lastblossom's reviews
217 reviews

tl;dr
Beautiful artwork and competent writing power an extremely familiar fairy tale storyline that should satisfy fans of the genre.

Thoughts
It's one of the most enduring stories of all time: A young woman of impassable beauty and impeccable morals is abused by her family for years until a prince appears to take her from her broken life into one that treats her like the princess she is. At last she is rewarded for her years of selfless kindness and excellent housekeeping when someone in a place of power sees the true value of her and her heart. There's definitely a supernatural element. There might even be a splash of revenge on the side. This iteration also includes a very tender look at the trauma of growing up with abuse, and how much the victim learns to internalize their own blame. Quite frankly, the first bit where she was stuck with her family was hard to get through - by design, of course, but WOW. Her family is terrible. Her new life is great, with a cast of fun characters to support her as she slowly learns to accept that she deserves to be treated like an actual person.

And that's kind of all we get for the first volume. The ayakashi world-building is interesting, but not in-depth (yet), with a few details that make it stand out from other stories. Her magical power manifests in making the world's most awesome breakfasts, which literally imbue the person eating it with magic. There is some sexy blood-licking as well. But for the most part, the story is just setting up all the characters for whatever conflict is to come. There are very few surprises, but the familiarity is comforting, and very competently written. If this is the kind of story you enjoy, The Ayakashi Hunter should be a very satisfying read. The art is delicate and confident, with some really great expressions from the story's villain, and there are plenty of sexy (but low spice!) moments to be had. The translation is very easy to read, and flows naturally. There are a lot of places this could go from here to distinguish itself from similar stories, but so far, it's a great start.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics from an advance copy! All thoughts in this review are my own.

tl;dr
Bigger in scope that the previous books, Holy Terrors ties up all the the loose threads in a satisfying ending, even without the smaller, snugger tones that made me love the first book so much.

Thoughts
"Little Thieves" is one of my favorite books of all time. Its sequel "Painted Devils" is... not. So how does the third and final book in this trilogy stack up? I'm happy to say we're closer to first book energy, and it's excellent.

Buckle in folks, this is a long one! Yes, longer than the first two. Vanja's back, and she's doing her best to put good into the world the only way she knows how - by thieving and tricking her way through society, this time in service of the poor and needy instead of herself. Does it work? Mostly! Up until someone starts killing royalty, and leaving her calling card behind. To no one's surprise, a certain Prefect Conrad is on the case, and they're going to have to work together to find the real culprit before the entire kingdom falls apart (perhaps literally).

The stakes and the magic are significantly higher this time around, with magical items, spell-slinging, and multiple gods involved in a very twisty plot that connects all the loose threads from the previous two books. And when I call it a twisty plot, I mean it. This thing has got LAYERS, packed with red herrings, alternate pathways, and so many surprises. The scale of it as also much bigger. The first book felt like the fairy tale retelling that it is. A dash of magic, but a compact world with a single advancing plot. This book feels like we hit the gas HARD. In order, the books are basically Iron Man, Iron Man II, Avengers Endgame. It's big. It's epic. It doesn't hit the same vibes as before, but it does feel like the natural conclusion of the arc that the first two books set up. It's a satisfying end to the story, but the overall feel is definitely bigger.

And like Endgame, we have a huge cast of fan favorites! Ragne, Gisele, and Joniza are all very welcome returns, and several new characters are an absolute delight. The return of some less scrupulous characters is also at hand, all with machinations of their own.

And that just leaves our lovelorn heroes. Do they make up? Will they finally be honest with each other? Will they finally be honest with themselves? Will it be anything like all the frustrations of book 2 that made me so upset? Yes and no! The romantic drama continues to unfold, but unlike teen awkwardness of Book 2, we fall more into second chance romance patterns. Sniping, bickering, and all sorts of ~feelings~ are the order of the day, but unlike the previous volume, Vanja and Emeric remain focused on solving the mystery as well. The dreaded miscommunication rears its head more than I'd like, but they're at least smart enough to listen to other people this time around. They've both got a lot to unpack, and the unpacking begins with the help of friends and some frank self-reflection. Also a bit of familiar-sounding poetry. (Which makes me realize that... is Margaret Owen sneaking pop culture lyrics into all her books and I only just now noticed? Oops.) But yes, it turns out the kids are alright, and fans of this pairing should be pleased with the outcome.

