Tag: william morrow

NetGalley November — Learning From My Mistakes

Hello, friends! I have a confession to make and I’m sure you all can tell from the title of this post. November is going to be dedicated to the (long) list of NetGalley books that I need to read. I’m not going to discuss the amount because I went through a phase when I first started blogging where I would request everything. I feel terrible about it, but I’m slowly trying to make up for that. I’m writing this so I can hold myself accountable. If you have books from NetGalley that you need to read then let this be motivation. You got this!

For the month of November, the majority of the books I read will be from my NetGalley checklist. I don’t want to put myself in a slump, so I’m not going to commit to only picking up NetGalley books. I have a good variety to choose from, and I’d say a lot of them have already been published, but I’ll do my best to make sure I balance the old with the upcoming. This will be a list of nine books I want to knock off of my list.

Thank you to all the publishers for the early digital copies in exchange for an honest review!

*click on images for the link to their Goodreads page*

“But when she enlists Red in her mission to rebel, she learns things about him that no spy session could teach her. Like why he clearly resents Chloe’s wealthy background. And why he never shows his art to anyone. And what really lies beneath his rough exterior…”

Published: 11/5/19 by Avon

3.86 average rating on GR

369 pages

Genre: Romance (own voices)

“In this dark, suspenseful thriller, Alex North weaves a multi-generational tale of a father and son caught in the crosshairs of an investigation to catch a serial killer preying on a small town.”

Published: 8/20/19 by Celadon Books

4.06 average rating on GR

355 pages

Genre: Thriller

“An addicting and twisty debut about an apartment building devastated by the disappearance of a teenage girl–and by the secrets that won’t be kept behind each closed door–that will thrill fans of Lisa Jewell and Shari Lapena.”

Publication: 2/16/21 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons

4.50 average GR rating

304 pages

Genre: Suspense / Thriller

“Exploring the psychological dynamics of the relationship between a precocious yet naïve teenage girl and her magnetic and manipulative teacher, a brilliant, all-consuming read that marks the explosive debut of an extraordinary new writer.”

Published: 3/10/20 by William Morrow

4.05 average GR rating

373 pages

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

“A young girl discovers a portal to a land filled with centaurs and unicorns in Seanan McGuire’s Across the Green Grass Fields, a standalone tale in the Hugo and Nebula Award-wining Wayward Children series.”

Publication: 1/12/21 by Tor.com

4.22 average GR rating

176 pages

Genre: Fantasy

“Showing that truth is stranger than fiction, Sylvain Neuvel weaves a scfi thriller reminiscent of Blake Crouch and Andy Weir, blending a fast moving, darkly satirical look at 1940s rocketry with an exploration of the amorality of progress and the nature of violence in A History of What Comes Next.”

Publication: 2/2/21 by Tor.com

3.11 average GR rating

304 pages

Genre: Science Fiction

“A middle grade fantasy adventure about a trio of royal siblings who unlock a long-forgotten magical language in their bid to reclaim their stolen throne.”

Published: 9/8/20 by Balzer + Bray

4.18 average GR rating

368 pages

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

“Alisha Rai returns with the first book in her sizzling new Modern Love series, in which two rival dating app creators find themselves at odds in the boardroom but in sync in the bedroom.”

Published: 8/6/19 by Avon

3.68 average GR rating

387 pages

Genre: Romance

“A hauntingly powerful novel about how the choices we make can stay with us forever, by the award-winning author of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August and 84K.”

Published: 11/12/19 by Orbit

3.74 average GR rating

420 pages

Genre: Fantasy

I love NetGalley and I’m so happy that it’s a resource readers can use, but sometimes it can get out of hand. Publishers allow you to read the novels early so you can review them and get the word out. It gives other readers something to go off of rather than going into a book blind. That’s why I want to do my best to read the books I requested. There are some on my checklist that I don’t want to read anymore, and I will figure out what I want to do when I get to them (there are only a few options). My end goal, really, is to get my percentage past 80, which is a lot of books. Wish me luck!

Do you use NetGalley or Edelweiss? Do you have a habit of requesting too many books at once or is it just me *nervous laughter*?

If you enjoyed this, then give it a like and follow my blog and other social media. Be respectful and happy reading!

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Book Review: No Exit by Taylor Adams

No Exit by Taylor Adams

336 pages

Published: 1/15/19 by William Morrow

ISBN: 9780062875655

Genre: Thriller

Rating: 4 out of 5.

