Down the TBR Hole #37

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Hello Hello! How are you?

You might have noticed that last week I didn’t post a Down the TBR Hole, I was so busy and rushed off my feet that I decided to post a review instead, but I’m so glad I’m back to do my weekly purge because I missed it!

You know the drill if you’ve never read any of my Down the TBR Hole posts before but you want to find out why I started and what rules to follow to do your own TBR list purge on your Goodreads, head over to the first edition of this post to find out more!

This week’s post is going to be starting with my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf coming in at a total of 3,699 books, which is still really scary, to be honest. Today, as usual, I’m going to be looking through the next 20 books on this list and I’ll be starting at #324. Wish me luck!

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GOODREADS “WANT TO READ” SHELF

The Steep & Thorny Way by Cat Winters

This week I’m starting with a YA historical fiction retelling and you’ll be surprised to know that I’ve never seen or heard about this book before (you’re really surprised, aren’t you?). The blurb is really weird and vague, it hints at something that seems kind of good, but I really can’t tell much more than that because it’s such names of characters and one question.

REMOVE

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Tangled Webs (#1) by Lee Bross

Another YA historical fiction that I’m pretty sure is an unknown-to-me book again. I have to say, this one makes me think a lot of Pretty Little Liars but so much more too and I think I’m going to have to keep it on my list and read it! I’m not usually a fan of secrets and blackmail, but I’m really intrigued by this blurb!

KEEP

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Razorhurst by Justine Larbalestier

Another unknown-to-me YA historical fiction. I think we have found the bandwagon for this week! This cover looks super creepy though and it kind of reminds me of Sweeney Todd? Is that who I’m thinking of? No idea aha! However, the blurb is not very clear and I can’t really figure out what this book is about, so I think I’m going to let it go.

REMOVE

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A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller

I’m not going to keep repeating whether I’ve seen or heard of books before because it’s getting embarrassing, I’ll say if I have though. Another YA historical fiction and for some reason, I really hate the cover… this book is about a girl in 1909 who wants to be an artist and who fights against societal convention, in other words, this book was made for me and I think I can overlook the cover, just this once!

KEEP

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Endangered by Lamar Giles

This is a YA mystery, so YA might be the bandwagon this week actually and once again, I hate the cover. It’s a book about blackmail and secrets, but this one really doesn’t catch my fancy, so I’m going to be taking it off the list.

REMOVE

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Among the Red Stars by Gwen C. Katz

We are back to YA historical fiction and from the cover (that I’m not a fan of either), I can tell it’s going to be set during one of the world wars, which is actually one of my favourite settings from historical fiction novels. This blurb has completely won me over, it’s based on the true story of the Night Witches, a group of women pilots fighting against Nazis, I just have to keep this on the list!

KEEP

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A Change Is Gonna Come by Mary Bello

I feel like I have already heard about this book before, or maybe it’s a music title, I’m really bad with references lol. This is a YA short story anthology and I don’t like the cover, so obviously that’s another bandwagon I’m on today! Ohhh, this book sounds like a really interesting one though and since I have been looking for some more anthologies lately, I’m going to leave it on my list.

KEEP

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The Furies by Katie Lowe

This time we have a YA thriller, and guess what? I don’t like the cover, so either I’m being really picky this week, or they are all bad. I’m not usually a fan of thrillers, I don’t know why, they usually don’t do much for me, but… this one sounds absolutely amazing and just what I am in the mood for! I also love anything about witches and witchcraft, so that was a bonus point.

KEEP

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My Box-Shaped Heart by Rachael Lucas

Moving on to YA contemporary and I think this book is about sports, so I’m already a bit sceptical about it. I think I would have read this book a few years ago when I was still into YA, but it honestly does nothing for me now, so I’m going to get rid of it.

REMOVE

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Girls Can’t Hit by T.S. Easton

Another YA contemporary centred around sports, and from the cover, I’m thinking it’s about boxing. Again, another one of those books I would have surely read and enjoyed when I was a teenager, but I feel like I wouldn’t really like it now, so I’m going to let it go.

