Category: LGBTQ+

Book Review: Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

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: Hollow Magic by Mars Lauderbaugh

Dini @ dinipandareads3 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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Blog Tour Review: Forgive-Me-Not by Mari Costa

Dini @ dinipandareads8 Comments

Hi friends, I’m excited to be back for another blog tour today and this time it’s for an adorable new graphic novel! I’m here to share my thoughts as part of the blog tour hosted by Toppling Stacks Tours for Forgive-Me-Not by Mari Costa.

Thanks to First Second Books 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!

Forgive-Me-Not
Publisher: First Second Books
Publication Date: 14 April 2026
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Rep: LGBTQIA+, Queer

Rating:

(4.5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

A queer “enemies to lovers” journey of a lost princess and a changeling who was made to take the heir’s place as part of a fey scheme.

Aisling is many things to many people: princess, heir to the throne, teenage daughter of two loving parents… She’s also about to learn a lot more about herself: changeling. Fey creature. Hunted. Feared. Loved?

Forgive-Me-Not is the name given to the true princess — the lost teenage biological daughter to the king and queen, who’s grown up in the chaotic and untrustworthy realm of Faerie. When Forgive-Me-Not breaks into Aisling’s room the night before their 18 th birthday looking for revenge, the two embark on a long and arduous journey. And what starts as a confrontational and adversarial pairing grows into a bond of mutual understanding, friendship, and maybe something more…

📚 BUY A COPY
⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Kidnapping, torture (recounted), blood, murder, mild violence

TL;DR: Oh my, what an adorable feel-great graphic novel! This had the cheesiest ending but it still had me giggling and feeling a buoyant giddiness that left a big smile on my face long after I’d finished reading. This is a timeless fairytale where princess meets knight and they fall in love, but with a changeling twist and a sapphic bent that I loved.

The artwork was fantastic and complemented the story really well. I loved the contrast between the brighter spring palette human world and the darker autumnal palette of the faerie world. I think this contrast was also reflected well in the personalities between Aisling and Not. I loved the art style so much, with clean lines, intense colours, and very emotive character expressions and actions! There were some chibi-adjacent illustrations that I found adorable, and I particularly loved how the expressions in those scenes were conveyed too.

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Blog Tour Review: The Wicked Sea by Jordan Stephanie Gray

Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

Hi friends, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve done a tour (not since September 2025!), so 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 Wicked Sea by Jordan Stephanie Gray.

Thanks to Requited 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 Wicked Sea (The Wicked Sea #1)
Publisher: Requited
Publication Date: 7 April 2026
Genre: New Adult Fantasy Romance
Rep: LGBTQIA+, Pansexual

Rating:

(3.5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

In this dark and sultry romantasy a mermaid battles hatred—and lust—for the wretched warlock who saved her life.

Mermaid Zephyra of the Syl dreams of freedom. On the run from a dangerous captor and years of abuse, she’s shed her tail, grown legs, and hidden herself on land in the merrow-loathing kingdom of Mortia, left to steal and barter on the dirty streets. But her freedom is short-lived when she’s caught and sentenced to death by the brutal warlock, Arion Stone.

Arion is as beautiful as he is cold and deadly, only interested in punishing the merrow he views as evil. He has grown as strong as any warlock might, but at great personal cost…which can only be remedied by the heart of the God of Death, lost to a fabled kingdom beneath the ocean’s treacherous depths.

So Arion offers Zephyra a deal she can’t refuse; help him find the mystical heart, and he’ll spare her life. With no other options, Zephyra agrees, entangling their souls and forbidden desires in a magical bargain until death do they part. But Zephyra’s past is catching up to her, and the enemy she fled seeks vengeance. If Zephyra and Arion can’t learn to fight together–and trust each other–there are worse things awaiting them than just death.

Of course, in the wicked sea, everyone has secrets, and no one should be trusted.
For fans of: Enemies-to-lovers, Magic Sensual Bonds, Winged Romantic Lead, Forced Proximity

📚 BUY A COPY
⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Imprisonment, graphic descriptions of torture, gore, dismemberment, blood, violence, death, and murder

TL;DR: The Wicked Sea is a fun fantasy romance featuring killer mermaids and warlocks, a steamy enemies-to-lovers romance, and a thrilling race against time across this world, trailed by powerful and deadly enemies. Don’t let this (beautiful) pastel cover fool you—this story gets dark and very gory, and covers fairly tough topics, so I would recommend checking content/trigger warnings beforehand. While there were elements I wish had been done better to deliver a stronger story, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this! If you’re a fan of Quicksilver and Phantasma, chances are you’ll like this too.

