Hello and welcome to another collective NetGalley review post!
I have been trying to read and review books that I have gotten from NetGalley in a sadistic hope that I will get more approvals.
You might notice ads in the middle of this post. Your girl is just trying to make some money, so check them out if you are interested. It helps out the blog!
Without further ado, let’s get into the review…
These Snow White Notes, Vol. 1 by Marimo Ragawa
Review
Thanks to Marimo Ragawa and Kodansha Comics for making this book available via #Netgalley.
I really watched to read the manga nice I enjoyed the anime. Here we follow Setsu who has always wanted to play the Shamisen as beautiful and inspiring as his grandfather did. The death of his grandfather who played both the role of his mentor and master took a toll on him. He felt he was losing touch with his sound. He leaves the care of his older brother and makes his way to Tokyo in hopes of finding his own sound. Hoping to perfect the craft of playing the Shamisen. Once he gets to the city, he quickly realizes that it is more than he had prepared for and he is met with robbers. He is saved by Yuka who is living in Tokyo with her boyfriend Taketo. She takes him in after he got injured in a scuffle. This is when he meets Taketo and they somewhat bond over their love for music.
Things seem to be going well until his mother shows up in the picture and all his plans seem to go awry. She insists he comes live with her and goes to high school. When he gets to school he is invited to join the shamisen club. Honestly, the story is a bit all over the place and unfortunately, this book took a dive after the first few chapters for me. I did quite enjoy this volume and I cannot wait to read the others.
Rating
I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars
Boys Run the Riot, Volume 1 by Keito Gaku
Review
Thanks to Kodansha comics for making this beautiful book available to me.
(By the way, Kodansha comics, why am I not auto-approved yet? 🤷♀️)
At the start of this book, we are introduced to our main character Ryuu. Ryuu is a high school student who has always fiercely tried to live as a boy in a world in which he is boxed as a girl. Ryuu is a transgender teen who has never been able to confide in anyone about his dilemma not that anyone around him would actually understand. Ryuu has always taken comfort and expressed himself with the clothes he wears. Once he is out of school and walking the streets he feels more human and genuinely happier.
Then in comes Jin Sato a student who had been away from school for a while and was placed in her class. At first sight, she immediately boxes him based on his appearance (which I have to say was quite hypocritical of him, but we all live to learn). An encounter between them pulls them closer and Ryuu begins to open up to Jin. Jin is accepting and understanding. They both decide to start a fashion brand (let named, Boys Run The Riot), a brand that is accepting and open to all. Once they are set in their idea, other characters begin to join in. Itsuka Todo joins their group as a photographer. Itsuka has always been bullied by people he called friends. When he saw Jin and Ryuu talk about their plans he began to hope with them.
This book was very interesting to read. The artwork was simply fantastic. Ryuu has a character that is so multidimensional and you can tell that he is a character that has been well thought about, well researched or simply built from one’s experience. I cannot wait to see how their journey plays out!
Rating
I gave this 5 out of 5 stars
YOU DIED by Kel McDonald, Andrea Purcell e.t.c.
Review
‘DEATH awaits us all’
Death is universal but the practices, belief, myths and stories that we have and know of it is diverse. The way death is celebrated varies depending on who, how and when a person dies. It is never easy no matter how prepared one seem to be or how distant the deceased was, death is a constant pain in the ass, really. It reminds me of something I heard a while back, ‘Death is a friend we all wish we don’t meet but it is a companion we all will one day have’
This book is a collection of short stories from different contributors, there are a few that really stuck with me.
Ghost Friend by Oliver Northwood: Follows a girl who cannot move past the death of her best friend. She has found a way to summon her and every night she would make her circle and call upon her. She could not move or make new friends because her friend kept coming whenever she called on her. Until one day, her friend told her to stop summoning her and try to make a new friend and stop hanging on her.
Peat, Bone, Oak by Lauran Ketchum: this has to be my favourite in the whole book. It explores how the bodies of people who have died long ago are dug up and learnt from. I know some people think it is inappropriate to dig up tombs for the sake of science and I agree. However, we would not be able to learn or even know much about things that have happened in the past without them. The best way to express this is to use the author’s own words
“Bog people draw attention to the dichotomy present in the brain’s denial of death’s reality and yet fascination in the face of it” and the “yearning of the soul mixed with unsettlement that draws me to the bog people”. We all want to understand death one way or the other.
There are a lot more in this book including how people used to mourn back in the Victorian era, different cultures and religions perception of death, dealing with the loss of a sibling, parent, spouse and the beauty and acceptance of the transformation/ transfiguration that follows death. It’s more like, death is a process that goes past the stage where one is dying. I think it is a process rather than an abrupt halt.
Thanks to #Netgalley and Iron Circus Comics for making this graphic novel available to me.
Rating
I gave this book 4.7 out of 5 stars
Yojimbot by Sylvain Repos
Review
Thanks to #Netgalley and Europe Comics for making this book available to me.
I really enjoyed reading this graphic novel and I think the concept is really cool, the graphics were well done, loved the colour contrast.
Set in a not-so-far future Japan, where the country is run by robot and the land is populated by androids. Hiro lives on an island with his father and they apparently are on the run from some highly-teched out militiamen. Hiro comes across a robot who seems out of place in the forest and he approaches it.
Before long the militiamen catch up with them and they ask Hiro’s father who is a scientist who had escaped from them because he found out that the air was polluted (the real issue was not explained). Hiro’s father dies while protecting Hiro, who is then saved by the robot he met earlier. The robot kills or the militiamen and Hiro decides to go with the robot.
The story really was not long enough for me to develop a solid opinion of the book. Since this is the First Part, I know there is a lot more to come but it would have been great if there was a bit more story in this part.
Rating
I gave this 2.3 out of 5 stars
Thanks for reading.