My reading year 2025

I had an excellent reading year. I set out an ambitious goal of 250 books on Goodreads Reading Challenge and ended up reading 260 books. Of those, 47 were novels and 209 were manga that I actually finished, on top of which I reviewed four novels that I didn’t completely finish, for whatever reason, which brings the total to 260 for the challenge, 256 for my personal tally.

A little over half of my reading was reviewing copies, 138 titles in total. Manga came mostly from Edelweiss and novels from NetGalley. Much of the rest was manga too, mostly online, and the rest were novels either from a library or purchases. I’ve reviewed the novels on this blog, with monthly recaps of the rest, until September when publishing of Season to Be Witched took my attention and I didn’t pick up the habit later.

Most of my reading for pleasure was Chinese BL romances, which there are finally plenty of on offer, and I’m woefully behind on them. But there were other novels too that made an impact. There were two new additions to Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor world, a surprise novella The Orb of Cairado and The Tomb of Dragons. Both were excellent like always.

Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki’s Conjecture by Mikage Sawamura, light novels and manga both, kept delighting me as well. There was a new series starter from Anne Bishop, Turns of Fate, which might be my new favourite from her, and a great historical crime novel with gay romance from KJ Charles, The Copper Script. But the true gems were missing from my reading this year.

From the abundance of manga rises some titles, like Sanctify by Godsstation, which was in three volumes; Otaku Vampire’s Love Bite by Julietta Suzuki, of which I read vols 2-6 this year, the excellent Solo Leveling by Chugong & Dubu, of which I read everything from vol. 4 onwards online, and also binged the anime on Crunchyroll. I binged the entire I Ship My Rival x Me by Pepa online, which is good, because the official publication keeps pushing back. 

There were vols 5-10 of The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity by Saka Mikami, which is always delightful—and now also an anime on Netflix. I also binged Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun by Izumi Tsubaki, 13 vols so far. The whole long series is silly and fun. But my absolute favourite manga this year was The Apothecary Diaries by Nekokurage and Natsu Hyuuga, 15 volumes so far. Also available as an anime on Crunchyroll. On top of these come the numerous review copies and online series I didn’t have energy to review.

I’m trying to read a bit less next year, especially review copies, mostly because the deadlines keep stressing me out, and I’m always behind. But I’ll be definitely reading for pleasure. That’ll never change. And I’ll try to keep you up to date of my reading on this blog.

 

Blind Date with a Werewolf by Patricia Briggs: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

Blind Date with a Werewolf by Patricia Briggs

This is an in-between story to Briggs’ Alpha & Omega series and follows a side-character Asil Moreno, aka The Moor. He’s an ancient werewolf who has all but lost the ability to control his wolf and has lived with the Marrok’s pack for years so that the alpha can end his life should his wolf get free. He’s basically expected to die ever since.

But his ‘concerned friends’ think he has more to offer than hunting rouge werewolves. They’ve set a challenge for him and made it so he can’t easily refuse. He has to attend five dates of their choosing, with certain requirements about the duration of the date and number of bodies allowed at the end of it, which is zero.

The book consists of five short stories depicting each date. Some are new, some published earlier. I hadn’t read any of the latter and I think they’ve been reworked a little to form an organic whole for this book. Asil’s friends have been very creative in finding suitable dates for him and he can expect pretty much anything. He goes with open mind to each, so when one woman turns out to be a man—a prank by the boy’s friends—he’s not fazed and simply sets out to create a lovely evening for them both.

But one after another, the dates turn to some kind of carnage. There are vampires that he has to kill so they can’t prey on innocent people, black witches who have a reason to kill him, and damsels in distress to save. By the fourth date, he’s fairly sure there are larger forces in play than merely his concerned friends trying to liven up his life. And too many seem to have some kind of connection to his greatest enemy, his late foster daughter Mariposa who destroyed his life. Everything culminates in the final story, which puts him against a powerful vampire from his past.

But it’s not solely a carnage for him. The dates lead to a truly unexpected result: a woman whose mere presence calms his wolf. It makes him hope for the first time in centuries that he might not lose control of it, and that he might have a lovely future ahead of him still. If the vampire doesn’t kill him first.

This was a delightful, fairly fast read. All dates were interesting, except the second one which gave us only the aftermath. Asil turned out to be an intelligent and wryly amusing character who was a victim of his complicated past. The love-story suffered a little from the short form, as did the epic battle at the end, but that was only a small issue. All in all, this formed a great whole and a fun book.

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

Yokai: Shigeru Mizuki's Supernatural Parade by Mizuki Shigeru: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

Yokai: Shigeru Mizuki's Supernatural Parade by Mizuki Shigeru

Mizuki Shigeru (1922-2015) was one of the founders of Japanese manga after the WW2. But he was also a life-long student of Japanese folklore and especially yokai, the supernatural creatures, spirits and other phenomena that he held to be the integral part of Japanese (or any) nature. He wrote several books and encyclopaedia of them during his long life, and they had a deep impact on his work as a manga artist.

This is a collection of some of Mizuki’s yokai art edited by Zach Davidson, translator and folklorist. The book consists of horizontal, full-page, full-colour original images by Mizuki, with brief explanations of each yokai and some personal anecdotes of those yokai Mizuki had encountered himself.

The art is absolutely gorgeous. They combine folkloristic images of yokai, sometimes in traditional Japanese woodcut style, with comical manga images of humans encountering them. They’re highly imaginative and full of details that a reader can spend ages studying, always finding new things. I absolutely loved them. I wish they’d chosen one of the colourful images on the cover too, instead of the rather bland two-tone image.

