THE LOST GIRL is out (among other titles)!

August 28th, 2012 is a VERY important date, everyone! You remember how on May 1st this year, Insurgent, Shine, AND Bitterblue came out? Yeah, that was crazy. Well, today's pretty much May 1st all over again. Starting with The Lost Girl, of course.

The Lost Girl
By: Sangu Mandanna
Release Date: August 28th, 2012 from Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins

Eva’s life is not her own. She is a creation, an abomination—an echo. Made by the Weavers as a copy of someone else, she is expected to replace a girl named Amarra, her “other”, if she ever died. Eva studies what Amarra does, what she eats, what it’s like to kiss her boyfriend, Ray. So when Amarra is killed in a car crash, Eva should be ready.

But fifteen years of studying never prepared her for this.

Now she must abandon everything she’s ever known—the guardians who raised her, the boy she’s forbidden to love—to move to India and convince the world that Amarra is still alive.

What Eva finds is a grief-stricken family; parents unsure how to handle this echo they thought they wanted; and Ray, who knew every detail, every contour of Amarra. And when Eva is unexpectedly dealt a fatal blow that will change her existence forever, she is forced to choose: Stay and live out her years as a copy or leave and risk it all for the freedom to be an original. To be Eva.

From debut novelist Sangu Mandanna comes the dazzling story of a girl who was always told what she had to be—until she found the strength to decide for herself.

-Summary from Goodreads
Purchase: Mrs. Nelson's* (support indie stores!) || Barnes & Noble || Amazon || The Book Depository

If you visit my blog semi-often, you've probably seen my review for The Lost Girl. Really, it's more of a rant about how spectacular and amazing this book is, but let's just keep that between us, shall we?

You know how there are all these different types of instruments, how they're all so different and powerful and how, when they all clash together, the noises and sounds merge into this tinkling, spine-chilling sound? Imagine those instruments as essential parts of a book. The piano is the plot, the characters the violin. The flute is the emotional depth and the drums the pacing. These all sound beautiful on their own, but often the drums and the flutes clamor or the piano and violin are out of sync and the end product, though delightful, feels often... insubstantial. As if there's something missing and it's incomplete even though all the needed plot elements are there.

The Lost Girl is the song that meshes everything together and emerges with a masterpiece--one deserving waterfalls of tears and thousands of standing ovations. It's the arrow that snags you right in the heart. It's the poison you swallow with love. It's the air you breathe when you're desperate and a raging mess.

**Read the full review here!**

So yes, today, The Lost Girl releases. And my blog post is basically telling you to GO BUY IT. I've included links above, so really, you should have no excuses not to read this book. ;) Even if you're on a tight money schedule (which I totally understand), you can always go the library, borrow it from a friend, get it cheaper on your e-reader, etc.

And if you're still hesitant? Just read on to see how awesome Sangu Mandanna--the author--is!

Sangu Mandanna was four years old when she was chased by an elephant and wrote her first story about it and decided that this was what she wanted to do with her life. Seventeen years later, she read Frankenstein. It sent her into a writing frenzy that became THE LOST GIRL, a novel about death and love and the tie that binds the two together. Sangu now lives in England with her husband and baby son.

-Bio from author

Yeah. She's awesome.

Find Sangu here: Website || Blog || Twitter

STILL not convinced? Well, maybe these blurbs/praises other awesome people have to say will finally sway you in the right direction:

“Both an interrogation of bioethics and a mesmerizing quest for identity, this debut succeeds through its careful development of the oh-so-human Eva and those around her. A provocative and page-turning thriller/romance that gets at the heart of what it means to be human.” (Kirkus Reviews)

~*~*~*~*~

“THE LOST GIRL was the most honest portrait of grief and loss that I’ve read in a long time. Filled with heartache, love, and things that would stir Mary Shelley’s ghost, this is a story not to be missed.” (Lauren DeStefano, New York Times bestselling author of The Chemical Garden trilogy)

~*~*~*~*~   “Mandanna’s debut novel is lovely and at times heartbreaking... A thoughtful study of both a girl’s search for her identity and the human reaction to death.” (Publishers Weekly)

Yup. Now I know you're definitely buying the book, right? *winks*

But hey, there's one more book I want to showcase really quick. There are, of course, many other amazing books releasing today, but this is the only one of them that I've read besides The Lost Girl, so I can testify its fantabulousness.

The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls
By: Claire Legrand
Release date: August 28th, 2012 from Simon & Schuster BFYR

At the Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, you will definitely learn your lesson. A dark, timeless, and heartfelt novel for fans of Coraline and The Mysterious Benedict Society.Victoria hates nonsense. There is no need for it when your life is perfect. The only smudge on her pristine life is her best friend Lawrence. He is a disaster—lazy and dreamy, shirt always untucked, obsessed with his silly piano. Victoria often wonders why she ever bothered being his friend. (Lawrence does too.)

But then Lawrence goes missing. And he’s not the only one. Victoria soon discovers that The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls is not what it appears to be. Kids go in but come out…different. Or they don’t’ come out at all.

If anyone can sort this out, it’s Victoria—even if it means getting a little messy.

-Summary from Goodreads
Purchase: Mrs. Nelson's || Barnes & Noble || Amazon || Book Depository

I haven't yet written my review for this spine-chillingly awesome book, but I'm telling you: If you want to try out a middle grade novel, this one is a must-read (The Lost Girl is Young Adult). Sure, you can read Rick Riordan and/or Harry Potter, but I'm assuming that you've read those already. ;)

If you're not convinced you want to read this book, check out the author!

Find Claire here: Website || Blog || Tumblr || Twitter || Facebook || Goodreads

And that's it for this super long, but hopefully super money-snatchin' post! :D Both of these authors are debut authors, so there's another reason to support them. ;)

Are YOU excited for these releases?

P.S. FTC notice: I'm part of the affiliate program for Mrs. Nelson's Toy and Book Shop, but the commission money I earn goes toward YOU for future giveaways.