thebookbin's reviews
503 reviews

 I’m at work and volume 6 came in so I read it while I was working the register.

Already it’s so different from the anime, and bringing in themes of innocence and culpability. Someone attacks Nezumi and Shion goes to defend him. He has a wire in his hands and wraps it around the attackers' neck. He is willing to kill to save Nezumi. But Nezumi is the one who stops him—even though this whole time he’s been trying to teach Shion that the idyllic world inside No. 6 is only possible because of the suffering of those deemed unworthy. But when faced with Shion losing the innocence he should have as a 16 year-old, Nezumi can’t bear it and stops him from killing.

This also comes up again later, when we learn that Nezumi is the survivor of a genocide perpetrated by the city and his goal is to do the same to the residents of No. 6. But he’s confronted with his own loss of innocence as a child, and what he would be doing to the children living in the city who haven’t done anything wrong themselves.

I literally cannot believe how much better this is than the anime, although to be real I probably would have loved the anime when it came out in 2013 because we were all starving for representation back then and were feasting on crumbs.

5/5 no 6 stars 

I just finished Volume 5 (the last one I currently own) and the manga has taken a sharp turn towards horror. It makes sense: the story has been building to this for a while, but it was still kind of hard to reconcile with the humor of the previous volumes. I think the contrast does such a great job highlighting the horrors and tragedy of war compared to everyday life. 

Particularly hard to see was the pile of bodies they had to leave behind and then use to climb out of the hole. It’s definitely taking on a darker tone, which I like, which is kind of a surprise as I’m not as big of fan of horror. Even then though it still manages to be so morally interesting. When they find a dying person after going through all that trauma Shion tries to help…. But the only way he can help is by speeding up his death. He begins to choke the man. In a super interesting twist, it’s actually Nezumi who takes over: he sings and slowly cuts off the man’s blood flow so he dies peacefully. But OF COURSE this volume ends on a massive cliffhanger. I don’t own volume 6 so I have to wait to find out what happens next. 

4/5 bloody stars 

I just finished volume 4 and IT IS ONLY GETTING BETTER. The kiss scene was SO GOOD. This manga deals with really challenging themes while also still being scifi and a romance and still being funny. I am really impressed. There were multiple scenes in this that I loved. Shion's "goodnight" kiss that was really a "goodbye" kiss—Nezumi confronting Shion about the goodbye kiss, Shion asking his friends for help, but realizing he will be putting them in danger by doing so—and Nezumi comforting for it. But there's also a scene where they need information from a man inside the city and Nezumi is prepared to go full torture. Shion, predictably does not react well to this, but not because of his delicate sensibilities or whatever. He doesn't want that experience to hurt Nezumi by exposing him to more violence and wearing down his soul, and he's able to get that info from the target anyway. It all ends up being futile for the man in the end, which I think is a lesson on its own, but I don't think Shion's efforts were in vain or worthless.

ALSO. Im 99% sure there's trans rep. At one point Nezumi says "sorry, don't have big tits" and it's revealed he is sort of an actor but his alter ego is "Eve" and he wears a dress and has a very firm grip on his sexuality. Anyway I'm claiming him as trans rep.

5/5 challenging gay and surprisingly trans stars 

Goddamnit why is this series so good?! I just finished Volume 3, and I love it. I'm glad I bought the first 5 volumes on a whim, and I ordered the last four. The story is nuanced, and the characters are varied. There's focus on different age groups—Shion's mother is a pivotal character in her own right and has her own plotline. Although I feel like there's a lot of foreshadowing happening, I am excited to see where it goes. Shion is definitely one of my favorite characters. It's funny to see how people interact with him, but it also makes the story feel like it's philosophical about the nature of humanity. Shion's West Bank friends—who would even hesitate to call themselves that—are focused solely on survival, but I think this book is making a point about the nature of humanity. Life is meant to be lived and experienced with others. He's like the middle ground between the hopeless grim outlook of those outside the city, and the false sentiments of those within.

