Mini Panda's Book Reviews

#BookBuddyathon Wrap Up May 6th 12:00 am - May 12th 11:59 pm So....I'm so absolutely terrible. I was gonna wait until Monday (May 15) because of Mother's day and my birthday took up the weekend but then I completely spaced it and now it's the weekend away. Well here is my wrap up. My book buddy was  @terrigriffiths_ and she was fantastic to talk to during the week. It was great getting to know her. We talked about books and life. It was really nice. I hope we can do it again sometime. Maybe next time it will go a bit better with the Buddy Read..... Challenges: Buddy read a book Read a book that's your buddy's favorite color Grey Read a book that's title starts with your book buddy's name Terri (T) Choose three books and have your book buddy pick one A List of Cages by Robin Roe Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo Read a book you want to read Buddy read a book: The Devil in the W...

#TBRTakedown 5.0 Wrap Up (February 6th - February 12th) I actually read a book!! I did it finally! I finished two books actually and started another two during this readathon.  I'm really happy considering lately my streak with readathons hasn't been all that great. I am busy with work and finding time to read has been hard but I did it! TBR Challenges: A book that's been on your TBR Shelf Over a Year! A book from your most recent book haul. The first book in a series. Catch up in a series. An "out of your comfort zone" book. I completed 3/5 of the challenges and 1/4 of the books from my original TBR. But I also finished a book that wasn't on my TBR before that I felt like reading. Challenges Completed: A book that's been on your TBR Shelf for over a year and the first book in a series. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis  ★ ★ ★ I gave this book 3/5 stars. It was fine. I have watched the movie before (when it ...

#TBRTakedown 5.0 February 6th (12:00 am) - February 12th (11:59 pm) I've taken part of the last few TBRTakedown's so this one is no different. I'm gonna do the TBRTakedown 5.0 Challenge. It is hosted by  @leaninglights  as always. I'm really excited to participate. I haven't finished a book this year yet and I'm ready to finish one already.  TBR Challenges: A book that's been on your TBR Shelf Over a Year! A book from your most recent book haul. The first book in a series. Catch up in a series. An "out of your comfort zone" book.

#CramathonWinter 2016  Wrap Up (December 16th 12:00 am - December 23rd 11:59 pm)  So it's been a crazy busy week since #Cramathon ended between work, Christmas and health problems it's been very crazy. I totally spaced my wrap up but here we go! Challenges: Read a book under 200 pages Read 2 books in 24 hours Read a book set in a different country than where you live Read a book you'be been putting off/have been meaning to read forever. Read a book with pictures Read a graphic novel Read 7 books total Read a book with pictures You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day: I didn't finish this book but I got about half way. I love Felicia Day. She is so funny and quirky and absolutely loved her as Charlie in the TV show Supernatural so when I saw her memoir I had to pick it up and read it! Read a book under 200 pages Read 2 books in 24 hours Read a book set in a different country than where you live E...

#CramathonWinter 2016  TBR (December 16th 12:00am - December 23rd 11:59pm)  I am really, REALLY behind in my Goodreads goal so I knew that I was going to have to participate in Cramathon this year. I have a loose TBR set up but I'm hoping to read as many books as I can.   Challenges: Read a book under 200 pages Read 2 books in 24 hours Read a book set in a different country than where you live Read a book you'be been putting off/have been meaning to read forever. Read a book with pictures Read a graphic novel Read 7 books total

Review: A Court of Mist and Fury  by Sarah J. Maas Format (That I Read It): Book Summary: Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can't forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people. Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two. With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas's masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights. Initial Thoughts: After I read A Court of...

Review: Crown of Midnight  by Sarah J. Maas Format (That I Read It): Book Summary: From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil. Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart. Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up ...

#TOMETOPPLE READ-A-THON November 18th 12:00 am - December 1st 11:59 pm Here we are again! Another # TOMETOPPLE readathon. I did the last readathon back in summer and I'm back at it again. I'm super excited to get to read the books I am during these upcoming two weeks! It should be a great time!! Challenges: Read more than one tome (500+ pages) Read a graphic novel Read a tome that's part of a series  Buddy read a tome Read an adult novel My TBR: American Gods by Neil Gaiman Heir of Fire   or A Court of Mist and Fury  by Sarah J. Maas  Blankets by Craig Thompson

Review: It Ends With Us  by Colleen Hoover Format (That I Read It): Book Summary: Lily hasn't always had it easy, but that's never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She's come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up - she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily's life suddenly seems almost too good to be true. Ryle is assertive, stubborn, and maybe even a little arrogant. He's also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily, but Ryle's complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan - her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened. Initial Tho...

