Book Reviews

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Lenni Reviews: “Champion of the Rose” Vol. 1, by Cat Aquino & Dominique Duran

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Princess Rosa’s brother tragically dies, making her hair to the throne of the Empire of Sagrada. As the largest kingdom in the Known World, Rosa looks forward to serving her people and the Dying God they all worship but instead, her father holds a tournament where the prize is her hand in marriage. Desperate to become queen and make real change, she enlists Rey as her champion. Rey is a swordsman from one of the kingdom’s colonies and only wants to earn enough money to return to his native lands.

It’s interesting that Rosa is a mixed-race princess of a kingdom fueled by colonizing others. She has to come to terms with what her kingdom has done to people who look just like her. She may have been relatively sheltered as a princess, but that doesn’t stop the whispers and judgment. Rey is a transman and a fucking badass, who literally and figuratively is infected by the evils done by those who’ve conquered his people. The combat is fantastically done. It’s ruthless and dark. It reminds me of Centuria, making this a damn good dark fantasy. 4.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Scattering His Virgin Bloom” Vol. 2, by Aya Sakyo

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

Despite helping with Hana’s heat, Kaoru still hesitates to take him on as his mate. Kaoru’s sister, Marika as well as Hana’s brother Aoba, come into the picture to interfere in their budding relationship.

This was okay, but I feel like a bunch of stuff was set up and not followed through. The stuff with the siblings was not really an issue. Hana’s mother tries to set him up with a guy who’s a creep, yet is also involved with the coffee brand Hana works for. There were some really interesting ways for the plot to go, but we just get some smut and a shrug at the conflict before we get our happy ending. I don’t dislike it, but I gotta give it a 3 out of 5 for what could have been.

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Lenni Reviews: “Hima-Ten!” Vol. 3, by Genki Ono

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Tenichi goes to Kanna’s place to clean and he ends up going shopping with Himari and Kanna. There is also the school camping trip.

This is cute but I’m hoping this doesn’t turn into a harem manga. Tenichi is just a decent dude and it’d be a shame that just being decent would be enough to have ALL the girls fawning over him. But, it is nice to see Himari and Kanna’s relationship. They’re co-workers in a way and have the common situation of being driven in their careers (even tough it’s still damn creepy for a teenager to be a pinup model). They seem to be in a civil and supportive relationship and I’d be happy to see that explored more. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Vagabond Definitive Edition” Vol. 7, by Takehiko Inoue

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is suggested for mature readers.

After the Battle of Sekihagara, Kojiro and the other soldiers are hounded by refugee hunters.

We spend a lot of time with Kojiro and I guess I just don’t have the warrior’s spirit because the entire part with him, I just kept thinking “What a waste of human life.” Even the other fleeing samurai cut each other down while the hunters are after them. I didn’t find it thrilling, it just made me sad. The art is amazing, and we do get back to Musashi for the latter part, but yeah. I just couldn’t shake that initial sorrow. 3.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Firefly Wedding” Vol. 8, by Oreco Tachibana

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Satoko’s father lands on Goddess Island with the Kirigaya family soldiers to eliminate Shinpei and exposes the true reason she ended up on that island.

Even though Kotaro got his side of the story, this volume spends most of it’s time really hammering home how hopeless Satoko’s situation is. Her mother sucks, her father sucks, her sister sucks, and her health sucks. It does try to give her sister one decent deed to even her out, but she’s still a dick. How shitty to things have to be for a methodical, ruthless killer to be the best person in your life? Because Shinpei isn’t going to give up on Satoko even it she’s off that island. 4 out of 5.

 

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Lenni Reviews: “The Seaside Where Dragon Boys Dwell” Vol. 1, by Asato Shima

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

After her father’s death, Mizuka moves in with her uncle to a town know for Dragon Folk. Her uncle has another boy boarding with him, a Dragon Born named Tenshin and despite her cheerful efforts. he remains aloof and cold.

This is really about two outsiders finding a place where they can be comfortable together. We have a bit of lore about the dragon children but the core of this is Mizuka and Tenshin becoming a little found family with her uncle, Yoshinaru, who is a goofy, well meaning scientist. The art is beautiful and creative in the way it shows the dragon transformations and how they fit into the modern world. It’s sweet so far and I look forward to see what else is explored here. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Mad Dog Morgan” by Adam Lawson, Brian Christgau & Maxi Dall’o

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is suggested for mature readers.

Mitchell “Mad Dog” Morgan is an indie wrestler hoping to make it big, but ends up at rock bottom. Drowning his sorrows in alcohol, he ends up squatting in a creepy house across the street from Hilda, a paraplegic who’s wrestling dreams were shattered by her mother’s addiction and is aware of the entities in that house.

The idea of a down-on-his-luck drunken wrestler punching demons in a haunted house sounds like old-school Sam Raimi, and I am so on board. I love the art; it’s very good at the squelching, gross parts. While this is gory good fun, the story feels unfocused and doesn’t smoothly merge in a way that felt satisfying to me. I thought Hilda would play a bigger role given we spend so much time on her backstory. I wouldn’t mind a follow-up to flesh things out a bit more. 3.9 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Horror Picture Book: A Bad Book” by Miyuki Miyabe & Hisanori Yoshida

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

A Book of Bad Things tempts a young girl to open its pages.

Out of the three, this one is the least scary. They all have fantastic art:

But this book leans more into “creepy cute” than scary. Also, I can’t really see these as more than a seasonal coffee table set rather than something I’d return to and read over and over. They all would make for gorgeous displays or collectables. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Boy’s Abyss” Vol. 15, by Ryo Minenami

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Reiji finds a sickly Chako armed with a knife and ready to jump off a bridge after she’d run away from home. After he talks her down, the pair of them run into some unexpected help.

Fucking FINALLY, some halfway decent adults are involved: Saki (Esemori’s ex) and Detective Ishibashi. But of course, this couldn’t last because despair is the name of the game in this series. Reiji, I believe, not only does he not want help; he feels he doesn’t deserve it. So, when it’s on a platter in front of him, he won’t take it.

Understatement of the year there, detective. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Horror Picture Book: Looking at Me” by Soshichi Tonari & Junji Ito

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

A young boy sees faces in everything. When he tries to tell his parents, they take notice of him.

I mean… When you involve Junji Ito, you’re gonna get some creepy imagery. One thing I like about this is the slow escalation. The faces are subtle at first, but they get more prominent as the story goes on. It’s all pretty menacing except for this guy:

He made me laugh, so he’s alright. 3 out of 5

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