Monthly Rewind: April 2025

L I F E

I had the opportunity to visit the Penguin Random House library & archive, thanks to work! It was one of many sites that holds manuscript, contracts and artwork of books that stretches back to the mid-19th century! We had a short but amazingly presented tour of the inner workings of the archive. Such a small team that does such pivotal work! Afterwards, they let us just walk around all the books and my first stop was definitely checking out all childhood favourites and seeing them in such new condition felt illegal.

A R T

I was a little sick earlier in the month which means I didn’t get to draw as much as I wanted. But I did stream a bit of the progress of creating a new model for stream. I’m still deciding between two different poses but hopefully next month I can show better progress!

B O O K S

In April, I read 8 books!

Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven

When I started working at Penguin, I kept hearing this title all over the Children’s team. At first, I wasn’t interested in reading a YA book at the time, but the cover was so pretty I couldn’t stop thinking about the book. It really suits the vibe of the book that I was shocked to see how differently the US cover looks since that cover makes it look like completely different genre!

Our Infinite Fates is a YA fantasy romance that follows Evelyn who is fated to die by Arden’s hand before her 18th birthday. Together, they have lived over a thousand lifetimes and Evelyn still can’t decipher the curse that follows them. She faces a problem in her current life when her little sister needs her for bone marrow transplant and she is weeks away from turning 18, waiting for the day Arden appears on her door. If Evelyn wants to save her sister, she must discover the truth behind her curse and end the centuries old battle with Arden for good.

Honestly, I was bit on the fence with this book. And that was mainly due to the chapters set in the present time. I thought current day Evelyn and Arden weren’t as interesting as their past reincarnations. I loved the diversity of their past lives and seeing how they grow in every lifetime that it almost felt disappointing coming back to the main storyline because all I did was yearn for their past lives.

Something happens in the last 30% of the book that absolutely flipped the entire book on its head for me. I went from having very neutral thoughts to thinking:

Without giving too much away, the entire vibe of the last quarter reminded me of Resident Evil Village. No one I know whose read this book has also played Village and I’m dying to find someone else who has so they can also understand how much the two compare! It actually made me so excited for her adult fantasy debut, Silvercloak!

Who Wants to Live Forever by Hanna Thomas Uose

When a miracle drug is released which can extend a human’s life – couple Yuki and Sam find their lives shattered when Sam decides he wants to live forever. I was SO excited to read this. I thought it was SUCH an interesting concept and the plot synopsis hooked me so well. A speculative fiction that has such an interesting philosophical reflection and never have I been this bored by a book where so much happens. Once the story stopped being about Yuki and Sam I feel like my interest in the book just disappeared. The perspective of the man who created Yareta (the drug) was interesting but again trying to care about all these new perspectives was a chore. I could definitely see this being the basis of a TV show in the future because that feels like the only medium that would’ve suited this story best.

The Broken Nest by Rabindranath Tagore

A Penguin 90th book! If you haven’t heard, in honour of its 90th anniversary, Penguin released a brand new series where they curated 90 different books in celebration of its long, rich history! This was a very dynamic and amazing project that I’m very grateful I was able to help a bit with this project. (Our team was responsible for monitoring and updating the bibliographic metadata for all 90 titles – making sure the categorisation and information for all titles were correct.) I want to try and read all 90 books! This edition includes two of Tagore’s works: ‘The Broken Nest’ and ‘Dead or Alive’. I hadn’t read The Broken Nest before, but Dead or Alive is short story I really loved. (And had read previously!)

The Wrath of Achilles by Homer

I am a fiend for Homer so when I first saw this on the list for the 90th, I was so excited. I was in office for release day so I even managed to grab a copy when they were handing them out to staff! The name is pretty telling – this book takes sections of The Iliad which revolve around Achilles and his rage. I haven’t read The Iliad since college so it felt very reminiscent of my days pouring over the chapters for A-Levels. I’m pretty sure we even had to write an assignment on the wrath of Achilles so this book would’ve been very handy 10 years ago.

Homegrown Magic by Jamie Pacton and Rebecca Podos

A “queer cottagecore romantasy” between Yael, the heir to one of the wealthiest families in the realm and Margot, a witch whose family was destroyed by Yael’s family operations. When Yael impending future becomes all too real, they flee in search of something new and finds themselves laying low in Bloomfield. Margot offers them a job and hopes that she can save her family home before Yael’s scheming parents can take everything she loves.

Super cute and quick to read! I managed to finish the book in my work commute. The only thing negative I could say is that it’s marketed as both author going into adult fantasy but I felt like this book still reads like a book for a young adult audience. I had thought it was YA until I checked the full synopsis online. This book definitely falls under the growing cozy fantasy genre which isn’t for everyone. (but I absolutely love!)

Trans and Disabled: An Anthology of Identities and Experiences by Alex Iantaffi (Editor)

An anthology of stories, poems and personal essay from different authors who discuss their intersectionality of identities and experience. I thought there was a lovely range of voices, but it felt like it was brought down by the quality of certain contributions and needed a stronger editorial hand.

To Bargain with Mortals by R.A. Basu

In the colonised nation of Viryana, Poppy, an adopted daughter of the Viceroy, finds her position threatened when her fiancé plots to have her exiled from her home country. Her only support being the Jackal – a smuggler who needs Poppy’s help if he wants to save his family.

I was loving this! I had heard of Bindery Books and their projects to involve different bookish communities by creating partnership imprint with different content creators. I had come across Emma’s video about To Bargain with Mortals and I was immediately hooked! I’m so happy this is a duology (sorry trilogies but I’m burnt out now). The only real thing I didn’t like was the ending and that was more to do with the pacing of the book – I feel like the lead up to the cliffhanger takes way too long. If anything, the last few pages would’ve made for a better first chapter to the next book.

The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen

A small collection of Hans Christian Andersen work including The Little Mermaid, The Red Shoes and a few others. I think what surprised me about this was the sudden realisation that I had read so many of these during my childhood and back then as a child, I never realised they were all his works! I really loved this selection a lot because of its nostalgic feeling.

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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?