akira_outofthegravity's reviews
175 reviews

Kinda cheesy but I did enjoy it! Maybe as wish fulfilment lol, but the characters were all great and I liked the plot. There wasn’t a big case of the “yaoi hands” either which I liked, despite them having v triangle faces. 

It’s a pretty typical 2010-esque yaoi manga, so expect lots of kabedon, unusually proportioned guys, and pointy faces. But it’s good for what it is.

When it’s good it’s good but when it’s bad it’s baaaaad.

The cute moments are adorable, but it’s tainted by a toxic relationship. This was lent by a friend, so I don’t know if I’ll continue it, but I feel a little icky after reading it. 

So cute!! Kieta is a great brother and his over protective nature wasn’t creepy either, since it was based in the fact that Asako was treated badly not because he’s a creep or whatever. 

I really liked this volume, and Kotaro is really cute 🥰 

This is super cute. I thought it would be weirder, but Natori not being a total perv definitely made the whole concept way less creepy. Natori is very sweet and caring, and he never pushes Asako into anything- when he does (unknowingly) she pushes him away. 

Very cute and I’m excited to see where it goes! I would rate this 5 stars but tbh I’m embarrassed to have this as one of my favourite reads ever.

My favourite quote:

It took me ages to finally get into this book, but once I did I ripped through it like I was wearing my own pair of Seven League Boots. 

I love Sophie and Howl, I love how pathetic Howl is and I love that he’s just a slightly weird Welsh guy. I think that the plot was good, and I liked the amount of foreshadowing, it was very clever!!

In the end Howl’s romance with Sophie doesn’t come out of nowhere, actually the way he tried to work things out does make sense with his character, but I felt myself wanting more. Though I suppose that’s what the movie and fanfic is for. 

I won’t read the others, probably, but this will remain a fond memory, and perhaps in future a reread. 

A great book! I felt it gave way more depth to all the characters than the film did- Clarice in particular.

Clarice is so much more three-dimensional, making for a much more interesting read than I imagined. Furthermore I loved her friendship with Ardelia, and I would love a tv show about this book to really pace it properly, and to include all the small details the movie missed. But I love both, and both have their flaws and strengths. 

As a closing note, I also don’t find it particularly transphobic. It’s not ideal language, no, but I think to simply call it “transphobic” is reductive and flat. But that’s just my opinion, and people are more than welcome to disagree.

Super toxic but it gets better as they go! So a low rating for this volume, but it will definitely increase 👀

I was never prepared for anything this book threw at me. When I prepared for the worst, I ended up laughing. When I was prepared for a funny story, I was hit the hardest.

This book is poignant and beautiful and fucking hilarious. Adam Kay is brilliant, and his writing style is fabulous. If you get the chance to see him live- which I have- do it! 

EDIT: I realise she is writing under a pseudonym, her real name being Rachel Hawkins. I’ve read Her Royal Highness, and thought it was much better. But suddenly the inaccurate, almost stereotypical, Welsh attributes make sense, as does the paper thin protagonist and rushed ending. 
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A very underwhelming book, and I wasn’t expecting much. 

The thing I liked:
The feminist aspect. Rhys is very much just there for the ladies. All the sex (mentioned later in the review) is focused on Vivi’s pleasure, not Rhys’, actually he is never ever shown “getting off”. It’s all about her, her pleasure, and how Rhys pleasures her- which I thought was actually very refreshing. 

The twist (if you can call it that? Not super mind blowing) is also very based in patriarchal standards which I liked. The women are all propelled through the story by their own wants and desires, and Viv is more than just Rhys’ love interest. 

The thing I hated most about this book: All of the sex mentions.
Fucking Christ we know!! We know they bang! But every page it was talking about Rhys’ attraction to her, or vice versa. I am not a prude, nor do I dislike sex in books (see above) but come on. The ley lines scene in particular was very weird. Not to mention all the times where Rhys is fawning over Viv. Again, at times it was good- see above- but it got so tiring. I’d like to see if Erin Sterling can create a decent romance without mentioning sex every two seconds, then the romance may be fleshed out more. At the moment sex is a crutch for lazy writing and even lazier character development, of which there is very little. 

Second criticism: the pacing. Very good first half (sex aside) but the second half seemed rushed. Especially the final act featuring the epilogue. I want to know what Simon thought about the ancestor, I wanted to see Gwyn and Jane work things out, I wanted to see more of the town. Instead it’s like “oop all tied up! Okay let’s end this as soon as we can.”

Third criticism: Erin Sterling seems to be afraid of meaningful conflict, or rather, afraid of writing characters being angry at each other. The initial conflict: Rhys is betrothed while having a fling with Viv, he tells her, she is upset, they fall out, cue the titular hex. But when Rhys returns she goes from angry (where she’s mad but actually secretly anxious for him) to having sex with him, then going “it was a mistake” then having more sex, et fin. It’s almost as if Sterling is afraid of creating scenarios where there is anger they can’t solve, and thus she makes all the situations where the anger is so soft that they have to solve it. Example: the last conflict where Rhys cracks jokes about the curse and Viv gets upset and leaves. Rhys’ immaturity is never brought up before then, in fact aside from the initial incident, his immaturity in how much he ogles Viv is rewarded by her, and it is solved almost immediately by someone else telling him he’s being a dick and him going “yup you’re right”. That is the only development in the whole book. 

Viv is complicated in that I love her feminist personality- brash, confident with what she wants and deserves- but at the same time she is thinking about sex all the time and we don’t get any kind of development from her. Why was her magic stunted in the beginning of the book? Why did her mother fear magic? What happened to her parents? There’s times where I loved her wittiness, and others where I hated how devolved into a sex addict she was.

Overall, good bits but in general a very disappointing read. I’m not regretful, but it’s underwhelming, filled with cringe sex mentions, and a plot that is paper thin and solved almost immediately. 

Wow. First of all, my praises: I’m very sceptical of books by famous people, especially famous people who aren’t already authors. When Richard Osman (who I like in House of Games, and WILTY) announced he wrote a book I was indeed very sceptical. However, the TMC totally surprised me.

The four main characters are all very distinct, slightly unlikable but that just makes them even more likeable! My only criticism is that I wish we saw more of Ibrahim- my favourite. Donna and Chris made for some good comic relief, and Bogdan was a nice character I felt a lot for despite not being in the book very much.

The plot was good, as a connoisseur of the crime genre I did enjoy it. The perspective of elderly people (think Miss Marple) in a retirement home trying to solve a murder is very charming, and Osman makes it exciting, in a kind of adorable old person way. 

My one main criticism is that the book was slightly too long. Perhaps this is my fault for taking a reading break halfway through, but it does start to lose steam round about the 250 page mark. It’s really good, the murder happens, the second murder happens, a whole lot of nothing happens, build up to resolution, then it ends. I think some of Chris and Donna could have easily been taken out. I liked them, but they didn’t add much beside comic relief. It was a bit of a slog at points, but I’m glad I finished it. 

Be warned though, it’s surprisingly sad. 

the amount of old people killing themselves, as a mercy kill (?) is more than expected- Bernard, John, wnd I guess technically Penny. I’m not sure if I like it or not. In that, I’m not sure if Bernard was supposed to maybe foreshadow John’s death? I liked the detail with Penny, and I’m glad a character so close to Elizabeth had some major significance, but the amount of suicide was a bit intense- especially in a a fairly lighthearted book about seniors. Though I suppose it does open up that conversation.