Book Review: Forged by Magic by Jenna Wolfhart

Forged by Magic (Falling for Fables #1)
Pub Date: 11 July 2023
Genre: Cosy Fantasy Romance

Panda Rating:

(3.5 pandas)

๐Ÿ“– SYNOPSIS

A heartwarming, feel-good fantasy romanceโ€ฆwith a helping of spice and only a pinch of danger.

Trapped in a tower by the emperor who conquered her homeland, Daella yearns for an escape. But as one of the few half-orcs left in the world, she knows sheโ€™ll never be free, much less find her own happily ever after.

Destiny takes an unexpected turn when the emperor offers her a deal. To earn her freedom, she must journey to the mysterious Isles of Fable and track down wielders of outlawed dragon magic. Eager to seize her chance, Daella agrees.

When a brutal storm tosses her ship off course, she washes up on the wrong islandโ€”right at the feet of Rivelin, a gruff but handsome elven blacksmith, who seems more likely to stab her than help her. To her surprise, he offers her shelter until the next ship passes through in six weeksโ€™ time.

Daella soon realizes heโ€™s hiding something big. It could be the very magic sheโ€™s been tasked to hunt downโ€”the key to her long-awaited freedom. But as they bicker over the flames of his forge, her heart kindles with something sheโ€™s never felt before.

When his secrets finally come to light, Daella must decide whatโ€™s more her freedom from the wicked crown or the desires of her heart.

Forged by Magic is a complete, stand-alone fantasy romance novel set in the whimsical world of Falling for Fables.

โš ๏ธ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Captivity, moderate violence, death of family recounted, sex on page

TL;DR: It took me a minute to get into this story but once I was hooked, I didn’t want to put it down! This was action-packed and full of magical adventure and a somewhat literally steamy romance. ๐Ÿ˜‰ Daella and Rivelin were fun characters to root for as you see them go from untrustworthy enemies, and tentative friends to eventual lovers. It was a nice slow burn! Overall, this was a great first cosy-ish fantasy romance at the start of a new series and I can’t wait to continue it soon!

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Book Review: The Places I’ve Cried in Public by Holly Bourne

The Places I’ve Cried in Public
Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd.
Pub Date: 3 October 2019
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Fiction

Panda Rating:

(3.5 pandas)

๐Ÿ“– SYNOPSIS

Amelie loved Reese. And she thought he loved her. But sheโ€™s starting to realise love isnโ€™t supposed to hurt like this. So now sheโ€™s retracing their story and untangling what happened by revisiting all the places he made her cry.

Because if she works out what went wrong, perhaps she can finally learn to get over him.

โš ๏ธ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Rape, emotional abuse, verbal abuse, gaslighting, cheating

TL;DR: This was such a painful read to get through. It leaves you feeling a bit helpless as you get a front-row seat to Amelie losing herself to something toxic and retracing her steps to find herself again. This is such an important story and I’m so glad that it exists, especially for young readers, as Bourne does a great job exploring what it means to be in healthy and unhealthy relationships and how to care for yourself in the aftermath. This tackles dark and heavy events that can be triggering so please do check content warnings before reading.

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Book Review: Night Hawk by Beverly Jenkins

Night Hawk
Publisher: Avon
Pub Date: 25 October 2011
Genre: Historical Romance

Panda Rating:

(5 pandas)

๐Ÿ“– SYNOPSIS

Outlaw. Preacher. Night Hawk. He’s had many names, but he can’t escape the past.

Since Ian Vance’s beloved wife was murdered years ago, the hardened bounty hunter know she’ll never feel love or tenderness again, so he’s made it his mission to ensure others get their justice. But when he’s charged with delivering a sharp-eyed beauty to the law, Ian can’t help but feel he may still have something left to lose.

Orphaned at twelve, Maggie Freeman has always found her way out of trouble. But now there’s a vigilante mob at her back who would like nothing more than to see her hang for a crime she didn’t commit. Maggie may have to accept help for the first time in her life… even if it’s from the one man standing between her and freedom.

As the past closes in, the sassy prisoner and toughened lawman may just find a passion between them that could bring blinding happiness… if they’ll let it.

