Precommendations: Volume 2, Issue 4

Hello, Spring!

​       Spring is in the air, and with a new season comes more books! This month I have three very different books to share with you, all of which I can’t wait to read.
       If you’re new to my blog and this series (hello!) Precommendations is a monthly series I do where I make a list of my most anticipated young adult releases for the upcoming month. Be sure to share any books that you are excited about in the comments!

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I Have Lost My Way, by: Gayle Forman

April 1st
       Around the time that Freya loses her voice while recording her debut album, Harun is making plans to run away from everyone he has ever loved, and Nathaniel is arriving in New York City with a backpack, a desperate plan, and nothing left to lose. When a fateful accident draws these three strangers together, their secrets start to unravel as they begin to understand that the way out of their own loss might just lie in help­ing the others out of theirs.

       I haven’t gotten a chance to read a Gayle Forman book yet in my book-loving career, so I’m hoping I can find a place for this one on my shelves. The publishers did a great job with the blurb. I’m not 100% sure what it’s about, but I feel like I know enough to want to read it. I like having that in a reading experience. The books that I go into without any expectations are the ones I end up loving the most.

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Starry Eyes, by: Jenn Bennett

April 3rd
       Ever since last year’s homecoming dance, best friends-turned-best enemies Zorie and Lennon have made an art of avoiding each other. It doesn’t hurt that their families are the modern day, Californian version of the Montagues and Capulets.
       But when a group camping trip goes south, Zorie and Lennon find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Alone. Together.
       What could go wrong?
       With no one but each other for company, Zorie and Lennon have no choice but to hash out their issues via witty jabs and insults as they try to make their way to safety. But fighting each other while also fighting off the forces of nature makes getting out of the woods in 

one piece less and less likely.
       And as the two travel deeper into Northern California’s rugged backcountry, secrets and hidden feelings surface. But can Zorie and Lennon’s rekindled connection survive out in the real world? Or was it just a result of the fresh forest air and the magic of the twinkling stars?

       Outdoors? Summer? Camping? Love? Yes, please! I can’t wait for summer vacation, and this is the time of year that all these summary contemporaries get published. Incorporating travel and adventures into these stories give them a bonus. I know that this book is the first of many light romances coming out in the next couple of months, but it has that little extra something that future releases may not have. I can’t wait to see how this book is received!

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Ace of Shades, by: Amanda Foody

April 10th
       Enne Salta was raised as a proper young lady, and no lady would willingly visit New Reynes, the so-called City of Sin. But when her mother goes missing, Enne must leave her finishing school—and her reputation—behind to follow her mother’s trail to the city where no one survives uncorrupted.
       Frightened and alone, her only lead is a name: Levi Glaisyer. Unfortunately, Levi is not the gentleman she expected—he’s a street lord and a con man. Levi is also only one payment away from cleaning up a rapidly unraveling investment scam, so he doesn't have time to investigate a woman leading a dangerous double life. Enne's offer of compensation, however, could be the solution to all his problems. 

       Their search for clues leads them through glamorous casinos, illicit cabarets and into the clutches of a ruthless mafia donna. As Enne unearths an impossible secret about her past, Levi's enemies catch up to them, ensnaring him in a vicious execution game where the players always lose. To save him, Enne will need to surrender herself to the city…
       And she’ll need to play.

       I’m not sure that I’ve ever read a YA gang novel, so I think that may be why I’m so excited for this one (which is weird, because I love movies with similar prefaces…). This book has so much potential since it’s street lord motif isn’t used too often. The exciting thing with this novel is that it could be dark, funny, romantic or a combination of all three. Hopefully, I can get a copy of this book in time for my family’s vacation at the end of May where we will stop for a night in Las Vegas. That would provide me with top-notch reading ambiance.

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       What April releases are you excited for? Let me know which ones I should keep my eye out for in the comments!

As she awaits some sunshine,
Ashton

What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again.

— Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay