disappointing reads

Review: The Library After Dark by Ande Pliego

~ megs14malloy

The Library After DarkThe Library After Dark by Ande Pliego
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Library After Dark starts with Aria, a bookseller, and Jasper, one of her bookstore regulars, going on a Valentine’s Day date. It seems they’re new in their relationship, but if the date that Jasper has planned is any indication, he knows Aria quite well already.

He’s gotten them tickets to an exclusive, after-dark tour of the Daedalus Library. For a Book Lover, a dream date!

The Daedalus is an imposing establishment known for more than its book collection. It’s also filled with immersive genre-based reading rooms and rumored hauntings.

Even though Jasper believed it was going to be a private tour, it’s not long before other guests end up arriving and they’ve all got tickets for the tour as well. Though initially disgruntled, apparently he needs privacy to be romantic, there’s not much to be done about it.

Meanwhile, we learn from Aria’s perspective, that she has a personal connection to the Daedalus that she’d rather keep secret from Jasper and everyone else.

This was the section of the book that stuck with me the most. The other group members were Wes, Piper, Michelle, Callum, Ruth and Saskia, but Saskia worked at the Daedalus and was their tour guide.

Not long into the tour, the automatic doors seemingly malfunction, trapping the group inside the library. From there, it’s a fight to find a way out, but when bodies start dropping, it turns into a fight to survive the night.

I was pretty invested in this at the start. Meeting Aria and Jasper, as well as learning about the Daedalus was fun and engaging. Then all the other characters start rolling in, and we’re getting ALL of their perspectives.

We’re hopping around amongst them, learning about their connections to the Daedalus and trying to keep track of all the action going on in the library. It quickly became a lot.

Around 60%, my interest was gone entirely. It should’ve kept my attention. Everyone had secrets and their own motivations for being there, but the way it was tossed together, it made it unpleasant to try to track.

After that point, it was as unenjoyable for me as the author’s first book, You Are Fatally Invited. So, unfortunately, even though it did initially have a lot of promise, I was entirely let down by the second half.

It was sooooo convoluted by the end. I think this is my last go with this author. I gave their first book 1.5-stars and this is getting a 2. I just don’t think they’re for me. Good concepts, poor execution.

Thank you to the publisher, Bantam, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m sure I’ll be in the minority opinion on this one, but I’m always honest about my experience with the books I read.

Sadly, this author isn’t for me.

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Review: Roll for Romance by Lenora Woods

~ megs14malloy

Roll for RomanceRoll for Romance by Lenora Woods
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Roll for Romance follows Sadie, an artist who has been working in marketing in New York City. After suddenly losing her job, she’s in need of a shake up and decides to accept her best friend’s offer to go stay with him for the Summer in his small Texas town.

I don’t remember her BFF’s name, so let’s call him Frank. Frank is super into D&D and also finally convinces Sadie to join his group. He couldn’t be happier.

It’s there she meets Noah, a hot bartender, who also happens to be new to the area. There’s an attraction, and the two end up spending time together outside of game nights.

In fact, Noah is even able to secure some work for Sadie at his bar, so they’re forced to spend even more time together. They needed a mural painted and Sadie seemed like the perfect fit for the job. That was pretty much the only element I enjoyed.

Honestly, I should have DNFed this one at the halfway point. I was bored out of my skull. I didn’t feel anything for Sadie. I just didn’t care about her at all. She felt extremely flat and unemotional to me. IDK, maybe I’m just a bitch, but even though I liked Noah initially, even he came to bore me.

There was just nothing exciting or engaging about this romance, IMO. It felt like their connection was solely the fact that they were both new to the area. I just felt no spark at all between them.

Additionally, with the D&D game, we DID NOT need to go into the campaign in the depth that we did. It was awful. Every character in the group, of course, has their own character in the game, an there’s entire sections of their characters in the campaign and it completely kicked me out of the romance every time we got to one of the sections.

I’ve enjoyed gaming in stories before and have even loved books with D&D groups involved, but usually it’s more the banter amongst the group and the interactions they have on game night versus the actual campaigns!