5/5 how is this manga making me have philosophical thoughts stars 

 So I couldn't help it and moved right on to volume 2 of No. 6 and it really picked up! I was not expecting the story to be that funny but it is! Shion is my all time favorite character. Nezumi keeps being like: "Shion, the world isn't so easy like you had it." but Shion isn't naïve: he's relentlessly optimistic. He gets distracted in a serious conversation by puppies. Even after going through some "real world experience" when Nezumi takes him through the market, does not dampen Shion's light. Also, I googled it and he was named after a flower which is in a Japanese poem that means "I won't forget you". This child is so pure, I love him. But also this book is hilarious but also has a serious plot at the same time. I think the world building was solidified in this volume, and the female characters are awesome. Shion's mom Karen (perhaps the only Karen I will ever stan) seems to know something about this mystery and I am obsessed with the Dogkeeper.

5/5 surprisingly funny stars!!

Also the Dogkeeper basically rents out her dogs for the poor and depressed hopeless people of the West Bank to snuggle and play with and if that isn't the best job of the post-apocalyptic world (ignoring the underlying horror aspects) 

Instead of doing hw, I read volume 1 of No. 6 and it didn't disappoint! I was getting wary of just plain old romance stories and No. 6 is a scifi seemingly utopia-actually dystopia that has a sprinkle of gay.

The story follows Shion, a young idealist living in the utopic city of No. 6, going to the most elite school and granted special privileges for his intelligence. That all changes one night when a criminal breaks into his house, bleeding, and Shion just... helps him. Years later, Nezumi (he is called Rat in the English version but I refuse) reappears around the time Shion discovers a dead body: having been severely punished for aiding and abetting a criminal, he's been reassigned to be a glorified trashman. Realizing he is somehow involved in the conspiracy and for some reason the Powers That Be have targeted him, Shion escapes the city he grew up in, leaving his childhood behind.

I liked this manga a lot and I can't wait to keep reading. So far it's pretty typical in the genre of "in a world where seemingly everything is perfect be suspicious" but so far it has a lot of potential. I'm intrigued by the mystery, I like where the relationship is going, and I really like Shion's character. He was never the completely oblivious naïve character, as a child he had questions about the system, and willingly embraced the consequences from helping Nezumi—knowing he would lose his privileged status. But he also is naïve in that he has always lived in No 6, and doesn't know about life for anyone else.

The only weird part is his friend. Shion had one friend who didn't shun him when he fell from grace, a girl named Safu who is in love with him. At one point she propositions him by asking for his sperm??? Idk if it was a translation issue but it felt really out of left field and didn't quite make sense to me. Not her crush but like the way she said it. (it makes me think the story was written by a man)

Overall looking forward to the next volume.

4/5 dystopic stars 

Complete opposite vibes to The Girl From the Other Side. Although it’s clear that Asahi is meant to be more of a child taken care of by the dragon god, the way it’s a bit ambiguous freaks me out. Could be a good wholesome read or could be utterly disgusting and there’s no way of knowing without reading more, and I don’t have it in me to keep going. 

I'm getting weird adult/minor vibes and it's not even like she's 17 dating an immortal, she's 12.

 Overall, I'm giving it a reckless **4 stars,** because of how it made me feel. This gif sums it up perfectly.

https://tenor.com/bqKdP.gif

The bad: This is one of Klune's first books and you can really tell. The writing is not beautiful at all. The narrator addresses the audience quite frequently in the beginning and it reads like something I'd write in high school. The tense switching. The tense switching. This book would have mightily been helped by a professional editor. As the book moves on, the writing gets better.

The female characters are lacking. I don't think the book passes the Bechdel test. Bear's ex-girlfriend Anna is a prominent character but most of her arc revolves around her breakup, and her relationships with men. The nice old neighbor-lady Mrs. Paquinn is also there but that's it. The story revolves around Bear, and his custody of his younger brother Ty, and his romantic revelations to his best friend's older brother.

