Tag: Magic

Shugo Chara! Vol. 1

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Shugo Chara! Vol. 1 by Peach-Pit
Series Name: Shugo Chara!
Genres: Comedy, Magic, Romance
Intended Age Group: Children/middle grade
Publisher: Kodansha
Edition: ebook 
ISBN: N/A
Rating: 3/5
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Description

Everyone thinks Amu is so cool, but the truth is she’s just shy. The misconception drives her crazy, because she just wants to be able to outwardly express how she really feels without getting embarrassed. Three magic eggs appear in her bed one morning and hatch into Guardian Characters, angel-like beings who can magically help her be someone new. But now people are harassing her about something called an “embryo.” What hardships will accompany this new found power?

Personal & Info

BookWalker’s copy, which is where I read this, did not have an ISBN listed anywhere. Usually there’s one at the end of the book, but that is not the case here.

There is no Crunchyroll link for this book, because they appear to only have volumes two and up. The series is more than ten years old at this point, so some places are only going to have digital or used copies. Just make sure you know which format you’re looking at if you decide you want to get into this.

Apparently I added this to my to-read list years ago and completely forgot about it. It’s pure coincidence that I managed to get a free digital copy to try the series.

There is a spin off series by the name Shugo Chara-chan!, which looks like it focuses on the day to day mini-adventures of Amu’s Guardian Characters.

Characters

Amu Hinamori is a fourth grader from Seiyo Elementary on her way into the fifth grade. She is unhappy with her life, because she doesn’t know what kind of person she wants to be, but she knows she’s discontent with how she currently is. Amu is the main character. I’m sure her pink hair already gave that away. She’s unique because she has three eggs.

Midori Hinamori is Amu’s mother. She is the editor for Housewife’s Wisdom monthly magazine.

Tsugumu Hinamori is Amu’s father. He is a wild bird photographer.

Ami Hinamori is Amu’s 3 year old sister. Their parents could have tried to be a little more original with their daughters’ names.

Tadase Hotori is the King’s Chair Guardian for a group the school refers to as the Guardians. He is often referred to as Prince and Kiddy Prince. His guardian character is Kiseki.

Ran is Amu’s first guardian character. She’s good at honesty and sports. Her symbol is a heart.

Miki is Amu’s second guardian character. She’s good at art. Her symbol is a spade.

Su is Amu’s third guardian character. She’s good at cooking. Her symbol is a club.

Nadeshiko Fujisaki is the Queen’s Chair Guardian for a group the school refers to as the Guardians. Her guardian character is Temari.

Yaya Yuiki is the Ace Chair Guardian for a group the school refers to as the Guardians. Her guardian character is Pepe.

Kukai Souma is the Jack Chair Guardian for a group the school refers to as the Guardians. His guardian character is Daichi. Kukai is also Captain of the soccer team.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi is a mysterious boy who wants to steal Amu’s eggs. His guardian character is Yoru, and their transformation makes Ikuto look like a cat.

Utau is apparently a fourteen-year-old famous singer and a member of the villain group.

Story & Thoughts

I kind of wish I’d found this series back when it was still new. I think I would have absolutely loved it back then. It would have been a great series to get into around the same time Tokyo Mew Mew was making the rounds.

The story is super cute and relatable, but it also exaggerates things in a way that is typically best enjoyed by younger age groups. The introduction is a good example. Amu apparently suffers from some common social problems. She’s the new girl at her school. Her classmates, and even her parents, all think she is super cool, because she has that cool and reserved exterior. It’s not Komi levels of social anxiety, but everyone thinks she’s cool because they don’t really know or understand her. Assumptions about her life abound, and she comes off as a cool edgy kid. The fact the parents buy into it, too, makes it unrealistic.

On the inside, and when she’s alone, Amu is frustrated about how she can’t properly express herself or do things she wants to be good at. That’s where the story becomes relatable. I feel like these things are something most kids go through. Feeling shame or anxiety or dread about having to do things they aren’t good at, or wish they could be better at.

This is where the eggs come in. The story says all children have something called a heart egg that disappears as they get older. In some special cases, the eggs hatch, and they get a guardian character. These guardians represent the kind of person the kids want to be. Maybe not exact, but they represent the traits they wish they had. In Amu’s case, for example, one of hers is more honest and more athletic.

But the great thing about this aspect of the story is, these guardians are there to assure you that you have what it takes to become the person you want to be. It’s like they’re the training wheels you need to learn how to be that person, and they’re always reminding you that you have that potential. I’m curious how how the story handles things when kids actually make progress with that kind of character growth. Maybe that’s when the guardian characters disappear.

