Tag: eARC

#WWWWednesday: 14 October

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?

Since last Wednesday I’ve managed to read 4 books. It was a pretty average week of reading…

Sisters of the Moon by Alexandrea Weis ★★★½
This was a gripping supernatural fantasy with horror elements to it. Weis does a fantastic job establishing an eerie atmosphere and creating intrigue through the mystery of the order. While the characters and world building weren’t as developed as I’d hoped they’d be, I am intrigued to see what happens next, especially after that action packed and intense ending! Read my review.

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#WWWWednesday: 07 October

Dini @ dinipandareads10 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?

Since last Wednesday I’ve managed to read 7 books. Still going with lots of romance but also quite a bit of historical fiction, too!

Taken to Sasor (Xiveri Mates #3) by Elizabeth Stephens ★★½
This story was set apart from the world we’re introduced to in the first two books in the series and I’m sad to say that it’s my least favourite one. While I loved the heroine and the awesome side characters, I didn’t really care for the hero. The high point of this series continues to be the diversity and amazing world building–the intro to alien cultures, social norms, mythology/folklore is all so well done! I’ll be writing mini-reviews for the whole series once it’s finished.

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September 2020 Monthly Wrap Up!

Dini @ dinipandareads35 Comments

Wow, has it really been a month since I did my last wrap up? Because it still feels as if I did my August wrap up last week! 😂 Is time flying for you too or is it just me? Although some weeks this month have felt longer than ever, most days have gone by in a blink and before I know it Mondays have become Wednesdays have become Fridays, and then another week is over. I don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing either. We’re one step closer to having this flaming hot mess of a year be over but what comes next? That’s a question I’ve been really contemplating lately because I’ve been feeling a bit directionless looking forward to 2021 and I’m hoping an answer will come to me soon!

But before I digress further, let’s take a look at what this month of reading has been like. In September, I read a (surprising) 23 books but I read a lot of romance which I tend to speed through so maybe it’s not surprising. I’m actually not sure if this is all the books I’ve read because I haven’t been marking them properly on Goodreads but we’ll roll with it! I also DNF two more books this month and although the guilt made me push on for longer than I wanted to, I ended up putting both books down because they only made me miserable.

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#WWWWednesday: 30 September

Dini @ dinipandareads36 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?

Since last Wednesday I’ve managed to read: 8 books. I also DNF’d two other books but I’m not including them here. Friends, I’m so proud for not putting myself through reading books I’m not enjoying or have no interest in. 2020 year has been a shady ass year, but at least I’ve learned to DNF 😉 Heh…

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia ★★★★☆
I first heard about this book through Sammie and I get why she raves about it. It was so refreshing to read about African Gods and Black-American folklore, but it also deals with grief in a way that’s relatable for both young and old. Tristan and the whole cast had such strong and unique voices but it was Gum Baby that 100% won me over! I absolutely loved her! It’s super action packed and entertaining, and I can’t wait to read more about Tristan and the Gods in the future! Review to come.

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#WWWWednesday: 23 September

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?

Wow, so you know how I’ve been reading like crazy for the past two weeks? I finally met my match and I think I’m in a bit of a smol slump or something like that! And I’m pretty sure it’s all thanks to the one book I managed to finish (although I did DNF a book before finishing this). But back to the book I read: it was EPIC and it’s one of my top reads this year and perhaps one of my favourite fantasies ever? You might’ve seen me gushing on Twitter but if you didn’t, the book I read was The Poppy War (★★★★★ – obvi). Believe the hype, friends, because it is so freaking real! I wasn’t ready for how amazing this book would be. I also wrote the longest ass review I have ever written and I will be posting it at some point, but just know, this book was fantabulous. Although I do warn that there’s about a million CW/TW to consider before picking it up. Kuang does not shy away from the horrors and violence of war and at times it was sickeningly a lot.

