Manga Review: Vampire Knight, Volume 12, by Matsuri Hino

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: 2010

Volumes: 19

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 11. 13.

Goodreads Synopsis:

It's been one year since Yuki left Cross Academy with Kaname, and tonight is her first vampire soirée as a pureblood. Her best friend Sayori has snuck into the party to see her, but will Yuki and Zero be able to protect a human girl amid a bevy of vampires?

Review:

So much is happening in this series, and it’s taking me way too long to catch up.

There’s a lot of Zero drama, whom I’m still feeling very iffy toward. I’m just not happy with him, and I don’t like that. I want to like him again.

There’s some more of the night class students, a lot of whom are up to their own things. Ichijo isn’t up to anything good, because he’s roped into Sara, a not-good pure blood vampire who I don’t trust. I still like Shiki and Toya a lot, their relationship, and how they approach things. I’m not too sure what Headmaster Cross is up to.

Yuki and Kaname together I still really like, although I’m getting bad feelings. Something bad is going to happen there, and I’m dreading it. Yuki, though, is learning and growing and trying to help the vampires and Kaname.

The story is moving somewhat slowly and cryptically, but I’m following, waiting, knowing something big is coming. Knowing that whatever big happens is going to be bad, and I’m not looking forward to it. It’s going to be bad, and it’s going to involve Yuki, Kaname, and Zero, and probably Sara. I’m not going to like it, I’m sure.

I still have quite a few books to catch up in this series, but I hope to soon.

Manga Review: Midnight Secretary, Volume 5, by Tomu Ohmi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5-4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: May 2014

Volumes: 7

Spoilers?: Some.

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

Volume: 1. 4. 6.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Kaya thought she had found the perfect job when she became the private secretary of Kyouhei Touma - the director of a tableware company of the same name. Kyouhei is a capable director, but his arrogance and sluttish behavior are almost legendary. Kaya is doing her best to prove that she is capable in her work, but one night, by accident, she discovers his secret... of him being a vampire!

Review:

The first chapter or two of this volume was much like that last few: not very good. It just hasn’t been making me want to read it. I almost even put off buying this volume.

I think the main reason was that I was just not feeling the relationship between the characters. Nothing big was happening between them, it seemed like they both knew Kyohei’s feelings and yet neither were doing anything about it, and their chemistry had just disappeared. At one point in this volume, I was even wondering why Kaya likes him. He was just showing absolutely no likeable characteristics, he wasn’t being nice to her or even welcoming, and yet she was following loyally behind him. It was starting to drive me insane.

But about halfway through the volume, they were finally taking a step forward. Their romance was finally admitted to, Kyohei finally bucked up to his feelings, and even did it publicly. I was finally feeling their relationship, their chemistry, again. It was almost a relief, I was so happy.

Now it seems like they get to become more comfortable romantically with each other, which I look forward. The vampire community, and Kyohei’s family, is what seems to be the next problems. There are only a couple volumes left, so I look forward to seeing how the series ends.

Novel Review: The Program (The Program, #1) by Suzanne Young

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Genre: YA Dystopian Romance

Publisher: Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster)

Release Date: April 2013

Spoilers?: Not really.

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

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

In Sloane’s world, true feelings are forbidden, teen suicide is an epidemic, and the only solution is The Program.

Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane’s parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they’ll do anything to keep her alive. She also knows that everyone who’s been through The Program returns as a blank slate. Because their depression is gone—but so are their memories.

Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can. The only person Sloane can be herself with is James. He’s promised to keep them both safe and out of treatment, and Sloane knows their love is strong enough to withstand anything. But despite the promises they made to each other, it’s getting harder to hide the truth. They are both growing weaker. Depression is setting in. And The Program is coming for them.

The Cover:

This is a pretty good cover. It's nice, it's eye-catching; I appreciate that under the dust jacket on the hardcover, there's another picture on the binding. It represents the book pretty well, the romance and the sense that the couple is in it together only, along with the colors and the pills on the back cover.

Review:

“‘I think that sometimes the only real thing is now.’” (Hardback, pg. 398)

I was wary when I started this book, but hopeful. I’d enjoyed Young’s previous series, but I’d heard some iffy things about this one. For one, I was going in hoping for some good romance, expecting this to be a dystopian with a lot of attention on the romance, so maybe that helped.

I did enjoy the romance. I like romances where the couple has already formed before the book starts, and then they have to go through some hard stuff. So I felt their attraction early on, and I liked that. There was a bit of a love triangle forming during this book, and I’m not sure if that’s going to go anywhere in the next book, but I didn’t really care for it. It was obvious that Sloane and James were going to end up together, so the love triangle was a bit unnecessary.

I enjoyed the characters for the most part, and did like their development, but none of them really stand out to me.

I wasn’t expecting a lot of depth with the storyline, with why there’s the program and all that, but I still think there could have been more. I understand why parents would want to send their kids to some program instead of losing them, but I also had a hard time believing that suicide is a catching disease, or why people think that the way the program works is all right. I’ve taken psychology classes, and parts of the whole thing just didn’t make sense to me.

I enjoyed the book for the most part and do want to see how the story ends. I hope that there’s more explanation in the next book, though.

Novel Review: Hancock Park by Isabel Kaplan

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Genre: YA Contemporary

Publisher: HarperTeen (HarperCollins)

Release Date: 2009

Spoilers?: No.

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

Goodreads Synopsis:

Becky Miller lives in the best neighborhood, goes to school with the children of movie stars, and has her psychiatrist on speed dial. She may live in the City of Angels, but this sixteen-year-old's life is far from perfect.

By day, Becky navigates the halls of one of L.A.'s most elite schools, where the mean girls are a special breed of mean, and at night, she deals with sparring parents, a grandmother who is man-crazy, and a younger brother, Jack, who answers only to J-zizzy. As Becky's life comes crashing down around her, she struggles to put it back together and learn to grow up while trying to stay sane.

Isabel Kaplan dishes the dirt on the children of Hollywood's elite--from Spago delivered to campus at lunch and shrinks who dole out psychotropic drugs as though they're candy to parent-free parties at the Four Seasons--the lives of Becky and her creator, Isabel Kaplan, are like no other, and yet strangely, just like everyone's.

The Cover:

This cover is all right. It's not particularly appealing, and it doesn't really make me want to pick the book up, but it does actually kind of fit the book.

Quotes:

• "I’ve always liked getting my hair done because no matter how I look when I walk in, I know that I’ll look much better when I walk out. […] Also, I like to wait as long as I can between haircuts because that maximizes the effect of each one. There’s nothing exciting about getting my hair trimmed an eighth of an inch, because I won’t look any different. But if I cut off three inches, I could become an entirely different person in a matter of minutes.” (Hardback, pg. 43)
• "But was it bad that I sort of, kind of wanted to be one of those ogled girls? I could still maintain my self-respect while dressed like a slutty fairy-tale character, right?” (Pg. 121)

Review:

This was a pretty mediocre book. It wasn’t too bad, a little interesting and funny at times, but also forgettable.

I enjoyed the characters; I liked Becky, her thoughts on things, and how she matured. I related to her at some points, and understood her struggle with her parents and friends. I didn’t grow overly attached to any of the characters, but I did like some of them. There were some really thoughtful and funny moments. It was a fast read, too.

I liked it, but didn’t grow too attached, and it was, sadly, easy to forget.