2020 releases

Review: Safecracker by Ryan Wick

~ megs14malloy

SafecrackerSafecracker by Ryan Wick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Professional safecracker, Michael Maven, has pulled off a number of dangerous heists over the course of his career.

His latest job, obtaining a rare coin from a New York City apartment, is fairly simple in the scheme of things.

What he doesn’t plan for however, is that another individual will try to steal the coin on the very same night.

In fact, the thief, a beautiful woman, enters the apartment while Michael is there, with the coin’s owner. She proceeds to kill the innocent man, while Michael watches from his hiding place.

When she takes the coin from the safe and attempts to leave the apartment, Michael can’t just sit by. He has put a lot of effort into this night and will not let her ruin it!

A struggle ensues.

Michael, though shaken, believes the night to be a wash, until she finds him again. Maven barely makes it out of their next encounter with his life.

Now he is on the radar of her employer, a sadistic drug lord known as El Cerdo, who needs Michael to perform a job for him.

Unfortunately, Michael doesn’t really have a say in the matter. He needs to do what the man asks, or else risk not just his life, but the lives of those he cares about most.

Michael’s new mission finds him in Miami, pairing up with the woman who tried to kill him, as well as other employees of El Cerdo. He has under a week to steal back a valuable notebook from the home of the head of a rival cartel.

Safecracker is action-packed from page one. It truly reads like a movie and I found it to be quite addicting.

I enjoyed Michael, as a character, a lot. He was rugged, charming and skillful; three great attributes for a leading man.

While this isn’t the type of book I would generally gravitate towards, I did have a lot of fun reading it and would recommend it to others.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Thomas Dunne, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review.

From the fantastic Epilogue, I am assuming this will not be the last we see of Michael Maven. I would absolutely pick up more books following his character if they are published.

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Review: The Ravens by Kass Morgan and Danielle Paige

~ megs14malloy

The Ravens (The Ravens, #1)The Ravens by Kass Morgan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

**2.5-stars**

I’m so sorry, y’all. I really wanted to love this.

The Ravens has so many great elements that I thought would really work for me, but unfortunately, it just didn’t.

The story alternates between two perspectives, Scarlett Winters and Vivi Deveraux.

Scarlett is a legacy Raven at Westerly College, aiming for the slot of sorority president, like her mother and sister before her.

Vivi is a freshman, who is shocked when she receives a bid to join the exclusive sorority. From what she gathered at the rush party, she’s not really Kappa Rho Nu material.

But the sisters saw something in her and that something is power. Magic power.

The Ravens are witches, each and every one of them.

Vivi didn’t realize she was a witch. Her mother had always dappled in occult practices, but Vivi assumed it was all an act. Apparently not.

After rush, Vivi’s pledge class are assigned their Bigs and then set about learning not just the history of the sorority, but everything else they need to know about being a proper Raven.

I was so excited when I started this novel. I was in a sorority and was looking forward to getting nostalgic about rush and all the amazing time and friendships that followed.

While initially, I did get a few of those feels, I wasn’t sure if I was suppose to be taking this seriously or not.

I am not sure how best to explain what I mean by that. It was like I couldn’t interpret the tone. From there it was just sort of all over the place for me.

I had moments when I was really into it and a lot of moments where I couldn’t care less.

Around the middle I could tell, it just wasn’t for me. I felt nothing for the characters and I didn’t feel like any part of the plot was particularly compelling.

There were two male characters who were basically interchangeable for me. I could really only tell which one it was when another character said their name.

That’s never good.

Bottom line, this just wasn’t the right story for me. I never connected with it and was happy when it was over.

As I always say however, just because it wasn’t the right book for me, doesn’t mean it won’t be the right book for you. If you think the synopsis sounds intriguing, pick it up and give it a go!

Thank you so much to the audiobook publisher, RB Media, for providing me with a copy to read and review.

I always appreciate the opportunity to give my thoughts!

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Review: Eventide by Sarah Goodman

~ megs14malloy

EventideEventide by Sarah Goodman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

In 1907, Verity Pruitt and her little sister, Lilah, arrive in Wheeler, Arkansas, aboard an orphan train.

