pastelwriter's reviews
1099 reviews

Honestly, I really really enjoyed this chaotic novella. The Creature Cafe series by Clio Evans definitely (so far) feels a bit less polished than Warts & Claws Inc, but it’s still a good time. 

It definitely helped that this one had kinks I could enjoy reading about much more than the previous novella. I don’t know what it says about me that I prefer the novella where a dragon takes full dragon shape

and almost eats his dragon mate…and said dragon mate masturbates while HIS WHOLE BODY IS INSIDE THE DRAGON’S MOUTH…

but here we are 😂 I cannot explain it. I can only speak my truth. It may or may not be related to how I definitely enjoy reading about blood drinking (with or without vampires in the narrative) 🙊

Anyway. I can’t help but be mildly intrigued by why the “dates” the Barista is orchestrating are being hijacked by someone who has ill intent 🤔 So, I probably will continue with this series…eventually 😂 

I had to do it, y’all. I had to give up on this book. 

I was so painfully bored while reading this. I would listen to the audiobook while on my way to work…and my mind would wander to literally anything else. Work. Fanfic. Other books. My fave video game. I couldn’t care less about this story. 

This book was another reminder of why I tend to stray from mystery/thrillers. The inner conflicts of the main characters tend to be so boring and mundane. It was no surprise Theo was obsessed with this “silent patient” and was in the middle of a collapsing marriage. Cheating wife. Marriage used to be amazing and full of hot sex. Blegh. Terrible. Boring. 

I’m pretty sure I know what the twist is (because I never pick up this genre and thus watched a spoiler review of this years ago), but I will not speak it here for fear of being incorrect or not quite right. I will simply continue to fail my book club 😔

I ate this up 😂 It wasn’t one of my faves when it comes to Clio Evans, but I still enjoyed it. 

I think the main thing for me with this novella is that the kinks weren’t really my thing. They didn’t really bother me, but they didn’t fully work for me either. 

Regardless, this was a super quick read. I love in monster romances having a possessive monster. I love the monster going feral to defend their human. It was a time! 

My queen does it again! Meguru Hinohara absolutely wrecks my life and feelings once again 💖😭💖

This volume was so good! I read it with such speed because I had to wait SO LONG for it to finally be translated to English 😭 It was well worth the wait.

In this volume, we really see Minato’s and Shizuma’s past really increasing the tension in their relationship.

Minato is very jealous in this volume because of different interactions he witnesses between Shizuma and the Director, and it does negatively impact their relationship. He first tries to go for distance and then for desperate force before he accepts he needs to talk things out with Shizuma. Minato is aware his feelings are overboard and he needs to manage them better, but he struggles with how.

Meanwhile, Shizuma is on the other end hoping that this relationship won’t crash and burn for similar reasons as his last one. He’s worried that Minato will grow tired of “waiting” for him because of his busy schedule as a vet. He’s concerned that, even if Minato does grow tired, he won’t notice until it’s too late to salvage the relationship. 

As I said…the mangaka was out to ruin my life 😭 All the angst in this volume had me STRESSED, and I loved it! 

These two continue to be my faves. I adore them so much. I just want them to be happy 🥺 I want them to figure out their shit, so they can be totally happy and in love. 

P.S. WHAT is going on with the Director? SOUND THE ALARM. That confusing ass bomb that was dropped at the end of the volume had me literally screaming. I need ANSWERS 😭 but they are nowhere to be seen…

I honestly don’t have much to say about this volume. This series is a comfort read for me. I don’t need or expect much from it. 

Although this series basically has just one “bit”, it’s still one I enjoy. Tatsu continues being his chaotic self. We get to see some of his salesman skills 😂 We get to see a couple of recurring characters that have “beef” with Tatsu. It’s a chill time.

Honestly, the best part was the kid who didn’t want to eat veggies 😂 That was cute. 

Tbh tho…I do want more content of Tatsu’s wife being unhinged 😂 She was featured in this volume, but she was calmer than what is her norm. 

I have to speak my truth… 

I loved Mistletoe & Mishigas by this author SO MUCH, but this book gets a huge no from me. I’m not the target audience, and I had to exit stage left. Let me try to breakdown the reasons why I had to DNF. 

1. Marvin was unlikeable 🙃 I was not rooting for this man and his well-being. He was judgmental as hell, and he needed to look in a fucking mirror. There were times I thought  to myself, “Marvin can catch these hands.” 

2. The ACTS that were performed in the closet of a classroom…made me feel physically uncomfortable. As a teacher, I don’t want to even IMAGINE the POSSIBILITY of doing such acts…and the next day looking at the children I’m responsible for…and even BRIEFLY THINKING about the unspeakable acts. No. Straight to jail. Horny jail. 

