Happy March everyone! I hope you had a nice February! Did you do anything fun for Valentine’s Day? My fiancée got me sour gummy hearts and a cute stuffed sloth and since we can’t go out to eat we ordered pizza! Is it cold where you live? We got a “cold” front a few weeks and it got into the 50s! That’s pretty cold for out little tropical island. I hope that you guys had a great month and now onto the books! I read quite a few in February, mostly comics and manga but I did manage to read a really cute Christmas themed YA book (I know it’s not Christmas anymore, I just couldn’t resist the cuteness!).
I’m currently reading through a Christmas themed YA book trilogy centered around the two main characters, Dash and Lily. These two could not be more opposite. Dash hates Christmas – all the consumerism and fake holiday cheer (his words, not mine) and Lily is almost the embodiment of the Christmas season – she loves all things Christmas. Through a red Moleskin notebook hidden at the Strand, the two communicate and slowly start to get to know each other.
I don’t want to give any spoilers so I’m not going to talk about book two very much but let’s get into book one! I actually saw this as a movie first and didn’t realize that it was a trilogy. Once I found out I immediately requested it from the library. If you compare the first book to the movie they’re almost two separate entities. Honestly, though I did really enjoy the movie. Just know if you watch it that they’re very different.
In the first book we are introduced to Dash and Lily. Lily is Christmas incarnate and Dash…isn’t. Lily’s brother, Langston, hatches a plan to help Lily find love during the holiday season by putting together a scavenger hunt of sorts, starting at one of her favorite places, The Strand bookstore. Lily and Dash write each other back and forth through the red notebook and traipse all around New York City, getting to know each other through the notebook and through the city. Honestly, this was just really cute. I loved all the places that they went and all the fun stuff that they did along the way. I really enjoyed getting to know these two characters. I felt like in the first book we were only getting to know them on a surface level but then as we went through book two we got more in depth and really grew with them. I’m super excited to read the last book in the series – but also sad because it will be over 😦
This month I read a ton of manga. And we are starting off with one of my favorite series, His Favorite. This was volume eleven in the series and we are are still going strong! This series is always cute and quirky. I love all the characters and I can’t wait to see where the series goes. I feel like we’re running out of things for these boys to do so I really am curious what’s going to happen in future volumes. If you’re a fan of BL then you should definitely check out this series!
Up next we have The Promised Neverland volume 6 by Kaiu Shirai! This is another series that I am loving. I can’t wait to see what happens to the kids in the upcoming volumes! I really enjoyed reading volume six. We learned a lot more information as to how the world works in this series. (SPOILERS AHEAD) I was very interested to learn that the world is divided into two sections – one for the demons and one for people. The two demons that they met and that helped them were way too nice to be true (and I was RIGHT). I absolutely LOVE all the worldbuilding that we got in this volume. I cannot wait for volume seven to come out so we can finally find out more about the world. I hope the kids make it safely across the border. I will be so sad if one of them dies (again).
This next manga is one that I just started. It is Mama Akuma volume 1 by Kuzushiro. This manga is about Sakura, who summons the demon Seere to be her new mama! Seere takes all of his jobs very seriously – usually that involves a lot of killing and murder – so he immediately begins to try to be a mama. Which he immediately fails at doing. Sakura scolds him for things like doing laundry with magic and not moving the furniture when the Roomba vacuums. Seere learns the hard way that being a mama isn’t an easy task. It turns out that Sakura has a big brother AND a dad! Seere is confused as to why he is also needed. But Sakura soon explains that there are certain things that only a mama can do. And so begins this series!
I very much enjoyed reading this manga. It was really cute, a little bit sad, and I think it has a lot of potential to be one of my favorite series! The artwork was really well done as well. Overall, if you’re a fan of slice of life books then you should definitely check out this series!
So this was the one book that I read last month that I didn’t care for. I found it whiny and overly indulgent. We all go through hardships in life but this just seemed like the author was incessantly whining about every little thing. If you are a fan of Mr. Tomine’s work you may like that but I was beyond bored reading this – it was a struggle to finish.
