Manga Review: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Volume 3, by Naoko Takeuchi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Kodansha Comics (USA)

Volumes: 18; 12 omnibus (which is this one, I think?)

Goodreads Synopsis:

 Tuxedo Mask gone bad?! As more of her closest allies fall under the power of the evil Queen Beryl, Usagi comes closer to discovering the truth behind her past. The stage is set for an all-out battle for the fate of Earth between the Sailor Guardians and the forces of evil. But when the dust settles, a little girl calling herself “Usagi” falls from the sky and right into the arms of Mamoru. What is her connection to Sailor Moon and why does she want the Legendary Silver Crystal?

Available on Amazon.

Review:

I read volume two of this forever ago (meaning: over the summer), and was a little blurry as to what had happened, and I hadn’t reviewed it, but I didn’t want to re-read it. So, I just went ahead and read this one. It took me a tiny bit of time to get back into it, but once I was, it went by rather quickly.

I said in my first review that I was impressed with this series, given how not impressed I had been with the prequel and what little I had seen of the anime, and that’s still true. I’m rather surprised with how good this series is, and really pleased and enjoying it a lot.

In the last volume, the evil Metalia turned Tuxedo Mask evil, which was horrible, and I thought he would be stuck that way for several more volumes, but he changed in this volume. I was very pleasantly surprised by this, but am so glad, since he’s one of my favorite characters, if not my actual favorite.

There was some fighting with Queen Metalia, and she started darkening the world for a bit before she was overthrown. I wasn’t surprised by this when it happened, but was curious as to where the series was going to go from there. The girls all got more powerful after that happened, the crystal was fixed and the moon kingdom was repaired. The girls have a tiny bit of time to relax, and then a little girl, claiming her name is Usagi, interrupts Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask by falling from the sky and landing on top of them. Also, a man, who I believe to be Sailor Mars’ love interest, shows up, named Asanuma, and I’m looking forward to the development there.

A new enemy shows up, and the goings-on seem to be very much like what happened with Metalia. Including some kidnappings, another thing I’m suspecting is going to happen often. I hope something happens to shake the story up, but I’m kind of expecting nothing will. Still, I’m enjoying it.

I still don’t think I know any of the girls enough to say who I like most and who I don’t. I have a soft spot for Venus, and I enjoy reading all of the love stories, and am looking forward to reading more of those in future volumes. I’m having a hard time remembering what all of their names are, and am just getting down what planet they are.

I’m interested to find out more about little Usagi, since she seems to maybe be lying, and she’s lost, and I really want to know what her connection with Sailor Moon is. I really like Tuxedo Mask, but I’m not a fan of any of his names. There’s Endymion, his past name, Mamo-chan (as Sailor Moon calls him, but I guess Mamoru is all right), his present name, and then Tuxedo Mask, his superhero name, which I maybe like most, but still think should be Tuxedo Man.

Overall, I rather enjoyed this volume. There was a bit of a cliffhanger, and I’m looking forward to reading the next book.

Novel Review: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Better cover than mine or most of these.

Genre: Classic; Literature; Romance

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Penguin (Pretty much everyone, though; it's a classic)

Spoilers?: Minor.

Goodreads Synopsis:

When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever. In the sparkling comedy of manners that follows, Jane Austen shows the folly of judging by first impressions and superbly evokes the friendships, gossip and snobberies of provincial middle-class life.

Available on Amazon (there are other copies on Amazon, not only this one).

Review:

I think I’m going to try and keep this review short, just for the fact that I don’t have as high, or much, of an opinion as most people do. But I might have more to say than I think.

This is my first Jane Austen book, and, while I’d wanted to read it for a while, the main reason I finally got around to it, was because of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Which, if you aren’t watching those, whether you’ve read the book or not, you should. It’s… simply amazing. I love it.

But I’m talking about the book, so let me get back to that.

When I started the book, I was afraid it was going to be long and droning and boring, given the time period it was written, and it kind of was, in parts. There were a lot of dry parts in this book, a lot of slow points, and the language was rather boring at some points. There were long sentences, huge paragraphs, not nearly as much dialogue, and sometimes it was a bit hard for me to follow. There were, though, some scenes, some chapters or plots, that I really enjoyed, and those went by really fast, whereas other ones took way too long to get through.

My main annoyance with the writing was how tell and not show it was. There were countless times that the reader would be told about something that had happened, some scene we didn’t get to see, and sometimes even some kind of characteristic that a character had. And the one reason I’m even a little okay with those things is that, with the characters, it was made apparent in their attitude that what we were told was true, and with the scenes, if we were shown them, the book would have been longer, and I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed that. It still annoyed me, though; is probably the thing I least liked about this book.

Next, the characters. I liked Elizabeth enough, I suppose, but didn’t really care too much about her either way. The same with most of the characters, actually. I liked Mr. Bennet. I liked the romantic relationships. I wasn’t too big a fan of Bingley, most of the time, because he just seemed too prideful and full of himself (which I will talk about again in a minute). I didn’t think I got to know Lydia very well. Jane seemed alright. I didn’t like Caroline, because she was… not a nice person.

