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merrilywereadoutofline · 9 months ago

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Kappa Quartet Review

Rating: 3.9/5 ⭐️

This review is going to be really short but this book is my underground-indie-I'm way better than you-nobody else knows about this-I think I like this little life-my little secret book. I bought this one in 2020 the day after Covid reached Singapore and my mum told me something about needing to read more advanced books so I can do better at english and I was in year 9(?) at the time this was going on... so this book was definitely way too advanced for me back then TT

In all seriousness though I do understand this book better now and I like to do a yearly read with this because of how good of a book this is.

I've given this book a .9 instead of just a 3 or a 4 because of the fact that it's quite forgettable for me 💀 which is why I have to reread it every year and can't provide a synopsis in my own words and spoiler warning this time. It's still a great book but if you're not giving it 110% of your concentration it's going to be a bit of a difficult read in my opinion. But, this is coming from someone who has a low attention span and only binges things if I'm seriously hooked (which is a really hard thing to do sometimes).

In general, I really enjoyed how this book is basically a collection of short stories of sorts, each chapter involving a character that is linked to another character to the next or previous chapter, and they all play a role in each others' lives. And it's really interesting to see the different perspectives on life between both kappas (Japanese mythical creature) and humans. Plus the tea is really hot and crazy in this book at times.

Settings are really vividly described and so clear in this novel which is really great. I prefer it when I'm given more specific descriptors on where characters are and what they're doing, because I'm not what they call a free thinker when it comes to these kinds of novels that involve sort of everyday, "common" settings (if we ignore the fact that Kappas are a part of the story for just one second).

What is also really cool was the combination of Singaporean and Japanese culture throughout the novel. Daryl Qilin Yam absolutely cooked tf up with this one because the way that he integrates both cultures between the short stories set in Japan and Singapore respectively, and with the characters of respective ethnicities was really unique in my opinion.

To wrap it up, I'm going to have to reread this one once when it's rainy weather so I can refresh myself and hopefully edit and update this review, but if you like whimsical stories that are quirky and get your brain working a little then you should for sure pick up this book.

Thanks for reading <3

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merrilywereadoutofline · 9 months ago

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Almond Review

Rating: 5/5 ⭐️

Warnings! Mentions: murder, gang violence, family complications And of course spoilers!

Won-Pyung Sohn made her literary debut in 2017 with her novel Almond, a novel that follows Yunjae, a young boy born with alexithymia, a brain condition that makes it difficult for him to feel emotions like anger, fear, etc. He struggles to make friends and interact with the kids his age, but his loving and devoted mother and grandmother him with shelter and love as they try to overcome his condition together with their second-hand bookshop. That is all until a random act of violence that leaves his world shaken, leaving him on his own; alone. In his attempts to grieve and cope with the sudden loss, he meets troubled classmate Gon, new to his school. The two become a ragtag team of sorts and build a friendship together where Gon becomes a new teacher for Yunjae on emotions. When Gon is faced with danger, Yunjae has to decide if he can step outside of his comfort zone to safe his friend from peril and become the hero of his own story.

This story absolutely lived up to the hype! I initially learned about this book on tiktok sometime in June of 2023(?) and managed to find it in store the following week and it was the best decision I've ever made! This book is definitely one for anyone, simply because it's that good. It gets you hooked, it's easy to follow along - thanks to the first-person perspective that makes understanding Yunjae so much easier - and the ending is just so feel good.

Another thing I LOVED in this book was the relationship between Yunjae and Gon. Though it might be a stereotype to have the misfit duo; a loner/outsider character paired with the troubled character with a dark backstory, it's ultimately forgiven by how wholesome and wonderful the relationship between the two is, and how we get to witness them build their chemistry at a really even pace as well. My favourite between the two is the final few chapters where Yunjae goes to save Gon from Steel Wire, the leader of a gang made by troubled, orphaned teens. You really see how much the two care for each other and how important they are to one another with the way they defended one another in attempt to escape Steel Wire.

I don't really have much else to say because it's something you have to experience to understand, but here is a small collection of quotes that I liked from the book:

“Whenever life pulled brutal pranks on him, Gon would think that life was like having your mom hold your hands one moment, warm and safe, then suddenly drop them with no explanation. No matter how hard he tried to grab hold, he was always abandoned in the end.”

“To me, that's like being asked, Why do you live? Do you live for any purpose? Let's be honest, we just live because we're alive. When things are great we're happy, and when things aren't, we cry. Same with running. I'll be happy when I win, I'll be sad when I don't. When I feel I haven't got it, I'll blame myself or regret starting this in the first place. But then I'll still run. Just because! Like living life. That's all!”

“If you think about it that way, then it would’ve been better if Gon had never been born. Because, more than anything, he wouldn’t have had to feel so much pain and loss. But everything loses its meaning if you think that way. Only purpose remains. Barren.”

"I stared at the period after "Truly" for a long time. I hoped that period could transform Gon's life. Would we ever meet again? I hoped so. Truly."

