#book excerpt
the genesis of retribution
“I suppose at one time in my life I might have had any number of stories, but now there is no other. This is the only story I will ever be able to tell.” –‘The Secret History’byDonna Tartt
“Sometimes these vivid flashes of memory seemed like pieces of a bad dream, as if none of it had ever happened. Yet in many ways it seemed the only real thing that had happened in Charlotte’s life.” –‘The Little Friend’byDonna Tartt
“Her death the dividing mark: Before and After.” –‘The Goldfinch’ by Donna Tartt
Flare is power.
With only a drop of flare, one can light the night sky with fireworks … or burn a building to the ground – and seventeen-year-old Ingrid Ellis wants her fair share.
Ingrid doesn’t have a family fortune, monetary or magical, but at least she has a plan: Rise to the top on the arm of Linden Holt, heir to a hefty political legacy and the largest fortune of flare in all of Candesce. Her only obstacle is Linden’s father who refuses to acknowledge her.
So when Senator Holt announces his run for president, Ingrid uses the situation to her advantage. She strikes a deal to spy on the senator’s opposition in exchange for his approval and the status she so desperately craves. But the longer Ingrid wears two masks, the more she questions where her true allegiances lie.
Will she stand with the Holts, or will she forge her own path?
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Fire Becomes Her by Rosiee ThorbyI Read YA on Scribd
From the marvelous author of Heartstopper comes an exceptional YA novel about discovering that it’s okay if you don’t have sexual or romantic feelings for anyone … since there are plenty of other ways to find love and connection.
This is the funny, honest, messy, completely relatable story of Georgia, who doesn’t understand why she can’t crush and kiss and make out like her friends do. She’s surrounded by the narrative that dating + sex = love. It’s not until she gets to college that she discovers the A range of the LGBTQIA+ spectrum – coming to understand herself as asexual/aromantic.
Disrupting the narrative that she’s been told since birth isn’t easy – there are many mistakes along the way to inviting people into a newly found articulation of an always-known part of your identity. But Georgia’s determined to get her life right, with the help of (and despite the major drama of) her friends.
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Loveless ExcerptbyI Read YA on Scribd
Happily ever after is a lie.
Once upon a time there was a kingdom, and a forest that liked to eat men, and a girl who would change everything, but not alone …
Except –
There’s no such thing as once upon a time.
In a faraway land, populated by were beasts and surrounded by a powerful forest, lies a kingdom about to be sent into chaos. On his deathbed, King Tyran divides his land, leaving half to each of his two children – so they’ll rule together. However, his son, Albrecht, is not satisfied with half a kingdom. And even though his sister, Ursula, is the first born, he decides that, as a girl and were bear, she is unfit to rule. So he invades her land, slaughtering her people and most of the were beasts, and claims it for himself.
As King Albrecht builds his iron rule and an army to defend his reign, Ursula is gathering the survivors and making plans to seize back the kingdom. Not just her half – the whole thing. Because Albrecht should have never been allowed to sit on the throne, and Ursula is going to take his crown. And if he’s not careful, he might not get to keep his head either.
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Into the Bloodred Woods ExcerptbyI Read YA on Scribd
When Claire Draper’s fictional love story goes viral in the wake of a pandemic, the line between reality and fiction is blurred. But will she be able to tell the difference?
Claire is a junior in high school when a worldwide pandemic strikes, and she’s in the epicenter of it all in New York City. Suddenly, Claire is forced to isolate with her family indefinitely, which means she won’t be able to see her friends or even her girlfriend, Vanessa, in person for a long time.
At first it’s not so bad, but the longer the pandemic lasts, the more Claire feels her priorities changing. That’s when she looks outside her bedroom window and notices something new: A girl who lives in the building across the street sitting on her fire escape.
So Claire starts writing a story online about a girl who falls for the girl across the street. To Claire’s surprise, the story goes viral-and it seems people think it’s true. But how true is true? And what if Vanessa finds out? Will Claire be able to manage her newfound internet fame before everything spirals out of control?
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Going Viral ExcerptbyI Read YA on Scribd
It wasn’t the kidnapping that ruined Cass Adams’s life. It was the letters that came after.
The pink envelopes that appear in her car, her locker, her bedroom. Notes from the man she escaped, telling her that he’s always there, always watching. And that someday, he’ll be back for her.
The police say there’s nothing they can do, and Cass resigns herself to live in fear until she reconnects with three old friends-three girls ready to exact vengeance on those who wronged them.
But the deeper Cass digs, the more shocking the truth becomes, especially when she discovers that the person who ruined her life may be the only one who can save it.
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Out of the Fire ExcerptbyI Read YA on Scribd
#BrainFeed
We have loved and followed Tambudzai’s story since Tsitsi Dangarembga’s first offering, “Nervous Conditions”.
“Chronicle of an Indomitable Daughter”, the third in the “Tambudzai trilogy”, is to be released soon. We can hardly wait!
Read an excerpt here: http://bit.ly/1jflpmj
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Chapter VII: Darkness Falls (Pt. II)
“Two faces at one time intimately attached to the folds of eternity forever linger in uncertainty.”
Iarûr closed his book and put his quill aside. He looked at me—his gaze seemingly searching my soul for the answers to everything.
