Book Review: JoJo's Bizarre Adventures-Part One: Phantom Blood by Hirohiko Arashi

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 1—Phantom Blood, Vol. 1 by Hirohiko Araki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For the longest time, I have sworn to my friends that I will never, in a million, gazillion years, that I will watch the show. In fact, I said that I hate this show with a passion...until someone told me to read the manga, to see if I like it better. So I did-after I got my vaccine, I went to Barnes and Nobles and got it. Now that I have read it...I have to say, this book is a 3.5 out of stars for me-mostly because of Dio.

Dio pretty much ruined the book for me for many reasons. He has done so much terrible shit to everyone around him-and for what? Because he's plain evil, money hungry (yes I said it, money fucking hungry, fight me) and he made Jonathan Joestar's life a living hell. I mean, this man has done so much shit throughout the book, that when it came to Jonathan's father, he poisoned him the same way he poisoned his own father. But thank god for Jonathan who found the guy and found the antidote to save his own father, even though Dio ruins his whole life because Joanthan was a sweet and kind boy.

Now here's the shocking part: I was honestly worried and sad for Jonathan Joestar. He didn't deserve what Dio did to him-all he was was a nice young man, living in a nice house with his father, had a dog that loved him back, and then here comes someone who hates you for no reason, wants to make you an outcast FOR NO REASON, and wants to make you have no friends, no girlfriends, no nothing because to them, you are beneath this person. But at LEAST Jonathan rose up from all of that and continued to do what he was supposed to do, amid all the bullshit Dio put him through.

I will be continuing to read the manga because it's actually a really good story, but I just want to kill Dio in his sleep or send him to Florida so he can fight the legendary stand....FLORIDIA MAN (joke from my friend because I was contemplating how to kill Dio.)

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Book Review: Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Descendant of the Crane by Mrs. Joan He is, without a doubt, a ten out of five stars. This book made me feel things for the characters, made me worry about some of them, and it also made me shocked at the same thing. This book is written so well that I can see myself reading this book over and over again. It’s that damned good and I wish there was second book in this series, because I want to know what happens to Yan after she leaves.

This book is about a princess named Haseina who learned that her father just died by some unnatural causes, and she goes through this journey to find out who killed her father and put the killer to justice. She uses the soothsayers to help her, but in the end it backfired on her because of her dumbass brother. But she does get help by a prisoner named Akira, who turns out to be very smart and had pretty much shut down two court cases, but wasn’t there when Hesina herself went to court for treason, which is fucked up.

When Hesina tried to save the sooths and finding all these clues about her father and who he really was hit home for me. She thought that he was her superhero, like most girls think about their fathers. But when she learned the truth, it shocked her to the point that it brought her to her knees-it hit that her father and her mother were one of the Elevens, and then they faked their deaths so Hesina can rule.

Cool, right?

Oh it was...until shit hit the fan, when they arrested Mei, and it turns out she’s a sooth who works/is side by side by Yanjing, Hesina’s brother, and survived a blast that should’ve killed her. Then LILIAN, the girl I really, really like, is killed, and then Hesina’s on trial thanks to her dumbass brother/viscount Caiyan, who allied himself with the Jin Guanyao/Meng Yao looking MFer Xia Zhong, who reminded me of that no good SOB in the Untamed SO BAD. If I can do an review or a character post on Xia Zhong, I would. Because he was just a creepy man that reminded me of Jin Guanyao SO MUCH that I hated him on sight.

And the prince of Kendi’a, thinking it’s a really cool idea to enslave those soothes like that...like fuck him, man. I’m glad she didn’t take the deal, because I would be angry if she did. But the ENDING...the EPILOGUE….CAIYAN’S POINT OF VIEW...he’s a sooth, and he orchestrated ALL OF THIS. Like...THE FUCKERY, MY BROHIEM?? MY BROHAM??? BUT WHY??? I want answers so bad, but at the same time I kinda understand too, but THE ENDING. WHY.

I loved this book so much, and I wish there was a second book so I can read it.

