Mythos
3/5 stars
Initial Thoughts:
From the beginning, I knew I would have a biased opinion about this book as I love Alice in Wonderland as well as well-written villain origin stories. I thought I would give this a higher rating. I was a bit disappointed in how the plot was handled. The first time I read this, it completely went over my head as I was more focused on the setting and the original characters were integrated. As I reread it, I found fewer and fewer reasons to like the book.
Characters:
Overall, my favorite character was still the Mad Hatter. I really liked how his character was integrated and how creative he was as a character. It was also a nice change from Dinah's usual blatant hatred. Dinah has to be one of my least favorite characters, along with the Chesire Cat. Although I liked Dinah at first, I grew tired of her narration throughout the book. I understand how she feels like an outcast in court due to her father, but that didn't give her the right to be cruel to Vittiore without getting to know her.
As previously stated, she spent the majority of her time in a rage, which made her an unreliable narrator. This can be seen through how she views other characters. For example, we are set up to believe that the villain of this book is Chesire. Yet Dinah shows none of this through her interactions with him. We barely get to know him as a character, much less his motivations. This makes him useless as a villain. In any case, we see the king as more of a villain due to how she views his actions. This also happens with Vittiore. We never get to know her because of how much Dinah hates her. We can get hints as to why she is here and what her motivations are, but that is quickly overshadowed by Dinah's hatred.
To Sum it Up
As much as I originally enjoyed this book, further inspection of the writing style and Dinah's character have ruined it for me. Dinah's anger tends to affect how other characters are written. I still give it a 3-star rating. I would not recommend it to anyone else. I will not be rereading this book, but I will continue reading the next book in the series out of curiosity. From there, I'll decide if it's worth it to read the series. I'm hoping Dinah grows because I really want to enjoy the series and don't want to abandon it.
4.5/5 stars
SPOILERS AHEAD:
Summary:
After being outed to his classmates, Tasuku considers committing suicide. As he fears that this will ruin his life. After seeing someone else jump, he rushes towards them only to realize they're completely fine. After following her, he learns that her name is Someone-san. As they reach the top, she says, “You can tell me anything, I won't listen, though” This leads to him being able to voice his feelings and deepest fears for the first time. This continues to happen as he meets the rest of the group at the drop-in center.
The story goes on to focus both on Tasuku and Daichi. Daichi is a rather important character as she had a similar attitude to the one Tasuku has. Although she never considered suicide, she did her best to accept what was told to her until she could no longer handle it. Essentially, coming out in her workplace and having to leave her job leaves her with no sense of what to do next. That is, until she met Someone-san, who put her in charge of a project and let her do whatever she wanted. Follow her as she decides what to do with the space and how it became a drop-in center.
Overall, I liked seeing her growth and liked that they didn't just use it for Tasuku's character development. It was rather fast-paced, and I missed the point in some scenes. The art is rather beautiful, and I would recommend it to anyone to read it. Although I would like to say that there could be some scenes that are triggering to people who were afraid or are afraid of coming out. From experience, Tasuku's thoughts are rather accurate in terms of a person who fears the consequences that coming out can bring. From considering offing himself to doing everything in order to deny he is actually gay these all can be triggering. Still, this manga does a great job of showing us the process Tasuku goes through in order to accept himself.
3/5 stars
I have mixed feelings about this comic. While I love how they focused on Cassandra's relationship with Barbara, there were other components that weren't as good. This is not one of my favorite backstories that was given to Cassandra, but it does keep some of the same components as other origin stories have. This story does a good job of showing her guilt and how she evolves from it. Although I hate how her mutism is fixed rather easily, almost as if it were glossed over. I also thought it was weird how they omitted showing a lot of transition scenes of Barbara using her wheelchair (this is just something I noticed, not really a problem). Other than that, I really liked how they also focused on her developing relationship with Jackie, who acted like her mother. It was a rather interesting and sweet story otherwise. It's good for a quick read that can help you understand Cassandra's character better.
4.5/5 stars
I was scared to read this book as I feared being disappointed by the aro-ace representation in it. The books that have both Aro and Ace represented in them are rare to find, and it is even harder to know if the representation will be accurate. Overall, I was not disappointed by how they were represented in this book. I was really able to relate to Georgia and her messy journey to self-discovery.