The girl’s mother has passed away and their father, apparently suffering from overwhelming grief, has been committed to an asylum.

With no family to take them in, the girls become wards of the state, in spite of the fact that Verity is close to turning eighteen.

When they arrive in Arkansas, it is clear that a family is already waiting for Lilah, but poor Verity will not be going with them.

She does still luck out though, as an amazing family is willing to take her in and they live only a couple of miles from Lilah’s new home.

Of course, Verity’s position is more as a farmhand initially, than an adopted child. She’s okay with that though, a little hard work never hurt anybody.

As Verity settles in at her new home, enjoying her work on the farm and her new friendships, she discovers that something lurks in the woods surrounding the town.

It’s unsettling the things she sees as she accidentally ventures into the woods one night.

As she works to uncover the truth behind the strange things she has seen and experienced, Verity begins to uncover some truths about her own family instead.

Goodman definitely succeeded at bringing a fun, creepy atmosphere to this historical fiction tale.

I really enjoyed the setting and the cast of characters.

Some of the plot was a bit too simple for my tastes, as well as slightly campy towards the end, but it was still a quick, enjoyable read!

I definitely recommend this to readers who like the idea of a creepy read, but they don’t actually want to be scared.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Tor Teen, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review.

As a debut, this is impressive. I look forward to reading more from Sarah Goodman. I hope she stays in this lane. It works for her!

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Review: Take It Back by Kia Abdullah

~ megs14malloy

Take It BackTake It Back by Kia Abdullah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars rounded up**

((me: reads final scene))

Blushing and looking around, I think to myself, she got me. Kia Abdullah got me good!

This provocative legal thriller was a non-stop guessing game. My head was reeling the entire way through trying to decipher who to believe.

I hate to say that, but I have to be honest. The reason I don’t like to say that is because the case central to this story is that of a sexual assault.

This would be an enticing book club read. I can see a lot of great discussions stemming from the deep content of this book that was expertly crafted for maximum impact by Abdullah.

Zara Kaleel, a former lawyer, is now a sexual assault counselor. When 16-year old, Jodie Wolfe, arrives in her office, Zara is stunned to hear her tale of assault by four male classmates.

Jodie has a genetic abnormality that has given her severe facial deformities, which makes her difficult to understand at times. In spite of any slight communication issues, Jodie’s pain is pouring off of her. She is traumatized and Zara vows to help.

We follow the investigation into the case through multiple perspectives and then get front row seats to the subsequent trial.

The four young men accused are Muslims, from immigrant families, while Jodie is a white girl. As you can imagine, this adds an incredible amount of tension to public reception of the case.

It all becomes a bit of a circus, with even Zara beginning to fear for her safety.

As a Muslim woman herself, also from an immigrant family, she is branded a traitor and must push really hard, both personally and professionally, to continue with Jodie’s case.

I really loved how Abdullah chose to tell this story. The pace was spot on and the little reveals and clues along the way left me constantly guessing at the truth. I had no idea what the final outcome would be until it was on page.

Additionally, I loved the cultural elements that were included through Zara’s perspective, and a few of the accused boys. I thought those aspects made this one stand out in comparison with other books in the genre and will make this story, overall, more memorable for me.

I loved this. Very compelling, suspenseful and thoughtful. I will definitely be picking up more books from Kia Abdullah in the future.

Thank you so much to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I love discovering new authors to enjoy, so thanks for adding another to my auto-buy list!

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Review: Warmaidens by Kelly Coon

~ megs14malloy

WarmaidensWarmaidens by Kelly Coon
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I’m sorry everyone, but this is going to sting a bit.

Unfortunately, Warmaidens was a disappointment for me.

I enjoyed Gravemaidens quite a bit when I read it last year. In fact, I felt overall it was underrated.

The world of Alu was very interesting. The whole concept of the gravemaidens, the competition that led to their selection and the fact that even though it was essentially a death sentence for the women chosen, the position was revered within their society.

