#can’t wait to see best girl maomao

[smolmilkyways]

jinshi and maomao 🎋

congrats on season 2!

[meltotheany]

hello friends! 💕 how are you? i hope you’re doing well and having happy reading! this july was a really happy month for me, but it was also a really busy month for me, so i was “only” able to read five things! yet, which you’ll see with my statistics charts, july ended up being my best reading reading month in terms of star ratings, so i am very happy! down below, will be my full reviews (or links to them) with the trigger and content warnings i wrote down while reading! i hope you enjoy all these gushes extra, because it really was such an amazing month for me! ❤️ ✨ The Apothecary Diaries Manga, Vol. 1 by Nekokurage + Natsu Hyuuga  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ okay, you were all right – this was an amazing volume one and i absolutely cannot wait to continue on with this story! i really love this, and maomao is such an amazing protagonist. i can’t wait to read more about her and her adventures! in this volume one, we are introduced to our main character, maomao, who was kidnapped and sold to the empire, and is now a maidservant in the inner court. but she soon gets a promotion when her apothecary talents are discovered, and her aid is needed in solving the mystery of the deaths of the heirs born from the consorts in the inner palace. and then… she becomes a food taster and starts to help with more apothecary needs – from chocolate making to solving another mystery of a ghost dancing atop the palace! trigger + content warnings: kidnapping, talk of child death, poisoning ✨ The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1) by Robert Jackson Bennett ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “And when the Empire is weak, it is often because a powerful few have denied us the abundance of our people.” this is the first 2024 published novel that i am giving five stars to this year! you know, i have tried to read so many horrors and thrillers, but maybe the secret sauce was just me picking up a murder mystery. i just fell so in love with our two main characters, and seeing their adventures unfold was a joy and highlight of my 2024 reading. also the amount of tabs i used because the descriptions were so lush and vivid and the quotes so powerful and beautiful? very wild, i promise. even more wild than me being so very alert and looking out for any and all cups because of the title and the cover lol. but i just loved this and i think it really reminded me how much i love murder mysteries, especially with a fantasy back drop. if you have any recommendations, please let me know! and i hope you all have even half as good of a time with this story as i did, because i still believe that will be a five star! trigger + content warnings: murder, death, blood, vomit, talk of poverty, bullying, abuse, anxiety, smoking, violence, medical testing (involving humans and animals), magical compilation, body horror, contagion, and a lot of talk and imagery of fungus and spores ❤️ full review HERE ✨ Just for the Summer (Part of Your World, #3) by Abby Jimenez ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1.) Part of Your World ★★★★★ 2.) Yours Truly ★★★★ let me preface this entire review by saying that i do believe you should read at least part of your world in this loosely connected series. i didn’t feel like this about yours truly, because you just see overlapping friendships between characters – which is really cool, but i don’t think would hinder any reading experience! But i truly am not sure if i would have given this book five stars, if not for also reading part of your world! so again, totally do whatever you wanna do, read these however you want to read them, but i just recommend reading at least part of your world (which is probably the best romance book i’ve read in years, so it will be a fun side quest, i promise)! now that that is out of the way – let me actually talk about the book itself! The basic premise is that a girl read a reddit post that makes her realize the poster and her have one thing in common: they both are the person people date before they find their soulmates. So emma (28, traveling nurse) sli...

[recentanimenews]

J-Novel Club Licenses Five New Light Novels and a Pair of Manga

  J-Novel Club held a fresh announcement livestream on November 13, taking the opportunity to reveal five new light novel series with immediate digital launches, as well as two new manga titles that are both set to launch next week.

  Here's a breakdown of what was revealed, starting with the two light novels that are officially live now on the subscription service. 

  The Apothecary Diaries 

by Natsu Hyuuga with Illustrations by Touko Shino 

    Synopsis:

In the East is a land ruled by an emperor, whose consorts and serving women live in a sprawling complex known as the hougong, the rear palace. Maomao, an unassuming girl raised in an unassuming town by her apothecary father, never imagined the rear palace would have anything to do with her—until she was kidnapped and sold into service there. 

  Though she looks ordinary, Maomao has a quick wit, a sharp mind, and an extensive knowledge of medicine. That’s her secret, until she encounters a resident of the palace at least as perceptive as she is: the head eunuch, Jinshi. He sees through Maomao’s façade and makes her a lady-in-waiting to none other than the Emperor’s favorite consort… so she can taste the lady’s food for poison! At her lady’s side, Maomao starts to learn about everything that goes on in the rear palace—not all of it seemly. Can she ever lead a quiet life, or will her powers of deduction and insatiable curiosity bring her ever more adventures, and ever more dangers?

