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katharine_opal's reviews
485 reviews
Alice in Kyoto Forest, Volume 1 by Haruki Niwa, Mai Mochizuki
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
~*~
Alice in Kyoto Forest is a delightful retelling of the original Alice in Wonderland but set in 1800's Kyoto, Japan instead of 1800's Oxford, England. Alice is an orphan, looking for a new start in life, which leads her to return to Kyoto, except it is not the Kyoto she remembers. The art style is charming and has a soft and whimsical feel to it. It drew me in, starting on the first page. The author has shown that they have an appreciation of the aesthetics of late 1800's Kyoto, which is evident in their artistic style. When it comes to the story, the jumps from locale to locale can feel a bit quick. However, this is also how it feels in the original story, so it is accurate as a retelling of the original. This is the first volume and falls to the same small stumbling block most series do. The story elements all have to be set into place in this volume, and there are many. It can feel like the story is a tad front-loaded and there are a lot of story pieces that are disconnected. However, it smooths out by the 4th chapter, with more of the aforementioned pieces clicking into place. I'm sure it will fully smooth out in the next volume of the series. Finally, Alice, as a character is adorable! An earnest young girl who tries her best to make the best of life, with a love of stories. I am interested in how this character will grow as a person she journeys along. This story of this manga intrigued me, and I already am itching to find out what happens next!
~*~
Alice in Kyoto Forest is a delightful retelling of the original Alice in Wonderland but set in 1800's Kyoto, Japan instead of 1800's Oxford, England. Alice is an orphan, looking for a new start in life, which leads her to return to Kyoto, except it is not the Kyoto she remembers. The art style is charming and has a soft and whimsical feel to it. It drew me in, starting on the first page. The author has shown that they have an appreciation of the aesthetics of late 1800's Kyoto, which is evident in their artistic style. When it comes to the story, the jumps from locale to locale can feel a bit quick. However, this is also how it feels in the original story, so it is accurate as a retelling of the original. This is the first volume and falls to the same small stumbling block most series do. The story elements all have to be set into place in this volume, and there are many. It can feel like the story is a tad front-loaded and there are a lot of story pieces that are disconnected. However, it smooths out by the 4th chapter, with more of the aforementioned pieces clicking into place. I'm sure it will fully smooth out in the next volume of the series. Finally, Alice, as a character is adorable! An earnest young girl who tries her best to make the best of life, with a love of stories. I am interested in how this character will grow as a person she journeys along. This story of this manga intrigued me, and I already am itching to find out what happens next!
The Last Session Vol. 1: Roll for Initiative by Jasmine Walls
5.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
"The Last Session" follows a group of friends, just about to graduate from college, joining together for one last session to finally finish their first D&D campaign, made way back when the group first met in high school. But, a new player joins the party, and mild discord ensues!
The cast is of "The Last Session" is wonderfully diverse and queer! I love all of the characters, and it is easy to feel connected to them. I also really liked that the character felt like actual people! They feel like people you would run into at the local LGBT comic shop or in a D&D server. Out of all the characters, I emphasized the most with both Lana and Cassandra. Mostly because I could fully understand and empathize with how both of them felt during the entire novel. Also, I loved the Ace rep! I feel like I rarely see any Ace characters in stories, so it was really nice to see here! The art style of the novel was compelling and just fun to look at in general. I loved the jumps between the real-life side of the players and the fantasy world of the campaign. Their campaign character designs were also super cool to see! I really liked "The Last Session". The title says it's only volume one, so I'll be on the lookout for volume two! I'm excited to see where the story goes from here!
"The Last Session" follows a group of friends, just about to graduate from college, joining together for one last session to finally finish their first D&D campaign, made way back when the group first met in high school. But, a new player joins the party, and mild discord ensues!