From the editor, I would’ve needed a little more information. There’s a brief biography at the beginning of the book that concentrates on Mizuki as a folklorist rather than a manga artist, which somehow manages to leave out the detail mentioned in the back copy bio that Mizuki lost an arm in WW2. Which arm, and did it affect his work as an artist? I would also have liked to learn how this collection was edited. Is it an existing book or did the editor make a selection? How was the selection made? Based on images, editor’s favourite yokai, or potential reader interest? Are the descriptions Mizuki’s original, abbreviated from originals, or editor’s own? I would also have liked a table of contents or an index that would’ve made searching for a particular yokai easier.

These technical details aside, this is a delightful collection, a perfect coffee table book, and a starting point for anyone interested in Japanese yokai and Mizuki’s art.

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

Turns of Fate by Anne Bishop: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

Turns of Fate by Anne Bishop

Turns of Fate starts the Isle of Wyrd, a new urban fantasy series by Anne Bishop. It’s set in modern US, though the exact time or location aren’t given. It’s a great start, but a tad difficult to review.

A town of Penwych stands by a river, closest to Isle of Wyrd, which is a weird, supernatural place where the arcana—the fae, maybe—live and interact with humans in Destiny Park. During the day, they look like human, but they’re anything but. People visit the Destiny Park to have their future read or to bargain with the arcana to change their fate. You pay the price, which is seldom money, and if you betray them, you’re punished according to your fate.

Sometimes the punishments catch up with them on the human side of the river where they are investigated by the 13th precinct, which consists of people who aren’t afraid to visit the island and its odd and scary occupants. Beth Fahey is the newest detective there, and she’s thrown in the deep end from the start. But to her captain’s surprise, she gets along with the arcana surprisingly well. Suspiciously well. She’s sort of the main character, although she’s mostly on the background, her story unravelling slowly.

This was an episodic novel consisting of several cases that the 13th precinct investigates. There’s a case of a ghost gun, for example; bullying teenagers disappearing in the island, and a woman fleeing an ex. All were about abuse in some way, parental abuse, bullying, spousal abuse etc. It made for a heavy reading at times, even if the details weren’t dwelled on. The cases are told from several points of view, the perpetrators included, and while they conclude in one manner, they affect the other cases too, or are returned to at a later stage when the fate catches up with the perpetrators.

All cases were interesting, even if they weren’t traditional mysteries as such. The arcana emerge more helpful than humans believe them to be, although they are thoroughly alien in their nature, and they never help in a straightforward manner. The bad people are always humans. The atmosphere is similarly dark and mysterious as in Bishop’s The Others series, where humans are a small minority at the mercy of ancient gods. The conflict between humans and the arcana isn’t imminent here, but I’m guessing that’s where the story is headed to.

The episodic narrative worked, but it also meant that the story had several smaller high points without a larger arc, and it ended kind of abruptly, at the conclusion of one of the cases. The main characters were interesting, and the stories never went where I thought they would go. There’s no romance, but maybe a possibility of one. Beth found new things about herself and her past, but her story is only beginning. I’ll definitely continue.

Peerless vol. 5 by Meng Xi Shi: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Peerless vol. 5 by Meng Xi Shi

Volume 5 of Peerless ends the story of two imperial agents, Cui Buqu and Feng Xiao, from competing agencies in Sui dynasty China. They’ve been on a trail of a secret organisation the Thirteen Floors of Yunhai, and have managed to reduce their numbers to only the leader, Xiao Lü.

The last volume continues from where the previous one left, the aftermath of government officials swindling flood aid. Both men are in poor health, Cui Buqu for his chronic illness and Feng Xiao for his battle with Xiao Lü. But they’re called back to the capital and must haste there. Xiao Lü is ready for his final move and he has new allies with a horrible weapon that causes people to hallucinate and kill each other. To defeat him, both men come close to ruin and death.

This has been a great series. The investigation has been all over the place and at times impossible to comprehend, but the enemies to lovers story of Cui Buqu and Feng Xiao has been absolutely delightful to follow. But the last book wasn’t nearly as good. Too much space was given to unimportant characters and their points of view. Cui Buqu and Feng Xiao worked in the background, and the reader wasn’t privy to their investigations and cleverness until everything was set for the final confrontation. It made for a very unsatisfying and even boring read. Not even the final battle brought a completely satisfying ending.

The love story at least had its moments. There were kisses, jealousy, and attempts to wring confessions from each other. But the story ends kind of mid-scene without proper resolution to the romance, and the several epilogues and a bonus story merely continue with the hunt of the Thirteen Floors and doesn’t really bring anything new to the romance. Definitely no happily ever after moments, or a glimpse to the men’s future.

Overall though, I’m left happy with the series. I can imagine the men continuing as they’ve been, bickering, scheming and one-upping each other in public and loving each other in secret. Cui Buqu and Feng Xiao will definitely remain one of my favourite danmei couples.

Love Between Fairy and Devil (Novel) Vol. 2 by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

Love Between Fairy & Devil vol. 2 by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang

Volume 2 concludes the love story of the orchid fairy Xiao Lanhua and Demon Lord Dongfang Qingcang. Xiao Lanhua spent most of the previous volume without a body of her own, having accidentally killed it. Dongfang Qingcang promised her a new body, and at the end of the volume, created her one out of living clay.

