Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine, and specifically spotlights upcoming novels we can't wait to read. As always, there are some amazing upcoming books, but this week I'm particularly excited for…

Title: Half Bad

Author: Sally Green 

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Publish Date: March 4, 2014

Genre: YA, Paranormal

Pages: 416

In modern-day England, witches live alongside humans: White witches, who are good; Black witches, who are evil; and fifteen-year-old Nathan, who is both. Nathan’s father is the world’s most powerful and cruel Black witch, and his mother is dead. He is hunted from all sides. Trapped in a cage, beaten and handcuffed, Nathan must escape before his sixteenth birthday, at which point he will receive three gifts from his father and come into his own as a witch—or else he will die. But how can Nathan find his father when his every action is tracked, when there is no one safe to trust—not even family, not even the girl he loves?

In the tradition of Patrick Ness and Markus Zusak, Half Bad is a gripping tale of alienation and the indomitable will to survive, a story that will grab hold of you and not let go until the very last page.

I think I mentioned once upon a time that I would love to read more books about witches. Half Bad is a little (okay, a lot) different than any witch book I've ever read, as well, which intrigues me immensely, and I'm a huge fan of the minimalist cover art. The starkness of it terrifies me. I also think that the story sounds realistic in a fantastical way, offering true-to-life elements that really bring a paranormal story to life. Needless to say, I'm excited. What do you think, and what are you waiting on this week?

I took a pretty hefty hiatus last year from the blog, and when I returned, I was quite surprised to find this quiet, steady little genre that I'd only previously heard inklings of had exploded into the next big thing. For some reason though, despite the fact that I really wanted to lose myself in the new adult (NA) genre, as well, I felt a significant disconnect, and I haven't been able to bring myself to read past a few failed attempts at reading the NA genre.

I'd never be so bold as to say that there is anything wrong with the genre because it's clearly exploding. Authors like Cora Carmack, Jamie McGuire and Colleen Hoover are now household names because they've bridged that gap between YA and adult books, and I think that's awesome. I'll be the first person to say that something was seriously lacking there because we saw YA ending at 17, and then we kind of watched it taper off, losing a lot of potential stories in the process. 

In 2009, St. Martin's Press sought out something new that read similarly to young adult fiction, but could be marketed to a more adult crowd, hence a changing in the perception of adult novels and developing a diverse "new adult" market. Guys, I'm all for NA books! Truly, I am. I think it's fantastic when publishers and authors can recognize that something is missing on the market and offer something to entice new readers who might have otherwise felt overlooked. 

Here's my thing though...from my perspective, I found a lot of the NA books I tried to simply be hyper-sexualized purely for the sake of giving readers more than we might find in YA. Yes, I realize that my viewpoint is narrow, and I'm missing out on a lot of great stories, which is why I'm actually posting this. I think the new adult fiction has an incredible and fairly untapped potential. Some authors have truly captured the essence of this coming-of-age genre in which characters discover life in the real world, sexual experiences and true growth. Others, however, (and perhaps just the few ones I've read) took the genre at face-value, giving us alpha-males with meek women, an over-abundance of sex and little growth.

What I'm hoping to discover in starting to delve into the genre is a wide range of stories that offer all of the above and more. I'd love to read a book with a female (or male) protagonist that's discovering the trials and tribulations of life as a new adult. I want to watch these characters really delve into their true characters, learning about who they are as individuals, who they are in relationships and what they have to offer all those around them. I want to see tasteful, exciting discoveries in which these characters really come into their own as adults - and I want to hopefully not see all these things too heavily blanketed in a plethora of just sex.

So, lovely readers, lay it on me. What new adult titles have you read that really surprised you with their depth and insight? Trust me, I really do want to set aside my self-imposed aversion to the genre!

Title: Nil
Author: Lynne Matson (Twitter)
Publisher: Henry Holt
Publish Date: March 4, 2014
Genre: YA, Sci-Fi
Pages: 384
Source: Publisher

On the mysterious island of Nil, the rules are set. You have one year. Exactly 365 days--to escape, or you die. Seventeen-year-old Charley doesn’t know the rules. She doesn’t even know where she is. The last thing she remembers is blacking out, and when she wakes up, she’s lying naked in an empty rock field.

Lost and alone, Charley finds no sign of other people until she meets Thad, the gorgeous leader of a clan of teenage refugees. Soon Charley learns that leaving the island is harder than she thought...and so is falling in love. With Thad’s time running out, Charley realizes that to save their future, Charley must first save him. And on an island rife with dangers, their greatest threat is time.

Science fiction is one of those genres that will never grow tired, simply because there will always be some incredibly, far-fetched but eerily tangible idea to fuel a new adventure. Nil by author, Lynne Matson, is an intriguing new addition to the world of young adult science fiction. Without warning, we and our characters are thrust into a sort of alternate dimension or world in which an invisible clock is ticking. Teens that land on the mysterious island of Nil have exactly 365 days from the time of their arrival to find a way off the island and back home - but it might not be as simple as it seems. 

I think that science fiction, while an endlessly interesting genre, is also probably one of the trickiest to write, as well. Authors ask us to take their worlds and their events and accept them in their entirety. In theory, this is great because if it's done well, we find ourselves completely enmeshed in a culture, a world, or a time that is so vastly separated from our own, yet we still find it entirely plausible. If, however, the world is not built correctly, we find ourselves lost within a world that feels a bit too distant from our own. Nil was a bit complex in this regard. The world Ms. Matson has created is unique and a bit Lost-esque. It was rich and vivid and accessible, but it wasn't altogether explained either. As much as I enjoyed it, I did feel as though we're forced to take this world at face value and not really ask any of those questions we're desperate to find answers for.

Charley was, at first, the heroine I had been searching for. She was brave and strong, and had no qualms with standing on her own two feet. Adding the others into the equation though, especially Thad, stripped her of some of the magic that made her such a strong heroine. She began to doubt herself, and as she fell for Thad, her persona waffled and self-doubt crept in. I wanted so desperately to see her own her theories about the island. I wanted to see her truly believe in herself, but she began to lose herself and her identity in Thad. I thought Thad was a strong, vivid character with the weight of Nil on his shoulders, but I wished that the insta-love between them could have simmered a bit in the background, simply amping up the tension.

Nil gives us a countdown clock from the start, so we know it's going to be a fast-paced novel, and it's one of those books that you can comfortably read in one sitting. However, this is one of those books that I think might actually have benefited from being the first installment of a series. There were so many unanswered questions at the end of the novel that I closed the final page feeling a bit unsatisfied. We were given a pretty conclusion to the story, but there was so real answer for me as to what on the island made the end results tick and, while that intrigues me, it also made me feel a bit slighted.

Overall, Nil was a good story, but it was lacking that extra oompf that would have made it great. It's a classic example of a fantastic premise and strong writing that simply lacks a little bit of extra detail, instead asking us to simply play along. Nevertheless, despite the flaws, it was a pretty solid story. I give it a 3.5 out of 5, and I recommend it for all fans of YA, especially those who enjoy science fiction.

I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.