I think I am too much of a yapper to actually do rapid, flash reviews, but I'll try to make them short because there's a lot to get through, and most of it has faded from my memory already.
I went on a trip that spanned May through the end of June, and I thought I'd have so much more to talk about, but I was on a big DNF'ing spree, unfortunately. I am quite sad to say that my reads from these past months were a bit lack luster. Thus, my reviews will be a bit rough today
Books Mentioned
- Funny Story by Emily Henry
- One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
- The Sunshine Court by Nora Sakavic
- Wind Breaker by Satoru Nii
- Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu
- Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
- Severance by Ling Ma
Rating: ★★★ (3/5)
I read this one way, way back at the end of April, so my memory is a little hazy. I just remember this one being one of the more lackluster Emily Henry stories that I read. I loved the set-up, the situation that Daphne was in was awful and reading about how she dealt with the aftermath of her relationship and also watching the budding relationship between her and Miles was very fun to read. However, I did not connect to this story the way I did to the others. Emily Henry has a very distinct way of writing that I admittedly need to adjust to as I am reading, but in this one, the language and tone never really settled with me the way I wanted it to. I also did not feel as much of a connection between the characters as I usually do in her other books. In all, it was a very entertaining read, but not a standout in her collection.
I am, however, very much looking forward to her new novel that was just announced as I am typing this. Hoping Great Big Beautiful Life is everything I wish it to be and more.
One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
Rating: ★★+0.75 (2.75/5)
This is one that I really don't remember much of. I picked it up because I saw a lot of reviews saying that it was extremely compelling and had a very unique magic system, but I was very apathetic towards the story. I do agree that the magic system was very unique and I am a bit tempted to read the next installment because of it, but even though I've heard the sequel is much better, the story did not stand out to me enough to compel me to pick up the sequel.
The Sunshine Court by Nora Sakavic
Rating: ★★★ (3/5)Is realizing that the writing is almost unfathomably awful a side effect of growing up? Then I wish I never grew up. The All for the Game series was one of my favorite series of all time, but I haven't touched it in years and I truly don't remember Neil being such an edgelord. Maybe he was, and I was just young and willfully blind, but I full-body cringed at some of the lines Sakavic wrote in this one.
However, don't get me wrong, this was still peak entertainment. I loved getting to see Neil and Andrew again, and it made me happy to see how much the Foxes lives have changed since the original series. Though I was hit with the realization that the writing is most certainly lacking, I still inhaled this in just a few days, and I will almost certainly be picking up the next one.
Wind Breaker by Satoru Nii
Rating: ★★★+0.75 (3.75/5)
Very back and forth on what to rate this one. I feel like my ratings have been a little harsh for my reads of these months, and same goes for this one. Wind Breaker is a classic shonen manga about a boy named Sakura who moves to a town notorious for being run by delinquents, thinking that he would fit right in with the no-good troublemakers. But when he gets there, he realizes that the "delinquents" here are well-loved by the townspeople and are dedicated to protecting the peace of the town. It's such a heartwarming story, but it unfortunately falls a little flat for me. I struggled to get through the first 20-30 chapters, and though the characters are quite endearing, none of them have captured my heart the way I hoped they would. While the enjoyment of every story is subjective, I definitely see this as a case of preference, since my taste skews more towards the dark and gritty, and Wind Breaker is a very kind and uplifting story. Many anime fans heavily compare this story to Tokyo Revengers, which has similar themes of delinquency, but Tokyo Revengers is a lot darker and messier, which align more with my tastes. However, I did thoroughly enjoy Wind Breaker, it just didn't stand out to me in comparison to the many shonen manga out there.
Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu
Rating: ★★★★ (4/5)
Peach Blossom Spring is a moving novel that spans many generations of a family. It first follows Meilin and her struggles of being a widow during a very turbulent time in China's history. It then follows Renshu as he struggles to process his family's violence-stricken past while trying to build his own family. I think a lot of readers have come to a consensus that the first half of this book is wonderful, with its immersive description of Meilin's internal and external conflicts when it came to her decisions with what was the best course of action to make sure Renshu grew up safe and secure. I love how nuanced Fu was able to depict this family. Though some characters were very unlikable, I as the reader could sympathize with their behavior, as unbecoming as it was. Meilin was a compelling and well-written protagonist, and I am sad to say that when the point of view switched to Renshu, I was less engrossed.
One thing that I did enjoy from the second half of the novel was seeing how growing up in such a politically unstable time affected the way Renshu viewed life and how that bled into his parenting. I thought Renshu's apprehensiveness towards those he barely knew and the fierce way he guarded his secrets in an attempt to protect his family was extremely relatable. I don't think such behaviors have been completely weaned out, even generations later. What I didn't enjoy as much was the intrafamilial conflicts and how they played out, mainly because they enraged me to the point where it felt like it was never-ending.
In all, I highly recommend Peach Blossom Spring, especially for those who enjoyed Pachinko. There's a lot to learn about the history of China and Han Chinese immigration to Taiwan, and it's a wonderful depiction of generational trauma and how it is unwittingly passed down despite the older generations' good intentions.
Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
Rating: ★★★ (3/5)
I had fun reading this one, even if it admittedly took many, many weeks for me to get through it. It has a very fun premise, and I think a lot of my enjoyment came from finding the little easter eggs from her past books. I liked the protagonists as individual characters, but as a couple I thought they were lackluster. So much so that I actually don't remember too much about this book, though this was one of the more recent ones that I read. Unfortunately, this Abby Jimenez book did not draw me in as much as her past books, but I am looking forward to reading whatever she may publish in the future.
Severance by Ling Ma
Though I read the summary of this book and many, many reviews on it, nothing could prepare me for how I actually felt as I was reading it. Severance is an eerily haunting mirror image of corporate America, and the mindless monotony of the average middle-class American. Before going into the book, I was told that it would be about the parasitic nature of corporate greed. Candace Chen works for a very blatantly exploitative company, and though there is a raging pandemic going around, she is half-oblivious to it as she goes through the motions of life. It is very reflective of life during the COVID19 pandemic, though this book was written a few years before it.
I thoroughly enjoyed Severance; it was different from anything I'd ever read before, and I highly recommend it.
⸺ ⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕ ⸺
I have been reading so many things that haven't been mentioned at all, mainly because I am in the middle of so many different webnovels. I found out that Breaking Through the Clouds has been fully translated, which is really exciting because when I started it 6 years back, there were only 18 or so chapters translated. Same for Peerless, which very recently got licensed and published by Seven Seas, so that's another one that I've been excited to keep up with. I also am making slow progress on Yuwu, which was my favorite read from the beginning of the year. Another webnovel that I've been wanting to start is Lord of Mysteries, but the sheer volume of it intimidates me--it's longer than Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint and I couldn't even muster up the energy to finish that one. One day I'll organize my danmei reading list.
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