May reading recap

May turned out to be a surprising reading month, partly because I struggled with getting into a reading mood, and partly because I ended up reading books that weren’t on my list. I read five books and 18 manga, on the paper at least. Three of the manga/manhwa I’d read already before, but only reviewed them in May.

Of the five novels I read, only one was a review ARC, although I had a couple of others I was unable to finish for various reasons. The ARC was for The Vengeance by Emma Newman, which was an ok read that I ended up giving four stars to, though in hindsight it was maybe more of a three-star book. After that, I read Love Between Fairy and Devil by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang, which turned out to be completely different from the TV series based on it, but equally good.

On the last week of May, I medicated my reading slump with the two latest Stephanie Plum novels that I found in the library and so weren’t on my list, Dirty Thirty and Now or Never. I’m now almost caught up with the series. I’ve skipped book 29 as I was unable to finish it back when it came out. They’re easy comfort reads and suited my mood this time round.

I finished the month by a short historical queer romance Copper Script by KJ Charles, which I only learned about a couple of weeks earlier, so it wasn’t on my list for this month. I decided to read it right away, and I’m glad I did. It was a great read despite its short length. The review was written in June, but I count the book to May reads, as I finished it before the month changed.

For my own pleasure I read manga vol. 14 of The Apothecary Diaries by Nekokurage & Natsu Hyuuga. I’ve been reading it on MangaUP! the publisher’s official site and could’ve reviewed it earlier, but I kept hoping there would be more chapters published, which there hasn’t been since March. The book version won’t come out until October. Solo Leveling vol 12 by singNsong came out in May, so I reviewed it this month, though I’ve already completed the series on Tappytoon, which is the official webtoon publisher. Also published in May was I Ship My Rival x Me vol. 3 by Pepa. This manhua I’ve read in full too on an unofficial site, as the official publisher BiliBili doesn’t support English content anymore. It’s only published on paperback, and while I love the story, I’m not entirely happy with the print quality.

I read ten review copies of manga. Here they are in the order they came out. Tune In to the Midnight Heart 1 by Masakuni Igarashi was a cute high school manga about a boy on a mission to find a radio host whose voice he used to love. Pink Heart Jam beat vol. 1 by Shikke is a follow-up series of a BL romance about two college students. Palace of the Omega vol. 2 by Fumi Tsuyuhisa concluded the rather boring and a bit icky omegaverse romance. Merry Witches’ Life vol 1 by Menota was a cute and cozy story about grief. Cosmos vol. 1 by Ryuhei Tamura was a good start to a series about a high school boy who can smell lies and gets recruited to an alien insurance company.

The Villainess Is a Marionette vol. 1 by Manggle is a double transmigration fantasy manhwa of a villainess trying to change her fate. Murderous Lewellyn’s Candlelit Dinner vol. 1 by Muk_Bu is a very creepy story of a young man who realises his neighbour might be a murderer yet can’t do anything about it. String by Paul Tobin is fun and action-packed story of a young woman who can see connections between murderers and victims as strings. Spacewalking with You 1 by Inuhiko Doronoda is an absolutely wonderful story of autism and being different and making friends and being accepted as you are. Cat + Crazy vol 1 by Wataru Nadatani is a fun story about a school boy obsessed with cats and his quest to become a cat-whisperer.

For my own amusement, I read Punks Triangle by Yuho Okita, a sweet BL story of two fashion students, one of whom isn’t who he seems. My Classmate Ren-kun is Kinda Scary by Kusege is another stand-alone BL romance of two high school boys who don’t realise they’re in love. I read volumes 1 and 2 of Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun by Izumi Tsubaki. It’s a fun slice of life high school comedy of a manga artist and a girl who has a crush on him, available on MangaUP!. I also read The World After the Fall vol 1 by Undead Gamja & singNsong. It’s a manhwa by the same author as Solo Leveling, but it wasn’t as interesting as SL. I probably won’t continue with it. Official version is available on Webtoon.

So, a great reading month. I read a lot of web manga beside these, mostly to medicate the reading slump. I’ll likely review all of those at some point too. June is already geared to be a busy month, so here’s hoping I don’t fall into another reading slump.

Copper Script by KJ Charles: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

Copper Script by KJ Charles

Copper Script is a stand-alone historical queer romance with a dab of mystery. It takes place in 1920s London and features Aaron Fowler, a detective sergeant in the Metropolitan Police, and Joel Wildsmith, a self-taught graphologist with an uncanny skill at understanding a person’s character through their handwriting. Both men are in their late twenties and veterans of the Great War, where Joel has lost his left, dominant, hand. Both are also gay at a time when that could land them in prison.