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Book Review: Tokyo Ghoul:re vol.1 by Sui Ishida

東京喰種トーキョーグール:re 1 [Tokyo Guru:re 1] by Sui Ishida
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This manga fell flat for me. Honestly, it was so confusing that I didn’t enjoy it like I thought I would. The only thing I liked about this story was the artwork and the one instance that Kaneki showed up. Other than that, the agents having to investigate ghouls with weird names like the Torso and Orochi, though when I saw that name the first thing that came to my mind was Orochimaru, oddly, and was actually looking for him.

So this manga is about a group of investigators who got implanted by a kagune, which is a ghoul organ of predation, which is weird as hell. They work for a organization called The Commission of Counter Ghoul (or CCG-weird, once again) and they’re trying to look for this ghoul called the Torso, who steals the Torso of women near hospitals, and they didn’t find him, but then Orochi showed up, and one of the investigators, Haise Sasaki...has the powers of Kaneki Ken inside him??? Weirdly??? Like...that part confuses me so much. I thought, ‘oh Kaneki is alive, working in Anteiku serving coffee, and living his best half ghoul life’ but I’m confused as to what happened to him and how he ended up in a nice, soft boy like Haise Sasaki?? I feel like I need a backstory to understand how that happen...or is Haise Sasaki IS Kaneki??? This is so confusing and I need someone to explain this to me.

There was one trans character, but I didn’t like what the Torso did to him, which is fucked up and that automatically turned me the fuck off because I really liked her. The other two-Shiraku and Urie?? I...I honestly didn’t care about them. I know it sounds like I’m bashing this manga, but I’m not. I’m just confused with the whole thing, and I feel like I need to read the first Tokyo Ghoul to understand it (I did watch the anime, but the first season). This one...felt like a let down because everything was so confusing that once I was done, I felt...unsatisfied. The action was okay, it lacked a bit, but it was an okay manga.

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Book Review: Trinity Blood vol. 1: The Star of Sorrow by Sunao Yoshida

Trinity Blood: Reborn on the Mars, Volume 1: The Star of Sorrow by Sunao Yoshida
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

CW: Mention of Rape, Brittany cusses out two people

This is my first and only Trinity Blood novel I have in my possession, and I would love to get more of them when I can. But for now i’m going to review the only book I have, and hope and pray that one day I can get more.

So this light novel is about AX Agent Abel Nightroad coming to the city of Istavan, a city where he was going to be a priest of a local church, Saint Matthias. When he gets there, he has to deal with the City Police, which is run by one Gergey Radcon, who is a horrible piece of shit who nearly (and I mean this) NEARLY raped Esther in the trainstaton, which is really fucked up. Thank god for Tres, who stopped it. After that horrible piece of shit ruins Abel and Esther’s day, they go to Saint Matthias Church, which is run by Bishop Vitez. Abel settles down...and that’s when the shit goes DOWN.

The Istavan City Police and the Partisans engage in a all-out war in the streets, and the Marquess of Hungary, Guyla Kadar (sounds like a dick, and he does, but keep reading), and he wants to get revenge on the Terrans that somehow killed his wife.

I’m sorry, kid....DRACULA FROM CASTLEVANIA DID IT BETTER. You had a fucking “ace” up your sleeve called the Star of Sorrow, and you thought that’ll help...awe, poor baby, bless your dead heart….but I’m sorry. DRACULA. THE DRACULA TEPES FROM CASTLEVANIA DID REVENGE BETTER, CLASSIER AND BETTER THAN YOU. Yes, your excuse was to get revenge on the people that killed your wife, but did you actually go down there, travel like a human and EXPERIENCED human life? No, you probably sat up in your fancy-smancy castle, drink your fancy-smancy blood wine, whatever the hell it is you drink, and when you heard about what happened to your wife, what did you do? Throw a fuckin’ hissy fit, use the Star for your revenvge, only to get it taken away like a bitch and have it being controled by ya boy, Dietrich, WHOM I ALSO HATE AS A PASSION, BUT OMG HE GIVES ME A WHOLE LOT OF NIKOLAI (not Lanstov, because Nikolai is better than this piece of shit, but my oc demon) VIBES GOOD LORD.

