This or That Book Tag

Dini @ dinipandareads11 Comments

A little while back I was nominated by the lovely Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads to do the This or That Book Tag! As you well know by now I’m pretty bad at doing tags on time but I do get around to them eventually 😅 Not sure where the original comes from but I’ve seen a few people do it and I’m excited to join the ranks. LET’S DO THIS!

READING ON THE BED OR COUCH?

BED ALL THE WAY! If I had a comfy couch I’d probably read on there most of the time but as it is, it’s covered with all the books that … I can’t fit on my shelves anymore 😬

male or female main character?

Hmm… That’s a tough one. I like both male and female main characters but I’m going to have to go with female. I usually relate to these characters more but I realize the majority of my books have female MCs! Not that I have anything against male MCs, obviously.

sweet or salty snacks while reading?

This is gonna sound like a weird realisation but… I’ve been figuring out lately that I’m much more of a salty snack panda than a sweet one! Sure, I like my chocolates, but gimme some crisps or better yet chips or cheese and crackers or salty popcorn any day! Salt bae got me covered LOL

trilogies or quartets?

Trilogies! I’m not mad at quartets but I like to get through series quickly (most of the time)! I also prefer to not wait forever for all the books to come out if it’s a new series, so the shorter it is the better it is for my impatient ass! 😂

READING AT NIGHT OR IN THE MORNING?

I’m a night owl, plus I have major sleep issues, but most of my free time is also after work, so I’m usually doing the most reading at night!

FIRST OR THIRD POV?

I don’t mind both POVs… But I like first POV more? I think? I’m so indecisive omg lol

LIBRARIES OR BOOKSTORES?

OK, first of all I’m gonna say that I wish they had libraries here because they don’t and it makes me sad. So obviously, bookstores. I mean, my bank hates it but I don’t! LOL

BOOKS THAT MAKE YOU LAUGH OR CRY?

I’m a sucker for a good cry so I’d probably pick up a book that’ll make me cry. I mean, who doesn’t love a book that’d make you cry, right?! It makes you feel all the feels and you build such a connection with the characters too. Love it!

BLACK OR WHITE BOOK COVERS?

I love white book covers. Especially when they’re brand new — it’s like they’re sparkly even though they’re not?! They picture so well too. I love white covers 😍

character driven or plot driveN?

OH, THIS IS SO HARD! 😅 I think I’m going to have to go with… Character driven! It really does depend most of the time, but I think if I can connect to the characters (and I mean really connect to them) then it’s okay if the plot is blah. Even if the plot is good, I will find myself bothered if I don’t connect to any of the characters of if I find them annoying / boring.

And that’s it folks! WASN’T THAT FUN!? I’m feeling a little lazy at the moment so I’m just going to say that if you feel like doing this tag then…

I TAG YOU!!!

#WWWWednesday: 13 November

Dini @ dinipandareads12 Comments

It’s time for another WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:

  1. What did you read last?
  2. What are you currently reading?
  3. What will you read next?

What did you read last?

It’s once again been a pretty slow reading week. Since last week I’ve only managed to finish two books–although technically I’m on the last few pages of The Stranger Beside Me, so I’ve only managed to finish one read! I don’t know why reading has been going so slowly? Maybe it’s the books I’ve been picking up? Either way, here’s what I’ve managed to read:

Wicked Saints (Something Dark and Holy #1) by Emily A. Duncan ★★★☆☆
Yeah, this one was pretty disappointing because I had such high hopes for it and it was one of the reads I’d been most excited to receive in my Owlcrate this year. That said, I felt there was a lot of potential with the story and characters but the execution let me down. Read my full review!

The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule ★★★★ ½
So I’m actually just finishing up the second afterword by the author (a few pages left to go) but I thought I’d put this up already. This book… Holy hell, this book, friends! I don’t even know what to say about it? Literally still processing how I felt because I went through a whole spectrum of emotions. For sure there was total disgust, as well as deep and intense fear, but oddly I also felt sympathy and quite a lot of sadness. I can’t even imagine what it would’ve been like being in Ann Rules’ shoes when it comes to her odd, almost sibling-like relationship with Bundy, but that she was able to write a book like this is incredible. My full review will hopefully be posted sometime this week after digesting this read further.