Things are never that easy though, when dealing with an evil entity. Xiao Lanhua learns to her horror that the body isn’t meant for her but for the Scarlet Lady, the former god of war, who defeated the demon lord. He wants revenge and since she’s dead, he needs to bring her back in order to have it. He means Xiao Lanhua to prepare the clay body with her special abilities for the lady. Problem is, she’ll die in the process.

The second volume is mostly about Xiao Lanhua trying to avoid her fate. She tries to flee from him several times, only for him to bring her back. But every time he arrives just in time to save her from a mortal peril, after which he’s very nice to her, which messes with her head and heart. It brings her very low. It doesn’t help when she learns that the safe haven she’s been trying to flee to is no more and she’s been abandoned.

Dongfang Qingcang is on a more straightforward path. He’ll take the demon realm back, bring the Scarlet Lady back to life, defeat her and then rule the demon realm. There’s no room for Xiao Lanhua in that plan. But things don’t go his way. He gains back his emotions, including the ability to love, not that he pays attention to it. Nor does he question why he always goes after Xiao Lanhua and never punishes her, even though he’s an evil demon.

And then he gets what he wanted, the Scarlet Lady back. But turns out, revenge isn’t important anymore after all. He wants Xiao Lanhua, only it’s too late for her. What follows is a redemption arc—of sorts—for Dongfang Qingcang. He needs to change drastically and it almost happens, at least when it comes to her.

This was a good conclusion for the romance. With only two volumes, it was a very short book compared to other Chinese fantasy, but it didn’t need to be longer than this. I felt for Xiao Lanhua, who only wanted to live. It wasn’t easy for her to know that the man she loved, despite trying not to, only needed her as a disposable medicine. And it was very difficult to root for Dongfang Qingcang as a romantic interest when he remained evil throughout the story and was responsible for what happened to Xiao Lanhua. But the author really made him work for the happily ever after, and in the end it felt earned and as it should be.

There are three extras, two of them about side characters. Third one is about Xiao Lanhua and Dongfang Qingcang living their happily ever after. Sort of. And it may be, she’s been changed by him a little too, at least when it comes to adventures.

As I noted in my review of the previous volume, the original story is very different from the TV adaptation. There are similar elements and some characters, but the original story is more straightforward and less soapy. I’m not sure if either of them is the better one. Both have a good romance and a lot of twists and turns. If you’ve seen the adaptation, I recommend the book too.

How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps by Andrew Rowe: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps by Andrew Rowe

This is the first LitRPG book that I’ve read and I’m not a gamer, but I’ve read similar Japanese light novels and manga of adventurers and heroes on a quest to conquer dungeons and defeat the final boss. In the world of this book, Demon King arises every hundred years, followed by a hero who will (almost) always defeat him. The cycle has been unchanging for millennia, but now something’s different. Demon King is advancing faster than usually, but a hero hasn’t emerged out of schedule to defeat him.

Yui Shaw knows something has to be done and fast. Lacking better candidates for a hero, she decides to become one herself. She sets out a simple ten step plan for herself. She has to be accepted into an adventurer class, become stronger by levelling up enough times, clear some dungeons for important artefacts, obtain the hero’s sacred sword, build an adventuring party, and finally defeat the Demon King.

From the beginning, her path is unconventional. She chooses to become Bag Magician, which is basically a porter with some magical help. She does consider orphan class, but her parents refuse to disown her. Her new class comes with overlooked advances that she sets out to make the most of.

She befriends Ken, a low-class priest with a side class as a fashionista, who guards the sacred sword, and together they start levelling up by killing slimes. Soon, it’s time to start clearing the dungeons, but not like the heroes usually do it. Along the way, they have help from a fairy and definitely not a missing princess.

Demon King seems to be a step ahead of them all the time, but Yui is resourceful and clever. With her unconventional skills and unwavering belief in herself and her companions, she prepares for the final battle. The outcome is surprising for everyone.

This was a fun book. It’s exactly as advertised, a LitRPG with a clear path set out for the characters and the reader that is followed to the letter. The fun comes from watching Yui overcome her disadvantages, the biggest one being that she’s not the hero and the story is stacked against her. The story doesn’t in any way try to deepen her character or tell anything about her that isn’t necessary. I don’t even know her age. Ken remains similarly distant, but he’s a good supporting character. The additional side characters work well too.

If you like LitRPG stories, or even if you simply like good adventure stories, this is for you. Nothing truly bad happens, so it’s suitable for younger readers too. The ending hints at more adventures for Yui and Ken. I’d read those.

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

Audition For the Fox by Martin Cahill: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Audition for the Fox by Martin Cahil

Audition for the Fox is a novella length fantasy set in a world I presumed was inspired by East-Asian mythology, but so lightly that nothing really stands out. It also leans heavily on the fairytale tradition and stories about wily fox outsmarting everyone.

Nesi, 21, is a descendant of the Bull god, one of the ninety-nine pillars of a pantheon that consists of animal gods. She’d been dumped to a temple by her parents as a child, and there she must stay unless she can find a patron for herself in one of the gods. But she’s already failed 96 auditions with them, even with her great-great-grandfather the Bull, and there are only bad options left. Despite warnings, she decides to audition for the Fox, T’sidaan, who has never taken an acolyte.

Next thing she knows, she’s been sent back in time 300 years when her country was occupied by supporters of the Wolf. The Wolf had been a pillar back when there were a hundred of them, but he’s been permanently banished. We learn why later, and the banishment was deserved. His supporters are cruel and her people are suffering.

