Can't Wait Wednesday!

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

I am combining CWW with Books From the Backlog hosted by Carole at Carole's Random Life in Books. This will allow me to feature some newly "rediscovered" books, which I plan on reading, alongside a new release.

This week I can't wait for:

Take Three Girls
Cath Crowley, Simmone Howell, Fiona Wood
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Sterling Teen
Release Date: April 6, 2021
Goodreads

Three authors. Three appealing and relatable characters. One smart YA novel about a trio of unlikely friends who team up to take down the school cyberbully.

“Mean stuff spreads so fast. One click. Post. Send. Share. Online bullying = sometimes suicides, so all the private schools have strategies for dealing with it. At St Hilda’s, it’s Wellness classes. We greeted the idea with genuine enthusiasm. Why not? Everyone loves the chance to slack off.”

Popular Ady seems cool and confident at school, but at home her family is falling apart. Brainiac Kate wants to pursue her dreams of playing music, even if it jeopardizes her academic scholarship. And swim champ Clem finds herself disenchanted with the sport . . . and falling for a very wrong boy. When these three very different girls are forced to team up in a wellness class, they’re not too pleased. But over time, they bond—and when they’re all targeted by PSST, a website that dishes out malicious gossip and lies, they decide to take a stand, uncover the culprits, and fight back. But can they really fix a broken system? With each girl’s story told by a different author, as well as intriguing questionnaires from the wellness class included throughout, this empowering novel explores today’s most relevant topics— from cyberbullying and fat shaming to drug abuse and financial stress.

Why I want to read this book

The number one reason I wanted to read this book was because I really enjoyed other books written by these authors. I especially loved Cath Crowley's books and jumped at the chance to read something new from her. I think the issues referenced will be thoughtfully explored, and I am looking forward to meeting this group of unlikely friends. 

 

The Lying Woods
Ashley Elston
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Mystery
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: November 2018
Goodreads

Owen Foster has never wanted for anything. Then his mother shows up at his elite New Orleans boarding school cradling a bombshell: his privileged life has been funded by stolen money. After using the family business, the single largest employer in his small Louisiana town, to embezzle millions and drain the employees' retirement accounts, Owen's father vanished without a trace, leaving Owen and his mother to deal with the fallout.

Owen returns to Lake Cane to finish his senior year, where people he can barely remember despise him for his father's crimes. It's bad enough dealing with muttered insults and glares, but when Owen and his mother receive increasingly frightening threats from someone out for revenge, he knows he must get to the bottom of what really happened at Louisiana Frac--and the cryptic note his father sent him at his boarding school days before disappearing.

Owen's only refuge is the sprawling, isolated pecan orchard he works at after school, owned by a man named Gus who has his own secrets--and in some ways seems to know Owen better than he knows himself. As Owen uncovers a terrible injustice that looms over the same Preacher Woods he's claimed as his own, he must face a shocking truth about his own past--and write a better future.

Why I want to read this book

I fell in love with Elston's books via her fluffy contemporary, 10 Blind Dates, but I found her mysteries were fantastic too. I had originally tried to listen to the audiobook for this, but not every kind of book works for me on audio. I am excited to finally have it on my TBR. I want to get to know Owen and learn about the secrets he uncovers as he tries to deal with the shame of what his father did. I am hoping for some big bombshells too. 

What are you waiting on?
Any backlog books you want to read soon? 
Let us know in the comments!