Book Review: All That’s Left in the World by Erik J. Brown

All That’s Left in the World (All That’s Left in the World #1)
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pub Date:
8 March 2022
Genre: Young Adult Dystopian

Panda Rating:

(4.5 pandas)

๐Ÿ“– SYNOPSIS

When Andrew stumbles upon Jamieโ€™s house, heโ€™s injured, starved, and has nothing left to lose. A deadly pathogen has killed off most of the worldโ€™s population, including everyone both boys have ever loved. And if this new world has taught them anything, itโ€™s to be scared of what other desperate people will do . . . so why does it seem so easy for them to trust each other?

After danger breaches their shelter, they flee south in search of civilization. But something isnโ€™t adding up about Andrewโ€™s story, and it could cost them everything. And Jamie has a secret, too. Heโ€™s starting to feel something more than friendship for Andrew, adding another layer of fear and confusion to an already tumultuous journey.

The road ahead of them is long, and to survive, theyโ€™ll have to shed their secrets, face the consequences of their actions, and find the courage to fight for the future they desire, together. Only one thing feels certain: all thatโ€™s left in their world is the undeniable pull they have toward each other.

โš ๏ธ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Pandemic, pandemic related deaths, gun violence, violence, cult, homophobia, traumatic deaths of loved ones (recounted), murder

TL;DR: All Thatโ€™s Left in the World is an emotional queer post-apocalyptic story about two boys trying to survive in the world following a world-ending pandemic. It wonโ€™t be for everyone as itโ€™s hard to read about a pandemic after having lived through one IRL. However, despite the loss, deaths, and horrors that await our protagonists, there is so much hope and love within these pages. I grew to love Andrew and Jamie and I canโ€™t wait to see where their story goes next! 

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Blog Tour Spotlight: The Wonderful Wishes of B. by Katherin Nolte

Hi friends, as part of the blog tour hosted by TBR & Beyond Tours I’m shining a spotlight on a new middle-grade contemporary: The Wonderful Wishes of B. by Katherin Nolte.

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

The Wonderful Wishes of B.
Publisher: Page Street Kids
Publication Date: 30 May 2023
Genre: Middle-Grade Contemporary

๐Ÿ“– SYNOPSIS

All that stands between ten-year-old Beatrice and an amazing life are five wishesโ€ฆand sheโ€™s got a plan to make them all come true! A magical and heartfelt adventure about grief, hope, and the power of human connection.

Beatrice Corwell has a crooked haircut, eight well-trained cats, and a sheโ€™s turning herself into a Tin Man. Once her heart is made of metal, sheโ€™ll no longer miss her beloved dead grandma, her absent dad, or her recently moved-away best friend.

While Beatrice awaits her transformation, she keeps vigil with a special doll and a handful of wishes sheโ€™s determined to make come true. With her encyclopedic knowledge, there must be a way to grant her heartโ€™s deepest desires.

When an unusual boy named Caleb moves to town and mentions his grannyโ€™s interest in magic, Beatrice decides to enlist their help. She quickly learns, however, that spells donโ€™t always go as planned, and witches canโ€™t be trusted.

With the arrival of an unexpected visitor and a series of otherworldly messages, Beatriceโ€™s plans begin to falter. Will her heart turn into metal? Will any of her wishes come true?

The Wonderful Wishes of B. is the story of a smart, quirky girl learning what she wants and what she needsโ€”and how, sometimes, the wishes we hold dearest are granted in the most unexpected ways.

โš ๏ธ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Death of a loved family member (recounted), absent father, grief

๐Ÿ“š BUY A COPY

Katherin Nolte received an MFA from the Iowa Writersโ€™ Workshop, where she was a Truman Capote Fellow. Her fiction has appeared in dozens of publications and won multiple awards, but it was a late-night ER visit with her four children that inspired her to write Back to the Bright Before. An Ohio native, she currently lives with her family in Iowa.

Author’s Socials
Websiteย |ย Goodreads

Is The Wonderful Wishes of B on your TBR or does it sound like a book you’d want to read?

Blog signature that reads: Let's Chat! xoxo, Dini

Book Review: Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone
Publisher: Penguin
Pub Date:
18 August 2022
Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Panda Rating:

(4 pandas)

๐Ÿ“– SYNOPSIS

EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY IS A KILLER. EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY IS A SUSPECT. BUT WHICH OF THEM IS A MURDERER?

I knew our family reunion wouldn’t end well. But I didn’t expect murder.

Maybe I should have known better. After all, everyone in my family is a killer. My parents, my siblings, my in-laws . . . even me. The deaths weren’t all deliberate, of course. Accidents happen.

So when a body is found in the snow, it’s clear it’s the work of a Cunningham. But which one? And why?