She’s taken in chains to a labour camp fortress to work for the soldiers of the Wolf with other captives. And the Fox gives her a task: she must start a revolution. Easier said than done when everything she tries gets her beaten up and incarcerated. And she’s really back in time, so if she fails, she’ll change the future of her time too. But little by little, she learns the wily ways of the fox and with their help, manages to free everyone. But it’s only the start of the revolution.

This was a good story about good winning over evil, with morals. It’s narrated like a fairytale, complete with several stories of the Fox, and is almost solely told instead of shown. The one exception where the narrative stops and lets the reader watch the characters operate in real time stands out almost like an anomaly.  But in order to tell a massive story of a revolution in a novella form, the chosen narrative style is basically the only way to do it. And it works, keeping the reader interested.

We don’t really learn anything about Nesi, and I only presume she comes from a modern world. But she’s stubborn, strong and resilient like the Bull and she pushes through. I liked her, but because of the distancing narrative style, I didn’t really get attached to the couple of named characters there were besides her. But T’sidaan comes alive through their stories and turns out to be delightful. In the afterword, the author hints at more of their adventures with Nesi. I’d read them.

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

The Summer War by Naomi Novik: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

The Summer War by Naomi Novik

The Summer War is a fairytale set in fantasy kingdom that shares a border with the fairy summer court. For a century, a war has raged every summer between the two countries over a fairy princess who was mistreated by a human king. But now the war is over, thanks to Celia’s father, the duke.

Celia is twelve and her beloved eldest brother Argent has just denounced his father and left home for good to be a knight in the summer court, because he wants to be free to love who he wants. Furious, Celia wishes he never finds love except in his blade, only for her powers as a sorceress to manifest at that point, making it a true curse instead.

With a sorcerer to barter with for his family’s position, Celia’s father arranges a marriage for her with the crown prince—or she suggests it, as she’s very clever for a twelve-year-old. But when the time for the wedding comes a couple of years later, she ends up married to the prince of the summer court instead. He wants revenge for the sister he lost a century ago, a mere blink in his long life. Celia has to suffer the exact fate his sister did. But she jumped off a tower and Celia has no intention of killing herself.

Luckily for her, Argent shows up to fight for her freedom. But she soon realises it’s the curse pushing him. She’s the only person who loves him and he wants to die for it to end the curse in his terms. But the prince can’t reverse his oath either, without suffering fatal consequences. So, one of the three has to die for the situation to be solved, and Celia can’t let that happen.

This was a good fairytale. It was fairly short and could be read in a couple of hours, but a lot happened. Celia befriended her neglected middle brother after Argent left and the two plotted to go to the summer court to end Argent’s curse. They even ran their father’s estate while the duke mourned the loss of his eldest son. The way out of the curse seemed impossible, but the entire family came together to solve it, and Celia was the cleverest of all in the end. The good people won and the bad people got their just deserts, although their fate wasn’t as bad as is usual in fairytales. No gruesome deaths for them.

The narrative flowed constantly, even though it was filled with a lot of information and secondary fairytales, and it was easy to read. It’s not a very memorable story, but it was a pleasant read for an evening, like a fairytale should be.

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

You've Got Mail: The Perils of Pigeon Post Vol. 4 by Blackegg: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

You've Got Mail: The Perils of Pigeon Post by Blackegg

Volume 4 ends the BL story set in ancient China that follows the very uneven romance between Wu Xingzi, a middle-aged country clerk, and Guan Shanjin, the only son of Lord Protector and a decorated general in his twenties. They met in a pigeon post club for gay men that exchanged pictures of penises, but the story gained depth from a treason plot and scheming old flames.

The previous book left Guan Shanjin imprisoned, seemingly for treason. But it’s only a ruse to flush out the real mastermind. He thinks he’s being clever, keeping Wu Xingzi in the dark so he won’t be harmed, but the old clerk is cleverer and more determined than Guan Shanjin believes. Not only does Wu Xingzi persuade Bai Shaochang who framed Guan Shanjin, into confessing, he is instrumental in bringing down the mastermind Yan Wenxin, the man he was romantically involved in his youth and who betrayed him back then.

The main story takes about a third of the last volume. All the problems are solved and the bad people get their comeuppances, including Lu Zezhi, the old teacher of Guan Shanjin. It’s a satisfying ending with a happily ever after. Despite the two men being very different, Guan Shanjin genuinely worships his plain and weak middle-aged spouse, and the shy older man flourishes under his care.

The ending is also very different from how the story began. The author notes in her afterword that she set out to write porn, and the first two volumes were mostly about that. But a plot emerged at some point and it pushed the extravagant bedroom scenes to the background. The ending of the story was practically demure compared to how it began.

The rest of the longish volume is extra stories, some of them very long. The best two are the wedding of Wu Xingzi and Guan Shanjin and a story of how they adopt a son. There’s also a longish story about Yan Wenxin who isn’t executed for treason but is given to the Khan of the neighbouring kingdom as a concubine instead.

The rest of the extras are various alternate universe stories, like omega-verse and beast-man ones. These are basically pure porn and I mostly skimmed them. However, it didn’t have a conclusion to the romance of Man Yue, Guan Shanjin’s right hand man, which began in the previous volume. I would’ve liked to read that.

I don’t usually comment on illustrations, but they were constantly in wrong places in this volume, confusing the reader. I don’t know what happened with those here.

All in all, the story improved as it progressed. Wu Xingzi emerged as an interesting character and while Guan Shanjin remained brash and overpowering, he was absolved in his love for Wu Xingzi. The five star rating for this volume is more for the overall story than the conclusion, as it was fairly short in the end and the extras would’ve maybe brought the rating down a little. For porn, the bedroom scenes stretched the imagination a bit too much, but as a romance it was lovely.

