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:
It was more than a little jarring to me when I saw Celeste and Mehsi post the Quarter Year Crisis Book Tag because what do you mean a quarter of the year has already come and gone?! I had to sit with that fact for a bit and let my brain catch up to what it already knew, lol. 2026 has been… so weird and awful in so many ways, and I guess I’ve started blocking a lot out, which has made the year feel simultaneously too long and yet incredibly short. Sigh.
So I guess it’s time to look back on Q1 of my reading year! Surprisingly, it hasn’t been too bad in terms of numbers at least in comparison to last year. If you’re curious, you can view my past quarterly check-ins: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022.
This tag was originally created by @Roisin’s Reading on BookTube.
Read More » 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:
Hi friends, I’m excited to be back for another blog tour today and this time it’s for an adorable new graphic novel! I’m here to share my thoughts as part of the blog tour hosted by Toppling Stacks Tours for Forgive-Me-Not by Mari Costa.
Thanks to First Second Books 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!
Forgive-Me-Not
Publisher: First Second Books
Publication Date: 14 April 2026
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Rep: LGBTQIA+, Queer
Rating:
(4.5 pandas)
A queer โenemies to loversโ journey of a lost princess and a changeling who was made to take the heirโs place as part of a fey scheme.
Aisling is many things to many people: princess, heir to the throne, teenage daughter of two loving parentsโฆ Sheโs also about to learn a lot more about herself: changeling. Fey creature. Hunted. Feared. Loved?
Forgive-Me-Not is the name given to the true princess โ the lost teenage biological daughter to the king and queen, whoโs grown up in the chaotic and untrustworthy realm of Faerie. When Forgive-Me-Not breaks into Aislingโs room the night before their 18 th birthday looking for revenge, the two embark on a long and arduous journey. And what starts as a confrontational and adversarial pairing grows into a bond of mutual understanding, friendship, and maybe something moreโฆ
Kidnapping, torture (recounted), blood, murder, mild violence
TL;DR: Oh my, what an adorable feel-great graphic novel! This had the cheesiest ending but it still had me giggling and feeling a buoyant giddiness that left a big smile on my face long after Iโd finished reading. This is a timeless fairytale where princess meets knight and they fall in love, but with a changeling twist and a sapphic bent that I loved.
The artwork was fantastic and complemented the story really well. I loved the contrast between the brighter spring palette human world and the darker autumnal palette of the faerie world. I think this contrast was also reflected well in the personalities between Aisling and Not. I loved the art style so much, with clean lines, intense colours, and very emotive character expressions and actions! There were some chibi-adjacent illustrations that I found adorable, and I particularly loved how the expressions in those scenes were conveyed too.
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What happened in March? I honestly have no idea. It passed by in a blink, but with the end of Ramadan and the start of Eid, half of the month was practically a holiday for the majority of the country. ๐ While my family doesn’t celebrate, we still got a holiday, and though I literally did close to nothing for my 5-day weekend, it was still very nice, lol. ๐ผ Something I started again this month was gaming. After years of putting aside Disney Dreamlight Valley, I decided to pick it up on a whim and have found myself enjoying the gameplay so much more this time around! There are tons of new characters and quests, as the “base game” has developed further since its launch. Despite the tons of frame drops and massive lags, it’s been a great way to unwind daily and I’m a little obsessed.
The big event this month was celebrating my dad’s 72nd birthday with Korean BBQ and a delicious fluffy chocolate strawberry cake. Other than that, I experienced a few more gorgeous sunsets in the car on the way home, and I also ate some mouthwateringly good Indian food! Here’s some snaps from the month…
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:
Hi friends, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve done a tour (not since September 2025!), so I’m excited to be back with a blog tour review today! I’m here to share my thoughts (and a few favourite quotes) as part of the blog tour hosted by Toppling Stacks Tours for The Wicked Sea by Jordan Stephanie Gray.
Thanks to Requited 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!
The Wicked Sea (The Wicked Sea #1)
Publisher: Requited
Publication Date: 7 April 2026
Genre: New Adult Fantasy Romance
Rep: LGBTQIA+, Pansexual
Rating:
(3.5 pandas)
In this dark and sultry romantasy a mermaid battles hatredโand lustโfor the wretched warlock who saved her life.
Mermaid Zephyra of the Syl dreams of freedom. On the run from a dangerous captor and years of abuse, sheโs shed her tail, grown legs, and hidden herself on land in the merrow-loathing kingdom of Mortia, left to steal and barter on the dirty streets. But her freedom is short-lived when sheโs caught and sentenced to death by the brutal warlock, Arion Stone.