B&N | Amazon

Goodreads Synopsis:

On her way to Utah to see her dying mother, college student Darby Thorne gets caught in a fierce blizzard in the mountains of Colorado. With the roads impassable, she’s forced to wait out the storm at a remote highway rest stop. Inside, are some vending machines, a coffee maker, and four complete strangers.

Desperate to find a signal to call home, Darby goes back out into the storm . . . and makes a horrifying discovery. In the back of the van parked next to her car, a little girl is locked in an animal crate.

Who is the child? Why has she been taken? And how can Darby save her?

There is no cell phone reception, no telephone, and no way out. One of her fellow travelers is a kidnapper. But which one?

Trapped in an increasingly dangerous situation, with a child’s life and her own on the line, Darby must find a way to break the girl out of the van and escape.

But who can she trust?

Review:

This was actually one of my Book of the Month picks. I don’t remember when I got it though. I believe it’s from December 2018, but that’s certainly not when I ordered it.

“Inhale. Count to five. Exhale.”

Characters |

The characters in this novel are all very distinctive. The descriptions of them made me feel like I knew each one. I could picture them in my head, and I don’t have a big imagination.

Darby is my favorite heroine in the novel. She really comes through for Jay, even though she doesn’t really think about who she confronts about the whole situation. I’m probably all talk, but I would assume something weird is going on between everyone. I guess if you’re the one it’s happening to, then you can’t really see the big picture in a panic. I don’t blame her for taking some type of action though. There’s no way she would just let the villain drive off with the poor girl.

I enjoyed the small pieces of background about her and her mother. It just shows how much of a struggle she is having. It proves her to be even more heroic than what she already is.

Sandi was a very odd character. I didn’t like how she treated Ed while they were playing card games. She annoyed me all the way through the book.

Lars is definitely the outcast in this situation. He just stands by the door while he breaths through his mouth. Apparently, he also needs to relieve a lot of gas during the time frame of the novel.

Ashley is just arrogant. I hated him from the moment our main character meets him. I hate how he speaks to Lars. I thought it was funny that the people made fun of him for having a “woman’s” name. I’m not saying it is, but I just though it was funny since he’s a jerk.

Story |

Darby Throne, college-student, finds out via text message from her sister that her mother is dying of late-stage pancreatic cancer. She is going to school in Boulder, Colorado but her mother lives in Utah. She doesn’t want to drive anywhere during Christmas break, but now she’s pretty much obligated. Unfortunately, she hasn’t been getting along with her mother.

While on State Route Six (Backbone Pass) she hits a blizzard that is unrelenting and impassable. She has to pull over at a rest stop before she can go any further. Terrifyingly enough, she stops at Wanashono—Big Devil. But, for a good chunk of the novel, she believes she’s at the Wanasho—Little Devil—rest stop. This mistake comes back to haunt her.

While inside the rest stop she runs into four other people, three people initially—Ed, Sandi, Ashley, and Lars.
Ed, Ashley, and Lars sit around and play card games. They joke about Ashley being able to do magic, and whether or not Ashley is a woman’s or a man’s name. Lars, the mouth-breather, stands by the door where the brochures are, creepily.

Darby is told that there was an ounce of cell reception in a certain area outside by some odd children statues. While she goes out there she glances inside a van, owned by one of the people inside, and notices a small hand and a cage. Come to find out, there’s a little girl named Jay Nissen in the back of the van, and Darby needs to figure out who’s responsible. Let’s just say she fights like hell to save that little girl’s life.

“The difference between a hero and a victim? Timing.”

I’ve never read a thriller like this before. I thought that it was well done. The anticipation during certain parts killed me, so I ended up reading almost 200 pages of this is one sitting. Some parts toward the end were quite unbelievable, and I didn’t like the choices that were made, but it didn’t deter me enough to lower the rating.

Writing |

This was the main reason I dropped the rating to four stars. It was super cheesy and a little repetitive. It’s mainly Darby’s thoughts that were repetitive. Honestly, I almost wasn’t going to finish it after the first chapter. I pushed through, thankfully, but it was very hard to get to that point.

Overall |

I would definitely recommend it. It’s one of the more unique thrillers I’ve ever read. It had all of the right vibes, and if you can get past the very blunt, repetitive, and cheesy writing, then you’re golden!

If you enjoyed this, then give it a like and follow my blog. Be respectful and happy reading!

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