The two come in touch when Aaron’s cousin asks him to check Joel for fraud, having lost his fiancé because of Joel’s character assessment of him. Under a false name, armed with three letters, Aaron asks Joel to give assessments of each person. The results stun him, not least because one of the letters was written by him. Unable to leave be, he devices a blind test for Joel about an ongoing case. Not only does Joel call the perp, he tells that one of the writers is a very bad person. Unfortunately for Aaron, that letter was one of the control letters and belongs to a person he knows.

Joel is a graphologist because that’s the only way he’s able to support himself and work towards buying a better prosthetic hand than the government is willing to give him. He doesn’t trust the police—or Aaron—ecause a cop had tricked him into a sexual act, which had landed him in prison for two months. But when he reads Aaron’s letter, he’s instantly interested in the man, and aroused by him too. He knows he should push the other man away, but can’t help doing the opposite.

The mystery isn’t a typical whodunnit, and it doesn’t dominate the story. Aaron knows who; he doesn’t know the crime. He has a hunch though, as he tries to solve a death of a private investigator. The more he investigates, the greater the pressure on him to leave be becomes. But when the pressure lands on Joel too in the form of the biggest crime organisation in London, he knows he must do something. Problem is how to do it without ruining their reputations, landing them in prison—or losing their lives.

This was an excellent novella. It’s not long; sixteen chapters and a little over 200 pages on my e-reader. But it tells a complete, satisfying story of love that needs to be kept hidden, but which is so strong it’s worth the risks. Aaron and Joel were wonderful characters, with Aaron having a more complex backstory. Joel was more at ease with being gay, even though he had lost a lot because of it. He’s more emotional of the two, but with equally strong character as Aaron; a survivor willing to keep surviving. Aaron has had it easier in life to an extent, but he has maybe more to lose if they’re discovered.

Like always in KJ Charles’ books, the historical setting is well-researched and comes alive in small details. The solution to the men’s problems was maybe easily achieved, and mostly done behind the scenes, but it was satisfying. The ending isn’t necessarily a happily ever after, but it is a chance for the men to achieve it. All in all, a great small read.

Now or Never by Janet Evanovich: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Now or Never by Janet Evanovich

Now or Never, or Thirty-one on the Run, is book 31 in Stephanie Plum series, and I went and read it right after the previous one. Pulled an over-nighter with it even, so it was entertaining enough. Then again, these books aren’t very long.

For once, the book began where the previous ended, a few days later. Not that the author always remembered that there wasn’t as long a gap between the events as there was between books, and the characters spoke of events of the previous book like they’d taken place long ago. For example, Lula is ‘still’ dating a guy she met in the previous book, which was less than a week ago. Even with her dating history, dating a man for a week isn’t that great a surprise.

But at least the previous events were acknowledged, which doesn’t happen often with these books that seem to exist in their own vacuums. Stephanie’s sister, Valerie, who barely gets a mention throughout the series, even makes an appearance. I did call it though, that Stephanie would return to her apartment where she was evicted from at the end of the previous book. It would’ve been too much of a change for a series where nothing ever changes if she’d moved.

Stephanie’s big dilemma was introduced from the outset: she said yes to both Ranger and Morelli when they proposed, and didn’t’ tell either of them about the other proposal. As an added complication, there’s a fear of a contraceptive failure. Apparently she’d gone to bed with both men—which didn’t happen on page, not even a hint—and doesn’t want to commit to either of them before she knows for sure if she’s pregnant. So, in her typical fashion, she ignores the problem and concentrates on catching skips.

The collection of FTAs is fairly entertaining and keeps Stephanie and Lula busy for days. Like so often, the one that seems on the outset to be the most dangerous of them turned out to be less so, even if he was difficult to catch. The other skips would’ve been easier to apprehend if Stephanie wasn’t such a pushover, constantly giving them leeway. The most dangerous FTA is the one who they thought would be a harmless fool. Stephanie needs a lot of help to finally capture him.

The comedic relief comes in the form of Stephanie’s old schoolmate who after a brief hello decides they’re now dating and won’t leave her alone. But since he does nice things for her, like redecorates her firebombed apartment and gets her a TV, she finds it difficult to get rid of him.

What makes this book stand out are two major changes for Stephanie that’ll have an impact later. One, she finally learned how to shoot, thanks to Ranger who put his foot down and made her. Her unwillingness to touch firearms has been a running gag in the series. She even gets to put her new skill to use.

And the biggest change of all: Stephanie finally chooses between her suitors.

It happens out of page, which was bit of a let-down, but while her relationships with her men have been a staple throughout the series, they’re not the main focus, so it can be forgiven that it doesn’t steal the stage. The reader has to wait until the very end to find which one it is. The choice isn’t surprising.

This wasn’t the last book, as indicated by ‘not the end’ at the end. I hope that this will turn out to be a new start for Stephanie, to freshen up the formula, but I’m fairly sure things will continue as they’ve always been. There’s a bet of box of donuts that her marriage won’t last more than two months. We’ll see how that goes.