It looks like the story is going in a sort of magical girl transformation direction, but the boys get transformations, too. Amu is special, though, so she’s going to have three since she has three characters. She is crushing on Tadase in this volume, but I strongly suspect her actual love interest is going to be Ikuto. There was a strong moment of tension between them, and an enemies to crush relationship would be adorable and interesting for them.

I love the message the story is outlining about personal growth and hope. Amu’s hairclip changes to show which guardian is affecting her, and I think that’s a cute way to easily portray who is in control. This is a series I wouldn’t mind reading more of, but I don’t know when or if that will happen. I have a lot I’m working on as it is, so I’ll probably just throw it on my wishlist for now.

Marked

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Marked by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
Series Name: House of Night
Volume Number: 1
Genres: Fantasy, Magic, Paranormal Romance, Romance, Urban, Vampires
Intended Age Group: YA
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-312-36026-9
Rating: 4/5
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Description from the Book

ENTER THE DARK, MAGICAL WORLD OF THE HOUSE OF NIGHT, a world very much like our own, except here vampyres have always existed. Sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird has just been Marked as a fledgling vampyre and joins the House of Night, a school where she will train to become an adult vampyre. That is, if she makes it through the Change – and not all those who are Marked do. It sucks to begin a new life, especially away from her friends, and on top of that, Zoey is no average fledgling. She has been chosen as special by the vampyre Goddess Nyx. Zoey discovers she has amazing powers, but along with her powers come bloodlust and an unfortunate ability to Imprint her human ex-boyfriend. To add to her stress, she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers: When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school’s most elite group, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny – with a little help from her new vampyre friends.

Personal & Info

I’m going into this without reading any descriptions. I’ve heard so many people praise the series. When I found a few volumes cheaply at my local store, I made sure to grab them. All I know going into it is that it has something to do with vampires.

The shop links go to copies of the singular volume, but there are also box sets for the series. So, if you prefer to purchase your books in sets, you can easily find those on the same sites.

Content Warnings

-Teen deaths

-Insensitive language (This book is from 2007 so characters throw around words like “retarded” due to that being the type of language used at the time the book was written.)

-Sexual themes (The story mentions things like blowjobs and erotic dancing.)

-Bullying (The gay character experiences bullying, and the mean girl character bullies everybody.)

Characters

Zoey Redbird, original last name Montgomery, is the sixteen year old main character. Her heritage is Cherokee on her mother’s side through her grandmother, Sylvia Redbird. She has an older sister and a younger brother, and she doesn’t like either of them.

Stevie Rae Johnson is Zoey’s roommate from Henrietta, Oklahoma. She’s a true country girl with a love of country music, cowboy hats, and cowboy boots. Zoey considers her a “true Okie” because she speaks with a southern “twang.”

Erin Bates is a pretty blonde girl from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her best friend is her roommate Shaunee, because they are extremely similar in personality and share a shoe size.

Shaunee Cole is Erin’s roommate from Connecticut. They are so similar in personality and interests that they call each other “Twin.”

Damien Maslin is the guy friend in the group. He’s from Dallas, Texas, has a sophisticated vocabulary, and faces bullying due to being gay.

Aphrodite is the mean girl of the story. She’s the “it girl.” She’s blonde, pretty, gifted, and prone to inappropriate behavior. Her three friend followers are Pemphredo, Enyo, and Deino. The main friend group refers to these four people as the “hags from hell.”

Erik Night is Zoey’s new crush. He’s about six feet tall, and good at acting. Zoey describes his appearance as reminding her of Superman with the hair curl. He’s also apparently the hottest guy at school. Absolutely everyone fawns over him.

Neferet is the High Priestess of the House of Night. She has beautiful red hair and green eyes, an affinity for cats, and a gift for healing. Neferet is also Zoey’s mentor, and she teaches Vampyre sociology class.

There are many more characters with names: Zoey’s friends and family from before, various teachers and other students, cats, etc.

Story & Thoughts

The story takes place in Oklahoma. Zoey attends school at Broken Arrow South Intermediate High School, but quickly ends up having to transfer to the House of Night finishing school in Tulsa. The book starts off with her getting marked as a fledgling vampyre, and vampyre fledglings can’t survive on their own.

Based on what I gather from her friends and family in the beginning, becoming a fledgling is the best thing that could have possibly happened to Zoey. Her family no longer feels like a family, so she’s unhappy at home, and her friends don’t seem like they are actually friends. Her best friend Kayla isn’t a very good friend, because she keeps important secrets from her. I’m not sure how much Zoey really likes her either, considering she calls Kayla’s speech “K-babble.” On top of that, Zoey’s almost boyfriend is the star athlete of the school, but he’s taken up drinking alcohol as if it were also a sport.

