rainbowofcrazy's reviews
346 reviews

Dandadan, Vol. 1 by Yukinobu Tatsu

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I am loving the manga so far. The anime captured the vibe of the manga so well. The pure bonkers craziness of this story works so well in both mediums. The art here is just as gorgeous as expected. Dandadan is a mind fuck of an experience and I love it.

We'll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

I’ve read only a few Japanese translated novels so far, and I’m not quite sure if it was the original vibe of the books, or just that some of the emotions get lost in translation, but I haven’t fallen in love with any yet – until now!

I absolutely loved this book. I didn’t expect to love it this much, (I wanted to go in with low expectations and all – yes, even though there are cats!), and it delightfully surprised me. This book is actually a small collection of short stories following different people, how they came to receive their cats, and how they each handled their unique furry prescriptions.

You know the old saying: ‘A cat a day keeps the doctor away.’

Each story was just so incredibly wholesome; my heart melted every time. Who knew cats could help with so many different illnesses?! It’s charming slice-of-life storytelling with a lovely sprinkling of magic that really helped make the book extra special. I was scared that the stories would start to feel repetitive but they never did. Every person felt unique and had their own stories to tell, and I loved how everything came together in the end for everyone.

There’s joy, there’s humour, there’s hijinks, there’s sadness, and there’s lots of love. Everything cats are, this book is, and I highly recommend it!

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I absolutely loved this book. Right from the start, the story grabbed me with its darkness and I knew it was going to be something special. I was delightfully surprised with the journey, as it ended up weaving in regency vibes with a touches of horror and sadness and then delightful moments of humour.

I was surprised with how much the characters made me laugh. I really loved them all. I loved the contrast between Cordelia and her mother. I loved Cordelia learning to grow into her own person. I loved Hester and Penelope and just everyone and their relationships with each other and how they developed through the story. Oh and Tom! Tom is awesome. Look out for him. Good man.

I’ve only dabbled in regency books, and so far, I haven’t been a big fan. I suppose you could count this as one, and if all regency books were like this, I would be one very happy reader! Because apparently I only like regency when it involves sorceresses and magical horses. Or if it involves Doctor Who. Or witches and pirates (via the Dangerous Damsels series by India Holton.) Clearly I need my regency with magic.. and sass. Lots of sass.

I honestly have no complaints with this book! Maybe that it wrecked my heart a touch? (So rude.) But I loved the writing, and I loved the story and pacing. I was engrossed from beginning to end and I loved how it wrapped up. Sign me up for more of this world and these characters, and more T. Kingfisher, for sure!

Sinner by Sierra Simone

dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I really tried to like this one but I struggled pretty bad. I didn’t love how the large age gap played out, and I just couldn’t get as invested in Sean’s story like I was with Tyler’s. This was a bit of the opposite of Priest for me. I thought the smut was rather lacking and found myself more invested in the story, particularly with Tyler’s family. The touches of humour were nice, as well as the small but appreciated details that having a POC love interest added. Unfortunately I just didn’t love how it wrapped up either.

But I sure as hell am going to read Saint in the future!

Detective Beans: And the Case of the Missing Hat by Li Chen

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I’ve been a fan of Extra Ordinary Comics for ages and I’ve been so excited to read Detective Beans. And it is a treasure! It has the same super cute, silly charm as the comics but as a full adventure – and in gorgeous full colour. It’s a pure delight for your eyes. Kids will love it, and I loved it too~

The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This is more like a bonus story, as the first two were already a full, completed story. It focused on an entirely different adventure with Roz having to travel the seas and interacting with new underwater creatures and new perils that threaten her island. I admit I just wasn’t as invested in this one and found my brain wandering a lot, especially in the middle. Maybe I just liked the charming setting of the island and now we’re in this vast neverending sea. Maybe Roz needed someone to go along with her like the second book. This one felt a lot more lonely, despite the creatures she met along the way (a lot of which just felt like filler). This one just didn’t grab me like the first two, and the plot wasn’t quite as interesting as I was hoping it’d be and felt like it was solved too easily. (Take a shot every time someone says, “poison tide” – oh wait, DON’T DO THAT. OH NO.) Would still read ten more Roz stories though!

Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 1 by Shun Saeki, Yuto Tsukuda

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I absolutely loved the anime so of course, I needed to start the manga too. And, of course, I’m totally biased and loved this too! It didn’t completely grab me like the anime did. It’s hard to compare black and white drawings of food to animated sizzling shiny deliciously full colour dishes in the anime, but it’s a great start and I’m excited for this adventure.

Crush by Tegan Quin, Sara Quin

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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

5.0

I liked the first book Junior High, but I LOVED Crush. Young Tegan and Sara start to get their feet wet in the entertainment business, while trying to balance it all with middle school, growing up, and trying to get through it all with each other. The art continues to be beautiful and incredibly charming. And their mom is just awesome!

Scythe & Sparrow by Brynne Weaver

adventurous dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I liked Rose and Fionn a lot. Their chemistry was great, I LOVED the banter between the two, and the spice was nice 🌶️👍 Seeing the two bounce off each other was definitely the highlight of this book.

I also loved the circus dynamic and kind of wished there was even more of that through the story, because I found the story wasn’t as interesting as I was hoping. Thankfully the leads were both so hilarious and the humour really pulled me back whenever I felt like I was losing interest. Points to any book that can make me laugh out loud!

However I really did love how this book didn’t pick up where the second one ended, but rather, it actually started much earlier, and weaved through the timeline and stories of the first and second book. I thought that was really clever and it was fun to revisit moments in the previous books, while getting to experience it all through Rose and Fionn’s eyes.

I would say the tail end of the book kind of fizzled for me. Maybe I was just expecting something more but nothing really happened aside from the previous characters showing up again. This book was definitely meant to come back around and wrap things up, and eh, that’s fine with me. But I just kind of wanted it to end faster.

If I had to rank the trio, I’d say Butcher & Blackbird > Leather & Lark > Scythe & Sparrow. 

All in all, this series is a fun, dark, hilarious, and at times hilariously icky, romance romp, and I am SO happy I got to experience it. Especially in audiobook format! I swear, duet narrations have set the bar up high, and Eric Nolan and Samantha Brentmoor were incredible again. They’re a fantastic pairing and sound so amazing together. (I did find at times that the sound levels weren’t very balanced, and his voices tended to be much louder than hers. I don’t know if anyone else experienced that or if it was just me.)

Now what do I do with my life..

Midnight Mass by Sierra Simone

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

The smut adventures continue! But I thought this book was really.. depressing. Tyler’s jealousy goes into overdrive here and it was a lot. I did like that the decisions he made in the first book came with consequences, and he had to deal with them. I appreciated how this story focused on the fact that they didn’t just automatically get their happily ever after, but I found the lack of communication frustrating again. And I admit it just wasn’t as fun as the first book.