Category: YA Supernatural/Paranormal

Book Review: The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher

Dini @ dinipandareads11 Comments

The Seventh Bride
Publisher: 47North
Pub Date: 11 November 2014
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Panda Rating:

(4 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

Young Rhea is a miller’s daughter of low birth, so she is understandably surprised when a mysterious nobleman, Lord Crevan, shows up on her doorstep and proposes marriage. Since commoners don’t turn down lords—no matter how sinister they may seem—Rhea is forced to agree to the engagement.

Lord Crevan demands that Rhea visit his remote manor before their wedding. Upon arrival, she discovers that not only was her betrothed married six times before, but his previous wives are all imprisoned in his enchanted castle. Determined not to share their same fate, Rhea asserts her desire for freedom. In answer, Lord Crevan gives Rhea a series of magical tasks to complete, with the threat “Come back before dawn, or else I’ll marry you.”

With time running out and each task more dangerous and bizarre than the last, Rhea must use her resourcefulness, compassion, and bravery to rally the other wives and defeat the sorcerer before he binds her to him forever.

TL;DR: This was my first book by T. Kingfisher and it won’t be my last. It was definitely creepy and gothic and I didn’t read this in bed in the dark hours, but I don’t regret picking it up and thoroughly enjoyed reading it! The Seventh Bride wasn’t the most fast-paced YA gothic fantasy thriller combo but it fit the foreboding creepiness of the story perfectly. I loved Rhea, her strength and the friendships that form throughout this story. While I wished that the ending hadn’t been as rushed, this was a fun yet creepy and cosy story that even a scared like me can read!

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Blog Tour Spotlight: The Alchemy of Moonlight by Dave Ferarro

Dini @ dinipandareads3 Comments

Hi friends, as part of the blog tour hosted by TBR & Beyond Tours I’m shining a spotlight on The Alchemy of Moonlight by Dave Ferarro. The cover is definitely what caught my eye first—I love it!

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

The Alchemy of Moonlight
Publisher: Page Street Kids
Publication Date: 30 May 2023
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Rep: LGBTQIA+, Black

📖 SYNOPSIS

When Emile’s aunt declares he must marry or be disowned for being gay—he runs away to hide as a servant in Count Montoni’s mansion. In their service, Emile tends to the family who all suffer a strange affliction on the full moon. And after overhearing suspicious family arguments, he finds a body on the estate, drawing the attention of a handsome doctor as well as the count’s charismatic nephew, Henri.

Before Emile can sort out his affections or unravel the growing Montoni family mystery, his identity is revealed and his aunt comes to collect him.

When she arrives, Count Montoni forces everyone to depart to the remote Udolpho Castle—where there are no witnesses and no chance for escape. There, Emile realizes that he will have to risk his life to find the love he deserves—and survive the Montoni family.

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Mentions of dead bodies, dismemberment, blood, homophobia

📚 BUY A COPY

David Ferraro grew up in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, where he was raised on a steady diet of comic books, horror movies and YA novels. He graduated with a B.A. in English and creative writing from St. Cloud State University, and currently resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his boyfriend and a very spoiled tortoise. He is represented by Eva Scalzo of Speilburg Literary. His debut “The Alchemy of Moonlight” is set to be published from Page Street Kids in Spring 2023.

Author’s Socials
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Is The Alchemy of Moonlight on your TBR or does it sound like a book you want to read?

ARC Review: Hollow by Shannon Watters

Dini @ dinipandareads13 Comments

Special thanks to BOOM! Studios for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Hollow
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Publication Date: 04 October 2022
Genre: YA Paranormal Graphic Novel

Panda Rating:

(4 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

From Shannon Watters, the co-creator of the bestselling worldwide phenomenon Lumberjanes, and co-writer debut author Branden Boyer-White, rising star artist Berenice Nelle (Wanderlicht), and colorist Kaitlyn Musto (Specter Inspectors), comes a supernatural queer romance and adventure set in the infamous town of Sleepy Hollow, available in September 2022.

Isabel “Izzy” Crane and her family have just relocated to Sleepy Hollow, the town made famous by—and obsessed with—Washington Irving’s legend of the Headless Horseman. But city slicker-skeptic Izzy has no time for superstition as she navigates life at a new address, a new school, and, with any luck, with new friends. Ghost stories aren’t real, after all….

Then Izzy is pulled into the orbit of the town’s teen royalty, Vicky Van Tassel (yes, that Van Tassel) and loveable varsity-level prankster Croc Byun. Vicky’s weariness with her family connection to the legend turns to terror when the trio begins to be haunted by the Horseman himself, uncovering a curse set on destroying the Van Tassel line. Now, they have only until Halloween night to break it—meaning it’s a totally inconvenient time for Izzy to develop a massive crush on the enigmatic Vicky.

