Men of the Harem, Vol. 1 by Alphatart

 

Men of the Harem, Vol. 1 by Alphatart

My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from Ize Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Latrasil Valentine Tarium is soothing a broken heart after the love of her life decides to marry someone else. Not only did she have to hear the news from someone else, but he also had the nerve to ask for her to wait five years for him. In the midst of everything, Latrasil learns that her older brother is abdicating and that she will be inheriting the throne when her father passes. Throwing herself into her studies, she also hatches a revenge plan. She’s going to take multiple consorts once she’s emperor, and then make her ex select one of her consorts. Oh my!

While this wasn’t what I was expecting, it was still a pretty good read. We follow Latrasil from the time that she meets her first love up until she’s a scorned woman ready to put her revenge plan into effect. It was more serious than I was expecting, and politics ended up being a much larger plot than I was expecting. However, it’s not always serious. There’s some pretty funny events, which allows us to see another side to the characters. I really enjoyed reading this and look forward to seeing where the story goes from here. Plus, the artwork is stunning! If an art book for the series came out somewhere down the line, I would be all over it.

Love Advice From the Great Duke of Hell, Vol. 2 by unfins

 

Love Advice From the Great Duke of Hell, Vol. 2 by unfins

My Rating: ★★★

I received a copy from WEBTOON Unscrolled through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Now that Paul’s romantic pursuit isn’t going so well, he’s starting to regret summoning the Great Duke of Hell to give him advice. He’s looking at losing his soul in a couple days all while making no progress with his crush! To top things off, he now has competition, but little does he know that it’s the Great Duke of Hell in disguise.

I loved the first volume so much that I almost decided to start following the story in its original WEBTOON format. While I did enjoy this second volume, it was all over the place at times, but it managed to be absolutely hilarious! Plus, the artwork is amazing and really helps in the humor department, especially this time around where the story goes a little off the rails at times.

I don’t want to say too much and start dropping spoilers because it’s one of those stories that’s really easy to accidentally spoil, but if you like the overall premise, I say give it a go. The first volume is top tier humor and the second volume falls a little short, but is still a fun read. I was not expecting that cliffhanger, so I’m excited to see where the story goes from here!

The Lost Queen by Aimee Phan

The Lost Queen by Aimee Phan

My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group/G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Jolie Lam used to be just like any other teenager until she had a strange outbreak at a swim meet. She’s since quit the swim team, her former friends are now among her many bullies. Jolie is the most lonely and miserable she’s ever been! Everything changes when she saves a classmate, Huong Pham, after a terrible accident that happened during PE. There’s something familiar about Huong. Now that they’re friends, Jolie quickly discovers there’s a reason why Huong feels like the sister she never had: they’re the Trung sisters reincarnated!

I absolutely loved this book! We follow Jolie, a high school sophomore, during the roughest year of her life. She’s lost all her friends, she’s being heavily bullied, and even her home life is stressful. Her grandfather is known as a fortune teller, but his visions have begun to take a toll on his mind, and now her bullies are dragging him into things! Thankfully, everything starts to change once Huong enters the picture.

Jolie’s story is inspired by the story of the Trung sisters, who led a rebellion against the Han in Vietnam. Jolie and Huong are the Trung sisters who have been reincarnated and are currently teenagers living in San Jose. As the story continues, we learn what history tells us about the Trung sisters and then what Jolie and Huong remember happened. Plus, we also see them find their elements, unravel a mystery, and prepare to continue the war against their brothers.

I was so excited to read this because it sounded like it was going to be a great book, and it did not disappoint! Plus, I was not familiar with Vietnamese mythology and this book is heavily wrapped up in Vietnamese history and mythology. If you’re a fan of books like the Percy Jackson series, Aru Shah and the End of Time, or We Shall Be Monsters, then this is a book you’re going to want to pick up. I loved every single page. While I do think it was a little heavy handed with some of the typical teenage stereotypes, it was an excellent read. I’m looking forward to checking out more from this author.

The Tale of Iśva Raman by Najeev Nadarajah

The Tale of Iśva Raman by Najeev Nadarajah

My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from Bhakthi Nine Presents in exchange for an honest review.

Iśva Raman has spent his life being sheltered and homeschooled by his aunt. Everything changes when he finally gets to attend a public school. Not only does he have bullies, but he also gets cornered by an Asura convinced he knows where the Seed is. Raman has no clue what this person is talking about, but part of his school has been destroyed in the process, and hardly anyone believes his story! Now he’s learning that the very mythology he’s learned in his 15-year-life is real, his aunt was sheltering him to hide his existence, and that his family is still hiding something major!

If you love reading fantasy YA books and enjoy mythology based books such as Aru Shah and the End of Time, We Shall Be Monsters, or the Percy Jackson series, then I highly recommend checking this book out. It’s going to be right up your alley! We follow Iśva Raman right as he’s about to discover a whole new side of his life, all starting with an Asura attack! I will say that the first chapter was very confusing, but I swear that it will all make sense once you get to the second chapter. It’s one of those moments where you just have to trust the process and it will all make sense very soon. I was like, who and what the heck is Karma? Turns out the reason we didn’t know is because Raman didn’t know either!

The story is based in Hindu mythology. While I’m familiar with Hindu mythology thanks to reading the Aru Shah series plus some Googling on my own, I think it’ll be okay for readers who aren’t to go ahead and pick up this book because everything gets explained throughout the story. There isn’t a glossary at the end in the ARC, so I don’t know if there will be in the final publication, but it’ll be easy to look up anything you want to know more about. I think it’s easy enough for a middle school audience to follow whether or not they are familiar with Hindu mythology and culture, so I don’t think there will be any problems for readers who are completely new to it. While the intended audience is middle schoolers, I think that this is an enjoyable read for anyone middle school aged and up.