Next up we have the third volume of Heartstopper by Alice Oseman! I covered the first two volumes of this series last month. I was too impatient to read the third volume so I didn’t wait for the library to get it, I bought it myself! I absolutely LOVE this series. Charlie and Nick are so cute together and we got a lot more of the other characters as well! It was really cute to see Tao and Ellie try and sort out their feelings for each other. They were so awkward at times! I also really enjoyed that we got some more backstory on how Tara and Darcy met and started dating. Oh and the school trip! They all went to Paris together. Who doesn’t love a fun school trip episode though?? Overall, this was a really fun volume and I cannot wait (!!!) for volume four!
This next manga was one of my favorites! It’s called Manly Appetites by Mito! This manga was so cute!! I cannot wait for more volumes to come out! This manga centers around Minegishi, a office worker who loves to to cook and feed his coworker, Otsu. Otsu is grumpy and does not understand why Minegishi keeps giving him food. At his previous job, Otsu was not treated nicely by his coworkers. They basically pushed him out because he didn’t fit their stupid body type standards. So when he gets another job and Minegishi starts to feed him he is rightfully suspicious of his kindness. If you like slice of life manga or romances then you should definitely check this one out!
This next one is called Monster and the Beast by Renji. I’m going to have to spoil the first two volumes just a little bit in writing this review so (SPOILER WARNING). In this third installment we see Liam and Cavo separated by an ocean. Liam decides to wait a few days for Cavo in the port city. They finally reunite and continue their travels. In the meantime, we see some of the kings officers trying to catch up with Liam. We find out a little bit more about Liam’s past and why he’s being hunted by the king’s men. I cannot wait to find out more about Liam and what happened with his past! I’m so invested in this manga now. Sadly, volume four isn’t out yet so I will be waiting awhile.
This next one is a comic book called Family Tree, vol. 1: Sapling by Jeff Lemire & Phil Hester. Here is the description from Goodreads: When an eight-year-old girl literally begins to transform into a tree, her single mom, troubled brother and possibly insane Grandfather embark on a bizarre and heart-wrenching odyssey across the back roads of America desperately searching for a way to cure her horrifying transformation before it’s too late.
But the further they get from home, and the closer the girl gets to completely losing her humanity, the more external forces threaten to tear the family apart as fanatical cults, mercenaries and tabloid Paparazzi close in, determined to destroy the girl or use her for themselves.
This is one of the comic books that I wasn’t sure I was going to like. The premise sounded promising though so I decided to give it a shot and I wasn’t disappointed. The story just throws you right in there and you’re finding out what happens as the characters do, which I love. Honestly, you don’t learn much in this first volume. I’m very excited to see where the story goes and why people are turning into TREES?????
This next manga was such a rollercoaster and I loved it! Here’s a description from Goodreads: Guideau: a feral girl with long fangs and the eyes of a beast. Ashaf: a soft-spoken man with delicate features and a coffin strapped to his back. This ominous pair appears one day in a town that’s in thrall to a witch, who has convinced the townsfolk she’s their hero. But Ashaf and Guideau know better. They have scores to settle, and they won’t hesitate to remove anyone in their way…
The Witch and the Beast was such a great manga. Half the time I had no idea what was going on but I loved it all the same. I’m so interested to hear the backstory and figure out why they are hunting this one particular witch down (I mean, we know why it’s to break the curse but why did the witch curse them in the first place???). If you like a dash of mystery in with your supernatural fiction then this is the manga for you!
This last one is a one shot called Secret of the Princess by Milk Morinaga. Fujiwara is a popular student and the captain of the school’s volleyball team. But then she accidentally knocks over and breaks the principal’s fancy vase. She wouldn’t have to worry about anything except that another student, Miu, saw her break the vase! Fujiwara begs her not to say anything and in return she’ll do whatever Miu wants. Which turns out to be, (10 points to you if you saw this coming) that she wants to date Fujiwara! But it’s only practice for when she gets a “real” boyfriend.
Overall, this was a really cute manga. I liked the story, but it did remind me a lot of Host Club. If you’ve read that then you’ll probably like this as well.
Here are a few more that I read this month. I didn’t want to bombard you guys with a gazillion reviews but I did really enjoy these as well.
That is it for this month! I hope you all had a nice February. I would love to hear from you in the comments about what you’re reading. And I’m always looking for suggestions! I haven’t really been able to concentrate on full length novels very much lately so I’ve been looking for a few short story collections to read. Do you guys have any that you like? See you next time and happy reading!
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