Volume 4 continues where the cliffhanger
ending of the previous book left things: Cui Buqu injured at the hands of Feng
Xiao who has seemingly become a member of the Thirteen Floors conspiracy group. But
things are never as they seem with the two espionage masters. In no time at
all, they’ve created chaos and fled the caves.
They were lured there with the promise that
they get to meet the leader of the group, but that person never shows up. All
is not lost though, because they learn the leader’s identity anyway, someone
they’ve met already, though someone neither of them thought much of.
Safety is fleeting. On Empress’s orders, Cui
Buqu heads to a region pestered with floods. He’s accompanying an imperial
censor who suspects foul play in distribution of aid. What looks like a simple
matter of embezzlement turns out to be more sinister. And once again, the men
are in mortal peril.
This was an excellent book. The number of times
Cui Buqu almost died is incredible, yet he soldiered on. And Feng Xiao finally
decides that Cui Buqu is the only person worthy of his attention. Too bad he
has great trouble making the other man take him seriously. But the banter is spot
on.
The volume doesn’t conclude the flood case,
but it’s not a cliffhanger as such, merely it leaves the wrapping up unfinished.
But the men now know who they’re fighting against and the rope is tightening.
And of course, there’s the romance to root for. Looking forward to reading
more.
Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki's Conjecture (Manga), Vol. 6 by Mikage Sawamura & Toji Aio
Manga editions catch up
with the light novels out in English so far (five volumes)here. According to
the author and the manga artist, there’s a pause in the adaptations after this
one, but both express a hope that there will be more manga after this, as the
story continues in light novels.
This is a turning point
in the story. Professor Takatsuki and Naoya return to the festival of the dead
where Naoya gained his ability to hear lies. They’re not welcome to the village
though, especially after an old neighbour of his grandmother’s discovers that
Naoya can hear lies.
The men go to investigate
anyway, and stumble on a real supernatural event for the first time, landing in
the realm of the dead. Problem is, Naoya isn’t meant to escape it for a second
time. Luckily, they have unexpected help.
During their time in the
spirit world, both Naoya and the professor remember things from their past. In
his case, the professor remembers what happened when he was spirited away.
Unfortunately, his mind refuses to retain the memory, and it wipes away the
entire visit to the spirit world too. He remains philosophical though. He’ll
just have to keep Naoya around to remember for him.
This was a good recap of
the events in the light novel vol 5, though very much compacted. It’s always
interesting to see a visualisation of complicated events. This is a good place
to end the manga, even if it doesn’t resolve anything. But I hope there will be
more adaptations, even if Goodreads only lists the six volumes so far. At least
there are more light novels to come (there are eight in Japanese.) Looking
forward to reading them all.
The series is gearing towards the end with this fifth volume, but
the story didn’t slow down at all. The contrary. After the cliffhanger ending
of the previous book, the start of this one was a bit of a let-down. It skipped
the action scene straight to the aftermath. Unsurprisingly, He Yu and Xie
Qingcheng survive. The plotline in the remote village, which was mostly
diversion anyway, is dropped and the men return home.
Xie Qingcheng believes that he and He Yu
should stay apart from now on. The upset triggers another mental episode in He
Yu, and this time he finally tells Xie Qingcheng that it’s caused by emotional
turmoil. He confesses his love to Xie Qingcheng who doesn’t believe him. But it
has the benefit of calming He Yu. He claims he’ll win Xie Qingcheng’s heart and
proceeds to date him. It’s no use.
They still need to find cure for Xie Xue’s
illness. A death of yet another actress involved in the movie production points
clearly at the producer whose name has popped up several times in their
investigation. Convinced that the source of the drug that caused Xie Xue’s
illness is the producer, the men set out to break into his compound. They find
many surprises there and get unexpected help too. That leads to a great showdown.
But the mysterious organisation acts before their secrets are revealed.
Not all is lost for the men though. They
have the drug and can create the antidote to cure Xie Xue. And the events at
the compound make Xie Qingcheng realise that He Yu might be serious about his
declaration of love. The book ends before we learn if it has permanent impact
on him. At any rate, it might be too late. Xie Qingcheng is holding several
secrets from He Yu—and the reader.
This was a good volume, with the plot
advancing on all fronts. There were no sex scenes of questionable consent or otherwise;
the men got along, and the impossible, Xie Qingcheng having a change of heart
about He Yu, happened. There was a good twist about the identity of one
villain, and some good diversion about the identity of another. But they aren’t any closer to catching the
mastermind. There are at least two more books to come, but I’m not sure it’ll
be enough to unravel the final mystery.
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 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.
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.
