Lady Danielle

Oh! This is going to be very difficult because I've read so many amazing YA lit last year (2012 was the author's year because, wow!).

Here's a few of my five star reads that's hard to choose from:

1. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
2. The Diviners by Libba Bray
3. Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

Now I had plenty of five star reads last year but these are the three that's stuck with me till this day. I think about these books a lot because it was something new, fresh, fun, and original. But, I can only choose one... so..... The Diviners by Libba Bray. This book is my all-time favourite. This book belongs with my Harry Potter books -- yes, it was that good. 

I've been in-love with the Jazz Age (aka The Roaring '20s) since I was 14 when I picked up Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen. Reading about the scandals, the flappers, the parties/speakeasies, the Jazz, the language... ever since then I've always wanted to be a flapper/live in the 1920s, that was the best era. After reading BYT, I've been doing research and reading about the Roaring '20s; I've searched for more YA lit based on this era and discovered Vixen by Jillian Larkin. Though it was somewhat like BYT, I let it slide because, again, the writing was vivid and I enjoyed it just as much.

When I saw the New Releases section on Goodreads, this gorgeous cover caught my eye: 

Curious, I read the description: 

Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City—and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.

Evie worries he’ll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.

As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened.

It was then that I knew the book found its way to me. Not only would I be reunited with the language, Jazz, speakeasies, and flappers, I would be introduced to a paranormal/supernatural twist: Magic as well as the occult. I snatched the book up and began to read... after reading the last sentence, my mouth was left hanging open and there were stars in my eyes. 

I will forever praise this book. You can read my review of it here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/419662202