Manga Review: Yona of the Dawn

 Summary:Yona is the sole princess of the kingdom, living the luxurious and carefree life as a princess should. She has it all: the finest clothes and cosmetics, the most divine sweets, a loving emperor as a father, and the hottest cousin crush, Soo-won, anyone could ever hope to have. Now, if only her bodyguard, Son Hak, wasn't so annoying to her and her hair wasn't so red.
 But her nearly perfect world quickly shatters as the man she loves, Soo-won, murders her father and the path to his ascension to the throne is assured. Son Hak escapes with Yona, and they lead a life on the run from that point on.

Thoughts: First off, the above six volumes have been translated into English and, at this point in time, the seventh is about the be distributed in English speaking countries as well. I just couldn't find a picture of all the translated covers.
 

 Anyways, so about the series... I watched the anime first. It got me interested in the series and sticks to the mangas perfectly. These first seven or eight volumes are the same story as the anime and can be read or watched without missing anything. I chose to read them again and support their translations because I adore this series. It's basically everything I love in fiction! 
 The story revolves around a young girl who lived a perfect life until it was shattered by the person she loved. She then goes on a journey to discover herself and rescue her kingdom. Along the way she gathers around her an oddball group of strange misfits that make up a family. And, even though she's the only girl in the group, their is only one actual love interest, so no love triangles! Just...a lot of confusion. 
(Note: read manga panels right to left.)
 
 Yona is a strong girl. She wears skirts ad likes pretty things but she also knows how to be capable. She learns how to take care of herself but never turns down a helping hand. This leaves her as one of the most lovable female heroines I've ever seen. 
 The rest of the cast is great too. They tend to leave me with tears streaming down my face because I was laughing so hard over their antics. 
 The story is breathtakingly wonderful. Yona learns about her kingdom and becomes embroiled in politics, war, and famine. From stopping drug dealers to making peace with kingdoms (pardon, I'm moving ahead of the six volumes in this review but I'll try not to include too many spoilers) the story keeps you riveted and actually has you caring for the well-being of an entire country. 
 The art is really good and the writing is great. Rarely do I see such great dynamics between such a mixed cast of characters. Despite being the only girl in the group, Yona is treated with respect and I don't worry about inappropriate scenes popping up. The humor is mostly clean and absolutely hilarious and the action scenes manage to be interesting without having to repeat dramatic scenes (which happens a lot in mangas targeted at girls). So, really, one of my all time favorite manga series!
 

Content: Ok, yes, despite my previous advocation of how clean this manga is there are a few things I need to mention. In volume 1 Yona is seen coming out of a lake where she had been bathing, naked. This is to show that she has leeches on her but that, in turn, causes her to scream and her only companion, her male bodyguard, is required to come and get them off of her. The bodyguard did his best to remain composed and respectful in this scene and nothing more happened than the removal of the leeches but it was still inappropriate. There is a character who enters in volume six who flirts often and is often scene in the company of harlots or poorly dressed women (these peters out after the seventh or eighth volume). A male character is often seen sleeping with a female character but these are non-sexual and are often either for protection or due to lack of room.Yona is also shown to be in love with her cousin which, in the ancient setting that this is placed in, was actually considered a proper choice of marriage for a princess (this happened in England and China and...just about anywhere there was a monarchy for a long time. They liked to keep the crown in the family) so it was meant more a historical reference rather than something inappropriate. There are mentions of woman being kidnapped and sold into slavery and a few other mature topics. There is fighting, violence, and blood with some rather excessive gore later on in the series. There are certain characters that are given 'special abilities' and these could be seen as a magical addition to the story, otherwise there is no magic. The language contains a few mentions of D***, C***, H***, and B*****d (these are the common translations for the Japanese words used here and are not meant to be as offensive as they come off as in the English language). 
 A long list, I know, but it's a pretty long series and everything falls pretty far away from each other. All in all, this is actually a fairly clean series that I would say is appropriate for young teens and anyone who can handle the mature topics discussed (these being the most frequent content). But trust me, its a really good read!


 

Manga Series Review: Yotsuba&!

