Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Waiting on Wednesday #78 + WWW Wednesday #48

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.
It's a weekly meme about upcoming books we're excited about!



Mark of the Thief
by Jennifer A. Nielsen
(Praetor War #1)
Publication Date: February 24, 2015

From Goodreads:

When Nic, a slave in the mines outside of Rome, is forced to enter a sealed cavern containing the lost treasures of Julius Caesar, he finds much more than gold and gemstones: He discovers an ancient bulla, an amulet that belonged to the great Caesar and is filled with a magic once reserved for the Gods - magic some Romans would kill for.

Now, with the deadly power of the bulla pulsing through his veins, Nic is determined to become free. But instead, he finds himself at the center of a ruthless conspiracy to overthrow the emperor and spark the Praetor War, a battle to destroy Rome from within. Traitors and spies lurk at every turn, each more desperate than the next to use Nic's newfound powers for their own dark purposes.

In a quest to stop the rebellion, save Rome, and secure his own freedom, Nic must harness the magic within himself and defeat the empire's most powerful and savage leaders.

Why I'm Excited

- It's a new Jennifer A. Nielsen book!!!!!!!!
- It's about Ancient Rome!

A Wicked Thing
by Rhiannon Thomas
(A Wicked Thing #1)
Publication Date: February 24, 2015

From Goodreads:

One hundred years after falling asleep, Princess Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince and a broken kingdom that has been dreaming of her return. All the books say that she should be living happily ever after. But as Aurora understands all too well, the truth is nothing like the fairy tale.

Her family is long dead. Her "true love" is a kind stranger. And her whole life has been planned out by political foes while she slept.

As Aurora struggles to make sense of her new world, she begins to fear that the curse has left its mark on her, a fiery and dangerous thing that might be as wicked as the witch who once ensnared her. With her wedding day drawing near, Aurora must make the ultimate decision on how to save her kingdom: marry the prince or run.

Why I'm Excited

- I'm a sucker for fairy tale retellings.

WWW Wednesday is hosted by Should Be Reading
What are you currently reading?

Most kids would do anything to pass the Iron Trial.

Not Callum Hunter. He wants to fail.

All his life, Call has been warned by his father to stay away from magic. If he succeeds at the Iron Trial and is admitted into the Magisterium, he is sure it can only mean bad things for him.

So he tries his best to do his worst - and fails at failing.

Now that Magisterium awaits him. It's a place that's both sensational and sinister, with dark ties to his past and a twisty path to his future.

The Iron Trial is just the beginning, for the biggest test is still to come. . . .

I'm about 50 pages in and really enjoying this book so far. In fact, I was sucked in so thoroughly that I stayed a complete extra hour at work reading it! Didn't notice the clock at all!

What have you recently read?

Matteo Alacran was not born; he was harvested. His DNA came from El Patron, lord of a country called Opium; a strip of poppy fields lying between the United States and what was once called Mexico. Matt's first cell split and divided inside a petri dish. Then he was placed in the womb of a cow, where he continued the miraculous journey from embryo to fetus to baby. He is a boy now, but most consider him a monster; except for El Patron. El Patron loves Matt as he loves himself, because Matt is himself.

At Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister cast of characters, including El Patron's power-hungry family, and he is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards. Escape is the only chance Matt has to survive. But escape from the Alacran Estate is no guarantee of freedom, because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he doesn't even suspect.

I gave this rather bizarre book 3 out of 5 strawberries. It was interesting, it wasn't as weird as I expected (but still weird), and made me contemplate a lot of things. It was very weird, though.

What do you plan on reading next?

The poverty 
stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.

To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.

Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the center of those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.

But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?

I've been hearing so much about this book! Time to read it for myself!

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