This book did a great job of portraying friendship as being just as important as love. Although Georgia, Sunil, Jason, Rooney, and Pip had very different backgrounds and struggles, they still didn't manage to overshadow each other. Throughout the book, we do focus more on Georgia, and we see how she explores her identity. From confusion to self-acceptance, this book was an emotional rollercoaster.
We start the book with Georgia being hopeful of finding love. This is best represented by:
I loved romance. Always had. I loved Disney. I loved fanfiction. I loved thinking about what my own wedding would be like. I just. Loved. Love.
As someone who grew up watching Disney movies and reading fanfiction, it was very easy for me to understand why Georgia had these expectations and why she put herself in situations in which she felt awkward and uncomfortable. Spoiler: Although it's easy to dislike her for using Jason as a way to get experience, you can still understand that she was genuinely trying to fall in love. Conflicts could have been avoided with her friends if they had talked it out. Pip's anger was understandable, but she could have been more mature about the problem. It was a bit convenient to have a cousin who is an ace/aro, but it worked out.
The realization about how heteronormativity affected her really hit home in my case. I could relate to a lot of her thoughts, from being scared of ending up alone to realizing I only know about love in theory.
In the end, that was the problem with romance. It was so easy to romanticize romance because it was everywhere. It was in music and on TV and in filtered Instagram photos. It was in the air, crisp and alive with fresh possibility. It was in falling leaves, crumbling wooden doorways, scuffed cobblestones, and fields of dandelions. It was in the touch of hands, scrawled letters, crumpled sheets, and the golden hour. A soft yawn, early morning laughter, shoes lined up together by the door. Eyes across a dance floor. I could see it all, all the time, all around, but when I got closer, I found nothing was there. A mirage
Overall, this is what made me rate it 4 stars. Even if you aren't an aro or ace, you can still resonate with this book. Anyone who hasn't found their label yet or is still trying to figure out their sexuality should read this book. This book goes over the process of what it feels like to try and figure out one's identity. It shows how helpful it can be to figure out who you are.
3.6/5 stars
Summary: Wyatt is forced to flee to the human world after losing control of his powers. Years later, he is found by Emyr and forced to go back to the fae world. Emyr needs to marry in order to be able to keep his throne. Desperate to leave, Wyatt makes a deal with Emyr's enemies in hopes of being able to leave. As he gets closer to Emyr and condolences seem to worsen for the witches, he is forced to choose between his freedom and his people.
One of the main reasons I picked up this book was because of the main character's being trans. I was not disappointed in this book at all. Wyatt is a well-developed character and isn't just represented by being trans. He is shown to have very little dysphoria and is shown to be rather comfortable with his body. For a good chunk of this book, we can see his anger, which is understandable considering the situation he is going through or went through. We see how he can start to doubt himself as he remembers the mistakes he has made. We can also see how Wyatt tends to use self-deprecating humor in order to mask his emotions.
Briar was also a rather likable character in my opinion. She is shown to be very different from Wyatt. She is protective of him but, at the same time, is very open and excited to be in Asalin. She immediately does her best and gets along with most of the people there. I was not expecting the plot twist that included Briar. I understand why she hid that, and hopefully we will see more of her in the next book. Hopefully, she can repair her friendship with Wyatt.
Emyr is a character that becomes more likable as you get to know him. When we are introduced to him, he is shown to be rather selfish but understanding. He's selfish because he wants Wyatt to come back to Asalin to marry him in order to keep the throne. He doesn't give Wyatt a choice but accepts that Briar comes as well. He uses all of Wyatt's correct pronouns and tries to make everything as comfortable as possible for him. As the story progresses, we see him get closer to Wyatt, but every time he tries to open up to him, Wyatt just shuts him out. This is likely partly due to Wyatt's being in denial of having any feelings for Wyatt. Even with this happening constantly, we learn a lot about Emyr, including the fact that he receives a lot of opposition.
Spoilers Ahead: He was adopted because the Queen couldn't bear children. We also learned that the Queen was killed, and it took a large amount of magic to bring her back from the dead. Wyatt keeps being in denial until the blood bond is broken by Emyr's death. He manages to bring him back to life and realizes how he can control his powers. Although it is clear that Emyr has feelings for Wyatt, he is still letting him go because he wants him to be happy. He goes from being selfish and somewhat understanding of Wyatt to being able to let him go and do as he pleases. We see that he cares about his people and will place their needs first before his own.