 Summary: Yotsuba! presents the story of the new kid in town - little Yotsuba, a green-haired and wide-eyed girl who doesn't have a clue... about anything! With no knowledge of the world around her, and an unnatural fear of air conditioners, Yotsuba has her new neighbors' heads spinning.
 

Thoughts: This is one of the most adorable series I've ever had the pleasure of reading! Having lived with small children (mostly girls) all my life I find Yotsuba to be the most realistic fictional kid ever! At nearly five years old she wants to know about and discover everything and everyday brings something new! 
(Note: Read right to left with manga panels)

 This series has some of the best writing! I laugh so hard at almost every chapter and then get teary eyed over the smallest of things. The art is really nice to. Not overdone but with more realistic sizing and proportions than some mangas.
 The story is simple and sweet; the world through the eyes of a five year old. It reminds you how amazing the world we live in really is and brings out a great appreciation for the small things in life. 
 The characters are fantastic. From Yotsuba's dad o the girls next and everyone else, either passing by or here to stay, are full of life and character. You never get tired of seeing them in their everyday life!
 

Content: Though nothing is shown there is occasional implied full-or-partial nudity (a scene where Yotsuba is in the bath with her dad, someone shouting in the background about their pants falling down). A few translations might include D***, C*** or even B******. These are the translators though, the original Japanese words would not have seemed as offensive. The official translation with Yen Press has labeled it 'A' for 'All Ages' so it should be clean. I hope so, this is a really adorable series and I approve of just about anyone reading them! It's a great insight into modern day Japanese cultural and a relatable story of very real characters. Trust me, if you want something lighthearted that will make you feel good and supply a good laugh, read this series!

Book Review: Escape Velocity

 Summary: Pupils and staff at HIVE are horrified to discover that Dr Nero has been captured by the forces of HOPE, the Hostile Operative Prosecution Executive, the world’s newest and most ruthlessly efficient security force. Three months pass without any news of his fate, and Number One has decided to appoint a sinister new headmistress for the school, somebody that the pupils and staff had thought that they’d seen the last of. Meanwhile Otto is also struggling to cope with new abilities that are starting to manifest themselves; can he really be unconsciously interfacing with computers without physical contact? And if he is, what exactly do these new powers really mean? The only way to find Nero and the truth behind the lies is to escape HIVE. Otto must get out, and take the risks which come with being a rogue agent. Then he just has to break into MI6…..

Thoughts: I really love these books and I'll never be able to say why. I can see most of the twists coming, the characters aren't as developed as they could be...but I really love these books! 
 The story is all very much what you would expect from a story of 'evil' real-world super-agents. Lots of action and cool gadgets (real and fictional). Plenty of shocking (if not completely unexpected) twists. And even a bit of sci-fi thrown in at the end! 
 The writing style keeps the story simple and easy to follow no matter how chaotic the situation is. The only problem is that it moves too fast. i think that because these books are marketed towards a younger audience the writing tends to focus more on what's going on than what the characters are really feeling...which leads to certain scenes feeling anti-climatic or underdeveloped.There was one scene in the end that I felt could have potentially left me in tears but was instead just sort of brushed over.
 Despite this flaw the characters are still so much fun! I see a lot of potential in them that I hope will become clearer as the series progresses. The returning characters are great, the newer characters feel a little bland and, due to the fact that most of them are actual villains, stereotypical; basically what you expect from a character who's ony purpose is to be a bad guy and not really add to the story.
 Despite all my nay-saying, the books really are a lot of fun and easy reads.

Content: D*** and C*** are used a few times. One of the girls makes some flirtatious remarks to one of the boys. A lot of violence and explosions but very little in the way of blood or death. 
 All in all, a clean read for a mature middle-grader or older, though a good read for anyone looking for an action-packed story with fun characters!