3. The romance was nowhere to be found here 🤦🏻‍♀️ This was largely due to the fact that Olan felt like a cardboard cutout. There were PLENTY of chances to make him seem like a real person…but every single opportunity was ignored. I didn’t feel like I knew Olan, so I couldn’t become invested in the relationship here. 

4. The crush of disappointment I felt at not loving this not even 1/4 of how much I loved Mistletoe & Mishigas feels like a CRIME. Once again, JAIL. I almost didn’t even write this review because of my love for book 2. I almost silenced myself OUT OF LOVE. But the more my friend I was buddy reading this with tells me of what happens after I dropped the book, the more I had to say what I needed to say 😭

THIS WAS SO ADORABLE!!! I had such a fun time reading this 🥺 I can’t even count how many times I giggled, laughed, and grinned because I was having such a lovely time. 

The singular reason this gets 4🌟 and not 5🌟 is because the main characters get together within the span of a volume. I wish the first volume had simply focused on building the dynamic between Hitsuji and Hatoyama. We could have used a little more page time of them rekindling their friendship. 

THAT ASIDE. 

This was adorable as fuck. I enjoyed myself from beginning to end. 

Part of what helped me enjoy this was the history between the main characters. It wasn’t about Hitsuji falling for the random hot dad of a student. It was him falling (again) for his high school crush. It also meant that the way Hatoyama was super comfortable around Hitsuji made so much sense!

Another element that was enjoyable was how Hatoyama was genuinely interested in learning from Hitsuji, so he could be a better father. None of it felt contrived or forced. He valued Hitsuji’s knowledge and actively used what he learned. He even sought other sources to learn more! WHAT A MAN 😍 

I also enjoyed that there was some tension between Hinata and Hatoyama because Hatoyama was not in his life for several years. Although this manga definitely leaned into the idea of children being very forgiving, it still showed that things weren’t perfect between father and son because Hatoyama was an absent father (at his ex-wife’s request). 

Finally, I couldn’t end this review without mentioning Hinata’s CRIMINAL GRANDMA. That woman tried to KIDNAP HIM and EMOTIONALLY MANIPULATE him into thinking his father didn’t love him. JAIL. I couldn’t believe neither Hatoyama nor Hitsuji went off on that woman. I sure was ready to!

Anyway. I fucking loved this. I highly recommend it! 

Finally, a really good volume in this series again! 🙏🏼 

Listen… I adore Spy x Family…but the volumes have been stagnating. This volume, tho? I finally felt like the spark was back 🤩

One of the best parts of this volume was being able to see some of Loid’s past! It was absolutely heartbreaking, but it also meant we got deeper insight into why he chose his career path. Even though it wasn’t exactly unpredictable, it was still conveyed in such a way that it made me want to give young Loid a huge hug 💖

Another awesome bit in this volume was Yor being her oblivious self all day every day 😂 The way she found herself in a position that could help Loid with his mission without even trying was iconic. However, because she’s in many ways an airhead, it meant that she’s likely put Loid under scrutiny now from her bosses. I hate that bit. Still, I’m interested to see if Melinda’s offer of friendship is sincere 🤔

Also! It was interesting to see WISE outside of Loid’s pov. It was kind of silly that we got a lot info about a rookie in this volume, but it was still interesting! It  helped to bring in some more info about the tensions between these countries. 

All in all, I had an awesome time with this volume!

This was okay. To be honest, I was expecting it to be much better than it was. Because of my previous positive experiences with this author, I just had higher expectations for this than what it was able to deliver.

I would say the dynamic between the two main characters was funny, but I didn’t really feel the chemistry between them.

The best character in this was the sword that talked. She was hilarious 😂

Other than that, I don’t have much to say. I’m not sure why the title of this was “Mistlefoe” when that was the smallest part of this story. It was rushed through and wasn’t truly that consequential 🤷🏻‍♀️

At the end of the day, I don’t regret reading this. It just was an okay read that was disappointing mostly because I had so much more fun with other works by this author. 

This was so cute! 

I definitely think this volume had a more cohesive structure than the first one. There was definitely a better flow between the chapters. It started to feel like the author was genuinely trying to tell a story and not just like random snippets about Flora and Creepy. 

This still definitely has a slice of life feel (which I enjoy). I just like my slice of life to still feel a bit like it’s purposeful looks into the lives of the characters and not just random ones. 

Anyway. 

I find it funny how Creepy is trying to get in the way of Oscar making romantic progress with Flora 😂 The interactions between those two are hilarious. Creepy always looks so pleased with himself. 

I also liked having our first intro to Flora’s friends! I thought the whole aesthetic of the beach chapters were really pretty. I also loved how attached the three of them are to their weird little pets 😂💖