Yakuza Lover, Vol. 1

Today’s post is on Yakuza Lover, Vol. 1 by Nozomi Mino. It is 200 pages long and is published by Shojo Beat. The cover has the two main characters on it locked in a passionate embrace. There is mild foul language, sex and sexuality, and some violence in this volume. The intended reader is someone who likes bad boy romances and sexy plots. The story is told from third person close of the female lead, Yuri. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- When a feisty college girl falls for a yakuza boss, she gets swept into a steamy and dangerous love affair.

When drug dealers attack feisty college student Yuri at a party, she’s saved by Toshiomi Oya, the young boss of a yakuza syndicate. Despite her obvious attraction to him, she convinces herself that she’s not in the market for a bad-boy type. But when they meet again, she finds herself irresistibly drawn to him—kicking off a steamy and dangerous love affair that threatens to consume her, body and soul.

After the attack at the party, Yuri goes to see Oya to personally thank him for saving her. When she meets him, as much as she hates to admit it, she can’t deny there’s an attraction. Then, when a sudden tragedy occurs, Yuri knows she should turn her back on Oya and his dangerous lifestyle, but will the allure prove too great?

Review- Yuri is a college aged young woman who is looking for her first serious adult relationship and Oya is a man who lives on the edge as he is the sub boss of a yakuza syndicate, and they are drawn to each other irresistibly. The plot is just that. He is a bad guy, she is headstrong, and they can’t keep their hands over each other. The art is the best part of this series, as it is very good and detailed. I also like that Yuri is beautiful and is treated as such by the  other characters. If you are looing for a in depth plot this is not the manga for you, but if you are looking for some escapism, the you should try this manga. I am interested in what is going to happen next.

I give this volume a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money. 

If I Disappear

Today’s post is on If I Disappear by Eliza Jane Brazier. It is 293 pages long and is published by Penguin Random House. The cover is an illustration of a woman with her face in pieces and flowers on the inside. The intended reader is someone who is interested in a twisty, female led mystery. There is foul language, mild sex and mild violence in this novel. The story is from first person close of the main character, Sera. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- When her favorite true crime podcast host goes missing, an adrift young woman plunges headfirst into the wild backcountry of Northern California and her own dangerous obsession.

Sera loves true crime podcasts. They make her feel empowered in a world where women just like her disappear daily. She's sure they are preparing her for something. So when Rachel, her favorite podcast host, goes missing, Sera knows it's time to act. Rachel has always taught her to trust her instincts.

Sera follows the clues hidden in the episodes to an isolated ranch outside Rachel's small hometown to begin her search. She's convinced her investigation will make Rachel so proud. But the more Sera digs into this unfamiliar world, the more off things start to feel. Because Rachel is not the first woman to vanish from the ranch, and she won't be the last...

Rachel did try to warn her.

Review- This is an interesting mystery that fumbles at the end. Sera is a woman whose life is falling apart. She is recently divorced, she lost her baby, her job, and she is going to get kicked out of her apartment. But she has an obsession, a true crime podcast by a woman named Rachel, then one day Rachel stops. Sera must know what happened to Rachel, so Sera moves to where Rachel lived, got a job at her family ranch, and begins to discover what could have happened. I mostly enjoyed this novel but the ending was not great. The last second twist was odd and I felt it was just to be shocking without having much to back it up in the story. But until the end I enjoyed the novel and I would like to read more by the author. 

I give this novel a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this novel from my local library. 

Fiancée of the Wizard Manga, Vol. 3

Today’s post is on Fiancée of the Wizard Manga, Vol. 3 by Masaki Kazuka (Visual Art), Syuri Nakamura (Original Creator), Keiko Sakano (Character Design). It is 196 pages and is published by Yen Press. The cover has the main characters on it looking very serious. As it is the fourth in the series you need to have read the first three volumes to understand the story. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this manga. The story is told from third person close of Filimena. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- As the honeymoon glow subsides, new troubles darken the horizon…