I’ll give you one it wasn’t me.

But a piece of advice? Never trust a Cunningham . . .

โš ๏ธ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Murders, toxic relationships, infidelity, child kidnapping (recounted)

TL;DR:ย I think this book received a lot of hype towards the end of 2023 and when I started it, I was a bit worried it wouldn’t live up to it because it was told in first person to the audience. I’m so glad I was proven wrong by the end. This was such a unique and cleverly written book with an incredibly messed up family that served many incredulous laugh-out-loud moments alongside the murder mystery. I’d recommend it if you’re looking for a different and interestingly murderous ride!

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Book Review: The Kiss Countdown by Etta Easton

The Kiss Countdown
Publisher: Penguin
Pub Date:
4 April 2024
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Panda Rating:

(4 pandas)

๐Ÿ“– SYNOPSIS

Discover the sizzling new fake-dating romance, perfect for fans of The Love Hypothesis and The Hating Game

Three. Two. One…Romance?

Amerie Price is jobless, newly single, and about to be evicted.
The last thing she needed was to run into her ex and his new girlfriend at her favourite coffee shop. Panicked, Amerie pretends to be dating the annoyingly sexy man she met. He plays along – for a price.

Half the single men in Houston claim to be astronauts, but Vincent Rogers turns out to be the real deal. What started as a one-off lie morphs into a plan: for the three months leading up to his mission, Amerie will play Vincent’s doting partner. In exchange, she gets a rent-free room in his house.

What Amerie doesn’t plan for is Vincent’s gravitational pull.
While her mind tells her a future with this astronaut is too unpredictable, her heart says he’s exactly what she needs. As their time together counts down, Amerie must decide if she’ll settle for the safe life โ€“ or shoot for the stars.

TL;DR: I was pleasantly surprised by The Kiss Countdown and think itโ€™s a great romance debut. This fake dating romance was a slow burn and honestly, the story felt like a warm hug with relatable characters and wonderful heartwarming family moments. I loved Mimi and Vincent together and how this also had a strong focus on friendship and character growth.

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Blog Tour Review: The Magic Paintbrush by Kat Zhang

Hello, friends. โœจ Today I’m excited to be part of the blog tour for The Magic Paintbrush by Kat Zhang! Special thanks to the TBR & Beyond Tours team for organising the tour and including me in it.

Thanks to Crown Books for Young Readers for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Click here or on the banner above to check out the rest of the fantastic bloggers on tour!

The Magic Paintbrush
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: 21 May 2024
Genre: Middle-Grade Fantasy
Rep: Chinese, Asian American

Panda Rating:

(3.5 pandas)

๐Ÿ“– SYNOPSIS

In this highly illustrated series launch, Amy, a Chinese American girl picks up an ancient paintbrush and unwittingly unleashes the power to make her art realโ€”and sometimes dangerous. Perfect for fantasy readers who love Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor and Dragon Pearl series.

โ€œGorgeous and gripping, The Magic Paintbrush swoops readers off on rip-roaring fantasy adventure that unfurls like a magnificent scrollโ€ฆBrimming with imagination and heartโ€ฆโ€ Soman Chainani, author of THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL series


Amy has always loved art, but lately her drawings have been less than impressive. Thereโ€™s no passion, nopersonality, noโ€ฆmagic. Until Amy visits her Lao Lao, her grandmother, and finds an ancient paintbrush that brings anything Amy creates to life!

Now her creation Luna has taken over her bedroom and is running through the streets of Flushing, Queens. What an international adventure filled with an ancient Chinese legend, a greedy adversary and ghastly beasts!

Award-winning author Kat Zhang teams up with Eric Darnell, the writer and director of the Madagascar series and the Chief Creative Officer of Baobab Studios, to create a captivating highly-illustrated middle grade series debut about finding your own path, the power of imagination, and the strength of family.

๐Ÿ“š BUY A COPY!

TL;DR: The Magic Paintbrush is an action-packed, adventure-filled, Chinese mythology-inspired middle-grade fantasy with wonderful illustrations to accompany a fun and creative story! Amy was a relatable main character who was easy to root for and I loved her relationship with her Lao Lao and Lunaโ€”who is unquestionably my favourite character in this book. The story doesn’t dive too deep into character development and neither does it go too hard with its themes, but I think that is also what would make this a great pick for young readers who simply want an enjoyable and entertaining fantasy story. Overall, while this wasn’t my favourite as an adult reader of MG, it was still a terrific read that I would recommend to the young readers in my life.

