Waiting On Wednesday (14): HarperCollins Spring 2012 Catalog

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking The Spine in which an upcoming, eagerly anticipated release is highlighted on the blog.

Is anyone else tired of winter and excited for spring to finally get here? I know I am - not just for the weather to change, but also for the great books that will be released in the springtime. This week, I'm "waiting on" books from the HarperCollins Spring 2012 Catalog:

Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

Date: April 24, 2012

Everything is in ruins. 
A devastating plague has decimated the population. And those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles to pieces around them. 
So what does Araby Worth have to live for? 
Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery make-up . . . and tantalizing ways to forget it all. 
But in the depths of the club—in the depths of her own despair—Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome proprietor of the club. And Elliott, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither boy is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does. 
And Araby may find something not just to live for, but to fight for—no matter what it costs her.

Masque of the Red Death is a reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe's story of the same name. I've always adored the dark atmosphere created in Poe's stories so I'm thinking I will love this retelling. The synopsis sounds appropriately grim for a Poe retelling, anyway.

Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth

Date: May 1, 2012

One choice can transform you--or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves--and herself--while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love. Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable--and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

Okay, who isn't waiting on Insurgent?! After the ending of Divergent, I was left wondering, "Where can the story go from here?". Divergent was one of my favourite reads of 2011, so you can bet that Insurgent is one of my top most anticipated reads of 2012.

Darkness Before Dawn by J.A. London

Date: May 29, 2012

This electrifying new trilogy blends the best of paranormal and dystopian storytelling in a world where the war is over. And the vampires won. 
Humans huddle in their walled cities, supplying blood in exchange for safety. But not even that is guaranteed. Dawn has lost her entire family and now reluctantly serves as the delegate to Lord Valentine, the most powerful vampire for miles. It isn’t until she meets Victor, Valentine’s son, that she realizes not all vampires are monsters.... 
Darkness Before Dawn is a fresh new story with captivating characters, unexpected plot twists, a fascinating setting, and a compelling voice. Written under the name J. A. London by a talented mother-son team, the trilogy is perfect for fans of True Blood and the House of Night and Morganville Vampires series.

I've taken a break from vampire books for a few years now, due to the overload of them in our culture, but I think I'm ready to get back into them again. Plus, Darkness Before Dawn is also a dystopian, one where the vampires have won the battle, which intrigues me.

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

Date: June 12, 2012

Generations ago, a genetic experiment gone wrong—the Reduction—decimated humanity, giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.
Eighteen-year-old Luddite Elliot North has always known her place in this caste system. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family’s estate over love. But now the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress and threatening Luddite control; Elliot’s estate is floundering; and she’s forced to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth—an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliott wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she abandoned him.
But Elliot soon discovers her childhood friend carries a secret—-one that could change the society in which they live…or bring it to its knees. And again, she’s faced with a choice: cling to what she’s been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she’s ever loved, even if she has lost him forever.

How flipping amazing does For Darkness Shows the Stars sound? I am amazed that even with all these dystopians that have been coming out these past few years, authors are still finding ways to reinvent the wheel and making sure that there's always another new, intriguing dystopian that has us all dying to read it.


How about you? Are you waiting on any of these HarperCollins Spring 2012 reads? Are there any upcoming books from the HarperCollins Spring 2012 Catalog that I didn't include here that you feel I should add to my list?