TOP 5 AWAITED YA BOOKS OF 2012

I can't really believe it but 2011 has been my first full year blogging, reviewing and keeping up with new releases (or at least trying to!).

As 2012 promises so many exciting new books, I decided that one post wouldn't do them all justice. So over the next five weeks, I'll be highlighting the top 5 books I'm awaiting in 2012 for the following categories: YA, Fantasy, and Children's books.

This week's category is YA, and below are the top 5 I'm looking forward to reading. (Forgive me but I've lumped dystopian and contemporary into this category!)

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Divergent #2

TBP May 2012

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love. 

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so. 

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Torn by Cat Clarke

TBP January 2012

Four girls. One dead body. A whole lot of guilt. 

Alice King isn’t expecting the holiday of a lifetime when she sets off with her classmates on a trip to the Scottish wilderness, but she’s not exactly prepared for an experience beyond her darkest nightmares… 

Alice and her best friend Cass are stuck in a cabin with Polly, the social outcast, and Rae, the moody emo-girl. Then there’s Tara – queen of mean. Powerful, beautiful and cruel, she likes nothing better than putting people down. 

Cass decides it’s time to teach Tara a lesson she’ll never forget. And so begins a series of events that will change the lives of these girls forever... 

A compelling story of guilty secrets, troubled friendship and burgeoning love.

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Thumped by Megan Mccafferty

Bumped #2

TBP April 2012

It’s been thirty-five weeks since twin sisters Harmony and Melody went their separate ways. And now their story has become irresistible: twins separated at birth, each due to deliver twins…on the same day! 

Married to Ram and living in Goodside, Harmony spends her time trying to fit back into the community she once believed in. But she can’t forget about Jondoe, the guy she fell for under the strangest of circumstances. 

To her adoring fans, Melody has achieved everything: a major contract and a coupling with the hottest bump prospect around. But this image is costing her the one guy she really wants. 

The girls’ every move is analyzed by millions of fans eagerly counting down to “Double Double Due Date.” They’re two of the most powerful teen girls on the planet, and they could do only one thing to make them even more famous: 

Tell the truth.

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Wood Queen by Karen Mahoney

Iron Witch #2

TBP February 2012

Donna Underwood is in deep trouble. An ancient alchemical order is holding her accountable for destroying the last precious drops of the elixar of life.

Never mind the fact that Donna was acting to free her friend, Navin, from the dangerous clutches of the Wood Queen at the time. But what the alchemists have in store is nothing compared to the wrath of the fey.

The Wood Queen has been tricked and Donna must pay. Get ready for all hell - quite literally - to break loose...

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Fated by Alyson Noel

The Soul Seekers #1

TBP May 2012

So here's the deal . . . 

Strange things have been happening to Daire Santos. Animals follow her, crows mock her, glowing people appear from nowhere. Worried that Daire's having a breakdown, her mother sends her to stay with the grandmother she's never met, who lives on the dusty plains of Enchantment, New Mexico. There Daire crosses paths with Dace, a gorgeous guy with unearthly blue eyes. 

Her grandmother recognizes Daire's episodes for what they are - a call to her true destiny as a Soul Seeker, a person who can navigate between the living and the dead. Guided by her grandmother, Daire must be quick to learn how to harness her powers because Dace's brother is an evil shape-shifter, out to steal them. 

Daire must embrace her fate as a Soul Seeker and discover if Dace is the guy she's meant to be with . . . or if he's allied with the enemy she's destined to destroy.