Reincarnation – Nonfiction and Nonsense

A Moment In Time by Bertrice Small

After last weeks disappointment, I decided that I needed to read a book that I knew would be well written and contain an amazing story. I knew that Bertrice Small, a woman I consider the queen of historical romance on top of being one of my favorite authors, would have a book for me. I have read many of her books over the years but I have never picked up her stand alone novel, A Moment In Time. The majority of the story takes place in 11th century Wales but the tale begins a thousand years before the main characters Wynne and Madoc even meet. If you enjoy the theme of reincarnation, you will find yourself enthralled with both joy and sadness several times over as the souls of these two lovers find each other at this particular moment in time.

This is the first Bertrice Small book I have read that is not part of a larger series and it has encouraged me to read her other singular novels. I am lucky enough to have access to what may be a complete collection of all of the late Smalls novels, and I may not be able to control myself in consuming another one of her books. Her books are long, usually well over three hundred pages. But they are so interesting, full of adventure, and packed with romance, that you don’t even realize how much time has passed, you truly get lost in her stories. I recommend A Moment In Time if you aren’t ready to commit to a series but you do want to find a new author to love.

The Betrayal Knows My Name, Volume 8 by Hotaru Odagiri

Fiction

I knew it! The series ends, but it feels unfinished. The author states in the final volume that she didn’t want to end it, and that maybe she will be able to bring back these characters in the future, but that she ended it when she had to in what she thought was the best way to do so. I feel bad that the author felt pressured to illustrate and write the story in order to try to get it out in a decent amount of time while struggling with health issues. But, I am disappointed that we are left with so many unanswered questions while only being given a small glimmer of hope that they might be answered one day. And I do feel like the ending was a little bit rushed, she seemed to try to fit as much as she could into the final pages in order to try to give the readers a small portion of what they might have been hoping for.

Even though I know how the series ends, I am going to watch the animated series to see how it compares to the books. Maybe the story goes further in the show than the author was able to go with her illustrations, that would be a really pleasant bonus.

For anyone who hasn’t been enjoying my passage into manga, I have finally been feeling well enough to have the mental focus to read books that don’t have pictures. So next week will be back to the regular program, with an autobiographical account of someone who worked for the man that once owned a well known New Jersey attraction.

The Betrayal Knows My Name, Volume 7 by Hotaru Odagiri

Fiction

I’m starting to think that volume eight is not the last volume of The Betrayal Knows My Name, just the last volume translated into English. If this is the case, I will be disappointed, but I have the anime to look forward to. So, if I am left hanging I can at least see the resolution in live action rather than in 2D.

The events of volume seven just make me feel as though there aren’t enough pages in volume eight for everything to be resolved. I might be wrong but I don’t think we have even seen Reiga since volume four, and if we have it is just a brief depiction of him talking to one of his associates. The zweilt are still searching for the kid with the grimoire. I still don’t know what went on in the past to cause such tension between Sairi and Luka, but I bet it’s really intense. Takashiro is still locked in a room with only two people knowing exactly where he is and why. The last volume is only slightly thicker and all of this is going to get answered? I’m not convinced, and I’m slightly skeptical about my curiosity being satisfied. I hope I am not left disappointed, as the series has been really good! I’ll have my final thoughts for you on Friday.

The Betrayal Knows My Name, Volume 6 by Hotaru Odagiri

Fiction

My favorite pair is still alive! Everyone is still alive actually. I do have a feeling that at least one of the main characters is going to die because of something that was mentioned in the previous volume. I don’t think this series will have a completely happy ending. I’m going to go ahead and predict that Luka will die, either by his own hand or someone else’s, Takashiro might die either from his demon or he might kill himself to end his suffering, or maybe Sairi, I just get a kind of suspicious feeling about him.

I’m starting to feel really bad for Yuki. We’ve known from the beginning that he has been an orphan since he was a newborn, and we thought we knew the circumstances, but it turns out that he has been lied to. It seems like he will learn the real truth in the next volume considering a few members of the zweilt told him a little bit of the real story. There are only two very thin volumes left and I am wondering how they are going to wrap everything up, it seems like there aren’t enough pages left to complete the story. I hope it isn’t rushed, I really dislike it when a great story gets pushed along too quickly.

The Betrayal Knows My Name, Volume 5 by Hotaru Odagiri

Fiction

For the few followers I have, I apologize for going missing for a few weeks. I had surgery and I needed some time to heal. I had anticipated reading a lot while I was confined to my bed but it turns out it is really difficult to read when you are physically exhausted and taking pain medication that makes you want to sleep all day.

I started off easy after my resting period and continued on with The Betrayal Knows My Name. The first half of the book is pretty light hearted, the whole crew goes on a trip to the baths and they have a fun time. But the second half gets dark and makes me worried. I am very concerned about the future of one half of my favorite pair. I finished the book in one night because I thought we would see the conclusion to this conflict, but the author left it on a huge cliffhanger. I really had to control myself to not pick up the next volume as soon as I woke up this morning and skip work all together. The next volume is much smaller than the first five, in fact, the final three volumes are half the size of the first five. I hope we aren’t left with any loose ends. But, I think that if something really awful happens in the beginning of the next volume that the zweilt will be motivated to end the centuries long battle and we could see an end to everything rather quickly. I’ll be back either this Friday or next Tuesday with an update, I’m happy to be back.