Posts in "recap"

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The basics

Title: The Hunger Games

Author:

Series: The Hunger Games #1

- The Hunger Games (2008)
- Catching Fire (2009)
- Mockingjay (2010)

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Goodreads Summary:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weight survival against humanity and life against love.
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The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

The basics

Title: The Ask and the Answer

Author:

Series: Chaos Walking #2

- The Knife of Never Letting Go (May 2008)
- The Ask and the Answer (May 2009)
- Monsters of Men (May 2010)

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Goodreads Summary:

We were in the square, in the square where I'd run, holding her, carrying her, telling her to stay alive, stay alive till we got safe, till we got to Haven so I could save her - But there weren't no safety, no safety at all, there was just him and his men...

Fleeing before a relentless army, Todd has carried a desperately wounded Viola right into the hands of their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss. Immediately separated from Viola and imprisoned, Todd is forced to learn the ways of the Mayor's new order. But what secrets are hiding just outside of town? And where is Viola? Is she even still alive? And who are the mysterious Answer? And then, one day, the bombs begin to explode...
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Clockworks by Joe Hill

The basics

Title: Clockworks

Author:

Series: Locke & Key #5

- Welcome to Lovecraft (September 2008)
- Head Games (September 2009)
- Crown of Shadows (August 2010)
- Keys to the Kingdom (July 2011)
- Clockworks (June 2012)
- Omega & Alpha (February 2014)

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Goodreads Summary:

Tyler and Kinsey Locke have no idea that their now-deceased nemesis, Lucas "Dodge" Caravaggio, has taken over the body of their younger brother, Bode. With unrestricted access to Keyhouse, Dodge's ruthless quest to find the Omega Key and open the Black Door is almost complete. But Tyler and Kinsey have a dangerous key of their own — one that can unlock all the secrets of Keyhouse by opening a gateway to the past. The time has come for the Lockes to face theri own legacy and the darkness behind the Black Door. Because if they don't learn from their family history, they may be doomed to repeat it, and time is running out!

Colonel Adam Crais's minutemen are literally trapped between a rock and a hard place; in the first days of the Revolutionary War, they find themselves hiding beneath 120 feet of New England stone, with a full regiment of redcoats waiting for them in the daylight... and a door into hell in the cavern below. The black door is open, and it's up to a 16-year-old smith named Ben Locke to find a way to close it. The biggest mysteries of the Locke & Key series are resolved as Clockworks opens, not with a bang, but with the thunderous crash of English cannons.
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Geekerella by Ashley Poston

The basics

Title: Geekerella

Author:

Series: Once Upon a Con #1

- Geekerella (2017)
- The Princess and the Fangirl (2019)
- Bookish and the Beast (2020)

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Goodreads Summary:

Part romance, part love letter to nerd culture, and all totally adorbs, Geekerella is a fairy tale for anyone who believes in the magic of fandom. Geek girl Elle Wittimer lives and breathes Starfield, the classic sci-fi series she grew up watching with her late father. So when she sees a cosplay contest for a new Starfield movie, she has to enter. The prize? An invitation to the ExcelsiCon Cosplay Ball, and a meet-and-greet with the actor slated to play Federation Prince Carmindor in the reboot. With savings from her gig at the Magic Pumpkin food truck (and her dad’s old costume), Elle’s determined to win…unless her stepsisters get there first.

Teen actor Darien Freeman used to live for cons—before he was famous. Now they’re nothing but autographs and awkward meet-and-greets. Playing Carmindor is all he’s ever wanted, but the Starfield fandom has written him off as just another dumb heartthrob. As ExcelsiCon draws near, Darien feels more and more like a fake—until he meets a girl who shows him otherwise.
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Keys to the Kindom by Joe Hill

The basics

Title: Keys to the Kindom

Author:

Series: Locke & Key #4

- Welcome to Lovecraft (September 2008)
- Head Games (September 2009)
- Crown of Shadows (August 2010)
- Keys to the Kingdom (July 2011)
- Clockworks (June 2012)
- Omega & Alpha (February 2014)

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Goodreads Summary:

Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez's Locke & Key unwinds into its fourth volume in Keys to the Kingdom. With more keys making themselves known, and the depths of the Locke family's mystery ever-expanding, Dodge's desperation to end his shadowy quest drives the inhabitants of Keyhouse ever closer to a revealing conclusion.
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Crown of Shadows by Joe Hill

The basics

Title: Crown of Shadows

Author:

Series: Locke & Key #3

- Welcome to Lovecraft (September 2008)
- Head Games (September 2009)
- Crown of Shadows (August 2010)
- Keys to the Kingdom (July 2011)
- Clockworks (June 2012)
- Omega & Alpha (February 2014)

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Goodreads Summary:

The dead plot against the living, the darkness closes in on Keyhouse, and a woman is shattered beyond repair, in the third storyline of the Eisner-nominated series, Locke & Key! Dodge continues his relentless quest to find the key to the black door, and raises an army of shadows to wipe out anyone who might get in his way. Surrounded and outnumbered, the Locke children find themselves fighting a desperate battle, all alone, in a world where the night itself has become their enemy.
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The Girl From the Well by Rin Chupeco

The basics

Title: The Girl From the Well

Author:

Series: The Girl From the Well #1

- The Girl From the Well (2014)
- The Suffering (2015)

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Goodreads Summary:

A dead girl walks the streets.

She hunts murderers. Child killers, much like the man who threw her body down a well three hundred years ago.

And when a strange boy bearing stranger tattoos moves into the neighborhood so, she discovers, does something else. And soon both will be drawn into the world of eerie doll rituals and dark Shinto exorcisms that will take them from American suburbia to the remote valleys and shrines of Aomori, Japan.

Because the boy has a terrifying secret - one that would just kill to get out.
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Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

The basics

Title: Pretties

Author:

Series: Uglies #2

- Uglies (2005)
- Pretties (2005)
- Specials (2006)
- Extras (2006)

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Goodreads Summary:

Tally has finally become pretty. Now her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are awesome, her boyfriend is totally hot, and she's completely popular. It's everything she's ever wanted.

But beneath all the fun -- the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom -- is a nagging sense that something's wrong. Something important. Then a message from Tally's ugly past arrives. Reading it, Tally remembers what's wrong with pretty life, and the fun stops cold.

Now she has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life -- because the authorities don't intend to let anyone with this information survive.
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Starsight by Brandon Sanderson

The basics

Title: Starsight

Author:

Series: Skyward #2

- Skyward (2018)
- Starsight (2019)
- Cytonic (2021)
- Defiant (2023)


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Goodreads Summary:

All her life, Spensa has dreamed of becoming a pilot. Of proving she's a hero like her father. She made it to the sky, but the truths she learned about her father were crushing.

Spensa is sure there's more to the story. And she's sure that whatever happened to her father in his starship could happen to her. When she made it outside the protective shell of her planet, she heard the stars--and it was terrifying. Everything Spensa has been taught about her world is a lie.

But Spensa also discovered a few other things about herself--and she'll travel to the end of the galaxy to save humankind if she needs to.
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Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

The basics

Title: Uglies

Author:

Series: Uglies #1

- Uglies (2005)
- Pretties (2005)
- Specials (2006)
- Extras (2006)

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Goodreads Summary:

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. In just a few weeks she'll have the operation that will turn her from a repellent ugly into a stunning pretty. And as a pretty, she'll be catapulted into a high-tech paradise where her only job is to have fun.

But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to become a pretty. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world—and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally a choice: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. Tally's choice will change her world forever....
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