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sarahdm's reviews
207 reviews
The Crown Tower by Michael J. Sullivan
4.0
After finishing the First Empire Series (10/10) and attempting to read Rise and Fall (only made it to one book) I decided to pick up Crown Tower and finally get to know Hadrian and Royce, the two characters MJS's fanbase seems to love to the Earth and back.
I LOVED Hadrian from page one. In a world that could easily produce nothing but grim dark edge lords, this Lawful Good golden retriever of a human being is such a delight to read. Then there is Royce: the Neutral Evil, edge lord, "trust no one," brood brood, cry listening to butt-rock while standing on roof tops cause I think I'm Batman, generic DND Rogue backstory, and general recluse asshole of the series. I understand that he exists to be Hadrian's foil but he was really hard to like. His budding friendship near the end of the book makes putting up with this living gargoyle worth it though. And his character is actually really enjoyable once he pulls the stick out of his ass. I do think he is at his peek when he is actively bleeding out. He suddenly becomes a quippy on the level of Spider-man and actually starts talking to Hadrian like he is a person and not a total burden. What I am trying to say is that by the end of the book he was growing on me and I am definitely interested to see how Hadrian and Royces Grumpy/Sunshine fantasy romance plays out. Ugh, I mean. Bro-mance. Definitely.
Loved Gwen and her plot line. There honestly wasn't enough of her. There were times were I could give two shits about what the love birds were doing and just wanted to go back to the girls' plot line.
Looking forward to the next book.
I LOVED Hadrian from page one. In a world that could easily produce nothing but grim dark edge lords, this Lawful Good golden retriever of a human being is such a delight to read. Then there is Royce: the Neutral Evil, edge lord, "trust no one," brood brood, cry listening to butt-rock while standing on roof tops cause I think I'm Batman, generic DND Rogue backstory, and general recluse asshole of the series. I understand that he exists to be Hadrian's foil but he was really hard to like. His budding friendship near the end of the book makes putting up with this living gargoyle worth it though. And his character is actually really enjoyable once he pulls the stick out of his ass. I do think he is at his peek when he is actively bleeding out. He suddenly becomes a quippy on the level of Spider-man and actually starts talking to Hadrian like he is a person and not a total burden. What I am trying to say is that by the end of the book he was growing on me and I am definitely interested to see how Hadrian and Royces Grumpy/Sunshine fantasy romance plays out. Ugh, I mean. Bro-mance. Definitely.
Loved Gwen and her plot line. There honestly wasn't enough of her. There were times were I could give two shits about what the love birds were doing and just wanted to go back to the girls' plot line.
Looking forward to the next book.
The Lights on Knockbridge Lane by Roan Parrish
3.0
Pretty average fluffy holiday romance. Nothing remarkable but nothing egregious either. Well except for the 3rd act break up. There are 2 adult scenes that are pretty mild and not super descriptive. Would recommend as a cute pick me up.
Welcome Back, Alice, Vol. 7 by Shuzo Oshimi
4.0
Review for the whole series:
This is such a wild read. This series absolutely has to be paired with the author's notes that appear at the end of each volume. It puts a lot of stuff into context.
The "romance" in the series is so back seat to literally everything else going on in the manga. This isn't about a love triangle between childhood friends, this is about Oshimi's own struggle with what it means to be a man. Kei and Yui are not people, they are the two paths of masculinity that Yohei has to choose from. Kei is the ambiguous agender/gender queer departure from strict social expectations that are required to be masculine in the world. Kei represents freedom, an escape from gender all together. This is desirable but not an easy choice to make. Yui is the path of traditional masculine gender identity and masculine sexuality. Things that happen to Yui and Yohei are basically direct translations of Oshimi's own sexual trauma around masculinity. And this struggle between the two paths is represented by a love triangle, which i think its pretty powerful and brilliant.
Then there is Yohei themselves, who is struggling with gender and body dysphoria. Kei and Yui also seem to represent Yohei's struggle between his sexuality and his gender desires. There is a REALLY intense scene during the final volume that just blows my mind and feels like the perfect physical manifestation of this struggle for Yohei. It was honestly amazing.
With that out of the way, this series is going to make you uncomfortable. This manga has sexual assault and dubious consent. I would not say it is full blown rape but its uncomfortable for sure and its suppose to be. There is also self harm in the form of self mutilation. Even with all of this, the manga really made me think about my own gender experience, and while I don't really identify with Oshimi's struggle, this was still such a good read. I literally binged it in like 2 days. Recommend if you can handle it.
Welcome Back, Alice 6 by Shuzo Oshimi
4.0
Review for the whole series:
This is such a wild read. This series absolutely has to be paired with the author's notes that appear at the end of each volume. It puts a lot of stuff into context.
