Manga Review: RWBY Official Manga Anthology, Volume 2: Mirror, Mirror

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: VIZ Signature (VIZ Media)

Release Date: August 2018

Volumes: 4.

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 3.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Straight from Rooster Teeth’s hit animation series, a new four-volume anthology series featuring stories from various manga creators, each focusing on a different member of Team RWBY!

The world of Remnant is filled with horrific monsters bent on the destruction of humanity. Fortunately, the kingdoms of the world have risen to combat these forces by training powerful Huntsmen and Huntresses at academies around the planet. Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long are four such Huntresses in training.

All new short stories set in the world of RWBY from no less than twenty different manga creators in one single volume!

Includes a full color four-page story and four full-color illustrations. This volume focuses on Weiss Schnee from TEAM RWBY.

Plus, bonus messages from the illustrators and creators included in this volume, with longer notes from RWBY character designer Ein Lee and actress Kate Eberle, the voice of Weiss Schnee!

Review:

The second RWBY anthology, featuring all stories about Weiss, the ice queen of the team. While I haven't watched the anime, she seemed like the character I might like the most, so I was curious.

This is a lot of one-shot stories featuring Weiss. A lot of them focus on how alone she's been until now, some star her relationship with Ruby and others focus more on her relationship with her older sister Winter. There were a lot of odd artstyles, and I'll admit I didn't love a lot of them, but they were okay. There were a couple of really cute ones, though. Aside form Umiya's art, in the last story; I really don't understand the appeal or what's happening in those panel comics.

I can't help but wonder if a lot of these authors are mostly from webcomics? The author names sound more web comic than real mangaka names, but I might just be unfamiliar with them.

There were some cute stories, there were some meh stories. If you're a RWBY fan, I'm sure you'll love it more than I did, though.

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

Manga Review: Eclair Blanche: A Girls' Love Anthology that Resonates in Your Heart

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Yen Press

Release Date: February 2020

Volumes: 5 + 1.

Spoilers: No.

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

Volume: Eclair. Eclair Bleue.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The girls' love anthology is back and bursting with stories to enchant and delight. Featuring works from favorites such as Canno (Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl), Hiroichi (Highschool DxD: Asia & Koneko's Secret Contract!?), and Fly (Kemono Friends: Welcome to Japari Park), this new addition to the Éclair lineup will sweep you off your feet!

Review:

This is an anthology by lots of different mangaka starring yuri one-shots. Some are very short, some are a little longer; some more sweet, high school friends stories, and even some starring older women. There's quite a mix in this one. Apparently it's also the second volume, though I haven't read many of these yuri stories that have come out lately, though it's nice that more are being released.

Since I haven't been following much of the yuri manga, I didn't recognize any of the mangaka, but there are a couple who have series being released in English. Most of the stories, especially in the beginning, have very vague and open endings, some even a little sad. Later in the volume, though, we see some actual couples that are developing, and we get some light kissing scenes.

There were a few art styles that stood out to me, and some neat stories. One featuring a sewing machine that turns into a magical girl for a brief period was very pretty. Another that had an almost gothic kind of art style that I quite enjoyed. There was also one about an idol girl who gets a crush on her new competition, and one about a princess/servant roleplay friendship that turned out quite cute.

The later stories definitely stood out more than the earlier ones, and while some had better story and art than others, they were all quite fun to read. There are about fifteen stories, so there's quite a variety, and if you like yuri romance, I'd suggest picking it up.

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

Novel Review: My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by Stephanie Perkins and Eleven Others

Rating (Out of 5): ~4.5

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance, Holiday Anthology

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Release Date: October 14, 2014

Spoilers?: No.

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

Teaser Tuesday. Wishlist Thursday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

If you love holiday stories, holiday movies, made-for-TV-holiday specials, holiday episodes of your favorite sitcoms and, especially, if you love holiday anthologies, you’re going to fall in love with MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME: TWELVE HOLIDAY STORIES by twelve bestselling young adult writers, edited by international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins.

The Cover:

I love the cover for this book. It's simple and classic and pretty. It looks very holiday themed, and I love that the couples on the cover actually represent the couples in the book. That's impressive. It's just pretty to look at, too.

Quotes:

• ·         “…then maybe I was wrong about the things I thought I couldn’t have, that weren’t for me. Maybe it was okay to imagine greater things. Maybe it was all for me, if I wanted it.” (Hardback, Kramuslauf, pg. 175)

• ·         “‘I’m of the opinion,’ she said, tucking her arm around mine, ‘that if you let a single life event define you, then all you need to change things—if you want them to change—is another.’” (Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus, pg. 221)

• ·         “‘Are you trying to fix me?’
  'Why? Are you broken?’”(Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus, pg. 221)

• ·         “‘I’m hopping on a bus and going until I can’t go any farther. Until I find a place that feels like home.’
  He’s quite for a long time. ‘How will you know what home feels like?’” (Welcome to Christmas, CA, pg. 249)

• ·         “There were no glimmering moments where their looks hooked on to each other and grew hot, and no catching sight of one of the boys in a ray of sun and thinking, I wonder what his skin tastes like.” (The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer, pg. 297)

Review:

I’m not too sure how to even review this, since I want to give attention to all of the stories. I had pretty different experiences from each of them.

I’m going to start with the bad first, then work my way up to my favorites.

Laini Taylor’s The Girl Who Woke The Dreamer just did not work for me. I think other people would really like it, though. The writing, and the world of it, though, was very high fantasy. I’m not a fan of high fantasy, so this story was hard for me to even get through.

Ally Carter’s The Star of Bethlehem fell a little flat for me. I liked the overall plot of it, but it felt rushed and a little cheesy to me, and the attraction between the couple wasn’t given enough time to actually develop for me. I know other people really enjoyed this one, though.

