audiobooks

Review: The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas

~ megs14malloy

The CheerleadersThe Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**

The Sunnybrook High cheerleading squad was disbanded after five of the squad members ended up dead in rapid succession.

Two lost in a car accident, two murdered by an unhinged neighbor and the last, Jenn, wracked with survivor’s guilt, took her own life.

Five years have passed since those terrible tragedies and now people at the school are hoping to organize a memorial for the girls. Monica, Jenn’s little sister, gets asked to participate.

Monica has never believed that Jenn would commit suicide. The idea of a memorial creates great anxiety for her and she begins to sneak around her Step-Dad’s office, a local police officer, looking for answers.

When she comes across Jenn’s old cell phone in his desk, her suspicions only deepen. Why did he hold onto it?

Along with a new friend from her dance team, Monica begins to unravel a web of clues that indicate perhaps the five deaths were no coincidence, but who would go after the cheerleaders?

I listened to the audiobook for this and really enjoyed it. It’s has a classic mystery feel and was fast paced and compelling.

This was actually my first Kara Thomas, but now I am psyched to get to her other work!

Little Monsters, here I come!

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Review: The Princess and the Fangirl (Once Upon a Con #2) by Ashley Poston

~ megs14malloy

The Princess and the Fangirl (Once Upon a Con, #2)The Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jessica Stone planned to use the Starfield reboot as a stepping stone to greatness. Unfortunately, she doesn’t feel it’s working out that way.

Afraid of being typecast, she wants to distance herself from it as much as she can, but with the sequel in the works and the fate of her character up in the air, that is becoming a challenge.

Attending the same Con that her costar, Darien, met the love of his life, Elle Wittimer, at the previous year, she begins to feel overwhelmed by the pressure of it all.

Imogen Lovelace is a fangirl attending the Con as well. A fangirl who looks surprisingly like Jessica Stone. When people end up confusing one for the other, a brilliant life swap takes place.

Imogen is hoping to save her favorite character, Princess Amara, from being wiped out of the Starfield universe forever. Certainly, Jessica, who played Amara on screen would agree?

We follow the two girls as they swap lives and learn the valuable lesson of, the grass is not always greener on the other side of that damn fence.

I was so happy to return to ExcelsiCon and the whole fan vibe surrounding it. For me, this one wasn’t quite as enjoyable as Geekerella.

I legit swooned over that for a week!

While I did still like this a lot, Ashley Poston’s writing is just so fun, I think it suffered a bit because I don’t really know the story of The Prince and the Pauper.

Obviously, this is not the book’s fault, it is mine.

One of the things I loved so much about Geekerella was all the little details connected to the original Cinderella story. To me, these were like finding little Easter eggs throughout. I loved it!

I still had a lot of fun with this book, don’t get me wrong, just not as much.

I am really looking forward to Book 3, a Beauty and the Beast retelling! Heck, I know that story like I wrote it myself.

To the stars, Ashley Poston!

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Review: Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

~ megs14malloy

Rules for VanishingRules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A haunted wood, a mysterious road that appears and disappears, the legend of a missing girl; these were the things that first attracted me to this story.

I got so much more than that, parts I am still trying to wrap my brain around.

Told through interviews, written statements and found footage, this story tells the tale of Sara, whose sister, Becca, went missing a year prior.

The mixed media pieces together her quest to find her sister and the people who go along with her.

This book reminded me a lot of Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl, mixed with the Jim Henson’s The Labyrinth.

I did listen to the audiobook for this and unfortunately, I think that had an effect on my overall enjoyment.

Honestly, the audio was a little hard to track all of the characters and keep them all straight.

That paired with the dreamlike quality of all that occurs on the road, I felt confused for the majority of the middle portion of the book.

I think if I had read the physical copy it would have been easier to follow along with the character dialogue of the found footage and interviews.

Overall, I think this is a solid YA Horror novel with a very dark and spooky premise. It definitely solidified my belief that you must always beware of hitchhikers on the road.

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Review: All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells

~ megs14malloy

All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)All Systems Red by Martha Wells
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A hearty thumbs up to my new relationship with Martha Wells!

