The Story of the Moon Waiting for the Evening, Vol. 1 (light novel) by Akumi Agitogi: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

The Story of the Moon Waiting for the Evening by Akumi Agitogi

This a new series by the author of My Happy Marriage, so recent that vol. 2 only came out in Japan this October. It’s set somewhere in the mountainous countryside in modern Japan, and comes with a magical reality twist.

Yashiro family has protected the area for centuries against ghosts and spirits, and communicated with gods. The members of the family can see spirits and exorcise ghosts, and the most powerful ones are possessed with a guardian spirit that gives them even more power. It’s a great, wealthy family that is run like a shogun’s clan, with the next leader decided during a years-long succession war.

High school third year Yohana Sakaki is a fringe member of Yashiro family, with no abilities and so no place in the family hierarchy. She’s lost her parents and lives with her paternal grandmother whose only goal for Yohana is to push her into the core of the Yashiro family. A chance comes when the leader organizes a party that starts the succession cycle. What Yohana wants isn’t asked. The two don’t get along.

She’s not the only fringe member there, and all the women are vying to catch the eye of the top ten important members. They’re not afraid to use dirty tactics and Yohana ends up in a pond with another girl who has no idea how she got there. The other girl instantly catches the eye and heart of the first ranked in hierarchy. Yohana is ignored, until a middle grade boy rescues her.

The event triggers something in Yohana and she’s suddenly able to see spirits. The boy, Chitose, tells her she’s a marebito, a person who’s visited the spirit realm, eaten something there, and returned. The marebito are greatly honoured and it’s the duty of the Yashiros to protect them. In a recent school trip, Yohana and the other girl, Hare, fell into a lake. Yohana had experienced something like that there, but had thought it a dream. Turns out, Hare had had the same experience. And now she’s chosen as the mate of the first ranked.

Chitose is an odd boy who looks like he’s twelve and behaves like an old man. He’s treated badly by the ranked family members, yet he has a spirit guardian and the ear of the family head. He organises Yohana to move into the Yashiro compound as an apprentice spiritualist, and since Yohana and her grandmother don’t get along, she accepts just so she has a place where she belongs. He tells her to keep her marebito status a secret, because having one around will help ranked members in the succession war and they’ll try to abduct her. Then he sets out to train her.

But Chitose has a secret too. He needs Yohana to break a curse put on him by gods.

This was a good series starter. Yohana has a sad backstory that hasn’t crushed her, and she takes into her new life fairly easily. There’s exciting action exorcising spirits, navigating the family politics, and butting heads with an annoying young man who is fourth in rank. There’s school life, and secrets to unravel. It’s a bit like an adventurer story where the underdog turns out to be the most powerful; in this case there’s two of them.

It’s nothing like My Happy Marriage, if you’re looking for something similar. There’s no clear romantic lead and at the moment it seems like it’s headed for a triangle drama. However, Hare’s backstory has similar family abuse than what Miyo goes through, her timid character is much like Miyo’s, and she’s saved by a dashing hero who will do everything to protect her. She may turn out to be the villain of the story though. I’ll definitely read more to find out where this’ll lead. It won’t be a short journey, as the succession cycle takes six years.

I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Saved by the Spell by Tanya Huff: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Saved by the Spell by Tanya Huff

Saved by the Spell is cozy urban fantasy set in modern day Ontario, Canada. The country doesn’t really feature except in odd mention of ice hockey and a few words in French here and there, and neither do spells, despite the name. The magic in this world is inherent and springs from within and doesn’t require spellcasting.

The book description is a bit off too, the Goodreads one even more than others, as it gets even the name of the one character it names wrong. This isn’t a story from the point of view of the Hero, or the students. The main character and the first-person narrator is Abigail Bellman, the English teacher at the High School for Magical Arts. She’s also the homeroom teacher for 9th graders who have just started at the school after passing a rigorous test. Only forty is accepted to each High School for Magical Arts out of millions.

It’s the first day of school, and the teachers are in various states of excitement and dread. But things start going wrong from the introductory event onwards and every time something does, one student in Abby’s homeroom class stands out. By the end of the day, Abby can only come to one conclusion: the student is a Hero. Problem is, narrative requires that there’s also a Villain, and that spells disaster. Since the student is Abby’s responsibility, so is finding the Villain.

