Category: Book Reviews

Book Rant: The Unbroken by C. L. Clark

Dini @ dinipandareads7 Comments

The Ubroken (Magic of the Lost #1)
Publisher: Orbit
Pub Date: 23 March 2021
Genre: Adult Fantasy

Panda Rating:

(2.5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

Touraine is a soldier. Stolen as a child and raised to kill and die for the empire, her only loyalty is to her fellow conscripts. But now, her company has been sent back to her homeland to stop a rebellion, and the ties of blood may be stronger than she thought.

Luca needs a turncoat. Someone desperate enough to tiptoe the bayonet’s edge between treason and orders. Someone who can sway the rebels toward peace, while Luca focuses on what really matters: getting her uncle off her throne.

Through assassinations and massacres, in bedrooms and war rooms, Touraine and Luca will haggle over the price of a nation. But some things aren’t for sale. .

⚠️ CONTENT WARNINGS

Slavery, racism, use of slurs, attempted rape (recounted), present threats of rape, anxiety attack, blood depiction, amputation & loss of limb, cannibalism, attempted murder, gun violence, execution by hanging, rebellion, colonialism & war themes, animal death, animal attack

I’d like to preface this book rant by saying that I normally keep my negative reviews to my social reading platforms (i.e. Goodreads and Storygraph) because I want to keep my blog a more positive space. It’s been a minute since I’ve felt so… Frustrated and disappointed by a book that I was so looking forward to, and I just needed to get it out, so here I am with this “rant”. 😅 I tried to tone myself down, but this is definitely still a long read. I was clearly feeling the feels right after finishing this read (which is when I wrote this down). Please excuse errors/redundancies due to being in the thick of my feels, lol! 🤭

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Book Review: The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 1 by Beth Brower

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The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 1 (The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion #1)
Publisher: Rhysdon Press
Pub Date: 5 November 2019
Genre: Historical Fiction Novella

Panda Rating:

(4.5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

“I’ve arrived in London without incident. There are few triumphs in my recent life, but I count this as one. My existence of the last three years has been nothing but incident.”

The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighborhood of St. Crispian’s. But Emma’s plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian’s. Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.

Okay, I’m not gonna lie, I was dubious at first about how much everyone seemed to love this novella. Sure, I giggled a few times at the start, but nothing was really grabbing me and soon, I was convinced that this would be a somewhat forgettable “okay” read. Then suddenly, somewhere around the halfway point of the story, I felt this overwhelming rush of affection for Miss Emma M. Lion. Needless to say, I ate the rest of this up and wound up loving it so much that I need to get my hands on Vol. 2 immediately!

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Book Review: Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

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Cemetery Boys (Cemetery Boys #1)
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Pub Date: 1 September 2020
Genre: YA Paranormal/Urban Fantasy

Panda Rating:

(4 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.

When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie up some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

⚠️ CONTENT WARNINGS

Transmisia, deadnaming & misgendering, gender dysphoria, parental abandonment recounted, disownment and child homelessness, blood (animal & human) depiction & use of blood for magic and in rituals, dead bodies, grief & loss depiction, death of parents recounted, disappearance of a loved one, murder & attempted murder, knife violence & stabbing

TL;DR: Cemetery Boys had me going through the full spectrum of emotions. I laughed, cried, got happy, mad, sad, and frustrated, but in the end, my heart was so full because of the characters in this book! This story was rich in culture and heart, and it’s about family both blood and found, identity and belonging. Yadriel, Julian, and our favourite cousin to ever exist, Maritza, were wonderful characters who were so easy to empathise with. If you need comfort and a gentle place to land, this story will take you there! 💜

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Book Review: Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce

Dini @ dinipandareads14 Comments

Dungeons and Drama (Gaming and Romance #1)
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pub Date: 9 January 2024
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Panda Rating:

(4.5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

When it comes to romance, sometimes it doesn’t hurt to play games. A fun YA romcom full of fake dating hijinks!

Musical lover Riley has big aspirations to become a director on Broadway. Crucial to this plan is to bring back her high school’s spring musical, but when Riley takes her mom’s car without permission, she’s grounded and stuck with the worst punishment: spending her after-school hours working at her dad’s game shop.