This novella was such a delightful surprise. Bringing all the humor I love in my scifi, I definitely plan to continue on with the rest of The Murderbot Diaries.

In All Systems Red we meet our protagonist, who calls itself Murderbot, a sentient Security unit, as it accompanies a group of scientists on an exploratory mission of a uninhabited planet.

When they discover another group of explorers are on the planet but are unable to reach them on comm channels, they go to investigate.

Spurred on by corruption, hijinks and battles ensue, with Murderbot and the crew trying to flee unharmed.

I loved that this was told from the perspective of Murderbot. It was great to follow its thought processes at it navigated its complicated relationships with the humans.

I am so ready to continue on with Murderbot’s story in the next book, where I believe we learn more about its backstory.

Super compelling, highly readable and a must for any scifi fan!

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Review: The Missing Years by Lexie Elliott

~ megs14malloy

The Missing YearsThe Missing Years by Lexie Elliott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**

A delightful tale of suspense with surprising twists!

After Ailsa Calder’s mother dies, she inherits the Manse in the Scottish Highlands in which she grew up. Well, half of it anyway.

Upon going to settle the estate, she is told that the other half is owned by her father, a man missing for the last 27-years.

The real kicker, although Ailsa wants nothing more than to sell the property, having no desire to leave her posh London-life behind, she can’t.

In order to do so, she will have to have him legally declared dead. A bureaucratic nightmare perfect for the bereaved.

While she handles that whole mess, she relocates to the Manse, along with her half-sister, Carrie, who she really has no relationship with.

It doesn’t take long after arriving at the remote location before it becomes clear to Ailsa that someone doesn’t want her there.

When intruders show up in the night and the house begins to rebel against her, Ailsa feels like she is coming unhinged. She tries to keep it together and bond with her sister but so much is going wrong, she is literally at wits end.

Tie in an interesting group of side characters and a looming sense of dread and you have yourself a taut little suspense novel!

There is a constant back and forth of, is it supernatural, is it not, that I absolutely loved. I went into this without the highest of expectations and I have to say, I was most pleasantly surprised.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a wonderful job making me feel like I was included in the action.

The pacing was fantastic and it kept me wanting more the entire way through.

This was my first Lexie Elliott but definitely will not be my last!

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Review: Geekerella (Once Upon a Con #1) by Ashley Poston

~ megs14malloy

Geekerella (Once Upon a Con, #1)Geekerella by Ashley Poston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What can I say?

I am a geek and I loved this book.

My last completed book of 2019.
What a great reading year.

During the course of my holiday 2019 travels, I found myself alone in the car, A LOT. I wanted a little romance to keep me alert during my drive.

Not for me exactly but on audio. I had been putting this book off forever, for unknown and totally irrelevant reasons, and on a whim decided to download it.

The stars had blessed me on that day, as I found so much more in this story than romance. It touched my nerdy soul.

I felt filled to capacity with acceptance and understanding whilst listening to this modern-day Cinderella retelling. At its heart, a story about embracing your passions and never apologizing for who you are or what you love.

Our protagonist, Elle Wittimer, is a teen living with her Step-Mother and two Step-Sisters in South Carolina, and yes, you guessed it, the Steps are wicked!

Elle tries to stay out of their way at home. She spends her summer days working in a food truck called the Magic Pumpkin and her nights blogging about her favorite fandom.

Starfield, a classic scifi show that she has loved her whole life is her drug of choice. It’s the one thing that makes her still feel connected to her deceased parents, both huge fans.

When it is announced that Starfield is soon to get a movie reboot, Elle can’t wait to see who they cast. As any superfan though, she’s worried they are going to ruin it.

Do reboots or adaptations ever truly do justice for our loves?

After teen heartthrob, Darien Freeman, is announced to be playing the pivotal Federation Prince Carmindor, Elle knows it is going to suck.

What would he possibly know about Starfield? All he knows are abs workouts and alarmingly charming smiles, right?

Fueled by anger, she takes to the web and blogs what a travesty it is.