Can Izzy’s practical nature help her face the unknown—or only trip her up? As the calendar runs down to the 31st, Izzy will have to use all of her wits and work with her new friends to save Vicky and uncover the mystery of the legendary Horseman of Sleepy Hollow—before it’s too late.

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Attempted murder, violence

TL;DR: I knew I was going to enjoy this graphic novel the minute I started reading it! You’d think a story about the legend of sleepy hollow would not be my jam (as a notorious scaredy) and normally, you’d be right, but this had a cosy mystery + modern take to it that made it more fun than scary. It would be the perfect addition to your spooky season reading lists!

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Blog Tour Review: Belladonna by Adalyn Grace

Dini @ dinipandareads24 Comments

Hello, friends! It’s my stop on the TBR & Beyond Tours for Belladona by Adalyn Grace and I’m excited to share my thoughts and favourite quotes with you today!

Thanks to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for providing an 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!

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ARC Review: Taproot by Keezy Young

Dini @ dinipandareads3 Comments

Special thanks to Oni Press for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Goodreads: Taproot
Publisher: Oni Press
Publication date: 28 June 2022
Genre: Young Adult Graphic Novel

Panda Rating:

(3.5 pandas)


Blue is having a hard time moving on. He’s in love with his best friend. He’s also dead. Luckily, Hamal can see ghosts, leaving Blue free to haunt him to his heart’s content. But something eerie is happening in town, leaving the local afterlife unsettled, and when Blue realizes Hamal’s strange ability may be putting him in danger, Blue has to find a way to protect him, even if it means… leaving him.

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Blog Tour Review: The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker

Dini @ dinipandareads18 Comments

Today is my stop on the TBR & Beyond Tours for The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker.
Special thanks to Inkyard Press for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Be sure to click on the banner above to check out the rest of the amazing bloggers on tour!

Goodreads: The Keeper of Night (The Keeper of Night #1)
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Publication Date: 12 October 2021
Genre: Young Adult Dark Fantasy

Panda Rating:

(3.5 pandas)

Death is her destiny.

Half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami, Ren Scarborough has been collecting souls in the London streets for centuries. Expected to obey the harsh hierarchy of the Reapers who despise her, Ren conceals her emotions and avoids her tormentors as best she can.

When her failure to control her Shinigami abilities drives Ren out of London, she flees to Japan to seek the acceptance she’s never gotten from her fellow Reapers. Accompanied by her younger brother, the only being on earth to care for her, Ren enters the Japanese underworld to serve the Goddess of Death… only to learn that here, too, she must prove herself worthy. Determined to earn respect, Ren accepts an impossible task—find and eliminate three dangerous Yokai demons—and learns how far she’ll go to claim her place at Death’s side.

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Blog Tour Review: Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain

Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

Today is my stop on the TBR & Beyond Tours for Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain.
Special thanks to Razorbill/Penguin for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Be sure to click on the banner above to check out the rest of the amazing bloggers on tour!

Goodreads: Dark and Shallow Lies
Publisher: Razorbill
Publication Date: 31 August 2021
Genre: YA Mystery/Thriller, YA Fantasy

Panda Rating:

(3 pandas)

A teen girl disappears from her small town deep in the bayou, where magic festers beneath the surface of the swamp like water rot, in this chilling debut supernatural thriller for fans of Natasha Preston, Karen McManus, and Rory Power.

La Cachette, Louisiana, is the worst place to be if you have something to hide.

This tiny town, where seventeen-year-old Grey spends her summers, is the self-proclaimed Psychic Capital of the World—and the place where Elora Pellerin, Grey’s best friend, disappeared six months earlier.

Grey can’t believe that Elora vanished into thin air any more than she can believe that nobody in a town full of psychics knows what happened. But as she digs into the night that Elora went missing, she begins to realize that everybody in town is hiding something—her grandmother Honey; her childhood crush Hart; and even her late mother, whose secrets continue to call to Grey from beyond the grave.

When a mysterious stranger emerges from the bayou—a stormy-eyed boy with links to Elora and the town’s bloody history—Grey realizes that La Cachette’s past is far more present and dangerous than she’d ever understood. Suddenly, she doesn’t know who she can trust. In a town where secrets lurk just below the surface, and where a murderer is on the loose, nobody can be presumed innocent—and La Cachette’s dark and shallow lies may just rip the town apart.

BUY A COPY:

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B&N
BOOK DEPOSITORY
INDIEBOUND
INDIGO
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