Thursday, January 3, 2013

Mini Reviews: HarperTeen Impulse Titles

BREATHLESS
Firelight #3.5
Sophie Jordan
Paranormal Young Adult
Novella (ebook only)
HarperTeen Impulse
Available now
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
For Az, it's supposed to be a fun summer vacation with her family. Nothing complicated. Just a quick trip to test the waters as she prepares for a year on her own. That all changes when she rescues a drowning girl and meets Tate—the most gorgeous human boy she's ever seen. Tate throws her heart, her plans, and her life into upheaval, but the closer she gets to him, the harder it is to hide the secret of what she is. With no hope for a future together, the last thing that can ever happen . . . is love.

MY THOUGHTS
Breathless is a quick jaunt into the Firelight world, Jacinda’s friend Az taking center stage as Ms. Jordan delights with a sweet and sexy forbidden romance. Though the setup–a female draki and a human boy–is essentially the same as what we're given in Firelight, Ms. Jordan does a really nice job of creating a distinctly different feel to Az’s story in just a hundred short pages. The same threat of discovery is present, but Az is far more skittish and fearful than Jacinda ever was, the recklessness replaced with an understandable caution that’s suddenly called into question as she develops feelings for Tate.

The romance of course moves forward quickly given the shorter page length, however the relationship still has a nice complexity, and there’s a palpable tension between Az and Tate thanks to the heavy weight of the secrets that lie between them. Breathless concludes perfectly, things left neither up in the air nor wrapped up neatly as we’re left looking forward to a future bright with possibility.

Rating: 4/5


CRUISIN'
Sarah Mlynowski
Paranormal Young Adult
Short Story (ebook only)
HarperTeen Impulse
Available now
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Kristin is ready to take the next step. . . . The only problem is she hasn't found the right guy to take it with her. That's why she agreed to go on the ominously named Cruise to Nowhere with her best friend, Liz. There are plenty of cute guys on the ship to choose from if only Kristin can work up the nerve—and stop worrying about the reports in the tabloids that passengers on cruises have been mysteriously disappearing and that someone suspects it has to do with . . . vampires.

MY THOUGHTS
Cruisin’ is a fun little short story by Ms. Mylanowski that delivers a touch of unpredictability we can’t help but appreciate. Kristin’s search for the perfect guy to assist her in putting her first time behind her in spectacularly anonymous fashion is superficially entertaining (if a touch irritating at times given her and best friend Liz’s utter fixation on the task at hand), but the final few pages bring a huge smile to our faces and force us to look back through the story with very different eyes than the ones with which we started.

Rating: 3.5/5
 

STUPID PERFECT WORLD
Scott Westerfeld
Young Adult
Novella (ebook only)
HarperTeen Impulse
Available now
Received from publisher for review 

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
In this future-set novella by bestselling author Scott Westerfeld, Kieran Black lives in a "perfect" world. Disease and starvation have been eradicated, sleep is unnecessary, and it takes no time at all to go from the Bahamas to the moon. But now Kieran has to take Scarcity, a class about how people lived in the bad old days. And as if sitting through an hour of Scarcity every day wasn't depressing enough, it's final projects time. Each student must choose some form of ancient hardship to experience for two whole weeks. Kieran chooses having to sleep eight hours a night, which doesn't seem too annoying.

Maria Borsotti has never thought much of Kieran, but she decides to take pity on him and help him out with his project. Soon, Kieran is sleeping and having vivid dreams, while Maria, whose Scarcity project is to give up all teenage hormone regulation, is experiencing emotions she never knew she had. As their assignments draw them closer together, they begin to wonder if the olden days weren't so bad. Maybe something has been missing from their perfect lives after all?


MY THOUGHTS
Stupid Perfect World gives us an intriguing look at a far-distant future, one where the world is not torn apart or ravaged with humanity on the brink of extinction, but rather one where life is thriving thanks to numerous genetic and technological advancements. In one particular high school class all the advancements are rendered useless however, and students must experience what life was like in the world we know today, complete with illnesses, hormones, and an inability to teleport anywhere we need to go. We can't help but laugh as the students bemoan the class as a whole, our smile growing larger as we follow two students in particular, Maria and Kieran, as they experience hormones (Maria) and sleep (Kieran) for the very first time. Stupid Perfect World is an extraordinarily cute and quick read with the barest touch of romance that leaves a pleasant flush on our skin by the time we reach the final page.

Rating: 4/5
 

RADIANT
Unearthly #2.5
Cynthia Hand
Paranormal Young Adult
Novella (ebook only)
HarperTeen Impulse
Available Now
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Clara is desperate to get away—from the memories that haunt her in Wyoming and the visions of a future she isn't ready to face—and spending the summer in Italy with her best friend, Angela, should be the perfect escape. . . .