About Dietrich von Lohengrin...first off, he’s a sly dog (not like our boy Nikolai) and he pretends to be friends and help Esther with her cause...only to betray her, saying that he loves her and that he’d do anything for her...but he uses some kind of control mechanism to fucking control her, making her shoot poor Abel, WHO DIDN’T DO A DAMN THING TO THEM, really, he’s a good boy, damn, and then turns around and betrays Guyla, as he fucking deserves.

And when Tres shot Radcon after he DISGUSTINGLY fucking says what he did to Bishop Vitez (like, he says thirty men raped her….VERY FUCKING DISGUSTING)...I was so glad that he shot him and took him in, because I really, REALLY fucking hate him because he’s a cruel son of a bitch and I wanted him dead the moment I saw him.

All in all, this was a really good book, all except the mention of rape that made me put the book down and make me go “WTF”. I also loved the characters (Abel, Tres, Caterina, the young Pope, Esther) and hated a lot of them (Francesco, Dietrich, Radcon, Guyla). I wish I had more of these books so I can read all of them, but maybe one day I’ll read them.

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Book Review: It Happened One Night by Stephanie Laurens, Mary Balogh, Jacquie D'Alessandro & Candice Hern

It Happened One Night by Stephanie Laurens
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It Happened One Night is a four stories about four couples who haven’t seen each other in a long time (like ten years-ish) and they spend one night together, one beautiful, incredible night together, and then they go off on their happily ever afters. I quite like the premise of the stories, and all of the authors coming together to create the same thing, but different couples? I love that. So for this review, I’m going to break the stories down, because the titles sound like D&D stories, honestly.

The Fall of Rouge Gerrard: This story was written by Stephanie Laurens, and shockingly, no acid damage or people dying happened in the making of this story. Basically this one is about a man named Gerrard who all around England is called the Rouge Gerrard. He stops at an country inn to rest for a night, when he sees Lydia Makepeace there. Why was Lydia Makepeace there? Well, she’s trying to get into someone’s house to retrieve a letter for her sister. Well of course he had to go to protect her, to make sure no one finds out about them, and they sneak in (Lydia pretending to be a courtesan) and they go into the office to look around. They found it before the owner of the house showed up, but at least they made out before the spice happened. At the end, they went back to the inn and made love again, and the next morning Lydia’s sister and their parents appeared, and oh boy, was Lydia embarrassed. But at the end, after trying to get Ro to not marry her….her parents and sister is just like, ‘It took y’all THIS long to get together? THIS LONG?!” but at the end, Lydia said yes, and the story throughout the ton of how the Rouge Gerrard fell.

Spellbound: Now this story is one hell of a mess. Picture it: you’re sitting in the inn, having a drink, and your partner, whom you haven’t seen in a LONG time, walks in and they’re penniless, don’t even have no money, and they’re basically about to be turned away when you get up and walk up to that inn keeper, and you say bravely, having NO IDEA what or why or HOW this happened, but you say, as clear as day, ‘That’s my partner/wife/husband.’ Well that’s what happened when Richard Kemp saw his wife Nora walking in the inn and was about to be turned around. Holy hell this is a second chance story, and it was pretty good. Nora was shocked to see said husband, because she remembered her father saying that she’s not married to this man anymore. But she finds out that she was actually still his wife after everything her father had done to them, and after that, they ran off and lived happily ever after.

Only You (cw: abuse): This one might have to be one my favorites, because it’s about old friends who hasn’t seen each other in a long time, and they spent the whole day together. They learn a lot about each other-Cassandra is a survivor of abuse, both physical and mental abuse, and she’d never had a night of romance, where she can experience someone truly making love, asking questions like, “Is this what ecstasy feels like?” or “Is this what real happiness feel like?” and I ended up crying. Because no one should go through what she went though. She even told Ethan that her husband thought coming to her was a chore, and when she couldn’t conceive, he basically cheated on her and had gotten so many of his mistresses pregnant, and I think he flaunted them in front of her, making her feel worse. And Ethan-sweet, inn owning Ethan. He actually had a life after Cassandra’s father threw him out and gave him the scar. He went to the war to stop Napoleon, he took the inn off the hands off an old friend, and he stood up to Cassandra’s father who was going to slap her. But honestly, this was a sweet story and I’m glad it was written.

