Cute Fantasy Art Class: Mystical Anime Besties by Naomi Lord

Cute Fantasy Art Class: Mystical Anime Besties by Naomi Lord

My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from Rock Point through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you like to draw and are looking to move to drawing human or fantasy characters, this might be the book for you! Inside you will find tips and tricks to drawing faces, limbs, clothing, and some fantasy elements. I really like that it’s a step-by-step guide because I’m not the best at drawing people, and they break it down in a way that’s not overwhelming. While I picked up the book because I’ve been a fan of Naomi’s artwork for years, learning new things about drawing people and fantasy elements was a nice bonus.

The Oblivious Saint Can't Contain Her Power: Forget My Sister! Turns Out I Was the Real Saint All Along! Vol. 4 by Almond

The Oblivious Saint Can't Contain Her Power: Forget My Sister! Turns Out I Was the Real Saint All Along! Vol. 4 by Almond

My Rating: ★★★★

Now that the Faith Council of Saints has been established and accepted, it’s time for everyone’s final contestant to compete against each other! Unfortunately for Carolina, it means she has to go up against her vile older sister, Flora. It’s also clear that something is very wrong with Flora, and her health is rapidly declining as they compete!

In the final volume of the series, we finally see Carolina and Flora’s showdown. There was a lot of interesting information about mana manipulation involved. However, it seemed out of place because it was Archbishop Mills and his supporters who produced the mana manipulation pills. I wish the in-depth information we learned about mana manipulation happened in the previous novel where it would’ve made the most sense: during Mills’s POV sections.

That said, the book is mostly solid even though some of the plots were resolved too easily, but I’ll live. I was surprised by the lack of filler, especially compared to the amount of filler in the third volume. This volume hit the ground running and didn’t start pulling back until around halfway through. By that point, it was working on wrapping up all the loose ends and letting us see the future that was in store for each of the characters.

All in all, I’m really happy with this book. We finally got to see the sisters go toe to toe, and that was exciting. It was great to see many of the characters happily look to the future. There were some surprises that I enjoyed, a few things that I expected thanks to the excellent foreshadowing, and a nice wrap up. It felt kind of like the end of a movie but without extensive flash forwards at the end. I really like how things turned out!

The Oblivious Saint Can't Contain Her Power: Forget My Sister! Turns Out I Was the Real Saint All Along! Vol. 3 by Almond

The Oblivious Saint Can't Contain Her Power: Forget My Sister! Turns Out I Was the Real Saint All Along! Vol. 3 by Almond

My Rating: ★★★

Just when Carolina thought things were starting to calm down, her father turned up on official business. It turns out that Archbishop Mills somehow knows that she’s been blessed with divinity, and he wants Carolina returned to Celestia. The royal family thought they had time before people began to figure out that she was blessed with divine power. Little do they know that no one schemes harder than Flora… and now Mills.

While the long-winded flowery writing previously worked really well for this series, it was tragic to see the complete opposite began occur in this volume. Honestly, there was a whole lot of filler in what is otherwise a pretty good story. By the time I was 20% into the book, I was debating on whether or not I wanted to continue because the majority of what I had just read was filler. I wish I was joking, but it was just page after page of long-winded nonsense that should’ve been edited out. This book should’ve hit the ground running and what we got was the exact opposite of that.

Thankfully, it got it together around 35% into the volume. There was still filler here and there, but it was much better than earlier in the book. Plus, the plot started to get rolling and it was quite the read! We’re getting to know many of the characters better than ever, and a few of the characters on Carolina’s side are beginning to show some mean streaks. I’m looking at you, Teo! I also really enjoyed that we jumped around more character POV’s this time around. I hope this continues in the next volume.

All in all, the story was good, but prepare yourself for a lot of unnecessary filler early in the volume. I’m a little scared we’re going to see that happen again in volume four, but I’m going to jump straight into it anyway because I’m so interested in seeing where things are headed. I know Carolina is going to come out on top, but I’m also ready to see Flora going full force with her scheming. Plus, I hope to see their father finally see exactly what had been going on under his nose for years.

