This was another hectic week for me but I was able to read a few books here and there. I finished a super cute YA book that I really enjoyed and read a few children’s books. I hope you all had a great week and a nice weekend! Now onto the books!
The first book that I (kind of) enjoyed was Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich. I vaguely knew what this book was about going in and knew that there was a Broadway play that it’s based on but I wasn’t 100% sure what the plot was when I started reading it. Now while I mostly enjoyed this book I will let you know that I didn’t really care for the MC Evan. But I don’t think you’re really supposed to like him anyway. Maybe empathize with him, sure. But not like him. What he does throughout the book to a family that is grieving the loss of their child/brother is pretty horrible. He ends up making Connor’s death all about himself and how he’s so happy to finally belong to a “normal” family (which is BS, his mom is great but I’ll get into her in a minute). We also see him dealing with his anxiety by going to therapy and taking his meds (which *spoiler alert* he stops taking.). I liked some of the aspects of mental illness that were portrayed but honestly this isn’t really a great book about mental illness. Evan stops taking his meds and there are plenty of other things in the book that are not great. I also really hated how Evan treated his mom. She was working and going to school to try and get a better job to provide more for Evan and he just treats her like dirt. He’s such an ungrateful brat through most of the book that when he finally sets the record straight and comes clean I just don’t care about him enough anymore to really give a crap. I don’t know guys. I think this novelization would be better off just staying as a play. While I did like some aspects of it I wasn’t a huge fan. I do like the music from the Broadway play though, it’s really good! So to wrap my rambling up, if you are a fan of the Broadway play you may like this but I would take it with a grain of salt.
The next book that I read and actually really, really enjoyed is called Fake It, Till You Break It by Jenn P. Nguyen. Now this YA book had everything that I love: enemies to lovers, fake dating, friendship that turns into something more ect. If you are a fan of any of these tropes then you will absolutely love this book. This one is about Jake and Mia. Two lifelong neighbors who’s moms have been trying to get them together for almost all of their lives. Mia and Jake hate each other though. They can’t stand always being forced together at every turn. so they decide to trick their moms into thinking that they’re dating to get them off of their backs once and for all. They figure, they can date for a few weeks, have an epic break up, and then never have to worry about being forced together again. They didn’t count on actually maybe falling for each other though. Can they put all their bickering behind them and be happy together or will all of their history make that impossible?
I really, really liked this book you guys! It is SO flippin cute and I love Mia. I identify with her sarcastic and meddling ways. I loved the relationship between Mia and Jake. It actually seemed like a real relationship between two real people. It wasn’t super sappy or anything like that. They bickered and had fights but they talked it out and got past it. If you are a fan (like me) of the enemies to lover trope then I think this one would be right up your alley. It is definitely a romance so keep that in mind as well. I really hope you guys check this one out!
I was able to read a few manga this week too. The first one that I enjoyed was the second and final volume of The Heiress and the Chauffer by Keiko Ishihara. This story is about Sayaka Yoshimura, an heiress who is going to an all girls school in the Taisho Era of Japan. She falls in love with her chauffer, Shinobu Narutaki who has been by her side since childhood. In this volume, Sayaka’s father arranges for her to marry the son of an earl but can she ignore her feelings for Narutaki and marry someone else? Will they be able to overcome their different stations in life and be happy together? I don’t want to spoil the ending of this series but I very much enjoyed it! If you are a fan of happy ending romance type manga then this one would be right up your alley I think!
The other manga that I read this week is Dragon Quest Monsters + Volume 1 by Mine Yoshizaki. I didn’t realize that this was a sequel to the original Dragon Quest Monsters series but honestly, you really don’t need to know that when you start reading this series. They do a good job recapping the original at the beginning of this series to you won’t be lost at all. Although now I want to go back and read the other series as well.
This first volume is about Kleo. He is a rambunctious little boy who dreams of slaying monsters and becoming a hero. After a chance encounter with Watabou, a monster from another world, he is whisked away to the land of Greatree where the king wants him to train monsters and go find the hero of long-ago (spoiler alert – it’s the hero from the first story, Terry who seems evil now?? But I’m not 100% sure about that yet.). Kleo wants to battle monsters, not train them! But once he sees how awesome it is to battle alongside the monsters he is ready to go on his journey. However there’s just one problem. The dragon that the king had set aside for him to use has escaped! So Kleo ends up having to start his adventure with a slime and a tiny dragon. Not exactly his dream team but he’ll make due. It you are a fan of the original or any kind of monster training type manga like Pokémon then you will probably like this manga too.
That’s it for this week! I hope you all had a great week! Did you do anything fun or read anything good? I’m always looking for recommendations or just to talk in the comments!
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