The cast is of "The Last Session" is wonderfully diverse and queer! I love all of the characters, and it is easy to feel connected to them. I also really liked that the character felt like actual people! They feel like people you would run into at the local LGBT comic shop or in a D&D server. Out of all the characters, I emphasized the most with both Lana and Cassandra. Mostly because I could fully understand and empathize with how both of them felt during the entire novel. Also, I loved the Ace rep! I feel like I rarely see any Ace characters in stories, so it was really nice to see here! The art style of the novel was compelling and just fun to look at in general. I loved the jumps between the real-life side of the players and the fantasy world of the campaign. Their campaign character designs were also super cool to see! I really liked "The Last Session". The title says it's only volume one, so I'll be on the lookout for volume two! I'm excited to see where the story goes from here!
In the Shadow of the Throne by Kate Sheridan
4.0
"In the Shadow of the Throne" is an isekai story, in which the protagonist Jordan, finds himself in another world, instead of the museum where he is supposed to be. I really did like this story. I love when stories do the "Hero's Journey" storytelling trope, it never gets old. The fantasy world Jordan wanders into is so fascinating and I wish I got to learn more. Sadly, the story doesn't go too in-depth with any of the characters and their motivations. It also doesn't go too in-depth with the world the protagonist is in. I feel like it hops from scene to scene a little too fast, and doesn't take the time to linger as it should. This book is rather short, and the plot is quickly paced. Almost too quickly for my personal liking. The story feels like it was meant to be longer; a multiple volume series perhaps, but got smooshed down into a single, short book. I wish was it was longer, that was so much more that could be explored in the world of this story! The art itself is fantastic and looks lovely. I was certainly be looking for more books the artist has done after this. Again, I really did like this story. I just wish there was more, but don't we all say that about the stories we like?
Fault Tolerance by Valerie Valdes
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
I want to be upfront and admit that when I started reading this book, I had no idea it was the third novel in the series. Being unaware of this marred my opinion of the book at first, but I liked the story way more as I went on reading. I ended up actually liking this book more than I thought I would! Enough so that I am going to go read books one and two when I can get my hands on them. The one thing that stood out to me in this book was the fight scenes. Those scenes were some of the most fun and engaging scenes I've read in a long while. It was super easy to picture the action in my mind's eye, and just a joy to read. However, I do also have one minor annoyance with the book. I can read some Spanish, but not enough to be able to completely understand full-length sentences. Having to stop reading to open up my translator, completely interrupting my reading flow, just so I can understand what she said, is very annoying. Let it be noted that this is just a personal annoyance and it has no bearing on the quality of the story itself! "Fault Tolerance" was a fun and colorful ride of a space opera, and I'm excited to go back and read the first two books of the trilogy!
I want to be upfront and admit that when I started reading this book, I had no idea it was the third novel in the series. Being unaware of this marred my opinion of the book at first, but I liked the story way more as I went on reading. I ended up actually liking this book more than I thought I would! Enough so that I am going to go read books one and two when I can get my hands on them. The one thing that stood out to me in this book was the fight scenes. Those scenes were some of the most fun and engaging scenes I've read in a long while. It was super easy to picture the action in my mind's eye, and just a joy to read. However, I do also have one minor annoyance with the book. I can read some Spanish, but not enough to be able to completely understand full-length sentences. Having to stop reading to open up my translator, completely interrupting my reading flow, just so I can understand what she said, is very annoying. Let it be noted that this is just a personal annoyance and it has no bearing on the quality of the story itself! "Fault Tolerance" was a fun and colorful ride of a space opera, and I'm excited to go back and read the first two books of the trilogy!
Yagi the Bookshop Goat by Fumi Furukawa
5.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
Yagi is a goat who both loves to read and loves to eat the books he reads. He has a dream of working in a bookshop, but after getting turned down by every bookstore in town, he ends up working in Ookami the wolf's bookstore. This manga was so cute in its art style, story, and it's characters! The art style is lovely; I love the soft and fluffy look the mangaka gave to the characters. The characters themselves are also so fun. Yagi, the main character, is such a sweetheart, so you just want to cheer him on in his journey. Even the minor side characters are lovable. I really liked watching the romance unfold, and it was written in a way where you really root for them to get together. The spicy scenes were a little bit of a surprise, but within the context of the story, they fit perfectly. They're very sweet and romantic spicy scenes, which is always a nice thing. My only complaint is that the story is too short! I wanted to see more of the couple after they get together! If this got turned into a series, I would totally read the next volumes.
