Monday 26 October 2020

Down The TBR Hole: Version 2, Round 2

 


It's time to clear out my ever growing TBR a bit more! Down The TBR Hole was created by Lost In A Story to sort out that mess of a Goodreads Want To Read shelf. The idea is to sort your Want To Read Shelf by date added from oldest to newest, look at the books 5-10 at a time and decide if you are still interested in reading them. If you're not interested, off they go.

I started this in 2017 but didn't get very far, so decided to go back to the beginning and start again. 


This is a romance set in Scotland about a woman with secrets and a man wanting more than just no strings attached. I have such mixed feelings about this book. I have heard some really great things about this book as a whole, but also some not so great things about the relationship. However, I'm interested to see how accurate the Scottish setting is considering the author is Scottish, as I usually hate books set in Scotland because of the inaccuracies. So for that reason only, I'm going to keep it.
Stay/Go

I don't know what this is about and I don't need to. It's Colleen Hoover, everyone loves Colleen Hoover, I'm going to get around to it some time.
Stay/Go

This is a NA sports romance between the quarterback and the coach's daughter. I love a sports romance and I've heard great things about this series.
Stay/Go

This follows two best friends dealing with one of them being sick and trying to come to terms with the fact things might never go back to the way they were. This sounds like it could be a really great, emotional but lovely book. However, I don't realistically think I'll ever get to it. 
Stay/Go

This sounds so good! It is a story about high school and rumours and things spiralling out of control after the star quarterback dies in a car accident. I'm definitely still interested in this.
Stay/Go

A girl is caught in the backseat of a car with her brother's best friend and has to deal with becoming known as the 'school slut'. This is another one that is probably a really great book, but I'm just not going to get to it.
Stay/Go

This follows a girl who has been told her whole like that World War 3 wiped out almost the entire population and a select few managed to survive in the Alaskan wilderness, only to discover that is not true and then has to try and survive in a modern world she doesn't understand. This is an intriguing premise but everyone I follow on Goodreads has given it a low rating. I think I'm interested enough to still want to give it a go.
Stay/Go

I was so sure I would be keeping this one until I read the synopsis and just wasn't interested. It is about a girl who is fed up being the only virgin in her friend group so decides to have a one night stand to get it over with. However, she freaks out and leaves the guy naked in her bed, only to later discover he was her new professor. Maybe I'm making a huge mistake here as everyone seems to love it, but I'm just not interested anymore.
Stay/Go

I still remember all of the hype surrounding this book when it was first published. It follows a girl who takes her best friend's date to prom when she is too sick to go, but a picture of an end of the night kiss between the two is posted all over social leading to a whole lot of drama. This sounds like the kind of book I would have loved back in the day, but not something I would be interested in now.
Stay/Go

A high school teacher is given an abandoned storage unit by a friend and uncovers belongings, including journals, of a mystery woman. After reading her journals, she basically takes on this woman's life in order to discover what happened to her. This seems to be compared to Fifty Shades Of Grey a lot, which is interesting. I think this is another one that I could possibly enjoy but will most likely never get to.
Stay/Go

Five staying, Five going. Want To Read shelf down to 540.

Again, half going and half staying. That's not to bad. Unfortunately, the overall number hasn't gone down very much because I have been adding more books to the shelf. 

Have I got rid of any that you think I should give a go?

Sophie :)

Thursday 22 October 2020

I Recommend 5: YA Thrillers

I haven't done one of these in a couple of months but it seemed only right to use the month of October to recommend some edge of your seat, full of plot twist thrillers. I haven't read loads of thrillers, and a lot of the Adult thrillers I have read are the super popular ones that everyone will have heard of. I have, however, read quite a few YA thrillers over the years that I have really enjoyed and not heard too much about. I decided I would share five of them in the hope that you might find a great spooky season read. 

These are not necessarily books that I have rated 5 stars, as it takes a lot for me to give a thriller such a high rating. However, I have chosen books with interesting stories, some good plot twists and will keep you hooked until the last page.





1. Girl, Missing by Sophie McKenzie

This was one of the first thrillers I ever read, way back when I was still in school, and I still think about it sometimes. It follows a girl who, while researching for a school project, finds her own picture on a missing children's website. I still remember getting this book from my school library and just completely devouring it. I'll be honest, I don't remember loads about it, other than it has lots of twists and I never knew what was coming, and my opinion may be different now, but 10+ years ago I absolutely loved this book. 


2. Lying About Last Summer by Sue Wallman

I picked this one up back in 2016 and remember I just couldn't put it down. This is about a girl who goes to a camp for bereaved teens after her sister dies and while she is there she receives texts from someone pretending to be her dead sister. This is another one that I just couldn't predict anything that happened. From what I remember, it was a bit Pretty Little Liars, with the anonymous messages, meets We Were Liars, with the creepy, not sure who to trust atmosphere. 


3. One Of Us Is Next by Karen M McManus

This is a more recent release and definitely more popular than the other books I have mentioned. This is the sequel to One Of Us Is Lying, which is also a really good thriller that I would recommend, but I actually preferred the second book. The sequel follows a mostly new set of characters but is set in the same school as the first book. This involves a game of truth or dare, controlled by an anonymous person, that turns deadly. I love thrillers involving games, so I was completely hooked the entire time. This is another one that completely threw me with the plot twists.