Overall, I was just extremely bored by this. I wanted a cute, fun, kicking my feet romance between two characters who happen to also play D&D. Instead, I got two bores plus entire sections of fantasy campaigning. No, thank you.

But with this being said, just because this didn’t work for me, doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. There are some glowing reviews of this story, so people are definitely enjoying it. Don’t let me rain on your parade. If you think it sounds good, I encourage you to pick it up and give it a go!

Thank you to the publisher, Dell, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Though I didn’t walk away having found a new fave, I’m still glad I gave it a shot. You never know until you try.

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Review: Aviary by Maria Dong

~ megs14malloy

AviaryAviary by Maria Dong
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Aviary begins with 19-year old Hee-Jin huddled down on the floor of her dingy Seoul apartment. She’s tense and nervous. We quickly understand that life hasn’t been an easy road for Hee-Jin. A knock on the door startles her. Is it the police, coming to ship her off to North Korea?

As an undocumented immigrant, this is a constant concern for her. Opening the door, she discovers not the judgemental glares of the police, but the disfigured, bird-like corpse of her younger sister, Hee-Young.

Hee-Jin is shocked. She can’t make sense of it. The last she knew Hee-Young was in America, enrolled in an exclusive and cutting-edge Art Program. Hee-Young was succeeding in pursuing her dreams. What is she doing back in Seoul, dead from an apparent bizarre overdose?

Searching her pockets, Hee-Jin discovers Hee-Young’s passport and a return ticket to America. Seeing her chance for freedom, Hee-Jin assumes her sister’s identity, takes the passport, the ticket, and hopefully Hee-Young’s place within this mysterious program. She’s determined to figure out what happened to her sister.

Before you come at me for spoilers, please note, all the above information can be found within the Publisher’s synopsis and it sold me. This sounded suspenseful and I wanted to know what happened to Hee-Young.

I was quite invested in the beginning. Hee-Jin ends up getting to America quickly. This all takes place by 11% into the novel. I really enjoyed the entire opening section.

By 17%, however, the pace slows down and a new perspective is introduced, Callie. She’s a woman with a connection to the Arts Program that Hee-Young was attending. I found her perspective extremely tedious and boring. That fact didn’t change throughout.

I had anticipated that Hee-Jin getting to America and immersing herself within Hee-Young’s life would increase the tension. I was expecting a steady build throughout, but it didn’t feel that way to me. Hee-Jin felt like such a passive character. I was expecting her to be digging around with haste, trying to figure out what happened to Hee-Young, but I didn’t feel like that developed as it could have.

Additionally, it took forever to get anywhere and even when things did start to kick off, I didn’t find them particularly earth-shattering, or even compelling. Callie’s sections really slowed down the pace for me since I had zero interest in her.

I would have much preferred to either just follow Hee-Jin, or perhaps to have had Hee-Jin more actively pursuing the truth in the present timeline, and then having a past perspective following Hee-Young, where we actually discover what happened to her at the Art Program.

By 65% in, I was mentally checked out. I just wanted it to be over. Oofh, I’m sorry. I know this sounds salty, but I have to be honest about my experience. I’m sure this author is a lovely human, because of the care spent on these characters, but this book felt like it would never end for me.

While the novel comes in at 321-pages, I felt like I was plodding through a 721-page tome. I’m sure many will value the important topics touched upon and social commentary, but I needed it to be a lot punchier than it is.

Thank you to the publisher, Severn House, for providing me a copy to read and review.

While this didn’t appeal to my particular tastes, I’m sure many Readers are going to be able to connect with it more than I did.

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Review: The Body by Bethany C. Morrow

~ megs14malloy

The BodyThe Body by Bethany C. Morrow
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is one of the rare cases where I’m going to keep my review as to the point as possible. Usually, I like to try to provide a basic breakdown of what you’re going to get if you pick up a book, and then go into my experience with it.

The only thing I am really going to say about this one is that it was not for me. I didn’t enjoy anything about my experience reading this story.

I’ve enjoyed work from Bethany C. Morrow in the past. I found her Song Below Water duology and Cherish Farrah, which I was in the minority opinion on, very enjoyable.