“I will not ask you what you are thinking, Iarûr,” I began, turning to my work. “It is always something that brings with it self-reflection.”
“For that, you should be grateful,” he said. “But today, my mind lingers on something less affirmative.”
“You worry about the mortal,” I asked.
“No more than I worry about us all,” he said. “Save what Queen Melian has seen and how best to put it down for future generations, I worry no more than usual.”
“I am afraid to ask so I will refrain,” I said, smiling to myself.
“Your curiosity is showing, Orothôn,” he said. “You do not hide it well.”
“I cannot hide anything from you, Iarûr,” I said, looking at him. “I would do well if my thoughts could whisper.”
“The world is changing, my friend,” he began. “Not for the better.”
“Êlengolas said peace is a time for scheming,” I said.
“He is right. No one schemes during a time of war. They are immersed in killing each other.”
“Hence, the scheming,” I added.
“Hence the wars that will come again to us.”
I sighed—it was the only emotion I had left anymore. The thought of battle brought uncharted memories of death and destruction. They were things I did not wish to become commonplace.
**** **** **** ****
I left the repository to find my family. My desire to be near them was overwhelming. A feeling of dread ran through me like rolling fire—I knew this war would be unlike any other. Iarûr did not have to say a word—his eyes told me more than he could express otherwise. As I walked through the halls leading toward the throne room, they seemed darker than usual—the candlelight appeared to grow darker and the halls longer. The echo of my footsteps faded behind me as an eerie silence surrounded me.
“Orothôn,” a voice said from a distance. I looked behind me and saw only darkness—an abysmal void of despair. The voice came from everywhere and nowhere. I said nothing as I continued on my way.
“Orothôn,” the voice said again. When I looked before me, I saw Valdôr standing before me. I screamed and fell to the floor.
“Valdôr,” I whispered.
“Orothôn,” he said, smiling. “It is good to see you, my friend.”
“You died in Ossiriand,” I stammered.
“I did,” he answered. “You did not.”
I knew then it was Valdôr. He reached down to help me up. He was as real as any other elf. When I was standing, I noticed the halls had returned to their regular appearance. Valdôr was still standing before me.
“Are you a vision,” I asked.
“I know you have them,” he started. “Though you keep them from Mîrwen.”
“I do not wish her to know.”
Valdôr gave me a smirk.
“This is Mîrwen, Orothôn,” he said. “Do you think she does not know?”
“I hope she does not know. Why are you here?”
“You know well why I am here,” he answered. “The world is changing and not for the better.”
“Iarûr said as much,” I said. “You heard him?”
“Where I am, I see what the living cannot,” he said. “I know what Queen Melian has known from the beginning of time. Darkness will fall again upon this world and last many seasons.”
“Then all is lost,” I said.
“With darkness always comes light, Orothôn, Valdôr said calming. “There is hope.”
“I am afraid waiting for hope is something for which I have little patience,” I said, frustrated.
“Hope comes when it is ready,” Valdôr said. “It is not for you or anyone to command.”
“Then why have any at all,” I asked.
“Because it is the only thing you have more of than time.”
I stared at Valdôr. His words were far more than I wanted to hear but I knew he was right.
“My hope will lie in Oropher,” I whispered.
“And his will lie in his son,” he said. “And mine shall be there by their side when hope again rises in this world, Orôthon.”
Before I could say another word, my name was spoken by another voice.
“Orothôn,” it said. I looked to see Eldôr standing before me in his father’s place with Amdir. “Are you feeling well?”
I looked around and realized I was standing in the vestibule by the main gates.
“I am quite well, Eldôr,” I answered.
“Oropher was looking for you,” Amdir said. “He is in his chambers.”
“Thank you, Amdir,” I answered. “I will be on my way.”
Hoping they did not see me speaking with myself, I quickly left them and made my way to Oropher’s room.––TKWRT Book I: The Epic of Eryn Galen by Jaynaé Marie Miller. 9-13-2019
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Images: ©2012, 2013, 2014. Warner Brothers Pictures. The Hobbit: The Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies. All Rights Reserved.
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The world would be so much better if we never stopped loving each other.
S.A // It feels empty without you
I know I miss you because it happens in daylight. When I’m driving down a road with a view and the sun is hitting me, I think of how good you’d look beside me. And how great your laugh would sound, joining me when I’m out with friends. Or how much warmer the bed would be with you in it.
- S.A // I miss you even when I’m not lonely
I can’t remember a time I didn’t love him.
S.A // Conversations About Love #12
When you get cheated on, everything is so different.
All your memories are ruined;
Like, how many times was he thinking about her when he was with you?
And all the times you felt him and touched his skin, were you feeling the left over traces of her?
Touching evidence of the crime that killed so many parts of you?
And every time you think about looking into his eyes, a memory you once loved so much, you see her instead of you in the reflection?
S.A // You ruined the future and the past.
I just want to feel him.
To feel his arms and his warmth;
Knowing that he loves me.
I just want to feel that,
and let him know that I love him back.
S.A // Conversations About Love #10
I don’t remember much before her. I know it was bad and that she made it.. less bad.
She didn’t make everything perfect. She couldn’t. All the shit was still there,
but she made it not matter.
She was my rose coloured glasses.
S.A // Rose Coloured Glasses
