Otomen, vol. 1-10

Otomen, vol. 1-10
by Aya Kanno
Published by VIZ Media LLC

This series first came out while I was in college and I remember borrowing the first few books from a friend to read and found it hilarious. I recently went to the library and saw they had volumes 1-10 on the shelf so I picked up all of them and re-indulged. I was not disappointed!

The premise of the series is that Asuka, the main character, has immersed himself into Kendo, Judo, and several other manly endeavors. The truth is, he's an "otomen", a man that enjoys feminine things. He hides this from his mother who has drilled into him that he must "act like a man" after dealing with Asuka's father leaving, declaring that he's always wanted to be a woman.

What I love about this series is similar why I love Gekkan Shojo Nozaki-kun (Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun) is that most of the gender roles and character tropes are reversed. Asuka's love interest is a girl who is very cute, but was raised by her single father, a dojo owner.

So of course, hilarity ensues!

There's hardly a time where I read a volume and I don't laugh out loud. The art style is very appealing, and Kanno does a great job of keeping the flow of the story going and showing when Asuka is emotionally moved without making him too out of character.

I look forward to reading the rest of the volumes!

Honey and Clover, Vol. 1-9

Honey and Clover, Vol. 1-9
by Chica Umino
Published by VIZ Media

This is a series that I first read when VIZ published their collective magazine Shojo Beat. It was something that was hard to read in a chapter a month format, just because this manga is very slice-of-life.

The art style appealed to me, so I picked up vol. 1-9 (10 is the last volume in the series) from the library and dived in.

The story follows a group of art school students as they go through school and deal with the struggles of transitioning from students to adults, and dealing with expectations that are given to them by the people and world around them.

Hagumi "Hagu", a 18 year old girl who appears (and acts) as a child. Sheltered from her upbringing, she's brought to art college by her cousin and guardian, Shuji, a professor at the art college.

Takemoto, who deals with his place in not only art school, but the role he wants to play in the world.

Morita, who appears as a slacker but also a gifted artist, who has a tendency to miss his final exams and has to repeat and his relation to a mysterious man who shows up to offer him jobs with good pay.

Mayama, who is in love with an older woman that doesn't seem to notice his feelings, and how he has to deal with growing up and proving to her that he is capable of taking care of her.

Yamada, who is in love with Mayama, struggles with staying true to her feelings and wishing Mayama would love her in return.

Because this is a slice-of-life, the themes and point of views change with each volume, but each small snippet of story leaves you with a happy, bittersweet feeling. Some of the stories are cheerful, some of the stories are darker. There are love triangles, there are real emotions that you feel as you come to know these characters.

I haven't gotten to read the last volume in the series (because for some reason the library doesn't have it?!) but I might cave and get it as a ebook, just so I can know how everything ends. I would definitely recommend this for people who don't have the attention for long stories, but enjoy small separate stories with fun characters who learn and grow the more volumes you read.

Catspell

Catspell
by Colleen Shannon
Mass Market Paperback, 342 pages
Published Jan. 1, 2006
9780505526113
Book #3 in the Shelley Holmes, Werewolf Detective Series

Synopsis from Goodreads.com

Shelley Holmes was accustomed to the bizarre. Such phenomena as werewolves and vampires held no surprises for her. But in all her years of investigating the paranormal, she had never run across a case like this one ...

Beautiful Arielle Blaylock was a proper Victorian miss by day, but a daring wanton by night. In her dreams she seemed to enter another life, one where sorcery and sensuality held sway. But how was it possible that the happenings of that shadow world were beginning to manifest themselves in reality? What was the significance of the Egyptian cat amulet she wore at her throat? And of the two mystical beings who fought to seduce her, which was destined to be her lover ... the creature of light or the one of darkness? As her midnight wanderings became ever more alluring, Arielle found herself lost in a maze of danger and desire where one misstep might mean the end of love and life.

I'll be honest, I'm a fan of romance novels, especially if they're weird or cheesy. I picked this up from Goodwill for about $.50, just because it sounded so outrageous that I felt like I had to read it. I feel like it's very misleading being labeled as a romance, because it seems like that was secondary in the story. Yes, it was present, but not in the normal books that I read that are labeled Paranormal Romance. I'm used to reading Laurell K. Hamilton, so I feel like I expect a certain level of smut and this book did not deliver on that point.

I think this book had a lot of potential, but it skipped around with point of views a lot, and not done with a changing of chapter, which is typical to the genre. There would be paragraph breaks where it would take the scene to a secondary, or even a few times, a SUPER minor character which I still don't see the point of him.

This book  had an interesting premise, but it was lost with the Mary Sue heroine with no luster and the undesirable love interests. I found myself wanting more about Shelley and Ethan because at least they were interesting when they bantered. There was also such a focus on cats that there were a few weird scenes that I read and immediately after was like did the author REALLY write that?!

If you're a fan of weird romances you might find yourself being pulled into the story (it really wasn't that bad!) but again, it was less of a romance with a rather predictable ending.