From This Moment On: How to sum up this story...let’s say Victor and Nikki (yep, I know who that is thanks to my grandmama) haven’t seen each other in ten years. They see each other again, and Nikki plans all these funny things (breaking a wheel twice, second time letting the pigs run through and stomping on the wheel) just so they can spend one last day together. Well all of that happened and more-with Wilhelmina and Sam. This must be one of my favorite stories of all time throughout this book, because it’s about a second chance romance. I liked how Willie had fears about Sam’s feelings because she’s a demimonde/courtesan, and she turned him down after their night of passion. Sam, confused as hell, tried to tell her that it wasn't the case, but she didn’t want to hear it. Then at the end, while going their separate ways, somehow Willie’s horse got lame because of the horseshoes...that Sam rigged himself. And, like all the stories, they rode off to their happily ever after.

I’ve read this book a long time ago, like back in middle/high school, and I haven’t thought about this book until now, and I’m so glad that I read it now, because these stories, though different, were pretty damned good, just like the first time I read it when I was in middle/high school.

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Book Review: Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay….I thought King of Scars would break me, because it did. But RULE OF WOLVES...good lord that book should come with a warning: Let’s break Brittany in half so much, that once we get to that part where Zoya transforms into a dragon, that’s when Brittany’s Skyrim-senses start to tingle. Because good lord, this book-though it took me half a month to finish it, was so good that I had to take a night off from reading anything else, to keep my mind clear before I sit down and do this book review. Like before, I’m going to break this down by the multiple POVs that showed up:

Nikolai: Still the King of Ravka. Still has the demon inside him. Still a sly son of a bitch. I loved the fact that throughout the book he kept Ravka in mind, even when they were about to go to war with Fjerda. He didn’t even marry Princess Ehri, which I thought would happen in the story. But then, as the story went on, he fell in love with Zoya that he gave up his throne for her-gave up his throne-for her, and is going to be next to her forever, which I think I loved the most about Nikolai’s character development throughout this book. He moved up to being one of my favorite characters of all time and I love him so much.

Zoya: ALL HAIL QUEEN ZOYA NAZYALENSKY, QUEEN OF RAVKA AND DRAGON QUEEN. Holy shit Zoya’s storyline just blew me away. Blew me the fuck away. Chef’s kiss. She went from soldier of the first army, a summoner/squaller and commander of Ravka’s first and second army, and then Saint...WHEN SHE TURNED INTO A DRAGON. A full-blown, holy moly there’s a huge dragon in the sky dragon. That for me was the best part of the story, because after what happened in King of Scars, I got worried for Zoya. Like, honestly worried. But then, as I kept reading and taking notes, you realize that Zoya is a caring woman, and yes she’s half-Suli (I think, please correct me if I’m wrong), but honestly...becoming queen at the end was beautiful. Just beautiful. I loved it, so, so much.

The Darkling/Aleksander Morozova: I know, I know-daddy Darkling is back. I was shocked when he came back, and honestly, like everyone else, I thought he would come back and be civil. But NO. What did he do (dammit, Aleksander)? He kept asking for Alina, and he got her alone in a room...to stab her in the palm so he could get his power back. As if he was saying, “Jokes on you, bitch, I've had my powers this whole time.” Then, as Yuri, he’s getting all of his followers together to GO TO THE BATTLEFIELD so he can put on one big show. Well he didn’t-he helped Nikolai with his demon, and then turned around and cried out, “Sankta Zoya!”. Then he sacrificed himself when they finally caught him again, and he got stabbed in the heart like Nikolai did, and got sucked in the tree.

