Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
- What did you read last?
- What are you currently reading?
- What will you read next?
It has been another weird reading week and I still feel like I’ve not read anything but I finished five books? Good news is I’ve found my favourite of the month and a contender for one of my faves of the year! 🥳 Also, if you can’t tell by all the “RTCs” below, although I’ve been reading some I haven’t been doing my best when it comes to writing reviews… 🙈
The Hunter (Boston Belles #1) by L.J. Shen ★★★★☆
After reading my first Shen romance last week I went ahead and picked up another one of her books (as they’re all available on Kindle Unlimited) and sped through this one. I can understand when people say Shen’s books are formulaic as the H/H are almost carbon copies of the previous book I read of hers? That said, I liked Hunter and Sailor! Hunter was intensely douchey at the start but I enjoyed his ‘growing up’ and I loved how ‘take no shit’ Sailor was and how she stood up for Hunter against his shady ass family. There were definitely some corny and cliche moments but they were cute together!
The Villain (Boston Belles #2) by L.J. Shen ★★½
I thought I’d love this one the most since Cillian was the kind of broody/rude that intrigued me. In the end, Persy was the big surprise here–still a good girl, still ‘pure’ but she has a backbone! That said, there was such a lack of communication between them that it was unreal. I get Cillian’s reasons for being as he is and though his history was upsetting/sad I also thought that it was too much and not a great representation of someone with his condition (based on personal experience anyway). No spoilers though, so I won’t go on about it but ultimately, this didn’t end up working for me. I also don’t think I’ll continue with the story because these alpha-holes are getting too next level for my liking 😂 Series RTC.
Jade City (The Green Bone Saga #1) by Fonda Lee ★★★★★
Say hello to my favourite book of the month and a contender for one of the top spots this year (yes, I’m calling it early)! Wowow. This was a buddy read with Jess and we both LOVED it. We’re also both still devastated about one of the heart-stopping things that happened and Fonda Lee has now been placed on the list of authors that will shatter your feels. 😂 (Lol, seriously, she doesn’t play around!). I would 10/10 recommend the audiobook because the narrator was amazing and really brought the characters to life! We’ll be continuing Jade War when Jess gets her copy and I can’t wait! RTC.
He’s a Brute (Tough Love #1) by Chloe Liese ★★★☆☆
Liese’s Bergman Brothers series is one of my all-time fave romances and I’ve been keen to check out her earlier books ever since. Sadly, this one missed the mark for me. No questions, she does an amazing job with the disability rep and while BDSM isn’t really ‘my thing’ I appreciated the exploration of trust in a relationship like that. What lacked for me was the connection to the characters. I thought the romance was rushed and almost insta-lovey. I don’t think I’ll continue with the series.
Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas ★★★½
This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2021 and while I enjoyed parts of it, it pains me to say that I didn’t love it as much as I expected to (certainly not on the level of Cemetery Boys)! It’s a slow burn of a read and I enjoyed the mystery (Thomas still managed to good-shock me with that reveal towards the end!) but I didn’t feel connected to the characters. Check out my full review!
I actually have quite a few reads on at the moment 😂 Like, more than five? But the ones I’m focusing on right now are Rogue Protocol, Aurora Burning and Libertie (blog tour read). I’ll (hopefully) get back to the other two that I’ve got on after I finish these three. I’m focusing on Rogue Protocol right now (continued buddy read with Leslie!) and ah, how I’ve missed Murderbot 🖤
Some more upcoming blog tour reads… 😊
What’re you currently reading? Have you read any of these books or are they also on your TBR? Happy reading! 😍
dinipandareads 
You really have me anxious to pick up Jade City! It’s been on my TBR for a long time. I keep seeing great reviews for The Stolen Kingdom, too. Hope you love it!
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It’s so good, Ali! I would highly recommend the audiobook as it helped me digest the info better but also kept the pace up. There’s a lot of world-building which I can imagine getting overwhelming at times if I read only the physical book. But the narrator was also so good! I hope you enjoy it 😃
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Thanks for the heads up!!
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I’ve heard The Villain was NOT good. I will be curious about your series review.
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Yeah… It’s… I don’t know. Cillian kept being such a huge alpha hole for almost the entirety of the story and it just made me wonder what the heck Persy saw in him and I felt the representation of Cillian’s issue pretty… Awful 😬 I was looking forward to his story so I’m quite sad it ended up being the way it was (also some seriously cringe-worthy moments like Beiber references during sex? LOL no plz🙈)
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I felt similarly about Lost in the Never Woods. It was fast and fun, but I was bored at times.
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Oh, goodie! I thought I was the only one who felt that way 😂 I’m sad I didn’t enjoy it more!
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I’m SO HAPPY you loved Jade City & can’t wait for you to start Jade War! Excited to read your thoughts on Stolen Kingdom because I’ve read some really mixed reviews for it so far! Hope you enjoy your reading Dini 😀
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Ooh, I actually haven’t seen any reviews about Stolen Kingdom! It sounds good but I don’t really have any expectations going into it so I’m hoping to be pleasantly surprised 😃
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I’m just about to start Jade City! Glad you enjoyed it.
here’s my WWW post
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I hope you enjoyed it!! 😍
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[…] Dini @ Dini Panda Reads […]
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What a shame that you didn’t love Lost in the Never Woods as much as you thought. D: I still need to pick that up, so I think I’ll maybe just lower my expectations a notch or two. Yay for Murderbot! Yay for Aurora Rising (and Kal’s sexy smolder). I really need to read The Green Bone Saga! I keep hearing such good things about it.
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I don’t know, Sammie. I seem to be in the minority with my feels about Lost in the Never Woods. I absolutely LOVED Cemetery Boys and I was ready for the same feels to hit me but I just never connected to Wendy or Peter. I hope you enjoy it though 😍 Also, YAS to the Green Bone Saga! I would defo recommend the audio for that one too cos it’s just *so good* 😃
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[…] Lines Friday: 26 MarchCover Reveal: Crave Thy Neighbor by Teagan HunterThe Spring Cleaning Book Tag#WWWWednesday: 24 MarchBlog Tour Review + Giveaway: Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas#TopTenTuesday: I Liked […]
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Glad you loved Jade City! I really need to try rereading that one because I was so ‘meh’ on it the first time around but I do think it could have been my mood.
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I would definitely recommend the audiobook if you want to try again because I don’t think I would’ve had the same reaction had I only stuck to reading the physical book. It’s pretty dense and the details can get pretty overwhelming at times but the audio did a great job of pulling me in! 😍
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Oh see, I had the opposite, I did the audio and I kept zoning out LOL. I think because of all the details I might do better with print for that one haha.
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OMG OMG OMG! You’re reading Aurora Burning!!!! Can’t wait to see what you thought of it. SO excited! 😍😍😍
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