September Mini Reviews (Take Me On, Mortal Danger, Trial by Fire, Adrenaline Crush) + Giveaway

Hello, everyone! I did promise a lot of reviews in my last bookish rounds. Today I have for you Take Me On by Katie McGarry, Mortal Danger by Ann Aguirre, Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini, and Adrenaline Crush by Laurie Boyle Crompton, and a giveaway of the latter three titles.

Take Me On - Katie McGarry | Goodreads
Release Date: May 27, 2014
Published by: Harlequin Teen

Acclaimed author Katie McGarry returns with the knockout new story of two high school seniors who are about to learn what winning really means.

Champion kickboxer Haley swore she'd never set foot in the ring again after one tragic night. But then the guy she can't stop thinking about accepts a mixed martial arts fight in her honor. Suddenly, Haley has to train West Young. All attitude, West is everything Haley promised herself she'd stay away from. Yet he won't last five seconds in the ring without her help.

West is keeping a big secret from Haley. About who he really is. But helping her-fighting for her-is a shot at redemption. Especially since it's his fault his family is falling apart. He can't change the past, but maybe he can change Haley's future.

Hayley and West have agreed to keep their relationship strictly in the ring. But as an unexpected bond forms between them and attraction mocks their best intentions, they'll face their darkest fears and discover love is worth fighting for.

I'm so far behind o.o -- I should have had this up months ago, but never fear: it's not too late to dive into the Pushing the Limits series, especially with Echo and Noah's novella coming soon. The things I love about Katie McGarry's novels:

• You can't really accuse her books of being about privileged white teenagers who fall in love. It's true that teenagers will fall in love, but inevitably at least one of them is struggling with a lack of privilege; one is poor or struggling with the shitty system of foster care or has a tragic back story with a mentally ill relative, etc. etc. Always her books feel immediate and real in a way that few others which deal with similar problems do. I appreciate her attempt to bring to light issues that often go unnoticed while telling an entertaining story.

• Besides filling her romances with real life issues, McGarry also always seems to tackle something new. Dare You To showed me a new side to baseball and athletic scholarships, and a similar thing happened with Take Me On but in the world of boxing and gyms and the streets. Giving her characters such defining back stories makes me feel like she's researched these topics well and writes of them with convincing detail.

• There are always a few side characters whose stories you want to read. Like Abby. If there was another Pushing the Limits book on her, I would definitely read it. McGarry spends her time crafting her other characters who push her main characters along their trajectories but clearly have their own stories as well.

On Take Me On specifically: I was glad that there weren't many terms of endearment, which I don't generally like in my romances but frequented the other Pushing the Limits books. However, I also had a harder time connecting with West simply because of his actions in Crash into You. It's true that West spends a good deal of time beating himself up for them, but alas. If you want to read a YA contemporary romance with plenty of steamy scenes and lots of angst to match character development, Katie McGarry's series is a good place to turn.

Mortal Danger - Ann Aguirre | Goodreads
Release Date: August 5, 2014
Published by: Feiwel and Friends

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Edie Kramer has a score to settle with the beautiful people at Blackbriar Academy. Their cruelty drove her to the brink of despair, and four months ago, she couldn't imagine being strong enough to face her senior year. But thanks to a Faustian compact with the enigmatic Kian, she has the power to make the bullies pay. She's not supposed to think about Kian once the deal is done, but devastating pain burns behind his unearthly beauty, and he's impossible to forget.

In one short summer, her entire life changes, and she sweeps through Blackbriar, prepped to take the beautiful people down from the inside. A whisper here, a look there, and suddenly... bad things are happening. It's a heady rush, seeing her tormentors get what they deserve, but things that seem too good to be true usually are, and soon, the pranks and payback turns from delicious to deadly. Edie is alone in a world teeming with secrets and fiends lurking in the shadows. In this murky morass of devil's bargains, she isn't sure who—or what--she can trust. Not even her own mind...

