Manga Review: Happy Sugar Life, Volume 5, by Tomiyaki Kagisora

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Yen Press

Release Date: May 2020

Volumes: 10.

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volumes: 1. 4. 6.

Goodreads Synopsis:

If you love someone...
...you want to eat sweets with them.
You want to bathe with them.
You want to hold them. To kiss them.
You want to be with them tomorrow and the next day.
Isn't that how everybody feels?

Does it exist...
...in this world?
Love...
...that's not...
...arrogant?

Review:

I knew this was going to have a creepy vibe when going into it. I didn't quite know how much, clearly.

Without any prior knowledge of this series, I'm introduced to Mitsuboshi, who's appearing to have a life crisis, because he wants to change himself and stop these weird thoughts, but also apparently he's obsessed with Shio and needs her praise and to know she's okay. Matsuzaka shows up, similarly slightly crazy, and seems to know how to talk Mitsuboshi down enough to get what she wants, which also involves having Shio all to herself.

For a while I didn't know what Shio's part in all of this is, and I'm still a bit concerned. She doesn't seem to realize that what Matsuzaka is doing to her is crazy and wrong, and that other people are worried about her. And Matsuzaka is clearly in love with her, so that's a surprising LGBT element I didn't expect.

This whole volume felt very demented and unsafe, and that ending only cements those feelings to be correct. There were also some really interesting story-telling uses, like a chapter that features a narrator we're not even shown, up to a surprise ending. Helped with the ominous creep factor, as well.

This was a twisted roller coaster of psychological issues, some of which I didn't realize I was walking into. I don't think it's something I would normally pick up, but it is something I could see myself bingeing and getting caught up in just to see how it all ends, because it's crazy af and sometimes those stories are interesting in how twisted they can be. Kind of like School Days, honestly.

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

Manga Review: Goodnight Punpun, Volume 7, by Inio Asano

Rating (Out of 5): ~1.5

Publisher: VIZ Signature (VIZ Media)

Release Date: 2017

Volumes: 7.

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 5.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A dark coming-of-age tale where slice-of-life slices back.

This is Punpun Onodera s coming-of-age story. His parents marriage is falling apart. His dad goes to jail and his mom goes to the hospital. He has to live with his loser uncle. He has a crush on a girl who lives in a weird cult. Punpun tries talking with God about his problems, but God is a jerk. Punpun keeps hoping things will get better, but they really, really don't.

This is the end, Punpun.

Review:

I missed the previous volume, and I could tell as I started this one, that I had missed some important scenes. We find Punpun in a very different place as this volume starts, and it only goes downhill from there.

Punpun seems to be struggling with his identity, with what his purpose is and what has been happening in his life. The story follows him and Aiko for a while, but then it also skips over to his old friends and what they're doing.

During all of this, we're also getting snippet of information regarding the politics happening and whether the world is ending and there are stars falling at one point.

This series definitely feels like a book I'd be given in college to analyze to death. I'm sure there's a lot of deeper meaning to everything that's happening in this series. (I'm sure not reading the whole series doesn't help, either.) There's definitely a lot of underlying messages, psychological reasons for why we're seeing Punpun in the image he is, how he talks differing from how other people talk, and everything to do with that ending and what led up to the conclusion of Punpun and Aiko's relationship.

There's a lot here, but honestly I think I just hated all of it. It's all deeply disturbing and depressing, and there aren't any even slightly good endings here. It's also kind of a mess to follow, and I don't know what's supposed to be real or metaphorical or what any more.

While I have found some of Asano's manga interesting, this was not one that I enjoyed in any way. It was not for me, at the least.

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

Comic Review: Gingerbread Girl by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover

Rating (Out of 5): ~2

Publisher: Top Shelf Productions

Release Date: 2011

Spoilers?: No.