While her writing style does lean more towards a stream of consciousness style than I tend to prefer, I have vibed with it in her past stories. This also felt stream of consciousness, but in a way that was more confusing than lush and lyrical.

I also appreciated the character relationships and themes that were explored in those previous novels, while here, yeah, the themes being explored just are not anything that I’m interested in. I felt zero connection to this story and couldn’t sit down and go through with you what actually happened. It’s just out of my brain already.

I believe the intent was for this to be Religious Horror, and I have a great history with Religious Horror, hence why I picked it up. However, I feel like this could have been more impactful if Morrow had leaned into a hard-hitting Literary Fiction, or suspenseful Domestic Drama, lane.

But at the end of the day, what do I know? I am one Reader, and this is just my experience. Just because this didn’t work for me, doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. I’m sure there are plenty of Readers out there who will find something powerful in this story. Sadly, that just wasn’t me.

Thank you to the publisher, Tor Nightfire and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. I’m anxious to see what Bethany C. Morrow writes next. I’d love to pick up more YA works from her.

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Review: You Did Nothing Wrong by C.G. Drews

~ megs14malloy

You Did Nothing WrongYou Did Nothing Wrong by C.G. Drews
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**2.5-stars rounded up**

Greetings from Outlier Island!!

I’m surprised to find myself here again and certainly surprised that it’s with a C.G. Drews novel. I anticipated loving this, but sadly, I really did not. I’m struggling to keep my feelings for the MC apart from my overall feelings for the story, but it’s a challenge, since she’s such a pivotal piece.

Additionally, I did find a lot about the plot predictable, and super annoying to read. I had almost a constant feeling of distaste in my mouth, which sadly for me, overshadowed the rest of the story.

There’s no denying Drews skills as a writer, and my opinion on this one book by no means changes the fact that I’m going to pick up everything Drews releases. I really enjoyed both Don’t Let the Forest In and Hazelthorn.

The deeply complex relationships and stunning writing in both of those novels are to be admired, but here, I just didn’t feel that same pull, intrigue or raw ache for any of the characters and their journeys. I hate Elodie, the MC in this book, and never felt even one ounce of sympathy for her, which I think I was supposed to.

I’m not going to go into any of the details of this book, as I do feel it’s just best to dive into it. Further, there are so many glowing reviews of it, that I feel you would be best served going to read those to see others thoughts. I’m clearly in the minority opinion, so don’t let my experience keep you from picking this one up.

Even though the content wasn’t to my tastes, I would recommend the audiobook format though. The narration by Saskia Maarleveld was so, so good. It fit Elodie to a tee, and I did find myself not able to look away; like a train wreck.

It’s also fast-paced, and whether you enjoy it or not, it’s a memorable experience. I remember so many details of this book, and will moving forward. There’s something to be said for that. Drews has created a story that is sure to evoke a lot of emotions in the Readers, that’s for sure.

Thank you to the publisher, Macmillan Audio and St. Martins Press, for providing me with copies to read and review.

Drews’ creativity cannot be denied and I’m already looking forward to their next release. I have a feeling, this will be a one-off for me when it comes to this author.

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Review: On Location by Sarah Echavarre Smith

~ megs14malloy

On LocationOn Location by Sarah Echavarre Smith
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

**1.5-stars rounded up**

On Location has been on my TBR for 2021. On a whim last week, I decided to read it for a Romance Readathon I was participating in. I started it with the best of hopes, even though it’s overall rating isn’t particularly high.

I’m not a picky Reader, and frequently end up enjoying things others may not have. However, about 20% into this one, I knew that wasn’t going to be the case. In fact, I figured I might end up liking it even less than others.

A few friends advised me to DNF, but I rarely DNF. Sometimes, the saltier something makes me, the more I want to keep reading, with thoughts of, how did this even get published swirling in my head.