The friends Zoey makes at the House of Night seem way better than the people she previously surrounded herself with. Erin, Damien, Shaunee, and Stevie Rae already have a wonderful friendship. When Zoey gets to her new school and meets her roommate’s friend group, she experiences a warm welcome, and finds great friends in them. There’s a level of trust she has with this group that there’s no possible way she could have had with her previous friends.

I like this book. It’s really easy to get into and hooked me in the first few pages. The characters are well done. The way they speak and act feels more solidly real than a lot of other books. I was similar in age to the characters around the time this book was published, and I can tell effort was made to make it seem authentic. Granted, I did not speak the same way these teens do, but I am well aware that the “cool kids” did indeed speak in a similar manner to what is portrayed in this book. It’s a little annoying at first, because it means not everything is as grammatically correct as most books. But, once it gets going it feels natural.

Vampyre lore in this particular world is a little different than the usual. First and most obvious, their faces are marked with a crescent moon. Most adults have elaborate forehead decorations adorning the crescent. It’s easy to identify a vampyre on sight.

They don’t burn up in the sun. Sunlight is unpleasant to them, but it doesn’t kill them. They don’t have fangs. The change from human to vampyre is triggered by a special combination of genetics and hormones. And, the weirdest to me, they’re allied with cats. Most lore usually says cats hate the undead, but I guess these vampyres are not really undead, or at least it doesn’t seem like they are.

I also find it interesting most of the names and culture for vampyres involves Greek mythology. Many kids choose to have Greek names. Their Goddess is Nyx, and their sociology class talks about many of the roles vampyres play throughout history. The one that jumps at me the most is that the Amazons were all apparently vampyres. That one bothers me, because it mentions the disproven fact about them removing a breast.

This is a series I definitely intend to read more of. There are plenty of plot hooks to keep the draw. Something mysterious is going on at the school. Zoey’s uniqueness as a Cherokee fledgling is ongoing, and the book ends with a drop of more intrigue.

My only real problem with the story is so minor, it doesn’t even matter. I don’t keep up with celebrities, so I pretty much have no idea who any of the famous people are that the characters mention. A celebrity comparison is used to describe how Aphrodite looks, and I had to look up a picture to see who they were talking about. Aside from that, my only gripe is that the book wastes paper by always making chapters start on the right page. If a chapter ends on the right page, the back side of the paper is blank to make sure the chapter starts on the side they want.

Beautiful Creatures

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Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Series Name: The Caster Chronicles
Genres: Contemporary, Fantasy, Magic, Paranormal Romance, Witches
Intended Age Group: YA
Publisher: Little, Brown/Hachette
Edition: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-316-04267-3
Rating: 3.5/5
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Description from the Book

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps, and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous planation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

Personal & Info

This is volume one of the Caster Chronicles, which is four volumes long.

I read this series back in 2013. Unfortunately, after I read it, I found out there are short stories between volumes that are digital only. This made me feel like I hadn’t gotten the complete story. I didn’t have a kindle or anything back then, either, but now I do, and I have the middle story parts as well. So, it’s time for a reread. I also have the sequel duology that I don’t want to read until I get through my reread with all the little middle stories.

Apparently, I never took any notes or wrote any reviews for my initial read, so this review will be based on my reread opinions only. The rating is an average of my original rating and and what I would currently rate it. It’s been ten years, but my first impression rating should still count for something.

Characters

Ethan Lawson Wate is the sixteen year old main character. He’s six foot two, on the school basketball team, and can’t wait to get out of boring small town Gatlin, South Carolina.

Amarie Treadeau, mostly known as Amma, is the grandmotherly housekeeper of the Wate household. She is barely five feet tall, smart, ornery, and dabbles in voodoo, which is obvious early on in the story. She comes from a long line of tarot readers, which she also does as a side business.

Wesley Jefferson Lincoln, who goes by Link, is Ethan’s best friend since the sixth grade. He has a car they refer to as the Beater. His mother, Martha Lincoln, is part of the DAR, a women’s group that runs the town.

Lena Duchannes (Du-Kane) is the love interest. She supplies most of the paranormal aspects to the story.

Macon Melchizedek Ravenwood is the local shut-in and Lena’s uncle. The townspeople of Gatlin fear him even though they never see him.

Dr. Marian Ashcroft is the head librarian, and the best friend to Ethan’s mother before her accident. She’s not from Gatlin, and is blatantly smarter than almost everyone else in town.

Ridley Duchannes is Lena’s cousin. She is one year older, and they grew up together like sisters. Their current relationship is a bit estranged.

There are tons more characters, but I’m not going to list them here. Most of them are extended family members for Ethan and Lena. The rest are classmates from Jackson High, or parents, with a small sprinkling of other less important people who only appear once or only get passing mentions.