Other characters that are worth mentioning are Tessa, Wyatt's sister, and Jin, the nonbinary lesbian witch activist dragon handler. I understood Tessa's anger at Wyatt as she lost everything she cared about in one night. I feel like the way they repaired their relationship was rather quick. I would have liked to see them take more time in order to make up. Jin was a cool character to see, but it fell flat. In terms of characterization, they never got past a certain point and felt more like a plot device. The book can get to be really slow at times, and at times it felt like there was too much going on. As a result, I can't give it a 4-star rating.
4/5 stars
I'll probably edit this review later on when I have better processed what I just read.
Summary
In this world, you get a call to inform you that you're going to die 24 hours before it happens. You don't know how it'll happen. In this case, both Mateo and Rufus received this call on the same day. Both can't say goodbye to their loved ones. Mateo can't because his father is in a coma. Rufus, on the other hand, made a mistake that made his friends unavailable to him. They meet through an app meant for these types of situations called “Last Friends.” From there, they go on to befriend and help each other out.
Review
One of my favorite things about this book was how their friendship developed. Neither decided to mope or just lay down because of the call they received. From there, we see them progress through multiple situations and grow from them.
Mateo was one of my favorite characters in this book. This was mainly because I could relate to him even more than I did to the other characters. Throughout the book, Mateo deals with his father being in a coma and his problems caused by his social anxiety. We see him overthink a lot in the beginning. We see this slowly progress into him learning how to cope with all his anxiety. I really liked how this was dealt with. I have seen other books completely cure characters of anxiety, so this was a nice change. His death definitely affected me the most. He didn't deserve to die the way he did.
Rufus was a more complex character, and it took me more time to understand him and/or relate to him. Rufus is one of the more reckless characters in the book. If we look more into his actions, we will see how this affects him throughout the book.
The side characters were also part of what made this book so enjoyable. From being a fully developed character to bringing in their own perspective, it allows us to further understand how everything is connected. Even in the case of Peck, we can understand the motives behind his actions.
They Both Die at the End is a book worth reading. Although I was a bit iffy on whether or not it was worth reading, I'm glad I did. The book is more dialogue-based, but it still manages to create well-developed characters. The different perspectives definitely made this book better in terms of getting to know the side characters. The connection between everyone was also well done. This did make me more emotional than I expected. If you want an emotional read, this is a book you should read.
1/5 stars
Possible spoilers:
I really tried to like this book but couldn't bring myself to.
Summary:
Our main character, River, is obsessed with the Grace family, which has a complicated history. She is in love with Fenrin Grace, who's supposed to be the most attractive guy at school. He also has two sisters, Summer and Thalia Grace. Summer is gone, whereas Thalia is both beautiful and untouchable. River wants to be a part of their group but knows that they tend to switch friends rather quickly.
My problems with these books are:
1) This book is the Walmart version of Twilight. Twilight was more enjoyable because I could actually find enjoyable moments within all that mess.
2) We have an all-white cast with one token, possibly a South Asian character. I wasn't really sure what her ethnicity was. All the characters are either problematic or show no growth throughout the book. Thalia has no other interesting character traits other than how she dresses. Summer is transparent. She doesn't hide anything and just tells River everything. Fenrin is only shown as unattainable and hot. It is stated that he is possibly bisexual, but this is used to show how the other characters are biphobic/queerphobic. Trigger Warning: From River to Fenrin's own mother, they both use the word “disgusting” to describe Fenrin. River because Fenrin's kissing another boy. His mother likely called him that for the same reasons. This was a breaking point and they almost immediately dropped it.
3) River is practically obsessed with the Graces. This is shown through their thoughts and is a recurring problem as they can be creepy and borderline stalker-like. We learn that River isn't her real name. She does everything she can in order to become a different person. She does so in order to please others. Specifically, people she doesn't even know well. She is constantly putting other girls down. From judging their mannerisms to how much lip gloss they have on. Again, I know sometimes you can read a book and not like the main character, but she has no redeeming qualities, and this affects all the other characters, who barely have a personality.
4) SO MANY TROPES THAT I DESPISE. I can usually excuse tropes I dislike. I'm not like other girls' tropes, using diverse characters to give other characters “development”, “mean girl” status, etc. All these tropes combined can only make a mess of a book. Perhaps they would work with a better set of characters, but the current set is not worth reading. In addition, the writing isn't that good either. It's a rather slow story, and there are parts where you feel as if the problem was just added to create drama or some form of plot which there was none of.