Book Review: Last Stand of Dead Men

Summary: War has finally come.
 But it's not a war between good and evil, or light and dark – it's a war between Sanctuaries. For too long, the Irish Sanctuary has teetered on the brink of world-ending disaster, and the other Sanctuaries around the world have had enough. Allies turn to enemies, friends turn to foes, and Skulduggery and Valkyrie must team up with the rest of the Dead Men if they're going to have any chance at all of maintaining the balance of power and getting to the root of a vast conspiracy that has been years in the making.
 But while this war is only beginning, another war rages within Valkyrie herself. Her own dark side, the insanely powerful being known as Darquesse, is on the verge of rising to the surface. And if Valkyrie slips, even for a moment, then Darquesse will burn the world and everyone in it.

Thoughts: Ah! Everything went wrong! I mean, if it could go wrong, it did! So much happened! I don't even know where to begin! 
 Ok, deep breath; first off,  this is the eighth book in this series so if you haven' read the first seven books you'll be completely lost with this one, they're aren't stand-alone books. 
 On the other hand, if you're already up-to-date on the previous seven then this is a must read for any fan of this series. 
 The characters, old and new were great, just great. The dialogue was hilarious and had me laughing, sometimes even when the story had me crying. 
 The story was the best. So many twists and turns I never saw coming! It was awful and fabulous all at once!
 The writing never fails to hold my interest but the scenes of fighting and war were especially good. For being such a violent series, Landy never forgets to point out that violence, especially unnecessary violence, is never a good thing. He keeps a good perspective going throughout the entire book and usually left me fuming or crying. But, of course, only a good book can make you feel so much.

Content: Ok it's almost all there for language: D***, C***, and H*** are a few of the more noteworthy words used. There is a scene where many female witches are shown dressed like belly-dancers basically. In same scene same witches talk about 'breeding' with a male hostage of theirs. There are a few implications or rude comments made but these are usually let unclear as to whether or not anything inappropriate was intended. There is a lot of violence, natural and magical. Blood and gore in excess. There is also tons of magic being used and some of the more frowned upon magical creatures show up in here, vampires and witches mainly. SPOILER In the end, a female character attempts to save people by burning herself alive from the inside. This is attempted suicide (with heroic intentions but still) coupled with the fact that her clothes are burned off. There were some fairly graphic descriptions of her dying but EXTRA SPOILER she doesn't and is therefore left with nothing on for awhile.END ALL SPOILERS.
So, all in all, despite being marked as a children's book still (for reasons I will never understand or agree with) this is definitely one for the older crowd. It's not a clean read and I won't pretend that it is but it's not as horrible as the condensed Content has a tendency to make it sound. If you've enjoyed the last several books Last Stand of Dead Men will not disappoint!

Book Review: The Color of Magic

 Summary: On a world supported on the back of a giant turtle (sex unknown), a gleeful, explosive, wickedly eccentric expedition sets out. There's an avaricious but inept wizard, a naive tourist whose luggage moves on hundreds of dear little legs, dragons who only exist if you believe in them, and of course THE EDGE of the planet...

Thoughts: This was a hilarious little book that I read in my break time at work. I was really hard put not to burst out laughing in front of my coworkers every time I picked it up.
 The setting was...unique, to say the least. I still have a hard time imagining a world on the back of a turtle on the back of a...well elephants were mentioned and something about space. The 'laws' of magic and the rules of this strange world were equally hard to wrap my mind around but it all worked together to make a really fascinating story with an in depth look at how magic can be used to the utmost without ever even trying to make it realistic.
  The two main characters were what really kept me interested. Rincewind (the inept wizard) and Twoflower (the tourist) were such a pair of bumbling fools that I couldn't help but hope that they made it safely somewhere by the end of their story. Everyone else that came in was a little iffy. I didn't dislike them but for how short the book was it felt like other characters simply passed through and never really left a lasting impression. There were too many problem characters though, scantily clad men and women being a large portion of them.
 The writing style was great and had me easily immersed in the story.

Content: The biggest and worst was, unfortunately, the nudity. While one is already more than is appropriate, there were way too many descriptions of women with little-to-no clothing on. The descriptions weren't graphic but they carried the point across. There were a few D***'s in language but I don't recall anything worse. Lots of fantasy violence. And magic, tons and tons of magic. There were also 'gods' of this Discworld who's purpose was a little lost on me but they made interesting characters, even so be warned that shrines to these gods and worshiping them are mentioned. All in all, this might be acceptable for a mature reader but, despite my enthusiasm above, I really can't recommend it as a clean read at all.

