Publishers Weekly: The mysterious Need network, an anonymous social network that springs up overnight, claims that it can fulfill the deepest desires of the students at Nottawa High School. At the center of the storm is 16-year-old Kaylee Dunham; while her classmates mainly seek material gain, her priorities lie with finding her younger brother a kidney donor. Need’s users must follow its directions like lemmings, and a web of deceit and cruel pranks quickly becomes dangerous and deadly. Charbonneau (the Testing trilogy) focuses on a handful of classmates, mostly telling the story from Kaylee’s perspective, but shifting into third person to expose other characters and help the roles they play coalesce into a thrilling narrative. Even after the diabolical source of Need is unmasked—albeit through the cliché of the villain explaining the plan in full detail—Charbonneau still has a few surprises in store to leave readers questioning their trust in (and anonymity of) the internet and the selves we expose when we think no one is watching.
Sep 232015
B&N SF&F Blog: The Traitor Baru Cormorant is riveting, immersive, and tough to talk about without spoilers. To give away too much is to risk losing some of the tension that will keep you compulsively turning pages, though the ending is less a surprise than an inevitability toward which you careen helplessly. The writing is so tight, the plot so well-constructed, that if you were to surreptitiously read the ending first–or the original short story of the same name–you would still find yourself addicted.
Kirkus: Extraterrestrials offer depressed, acerbic Henry Denton the chance to save the Earth from certain destruction by pressing a red button. The stalk-eyed, variably tentacled sluggers’ repeated, humiliating abductions and habit of dumping Henry in strange places with minimal clothing make Henry’s life tough, but the focus here is less on the aliens and more on the button. Bullied at school, pushed around at home, and reeling from his once-boyfriend’s suicide, Henry doesn’t think he wants to press it. “If you knew the world was going to end but you could prevent it, would you?” becomes a sort of refrain throughout, and each character who answers not only reveals his or her own carefully imagined depths, but also sheds light on Henry’s existential dilemmas. Whether Henry is hooking up in secret with the popular golden boy who torments him in public, watching his beloved Nana lose her memories, or being physically and verbally assaulted at school, at parties, and online, he maintains a biting, vulgar wit. There is both a budding romance and, via Henry’s older brother, a baby on the way, but the novel meticulously avoids easy fixes for Henry’s nihilism. Instead, his journey is subtle and hard-won, with meditations on the past, the present, and the future that are equal parts sarcastic and profound. Bitterly funny, with a ray of hope amid bleakness.
Locus: One of McCammon’s great achievements in this novel is the horrifying sense he conveys of humanity reduced to the equivalent of so many ants in a field, being stomped on by warring combatants. The scenes of battle between the two armies and the firepower and weapons they yield are spectacular and vivid. […] Readers familiar with Stinger will find that many of the relationships, interactions, and plot twists in that novel resonate with those in The Border, though without directly paralleling them. It’s a credit to McCammon’s craft as a writer that two books separated by almost 30 years show such a consistency of vision and imagination.
Booklist: Butcher, the best-selling author of the Dresden Files, now launches the Cinder Files, a new epic fantasy, steampunk hybrid series that has shades of both Naomi Novik and Cherie Priest, set in a world where people live in highly developed societies housed in spires that protrude into the sky. Each spire has its own guard and fleets of airships to use for trade and defense—fleets made up of Master and Commander–style ships that float through the mist-shrouded skies, powered by magical crystals. A disgraced fleet captain and a group of young guardsmen and women loyal to Spire Albion are forced together after a surprise attack by Spire Aurora, but, as they soon learn, this attack is much more than a simple war between Spires. With shifting points of view, short chapters, fast-paced action, and awesome battle scenes, the large cast of characters, elaborate world building, and intricate plot are revealed quickly and realized fully. It all reminds readers of when they first fell for Harry Dresden. The Cinder Files will be sure to attract Butcher fans new, old, and even lapsed, increasing interest as well in all of his novels.
Nerdist: Each sentence, each description of action, each joke — it all hits you right between the eyes in the exciting head rush sort of way. No space is wasted, and we dive deep inside the inner workings of our lead characters. […] Wendig neatly captures the current states of the Empire and Rebel Alliance and does so through flawed, real, and nuanced characters. His writing gets you up close and personal with anyone we come in contact with, whether we spend chapters with them or only a few pages. Wendig does wonders with dialogue and voice and carving out space for everyone to breathe. Aftermath is a strong foot forward into unexplored territory and puts down just enough foundation that you can start picturing the Resistance and First Order of 
RT Book Reviews: The Matchmaking Babies series continues as Lord Arthur Trelawney decides to spend more time with the rescued orphans staying at his family’s estate. Arthur believes it a splendid idea, particularly if he courts a widowed acquaintance with two babies. However, that was before it put him in close proximity with lovely nurse Maris Oliver. Maris is drawn to Arthur, but she also knows he’s getting ready to woo someone else. Not only that, but they are both hiding secrets that could threaten their developing relationship. Lord Trelawney is a wonderful, gallant hero, and his slow-building love story with Maris is one to enjoy. This is a candid reminder that no matter the situation, the Lord’s hand is always upon us.
VOYA TLT: First of all, let’s get the names of all 17 authors out there so you can start to understand exactly how phenomenal this book is: Steve Brezenoff, Beth Revis, Tom Leveen, Delilah S. Dawson, Margie Gelbwasser, Shaun David Hutchinson, Trish Doller, Christine Johnson, Neal and Brendan Shusterman, Blythe Woolston, E.M. Kokie, Elisa Nader, Mindi Scott, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Kendare Blake, Hannah Moskowitz, and Courtney Summers.