5) I skimmed the book all the way to the end. Without any spoilers, given the ending was a set up for you to go read the other book. It leaves you with a cliffhanger.
To summarize, the characters suck, there is no plot, there are so many bad tropes used, and this book has no redeemable qualities. Go read Twilight or any other book that's better than this one.
3/5 stars
As much as I love this series, it's getting hard to read. I liked that this volume focused on the secondary characters more than they did in other volumes. Meeting the new characters was also fun, as we are getting more diverse characters in terms of sexuality. Unfortunately, this volume also has some problems. There have been at least four relationships that included a teacher and a student. Although from what we see it doesn't seem like they're exploiting each other, it's still uncomfortable to read. Otherwise, the romance in this book is well done if you like slow-burn romance and fluff.
5/5 stars
The ending had me crying. I thought I would dislike this story since I couldn't get through the Netflix version. Now that I read the actual novels, I see that they took a lot of things out that made this lovable. I wasn't expecting a bittersweet ending at all. The epilogue wasn't what I expected either. I'm glad that Chae-rok grew from how he was originally and continued on to help other people willingly. I'm also glad that even in old age and barely having any sense of what's happening Deok-chool is still able to help people like he always had.
Herbal Revolution: 65+ Recipes for Teas, Elixirs, Tinctures, Syrups, Foods + Body Products That Heal
3/5 stars
I would recommend this to a person who has recently gotten into making teas, elixirs, etc. The book makes it easy to modify them so that they better fit you. It also provides different uses for the herbs used in these recipes. Although I have learned that different sources indicate different uses. In this case, the author only stated the more commonly used ones. I would recommend checking out different sources to double check the effectiveness of these recipes.
Overall, this was one of the better books I have found while researching alternative remedies. It keeps things simple while providing adjustable recipes. This may not be the best fit for everyone, especially if they want a book with more explanation, whether spiritual or scientific.
3/5 stars
Summary:
Kanata Tanaka and Kazuki Yoshikawa are middle-schoolers who are revered by the other students for their air of maturity, good grades, and so forth. They are, in fact, unbeknownst to most folks, childhood friends who hide their friendship due to the discomfort of the attention they get separately from others. This gets complicated because they eventually fall for each other and start going out.
It's a rather quick and fun read. There isn't much drama other than the one caused by Nihito. The manga mainly focuses on the main couple, but we get glimpses of other characters. I wasn't really sure what was happening between Nihito and the music teacher. It seemed as if he either hates teachers or he just hates singing. Perhaps this will be addressed in volume two. Overall, I give it a 3 star rating.
3/5 stars
I only dropped this because I realized that it contained the Romeo and Juliet trope. I personally don't like this trope. If I do read a book containing this trope, it's usually due to the insistence of a friend or because it contains another trope I really like. If you like this trope, go ahead and check it out.
2/5 stars
I was expecting a cute, happy-go-lucky manga about a man bonding with his daughter through learning how to cook. It was all going well until they introduced the students. As soon as Kotori entered as a new character, it started to get weird. I understand that some people justify it as being just a friendship, but it really doesn't seem like it. Instead, it looks like it's building up to eventually becoming romantic, and I can't stand to see this happen again. I may check out the next volume to see if this doesn't happen.
I don't recommend this manga, but if you believe that you can see the weird interactions between Kotori and her teacher, go ahead.
3/5 stars
This was a really short read. I did have to read it multiple times in order to process it. The art is well done and captivating. The concept itself was based on the theme of witches and dragons in the modern world. Considering how short it was, they did a good job of getting their point and main world mechanics across.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
After rereading this, I still rate it 3 stars. Although I noticed that the reason as to how she got paralyzed is unclear, although the summary said that she was shot, the scene shows us how she falls off a building. The accident was later referenced as being caused by her being shot. This leaves her paralyzed from the waist down. After these events, she spends a good chunk of the book processing what just happened to her. She isolates herself from everyone who approaches her and is trying to cope. As the book progresses, she starts to get friendlier and gets closer to Jana, who tells her sinister stories about Arkham. She starts to try to solve the mystery of why people are disappearing from the asylum.