Honestly, there’s nothing like a rage read to keep you flipping pages. I disliked so much about this book, so I am going to do something a little different with this review. Instead of wasting time going through details, I will just share some of my status updates I posted while reading it to give you a general idea of my experience:

18% — “Wow. Alia (the main character) is a terrible manager of people. You manage by leading, not angrily bossing people around. She’s a tyrant. Besides her cringe management attempts however, I am enjoying this! We’ll see what happens 👀”

At this point, as you can see, I was remaining positive…

25% — “I hate this MC. She has zero emotional intelligence and shouldn’t be in a upper management position. I would fire her yesterday.”

26% — “Seriously, reading this MC thinking about how she needs to talk to others about their professionalism is so laughable. Did the author do this on purpose? She realizes she’s made her MC, who is supposed to be this strong woman in charge, act like a child throwing a temper tantrum every 5-mins, right?”

32% — “I’m 100% rage reading this right now. I hate it.”

42% — “That was the stupidest OTT fight ever. My eyes hurt from all the rolling.”

47% — “Holy shit. This dialogue is sooooo cringe. Good Lord.”

69% — “Alia’s 7th-grade persona went away for a couple of chapters, but she’s back with a vengeance now 🙄”

86% — “Oh my god 😳 seriously!? Alia is sooooo ridiculous 🙄 I cannot with the fact that she is supposed to be in her 30s!?”

And that pretty much sums it up. There were two scenes in the 2nd-half I thought were good, a sexting scene in a shared condo and a hot tub scene. Other than that, I was annoyed each and every page by one thing or another.

You know in Junior High school when there’s a school dance, and a boy that a girl likes ends up paying attention to another girl, and the next thing you know, half the girls in the class are running in and out of the bathroom, crying and blubbering and living their ultimate dramatic lives?

That was this MC.

At the end of the day, happy to cross it off the list and clear up some space on my kindle. I’m now going to block it from my mind forever.

Berkley, I love you. Thank you for providing me a copy of this all those years ago. I love so, so, so many Berkley Romances, past and present, but this was not it for me.

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Review: How Bad Things Can Get by Darcy Coates

~ megs14malloy

How Bad Things Can GetHow Bad Things Can Get by Darcy Coates
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

How Bad Things Can Get, which features an online influencer hosting a retreat on a private island, started out mildly intriguing for me and then promptly fell right off the cliff into eye-rolling, when will this be over, territory.

Glancing over some other reviews after I finished, I’d definitely say I’m in the minority opinion on this one, so please take this review with a grain of salt, because that’s what I am: salty.

I’m starting to think Darcy Coates maybe just isn’t an author for me, and that’s okay. This is the 3rd-book I’ve tried from her, and they’re not going well.

This had a bit of promise in the beginning, as our characters arrived at this island, I liked the excitement of that. As it started unfolding though, it felt so all over the place; chaotic and not ever able to capture my attention.

It was a bit Beast Games, mixed with the Fyre Festival and just a little sprinkling of the live-action Scooby Doo, when the gang heads to Spooky Island.

If this sounds like a mess, it is. It is.

There was one really fun, creepy scene on a beach though, involving naked people and some deaths. I liked that bit, but one scene does not a successful book make. The characters drove me nuts, the direction it took made my eyes glaze over, it just didn’t work for me.

Nevertheless, others are enjoying this one, so don’t take my word for it. Check it out for yourself.

Thank you to the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m sure many Readers will love this one. Sadly, it just wasn’t for me.

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Review: The Story That Wouldn’t Die (Jolene Garcia #2) by Christina Estes

~ megs14malloy

The Story That Wouldn't Die: A Mystery (Jolene Garcia Mysteries Book 2)The Story That Wouldn’t Die: A Mystery by Christina Estes
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Story That Wouldn’t Die is the 2nd-book in the Jolene Garcia Mystery series. I actually didn’t realize this was the 2nd-book when I accepted it from the publisher, though that didn’t really affect my experience.

I think had I picked up the 1st-book though, I probably wouldn’t have picked this one up.

I’ll be frank, this Mystery wasn’t to my tastes. I thought I was picking up a Cozy, but it definitely wasn’t that. I’m not quite sure how to explain it, but it the entire thing felt so forced. There was nothing cozy about it, IMO, and it was hardly mysterious.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the opposite, hard-edged, or compelling, either. I actually didn’t care for the MC, so that certainly didn’t help matters. I’m glad I gave it a shot, but I will not be continuing with the series.