I also loved reading about the relationship between the main character, Kammani, and her younger sister, Nanaea.

They were complete opposites, with Kammani being responsible and serious, while Nanaea was more vain and emotional.

Their relationship had some volatility to it that kept it interesting and there were some beautifully written, emotional scenes involving them learning to love one another even through disagreements.

Those scenes were some of my favorite of the first book.

Since Gravemaidens ended on such an intriguing cliffhanger, I was super stoked to get into this sequel.

Unfortunately, this continuation was lacking all of the things I enjoyed the most about the first book.

Nanaea was unrecognizable in comparison to her character in Gravemaidens. While I understand that her character would have grown based on what she went through in the first book, would there be no shred of her original personality left?

Also, I never felt any real high stakes drama. It was just fairly bland the entire way through and read extremely slowly.

It was so singular in focus, taking forever to get anywhere, and my eyes definitely glazed over on more than one occasion.

The conclusion was in no way exciting, or surprising. At the end there was this odd scene that was like the end of a Saturday Night Live episode.

You know, where the whole cast gathers on stage as the music plays them out, hugging and congratulating one another. It was a choice.

With all of this being said, even though this didn’t work for me, doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. If you read the first book and enjoyed it, you should absolutely try this one for yourself. Don’t take my word for it!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Delacorte Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate the opportunity to provide my thoughts and opinion.

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Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

~ megs14malloy

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRueThe Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars rounded up**

With the tagline: A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget. I should have known this was going to happen.

The infamous book hangover.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is an experience. I don’t feel like I have ever been this beaten up by a book.

It was literally like Schwab was taking an ice pick to my heart and slowly chipping pieces away the entire way through.

There were times I had to set it down and step away.

I couldn’t be held accountable for my actions in those moments. It’s all a blur.

Addie LaRue is a character who has an extraordinary story to tell, yet no way to tell it.

In 1714, she entered into a Faustian bargain granting her eternal life. The downfall, she will be forgotten by every person she ever meets, unable to do even the simplest of things, like telling someone her name.

She flounders for years, trying to determine how best to live.

It is a struggle. Her only connection, the dark being who granted her wish, Luc.

These scenes of Addie grappling with how to survive, were hard to read. In fact, they were some of the most melancholy scenes I have ever read.

It was gripping and beautiful and painful, all at the same time. The writing was able to elicit such empathy for her position. I found it to be extremely powerful.

Addie eventually develops a semi-comfortable pattern for living, until one day, in 2014 New York City, a boy in a bookstore changes everything.

He remembers.

Intricately weaving together both past and present timelines, Schwab sweeps you away in a love story centuries in the making.

There’s love, sacrifice and tasty bites of food for thought the entire way through.

I loved the exploration of the power of the arts to transcend space and time. There’s an underlining theme of art, in many different forms, creating a sort of timeless influence.

It felt like a love story to artistic expression and I was so into that whole vibe.

Overall, I think this is a very special story. One that will have a great and lasting impact on a lot of people.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Tor Books, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I will never forget Addie, or her story.

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Review: The Last to See Her by Courtney Evan Tate

~ megs14malloy

The Last to See HerThe Last to See Her by Courtney Evan Tate
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Okay, that was a story. A heck of a wild ride. One, I am sorry to say, I didn’t enjoy that much.

In the beginning, I was really into this. It didn’t take long for the action to kick off and I was definitely intrigued.

For a while the tension was building quite nicely, then for me, it just crossed over into eye roll territory, from which it never returned.

By the last 25% I was racing through, not because I couldn’t wait to see what would happen, but because I couldn’t wait for it to be over.

With this being said, just because it wasn’t a good fit for my tastes, doesn’t mean it won’t be for you. There are definitely a lot of readers who will enjoy this. Sadly, I just wasn’t one of them.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Mira Books, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. Even though it wasn’t a new favorite for me, I still very much appreciate the opportunity to provide my opinion.

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Review: How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories (Folk of the Air #3.5) by Holly Black

~ megs14malloy

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories (The Folk of the Air, #3.5)How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

And just like that my faith is restored in this thing we call a world. Thank you, Holly Black. We needed this.