The Oblivious Saint Can't Contain Her Power: Forget My Sister! Turns Out I Was the Real Saint All Along! Vol. 2 by Almond

 

The Oblivious Saint Can't Contain Her Power: Forget My Sister! Turns Out I Was the Real Saint All Along! Vol. 2 by Almond

My Rating: ★★★

Now that Carolina is married and has officially become a princess, she’s off on her honeymoon that was planned on extremely short notice. The short honeymoon is surprisingly impactful between being able to spend time with her new husband out of the limelight, learning more about her closest staff, and getting tested for magical abilities. In fact, the test has revealed that not only is Carolina a Saint, but she’s actually been blessed with Divinity!

A good portion of this book was pretty good. It was interesting to learn more about how this world works. I was also excited to get to know more characters, especially Prince Gilbert now that Carolina’s abilities have been revealed. He’s certainly different from his public persona. Of course he wants the one woman he can’t have when he’s got women falling over themselves and each other for him! In reality, he seems a bit smarmy if you ask me. A fascinating character for sure, but definitely one to watch out for.

The wedding was short and sweet, but then we see Prince Edward make some blunders. Is he or is he not interested in Carolina? While we know the answer to that, he’s busy sending mixed signals and growing frustrated with the results. Plus, his jealousy streak has been activated. His response jumped straight into the beginnings of an abusive marriage and it was completely brushed over because he’s a man in love. I don’t even know what’s worse: the story glossing it over, or Carolina being completely unphased like she wasn’t yelled at, physically dragged off, and injured.

Overall, the story was mostly good, but Edward’s abusive nature being shown and it being completely glossed over has left a sour taste in my mouth. It’s quickly squared away with the excuse that he’s just a man in love who had been failing to express himself. I doubt the author will have it happen again, but anyone who knows anything about abusive relationships can see right through his actions and the tears that quickly follow. It makes me sad that this even happened in the story and that Carolina’s thoughts on the matter don’t match up with the situation or even her as a character.

The Oblivious Saint Can't Contain Her Power: Forget My Sister! Turns Out I Was the Real Saint All Along! Vol. 1 by Almond

 

The Oblivious Saint Can't Contain Her Power: Forget My Sister! Turns Out I Was the Real Saint All Along! Vol. 1 by Almond

My Rating: ★★★★

Lady Carolina was born to a prestigious family full of magical abilities. Unfortunately, she’s the only person in the family born without a single ounce of magical powers. Raised as the family disappointment forced to live in the shadow of her older sister, Carolina is used to being ridiculed by her sister and the public at every turn. Things change when the king needs to smooth out political breakdown with a neighboring empire, and now she finds herself being married off to the second prince of Malcosias who is widely known as the “Bloodthirsty Prince,” otherwise known as a slayer of both good and bad.

I was so excited to start this book because the title informed me that Carolina was going to come out on top, and quickly. We follow Carolina through her perspective, which reads like a long-winded diary with dialogue added. We occasionally see things through a different character’s perspective, but Carolina is narrating the story majority of the time. I really liked reading this book because the flowery long-winded passages were done extremely well. There was definitely a risk of this kind of narration not panning out, but it was done very well, and I just couldn’t get enough of the story.

That said, it is a slow-paced story. It was 250+ pages that covered under a month of Carolina’s life. I haven’t checked out the manga yet, but if a slow-paced and long-winded story isn’t your thing and the premise sounds up your alley, I would recommend seeing if the manga will be more your thing. The romance is also a very slow burn and not one of the primary plots in this first volume, but I swear that this romance is also simmering on main.

I absolutely loved this book. It’s a story about characters who are verbally abused and shamed by public society, and even by family in Carolina’s case. It’s also a story about these characters slowly finding confidence in themselves and connecting with each other in a political climate that could potentially claim their lives. At first, I thought Carolina was the only character who has gone through a lot behind closed doors and is forced to pretend everything is okay as the public constantly informs her that she is a disappointment. However, I quickly discovered that is not the case and there are actually a lot of complex characters going through something similar.