ALSO. The illustrations in this one are my favorite so far. Beautiful work.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for an advance copy. All thoughts in this review are my own!

The previous book, much like its lead, felt very new to the scene. The premise was interesting enough to hook me, but the mystery didn't feel terribly Sherlockian in nature. This one, however, really does. It's a step up from the first book, as the writing and the character feel a lot more confident.

The mystery is just a little more tangled in all the good ways. There's an aura of Baskerville hanging over the proceedings. And our lead actually does a reasonable amount of detective work! It's a subtle but welcome shift from the first book, and the mystery lines up a lot more with expectations for a Holmes-style adventure. The B plot departs from the Holmes formula with complications in Harry's own life, but it's also a step up from the first book, with the mystery of what's happening at her workplace getting deeper, and a potential romance getting warmer.

tl;dr
Court politics, fae intrigue, magical school, and parents with secrets all converge, with a romance that moves way faster than the rest of the plot.

Thoughts
I'm going to have to split this into two parts, because the plot and the romance both did entirely different things for me.

We'll start with the main plot, which feels a bit like a magical potpourri of ideas. There's fae court intrigue and all sorts of political machinations. There might be a war on the horizon! There's a missing parent with a dark past. And also, there's a magical school that Bristol only sometimes attends. It's a lot to fit together, but it does seem to work for the most part. The school section gets the short end of this, with Bristol's fellow classmates painted as interesting, but largely non-present in the rest of the threads. The separate threads weave together by the end of the book into a fairly focused storyline.  There are enough original takes in here that the story feels fresh, without straying too far from what makes faerie court intrigue as popular as it is. Some of the reveals in the second half especially look like they'll be setting up some cool things in the next book.

The romance is where I find myself struggling. I like a good enemies-to-lovers, and the story certainly opens up as if we're going to get there with some nice slow burn. But they say time passes differently in the faerie world, and time must also pass differently in this book, because these characters fell in love WAY faster than I expected. There was some bickering, and then suddenly there wasn't, like a switch had been flipped. It's not quite instalove, but it certainly comes close. If you enjoy sudden and searing passion in your romances, this will probably land well with you. But for fellow fans of a relationship that has to marinate a little longer, you may feel a bit of whiplash at how quickly the first declaration of love appears.

Thanks to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for a review copy! All thoughts in this review are my own.

tl;dr
Picks up where the last volume left off with likable characters, even more world building and consistently good art.

The first volume of Clock Striker wound up being my favorite manga of 2023, and I'm so glad I finally managed to get a copy of volume 2, because it might be another favorite. Clock Striker hits a very particular balance between homage to classic shonen manga, and original story ideas and beats. In my last review, I fretted that the fast pace meant world building was sparse, but there's plenty of world building in here to feed my need to know, and I love the how the sci-fi/steampunk aspects click into the story. Cast remains strongly the heart of the story with an infectious energy and love of science and justice that makes her an extremely likable hero. We also get to learn a lot more about Klaus, with some fun plot twists that I did not see coming. The art is consistently strong, with expressive character work, and some expansive scenery. The more I see of this world, the more I want. I am very much looking forward to volume 3!

Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for a review copy. All thoughts in this review are my own!

tl;dr
A fast-paced plot painted on a world canvas that feels a little too vast for the scope of the book. Lots of food descriptions.

Thoughts
Have you ever read a book and thought "This should have been a video game?" Because that thought sat in the back of my head the whole way through. The plot is fast-paced with a structure of narration (cutscenes), hunting for ingredients (map exploration), and then the culinary battle (boss fight). There're also dating sim elements, and plenty of one-on-one campfire chats with supporting cast that slowly reveal everyone's personal motives. Heck, there are even tidbits of world lore on the "loading screens" between chapters. And speaking of world lore, there's a lot of fun stuff to mine in here. The author's bio talks about growing up in a diverse Asian neighborhood, and that's evident in the variety of food and names presented here (shout out to the calamansi mention). The competition is as brutal as promised, with Squid Game-esque levels of punishment for losers, and there are plenty of layers of backstory for all of the characters with a much larger world just beyond the doors of the competition. And that's where a video game structure might really have come in handy. There's too much to fit into one book, but plenty for a game with multiple playthroughs. On this route, Cai can date Bo. On this route, she skips romance entirely to learn more about Kama. On this route, she absolutely obliterates the competition early on. Heck, can we add that rival kid from the first chapter as DLC?

