Tag: 2023 Reads

2023 End of Year Book Survey – Part I

Dini @ dinipandareads26 Comments

As has become an annual tradition on this blog, it’s time to share Part I of the End of Year Book Survey! I always enjoy doing this survey to dive a little deeper into my reading and blogging in the year that has just passed. I’ve mentioned it once and I’m gonna mention it again: 2023 was A YEAR so I’m glad that it’s over and I can only hope that 2024 is a much kinder, more peaceful and joyful year. On that note, I’m going to get straight to it. If you’d like to check my previous years’ End of Book Surveys, I’ve linked them all below! 😍

This survey was originally created by Jamie @The Perpetual Page Turner.

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

Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

Hello, friends. ✨ 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 Amélie 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)

📖 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 Lan’s homeland and killed her mother in their search to uncover the Last Kingdom’s greatest the location of its legendary four Demon Gods. Lan’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 he’s willing to lose himself if it means saving the Kingdom–and the girl–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 it–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.

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

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

📚 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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Monthly Wrap-Up: December 2023 ft. the last Sunday Wrap-Up [216]

Dini @ dinipandareads25 Comments

Since this year, the last Sunday falls on the last day of the year, I thought I’d combine my usual Sundays in Bed With… My Weekly Wrap-Up post with my monthly wrap-up. Can you believe it’s already the end of 2023?

I honestly don’t know where this month went. It passed by in a blink of long days, endless nights, extremely emotional moments, but thankfully, also some fun reads and down time. The quieter office of the past two weeks were also much-needed and I’m low-key dreading going back to “business as usual” come January, lol. 😂 But we’ll be fine.

I hope everyone is doing okay and taking care of themselves during this time of the year. It’ll be a new year on this side of the world before it will be for most of you reading this (probably) so here’s a message incoming from the future:

Happy New Year! 🥳 I hope 2024 will be a year filled with joy, success, stability and peace. Sending all the hugs and much love your way! 💜

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2023 Spotify Wrapped Book Tag

Dini @ dinipandareads3 Comments

Hey friends, I hope the week is treating you right. We’re two sleeps away from a new year (at least on this side of the world anyway) and I was reminded by Jennifer @ My Book Joy about this fun book tag! ✨ I totally forgot that the Spotify Wrapped Book Tag existed but I think I did a pretty decent job at matching songs to books in 2022, so I thought I’d give it another go for 2023. I think my 2023 songs were a bit more challenging but I still had fun matching and think I did an okay job, lol. On that note, let’s get to it!

This tag was originally created by Rosina @Lace and Dagger Books!

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Book Review: Pride and Protest by Nikki Payne

Dini @ dinipandareads6 Comments

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

Panda Rating:

(4.5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

Liza B–The Only DJ That Gives a Jam—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 fly—but her impossible-to-ignore family thwarts her every move. Liza wants Dorsey Fitzgerald out of her hood, but she’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, he’s always felt a bit out of place, and knows a fraud when he sees one. But when Liza’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 he’s ever met.

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

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

TL;DR: 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 horniness—honestly, it was a fun sexual vibe! 🥵 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

Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

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

Panda Rating:

(4 pandas)

📖 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?

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

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

TL;DR: 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! 😂 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

Dini @ dinipandareads8 Comments

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

Panda Rating:

(4 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

Everyone says “there’s no place like home”… well not for me.

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

That is until I run into my childhood crush, and my brother’s best friend, Parker Grant. Now, he’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, there’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! 😉 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! 😍

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