Tuesday, January 31, 2012

TBR Tuesday ~ HARBINGER by Sara Wilson Etienne

**Congrats to Devony -- our Oasis Seeker who won a copy of The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff**

Today's TBR selection is Harbinger by debut author Sara Wilson Etienne.  It's coming on February 2nd, so there's hardly any more time to wait and I'm getting anxious.  Here's the description ~

When sixteen-year-old Faye arrives at Holbrook Academy, she doesn't expect to find herself exactly where she needs to be. After years of strange waking visions and nightmares, her only comfort the bones of dead animals, Faye is afraid she's going crazy. Fast.

But her first night at Holbrook, she feels strangely connected to the school and the island it sits on, like she's come home. She's even made her first real friends, but odd things keep happening to them. Every morning they wake on the floors of their dorm rooms with their hands stained red.

Faye knows she's the reason, but what does it all mean? The handsome Kel tries to help her unravel the mystery, but Faye is certain she can't trust him; in fact, he may be trying to kill her - and the rest of the world too.

Rich, compelling writing will keep the pages turning in this riveting and tautly told psychological thriller.

Between that summary and the fact that the book cover looks like a Tarot card, I'm hooked.  But if you really want to be drawn in, check out the trailer.  That ending is awesome!



Thursday, January 26, 2012

Whoseywhatsit Thursday: GIVEAWAY

Who wants an ARC of The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff? As I'm sure y'all know by now, her debut novel The Replacement is my favorite book. EVER. So, I'm sharing the Yovanoff love and maybe winning her another fanatic reader.

What to do to win the ARC?
  1. Tell me your favorite YA book ever, and why. 
  2. And leave an email addy the Oasis can contact you at if you win. Easy Peasy!
  3. The winner will be announced with next Tuesday's post.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

We Have a WINNER!!

To celebrate Oasis's milestone of 1,000 followers, we pledged to honor one of our followers with some spiffy new duds. 

  • A.E. - 'Raised by Wolves' AND 'Trial by Fire' ARC
  • J.A. - 'Renegade' ARC (when available)
  • Jessie - iTunes gift card
  • Larissa - Starbucks gift card
  • Nikki - 'Writing Great Books for YA'
  • Sheri - eBook version of the YA novel of your choice
So, without further suspense, the winner of the above follower's love package goes to.....


Drum roll...
Cymbals clank... 
The crowd cheers...

DAH, DAH, DAH!!!

LadyVampire2U is the winner!! 
Oasis ((hugs)) CONGRATS!
An email is on the way...

From the depth of our leisurely souls, the Oasis Team would like to thank each and every one of our followers for participating and for staying with us. We appreciate you being a part of our publishing journeys and we love being included in yours. Thank you!

Sending you a warm, tropical breeze filled with many successes and happiness.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

To Be Read Tuesday: Too Many to Choose!

Typically on To Be Read Tuesday, I pick a book that's coming out soon ... that I can't wait to read. But, this week I'm doing something different. I'm sharing MORE than one book. And they are books that are already out!

Let me back up. I was in a bit of reading slump for several months last year. Everything I picked up, I read a few chapters and put it down again. Only to pick up another novel, read a few chapters, and add that to the growing stack on my nightstand.

Seriously.

I'll take a picture of them all if you don't believe me!

But then, suddenly this past month I've read FIVE amazing books, racing through them to the very finish in a couple days at the very maximum.

So, without further ado, here are my To Be Reads (in no particular order):

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Aria has lived her whole life in the protected dome of Reverie. Her entire world confined to its spaces, she's never thought to dream of what lies beyond its doors. So when her mother goes missing, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland long enough to find her are slim.

Then Aria meets an outsider named Perry. He's searching for someone too. He's also wild - a savage - but might be her best hope at staying alive.

If they can survive, they are each other's best hope for finding answers.


Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.


The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind


Ashfall by Mike Mullin

Under the bubbling hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park is a supervolcano. Most people don't know it's there. The caldera is so large that it can only be seen from a plane or satellite. It just could be overdue for an eruption, which would change the landscape and climate of our planet.

