We LOVE challenging each other during #WyrdAndWonder and #SpooktasticReads with prompts which inspire responses which can be taken literally by the words of the prompt itself or become explored more creatively by what sparks a response from the reader, blogger or social Fantasy lover to share with us during the months of May and October. This year, I’ve decided to post complimentary discussions featuring the prompts I am responding to via Instagram on our @WyrdAndWonder feeds. As it was a goal of mine last year but not one that I could fulfil properly.
Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
I have had an appreciation for the holiday “The Day of the Dead” for a very long time – especially as after I learnt about how the festival is celebrated and the joyfulness of remembrance of family whose passed on into the next world – it just filled me with a lot of warmth and comfort. Plus, the fact, that these celebrations take place at the cemetery and where the local communities come together just added to the beauty behind the heritage and cultural legacies therein.
My first encounter with “Cemetery Boys” was reading about my fellow book bloggers’ reactions to having read it at time of release. Whereas I was able to help garnish a bit more focus on it as well when I interviewed Aiden Thomas. This year, I was finally able to start my journey into the novel whilst offering a #25MinutePreview of the audiobook. Whilst I also learnt having visited the author’s feeds on #bookstagram that they are well on their way to writing the sequel!
I knew I wanted to carry-on with Cemetery Boys – but what if there were other stories out there, I had missed knowing about which also feature The Day of the Dead?
This started a bit of a deep dive into the hidden niches of genre and interest which led me to uncovering one novel and author who perked my interest to seek out! There were a few others – I won’t lie – but those stories felt like they were darker explorations of the holiday and/or were written in a way that wouldn’t suit me well as a reader. Sometimes the stories I find I am motivated to read in Fantasy realms are not well suited due to their darker natures and/or the stories are inclusive of bookish turnoffs which leave them on the shelf for others to find rather than taking that journey into them myself.
This is how I came to find Anna Meriano and her delightful series – I happen to lean hard into Middle Grade and Young Adult stories when it comes to Fantasy. I find such JOY in reading these kinds of stories and so, finding A Dash of Trouble focuses on the same kind of story as Cemetery Boys – in respect that it features brujas as the other features brujos felt wickedly brilliant to me!
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- #SpooktasticReads 2024