My point is that the world is so vast that I felt really locked in to the choices that actually appeared on the page. Love triangles aren't my thing, for example. (I accept the fault is with the reader here.) Especially the kind where the two options get increasingly hostile with each other, and then the MC. Spending most of the time on the romance took away the potential of the competition plot for me, but I'm sure it'd be the selling point for other readers. There are just so many enticing ideas and plot hooks dangling in front of me, and the book only had time to chase down one of them. Alas!

The food content is mixed for me. I cook a lot, and I cook Asian food a lot. Make no mistake, I'm very mid. That being said, I expected more cooking here. This book is overflowing with sumptuous descriptions of food and eating, but the actual cooking techniques and moments are surprisingly sparse. The first round gave us some insight into Cai's ingredient choices, but after that, there's very little. Cai's supposedly a genius cook, but we never get any look into that genius. I cheered when (mild spoiler alert) the final theme ingredient was eggs, because eggs are used to make noodles, and we'd spent the entire book hearing that she's a master of noodle-making. I couldn't wait for her to show off kneading the dough, the stretching, the twisting, the flourish with her knife as she cut noodles with precision. Everyone else would finally see her at her best and most brilliant. But instead she made omurice? Right after she admits in the narrative how much she misses making noodles for an audience? Anyway, this last point in particular doesn't seem to bother anyone else, so I'm gonna put a mark in the curmudgeon column for me.

Overall, this book didn't land with me, but if you told me it was being converted into a video game, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sweet July Books for an advance copy. All thoughts in this review are my own!

tl;dr
Another twisty mystery set in an ever-evolving kaiju world. Builds on the first book with more world-building, more mystery, and some sneaky reveals.

Thoughts
Great news, everybody! This book is very good. If you've already read the first one, you probably guessed it would be. (And if you haven't read the first one, I heartily recommend it.) Nearly everything that made the first book amazing is back: A tightly plotted mystery, more plantcore world building, Ana's wild genius, and Din's relatable narration. (I say nearly everything because sadly Kepheus Strovi is not present, leaving both Din and this reader bereft.) In my previous review, I did note some concerns that the story would begin to drift away from solving murders towards more of the leviathan stuff. Interestingly enough, while plenty more big plot pieces are revealed, I didn't feel like the mystery aspect was lost at all. We've got locked rooms, impossible thefts, government secrets, and political shenanigans aplenty. It's a fairly seamless genre blending, and I now have my fingers crossed that we'll have plenty more to come.

Thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for an advance copy. All thoughts in this review are my own!

tl;dr
Reluctant partners pulling a heist while backstabbing each other make for some high drama stakes. Big cliffhanger promises more to come.

Thoughts
A quick peek at my recent reading shows I've been in the mood for adversarial relationships lately. Rivals? Absolutely! Enemies? Let's go! Thankfully, this book serves up a heaping helping of conflict in the leads Zaria and Kane, so it hit my mood perfectly. You've probably heard this setup before: Boy is a criminal who needs specialized skills to steal something important. Girl is a specialist down on luck and in need of money. They'd be a perfect match if they didn't hate each other so much. But in a town as rough as this, who can afford to love? Certainly not these two! And this is where the story takes a turn from the expected. While there are definitely hints of slow burn romance, don't expect this to be about them falling in love. Rather, it's a story about two desperate people trying to extract as much use as they can out of the other while the clock ticks down. It's messy, and ugly, and very human. Our leads aren't necessarily likable, but you can't help but want to see what happens next. (Also, two extremely likable supporting cast members really help keep the leads from getting too frustrating.)

This books is ostensibly historical fiction, based on The Crystal Palace, but with alchemy in the forefront (and the author's own admission), historical accuracy is minimal at best. I would recommend approaching it as the fantasy that it is. Also, this books ends on a cliffhanger, and dang if it didn't make everything leading up to it feel even more satisfying. I look forward to the next installment.

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for the advance copy. All thoughts in this review are my own!

tl;dr
A super cute grumpy/sunshine high school rom com with a relatable lead and a fun supporting cast. Weirdly, the part about masks and a secret club somehow feels superfluous.