REMOVE

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Slay (#1) by Kim Curran

I feel like I know what this book is, but it’s not the cover I have seen so I’m wondering if it’s the same book or not… anyway, it’s YA fantasy which kind of surprises me from the cover, I thought it would be YA contemporary! It kind of sounds cool, but for the Ellie of the past, I don’t really feel like reading this one, so I’m going to be removing it from my list.

REMOVE

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The Twice-Lived Summer of Bluebell Jones by Susie Day

Now we are on to middle grade and I think it’s a contemporary. I usually like all kinds of middle grade books, but this one just doesn’t take my fancy and I think it would just bore me, so I’m going to let it go.

REMOVE

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Wasted by Nicola Morgan

Back on to YA with a romance book, this cover kind of scares me for some reason, and I really don’t like it either. I have no idea what this book is supposed to be about, the blurb didn’t sound like a romance story but I don’t like the sound of it anyway so I’m going to get rid of this book.

REMOVE

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One Seriously Messed-Up Week in the Otherwise Mundane and Uneventful Life of Jack Samsonite (#1) by Tom Clempson

I think I have heard of this book before, it’s YA contemporary with humour, which is not really my thing. I don’t like the sound of the blurb, it actually comes across as a bit presumptuous and I think it has some issues, so I’m going to let this book go.

REMOVE

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The Butterfly and the Flame by Dana De Young

What is it this week with awful covers? This is an LGBT science-fiction dystopia (which is a genre I usually really like), but the cover is giving me the creeps. But thankfully, the blurb actually sounds good, a bit of a mash-up of The Handmaid’s Tale and Divergent, I hope I can find another cover of this book because I’d like to read it.

KEEP

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All Good Children by Dayna Ingram

This is LGBT science fiction, so I think we have switched bandwagons now. Uhm….. kind of sounds like one of those weird books with a lot of issues and I don’t really fancy it, to be honest, the cover is also awful, so this is a thumbs down.

REMOVE

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The Quiet at the End of the World by Lauren James

Oh finally, a book that I have heard of before and seen! And we are back to the YA bandwagon, this is a science fiction story and I’m happy to report that I love the cover! This is set in the aftermath of a virus that caused infertility, so it might be a bit close to home to read at the minute, but strangely, I have been loving stories with pandemics and plagues (yes, I’m very weird). It sounds like something I would really enjoy though, so I’m excited to give it a go.

KEEP

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The Deepest Cut by Natalie Flynn

This is a YA book that once again, I hate the cover of. This is the kind of story I may have read as a teenager, but the blurb sadly does nothing for me today at all, and I’m going to let this one go so I can concentrate on other books that sound more like my thing.

REMOVE

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The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

And another book that I have heard of before (I mean, who hasn’t heard of Erin Morgenstern?) and thankfully, the cover is beautiful. It’s fantasy and I’ve heard so much about it. I tried reading The Night Circus last year and didn’t get on with it, but have wanted to try it again, and actually, this book sounds very much like what I love to read, I’ve been craving books more on the whimsical side, and I think this one is it.

KEEP

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Middlegame (#1) by Seanan McGuire

And we are finishing this week with a fantasy book that I’ve heard about so much, an author that I have already read and a cover that I don’t mind but don’t love either aha, this week’s post has been a strange one for sure. I read Every Heart a Doorway at the start of the year and really enjoyed it, and I have had this book on my list for a while. The blurb sounds really vague and kind of strange, but I do think I want to give this one a chance!

KEEP

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Well, out of the 20 books that I’ve looked through today, I was able to remove a total of 11 books, which is nowhere near my best, but I’m really happy because I found a load of really intriguing books that I probably would never have heard of if not for my mad adding sprees on Goodreads. There is a method to my madness you know.

I was able to get my Goodreads “Want to Read” list down to a total of 3,688 books and I’ll be starting next week’s post at #333 and I hope I’ll be able to remove a few more books.

That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed this post, see you soon, stay safe,

Ellie xx