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Book Review: Buried in a Good Book by Tamara Berry

Buried in a Good Book (By the Book #1)
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Pub Date:
24 May 2022
Genre: Cosy Mystery

Panda Rating:

(4 pandas)

๐Ÿ“– SYNOPSIS

Bestselling thriller writer Tess Harrow is almost at the end of her rope when she arrives with her teenage daughter at her grandfather’s rustic cabin in the woods. She hopes this will be a time for them to heal and bond after Tess’s recent divorce, but they’ve barely made it through the door when an explosion shakes the cabin. Suddenly it’s raining fish guts and…is that a human arm?

Tess was hardly convincing Gertie that a summer without Wi-Fi and running water would be an adventure. Now she’s thrust into a murder investigation, neighbors are saying they’ve spotted Bigfoot in the woods near her cabin, and the local sheriff is the spitting image of her character Detective Gabriel Gonzalesโ€•something he’s less than thrilled about. With so much more than her daughter’s summer plans at stake, it’s up to Tess to solve this case before anyone else gets hurt.

โš ๏ธ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Murder, dismemberment (off page), animal endangerment, infidelity (off page, recounted)

TL;DR: I’m so glad that I finally read Buried in a Good Book! I had no idea what to expect going in but I didn’t think the writing would be so amusing, even with the murderous plot. I loved the humour and the cosy yet spooky atmosphere of this quaint and quirky small town surrounded by thick woods and nature near the Canadian border. Tess was a fantastic main character and I loved the role many of the side characters play, especially Sheriff Boyd, Gertie, and Nicki! It’s a wildly adventurous and murder-filled read and I can’t wait to continue this series.

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Blog Tour Review: Summer Vamp by Violet Chan Karim

Hello, friends. โœจ Today I’m excited to be part of the blog tour for Summer Vamp by Violet Chan Karim! Special thanks to the TBR & Beyond Tours team for organising the tour and including me in it.

Thanks to Random House Graphic for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Click here or on the banner above to check out the rest of the fantastic bloggers on tour!

Summer Vamp
Publisher: Random House Graphic
Publication Date: 14 May 2024
Genre: Middle-Grade Fantasy

Panda Rating:

(4 pandas)

๐Ÿ“– SYNOPSIS

What happens when a very human kid ends up at the wrong summer campโ€”FOR VAMPIRES?! This quirky and heart warming graphic novel about making friends and getting in trouble is perfect for fans of Witches of Brooklyn.

After a lackluster school year, Maya anticipates an even more disappointing summer. The only thing sheโ€™s looking forward to is cooking and mixing ingredients in the kitchen, which these days brings her more joy than mingling with her peers… that is until her dadโ€™s girlfriend registers her for culinary summer camp! Mayaโ€™s summer is saved!… or not.

What was meant to be a summer filled with baking pastries and cooking pasta is suddenly looking a lot… paler?! Why do all of the kids have pointy fangs? And hate garlic? Turns out that Maya isnโ€™t at culinary campโ€”sheโ€™s at a camp for VAMPIRES! Maya has a lot to learn if sheโ€™s going to survive this summer… and if sheโ€™s lucky, she might even make some friends along the way.

๐Ÿ“š BUY A COPY!

What happens when you realize you havenโ€™t gone to culinary camp and ended up at not just any regular old summer camp, but a camp for vampires?! Well, it turns out you can have a whole lot of fun in the last place youโ€™d expect to! ๐Ÿ˜‚

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Blog Tour Review: Wrath of the Talon by Sophie Kim

Hello, friends. โœจ Today I’m excited to be part of the blog tour for Wrath of the Talon by Sophie Kim! Special thanks to the TBR & Beyond Tours team for organising the tour and including me in it.

Thanks to Entangled: Teen for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Click here or on the banner above to check out the rest of the fantastic bloggers on tour!

Wrath of the Talons (Talon #2)
Publisher: Entangled: Teen
Publication Date: 2 April 2024
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Rep: Asian, Korean

Panda Rating:

(4.5 pandas)

๐Ÿ“– SYNOPSIS

Everyone thinks the Reaper of Sunpoโ€”eighteen-year-old assassin Shin Linaโ€”is dead. The only ones who know the truth are her cherished little sister and Haneul Rui, the icily gorgeous Dokkaebi Emperor, who she was sent to killโ€ฆand kissed instead.

Now, with the potent Imugi venom surging in her veins, Linaโ€™s returned to right all wrongs. Already her body is changing, growing stronger, stealthier, and more agile, with serpentine scales she can call at will. She is living vengeance, seeking retribution for the massacre of the Talons. Sheโ€™ll become the sword who cuts down the rival Blackbloods gang, along with their ruthless crime-lord leader. And when she is through, she will take the kingdom as her own.