โš ๏ธ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Physical abuse, violence against women, slavery, forced prostitution, gun violence, racism, mentions of mob violence and lynching, mentions of forced assimilation and residential schools, police corruption, xenophobia

TL;DR:ย I can proudly call myself a historical romance girlie now because I’ve finally read a Bev Jenkins historical romance! ๐Ÿ˜‚ I’m ashamed it took me so long to pick one up, even if I’ve read one of her contemporary romantic suspense novellas before. And what everyone says is trueโ€”this was fantastic! Not only was this delightfully sensual and heartwarming but I learned so much about parts of American history that were completely new to me (and perhaps will be to other readers as well). I’m so glad I’ve already got more Bev Jenkins on my Kindle because I’ll be reading more this year!

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Mini Book Review: There There by Tommy Orange

There There
Publisher: Vintage
Pub Date: 9 May 2019
Genre: Literary Fiction

Panda Rating:

(3.5 pandas)

๐Ÿ“– SYNOPSIS

Jacquie Red Feather is newly sober and hoping to reconnect with her estranged family. Thatโ€™s why she is there. Dene is there because he has been collecting stories to honour his uncleโ€™s death, while Edwin is looking for his true father and Opal came to watch her boy Orvil dance.

All of them are connected by bonds they may not yet understand. All of them are here for the celebration that is the Big Oakland Powwow. But Tony Loneman is also there. And Tony has come to the Powow with darker intentions.

โš ๏ธ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Racism, rape, domestic violence, addiction (alcohol & drugs), alcoholism, drug use, gun violence, mass shooting, death, blood

This isn’t an easy book to review and there’s nothing I can say that others haven’t already said and done so much better than I ever could, too. This is a highly-lauded piece of literary fiction and part of me understands why but maybe this book was just too smart for me because I often struggled to really “get” it. I empathised with many of the characters and I wound up spilling tears over them by the end but, at times, it was hard to feel fully immersed in the story and to grasp what the author was trying to share.

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Book Review: Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Sea of Tranquility
Publisher: Picador
Pub Date: 5 April 2022
Genre: Science Fiction

Panda Rating:

(5 pandas)

๐Ÿ“– SYNOPSIS

A novel of art, time travel, love, and plague that takes the reader from Vancouver Island in 1912 to a dark colony on the moon five hundred years later, unfurling a story of humanity across centuries and space.

Edwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the Atlantic by steamship, exiled from polite society following an ill-conceived diatribe at a dinner party. He enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, and suddenly hears the notes of a violin echoing in an airship terminal–an experience that shocks him to his core.

Two centuries later a famous writer named Olive Llewellyn is on a book tour. She’s traveling all over Earth, but her home is the second moon colony, a place of white stone, spired towers, and artificial beauty. Within the text of Olive’s best-selling pandemic novel lies a strange passage: a man plays his violin for change in the echoing corridor of an airship terminal as the trees of a forest rise around him.

When Gaspery-Jacques Roberts, a detective in the black-skied Night City, is hired to investigate an anomaly in the North American wilderness, he uncovers a series of lives upended: The exiled son of an earl driven to madness, a writer trapped far from home as a pandemic ravages Earth, and a childhood friend from the Night City who, like Gaspery himself, has glimpsed the chance to do something extraordinary that will disrupt the timeline of the universe.

A virtuoso performance that is as human and tender as it is intellectually playful, Sea of Tranquility is a novel of time travel and metaphysics that precisely captures the reality of our current moment.’

โš ๏ธ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Infidelity, suicide (recounted), drug use, COVID-19 pandemic and future global pandemics, false imprisonment, gun violence, death

Whoa. That’s how this book left me feeling by the end. I was concerned for a minute that maybe I wasn’t smart enough for this book because I found myself getting confused by what was happening around the 66% mark. The writing kept me gripped though and I’m glad that I didn’t waver because when it did click, it wasย wow. How clever and neat and entirely not what I expected! As I was reading two books of similar genres and styles came to mind: The Chronicles of St. Mary by Jodi Taylor and Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell and I think that’s what made me love this more.

