Sunday 26 December 2021

Down The TBR Hole #66

 
Current TBR shelf: 3581

Last week's TBR shelf: 3583

The rules   

  1. Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
  2. Order on ascending date added.
  3. Take the first 5 (or 10 (or even more!) if youre feeling adventurous) books. Of course if you do this weekly, you start where you left off the last time.
  4. Read the synopses of the books
  5. Decide: keep it or should it go?


If I Lie by Corrine Jackson

 
Quinn’s done the unthinkable: she kissed a guy who is not Carey, her boyfriend. And she got caught. Being branded a cheater would be bad enough, but Quinn is deemed a traitor, and shunned by all of her friends. Because Carey’s not just any guy—he’s serving in Afghanistan and revered by everyone in their small, military town.

Quinn could clear her name, but that would mean revealing secrets that she’s vowed to keep—secrets that aren’t hers to share. And when Carey goes MIA, Quinn must decide how far she’ll go to protect her boyfriend…and her promise.
 
I think cheating in books is just a bit iffy and not something I like reading about. I can understand where this book is going but I don't think I'm bothered. 
 
Verdict: Remove
 

Tokyo Heist by Diana Renn 

   
Sixteen-year-old Violet is thrilled when her father's new painting commission means a summer trip to Japan. But what starts as an exotic vacation quickly turns sour when a priceless sketch by van Gogh is stolen from her father's client and held ransom for a painting by the artist. The problem is that nobody knows where the painting is hidden, and until they find it, all their lives are in danger.

Joined by her friend Reika, Violet searches for the missing van Gogh in a quest that takes her from the Seattle Art Museum to the yakuza-infested streets of Tokyo to a secluded inn in Kyoto. As the mystery deepens, Violet's not sure whom she can trust. But she knows one thing: she has to find the painting and the criminals--before it's too late.
 
The premise sounds fun but I'm not sure what the stakes are here or why the MC feels like she has to be the one to solve the crime. A lot of people have also mention that the plot has no believe-ability and is mostly ridiculous.
 
Verdict: Remove
 

Level 2 (The Memory Chronicles #1) by Lenore Appelhans  

 
Since her untimely death the day before her eighteenth birthday, Felicia Ward has been trapped in Level 2, a stark white afterlife located between our world and the next. Along with her fellow drones, Felicia passes the endless hours reliving memories of her time on Earth and mourning what she’s lost-family, friends, and Neil, the boy she loved.

Then a girl in a neighboring chamber is found dead, and nobody but Felicia recalls that she existed in the first place. When Julian-a dangerously charming guy Felicia knew in life-comes to offer Felicia a way out, Felicia learns the truth: If she joins the rebellion to overthrow the Morati, the angel guardians of Level 2, she can be with Neil again.

Suspended between Heaven and Earth, Felicia finds herself at the center of an age-old struggle between good and evil. As memories from her life come back to haunt her, and as the Morati hunt her down, Felicia will discover it’s not just her own redemption at stake… but the salvation of all mankind.
 
There just so much going on in this synopsis already and none of it particularly interests me.
 
Verdict: Remove
 

Touch of Power (Healer #1) by Maria V. Snyder 

 
Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan assumes their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honoured for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Territories, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos.

Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for her capture. Their leader an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince, the leader of a campaign against her people.

As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for.
 
I would like to try Maria V. Snyder but at the moment I think I'm most interested in Poison Study. 
 
Verdict: Remove
 

The Dead of Night (Tomorrow #2) by John Marsden  

 
A few months after the first fighter jets landed in their own backyard, Ellie and her five terrified but defiant friends struggle to survive amid a baffling conflict. Their families are unreachable; the mountains are now their home. When two of them fall behind enemy lines, Ellie knows what must happen next: a rescue mission. Homer, the strongest and most unpredictable among them, is the one to take charge. While others have their doubts about his abilities, Homer has no choice but to prove them wrong - or risk losing everything to the enemy.
 
I have read the first book but it was a few years ago now and I'm not sure I have any real interest in continuing the series anymore.  
 