What are you currently reading?

Having just finished an intensely disturbing and dark read, I NEED some feel good, fluffy and happy reads in my system right now. So I’m picking up my favorite Pumpkinheads again for that quick shot of happiness to my system, plus it’s one of my picks for the Triwizardathon! Since that’s going to be a quick read, I’m also picking up Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacob and Well Met by Jen DeLuca. I’ve heard amazing things about both of these reads, especially Well Met, so I’m excited to finally get to it!

What will you read next?

Malamander by Thomas Taylor is the third book that I’ve picked for Week 1 of my Triwizardathon challenge; I’ll be reading this only in bed as per the prompt and I’m hoping to do that this weekend because I don’t have any plans until Sunday! I adore this cover and have heard really positive reviews about this MG read, so I’m definitely looking forward to it!

What are you currently reading? How’s your week and reading going?

Triwizard Tournament Readathon: Task 1 Possibility Pile

Dini @ dinipandareads12 Comments

*GASP*

Is it true?

Can it be?

Am I really participating in another readathon when I already struggle hard enough to stick to a monthly possibility pile?!

It’s true, gentlefriends. It’s true. I’m a masochist and like to torture myself whenever possible. I just read about the Triwizard Tournament readathon on Holly’s page yesterday and I couldn’t resist. I thought it was pretty great timing considering the challenge starts this week! I took that as a sign to participate and I’M SO EXCITED for it!

This amazing readathon is hosted by Jessica @ Chapter Charms.

Have you ever wanted to compete in the Triwizard Tournament?
Do you like reading?
Then why not join us for this epic reading event!
It will be split into three week-long rounds, each themed around and representing one of the tasks from the Triwizard Tournament in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Everyone taking part will be selected as a champion for one of the three schools and will be given reading challenges to complete in order to compete to win the Triwizard Cup.

Triwizard Tournament Readathon, Chapter Charms

Each participant is sorted into a school based on your birth month and that means I’m a champion for Durmstrang. I’m probably going to forget to share some key information so you can find out more about the challenge and submit your name into the Goblet of Fire to sign up for the challenge on THIS PAGE! There’s also an official Twitter page where you can find and follow other participants: @triwizardathon

This week marks week one of the challenge and the FIRST TASK IS DRAGONS! The dates for the first task are from: Monday 11th November – Sunday 17th November 2019

CHALLENGE ONE – THE DRAGON

For this task you must retrieve the golden egg that your dragon is guarding and you will have two challenges to complete. You school will be assigned a dragon and you must choose a method for facing this dragon in order to retrieve the golden egg.

First Task, Triwizard Tournament Readathon, Chapter Charms

Each school will battle a certain dragon. As I’m from Durmstrang, I will have to defeat the Swedish Short-Snout.

Swedish Short-Snout: These dragons are sought after to use their skin to make shields and gloves, re-read a favourite that makes you feel protected.

For this challenge I’m going to choose to re-read Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Erin Faith Hicks. I’m currently reading The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule and if you didn’t know, it’s about serial killer Ted Bundy. While I’m getting through it faster (and also slower) than I thought I would, it’s an intense AF read. I need a fast read that will bring back all the warm feels ASAP and there ain’t no better read than this favorite o’mine.

CHALLENGE TWO – THE METHOD

There are several methods we can choose from to face the dragon. We can pick one method or choose more to get extra skill points.

  • Conjunctivitis Curse: Temporarily blind your dragon by reading a book with eyes on the cover.
  • Bewitched Sleep: Send your dragon to sleep by reading a whole book in bed.
  • Speed: Race past your dragon to retrieve the egg by reading a graphic novel.
  • Distraction: Distract your dragon by transfiguring a rock into an animal, read a book with an animal on the cover.

I’m not going to overwhelm myself by trying to get all the extra skill points, especially since a different book should be read for each challenge, so I’m going to only choose two methods:

Bewitched Sleep: Malamander by Thomas Taylor

Speed: Good Talk by Mira Jacob

That’s it for the first task! I’m really excited to get the ball rolling on this readathon after I finish The Stranger Beside Me (which should be very soon). I’m not sure if I’ll try to use more methods to defeat the dragon but I’m not putting too much pressure on myself and I’m just rolling with it!

