Can't-Wait Wednesday: In a Garden Burning Gold by Rory Power & God of Neverland by Gama Ray Martinez

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.

This week's upcoming book spotlights are: 

In a Garden Burning Gold (Argyrosi #1) by Rory Power
Publication: April 5th, 2022

Del Rey Books

Hardcover. 432 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:

"Rhea and her twin brother, Lexos, have spent an eternity helping their father rule their small, unstable country, using their control over the seasons, tides, and stars to keep the people in line. For a hundred years, they've been each other's only ally, defending each other and their younger siblings against their father's increasingly unpredictable anger. 

Now, with an independence movement gaining ground and their father's rule weakening, the twins must take matters into their own hands to keep their family—and their entire world—from crashing down around them. But other nations are jockeying for power, ready to cross and double cross, and if Rhea and Lexos aren't careful, they'll end up facing each other across the battlefield."

Would you just look at that dazzling cover? I read Rory Power's Wilder Girls a couple years back and found it interesting in how it played with some different ideas, so I'm very curious to see how Power tackles a much larger plot and story in this one because it sounds really interesting! 

and...

God of Neverland by Gama Ray Martinez

Publication: April 12th, 2022

Harper Voyager

Hardcover. 352 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:

"Peter Pan is missing; Neverland is in trouble. For adults, that might not matter all that much, but for children--whose dreams and imagination draw strength from the wild god's power--the magic we take for granted in the real world is in danger of being lost forever. Such is the life of a now grown-up Michael Darling. Michael returned from Neverland with the dream of continuing his adventuring ways by joining the Knights of the Round, an organization built to keep humanity safe from magical and mythological threats.. But after a mission gone terribly wrong, he vowed to leave behind the Knights and finally live as a "civilian," finding order and simplicity as a train engineer, the tracks and schedule tables a far cry from the chaos of his youth. He hasn't entered the narrative in years. So what could they need from him now? Maponos--or how he's better known, Peter Pan--has gone missing, and Neverland is now on the edge of oblivion. Michael realizes he has no choice and agrees to one last mission. Alongside the young Knight Vanessa and some old friends, Michael embarks on the ultimate adventure: a journey to a fantasy world to save a god. Determined to stop evil, fight for Neverland, and find Maponos, will Michael be able to save the magical and physical world? Or will his biggest fear come true? The clock is ticking, and in Neverland, that's never a good sign."

Obviously, when I see any sort of Peter Pan retelling or inspired story I have to read said story, so here we are! I am super interested in this particular take and cannot wait to see where this author takes the story. 

What do you think about these upcoming releases? What are your anticipated upcoming releases?

Flash Mid-Summer Giveaway: Win an ARC of Wilder Girls by Rory Power!

Somehow, it seems I've ended up with an extra ARC of Wilder Girls by Rory Power (?), and since it was such an anticipated release this year I thought a giveaway would be a great way to send it out to someone else who wants to read it! I reviewed Wilder Girls earlier this month and had a really great time reading this book--it's dark, unpredictable, and more than a little creepy. Wilder Girls was published last Tuesday, July 9th, so although I make no requirements to enter this giveaway other than filling out the Rafflecopter form below, I do ask that if you win this book you try leave some sort of review (even if it's just a sentence) for it somewhere once you've read it. :)

To enter, all you need to do is use the Rafflecopter giveaway below! Full rules can be found below the giveaway.

Good luck!
Giveaway ends Tuesday, August 6th
US only (sorry!)

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

**This giveaway is not sponsored by or associated with the publisher. I simply have an extra ARC and want to give it away!

Giveaway rules:1. This is a US only giveaway. Unfortunately, I do not have the means to provide shipping for international entries. I apologize for this and am aware how frustrating it can be; I hope to work out an international giveaway soon.2. The giveaway is for one advanced review copy of Wilder Girls. I have no affiliation with/for Rory Power or Delacorte Press.3. Winners will be notified via email and will have 72 hours to respond. If I hear no response, I will have to move on to the next selected winner.4. You must be 13+ or have your parent's permission if under 18.5. Your personal information (email, address, etc.) will never be shared and I will only be using it for mailing out the prize.