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

Goodreads Synopsis:

There are plenty of established facts concerning 26-year-old Annah Billips. She likes sushi and mountains, but hates paper cuts and beer breath. She dates girls and boys, and loves to travel. She may have a missing sister, or she might be insane. Did Annah invent an imaginary sister named Ginger during her parents' ferocious divorce, or did her mad scientist father extract part of her brain and transform it into a living twin?
In this graphic novel, a host of narrators including boyfriends, girlfriends, magicians, pigeons, bulldogs, and convenience store clerks follow Annah through a night in her life in an attempt to determine that one last fact about Annah...and the Gingerbread Girl.

Review:

I thought that this was going to be a fun, quirky indie comic when I picked it up from my local bookstore. I'm a little disappointed by how it turned out.

We meet Annah, who believes she has a sister, made out of her own brain, who has disappeared. She's constantly looking for her, and believes that she has no emotions without her, and thus refuses to make any lasting decisions.

We meet Annah as the book starts, but then the story quickly shifts to other characters in the scene, who introduce themselves and talk to the reader, and talk about their experience with Annah. We get some science for what Annah thinks happened to her, and how it might have come about. The switching perspectives reminded me a bit of A Little Something Different, only not done quite as well, and more directly told to the reader.

Given how far-fetched the idea of her sister turns out to be, the thrown in science seems even more hard to believe. And then we get no answers—everyone refuses to answer any questions, as most of them don't have answers. Nothing gets solved, and we only get a base understanding of Annah and any of the other characters.

After I got to the end of the book, I felt a bit like I'd wasted my time. The whole concept was implausible to me, it didn't seem to have any real depth, and then nothing was answered or solved in the end. Not even her wish-washy attitude toward her dates. I'm a bit annoyed, possibly at how disappointed I was. The only part of it I did appreciate was the bisexuality of Annah.

Manga Review: Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction, Volume 3, by Inio Asano

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: VIZ Signature (VIZ Media)

Release Date: October 2018

Volumes: 7+

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 2. 4.

Goodreads Synopsis:

It’s just an everyday apocalypse.

Three years ago the aliens invaded Tokyo. Nothing was ever the same again.

But after a while, even impending doom starts to feel ordinary.

The defense business is booming in Japan, and the amazing Hyujin weapons are finally getting their chance to shine. But civilians are fed up with the inconvenience of being collateral damage, and their protest signs are starting to get really pointed! Meanwhile, Kadode has to face up to the realities of living in an apocalypse and not taking her college entrance exams seriously. At least high school is finally over!

Review:

While the protests and debates continue, and there's an attack that kills a main character, their lives still have to continue on? Everything is happening in the background, and yet is very much apparent. I must admit it's quite well-done. I wouldn't call this horror, in any way really, but this plot is subtly unsettling.

The girls are graduating, and get to move on in their lives. Start something new.

The brother who's been stalking/cyber-bullying? This popular girl, finally gets to meet her, and instead of being mean or tricking her, he actually ends up making her feel better. It's an odd change. We also get to see Ai go on a date with a boy who likes her. I kind of understand why she decides the way she does, but it's also really sad to me. I think it would have been nice if she'd let him in, instead.

This is a really odd series. I definitely wouldn't have picked it up on my own, and I'm not sure if I'm enjoying it or not.

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

Manga Review: The Flowers of Evil, Volume 1, by Shuzo Oshimi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Vertical Comics

Release Date: 2012

Volumes: 11.

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 2.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Takao Kasuga is a bookworm. And his favorite book right now is Baudelaire's Flowers of Evil. While the young man may often be seen lost in thought as he rabidly consumes page after page, Takao is not much of a student. Actually when we are first introduced to the middle school teen, we find him sneaking some reading as he receives and F on a recent language exam.

Nakagawa is known as the class bully. When she is not receiving zeros she is usually muttering profanities to those around her. While she doesn't care for books or their readers, she does have a thing for troublemakers. Takao may not be one, but having read over his shoulder a few times, she knows he is not very innocent. If anything he is bored and aware of it.

Together, by chance, they shake up their entire rural community as Takao tries to break out of his shell in a random moment of passion and affection...not directed towards Nakamura. And contrary to Takao's predictions, the girl he was falling for, Nanako Saeki, responds by eventually accepting the bibliophile for who he is. Or at least, who she thinks he is.

