Mini Panda's Book Reviews

Review: Lady Midnight  by Cassandra Clare Format (That I Read It): Book Challenge Completed: A book with a beautiful cover Summary: It’s been five years since the events of City of Heavenly Fire that brought the Shadowhunters to the brink of oblivion. Emma Carstairs is no longer a child in mourning, but a young woman bent on discovering what killed her parents and avenging her losses. Together with her parabatai Julian Blackthorn, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches across Los Angeles, from the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica. If only her heart didn’t lead her in treacherous directions… Making things even more complicated, Julian’s brother Mark—who was captured by the faeries five years ago—has been returned as a bargaining chip. The faeries are desperate to find out who is murdering their kind—and they need the Shadowhunters’ help to do it. But...

Review: A Monster Calls  by Patrick Ness, Siobhan Dowd (Conception), Jim Kay (Illustrator) Format (That I Read It): Book Challenge Completed: An award-winning book Summary: At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting-- he's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It's ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd-- whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself-- Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined. Initial Thoughts: I briefly heard about this novel before. I knew it was becoming a...

Book Crisis!! I am having such a book crisis right now. I'm not sure what to classify it has. It kind of like a book slump. My problem isn't that I can't focus and read it's just that I don't if that makes sense. I want to read a lot but I just can't seem to find the effort. When I read I'm enjoying what I'm reading but I feel like it's taking me forever to get through something. I don't know why I can't seem to just get through one book. It's been three weeks (as of tomorrow when I post this) since I've finished a full book. I've started many books since then and I've really loved them but I can't seem to push through this issue. I have tried many different solutions: re-reading a favorite book, watching TV, writing, and trying many different books. I don't know what's wrong.  I really hope this goes away soon because it's getting frustrating for me.  My Struggle Through This: Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage...

Review: Me Before You  by JoJo Moyes Format (That I Read): Ebook Challenge Completed: Reader's Choice, Newest to your shelves  Summary: Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick. What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane. Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that. What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time. Initial Thoughts: I had only heard a brief description of this novel and I kept seeing it in stores everywhere I went but ...

Review: The Passenger by Lisa Lutz Format (That I Read): Ebook, ARC (Advance Reader Copy) Release Date: March 1st, 2016 Summary: From the author of the New York Times bestselling Spellman Files series, Lisa Lutz’s latest blistering thriller is about a woman who creates and sheds new identities as she crisscrosses the country to escape her past: you’ll want to buckle up for the ride! In case you were wondering, I didn’t do it. I didn’t have anything to do with Frank’s death. I don’t have an alibi, so you’ll have to take my word for it... Forty-eight hours after leaving her husband’s body at the base of the stairs, Tanya Dubois cashes in her credit cards, dyes her hair brown, demands a new name from a shadowy voice over the phone and flees town. It’s not the first time. She meets Blue, a female bartender who recognizes the hunted look in a fugitive’s eyes and offers her a place to stay. With dwindling choices, Tanya-now-Amelia accepts. An uneasy―and dangerous...

#R ai nb ow th on 2.0 Febr uary 7th-   Febr ua ry 14th This challenge is just like it seems. There were two options; you can read six books (one for each color of the rainbow), or you can read all books of the same colors.  ↓ Minor  Spoilers ↓ Red: Red Rising by Pierce Brown ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ When I first read this book it was hard to get through. All the world building was a lot to take in but it was a very good book. The next time around it got leagues better. I knew all the details and backstory. I can totally see how people compare it to The Hunger Games and   Game of Thrones. It has the best qualities of those books. It has political intrigue while also being a kickass dystopian/Sci-Fi novel. To be honest, I am sort of over and tired of dystopias. Many of them are the same and I got really tired of it but let me tell you, Red Rising  is NOT one of them. It is so action packed! All the characters are complex and you never know what is going ...

Review: Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin Format (That I Read): Book Challenge Completed: A top 100 fantasy novel  Summary: Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Here an enigmatic band of warriors bears swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carries men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister t...