Review: Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Wilder Girls by Rory Power
Delacorte Press
Publication: July 9th, 2019

Hardcover. 368 pages.

About Wilder Girls:

"It's been eighteen months since the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine. Since the Tox hit and pulled Hetty's life out from under her. 

It started slow. First the teachers died one by one. Then it began to infect the students, turning their bodies strange and foreign. Now, cut off from the rest of the world and left to fend for themselves on their island home, the girls don't dare wander outside the school's fence, where the Tox has made the woods wild and dangerous. They wait for the cure they were promised as the Tox seeps into everything. 

But when Byatt goes missing, Hetty will do anything to find her, even if it means breaking quarantine and braving the horrors that lie beyond the fence. And when she does, Hetty learns that there's more to their story, to their life at Raxter, than she could have ever thought true."

Wilder Girls is a book that comes at you hard and doesn't really let up until the very last page. It has a premise that immediately hooks you in and makes it impossible to put down until you figure out what exactly is going on and what the 'Tox' is. However, I have to admit, I wasn't as enamored with this book as I had hoped to be. This was still an enjoyable and compelling read, but I had quite a few reservations while reading it as well. It has all the makings of an unforgettable, dramatic story--and it was certainly an well-written and exciting story--but the execution was a bit hit or miss for me at times.

The first thing that I loved about this book was the setting itself, which is an isolated girls' boarding school off the coast that is now under quarantine due to a mysterious illness that has broken out and taken over both the girls at the school and the island on which the school rests. This was an eerie, unpredictable, and rather horrifying at times setting that really set the tone for this equally eerie story. The mysterious Tox disease that has overtaken this island and all of its inhabitants is just as eerie and mysterious as the setting involved and manifests itself in strange body modifications of people: some girls seem to be growing gills, others have claws, two hearts, or even completely unidentifiable symptoms that come on with little to no warning and can be extremely severe. In addition to the girls, the Tox has also overtaken the land itself, in which the plants become overgrown and almost aggressive in where they grow, as well as in the wild animals that also reside around the perimeter of the school, as they grow to larger sizes and become more violent and aggressive than they should be. This aspect of the book was just as intense as I expected and the dark, horror-loving part of me absolutely loved it.

The aspect of the Tox that I didn't love, however, was that it just felt...incomplete. It was explained how it came on and what it did to the girls, but something about it just didn't feel as fully-fleshed as it could have been. It's hard to place exactly what bothered me about it, but I just never felt as though I fully understood how everything worked. While the Tox is going on at this school, the CDC and a nearby US Navy base are working on a cure and promise to do their best to help the students, as well as regularly drop off supplies such as food (and plenty of shampoo!) to the girls. This was an area that I was intrigued by and that does end up playing a large role, but it also felt as though it wasn't handled quite as deftly as it could have been. There were too many red flags leading up to the end that I felt were fairly obvious and let wondering why Power did things the way she did. 

As for the characters, we follow a girl named Hetty throughout the majority of the story, though there is one other POV that we occasionally visit as various plot points progress. Hetty was an interesting character to follow and I can't say that I particularly liked her or felt strongly connected to her, but I did still very much enjoy following her experience. Hetty's closest friends are Byatt and Reese, though Hetty's relationship with Byatt is strained at best and left me perplexed at many points. There were friends-without-being-friends and struggled a lot throughout this book with defining how to act around one another. There is one scene in particular that I am still scratching my head about regarding the relationship between these two, though I can't go into details without going into some spoiler territory. Byatt is the second POV we follow and was one I really enjoyed as well. She has a unique perspective for things and her story takes a much different and more drastic turn than Hetty's does, although Hetty has plenty of her own unexpected revelations as well that completely turn everything in her world upside down--or rather, more upside than it already was. As I mentioned, I never felt fully connected to any of these characters and I think that also hindered my enjoyment of the story.

