General Books / WWW Wednesday

#WWWWednesday: 29 January 2025

Dini @ dinipandareads31 Comments

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:

  1. What did you read last?
  2. What are you currently reading?
  3. What will you read next?

We’ve come to the final week of January and how?! 🫣 Since last week I’ve surprisingly finished six books and there was a whole lot of romance!

Claimed by the Horde King (Horde Kings of Dakkar #2) by Zoey Draven ★★★½
As you can see, I’m continuing with these Zoey Draven books because they’re so much fun. I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first because I felt some elements went unresolved but overall, I loved how much angstier and more intense the sexual tension was. I can’t wait to read more!

I Am Not Jessica Chen by Ann Liang ★★★★½
My favourite read of the past week. This was my first Ann Liang and it won’t be my last. I can see now why her YA contemporaries are so highly recommended! This one was painfully relatable and I loved it. [CHECK OUT MY REVIEW!]

Gifted to His Dad by J. Wilder
I don’t know how this came on my radar or why I even picked it up but the author delivers on the premise. I had quite a giggle at some of the reviews about this because nothing from the title to the cover to the synopsis makes it unclear what this erotic taboo romance is about. And yet people are surprised and upset about it? Hmm… 🙃

Captive by the Horde King (Horde Kings of Dakkar #1) by Zoey Draven ★★★★☆
This was my first book by Zoey Draven and it won’t be my last! This book was a fantastically sexy alien romance romp and I had a blast reading it. The sexual tension and angst are top-notch and the dynamic between characters was entertaining. I gobbled it up!

Church Girl by Naima Simone ★★★★☆
This was such a fun and sexy read! I liked both of our characters and their personal journey getting to where they needed to be to appreciate each other. Von was shockingly abrasive at the start and I wasn’t sure how to feel about him, much like Aaliyah felt, but I ended up having such respect for him. Von and Liyah had great chemistry! This makes me excited to try more by Simone in the future 🙂

Sweet & Bitter Magic by Adrienne Tooley ★★★☆☆
This was the first Owlcrate group read with Leslie, Ali and Julie! This started off strong for all of us and while we all enjoyed it, we did so to varying degrees. Overall, this had the potential to be great but that ending had too many plot holes and the logic wasn’t logic-ing. It was very frustrating!

Listen for the Lie ⇢ 69% ⇢ I can’t believe I considered putting this aside when the first few pages didn’t hook me! Though once I got to the first podcast episode I thought to try the audiobook and I’m so glad I did.

I’m eating this up and I think it’ll be my January fave! It’s just so good. I have so many theories—most of them are probs wrong cos I’m notoriously poor at guessing whodunit—but I’m having so much fun trying to figure it out! Lucy’s dark/morbid dry humour is amazing.

I’ve got quite a few ARCs to read for February and since I completed all my January ARCs, I hope to keep on track for February! 🤞🏽

In A Rush by Kate Canterbary, The Forest King’s Daughter by Elly Blake, Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli, Reign of the Talon by Sophie Kim, The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

What are you currently reading? I hope you’re enjoying whatever book you’ve picked up, friends!

31 thoughts on “#WWWWednesday: 29 January 2025”

  1. Such a great reading week!! I am bummed that Sweet & Bitter Magic wasn’t a better read for us! I am glad we finally read it though. YES, for Listen for the Lie. I’m so glad you are enjoying it so much!! I loved it and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts after. I hope you have an amazing week, Dini! ❤

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    • Yeah, I’m bummed our first group read wasn’t a massive banger for all of us but I hpoe the next one will be better! 😃 I ended up finishing Listen for the Lie last night and I loved it so much. Definitely my favourite read of January (and likely my last January read too, lol).

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    • Hey Samy, I’ve been trying to comment on your post but it keeps saying spamming or javascript isn’t enabled and that’s not the case so I’m not sure what’s wrong. But here’s what I was trying to say:

      My colleague has been urging me to try RDR but I’m hesitant about getting it on Switch. Will have to see if there’s a demo or something that I can try! You’re the second blogger I’ve seen mention that Starlight Heir isn’t that great so I think I’ll be taking it off the TBR cos it doesn’t sound like it’ll be worth buying. What a bummer cos that cover is stunning! Behooved is another title that I’m really looking forward to this year and I hope that it’s better than Starlight, lol. Happy reading!

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  3. In the last week I finished
    Dark Hope by Christine Feehan. Claiming Cure by Cynthia Sax.
    The Legend of Scorpio by Eve Langlais.
    I’m currently reading Guarding Autumn by Kaylea Cross. Good to see her back after her year out whilst at University
    Next up will be Arrival, the new Veronica Scott
    Gill

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  7. Hahaha. You got me curious so I checked out some of the reviews for Gifted to his Dad and have to agree with you. What were these people expecting? You don’t even have to read the blurb, the title alone tells you what this book is about.

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  8. I actually just finished Pride or Die by CL Montblanc today, but my WWW Wednesday post has it as “currently reading” 😂

    I’m looking forward to reading I Am Not Jessica Chen! You should read I Hope This Doesn’t Find You (also by Ann Liang) next; it was such a cute book 🩷✉️

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  9. Wow well done for reading so much. I’m glad you enjoyed your first Ann Liang book so much. I’m curious about both of her 2025 releases and really want to pick up I Hope This Doesn’t Find You given the enemies to lovers dynamic and rave reviews I’ve seen around for it. I’m sorry to hear about Sweet & Bitter Magic. What other owlcrate books are you planning to buddy read? It’s wonderful that you’ve found a new author too and are loving Listen To The Lie so much. I’ve seen a lot of praise for it and am really hoping to pick it up this year too.

    Good luck keeping up with your arcs and I hope you have a lovely week.

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    • Ooh, that’s the next Ann Liang book that I hope to pick up because I’ve heard so many good things about it and I already have it (it’s actually on my desk next to me as I type this, lol). But I’ve also been recommended her fantasy A Song to Drown Rivers and I can’t wait to check it out cos I do love a good emotional read! 😆

      Our next Owlcrate read is going to be Four Dead Queens and I’m looking forward to it. I actually can’t remember hearing much about it in the book community but it was released ages ago. I hope it’ll be good. 😊

      Also, if you do end up listening to or reading Listen to the Lie, I hope you love it! Do you like audiobooks? If so, I would definitely recommend it cos it really amped up my reading experience! It was so good and my January book of the month. Happy reading and I hope you’ve had a good week and will have a great one ahead! ✨

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      • I really hope you enjoy it whenever you get around to it. It sounds like a really good contemporary, especially given all of the praise its received. Ooh I loved that one. It was really good and definitely ticked that emotional box. Whichever you end up reading first I hope you enjoy it.

        Ooh yay I’ve read that one and actually really enjoyed it. I’ll have to watch out for your thoughts on it but I hope it goes well 🥰

        Thank you. It’s a format I haven’t really tried but would like to try and get into. Especially as everyone seems to be recommending it lately 😂 Is that because of the podcast being involved? Because I can definitely see how hearing it could add to the reading experience. Oh yay that’s wonderful to hear. Thank you 🥰 I hope you have as well and have a wonderful week too ❤️

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