Manga Review: My Hero Academia, Volume 10, by Kohei Horikoshi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5-4

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: November 2017

Volumes: 18+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 9. 11.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Midoriya inherits the superpower of the world’s greatest hero, but greatness won’t come easy.

What would the world be like if 80 percent of the population manifested superpowers called “Quirks”? Heroes and villains would be battling it out everywhere! Being a hero would mean learning to use your power, but where would you go to study? The Hero Academy of course! But what would you do if you were one of the 20 percent who were born Quirkless?

The League of Villains has grabbed Bakugo, and the resulting negative publicity has thrown U.A. into a huge uproar. With the public’s trust in heroes threatened, the faculty convene to figure out what to do. But Midoriya and the students of Class 1-A have plans of their own, even if their operation to rescue Bakugo could get them thrown out of school!

Review: 

The volume starts with the continued training camp attack. Bakugo is captured, and they try to save him before it's too late. The heroes are unsure what he's wanted for, but it appears that they believe Bakugo can be convinced to join the villains.

I'm actually surprised by how Bakugo handles the villains attempts to turn him. It very much seems that he would want to be a villains, and I think I might have missed an earlier volume where he said he wanted otherwise. He's very sure of his goals and desires, though, and that was interesting to see, given how villain-like he can be.

The group has a small recovery, and planning, period. And then there's a big showdown. It seems to be going well one minute, and then a big twist is thrown in; we also get to finally meet the real big bad guy. The next volume should be interesting, to see where that goes next with the cliffhanger.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Oresama Teacher, Volume 23, by Izumi Tsubaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5-4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: February 2018

Volumes: 25+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 22. 24.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Can high school delinquent Mafuyu clean up her act and still kick some butt?!

Mafuyu is the no-nonsense, take-charge and hard-hitting leader of her high school gang. But when she gets expelled for being a delinquent, her mother, fed up with her daughter's wayward ways, sends Mafuyu to an isolated school far off in the country.

It's Mafuyu's last year of high school! With Miyabi and most of the delinquents safely graduated, Mafuyu and her friends are looking forward to a peaceful final year. But a mysterious new first-year is up to something sinister, and her schemes quickly take Mr. Saeki out of the picture. Now the fate of the whole school rests on the shoulders of the suddenly advisorless Public Morals Club!

Review:

The seniors have graduated, and now there are new first years. Some of the students are still missing the seniors, and then we meet Hanabusa's younger sister. She's calculating like him, but in a very different way, and with no attachments to anyone yet. No one really knows what she's up to yet, why she's going to this school or if she's helping their father in the bet. And then she throws a curveball at Mr. Saeki.

I didn't see this one coming, nor did anyone else, and it's still unknown what he's doing. It leaves several people with questions, and it leaves the Public Morals Club floundering for a bit. Amongst all of this, there's suddenly a new rivalry forming between Midorigaoka and Kiyama, because of an unknown student causing trouble.

The humor in this series is quite fun, but it's also nice to see a real plot line happening after a while. I like the mix of serious and comedy.

I'm excited to read the next one.

 A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Children of the Whales, Volume 2, by Abi Umeda

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: VIZ Signature (VIZ Media)

Release Date: January 2018

Volumes: 11+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 3.

Goodreads Synopsis:

In this post-apocalyptic fantasy, a sea of sand swallows everything but the past.

In an endless sea of sand drifts the Mud Whale, a floating island city of clay and magic. In its chambers a small community clings to survival, most dying young from the very powers that sustain them.

Review: 

I missed the first volume, so I went into this with no real idea what was happening. I'm still not sure how their powers work or who has them, though the marks that appear look really cool.

The artwork on the covers caught my attention when the series was announced, because the watercolors and designs are so pretty. Inside it's a little underwhelming in comparison, but it's still a pretty style.

This volume was mostly just okay for the first part, as all the massacring was happening. And then the council revealed their plans, and I was caught off guard. Their idea is rather awful, and I was even upset at the injustice of it all, even without a connection to the characters.

I'm unsure which characters I like at this point, if any, but I am really interested in what's happening to their island. The cliffhanger has me intrigued, and I want to see how they save it.

 A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: The Promised Neverland, Volume 1, by Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: December 2017

Volumes: 8+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 2.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The children of the Grace Field House orphanage have their happy lives upended when they find out they’re being raised to be fed to demons. Can they escape their fate before it’s too late?