Review: November 9  by Colleen Hoover Format (That I Read It): Ebook Summary: Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day before her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist. Initial Thoughts: I remember being so excited when I heard this book was coming out. I've only read one Colleen Hoover book and that was Ugly Love.  I was most excited and only knew it was about two people meeting on the same day every year. One of them is writing a book. Review: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ I didn't expe...

Review: Outcast Vol.  1: A Darkness Surrounds Him (Outcast #1-6) by Robert Kirkman Format (That I Read It): Comics Summary: Kyle Barnes has been plagued by demonic possession all his life and now he needs answers. Unfortunately, what he uncovers along the way could bring about the end of life on Earth as we know it. Initial Thoughts: I have been watching the TV show and now that the season finale is coming up I decided that I wanted to read the comics because I'm dying to know what is going to happen! Review: ★★★ This volume was good. It was almost exactly like the show which I found really nice. Nothing really happened in this volume it was more of a build up of the world and the characters. I really was surprised by the art style. It was different from others I've read. I loved the boxes that were in between some of the sections like this: Also, just the art style is something I enjoyed. I'm glad they didn't do the same art style from th...

Review: Cinder  by Marissa Meyer Format (That I Read It): Book Summary: Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future. Initial Thoughts: I bought this book the same time I bought Shatter Me. I thought since everyone was talking about the final book Winter I would give Cinder a try and hope it would live ...

Review: Morning Star  by Pierce Brown Format (That I Read It): Book Summary: Darrow would have lived in peace, but his enemies brought him war. The Gold overlords demanded his obedience, hanged his wife, and enslaved his people. But Darrow is determined to fight back. Risking everything to transform himself and breach Gold society, Darrow has battled to survive the cutthroat rivalries that breed Society’s mightiest warriors, climbed the ranks, and waited patiently to unleash the revolution that will tear the hierarchy apart from within. Finally, the time has come. But devotion to honor and hunger for vengeance run deep on both sides. Darrow and his comrades-in-arms face powerful enemies without scruple or mercy. Among them are some Darrow once considered friends. To win, Darrow will need to inspire those shackled in darkness to break their chains, unmake the world their cruel masters have built, and claim a destiny too long denied—and too glo...

Review: The Butterfly Garden  by Dot Hutchison Format (That I Read It): Ebook, Netgalley ARC (Advance Reader Copy) Summary: Near an isolated mansion lies a beautiful garden. In this garden grow luscious flowers, shady trees…and a collection of precious “butterflies”—young women who have been kidnapped and intricately tattooed to resemble their namesakes. Overseeing it all is the Gardener, a brutal, twisted man obsessed with capturing and preserving his lovely specimens. When the garden is discovered, a survivor is brought in for questioning. FBI agents Victor Hanoverian and Brandon Eddison are tasked with piecing together one of the most stomach-churning cases of their careers. But the girl, known only as Maya, proves to be a puzzle herself. As her story twists and turns, slowly shedding light on life in the Butterfly Garden, Maya reveals old grudges, new saviors, and horrific tales of a man who’d go to any length to hold beauty captive. ...

Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses  by Sarah J Maas Format (That I Read It): Book Summary: When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world. As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it... or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever. Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down! Initial Thoughts: EVERYONE was...

Review: Dragonfly in Amber  by Diana Gabaldon Format (That I Read It): Book/Audiobook Summary: From the author of Outlander... a magnificent epic that once again sweeps us back in time to the drama and passion of 18th-century Scotland... For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland's majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones ...about a love that transcends the boundaries of time ...and about James Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his .... Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire's spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart ...in a race to thwart ...

#TBRTakedown 4.0 June 20th (12:00 am) - June 26th (11:59 pm) I took part in the TBRTakedown 4.0 Challenge. It is hosted by  @leaninglights . Now this time, around with TBRTakedown it was a lot more difficult to read. When this readathon started I just one, finished up another readathon, and two I had just gotten back from my vacation.  TBR Challenges: A book that's been on your TBR Shelf Over a Year! An unread sequel sitting on your TBR shelf. The first book in a series on your TBR shelf. An "out of your comfort zone" book. A book from your most recent book haul. A book that's been on your TBR Shelf Over a Year: The BFG  by Roald Dahl ★★★★ This book was super cute! Sophie and the BFG's relationship was just too adorable but the book did have darker undertones that I wasn't expecting. I mean I know that the book was about one friendly giant and a whole slew of evil ones but I didn't expect it to be darker than the giants eating ...