That said, I really enjoyed reading this. There’s an excellent cast of characters that readers are going to love, or love to hate in some cases, that are just so much fun to see. Wai and Bufosini quickly became my favorite characters, but there’s such a great cast and mentioning my other favorites would be spoilers! There’s so much world building and character growth going on that I had a ton of fun reading this. I’m excited to see where the story will go from here and if Bufosini will eventually become an official member of Raman’s friend group.

The Drab Princess, the Black Cat, and the Satisfying Break-up, Vol. 4 by Rino Mayumi

 

The Drab Princess, the Black Cat, and the Satisfying Break-up, Vol. 4 by Rino Mayumi

My Rating: ★★★★

Seren is finally a High Mage! Unfortunately, she still has to catch up on her magical education now that she’s no longer fast-tracking it with a deadline breathing down her neck. Because of this, Seren has a new specialized crash course in magic with extra attention from older High Mages. Her busy days have not impacted the time she spends with Viol. He visits her nightly as Vi the cat, but they’re getting ready to take the next step: ask her father for permission to officially court and marry! Can the couple get official approval all while her dad deals with the rescue of his missing crew?

I was surprised that this was another cute and fun read in the series because the series felt like it wrapped up in the previous volume. However, the story opens up with Seren’s life continuing in ways she thought would be closed off to her after her engagement with the prince ended. Plus, her love life is really on the move now that Viol proposed. I really enjoyed learning more about life among the High Mages. We didn’t see much of that with Viol in the previous volumes, so I loved seeing it now that Seren is a High Mage herself.

There was a lot of world building and character growth in this book. I love seeing Seren really blossom as a character and see her family more. I love her dad! He’s such a great character. I was also really excited to see Viol’s family. I’m excited to see them more as well since it turns out there’s actually a fifth book in the series!

Things tend to run really smoothly in this series, so I know Seren and Viol’s path to marriage will happen without any issues. Though, I wish we didn’t jump ahead to the wedding in that extra at the end! It takes away from the next volume, which is when we’ll see them plan for their wedding in addition to actually getting married.

The Drab Princess, the Black Cat, and the Satisfying Break-up, Vol. 3 by Rino Mayumi

The Drab Princess, the Black Cat, and the Satisfying Break-up, Vol. 3 by Rino Mayumi

My Rating: ★★★★★

Seren is flying toward her goals at full speed. Literally. Now that she knows she will qualify for the High Mage exam for sure, she’s faced with a new task: figuring out how to tell her family. Seren has also been carefully planting the seeds for her absence once she’s broken her engagement to the prince. As her sister struggles with her new role at the salon, and it becomes clear that things are not what they seemed to her, it’s become clear that Seren is not as replaceable as she thought. Is Seren ready to put her plan into play, especially now that she wants to become a High Mage for herself and not for anyone else’s benefit?

After the last book, I was surprised at how fast the story picked up this time around! Honestly, it blew me away. This volume has everything: action, romance, character growth, and world building. I guess the second book was just a dip in the story because this one came out swinging! There’s also a nice balance between the rotating perspectives. While we still mainly follow Seren while occasionally switching over to seeing things from Viol’s eyes, we hopped over to a few others and it was extremely effective storytelling.

While I wish we learned more about Seren’s parents before this volume, I really enjoyed finally getting to see them. I just wish we knew more about how they were as parents so that I could compare that to their response to learning that Seren was going to be taking the High Mage exam. However, I really did like her parents and I’m excited to see how they pop up in the story again later.

All in all, this was an excellent read. I think this could actually pass as the final book because the story feels complete, but I know there’s four volumes in total since I got the last two books at the same time. I’m interested in seeing where the story goes from here and if we’re going to see things shake up since things run pretty smoothly in this volume.

The Ayakashi Hunter's Tainted Bride, Vol. 1 by Mamenosuke Fujimaru; Midori Yuma

The Ayakashi Hunter's Tainted Bride, Vol. 1 by Mamenosuke Fujimaru; Midori Yuma

My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from Kodansha Comics through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Nanao was set to eventually marry into the Byakurenji family when some careful scheming on her cousin’s part changed her life forever. Unfortunately, trusting in her jealous and deceitful cousin led to an attack from an ayakashi, which has left her with the scar and scent of their attack. Nanao doesn’t remember anything from the attack, but her entire future was snatched away and given to her cousin while she’s forced to wear a monkey mask to hide her face, scar, and scent. She has lived her life as an outcast, abandoned by her family, and constantly abused because everyone views her as tainted. Everything changes when the new lord of the Benitsubaki family discovers her and decides that they should marry!

I was interested in this story because this is an adaptation of a light novel from the same creator of Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits, and I love the manga adaptation of that series. However, I was still not expecting to love the story as much as I did! We follow Nanao, a young woman who is viewed as tainted by the orangutan ayakashi that attacked her. She’s constantly verbally and physically abused, and she’s forced to secretly work for the same cousin who set her up for life as an outcast. Her entire clan views her as tainted and fears being contaminated by her touch, scent, blood, and even the sound of her voice because they have an obsession with their version of purity.

If you’re a fan of My Happy Marriage, this series is going to be right up your alley. Nanao has been verbally and physically abused for so long that she doesn’t have any self-esteem left, let alone any hope of ever finding happiness. However, thanks to finally getting away from the life she thought she was sentenced to until the end of her days, she’s slowly coming out on the other side. Plus, there’s a lot of interesting characters that come into the picture once she escapes the hell that was once her life. It’s a well-written story that sucks you in right away and blows you away with the stunning artwork. I can’t wait for the second volume!