For as long as she can remember, Angela has been told that love is dangerous, that she must always guard her heart. But when she met a mysterious guy in Italy two years ago she was determined to be with him, no matter the costs. Now she must decide whether she can trust Clara with her secret, or if telling her the truth will risk everything she cares about.
 


MY THOUGHTS
Radiant is a spectacular teaser for Boundless, reminding us of a few key events from Hallowed as we catch up with Clara and Angela in Rome, while at the same time filling in a few of the blanks in Angela's history that have lingered as Clara's many and varied problems have taken precedence in the series. We get the perfect quick glimpse at Angela both through first person narration and through Clara's eyes as the point of view alternates between them, privy to intimate heartbreak as Angela relives a painful episode from her past as well as a prominent sense of foreboding thanks to our time with Clara, the two combining to have our hearts pounding with anticipation for whatever is in store for our two soon-to-be college freshman.

The story ends with a final parting line that defines the word foreshadowing, leaving us jittery with nerves and breathless with want to know what exactly Clara means with her concluding words, and we stare longingly at our calendars upon finishing, willing the countdown to Boundless to pass just a little bit faster.

Rating: 4.5/5 
 

39 comments:

  1. :O Stupid Perfect world sound so great! I'd probably want to experience sleeping for 8 hours myself, I'm a huge sleepyhead. And Cruisin' is a bit unpredictable? Me likeyyy!! I'll probably get to read the first one after I give the series' first book a try, it always gets pushed back due to all the new releases :( BUT I didn't read the last review, because I finally GOT my paperback copy of UNEARTHLY and now I get to read it soon, yay! Seems like everyone is loving this series and Cynthia's writing and according to your ratings you seemed to love this novella the most as well:) So excited for this series!! Thanks for sharing these, otherwise I wouldn't have known about the first three:)

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    1. YAY!!! I hope you love Unearthly, I so adore that series:) These were all such fun reads, and HarperTeen has an amazing lineup of titles to come with this imprint, so I can't wait:)

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  2. Stupid Perfect World sounds awesome!! The idea sounds so interesting, and im glad you ended up enjoying it!! Cruisin also seems like a fun, quick read! Great reviews dear!
    - Farah @ MajiBookshelf

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    1. It was a fun premise - watching teenagers struggle to live life the way it is today:)

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  3. A Scott Westerfeld I missed? Sheesh. I'm going to have to get on that. All great authors -- sounds like very interesting novellas. Yay for good, quick reads. Sometimes, that's exactly what you need.

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    1. Do it Mary! They're so cheap to, you can't even argue with yourself over $1.99:)

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  4. Cruisin seems like a light read and at first glance, i thought it would be a contemporary, never did I think vampires would feature in it!

    Stupid Perfect World sounds so AWESOME - I've totally fallen for the synopsis and I'm eager to see what people from the 'future' would think about our present lives! It sounds so cute and I'm really glad you gave it a 4 which means it must be good!

    Thanks for the fab mini-reviews, Jenny and Happy New Year!

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    1. Cruisin is only 36 pages and for most of it I was like "okay, I get it, you want to find a guy and put your first time behind you" and then the end just made me happy:)

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  5. I know you are going to be shocked but I haven't read any of these series! Though the novellas all seem perfect fit for each of them :)

    Happy New Year!

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    1. Hahaha somehow that doesn't surprise me my friend. I know YA isn't your thing:) I do highly recommend Unearthly though, such a great book!

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  6. I am definitely interested in Radiant...I'll have to check that one out. I plan to continue with this series this New Year- not sure why I haven't b/c I loved Unearthly! I also had no idea Breathless existed. I just finished book two in the Firelight series, so I'll have to check out Breathless once I finish book three. Thanks for sharing these with us, Jenny!

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    1. I really enjoyed Breathless Christina, I think if your a fan of the series, it's a must read! I loved how it ended:)

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  7. I'm sad to say that I've yet to read a Scott Westerfeld book. I'm missing out, aren't I?

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    1. This was my first Scott Westerfeld book too, and based on my enjoyment, I will be picking up more of his books:)

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  8. I have been hearing a lot about the Harper Teen Impulse Novellas and have been wondering about them. All of these sound like really great, quick reads. I still need to read the series by Sophie Jordan and Cynthia Hand, and actually have the books, but haven't started yet. Your reviews have gotten me motivated though.

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    1. They were such fun Ellen! I like that some are completely new novellas and some are novellas set in the world of a series I'm familiar with, so there's a lot of variety:)

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  9. I love that you did four quick reviews! What a great idea! Breathless and Radiant are definitely on my radar as I love both series'. I think I'm most psyched for Boundless. I love me some Tucker.

