Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon

Hey reader friends.  I'm sure many of you have heard of Dewey's 24 hour readathon! This weekend they're having their spring readathon and I'm joining in the fun.  One of the book groups I'm in is also having a 24 in 48 readathon this weekend, so I'll have so much time to read.  

I've been debating for so long about which books I want to read.  I mean, where do you start when you have 24 hours to fill!  

I have a lot of books I've started that I'd like to either finish or make headway in this weekend.  So far, this is what is on my list: 

 

I also have some manga that I plan to check out from the library this week so I have something short and less intense to read.  

If you're doing the readathon, what do you have one your lists?  I'd love to know, so drop a link to your TBR in the comments below! 

Horrorstor - Grady Hendrix

 

Title: Horrorstor
Author: Grady Hendrix
Format: EBook
Rating: 5 Stars 

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Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, Ohio. Every morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring bookshelves, shattered Glans water goblets, and smashed Liripip wardrobes. Sales are down, security cameras reveal nothing, and store managers are panicking.

To unravel the mystery, three employees volunteer to work a nine-hour dusk-till-dawn shift. In the dead of the night, they’ll patrol the empty showroom floor, investigate strange sights and sounds, and encounter horrors that defy the imagination.

A traditional haunted house story in a thoroughly contemporary setting, Horrorstör is designed to retain its luster and natural appearance for a lifetime of use. Pleasingly proportioned with generous French flaps and a softcover binding, Horrorstör delivers the psychological terror you need in the elegant package you deserve.

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This was the first book I've read by Grady Hendrix, and I really didn't know what to expect when I started.  I ended up loving the book more than I thought I would.  I say that because I don't read a lot of out and out horror books.  So, when I do read them I don't really know what's going to happen.  

I got sucked into this book from the start.  The writing was good enough to make me want to keep going, and the humor at the beginning of the book had me laughing out loud.  I loved the way the characters in this book played off each other throughout the entire story.  I think that the characters fit well into this book based on their personalities, and each character was so well written that I could see them being part of a horror story, to be honest. 

The characters were so well written, and even though it was a short book in the fact that most of it was over a 24 hour period, Amy did a lot of growing and self searching in the book and came to a lot of realizations about herself.  Much of that was thanks to Ruth Ann being so blunt with Amy about her attitude and behavior. It was good to see that Amy developed and matured through the event in this book. She really came to realize that it was important to care about people besides herself, no matter what position she was at in life.

I won't say that this book was realistic, but the way it was written made the outrageous events of the story flow together so well.  Let's be honest here - how many times do we read a horror book, or watch a horror movie, and think "Right, that could never happen in real life." It's not the realism that draws us in, it's the story, and this story drew me in.  It packed a punch, and made me sit up and go "Oh," more than once. 

The characters really developed a bond with each other in this book as well, although the end did shake that up a bit.  Going through a traumatic event like what happened in this book tends to bond people in some way. I think that was the right way to develop the characters, because they couldn't have gone through that without some sort of connection.

This book had what you would typically expect in a horror book as well.  Lots of blood and gore, plenty of surprises and twists, and  the bonus of some comedic moments thrown in near the beginning of the book. The events of the book, shocking though they were, fit well together, and the backstory added even more to the events that take place in the night that the story takes place.

Have you read this book yet? If so drop me a comment below and let me know what you thought!

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - V.E. Schwab

 

Title: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue 
Author: V.E. Schwab
Format: Audiobook
Rating: 5 Stars 

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A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget.

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name. 

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This book wrecked me in a thousand different directions. It is an amazing, wonderful book that is filled with so much heartache, and I loved every single page. 

Addie makes a deal with a "god" that makes her immortal yet completely forgettable. She cannot leave her mark on this world in any way. She cannot write, she cannot create art, whoever she meets forgets her with minutes of leaving her.  Henry comes into her life after 300 years of being forgotten, and he remembers her. This leads to a tragic story that I secretly hoped would turn out differently.  

Addie lived a remarkable life in many ways, but it was also heartbreaking and sad, and leaves her making decisions and choices she might not have made if she hadn't been immortal and also backed into a corner.  She meets the darkness, names him Luc, and spends time thinking about him, yet wishing she could forget him. Although she seems to wish she could forget him, I think she wants him in a weird twisted Alina/Darkling type relationship. Watching this relationship between Luc and Addie develop was weird and strange and amazing. 