Yagi is a goat who both loves to read and loves to eat the books he reads. He has a dream of working in a bookshop, but after getting turned down by every bookstore in town, he ends up working in Ookami the wolf's bookstore. This manga was so cute in its art style, story, and it's characters! The art style is lovely; I love the soft and fluffy look the mangaka gave to the characters. The characters themselves are also so fun. Yagi, the main character, is such a sweetheart, so you just want to cheer him on in his journey. Even the minor side characters are lovable. I really liked watching the romance unfold, and it was written in a way where you really root for them to get together. The spicy scenes were a little bit of a surprise, but within the context of the story, they fit perfectly. They're very sweet and romantic spicy scenes, which is always a nice thing. My only complaint is that the story is too short! I wanted to see more of the couple after they get together! If this got turned into a series, I would totally read the next volumes.
Getting Closer to You, Vol. 1 by Ruri Kamino
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
Kaho is a high school girl is who OBSESSED with men's muscles. She is a self-proclaimed "muscle maniac", even going so far to have a personal record of every muscular boy in school. After finding her notebook her senpai Natsume finds out about her obsession with muscles. But instead of mocking her, he asks her to become the basketball team manager! Hijinks ensue. This manga is actually really cute! The main character Kaho, while having her...interesting...obsession is actually a very earnest and hard-working girl. She works together with Natsume to help the basketball team both build their muscles, both for the sake of the team and so Kaho has more eye candy. The romantic scenes between Kaho and Natsume are also really cute. The mangaka loves to play up the comedic aspects and blends them into the romance in a wonderful way. There are also several "fan service" style scenes involving Natsume, but that makes sense since he is the main love interest! (Also seeing as the mangaka herself said she loves muscles, which inspired her to write this story, haha) I also really liked the chemistry that Natsume and Kaho have with each other. While Kaho says she only likes Natsume's muscles and not him, but it's obvious there's more to it than that. Natsume is also very open and blatant with how much he likes Kaho, but she keeps brushing it off thinking he's teasing her. This is played in a comedic way, not in an annoying airhead way, thank god. It's also nice that the romantic dynamic between them has them as equals. The art style is also really nicely drawn and nice to look at as a result! The mangaka really knows how to draw guys in a "heartthrob" style. The way some of the panels are drawn makes your eyes linger so you can pick up all the little details. The way some of the art is drawn to convey the emotions of the scene is wonderfully done and really helps you connect with how the character is feeling in the moment. This novel ends on a cliffhanger, and it made me instantly go to the next volume. I will be excited to read the second novel when it comes out!
Kaho is a high school girl is who OBSESSED with men's muscles. She is a self-proclaimed "muscle maniac", even going so far to have a personal record of every muscular boy in school. After finding her notebook her senpai Natsume finds out about her obsession with muscles. But instead of mocking her, he asks her to become the basketball team manager! Hijinks ensue. This manga is actually really cute! The main character Kaho, while having her...interesting...obsession is actually a very earnest and hard-working girl. She works together with Natsume to help the basketball team both build their muscles, both for the sake of the team and so Kaho has more eye candy. The romantic scenes between Kaho and Natsume are also really cute. The mangaka loves to play up the comedic aspects and blends them into the romance in a wonderful way. There are also several "fan service" style scenes involving Natsume, but that makes sense since he is the main love interest! (Also seeing as the mangaka herself said she loves muscles, which inspired her to write this story, haha) I also really liked the chemistry that Natsume and Kaho have with each other. While Kaho says she only likes Natsume's muscles and not him, but it's obvious there's more to it than that. Natsume is also very open and blatant with how much he likes Kaho, but she keeps brushing it off thinking he's teasing her. This is played in a comedic way, not in an annoying airhead way, thank god. It's also nice that the romantic dynamic between them has them as equals. The art style is also really nicely drawn and nice to look at as a result! The mangaka really knows how to draw guys in a "heartthrob" style. The way some of the panels are drawn makes your eyes linger so you can pick up all the little details. The way some of the art is drawn to convey the emotions of the scene is wonderfully done and really helps you connect with how the character is feeling in the moment. This novel ends on a cliffhanger, and it made me instantly go to the next volume. I will be excited to read the second novel when it comes out!