Abby sets out to discover who the Villain could be while handling her classes and trying to keep the students safe among increasingly bizarre incidents. It’s a bit haphazard investigation, not proper sleuthing. But she’s determined to protect the Hero. She’s hoping for an outsider, but she’s not that lucky. The Villain is someone from their school. But while she uncovers A Villain, has she found one for their particular Hero, or is there another Hero?

This was a nice and cozy book. It’s basically only two acts, with the discovery of the Villain and the final confrontation happening pretty much simultaneously while the investigation seems to be only getting started. It doesn’t really matter; unlike some books that skip the third act, this felt satisfying enough. I guessed the Villain from early on, but that didn’t matter either. It’s not without its triggers though. If you’re a teacher, this feels too much like reality of school life, with maybe slightly less angsty and nicer students than average school.

Abby is a good main character, resourceful and resilient, and a good teacher. She’s also a bit of a cardboard. For all that she’s the first-person narrator and we spend the entire book inside her head, we learn almost nothing about her beyond a few factoids. Even her age and looks are obscure, and she has no hopes, dreams or fears outside school and work. But she comes alive enough through her work and is easy to root for.

The students were a delightful bunch, and came across more human through Abby’s observations of them. There’s some representation (Abby’s bi, one student’s parent is trans), but it’s not forced; it’s simply how things are. And there’s no romance, despite the hunkiness of the principle [sic] being constantly brought up. The world turned out to have an interesting backstory, and the Hero’s job isn’t done yet. But that will not happen here.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki’s Conjecture (Novel), Vol. 7 by Mikage Sawamura: review

4.5 stars on Goodreads

Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki's conjecture vol.7 by Mikage Sawamura

It’s been well over a year since the previous volume was published, and it’s been a long wait. The collection of short stories titled EX came out a couple of months ago and was delightful, but as they were separate stories from many points of view, it wasn’t quite the same, though it was fun to see the main characters from the outside perspective.

Volume 7 is titled What Sleeps Beneath the Story and it takes place in fall of Naoya’s second year at the university. There are three mysteries. First one is about a missing student. Inspired by one of Takatsuki’s lectures, he’s played a game where one tries to access another world by a lift. A friend of his tries to find him. Naturally, Takatsuki and Naoya have to try the game themselves. The explanation is surprising, sad, and mundane once again.

The second mystery reconnects the two with Tooyama, the architect who suffers from the same problem as Naoya, and for the same reason too, having visited the Obon festival of the dead. They’ve been a bit distant after the events in spring when Takatsuki and Naoya went back and almost died. But now he needs their help. A construction of villas has stalled, because an old woman is defending a marsh where a guardian spirit lives. Again, the story turns out to have a sad and mundane explanation.

The third mystery is about a restaurant selling mermaid meat. Obviously Takatsuki wants to explore. It reconnects them with Sae, the mermaid woman they’ve met a couple of times before, but not since she saved their lives in the land of the dead. Not that Takatsuki remembers it, thanks to the other inside him who took away his memories. This mystery too turned out to be mundane, but a bit gruesome. It also connects them with Hayashibara, a detective from Kenji’s department who was introduced in EX and whom Kenji had hoped to keep away from Takatsuki.

This was a good volume, even if it wasn’t as exciting as the previous one or at all scary. There’s a Halloween party at Takatsuki’s office that once again makes Naoya realise he isn’t as isolated as he intended to be. He reflects the same with Tooyama, who clearly has had to keep himself away from people. And the girl with a crush on him makes an appearance. The previous mention was in EX and was told on Nanba’s point of view, so it was nice to have Naoya’s view. And there was proper interaction with Naoya and the other Takatsuki. Naoya was able to ask him questions that had troubled him, like why it insists that he smells of the underworld. Takatsuki had hoped that Sae would be able to tell him more about the other, but she doesn’t recognise it.

Naoya has become more active in the course of the books, reflecting how he’s coming out of his shell. He’s more natural in his interactions with Takatsuki and in his friendship with Nanba. And he learned a new truth about himself from the other Takatsuki that he was able to accept more easily than he would’ve earlier. And Sae has a warning for him and Takatsuki both about how they should hang onto their humanity lest they lose it.

There was no cliffhanger ending and the mysteries were complete. But I’m definitely eagerly waiting for the next volume to find out where their journey takes them next.