Life at Grace Field House has been good for Emma and her fellow orphans. While the daily studying and exams they have to take are tough, their loving caretaker provides them with delicious foods and plenty of playtime. But perhaps not everything is as it seems…

Emma, Norman and Ray are the brightest kids at the Grace Field House orphanage. And under the care of the woman they refer to as “Mom,” all the kids have enjoyed a comfortable life. One day, though, Emma and Norman uncover the dark truth of the outside world they are forbidden from seeing. The children of the orphanage are being raised as food for monsters, and their loving caretaker is behind it all! Emma and the others plan their escape, but can they make it out before it’s too late…?

Review:

The volume starts with everything looking good and happy, but there's a sense of ominous pervading. The narrator is hinting, but it takes a chapter to see why. Aside from the overbearing testing they do, for who know what reason (at first).

And then Emma and Norman stumble upon the reason for the orphanage, for what the kids are being prepared for. We find out that Emma, Norman, and Ray are the oldest, and possibly the smartest of the kids at the moment. Emma is active and not street smart; Norman is happy on the surface but always thinking ahead and calculating; and Ray is the quiet one, who's always reading and staying in the back. But all of them help around the house and care for everyone else.

Even from the beginning, the Mother of the house has an eerie feel—that placid smile on her face is clearly hiding something, which we discover later in the volume.

One they find out the secret, they start watching and calculating and planning, but they have to keep pretenses up or they'll be discovered.

I was hoping that they would get to discover the outside world faster, but it looks like they have quite a bit of obstacles to overcome first, plus they have high goals for getting out.

This volume was really good. It was rather unsettling, but done very well, and I want to know what happens next. I want to see what's beyond the orphanage, and what happened to their world.

Teaser Tuesday[270]: Say You'll Remember Me by Katie McGarry

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

---------------------------

Say You'll Remember Me by Katie McGarry

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Publisher: HarlequinTeen

Release Date: January 2018

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

When Drix was convicted of a crime--one he didn't commit--he thought his life was over. But opportunity came with the new Second Chance Program, the governor's newest pet project to get delinquents off the streets, rehabilitated and back into society. Drix knows this is his chance to get his life back on track, even if it means being paraded in front of reporters for a while.

Elle knows she lives a life of privilege. As the governor's daughter, she can open doors with her name alone. But the expectations and pressure to be someone she isn't may be too much to handle. She wants to follow her own path, whatever that means.

When Drix and Elle meet, their connection is immediate, but so are their problems. Drix is not the type of boy Elle's parents have in mind for her, and Elle is not the kind of girl who can understand Drix's messy life.

But sometimes love can breach all barriers.

Fighting against a society that can't imagine them together, Drix and Elle must push themselves--Drix to confront the truth of the robbery, and Elle to assert her independence--and each other to finally get what they deserve.

Excerpt:

“Not just listen. Sean wants me to obey. They all do.” (Hardback, pg. 126)

What are you reading?

Manga Review: 7th Garden, Volume 8, by Mitsu Izumi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: April 3, 2018

Volumes: 8 (Hiatus)

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 7.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The high-pitched battle is on between powerful angels, sexy demons and innocent humans to dominate a world rife with political intrigue…and to win the heart of one hapless male!

Awyn Gardner will do anything to protect the beautiful mistress of the equally beautiful estate gardens he lovingly tends—even enslave himself to an also beautiful demon bent on world domination! The high-pitched battle is on between powerful angels, sexy demons and innocent people to dominate a world rife with political intrigue…and to win the heart of one hapless human man!

With Vyrde catatonic for months, it’s up to Awyn and his friends from the manor house to stem the tide of monsters continuously spawning from people bitten by the hideous flying bug-mouths. Meanwhile, the mastermind behind this plague, Angel Loki, sets in motion his technological scheme to eradicate every last gnome from the planet! Then, when a repressed memory is awakened in Awyn, he is determined to wreak vengeance upon Angel Vul and Covenanter Isaac…

Review:

 Back in the virtual world, we get to see what Awyn and the rest have been up to. The monsters have invaded the rest of the world now, and so they're slowly trying to clear them out, while waiting for Vyrde to wake up. And now we get to see what Iola and the rest are doing, given that they know they're computer programs. We also get to see what Loki has been doing, since Vyrde has been gone so long in-game.

We get a flashback to when the game was first created, an idea of what happened to Vyrde and her sister before all this. And then we're back in the present, with the physical struggle between Vyrde's good and bad sides, and how the evil one is dragging Awyn with her. It's not good.