Story & Thoughts

Beautiful Creatures takes place in the small town of Gatlin, South Carolina, where nothing surprising or interesting ever happens. The residents of Gatlin follow the negative stereotypes of xenophobia, mob mentality, and prideful confederate heritage. If you are not born and raised in their town, are a little different, or don’t agree with their glorification of the confederacy, they will hate you and try to drive you out of their town. It’s that kind of place.

The book starts off slow. Around fifty pages in, the story only just starts to get interesting after finally finishing the primary introductions to Gatlin and the community. That’s about the time Ethan starts interacting with Lena and weird stuff starts to happen. From there, the book dives into a slow burn romance with intrigue and research.

Lena is a caster, or witch, there isn’t much difference. Her sixteenth birthday is going to be an incredibly important event, but not in the way normal people have sweet sixteens. The problem is, she knows little to nothing regarding what will actually happen, and anticipates having no control over it. No one will tell her or Ethan anything helpful, because of the ridiculous idea of ignorance being safer. So, the whole book revolves around the growing romance between Lena and Ethan, while they stress and try to figure out how to change the possible worst case scenario.

I admit I probably liked this book better the first time around, but I still like it well enough. The writing is enjoyable, so the majority of the story, where it feels like not much is happening, doesn’t feel like it drags. I think the portrayal of the characters helps significantly with that. There are many, but they all seem to be done well. For me, whether or not the characters feel fleshed out or authentic often affects how tolerable any book is.

I genuinely like the story. I have no issues there. Lena is melodramatic, but she has good reason. It’s actually surprising to me that her family doesn’t take her concerns seriously. People don’t bother to comfort her, let alone tell her anything that will calm her down. It’s always just reassuring her everything is going to be fine without doing or saying anything to convince her of that.

My biggest gripe is with Ethan’s dad, Mitchell. I get that he’s grieving, but he’s doing it in a selfish way. He locks himself in the only room in the house anyone can feel close to Lila (Ethan’s mom), and nobody else is allowed to enter. Mitchell isn’t the only one who lost someone. Ethan did, too, but his dad doesn’t seem to care about that fact. They need to be there for each other. They should both have access to the room.

There is one line in the book I found so funny I had to set it down for a moment while I laughed at it. Someone threatened the possibility of a Wal-Mart opening in Gatlin and everyone was so aghast at the idea. I don’t know why, I just found it absolutely hilarious. That was the funniest thing in the whole book to me.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 5

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Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 5 by Kanehito Yamada, Tsukasa Abe
Series Name: Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
Genres: Adventure, Elves, Fantasy, Magic
Intended Age Group: Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Sunday
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-9747-3007-0
Rating: 4.5/5
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Description from the Book

Elf mage Frieren and her courageous fellow adventurers have defeated the Demon King and brought peace to the land. But Frieren will long outlive the rest of her former party. How will she come to understand what life means to the people around her?

Frieren and Fern have ended up on different teams in the highly competitive first-class mage exam. Capturing a rare bird is required to pass, but personality clashes among teammates are making things difficult. Everyone soon realizes there is more at stake than mere success or failure – for some of them, the exam could be a matter of life and death.

Personal & Info

I’m slowly catching up on this series. I want to be up to current volumes before I watch the anime, which is supposed to come out sometime this fall. This is a great series, and I highly recommend it to fans of elves, magic, or Dungeons & Dragons.

Characters

Frieren is an elf mage famous for defeating the demon king with her companions around 80 years ago. She’s a bit of a slob and rather lazy. Her hobby is collecting any and all types of magic spells, no matter how useless they may seem. Her perspective on magic is that the pursuit of the art itself is the greatest joy.

Fern is Frieren’s mage companion and apprentice. She seems to take a motherly role in caring for both Frieren and Stark.

Stark is Eisen’s apprentice. He has great skill as a warrior. He doesn’t get much screen time in this volume, since it focuses on the Mage exam.

Kanne and Lawine are both third-class mages. They are Frieren’s teammates for the first part of the exam. Both of them attended the same academy of magic, and are good friends, despite how often they fight.

Übel and Land are third and second class mages. They are Fern’s teammates for the first part of the exam. Little is information is given for them. Übel is no stranger to murder, which was made clear in volume four.

There are plenty more characters in this volume, as there are several teams for the exam. I think Fern and Frieren’s teams are the most important, so those are the ones I’m choosing to list.

Story & Thoughts

I think this is the best volume in the series, so far. It has comedy, strategy, competition, and magic battles. All wonderful elements for a great volume.