  The Ideal Sponger Life 

by Tsunehiko Watanabe with Illustrations by Jyuu Ayakura 

    Synopsis:

Yamai Zenjirou is your everyday office worker in modern Japan. One morning, he suddenly finds himself summoned to a tropical world where dinosaurs roam the land. He is told that this is the kingdom of Capua and the person who summoned him - its monarch, Queen Aura - wants him to marry her and leave his old life behind for a life of carefree extravagance as her prince consort. The reasons for her offer are many and varied, but she needs an heir, and she wants him to be the one to provide it! 

  If he accepts, he’ll never have to work again, lazing around in luxury with no worries other than securing the kingdom its next monarch. Certainly, sleeping with the buxom beauty is far from a hardship, but is everything really as it seems? He’ll also need to give up everything he knows on Earth. Is he ready to drop it all at a moment’s notice for her sake? And how well will he be able to navigate the politics, people and culture of this new world if he does?

  My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me! 

by Ghost Mikawa with Illustrations by tomari

    Synopsis:

If a girl teases you, that means she likes you!

  Unfortunately, Akiteru knows from experience that isn’t the case. Because every girl he interacts with shows him nothing but scorn, and he’s not scored a single date from it! Luckily, he’s more concerned with securing a spot for him and his game-development buddies at his uncle’s business. But when his uncle throws him a condition that involves playing the part of his daughter’s boyfriend, Akiteru has no choice but to take it.

  What will his best friend’s sister Iroha, who bullies him relentlessly, think of the news? Find out in My Friend's Little Sister Has It in for Me!

  Are You Okay With a Slightly Older Girlfriend? 

by Kota Nozomi with Illustrations by Meruchi Nanase

    Synopsis:

First-year highschool student Momota Kaoru just saved a beautiful highschool girl, Orihara Hime, from a train molester. One thing leads to another, and they end up going on a date! They have a lot in common: they both love video games, they both jam to their favorite songs on mixtapes, they were even both born in the Year of the Snake.

  Except... Orihara’s first game console used cartridges... and her old mixtapes are all on MiniDisc... and, oh, her birthday is actually 12 years before Momota’s!

  When her secret comes out, she thinks it must all be over... but will Momota really let something like a little age gap get in the way of his love for Orihara? Find out if love really can transcend generations in this sugar-sweet romantic comedy!

  She’s the Cutest… But We’re Just Friends!

by Akamitsu Awamura with Illustrations by mmu

    Synopsis:

Kai Nakamura has the average range of otaku hobbies for a high school boy, but the buddy he shares them with is far from ordinary... Kai’s best friend in the whole world is Jun Miyakawa, his classmate known as a super hottie.

  Though Kai and Jun just met when they enrolled in high school, they hit it off with passion for all the same hobbies! When they’re together, the pair never have enough hours in the day. Kai and Jun can’t get enough of each other’s company as they chat about video games and manga or sing anime songs at karaoke.

  Love is fleeting, but friendship is forever in this "just friends" rom-com filled with flirty fun!

  The two manga titles below will launch on J-Novel Club next week.

  Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight ~Origins~ 

by Yuuchi Kosumi / Original Novel by Hyougetsu 

    Synopsis:

Veight was reincarnated as a werewolf mage, and is now the Vice-Commander of the Demon Lord’s third regiment. His task seemed simple: capture and hold a remote commercial city. But the tension caused by mankind and demonfolk coexisting is the source of endless conflict. As a former human himself, he’ll need to leverage his ability to understand both sides in order to work with the human viceroy and maintain order!

  Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf! 

by Shimo Aono / Original Novel by Makishima Suzuki 

    Synopsis:

Kazuhiro has one hobby, sleeping. His career and social life come second. Since his youth, he's spent his nights dreaming of adventures in a wondrous world. On an evening like any other, he heads out to explore an ancient ruin with an elf friend of his. Their investigations soon get put to an end when they are doused with a dragon's fiery breath. Waking up from his dream, he finds those dreams may not be as imaginary as he thought! Join Kazuhiro and his elf friend on new adventures, this time in Japan!

  Source: Press release

    -------

Joseph Luster is the Games and Web editor at Otaku USA Magazine. You can read his brand new comic, MONSTER FLIGHT, at subhumanzoids. Follow him on Twitter @Moldilox. 

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com