Candor by Pam Bachorz
Candor is the perfect city where perfect teens live perfect lives and make their perfect parents proud. Oscar knows why – his father, the founder, developed technology that makes even the most rebellious teens conform. Oscar gets kids out…for a price. Then he meets Nia, an artist and a rebel, and he finds himself smitten. Oscar wants to change – he wants to save Nia, whether that means getting her out or hiding her in plain sight. But the powers that be are stronger than even Oscar realized, and soon he is asking himself what sacrifices he is willing to make for love. Candor is a terrifying, heartbreaking, slightly insane story that clearly resonates a Stepford vibe and keeps the reader guessing through the last page. If you’re looking for a chilling sci-fi, this is your book.
Possessions by Nancy Holder
Lindsay is a scholarship student at Marlwood Academy. Surrounded by rich girls, Lindsay isn’t sure she’ll survive. Of course, fitting in is the least of her worries once she discovers queen bee, Mandy’s, weird obsession. Marlwood has a secret past, and Mandy and pals are up to no good…in a black arts, raising the dead sort of way. Possessions is the novel Steven King would have written has he been asked to write Gossip Girl – full of the posh cliques, girlie drama and high school shenanigans, but also scary as Hell. With its creepy, secluded setting, ethereal language, and leanings toward the occult, Possessions is the perfect book to not read alone in the dark.
Ash by Malinda Lo
Forget that this groundbreaking novel is a lesbian retelling of Cinderella. That’s not the whole story. That’s just a buzzline that is, yes, intriguing, but does little justice to Malinda Lo’s elegant narration of a new story: the story of Ash. Aisling is the daughter of a greenwich’s former apprentice, and was raised on the fairy stories of old. But these stories have lost favor in the city, and when Ash’s father remarries after her mother’s tragic death, it is Ash’s poor luck that he would choose a city woman for a wife. Ash’s stepmother also brings two daughters, and it isn’t long before Ash is delegated to the lower class of the household. When Ash’s father falls ill, she knows her life will never be the same. Now a servant in her own home, Ash’s only reprieve is her walks in the woods, where she meets the mysterious Sidhean, a fairy man who, unlike the fairies of Ash’s stories, does not seem to wish her harm. But it isn’t Sidhean who enchants her – it’s the King’s Huntress, Kaisa, who stays on Ash’s mind. Melinda Lo’s elegant style makes this is truly one of the most remarkable books I’ve read this year, and readers who like a good fairytale – regardless of their sexuality or gender – will fall in love with Ash.
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