We Are the Song by Catherine Bakewell
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
The story of "We Are the Song" follows Elissa, a young girl who is gifted with the magical power of song by their Goddess. She is on a journey to share her gift and grant succor to the people of the world. The writing style of the author is very poetic and even luxuriant at times. Rarely do I read a story where I am seized by the desire to get up and draw out the scene, but this happened to me at multiple points during this story. The way certain locales are described made me think of real-life places. I feel as if the author got inspiration from places such as Mykonos, Greece or Florence, Italy, or the beautiful towns in the French countryside. The beauty of the scenes within the story matches the gorgeous book cover. The cover is actually what drew me in and made me curious about the book! The story is good but starts a little oddly. When I first started to read, I thought I'd accidentally jumped to the middle of the book. I didn't, the opening of the book just makes you feel as if you started in the middle of the final book in a series. The plot is fairly simple but still compelling. I really enjoyed Elissa as a character. Reading as she struggles with her faith and her devotion, but tries her best to stay true to her morals, was fascinating. Someone mentioned that they disliked her questioning herself so much, but Elissa is twelve years old. I'm pretty sure many twelve-year-old girls in real life question and second guess themselves when it comes to big decisions like the ones Elissa has to make. Normally, I dislike reading anything to do with religion, but this captured me. I really did like the subtle messages about the issues of blind faith and the issues with religion being twisted for evil means. While I'm not sure if that was the intended message, it is what I received. This book is very short, so it does feel like it moved very quickly, but they only could fit so much plot into so many pages. One thing I that baffled me is that the book's plot blurb describes the character Lucio as "Her vain and jealous music tutor". I don't know if I would call him either vain or jealous? Lucio is as much of a child as Elissa but is expected to act the part of a fully-fledged adult. Both Elissa and Lucio have an incredible amount of pressure put on them by their religion, their religious leaders and the world at large while being only children themselves. (I feel like there's another message hidden in that, but I could be reading too much into that one.) The magic system in "We Are the Song" is also very interesting to read about! The concept of magic through singing or spell work done with magical voices is nothing new, but the way it is written in this story makes it feel as if it IS new! I'm a bit sad the story is so short, I would have loved to learn more about the Singers and the other characters. This story was so wonderful, and I really fell in the love with the author's writing style. I will totally be on the lookout for anything else they write in the future!
The story of "We Are the Song" follows Elissa, a young girl who is gifted with the magical power of song by their Goddess. She is on a journey to share her gift and grant succor to the people of the world. The writing style of the author is very poetic and even luxuriant at times. Rarely do I read a story where I am seized by the desire to get up and draw out the scene, but this happened to me at multiple points during this story. The way certain locales are described made me think of real-life places. I feel as if the author got inspiration from places such as Mykonos, Greece or Florence, Italy, or the beautiful towns in the French countryside. The beauty of the scenes within the story matches the gorgeous book cover. The cover is actually what drew me in and made me curious about the book! The story is good but starts a little oddly. When I first started to read, I thought I'd accidentally jumped to the middle of the book. I didn't, the opening of the book just makes you feel as if you started in the middle of the final book in a series. The plot is fairly simple but still compelling. I really enjoyed Elissa as a character. Reading as she struggles with her faith and her devotion, but tries her best to stay true to her morals, was fascinating. Someone mentioned that they disliked her questioning herself so much, but Elissa is twelve years old. I'm pretty sure many twelve-year-old girls in real life question and second guess themselves when it comes to big decisions like the ones Elissa has to make. Normally, I dislike reading anything to do with religion, but this captured me. I really did like the subtle messages about the issues of blind faith and the issues with religion being twisted for evil means. While I'm not sure if that was the intended message, it is what I received. This book is very short, so it does feel like it moved very quickly, but they only could fit so much plot into so many pages. One thing I that baffled me is that the book's plot blurb describes the character Lucio as "Her vain and jealous music tutor". I don't know if I would call him either vain or jealous? Lucio is as much of a child as Elissa but is expected to act the part of a fully-fledged adult. Both Elissa and Lucio have an incredible amount of pressure put on them by their religion, their religious leaders and the world at large while being only children themselves. (I feel like there's another message hidden in that, but I could be reading too much into that one.) The magic system in "We Are the Song" is also very interesting to read about! The concept of magic through singing or spell work done with magical voices is nothing new, but the way it is written in this story makes it feel as if it IS new! I'm a bit sad the story is so short, I would have loved to learn more about the Singers and the other characters. This story was so wonderful, and I really fell in the love with the author's writing style. I will totally be on the lookout for anything else they write in the future!
