TBR Jar Picks

Review: Artemis by Andy Weir

~ megs14malloy

ArtemisArtemis by Andy Weir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jazz Bashara lives on Artemis, a moon colony with its own social structure and commerce. Jazz, estranged from her father, has been making ends meet by functioning as a smuggler for the black market economy.

Mostly hustling smaller items, one day a very rich man makes Jazz an offer she can’t refuse.

What follows is a story of girl trying to make up for past mistakes and trying to survive the best she can, with a little corporate sabotage sprinkled in.

I really enjoyed this book. The world that Weir created. When you are reading about Artemis, it’s hard to remember that it doesn’t exist. It seemed real and the science is feasible, so A++. The details were described so well. ((applause))

Additionally, the characters all really worked for me. I loved Jazz. She’s super flawed but seriously trying her best and every once in a while, you just have to throw caution to the wind and say, f* it. I liked her attitude and I think she really came full circle over the course of the story.

I guess it is important to note that I have not read The Martian yet and frankly, I’m glad. I know a lot of folks read that first and then didn’t enjoy this as much. Now I think when I finally do get around to The Martian it will impress me even more, and trust me, that is still on the TBR.

I would definitely recommend this to any scifi fans out there who haven’t read it yet.

Who are we kidding though?
I am probably the only one left on planet Earth who hadn’t gotten to it yet!

I am happy to be crossing it off my backlist and thank my TBR Jar for making me read it!

P.S. This could translate into a fantastic, fast-paced movie! Please do, Hollywood. Please do.

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Review: Two Girls Down by Louisa Luna

~ megs14malloy

Two Girls DownTwo Girls Down by Louisa Luna
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Jamie, a single mother, runs into Kmart to buy a gift for a child’s birthday party, she somehow, doesn’t think twice about leaving her two girls, Kylie, 10 and Bailey, 8, alone in the car.

She’s frazzled already that morning and doesn’t want them hassling her for treats. Little does she know, in just moments, she will be praying to have those moments again.

Upon returning to the car, she finds it empty. The girls are gone.

Parenting choices aside, this is a devastating circumstance for Jamie. When the police fail to come up with any leads, she begins to unravel (although truth be told, she was halfway there already).

Wanting to help, Jamie’s family hires reputable ‘people finder’, Alice Vega, to perform her own investigation. Vega, a bounty hunter by trade, has had great success locating missing people and Jamie’s family knows, she is their best hope.

Vega is a certified badass with a 6th sense for finding lost things. I loved her from the start. Her character definitely has some skeletons in the closet and that’s my kind of gal. She seems to have no fear and will stop at nothing to track down the ones she seeks.

New to the rural Pennsylvania area, Vega enlists the help of disgraced former cop, Max Caplan. ‘Cap’ resigned from the force in order to protect the reputation of another officer, so yeah, he’s a good guy. Father to a smart, independent 16-year old girl, Cap is getting by doing private investigative work. Begrudgingly at first, he decides to help Vega with the case.

Their investigation was so interesting. The characters detailed so nicely to give this a very seedy feel. It got real dark, which I was not anticipating. This went places.

I loved the chemistry between Vega and Cap. They made a great team and I would love to see more books with them solving cases together. Does anyone know if that is going to be a thing?

I would recommend this to people who like police procedural-type crime thrillers. Especially if you aren’t put off by dark subject matter.

A++ to Book of the Month Club for bringing this book to my attention!

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Review: One Day in December by Josie Silver

~ megs14malloy

One Day in DecemberOne Day in December by Josie Silver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you TBR jar for selecting this bloody brilliant book for me!

I am not a romance reader and it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that I opened this one up with a fair amount of trepidation. I actually believe one of my comments upon starting was that I thought chances were 50/50 that I would DNF it. The thought of that now — utterly ridiculous!

I am floored by how much I loved this story.
The humor was perfect for me, I loved the pace and I fully appreciated how it was messy and frustrating and never easy — so is life, am I right?