All in all, I’m really excited to check out the second book. It was a little weird that Carolina doesn’t find out that she’s been a Saint all along before the end of the book, but there was quite a bit of world building that took place instead, so it worked out. However, there are some details that don’t quite add up, and sometimes the sudden change in POV is jarring. I’m overlooking those issues because I think they’ll add up as the story progresses, especially if what I think will be revealed is indeed what’s going to be revealed to the characters. I just know I’m excited to check out the second book and see where we go from here, especially when Carolina eventually comes out way ahead of her truly awful sister!

The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent: The Other Saint Vol. 1-2 by Yuka Tachibana, Aoagu

 

The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent: The Other Saint Vol. 1-2 by Yuka Tachibana, Aoagu

My Rating: ★

Aira’s life was forever changed in seconds when she was suddenly summoned to another world where magic and monsters are real. Now everyone thinks she’s a saint who is destined to save everyone. Unfortunately for Aria, her stats show that she’s a Mage, and she’s terrified of what will happen when everyone eventually learns she’s not a saint. Now she’s alone in this fantasy world where the only person she can rely on is also the one with the most to lose if her saintly powers don’t pan out.

I absolutely love The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent, so of course I had to grab the spin-off! We follow Aira from the moment she’s summoned into an entirely new world up until around volume 8 of the main series. I was really looking forward to seeing things through Aira’s perspective. While I know that these are lighthearted feel-good stories, I think that there was a lot that we could’ve explored through Aira’s eyes. She’s a teenager suddenly thrown on her own with no way back home. She starts the series with the pressure of the world on her shoulders because everyone is expecting her to be a saint. There is so much that could be brought to the table.

Unfortunately, this series heavily relies on its mother series, and touches on Aira’s story in an extremely superficial way. While the first volume was okay, it had its issues, which I let go because I figured it was trying to find its legs as a spin-off. The second volume continues to heavily rely on the mother series, and it continues to superficially touch on the story. There is no character growth, and it doesn’t add much to the world we originally saw through Sei’s eyes.

While I’m a little sad that this spin-off series didn’t pan out, I don’t think it’s a total loss. I think the first volume is worth checking out because some chapters would’ve fit into The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent, or at least been extras at the back of some of the volumes. Whether or not one wants to continue after that is up to them. Personally, I won't be continuing this series because it’s failing to stand up as its own story for me.

The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent Vol. 1-8 by Yuka Tachibana, Fujiazuki

The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent Vol. 1-8 by Yuka Tachibana, Fujiazuki

My Rating: ★★★★★

When Sei is unexpectedly summoned to another world, it was a surprise to everyone. The saint summoning ritual was meant to summon one person, but it brought Aira and then Sei shortly after! Just to top things off, she’s quickly ignored and can’t even return home. Now she has to start over in a world where magic is real. What is Sei to do when it turns out that only one saint was summoned, and that it’s her?

I’m reviewing the first eight novels in this series, which are absolutely wonderful. We follow Sei right as she’s summoned from our world and into a place where magic and monsters are real. As far as anyone knows, Sei can’t be sent back home, so she’s stuck in this new place. However, it’s a lighthearted story and so she quickly finds a place in this world where she’s able to explore her interests as well as her newfound saintly abilities.

There’s a great cast of characters that I love seeing as Sei’s story continues throughout the series. I have a few favorites, but I really just love how lovely and supporting many of the characters are. Sei was the backup saint that was summoned, so she’s left to settle in without any pressure to be any kind of savior. She makes new friends everywhere she goes and discovers a whole new branch of work that she loves. I wish we’d learn more about the royals that we hardly see, especially since the eldest prince was in charge of the saint summoning ceremony, but I can live with what we’ve been given so far.

The only drawback is that the very cute romance is moving at a snail’s pace. There’s a date early on in the story, but we never revisit it, but it’s very clear that the Sei and Albert have feelings for each other. Meanwhile, they’ve yet to have a second date, and there hasn’t been any other progress with their romance. Basically, don’t start this series if you’re looking for a larger romance plot.

All in all, this is such a cute and light series. I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a cute feel-good fantasy. Plus, the artwork is beautiful and there’s also an anime adaptation!