Ashfall is the story of Alex, a teenage boy left alone for the weekend while his parents visit relatives. When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts unexpectedly, Alex is determined to reach his parents. He must travel over a hundred miles in a landscape transformed by a foot of ash and the destruction of every modern convenience that he has ever known, and through a new world in which disaster has brought out both the best and worst in people desperate for food, water, and warmth. With a combination of nonstop action, a little romance, and very real science, this is a story that is difficult to stop reading and even more difficult to forget.


A Million Suns by Beth Revis

Godspeed was fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos.
It's been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. And everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship Godspeed. But there may just be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He's finally free to enact his vision - no more Phydus, no more lies.

But when Elder discovers shocking news about the ship, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed. They must work together to unlock a puzzle that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier, unable to fight the romance that's growing between them and the chaos that threatens to tear them apart.

In book two of the Across the Universe trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Beth Revis mesmerizes us again with a brilliantly crafted mystery filled with action, suspense, romance, and deep philosophical questions. And this time it all builds to one mind-bending conclusion: They have to get off this ship.

Friday, January 20, 2012

RENEGADE Cover Reveal!

OMG SQUEE!  Today is the day you get to collect puzzle pieces and hints about the AMAZING cover for MY critique partner, Jessica Souders's debut RENEGADE.  
 
RENEGADE by J.A. Souders

Since the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has trained to be Daughter of the People in the underwater utopia known as Elysium.  Selected from hundreds of children for her ideal genes, all her life she's believed that everything is perfect.  Her world. Her people. The law. 

But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into Elysium's secluded little world, Evelyn comes to a startling realization: Everything she knows is a lie.

Her memories have been altered.

Her mind and body aren't under her own control.
And the person she knows as Mother is a monster.

Together with Gavin she plans her escape, only to learn that her own mind is a ticking time bomb...and Mother has one last secret that will destroy them all.

You guys.  This book is SO FRICKIN' GOOD.  Seriously.  

And, Tor gave it a GORGEOUS cover.  I have seen it, and it is fantastic.  And I've read the book, and the cover is PERFECT for it.

All right.  If you aren't already participating, follow the directions below to collect puzzle pieces and words for the scavenger hunt.  There are PRIZES!
 
Here is the puzzle piece for this stop, and the word is in red above. ;)

(OMG THE GORGEOUS!)


If you are just joining, the scavenger hunt starts at Jessica's blog here: www.jasouders.blogspot.com

The next stop after Oasis is:
11 am: Fire and Ice (http://fireandicephoto.blogspot.com/)

For the final cover, and to enter the giveaway, on Monday visit one or all of the following blogs:
 

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Whoseywhatsit Thursday: The Critiques





Two weeks ago, we had our monthly call for critique volunteers, and the winner was Nicole!  You can visit her at http://nicolesteinhaus.com/

We took a look at Nicole's synopsis for PIECES OF ELLIE.  As usual, I have summarized/combined our comments for this post, and will send Nicole everyone's full critiques.



PIECES OF ELLIE- YA Suspense
Synopsis

Adopted at the age of seven with no memories prior, sixteen-year-old ELLIE COX cannot explain her missing time. [Could be reworded to be more clear and start with her current age: Sixteen-year-old ELLIE COX has no memories prior to being adopted at age seven, and no one knows why. (or something like that)]  Her dissociation [Can you make it more clear that she continues to have black outs and or memory lapses?]  has always been generally mild, insignificant moments in her day lost—taking a shower, driving to school—and has always been chalked up to forgetfulness. That is, until the decision to further her relationship with her boyfriend, SHANE, triggers a string of inexplicable blackouts.[furthering how? how does this trigger more blackouts?] Hiding in the forest, fighting with Shane…Ellie can’t figure out what’s making her do these things. Shane doesn’t know either. To him, Ellie’s behavior is bizarre. He doesn’t necessarily believe when she says it’s stress from school and the cross country team, but being the forgiving boyfriend he is, he lets it go. [I feel like this is a bit vague, and the questions I'm getting aren't necessarily ones to keep me reading. A synopsis should be engaging with an air of mystery, but this feels too thin on details]

