marie_thereadingotter's reviews
1262 reviews

Mao, Vol. 17 by Rumiko Takahashi

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

King of Tricksters by S.L. Prater

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Regrettably I kind of forgot where the last book left off, I blame that on it being an audiobook and my brain not being great at remembering details I only hear. I remember the characters, and parts of the plot but just some of the minor details were forgotten. 

All that aside I still enjoyed this book. Rain goes through it at the start of this book with healing, and everything that comes after that. Her devotion to Night is sweet, but as far as I'm concerned he didn't earn it and doesn't deserve it. They have chemistry for sure, but the way he so easily threw his trust in her away when he's the one who kidnapped her in the first place and practically forced a marriage on her was uncalled for. 

I do like Night, and while I think he was a bit of an ass for almost throwing her aside for being honest with him, upset me. It played the role, bit, in that 'third-act break up' that romance books often have, and I kind of hated it. Sure, it made sense that the revelation would be a shock, but you'd think that multi-century old beings wouldn't be so immature and petty. I am glad that it resolved quickly though and didn't last too long. Erikson, Night's brother is a jerk, and I'm glad he ended up needing to eat his words and apologize to Rain.

The final battle, it felt rushed, and I really do think it's because it's an audiobook. Battle scenes don't translate well, for me, as audiobooks. I am curious where the rest of this series goes, even though it's not following Rain and Night. But I do wish that their story had been a trilogy, a lot of happened in this book and it's not very long. It's a 7hr Audiobook, (barely 200pages). Some of the story beats could've been given more time and depth, which would make things feel like they have higher stakes. 

 

One thing that I absolutely love are the covers for this series. If people are going to be on the  cover, this is the way I prefer. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Sexual content

Moderate: Violence and Blood

Minor: War

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Did not finish book. Stopped at 37%.

I tried, twice. This was my second attempt to read this monstrosity of a book, but I just couldn't do it anymore. I started this book in January, and only now got to 370 pages. It's such a slog, it's so repetitive, the battles are boring, and the rest is sitting around and talking. The world building is also too vague for me. 
I love Mistborn, both era 1 and 2, but this? This is long for the sake of being long. I honestly believe that about 1/3 of this book could've been condensed. There's also too many POV characters when half of them get minimal page time. If all these characters are so important, and I don't think they are, then they should be given equal or similar page time. And I think that's it for me, I just like the characters better in Mistborn.
I don't believe that this book earned it's 1k pages, very few books do.

Mao, Vol. 16 by Rumiko Takahashi

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I hoped there'd be more of a focus on Diego, I didn't hate that the focus was on finding the missing child as we got some back story on a side character. 
But, I wasn't that invested. I want to know more about what the end goal is going to be, as right now they've just been running around a lot. 

Mao, Vol. 15 by Rumiko Takahashi

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This was a strange volume. Some interesting character reveals, some past secrets uncovered.
But a lot of weird stuff also happened. And more questions that need to be answered. I'm still unsure what the point of cursing Mao was, the 'why' of it all. Hopefully that will be answered soon.

Inuyasha, Volume 10 by Rumiko Takahashi

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Finally, the Band of Seven arc is over. It goes on for way too goddamned long. 
This arc is when things start to get more tense, and when less filler happens. (In the anime at least). 
This is definitely a manga series I will want to collect. 

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Vol. 5 by Kanehito Yamada

adventurous

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This volume covers most of the first test to become a First Class mage. I got a little more context for characters in the manga than I got watching the anime. I was very surprised to discover how old Wirbel was. His character design makes him look a lot younger than he states being. (he's in his 30s, and I thought he was around 20)
The test felt more high stakes reading it than it did watching it. I do try to review the manga with out the context of the anime, but it's hard not to.

I am very excited to read the next volume. 

Inuyasha, Volume 09 by Rumiko Takahashi

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I have a love/hate relationship with this arc. On one hand, the Band of Seven are interesting characters individually, but in the context of the arc, they're clearly filler. They also don't make a whole lot of sense. This is supposed to be the actual past, and yet there's a guy who's basically a feudal cyborg. He's a tank, literally. 
I know that in a series with Half-demons and such, not being able to suspend my disbelief over this arc is silly, but I can't help it. And compared to the other arcs, this one feels very dragged out. Out of all the side-antagonists that Naraku employs to fight InuYasha and the team, this is the only one that takes up several volumes.

I still do like that the manga has far less filler than the anime does. (even though the anime is still in my top 10 because it was my gateway anime)

Inuyasha, Volume 08 by Rumiko Takahashi

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The story progresses so much faster in the manga. I think I prefer this. 
It's my least favorite arc in the anime, but this volume is where The Band of Seven are introduced. Hopefully this is where filler is removed. 

Inuyasha, Volume 07 by Rumiko Takahashi

adventurous funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I am really enjoying reading the manga. A little preplexed that the Tsubaki arc was so much shorter in the manga than in the anime. The anime had a conclusion.
All that aside, I am still loving reading this for the first time. In some ways it feels like more of a story, and I also feel like there are a lot of added in scenes of Kagome going back to her time in the anime than here in the manga. (I hate the episodes of her in her time, so this is really enjoyable.)