Honestly, I think those were the only two that I really didn’t enjoy. Now it’s just average to love-it-completely.

David Levithan’s Your Temporary Santa, I think I expected more from. It was definitely a good story, and I really enjoyed the believe-in-santa aspect, but it also seemed a little sad, though understandably. Wasn’t a bad story, though.

Jenny Han’s Polaris is Where You’ll Find Me didn’t quite resonate with me, either. I really liked the idea behind it, and thought that I would like it a lot more, but I think I wanted more from it. It was kind of sad, and I think more development from it would have been nice.

Holly Black’s Kramuslauf was very interesting. I was not expecting this, and I’ve never read one of her books before, but I might now. There was more fantasy then I expected, and I felt like there was more story to it, like it should have been longer and explored more, but I enjoyed it. I especially like the narrator and the idea behind it.

Matt de la Pena’s Angel in the Snow was good, if a little average. I really enjoyed the main character and his thoughts, but the overall story and romance didn’t hit me as well as it could have. The humor was good, though. It’s made me interested to try one of his full-length novels.

Kelly Link’s The Lady and The Fox could have used more time, maybe, but I rather enjoyed it. The magical element to it was nice, and I really enjoyed the relationship between the two main characters. The ending seemed a little… too good to be true, but I’m okay with letting that slide.

Now it’s into the really-love ones.

Myra McEntire’s Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus was very good. The main character was a sweet heart, and I loved the way he and the girl got to know each other, and how she surprised him and he grew. This was a good story, and now I really want to pick up one of her novels.

Gayle Forman’s What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? I’ll admit I expected to love more, but I still really enjoyed it. It was more new adult than young adult, which I liked, and it seemed like it could have easily been a full-length novel—not that it needed more development, but that it could have been explored more. This was a very cute story.

These next three are fighting for number one, and I seriously can’t decide which one I loved most. (Probably Perkins, but the other two are just as good, really.)

Kiersten White’s Welcome to Christmas, CA was adorable. I’ll admit up front to knowing I’d love it, because I love all White’s stories, but it was still adorable. Starring a love interest who is kind of magic with food, a girl who wants to leave home only to actually work things out with her family… I loved it, and am so impressed.

Raindow Rowell’s Midnights was a surprise. I’ve only read Eleanor and Park of hers, so I expected this to be not-quite so happy, but it was adorable. The timeline of the attraction between these two, and then the final make-up moment was perfect. It was adorable and sweet, and I loved it.

Stephanie Perkins' It’s a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown was even better than I expected. I knew it would be cute, but I didn’t know it would be this cute and sweet. I loved the main character, and the love interest was so sweet and adorable. This story was perfect, and I’ve already re-read key scenes in it.

This collection of short stories was more than lovely, and I’m so glad I picked it up. I would highly recommend this to fans of the authors, to holiday-story fans; really, if you like happy, sweet stories, especially holiday ones, I would suggest picking it up. The stories are fantastic, and it’s a pretty book.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, St. Martin’s Press. Thank you!

Review: Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle

Rating (Out of 5): 4

Publisher: Puffin

 

Goodreads Synopsis:

Sparkling white snowdrifts, beautiful presents wrapped in ribbons, and multicolored lights glittering in the night through the falling snow. A Christmas Eve snowstorm transforms one small town into a romantic haven, the kind you see only in movies. Well, kinda. After all, a cold and wet hike from a stranded train through the middle of nowhere would not normally end with a delicious kiss from a charming stranger. And no one would think that a trip to the Waffle House through four feet of snow would lead to love with an old friend. Or that the way back to true love begins with a painfully early morning shift at Starbucks. Thanks to three of today's bestselling teen authors—John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle—the magic of the holidays shines on these hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and breathtaking kisses.

Review:

This is probably my favorite Christmas story that I've read. At least, when it comes to young adult books. (But, to be fair, I haven't read or watched all that many Christmas stories.)

It's an anthology of three short stories by three different authors, all taking place near Christmas in the same town during a snow storm (blizzard?).

The first story is by Maureen Johnson, who I am a fan of. I haven't reviewed any of her other books, but I have read most of them (all but Devilish and her newest), so I was expecting to like her story. And I did. It's about Jubilee, who dislikes her name (because it comes from a piece in this Flobie Santa Village thing that her parents are obsessed with, which is awesome, not only because her name is neat, but also because I liked seeing the Christmas Village thing mentioned and about how people go crazy over it). She's taking the train to her grandparents (right?) when it gets stuck from the snow, and then she meets Stuart and has to stay with him (and his mother, who are both Jewish). This story was cute, and fun (as is all of Johnson's books, like her), and Stuart was sweet.

The second one is John Green's. I've read his other books as well (and watch him on Youtube), so I knew what to expect from it. It's about a boy and his two friends (one a girl and one a boy) who decide to take an adventure to a restaurant in town during the storm. This one was fun, and it has the whole best friends to more thing going for it as well. It was fun, and had Green's normal humor to it as well.

The last one was by Lauren Myracle, and I didn't know what to expect because I hadn't read any of her other stuff. It was actually better than I'd though it would be. It was about a girl, who's a bit selfish but works to overcome it. She's supposed to get a little tea cup pig for her friend, and she's missing her boyfriend who she's having problems with but still likes and doesn't know how feels. It was actually a bit fun, and I liked the boy.

I enjoyed all of the stories, they were fun and very entertaining. I also liked all of the connections, since most of the characters know each other (as they live in the same town and go to the same school) and we see glimpses of them in each story, as well as a good ending with them all in the last story. And there's just enough romance for each story, but it was mostly a (really) good, funny, Christmas read.