Books I Didn't Finish in 2020

Below will be any books I started and didn't finish and the reason why. 

1. The Killer Collective by Barry Eisler
• This was on a list of the top 5 audiobooks of 2019 so I picked it up but I didn't realize it was actually a cross of 3 different series books, none of which I have read. Once I realized that I was still willing to give it a try but I just couldn't wrap my head around the characters so I was mostly tuning the audiobook out.  I've read and loved other Eisler books so I may just circle back to this one if I ever read any of these series books. 
2. An Ace and A Pair by Blake Banner
• I couldn't get into the story. It seems like a great premise but I wasn't pulled into the story at all. I read about 10% of the book on my Kindle and just gave up when it was clear I had no interest in getting to the end. 
3. Qualityland by Marc-Uwe Kling
• I listened to 20% of the audiobook and just didn't like it at all. Nothing about the story engaged me and I didn't want to waste anymore time hoping the story lived up to all the hype I've heard about it. 
4. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
• I just couldn't engage with the book. I bailed pretty quickly but don't think I'll revisit it at any time. 
5. All Systems Red by Martha Wella
• I actually got a fourth of the way into this one but didn't care to make it to the end. It just didn't hold my attention enough. 

Books I Didn't Finish in 2020

https://www.readingwithmonie.com/2020/01/books-i-didnt-finish-in-2020.html

Review: The Warehouse by Rob Hart

Product Description:
Cloud isn’t just a place to work. It’s a place to live. And when you’re here, you’ll never want to leave.

“On the surface, The Warehouse is a thrilling story of corporate espionage at the highest level, but dig a little deeper and you’ll find a terrifying cautionary tale of the nightmare world we are making for ourselves.”—Blake Crouch, New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter

Paxton never thought he’d be working for Cloud, the giant tech company that’s eaten much of the American economy. Much less that he’d be moving into one of the company’s sprawling live-work facilities.

But compared to what’s left outside, Cloud’s bland chainstore life of gleaming entertainment halls, open-plan offices, and vast warehouses…well, it doesn’t seem so bad. It’s more than anyone else is offering. 

Zinnia never thought she’d be infiltrating Cloud. But now she’s undercover, inside the walls, risking it all to ferret out the company’s darkest secrets. And Paxton, with his ordinary little hopes and fears? He just might make the perfect pawn. If she can bear to sacrifice him.

As the truth about Cloud unfolds, Zinnia must gamble everything on a desperate scheme—one that risks both their lives, even as it forces Paxton to question everything about the world he’s so carefully assembled here.

Together, they’ll learn just how far the company will go…to make the world a better place.

Set in the confines of a corporate panopticon that’s at once brilliantly imagined and terrifyingly real, The Warehouse is a near-future thriller about what happens when Big Brother meets Big Business--and who will pay the ultimate price.

My Thoughts:
The Warehouse is one of those books that absolutely sucked me in from the vey beginning. I wanted to call in sick at work just so I could sit at home and read all day. The best thing about it was I can see our future in this book. Replace Cloud with the current "biggest online retailer" we all know and love and this is us in the near future. Horrifying...

Recommendation:
I recommend this to anyone who loves futuristic suspense thrillers. 


Release date - August 20, 2019

Review: The Warehouse by Rob Hart

https://www.readingwithmonie.com/2019/08/review-warehouse-by-rob-hart.html

Review: The Escape Room by Megan Goldin

Product Description:

Welcome to the escape room. Your goal is simple. Get out alive.

In the lucrative world of finance, Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam are at the top of their game. They’ve mastered the art of the deal and celebrate their success in style—but a life of extreme luxury always comes at a cost.

Invited to participate in an escape room as a team-building exercise, the ferociously competitive co-workers crowd into the elevator of a high rise building, eager to prove themselves. But when the lights go off and the doors stay shut, it quickly becomes clear that this is no ordinary competition: they’re caught in a dangerous game of survival.