40: A Novel by Alan Heathcock
2.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
40 was a baffling read. I had first been drawn in by the cover of the novel. A classical rendition of an angel proudly holding a trumpet aloft, but instead of the expected soft golds or blues, is entirely blood red, whilst walking through a hot pink 40. After being curious about what sort of novel could have such an eye-catching cover, I looked at the plot blurb. The setting is in a post-apocalyptic world, the enemy a powerhouse of a cult that has taken over the city of Los Angeles. A girl who becomes the figurehead of a revolution, just to get her sister back. The same girl who had awoken in a bomb crater with mysterious wings on her back! All of it sounded fascinating! Just like the type of book I would love to dive into! I was sorely disappointed. I almost put this book on the DNF list by the second chapter; I only made it to the end because I wanted to know what would happen with the sister. 40 feels contrived. Events happen within the plot just to add some drama. Sections of the story read oddly, and the plot jumped from place to place. The writing style itself was also painful at points. It felt more like a rough draft than a finished story. The characters themselves felt artificial. Like strawmen simply placed so the protagonist can have something to interact with. The main character herself, Mazzy, felt hollow. She didn't feel like much of a character. (I agree with someone else who said she felt a LOT like a Katniss rip-off. Not saying that was intentional, but the similarities were glaring.) There were speeches in certain scenes that felt as if they were meant to be read as a "deep, introspective message to the masses" but they came off as shallow. I would also like to note that the "twist" was painfully obvious. I knew what was coming the second that character was introduced. The ending of the novel also felt insanely bizarre. I believe I understand what it was supposed to be referencing when it comes to Bible stories, but it felt insane and out of place. Simply put, I did not like 40. After finishing the novel, I was struck with the memory of this scene from "Burn After Reading". It sums up how I felt finishing this novel.
"What did we learn Palmer?" "
"I don't know sir."
"I don't know either. I guess we learned not to do it again. I'll be f*cked if I know what we did though."
40 was a baffling read. I had first been drawn in by the cover of the novel. A classical rendition of an angel proudly holding a trumpet aloft, but instead of the expected soft golds or blues, is entirely blood red, whilst walking through a hot pink 40. After being curious about what sort of novel could have such an eye-catching cover, I looked at the plot blurb. The setting is in a post-apocalyptic world, the enemy a powerhouse of a cult that has taken over the city of Los Angeles. A girl who becomes the figurehead of a revolution, just to get her sister back. The same girl who had awoken in a bomb crater with mysterious wings on her back! All of it sounded fascinating! Just like the type of book I would love to dive into! I was sorely disappointed. I almost put this book on the DNF list by the second chapter; I only made it to the end because I wanted to know what would happen with the sister. 40 feels contrived. Events happen within the plot just to add some drama. Sections of the story read oddly, and the plot jumped from place to place. The writing style itself was also painful at points. It felt more like a rough draft than a finished story. The characters themselves felt artificial. Like strawmen simply placed so the protagonist can have something to interact with. The main character herself, Mazzy, felt hollow. She didn't feel like much of a character. (I agree with someone else who said she felt a LOT like a Katniss rip-off. Not saying that was intentional, but the similarities were glaring.) There were speeches in certain scenes that felt as if they were meant to be read as a "deep, introspective message to the masses" but they came off as shallow. I would also like to note that the "twist" was painfully obvious. I knew what was coming the second that character was introduced. The ending of the novel also felt insanely bizarre. I believe I understand what it was supposed to be referencing when it comes to Bible stories, but it felt insane and out of place. Simply put, I did not like 40. After finishing the novel, I was struck with the memory of this scene from "Burn After Reading". It sums up how I felt finishing this novel.
