Tag: Fiction

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.

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. 

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Fiction

I had a rare moment in which I read a few reviews of this book before I even picked it up. One of them mentioned that it was “slow” and that it kind of put them off continuing with the rest of the series. I bought it and read it anyway, because I usually ignore the opinions of others when it comes to books and films, and I think perhaps that reader was expecting it to be like the first two books. I found that there were equal amounts of down time and action, much less secrecy, more character growth. Also, a lot of the lure and history of the land was given through story telling by several new characters, which I personally enjoyed. I love it when a book gives you a ton of background information about the world, it makes the story so much more interesting. I am glad that I chose to not consider what others had said because we got to go to Wendlyn with Celaena, where magic still exists. We also get several different point of view chapters from characters we already knew, Dorian, Chaol, and Celaena, and new ones. There is more death in this book, more inner torment, and misery, but also a small glimmer of hope. I’m pretty excited to see what happens in the fourth book in this series, even though I have a feeling that things are going to get a lot worse before they start to get better considering that after Heir of Fire there are still four books to go. 

Nod by Adrian Barnes

Fiction

This book was gruesome and real, an end of days scenario written by a narrator in the midst of an existential crisis. It’s philosophical, gritty, and manic. The world is coming to an end but the main character never has an outburst, he seems unusually calm as the world and the people living in it decay around him. Perhaps because he has never really been part of the world to begin with, having always felt disconnected from people, is what makes it easier for him to accept the reality of what is happening. Throughout the story our leading man is rational and real. The lack of emotion in this main character was a change for me, but it was a good change of pace. 

I’m not sure if this is a book I want to keep, I don’t think it is something that I could read again, but I am not going to say that it isn’t worth a read, because it is. I will say, if you love cats, there is a very graphic description of some cruelty in the middle that I definitely do not want to read ever again, I don’t even want to go back to try to find the pages for anyone who wants to read the book but skip that part. This is one of my most interesting finds during one of my many book store browsing sessions.