#ac gaughen

[journeyintotheshelves]

Tuesday’s Treats is a weekly blog post dedicated to newly released books that I’m most excited for. (Books are in no particular order.)

All books featured this week will be released: JAN. 30th

1. Reign the Earth (The Elementae: 1): A. C. Gaughen (goodreads) (book depository)

Shalia will do anything to protect and provide for her people, including marrying the cruel king, Calix. As she puts the needs above her own, she finds herself falling in love with his brother which releases something from deep within her. Then, she learns that her husband is determined to eliminate the Elementae — people with the ability to control the elements…just like Shalia.

I have heard that this book discusses heavy issues, such as abuse and rape, so keep that in mind if you’re thinking of picking this up.

YA Fantasy; Bloomsbury, Hardcover (US)

2. The Hazel Wood (The Hazel Wood: 1): Melissa Albert (goodreads) (book depository)

Alice and her mother have been running away from her grandmother, her literary legacy, and the Hazel Wood for her entire life. When they learn that Alice’s grandmother has passed away, they believe that the Hazel Wood has left them too and they can finally live their lives. But the Hazel Wood isn’t done with them, and Alice’s mother disappeared. Armed with only her determination and Ellery Finch, her classmate and superfan of her grandmother’s work, Alice ventures out to Hinterland and the Hazel Wood to bring her mother home.

YA Fantasy; Flatiron Books/Macmillan, Hardcover (US)

3. Wires and Nerve, Vol. 2: Gone Rouge: Marissa Meyer (artist) & Stephen Gilpin (artist) (goodreads) (book depository)

I still haven’t finished reading The Lunar Chronicles, but I’m still massively excited for this book release. The artwork to these books is gorgeous, and the fact that this expansion series follows one of my favorite side characters of the book, Iko, makes my little fangirl heart happy.

YA Fantasy, Graphic Novel; Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan, Hardcover (US)

4. The Dangerous Art of Blending In: Angelo Sumelis (goodreads) (book depository)

Evan feels like he doesn’t belong. His mother only sees him as a disappointment, his father is barely home to intervene, and Evan’s suddenly seeing his best friend Henry as more than just a friend. But even as Henry becomes his one happiness in life, the more his home life becomes unbearable, the more Evan realizes that he has to find his own voice and become his own source of happiness.

From advanced reviews, I’ve heard nothing but fantastic things about this book, so I cannot wait to get my hands on this one.

YA Contemporay Fiction, LGBT+; Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins, Hardcover (US)

5. S.T.A.G.S.: M. A. Bennett (goodreads) (book depository)

When I first read the brief synopsis of this book it reminded me of M.L. Rio’s If We Were Villains and Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, so I’m 100% here for it.

S.T.A.G.S. follows new student Greer MacDonald as she tries to navigate the prestigious St. Aidan the Great School (a.k.a.: S.T.A.G.S). Teased by the most popular kids in school — the Medievals, Greer is surprised when she’s invited to an exclusive retreat at Medieval’s unofficial leader Henry de Warlencourt’s house. But the weekend is more than just trying to impress the un-impressable, Greer is trust into a world where the elite are out for blood.

YA Mystery/Thriller; Delacorte Press/Random House, Hardcover (US)

[bookishbloomsbury]

YES HERE FOR THIS!

You can preorder @acgaughen‘s REIGN THE EARTH now!

[bookishbloomsbury]

REIGN THE EARTH, the feminist fantasy you didn’t know you needed, is available for preorder now!

[bookishbloomsbury]

Preorder your book now to get an awesome map poster and then see @acgaughen on tour!

[goodbooksandgoodwine]

14 Audiobooks For The YA Superfan

14 Audiobooks For The YA Superfan

I feel as though we are in a golden age of audiobooks and friends, I am LIVING for it. As a resident young adult book super fan, I have listened to a TON of YA audiobooks and thought maybe this would be a great time to tell you all about them. As you saw in my previous round up post, there’s a lot of YA audiobooks to wade through out there and well, hopefully this helps you find a few more great…

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[asexualbookbird]

REIGN THE EARTH BY AC GAUGHEN  ★☆☆☆☆

Shalia is a proud daughter of the desert, but after years of devastating war with the adjoining kingdom, her people are desperate for an end to the violence that has claimed so many of their loved ones. Willing to trade her freedom to ensure the safety of her family, Shalia becomes Queen of the Bone Lands, a country where magic is outlawed and the Elementae–those that can control earth, air, fire and water–are traitors, subject to torture … or worse. Before she is even crowned, Shalia discovers that she can bend the earth to her will. Trapped between her husband’s irrational hatred of the Elementae and a dangerous rebellion led by her own brother, Shalia must harness her power and make an impossible choice: save her family, save the Elementae, or save herself.