The "romance" in the series is so back seat to literally everything else going on in the manga. This isn't about a love triangle between childhood friends, this is about Oshimi's own struggle with what it means to be a man. Kei and Yui are not people, they are the two paths of masculinity that Yohei has to choose from. Kei is the ambiguous agender/gender queer departure from strict social expectations that are required to be masculine in the world. Kei represents freedom, an escape from gender all together. This is desirable but not an easy choice to make. Yui is the path of traditional masculine gender identity and masculine sexuality. Things that happen to Yui and Yohei are basically direct translations of Oshimi's own sexual trauma around masculinity. And this struggle between the two paths is represented by a love triangle, which i think its pretty powerful and brilliant.
Then there is Yohei themselves, who is struggling with gender and body dysphoria. Kei and Yui also seem to represent Yohei's struggle between his sexuality and his gender desires. There is a REALLY intense scene during the final volume that just blows my mind and feels like the perfect physical manifestation of this struggle for Yohei. It was honestly amazing.
With that out of the way, this series is going to make you uncomfortable. This manga has sexual assault and dubious consent. I would not say it is full blown rape but its uncomfortable for sure and its suppose to be. There is also self harm in the form of self mutilation. Even with all of this, the manga really made me think about my own gender experience, and while I don't really identify with Oshimi's struggle, this was still such a good read. I literally binged it in like 2 days. Recommend if you can handle it.
Welcome Back, Alice, Vol. 5 by Shuzo Oshimi
4.0
Review for the whole series:
This is such a wild read. This series absolutely has to be paired with the author's notes that appear at the end of each volume. It puts a lot of stuff into context.
The "romance" in the series is so back seat to literally everything else going on in the manga. This isn't about a love triangle between childhood friends, this is about Oshimi's own struggle with what it means to be a man. Kei and Yui are not people, they are the two paths of masculinity that Yohei has to choose from. Kei is the ambiguous agender/gender queer departure from strict social expectations that are required to be masculine in the world. Kei represents freedom, an escape from gender all together. This is desirable but not an easy choice to make. Yui is the path of traditional masculine gender identity and masculine sexuality. Things that happen to Yui and Yohei are basically direct translations of Oshimi's own sexual trauma around masculinity. And this struggle between the two paths is represented by a love triangle, which i think its pretty powerful and brilliant.
Then there is Yohei themselves, who is struggling with gender and body dysphoria. Kei and Yui also seem to represent Yohei's struggle between his sexuality and his gender desires. There is a REALLY intense scene during the final volume that just blows my mind and feels like the perfect physical manifestation of this struggle for Yohei. It was honestly amazing.
With that out of the way, this series is going to make you uncomfortable. This manga has sexual assault and dubious consent. I would not say it is full blown rape but its uncomfortable for sure and its suppose to be. There is also self harm in the form of self mutilation. Even with all of this, the manga really made me think about my own gender experience, and while I don't really identify with Oshimi's struggle, this was still such a good read. I literally binged it in like 2 days. Recommend if you can handle it.
Welcome Back, Alice, Vol. 4 by Shuzo Oshimi
4.0
Review for the whole series:
This is such a wild read. This series absolutely has to be paired with the author's notes that appear at the end of each volume. It puts a lot of stuff into context.
The "romance" in the series is so back seat to literally everything else going on in the manga. This isn't about a love triangle between childhood friends, this is about Oshimi's own struggle with what it means to be a man. Kei and Yui are not people, they are the two paths of masculinity that Yohei has to choose from. Kei is the ambiguous agender/gender queer departure from strict social expectations that are required to be masculine in the world. Kei represents freedom, an escape from gender all together. This is desirable but not an easy choice to make. Yui is the path of traditional masculine gender identity and masculine sexuality. Things that happen to Yui and Yohei are basically direct translations of Oshimi's own sexual trauma around masculinity. And this struggle between the two paths is represented by a love triangle, which i think its pretty powerful and brilliant.
Then there is Yohei themselves, who is struggling with gender and body dysphoria. Kei and Yui also seem to represent Yohei's struggle between his sexuality and his gender desires. There is a REALLY intense scene during the final volume that just blows my mind and feels like the perfect physical manifestation of this struggle for Yohei. It was honestly amazing.
With that out of the way, this series is going to make you uncomfortable. This manga has sexual assault and dubious consent. I would not say it is full blown rape but its uncomfortable for sure and its suppose to be. There is also self harm in the form of self mutilation. Even with all of this, the manga really made me think about my own gender experience, and while I don't really identify with Oshimi's struggle, this was still such a good read. I literally binged it in like 2 days. Recommend if you can handle it.