I'm a little iffy on this series now; the whole virtual aspect makes some of it seem less important, plus it's only more confusing now. I'm just very meh at this point.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight, Volume 1, by Rin Mikimoto

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: September 2017

Volumes: 7+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 2.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A sardonic rom-com manga, Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight is perfect for fans of shojo like My Little Monster and Kare Kano.
Hinana prizes her reputation as a serious high school student, too focused on getting into college to pay attention to boys. But she's a secret fairytale romance freak, sneaking away from her studies to see A Roman Holiday and tucking pop idol magazines into her textbooks. When her celebrity crush comes to her school to film a TV episode, she has to pretend to be totally uninterested even as she desperately tries to get close to him. However, she's not the only one who's not what she appears... her dreamboat isn't just a pretty face either!

Review:

I don't know how I feel about this series.

One day, while Kaede is filming at Hinana's school, she accidentally sees a side of him that no one else has seen. It turns out that Kaede has a panty fetish. After discovering this, they end up bumping into each other a few more times. And Kaede equally discovers that Hinana is secretly a romantic, something she hides from her friends/classmates.

There's some drama regarding some borrowed shoes, and Kaede's manager. The humor is dramatic and exaggerated, and the humorous reactions are a bit annoying. I'm iffy on whether I like that or not. But at the same time, I do appreciate that they don't push off their attraction, and that they decide to try dating, even given their differences and him being famous.

I liked parts, I was iffy on others. I'm a little intrigued by the ending. And I am intrigued by the premise. I think I'm going to give it a few more tries, see if it grows on me.

Manga Review: My Hero Academia, Volume 9, by Kohei Horikoshi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: August 2017

Volumes: 18+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 8. 10.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Midoriya inherits the superpower of the world’s greatest hero, but greatness won’t come easy.

What would the world be like if 80 percent of the population manifested superpowers called “Quirks”? Heroes and villains would be battling it out everywhere! Being a hero would mean learning to use your power, but where would you go to study? The Hero Academy of course! But what would you do if you were one of the 20 percent who were born Quirkless?

It’s off to summer camp for Midoriya and the U.A. students! But this is no ordinary vacation—it’s high-impact training where the students are expected to develop their Quirks even further! The teachers have set up some tough challenges, but none will be as difficult and as life changing as the threat a new group of enemies poses. What’s even worse is who the villains’ target is and why…

Review:

The class is on their test and endurance trip, training hard to get better and going through some hard trials. They start on a test in the woods, when the villains attack. There are several villains and they spread out, with a few different intentions and main victims. There's a lot of violence here, a lot of odd quirks and each hero trainee is pushing themselves to the limit.

Midoriya goes to save the kid, and we get to see the meaning of a real hero. We discover at least one person the villains are after—which ends in a not-so-good cliffhanger. We get to see an interesting challenge for Uraraka, and the teacher faces off with one villain.

I like to see each hero and villain using their quirks, the odd ones there are, and how they use them against each other. Some of the villains are truly awful, though. Midoriya also tends to push himself past the point of believable, but I'm trying to look past that.

This is at a really interesting point, with high stakes, and I'm looking forward to reading the next one.

Manga Review: Forget Me Not, Volume 5, by Mag Hsu and Nao Emoto

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: November 2016

Volumes: 7.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 4. 6.

Goodreads Synopsis:

COMING OF AGE
Still not fully healed from the wound of breaking up with Tsukushi and the shock of seeing Nobuta again, Serizawa starts an internship at a law firm. Through a mix-up over the phone, he becomes acquainted with a certain someone--a woman who otherwise wouldn't be in his reach! Will this chance encounter start Serizawa on the path to his first truly adult relationship?

Review:

In the first part of this volume, Serizawa is clearly floundering. He's recovering badly from the breakup, and when he tries to go out with friends and meet people, he ends up screwing that up quite badly. And so he turns to school, and starts studying seriously.

While interning, he meets an older woman, and she seems mature but is also just getting out of a bad relationship. She uses him, he uses her, and he ends up getting caught up in it more than he probably should. It seems to be going downhill, but then that cliffhanger gives mixed signals. Either way, I don't see this one lasting any more than the others.

This series is actually kind of hard to read at times. Serizawa makes some painfully bad decisions at times, and he's hard to take. He doesn't even mean to be hurtful or dumb about it, though, so at least he doesn't have bad intentions, most of the time.

I do want to see how this series end, and I want to see it wrap up. So I'm still reading.

Manga Review: Haikyu!!, Volume 20, by Haruichi Furudate

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: February 2018

Volumes: 31+

Spoilers?: Light.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 19. 21.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Shoyo Hinata is out to prove that in volleyball you don't need to be tall to fly!