But Ellie’s aggression is growing. And after she punches LEXI, Shane’s best friend, out of jealousy, her parents send her to DR. PARODY, a therapist they hope can guide Ellie back on track. One afternoon, leaving the office, Ellie bumps into a boy who immediately recognizes her, but mistakenly calls her “Gwen.” And with that she blacks out. Three days later, she awakens in the apartment of the boy. His name is GRIFFIN and after determining he had not kidnapped her, Ellie fights to gain back the three days she’s missing. [more detail here? How does she fight? Or is it just gone? I feel like I’m missing something here.]  Her parents are furious, of course, thinking she ran away in rebellion, but what’s worse is that neither Shane nor Ellie’s best friend, DANI, will speak to her. And she has no idea why. It’s SADIE, a girl from Spanish who divulges the heart-breaking news: she and Shane are no longer together.    [getting too many names. Do we need to know all these names? Do they come up again? I recommend sticking to just the primary characters]

When she confronts Shane, he shows Ellie a picture of her and Griffin together in the park. Ellie cheated on Shane and has no memory of it. Trying to make sense of everything, Ellie shows up at Griffin’s work, but the meeting doesn’t go as planned. Griffin is much more entrancing than she ever imagined and is the one person she’s comfortable sharing her memory secret with. [Why is the one person, of all the people in her life she'd confide in the guy she "cheated" with?] On the sly, she begins meeting him after school and while she’s still struggling to make amends with Shane, her feelings for Griffin keep growing. And it turns out Griffin needs Ellie just as much. Grieving the murder of Gabby, his younger sister, Griffin sees Ellie as a savior, someone who’s helped him understand that Gabby’s death wasn’t his fault, even though she’d been under his watch when he left her in the park to get high with his friends four years ago. As Griffin and Ellie grow closer, the guilt of pretending to be “Gwen” weighs heavy on Ellie.  [I needed this detail earlier – that she hadn’t corrected him about not being Gwen. Jarring when it comes out here for first time.]   But when she finally gets the nerve to set it right Griffin storms off, hurt that she lied to him, and cuts off contact.  

After a few sessions, Dr. Parody uncovers a haunting secret: mistreatment as a child fractured Ellie’s mind into three personalities—herself, a small child named Ruby who holds the memories of Ellie’s early years and Gwen, the reckless alter who cares for no one but herself. Dr. Parody explains that with continued therapy Ellie will begin the long, painful journey toward integration where all three alters will be unified into a single, cohesive whole with a solitary set of values and a shared memory bank. But a year passes and Gwen still refuses to integrate with her. [HOW DOES IT END?! SEEMS WE ARE LEFT WITH A CLIFFHANGER BUT WE NEED TO KNOW HOW IT RESOLVES.]


Larissa: I think you have an intriguing premise here.  It sounds awesome.  As I read the end of the synopsis, though, I’m unsure where the climax is.  Where does the big problem come to a head and get resolved? From this, it almost sounds like it happens at the doctor’s office, and I’m not sure that’s very exciting for what you have set up here. Of course, that’s just my opinion, and I may be completely wrong, in which case, it could be more clear at the end of this synopsis.  Either way, best of luck with what sounds like a VERY interesting manuscript!

Jessie: I’m very much intrigued and would keep reading. I suspect Gwen is going to wreak some serious havoc!

Nikki: I think was pretty cohesive and tightly written. It could use a little bit of voice sprinkled throughout (just change a word here or there if possible) but otherwise I liked it and the premise itself. One note, I kept wondering if there were paranormal elements, so I would just make sure the query (or accompanying info) clearly states this is contemporary.


Sheri: This whole memory loss and black out premise is really cool. I like the mystery of it all. You seem to have well-crafted characters, too. Saying that, there are a few places within the synopsis you could tighten.

I was a little confused at the opening line. It felt like an ingredient was missing. After reading the rest of the paragraph, I think with no prior memories could be taken out. Most 7yr-olds wouldn’t have memories of those few short years, anyway. You could also plant a snippet of your last paragraph, which is very, very powerful. That would definitely heighten the intrigue and tie the beginning to the ending.

Small notes: you can eliminate a few flow-cutting words like but & and. Read the paragraphs with them and then without. You’ll know which ones to cut. Mentioning SADIE by name isn’t necessary. She doesn’t come into play again. Using the word entrancing gave me the impression he held some power over her, but then you say she’s comfortable with him. I would have thought his hold over her would make you uncomfortable. Just explain why, brief sentence.

A.E.'s notes are in purple.

Have something you'd like critiqued by the six Oasis Sisters?  Come back Thursday, February 2, for our next call for volunteers!  Happy Whoseywhatsit Thursday!
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