I liked this version a lot, although I would have loved to see more about her life after she started to accept her disability. I liked how the author didn't try to fix Barbara like other comics had done in the past. Not only did they not try to fix Barbara, but they gave all the characters shown to have a range of emotions. Overall, it was a good book and it was well executed as the art style also tended to reflect the tone of the story.
1/5 stars
I'm going to try to give my review of this manga without as many spoilers as possible. The reason I rated it a one is because there are too many problems that are in this book. The art is great, but the story is just terrible.
(1) A lack of clearly defined boundaries
When they first met, there were no boundaries established. Even when a person was uncomfortable, nothing was said about it.
(2) Borderline incest
It literally says in the first few pages that it is a secret/forbidden romance between two sisters. Not only that, but it was also brought up more than once in the story, making the argument that the author doesn't see them as sisters obsolete.
(3) There was no consent given.
Basically, what happens is that Mei gets assaulted and pretty much takes it out on Yuzu when questioned about it. It happens a lot for it to be the first volume.
(4) Fetishizing
At this point, the glaring incest and lack of consent pretty much lead one to believe that this is for people who fetishize wlw. There is too much fan service, and there is an ongoing theme around boob sizes.
(5) No plot
So far, there is no ongoing plot, other than no communication and constant assaults. There have been other characters introduced, but they don't add much to the story.
For all these reasons, I rate it a 1/5. I'm not comfortable enough to read any more volumes as I have no hopes of this getting any better.
2/5 stars
I was excited about the story at first, but I have to drop it. At this rate, I can only keep reading so many webtoons that have lasted way too long. I've tried to continue it, but I've lost interest. From the main character not having any interest in dating, weird best friends, family issues, and the struggles of being broke and a student. All these aspects that originally drew me in grew boring over time. I guess I was more frustrated with the possible love interests rather than the FL. I sometimes go back and skim through some chapters I found funny.
I wouldn't recommend it if you want a romance plot line. Although I felt like the love triangle was also a huge part of what ruined this webtoon for me. I don't believe it's the main focus of the story as it progresses. It tends to appear more as a slice of life. I will say that there are some episodes where I laughed out loud. Although it has its funny moments, I don't believe it should be as long as it is.
2/5 stars
I really liked how it started. I also loved how the gaming world by itself worked. This should have been one of my new favorite webtoons, but it quickly went downhill. I was expecting the secret to be kept for a longer period of time, eventually building up to a big reveal. Instead, the secret is revealed early on in the story, and the rest of the story is focused on how they develop their relationship. Number two, why did the author find it necessary to include a love triangle. I've said this multiple times, but I despise love triangles/corners. Very rarely are they done correctly. In this case, it was terrible. We already knew who he was going to end up with. This was likely done to make the series longer or add unnecessary tension to the main couple.
I don't recommend anyone reading this webtoon. I feel like there are better-written ones with a similar premise.
3/5 stars
It was a cute and fluffy read. I do feel like it was lengthened, which did take away from my engagement with the story. I liked that it was wholesome and actually used the story to develop their relationship. The pacing was good until I reached the middle. At that point, as mentioned before, the author placed more filler chapters.
If there were fewer filler chapters, then this would have been a solid 4 stars. Unfortunately, I'll have to leave it at 3.4 out of 5 stars. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who needs a light and wholesome read.
4/5 stars
Since I read this online, I have no idea when season 1 ends. So, I'll just use it to talk about what I have read so far. I really like it, but that's a given considering I like most reincarnation or transmigration mage/webtoons. He isn't necessarily an asshole and doesn't always try to be like the person whose body he possessed.
I like how he's slowly building up to be an op character. He isn't necessarily overpowered overnight. He is training and leveling up at a consistent rate which isn't what we typically see in these webtoons. I also like how he is complimented by the other character and their personalities. I like how the MC isn't the only focus this manga has. I am excited to see what is coming especially since another one of his recruits is going to be awakened soon.
3/5 stars
This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. While the beasts run freely, humans are the ones that aren't as free. The FL Sari phi was raised to be a sacrifice to the King of Beasts in order to save their real daughter. Therefore, she doesn't have any fear of death. The King of Beasts plans the sacrifice while getting closer to Sari phi.
Seeing their friendship develop in this volume was rather adorable, so much so that you forgot that she was the sacrifice. There are many moments in which you are reminded of Sari Phi's purpose for being there, bringing you back to her reality.
I will continue reading this series, but I am unsure as to whether or not I would recommend it.
