of the time that Alyssa is in Wonderland, things are out of her control. Unlike Carroll's Alice, though—and this is where my major difficulty with the book lies—Alyssa's loss of control can almost always be chalked up to one of the two guys in her life: Morpheus, a Wonderland denizen who has a penchant for fancy hats and a hookah, and Jeb, the aforementioned crush. She is bossed around, held against her will, lied to, and argued about as if she A) wasn't standing right there and B) someone with, you know, AN OPINION ABOUT HER OWN WELFARE.
A Soldier's Secret, by Marissa Moss: Apparently, I never wrote about this one. I liked it, though I thought it A) could have been tighter (then again, it did convey the long stretches of boredom that were so horrible for morale during the war), and B) at times, it felt like Moss was determined to cram in EVERY. SINGLE. FACT. she'd unearthed over the course of her research. And imagined endings tacked on to true-life stories tend to make me uncomfortable. Despite this complain-fest, I actually mostly enjoyed it. FOR REALS!
Shadow on the Mountain, by Margie Preus:
There's a wonderful balance between Espen's Resistance activities (along with the knowledge that if he's caught, his family will be punished for his actions); his younger sister's interest in his activities, which ultimately leads to her own direct involvement with the Resistance; the split that occurs within his peers between those who join the Resistance and those who join the Nazis; and his own coming of age and burgeoning romance.
The Peculiars, by Maureen Doyle McQuerry (AMAZINGLY different cover treatments, right? I love the long fingers on the paperback):
That said, it's always a relief to read about a heroine who is different from her peers in a way that really would make her life more difficult, rather than being too beautiful or too talented or too badass or too witty or too all-around awesome. (<--Come on, you know I'm right. I'm looking at you, The Selection.)
Titles I want to read from the same catalog:
The Night Gardener, by Jonathan Auxier: Um. The cover art is semi-terrifying, as is the excerpt in the catalog. And we all know how I like to scare the bejeebers out of myself.
Otherbound, by Corinne Duyvis: I just read a parallel universe book that I found PROFOUNDLY disappointing, so here's hoping that this one's a better fit? Because I do love me a good multiverse story. AND THIS ONE HAS A WICKED CREEPOLA TWIST: when the main character closes his eyes (I don't know if that means "BLINKS", or if it means "IS SLEEPING" or "KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS"), he sees a different world through someone else's eyes... and then he learns how to CONTROL HER. Which she doesn't appreciate. So. It has potential.
High & Dry, by Sarah Skilton: MYSTERY! BLACKMAIL! A DRINKING PROBLEM! TEEN CRIME FICTION FTW!!
Lauren Myracle's TTYL, TTFN, and L8R, G8R: It's been ten years since this series started. TEN. YEARS. It's probably time for me to read them, eh?
