Waiting on Wednesday: A Tale of Two Castles and A Need So Beautiful

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and features books that we just can't wait to get our hands on!

This week's picks:

A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine

Goodreads' description:

"Mysteries abound, especially in Two Castles.

A handsome cat trainer, black-and-white cats, thieves on four legs and two, suspicious townsfolk, a greedy king, a giddy princess, a shape-shifting ogre, a brilliant dragon. Which is the villainous whited sepulcher?

Elodie journeys to the town of Two Castles to become a mansioner—an actress—but luck is against her. She is saved from starvation by the dragon Meenore, who sends her on a dangerous mission inside the ogre's castle. There, disguised as a kitchen maid at an ogre's feast, she finds herself cast in the role of a lifetime and pitted against a foe intent on murder.

Newbery Honor author Gail Carson Levine weaves an entrancing tale of a fearsome ogre, a dragon detective, and a remarkable heroine, who finds friendship where she least expects it, learns that there are many ways to mansion, and discovers that goodness and evil come in all shapes and sizes."

Okay, so I'm sure everyone knows how much I adore the book Ella Enchanted. My paperback copy has started to fall apart because I've read it so often and taken it so many places. So I am definitely looking forward to this new one by Gail Carson Levine! Plus I love the cover, it looks so perfect for this fairy tale–esque story.

A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young

Goodreads' description:

"Charlotte’s best friend thinks Charlotte might be psychic. Her boyfriend thinks she’s cheating on him. But Charlotte knows what’s really wrong: She is one of the Forgotten, a kind of angel on earth, who feels the Need—a powerful, uncontrollable draw to help someone, usually a stranger.

There have been others before who’ve felt the Need, but they’re gone—erased from the memories of everyone whose lives they had touched. It's as though they never existed. This is the fate that awaits Charlotte. But the last thing Charlotte wants to do is disappear, to be Forgotten. She wants to stay with her best friend, whose life is spiraling out of control. She wants to lie in her boyfriend’s arms forever. She wishes she could just ignore the Need, but she can’t. And as everyone important in her life begins to slowly forget her, she has to decide if she’ll fight the Need in order to remain herself—no matter how dark the consequences."

I admit at first I just kind of dismissed this one as a typical YA angel read, but then I took a closer look at the description. I love the idea of her *needing* to help someone and being unable to resist this desire. I think it'll put a different twist on angels, and it sounds like the protagonist is in a pretty difficult situation, so I can't wait to see how it all plays out...

What books are you waiting on?