Down the TBR Hole: Intro and #1

Lia at Lost in a Story created an awesome challenge: to weed out your Goodreads TBR pile one week at a time! See the full intro post and rules here.

Since my oldest TBRs are a lot of classics, I jumped to page 9, which was about mid-2012, and started axing from there.

Here's my first week of trimming my TBR:

1. Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts

Moments after several huge earthquakes shake every continent on Earth, something strange starts happening to some people. An inner rage has been released and some people cannot fight it. For those who can, life becomes an ongoing battle to survive - at any cost!

The Judgment: I literally can't fathom why this was on my TBR. GONE!

2. The Shattering by Karen Healey

Keri, Janna, and Sione have one thing in common: Their older brothers are dead. Each death was ruled a suicide, but there were no notes, no warnings, and no explanations.

So they've worked out a theory: Their brothers were murdered - and weren't the only victims.

As the search for the serial killer goes on, mysterious forces are unearthed and suspicion is cast on the those the three trust most. When secrets shatter around them, can they save the next victim? Or will they become victims themselves?

The Judgment: An LGBTQIA+ murder mystery? How the heck have I forgotten this? KEEP!

3. For the Win by Cory Doctorow

In the virtual future, you must organize to survive

At any hour of the day or night, millions of people around the globe are engrossed in multiplayer online games, questing and battling to win virtual "gold," jewels, and precious artifacts. Meanwhile, others seek to exploit this vast shadow economy, running electronic sweatshops in the world's poorest countries, where countless "gold farmers," bound to their work by abusive contracts and physical threats, harvest virtual treasure for their employers to sell to First World gamers who are willing to spend real money to skip straight to higher-level gameplay.

...

The ruthless forces arrayed against them are willing to use any means to protect their power—including blackmail, extortion, infiltration, violence, and even murder. To survive, Big Sister's people must out-think the system. This will lead them to devise a plan to crash the economy of every virtual world at once—a Ponzi scheme combined with a brilliant hack that ends up being the biggest, funnest game of all.

The Judgment: I love Cory Doctorow! KEEP!

4. Bad Kitty by Michele Jaffe

1Meet Jasmine, 2 forensic supersleuth, 3 aspiring Model Daughter, 4 and friend to animals. 5 One second she's trying to enjoy her Vegas Vacation, 6 the next she's tangled up in an outrageous adventure and has to outwit a crazed killer before he ends ten lives, one of them her own. 

The Judgment: Eew, sounds way too manic pixie dream girl. GONE!

5. Hana by Lauren Oliver

The summer before they're supposed to be cured of the ability to love, best friends Lena and Hana begin to drift apart. While Lena shies away from underground music and parties with boys, Hana jumps at her last chance to experience the forbidden. For her, the summer is full of wild music, dancing—and even her first kiss.

But on the surface, Hana must be a model of perfect behavior. She meets her approved match, Fred Hargrove, and glimpses the safe, comfortable life she’ll have with him once they marry. As the date for her cure draws ever closer, Hana desperately misses Lena, wonders how it feels to truly be in love, and is simultaneously terrified of rebelling and of falling into line.

The Judgment: Hana is like the least interesting character in a series I barely liked. No thanks, GONE!