businesswife's reviews
220 reviews

Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, Vol. 1 by Yuji Kaku

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I do have a tendency to rate manga 5 stars - not sorry. This one is so fun though. Gabimaru the hollow, known to be one of the most deadly ninjas and killers has been caught and taken in for his execution. Before his execution he is given the option to travel to 'paradise' and find the elixir of life for the Shogun. If he comes back with it alive he can go home to his wife and the charges will be dropped. 

World: The world building for this slaps. I also recommend the anime. They have managed to match the art so well so going back and forth so I can read ahead has been a no brainier. Paradise in this series is terrifying, full of giant terrifying beings, poisonous insects, and flowers that grow from the dead who have come before searching for the elixir. And, on top of the island being insane Gabimaru is not the only prisoner sent, so there are a bunch of insane prisoners competing for the chance at their freedom. 

Characters: I AM OBSESSED with Gabi and his executioner. They are both amazing and their dynamics is wild from the jump. The other prisoners are all terrifying as well and all have their own vibes. Also Gabi being a wife guy SO GOOD.

All and all I love this series and I'm reading it whenever I have an hour or 2 to spare.
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All The Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley

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emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.0

This is a great nonfiction book. If you are not a nonfiction reader but want to try one this would be a great one to give a chance to. Especially if you could go to or have been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met). I live in New York and this book made me want to visit the museum and look for everything Patrick talked about throughout the book, it is so beautiful. He also narrated the audio book which I really enjoyed.   

Plot: for a nonfiction the plot it actually amazing,  this follows Patrick's life as he deals with the grief of losing his brother to illness. While he learns to continue living he gets what he thinks will be a very just a job job and finds that he falls in love with art and history while learning to live his life outside of his work. This is a gorgeous look at the museum and the history it holds, day to day boredom of being a guard at the Met but also things you would never see or consider as a visitor. You also see intimate glimpses of him and his wife falling in love and having children. 

People: Instead of characters the people in this book are very real and maybe even more colorful then some fiction book characters. They are from all around the world an their stories are diverse and amazing. I learned about other countries and also about more places from Patrick learning about where the guards in the Met are from originally. 

In short this book is phenomenal and made me feel a lot about art and life. Its about a lot grief, living a bit slower sometimes, and finding beauty in your everyday life. I highly recommend this in either form. I tend to consume nonfiction in the audio book and this one was great and available through the library.
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Therapy Game Restart, Vol. 2 by Meguru Hinohara

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emotional lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Currently my favorite manga series. See review of book one for more general details about this. 

But in this the boys are looking at apartments to live in and dealing with the stress that working full time can bring to a relationship especially when you don't live together. They both are very passionate about their careers and the balance can be hard. This series is so real! Minato has pretty severe trauma with abandonment and some self esteem stuff that he is working on that gets better but is often triggered by struggles in their life and relationship and I love how it is handled in this series. I cannot recommend this more TBH. 
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The World Beyond the Horizon by Angela Funk

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The World Beyond the Horizon is a fun sci-fi romance adventure following Noah, Celeste, Katalina, and Mark as they try to figure out how to stop their world from being destroyed in a collision with another planet. After meeting easy going, and a bit wild Celeste who is from another planet, Noah immediately decides to follow her to her home planet to help her save both their planets. The cousin Noah just reconnects with and her fiance also decide to follow along on this adventure. 

So, as far as the world(s) this is set in, they are beyond cool. Sundar, where the team starts, is flat, crumbling, and very like ours: mundane and kind of boring. It read as gray or just mundane to me generally. Then they jump to Fortun which is very Wonderland coded and it is just an explosion of colors, creatures, and VIBES. The world is painted, the hills are weird, there are mythical creatures (that are myths to even three of the characters). There is so much cool world building in this book that I loved so much. I will say, almost none of it is explained. Celeste, who is from the planet, has a very “well this is just how it is” approach to it all, no matter how weird it all is. This is a very ‘hand wave’ sci-fi / fantasy book so if you like an explained world building system this will not be for you. For example, there is a district of the city that's just fish. They aren’t awake or anything, I’m not sure if they are holograms or if they were just fish, and it was very neat but not explained. I like a low explanation world build, but even I struggled with this.