To Kill a Badger by Shelly Laurenston: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

To Kill a Badger by Shelly Laurenston

This is book six in the Honey Badger Chronicles of a group of borderline insane honey badger shifter women who wreak international havoc when they’re not playing basketball. In this book, the last of the women, Nelle Zhao, the youngest daughter of a rich and influential Hong Kong honey badger family, finds her mate in Keane Malone, a Siberian tiger shifter who only cares about football, his family, and getting revenge on de Medici lion shifter coalition. Not necessarily in that order.

In the previous book, de Medicis released a drug that can kill honey badger shifters who are pretty much indestructible otherwise. In retaliation, Charlie, the oldest of the women, delivered a message, the dead body of the de Medici head of the family. In this book, de Medicis retaliate. Too bad they go after the wrong group of insane honey badgers. Now the previous generation is involved too.

Nelle, the fixer, needs to fix things before an all-out war breaks out—or before Charlie meddles again, because she’s not subtle. She heads to France to negotiate with influential honey badgers to form a coalition against de Medicis, and takes Keane with her. Things don’t go exactly smoothly, but the two end up bonding.

This was a great book, maybe the best in the series. Like always, there are several POV characters, some for only a half a chapter or less. Several things happen at once, but they were fairly easy to follow for a change. And as always, things were chaotic and bat-shit crazy, as some characters enjoy stirring shit. (Looking at you, Max.) The crones were highly annoying, but unlike in the previous book where they were just thrown at the reader who hadn’t read their series, they were properly introduced and given their separate identities.

Romance isn’t the driving force of the plot and is mostly on the background, like in the earlier books. However, the couple actually spends a lot of time together here and the reader can follow their bond forming. Nelle and Keane made a really good couple and their chemistry felt real, so that by the time they end up in bed together, it feels earned. Nelle wasn’t half as annoying as she’s appeared to be in earlier books and Keane was absolutely delightful for a grumpy, constantly angry tiger. Theirs might be a true union, unlike the other girls’ whose mates basically ended up as background characters the women barely interact with.

I think this is the last book. All the women have now found their mates and the Malones have had their revenge. If that is the case, the series ends with a high note and leaves things in a good place. However, the ending sets the stage for a new story, so there could be a spin-off in the making too. I would love to read that, or anything the author writes under her two names (I’m still waiting for more Crows), as no one does insanely violent women like Laurenston/Aiken.

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

Villains Are Destined to Die (novel), Vol. 1 by Gwon Gyeoeul: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads 

Villains Are Destined to Die by Gwon Gyeoeul

Villains Are Destined to Die is a Korean isekai reverse harem/dating game light novel set in a fantasy empire. A Korean college student gets hooked on a dating game where a long-lost daughter of a duke returns and wins the hearts of her five suitors despite the fake daughter, Penelope, trying her best to kill her. There’s also a hard mode of the game, where one plays as Penelope. But try as she might, she always dies on that mode.

And then she wakes up inside the game, as Penelope. Knowing that she’ll die, no matter what she does, she sets out to improve her odds of survival. It’s not easy for her though. Penelope’s circumstances are too much alike her own life as a reviled daugher by a mistress of a wealthy businessman. She’s angry even, having just fled her miserable life, only to land in a similar situation.

Step by step, she improves her life, like gaining the ability to say what she wants instead of having to rely on the game’s dialogue that always gets her killed. She needs to reach 100% affection with one of the five men for the game to end, preferably before the real daughter returns and ruins everything in a few months’ time, and some of the counts start at zero, or even below. She’s even more careful after she realises there’s no reset button in this game. If she dies, she’ll stay dead. And she’ll die if the affections of any of the five love interests drop below zero.

One by one, she meets the men. Two of them are her step brothers who hate her the most. There’s also an insane crown prince, a sorcerer, and a former slave she buys from an auction and makes her personal guard. All are difficult in their own way for her to make to like her, let alone love. On top of which, the entire household hates her and tries to make her life miserable.

This was a good start to a series. I’d read the first volume of the manhwa adaptation and liked it very much, but the book was better. It’s fairly fast-paced, well-written and engaging. The new Penelope is a very different person than the Penelope of the game, and little by little, she changes everyone’s perceptions of her.

I liked Penelope and all the love interests were interesting and potential end-games. I don’t know if she has to win over only one of them like in the game, in which case any one of them will do at this point, or if she’ll end up with all of them, which would be fine too. No one is a sure winner yet, even if her guard is in a lead, and it’ll take the whole series before 100% affection is reached. Looking forward to reading more.

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

Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki's Conjecture (Light Novel), Vol. 6 by Mikage Sawamura: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki's Conjecture vol 6 by Mikage Sawamura

Previous book marked a turn in the story: Naoya and the professor visited the festival of the dead where Naoya had been to as a child and which had led to him starting to hear lies. This book, subtitled Dark Reflections, starts a week after those events. Back at the university, Naoya tries to come to terms with their visit to the underworld, and wonders if it was worth it. He can still hear the lies, so nothing’s changed.

But Professor Takatsuki is so upset he falls ill. The entity inside him made him forget the entire journey, because he’d learned what happened when he was abducted, and he can’t accept it. Naoya tries to cheer him up and ends up promising he’ll be Takatsuki’s memory from now on.

In an effort to cheer up the professor, Naoya makes him take a case of a haunted house in an amusement park, where people have started to see an actual ghost. He thinks Takatsuki’s reluctance is caused by his upset, but turns out it’s because the professor has already figured out what’s going on and it’s not supernatural. But Naoya gets a fun day at an amusement park with Takatsuki, Kenji, and Ruiko.

