January reading recap

As a new thing this year, I decided to start summarising what I’ve read each month. I read a lot of manga that I only review on Goodreads, some of them review copies, and I’d like to give them a wider audience.

In January, I read and reviewed 24 books, 22 of which were mangas/manhwas. Well, Dawn of the Dragon vols. 1-2 I’d read as a webtoon on Lezhin last year, but they have entries on Goodreads now, so I added them there.

Eight of my reads were review copies for NetGalley and Edelweiss, plus I started but didn’t finish one review copy that I didn’t like. Only one review copy was a novel, Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao, an interesting but not entirely satisfying read. 

The rest were mangas/manhwas. My favourite was I'm Here, Beside You, Vol. 1 by Tea Natsuno, a second chance high school romance where the main character finds himself back in his high school body. Hell Is Dark with No Flowers, Vol. 1 by Ruka Todo was also interesting, a paranormal manga of a young man who can see criminals as monsters, so he ends up working for an envoy from hell who punishes the monsters. Men of the Harem, Vol. 1 by Yeongbin is, despite its name, a court intrigue fantasy.

Of the reads that weren’t review copies, my favourite novel was, unexpectedly, Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki's Conjecture, Vol. 5 by Mikage Sawamura. It’s a comfort read series that hasn’t failed me yet. I also started, but didn’t finish yet Remnants of Filth vol 5 and Ballad of Sword and Wine vol 3. Those I will read and review here eventually.

A favourite manhua was Sanctify by Godstation about an exorcist trying to solve two massacres that have happened decades apart. It was advertised as a romance, but it’s definitely not that. You can read my Goodreads reviews here: vol. 1, 2, and 3. 

On the lighter end of manga spectrum were My Kitten is a Picky Eater Vol. 2 by Migiri Miki, and Otaku Vampire’s Love Bite, Vol. 2 by Julietta Suzuki. Both fun and cute. Mobsters in Love by Chiyoko Origami finished with vol. 3. It was a good ending. And vol. 2 manhua of Dinghai Fusheng Records by Fei Tian Ye Xiang came out last month too.

Mostly though, I’ve been binge reading Solo Leveling by Chugong & Dubu, of which I read vols. 4-8. I’ve been reading it on Tappytoon, but reviewing volume at the time on Goodreads. You can read my reviews at: 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.  I’ve also started other similar manhuas there, but those haven’t progressed to reviewing state yet, on top of which I’ve continued reading Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint by singNsong and all the ongoing series on Lezhin.

All in all, a fun reading month, even if I didn’t read or finish all the review copies of novels I was supposed to. I have three novels and several mangas waiting to be reviewed in February. Hopefully I’ll do better this month.

 

Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki's Conjecture Vol. 5 (Light Novel) by Mikage Sawamura: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki's Conjecture vol. 5 by Mikage Sawamura

In this volume, we finally get to what we’ve been waiting for: Naoya returns to the village where he accidentally entered the festival of the dead and gained (or was cursed with) the ability to hear lies. It doesn’t go well.

It’s the summer break of Naoya’s second year at the Tokyo university. He has no plans, as he’s estranged from his family and doesn’t really have any friends that he’s aware of having. When Professor Takatsuki invites him to participate in the night of one hundred horrors arranged at the university premises, he agrees, even if he’s not particularly interested.

The event is held at night in candle light. Every participant tells a ghost story until a hundred of them has been told. At the end, something supernatural is supposed to happen—and it does. But to Naoya’s surprise, Professor Takatsuki isn’t showing his typical enthusiasm for the event, which has to mean it’s fake. The mystery part of the first story is about finding out who and why, which is easily solved and isn’t terribly exciting.

Then it’s time for Naoya, Takatsuki, and KenKen to travel to Nagano and the small village there where Naoya’s grandmother used to live. He is warned against going by his new acquaintance who has also attended the same festival and gained the ability to hear lies, and by Miss Sae, the mystery woman who may be a mermaid. But Naoya needs to find out the truth.

The villagers try to keep them away too, but no one tells them why. No one wants to talk about the festival either. But Professor Takatsuki is determined to learn everything. They join a similar festival at a village nearby, and on their way back at night, they finally find what they’re looking for. Everything seems mundane at first, until Naoya stumbles into the real festival of the dead, held in the realm of the dead, and accidentally pulls Takatsuki with him.

There they finally learn why everyone wants to keep them away. The mountain god collects the people who return to the festival and keeps them forever. And this time, the price for being let out is steeper than it was when Naoya was a child.