Unsurprisingly, Cardan had me entranced from the start.

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories is a collection of beautifully illustrated short-stories, following Cardan’s perspective from when he was just a little boy, all the way through and after, The Queen of Nothing.

I knew going in that this was illustrated, but my goodness, it is absolutely stunning.

As I was reading I would often stop and just soak in the illustrations. It truly brought these stories to life and gave them the magical quality of an old-time fairy tale.

Cardan is such a fun character and reading his life from his perspective provided all new insight into his decisions and motivations. I love him even more now than ever.

For true fans of this series, this is bonus content that should not be missed!

Personally, I will pick up anything Black chooses to write regarding these characters, or Elfhame in general. This book is a wonderful collector’s piece and one I am happy to add to my collection.

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Review: Red Hands by Christopher Golden

~ megs14malloy

Red HandsRed Hands by Christopher Golden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

In Jericho Falls, New Hampshire, Maeve Sinclair is busy soaking up the warm atmosphere of the local 4th of July parade, when the unthinkable happens.

A rogue car plows through the crowd, taking out several people. As if that wasn’t bad enough, when the driver stumbles out, he continues killing people with his hands!

Not by strangling, or stabbing, or anything like that. He simply touches them and they fall dead.

Maeve has to do something, she attacks the man, but unfortunately through some form of contact with him, she gets what he has: Red Hands, the touch of death.

Maeve can immediately tell something is wrong. She can feel it. She has been contaminated.

Before she can come into contact with anyone, and potentially harm them, Maeve flees into the mountains bordering town.

Ben Walker, weird science expert, is preparing to enjoy the 4th of July holiday with his son.

Unfortunately, before they can set off on their camping trip, Ben receives a call for help from Alena Boudreau, head of the Global Science Research Coalition.

She tells him that a devastating bioweapon has been released from a New Hampshire laboratory, killing patient zero, and leaving one infected woman on the loose.

Ben’s assignment is to go to New Hampshire and get Maeve Sinclair off the mountain and into custody before anyone else does.

Meanwhile, Maeve’s family is anxious to get her back home. They don’t understand completely what has happened to her, but as witnesses to the parade massacre, they know that she’s in trouble.

Ted, Maeve’s father, injured and struggling with his addiction is having a hard time coping. In spite of this, he does assist local authorities in their hunt for Maeve.

Maeve’s sister, Rose, along with her girlfriend, Priya, also head out to search the mountain. Rose feels she knows her sister well enough to guess where she would go to hide.

Ted’s best friend, Rue, a biologist, also gets involved, by heading to the Laboratory to find some answers.

Once Ben Walker hits town, he joins up with the family and the hunt begins in earnest.

I had a lot of fun reading this book, but it is not the type of book that I would generally pick up. However, with this being said, I’m really glad that I did.

This action-packed novel grabbed me right from the very start. It is interesting as heck.

The entire idea behind it had me enthralled. I enjoyed all of the characters and although it started to go a little off the rails towards the end, it was no less compelling.

With shadow organizations, corrupt corporations and questionable government officials, this story certainly had a lot of baddies. All out to get our intrepid hero, Ben Walker, as he struggles to save the little guy.

Along the way, the mystery of the death touch begins to reveal itself. It was hella strange, but I was into it, nonetheless.

I really liked this. I am thinking about picking up the other two earlier books in this series.

The cases Ben worked on in those books were alluded to here, not in a spoilery way, but definitely in a way that made me want to go back and check them out.

Thank you so much to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review.

I certainly appreciate it!

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Review: A Universe of Wishes, edited by Dhonielle Clayton

~ megs14malloy

A Universe of Wishes: A We Need Diverse Books AnthologyA Universe of Wishes: A We Need Diverse Books Anthology by Dhonielle Clayton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Universe of Wishes is an upcoming YA Fantasy Anthology from We Need Diverse Books, edited by the talented, Dhonielle Clayton.

Featuring fifteen diverse stories from some of the best OwnVoices authors currently writing in the YA genre, this collection has something for everyone.