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ARC Review: Sheets by Brenna Thummler

Special thanks to Oni Press for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sheets (Sheets #1)
Publisher: Oni Press
Publication Date: 28 August 2018
Genre: Middle-Grade Graphic Novel

Panda Rating:

(4 pandas)

๐Ÿ“– SYNOPSIS

Marjorie Glatt feels like a ghost. A practical thirteen year old in charge of the family laundry business, her daily routine features unforgiving customers, unbearable P.E. classes, and the fastidious Mr. Saubertuck who is committed to destroying everything sheโ€™s worked for.

Wendell is a ghost. A boy who lost his life much too young, his daily routine features ineffective death therapy, a sheet-dependent identity, and a dangerous need to seek purpose in the forbidden human world.

When their worlds collide, Marjorie is confronted by unexplainable disasters as Wendell transforms Glattโ€™s Laundry into his midnight playground, appearing as a mere sheet during the day. While Wendell attempts to create a new afterlife for himself, he unknowingly sabotages the life that Marjorie is struggling to maintain.

โš ๏ธ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Death of parent, Child death, Bullying, Grief, Depression

If you’re like me and you pick this up solely because of the cover, and you don’t look at the synopsis, you might go into this thinking it’ll be a cute story aboutโ€ฆ Sheets? Turns out, while there are many sheets involved, it’s not at all the light-hearted cutesy story that I thought it would be. This deals with heavy themes of death, grief, belonging, and loneliness.

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Blog Tour Review: Dark Star Burning, Ash Falls White by Amรฉlie Wen Zhao

Hello, friends. โœจ Today I’m excited to kick off the blog tour for the concluding book of an exciting Chinese mythology-inspired duology: Dark Star Burning, Ash Falls White by Amรฉlie Wen Zhao! Special thanks to the TBR & Beyond Tours team for organising the tour and including me in it.

Thanks to Delacorte Press 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!

Dark Star Burning, Ash Falls White (Song of the Last Kingdom #2)
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: 2 January 2024
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Rep: Chinese

Panda Rating:

(4 pandas)

๐Ÿ“– SYNOPSIS

The epic sequel to the book Song of Silver, Flame Like Night, is a fast-paced, riveting YA fantasy inspired by the mythology and folklore of ancient China.

Years ago, the Elantian colonizers invaded Lanโ€™s homeland and killed her mother in their search to uncover the Last Kingdomโ€™s greatest the location of its legendary four Demon Gods. Lanโ€™s mother devoted her life to destroying the Demon Gods, and Lan is determined to finish her mission. Yet, there are others searching for the gods, too.

Zen knew his soul was forfeit the moment he made a deal with the Demon God known as the Black Tortoise, but heโ€™s willing to lose himself if it means saving the Kingdomโ€“and the girlโ€“he loves. But to crush the colonizers who have invaded his land he needs more power than even a single Demon God can provide. He needs an army. And he knows exactly where he can find itโ€“in the undead army his great grandfather lead decades ago.

The Elantians may have stolen their throne, but the battle for the Last Kingdom has only begun.

โš ๏ธ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Violence, blood, death of loved one, colonial themes. Also, see romance spoiler below for younger readers.

๐Ÿ“š BUY A COPY!

TL;DR: Dark Star Burning, Ash Falls White was a satisfying conclusion to this duology. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to think at the start because it took a direction that I wasn’t expecting. I thought there would be more action but this is a slower-paced fantasy that includes more intricate world-building and in-depth exploration of historical and thematic concepts. That said, the culminating battles and the way the threads tie together in the end are bittersweet but no less rewarding. Lan and Zen were great leading characters who were easy to root for and made me love the story of the Last Kingdom.

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Book Review: Pride and Protest by Nikki Payne

Pride and Protest
Publisher: Berkley
Pub Date: 15 November 2022
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Retelling

Panda Rating:

(4.5 pandas)

๐Ÿ“– SYNOPSIS

Liza Bโ€“The Only DJ That Gives a Jamโ€”wants to take her neighborhood back from the soulless property developer dropping unaffordable condos on every street corner in DC. But her planned protest at their corporate event takes a turn after she mistakes the smoldering hot CEO for the waitstaff. When they go toe-to-toe, the sparks flyโ€”but her impossible-to-ignore family thwarts her every move. Liza wants Dorsey Fitzgerald out of her hood, but sheโ€™ll settle for getting him out of her head.