But there is a mysterious side to Linaโ€™s growing power, a dark voice inside her that whispers and guides her as she slips through the shadows of Sunpoโ€™s streets. One that warns her not to trust the Dokkaebi, especially Rui.

Because if her destiny isnโ€™t to love himโ€ฆit must be to destroy him.

The Talons series is best enjoyed in order.

โš ๏ธ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Violence, murder, mild sex scenes (on page)

๐Ÿ“š BUY A COPY!

TL;DR: Holy wow, this was a sequel! That ending had me floored because no way was that the choice! Author!! The way you built up hope is illegal!!! I canโ€™t remember the last time I was so thrilled by the second book in a trilogy but this, to me, did not suffer from that dreaded second/middle book syndrome. Perhaps itโ€™s because I went in with lowered expectations having thought the first book was okay; however, I think the writing, plot, and character development were sharper and Iโ€™m happy to see that author growth. With such high stakes and a whole lot of tension and angst, this sequel got me invested in this series and after that ending, I canโ€™t wait for the finale!

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Book Review: Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World #1)
Publisher: Gallery/Saga Press
Pub Date:
26 June 2018
Genre: Dystopian Fantasy

Panda Rating:

(4.5 pandas)

๐Ÿ“– SYNOPSIS

While most of the world has drowned beneath the sudden rising waters of a climate apocalypse, Dinรฉtah (formerly the Navajo reservation) has been reborn. The gods and heroes of legend walk the land, but so do monsters.

Maggie Hoskie is a Dinรฉtah monster hunter, a supernaturally gifted killer. When a small town needs help finding a missing girl, Maggie is their last best hope. But what Maggie uncovers about the monster is much more terrifying than anything she could imagine.

Maggie reluctantly enlists the aid of Kai Arviso, an unconventional medicine man, and together they travel the rez, unraveling clues from ancient legends, trading favors with tricksters, and battling dark witchcraft in a patchwork world of deteriorating technology.

As Maggie discovers the truth behind the killings, she will have to confront her past if she wants to survive.

Welcome to the Sixth World.

โš ๏ธ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Dismemberment, gore, blood, extreme violence, substance abuse, racism

TL;DR: This was a reread for me but I read it back before I wrote reviews so despite giving it 4 stars I didnโ€™t remember what I loved and didnโ€™t love about it. Iโ€™m blown away by how much I enjoyed this especially because there are horror aspects in this that fall outside my usual reading comfort zone. Despite the stomach-turning moments and the fact that these pages are filled with a fairly depressing post-apocalyptic setting and dark mythology, I found myself being unable to turn away and I often didnโ€™t want to stop reading even when adulting responsibilities called me back to reality. This review is a bit all over the place but that tends to happen with a book Iโ€™ve thoroughly enjoyed! ๐Ÿ˜‚ 

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ARC Review: Last of the Talons by Sophie Kim

Special thanks to Entangled: Teen for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Last of the Talons (Talon #1)
Publisher: Entangled: Teen
Publication Date: 27 September 2022
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Panda Rating:

(3.5 pandas)

๐Ÿ“– SYNOPSIS

After the destruction of her entire Talon gang, eighteen-year-old Shin Linaโ€”the Reaper of Sunpoโ€”is forced to become a living, breathing weapon for the kingdomโ€™s most-feared crime lord. All that keeps her from turning on her ruthless master is the life of her beloved little sister hanging in the balance. But the order to steal a priceless tapestry from a Dokkaebi temple incites not only the wrath of a legendary immortal, but the beginning of an unwinnable gameโ€ฆ

Suddenly Lina finds herself in the dreamlike realm of the Dokkaebi, her fate in the hands of its cruel and captivating emperor. But she can win her lifeโ€”if she kills him first.

Now a terrible game of life and death has begun, and even Lina’s swift, precise blade is no match for the magnetic Haneul Rui. Lina will have to use every weapon in her arsenal if she wants to outplay this cunning king and save her sister…all before the final grain of sand leaks out of the hourglass.

Because one way or another, she’ll take Rui’s heart.

Even if it means giving up her own.

โš ๏ธ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Violence, blood, traumatic deaths of loved ones

TL;DR: Despite my first attempt at reading this being unsuccessful, I’m glad to say that the second time’s the charm and I found myself enjoying this more than I expected to. Kim offers a lot in this upper YA fantasy debutโ€”plenty of stabby action, deaths, found family moments, rebellion, deception, and a forbidden enemies-to-lovers romance. That said, much of the characters, relationships and world-building was kept on a surface level and at over 400 pages long, I think we could’ve got a lot more development! Overall though, this wasn’t a bad debut and I’m curious to see how Kim evolves as an author throughout the series and what happens next with Lina and her thirst for vengeance!

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