As I read this collection, I kept track of my rating for each story, as well as a short description. The following are my initial notes:

1. A Universe of Wishes by Tara Sim, ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I really enjoyed this one, surprisingly moving for such a short story. Buzzwords: m/m romance, dark magic, family tragedy, hope, justice, wishes.

2. The Silk Blade by Natalie C. Parker, ⭐⭐⭐.5
The Bloom of Everhart is ready to choose his consort. A competition ensues. One contestant feels more drawn to another than she does to her stated prize.

3. The Scarlet Woman: A Gemma Doyle Story by Libba Bray, ⭐⭐⭐
New York City, 1897. I feel like I am missing something? Am I supposed to know Gemma Doyle?

4. Cristal y Ceniza by Anna-Marie Mclemore, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Cinderella retelling where a peasant girl sneaks into the kingdom during a ball, hoping for an audience with the King and Queen, to plead for the rights of her two mothers, their relationship and others like them. She meets the trans-Prince and he changes everything.

5. Liberia by Kwame Mbalia, ⭐⭐⭐.5
Following a crew on a futuristic mission. One of the characters is attached to the plants they are cultivating from their long distant homeland. I don’t think I got as much out of this as I should have, but Mbalia’s writing is so strong.

6. A Royal Affair by V.E. Schwab, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Now I definitely need to read the Shades of Magic trilogy!! I loved this. Following Alucard Emery, his relationship with Ray Marshall, and how he came to Captain the Night Spire.

7. The Takeback Tango by Rebecca Roadhouse, ⭐⭐⭐.5
A solo space Captain who has lost everything sets out to steal back artifacts stolen from her people and housed in a museum. She discovers an unlikely and charming ally along the way.

8. Dream and Dare by Nic Stone, ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
The story of two misunderstood girls being crushed by traditional gender roles and societal expectations. Remember girls, to always Dare to Dream!

9. Wish by Jenni Balch, ⭐⭐⭐.5
A wish granter from a lamp is surprised when he is summoned to find he is no longer on Earth, but a colony on Venus. The wisher has very special circumstances and he is determined to help her, no matter the cost.

10. The Weight by Dhonielle Clayton, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Every heart tells a story. Futuristic and odd, this story of a young couple secretly questioning love gave me chills!

11. Unmoor by Mark Oshiro, ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
In a world where magic exists, young Felix uses a very different method for ridding himself of heartache. This was powerful.

12. The Coldest Spot in the Universe by Samira Ahmed, ⭐⭐⭐⭐
An uninhabitable Earth left behind. An abandoned wasteland. A futuristic archeologist finds record of a girl who once lived. Sadly too realistic.

13. The Beginning of Monsters by Tessa Gratton, ⭐⭐.5
An architect who redesigns human form begins a relationship with the heir of a King whose body she is redesigning. Enjoyed the commentary on gender and gender fluidity, but other than that, I found this one quite slow.

14. Longer Than the Threads of Time by Zoraida Cordova, ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Boy meets girl. Danae and Fabian. A girl from the DR, locked in a tower for decades. A brujo with the power to save her. A delightfully dark Rapunzel retelling.

15. Habibi by Tochi Onyebuchi, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A powerful closing story for this collection. Two young men, a world apart, are each held in solitary confinement. One, from Long Beach, California, the other from the Gaza Strip in Palestine. They develop a channel for corresponding and build a deep and binding connection.

This is a really well-rounded collection. Obviously, there were stories that I connected with more than others, but that is always the way with anthologies.

Every person who reads this will have a different experience with these stories, and that’s okay. That’s what it’s all about.

I think all of the contributors to this collection should be proud of their work. I am so happy that this book, and others like it, exist.

I highly recommend this anthology and hope that We Need Diverse Books continues to produce materials like this for a long time to come. For more information on WNDB, click this link:

We Need Diverse Books

Thank you so much to the publisher, Crown Books for Young Readers, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review.

It was one of my most anticipated anthologies of the year and it definitely did not disappoint!!

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