Tag: Graphic Novel

#WWWWednesday: 22 January

Dini @ dinipandareads19 Comments

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 only finished ONE BOOK since last Wednesday! ONE BOOK! 🙈And it was a re-read too! To say that January is a slow reading month would be a gross understatement. I’m really hoping things pick up next month…

Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe #2) by Neal Shusterman ★★★★☆
Now that I’m done with my re-read with Thunderhead I feel more than ready for The Toll. Thunderhead was (imo) a slow moving sequel but it was no less enjoyable. I loved learning more about The Thunderhead and the new important character we’re introduced to, Grayson Tolliver, really grew on me. We got to explore more areas of the world including Israebia, a neglected D.C., and Endura which is the heart of the Scythedom. Although the shock factor wasn’t as intense this second time, the plot twists still had me exclaiming my WTFs. Shusterman really knows how to throw you off! You can read my full review here.

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Doctor Mirage (2019) by Magdalene Visaggio, Nick Robles – #eARC #GraphicNovelReview

Dini @ dinipandareads6 Comments

Goodreads: Doctor Mirage (2019)
Publish date: 18 February 2020
Publisher: Diamond Books Distributor/Valiant Entertainment
Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Superhero
Panda Rating:

How do you solve the case of your own death?

Paranormal expert Doctor Shan Fong Mirage was born with the ability to see and speak to the dead—an ability that has mysteriously stopped working. Have her powers failed or is something far more sinister at work? Will she figure out her fate and the fate of the one she loves the most? Valiant’s gripping supernatural mystery starts here!

A brand-new DOCTOR MIRAGE series conjured by Eisner Award-nominated writer Magdalene “Mags” Visaggio (Eternity Girl), artist Nick Robles (Euthanauts), Eisner Award-nominated colorist Jordie Bellaire (The Vision), and letterer Dave Sharpe (Harley Quinn)!

I admit to requesting this book based solely on the cover alone. The name “Doctor Mirage” rang a small bell but I actually haven’t read superhero comics, so I can’t speak to how differently or how well her character is portrayed in this new comic compared to previous ones. I will say that I really enjoyed it though!

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#WWWWednesday: 15 January

Dini @ dinipandareads16 Comments

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 don’t know what’s going on so far this year but I’m not reading half as much as I’d normally do. Since last Wednesday I’ve only managed to finish two books and one was a eARC of a graphic novel that I read yesterday. I finally finished my re-read of Scythe and contrary to what my slow reading pace would indicate, I did enjoy it just as much as the first time I read it.

Scythe (Arc of a Scythe #1) by Neal Shusterman ★★★★½
Like I said, I loved this re-read. The world building blew me away and the characters really grew on me. I thought it would be difficult to imagine a world where mortality is a thing of the past but Shusterman builds it up nicely and we learn more about it through chapters split with journal entries and various POVs. My little twisted cinnamon roll, Rowan, is by far my favorite character but I loved Scythes Faraday and Curie almost as much! I loved that Shusterman makes you think about how maybe immortality isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Check out my full review!

(eARC) Doctor Mirage (2019) by Magdalene Visaggio, Nick Robles ★★★★☆
I’ve never actually read a superhero comic and maybe that’s why I enjoyed this one so much. The name Doctor Mirage rang a small bell in my head but I really went into it blind and not knowing what to expect. I loved the illustration style and colour combination of the story; much of our time in the other world felt a bit like what I’d imagine an acid trip would be like! 🤣 There was a slight cliffhanger of an ending to continue the series but this can also be read as a standalone as the main conflict and storyline was nicely resolved. Review coming soon!

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ARC Apocalypse Announcement & TBR

Dini @ dinipandareads12 Comments

As I mentioned in my bookish and blogging goals, I’ve joined quite a few challenges this year! Last year I (very loosely) joined one year-long challenge outside from Goodreads and that was the 2019 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge. I was complete trash at keeping track of what I read and basically gave up before I even started. That was fun 🙄 I guess I must be feeling more optimistic in 2020 because I joined a whopping FIVE challenges, and first up is the ARC Apocalypse!

This challenge was created by Destiny @ Howling Libraries in an effort to tackle those ARCs! And what’s better than tackling these reads with a bunch of other book lovers with the same goal, right? There are fun chats and buddy reads if you don’t think you can go it alone. Head on over to Destiny’s page (linked above) to find out more and join the challenge! I’ve mentioned it before but as an international book blogger I unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) don’t get as much access to all the reads on NetGalley, Edelweiss and from publishers, so my overall list isn’t as long as everyone else’s. Still, there are a few 2020 titles I’d like to stay on top of . but most importantly there are quite a few overdue titles I want to finish this year! Here are my current stats:

  • 2020 eARCs: 12
  • Overdue eARCs: 10

Ten overdue titles doesn’t look so bad right? But overdue is overdue and there’s no making excuses! My game plan is to prioritise my 2020 deadlines (while I’m still ahead of the game!) and alternate with reading the overdue titles. Sounds doable. Seeing as these have deadlines this is going to be my actual TBR for the coming months (January-early March):

After some thought I think I’ll be sharing my progress at the end of every three months along with what’s next on my TBR for the following three months*. I hope that my progress will basically be me saying: I’VE READ THEM ALL! 😍

*After some more thinking I decided to share a monthly progress updates for all my challenges, so you’ll be getting an update from me soon! I still hope that I’ll have made some progress 😂

Are you also joining ARC Apocalypse?
How do you plan to tackle your ARCs?

