Shojo Manga!

In my last post, I mentioned that I'd been reading a lot of Manga, but I don't want to spend all my time blogging about books that come in series of about 20 volumes and can be easily read in a day. However, I thought I would share a bit about the different series and authors I've been reading from. 

(Warning: if you don't like graphic novels, step away now!)

The first is Black Bird by Kanoko Sakurakoji. 

I started this while in Dallas for my cousin's graduation and have read almost six volumes in the span of a week. The story line centers around a teen girl named Misao who can see yōkai (monsters) that no one else can. She's been able to see them since she was little and while they are a constant annoyance, they're not particularly dangerous. Until she turns sixteen. 
On her birthday, Misao discovers that she's what yōkai call an "immortal fruit", meaning her blood can magically heal an injured or dying yōkai. Furthermore, if a clan leader marries her, his clan gains power. One clan leader after her is Kyou, a tengu (a specific bird-like demon), and her childhood friend. He can heal her wounds by licking them (I know, ew, but hear me out) and vows he'll do whatever it takes to protect her, leaving Misao to ponder if he really loves her like he says or if he only wants her because she's the immortal fruit. 

The plot is intricate (in case you couldn't tell) 

and full of surprises you won't see coming. 

Furthermore, Sakurakoji's artwork is both 

adorable and stunning. Just look:

(The first picture I found on another, more in-depth review of Black Bird. Click here for link. )

If that doesn't convince you, I don't know what will!

A Book With a Color in the Title

On the side of my blog there is a little button that shows how many books I've read out of my total goal. If you've seen this before, you may have I've been adding books that I've finished, but I haven't been blogging about them. This is because I've gotten really into Manga lately and each volume is so short I feel like blogging about each one individually would get repetitive and time consuming. So I waited until I finished Scarlet, the second book in the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer.

I took my time reading this only because I was so focused on Manga that I didn't get around to it much. However, when I finally did adjust to the difference in pace and such, I found Scarlet was a book with an interesting plot and a fantastic main character. 

Like Cinder, Scarlet is a retelling of a classic fairy tail and the title is also the name of the main character. In this case, the traditional story was Little Red Riding Hood. Scarlet, the character not the entire novel, is a much more contemporary and stronger character than the original little red (whatever her name was). Scarlet doesn't wait for a lumberjack to come save her, though a little help from one of the wolves never goes astray, and takes her fate into her own hands.

The story starts with the abduction of Scarlet's grandmother and her chance meeting with a man called Wolf who fights for a living, has never eaten tomato, and has a strange tattoo. While romance builds between the two, Cinder (from book one) is busy breaking out of prison with Captain Thorne and returning android, Iko, as companions. At the same time all of this is happening, Prince Kai attempts to avoid war with the Lunar queen after finding out she's building an army out of genetically modified citizens. The book is action-packed with side notes of romance and comedy. 

To sum it all up, Marissa Meyer did an excellent job with this sequel and I look forward to reading Cress and Winter (when it comes out in November!).  

A Book Set In The Future

So, here's the thing. I thought I had posted about this book before, but it turns out, I never got around to it. Oops. To be fair, I spent the last month (and pretty much the whole time I was reading these) travelling. Anyways, I finished Cress from the Lunar Chronicles and am excitedly awaiting the release of the last book in November!

This was an amazing book and once again I found myself blown away by Marissa Meyer's writing. I would one hundred percent recommend this series to anyone who's okay with waiting a couple months for the last book!