I generally like mysteries that involve journalists, but this didn’t end up scratching that itch. The writing felt more like the author had bullet pointed issues she wanted to include, got all those in and then tried to build a mystery around it.

It just didn’t work and it wasn’t an enjoyable experience. The audiobook narration by Devon Sorvari was solid though, and that definitely helped me to push through and complete it. Otherwise, I’m not sure I would have.

Thank you to the publisher, Dreamscape Media and Minotaur Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Even though this didn’t work for me, doesn’t mean it won’t work for you.

If the synopsis and mystery presented sounds interesting to you, go ahead and give it a go. You may end up loving it!

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Review: The Librarians by Sherry Thomas

~ megs14malloy

The LibrariansThe Librarians by Sherry Thomas
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

**2.5-stars**

The Librarians is set in a public library in Austin, Texas, and follows, you guessed it, a group of librarians, Hazel, Sophie, Astrid and Jonathan. They’re all very different, but have grown comfortable working with one another every day.

In fact, the library seems to be more than a workplace for them, it’s a safe haven from the outside world.

That is until two patrons are found dead after the library’s inaugural murder mystery–themed game night. It no longer feels quite so safe, not with a murderer afoot.

As soon as I read the synopsis for this book, I became obsessed with getting it. Who doesn’t want to read about librarians solving mysteries? I don’t know, probably some people, but I can’t get enough and I wanted this one badly.

After reading it though, I’m not sure quite how to react to it. It wasn’t to my tastes at all. It had a very different vibe to what I anticipated, though I bet a ton of Literary Fiction Readers will love it.

Even after the murder, which took a minute to get to BTW, but even after that, I thought, here we go, it’s gonna get fun now. But it didn’t. It never got fun. The amateur sleuthing was like at a 2 on a scale of 1-to-10.

To me, the mystery felt like a non-entity as it was buried so deep amongst the copious amount of character work, which never seemed to end. I don’t think I would have minded that as much, if I didn’t find the characters so bland and boring.

Overall, the tone was all Literary, and oh yeah, someone got murdered way back at the beginning. Way more Literary, and way less Murdery, than I wanted.

Nevertheless, don’t let my salt turn you away from this one. If you think it sounds interesting and you don’t mind all the character work, give it a shot. You could end up loving it.

Thank you to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate it very much!

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Review: The Bloody Brick Road by Maude Royer

~ megs14malloy

The Bloody Brick Road: A Wizard of Oz Retelling (Volume 1)The Bloody Brick Road: A Wizard of Oz Retelling by Maude Royer
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I feel robbed. I wanted a bloody and brutal Wizard of Oz retelling; thinking Slasher Horror, or something equally exciting and got nothing of the sort.

Giving a character the name Dorothy and incorporating red shoes, does not a Wizard of Oz retelling make. At the end of the day, this story felt like it was searching for an identity and required further edits.

The 1st-sentence of the Publisher’s synopsis I read states, ‘In this wildly creative, horror-soaked reimagining of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, nothing is as it seems in Dorothy’s dystopian nightmare.‘

Whoever wrote this, you lie. 1. This isn’t wildly-creative. 2. This is hardly a reimagining of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. 3. This doesn’t feel dystopian at all.

Things you got right: 1. It’s a nightmare.

I’m not going to drag this out. It wasn’t for me. I’m sad I wasted 6-hours reading it, but am happy to be moving on. If it was going to go the Extreme Horror route, which it seemed it wanted to take due to the graphic fetish elements, it needed to lean much further in to get there.

The sad part is, there were inklings of a solid Serial Killer Police Procedural in here, but mashing it together with the other elements, it just didn’t work. It needed to be one or the other, or perhaps better blended than it was.

Overall, a very uneven read, nothing like what I was pitched. The dialogue was forced and laughable, and the graphic sexual elements felt absolutely ridiculous in this story.

Thank you to Gallery Books for the copy.

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