Blog Tour Review: Kept from Cages by Phil Williams

January 17, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

I’m back with another blog tour with The Storytellers on Tour for Kept from Cages by Phil Williams. Thanks to the author for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review!

Be sure to click on the banner below to check out the rest of the bloggers on tour!

Goodreads: Kept from Cages (Ikiri Book 1)
Publication Date: 21 September 2020
Genre: Supernatural Action Thriller

Panda Rating:

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No one returns from Ikiri.
Reece’s gang of criminal jazz musicians have taken shelter in the wrong house. There’s a girl with red eyes bound to a chair. The locals call her a devil – but Reece sees a kid that needs protecting. He’s more right than he knows.
Chased by a shadowy swordsman and an unnatural beast, the gang flee across the Deep South with the kid in tow. She won’t say where she’s from or who exactly her scary father is, but she’s got powers they can’t understand. How much will Reece risk to save her?
On the other side of the world, Agent Sean Tasker’s asking similar questions. With an entire village massacred and no trace of the killers, he’s convinced Duvcorp’s esoteric experiments are responsible. His only ally is an unstable female assassin, and their only lead is Ikiri – a black-site in the Congo, which no one leaves alive. How far is Tasker prepared to go for answers?
Kept From Cages is the first part in an action-packed supernatural thriller duology, filled with eccentric characters and intricately woven mysteries. Start your journey to Ikiri today.

BUY NOW: Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK)

BOOK PROMO: The Kept From Cages ebook will be available for 99p/99c in UK/US Kindle from January 13th–19th.

Book Review: Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston

January 15, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads13 Comments

Note: Review originally posted on Goodreads 07 January 2021

Among the Beasts & Briars
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Published: 20 October 2020
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Panda Rating:

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Cerys is safe in the kingdom of Aloriya.

Here there are no droughts, disease, or famine, and peace is everlasting. It has been this way for hundreds of years, since the first king made a bargain with the Lady who ruled the forest that borders the kingdom. But as Aloriya prospered, the woods grew dark, cursed, and forbidden. Cerys knows this all too well: when she was young, she barely escaped as the woods killed her friends and her mother. Now Cerys carries a small bit of the curse—the magic—in her blood, a reminder of the day she lost everything. The most danger she faces now, as a gardener’s daughter, is the annoying fox who stalks the royal gardens and won’t leave her alone.

As a new queen is crowned, however, things long hidden in the woods descend on the kingdom itself. Cerys is forced on the run, her only companions the small fox from the garden, a strange and powerful bear, and the magic in her veins. It’s up to her to find the legendary Lady of the Wilds and beg for a way to save her home. But the road is darker and more dangerous than she knows, and as secrets from the past are uncovered amid the teeth and roots of the forest, it’s going to take everything she has just to survive.

TL;DR: Mine is an unpopular opinion but I didn’t end up loving this as much as I hoped I would and I was sad about not enjoying it more. If you’re looking for a YA fantasy that’s light on the world building and character development, but has a nice fairytale vibe with “far-off places, magical spells, and a prince in disguise” then I would recommend it!

#5OnMyTBR: Planned to Read in 2020

December 29, 2020December 28, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads18 Comments

Hello Mondays, welcome back to #5OnMyTBR, a meme created by the wonderful E @ The Local Bee Hunter’s Nook. This bookish meme gets us to dig even further into our TBRs by simply posting about five books on our TBR! You can learn more about it here or in the post announcing it. You can find the full list of prompts (past and future) at the end of this post!

This week’s prompt is: Planned to read in 2020.

The End of Year Book Tag – 2020 Edition

December 24, 2020December 24, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads17 Comments

I did my first End of Year Book Tag for 2019* and in what I’m guessing will become a yearly tradition now, I’ve come back to it again in 2020 as we’ve got one week left to go until this hot mess of a year comes to an end! I pretty much said the same thing last year (and basically in my posts for the last few weeks) but I can’t believe this year is coming to an end already! It felt like it took forever but also no time at all. Now without further ado, let’s get into this tag!

*I’m still not quite sure who made this tag but I did find it on Jenn @ Jenniely’s page.

Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish?

I won’t be counting my actual ‘current reads’ list but even not counting those, I do have a fair few that I started but wasn’t in the right mood for at the time, so I put them aside–it’s not at all because I wasn’t enjoying them though (honestly)! I’m still keen to get back to these ASAP.

Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year?

Confused man’s face with mouth hanging open (that is literally me rn)

Still not really sure that I get this question. I mean, it’s not autumn anymore but also, no I don’t have any particular book that I read to transition into the ‘end of the year mode’!

is there a new release that you’re still waiting for?

I was going to say no but then I remembered Love at the Icicle Café, which I added to my TBR just last week and it’s only out on 29 December, so I guess there is one I’m still waiting for in 2020 😂 The rest have all come out and what a year it has been!

what are three books you want to read before the year ends?

Hmm… I’m going to pick one from the list of books that I need to finish: Clap When You Land, but the other two are The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and The Dragon Republic (before diving immediately into TBG)!

is there a book that you think could still shock you and become your favourite of the year?

Ngl, if I do manage to read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue before the year ends, I think that there’s a very high possibility it could end up being my favourite. Based on what others have said about it I have a feeling I’m going to really really love it and omg, I can’t wait to read it!

have you already started to make reading plans for 2021?

I was going to say no but then I do already have a few blog tours lined up for January so I guess I do 😂 These are just some of the titles I’m on a tour for and I’m excited to give them a go!