The book starts off by jumping straight into the exam. The teams assigned at the end of book four are gathered at the location for the first-class certification exam’s first test. It is here where they are given a small cage, and the rules and conditions of the test are explained. To pass, teams must catch a special bird, a stille, and have it in the cage at the end of the time limit, with all three team members also present. Generally anything goes, as long as nobody leaves the testing area, which is basically impossible to leave anyway.

The entire volume focuses on this portion of the test. There are ten chapters, and only the last two take place outside of the test. Those final chapters are mostly relaxation and enjoying time with friends as everyone relaxes before the second part of the test.

There is a significant amount of magical combat compared to all of the previous volumes. The birds for the exam are hard to catch, so most opt for trying to steal from others. I actually love the combat, because we get to see more varieties of mage capabilities and spell preferences. Frieren and Fern like to keep things simple, so it’s nice to see how other casters do things.

We still see flashbacks from Frieren’s past, as usual, but I feel like this volume has so much more meat to it than others. I think a big part of that is the number of characters. Generally speaking, there are several fun new characters in this volume, and they all seem to have strong personalities or character quirks that make them engaging and entertaining.

The large number of people is handled well. The ones who are not important are seen in the background or only in a few panels, while the ones that matter get just the right amount of screen time.

I’m looking forward to reading the next volume to see how the second part of the test goes. The competing characters are interesting enough that I actually care to find out who all passes the tests, and hope certain ones don’t perish.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 4

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Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 4 by Kanehito Yamada, Tsukasa Abe
Series Name: Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
Genres: Adventure, Elves, Fantasy, Magic
Intended Age Group: Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Sunday
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-9747-2725-4
Rating: 4/5
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Description from the Book

Elf mage Frieren and her courageous fellow adventurers have defeated the Demon King and brought peace to the land. But Frieren will long outlive the rest of her former party. How will she come to understand what life means to the people around her?

The village priest Sein has no intention of becoming an adventurer, but his desire to find a long-lost friend may lead him to join Frieren’s party on their journey north. They are headed for the magical city of Äußerst, where Frieren can obtain the first-class mage certification needed to enter the Northern Plateau region. At Fieren’s urging, Fern decides to take the certification exam as well, and faces some unexpected competition…

Personal & Info

I’m slowly catching up on this series. I want to be up to current volumes before I watch the anime, which is supposed to come out sometime later this year.

Characters

Frieren is an elf mage famous for defeating the demon king with her companions around 80 years ago. She’s a bit of a slob and rather lazy. Her hobby is collecting any and all types of magic spells, no matter how useless they may seem.

Fern is Frieren’s mage companion and apprentice. She seems to take a motherly role in caring for Frieren.

Stark is Eisen’s apprentice. He has low self confidence, but great skill as a warrior.

Sein is the party’s new priest. He seems to be the peacemaker of the party.

Story & Thoughts

The story picks up where volume three left off. The group is in a village trying to recruit a priest for their travels. Of course, the guys also get their stuff back. It doesn’t seem like they learn their lesson, though, because there’s a panel later that implies they lose it again. Sein and Stark shouldn’t gamble. They obviously aren’t good at it.

After they leave the village, they continue their travels to Äußerst. This series is the best I’ve seen at actually portraying travel. I mean, aside from a few gems, like maybe Inuyasha, for example. It takes a certain kind of skill to cover travel without it getting dull. There are plenty of random encounters and towns to visit.

It always seems like someone learns something, or some of them grow closer from the events of their journey. None of it feels insignificant, and the characters themselves are wonderfully portrayed enough to make their interactions entertaining. Stark and Fern are lucky to have Sein with them, because they appear to be navigating some difficult times communicating with each other due to their young ages. Frieren is not one to assist in mediating things like that.

Based on their interactions, I’m starting to ship Stark and Fern. They always want to apologize to each other, but don’t know how. They have definitely gotten more comfortable with each other compared to when Stark first joined the party. Fern seemed almost mean to him back then.

Near the end of the volume, they finally make it to Äußerst, where they can take the first class mage exam. Either Fern or Frieren will need to pass. They need one first class mage certification to get permission to continue their main quest of going to Ende in search of Aureole. The test itself will be in the next volume.

Bofuri, Vol. 1 (LN)

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Bofuri, Vol. 1 by Yuumikan, Koin
Series Name: Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense. (Light Novel)
Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Magic, Sci-Fi, Slice of Life, Video Games
Intended Age Group: 13+
Publisher: Yen On/Yen Press
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-9753-2273-1
Rating: 4.5/5
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Description from the Book

Though she doesn’t play many MMOs, Maple has either a natural talent or impossibly good luck, because by pouring every last stat point she has into Vitality, she’s created a character who can’t be hurt! Whether it’s physical attacks or magic or status effects, nothing poses a real threat. In no time at all, news spreads across the server about the adorable terror who can’t be defeated. While Maple may just be having fun, her broken build is sure to attract lots of unexpected attention…

Personal & Info

This is a title I’ve seen around frequently, but when it comes to isekai or video game theme series, I like to be careful with my selections. Those genres are so popular right now, it can be hard to figure out which ones are worth trying. I didn’t decide to try the series until a friend recommended it, and I didn’t get around to having a copy until that same friend sent me one for my birthday.