Darien Freeman is a fan however. Being cast as Carmindor has been a life-long dream for him but he’s been cast to play a role, not just in the movie but in life. Bubble-headed playboy is his image and he is forced to stick with him.

Written off by the Starfield fandom as a faker of the highest order, Darien finds himself frustrated and misunderstood. But what can he possibly do about it? He’s trapped.

Under the same stars, Elle is trapped as well. Her Steps are downright cruel to her but she has no means of retaliation or true escape. She feels powerless against them.

To promote the new movie, the Starfield execs plan a cosplay contest to be held at ExcelsiCon; the very same Con created by Elle’s late father. She can’t believe her luck and sees the grand prize, tickets to L.A., as her means of escape.

Darien is not pleased when he discovers he will be forced to attend the Con. He used to love attending Cons but to have to go and not be able to proclaim his love as a true fan feels stifling.

Reaching out to a phone number listed as info for ExcelsiCon he ends up getting in touch with Elle but neither knows who the other is. Thus begins their relationship, via texts, and their means of finding escape through one another.

From the very first chapter, I fell for Elle and her story, hook, line and sinker. The homage to the original tale of Cinderella, while bringing it fully into the 21st-century, was beautifully crafted. I loved all the little details and connections throughout the book.

As the synopsis states, this is also a love letter to nerd culture and for many of us, that means a lot. To feel that we aren’t alone and there are legions of people out there just like us, who love the same things and accept us and don’t call us weird. It feels good.

Overall, I was really damn impressed with this and hope to be picking up the next, Once Upon a Con installment soon!

Thank you, Ashley Poston, for writing this. It was absolutely wonderful!

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Review: Golden Son (Red Rising #2) by Pierce Brown

~ megs14malloy

Golden Son (Red Rising Trilogy, #2)Golden Son by Pierce Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am wrecked.

Picking up approximately 2-years after Red Rising left off, we continue to follow our intrepid hero, Darrow au Anadromedus, The Reaper, as he forges secret warfare against the heartless rulers of society.

Full of the same action-packed, pulse-pounding battle scenes as the first book, this one adds on to the level of political intrigue and plotting.

It left my head spinning. In a good way!

My favorite part of this continues to be the world-building. Brown has created a dark, dystopian world with all of the brutality of ancient Rome but in space. As we all know, everything is better…

Additionally, the characters are compelling and well-fleshed out. Darrow is particularly riveting. I love his evolution as a character and have truly felt for him as he grapples with impossible decisions that ultimately end up haunting him.

It’s hard to lead a revolution. Particularly when you have to keep it hidden. A proverbial snake in the grass, who can he trust with his secrets?

His pain and joy are visceral. I felt every moment. Relationships are continuing to develop and as always, there is a healthy dose of back-stabbing and betrayals mixed in for good measure.

I am really looking forward to moving on with this story. My plan is to continue with the audiobooks. The narrator is Darrow to me. They couldn’t have selected a better choice! So well done.

If you haven’t picked up this genre-bending series yet, I cannot recommend it highly enough!

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Review: Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2) by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman

~ megs14malloy

Gemina (The Illuminae Files, #2)Gemina by Amie Kaufman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As the BeiTech assault continues, we follow two all-new characters aboard the Jump Station Heimdall.

For those of you familiar with this series, you may recall that the Heimdall is the destination that one of our protagonists from Illuminae, Kady Grant, on the Hypatia, was ultimately hoping to reach with news of the Kerenza attack.

If you haven’t yet read Illuminae, number one, what are you waiting for? Number two, you can read my review here to see how much I loved it: Meg’s Illuminae Review

One thing you may be wondering at this point, is why did I only give this 4-stars, when I gave Illuminae ONE MILLION STARS?

Format. It’s all about the format.

Due to receiving a lot of comments that I should try the audiobooks for this series, in conjunction with the hard copies, I decided to do just that.

I was going on vacation, including a long road trip, so downloaded the audiobook and packed my hard copy. The thought was I could listen in the car and while at our destination, I could read my hardcover.

However, I had zero time to read on vacation…

…so, I ended up listening to the entirety of the book on audio.