This is a story about a man who discovers he is gay, and moves through a lot of internalized homophobia. It was hard to read at times. The author is clearly from a slightly older generation, and his use of slurs reflects this. It made me uncomfortable at times. Sometimes you just want to read about happy gays, but barring that, can't we at least not have to struggle with the fact we're gay???

Those seem like glaring problems, right??? So how in the hell does this book get 4 stars?!

All I can say is that TJ Klune knows his way around emotions. We follow Bear's journey as his mother runs away, stealing his money 3 days before he graduates high school, upending his college plans, and leaving him solely in charge of his 5 year-old brother. We flash back to that time, and we see how the Kid (as Ty is affectionately referred to in this novel), has been dealing with the trauma of being abandoned. How the adults left in his life have to step up. And man he gets it.

This book is actually ridiculous. I can't believe I liked it. The main character's name is Bear, (despite being legally named Derrick and also being a twink) and his gay awakening's nickname is Otter. Otter. It's absurd and cheesey and I loved it so much. This book has also almost no plot. It's all emotional angst. Bear has been raising Ty, and the book opens when Otter comes back into their lives. We move through the past and present to see how and why Bear ended up with Ty and why Otter left and why he's back now. Their relationship is sweet and earnest, and Otter having to go back in the closet for his relationship to Bear is dealt with in a tactful way, even if it frustrated me.

I don't have anything to say for myself, other than maybe I need to diversify my reading and read some lighter things, if this book hit me so hard. I don't read romances often. But I'm sticking by my 4 star rating, even though it wouldn't hold up to any other of my 4 star reading because this book made me feel things. I was opening it and closing it. I threw it across the room. I stopped reading to call my best friend.

What is this book about?? I have no goddamn idea. It compels me though. 

I just finished Enter the Aardvark by Jessica Anthony, and I feel oddly satisfied by it. The book is a satire, following two gay men separated by 150 years: a taxidermist in Victorian England, and a modern day republican congressman. The thing that connects them? An aardvark, carefully preserved by Titus Downing after the death of his lover down in Africa. Meanwhile in current times, Alexander Paine Wilson (R) is such a fascinating character. He's so unlikable, but his perspective is so interesting. When he decides to break off his relationship with his lover, the next day a taxidermy aardvark is delivered to his house, and his life begins to unravel. Greg Tampico, his lover and former owner of the aardvark, is dead.

This book really made me think, and overall I enjoyed it. Alexander was particularly awful, but inside his head was so fascinating--insisting he's not gay, but even if he was, it's okay for him. He knows the name and price of almost everything he owns, but not the name of his staffers, who he refers to in the collective--the mysterious "staffers." The point of the satire is to highlight the absurdity of certain political positions, by presenting them as they are (we are all abundantly aware that most political contradictions are due to corruption $) but Alexander isn't a particularly bright character, and as you watch his life fall apart there's a satisfaction, but also a melancholy that comes with the knowledge that this kind of person exists, and exists in a greater frequency than we would like.

Now Titus Downing, Victorian taxidermist, in my opinion is a much more likable character. He clawed his way up into scientific relevance, despite not being educated, and has found deep solace in the work of taxidermy. He wants to capture the spirit, the essence of the skin and bones he recreates. Titus has certain.... preferences (he is gay) and his lover, famous African explorer Richard Ostet has just died. Titus, as always, finds solace in his work, and when a package from Ostet arrives with the skin and bones of the aardvark, he makes recreating it his magnum opus. But his life, too unravels, just in a much different way than Alexander's. Both male characters are misogynistic, but in different ways. Alexander is the kind that we are familiar with, but Titus is so interesting. He has been constrained by society, is unable to be his true self, and so are the women in his society--he is unable to understand them. The author herself isn't misogynistic and her female characters are incredibly intricate, and the way Ostet's wife and Titus try to find their footing around each other is an interesting commentary, I think on, societal pressures.

It's an incredibly short book, but the prose is succinct and yet descriptive and beautiful. It successfully and gracefully satirized something so intricate. I think this book will sit with me a while.

4/5 stars