I’m trying to expand my light novel collection, so for things that have them, I choose to get the light novel versions. The manga for this is probably amusing. The light novel is funny enough, but seeing more visuals must be hilarious. I’ll probably get the manga eventually to have both.

For others getting the light novels, the cover style of the book is the papery kind, not the glossy kind. Because of this, I think it’s a little more flimsy. Mine has a small tear on it just from picking it up and setting it down a few times. I don’t recall doing anything rough enough to cause that, so you might want to be careful with how you handle it. Or maybe I was just unlucky, who knows.

Characters

Kaede Honjou, player name Maple, is the main character. She does not know how to play video games, which leads to her putting all points into her defense.

Risa Shiromine, player name Sally, is Maple’s friend. She introduces her to the game, but she doesn’t join her until about halfway through the book, because her parents are making her study to get her grades up.

Story & Thoughts

I wasn’t sure if this was an isekai or not going into it. It is not. This series is about a VR game with the title New World Online, and Kaede’s time playing it.

The chapters are short, and the story is funny with a fast pace. The prologue and chapter one were all I needed to get hooked. Now I have to add this series to the list of many that I need to buy.

I love how much creativity the game allows. I wish games really had this many realistic options. It’s like anything you can think of can be applied to the game mechanics, even if it’s a little ridiculous. Maple’s gameplay experience proves this time and time again.

The gaming community for NWO is so wholesome. Everyone in the forum wants to watch over Maple, because regardless of her build, she’s still new to the game. That is so much better than most of the gaming communities I hear about.

Some of the conversations are not entirely clear about who is speaking, so you have to pay attention to the context.

There’s a bonus chapter at the end. It mostly covers some sightseeing and things Maple does to get materials for her white shield.

If I have to complain about something, I think it’s how much time the grinding at the end takes. By then, they are both just trying to obtain skills and items while time is elapsing until the second event. That felt a little draggy to me.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 3

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Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 3 by Kanehito Yamada, Tsukasa Abe
Series Name: Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
Genres: Adventure, Elves, Fantasy, Magic
Intended Age Group: Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Sunday
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-9747-2724-7
Rating: 4/5
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Description from the Book

Elf mage Frieren and her courageous fellow adventurers have defeated the Demon King and brought peace to the land. But Frieren will long outlive the rest of her former party. How will she come to understand what life means to the people around her?

An old enemy returns as Frieren continues her journey north. Decades ago, Frieren and her party defeated a servant of the Demon King called Aura the Guillotine, one of the powerful demons known as the Seven Sages of Destruction. Now Aura is back with a score to settle. But what price did Frieren pay for victory in the past, and how will the choices she made then affect the present?

Personal & Info

I haven’t been to the bookstore in a while due to holidays and various other reasons. I grabbed this on my birthday while going around to a couple different stores. This is definitely a series I intend to read long term.

Characters

Frieren is an elf mage famous for defeating the demon king with her companions around 80 years ago. She’s a bit of a slob and rather lazy. Her hobby is collecting any and all types of magic spells, no matter how useless they may seem.

Fern is Frieren’s mage companion and apprentice. She seems to take a motherly role in caring for Frieren.

Stark is Eisen’s apprentice. He has low self confidence, but great skill as a warrior.

Story & Thoughts

The story here picks up where the previous volume left off dealing with the demons. Those events take up more than half the book. It’s the first really serious battle in the series so far. Not necessarily serious for Frieren, but definitely for Fern and Stark.

There are several flashbacks. The story uses them to show how Frieren originally learns certain skills or advice. They come up frequently for showing what affects her decisions in handling her traveling companions, too. It seems like she had little to no social skills before she became an adventurer.

I love the dramatic moment where Frieren reveals her true strength to Aura. Stark and Fern’s first battle with demons is pretty great, too. The advice Stark applies from Eisen is amusing, but also not wrong.

For an Elf who claims an adventure was only a measly ten years long, that adventure seems to have changed her significantly and drastically affected her thinking and morals.

