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A review by laceanddaggerbooks
Aisuru by Anma Natsu
5.0
I received a free copy of this from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Protagonist/s: 4/5
Love Interest/s: 4/5
World Building: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Overall score 18/20 which is 5 stars.
Generally if I read a book set in Japan then I expect the author to have at least visited the country a lot if they aren't Japanese themselves. That isn't the case with this novel but funnily enough, it actually integrates the style as well as the culture itself well.
Aisuru is about a 3rd year high school student called Sakura who is dying due to organ failure and a yokai prince who wants to look after her until the end. As well as this there's trouble brewing back in his own world and eventually this trouble comes for Sakura.
I liked the characters in this book. I have seen some people say that they're a little 2D and maybe they are a little but they still grab your heart and cling with all their might. I adored Karasu and I want him to be my brother and when Sakura mentioned him in the letter near the end I actually started tearing up. Akari and Hina were amazing friends and I loved them too. I loved most of the characters to be honest, just the side characters more than the mains.
Romance is important in this novel and it was maybe a little rushed. I get that Sakura is a dying teenager who has never experienced this before but I still found myself wanting to say slow down even knowing she didn't really have the time to. Still I supported them and I was glad they understood each other so well. Unlike other YA novels this does feature smut so if you read YA like me partly to avoid it then you're out of luck here. It is only one scene though and you can easily predict when it'll happen.
Predictability is the main issue I had with this. Even things you never get the answer to like who Akari's first kiss was with you just know and when it comes to knowing who the big bad is as soon as they appear, it's a shame as it spoils the reveal a little. That and the few typos were the only problems so I would say pick this up.
I would definitely suggest this novel to my friends who are into manga and light novels. Plot wise and stylistically this is a great fit for them and now I really need to go find out about the second book and those new characters.
Protagonist/s: 4/5
Love Interest/s: 4/5
World Building: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Overall score 18/20 which is 5 stars.
Generally if I read a book set in Japan then I expect the author to have at least visited the country a lot if they aren't Japanese themselves. That isn't the case with this novel but funnily enough, it actually integrates the style as well as the culture itself well.
Aisuru is about a 3rd year high school student called Sakura who is dying due to organ failure and a yokai prince who wants to look after her until the end. As well as this there's trouble brewing back in his own world and eventually this trouble comes for Sakura.
I liked the characters in this book. I have seen some people say that they're a little 2D and maybe they are a little but they still grab your heart and cling with all their might. I adored Karasu and I want him to be my brother and when Sakura mentioned him in the letter near the end I actually started tearing up. Akari and Hina were amazing friends and I loved them too. I loved most of the characters to be honest, just the side characters more than the mains.
Romance is important in this novel and it was maybe a little rushed. I get that Sakura is a dying teenager who has never experienced this before but I still found myself wanting to say slow down even knowing she didn't really have the time to. Still I supported them and I was glad they understood each other so well. Unlike other YA novels this does feature smut so if you read YA like me partly to avoid it then you're out of luck here. It is only one scene though and you can easily predict when it'll happen.
Predictability is the main issue I had with this. Even things you never get the answer to like who Akari's first kiss was with you just know and when it comes to knowing who the big bad is as soon as they appear, it's a shame as it spoils the reveal a little. That and the few typos were the only problems so I would say pick this up.
I would definitely suggest this novel to my friends who are into manga and light novels. Plot wise and stylistically this is a great fit for them and now I really need to go find out about the second book and those new characters.