4. There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

This is probably a bit more of a horror than a thriller but I'm including it anyway. This is essentially a slasher film in the form of a YA book. It takes place in a small town in which high school students begin to die one by one in pretty gruesome murders. It is very creepy, a bit graphic, and nothing like you would expect from the author of the Anna and the French Kiss books, but I really enjoyed it. It definitely isn't for everyone and has received some very mixed reviews. As someone who hasn't really read any horror and had nothing to compare it to, I really enjoyed it and was on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading it.


5. Follow Me Back by AV Geiger

This one is a bit of a strange recommendation from me. I gave this book 2.5 stars, so obviously it wasn't a favourite of mine. However, that rating was due to the way one aspects of the story was portrayed and probably not something that would bother a lot of people. Putting that to the side, this was exciting, creepy, everything you would want in a thriller. It follows a girl with agoraphobia and a pop star who decides to troll her on Twitter. It is an interesting story, a lot of the twists I didn't see coming and it was a thriller that I think a lot of people would enjoy. My issue with this was the fact that I HATED the way fans were portrayed, but if that isn't something that would bother you I would definitely recommend giving it a go.


Those are five YA thrillers that I would recommend picking up and giving a go if you are looking for something a bit creepy over the next week or so. They aren't quite as intense as a lot of adult thrillers, but definitely a good place to start if you are not typically a thriller reader. 

What is your favourite YA thriller? Have you read any of the books on my list?

Sophie :)

Monday 5 October 2020

September 2020 Wrap Up

It's starting to get to that crazy time of year again! September was a busy month for me, with work being quite intense and barely any time off. Not only did I struggle to blog, I only read 4 books in the month, which is the least I've read in a month all year. Three of them were pretty chunky books, but it is still a little disappointing to me. On the plus side, every book I read in September I rated 4 stars, so at least I enjoyed everything I read. 



Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer -

After finishing my reread of the Twilight series, I finally got around to reading the newest Twilight release, Midnight Sun. This was my most anticipated release of the year and I was so relieved that I ended up really enjoying it. Midnight Sun is essentially a retelling of the events of the first book in the series, but told from Edward's perspective. I found that I enjoyed Edward's perspective more than Bella's, as I often found Bella to be quite an annoying character. I was worried I would be bored as I know the story of Twilight so well, but it felt completely different from Edward's perspective. Certain events from the original book had more depth and were more explained seeing them from Edward's side, which I found so interesting. I'm still not entirely sure what he saw in Bella though, she was just as annoying as I had always found her to be. Overall, I really enjoyed diving back into this series and loved the nostalgic feeling of experiencing a Twilight book for the first time.

Rating: 4/5


City Of Bones by Cassandra Clare -

Once again I have started rereading this series in the hopes of finally finishing it. This was my third read of City Of Bones and my feelings about this remain the same. I really enjoy this world and learning about the Shadowhunters and their history. I love all of these characters and the relationships they have with each other. I remember finding this first book quite confusing initially, but by the third time through I don't have that problem. I have a super short review from my first time reading it here. I'm looking forward to hopefully making my way through this series soon.

Rating: 4/5


Hook Shot by Kennedy Ryan -

After all of the vampires and paranormal creatures, I needed a bit of romance. This is the third and final book in Kennedy Ryan's Hoops series, featuring three basketball romances. Hook Shot follows Lotus, the cousin of Iris in the first book, and Kenan, August from book one's teammate. I really liked Lotus in the first book and couldn't wait to get more of her story. Both Lotus and Kenan have so much going on in their personal lives, meaning that this book dealt with some very difficult topics. Lotus' abuse as child is touched on in the first book and is discussed again in Hook Shot. I found it incredibly powerful to read about Louts facing her past and the people who help her do so. We also see Kenan dealing with a very public divorce and trying to co-parent his teenage daughter with his difficult ex-wife. There were just so many really interesting aspects to this story and they were just as important as the romance itself. I loved the way the romance developed and just how well they dealt with everything that was thrown at them. They are definitely one of my favourite couples, and individually two of the best characters I've read about. My only complaint about this book is that it felt a bit too long. Every time I thought it was just about to wrap up nicely, there was more. However, I did really enjoy this book, and this series as a whole.

Trigger warnings for sexual abuse, attempted suicide, death of a loved one.

Rating: 4/5


Down Among The Sticks And Bones by Seanan McGuire -

And back to the vampires and paranormal creatures we go. This is the second book in the Wayward Children series, which follows children who go through doors to other worlds. The second book in the series follows Jack and Jill, who we meet in the first book, and tells the story of their time in a world of vampires and mad scientists. This was such an interesting read. I loved getting to know Jack and Jill's back story and getting to know them more as characters. I found their world really interesting, although a bit confusing, and enjoyed getting to discover it with them. These books are so well written, with every part so important to the story. It's so clever but also so whimsical and almost like a fairy tale. This was a really enjoyable read and so quick and easy as it is so short.

Rating: 4/5

Those were the four books I read in September. Not a great month in terms of quantity, but it is great that I enjoyed all of them. Hopefully with a bit of time of work this month, and being in a better headspace, I can read a bit more in October.

What was the best book you read in September?

Sophie :)