Book Battle: Round 2 Winners (Part 2)

As promised, it's time to announce the rest of the winners for Round 2. As we speak, our Round 3 judges are busy working on getting their books read, so before you know it, it will be time to announce those as well. Anyway, let's focus on the task at hand. Here's the results from the last three brackets of Round 2...

Bracket 13:
Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey VS. Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler
Judged by Jess from Lost in a Book

In this bracket we saw the winning paranormal romance go up against the winning summer romance for a head to head battle. So which book pulled out ahead? Here's what Judge Jess had to say about the winning book:

"Sometimes I had to put it down so I didn't drown in the sadness of the book. But there were a lot of surprises, a lot of comforting predictability. Very enjoyable, well-thought out, and well written. "

Can you guess which book she's talking about? Well, the winner of this round is... Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler!

And there are groans and cheers from both sides. Make sure you check out the full judging post for a breakdown of Jess' decision. Meanwhile, Twenty Boy Summer will be moving on to Bracket 19 in Round 3, where it will go up against the time travel romance of Prada and Prejudice. And next on our list is:


Bracket 16:
Eighth-Grade Superzero by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich VS. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
Judged by Jodie from Book Gazing and Lydia from The Lost Entwife

We are still looking for a copy of 8th Gradesuperzero for one of our Round 3 judges. If you have one you'd be willing to let us borrow or would like to trade it for something new, please send me an email and let me know!

And now moving on to the results from this bracket, which contained a very interesting match up. I've said before that 8th Grade Superzero is kind of the underdog in this competition, but it managed to pass the first round with flying colors. But did it have what it takes to pass Round 2 against the extremely popular Hex Hall.

Here's what Judge Jodie had to say:

"I think if I’d read 'Hex Hall' first I’d have been thinking it was a pretty strong contender and the second book would have to be pretty special to win. It’s so much fun and so different from a large amount of the paranormal fiction currently published. It made me think of all the best things about the paranormal fiction I devoured when I was a teenager: the snark, the strong heroine, the funny-yet annoying-yet extremely attractive love interest. In short it was cool."

And Judge Lydia added this:

"I was excited over Hex Hall (I didn't think I'd have an excuse to read it) and kind of "meh" over 8th Grade Superzero. I mean.. the cover really didn't do it for me and I didn't think I'd enjoy the story at all."

So which book came out triumphant? The winner of this bracket is... Eighth-Grade Superzero by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich!

And the underdog comes out ahead once again! 8th Grade Superzero will move on to compete in Bracket 20 of Round 3 where it will come head to head with Regency historical fiction The Season. Meanwhile, Hex Hall goes on the list of hopefuls waiting to be revived in that coveted Round 4 position. Make sure you check out both Jodie's and Lydia's full posts for a complete breakdown of their decision.


Bracket 17:
The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting VS. Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken
Judged by Kate from I Just Wanna Sit Here And Read

In the final bracket of Round 2, we had two very popular 2010 releases going head to head for the coveted last spot in Round 3. So which book came out ahead? Here's what Judge Kate had to say:

"These books are totally different in terms of *type* of YA. The Body Finder is more of a chick-lit thriller, where Brightly Woven is an action-adventure story. But to properly compare these books to each other, I think they are similar in terms of supernatural quality and suspense."

So which book was the winner? I won't keep you in suspense any longer. The last spot in Round 3 goes to... Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken!

Brightly Woven was one of the most highly nominated book back when the battle was taking nominations. So does it have what it takes to make it all the way to the winning position? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, make sure you read all of Kate's post for the full scoop. Brightly Woven now goes on to Bracket 21 of Round 3, where it will come up against the highly praised Before I Fall.

And that concludes our announcements for Round 2! Just to recap this post, remember that Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler, Eighth-Grade Superzero by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, and Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken are moving on to compete in the next round. At the same time Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey, Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins, and The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting will be perused by our panel of experts to decide which of our eliminated books will be revived in Round 4.

We're almost halfway done. Have you predicted a winner yet?