This was a good volume. The first part wasn’t terribly spooky, despite the topic, as the ghost stories weren’t recited to the reader, and it’s mostly about Naoya observing people. The second part was great. We meet Naoya’s cousin who tells stories about his childhood, and in the realm of the dead, Naoya goes over his life in flashes, and we learn that he was very unhappy and lonely as a child. It almost makes him give up, but he also remembers the good things and friends he’s made at the university, which gives him strength to fight free.

But he’s not the only one remembering his past. Takatsuki does too. He finally remembers parts of what happened to him when he was abducted. But in a cruel twist and an annoying cliffhanger, before he can tell what it was, the entity inside him makes him forget everything—including the adventure in the realm of the dead they just had. I hope he’ll get his memory back in the next volume. It would be too upsetting if he forgets the first real supernatural event he’s witnessed. I’ll definitely read on.

In the extra story, one of Takatsuki’s graduate students reflects on the professor and why she’s not in love with him even though all her girlfriends assume she must be. It’s a nice addition to the character profiles so far.

Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao: review

3/5 stars on Goodreads

Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao

Water Moon falls between fantasy and magical realism. It’s partially set in modern Tokyo, but it could happen anywhere, as Japanese mythology doesn’t really play a part in the story. Hana and her father run a pawn shop that exists in a world separate from ours. Only a door to a ramen restaurant in Tokyo connects the two worlds. When a person really needs the pawn shop, they’ll end up there instead of the restaurant.

They pawn regrets, and no one ever returns to claim theirs back. Instead, the regrets have an important purpose in Hana’s world (it plays a great role in the story, so I won’t reveal what it is.) The regrets can never be let go. But Hana’s mother had stolen one when Hana was a baby, and has been sentenced to death for it, a trauma Hana and her father have never recovered from.

Now it has come time for Hana to inherit the shop. But on her first morning as the caretaker, she finds the place ransacked and her father missing along with the last regret he’d pawned before retirement. She doesn’t want her mother’s fate for either of them, so she sets out to find her father and the regret.

She has unexpected company. A man walks in the pawn shop, but not to pawn anything. He doesn’t really have any regrets to pawn. Instead, he wants to help. Keishin is a scientist with an interesting story of his own, which is revealed in small snippets. He’s stunned to discover a different world, but he keeps an open mind, eager to learn everything.

It’s quite an adventure through Hana’s world. It seems rather random at first, but bit by bit, they follow the footsteps Hana’s father has taken. But when they reach their goal and learn what has happened, the truth is something neither of them had expected.

This was an interesting, lovely and wistful story of grief, trauma, and self-discovery. Hana is a person with a purpose she can’t deviate from, literally tattooed in her skin. Keishin has an imaginative, flexible mind, and a big heart. Both were likeable, but while I expected a romance between the two, I wasn’t entirely convinced by it.

The narrative was interesting. Chapters were short, sometimes only a page long, and they only told exactly what the reader needed to know. The narrative jumped between past and present. I liked it at first, as the story advanced fast. But eventually I found it unsatisfying. Interesting concepts and imaginative ideas were briefly introduced in every chapter, only to be left behind and never properly explored. Action began and ended, without any aftermath, jumping to the next thing on the list.

Characters suffered from this most. There was no time for their emotions, the romance included, and no insight into how they felt at any given moment. There was no room for foreshadowing either. This really backfired with the revelations at the end, as they were pulled out like rabbits from a hat: they were interesting but with no emotional impact. The ending fell completely flat.

All in all, this was a four-star book at the beginning, but as I grew dissatisfied with it, I had to lower my rating. Still, it’s well-written and imaginative, so if you read for ideas, not emotions, give it a try.

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

My favourite reads in 2024, part two: mangas

Part two of my favourite reads in 2024 is about mangas, manhwas, manhuas and webtoons. I read 143 comics last year, the large chunk of which were review copies. Of those, I mostly only read the first volume, not finding them interesting enough to continue, but I’ve found some really great ones among them too. On top of those come webtoons, which I haven’t reviewed, either because they’re ongoing or because there aren’t entries for them on Goodreads. I mostly posted my reviews there, with only a couple of exceptions that I published on this blog.

Here are my favourite reads in the order that I read them. Click the titles for my reviews on Goodreads. (You can find my favourite novels of 2024 here.)

This Time I Will Find Happiness by Mamenosuke Fujimaru and Riko Saiki is a romance manga about a young woman who has lived a several lives, only to lose her fiancé in all of them for another woman. It starts a bit slow, but the story turns more complex as it goes on. I have read the first three vols and have vol. 4 waiting already.