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    1. TUCKER!!!! You and me Irish, we can share him ;-)

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  10. I know I need Radiant and Breathless because of the series and I love these type of filler novellas. So glad you enjoyed both and that they complimented the series wonderfully.

    Oh and now I think I need to get Stupid Perfect World. This one sounds like it's a good read for me. I didn't expect laughter... so I am so going for that one!

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    1. Radiant was such a great read - I feel all ready for Boundless now and I can't wait. Stupid Perfect World was fabulous as well - really fun to see the kids struggle with hormones and sleep and a variety of other things I've never really even given thought to:)

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  11. Not a big fan of those shorties, even if one totally worked today

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  12. I love Scott Westerfeld and had no idea he wrote a novella! Thanks for putting that on my radar, Jenny! I'll have to check it out ASAP for sure! :)

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  13. I definitely need to read Boundless! I only read the first Firelight book and so need to catch up. I'm glad that these were pretty good though!

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  14. Ahhhhh I love reading novellas especially as they help to fill the void left by your favourite series! I think I would especially be drawn to Mylnowski's novel it sounds like a super cute read you can just sit back and relax with and Radiance? Do I need to say anymore? I'm getting all jittery here in anticipation for my copy of Boundless to arrive! ;)

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  15. I've only read Radiant out of these, but I thought that one was awesome! I've always wondered about Angela, you know, and I was really excited to find out more about her! I need to read Breathless and also catch up on the Firelight series!

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  16. Oh my gosh, I really want to read Radiant! I'm intrigued to know if Angela is really a villain or not, so the first person narration from her eyes is perfect. Also, BOUNDLESS WILL BE REALEASED SOON! So. Excited. :)

    Fabulous mini-reviews, Jenny!

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  17. I was intrigued as soon as I heard about this imprint. Normally, I hate short stories, because as soon as you get to know all the characters... uh. It's over! But, I love the idea of having short stories tied-in to a series, like a little bonus.

    Nice mini-reviews!

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  18. This makes me realize that I need to go back and skim through the first two Unearthly books because I can't remember much of what happened - other than the big surprises.

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  19. I love short stories so I'll have to pick up a couple of these. Especially the Scott Westerfeld one. Thanks for all those reviews!!

    Heather

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  20. Sweet reviews! I so need to read these titles. There are all book that I have read and loved.

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  21. Thanks so much for this review - I know the Westerfeld and Mylnowski stories are reprints from anthologies (those ...From Hell charity anthologies they did), but they were good, from what I recall.

    It's also reminded me to A) read UNEARTHLY asap and B) buy that novella for when I finish HIDDEN and bawl because that series is over.

    I'm quite excited for the new imprint! I hope they do some experiments with digital-first publishing like Avon (Harper Collins' romance imprint) with their Avon Impulse line. :)

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  22. I love these lil' reviews. Of course the swimming-cover of Cruisin' drew me right in! Stupid Perfect World sounds interesting too.

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  23. Out of those novellas, I'm really looking forward to Westerfeld's and the Unearthly one! I have no idea how Boundless will end but I hope we do get lots of Tucker time. I really missed him in the second book!

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  24. It is so strange that I never really formed a connection to Clara or Unearthly. I mean, I read the first book, I even liked it (4 stars, I think) and then I just never felt any desire whatsoever to read the second book. Am I the only one this happens to? I think not. But it's my loss, right?
    on the other hand, I am very interested in Westerfeld's novella, it sounds fantastic.
    Thanks for the reviews, Jenny!

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  25. I have only read Breathless form this list and I must admit I really loved it! :) Now I'm sorry that there isn't a novel about Az cause I'd most likely read it. I must read other short stories :) Great reviews.

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  26. I am most interested in Stupid Perfect World and of course Radiant is sitting in my tbr pile..eep! Awesome reviews, I love novellas they are my perfect in-between books or one's i like to load on my smart-phone for when i am out and about waiting in lines, doctor offices and car lines..LOL

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  27. Stupid Perfect World sounds like a fascinating world though I wonder that such a class would exist...sounds like nothing but a can of worms!

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  28. I never used to be into these short story/novella type reads because I'm the type of person who really likes to delve into a story, but more and more I am appreciating them as quick reads to fit in here and there that can still be entertaining. Out of these, I am probably most interested in Scott Westerfeld's because it sounds cute, though that's only because I haven't read Firelight or Unearthly yet, or else I would probably be into those and what they add to the series, as well.

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  29. I can't wait to pick up Breathless and Radiant. I loved the Firelight series so far. I need to read the last one, just haven't had the chance. I'm so anxious for Boundless and I did buy Radiant. Can't wait to start that. I'm so thrilled to see you rated these two stories the highest. Great reviews Jenny. :)

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