Nina Zenik: Nina had grown into a character and my favorite human being right now. Still masquerading as Mila Jandersdat, she has integrated herself into the Brum household. Even though she hates Jarl Brum, commander of the druskelle and Hanne, her girlfriend’s father. She had a mission to get close to the Little Lantsov, Demidov, and to get the letters of Queen Tatiana from Fjeda’s clutches. Well, she didn’t-she found instead Magnus Opjer, Nikolai’s real father, locked up behind bars in Jarl Brum’s office. She didn’t get him out, per say, but she almost killed Joran after she found out that he killed her love, Matthias Helvar. Hanne stopped her, and it did worry me that she thought Hanne died on the boat, Levithan's something I can’t remember. The shocking thing throughout this whole entire thing was that Joran, JORAN, shot Jarl Brum, and Prince Rasmus was the one that actually died, and now she and Hanne/Rasmus will be king and queen of Fjerda.

And the appearance of the Crows made me smile hugely because GOD I missed them so much, though now Inej is a captain now (and Kaz misses her SO DAMNED MUCH.) I loved every bit of it and I want more.

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Book Review: King of Scars (King of Scars, #1) by Leigh Bardugo

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So….welcome to my TED talk, where King of Scars BROKE THE HELL OUT OF ME. I wasn’t prepared for this, I just sat there and mentally screamed because the ending was so good. But HE DIDN’T CALL ME, HE DIDN’T WRITE ME A LETTER-NOTHING. HE JUST-whoo this might be a long-ass review, so let’s get into it by breaking it down (and also this is the only book I read this month because of school):

Nikolai Lantsov: Okay, the demon inside of him woke the hell up somehow, and he’s going around attacking animals, and don’t even know if he attacked a human. He’s scared that his future wife will be scared if she finds out if he still had the demon inside him. So he’s trying to be a really good king, trying to be caring, finding and stealing stuff from almost everyone and using it to his advantage, which is actually pretty damned good. One day, he and Zoya hears and meets with a man named Yuri, a follower of the Starless Saint (aka the Darkling aka Aleksander Morozova), who helped them find a ritual so Nikolai can get rid of the demon inside of him. They do, and they meet the three Sankts-Elizaveta, Juris and Grigori. They explained that they are stuck here because of the Darkling, and they can get rid of the demon inside him...or so they thought. Elizaveta betrayed everyone, killed the last two Sankts, just so she can bring back the Darkling. Sadly she died, but unfortunately the Darkling came back, and the demon is still in Nikolai’s body. Oy vey.

Zoya Nazyalensky: Zoya shined in this book. When I say this girl SHINED, this girl SHINED. Zoya is the Commander of the First and Second army, and she’s helping Nikolai get rid of the demon. At the same time, while he was training on calling the demon so he can get rid of it, Zoya trained with Sankt Juris, the Dragon, and when Elizaveta killed him, Zoya took his power, and I swear to god, I think this girl is gonna turn into a dragon. PLEASE LET HER TURN INTO A DRAGON, I BEG OF YOU, LEIGH, PLEASE LET ZOYA TURN INTO A DRAGON. And lemme tell ya, I think in Rule of Wolves she does, I feel it.

Nina Zenik: Nina Zenik is in Fjerda, trying to help Grisha escape from the druskelle, and also bury Matthas (RIP). She does meet a young woman named Hanne, who is Jarl Brum’s daughter (yikes). Oh and also Nina is a necromancer (I CALLED IT, FIGHT ME). She hears the cries of the dead, which lead her to a factory...where pregnant women are given jurda and is giving birth to multiple babies that are fathered by multiple druskelles/witch hunters/grisha hunters. Well Nina didn’t like that, so she came up with a plan to use Hanne and Leoni and Adrik to get the women and babies out before shit hit the fan (and it did). Also Matthas’s wolf, Trassel, found her, which was nice. After saving the women, Nina decided to stay in Fjerda so she can try and save all of the grisha there, which I hope she does in the next book, because I’m hoping for it.

I also loved the political intrigue in this story, and I did squeal when I saw Genya and David together again, and that Genya is doing well. I’m glad to see Tolya and Tamar too, and I’m sorry, but what happened to the Nikolai double, Isaak, was fucked up. I hope this war can be over soon or not, I don’t know, because Aleksander is there and I feel like he’s up to something bad and scary as hell and I’m gonna read Rule of Wolves to find out, so pray for me.

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