It’s a long book but upon finishing I feel that it couldn’t have been any shorter. To get the full impact of missed chances requires a long scope and that is exactly what this book delivers.

I feel like past-Meg who watched Bridget Jones Diary for the first time and felt, yes, there, a character whose love life I can relate to…

I am so impressed with Ms. Josie Silver and thoroughly look forward to reading more by her in future!

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Whoops: February TBR Challenge

~ megs14malloy

Hey bookworms! Today I thought of something. When I wrote up by February Wrap-Up, I forgot to mention my monthly TBR-challenge. At the beginning of the year I decided to complete a monthly TBR-challenge as opposed to setting specific TBRs per month. If you are new here, a TBR is a ‘to be read’ list generally designed for each month of your reading year but can also be used during challenges, readathons, etc.

My monthly TBR-challenge consists of 5 different challenges. In the month of February, I successfully completed 4 of the 5 challenges. The ones I completed and the books that helped me do so are as follows:

  1. Read a New Release from 2018: The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
  2. Read a New Release from the Current Month: What We Buried by Kate A. Boorman
  3. Read a New Release from Next Month (ARC): Fat Angie: Rebel Girl by E.E. Charlton-Trujillo
  4. Read a Sequel: The Last Life of Prince Alastor (Prosper Redding 2) by Alexandra Bracken

The challenge I didn’t complete was to read one of my TBR-jar picks. My randomly selected picks for the month were The Cruel Prince by Holly Black and Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri. Since I didn’t complete that challenge, I rolled those two over to this month, as long as my remaining pick from January, A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston, and a new Book of the Month Club pick, One Day in December. My goal is to read two of those selections this month.

As far as March goes, so far is looking pretty good. I have completed two of the challenges so far and am currently working of two of the others. What challenge haven’t I started working on? The TBR-jar picks, of course!

Wish me luck! How are you doing on your goals for the month so far? I want to know. Leave a comment below or contact me through any of my social media links!

 

Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

~ megs14malloy

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer, #1)The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**

Oh my goodness.
That was a good time.

I had no idea what to expect going into this. It is a series I hear about all the time. One of those, ‘everyone has read it but me’ series.

For 2019, I created a TBR jar for myself to help me clear off some of my backlist titles and this was the first book I pulled. I knew that I would either love it or hate. Luckily, I truly enjoyed it!

Upon waking up in the hospital, Mara Dyer, has no idea how she got there. In fact, her whole recent memory seems to have been wiped clean. Before long, she discovers that she was involved in some sort of terrible accident that killed her best friend, two other kids and left her in a coma.

Her parents, focused on Mara’s recovery, decide to uproot the family to Florida feeling that it would be harmful for her to continue living in a town where she had suffered such trauma.

Once in Florida, Mara slowly begins to remember bits and pieces of what went down that infamous night. Some of it floods back to her in nightmares and some, more disturbingly, during the day as vivid hallucinations.

Guys, some of this stuff was DARK and it took me completely by surprise. The first big spooky hallucination, I was like, ‘okay, we doing this. I like this!’.

Then, to up my enjoyment levels even more, we meet Noah.
Noah Shaw.
 Now, seriously, I am not one to get all swoony, professing love to book boyfriends, but…

I’m swooning. Something about him. His witty banter, his English accent, his clothes, his swagger. Yep. I could read about him all damn day but I digress.

Watching the relationship grow between Mara and Noah was so much fun. She tries to resist his MANY charms but eventually comes to rely on him. He becomes the only person she trusts to help her figure out what is wrong with her.

She hasn’t felt right since the accident and throughout the course of the book the true events of that night are pieced together for the reader. Even at the end, it wasn’t what I expected. I knew it was a paranormal romance but I didn’t know what the ‘paranormal’ elements entailed. I did a good job keeping myself in the dark on that one…

…and I like what is happening with this story. I am definitely planning to continue on. Hoping to read book two this month!

P.S. I love you, Noah. Forever and Always.

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