In the second story, Takatsuki’s cousin Yuuko contacts him for the first time in twenty years. (Takatsuki isn’t allowed to contact his family except his uncle who raised him.) His fiancé insists she needs supernatural help for a growth on her shoulder and wants him to call Takatsuki. Turns out, she had attended as a child the tea parties Takatsuki’s mother held where she showed him around as a tengu, and had become obsessed with him. This story took an unexpected turn, but it wasn’t supernatural either.

But it did give Naoya a deeper understanding of Takatsuki’s family situation. He even gets to meet his mother briefly and learns she’s still in denial about Takatsuki and insists her son didn’t return, after Takatsuki didn’t let her show him around as a tengu anymore. The whole situation is upsetting for Takatsuki too, but at least he got to connect with his cousin again.

In the third story, a girl contacts them about a mirror that disappeared her mother. Her father insists she left with her lover, but when Takatsuki and Naoya investigate, the truth turns out to be something supernatural—for the first time. It triggers the entity inside Takatsuki to intervene even. Naoya has a chance to communicate with it, but it leaves him with more questions than answers. But he’s now sure the entity is causing Takatsuki’s memory losses.

This was an excellent volume in many ways. The narrative felt more mature, Naoya’s inner monologue was deeper and we get better insights into him and Takatsuki both; their friendship changes quite a lot (no romance), and there was an actual supernatural case. The theme of the book was mirror and it offered some good insights into Japanese folklore and human psyche. I’m a bit annoyed that the aftermath of Kenji seeing a real ghost was skipped, but perhaps we get a bonus story about that later. There was no cliffhanger ending or extra stories. There are three more books to come and I can’t wait to read them. Though I’ll probably gobble them down in one sitting like this one too.

Warrior Princess Assassin by Brigid Kemmerer: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Warrior Princess Assassin by Brigid Kemmerer

Warrior Princess Assassin starts the Braided Fate fantasy trilogy and is the author’s first foray into adult fantasy after several YA series. I liked her Cursebreakers trilogy, but her other books haven’t excited me as much. Here, the author shakes the romantasy tropes and does it well.

The book is narrated by its three eponymous characters. Princess Marjoriana is 25, and about to be married to Maddox Kyronan, 30, the king of the neighbouring kingdom; the warrior. Then there’s Asher, once a son of a courtier and Jory’s childhood friend, now a former slave turned assassin.

Jory’s kingdom needs Ky’s fire magic to drive away a warring kingdom from their border. Ky needs the weather magic of Jory’s father to heal the crops in his kingdom. It’s outwardly a straightforward political alliance, but both are holding secrets that might ruin the agreement.

And then the ruin comes from an unexpected direction. Assassins’ guild is hired to kill both, and they send Asher. He’s unwilling to kill his childhood sweetheart, and she doesn’t want him to kill Ky either. The three become allies out of necessity, because Asher knows the guild will keep sending assassins until everyone is dead.

The three flee to Ky’s kingdom. But assassins are after them, and they have no idea who’s behind the killing orders. And Ky’s kingdom isn’t a safe place either, because his people hold him responsible for the failed crops and uncontrollable fires. And he can’t tell them who really is behind it.

This was a fairly straightforward start to an epic fantasy, with plenty of action and a few good twists. I guessed who would betray them from the moment they were introduced, and there were a couple of inconsistencies that annoyed me (for example, the book takes place in winter, yet everyone expects the crops to be thriving), but the political plot wasn’t the most important part of the story. What made the book interesting was the romantic plot that unfurled slowly and carefully.

In romantic fantasy, there’s a tried-and-true trope of two suitors, one of which wins the girl in the end while the other turns out to be the villain—a trope the author has used herself before. She departs from that from the start though. I feared it would lead to a reverse harem story—the men both having the woman while basically ignoring one another—which never works for me. But the author went for a three-way romance where all three are genuinely attracted to other two, and she did it well.

The lynchpin of the relationship isn’t Jory, the sheltered maiden, or Ky, the strong protector. It’s Asher, the traumatised former sex slave who has trouble being touched. His trauma is unravelled slowly and dealt with respect, as Ky gently helps him. Asher is the one who realises Ky’s traumas, the one who knows how sheltered Jory has been, and the one with most experience in three-way sex. By the time the first bedroom scene takes place at the end of the book, all three are in the same mental space—as is the reader—and while they don’t go all the way, the act brings them together as a three-person unit that will face the future together.

What would’ve been a pretty mundane and fairly simple epic fantasy romance turned out to be more interesting because of the characters and their relationships. Jory was perhaps the weakest link in the end, her character that of a YA heroine despite her age, but she’s growing. Ky was saved from being an all-powerful hero with his own trauma. Asher wasn’t a pushover or a weakling despite his past. And hopefully the men will heal during the course of the story. Looking forward to reading more.

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

July reading recap

July was a slow month for me, as nothing really caught my interest. I started several books that I couldn’t finish. If it hadn’t been for review copies, I probably wouldn’t have read anything. In the end, I read four novels, three of them review ARCs, and 18 mangas, ten of them review copies. Twenty-two books in total.

The one novel that wasn’t a review copy was the latest Psy-Changeling UF romance, Atonement Sky by Nalini Sing. Even the spin-off series has nine books out already, and the series is going as strong as ever. Read my review here.