Plot wise, I found the beginning of this book really slow to get going. For me it felt like nothing was really happening until like 50% through. There were a lot of atmospheric things, world building, and character work but not a ton of plot happened even though they talked a lot about how important it was for them to get to everything. Once they finally got going, it was exciting and I enjoyed the adventure vibe the story had but it didn’t go on for very long before the book ended and picks up in book two. So, just a bit slow to get going for me. 

Characters; I really liked Celeste. She is very fun, kind of a weirdo, and she really fits the Wonderland vibe. She just does whatever she wants and tells you nothing. I also really like her handle on her grief around her brother and how much she helps Noah through his grief throughout, but especially towards the very end of the book. Noah is a bit challenging. I think he portrays grief very well, and I love when authors write the anger side of grief. I think it's missed a lot. He is thick in his sadness and anger and I think that is done well. My issue with him is that for like 50% of this book he is only talking or thinking about either Celeste, Katalina, or his mother. It just felt like he should be a little focused on like the planets exploding, and of like the dragons, etc. Finally, for Katalina and Mark I honestly don’t get the point of them. I don’t really know why they came along at all. They consistently cause drama, interrupt the relationship development between Celeste and Noah, and Mark’s anger and issues and just… UGH. I also don’t love their relationship which fluctuates between weird awkwardness, Mark’s anger, and intense PDA sometimes which feels out of nowhere. In short I would rather them just not be in this book, I think I generally would have liked this book better without them in it. 

In short. I had some issues with this book but all and all this is a sweet book where two young folk fall in love and deal with intense grief together while trying to stop their worlds from colliding. 

Review by Nic @polycraftory on Instagram, Tumblr, and Tiktok, where I do book reviews and crafts with my polycule. If you are curious about my thoughts on more books, you can find me @businesswife on Storygraph.

I was given a copy of this book in order to provide an honest review! 
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The Fall That Saved Us by Tamara Jerée

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 62%.
I'm having a hard time personally with trauma related to what the characters trauma. This book is amazing I would continue it if I could. I highly recommend this book. I just can't read it right now.
Cass has a lot of religious tramua and specifically cannot deal with mastrabation and generally sex in the begining of the book and the feelings and her wanting to self harm do hold on far into the book.
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Therapy Game Restart, Vol. 1 by Meguru Hinohara

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emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

A current favorite series of mine. I love how much these two boys are learning to be people together. There is a lot of plot about jealously. But there is also a lot about how hard it is to be two working adults and trying to find time to be together. They live separately at the moment and aren't sure they're ready to live together and they are working on communicating needs and wants which I love. The art is also too notch and the sex is amazing. This is uncensored and really good. They are a bit messy but in a very believable and lovable way.
The Dangerous Convenience Store Vol. 3 by 945

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dark lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

The Dangerous Convenience Store Vol. 2 by 945

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dark lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This series is currently in the are we gonna date idk maybe maybe not phase which I struggle with personally. But, the art is amazing and the characters are great, and the mob boss is honestly an amazing person so there's a lot to love.
My Happy Marriage, Vol. 7 by Akumi Agitogi

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emotional lighthearted sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I love this series but I struggled with the first half of this book. This series is usually a warm hug in their relationship with so much drama happening around them and they have so much bs happening in their relationship this time. And coming up to their wedding it make sense that there is drama and feelings between them that need to be handled but ugh I struggled with it more than the others. I also love seeing Kiyoka and Miyo use their powers and the supernatural side of this series (I know I know it's a romance) but that is the C plot to this issue. Anyway this is by far not my fav of the series but that is fine! It's book 7 and most of them have been bangers! I will keep reading them. I love the two of them and everything they have going on and I want to know what's going on with the grotesqueries that are in this one and Godou and etc. 
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Infinity Son by Adam Silvera

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adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This is such cool world building. I love Adam Silvera's books so much and his writting style so much. I also like these boys so much. And their mom. So many of their friends and family are amazing but so many bad things are happening to them. The magic and celestial are very cool and the powers are so fun! Also magic Beasts, all in New York! Very fun book and it's Gay! Highly recommend and I will be reading the rest of the series! 
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