My Ultramarine Sky by Nagisa Furuya is a lovely stand-alone high school BL manga of two classmates and childhood friends who fall in love.

Therapy Game Restart by Meguru Hinohara, of which I read vols. 3 and 4 last year, continued a fine manga of a rather difficult m/m romance between a vet and a photographer. I’m eagerly waiting for vol 5.

Spy x Family by Tatsuya Endo is one of my absolute favourites. It’s about a unique found family who each hold a secret from another: father is a spy, mother is an assassin and the daughter can read minds. I read vols 11-13 past year, the last of which I got as an ARC, so it won’t come out until later this year.

Another great favourite is Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki’s Conjecture by Toji Aio and Mikage Sawamura, of which I’ve read the light novels out so far too. It’s about a professor of folklore and his assistant exploring supernatural events in Japan. Manga vols 3-5 came out last year and I read them all.

One of my absolute favourite feel-good reads last year was Mr. Villain’s Day Off by Yuu Morikawa. It follows an alien general conquering the earth, only to be distracted by the cuteness of pandas. Five volumes are out in English and I read them all.

Tied to You by What and Chelliace is a BL romance where fated mates discover each other by a red string that appears between them. Two volumes are out, but the rest is available on Tappytoon, and I’ll finish it there, as it’s not available as an ebook.

Another feel-good, low-angst read is The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity by Saka Mikami. It’s a sort of Romeo and Juliet story between a good girl and presumed bad boy, who is actually a sweetheart like her. Four volumes came out last year and I read them all.

The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies by Cocoa Fujiwara is a bit like Mr. Villain’s Day Off, but with a romance between the conquering alien general and a magical girl. It’s a volume of the complete series, and unfortunately unfinished, as the author has passed away.

Takara’s Treasure by Minta Suzumaru is a stand-alone BL romance between two college students who make an unlikely pair. One of them has a trouble understanding social signals and the other is the coolest guy in the university. 

Otaku Vampire’s Love Bite by Julietta Suzuki is a funny manga of a vampire girl who moves to Japan to be closer to the fandom of her favourite TV series. She strikes a friendship with a boy who knows vampires are real. Only one volume is out so far, but I’ll read more.

Semantic Error by Angy and Soori Jeo is an interesting start to a BL college romance, not that there’s any romance in the first volume, as the men hate each other. I’ll definitely read more.

Worst Soulmate Ever by Haruta is a fun start for an omegaverse BL romance between two men who also hate each other. Only the first volume is out, but I’ll read more.

The Big Apple Vol. 1 by Harusari and Hodot is a Korean manhwa about a sniper for a secret agency and his businessman boyfriend. Only one volume is out so far, but I’ve been reading the official webtoon on Tappytoon, and I have to say, the first volume doesn’t do a good job giving out where the story goes.

My favourite romance manhua by far was I Ship My Rival x Me by PEPA and Qualia. It’s the sweetest and funniest BL of two Chinese idols whose fandom is convinced the two are in love, even though they’ve barely interacted. But a movie project changes things. Only one volume is out, and no ebooks, but I was impatient and located an unofficial version online and binged the entire hundred or so episodes. In my defence, the official English webtoon no longer exists, as Bilibili, the Chinese publisher, shut down their English webtoon service, so the fans had uploaded what was published and translated the rest.

Dinghai Fusheng Records by Fei Tian Ye Xiang and Qian Er Bai is a danmei xianxia manhua of the last exorcist and his martial god hero on a quest to find out why magic has died. Only one volume is out so far, but I’ll definitely read it all.

Among the cute, low-angst reads was My Kitten is a Picky Eater Vol. 1 by Migiri Miki of a man who has trouble organising his own life rescuing a little kitten who refuses to eat anything but what he cooks for him. Only one volume of 13(!) is out, but I’ll read on.

My Secretly Hot Husband by Harara and Jungyeon is a manhwa transmigration webtoon of a Korean woman reborn in a fantasy world, where her family makes her marry for her father’s debt. Only one volume is out so far, but the official webtoon is on Tapas, and I’ll continue there.

In December, I became obsessed with Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint by singNsong and Sleepy-C. It’s about Kim Dokja who finishes a webnovel he’s been reading for a decade about how to survive an apocalypse, only for the world to end and the world of the book take its place. Only five volumes are out and only as physical books, which is why I’ve postponed reading it (I don’t have room in my shelves). But I haven’t been able to leave be, so I’ve been reading an illegal version online, as the original doesn’t exist anywhere that I can access it.

