#readingchallange

[bunbunreading]

Sanctify

Sanctify 1-3

Author: GODSSTATION

Publisher: TOKYOPOP

TAGS: violence, gore, graphic sexual content, and sexual assault. 18+ only

Lance, private detective and only Exorcist still in London, is hired to investigate a series of bloody and violent murders. Gill, a policeman with a mysterious past, joins Lance in investigation of these twisted, gory deaths.

So…what can I say about Sanctify? I went in to this not realizing quite how violent it was going to be, but if you can process that, the plot itself is very interesting.  It is a wild ride that not everyone is going to want to ride, but it is good. It is a supernatural story with church elements, serial killers, cults, possession and reincarnation.  I think that the set up was pretty good and while some plot points are pretty easy to work out there are some that slowly dawn on you or that you might think but doesn’t get confirmed till the end.

I really enjoyed the plot, it kept me interested, but I felt like the SA aspects felt very forced in the story, especially in the first book, and that if they were taken out or simply implied it wouldn’t have ultimately changed the plot. To be completely honest the scene in the first book, it is at the end, almost made me not read book two.

I will read Sanctify: Lost Paradise, a sequel/ spin-off, because I’m really interested in where the story is going to go after the events of book three.

[bunbunreading]

Bioshock: Rapture

Bioshock: Rapture

John Shirley

Bioshock: Rapture is a prequel tie-in to the video game Bioshock and Bioshock 2. It is a story told from multiple points of view. Each pov gives so much extra lore and depth to stories that were hinted at by the game. As a fan of the game, I really enjoyed this book tie-in.

[bunbunreading]

Watakoi

Watakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku

By Fujita

Elementary school friends meet again as adults working in the same office, and that is just the main couple. The story follows Narumi Momose ,a secret fujoshi, and Hirotaka Nifuji, a gamer , and their friends,

Hanako Koyanagi, a secret cosplayer,

Tarō Kabakura, a senior at the office and secretly buys his manga

Naoya Nifuji, university student, Hirotaka’s normal, mainstream brother

Kō Sakuragi, university student, Naoyo’s eventual girlfriend and reclusive gamer

The feelings are very relatable if you are in the community and is just a fun read. This is one of my favorite mangas, I can go back and reread it, it is so good. The anime is also really good and has a second season coming soon!

[bunbunreading]

Don't Let The Forest In

Author : CG Drews

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<Spoilers Below>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Every time I go to write about Don’t Let the Forest In I sigh and do anything else, not because it wasn’t good, It was very good, but because I have a lot of thoughts about it and it makes me a little tired to think about it.

I really loved a lot of different aspects of the story and there were some things I felt were a bit much. I would like to say that I’m an adult and somethings that I didn’t really like or find realistic were things that someone younger would probably love or wouldn’t even think of. There will be spoilers in the second point.

I will start with the few things I didn’t like or find realistic. Parts of the story were written with very edgy tumblr blog vibes. I get it, I too was (and still am) on Tumblr, and I don’t mind the edginess for the most part, there were a few instances where I was like 'okay deep breaths everybody'.

I didn’t find the Dove situation all that realistic.  Not her being dead the whole-time thing, or Andrew seeing her around campus or even maybe her being a changeling/ forest spirit.  It was that no one really offered condolences to Andrew, even though they hadn’t seen him since she died. Even her roommate, who said that she was going to keep an eye on Andrew, didn’t say that she was sorry for his loss. Everybody sort of dances around the subject, without talking to Andrew.

Things I loved was the way they discussed asexuality and the spectrum that it is. I found this to be a great depiction and explanation. I feel like if this book had been available years ago I would have understood aspects of myself a lot sooner. I understood Andrews frustration about his feelings, loving Thomas, but also not wanting, and even a little repulsed, by the more explicit aspects of a relationship.

Despite some lines feeling very Tumblr edgy the story is truly poetic at times and the scenes are written so vividly that you can see them and feel them (the sandwich scene disturbed me so much)

I’ll finish this up by saying that I get that some people might not be into this, I wasn’t sure at first either, but I ended up liking it quite a bit. If you like psychological horror mixed with fantasy where you constantly question what is real, this book is for you. It’s also got some nice ACE representation.  

[bunbunreading]

Cheri, My destiny

Cheri, My destiny

By Okoge Mochino

This was cute. French-Japanese pastry chef meets a traditional Japanese sweets maker and after some miscommunication they fall in love. No real notes, but it is cute.

[bunbunreading]

1984

1984

By George Orwell

I’ll be honest, it did take me a bit to finish reading this. It is a good book. It is a thought-provoking book, the same way that I feel about Animal Farm, unlike Animal Farm though, 1984 can, understandably, be pretty heavy and difficult emotionally to read. Not that Animal Farm, which is one of my all-time favorite books, couldn’t or wasn’t a heavy read but, for me personally, the feelings were different.  I also felt at time it would be on one subject and then as it went along it would lose me and I would need to go back.

[bunbunreading]

Restart After Coming Back Home & Restart After Growing Hungry

By Cocomi

After he gets fired from his job Mitsuomi Kozaka returns to the town he grew up in where he meets Yamato Kumai. As Mitsuomi works to reintegrate his way back into the structure of town and his family he and Yamoto become friends and start to grow even closer. Throughout these two books you see them as they fall in love and discover things about both themselves and each other.

I really liked the  fact that Mitsuomi is his mid 20s, an adult at some levels, and has relatable reactions and thoughts about moving back to his hometown. This has been one of my favorite mangas. OH oh and it got a movie adaptation!! I highly recommend !!

[bunbunreading]

This Wonderful Season With You

By Atsuko Yusen

Nerd and Jock fall in love after the jock joins the school computer club somewhat unwillingly. It is a very cute BL HS romance, and they are very sweet to each other. It has some of the common tropes you find in romance, miscommunication and misunderstandings. I really love the art style of this manga.