At first, Dorsey writes Liza Bennett off as an over-caffeinated woke weekend warrior. As the adopted Filipino son of a wealthy white family, heโ€™s always felt a bit out of place, and knows a fraud when he sees one. But when Lizaโ€™s protest results in a viral meme, their lives are turned upside down and Dorsey comes to realize this irresistible revolutionist is the most real woman heโ€™s ever met.

โš ๏ธ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Family death (recounted), racism, microaggressions, classism, incarceration (briefly recounted), explicit sexual content

TL;DR:ย I’ve been looking forward to reading this ever since I first heard about it and I’m glad that I finally read it. While there were elements I wanted more of I found myself enjoying this a lot! I especially loved the chemistry between Dorsey and Liza and I ate their romance up. The angst, tension, the way the atmosphere in the room changed when they came into contact, their peak horninessโ€”honestly, it was a fun sexual vibe! ๐Ÿฅต The Bennett family was a mess in their usual way but I appreciated the inclusion of modern issues such as gentrification and the way the story was conveyed through alternating POVs and mixed media. Overall, this was a witty, funny, and entertaining P&P retelling and I can’t wait to read more by this author!

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Book Review: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club #1)
Publisher: Penguin
Pub Date: 3 September 2020
Genre: Murder Mystery

Panda Rating:

(4 pandas)

๐Ÿ“– SYNOPSIS

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders. But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it’s too late?

โš ๏ธ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Murder, multiple suicides (recounted), drug dealing (recounted, not in detail), dementia

TL;DR:ย Well, for a murder mystery, this was delightfully charming and cosy! I didn’t think it’d be so much fun following around four septuagenarians in a classy retirement village who are more than a little obsessed with murders but here we are. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron were wonderful characters and I loved learning more about each of them as the story progressed. There’s a host of side characters who were just as realistic and relatable, especially Chris and Donna, and colour me surprised by the reveals at the end cos I didn’t guess any of it right! ๐Ÿ˜‚ Osman wove the many mysteries and storylines together so well and I can’t wait to continue with this series in the future.

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Mini Book Review: The Mistletoe Bet by Maren Moore

The Mistletoe Bet (Strawberry Hollow #1)
Pub Date: 1 November 2022
Genre: Contemporary Holiday Romance

Panda Rating:

(4 pandas)

๐Ÿ“– SYNOPSIS

Everyone says โ€œthereโ€™s no place like homeโ€โ€ฆ well not for me.

When Iโ€™m forced to spend the holidays at home with my family in Strawberry Hollow, I have no idea how Iโ€™m even going to survive the week, let alone make it through my least favorite holidayโ€ฆ Christmas.

That is until I run into my childhood crush, and my brotherโ€™s best friend, Parker Grant. Now, heโ€™s the sexy, off-limits doctor in our small town, and nothing like the man I left behind six years ago.

While I hate the holidays, there is nothing that he loves more.
Well, other than a good bet.
Which is exactly what happens when we end up together under the mistletoe.
A bet that changes everything.

He asks for the next seven days to change my mind about Christmas.
But seven days alone with Parker is more than either of us bargained for.
Now, thereโ€™s much more at stake than a silly mistletoe bet.

The Mistletoe Bet is a complete standalone Christmas novella with lots of banter, even more laughter and a heartwarming HEA.

This novella is the perfect book to kick off all your holiday romance reads this season! It was a little cheesy but even for a mild Grinchie like myself, I thought it was adorable with just a light touch of steaminess.

Quinn and Parker were cute together and I enjoyed the Christmas adventures they went on as Parker tried to convince Quinn that by the end of their bet, she’d love Christmas and their hometown again. Despite Quinn’s grumpiness and her adamance that she would not be swayed by the festive dates and she would not swoon over sexy Doctor Parker, she slowly acknowledged how much she missed being around the people she loved and how things and people can and do change over time.

These two have great chemistry and I liked that there was no drama at all, especially considering Parker is Quinn’s brother’s bestie. It was refreshingly mature! This story has such a feel-good and cosy vibe and it is like a Hallmark holiday romance but with steam! ๐Ÿ˜‰ If this sounds like your jam, I’d recommend checking it out. I had a lot of fun with it and I can’t wait to read more from Strawberry Hollow! ๐Ÿ˜

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