I feel like this one was not getting a lot of blogger love, at least that I saw, but I actually quite liked it. Some things that seemed overlooked:

• Mortal Danger is creepy. I have a confession. The first time my mom left me home alone as a kid, I couldn't stand it. At all. I was used to a house full of noise from my three older brothers. Not the creak of floorboards and the wind outside and the feeling of something right over my shoulder. This book brought back the memory of the things that go bump in the night; that make you feel like you have check around corners before tip-toeing onward. Maybe I'm easily scared, but picturing all the monstrous terrors from this book sure made me glad that I have roommates.

• Innovative world-building. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from a book about a revenge story, but I'm sure that whatever expectations I would've had, if I were better informed, would have been broken about the world that Ann Aguirre has built into this novel. I mentioned that the book is creepy, and it's creepy for good reason. There are a lot of new creatures and rules to the game that Edie now has to play. That means navigating a minefield of questions: How did these games get established? Who runs them? What's the purpose? Who are the other players? What *exactly* are all the rules? What are the limits and consequences of the wishes in her Faustian compact? What is Kian allowed to tell Edie and what is he simply withholding from her? How much is she responsible for? etc. etc.

• The plot. It's true that the book does take a while to get started -- Edie has to be set up in the game, the borders and emotional impact of her first request have to be established before all that gets screwed. Once the plot gets going, though, it quickly picks up steam and I didn't want to stop reading. I appreciated that Ann Aguirre didn't try to explain everything to you at once; you had to keep up with the story and how the rules of the game were changing. There is nothing more frustrating than an urban fantasy novel which explains everything to you. Thankfully Mortal Danger was not one of them.

• Mortal Danger is empowering. The book starts off with Edie on the brink of despair - what the book describes as extremis, yet by the end she has figured out, to some extent, how to run things, how to make friends despite the terrible embarrassment and bullying she endured, how to endure rather than to give in to the "beautiful people." It's not that the bullies get what's coming to them so much as that Edie is forced to undergo extreme change and realize her own potential and strengths. Though her near-suicide is what drives her to agree to the Faustian compact, she is not defined by that moment. She's the most capable character in this book and an admirable heroine to boot.

Trial by Fire - Josephine Angelini | Goodreads
Release Date: September 2, 2014
Published by: Feiwel and Friends

This world is trying to kill Lily Proctor. Her life-threatening allergies keep her from enjoying experiences that others in her hometown of Salem take for granted, which is why she is determined to enjoy her first high school party with her best friend and longtime crush, Tristan. But after a humiliating incident in front of half her graduating class, Lily wishes she could just disappear.

Suddenly, Lily is in a different Salem—one overrun with horrifying creatures and ruled by powerful women called Crucibles. Strongest and cruelest of them all is Lillian . . . Lily's other self in this alternate universe.

What makes Lily weak at home is what makes her extraordinary in New Salem. In this confusing world, Lily is torn between responsibilities she can't hope to shoulder alone and a love she never expected.

I wasn't a huge fan of Starcrossed; we had a strange relationship, where I liked to look back at certain passages but didn't like the book...? Yeah, I don't know either. The point is, Josephine Angelini has some addictive, memorable writing. One day I thought, oh, I don't know what to read. Let's start with Trial by Fire since its release date is soon. The next thing I knew, I had read forty pages and was desperate to continue. That's one thing I remember from reading Starcrossed and something that has definitely continued with Trial by Fire.

• Besides the addictive writing, fans of Starcrossed will probably like Trial by Fire. You know those moments when you read a book and think that the author has a very clear distinctive voice? You start to notice a pattern, but that's not to say that the pattern means the book is unoriginal; no, just that the author's brand has been established. You can say that this is a Josephine Angelini book. Not every author gets to that stage, but I sure felt her distinct blend of romance, action, world-building, and adventure in Trial by Fire.

• The world-building in this book is not to be messed with. I was initially a little hesitant when I read the author's letter at the front of the ARC about the world being something like "fanti-sci" (because it meshed the science fiction idea of alternate universes with the fantastical element of witches)... but my hesitation was erased the further I got into the book. Not only does this book solidly reject the anti-science message that other books with similar blends sometimes include, but it also expands on its world potential with great detail. The magic system of crucibles is well-established. Josephine Angelini did her research to set the parameters accurately yet with enough lee-way that it's easy enough to picture yourself in that world. It's an imaginative blend that makes for exciting reading in the action-adventure-romance dynamic that Angelini has written. 