#WWWWednesday: 08 January

Dini @ dinipandareads15 Comments

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?

What did you read last?

My first three books of the year have been from The Great Library series by Rachel Caine. I don’t think I’ve consumed a series so fast before, although I haven’t finished it yet. I’ve still got two more of the books to go but I’m now taking a break (even though things are certainly continuing to heat up in the book)! So far I would rate this series a solid ★★★½. It was slow to start, but the pace has really picked up in the sequels. The world building continues to be exceptional, except there’s little to no character development save for the first book. Still, the characters are definitely what I love the most about this series. There are strong found family vibes and many of the characters lean towards being morally grey, which is always exciting in my book! You can check out my review for Ink and Bone, but I’ve decided that I will post an overall review for the rest of the series once I’m done with it!

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Friday Favorites: Top Reads of 2019!

Dini @ dinipandareads14 Comments

It’s time for another Friday Favorites hosted by Kibby @ Something of the Book! This weekly meme is where you get to share a list of all your favourites based on the list of prompts on Kibby’s page. Sounds fun, right? This week’s prompt is: favorite reads of 2019! Well, I guess I can no longer afford to keep avoiding thinking about this question because… The year is very quickly drawing to a close. It’s the last Friday of 2019 (!!!) and I guess there’s a slim chance of more contenders for my top spot! I’m wondering if I should divvy this up into genres just like I did last week because I honestly don’t know if I can narrow it down to just 10 books in total? So I’m going to look at the top five (max) reads for these genres: Contemporary, Thrillers/Horrors, Fantasy, Romance, Non-Fiction, Graphic Novels… Let’s get to it…

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Under the Cottonwood Tree: El Susto de la Curandera – #eARC #GraphicNovelReview

Dini @ dinipandareads6 Comments

Goodreads: Under the Cottonwood Tree: El Susto de la Curandera
Publish date: 15 December 2019
Publisher: North Fourth Publishing
Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy, Middle Grade
Panda Rating:

In the deep confines of the beautiful and majestic Rio Grande bosque, a fable is told of a simpler time concerning the rich tri-cultural communities of New Mexico. Join brothers Amadeo and Carlos Lucero in this enchanting story of magic and adventure. Discover how the power of love and family triumphs and turns an old witch back into a healer.

This was an absolutely delightful tale of family, friendship, grief and love that is richly infused with Mexican folklore and culture. I knew I would love this graphic novel the minute I started reading it! This was a very fast-paced read and I easily read it one sitting (mostly because I didn’t want to put it down). The personal touches in both the foreword and afterword made me enjoy this more, as reading the history of how this story came to be and the authors’ personal connections with their own curanderas showed how much the story meant to them.

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Human by Diego Agrimbau, Lucas Varela – #eARC #GraphicNovelReview

Dini @ dinipandareads12 Comments

Goodreads: Human
Publish date: 16 October 2019
Publisher: Europe Comics
Genre: Graphic Novel, Post-Apocalytpic, Science Fiction
Panda Rating:

Planet Earth: 500,000 years in the future. Humans have been extinct for millennia. Two scientists, Robert and June, have been orbiting the Earth, waiting for the planet to become habitable once more. With the help of a team of robots, they plan to start over from scratch: a new Adam and Eve who won’t make the same mistakes as their ancestors. But first Robert has to find June, who seems to have landed somewhere else in this vast jungle—their Eden—full of grotesque creatures and strange primates…

This was a pretty bizarre graphic novel that I’m not quite sure I loved. I was immediately drawn in by the cover and the synopsis, which presented a pretty interesting post apocalyptic tale about returning to earth 500,000 years post death (both humanity’s and Earth’s). The story was well illustrated, however, the illustration style wasn’t what I expected when I picked this up. I thought the color palette of reds, greys, black and white was an interesting choice though; in a way it made earth seem a little bit leached of life, although that clearly wasn’t the case as there was plenty of animals living in the jungle. While I wasn’t a big fan of the illustrations, I thought the overall message of the story was very thought-provoking and made reflect on our relationship with our surroundings.

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Triwizardathon: Task 3 Possibility Pile

Dini @ dinipandareads4 Comments

RECAP

Has one week already passed in between Task 2 and now? Time flies! I didn’t do as well in the second task as I did in the first, but I did manage to complete my own challenge; I just didn’t get the extra points for rescuing anyone else! The two books below are what I ended up reading. I’m hoping to do better in this final task but let’s see how it goes! It’s already Monday and I’m still wafflin’ on what books I want to read. I’m going to aim for just two books but I could surprise myself and read more!

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