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Mini Book Review: Gaveyard Shift by M.L. Rio

Dini @ dinipandareads6 Comments

Graveyard Shift
Publisher: Wildfire
Pub Date: 24 September 2024
Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Panda Rating:

(4 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

The bestselling author of international BookTok sensation If We Were Villains returns with a story of a group of misfits who meet in the local cemetery each night to unearth the secrets lurking in an open grave.

Every night, in the college’s ancient cemetery, five people cross paths as they work the late shift: a bartender, a rideshare driver, a hotel receptionist, the steward of the derelict church that looms over them, and the editor-in-chief of the college paper, always in search of a story.

One dark October evening in the defunct churchyard, they find a hole that wasn’t there before. A fresh, open grave where no grave should be. But who dug it, and for whom?

Before they go their separate ways, the gravedigger returns. As they trail him through the night, they realise he may be the key to a string of strange happenings around town that have made headlines for the last few weeks — and that they may be closer to the mystery than they thought.

Atmospheric and eerie, with the ensemble cast her fans love and a delightfully familiar academic backdrop, Graveyard Shift is a modern Gothic tale in If We Were Villains author M.L. Rio’s inimitable style.

“What must it feel like, she wondered, for the first time and much too late, to be so desperate for rest that you’d let a doctor[…]drop her experimental poison in your eyes?”

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Book Review: What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah

Dini @ dinipandareads5 Comments

What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Pub Date: 4 April 2017
Genre: Literary Fiction, Short Stories

Panda Rating:

(4.5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

A dazzlingly accomplished debut collection explores the ties that bind parents and children, husbands and wives, lovers and friends to one another and to the places they call home.

In “Who Will Greet You at Home,” a National Magazine Award finalist for The New Yorker, A woman desperate for a child weaves one out of hair, with unsettling results. In “Wild,” a disastrous night out shifts a teenager and her Nigerian cousin onto uneasy common ground. In “The Future Looks Good,” three generations of women are haunted by the ghosts of war, while in “Light,” a father struggles to protect and empower the daughter he loves. And in the title story, in a world ravaged by flood and riven by class, experts have discovered how to “fix the equation of a person” – with rippling, unforeseen repercussions.

Evocative, playful, subversive, and incredibly human, What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky heralds the arrival of a prodigious talent with a remarkable career ahead of her.

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Domestic abuse, child abuse, trauma, violence

TL;DR: What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky is a fantastic collection of short stories. These stories are about mothers, daughters, fathers, sons, lovers, friends, and enemies. It’s about the people you love, hate, admire, fear, envy, and respect. They touch upon resilience, grief, hope, and joy, but most of all, these are stories about women and girls with fire in their bellies and who refused to be stamped out. No matter whether they’re set in the past, present, future or other reality, these stories are so utterly human and realistic. The author doesn’t treat you to abstract pretensions, but gives these stories to you straight, and I love this collection more for it. Light is by far my favourite, but The Future Looks Good and Windfalls are fantastic as well. Overall, this was a beautifully written and well connected short story collection that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend!

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Book Review: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

Dini @ dinipandareads21 Comments

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (Amina al-Sirafi #1)
Publisher: Orbit
Pub Date: 17 May 2022
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Panda Rating:

(5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

Loulie al-Nazari is the Midnight Merchant: a criminal who, with the help of her jinn bodyguard, hunts and sells illegal magic. When she saves the life of a cowardly prince, she draws the attention of his powerful father, the sultan, who blackmails her into finding an ancient lamp that has the power to revive the barren land—at the cost of sacrificing all jinn.

With no choice but to obey or be executed, Loulie journeys with the sultan’s oldest son to find the artifact. Aided by her bodyguard, who has secrets of his own, they must survive ghoul attacks, outwit a vengeful jinn queen, and confront a malicious killer from Loulie’s past. And, in a world where story is reality and illusion is truth, Loulie will discover that everything—her enemy, her magic, even her own past—is not what it seems, and she must decide who she will become in this new reality.

Inspired by stories from One Thousand and One Nights, The Stardust Thief weaves the gripping tale of a legendary smuggler, a cowardly prince, and a dangerous quest across the desert to find a legendary, magical lamp.