Arion is as beautiful as he is cold and deadly, only interested in punishing the merrow he views as evil. He has grown as strong as any warlock might, but at great personal costโฆwhich can only be remedied by the heart of the God of Death, lost to a fabled kingdom beneath the oceanโs treacherous depths.
So Arion offers Zephyra a deal she canโt refuse; help him find the mystical heart, and heโll spare her life. With no other options, Zephyra agrees, entangling their souls and forbidden desires in a magical bargain until death do they part. But Zephyraโs past is catching up to her, and the enemy she fled seeks vengeance. If Zephyra and Arion canโt learn to fight togetherโand trust each otherโthere are worse things awaiting them than just death.
Of course, in the wicked sea, everyone has secrets, and no one should be trusted.
For fans of: Enemies-to-lovers, Magic Sensual Bonds, Winged Romantic Lead, Forced Proximity
Imprisonment, graphic descriptions of torture, gore, dismemberment, blood, violence, death, and murder
TL;DR: The Wicked Sea is a fun fantasy romance featuring killer mermaids and warlocks, a steamy enemies-to-lovers romance, and a thrilling race against time across this world, trailed by powerful and deadly enemies. Donโt let this (beautiful) pastel cover fool youโthis story gets dark and very gory, and covers fairly tough topics, so I would recommend checking content/trigger warnings beforehand. While there were elements I wish had been done better to deliver a stronger story, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this! If youโre a fan of Quicksilver and Phantasma, chances are youโll like this too.
Read More » 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:
A Tempest of Ravens (The Noble Exiles #1)
Publisher: Bard Songs Publishing
Pub Date: 24 October 2025
Genre: Historical Fantasy Romance
Panda Rating:
(3.5 pandas)
Outlander meets One Dark Window in this sweeping and visceral historical romantasy.
SCOTLAND 1651. THE KINGDOM IS ABLAZE WITH WAR AND WITCHES’ PYRES.
Maeve MacDonnell has spent years being haunted by croaking ravens, terrifying visions, and uncanny abilities she canโt explain. She’d give anything to be free of themโor to finally control them.
After the superstitious local villagers force her out of town, an alluring stranger named Eamon comes to her aid. As their connection deepens, he encourages her to embrace her abilities. And as her power grows, so does their undeniable chemistry.
When they’re ambushed by the invading English armyโwho are hell-bent on conquering Scotland and turning every witch to ashโMaeve and Eamon flee to the last Scottish-held castle.
Thrust into a brutal web of deceit, and besieged by enemies on all sides, Maeve must rely on her chaotic magic to survive. It could be the key to saving the kingdom and everyone she lovesโbut only if she can harness it in time.
Inspired by real events and perfect for fans of Rachel Gillig and Diana Gabaldon, this atmospheric historical romantasy is the first book in the Noble Exiles series.
On-page violence, sexual assault (non-consensual kissing & touching), attempted kidnapping, torture, war themes, blood, PTSD, emotional abuse, misogyny, bigotry
TL;DR:ย Lately, Iโve been struggling to find a read that piques and keeps my interest past the first few pages, so I was very excited when I started A Tempest of Ravens and it did just that. While there were enjoyable moments as the story progressedโparticularly the historical context and atmosphereโthe uneven pacing, repetitiveness, and a lack of connection to the characters, left me wanting more. I really thought I would love this more than I did, however, I still think itโs a solid debut and Iโm curious to see where Maeveโs story goes next. If youโre more into historical fiction with a little bit of witchcraft and magic thrown into the mix, and a mild romantic subplot, you might enjoy this one!
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Graveyard Shift
Publisher: Wildfire
Pub Date: 24 September 2024
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Panda Rating:
(4 pandas)
The bestselling author of international BookTok sensation If We Were Villains returns with a story of a group of misfits who meet in the local cemetery each night to unearth the secrets lurking in an open grave.
Every night, in the college’s ancient cemetery, five people cross paths as they work the late shift: a bartender, a rideshare driver, a hotel receptionist, the steward of the derelict church that looms over them, and the editor-in-chief of the college paper, always in search of a story.
One dark October evening in the defunct churchyard, they find a hole that wasn’t there before. A fresh, open grave where no grave should be. But who dug it, and for whom?
Before they go their separate ways, the gravedigger returns. As they trail him through the night, they realise he may be the key to a string of strange happenings around town that have made headlines for the last few weeks — and that they may be closer to the mystery than they thought.
Atmospheric and eerie, with the ensemble cast her fans love and a delightfully familiar academic backdrop, Graveyard Shift is a modern Gothic tale in If We Were Villains author M.L. Rio’s inimitable style.
Read More »โWhat must it feel like, she wondered, for the first time and much too late, to be so desperate for rest that youโd let a doctor[โฆ]drop her experimental poison in your eyes?โ
dinipandareads 