"What did we learn Palmer?" "
"I don't know sir."
"I don't know either. I guess we learned not to do it again. I'll be f*cked if I know what we did though."
Mame Coordinate, Vol. 1 by Sachi Miyabe
3.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
I will be the first to admit, that what really drew me into reading "Mame Coordinate" was the cover art. Bright and colorful, but also has the softness of watercolor to it! The character herself was cute and indicated that the art style inside would be just as gorgeous. The art style is very pretty but sadly doesn't hold a candle to the cover. That was no biggie, having very high-quality art on the cover is fairly normal. I can tell the author themselves has an interest in fashion, it shows clearly when certain outfits are drawn. The story, however, I found to be lacking. The main character is Mame, a country bumpkin who feels insanely out of place in the big city. She herself states that the only reason she joined the modeling agency was that she was scouted by someone and that it was the only way for her to get out of her little hick town. Mame has no real goals or reason to become a model, she's only doing it because she doesn't know what else to do. She also doesn't care one whit about fashion or becoming an excellent model. While temporarily working at a take-out restaurant, she wonders if maybe she should be doing this instead of modeling. She honestly looked far happier working in a restaurant in a customer-facing role than she ever does while modeling! Her character felt flat, and I found myself more annoyed at her, than wanting to root for her. She is given to the newbie modeling manager, Kisaragi, and is told if she fails her next modeling audition, she's out. Unbeknownst to her, if she doesn't succeed in landing a modeling gig, Kisaragi will also be fired from the agency. Kisaragi, the manager, I had an instant dislike of only a few pages into meeting her. (Who the hell gropes someone in the middle of a restaurant! I know she was trying to figure out Mame's measurements, but did she really has to grab her like that?! IN PUBLIC?!) She obviously doesn't like Mame and is only trying to have her succeed so she herself doesn't get fired. Kisaragi's internal dialogue reveals that she thinks that Mame is a clueless bumpkin and she is constantly shocked by how ditzy Mame can be. Also within the scenes of Kisaragi training her, it's very obvious there will be some sort of twist in a later volume where Mame finds out Kisaragi tried to become a model and failed, and became a model manager instead. The dynamic between Mame and Kisaragi is strained, it came off as tense, and that made it not really fun to read. The only interesting thing was the cliffhanger with a potential rival, Noel. Though Mame beating Noel makes no logical sense what's so ever, I can see it becoming the dramatic point of conflict. Since I am curious about what is going to happen with Noel, I will be seeking out the second volume when it comes out.