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Blood, gore, death of a parent, genocide, torture, kidnapping

And with that, we have our first 5-star read of 2026! 🎉 Excuse this rambly review — I wrote it fresh off finishing the book so my main thoughts were: LOVED IT SO MUCH. EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ THIS. I WANT MORE ASAP. 😂

TL;DR: All the hype you’ve heard about The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi were spot on. This was a swashbuckling good time and I’m so sad that it had to end (seriously, can’t wait until book two is out)! With an incredibly vast, historically and culturally rich medieval setting, a world full of magic and the supernatural, and a crew of fantastic characters—with Amina at its heart—this is a story that will keep you up reading all night and racing to the end. If you love banter-filled adventure and all of the above, then you need check this out immediately!

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ARC Review: Better the Devil by Erik J. Brown

Dini @ dinipandareads3 Comments

Special thanks to Sparkpoint Studio and Storytide for providing a digital ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

Better the Devil
Publisher: Storytide
Publication Date: 20 January 2026
Genre: Young Adult Psychological Thriller

Panda Rating:

(3 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

A harrowing, edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller about a queer homeless teen who, in a bid for safety, assumes the identity of a boy who went missing ten years ago…only to find that his new home is anything but a safe haven—from All That’s Left in the World author Erik J. Brown! Perfect for fans of Karen McManus, Holly Jackson, and Ryan La Sala.

When a runaway teen is arrested for shoplifting, he’s desperate not to be sent back to the hyper-religious parents he knows will never accept him. While at the police station, he notices a resemblance to the aged-up photos of Nate Beaumont, a child who went missing ten years ago—and, in a moment of desperation, he takes Nate’s identity in hopes that it will help him make a quick getaway.

Before he can run again, Nate’s family arrives and welcomes him home to a life he never had. As “Nate” watches and waits for his chance to run, he finds that the Beaumonts are nurturing and loving, very different from his own parents.

But soon unsettling things start to happen—vandalism, alarms going off in the middle of the night—and it becomes clear that someone knows “Nate” isn’t who he says he is…and that the real Nate wasn’t kidnapped, but murdered.

As he starts to unravel the mystery, he gets ever closer to the devil he may know—and learns he might be their next victim.

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Murder, blood, mild gore, killing of animals (recounted), physical abuse, conversion therapy (mentioned), homomisia, torture

TL;DR: Better the Devil wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be. The title, cover, and synopsis led me to expect a slightly more “horror” take on a psychological thriller. While maybe that was my misinterpretation, I do think this wound up being much less thrilling than I wanted. This was a very slow-paced mystery thriller, and while there were interesting parts, I didn’t find that enough happened to make those 400 pages feel worth it.

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Book Review: Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid

Dini @ dinipandareads5 Comments

Heated Rivalry (Game Changers #2)
Publisher: Random House
Pub Date: 14 January 2025
Genre: Cosy Fantasy / Magical Realism

Panda Rating:

(5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

Nothing interferes with Shane Hollander’s game—definitely not the sexy rival he loves to hate.

Pro hockey star Shane Hollander isn’t just crazy talented, he’s got a spotless reputation. Hockey is his life. Now that he’s captain of the Montreal Voyageurs, he won’t let anything jeopardize that, especially the sexy Russian whose hard body keeps him awake at night.

Boston Bears captain Ilya Rozanov is everything Shane’s not. The self-proclaimed king of the ice, he’s as cocky as he is talented. No one can beat him – except Shane. They’ve made a career on their legendary rivalry, but when the skates come off, the heat between them is undeniable. When Ilya realizes he wants more than a few secret hookups, he knows he must walk away. The risk is too great.

As their attraction intensifies, they struggle to keep their relationship out of the public eye. If the truth comes out, it could ruin them both. But when their need for each other rivals their ambition on the ice, secrecy is no longer an option…

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Homomisia, internalised homomisia & homomisic slurs, suicide, parent with alzheimers, death of parents mentioned (father in the present, mother in the past)

Yes yes, I’ve joined the hype train. While I may not have seen the screen adaptation yet, I’m so glad that the hype surrounding this book convinced me to finally pick this up after having it on my TBR for three years. It’s loved for a reason and I now understand it!

TL;DR: Heated Rivalry was a great tension-filled, angsty, and swoony MM sports romance. Shane and Ilya have such great chemistry—there’s a tension created by enmity and attraction from the very moment they meet each other and I loved the opposition of their characters. Shane and Ilya are fantastic characters and I loved watching their feelings grow and their romance develop over the years. I loved how we see the evolution of their connection and how much their character arcs do change over the years. Reid does a fantastic job bringing these characters to life and by the end, my heart felt like it was being squeeze with all the feelings I felt for them. This queer sports romance is the perfect one-sit binge and if you love the enemies-to-lovers trope (or even if you have yet to be convinced), stay seated for this because it’s probably one of the best books this trope has to offer—no lie!

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