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2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (Hosted by Yours Truly)

My Progress:


29 / 30 books. 97% done!

2024 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama (1)
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas (1)
- California (7)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut (1)
- Delaware (1)
- Florida (1)
- Georgia (2)
- Hawaii (1)
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois (3)
- Indiana (4)
- Iowa (1)
- Kansas (1)
- Kentucky (1)
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland (1)
- Massachusetts (2)
- Michigan (1)
- Minnesota (1)
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri (1)
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska (1)
- Nevada (2)
- New Hampshire (1)
- New Jersey (1)
- New Mexico (1)
- New York (7)
- North Carolina (4)
- North Dakota
- Ohio (2)
- Oklahoma (1)
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania (2)
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota (1)
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (4)
- Utah (2)
- Vermont (2)
- Virginia (2)
- Washington (2)
- West Virginia (1)
- Wisconsin (1)
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.* (2)

International:
- Australia (2)
- Bolivia (1)
- Canada (3)
- China (1)
- England (19)
- France (1)
- Ghana (1)
- Indonesia (1)
- Ireland (4)
- Italy (1)
- Poland (1)
- Russia (1)
- Scotland (3)
- The Netherlands (1)

My Progress:


51 / 51 states. 100% done!

2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


41 / 50 books. 82% done!

2024 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


35 / 50 books. 70% done!

Booklist Queen's 2024 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

2024 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


50 / 52 books. 96% done!

2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


35 / 40 books. 88% done!

2024 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge


16 / 40 books. 40% done!

2024 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


21 / 25 books. 84% done!

2024 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

2024 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge

My Progress


16 / 26.2 miles (3rd lap). 61% done!

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

My Progress


35 / 100 books. 35% done!

2024 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


90 / 104 books. 87% done!

Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

My Progress


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

Disney Animated Movies Reading Challenge

My Progress


123 / 165 books. 75% done!

The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge

My Progress:


73 / 100 names. 73% done!
Saturday, December 12, 2020

Snowy Thriller Doesn't Quite Live Up to the Promise of Its Premise

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

A student at a special arts high school in San Diego, 18-year-old Mira Hayes is heading home to Pittsburgh to spend the holidays with her mother.  Christmas Day will be the first anniversary of her mom's twin sister's death and Mira knows her mom's anxiety and depression will be through the roof.  Mira needs to be there for her.  As her plane descends into Newark, however, Mira gets some bad news:  worsening winter weather has grounded all flights out.  Phoning home only increases her worry about her mother's mental health, so when Mira's glamorous seatmate from the plane offers her a ride home in the car she and some friends are renting, Mira accepts. 

It doesn't take many hours on the road for Mira to realize that something is not right with the situation.  Not only are her four fellow passengers not friends with each other, but they're actually complete strangers.  As the weather grows increasingly stormy and important items—like cell phones and laptops—go missing from the car, Mira finds herself more and more cut off from the outside world with people she's finding harder and harder to trust.  With no way to contact her mother or anyone else, she's not just nervous, she's terrified.  Discovering alarming secrets about each of her traveling companions only increases her fear.  Although the storm outside is nasty and threatening, it's nothing compared to the danger Mira faces inside the car ...

The premise of Five Total Strangers, the newest YA novel by Natalie D. Richards, is a simple but compelling one.  When I first read the plot summary, I knew I had to read this book.  Unfortunately, the promise of the premise didn't pan out as well as I wanted it to.  The novel is definitely atmospheric, with a tense, unsettling vibe that makes the story deliciously suspenseful.  That's what kept me reading.  It certainly wasn't the characters, who are almost wholly unlikable.  As far as plot goes, the tale is engrossing and compelling, even if a lot of it feels contrived.  Not all of the plot elements make logical sense—some of them go nowhere at all while others never come full circle.  In spite of these irritants, Five Total Strangers sucked me in and kept me turning pages.  I didn't end up loving it like I wanted to, but I liked it well enough to keep reading.  Overall, it was just an okay read for me.     

(Readalikes:  Reminds me a bit of No Exit by Taylor Adams)

Grade:


If this were a movie, it would be rated:


To the FTC, with love:  I bought a copy of Five Total Strangers with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger.  Ha ha.

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Reading

<i>Reading</i>
Murder is Bad Manners by Robin Stevens

Listening

<i>Listening</i>
The Boy Who Cried Bear by Kelley Armstrong



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