It looks like the group might be getting a new party member. That will likely be solidified in the next volume.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 2

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Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 2 by Kanehito Yamada, Tsukasa Abe
Series Name: Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
Genres: Adventure, Elves, Fantasy, Magic
Intended Age Group: Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Sunday
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-9747-2723-0
Rating: 4/5
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Description from the Book

Elf Mage Frieren and her courageous fellow adventurers have defeated the Demon King and brought peace to the land. But Frieren will long outlive the rest of her former party. How will she come to understand what life means to the people around her?

At Eisen’s urging, Frieren and her apprentice Fern head north seeking the land where heroes souls are said to rest, which also happens to be the location of the Demon King’s castle. Along the way, they meet Eisen’s apprentice, whose fighting skills may come in handy – though the Demon King is long gone, his surviving minions have unfinished business with Frieren!

Personal & Info

I forgot I already bought this. Well, I guess that means I can read it sooner than I expected. At the time I am typing this, I already have volume three, so it will follow soon. Anything after three is going to take a little while to get and review. I don’t know when, but I’ll review them quickly once I obtain them.

I highly recommend this series for anyone who likes elves or D&D or fantasy. It’s so good it might even be one of my new favorites.

Characters

Frieren is an elf mage famous for defeating the demon king with her companions around 80 years ago. She’s a bit of a slob and rather lazy. Her hobby is collecting any and all types of magic spells, no matter how useless they may seem.

Fern is Frieren’s mage companion and apprentice. She seems to take a motherly role in caring for Frieren.

Stark is Eisen’s apprentice. He is a powerful warrior whose never seen any actual combat.

Story & Thoughts

Frieren recruits another traveling companion in this volume. Eisen has an apprentice who has run out on him. His name is Stark, and while he has great skill, he lacks confidence. A warrior will be a helpful addition to the group.

The story is gaining more traction as Frieren sets out to complete a goal. She is heading to Ende in search of Aureole, so she may speak with her dead friend Himmel. It takes approximately ten years to reach Ende, and with Frieren’s leisurely pace, it could take far longer than that.

Things get more intense toward the end of the volume. A town is dealing with demons, and in imminent peril, because they are not as aware of demon nature as Frieren. Apparently her reputation is well known among demons.

I love how Stark and Fern interact. Their conversation while clearing the landslide cracks me up.

The art is beautiful. I never tire of looking at it. There’s just something about the style that makes it cute, but also serious, and the backgrounds are always so detailed.

The elf perspective is still done great. Frieren is ready to wait possibly more than three years for permission to pass through a gate, but her comrades are having none of that. We also get a vague idea of how long Frieren will live. Ten years is apparently less than one one-hundredth of her life. It’s mind boggling to think about.

The Night Circus

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The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Genres: Historical, Magic, Romance
Intended Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Anchor
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-307-74443-2
Rating: 4/5
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Description from the Book

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque de Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Amidst the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone from the performers to the patrons hanging in the balance.

Personal & Info

I’m reading this as a recommendation from a friend. Upon receiving this recommendation, I was told the ending is probably the weakest part of the story. I disagree. I think the ending is pretty good. The book feels like a Romeo and Juliet type story, so the ending seems fitting in my opinion.

If anything, I think the first half of the book is the weakest. Everything takes forever to actually feel like things begin. It took me several months to get through the book because of that. It’s interesting enough because of the concept and writing, but it just feels so slow. About halfway through, everything seems to pick up drastically. That’s also when the romance starts to get emphasis.

This is a rather complicated book. Events can be hard to keep track of because chapters tend to jump forward and backward in time. The events involving Bailey occur in the future for most of the book until the main story catches up to that point. I recommend paying extra attention to which year the story is on, and maybe flipping back to double check the dates.

Characters

Hector Bowen, Prospero the Enchanter, is Celia’s father. He doesn’t come across as the greatest dad.

Alexander, Hector’s rival, has different ideals than Hector. He chooses to teach a child from an orphanage to compete against Celia.

Celia Bowen is the female lead. She is the daughter of Hector Bowen, and appears to be naturally gifted with the same talent as her father.

Marco Alisdair, the male lead, is the boy from an orphanage Alexander chooses to teach.

Chandresh Christophe Lefèvre is a theatrical producer. Bowen describes him as wealthy, eccentric, forward thinking, a bit obsessive, and somewhat unpredictable. He assembles the committee to create the circus without knowing it is the venue for the competition.

Ana Padva is a retired Romanian prima ballerina. She’s known for her impeccable sense of style, and she helps plan the circus.

Tara and Lainie Burgess are sisters who look very much alike. They do a little bit of everything, and help plan the circus.

Ethan Barris is an engineer. He commissions the famous clock for the circus, helps plan the circus, and collaborates with elaborate projects for both sides of the competition.

Friedrick Thiessen is the artisan who makes the clock for the circus. He also becomes a huge fan of the circus itself.