Verdict: Remove
 

The Last Good Place of Lily Odilon by Sara Beitia

   
"We have to get to her first..." Abducted? Runaway? Murder victim? Lily Odilon--local wild child from a middle-of-nowhere town--has vanished after spending the night with her boyfriend, new kid Albert Morales. Suspected in her disappearance, Albert sets out with Lily's prickly younger sister, Olivia, to discover what really happened to Lily--and to keep the promise he made to her late one night.  
 
The mystery doesn't sound that intriguing and there's just too many one and two star ratings for me.
 
Verdict: Remove
 

Falling Fast (Flynn #1) by Sophie McKenzie

 
This is life, not a rehearsal...
When River auditions for a part in an inter-school performance of Romeo and Juliet, she finds herself smitten by Flynn, the boy playing Romeo. River believes in romantic love, and she can't wait to experience it. But Flynn comes from a damaged family - is he even capable of giving River what she wants? The path of true love never did run smooth...
 
I liked Sophie McKenzie when I was around 13/14 but I'm not sure how much I'd enjoy her writing as an adult, particularly her teen romances. 
 
Verdict: Remove
 

Switched (Trylle #1) by Amanda Hocking

 
Wendy Everly knew she was different the day her mother tried to kill her and accused her of having been switched at birth. Although certain she’s not the monster her mother claims she is – she does feel that she doesn’t quite fit in...

She’s bored and frustrated by her small town life – and then there’s the secret that she can’t tell anyone. Her mysterious ability – she can influence people’s decisions, without knowing how, or why...

When the intense and darkly handsome newcomer Finn suddenly turns up at her bedroom window one night – her world is turned upside down. He holds the key to her past, the answers to her strange powers and is the doorway to a place she never imagined could exist. Förening, the home of the Trylle.

Finally everything makes sense. Among the Trylle, Wendy is not just different, but special. But what marks her out as chosen for greatness in this world also places her in grave danger. With everything around her changing, Finn is the only person she can trust. But dark forces are conspiring – not only to separate them, but to see the downfall everything that Wendy cares about.

The fate of Förening rests in Wendy’s hands, and the decisions she and Finn make could change all their lives forever...
 
This appears to have been a fairly popular book in the early 2010's (I've never heard of it) but then again I'm not a massive fan of changeling stories. Plus the fact one review included a few quotes from the book such as "He was stalking me, and I was only upset about it because he was doing it because he had to, not because he wanted to". No thank you. 
 
Verdict: Remove
 

The Things We Did For Love by Natasha Farrant

 
France: February, 1944.

Arianne knew Luc as a child, of course she did. Everyone in Samaroux knows each other. But he's been away, and five years really makes a difference to a boy. A young man.

As they fall headily into love - first love - their world starts to crumble around them. German forces are closing in, and the village is torn between cooperating to save themselves or putting up resistance and entering unknown danger.

Arianne will do anything to make Luc stay. Luc wants to prove he is a man. And Romy, who has loved Arianne all the time that Luc has been away, can see a way of removing his rival, at any cost.

How far will they go to protect what they believe in? And what will they do for love?
 
I think this could be a decent historical novel for teens just getting into war fiction but I'm not sure how much I would get out of it.
 
Verdict: Remove
 

Pulse (Siren #2) by Tricia Rayburn   

 
Nothing has been normal since Vanessa Sands learned that her sister was murdered by sirens - femme fatales of the watery depths - and that everything she believed about herself and her family was a lie.

Vanessa has always told her boyfriend Simon everything. But she worries that if he finds out who - or what - she truly is, he'll run a mile. To make things worse, when Parker, Hawthorne Prep's resident charmer, shows an interest in her, she can't resist the siren's urge to stray. And on top of all this, she's trying to be strong for her parents as they come to terms with her sister's death.

But personal problems must be put aside, because the Winter Harbor sirens are back for revenge. Now Vanessa must face her past and accept that she is just like her enemies - every bit as alluring and every bit as dangerous.
 
Second book in a series that I'm not interested in starting. 
 
Verdict: Remove
 

This Week:

Kept: 0 (first time this has happened?)
Removed: 10

Overall: 
 
Kept: 204
Removed: 461

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