Are you participating in the Triwizard Tournament Readathon too?!

#TopTenTuesday: Favorite Bookmarks!

Dini @ dinipandareads42 Comments

It’s that time of the week again, friends! We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: favourite bookmarks! It’s a pretty loose topic and I could talk about anything related to my favorite bookmarks. I was tempted to talk about the Etsy stores I’ve seen that sell great bookmarks or to talk about the different types of bookmarks that I love, but I decided to showcase ten of my favorite bookmarks (that aren’t from Book Depository). In preparation for this post I wanted to take pictures of the bookmarks that I own but it turns out…

I’M REALLY GREAT AT LOSING BOOKMARKS!!! 🙃 Like, I don’t even know where they go because I’m 99.9% sure my favorites don’t ever leave the house (I switch them out to BD bookmarks before I leave). So they should be somewhere in my tiny ass flat (and when I say tiny I mean tiny) that seems to swallow things up so well that I can never find them again! It’s mind boggling and drives me a bit mental. But… Thankfully I received three new favorite bookmarks last week in last month’s Owlcrate box, and I love them so much! Before I ramble on much more, here are ten of my favorite bookmarks (better say bye to them now in case they miraculously disappear after I post this hah)!

I don’t know how I stumbled upon FictionTeaDesigns but I’m glad that I did because their bookmarks are gorgeous! They’re pretty big in size but they’re made of sturdy material. There are so many designs to choose from and shipping from Glasgow was surprisingly fast! I chose two from V.E. Schwab and one classic book lover one. Would 10/10 recommend!

I got these four beauties in the Darkdawn Illumicrate box and they’re gorgeous! My photo is a little blurry and doesn’t do the quality of the work justice, but trust me when I say that these bookmarks designed by Merwild are awesome!

This might be one of my all-time favorite bookmarks! It’s a wooden bookmark that was in the July or August Owlcrate box that came with House of Salt and Sorrows. It’s inspired by The Daughter of the Pirate King and designed by Juniper and Ivy Designs and the quality is pretty great! It says: “The sea watches over me. She protects her own.” I also love the turquoise tassel!

I got these beautiful magnetic bookmarks designed by CraftedVan from the October Owlcrate box! Y’all have no idea how excited I got knowing that they’re SAGA CHARACTERS!!! I wasn’t expecting that, even with the box’s more sci-fi theme but to say I was stoked would be an understatement. My love for Saga is forever; especially for Lying Cat! 😻

Do you have any favorite bookmarks?
Are you as talented as I am at losing bookmarks? LOL 🙂

Down the TBR Hole – 07

Dini @ dinipandareads16 Comments

We’re back with another episode of Down the TBR Hole! My TBR is currently sits at a whopping 1,011 books because I added some books to my list after last week’s culling 😅 I’ll be reviewing 10 books again today and I’m hoping to find it easier to cut more out!

Down the TBR Hole is a weekly book meme created by the wonderful Lia @ Lost in a Story that attempts to organize our ridiculously long Goodreads TBR list by choosing either to keep or eliminate the books we’ve saved on there. Here’s how it works:

  • Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
  • Order on ascending date added.
  • Take the first 5 (or 10 (or even more!) if you’re feeling adventurous) books. Of course, if you do this weekly, you start where you left off the last time.
  • Read the synopses of the books
  • Decide: keep it or should it go

Verdict: Keep

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff. I bought this book earlier this year because I thought for sure it’d be my jam but now I’m not so sure anymore… I’m gonna try it since I already have it. I hope my first thought was right! 🤞

Finders Keepers (Bill Hodges #2) by Stephen King. I sped through Mr. Mercedes and absolutely loved it, so I was really keen to get my hands on Finders Keepers. So far I’ve tried reading it twice and both times I’ve put it down with the intention of ‘picking it up later’. Third time’s the charm, I guess? But if it’s still not working for me, it’ll definitely go in the bye pile!

