Tag: 2026 Reads

Book Review: The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 1 by Beth Brower

Dini @ dinipandareads5 Comments

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 1 (The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion #1)
Publisher: Rhysdon Press
Pub Date: 5 November 2019
Genre: Historical Fiction Novella

Panda Rating:

(4.5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

“I’ve arrived in London without incident. There are few triumphs in my recent life, but I count this as one. My existence of the last three years has been nothing but incident.”

The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighborhood of St. Crispian’s. But Emma’s plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian’s. Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.

Okay, I’m not gonna lie, I was dubious at first about how much everyone seemed to love this novella. Sure, I giggled a few times at the start, but nothing was really grabbing me and soon, I was convinced that this would be a somewhat forgettable “okay” read. Then suddenly, somewhere around the halfway point of the story, I felt this overwhelming rush of affection for Miss Emma M. Lion. Needless to say, I ate the rest of this up and wound up loving it so much that I need to get my hands on Vol. 2 immediately!

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Book Review: Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Dini @ dinipandareads9 Comments

Cemetery Boys (Cemetery Boys #1)
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Pub Date: 1 September 2020
Genre: YA Paranormal/Urban Fantasy

Panda Rating:

(4 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.

When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie up some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

⚠️ CONTENT WARNINGS

Transmisia, deadnaming & misgendering, gender dysphoria, parental abandonment recounted, disownment and child homelessness, blood (animal & human) depiction & use of blood for magic and in rituals, dead bodies, grief & loss depiction, death of parents recounted, disappearance of a loved one, murder & attempted murder, knife violence & stabbing

TL;DR: Cemetery Boys had me going through the full spectrum of emotions. I laughed, cried, got happy, mad, sad, and frustrated, but in the end, my heart was so full because of the characters in this book! This story was rich in culture and heart, and it’s about family both blood and found, identity and belonging. Yadriel, Julian, and our favourite cousin to ever exist, Maritza, were wonderful characters who were so easy to empathise with. If you need comfort and a gentle place to land, this story will take you there! 💜

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#WWWWednesday: 26 August 2026

Dini @ dinipandareads11 Comments

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:

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

Book Review: Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce

Dini @ dinipandareads14 Comments

Dungeons and Drama (Gaming and Romance #1)
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pub Date: 9 January 2024
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Panda Rating:

(4.5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

When it comes to romance, sometimes it doesn’t hurt to play games. A fun YA romcom full of fake dating hijinks!

Musical lover Riley has big aspirations to become a director on Broadway. Crucial to this plan is to bring back her high school’s spring musical, but when Riley takes her mom’s car without permission, she’s grounded and stuck with the worst punishment: spending her after-school hours working at her dad’s game shop.

Riley can’t waste her time working when she has a musical to save, so she convinces Nathan—a nerdy teen employee—to cover her shifts and, in exchange, she’ll flirt with him to make his gamer-girl crush jealous.

But Riley didn’t realize that meant joining Nathan’s Dungeons & Dragons game… or that role playing would be so fun. Soon, Riley starts to think that flirting with Nathan doesn’t require as much acting as she would’ve thought.

⚠️ CONTENT WARNINGS

Parental health scare (a parent has a heart attack, off-page)

TL;DR: It has been a hot minute since I’ve read a YA contemporary that I genuinely enjoyed as much as I did Dungeons and Drama. It was such a feel good, wholesome and perfectly adorkable YA contemporary! Was it perfect? No. But is it fun, entertaining, and probably perfect for theatre geeks and gamer nerds both young and old? If you’re looking for a good time then absolutely, yes! This is a book my younger self would’ve obsessed over and I wish that I had a cousin/niece/nephew/friend’s kid who was a young reader that I could recommend this to. I understand why so many readers have loved this book (and the others in this series)!

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Blog Tour Review: Dungeons & Dimwits by James Mascia

Dini @ dinipandareads9 Comments

Happy Thursday, friends! I’m here today as part of the blog tour hosted by Toppling Stacks Tours for Dungeons & Dimwits by James Mascia and illustrated by Xoana Kodaris, and I’ll be sharing my thoughts on this new debut graphic novel.

Thanks to Dren Productions for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Click the banner above or here to check out the other incredible bloggers on the blog tour!

Dungeons & Dimwits: Issue 1
Publisher: Dren Productions
Publication Date: 3 February 2025
Genre: MG Fantasy Graphic Novel

Rating:

(4 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

What happens when the game your playing goes completely out of control?