After the defeat of the Lord of Darkness who threatened the kingdom, peace has returned to the land. Filimena has, at last, wed her surly wizard, the powerful chief enchanter, Egiedeyrus, but their marriage remains a secret. Despite this, their life together is a happy one- until dark nightmares begin to steal Filimena’s sleep…

Review- We are now moving into a new story arc with someone having cursed Filimena to be trapped in sleep forever. So Filimena wants to solve her own problems without relying on Edy for help. Of course that is the wrong idea but I understand her reasoning as he is the chief enchanter for the kingdom and all that. We meet a new character, a fellow wizard Sir Servus, who is interested in Filimena and wants to help her. At the end of the volume, Filimena and Edy are going to be hunting down the person who cursed her and they are working against a clock to do it. This is a great fantasy love story and I’m looking forward to the next volume.

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money. 

The Desolations of Devil's Acre

Today’s post is on The Desolations of Devil's Acre by Ransom Riggs. It is 503 pages long and is published by Dutton Books. As it is the sixth in the Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series, you need to have read the first five volumes to understand the story. The cover is a picture of a young child being grabbed and pulled of the cover. There is some mild foul language, no sex, and violence in this novel. The story is told from first person close of Jacob, the main character. There Be Spoilers Ahead. 

From the dust jacket- The fate of peculiardom hangs in the balance in this epic conclusion to the Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series.

The last thing Jacob Portman saw before the world went dark was a terrible, familiar face.

Suddenly, he and Noor are back in the place where everything began - his grandfather's house. Jacob doesn't know how they escaped from V's loop to find themselves in Florida. But he does know one thing for certain: Caul has returned.

After a narrow getaway from a blood-thirsty hollow, Jacob and Noor reunite with Miss Peregrine and the peculiar children in Devil's Acre. The Acre is being plagued by desolations - weather fronts of ash and blood and bone - a terrible portent of Caul's amassing army.

Risen from the Library of Souls and more powerful than ever, Caul and his apocalyptic agenda seem unstoppable. Only one hope remains - deliver Noor to the meeting place of the seven prophesied ones. If they can decipher its secret location.

Review- A fine conclusion to the long running series. Riggs has a lot to do in this novel to wrap up this series and I think that he does it well. Jacob and friends are racing against time as Caul has been resurrected and he has eaten some of the souls from the Library of Souls. So they need to gather the other light eaters so that they can eat Caul’s soul. It is very fast paced with no down time going from plot point to the next one pulling the reader along with them. Riggs wants to make sure that he answers as many long running questions as he can like why can Jacob understand the monsters and other details like that. I enjoyed this series overall, I do feel that halfway through the series, we changed streams but in general it was a fun and interesting series. Ii think that Riggs closes out the series on a high note and I am curious about what he is going to write next.

I give this volume a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this novel from my local library. 

The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense

Today’s post is on The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense by Edward White. The cover is a picture of Alfred Hitchcock. It is 379 pages long and is published by W. W. Norton & Company. There is mild foul language, discussion of sex and sexuality, and no violence in this book. The intended reader is someone who is interested in Hitchcock, film history, and classic Hollywood. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- In The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock, Edward White explores the Hitchcock phenomenon—what defines it, how it was invented, what it reveals about the man at its core, and how its legacy continues to shape our cultural world.

The book’s twelve chapters illuminate different aspects of Hitchcock’s life and work: “The Boy Who Couldn’t Grow Up”; “The Murderer”; “The Auteur”; “The Womanizer”; “The Fat Man”; “The Dandy”; “The Family Man”; “The Voyeur”; “The Entertainer”; “The Pioneer”; “The Londoner”; “The Man of God.” Each of these angles reveals something fundamental about the man he was and the mythological creature he has become, presenting not just the life Hitchcock lived but also the various versions of himself that he projected, and those projected on his behalf.

From Hitchcock’s early work in England to his most celebrated films, White astutely analyzes Hitchcock’s oeuvre and provides new interpretations. He also delves into Hitchcock’s ideas about gender; his complicated relationships with “his women”—not only Grace Kelly and Tippi Hedren but also his female audiences—as well as leading men such as Cary Grant, and writes movingly of Hitchcock’s devotion to his wife and lifelong companion, Alma, who made vital contributions to numerous classic Hitchcock films, and burnished his mythology. And White is trenchant in his assessment of the Hitchcock persona, so carefully created that Hitchcock became not only a figurehead for his own industry but nothing less than a cultural icon.