I liked Darcy at first, but then later on was kind of iffy about him. I knew what was going to happen with him and Lizzy, but somewhere in the middle, his attitude bothered me. I think it just seemed like too big a jump, from him being standoffish to really nice to her. But, thinking back on it, it wasn’t too bad, actually. I did like their relationship, so there’s that.

Now, the pride thing. After reading the book, I understand what the title means, and I’m kind of okay with it. I don’t mind the prejudiced thing. But the pride part just annoyed me so much. All of the characters were prideful about one thing or another. Bingley was rather full of himself. As was Darcy. And I just… I guess I feel like some development should have been done there, instead of it just continuing to be that way. They aren’t the only characters that were prideful, a lot of them were, but they just made the biggest impression on me.

I think that’s all I have to say, really. The book wasn’t horrible, even if it was droning and boring at times, and had way too much telling. The rating is really so high because of the story line. The plot was good, what with what happened with Lydia, and Jane’s change in attitude halfway through, and the ending, and even how some of the characters acted. There were some parts that I really enjoyed.

I don’t plan on reading any of Austen’s other books, though. I do plan on watching some of the Pride and Prejudice movies, and am at the moment watching the miniseries, but that might take a while. They’re just so long, and kind of boring to me. I know that most people love this book, though, so don’t take my word on it all.

I would suggest watching the web series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, though, because it is amazing, and I honestly think it’s better than the book.

Teaser Tuesday[25]: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

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!

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I have been reading mostly manga this past week, which is awesome, but I need to get to reading some novels as well. Been a pretty slow (kind of) week. School is on break until January (awesome!) and Christmas is coming up (more awesome!). It’s nice having a break for the moment.

Here’s what I’m reading right now (for the first time, I know):

Cover on my copy.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Genre: Classic. Romance, Historical.

Publisher: Penguin (That’s my copy, at least. It’s a classic, though, so there are a ton of different editions from different companies out there.) (Also, even though that is the cover on my copy of the book, there are some much better ones out there. Including this one and this one, to link a few.)

Goodreads Synopsis:

When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever. In the sparkling comedy of manners that follows, Jane Austen shows the folly of judging by first impressions and superbly evokes the friendships, gossip and snobberies of provincial middle-class life

Excerpts:

“’I may thank you, Eliza, for this piece of civility. Mr. Darcy would never have come so soon to wait upon me.’” (Paperback, pg. 166)

“’My eldest sister has been in town these three months. Have you never happened to see her there?’

She was perfectly sensible that he never had; but she wished to see whether he would betray any consciousness of what had passed between the Bingleys and Jane; and she thought he looked a little confused as he answered that he had never been so fortunate as to meet Miss Bennet.” (Paperback, pg. 167)

I’m sure some of you remember reading this, but maybe it’s caught the attention of some who haven’t? Either way, I’m almost done, and am enjoying it for the most part.

What are you reading right now, though?

Review: American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Rating (Out of 5): ~2-2.5

Publisher: (All over the place; it's a classic, everyone owns it. I borrowed the copy I read, and I don't remember what company it was from; sorry.)

Spoilers?: Yes, with warnings.

Goodreads Synopsis:

In American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis imaginatively explores the incomprehensible depths of madness and captures the insanity of violence in our time or any other. Patrick Bateman moves among the young and trendy in 1980s Manhattan. Young, handsome, and well educated, Bateman earns his fortune on Wall Street by day while spending his nights in ways we cannot begin to fathom. Expressing his true self through torture and murder, Bateman prefigures an apocalyptic horror that no society could bear to confront.

Review:

[There is some light cussing in this review.]

This is another book that I read because my brother wanted me to. Previously, he had raved to me about how good it was, and that I should read it (actually, it had become the book he would tease me about, because of how I refused to read it, without really knowing too much about it). I was over there for several weeks this summer, so I decided to read a couple of his books, and this was the last one I read before leaving. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it, what I was going to think about it at all, and the beginning wasn’t even too bad. And then I read more of it, and that kind of changed things.

Now, I had a good outlook when I started this one. Albeit, before starting it, I had given The Rulesof Attraction, by the same author, a try, and that one had been a big fail*. But I was giving him another chance with this book, especially since my brother also did not like The Rules of Attraction, but loved this one.

So, here: I did not like this book. I could barely stand this book. I think loathed and hated are too strong of words for my feelings of this book, but they’re really close. Some of my feelings of hate and disgust lowered, though, I think, when I finished the book. Perhaps because there was a chapter near the ending that I liked. Perhaps because I was just so happy to be done with this terrible book that I had spent the last, like, five-ish days on.

Now, I’m just happy for it to finally be over.