Trapped in the dark, the colleagues must put aside their bitter rivalries and work together to solve cryptic clues to break free. But as the game begins to reveal the team’s darkest secrets, they realize there’s a price to be paid for the terrible deeds they committed in their ruthless climb up the corporate ladder. As tempers fray, and the clues turn deadly, they must solve one final chilling puzzle: which one of them will kill in order to survive?

My Thoughts:
The Escape Room is a fantastic suspense thriller. The characters stuck in the elevator are the kind you love to hate. The mystery playing out keeps you on your toes through out the entire book and even though I had an inkling of what was really going on the entire time but it didn't matter, I was still hooked. 

My Recommendation:
I recommend this to anyone who loves a good, fast-paced suspense thriller. 


Release date - July 30, 2019

Review: The Escape Room by Megan Goldin

https://www.readingwithmonie.com/2019/07/review-escape-room-by-megan-goldin.html

Review: Caitlin's Song by John A. Heldt

Product Description:
Love, courage, and commitment take center stage as the Carsons, a family of time travelers, continue their saga in the great American West.

For the Carson children, ages 19 to 29, an unplanned stop in 1962 is a chance to grow. Adam, Greg, and Natalie begin lives with new spouses in Boulder, Colorado, while twins Cody and Caitlin get their first taste of college. All plan to resume the search for their missing parents as soon as they can.

For Tim and Caroline Carson, a planned stop in the rendezvous year of 1972 is a nightmare. While reading about their children's lives in 1962, they learn that one has crossed paths with a killer. Faced with limited options, they race back to the past to reroute history and prevent a series of murders.

In CAITLIN'S SONG, the fourth novel in the Carson Chronicles series, members of a modern family find romance, adventure, and terror as they seek answers and each other in four memorable eras of American history.


My Thoughts:
Caitlin's Song is book 4 in the Carson Chronicles series. You definitely should have read the previous 3 books in the series to get the most out of the story. Still searching for their parents, the Carsons travel to Colorado and the twins Caitlin and Cody enroll in college. Although excited about being in college Caitlin is barely getting over her heartbreak from the lost chance at love in book 3, Indian Paintbrush. 

Now trying to live the life of a normal teen, she quickly settles in to college life and is soon dating a handsome frat boy. But as perfect as he seems, there's a shocking truth her parents learn from their research in the future. Will Caitlin see beyond his charming facade and will she ever find the same kind of love her siblings have found? 

Once again there isn't a huge historical event happening in this book but it still gives us a pretty good glimpse of history.

Recommendation:
I recommend this to anyone who loves time traveling, romantic fiction. 

Review: Caitlin's Song by John A. Heldt

https://www.readingwithmonie.com/2019/06/review-caitlins-song-by-john-heldt.html

Review: Something Like Gravity by Amber Smith

Product Description:
Chris and Maia aren’t off to a great start.

A near-fatal car accident first brings them together, and their next encounters don’t fare much better. Chris’s good intentions backfire. Maia’s temper gets the best of her.

But they’re neighbors, at least for the summer, and despite their best efforts, they just can’t seem to stay away from each other.

The path forward isn’t easy. Chris has come out as transgender, but he’s still processing a frightening assault he survived the year before. Maia is grieving the loss of her older sister and trying to find her place in the world without her. Falling in love was the last thing on either of their minds.

But would it be so bad if it happened anyway?

My Thoughts: 
I picked out Something Like Gravity specifically because it was billed as being similar to Eleanor & Park which I absolutely loved. I didn't read the full description so I had no idea this was a story about a transgender teen. I most likely wouldn't have selected it if I had known but honestly it wasn't a bad story. The only reason I didn't rate it higher was that the story is kind of choppy. 

Chris takes off running in the beginning of the book and his parents and best friend have a major freak out for what seems like no reason. Then the back story behind Maia's sister Mallory's death seems more sinister than it turns out to be so everything just seemed a little off kilter when I was reading. 

My Recommendation:
Overall I enjoyed the story and I'm glad I read it but at the end of the day I probably wouldn't recommend it when asked for my opinion.

Review: Something Like Gravity by Amber Smith

https://www.readingwithmonie.com/2019/05/review-something-like-gravity-by-amber.html