Dirty Thirty by Janet Evanovich: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Dirty Thirty by Janet Evanovich

It’s book number 30 in the series, thirty years of Stephanie Plum. I’ve been reading the series almost as long, which doesn’t make me feel as old as it should. Stephanie definitely hasn’t aged. Technology has followed the date though (hence the wholly unironical covid masks here), and isn’t stuck in the mid-nineties where the books should take place.

Everything else has stayed pretty much the same for thirty years. The formula of Stephanie and Lula going after FTAs with more determination than skill works, so why change. You’d think that in all this time they’d learned something, but not so much, although Stephanie’s started to taze the difficult skips first and ask questions later. It turns out to be an improvement, and the duo manages to bring in quite a number of FTAs without much damage to their person. Stephanie’s car obviously suffers. How else could she get a loaner from Ranger.

The zaniness that took over the books somewhere during the mid-point, has been toned down recently, which is a return to earlier books. Grandma barely does anything silly, and the comedic reliefs are a helpful graverobber and Morelli’s dog Bob, neither of which is over the top silly. Even Lula’s Grendel stalker turns out to have an almost normal explanation. The real bad guy is, like in all books, fairly deadly and causes great damage, but, like always, a bit of an afterthought within everything else that is going on.

The two men in Stephanie’s life are the same too: Morelli and Ranger. This time, Morelli is out of town, giving Ranger time to make his move. And he manages to surprise both Stephanie and the reader. And when Morelli returns, he manages to pull the same move. It only took the men thirty years to get there. It seems though, that Stephanie still needs another decade or two to choose between them.

But she’ll need to change something, because after all these years, several break-ins and a couple of fires, Stephanie has to give up her apartment. Will she choose to move in with one of her suitors? Or will this be one of those story-lines that disappear by the next book, like so often? I guess I’ll have to read on to find out.

Despite all the sameness, this book managed to get me out of a reading slump, which I’ll count in its great favour, hence the four-star rating. Maybe I’ll even go back and read the previous book in the series, which I couldn’t finish. Not because it’s necessary to read it to understand the subsequent books, but to keep my thirty-year run intact.

Love Between Fairy and Devil Vol. 1 by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

Love Between Fairy & Devil by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang

This is the original novel on which the TV series of the same name is based. However, as becomes clear already from the description, the original and adaptation share the premise and that’s about it. The two stories are completely different. So, if you’re looking for something that deepens the story of the TV adaptation, this isn’t it. The two are so different that there’s no point in trying to compare them either. (There's also an animated version that appears to follow the plot of the book more faithfully, but I haven’t watched it myself.)

The start of the book is maybe the weakest point of the story and very vague about how events have unfolded before the opening scene. Demon Lord Dongfang Qingcang has resurrected after a hundred thousand years, having been bested by Lady of the Scarlet Wastes, the god of war, and immediately captured by the officials of the heavenly realm. But he has had time to take a hostage, an orchid fairy Xiao Lanhua, and forced her to switch souls with him, so that he occupies her body and vice versa. He then uses her mouth to convince the troops that she’ll spend the rest of eternity imprisoned with him to make sure he never escapes.

He escapes, of course, and there’s nothing Xiao Lanhua can do, as she’s behind bars inside Dongfang Qingcang’s body. But as she tries to prevent him from leaving, she accidentally destroys her own body. Now the Demon Lord’s soul has escaped and she’s trapped inside his body with no body of her own to return to. So, out of options, she heads to the ghost realm to find his soul. She finds it, but when he tries to take his body back, she refuses to leave until he provides her with a new body.

The first volume is about the two of them travelling mostly in the mortal realm looking for a suitable body for her. But she soon realises he has an agenda of his own and he’s only helping her because it temporarily aligns with his interests. They get into hairy situations, and despite his better judgement, he finds himself saving her time and again. But he betrays her equally often, and by the time the first volume ends, the two are still together only because she’s managed to force his hand to keep her alive.

The first volume isn’t much of a romance, but it’s a good start to that direction. Dongfang Qingcang starts—and continues—as a truly evil character, but the presence of Xiao Lanhua, first inside his body and later with her own, starts changing him, and he occasionally finds himself doing things to please her—in his own fashion. She has no romantic feelings about him either, and the volume ends with her wholly disillusioned about him.

I liked this story very much. It didn’t matter that it didn’t match the adaptation. It’s fast-paced, funny, and well-written. The stakes are high from the start and they don’t lessen by the end of the volume. I didn’t miss the side-plots and other characters that filled the adaptation. The two were enough to carry the story. I liked Xiao Lanhua especially. She was strong and resourceful and not a clueless, wide-eyed creature wholly at the mercy of Dongfang Qingcang like in the adaptation, even when she was at his mercy. And he was truly evil and selfish, not just posturing.

The ending wasn’t a cliffhanger as such, but it doesn’t conclude anything either. The story has only begun and I really have to find out how this original version continues from here.