The Quiet Game (Penn Cage #1) by Greg Iles. After reading his Natchez Burning trilogy, I’m convinced that I need to read the rest of Iles’ books — especially involving Penn Cage! 😍

The Glass Magician (The Paper Magician #2) by Charlie N. Holmberg. I remember loving The Paper Magician so much and don’t know why I didn’t continue with the series right then. I have this on my Kindle library though and I’m still keen to check it out!

Verdict: Bye-bye-bye!

Notorious (Max Revere #1) by Allison Brennan. Just doesn’t appeal to me so much anymore. Didn’t even recall ever seeing this book before LOL

Austenland (Austenland #1) by Shannon Hale. I LOVED this movie so naturally thought I wanted to read the book. The reviews scream a big fat NO — especially Emer’s review (and the shelves she chose for this) on Goodreads, which is plain gold and had me dead 🤣

Ten Things I’ve Learnt About Love by Sarah Butler. Reading this synopsis just doesn’t appeal to me at all anymore…

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. This sounds interesting but I’ve had multiple times to pick it up in stores and I never do… So I think I’m taking that as a sign to say bye-bye-bye?

The Master Magician (The Paper Magician #3) by Charlie N. Holmberg. I’m only removing this one because I haven’t read the second book yet (which I decided to keep!). I read the first book AGES ago but remember loving it, so this’ll probably come back if I love the sequel!

City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg. It was really hard for me to decide on this one but I’ve chosen to remove it for now. The synopsis is interesting but not so much that I’m sure I’ll read it ASAP. So, bye-bye-bye for now!

bluepanda

BAM BABY! I let 6/10 books go this week bringing my TBR tally to 1,005 books. Still a lot but we’re making progress by removing 60% of the list this week, right?! 😃 Again, I think I’m pretty satisfied with my decisions; perhaps more so this week than I was last week!

Goodreads Monday – 11 November

Dini @ dinipandareads11 Comments

We’re back with another Goodreads Monday, a weekly meme started by @Lauren’s Page Turners. This meme invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it. Easy enough, right? Feel free to join in if you want to! I’ll be using a random number generator to pick my books from my insanely long GR Want-to-read list.

This week’s book is Sadie by Courtney Summers. Well, I’ve had this one on my list for quite some time now (added in September 2018)! Sadie has pretty great rating statistics on Goodreads: an average rating of 4.18 stars with 39,121 ratings and 9,949 reviews.

A missing girl on a journey of revenge. A Serial―like podcast following the clues she’s left behind. And an ending you won’t be able to stop talking about.

Sadie hasn’t had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she’s been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water.

But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie’s entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister’s killer to justice and hits the road following a few meager clues to find him.

When West McCray―a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America―overhears Sadie’s story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie’s journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it’s too late.

Why do I want to read it?

I’ve heard a lot about this book and much of it is mixed ! I’m getting the feeling that you either really love/hate this book and there’s very little feeling in between. That said, the cover has always pulled me in (I remember seeing it for the first time and thinking: MUST TO HAVING)! I don’t know what it is about it, but I love it. I’ve also heard that listening to this as an audiobook really enhances the reading experience, as the story is told partly in podcast format. I’ve never read anything in podcast style before so it’ll be interesting and I’m definitely looking forward to it!

Have you read Sadie or is it on your TBR too?

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [29]

Dini @ dinipandareads4 Comments

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 been you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!

This Sunday I spent part of my day in bed with The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule and friends, this book has me feeling some type of way and I don’t even know… I can’t even begin to imagine what it would do to someone knowing that a person you consider(ed) a friend is a serial killer whose trail you’ve followed so closely from the start. It’s terrifying! How she writes about Ted Bundy is creepy AF because the person she knew seemed legit like a pretty freaking decent guy. Saying that about a guy like Ted Bundy makes me want to gag a little but… How he was presented at the start of this book made me think that. I have a feeling this book is going to be a helluva ride. Just in case you don’t know the book I’m talking about, you can read the synopsis below.