I had review copies of The Wizard by Shi Wu, a paranormal Chinese danmei with an interesting premise, but it wasn’t a very good romance. I read the vol. 1 novel of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint by singNsong, and it was as good as the manhwa adaptation. Lastly, I read the latest Peter Grant novel by Ben Aaronovitch, Stone and Sky, which sadly was a bit of a let-down.

Four of the review mangas I read were follow-ups to ongoing series. There was vol. 3 of Firefly Wedding by Tachibana Oreco, a series I probably would’ve given up already if it weren’t for review copies. The same goes with Tokyo Alien Bros. by Shinzo Keigo, but luckily vol. 3 is the last one. The end was good. Kill Blue vol 2 by Fujimaki Tadatoshi continues the story of a hit-man whose body turns into a teenager’s and he’s sent to a school. This is a funny series and the cliffhanger ending makes me want to read more. And then there was my favourite, Spy x Family vol. 14 by Tatsuya Endo. This series never lets you down.

Then I reviewed one stand-alone manga and a few series starters, some of which I liked and others that I won’t continue with. Cute but Not Cute by Sakishita Senmu was a stand-alone BL about two guys who probably shouldn’t have ended together. Suzuki-kun’s Mindful Life, Vol. 1 by Fujimoto Yuhki was a great start to a cute high school series and I’ll read more. Tower Dungeon 1 by Tsutomu Nihei was a more artistic dungeon series and while it was good, it wasn’t for me.

The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows vol. 1 by Sakaku Hishikawa was a fun fantasy harem series and I might read more, whereas Gushing over Magical Girls vol. 1 by Akihiro Ononaka would’ve been much better if the girls in question hadn’t been 14. And lastly, Double the Trouble, Twice as Nice, Vol. 1 by Ryō Ichino was a fun start to a cute romance series.

The manga I read for myself was fun, but not all of it was good. There was Two Guys at the Vet Clinic by sinonome, a fun start to a BL series about two vets, but unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be more volumes available. I read 23:45 Re; by Ohana, a follow-up to 23:45, which was a fairly good conclusion to the story, though there’s room for more. My Younger Knight Takes Care of Me in Another World Vol. 1 by Nekonomori Shima is such a rip-off of The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter that it wouldn’t be too much to call it plagiarised. Also, it wasn’t as cute as the original. The Feisty Omega and His Twin Mates Vol. 1 by Ryo Ayamine was so bad I gave it two stars.

Secrets of the Silent Witch vol 4 by Tobi Tana was cute, but not as interesting as the earlier story arc, but I’m sure it’ll pick up another arc soon. And an anime adaptation came out on Crunchyroll in July too and it’s great. And last but not least, like previous months, I read three volumes of Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun by Izumi Tsubaki, vols. 11, 12 and 13. I’ve almost read all the volumes available on MangaUP! and I’ve been pacing myself until there’s more.

So, despite my reading slump, I managed to read quite a lot. August has a great many interesting books coming out, so it should be a good reading month.

Astrolabe Rebirth by Fei Tian Ye Xiang: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Astrolabe Rebirth by Fei Tian Ye Xiang

I’ve read a couple of books by Fei Tian Ye Xiang and they’ve been a hit and miss with me. Astrolabe Rebirth is more of a hit. It’s a stand-alone sci-fi set in a unique world of Astrolabe. The City of Steel is a dystopian place for humans, enslaved by Father, an AI that rules the city with camera surveillance, robots and human clones. It’s a miserable, polluted place, where humans are likely to meet an untimely end for violating strict rules.

A-Ka is 16 and has just begun working as a technician mending robots and clones, a job he has unique aptitude for, but he dreams of freedom. He’s found his way out of the city, and is building a mecha for himself in secret to escape. One day, he rescues a man from the sea, preserved in a sleeping pod. He has no memories, so A-Ka names him Heishi.

The two mean to go their separate ways, but fate intervenes in the form of a clone uprisal, and the two are swept along with it. They find themselves outside the city, fleeing with humans and clones to the other side of the continent where free people live.

As Heishi regains his memories, he remembers his purpose: rebooting Astrolabe to remove everything that has gone wrong with the system since it was initiated. But Father has the same command system, and may get there first, rebooting the system to its liking. Humans and clones must work together to help Heishi to shut down Father before the AI destroys everything. But the reboot requires a special human component, and that’s A-Ka, the only human Heishi has learned to love.

This was a good story. It was hasty, the world-building was shoddy, and descriptions were confusing if they existed, but the core story was interesting. It wasn’t much of a romance, but A-Ka and Heishi learned to love each other through their hardships. It has some sad moments that were slightly weakened through miraculous twists, but the ending was very good.

A-Ka was a great protagonist, downtrodden but resourceful and resilient. He gained a miraculous ability, but it wasn’t overused. Heishi remained distant, but as he gained his memories and learned about humans, he became more interesting. There were some good side characters too, with proper purpose for the story. I would’ve wished for more romance, but the story was satisfying as it was.

The Wizard (Novel): When Words Kill by Shi Wu: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

The Wizard by Shi Wu

The Wizard is set in a nameless big city in modern China. It begins with a prologue seven years before the main story. Cheng Jinxi, 18, has confessed to killing his entire family and even though the detective in charge of the investigation, Liang Yuanfeng, can’t find any evidence of his involvement, the young man is taken to prison.

Readers learn already during the prologue, that Cheng Jinxi did indeed kill his family, and how and why he did it. He can hurt and kill people seemingly with his thought alone, which he demonstrates the first day in the prison by killing some prisoners. The director of the prison instantly realises that there’s nothing he can do to keep Cheng Jinxi confined if he doesn’t choose to stay. Fortunately for him, the young man has chosen to accept his punishment and stays, though with great liberties.