Thoughts
I'm incredibly split on this book. I showed up expecting the thread about book-lovers donning masks and seeking out a secret club to be my favorite part. It's literally the point of the book, right? But not only was it not my favorite part, I don't think I liked it at all? But let's rewind and start with what DID wind up being my favorite part. Evie and Gabriel are very cute together. We get a touch of grumpy/sunshine dynamic with a heavy dose of "got off on the wrong foot" energy, and it was very sweet seeing them slowly open up to each other. The little sparks of joy Evie gets when she makes Gabriel smile were exceptionally cute, and the progression of their relationship felt very natural. Plenty of blushing, hand-holding, and some sweet kisses tie up the daytime arc as a very cute rom com. Other highlights of the daytime events include Evie's outgoing friend group (and a bonus rom com happening off screen with one of them), and a family where problems eventually get solved via open communication. Hooray for open communication!

But as much as I enjoyed the characters and their interpersonal interactions, I simply could not get into the plot. The promise of Evie using a mask to be "more herself" seems only half-fulfilled, as she doesn't really behave any differently as Fantasma. I'm not asking her to be an axe murderer in her downtime, but I had expected her to be a little more exploratory under the cover of anonymity. Maybe go back to all that piano she liked, but wasn't allowed to do? The closest we come is that she shows fanart to more people, but she was drawing fanart in front of Gabriel already, so even that doesn't feel like a huge leap.

Angelo is likewise very similar to his daytime self. I imagine his identity isn't supposed to be a huge secret for the reader, but I definitely expected there to be a starker contrast between the two of them in-world. An art-lover who doesn't care what other people think of him, encourages Evie to think more about herself, and makes clever jokes? I'm shocked Evie didn't pick up on it by night three even though by her admission, they have the same physical build.

But I think what threw me the most was the club itself.

I expected a modest underground library or LARPers in a gym. Instead, we get something the scale and cost of a certain wizarding world, packed with a night market, a bar, an art gallery, monthly balls, LARP battles, and a fully recreated forest. It's an all-year convention, but at a significantly higher budget, run entirely by volunteers. How is this place functioning at all? Apparently the author funded the purchase of the building, but how is it still running? And surely the city of Venice can't be happy about this extremely large daily event where alcohol is being served. I would have believed it more if it turned out they found a literal portal to an elven realm. If I sound like a curmudgeon with all my gripes about where the money comes from and food service permits, I get it. It's supposed to be about the magic and connection and community that books bring us. I'm not supposed to overthink it. But it's the scale that really got to me. We've moved past the fan community into something that's starting to feel a little more commercial. It's big and grand and the focus winds up on being on how great the place is rather than the connections made with the other attendees.  The "belonging" that Evie was hoping for feels superficial at best.

The daytime story is sweet and cute and a great high school romance packed with blushes, crushes, and learning to be more true to one's self. Fans of Becky Dean will almost assuredly love the ride. I just didn't find the nighttime arc to land nearly as well.

Thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Romance for an advance copy. All thoughts in this review are my own!

tl;dr
Second chance romance and a treasure hunt in a will propel a story about coming-of-age and finding one's identity in the diaspora.

Thoughts
I've seen people compare this to The Inheritance Games, and there's definitely a series of puzzles left in a will that may lead to a grand inheritance, along with a complicated family history and a mother/daughter pair making it on their own. But the core of this story is about growing up in the diaspora, coming-of-age, and finding one's place in the world. I think most readers will find something to relate to - that awkward sense of not fitting in, or not being understood is universal. But there will be some readers who immediately click in to the alienation of not knowing the language or the food or the inside jokes from the culture you're from. It's a frank look at living between worlds, and probably my favorite part of the story. The contrast between Gemma's longing to be more connected to the past versus her grandfather's look toward the the future is well-balanced, and I found their stories to be bittersweet. The puzzles were fun, especially the ones that mix languages and math, and the treasure hunt aspect is nicely plotted. For me, the weakest part of the book was the romance, but I've never been a second chance romance enjoyer, I really dislike miscommunication tropes, and love triangles have never done it for me. Yeah, I'm gonna assume that I'm the problem here. Be aware if your romance tastes run in the same direction as mine that you're in for a rough time. But the good news is if you like that stuff, you may have found your next read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers for an advance copy. All thoughts in this review are my own!