Riley can’t waste her time working when she has a musical to save, so she convinces Nathan—a nerdy teen employee—to cover her shifts and, in exchange, she’ll flirt with him to make his gamer-girl crush jealous.

But Riley didn’t realize that meant joining Nathan’s Dungeons & Dragons game… or that role playing would be so fun. Soon, Riley starts to think that flirting with Nathan doesn’t require as much acting as she would’ve thought.

⚠️ CONTENT WARNINGS

Parental health scare (a parent has a heart attack, off-page)

TL;DR: It has been a hot minute since I’ve read a YA contemporary that I genuinely enjoyed as much as I did Dungeons and Drama. It was such a feel good, wholesome and perfectly adorkable YA contemporary! Was it perfect? No. But is it fun, entertaining, and probably perfect for theatre geeks and gamer nerds both young and old? If you’re looking for a good time then absolutely, yes! This is a book my younger self would’ve obsessed over and I wish that I had a cousin/niece/nephew/friend’s kid who was a young reader that I could recommend this to. I understand why so many readers have loved this book (and the others in this series)!

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Blog Tour Review: Dungeons & Dimwits by James Mascia

Dini @ dinipandareads9 Comments

Happy Thursday, friends! I’m here today as part of the blog tour hosted by Toppling Stacks Tours for Dungeons & Dimwits by James Mascia and illustrated by Xoana Kodaris, and I’ll be sharing my thoughts on this new debut graphic novel.

Thanks to Dren Productions for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Click the banner above or here to check out the other incredible bloggers on the blog tour!

Dungeons & Dimwits: Issue 1
Publisher: Dren Productions
Publication Date: 3 February 2025
Genre: MG Fantasy Graphic Novel

Rating:

(4 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

What happens when the game your playing goes completely out of control?

That’s what happens when a group of friends are playing their latest role-playing game. The game takes over and the players suddenly find themselves in their character’s shoes and fighting for their lives.

A little Jumanji with a Critical Role theme that pokes fun at TTRPGs and the people who play them.

Dungeons & Dimwits takes all the funny, quirky, humorous (and sometimes kinda screwed up) things that happen when we play our tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) and puts them into stories. If you you play these games, and don’t see yourself in here somewhere, you aren’t playing correctly.

📚 BUY A COPY
⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Blood, death, violence

Dungeons & Dimwits was a highly entertaining MG graphic novel! Here we have a group of friends who magically get sucked into their TTRPG and they wind up assuming their character roles in a fantastical game world facing monsters, baddies, and other dangers of their creation. It gave Stranger Things x Jumanji x Delicious in Dungeon (the battles specifically) x Dungeon Crawler Carl (but for a younger audience). If you like the sound of all of the above, then I would recommend checking it out. Much like the group in Stranger Things, this group of friends will bicker constantly over how to do every little thing, but there’s never any doubt about them always being in each other’s corner, no matter what happens.

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Blog Tour Review: Hollow Magic by Mars Lauderbaugh

Dini @ dinipandareads4 Comments

Happy Thursday, friends! I’m here today as part of the blog tour hosted by Toppling Stacks Tours for Hollow Magic by Mars Lauderbaugh, and I’ll be sharing my thoughts on this new debut graphic novel.

Thanks to Feiwel & Friends for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Click the banner above or here to check out the other incredible bloggers on the blog tour!

Hollow Magic
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: 11 August 2026
Genre: YA Fantasy Graphic Novel
Rep: Queer, LGBTQ+, Trans

Rating:

(3 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

Seventeen-year-old Rosefinch has been traveling along the weather-beaten coast for two years on a quest to find a witch strong enough to help her control her magic. Her magic is volatile, hard to wield, and Rosefinch is tired of the pain of magical backlash. When she’s directed to the sea-side village of Harp, she discovers the ancient castle of a long-lost Witch Queen with the inhabitants long gone; the only remaining soul is a knight encased in solid ice guarding the door.

When she attempts to lift the curse, she frees Thierry, a human with no memory of who they are, wrapped in cursed magic so strong that they cannot leave the castle. Thierry is soft spoken, strong, and in possession of a fey sword that should be impossible for them to have. But they have secrets of their own, as do other members of the Harp family still hidden within the walls.

Harp castle was left in ruins for a reason, and Rosefinch must find a way to cure the curse or lose Thierry—and the chance to learn the truth about the Witch Queen—forever.