And therein lies the conflict. Takao is not a hero. He is not trouble-maker, either. He is a regular teen who through equal moments of cowardice and chivalry takes a long step towards adulthood as he desperately tries to cover up a dark secret. Takao Kusuga has stolen an item precious to someone he is attracted to, and if he doesn't form a "contract" with his new best friend, she is going to tell.

Review:

This was… weird.

I know I was expecting it to be odd and dark, but I didn’t know how much. Instead, it was weird, and maybe even a little unsettling.

When Nakamura finds out that Kasuga has a crush on Saeki, and that he stole her gym uniform, she decides to start using him, even blackmailing him. Taunting him with his wants, making him feel like even more of a freak. Already his classmates start teasing him about his crush, he’s worried about them finding out what he’s done.

Nakamura is creepy, and she’s seriously crazy. She freaks me out. Kasuga is not a particularly good character—he’s weird, and he has odd thoughts and wants of his own. His classmates are terrible, mostly, not nice people or friends to him. But Nakamura is worse.

I mostly feel weird and unsettled after reading this. I don’t know if I’ll pick up any more.

Novel Review: Breaking the Rules (Pushing the Limits, #1.5) by Katie McGarry

Rating (Out of 5): ~4-4.5

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Release Date: December 8, 2014

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble.

Wishlist Thursday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A summer road trip changes everything in this unforgettable new tale from acclaimed author Katie McGarry

For new high school graduate Echo Emerson, a summer road trip out west with her boyfriend means getting away and forgetting what makes her so... different. It means seeing cool sights while selling her art at galleries along the way. And most of all, it means almost three months alone with Noah Hutchins, the hot, smart, soul-battered guy who’s never judged her. Echo and Noah share everything — except the one thing Echo’s just not ready for.

But when the source of Echo’s constant nightmares comes back into her life, she has to make some tough decisions about what she really wants — even as foster kid Noah’s search for his last remaining relatives forces them both to confront some serious truths about life, love, and themselves.

Now, with one week left before college orientation, jobs and real life, Echo must decide if Noah's more than the bad-boy fling everyone warned her he'd be. And the last leg of an amazing road trip will turn... seriously epic.

The Cover:

This cover is all right. I don't hate it, but it's not my favorite. I think it looks a little differently from the rest of the series, and particularly from the first book. I think it looks okay for the characters and the story, but something about it... I don't know, the image, them being wet, just looks off to me.

Quotes:

• "There are moments when your heart breaks and melts at the same time. When there’s so much love flooding your soul that you’re drowning in the tide. This is that moment with Noah.” (Kindle)
• "Experience has told me that change normally is the absence of good, and this causes the sensation of ants crawling around in my stomach.”
• "'I want to forgive her, but how can I forgive her when she can’t admit that she’s sorry?’”
• "'Is having bad family better than having no family?’”

Review:

I really wish this were released in physical copy, but oh well. There’s no way I was not going to get this book, no matter the format.

I’d forgotten how much I liked Noah and Echo from the first book. Now, we get to see them dealing with their lasting issues, only now together and wanting to stay that way.

I loved the New Adult aspect of this novel, now that they’re out of high school and on the road, only the two of them. They’re more mature now, and they’re very happy to be together.

This book was pretty angsty, though. They fight several times, trying to deal with their own issues as well as the ones they have together. They want the same things, but they have a very hard time telling them to each other. Some of it was so aggravating. Noah makes one big, stupid step in this book that’s pretty much the climax, and he’s so frustratingly dumb about it. Because, just, Noah, really?

Noah is trying to be the man he thinks Echo deserves, trying to do everything too fast and making himself doubt. Then Echo wants to do her art, while dealing with her mother and her scars. Then Noah’s family comes in the picture. Everything gets messed up, before it can even try to get better. The fact they’re together lets us see them be a couple, do couple things and plan together, and do more steamy things. That was nice.

Also, we see Isaiah several times, and I love him. He’s such a good friend to both of them. And it just made me want to re-read his story.

The whole story went by so fast, though, and I loved it. The ending was so great.

I can’t wait for her next book.