Book Review: Kingdom of Souls

Summary: Magic is a disease.
 Across the land, normal people are suddenly developing wild and unstable powers. Infected by a rare strain of magic, they are unwittingly endangering their own lives and the lives of the people around them. Terrified and confused, their only hope lies with the Sanctuary. Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain are needed now more than ever.
  And then there's the small matter of Kitana. A normal teenage girl who, along with her normal teenage friends, becomes infected. Becomes powerful. Becomes corrupted. Wielding the magic of gods, they're set to tear the city apart unless someone stands up against them.
 Looks like it's going to be another one of those days…

Thoughts: This was one of the few books in this series that actually seemed to touch on some more serious notes than normal. There's the concept of bad and good and good that's twisted into bad. Nice people are introduced and many are hurt. Valkyrie actually questions the way she and her partner do things and thinks about other people for a bit. I appreciated the new look in this otherwise dark and funny story. 
 The plot is, at its basic form, save the world again. But this time, the main villain isn't trying to destroy it. He's trying to make it a better place. The problem comes when bad people twist that intention and then you've got several highly powered psychos running around.  
 I will always love the main cast for this series. The side characters and the new ones are good but can sometimes feel like the last bunch of extra characters. Even so, it's hard to not enjoy the good ones when the bad guys are tearing up the place.
 The writing is still great. The back and forth between all the cast is usually quick, witty and absolutely hilarious! And the action is well written, it keeps tings interesting but is easy to keep up with. 

Content: My least favorite part of these books (posting about them and reading them). 
 Language is bad; D***, C***, H*** Bloody H***, and several others of the same level are present in here. There are also a few inappropriate comments on some female characters because of their lack of modest clothing. Kissing. Magic, lots of magic. And lots of dark creatures such as vampires and werewolves. Also plenty of frightening and violent scenes, the plot lines get really dark and mature. All in all, I would not suggest this book to anyone under sixteen to be honest and really can't recommend it to anyone sensitive to anything listed above. But it is still another fun and thrilling edition to this dark and hilarious series.

Book Revew: Library of Lost Souls

 

 Summary: A boy with extraordinary powers. An army of deadly monsters. An epic battle for the future of peculiardom. 
 The adventure that began with Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and continued in Hollow City comes to a thrilling conclusion with Library of Souls. As the story opens, sixteen-year-old Jacob discovers a powerful new ability, and soon he’s diving through history to rescue his peculiar companions from a heavily guarded fortress. Accompanying Jacob on his journey are Emma Bloom, a girl with fire at her fingertips, and Addison MacHenry, a dog with a nose for sniffing out lost children.
 They’ll travel from modern-day London to the labyrinthine alleys of Devil’s Acre, the most wretched slum in all of Victorian England. It’s a place where the fate of peculiar children everywhere will be decided once and for all. 

Thoughts: I've finally gotten around to reading it! And it was so good!
 Okay, actually it dragged a little in the beginning. The majority of the series has a large group of children in it but the beginning of this book only has three of the cast for almost half the story. It therefore lacked some of the fun dynamics and quirks that I enjoyed seeing in the group. Even so, it was amazing and the end had me on the edge of my seat, gripping the book and holding my breath.
 The writing fir these stories is amazing. It's almost poetic and yet somehow remains a realistic-sounding point of view from a modern-day teenage boy.
 The cast were fabulous. New, old, and familiar; everyone was great. I love the kids in these books!

Content: Ok, well this might have the biggest list yet. In language we have D***, C***, and even one of two F***'s. There is a scene where a young couple sleep together but literally they just fall asleep while holding each other, they are fully clothed and there are other people in the room. And then there's the violence. They have just about every type from war, to child abuse, to things with needles and knives. Not pretty. There's also a bit more of a magical thread to this story than in the previous books though they all have supernatural trends (like the peculiar traits). 
 All in all, a great conclusion to the series but not suggested for readers of all ages.