If you haven’t read this book, it’s about Patrick Bateman. He works on wall street, in high society New York. Where people don’t really notice other people, where they are too stuck in their own lives and gossiping about others. They are all, every single character, too materialistic and selfish and self-centered. And just… They are all just so freakin’ despicable and there was not a single character that I liked, that I even halfway enjoyed reading about.
And, the materialistic thing? It's ridiculous how materialistic Patrick is. You can barely go more than, maybe, two pages, definitely not more than, say, ten, without there being at least a paragraph of description on what everyone is wearing. And so many brand name, high-class labels. I would suspect it were product placement if it didn't happen so often, and if it weren't just a way for Ellis to shove how stuck-up Patrick is into the readers' face.
I am just so done with this book and this author that I almost don’t even want to talk about it anymore. But that’s not what I’m doing here. I am talking about it here, just like I read this book, because I obviously hate myself.

Patrick doesn’t like people, and yet is surrounded by them all the time. He, like everyone else in this book, is somewhat serious with one person, and yet is cheating on her with someone else, all the time. (None of them seems to understand that there is such a thing as being faithful.)

[Spoilers ahead!] Patrick, as is pointed out in the synopsis, has something wrong with him. Which is so very true. He’s going psychotic and killing people (any type of person, really, and even animals) for no reason; and, along with that, he’s a cannibal, and the ways he kills people are, yea, creative and disturbing. But honestly, the violent killings didn't even bother me so much after a point; I was just not surprised anymore. And one thing that bothered me: he’s doing it so openly! He’ll walk around with blood stains on him, he’ll threaten people, he’ll tell people to their face that he’s killing others, and no one even notices.

Which, okay, I get it. That’s a major theme of the book: that no one notices anything around them. No one pays attention to anyone but themselves. That doesn’t mean that it didn’t drive me crazy. Because, you know what? Now, at least, I would like to think that, if someone suspects something it happening, they’re going to call the police, at the very least. And there is no reason for people not to suspect something is wrong with him.

Everything about him is wrong.

But, of course, everyone loves him. He smiles while saying something disturbing and no one notices. He waves some money around and gets what he wants. All the women love him. Everyone thinks he’s innocent or nice or sweet or something the opposite of a killer. It’s so goddamn ridiculous.

God, this book fuckin’ drove me crazy.

Those are, mostly, the things that bothered me. The rating, for how much I disliked the book, is a little high. Here’s why:

The author knew what he was doing. While the way he writes, the long, drag on sentences, and long, drag on paragraphs, with characters that suck, who are doing drugs and hooking up with women and drinking for no reason, I don't particularly like, he knew how to put the book together well. Patrick, while I hated him, was a well-made character. Everything he did, all of his materialistic and psychotic instances, were well done. There was a point to most of it, symbolism and foreshadowing and all that stuff. This book was well put together, okay?

At first, the drag on way of writing kind of annoyed me, but I got used to it. And the fast moving dialogue was usually pretty easy to read, and moved along pretty fast. That doesn’t mean that I enjoyed it, though, because I really didn’t.

Saying that, though, isn’t completely true. There were a couple of chapter that I enjoyed. Not many, but a couple. I liked the one, near the end, where Patrick and a few others guys are trying to figure out what restaurant they’re going to, and end up canceling and making and then canceling reservations, and Patrick accidentally invites two women and can’t remember where he told them to go. Some chapters that I did not like, in particular, were ones that were full of information about some band or singer, with only a little input of what Patrick thought about them. I just did not care enough about Huey Lewis and the News to read eight pages about them. And when he was describing his daily routine, like how he moistens his face and all that crap. I mean, yea, I get it already: Patrick is full of himself. I got that in the first chapter, okay? You don’t have to shove it in my face so much.

[Spoiler ahead!] Oh, and the ending. This is another thing that bothered me. Nothing changed at the end, okay? Just like nothing changed at the end of The Rules of Attraction. He didn’t learn anything, nothing happened to him, he didn’t die or go to jail. He’s still going crazy and killing people. It just made it seem like there was no point, and I don’t like that. What was the freakin’ point of reading about him, about what he does, about all his double-faced crap, when there wasn’t even a good resolution? Just… what was the point?

I’ve given the book an extra star for what the author did. So, without that star, this book would be about a 1-1.5, so it’s bumped up to a 2-2.5. There’s no way I can happily, in any way, round that up to a 3, though. The book started out in a 3 range, but now, it’s not even close.

I’m done with this book now. Once this is posted, and that book is away from me, I am done. I don’t have to read it or think about it anymore. I don't even think I want to watch the movie. So, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to read an adult, romance-ridden, smut-filled book that I will actually enjoy, just to get the taste of this book out of my freakin’ brain.

*I aimed for fifty pages, okay? I got ten. And then I got, I think, forty. And then I just could not read any more. Its standing rating is a one, and barely even that. I’m not officially giving it a rating, because I don’t like reviewing something if I haven’t finished it, but I’m pretty sure I have given up on that book, which is something I haven’t done before. There is a very, very low chance that I will try again, or at least try to finish it, but a higher chance that I will not. I just… I didn’t like anything about it: the writing was bad, the characters sucked completely, there was almost no point to the whole thing. I even watched the movie, in an effort to motivate myself to finish the book, and I didn’t even want to finish that, okay?