Welcome Back, Alice, Volume 3 by Shuzo Oshimi
4.0
Review for the whole series:
This is such a wild read. This series absolutely has to be paired with the author's notes that appear at the end of each volume. It puts a lot of stuff into context.
The "romance" in the series is so back seat to literally everything else going on in the manga. This isn't about a love triangle between childhood friends, this is about Oshimi's own struggle with what it means to be a man. Kei and Yui are not people, they are the two paths of masculinity that Yohei has to choose from. Kei is the ambiguous agender/gender queer departure from strict social expectations that are required to be masculine in the world. Kei represents freedom, an escape from gender all together. This is desirable but not an easy choice to make. Yui is the path of traditional masculine gender identity and masculine sexuality. Things that happen to Yui and Yohei are basically direct translations of Oshimi's own sexual trauma around masculinity. And this struggle between the two paths is represented by a love triangle, which i think its pretty powerful and brilliant.
Then there is Yohei themselves, who is struggling with gender and body dysphoria. Kei and Yui also seem to represent Yohei's struggle between his sexuality and his gender desires. There is a REALLY intense scene during the final volume that just blows my mind and feels like the perfect physical manifestation of this struggle for Yohei. It was honestly amazing.
With that out of the way, this series is going to make you uncomfortable. This manga has sexual assault and dubious consent. I would not say it is full blown rape but its uncomfortable for sure and its suppose to be. There is also self harm in the form of self mutilation. Even with all of this, the manga really made me think about my own gender experience, and while I don't really identify with Oshimi's struggle, this was still such a good read. I literally binged it in like 2 days. Recommend if you can handle it.
Welcome Back, Alice, Volume 2 by Shuzo Oshimi
4.0
Review for the whole series:
This is such a wild read. This series absolutely has to be paired with the author's notes that appear at the end of each volume. It puts a lot of stuff into context.
The "romance" in the series is so back seat to literally everything else going on in the manga. This isn't about a love triangle between childhood friends, this is about Oshimi's own struggle with what it means to be a man. Kei and Yui are not people, they are the two paths of masculinity that Yohei has to choose from. Kei is the ambiguous agender/gender queer departure from strict social expectations that are required to be masculine in the world. Kei represents freedom, an escape from gender all together. This is desirable but not an easy choice to make. Yui is the path of traditional masculine gender identity and masculine sexuality. Things that happen to Yui and Yohei are basically direct translations of Oshimi's own sexual trauma around masculinity. And this struggle between the two paths is represented by a love triangle, which i think its pretty powerful and brilliant.
Then there is Yohei themselves, who is struggling with gender and body dysphoria. Kei and Yui also seem to represent Yohei's struggle between his sexuality and his gender desires. There is a REALLY intense scene during the final volume that just blows my mind and feels like the perfect physical manifestation of this struggle for Yohei. It was honestly amazing.
With that out of the way, this series is going to make you uncomfortable. This manga has sexual assault and dubious consent. I would not say it is full blown rape but its uncomfortable for sure and its suppose to be. There is also self harm in the form of self mutilation. Even with all of this, the manga really made me think about my own gender experience, and while I don't really identify with Oshimi's struggle, this was still such a good read. I literally binged it in like 2 days. Recommend if you can handle it.
Welcome Back, Alice, Vol. 1 by Shuzo Oshimi
4.0
Review for the whole series:
This is such a wild read. This series absolutely has to be paired with the author's notes that appear at the end of each volume. It puts a lot of stuff into context.
The "romance" in the series is so back seat to literally everything else going on in the manga. This isn't about a love triangle between childhood friends, this is about Oshimi's own struggle with what it means to be a man. Kei and Yui are not people, they are the two paths of masculinity that Yohei has to choose from. Kei is the ambiguous agender/gender queer departure from strict social expectations that are required to be masculine in the world. Kei represents freedom, an escape from gender all together. This is desirable but not an easy choice to make. Yui is the path of traditional masculine gender identity and masculine sexuality. Things that happen to Yui and Yohei are basically direct translations of Oshimi's own sexual trauma around masculinity. And this struggle between the two paths is represented by a love triangle, which i think its pretty powerful and brilliant.
Then there is Yohei themselves, who is struggling with gender and body dysphoria. Kei and Yui also seem to represent Yohei's struggle between his sexuality and his gender desires. There is a REALLY intense scene during the final volume that just blows my mind and feels like the perfect physical manifestation of this struggle for Yohei. It was honestly amazing.
With that out of the way, this series is going to make you uncomfortable. This manga has sexual assault and dubious consent. I would not say it is full blown rape but its uncomfortable for sure and its suppose to be. There is also self harm in the form of self mutilation. Even with all of this, the manga really made me think about my own gender experience, and while I don't really identify with Oshimi's struggle, this was still such a good read. I literally binged it in like 2 days. Recommend if you can handle it.