One of my biggest problems was that there seemed to be very little actual plot and action and a lot more "telling" rather than actual showing of everything that was happening and would happen. I grew tired of the infighting among the girls and the cruelty they displayed to one another. In survival circumstances, strong emotions do tend to start to unfold, but things just felt a bit too bizarre and intense at times. I did, however, appreciate the occasions on which Power included some raw and cruel scenes that did help the plot move and enhance the atmosphere to showcase jut how serious things were at the school. I am also one that generally likes open endings that leave a lot up to the reader to imagine, but the ending for Wilder Girls truly did leave a lot to be desired.

Despite all of my mixed feelings about this book, I did love Power's writing style. Wilder Girls has a somewhat literary vibe to it and an occasionally flowery tone that was never overdone. There was a constant tone of detachment at well that added to the isolation and despair that so many of the girls felt while trapped alone on this island with a mysterious, deadly, and oftentimes violent disease. Power's prose alone made me really enjoy this book and made everything even better and more compelling than I expected. 

Overall, I've given Wilder Girls 3.75 stars! I did thoroughly enjoy a good portion of this book, but there were also quite a lot of minor frustrations that added up and took away some enjoyment. I do realize that a good portion of this may be attributed to my own expectations, which I tried to hold at bay so as not to end disappointed. 

*I received a copy of Wilder Girls in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my rating of the novel.*

Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun & Wilder Girls

 

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.

This week's upcoming book spotlight is: 

Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun by Guillermo del Toro & Cornelia Funke

Publication: July 2nd, 2019

Katherine Tegen Books

Hardcover. 272 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

From Goodreads:

"Oscar winning writer-director Guillermo del Toro and New York Times bestselling author Cornelia Funke come together to transform del Toro’s hit movie Pan’s Labyrinth into an epic and dark fantasy novel for readers of all ages, complete with gorgeous and haunting illustrations. 

This book is not for the faint of heart or weak in spirit. It’s not for skeptics who don’t believe in fairy tales and the powerful forces of good. It’s only for brave and intrepid souls like you, who will stare down evil in all its forms. 

Inspired by the critically acclaimed film written and directed by Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro and reimagined by New York Times bestselling author Cornelia Funke, this haunting tale takes readers to a darkly magical and war-torn world filled with richly drawn characters like trickster fauns, murderous men, child-eating monsters, courageous rebels, and a long-lost princess hoping to be reunited with her family. 

Perfect for fans of the movie and readers who are new to del Toro’s visionary work, this atmospheric and absorbing novel is a portal to another universe where there is no wall between the real and the imagined. A daring, unforgettable collaboration between two brilliant storytellers."

I am beyond excited for this book adaptation of Pan's Labyrinth! I am especially excited because of the fact that the incredible Cornelia Funke is working on this as well and I just love her books. I'm also really looking forward to the illustrations that will be in this, I have a feeling they will be stunning.

and...

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Publication: July 9th, 2019

Delacorte Press

Hardcover. 368 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

From Goodreads:

"It's been eighteen months since the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine. Since the Tox hit and pulled Hetty's life out from under her. 

It started slow. First the teachers died one by one. Then it began to infect the students, turning their bodies strange and foreign. Now, cut off from the rest of the world and left to fend for themselves on their island home, the girls don't dare wander outside the school's fence, where the Tox has made the woods wild and dangerous. They wait for the cure they were promised as the Tox seeps into everything. 

But when Byatt goes missing, Hetty will do anything to find her, even if it means breaking quarantine and braving the horrors that lie beyond the fence. And when she does, Hetty learns that there's more to their story, to their life at Raxter, than she could have ever thought true."

This sounds like everything I love and I've heard nothing but raves from people who have already this. I actually just won an ARC of this in a giveaway so I'm anxiously awaiting it's arrival, but I can only imagine how gorgeous the book is going to be when it comes out. This sounds incredible!

What do you think about these upcoming releases? What are your anticipated upcoming releases?