Threads of Red by Julie Wright: review

2.75 stars on Goodreads

Threads of Red by Julie Wright

Threads of Red is based on Red Riding Hood. Red lives in a small farm with her sister and parents. They’re poor, but their mother has plans for Kristell, the younger sister, to marry a rich boy. Kristel doesn’t want to, but their scary mother always gets her way. Kristell’s attempt to flee her fate sets the main story into motion. She’s fatally poisoned, and Red has to go to find a way to heal her from their grandmother who has been ostracised to a cottage deep in scary woods. For some reason, Goldi, Red’s rival for the affections of Carrigan, and Carrigan, follow. On their way there, they face obstacles and uncover a secret plot.

First up, this is not a romance or a love story. It does feature two suitors, one for each sister, but both are wet blankets there to fulfil a role as a prop. One of them finds some backbone, but the other remains a tool till the end. The hated suitor Kristell flees from isn’t shown once.

This is not solely a Red Riding Hood retelling either, although that’s the main element. It’s a mishmash of all classic stories. There’s Goldilocks, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, at least. I’m sure the author was clever, but the elements of those stories sprang out of nowhere, and the plot of the book followed. A treason emerged out of blue with no grounding in the world or backstory, or even a hint that it might be in works. A mildly evil character turned into a supervillain of long making with zero foreshadowing.

This is a story of women: mother, daughter, grandmother, and a frenemy turned BFF. As such, it works ok. It mostly comes alive in the friendship of Red and Goldi, where the author had to actually invent something instead of relying on fairytale elements. The relationship between Red and her mother was too much based on evil stepmother trope to be interesting, the sister was absent for most of the story, and grandmother showed up late.

Mostly though, this was boring. The setup took forever, the story local didn’t come to life at all, the journey through the forest had minor inconveniencies that had nothing to do why the forest would be a forbidden place for decades, and while Red dealt with the main bad, the solution to the story was conducted outside the pages. The suitor was handed to her on a platter when the rival retreated. I’m guessing they live happily ever after, but that’s where the story diverged from its fairytale origins, leaving it for the readers to imagine.

I was about to give the book three stars, but Goodreads introduced quarter stars in time for this review, so it’ll get 2.75 stars where those apply.

I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

City of Others by Jared Poon: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

City of Others by Jared Poon

City of Others starts The DEUS Files urban fantasy series. It’s set in Singapore, which isn’t exactly overused in books directed at western markets, and follows DEUS, Division for Engagement of Unusual Stakeholders. It’s a government department whose job it is to keep the supernatural community, the Others, happy and out of sight.

The main character and first-person narrator is Benjamin Toh, middle manager in his early thirties and the leader of a three-person team, four if you count the intern. None of them are regular humans, not that their boss knows it. Mei is a witch, Jimmy a diviner, and the intern is a jinn.

Ben is Gardener, basically a cultivator of Chinese xianxias, but in a very concrete way. Inside him is a huge forest that represent his abilities, memories and powers, which he prunes and grows to have extraordinary powers like healing. Ben is Chinese, an only child of a widowed father with whom he has a rather strained relationship, and gay. He’s a very responsible person who thinks it’s his job to protect everyone, take all the risks and handle everyone’s jobs for them. He’s gotten away with it most of his life and doesn’t see a problem in his way of thinking.

Ben’s plate is overflowing with tasks from handling complaints of the other, organising his team for the sports day, and arranging permits for his childhood best friend’s undead ducklings. Somewhere he needs to find time for the guy he’s been seeing, Adam, and being on time for dinner with his dad for at least once.

But then an impending doom takes precedence. An entire housing estate is vanishing and people there are acting odd. The cause turns out to be a fellow Gardner who is infecting people with his grief, making it spread and gain so much weight the area is sinking into other dimension. Good thing is that Adam turns out to be an expert of this dimension. Bad thing is that the grief is attracting predators that will destroy the entire city. The team faces an impossible task, made even more difficult because Ben is incapable of team work. It’s high time he learns before it’s too late.

This was a delightful series starter. The cast is diverse, setting is fresh, and supernatural different from the usual. The obvious comparison is Black Water Sister by Zen Cho set in Malaysa, and City of Others suffers a little from it. Singapore is culturally, religiously and ethnically diverse, but the various cultures don’t really come to life here. Characters aren’t described, other than a random reference to a person being Chinese, Tamil or Malay, which doesn’t really tell anything to a western reader, and everyone has a western name, which obscures things further. Singapore itself doesn’t really feature either, and the book could be set anywhere.

But the case is interesting, with twists and turns. Ben’s team is good and Adam is great. Ben grows a lot and his life is better at the end of the book than it was at the beginning. And there will be more books in the series too. I’ll definitely read them.