Salt & Stone (Fire & Flood #2)

by Victoria Scott (Goodreads Author)

Book Synopsis(Goodreads):

What would you do to save someone you love?

In Fire & Flood, Tella Holloway faced a dangerous trek through the jungle and across the desert, all to remain a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed for a chance at obtaining the Cure for her brother. She can’t quit–she has to win the race, save Cody, and then fight to make sure the race stops before it can claim any more lives. In the next legs of the race, across the ocean and over mountains, Tella will face frostbite, sharks, avalanche, and twisted new rules in the race.

But what if the danger is deeper than that? How do you know who to trust when everyone’s keeping secrets? What do you do when the person you’d relied on most suddenly isn’t there for support? How do you weigh one life against another?

The race is coming to an end, and Tella is running out of time, resources, and strength. At the start of the race there were one hundred twenty-two Contenders. As Tella and her remaining friends start the final part of the race, just forty-one are left–and only one can win.

Quote 1:

“Before, I figured that when my family was struck with illness, when my brother, Cody,  first passed on a second helping of meat loaf with red gravy and started losing weight, that this was the thing.  This was the tragedy I’d have to deal with in my life — watching my big brother crumble and my family with him.

I tried to be brave, to smile when there was nothing to smile about.  To offer a polished joke in the doctor’s office so that Cody could cast off the fear in his belly and laugh instead.

Good-bye, fear.  Nice knowing you!  I won’t be needing you since my sister’s here.

Now I’m competing in the Brimstone Bleed to try and save his life.  I thought the bad hand we were dealt was Cody’s being sick.  But sometimes a hand worse than illness is the one offering a slippery morsel of hope.  That’s the thing about life: When you’re dealt a crappy situation, you think to yourself, At least it can’t get any worse than this.

And then life slaps you upside the head for being naive.”

—-Salt & Stone by Victoria Scott

Quote 2:

“Guy moves in closer and guides my face up.  “I thought I lost you.  I thought … what you said about if I didn’t say it, you’d never know.”  He closes his eyes and opens his mouth as if he’s going to say something profound.

“No, don’t,” I say.  “Not when I’m spitting up snow.”  He laughs, and I tell him how terribly rude it is to laugh while I’m hypothermic.  He laughs Harder.”

—-Salt & Stone by Victoria Scott

Mark of the Thief (Mark of the Thief #1)

by Jennifer A. Nielsen (Goodreads Author)

Book Synopsis(Goodreads):

When Nic, a slave in the mines outside of Rome, is forced to enter a sealed cavern containing the lost treasures of Julius Caesar, he finds much more than gold and gemstones: He discovers an ancient bulla, an amulet that belonged to the great Caesar and is filled with a magic once reserved for the Gods — magic some Romans would kill for.

Now, with the deadly power of the bulla pulsing through his veins, Nic is determined to become free. But instead, he finds himself at the center of a ruthless conspiracy to overthrow the emperor and spark the Praetor War, a battle to destroy Rome from within. Traitors and spies lurk at every turn, each more desperate than the next to use Nic’s newfound powers for their own dark purposes.

In a quest to stop the rebellion, save Rome, and secure his own freedom, Nic must harness the magic within himself and defeat the empire’s most powerful and savage leaders.

Quote 1:

“A slave who happens to be holding the most powerful magic the empire has seen since the days of Julius Caesar! And you’re right, Nic. You are nobody to this land. No one will fight a war to save you. No one will care if you fall. And if the enemies of this land surround you, even with that bulla, you will have no chance against them on your own.” ”

—-Mark of the Thief by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Quote 2:

“You walk like you have two broken legs,” Aurelia said. “How are you going to run from me if you can’t walk?”

“I’m not going to run,” I said. “But I won’t obey you either. I’ll never have a master again.” ”

—-Mark of the Thief by Jennifer A. Nielsen

The Shadow Cabinet (Shades of London #3)

by Maureen Johnson (Goodreads Author)

Book Synopsis(Goodreads):

The thrilling third installment to the Edgar-nominated, bestselling series.

Rory and her friends are reeling from a series of sudden and tragic events. While racked with grief, Rory tries to determine if she acted in time to save a member of the squad. If she did, how do you find a ghost? Also, Rory’s classmate Charlotte has been kidnapped by Jane and her nefarious organization. Evidence is uncovered of a forty-year-old cult, ten missing teenagers, and a likely mass murder. Everything indicates that Charlotte’s in danger, and it seems that something much bigger and much more terrible is coming.

Time is running out as Rory fights to find her friends and the ghost squad struggles to stop Jane from unleashing her spectral nightmare on the entire city. In the process, they’ll discover the existence of an organization that underpins London itself—and Rory will learn that someone she trusts has been keeping a tremendous secret.

Quote 1:

“There are some people you meet whom you can’t picture having a normal life.  In your mind, they don’t have a house or a bed or eat food.  They don’t watch television or use a pen to get a weird itch in the middle of their back.  They seem to exist in some permanent state of other.  Thorpe was one of these people.

I mean, first of all , he was called Thorpe.  That was his last name.  I didn’t know his first name.  He worked for some secret service, probably MI5.  He was young but had white hair.  If he did shower or sleep, I could only assume he did so in a suit.  So the fact that I was going to where Thorpe lived was strange enough.  But then I turned to see that his eyes were red.

Thorpe had feelings.  Feelings about Stephen.  I think this alone was enough to keep me in my suspended state of nonreality.  Stephen couldn’t be dead, because Thorpe didn’t cry and he didn’t live anywhere.  Wrong again.”

—-The Shadow Cabinet by Maureen Johnson

Quote 2:

“The second photo was of Stephen.  There was a girl with him, her arm wrapped over his shoulders.  They were kneeling in the sand, and he was crouching a bit to be level with her.

His sister.  There was something about the eyes, and they had the same dark brown hair.  She was physically much smaller, her smile much wider, much bolder.  She wore a two-piece bathing suit, and there were bracelets down her arm.  She tipped her head against his.  He was clearly younger in this photo–his face smoother and thinner.  His eyes and brow still had that worried look, like something was coming in the immediate future.  But he was also smiling.  I’d very rarely seen him smile.

A photo of two dead people.

I don’t know how long I sat there holding that picture, looking at it as if I could magic myself into its world, fall inside its boundaries and turn up on a beach in the past.  Feeling kept spilling over me, confusing waves–jealousy of his sister, for making him so happy.  Happiness that I’d found the photo, then giddiness, then a sharp hysteria, and the …

Just crying.  Heavy-duty, no air, no light, nothing but the sound of heaving crying.  Crying until my body was dry and there was nothing left and it heaved in vain.”

—-The Shadow Cabinet by Maureen Johnson