Now don’t get me wrong, the production was flipping fantastic. Absolutely phenomenal full cast with sound effects, etc., but I am such a visual person, I missed the unique formatting and illustrations within the hard copy.

Additionally, I became quite attached to Kady, Ezra and AIDAN in the first book and was sad not to be following them directly in this story as well.

I did eventually come to really enjoy Nik, the Heimdall’s resident bad boy with a heart of gold and Hanna, its spoiled princess with an edge, but Kady will always be my number one.

There is no doubt that this book is action-packed and a great continuation of the BeiTech assault. I am really looking forward to the final book in the trilogy, Obsidio, but I will definitely be reading my hard copy version to conclude the series.

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Review: Remarkables by Margaret Peterson Haddix

~ megs14malloy

RemarkablesRemarkables by Margaret Peterson Haddix
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

When Marin moves to a new town, right before starting the 6th grade, she struggles with thoughts of not fitting in. Through flashbacks, you can tell that Marin may have been victimized by some bullies at her previous school and this has left a mark on her.

While wandering through the woods by her new house, she comes across a group of teens. They seem so alive, laughing and having fun together, then they mysteriously disappear.

She soon finds out, she’s not the only person that can see them. Her neighbor, Charley, a boy about her age, can see them as well. He has been watching them and named them ‘the remarkables’. But who are they and why can just Charley and Marin see them?

Together they come up with some theories, why this could be and what they should do about it. Not always agreeing but definitely both believing that it means something important.

This gripping Middle Grade story explores a lot of important topics: bullying, self confidence, guilt, grief and addiction. I appreciate the conversations had by many of the characters within the story, they were all age appropriate and overall, I enjoyed reading it.

In regards to the ‘bullying’ – I thought this was an interesting perspective on it. Usually in novels where bullying is explored as a topic, it is perpetuated by characters that would be assumed enemies of the character they are tormenting.

In this case, the characters tormenting Marin were actually very close friends of hers. She was scared to speak out against them and even to scared to let her parents know she didn’t want to be friends with them anymore. This topic was explored in its entirety and brought to a conclusion. I thought it was very well done!

It did get a little muddled for me towards the end but perhaps that was just where my head space was at while I was reading it. I think if the synopsis sounds interesting for you, you should definitely pick it up. It delivered more than I even expected.

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Review: Red Rising (Red Rising #1) by Pierce Brown

~ megs14malloy

Red Rising (Red Rising, #1)Red Rising by Pierce Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is an absolute blessing!!!

I am so thankful that I finally made the choice to pick this one up for my Sci-Fi September. I have heard so much about this series, so many raving reviews, so much love, so much hype…

…but, would it work for me? I am late to the party. Maybe the thrill is gone?

Fortunately, I adored this. The beginning, I’ll admit, I was on the fence but once Darrow meets the Sons of Ares, I was paying attention. It drew me in and never let go from there on out!

This brought back some nostalgia for my OG, The Hunger Games, and I’m cool with that. The best part of a great dystopian are those moments when you think, ‘Oh shit. This could happen someday’.

For me personally, one of the most important aspects of a dystopian story is the world-building. It has to be vast and detailed yet easy to pick up.

I felt the caste system, with designations based on colors, was really well done. Although I couldn’t list for you the role of each of the colors, I do feel I have an understanding of the functioning of the world as a whole.

Picking up this book, I really did not know too much about the plot. I was so pleased that it ended up having two of my favorite tropes ever.

The first being a training and competition element. The fact that this competition happened to involve political and military strategy was the absolute icing on the cake.

The second is a chosen one from the lowest rung of society setting out to overthrow a decadent and corrupt ruling class. I just dig that trope and Darrow is very likable protagonist. In fact, this entire book has plenty of people to cheer for and to hate because we all know, a good villain is VERY important!

I have already picked up the next book in the series, Golden Son, and it just keeps getting better and better. I cannot wait to continue on. This is definitely binge GOLD.

To all of you who have recommended this to me over the years, thank you! You are a genius and a true friend!

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