What I read in February

February turned out to be a good reading month, despite being short, brought about by a week-long vacation that I mostly spent reading. I read eight books and twelve mangas, and liked almost everything. Links are to my reviews on this blog or Goodreads.

My favourite book turned out to be The Orbof Caraido by Katherine Addison, a novella set in her Goblin Emperor world. It was a surprise addition to my reading list, as I hadn’t known it existed. I read it the moment I found it, and now I’m eagerly waiting for her The Tomb of Dragons which comes out later this month.

I read books 2 and 3 in Heather Fawcett’s Emily Wilde alt-history fantasy trilogy, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands and Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales. I’d postponed reading the second book, but then I got an ARC of the last book and had to read them back-to-back. It was a good decision, in hindsight, as the last book continues where the previous one left. Both were fun and good.

Other review copy reads included Juliette Cross’s A Rebel Without Claws, which started a spin-off series in her earlier world. I didn’t like it as much as the earlier series, but it was fine. I also read The Fourth Consort by Edward Ashton, a fun sci-fi romp that turned out to be one of my favourite reads last month. The reading month ended with a review copy of The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor, a YA fantasy that had potential for more, but a fine enough read.

My Chinese danmei enthusiasm was rewarded with two books, both of which came out last month. Peerless vol. 3 by Meng Xi Shi was a great addition to an interesting series about two secret service bosses in ancient China. Intrigue and heartbreak aplenty. And in Case File Compendium vol. 4 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou the complicated story of two men who hate each other for various reasons saw one of them have a change of heart. Maybe it’ll turn out to be a romance after all.

I read five review copies of mangas, but none of them stood out. There was Love on the Horizon 1 by Machi Yamashita, a cute but small gay romance; Palace of the Omega, Vol. 1 by Fumi Tsuyuhisa that I really didn’t like all that much, mostly because the love interest was a child; Fall In Love, You False Angels 1 by Coco Uzuki was a silly and a bit weak high school romance; My Stepmom's Daughter is my Ex, vol. 1 by Kyosuke Kamishiro and Rei Kusakabe was also a high school romance, but surprisingly bitter; and lastly one more high school romance, A Star Brighter than the Sun, Vol. 1 by Kazune Kawahara, which was cute but really slow.

I had better luck with mangas that I chose for myself. There was vol. 2 of I Ship My Rival x Me by Pepa, a fun, sweet, and cute series of two Chinese idols working on a same movie. I’ve read the entire series online already, but the official second volume came out last month so I re-read it. It was still perfect.

The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity vol 5 by Saka Mikami continues to be my feel-good high school romance manga, sweet and uncomplicated. I found a new feel-good manga too, A Man and His Cat vol 1 by Umi Sakurai of a man who gets himself a cat after his wife dies, giving a home for a cat no one else has wanted. Funniest high school manga was The Otaku Love Connection 01 by Chu Amairo of a boy who ships his class-mates’ romance.

On action front, I finished two volumes of Solo Leveling by Chugong & Dubu, vols. 9 and 10. I’ve read this online too, on Tappytoons, but I review it volume at a time. The series keeps getting better. In addition, I’ve been reading Omniscient Reader manhwa by SingNSong and Sleepy-C, but I’ll have to wait forever for official publications to catch up before I can review it. I also read Black Butler 1 by Yana Toboso, but for once I encountered a manga that I couldn’t get into at all. My other webtoons have almost all gone to hiatus, so there’s nothing to report there, except Jinx by Mingwa BL manga is getting on gear after a slow start for season 2.

Excellent reading month, if I say so myself, with all kinds of fun books and comics. March is packed full already too. I hope I have time to read it all.

 

The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor: review

3/5 stars on Goodreads

The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor

The Otherwhere Post takes place in a city that used to be a shared point between three worlds, which all occupy the same space in their universes. Travelling between them used to happen through doors upheld with magic. But then one of the worlds was taken over by a fast-spreading poisonous vine, killing the place, and the doors had to be destroyed to stop it from killing the other two worlds too.

Seven years later, there’s still no travelling between the two remaining worlds except for couriers who can create individual doors for themselves to deliver letters, some of which have waited since the doors were destroyed. One such letter finds Maeve, several years after it was sent.

Maeve is the daughter of a man who was accused of destroying the world, and a survivor of it. Her father’s name is a curse and she’s learned early on to hide her connection to him. She changes her name and living place constantly, never settling anywhere or confiding in anyone. But then the letter tells her that her father was innocent. She needs to learn the truth, but the problem is, she doesn’t know who sent the letter.

Her only option is to join the school of scriptomancers to learn the ancient art of travelling between the worlds. She cheats her way in and starts to investigate. It proves to be difficult in many ways, but the biggest obstacle is that in order to create a door to another world, she needs to reveal her real name.

But someone in the school already knows it. She’s getting threatening notes, some of which are spelled to physically harm her. She prevails and even makes friends who seem eager to help her, even if she doesn’t tell them the truth about why she’s investigating. But whoever wants the truth hidden isn’t above killing.

This was a good book, but it fell a bit flat for me. The world was interesting, but underused, as it mostly took place in one world and inside the school. The scriptomancy was intriguing, but the narrative never made proper use of it, even though it was pivotal to it, and Maeve’s knowledge of inks and languages was all but ignored. Side characters were nice; Tristan made a good YA hero with his tragic past and willingness to help Maeve, though the inevitable romance didn’t convince me. I liked the slow burn though, and that the pair didn’t hook up the first chance they got.

However, the mystery and how Maeve investigated it was downright infuriating in its randomness. Most clues were handed to her and then she made a mess of them. But the biggest disappointment was Maeve herself. She was a character whose first instinct was to flee at every obstacle. While it was understandable at the beginning, she never grew out of it, or grew as a person. It made it difficult to root for her, knowing she would always take the easy way out, cheat, lie and run no matter who it hurt, to which she never gave the slightest thought. Most disappointingly, she was sidelined from her own investigation at the end. It may seem like she solved it, but she only learns the truth because the villain tells it to her, and then officials take over, leaving her to read what was happening from letters.

Nevertheless, this was an easy, fairly enjoyable read if one doesn’t overly analyse it. It wasn’t too scary and there were no graphic scenes, so it suits younger readers too. This is a stand-alone, and the ending is conclusive and good.

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