Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme created by Rukky @Eternity Books and co-hosted by Aria @Book Nook Bits and myself! In this discussion meme, participants get to talk about certain topics, share opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! Learn more about LTB, past topics and future topics HERE.
This week’s topic is:
Literary Palette Cleanser
Prompts: Do you ever feel like you need a reading reset? Maybe you’ve been reading dense literary fiction, or in a reading slump. Are there certain books you read to help reset? Do you ever take a break from reading? Do you find yourself needing those literary palate cleansers at certain times of year?
Masquerade Publisher: Rebellion Publishing Ltd. Pub Date: 2 July 2024 Genre: Adult Historical Fantasy
Panda Rating: (4 pandas)
📖SYNOPSIS
HER RISE TO POWER, PAID IN BLOOD
Òdòdó’s home city of Timbuktu has been conquered by the warrior king of Yorùbáland. Under their new oppressive ruler, conditions for Òdòdó and the other women in her ostracised blacksmith guild grow even worse.
Then Òdòdó is abducted and whisked across the Sahara to the capital city of Ṣàngótẹ̀, where she is shocked to discover that her kidnapper – the apparent vagrant who had visited her guild just days prior – is none other than the warrior king himself, and he has chosen her to be his wife.
Òdòdó soars to the very heights of society, and into a world of battle and politics. As tensions with rival states grow, revealing elaborate schemes and hidden enemies, Òdòdó must defy the cruel king she has been forced to wed and reforge the shaky loyalties of the court in her favor, or risk losing everything—including her life.
Loosely based on the myth of Persephone, O.O. Sangoyomi’s Masquerade takes you on a journey of epic power struggles and political intrigue which turn an entire region on its head.
⚠️CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS
Misogyny, kidnapping, torture, murder, forced killing of parent (on-page), poisoning of an individual to cause infertility, suicide (on-page), blood, extreme violence and war themes
TL;DR: Masquerade is a great debut by Sangoyomi and I was so pleasantly surprised by it. I will say that while this is categorised as historical fantasy, there is very little in the way of fantasy about it. Nevertheless, it was a compelling story about a woman’s rise to power and the lengths she would go to pull herself out of a life of poverty and subjugation. Òdòdó is a fantastic morally grey main character who has a very compelling arc that made it surprisingly easy to root for her, despite making decisions that place her very solidly in the unlikeable camp. I found myself somewhat shocked at the lengths she would go to, but also admired her dogged determination to not be bested by people she knew weren’t better than her. Her arc was so unique and made this story unputdownable. I chose to go the immersive reading route for this (audio + ebook) and I enjoyed how the narrator brought Òdòdó’s story to life. I’d recommend this to readers who love a good historical novel, especially one that’s not Western-centric, and a story about an underdog who comes out on top because there’s nothing quite so satisfying as seeing horrible people get their comeuppance! 🤭
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:
I know we’re halfway through May already, but it’s better late than never to share one of my favourite posts that I make at the end of every month: the community posts! This is a collection of some of the posts that I read from bloggers across the book community over the past month. I know my community posts tend to be quite long, but I hope you’ll take the time to visit some of these pages and show them the love they deserve! ✨📖 Happy reading, friends! 📖✨
We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve spent your time reading in bed or wish you had time to read today.
I’ll be spending my Sunday reading The Raven and the Dove by Kaitlyn Davis. I’m embarrassed to admit that this is one of my oldest overdue ARCs. I’ve been trying to read this for the past… four years and every single time, I could never make it past the first two chapters. It took a few days for me to get past that point this time, but I’ve now made it to 50%! It’s a bit info dumpy and overly-written but otherwise, okay so far.
Happy Saturday, book lovers! We’re a little over halfway through yet another month and that means it’s time to announce the ✨June 2025 LTB Topics!✨ Can you believe we’re already almost halfway through the year?!
Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme created by Rukky @Eternity Books and co-hosted by Aria @Book Nook Bits and myself! In this discussion meme, participants get to talk about certain topics, share opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! Learn more about LTB, past topics and future topics HERE.
This week’s topic is:
What is one book that everyone else seemed to love except you?
Suggested by: Isabella @ The Inkbound Reader Prompts: Have you ever experienced what seems like the whole book community raving about a book, only to discover it’s not all that? What are some story elements that put you off while reading? What about books others dislike that you love? Feel free to share examples of which books everyone loved and you didn’t, and vice versa! 🤭
Hi friends, I’m back for another blog tour today! I’m excited to share my thoughts as part of the blog tour hosted by TBR & Beyond Tours for Blades of Furry by Deya Muniz & Emily Erdos.
Thanks to Little, Brown Ink 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!
Blades of Furry, Vol. 1 Publisher: Little, Brown Ink Publication Date: 13 May 2025 Genre: Young Adult Graphic Novel
Rating: (5 pandas)
📖SYNOPSIS
Enter the high stakes world of battle skating in this rivals-to-lovers romance based on the spectacularly popular webcomic.
Emile is an up-and-coming rookie in battle skating, a sport that combines the grace of figure skating with the high impact sparring of martial arts. Just as he is gearing up to fight in his next duel at the championships, there’s a change in the lineup! To his horror, he’ll have to face off against reigning champion Radu, the best battle skater in the world (and Emile’s longtime skating idol). There’s no way he can win!
During a pivotal moment in their match, however, Emile discovers Radu’s most closely guarded secret…and it’s a bloody one. This could destroy Radu’s career for good, but when feelings start to develop between them both on and off the rink, will this rivalry turn into something more…?
Based on the WEBTOON hit comic with over forty million views and half a million subscribers, this irresistible story full of heart-pounding romance, breathtaking skate battles, and secrets both good and bad is now available in a gorgeous print edition that includes never-before-seen content!
TL;DR:Inject this into my veins because I want to live and breathe this 24/7. Holy granola, I don’t have the words for how much I enjoyed this and I’m so glad it came on my radar. Not to exaggerate or anything, but if I could give it a million stars I would. It might even be one of my favourite reads of the year and I know that sounds wild but honestly, I had the best time reading it. I laughed, cried, squee-d and even raged in frustration. Not only did it make me feel all the things but it left me feeling so full of happy, and I can’t remember the last time a book left me feeling this satisfied. 🥹 I came to love these characters and got so invested in their arcs that I may have gone to finish what’s available of the Webtoon series because I’m not going to put myself through the torture of waiting any longer than I have to. Sorry, not sorry! 🤭 Needless to say, this has easily slotted itself into my favourite graphic novels/webcomics of all time and I would urge you to check it out asap. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, even if you don’t consider yourself to be a furry (cos neither was I)! 😉
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:
dinipandareads 