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ARC Review: The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life by Dani Jansen

Dini @ dinipandareads2 Comments

🎈 Happy pub day to The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life! 🎈

Thanks to NetGalley and Second Story Press for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life
Publisher: Second Story Press
Publication date: 22 September 2020
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Panda Rating:


Alison Green, desperate valedictorian-wannabe, agrees to produce her school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. That’s her first big mistake. The second is accidentally saying Yes to a date with her oldest friend, Jack, even though she’s crushing on Charlotte. Alison manages to stay positive, even when her best friend starts referring to the play as “Ye Olde Shakespearean Disaster.” Alison must cope with the misadventures that befall the play if she’s going to survive the year. She’ll also have to grapple with what it means to be “out” and what she might be willing to give up for love.

Note: The quotes below are taken from an advanced/unfinished copy and are subject to change in the final version.

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Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

Dini @ dinipandareads9 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’ve spent my day partially in bed with Gods of Jade and Shadow… Along with about three other books that I’ve started/stopped reading since I finished my last read on Saturday 😂 I’m enjoying Gods of Jade and Shadow, but because of my crazy reading mood it’s taking me a little while to get into it. Basically, I love it while I’m reading it and I’m immersed in the richly described world, but when I put it down I’m not (yet) racing to pick it back up again. This is 100% my mood and nothing to do with the book though!

The Mayan God of Death sends a young woman on a harrowing, life-changing journey in this dark fairy tale inspired by Mexican folklore, for readers of The Song of Achilles and Uprooted.

The Jazz Age is in full swing, but Casiopea Tun is too busy cleaning the floors of her wealthy grandfather’s house to listen to any fast tunes. Nevertheless, she dreams of a life far from her dusty, small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own.

Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather’s room. She opens it–and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan God of Death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea’s demise, but success could make her dreams come true.

In the company of the strangely alluring god and armed with her wits, Casiopea begins an adventure that will take her on a cross-country odyssey, from the jungles of Yucatán to the bright lights of Mexico City–and deep into the darkness of the Mayan underworld.

What are you currently reading?

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First Lines Friday – 18 September

Dini @ dinipandareads12 Comments

Happy Friday book lovers! We’re back with another First Lines Friday, a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here are the rules:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First lines:

“Let me tell you the problem with university students: they’re stupid as f**k.”

Do you recognize the book these first lines come from?

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#WWWWednesday: 16 September

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?

I’ve somehow managed to read seven books since last week and I honestly have no idea how. Just kidding, I do. I literally spent all my time outside of work reading (and admittedly, I also spent a little time I should’ve spent working also reading–I’m so undisciplined 🙃)! It’s been a mood.

The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life by Dani Jansen ★★½
I’m sad to say I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I’d hoped to. It had its cute moments but ultimately, the MC irritated me too much and the side characters and overall storyline weren’t fleshed out well enough. Review to come!

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara ★★★★☆
McNamara takes you on an incredible ride in this book. It’s obviously dark, gritty and compelling but at times I also felt overwhelmed with all the information she presents–it’s really a lot. It’s sad she didn’t live to see him caught, but her work definitely kept the GSK’s name in the spotlight. Review to come!

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Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

Dini @ dinipandareads10 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’ve spent my day in bed with I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara. I was so sucked into the book that I almost forgot to do my weekly wrap up! But I finished the book ten minutes ago and my brain is still trying to wrap my head around my thoughts on this one. McNamara presents a lot of information and it did get overwhelming at times, but wow, what an incredible journey she takes us through. I had very little knowledge of who the Golden State Killer (GSK) was before this book, but damn, I might end up going down a Google black hole trying to find more information about the cases and arrest after this! Definitely recommended for lovers of true crime.

For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area.
Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called “the Golden State Killer.” Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was.
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark —the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death—offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman’s obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Utterly original and compelling, it has been hailed as a modern true crime classic—one which fulfilled Michelle’s dream: helping unmask the Golden State Killer.

What are you currently reading?

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