Along with the Omniscient Reader, I picked Solo Leveling by Chugong and Dubu, which is about another young man, Sung Jinwoo, trying to survive an apocalyptic world too. He’s the weakest of hunters clearing dungeons in Seoul who dies and reawakens with a computer system that helps him become stronger. Ten volumes are out in English so far, but the official webtoon is on Tappytoon, and I’ve been reading it there, although I’m reviewing it volume by volume on Goodreads. So far, I’ve read three vols.

In addition to these, I’ve been reading a dozen or so webtoons on Lezhin. My favourite is Jinx, a BL manhwa of a toxic MMA fighter and his sweet physical therapist. I’ve already read what’s published so far twice. Second season just began. Dawn of the Dragon, another BL just ended, as did BL series Low Tide in Twilight, and Limited Run, just to name a couple of favourites. Ongoing comedic favourites are BL Be My Baby, and Paws and Claws, the latter of which just began. On Tappytoon, I recently began I Tamed My Ex-husband’s Mad Dog, an ongoing fantasy romance.

Jinx by Mingwa

All in all, my reading was heavy on comics of all sorts. As all my favourite series are very long, I suspect the same will continue this year.

My favourite reads in 2024, part one: novels

Year 2024 has officially ended, and so has my reading year. I wrote my last review on the New Year’s Eve, which isn’t to say we didn’t celebrate at all, but we were at home and I had time for reading. The last book I read was Solo Leveling vol 3 by Chugong & Dubu, a very good manhwa series I picked on Tappytoon, but which I’ve been reviewing based on published volumes.

I read 207 books last year, of which 64 were novels and 143 mangas, not including ongoing webtoons that I haven’t reviewed. Most of the mangas were review copies and not all were that memorable, but I’ve mostly reviewed them on Goodreads and not here. Some gems among them too, though, and I’ll be going through those in part two.

Of the novels, quite a few were Chinese serialised danmeis. They’re not always very good books, but they are entertaining and belong among my favourites. Two of the series were concluded last year, Thousand Autumns by Meng Xi Shi and Guardian by priest, both of which were very good. The latter has a TV adaptation too, which I talk about here.

Twelve novels stood out this year. Here they are in the order I read them. Click the link on the book name for the full review.

He Who Downed the World by Shelley Parker-Chan. It concluded the Radiant Emperor duology, and while it didn’t hit me like the first volume, She Who Became the Sun, the year before, it was excellent queer retelling of real historical emperor.

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennet started a wonderful fantasy mystery series, Shadow of the Leviathan. Everything works, the unique world, the mystery, and especially the wonderful characters.

Small Gods of Calamity by Sam Kyung Yoo is a great debut. It’s an UF mystery set in modern Seoul, and follows a detective who can see the spirits of living and dead.

Cascade Failure by L.M. Sagas is an excellent sci-fi debut. Set in deep space, it follows a ragtag crew trying to save the universe. I also read its follow-up Gravity Lost. It was good too, but not quite as impressive as the first book.

Death in the Spires by K. J. Charles is a wonderful historical mystery set in early 20th century Oxford. It has a lovely queer romance and an unconventional ending for a mystery.

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler is a western version of more typically Asian isekai genre, where the character is transported from the modern world to a fantasy world. The main character has died thousands of times trying to save her new world, only to reborn. This time, she’ll be the bad guy.

Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis is another great debut. An evil wizard had lost his memory and decides to turn a new leaf. It doesn’t go entirely smoothly. A fun read. 

Moonstorm by Yoon Ha Lee is YA sci-fi set in a unique universe where peoples’ worship upholds gravity. Two competing systems of faith create conflicting gravities, between which the main character has to choose.

Primal Mirror by Nalini Singh has to be on the list too. I love Psy-Changelling series and this addition to the long series was a bit better than the couple of previous ones.

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher is one of her fantasy retellings. It’s a great, gothic tale set in a slightly fantastical world, complete with an undead horse.

The City in Glass by Nghi Vo is a short fantasy homage to a city loved by a demon. It doesn’t have much of a plot, yet it was impossible to put down. I also read her The Brides of High Hill, an interesting gothic novella set in ancient China.

And lastly, The Resurrectionist by A. Rae Dunlap, historical novel set in the early 19th century Edinburgh where anatomic schools are in great demand of dead bodies, giving rise to a macabre industry of body-snatchers.

All in all, an excellent, varied list of books that kept me happily reading the whole year. Stay tuned for the manga edition of my favourite reads last year.