Bailey Clarke is an average farm boy. His family has an orchard and sheep. He loves the circus.

Poppet and Widget are fraternal twins born on opening night of the circus. They have unique talents.

Tsukiko is the contortionist Chandresh hires for the circus, but there is more to her than anybody knows.

Isobel is a girl Marco meets early in the book. She seems like a love interest right off the bat, and her role in the story is more important then one might think.

Story & Thoughts

As the description says, there is a competition occurring in the circus. However, I don’t think the competition itself is the main aspect of the story. To me, I get the feeling the story focuses more on what surrounds the competition and the effect it has on everything around it.

The competition itself is extremely inhumane. The contenders have no choice in the matter and are arranged to compete at young ages. Hector and Alexander both use rather inhumane and cruel methods of teaching. Marco is left alone constantly to study things he doesn’t understand. Celia is taught more psychologically in ways that could be as traumatizing as they are productive. The rules of the game are not even made clear until near the end.

There are first person perspectives throughout the book to portray the perspective of a circus goer. I’m not fond of these. They seem unnecessary, but I guess they are probably trying to emphasize the amazement of the circus experience.

The writing is very vivid. Morgenstern knows how to paint a picture with her words without doing too much or too little. All of the descriptions make for an enjoyable read.

I like all of the characters. They seem well defined and detailed despite there being so many. The interactions and reactions are as enjoyable as the detailed descriptions. I especially like the scene where Marco first lays eyes on Celia for her audition. His reaction there is priceless, probably one of my favorite parts in the whole book. I just love how her performance rattles him.

The Hero Life of a (Self-Proclaimed) “Mediocre” Demon! Vol. 1

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The Hero Life of a (Self-Proclaimed) “Mediocre” Demon! Vol. 1 by Shiroichi Amaui, Konekoneko, Tamagonokimi
Series Name: The Hero Life of a (Self-Proclaimed) “Mediocre” Demon!
Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Demons, Fantasy, Magic, Vampires, Wolves
Intended Age Group: 16+
Publisher: Kodansha
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-64651-334-5
Rating: 4.5/5
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Description from the Book

Now that he has reached 20 years of age, self-proclaimed mediocre demon Chrono Alkon is eager to begin his mandatory year of schooling in the Demon King’s castle. It’s his dream to spend the year having fun and making friends, but when he gets a shocking result in his class designation test, that dream is put in jeopardy. To make things even more difficult, Chrono is from a small remote village and has little sense of what is considered “normal” at school. As the resident country bumpkin, he finds himself facing maddening misunderstandings and unexpected adventures. Will this “mediocre” demon ever have the peaceful school life he’s always wanted, or will he be derailed by the demons who understand him better than he understands himself?

Personal & Info

I found this at my local book store on a day when I wasn’t sure if I wanted to buy anything.

It does have slavery aspects in it, so if you don’t like that kind of thing, it might not be for you. The way the story presents it is not abusive or anything, though. It’s actually accidental and contributes to the main story. Kind of like how How Not to Summon A Demon Lord starts off with accidental slavery.

Characters

Chrono Alkon is the main character. Apparently he is a Jinn, but I’m not sure which lore, if any, this series uses for that.

Grude Vogney is the class bully, but he seems easily disarmed by Chrono’s antics. I get some Bakugo vibes from him.

Sofia Grave is a vampire princess. I have no idea what kind of lore they are using for this. She has wings, and nobody mentions anything about any sunlight issues.

Liza Malta Philanikos is the current Demon King. She’s short and busty.

Dante is one of the faculty members of the school. He seems to be the primary instructor, and some sort of canine in the furry category.

Yukino Salmard is a lycanthrope. She does not appear to be one in the traditional sense, but more of the person with animal ears way. She’s a veteran in the Special Exploration Unit.

Story & Thoughts

I’m wary of trying isekai and fantasy manga these days because they are so popular and there are so many. Because of that, I don’t want to commit to any unless I try reading the first volume. I am so glad I tried this one. It’s fantasy, starring demons, with an over powered main character.

Generally, I tend not to like over powered main character tropes, but this one does it right. Chrono is powerful, without being intentionally cool or edgy. He doesn’t even think he is powerful, hence the, “self proclaimed mediocre,” part of the title. It makes the story so much more enjoyable, and adds wonderful comedy.

The characters are charming and amusing. I think the Demon King seems a little weak for her title, but that might just be a reflection of how strong Chrono actually is. Even the bully character, Grude, is amusing. His interactions and reactions with Chrono are hilarious.

By the end of the volume, I think I’m getting some possible harem vibes, but I don’t know enough about the series to be sure. What I do know is the three girls in his life all seem very fond of him. I would not be surprised if it goes in that direction.