Utterly unique in its astonishing intimacy, as jarringly frightening as when it first appeared, Ann Rule’s The Stranger Beside Me defies our expectation that we would surely know if a monster lived among us, worked alongside of us, appeared as one of us. With a slow chill that intensifies with each heart-pounding page, Rule describes her dawning awareness that Ted Bundy, her sensitive coworker on a crisis hotline, was one of the most prolific serial killers in America. He would confess to killing at least thirty-six young women from coast to coast, and was eventually executed for three of those cases. Drawing from their correspondence that endured until shortly before Bundy’s death, and striking a seamless balance between her deeply personal perspective and her role as a crime reporter on the hunt for a savage serial killer — the brilliant and charismatic Bundy, the man she thought she knew — Rule changed the course of true-crime literature with this unforgettable chronicle.

What are you currently reading?

It’s Sunday again (already) and surprise, surprise, I’m sad about it. Although my weekends have been relatively ‘chill’ recently, I usually do end up scheduling one or two activities that leave me feeling tired and productive enough to feel like I haven’t completely wasted my weekends away 😅 Yesterday I accompanied one of my close friends/colleagues to do one of her final prenatal check ups, followed up by lunch at what very quicly became one of our favorite places to eat for its delicious food and drinks! I had the tuna poké with a fresh summery fruit smoothie, and we rounded up our meal by sharing their delectable french toast. Friends, IT IS SO FREAKING DELICIOUS I CAN’T EVEN. My friend and I literally had dreams about eating that french toast again, which is why we decided to head back to get it again. You know when something invades your dreams it’s just really that good 🤤

Aside from that, I’m planning to try ‘Zero Gravity Float Therapy’ soon. One of my besties told me about it and she thought it might be something interesting for me to try out for my sleep and mental health related issues. I thought I’d booked my session for today but it turns out it’s actually next week 😅 So that was already a good start to my Sunday LOL I’m kind of glad that it’s next week though because it’s given me more time to get more comfortable with the idea of it. The thought of being enclosed in a small, dark space, surrounded by water and zero sound, kind of FREAKS ME THE F OUT… But apparently this therapy is pretty good and does things that normal therapy doesn’t! So… ehrm… I guess let’s do this?

Reading & Blogging Recap

I sadly haven’t read a lot this week and I think I’ve only managed to finish one book? November not off to the best start! A lot of that had to do with the fact that I’ve been trying to catch up on engaging on blogs and most of my nights after work have been spent writing and reading… Not to mention that I’ve been caught up in the Twitterverse a couple of times this last week… 🙃 Next thing I know it’s 2AM, I haven’t read, I’m not sleepy and I just spent the last 3 hours scrolling social media LMAO I know I’m not the only one this happens to, amirite?! But also, I spent a lot of time this week reading Wicked Saints. I’m so sad to say that it really didn’t blow me away like I was hoping it would. I was a little disappointed by it but I am looking forward to reading Ruthless Gods, the sequel, which I got an eARC of a few months back! You can check out my review listed down below 🙂

Like I said earlier, I’ve been trying to blog and engage a bit more this week. I haven’t been able to get back to the levels before mid-October threw me completely off my game, but I managed to knock out some tags and awards that I’ve been putting off for way too long. I love getting tagged and nominated for these things but I am undoubtedly the absolute worst when it comes to answering them 🤣🙃🤣 Please don’t stop tagging me though–I really do love it! 💜 I also started doing some of the weekly memes that I’ve missed over the last few weeks (Friday Favorites and Top 5 Saturday) and it felt good to get back into it! In case you missed them, you can check out the posts I’ve made this week down below!

Review: Wicked Saints (Something Dark and Holy #1) by Emily A. Duncan
Top 5 Saturday: Books with a Survival Theme!
Friday Favorites: Inspiring Characters
First Lines Friday: 08 November
Review: Under Locke by Mariana Zapata
Are You Ready for Sweater Weather: The Autumn Tag!
Real Neat Blog Award!
Review: Frankly In Love by David Yoon
#WWWWednesday: 06 November
#TopTenTuesday: Books Giving Me Those Autumn Vibes!
Down the TBR Hole – 06
Goodreads Monday: 04 November

A special music shout out to HAIM this week for their new song: Now I’m In It. Contrary to what it sounds like, this is actually about depression and falling back ‘in it’. These sisters are amazing and whenever I start listening to them I can’t stop!