CONTENT WARNING FOR EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL ABUSE, BORDERLINE RAPE, MISCARRIAGE, GASLIGHTING This was not at all what I expected. When the blurb mentioned Earth Powers, I was thinking maybe something like Avatar? I wasn’t expecting anything as good as Avatar, that would be wildly unfair, but power wise that’s what I had in mind! Plot wise I expected your basic YA fantasy. A girl has to come to terms with who she is and lead a rebellion to save her people. That’s not at all what this book is. This is a very good look at an abusive relationship, and I’m glad it exists in the sense teens should be aware and be able to recognise it when it happens, but if you’re not expecting it, it blindsides you and it’s very hard to read. GOODREADS

Please don’t take those content warnings lightly. One of the first scenes we see with Shalia and Her Husband is him telling her sex is going to hurt and that’s just how it is when she expresses anxiety and concern over the fact she’s seventeen and he’s in his thirties and they’re going to have sex. That was within the first fifty pages, so it wasn’t quite clear then the point was their relationship was abusive, so this bit really bothered me in the moment. It’s never quite challenged, and thus sets a standard for young readers that Sex Hurts when it really shouldn’t! When it is sort of challenged, it’s not until the end when she finally choose the Nice Guy and he’s worried he’s going to hurt her like Her Husband did, but it happens so much later it’s hard to put the two together. Also that scene was gross. He’s not going to magically fix her trauma with Nice Consesnual Sex. That’s not how trauma works. The one good thing this book did was how the abuse sort of snuck up on you like it would in real life. People drop not so subtle hints that the King isn’t great, but we hope he changes just like Shalia hopes. And when he doesn’t, it’s easy to go back and see all the signs. This book wrote abuse extremely well, but again, if you’re not ready for it, the mood is ruined. I’ve seen people who praise this book praise the writing overall, and I have to ask how. Again, in the first fifty pages Shalia said “My Husband” so many times I wanted to go back and keep a tally. I didn’t because by that time it was already difficult to get through and I didn’t want to put myself through that twice. But it was a good thirty times over two pages. I didn’t even realise he had a name until three quarters of the way through. It did also bother me he kept calling her “Wife,” but I chalked that up to possessive behavior so I won’t hold it against the book as a whole, but good writing this is not. One thing that really bothered me is in the beginning we meet Shalia’s best friend Kata and she talks about how she traveled the world opening these temples to release the elemental magic back into the world and that story sounds so much better! I want to read about Kata’s quest instead of reading about this abuse! I want to know more about this world and its magic, I want to see more people use their magic. I wanted any story but this. Any story but Shalia trying to “fix” a genocidal king who would kill her in an instant. And after all that, he’s made out to be sympathetic. His brother has had so many chances to kill him and he says he can’t because That’s His Brother. I get that abuse probably plays a huge factor here, but again, it’s never challenged. No one says hey, you’ve been hit just as hard. We have to take his words to heart and believe that because the king saved his siblings at one point, he’s worth trying to reason with. Even though all his actions suggest otherwise. I’d be willing to forgive this in the name of abuse and trauma if the series continued on and dealt with these issues, but turns out book two isn’t even about the same characters! It’s about an air elemental who pirates an air ship, which again sounds cool but I’m not trusting this series anymore. This had a lot of potential, even as it was, to be something great. Instead it’s just a reminder that publishers and authors should include trigger warnings in their books so readers can be prepared. I’m early certain my opinions would differ slightly if I knew what I was getting into.

[katvaldezwriter77]

Dear Goodreads, It's Time to Require Civility in Book Reviews

Read "Dear Goodreads, It's Time to Require Civility in Book Reviews" and learn about the fascinating protagonist of the Robin Hood-retelling SCARLET by AC Gaughen.

I finished reading Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen recently. What a unique voice. What a fascinating and complex feminist protagonist.

Scarlet’s compassion for the poor Nottingham villagers – and her unwavering commitment to helping the legendary Robin Hood – give female readers a new (super)hero to admire. (She can even scale castle walls.)

Eager to know what other readers thought about the novel,…

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[lionheartfantasy]

I don't see a lot of people talking about AC Gaughen's Elementae series, but I just read her sequel to Reign the Earth, Imprison the Sky. There's a change in narrator from the first, but Aspasia is a great character! Topics covered in the Elementae books tend to be a little heavy, like domestic violence and slavery, but if you can tolerate them you'll find some very emotionally aware literature!

Imprison the Sky was an excellent follow-up, and explores a core theme close to everyone's heart - family. I really like how Gaughen wrote about feelings too, they seemed pretty realistic and natural. I highly recommend it!