The Betrayal Knows My Name, Volume 2 by Hotaru Odagiri

Fiction

Almost the entire Volume 2 omnibus is a battle between the Giou clan and a powerful Opast, a demon, who is taking advantage of lovesick girls in order to gain more power. As more and more girls are lured in with the promise of being able to get attention from the boys they so desperately want, a member of the Giou clan gets caught up in one of the opasts spells. Over the course of trying to locate the opast and the missing clan member, we learn more about the friendship and bond between Hotsuma and Shuusei, who I now refer to as my favorite pair. The answer to the question regarding the history between Zess/Luka and Yuki, that I believe many readers have had as they read through the first volume, is acknowledged and opens up the possibility of learning more about what went on between them in their past life. 

I’m leaving for a camping trip tomorrow afternoon, and you know I am going to be taking Volume 3 with me, possibly Volume 4 as well. I’ll have an update for you on Tuesday. I hope you enjoyed the bonus Friday review this week.

The Betrayal Knows My Name, Volume 1 by Hotaru Odagiri

Fiction

I’m doing something a little different this week. I’ve been having some health issues, and getting to the bottom of things has been taking up a lot of my time and energy, including my mental energy. I have found that it is too difficult for me to concentrate on an intellectual read while I’m worrying about my body and the strange and painful things that are currently going on inside it. So I decided that I needed something fun and different to cheer myself up. Besides being a huge fan of traditional texts, both fictional and non fictional, I also love graphic novels, comic books, and manga. I bought six out of the eight English translated volumes of The Betrayal Knows My Name by Hotaru Odagiri a long time ago. I knew that it was finally time for me to read it.

I have only gotten through Volume 1, and I am already excited to get to Volume 2. I am also preparing to buy the two volumes that I don’t have yet. I haven’t read manga in so long that I forgot how much I love it. The style of art in this series is among my favorite types, realistic but with silly cartoonish bits thrown in. The themes are among my favorites too, fantasy, other worldly, a little bit of romance and intensity. And there are so many interesting characters, I have a hard time picking a favorite and an equally hard time finding anyone to dislike. I am looking forward to learning more about the past life of the main character, Yuki, a high school aged boy, who happened to have been a female in his past life. I also am intrigued as to how Zess/Luka came to join Yuki’s new found family, the Giou clan. Finally, I have taken a special interest in the relationship between Hotsuma and Shuusei. I really want to know what happened between them that caused Hotsuma to inflict scars upon Shuusei and how they still have such a close bond after whatever occured. 

I anticipate blowing through the next volume, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I manage to write a bonus review in time for Friday.

The Lost World by Michael Crichton

Fiction

Another week has gone by and I still haven’t finished the book I started two weeks ago. I feel like no one is going to believe that I have actually finished the book once I do, and that I will have made the review up. If it wasn’t for a sudden onset of abdominal pain and an emergency room visit over the weekend, I believe that I would have been able to focus and get through it. Due to anxiety and discomfort, I needed to read something entertaining to try and keep my mind off things while I waited in my hospital bed. I grabbed The Lost World from my pile before I drove to the hospital.

I had nothing else to do but read while I sat in the emergency department for four hours, but I was not only reading to pass the time, I was reading because the story was excellent. A character that was supposed to have died in Jurassic Park was surprisingly still alive. I actually said “what…”, as I was completely flabbergasted that I was finding myself reading a passage from their point of view. I am glad that this character wasn’t dead, I really enjoyed them in print and in the films. There are several new characters in this sequel, and you will recognize some of them if you have seen the movies. You will also notice that some of the characters are combined into one, or that personality aspects of certain characters are given to several different ones in the film adaptation. Besides enjoying the characters, the plot itself is rich and philosophical as it explores the great debate of all the questions and concerns regarding genetic exploration.

At the end of the book I longed for more, but sadly the author passed away at a relatively young age. I don’t know if he was planning on these books being part of a trilogy, but it definitely could have been explored. In the future, I plan on reading through the entire Michael Crichton collection; he has enough sci-fi books to keep me, or anyone else, going for a long time.

Into the Flame by Christina Dodd

Fiction

I was supposed to have finished a book on sociology for this week’s review, but it is taking me longer to read than I originally thought (I’ll explain more next week). So instead this week I have finished reading the fourth book in the Darkness Chosen series, Into the Flame. 

So I made a few predictions about some plot points in the book and I was wrong about the Wilder daughter, sort of. Although she does not initially find the fourth icon she does end up bringing it back to the family. The fourth son is technically the one who finds it, but like all the other Varinski men he cannot touch it. He manages to remove it from its hiding place by wrapping it up, and after he has hidden it Firebird finds it and brings it to the family home. I also had this idea that the fourth son was possibly an illegitimate son of Konstantine’s from before he ran away with Zorana, but I was wrong about that too. 

The series ends nicely, it’s a happy ending with a massacre preceding it. Overall, it’s a decent series, not nearly one of the best ones that I’ve ever read, but I might be willing to read at least the second and third books again. If you’re looking for an easy read, something to take for a day by the pool, you can choose any one of these books, you can finish one in a day.

Into the Shadow by Christina Dodd

Fiction

I was able to read the third book in the Darkness Chosen series over this past week and it was just as good as the previous book, Touch of Darkness. The plot is kind of similar to the last book, as we follow the story of the third brother, Adrik, and his love interest, Karen, who are far from their homes and the rest of the Wilder family who are back in the states. Now that I have enjoyed two out of the three books in this series, I am optimistic that I will enjoy the fourth, which I already have ready to go in my to read pile on my dresser. I have a feeling that I know who the fourth son is, the prophecy is so far coming true as it was told, and while I originally thought that maybe the Wilder daughter would step in and find the fourth icon, I don’t think it’s going to turn out that way. There is another man that I can’t wait to be introduced to. 

I am currently reading a very interesting book on a topic in sociology, but if I manage to finish it early, I think the fourth and final book in this series could be my bonus Friday blog next week.