Seven years later, Liang Yuanfeng, only 32, is already burned out as a detective and on a forced leave to recuperate. Only he and his boss know that it’s because Liang Yuanfeng has resorted to vigilant justice. He’s kept in close touch with Cheng Jinxi, his only visitor in prison, and learned what the younger man can do. So he’s asked him to kill some bad people. He doesn’t regret his actions.

A great evil has taken over an apartment building and people have started to kill each other. When the building takes a special task force hostage and almost kills Liang Yuanfeng’s boss, Liang Yuanfeng is asked to bring in Cheng Jinxi to solve the problem. Liang Yuanfeng manages to negotiate a pardon for him, with himself as the younger man’s warder.

The two settle into the family home of Cheng Jinxi’s sister whose death in the hands of their extended family triggered him to killing everyone. Cheng family comes from a long line of shamans with great powers that women possess. But the family didn’t know that in their generation, it’s Cheng Jinxi who has the power, not his sister or little niece. Cheng Jinxi gets the custody of his niece, now 12, and the three become a small family.

It doesn’t take long for the two to become romantically involved, although it’s fairly one-sided, as Cheng Jinxi can’t really feel any emotions after everything he’s done. They spend their time solving supernatural crimes, and trying to come to terms with things they’ve both done. Atonement doesn’t seem possible, on top of which Cheng Jinxi has a time-stamp on him. Because it turns out, he’s not the one who’s using the power; it’s a demon to whom he’s promised himself as a sacrifice. And the demon is about to collect.

This was a good but gloomy story, with some tear-jerking moments. Liang Yuanfeng turned into a warm caretaker fairly easily for a burned-out cop, but his character remains slightly superficial. Cheng Jinxi has a deeper character and backstory, and he goes through a greater change. Theirs is not a very good romance, but it’s sweet with some tender moments. The story heads slowly but surely towards the impending doom and a happily ever after seems impossible. It takes a great twist for the small family to end up in a good place.

The writing stars as fairly good, but it deteriorates towards the end, with lots of repetition and contradictions in character actions. It didn’t really matter at that point, but it nevertheless managed to lessen the impact of the emotional climax. This is a stand-alone story, and the end is conclusive. While I liked it, it’s not among the great BL stories that’ll linger in my mind.

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

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, Vol. 1 (light novel) by singNsong: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint vol 1 by SingNsong

The original Korean light novel of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint by SingNsong (a writing duo pseudonym) is finally available in print and ebook in English. I’ve read the manhwa serialisation on Webtoon (first seven volumes are also available in print in English), so I was familiar with the story and characters going in.

Dokja Kim (Kim Dokja in original Korean; all the names have been westernised for some annoying reason) is an unimpressive office worker in his late twenties. The sole solace in his joyless life is a serialised novel Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse, which he has read over a decade, most of it as its sole reader. After three thousand chapters, the book has come to an end, and just as he wonders what he’s supposed to do next, the world ends.

The end isn’t random or a complete destruction. Humanity finds itself as participants in a universe-wide reality show for the amusement of Constellations, god-like beings who observe the show through thousands of channels somewhere in the universe. The show is deadly and very unfair. But Kim Dokja immediately realises he knows how the show is run. Because he’s been reading about it the past ten years.

Armed with the knowledge of the story and the rules of the new world, he sets out to survive. And from the very first scenario given to humans through game interfaces, he starts to change the story.

The first volume sets the scene, completes the first deadly scenario and starts the second. The scenarios are run by goblins who are hosts of the channels, their sole interest to amuse the gods and making as much money of them as they can. The gods interfere by claiming favourite players and paying in coins for interesting events.

From the start, Kim Dokja gains the attention of the gods, not least because he knows how to game the game. He also gathers a small group of people around him who all will play a great role in the story later. He doesn’t do it solely for kindness though. He does it to survive.

The manhwa adaptation is fairly faithful to the light novel. Not much is left out. There’s not much to leave out anyway. The narrative is fast-paced and sparce. Kim Dokja’s thoughts are portrayed well in the adaptation too.

The only difference I noted from the beginning is the way the second main character, Yu Junghyeok (Junghyeok Yu in English version), the original lead of TWSA novel, is portrayed. He's a regressor who has lived through the scenarios many times over, starting from the beginning every time he dies and getting stronger and more inhuman in every round. Kim Dokja makes clear in his inner thoughts that he’s afraid of Yu Junghyeok and sees him as a monster, though he admires him too. We also get Yu Junghyeok’s inner thoughts, which we seldom get in the manhwa. It adds an interesting layer to the novel.

The bromance between the pair is a fan-favourite that’s absent from the manhwa. I don’t know if it’ll develop later in the series, but it’s not here yet. Yu Junghyeok is absent most of the story anyway.

This was a good, fast-paced read, and a morally very grey story. Kim Dokja is the hero, but he’s not heroic or good in a sense we expect heroes to be. Side characters didn’t really become their own persons here yet, but as we learned, Kim Dokja’s abilities and knowledge of the story gives him insight into them too.

The layout with several different fonts, one of which was very difficult to read, made it visually busy. I also missed character profiles at the beginning—or end—of the book, like in the manhwa. And I don’t usually judge the cover, but I think the publisher could’ve gone with a better one. This one doesn’t reflect the story at all. There’s a long way for the characters to go yet, and even though I know how the story goes, I’d like to read the original version too.

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

Manhwa cover of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint. Art by Sleepy-C.