Ever since he saw the legendary player known as “the Little Giant” compete at the national volleyball finals, Shoyo Hinata has been aiming to be the best volleyball player ever! Who says you need to be tall to play volleyball when you can jump higher than anyone else?

Review:

Karasuno is going into the final round against Shiratorizawa. They're giving it their all, still throwing some new moves in and trying to throw each other off. It's getting very intense.

We get some insight into Ushijima's background during this volume, as well as the other characters' motivation. We see how Tsukishima calculates everything, and then he gets briefly hurt. Shoyo uses his face to deflect a ball at one point, and his competition with Ushijima grows more intense.

This whole volume was very intense and vigorous. They're fighting hard against each other, and trying not to give an inch.

This game will be going into the next volume, but probably not longer than that. I'm really excited to see how this one ends, because it's very close.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Queen's Quality, Volume 3, by Kyousuke Motomi

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: March 2018

Volumes: 6+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 2. 4.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The adventures of mind "Sweepers" continue in this supernatural romance!

Fumi Nishioka lives with Kyutaro Horikita and his family of "Sweepers," people who specialize in cleaning the minds of those overcome by negative energy and harmful spirits. Fumi has always displayed mysterious abilities, but will those powers be used for evil when she begins to truly awaken as a Queen?

Fumi finds out that she has both a White Queen and a Black Queen inside of her, and she must train both her mind and body in order to be the true Queen. Kyutaro vows to protect Fumi, but will he be able to do anything when other gatekeepers go after her power?

Review:

They fill Fumi in on some more of what they know about the Queens. And it turns out, that they don't really know much, and this might be an even more rare case than they expected—meaning they're only going on speculation and rumor.

Fumi gets to face up against another sweeper clan, this one that isn't fond of the Queen, or at least thinks the dark queen is a threat. It starts off pretty bad, but Fumi gets to decide within herself what to do, how to deal with the Queens in order to save everyone.

I really like how Fumi decides to accept herself, all the parts of herself, even those she can't control and those that are ugly. I'm intrigued by where the plot line is going with that, and I honestly think that her accepting herself is going to lead to the last (I believe) Queen. I really appreciate the way that Fumi is forced to see all the angles of herself, her feelings and reactions and other parts of her person, and doesn't get upset or defensive, but just takes it and moves forward, deciding to love all of herself. This is an ideal that I really believe in, and I'm really happy to see it handled so well here.

The connection between Fumi and Kyu is also very apparent here; I must admit that I like seeing how the other Queens love him as well, that they realize how important he is to Fumi. I think it just proves how Fumi and the Queens really are the same person, just different parts. Seeing how Kyu goes to Fumi after everything to comfort her, for them both to decompress after something so big, is also utterly heartwarming. I love it.

I can't wait to read the next.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: 7th Garden, Volume 7, by Mitsu Izumi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: January 2018

Volumes: 8 (Hiatus)

Spoilers?: Yes.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 6. 8.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The high-pitched battle is on between powerful angels, sexy demons and innocent humans to dominate a world rife with political intrigue…and to win the heart of one hapless male!

Awyn Gardner will do anything to protect the beautiful mistress of the equally beautiful estate gardens he lovingly tends—even enslave himself to an also beautiful demon bent on world domination! The high-pitched battle is on between powerful angels, sexy demons and innocent people to dominate a world rife with political intrigue…and to win the heart of one hapless human man!

After a fierce battle with Angel Levi, Maria travels to another world, and the secret of 7thGARDEN is fully revealed. Can this realm of gnomes, angels and demons solve humanity’s problems? Or is it just a game board for powerful elites to exploit everyone else? Either way, why are the most tragic historical events being reenacted there…? Will we never learn from history?

Review:

The first half of the volume is the continuation of the fight. We see Iola and Liz giving it their all to finish the fight, and it's very straining to both sides. It's also extremely destructive to the town. Awyn jumps in to help at the end, because he's always been close to them in their other forms. He's got almost too much loyalty, honestly, but it works out well.

But then... In the latter half of the volume, we get to see the angel and demons' real forms. And it utterly confuses me.

Where the series goes next is odd and confusing, and didn't make any sense. When they were just angels and sent back to their terrestrial realm to recoup, I was okay with that. But now it seems that they're actually just playing some interactive game? Which Vyrde is trying to take over from the people who are running it and betrayed her? And yet there are still two versions of Vyrde? I'm just utterly confused, and that makes me wonder if Awyn and the village are really just made up.

I'm not sure how to feel about this, and I'm wondering where the series ends off at.