• Though this book is much more plot-oriented than The Raven Boys, I imagine that those who like the character core in that series will like what Trial by Fire does with its characters. Each character's relationship with Lily is unique. You learn some of their perspective to understand their wants and needs, and they've got a characteristic dynamic and humor with each other. It's always a lot of fun when you've got an established character group for the adventure.

• The promise of this series is huge. It already has a lot of adventure and at its core is a very integral, empowering message: what makes you weak in one world makes you strong in another. You need to embrace that part of yourself rather than shy away because you've learned to think of it as your weakness. Lily has started to embrace her power in this book, and I imagine in future books, her perspective will continue to change and her power will only increase.

Adrenaline Crush - Laurie Boyle Crompton | Goodreads
Release Date: September 23, 2014
Published by: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux

When a daredevil teen pushes herself too far, she must choose between two boys: the one who wants to keep her safe, and the one who dares her to return to her old self.

Seventeen-year-old Dyna comes from a family of risk takers and is an avid thrill-seeker herself, until the day she splinters her ankle in a terrible fall. Her whole life goes from mountain biking and rock climbing to sitting at home and attending group sessions at the bizarre alternative healing center that her hippie mother found. The boy who witnessed Dyna’s accident believes her injury is a wakeup call and he encourages her mild new lifestyle, but a young Afghanistan War veteran she meets at the healing center pushes her to start taking chances again. Forced to face the consequences of her daredevil impulses, Dyna finds herself in danger of risking the one thing she’s always treated with caution—her heart.

This book feels much like one you can tell whether you'll like by what you think of the synopsis. Are you hesitant about the love triangle and the potential for cheating/waffling between love interests? Will you judge Dyna for being a daredevil? I don't mind love triangles if they're resolved well and I've had my reckless moments, know well the thrill of adrenaline, so neither bothered me. What I liked about this book:

• It's rather empowering. The love triangle is easy to understand within the parameters that Laurie Boyle Crompton has established. Naturally after her fall, Dyna is cautious. Things that used to sound exciting now fill her with fear; her adrenaline rush seems less important than staying safe. When Jay acts like a good boyfriend by checking in with Dyna, driving her to places, supporting her through the pitfalls and benefits of physical therapy and introducing her to his family, he seems like a good guy; but even as he acts like a good boyfriend, it's easy to see that Jay is crushing her spirit. Dyna is known as someone who takes risks, not someone who reads books about people who have hurt themselves while taking risks. Dyna is better fit to Pierce, who she matches in physical therapy sessions because his pace is what she would've adopted if she was no longer so scared. Pierce is still trying to come to terms with his tour in Afghanistan; he's like the Peeta of the love triangle, someone who's been through a tough experience like Dyna but someone who encourages her with all of Gale's passion. At the end of the book, it's also easy to see that Dyna doesn't really need either guy. They've both pushed her toward testing out her ankle again, whether through pushing her to act on a crush or through stifling her with reminders of her fall, but they don't define her daredevil spirit.

• It's also a quick read on an important subject. The character dynamic of the physical therapy center was entertaining read alongside the character growth that Dyna goes through. The quirky free spirit characters provide great humor and diversity that makes the already short, fast-paced book fly by in a flurry of pages. That Dyna's family is also present during her recovery period makes for a nice backbone to her growth as well.

• Dyna is a great heroine. There aren't many daredevil heroines in YA. I'd love to read about more characters like her, with free spirits and willing to take risks because of how great the pay-off can be. I love how active and strong and self-reliant she is. I love that she's adventurous and very much a teenager, making reckless decisions that others might judge and that might frighten her but feel very real to life. And I love that her family has a motto on adventure, that she has a rather good relationship with her family. All in all this book tackles an important subject with a fast-paced, empowering flair aided by its romance and colorful cast of characters.

Since I have very limited shelf space, I'm giving away my ARCs of Mortal Danger, Trial by Fire, and Adrenaline Crush to one lucky winner. Enter below :). Good luck!

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