That’s what happens when a group of friends are playing their latest role-playing game. The game takes over and the players suddenly find themselves in their character’s shoes and fighting for their lives.

A little Jumanji with a Critical Role theme that pokes fun at TTRPGs and the people who play them.

Dungeons & Dimwits takes all the funny, quirky, humorous (and sometimes kinda screwed up) things that happen when we play our tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) and puts them into stories. If you you play these games, and don’t see yourself in here somewhere, you aren’t playing correctly.

📚 BUY A COPY
⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Blood, death, violence

Dungeons & Dimwits was a highly entertaining MG graphic novel! Here we have a group of friends who magically get sucked into their TTRPG and they wind up assuming their character roles in a fantastical game world facing monsters, baddies, and other dangers of their creation. It gave Stranger Things x Jumanji x Delicious in Dungeon (the battles specifically) x Dungeon Crawler Carl (but for a younger audience). If you like the sound of all of the above, then I would recommend checking it out. Much like the group in Stranger Things, this group of friends will bicker constantly over how to do every little thing, but there’s never any doubt about them always being in each other’s corner, no matter what happens.

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#WWWWednesday: 19 August 2026

Dini @ dinipandareads26 Comments

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:

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

Blog Tour Review: Hollow Magic by Mars Lauderbaugh

Dini @ dinipandareads3 Comments

Happy Thursday, friends! I’m here today as part of the blog tour hosted by Toppling Stacks Tours for Hollow Magic by Mars Lauderbaugh, and I’ll be sharing my thoughts on this new debut graphic novel.

Thanks to Feiwel & Friends for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Click the banner above or here to check out the other incredible bloggers on the blog tour!

Hollow Magic
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: 11 August 2026
Genre: YA Fantasy Graphic Novel
Rep: Queer, LGBTQ+, Trans

Rating:

(3 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

Seventeen-year-old Rosefinch has been traveling along the weather-beaten coast for two years on a quest to find a witch strong enough to help her control her magic. Her magic is volatile, hard to wield, and Rosefinch is tired of the pain of magical backlash. When she’s directed to the sea-side village of Harp, she discovers the ancient castle of a long-lost Witch Queen with the inhabitants long gone; the only remaining soul is a knight encased in solid ice guarding the door.

When she attempts to lift the curse, she frees Thierry, a human with no memory of who they are, wrapped in cursed magic so strong that they cannot leave the castle. Thierry is soft spoken, strong, and in possession of a fey sword that should be impossible for them to have. But they have secrets of their own, as do other members of the Harp family still hidden within the walls.

Harp castle was left in ruins for a reason, and Rosefinch must find a way to cure the curse or lose Thierry—and the chance to learn the truth about the Witch Queen—forever.

📚 BUY A COPY
⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Blood, murder (recounted)

TL;DR: Overall, I thought Hollow Magic was a good debut graphic novel with a beautiful art style that helped bring the story to life. I would be curious to see what the author comes out with next! Check this out if you’re looking for a light(ish), easy-to-breeze-through, low-angst graphic novel featuring magic, witches, fey, and found family.

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#WWWWednesday: 12 August 2026

Dini @ dinipandareads16 Comments

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:

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

#WWWWednesday: 5 August 2026

Dini @ dinipandareads24 Comments

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:

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

Monthly Wrap-Up: July 2026

Dini @ dinipandareads30 Comments

July… What happened in July? Honestly, I ain’t got a clue. It was my first month on a retainer contract (meaning I have 3-days of work per month) and “suddenly” finding myself with a heckuva lot more free time resulted in me getting very comfortable very quickly with doing nothing particularly productive every day. 😅 *big sigh* I guess you can say that I have a very lazy + avoidant personality, so I tend to really stick to my comfort zone, which means that I (mostly) allow myself to shove my head in the sand and just exist in ignorant bliss. I am the question hound in the “on fire” comic strip turned meme where the house is burning down and the hound is sat at the table saying “this is fine” (at least for now).

“On Fire” comic strip by KC Green

In other news, well, there really isn’t much other news. I managed to be productive a few times over the past month by doing a spot of spring cleaning here and there, but otherwise, I’ve just been languishing the days away… I’m trying not to be too hard on myself cos this is a big life change and I’m very much a creature of comfort and routine, so it has messed me up a bit. But I hope that August will see a turn around at some point. 🙂 Here are some photos from gaming, bookstagram, book mail, and my catto. 🐈

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