This review is a bit shorter but I hope it was still enjoyable. Thank you for reading <3

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merrilywereadoutofline · 9 months ago

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Beastars Review (Manga)

Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️

Note: I am not a furry I’m just a big fan of Paru Itagaki’s art style and I have big opinions on just the main characters TT

WARNINGS! Mentions: violence, sexual activities and relations, and main character syndrome.

And of course spoilers!

Despite the memes and huge online discourse on Beastars being the version of Zootopia you do not want to show your kids and whether or not it is exactly like Zootopia - during it’s first season of the anime adaptation (by Mappa) released in 2020 - I can confirm it is exactly as the memes say; an adult version of Zootopia. (Got no clue if it's a good thing or not but it's a true thing).

To keep it short, Beastars follows Legoshi, a grey wolf who’s apart of the drama club who develops a romantic and carnivorous interest in the promiscuous bunny Haru. The series follows the two as their romance blossoms in a society where carnivores and herbivores mustn’t interact with each other and keep to their respective species. As the series progresses, the two find themselves discovering things about themselves and the society around them as Legoshi battles to distinguish if his feelings for Haru are sexual, romantic or primal, and Haru finds power and dominance as a small mammal in a world of large mammals, outside of her sexuality.

Besides being a fan of the charming art style, I really liked how different each and every character was.. except for Legoshi. The main problem I had with his character was how often at times he seemed like a plain and boring character. Though he is the main character and I guess with room for self insert, his personality seemed too reminiscent of the edgy, plain-jane male character of rom-com manga/anime series with a male audience in mind. Examples of these kind of archetypes are the main characters in sword art online, my dress up darling, kanojo mo kanojo, quintessential quintuplets (tbh the list can go on for ages lol). This wasn’t such a huge problem in the first 50 or so chapters however, when the manga definitely went down the action route, when Louis joined the gang and Legoshi became an apprentice to Gohin, Legoshi’s character was a little lame and repetitive. Especially since by then we were being reminded almost 24/7 that Legoshi loves herbivores but is unsure if it’s because he wants to be friends or if it was a “kink” of his (could be translation issues but it was still a weird way to put it regardless). This was also a problem in other crucial moments such as his conversation with Jack in regards to carnivores and Legoshi’s behaviour, he had absolutely no backbone and kind of sat there like a ragdoll. I felt that maybe if he had more backbone (especially in the introduction of Melon and the Melon arc), while still being gentle, I would have enjoyed his character way more.

This may be an unpopular opinion but I ended up liking Haru towards the end of the manga. Though it was difficult to understand her wishy washy feelings towards Legoshi and Louis, I enjoyed the way she expressed her dominance and independence as a smaller mammal and femininity through her sexuality. The negative attitudes towards her promiscuity really helped to sympathise with her character as the only way she's gained respect or seen as an equal is in a sexual setting with multiple partners at a time. Her shift in attitude and motivation to how she gained respect from others, especially males, when her relationship with Legoshi develops was done really well in my opinion and you can definitely see the positive impact it had on Haru and her relationships, not only with others but with herself as she began to love herself and gain more self respect (She definitely did not deserve the hate and being labelled as a "slut").

In terms of pacing, I loved the first arc, with the murder mystery at school as they try to discover who killed Tim, and the introduction to Legoshi's rivalry with Louis, and the love triangle between Legoshi, Haru and Louis. However the next arc, in my opinion was the worst one. It felt really random that Louis joined a Lion mafia gang like????? I understand it was Louis' act of rebellion against becoming the next Beastar and wanting to be more powerful against Carnivores despite being a deer but it felt a little unnecessary and random to be completely honest. Both reading and watching this arc made absolutely no sense to me and just felt like a weird spot in the whole Beastars series.

An arc I didn't like at first was the Melon arc (on my first read). However, I've grown to the arc and it's my favourite in the whole series. Melon was such an interesting character, and I loved the introduction of Hybrid characters among the "Carnivore vs. Herbivore" concept in the series that really changed the pacing of the manga and how we viewed this seemingly long standing separation between both species. Linked at the end of the blog is a subreddit that dives deeper into Melon, his character, the arc and also hybrids in the Beastars series and how they affect the society and those around them. My only problem with the hybrids was Legoshi being one himself. The backstory behind his mother and her hybrid was really good but it still felt a little unnecessary and just a ploy to make Legoshi somewhat interesting to his rom-com main character personality disease (I think this opinion is mostly bias towards that personality trope lmao).

Something to note is that I found the reading vs. watching experience to be really different for Beastars. I found Legoshi to be a little bit more likeable in the anime than the manga, but that could be because of the more fluid anime style. Furthermore, I prefer the way the characters looked in the manga in general (that's a pretty normal opinion anyways lmao). The anime made them look more human which could be a plus for some but I prefer their original looks in the manga as it's closer to Paru Itagaki's art style.

All in all, despite the issues that I personally had with the series, I still enjoyed the series and can't wait for the release of the third season to be released sometime this year. I don't understand how they plan to fit 100 chapters into a single season but hopefully Mappa won't disappoint.

If you've made it this far thank you for reading and this is just my opinion so don't take it as a critical review of anything!

Links: https://www.reddit.com/r/Beastars/comments/kuzp2v/defending_melons_father_twist/ (link to a deep dive on Melon and Hybrids)

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