How has your week been? Hope everyone has/had a great weekend!

Wicked Saints (Something Dark and Holy #1) by Emily A. Duncan – #BookReview

Dini @ dinipandareads19 Comments

Goodreads: Wicked Saints (Something Dark and Holy #1)
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Panda Rating:

A girl who can speak to gods must save her people without destroying herself.
A prince in danger must decide who to trust.
A boy with a monstrous secret waits in the wings.
Together, they must assassinate the king and stop the war.

In a centuries-long war where beauty and brutality meet, their three paths entwine in a shadowy world of spilled blood and mysterious saints, where a forbidden romance threatens to tip the scales between dark and light. Wicked Saints is the thrilling start to Emily A. Duncan’s devastatingly Gothic Something Dark and Holy trilogy..

You know that feeling when you so badly want to love a book but there’s just something about it that ultimately lets you down? Friends, this is how I felt about Wicked Saints and I could not be more disappointed… I’m not saying it was a horrible read, I liked the parts I enjoyed (lol) but there was just something about it that stopped me from losing myself in the story and it left me feeling pretty ‘meh’ towards the end. It took me so much longer than expected to finish this book.

It started off really strong and I was hooked from the first paragraph. But as the story progressed the pace really slowed down and I found myself struggling to pick the book back up every time I had to leave it. Again, it wasn’t that it was wholly unenjoyable, there was just some missing element(s) that had me frustrated trying to work it out.

I think much of it had to do with the predictability of the plot and the inability for me to connect with any of the characters and the story itself. I have to admit that I read countless passages over and over again because I just couldn’t get a grip on the writing. I thought the world building was set up well and I thought the magic system was interesting, but I often found myself getting lost in the author’s explanations about how things worked that I feel like I didn’t know anything despite just having read about it. A lot of the time I felt that we were also told things instead of shown things. I noticed a lot of foreshadowing about characters and events that were so obviously told to us as readers, that it ruined the possibility of any surprise in the story.

I also have to mention the one gripe that many readers had and that was the character names. While I didn’t have an issue with most of them, I did find myself repeating Malachiasz’ name so many freaking times because I had no clue if I was pronouncing it correctly; and the same goes with many of the cleric’s names liberally sprinkled throughout. I think this book would’ve really benefited from having a glossary for the characters and I was disappointed to find there wasn’t one.

I also found the characters a little flat. I wanted to know more about Nadya, Serefin and Malachiasz’ backstories, and while we learn more about the latter two than we do about Nadya, it still wasn’t much. I thought the side players showed more character in certain respects, especially Parajihan and Rashid, and I found myself disappointed that they all but ‘disappeared’ as the story went on. I really wish that the characters were better developed as it would’ve made me feel more invested in what would happen to them, and especially in the romance that blooms.

There were certain elements to the story that I did like though. I haven’t read many Russian inspired stories so I enjoyed reading one so heavily influenced by it. Like I said earlier, the magic systems in both countries were interesting. I liked how Nadya, the last cleric of Kalyazin communed with the Gods and how she was gifted their powers. I also thought the blood magic, dark though it was, was pretty cool. I definitely wanted to know more about the books they used to conjure spells and I wanted to better understand what makes one blood mage more powerful than another, but more importantly where blood magic came from.

The action really picks up in the last few chapters but I sadly found myself trying too hard to focus on understanding the author’s writing (I really read so many passages countless times), that it really took away from my reading experience. I’m not sure that I understood much of what happened, but what I did get had me racing towards the finish, especially when things took another turn that I was pleasantly surprised by because it was a little unexpected.

By the end though I just felt that there was so much potential for awesome in this story but I was let down by the execution of it. I originally thought I’d rate this about 2.5 stars but the final events did get me excited for the sequel, so I’m boosting it up to 3 stars. I got the e-ARC of Ruthless Gods recently so I’m looking forward to seeing if it will be an improvement and if it’ll change the way I feel about this series so far.

Have you read Wicked Saints? What’d you think of it?
Let’s chat in the comments!

Top 5 Saturday: Books with a Survival Theme!

