Monthly Rewind: March 2025

A R T

Okay! So I’m giving you a little snippet of the art that I made for my team’s newsletter at work! Since it hasn’t been released yet, I don’t want to share the full art in case anyone from work is reading this post (if you are, hi 👋🏼) Since this one will be released around the same time of the company’s anniversary, this is a birthday artwork to celebrate Penguin’s 90th year as a company. I was super happy to work on this one especially as I grew up reading books from Penguin and Puffin (which is celebrating it’s 85th year!) so to be able to make a piece of art that will be shared internally was a super proud moment for me!

B O O K S

In March, I read 5 books, 2 short stories and 1 manga volume.

Pole Position by Rebecca J. Caffery

I know F1 romances have been a biiig thing for sports romance readers for a while and I’ll be honest, I have no interest in F1 at all. But something about sports fiction really intrigues me even when I have zero interest in sports. I was browsing the HarperCollins sale and those ladies on their TikTok livestreams do a great job at emptying your wallets because I did end up picking Pole Position. Sadly, I did not enjoy this one at all.

The more I read this book, the more I got annoyed at the characters. It’s a very easy to read book, but that’s the only nice thing I could say about it. It is a romance between two competitive race car drivers, Kian, an industry golden boy, and Harper, a cocky rookie, whose name is more known on the tabloids than it is on the roads. It was just SO bland. All these tropes shoved into one book and it still could not save Kian and Harper. How can you even call this enemies to lovers when the switch up happens in like a second and even then, WHY? Harper is annoying as hell, made even worse with his borderline constant sexual harassment of Kian. And Kian’s not that great either when he helps a drunk Harper and makes a move on him DESPITE his entire internal monologue being like let’s not mess with a drunk guy. *proceeds to mess around with a drunk guy* Why even bother making this an age gap romance when the both of them act much younger than their actual ages. Definitely not the one for me.

The Wizard’s Bakery by Gu Byeong-Mo

A young boy finds refuge in a magical bakery that is open all the time – which creates enchanted baked goods that can have devastating effect on its consumers. I really enjoyed this book but MY GOD, but I feel like I need to warn readers that this book touches about the subject of sexual assault and child abuse. The description and cover presents to you a story that appears to be whimsical and light-hearted. The main character is a young boy who runs away from home following abuse and is taken in by the bakery and in return helps the bakery owner run his online store. Here the boy discovers the devastating effects of magical enchanted goods. Different customers return after their goods fail to act out their wishes and the baker reminds them that magic has a cost and it will not bend to the will of the people who wish in bad faith. I thought the book was fantastic, but a lot darker and sinister than the marketing of this book would have you think.

The Age of Video Games by Jean Zeid & Rouge Emilie

What a lovely way to present and honour the history of video games that really manages to touch up all aspects of the industry! From Pong to even the current day mention of Genshin Impact and the impact of mobile free-to-play games! I wasn’t a fan of the art, but it is quite charming! The text is too much, I thought, some points in the book it just overwhelms the art on the page.

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

HELL YEAH NEW HUNGER GAMES BOOK. If you told me that the series that I loved at 14 would have new books still being written about them when I’m now 27 – I don’t think I would’ve believed you. I wasn’t a big fan of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes and surprisingly enough, the movie did more to make me like the story. (Rachel Zegler, I will always be a fan!) But Haymitch’s story was so good! Suzanne Collins did a really good job, in my opinion, of bringing to life Haymitch’s story, without it feeling weird, giving new lore and more information about past characters that doesn’t feel shoehorned in or out of character. (I’m looking at you Shatter Me series and the nonsensical retcon that happened in those later new books….)

A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson

When Viv’s parents are arrested for treason, she is given an opportunity to save her family – become a codebreaker and decipher the words of the dragon rebellion. With her knowledge of multiple dragon languages, it should be easy enough. But when her search leads her to discover a secret amongst the dragons, Viv is forced to question the war she’s fighting and whether she’s on the right side.

I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day by Nachi Aono

An orphanage for girls is really a bootcamp for war and when Sheena’s roommate dies, she meets the mysterious Mimi, a girl who skills make her an important soldier. But can the two really live in peace when they’re so fundamentally different?

I heard this was getting an anime adaptation and then saw it on Netgalley so I decided to give it a chance. I was not a fan at all. Usually, I like to give mangas a few volumes to really settle into the story, but this was a first for me, one where I finished reading it and thought absolutely nothing about it. No urge or want to continue the story. Art was stunning, but this story was nothing special.

The Lord of Ruthven Hall (Wyldblood, Issue 9) & Zen Solaris and the God Child by Arden Powell (Lightspeed, Issue 145)

These two short stories were recommended by Disco over at Tiktok. He recommended some great selections for the Trans Right Readathon. I really wanted to partake in the readathon as its been SO long since I’ve last joined one, but I was way too busy to fully join. I did managed to read some of his recommendations. I loooved them both, especially Ruthven Hall, which follows the story of a trans werewolf who ends up in an arranged marriage to a horrible lord. I could’ve read this as a full-length novel!

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That’s it for this month! Tell me what went on in YOUR life this month! What sort of things was important for you this month? New obsessions? New TV shows? Or book? Any new song recs (I’m always open to new music!)? Best books you read this month?