February’s Reading Wrap-Up (2018)

Good afternoon, mates! I hope you all had a good weekend and I wish you a lovely week ahead! Today, I will finally be sharing my reading wrap-up for February. While I was not able to devour as many books as I originally wanted to, and most of the ones I tried were terrible things, I still managed to read quite a lot of manga. It was a simple case of fighting the Cold Monster, whose area-of-effect attack was a reading slump minion. It wasn’t until I picked up my current read, Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, that I finally defeated that pesky little brat.

For March, I am optimistic! Thus far, I have been able to create a mini-TBR, which I will share tomorrow, and my hunger for reading has me blowing through 100 pages in one sitting. So, excellent job, March. You are excelling marvellously. Let us hope that I did not jinx the fuck out of myself by saying so.

As per the norm, all the books will be broken up by genre/medium, with subgenres, brief thoughts on the good and bad, and any relevant review links. I won’t be giving synopses for the books this time around, but the titles will link you to their GoodReads page if you’re interested. However, if you find yourself wanting more concrete thoughts (a full review) from me for any books listed below, please let me know in the comments and I shall gladly oblige y’all.


Fiction Literature:

How to Be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway

  • #OwnVoices Japanese Fiction
  • Writing style is very amateurish and of inadequate quality.
  • Story itself has no fluidity and shifts topics without any realm of a transition or context.
  • Extremely unlikable narrator, specifically the mother, who’s horridly passive aggressive and self-entitled.
  • Uses words like “exotic” to describe the appeal of Eurasian women, uses term “Japs” to refer to Japanese people.
  • Fat-phobic, ableist, anti-feminist.
  • DNF @ 33% – since it is a DNF, I don’t have an official GR (GoodReads) rating for it, but personally I gave it 1/5.

Valhalla by Robert J. Mrazek

  • Action-Adventure, Suspense
  • Fuck this toxic book about a bunch of white extremists who blame all the world’s problems on terrorists, specifically those who claim to be Muslims (or as they are referred to in the book: “Islamists”), as well as the entire African race for “spreading depravity and sickness.” When you condemn an entire group of people for the actions of ignorant, monstrous fucktards who do unimaginable things due to them being godawful human beings that has nothing to do with creed or RACE and present me with a story that is extremely pro-White superiority, I will say fuck you. Also, white colonialism is a big fucking thing, but what do I know, I’m a brown “Islamist”.
  • DNF @ 88% – 1/5.

Fantasy:

Sea of Death (The Blade of the Flame Trilogy Book 3) by Tim Waggoner

  • Sword & Sorcery, Eberron Universe
  • Excellent finale to a wonderful fantasy series.
  • Great adventure with tons of action.
  • Wonderful variety of fantastical creatures such as lich, weresharks, demonic possession, etc.
  • Interracial romance between a half-Orc and an Elf that focuses on their connection and relationship as individual people rather than being defined by their respective races.
  • Awesome portrayal of friendships between people who don’t typically look like they’d make good mates at all.
  • Witty humour, strong females, and kick-ass world building.
  • 5/5 – 5th time reading it.

Manga:

To Your Eternity Vols. 1 & 2 by Yoshitoki Ōima

  • Shōnen, Fantasy
  • Strange concept with a sluggish start.
  • Story revolves around the evolutionary process towards contemplating existentialism, which makes for brilliant, contemplative motifs.
  • While the overarching theme is gripping, the execution is unrefined with choppy plot progression, such as random scene jumps.
  • Art style ranges from gorgeous to difficult to decipher depending on the scenario.
  • Overall, worth checking out for that theme.
  • 3/5 for both volumes.

Orange: Future by Ichigo Takano

  • Shōjo, Romance, Slice-of-Life
  • Considered to be a sequel to the manga series Orange by same author, however after reading it, I’d say the narrative is more of a prequel side story told from the perspective of Suwa. With that said, I do not recommend reading this until after you have finished Orange as there are major plot spoilers for the main series in this volume.
  • Very emotional and thought-provoking.
  • Shows us a genuine and flawed person who lived and loved fighting the shadows of good and bad.
  • Beautiful illustrations.
  • Adds layers of depth to the events prior to the letters being sent out in
  • 4/5

Death Note: Black Editions Vols. 1 & 2 by Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata

Fruits Basket Collector’s Edition Volume 6 by Natsuki Takaya

  • Shōjo, Slice-of-Life, Supernatural
  • We finally learn more about the leader of the Sohma clan, which adds more depth to main Sohma characters.
  • The romance is building gradually, retaining it’s beautiful, slow-burn vibe.
  • The themes on self-acceptance, especially in regards to loss resonated with me on such a personal level.
  • Even though it conquers some serious subject matter, like death, depression, etc., it’s still very feel-good and positivity focused.
  • Addicted as fuck.
  • My first impressions for the series.
  • 5/5.

Brave 10 Vols. 1 & 2 by Kairi Shimotsuki


Thank you for stopping by today! As always, happy reading and happy otakuing to you all! ♥
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