I will be the first to admit, that what really drew me into reading "Mame Coordinate" was the cover art. Bright and colorful, but also has the softness of watercolor to it! The character herself was cute and indicated that the art style inside would be just as gorgeous. The art style is very pretty but sadly doesn't hold a candle to the cover. That was no biggie, having very high-quality art on the cover is fairly normal. I can tell the author themselves has an interest in fashion, it shows clearly when certain outfits are drawn. The story, however, I found to be lacking. The main character is Mame, a country bumpkin who feels insanely out of place in the big city. She herself states that the only reason she joined the modeling agency was that she was scouted by someone and that it was the only way for her to get out of her little hick town. Mame has no real goals or reason to become a model, she's only doing it because she doesn't know what else to do. She also doesn't care one whit about fashion or becoming an excellent model. While temporarily working at a take-out restaurant, she wonders if maybe she should be doing this instead of modeling. She honestly looked far happier working in a restaurant in a customer-facing role than she ever does while modeling! Her character felt flat, and I found myself more annoyed at her, than wanting to root for her. She is given to the newbie modeling manager, Kisaragi, and is told if she fails her next modeling audition, she's out. Unbeknownst to her, if she doesn't succeed in landing a modeling gig, Kisaragi will also be fired from the agency. Kisaragi, the manager, I had an instant dislike of only a few pages into meeting her. (Who the hell gropes someone in the middle of a restaurant! I know she was trying to figure out Mame's measurements, but did she really has to grab her like that?! IN PUBLIC?!) She obviously doesn't like Mame and is only trying to have her succeed so she herself doesn't get fired. Kisaragi's internal dialogue reveals that she thinks that Mame is a clueless bumpkin and she is constantly shocked by how ditzy Mame can be. Also within the scenes of Kisaragi training her, it's very obvious there will be some sort of twist in a later volume where Mame finds out Kisaragi tried to become a model and failed, and became a model manager instead. The dynamic between Mame and Kisaragi is strained, it came off as tense, and that made it not really fun to read. The only interesting thing was the cliffhanger with a potential rival, Noel. Though Mame beating Noel makes no logical sense what's so ever, I can see it becoming the dramatic point of conflict. Since I am curious about what is going to happen with Noel, I will be seeking out the second volume when it comes out.
Tomorrow, Make Me Yours by Kaoruko Miyama
3.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
I wanted to like "Tomorrow, Make Me Yours". I really did. But unfortunately, this manga fell a bit flat for me. The main characters were the stereotype of "The shy boy likes the popular boy". Which is fine, it's a common and popular trope. But you know almost nothing about the characters, so there's no real way to connect with them. You know Yuki is a quiet and awkward boy, who lives with a father who is away on business the majority of the time. You know Hayato is popular and charismatic, and the eldest brother in a large family. But...that's about it. The plot itself is rather thin, not much goes on. The one thing that mildly annoyed me is that the majority of the plot moves only due to misunderstandings between the two main leads. There are quite a few miscommunications between both of them, either due to one making an assumption about the other, or one of them misinterpreting the other one's response. The romance did move just a bit too quickly for me. I know most BL's do that because they're trying to get to the "juicy" bits, but it hurts this story. Also, reading about two teenagers going at it is just a bit awkward. Again, common in BL, but still awkward nonetheless. It was also a very stereotypical "first-time" spice scene. After finishing the manga, I was amused when I realized that the plot blurb for this manga literally tells you exactly what happens in the story. It's not just an overview, it's the storyline of the entire manga, except the last chapter which has a spicy scene. I will say, the art style is lovely though. Nice crisp lines, and nicely defined faces.
I wanted to like "Tomorrow, Make Me Yours". I really did. But unfortunately, this manga fell a bit flat for me. The main characters were the stereotype of "The shy boy likes the popular boy". Which is fine, it's a common and popular trope. But you know almost nothing about the characters, so there's no real way to connect with them. You know Yuki is a quiet and awkward boy, who lives with a father who is away on business the majority of the time. You know Hayato is popular and charismatic, and the eldest brother in a large family. But...that's about it. The plot itself is rather thin, not much goes on. The one thing that mildly annoyed me is that the majority of the plot moves only due to misunderstandings between the two main leads. There are quite a few miscommunications between both of them, either due to one making an assumption about the other, or one of them misinterpreting the other one's response. The romance did move just a bit too quickly for me. I know most BL's do that because they're trying to get to the "juicy" bits, but it hurts this story. Also, reading about two teenagers going at it is just a bit awkward. Again, common in BL, but still awkward nonetheless. It was also a very stereotypical "first-time" spice scene. After finishing the manga, I was amused when I realized that the plot blurb for this manga literally tells you exactly what happens in the story. It's not just an overview, it's the storyline of the entire manga, except the last chapter which has a spicy scene. I will say, the art style is lovely though. Nice crisp lines, and nicely defined faces.