Aaand that’s a wrap, folks! Well, that ended up being a lot shorter than I thought it’d be 🤣 Why did I think this tag was miles long when I did it last year? LOL. Anyway, I’m not going to tag anyone specifically but if you wanna do it, feel free to link back to me so I can check out your answers!

ARC Review: Boone by Emily March

December 22, 2020December 21, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads1 Comment

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Boone (Eternity Springs: The McBrides of Texas)
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: 29 December 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Panda Rating:

With his smooth talk, rugged good looks, and deep pockets, native Texan Boone McBride appears to be a man who has it all. Few people know about the heartbreak behind his decision to leave home, family, and career for the isolation of a small town in the Colorado Rockies. Luckily, time and life in Eternity Springs has worked its healing magic upon his wounded soul, so when he meets obviously troubled Hannah Dupree, Boone sees a chance to pay his good fortune forward. The last thing he anticipates is tumbling into love.

Tragedy has taken everything Hannah loves, and her will to keep going is failing. So when Boone strides into her life determined to save her, it’s easier to go along with him than to resist. Soon she is drawn into the fabric of life in Eternity Springs, and as her spirit begins to heal, her strength returns, and she’s able to go toe-to-toe with this hardheaded, big-hearted Texan. But just when love blooms and happiness is within their grasp, shadows from the past threaten. Hannah and Boone must stand strong and united in order to defeat old ghosts—if they are to create a brand-new life together.

CW: mentions of suicide, child abuse, and death of a child and partner (all instances occurred in the past and off-page).

I’ve been on a serious fantasy binge over the last few months and I only recently started reading romances again when this book came onto my radar. Boone is the third book in a series and can easily be read as a standalone, but my curiosity was definitely piqued about the first two books because the characters make appearances and I was intrigued by them.

#5OnMyTBR: Winter Love!

December 22, 2020December 21, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads13 Comments

This week’s prompt is: Winter Celebrations.

Goodreads Monday – Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston

December 21, 2020December 21, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads17 Comments

Welcome back to Goodreads Monday! It’s been a very hot minute since I did one but I figured I might as well get back into it! This weekly meme was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners and it 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.*

*Sorry if a book has been featured twice! I need to make better note of which ones I’ve done already!

This week’s featured book is Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston. This is a fairy tale inspired YA fantasy that was published in October 2020 and has a 3.88 rating on Goodreads with 600+ reviews.

Blog Tour Review: In Pursuit of Happiness by Freya Kennedy

December 17, 2020December 17, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads9 Comments

I’m back with another blog tour today with Rachel’s Random Resources for In Pursuit of Happiness by Freya Kennedy. Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Be sure to click on the banner below to check out the other bloggers on tour!

Goodreads: In Pursuit of Happiness
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Release Date: 15 December 2020
Genre: Women’s Fiction / Chick Lit
Panda Rating:

The world is waiting…but just outside of your comfort zone.

Jo Campbell is perfectly content in a perfectly structured life. Nothing ever changes in Jo’s life, and she likes it that way. Or at least, she tells herself she does.

Most of the time, she manages to push down the tiny voice that tells her to chase her dream and maybe, just maybe, open her battered and bruised heart up to love. But to chase her dreams she needs to take chances that are way out of her comfort zone and learn to not put other people’s happiness above her own.

Most of all she has to learn to trust her heart, which may just be the biggest challenge of all.

BUY NOW: Amazon (US)

ARC Review: Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco

December 17, 2020October 29, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads14 Comments

Thanks to NetGalley and JIMMY Patterson for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Kingdom of the Wicked (Kingdom of the Wicked #1)
Publisher: JIMMY Patterson
Publication Date: 27 October 2020
Genre: Young Adult Historical Fantasy

Panda Rating:

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📖 SYNOPSIS

Two sisters. One brutal murder. A quest for vengeance that will unleash Hell itself… And an intoxicating romance.

Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe – witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Vittoria misses dinner service at the family’s renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin…desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to find her sister’s killer and to seek vengeance at any cost-even if it means using dark magic that’s been long forbidden.

Then Emilia meets Wrath, one of the Wicked-princes of Hell she has been warned against in tales since she was a child. Wrath claims to be on Emilia’s side, tasked by his master with solving the series of women’s murders on the island. But when it comes to the Wicked, nothing is as it seems…

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Slavery, hate crime, self harm, blood & gore depiction, body horror, emesis, grief & loss depiction, death of a sister, murder, torture, stalking

Let me start off by saying that this is an unpopular opinion about this book 😂

Top 5 Saturday: Water on the Cover

December 12, 2020December 12, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads19 Comments

Welcome back to another Top 5 Saturday! Just in case you don’t know Top 5 Saturday is a weekly meme created by Mandy @ Devouring Books and it’s where we list the top five books (they can be books on your TBR, favourite books, books you loved/hated) based on the week’s topic. You can see the upcoming schedule at the end of my post 🙂 This week’s topic is actually: water on the cover.

I don’t think I’ve ever done a prompt about books with water on the cover. I love the many ways water can be presented on an eye-catching cover. It can represent dark and tumultuous emotions but it can also present a calm or meditative state. Although all of these titles are still on my TBR, and perhaps I’m reading too much into it anyway, but I feel like the covers represent the stories (and genres) well! I guess only time will tell, when I finally read the books, whether that’s true or not 😂