📚 BUY A COPY
⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Blood, murder (recounted)

TL;DR: Overall, I thought Hollow Magic was a good debut graphic novel with a beautiful art style that helped bring the story to life. I would be curious to see what the author comes out with next! Check this out if you’re looking for a light(ish), easy-to-breeze-through, low-angst graphic novel featuring magic, witches, fey, and found family.

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Mini Book Review: Nine Goblins by T. Kingfisher

Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

Nine Goblins
Publisher: Titan Books
Pub Date: 20 January 2026
Genre: Cosy Fantasy

Panda Rating:

(4.5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes Nine Goblins, a tale of low fantasy and high mischief.

No one knows exactly how the Goblin War began, but folks will tell you that goblins are stinking, slinking, filthy, sheep-stealing, henhouse-raiding, obnoxious, rude, and violent. Goblins would actually agree with all this, and might throw in “cowardly” and “lazy” too for good measure.

But goblins don’t go around killing people for fun, no matter what the propaganda posters say. And when a confrontation with an evil wizard lands a troop of nine goblins deep behind enemy lines, goblin sergeant Nessilka must figure out how to keep her hapless band together and get them home in one piece.

Unfortunately, between them and safety lies a forest full of elves, trolls, monsters, and that most terrifying of creatures…a human being.

⚠️ CONTENT WARNINGS

Mass murder (including animal deaths, all occurring off-page but described on-page when discovered), displacement

Must protect the goblins at all costs!!! Oh, this cosy fantasy novella was just so freaking adorable and I adored it to bits! I love Kingfisher’s books so much. She never fails to deliver a freaking good, weird and quirky time, and Nine Goblins was no different.

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Book Review: Of Owls and Oolong by Shari L. Tapscott

Dini @ dinipandareads7 Comments

Owls and Oolong (Owls, Tea Shops, and Other Magical Nuisances #1)
Pub Date: 22 August 2025
Genre: Cosy Fantasy/Paranormal Romance

Panda Rating:

(3.75 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

The author of A Vampire’s Guide to Gardening and Obsidian Queen brings you a lighthearted fantasy full of humor and romance, set in a cozy contemporary fae town. Welcome to Moss Hollow.

There are three things you need to know about my great aunt—she’s eccentric, she’s rich, and she’s dead. No, make that four things. She also named me as the sole beneficiary of her fortune. There are, however, a few stipulations.

1. I must move into her cottage in Moss Hollow, Vermont—a magical community that values tradition and tourists.
2. I must keep her beloved tea shop open and running for at least three years.
3. I must take care of her tiny owl, a prickly creature by the name of Rowan. He’s moody, opinionated, and he used to be a mage.

He doesn’t like me, he doesn’t like my dog, and he really doesn’t like the handsome fae councilman who starts hanging around as soon as I arrive in town.

But for a small fortune, Rowan and I are going to learn to coexist long enough for me to figure out how to turn him back into his normal self with my “cute and worthless” pixie magic—preferably before he ruins my dating life or drives me insane.

Owls, Tea Shops, and Other Magical Nuisances is a rom-com style contemporary fantasy. The perfect lighthearted escape, this story is sure to delight readers who enjoy cozy magic and humor.

The books in this series feature smoldering-but-sweet, closed-door romance. (Passionate kisses and some innuendo, but no spicy scenes.)

⚠️ CONTENT WARNINGS

Death of a loved one (off-page, recounted)

TL;DR: This was really cute and cosy — perfect for those who want a funny, low-angst, charming, and whimsical fantasy read with a touch of romance! I can’t say that I was a big fan of the main love interest, but it’s clear that we’re veering into some kind of love-triangle territory here and to be honest, I’m not totally here for it because I know who I want the FMC to choose. 🤣 This has great small-town vibes, even though I wished that we got to explore the history a bit more. Hopefully, we’ll get that as the series continues and Kit settles in. Overall though, this was a quick and easy read, plus I really enjoyed the audiobook!

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Book Review: Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

Dini @ dinipandareads4 Comments

Wild Dark Shore
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Pub Date: 4 March 2025
Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Mystery/Climate Fiction

Panda Rating:

(4.75 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A storm gathering force.

Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny weather-lashed island that is home to the world’s largest seed bank. As Shearwater risks being lost to rising sea levels, the island’s researchers have fled, and only the Salts remain.

Until, during the worst storm in living memory, a stranger washes ashore. The family nurse the woman, Rowan, back to strength, but it seems she isn’t telling the whole truth about why she’s there. And when Rowan stumbles upon sabotaged radios and a recently dug grave, she realises that she’s not the only one on the island with a secret.

A novel of breathtaking twists, dizzying beauty and ferocious love, Wild Dark Shore is about the impossible choices we make to protect the people we love.

⚠️ CONTENT WARNINGS

Blood, detailed description of wounds, adult/minor relationship, infidelity, deaths of loved ones (spouse, partner, sibling), suicide (on page, recounted), suicide ideation, grief, drowning (of a child, recounted), severe climate anxiety, wildfire (recounted), attempted murder, imprisonment, physical abuse, grooming

TL;DR: This book took me completely by surprise. Although it has a relatively ‘violent’ beginning, it is a slow burn. There are so many secrets and somewhat poor communication (or just choosing not to communicate really), but let me say the payoff was worth the journey. I found this to be such a beautiful character driven story that is about so many things—parenthood, motherhood, coming-of-age, love, climate change, a bone deep appreciation of mother nature, biodiversity, and the planet we inhabit. There are definitely parts where you have to suspend your disbelief, but I was fully into it and found that those parts didn’t bother me at all. If you’re willing to be patient and allow yourself to sink into the bones of this story, I really wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.

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Blog Tour Review: The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue by Zoulfa Katouh

Dini @ dinipandareads4 Comments

Hi friends, I’m excited to be back with a blog tour review today! I’m here to share my thoughts (and a few favourite quotes) as part of the blog tour hosted by Toppling Stacks Tours for The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue by Zoulfa Katouh.

Thanks to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Click the banner above or here to check out the other incredible bloggers on the blog tour!

The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: 2 June 2026
Genre: YA Contemporary

Rating:

(4.75 pandas rounded up)

📖 SYNOPSIS

From the celebrated author of As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow comes a poignant novel about a Syrian American girl who uses a magical sketchbook to turn her grief into art, painting miraculous murals of her mother’s life in Syria.

Seventeen-year-old Jihad Dabbagh has always seen life with a heightened sense for colors, one of many magical blessings the women in her family possess. But Jihad’s gift changes depending on her mood. When depression sets in, the world is a colorless oasis, and in the wake of her mother’s sudden death, the world has become a permanent shade of grey.

Broken by tragedy, Jihad’s family doesn’t believe her color loss. Her father sends her to the elite Braxton Academy to finish her senior year. There, Jihad’s name and hijab put a target on her back. Her haven comes in the form of an old sketchbook carved from a tree in her hometown in Syria—a country she only knew through her mother’s stories. Jihad hasn’t picked up a brush in over a year, but finds herself channeling the colors of her hurt, pain, and grief as she paints the story of her mother’s journey in Syria.

When graffiti of that same mural starts magically popping up all over New York, her art goes viral and the world takes notice, the threat of legal consequences is imminent. To reclaim her voice, Jihad will have to paint a new future for herself and Braxton, guided by the resilience of her mother’s story.

📚 BUY A COPY
⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Classism, Murder (mentioned briefly in recounting)

OK, honestly, I do think this is a solid 5-star read, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about how I wanted certain parts of that ending to be a little bit different—and it has been nagging at me since I finished this—so I’m giving it a 4.75. 🤭 That doesn’t really make it any less of a 5-star quality read, though, and it is also one of my favourite YA contemporaries in a long time!

TL;DR: The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue enraged me. It filled me with sorrow and sadness, and maybe even a lottle bit of hatred, but it also infused me with hope. I lost track of the number of times I cried while reading this—tears of anger and frustration at injustices, tears of grief and sorrow, and also tears of joy for true and simple kindnesses that were healing. Jihad and Jamie were complex and wonderfully crafted characters and I loved the friendship that grew between them. By the end of this review, you’ll definitely be able to tell that this book made me feel MANY things. 😂 This was another stunning novel by Katouh and it has solidified her in my YA auto-buy authors list, because even if her stories always gut me, she always manages to soothe my heart by the time we reach the last page. What a gift!

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