Ultimately, White’s portrayal illuminates a vital truth: Hitchcock was more than a Hollywood titan; he was the definitive modern artist, and his significance reaches far beyond the confines of cinema.

Review- An interesting look at Hitchcock over the course of his life and work and where the two interact with each other. White starts at the beginning of Hitchcock’s life so that the reader can understand his childhood and how it influenced his films and career. White does good research, he can get access to some private family papers and the like to add depth to narrative. White does not cover-up the rumors around Hitchcock but he focuses on the films themselves. I enjoyed this book. I am a huge fan of Hitchcock and his films. White takes the reader into the film room with Hitchcock and the people that he surrounded himself with. We get to see how the films that Hitchcock made were made and how he worked with his talent from writers to actors. If you are looking for a book about Hitchcock and his films, then I would recommend this book. 

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library. 

Perfect World, Vol. 1

Today’s post is on Perfect World, Vol. 1 by Rie Aruga. It is 176 pages long and is published by Kodansha Comics. The cover has the two main characters on it looking at the reader. The intended reader is someone who is interested in emotional mature love stories. There is some mild foul language, no sex, and no violence in this volume. The story is told from third person close of Tsugumi. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- IN SEARCH OF PERFECTION...?

A company get-together reunites 26-year-old Tsugumi with her high school crush, Itsuki. In the years they've been apart, Itsuki has realized his dream of becoming an architect--but along the way, he's also suffered a spinal cord injury that's left him in a wheelchair. Seeing Itsuki again rekindles Tsugumi's feelings for him. It also forces her to confront her own hidden prejudices. Itsuki's disability seems like an intimidating obstacle at first, but soon, Tsugumi discovers that her world feels imperfect without him. 

Review- A very good first volume. Tsugumi meets her high school crush and discovers that he is now paraplegic and has sworn off love. This is the opening of the story and this is handled very well. Tsugumi has to think about what she wants from a relationship. This is a very adult story, not with explicit content, but with emotional maturity and depth that is unusual even in josei manga. The main characters are interesting and they both bring something to the table in the story to make the reader think and pull for them to find each other. I am very interested in the story, the characters, and where they are going.  

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.

Flesh Circus

Today’s post is on Flesh Circus by Lilith Saintcrow. It is 336 pages long and is published by Orbit. The cover has Jill in it looking ready for trouble. As it is the fourth in the series, you need to have read the first three volumes to understand the story. There is foul language, no sex, and violence in this volume. The intended reader is someone who likes gritty urban fantasy. The story is told from first person close of the main character, Jill. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- The Cirque de Charnu has come.

They will clean out the demons and the suicides, and move on. As long as they stay within the rules, Jill Kismet can't deny them entry. But she can watch -- and if they step out of line, she'll send them packing.

When Cirque performers start dying grotesquely, Kismet has to find out why, or the fragile truce won't hold and her entire city will become a carnival of horror. She also has to play the resident hellbreed power against the Cirque to keep them in line, and find out why ordinary people are needing exorcisms. And then there's the murdered voodoo practitioners, and the zombies.

An ancient vengeance is about to be enacted. The Cirque is about to explode. And Jill Kismet is about to find out some games are played for keeps. . . 

Review- A good volume in the series but not the best. The Cirque de Charnu has come to town and Jill has to protect them and the city from them. In the past a hunter from her line made a deal with the Cirque that for one week they could come and set up for business. And business is getting people’s souls. But when someone who has a grudge against the Cirque starts killing performers, Jill has her hands full. I liked the overall plot of the Cirque and the history of Jill’s line of hunters but the story was bogged down by the drama between Jill and Saul. I think that this book is more about setting up for a future book with the history we learn but I wanted more than we got. That said I did like it, it was a solid entry in the series, and I look forward to seeing where Jill and Saul are going next. 

I give this volume a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this series with my own money.