Watching Addie grow and develop and change over the course of 300 years was the best part of this book, especially since every other part of this book is tied up in Addie's life and the changes she goes through. She spends an eternity coming to terms with what happened and who this new her is. She meets people who forget her, until she meets one who remembers her. She sees war, and famine, and destruction, and new life, and new inventions, and they all become part of who she is and who she will be.  I loved watching and reading about all of that and loved seeing how it became a part of her and who she is. 

I absolutely loved the surprise that met Addie when she realized that Henry remembers who she is.  She tried to steal book, then tried to return the stolen book and that ended up chancing her entire life.  Henry and Addie ended up developing a relationship with each other over the remainder of the book, and that relationship added to Addie's life and changed and altered her trajectory in massive ways. I had high hopes for this relationship, and I was crushed when the book went in a different direction.

The events in this story weaved seamlessly together.  The whole story and everything that happened moved together to created a book that I won't soon forget. There were some things that were easier to figure out, and some things that shocked me and made me want to throw my phone across the room.  Even when I was mad, and sad, and annoyed with Addie and with Henry, I still loved every single heartbreaking, lovely part of this book. I loved it so much I've now described it as heartbreaking more than once.  Sorry friends. And yet, not sorry. 

I think the dual timeline also worked very well with this book. It helped give us some insight into Addie's past, and helped us see the development of her character, as well as the development of the relationship between her and Luc.  That played well into giving some understanding as to why the book ended the way it did.  I didn't love the way the book ended - it was hard and I cried. But after watching the way that Addie and Luc were with each other throughout the entirety of the book, I sort of understand it. 

So, friends, have any of you read this book yet? If so, drop me a comment and let me know what you thought of it.  If you haven't read it yet, get your hands on it now -  you'll love it!

Get a Life, Chloe Brown - Talia Hibbert

 

Title: Get a Life, Chloe Brown 
Author: Talia Hibbert
Format: Paperback
Rating: 4 Stars 

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Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. The next items?

• Enjoy a drunken night out.
• Ride a motorcycle.
• Go camping.
• Have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex.
• Travel the world with nothing but hand luggage.
• And... do something bad.

But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job.

Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at night and hides his work in the light of day, which Chloe knows because she spies on him occasionally. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit.

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…

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Get a Life, Chloe Brown is one of those cute romances that leaves you feeling like you're being hugged by the main characters.  

Chloe, the MC, is a guarded woman who struggles to open up to people outside her family. Red, the dude, struggles to open up as well.  In spite of that, they form a relationship that starts out mostly for convenience, but develops into a smooshy real romance that gives you all the feels. 

I liked that Chloe and her sisters had such a great relationship with each other. They were so cool, and cute, and great to and with each other.  Their relationship was also so important to the story because it showed a part of who Chloe was and helped her grow and realize what she needed and wanted in her life. 

It was fun to watch the development of Red and Chloe's relationship. I never did figure out why Chloe was so....frosty towards Red at the beginning of the novel, so I can only imagine that it just takes her a while to warm up to new people. And once she did, boy did she ever.  She and Red had a weird relationship at first. She was so intent on only having him there to help her with her list.  Then it developed into actual feelings, which led to confusion and a fight and all sorts of typical relationship frustration.  This was expected as part of a romance novel, and based on the characters and what had happened in their past's it was understandable. Each character had things revealed about themselves that made who they are currently believable. 

I think the author did a great job of building up these characters, giving them their personhoods, their personalities, their own lives. All the characters were well written and wonderful. They fit into this story so well.  The only thing I would have like to see more of was Chloe's parents, only because they said their family was so close, but then she hardly ever sees them after she moves. 

The story was cute and well written. I loved the events of the story and laughed so hard throughout the entire book. This book had some great sizzly moments as well, and did a great job of building up the obvious sexual tension between Red and Chloe. They were obviously actually attracted to each other even though they tried to hide it for a while. 

Overall, this romance book hits the mark. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a fun and fluffy romance book with great characters and a fun story!