Dini @ dinipandareads15 Comments

It’s time for another Top 5 Saturday, a weekly meme created by Mandy @ Devouring Books and this week’s topic is: books with a survival theme. So it’s been a hot minute since I participated in a top five saturday post because I’ve either been too busy on the weekend or I’ve just been too mentally drained to feel inspired, but I’m glad to be back this week. That said, I’ve pretty much drawn a blank for this week’s prompt because do I even have any books with survival themes on my TBR or read list? Then again, ‘survival theme’ has a pretty broad scope and can be interpreted in a few ways: actual survival from the elements/nature or survival of a trying situations. So I’m going to do my best with that for my list of five books that I want to read one day!

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
I’ve not read the book or seen the movie (with Reese Witherspoon!) but I’ve heard some pretty amazing reviews about this book. It’s definitely one I’m keen to check out!

The Stand by Stephen King
This is a story about those who survived after a worldwide plague killed off 99% of the population. I have no doubt that this post-apocalyptic story is going to be creepy AF (I mean just look at that cover?) and we all know how I am with creepy books. But it just sounds too good to not try!

The Revenant by Michael Punke
I really enjoyed the movie when it came out and have been interested in the book ever since. It sounds like a brutal story about survival and revenge after being left to die in the Rocky Mountains!

These Broken Stars (Starbound #1) by Amie Kaufman & Megan Spooner
I haven’t had this one sitting on my tbr for too long but I’ve been wanting to read another book by Kaufman for a while now! This is about survival in space with a bit of romance thrown in!

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
This one is very obviously a different kind of survival story but it’s very much a survival story. I’m super keen to read it as I’ve heard so many great things; I just really hope it lives up to all the hype!

Have you read any of my ‘survival themed’ book picks? Any recs on which one to start first and any more recs to add to my list?!
Come let me know in the comments and let’s chat! 😂

Friday Favorites: Inspiring Characters

Dini @ dinipandareads13 Comments

It’s time for another Friday Favorites hosted by Kibby @ Something of the Book! This weekly meme is where you get to share a list of all your favourites based on the list of prompts on Kibby’s page. Sounds fun, right? This week’s prompt is: favorite inspiring characters! I skipped last Friday’s post because I was feeling completely drained and wholly uninspired, but I’m back and feeling a little more inspired (apt, considering the prompt 😉)! This is going to be tough to choose though; I know I’ve encountered many inspiring characters in books, but I admit that my memory makes it difficult to keep track of this sometimes 😅 That said, here’s a list of five of some of my favorite inspiring characters! They’re not in any particular order and honestly, they’re the first ones that came to my mind for this prompt lol

Isabelle & Vianne from The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
This is a two-fer because although both sisters were like day and night in terms of personalities, but the strength, resilience and courage they displayed in the face of unimaginable horrors, although presented in different ways, were as equally inspiring. I loved these sisters.

Tierney James from The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
Tierney is a survivor. She had to face the horror of having her peers turn against her and she had to face unknown demons alone in the outside world just to survive The Grace Year. Despite facing so much cruelty and torture, she was still full of compassion and kindness, and she takes a stand against a society that would see her and other women kill each other rather than be empowered.

Photo Credit: Erika Doss

Starr Carter from The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
I mean, do I even have to give justification for this? I can’t begin to fathom having to experience losing a friend in front of your face so unjustly. She faces everything head on with determination, courage, and such great strength! She is incredibly inspiring and I’m sure no one would disagree.

Romy Silver from The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James
Imagine being completely isolated light years away from the closest human being and then you suddenly find yourself blindsided by a threat you didn’t even know was coming. What Romy did to survive, the smarts she utilised despite being almost paralyzed by her fear was hella inspiring!

Esme Tran from The Bride Test (The Kiss Quotient #2) by Helen Hoang
Unfortunately what Esme does to build a better life for herself, her daughter and mother is not an uncommon scenario for many. But she faces her challenges, which range from dealing with meddling strangers, learning a new language, being in a foreign country, not to mention dealing with love, all head on and with a fierce determination that’s very inspiring!

Who are some of your favorite inspiring characters? Wow, I just realized that all the characters I mentioned are women 😏 Hells yeah, inspiring women of the book world! Let’s chat in the comments!