Book review-Ink by Amanda Sun

Title: Ink

 Author:  Amanda Sun

Series:  The Paper Gods #1

Published:  21 June 2013 by Mira

Length: 356 pages

Warnings: one scene which could be read as attempted rape

Source: ARC from publisher

Other info: There is an ebook novella prequel, called Shadow. Rain is the sequel coming in June.

Summary : Ink is in their blood. On the heels of a family tragedy, Katie Greene must move halfway across the world. Stuck with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn't know the language, she can barely hold a pair of chopsticks and she can't seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off whenever she enters a building. When Katie meets aloof but gorgeous Tomohiro, the star of the school's kendo team, she is intrigued by him…and a little scared. His tough attitude seems meant to keep her at a distance, and when they're near each other, strange things happen. Pens explode. Ink drips from nowhere. And unless Katie is seeing things, drawings come to life.
Somehow Tomo is connected to the kami, powerful ancient beings who once ruled Japan—and as feelings develop between Katie and Tomo, things begin to spiral out of control. The wrong people are starting to ask questions, and if they discover the truth, no one will be safe.

Review:  Katie Greene is forced to move to Japan to live with her aunt. There, she meets Tomohiro, a boy whose drawings come to life. with runins with the Yazuka and working around attraction to Tomohiro, Katie learns about his connections to the Kami, Japanese gods of old.

I had a period of really really loving Japan. I’m not totally obsessed any more, but I still like it. When I heard about this series, I was just “aww hell yes. Must read. Excited.”

Katie is still finding her feet in Japan. You get bits of Japanese and snippets of random culture, some of which I recognise from things written by Japanese people, so I’m assuming that the other things were all correct to. It was certainly fully built and different to the Western school settings.

The random Japanese phrases are nice to start with, but they get annoying quickly, because even though it comes with Katie’s translations (mainly), they interrupt the flow with their frequency and make you feel like you need to have a working knowledge of Japanese to understand this book in the way it flows. Oh, and the constant “ne”s got on my nerves. Because they indicate a question. And then are followed by a question mark. And at one point there was an explanation of this when you could infer what they meant. Unnecessary in written stories.

Characters, I liked Katie to start with because I relate to her difficulty at fitting in. However, once we met her and she got a few friends, she got a a bit boring and didn’t move on. Tomohiro, I didn’t care for at all. He moodswings a lot and is mysterious in a boring way. And then he’s really really creepy.   There’s a sweet guy whose name I forgot. I liked him. Minor characters were mainly forgotten when Tomohiro shows up.

 I loved the inclusion of the Kami, using mythology other than Classical Greek/Roman. Don’t get me wrong, I love Classical Greek and Roman, but it’s used so much, and the use of Japanese mythology was wonderful. The originalness and the description of the creatures added awesomeness to the book.

It’s very stereotypical YA paranormal romance, if you ignore the fact that it’s set in Japan and has Japanese gods. Badboy who wants you to stay away? Check. Instalove? Check. See him once, can’t get him out of your head? Check. I could go on, but I won’t.

Unrelated to the writing, the illustrations are gorgeous. 

  Overall:  Strength 2 tea to a book with a wonderful different mythology, but lots of drawbacks.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |

Book Review-Summertime of the Dead by Gregory Hughes

Title: Summertimeof the Dead

 Author:  Gregory Hughes

Series:   N/A

Published:  30 August 2012 by Quercus

Length:304 pages

Warnings: really graphic violence, mentions of prostitution, suicide, lots of things

Source: publisher

Other info: Gregory also wrote Unhooking the Moon, which won the Booktrust prize

Summary : Yukio's two best friends are dead. Tormented and blackmailed by the Yakuza - the Japanese mafia - they have taken their own lives.
Yukio is a kendo champion and he knows all the stories of the samurai. Heartbroken and furious, he is determined to avenge the deaths of his beloved Hiroshi and Miko.
And so begins a deadly struggle between Yukio and the Yakuza, and between Yukio's capacity for love, and his thirst for revenge.

Review: After being blackmailed by the Yazuka, Miko and Hiroshi kill themsleves. Yukio, their best freidn, is determened to avenge them. As a result, he goes out to kill all those he holds responsible for their deaths.

First thoughts on Yukio-whoa, overreaction much? Yes, you do kendo. I understand you’re upset. But actually killing someone? You’re fourteen.These honour things are a bit outdated (not living in 21^st centuryJapan, I don’t know how common it is for a teenager or anyone to hold the views that someone messes with your friends you mess them up even more). And even if you are going to live by the way of honor, you have gone much too far. And yeah, you’re fourteen. How the heck did you guys get into that club that started it to begin with? And then casually get hold of swords and bikes? I had issues wth the age in this. Also, issues  with Yukio. He needs someone around him.

Mikazuki aka The Lump, Yukio’s cousin, is a really sweet but a little annoying. It’s nice seeing her tryand keep Yukio from going completly batcrap insane, but it doesn’t really work.

I suppose you could call it a coming of age story. There’s a few firsts for Yukio, some very big firsts. After a certain amount of kills, it got a bit boring.

You really can see Yukio go off on his own spiral of depravity in the killings, and I liked getting inside his head.  It doesnt’ really bother him, which I find an interesting point. a fourteenyearold, whose first experience with death is traumatic and sudden, going off and killing more people, and not getting too worried could have been really interesting. but t wasn’t.

The writng style was quite simple, but got across the story well. I liked the way the setting of gangland Japan was brought together.

Overall:  Strength 2 tea. A nonsympathetic main character and a bloodbath that went too far.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | 

Waiting on Wednesday- The Night Itself by Zoe Marriott

Hey, the House of Commons voted in favour of legalising same sex marriage! The government actually did something useful!

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Breaking the Spine where we show off books that we want to read but have not been published yet. 

Title:  The Night Itself
Author: Zoe Marriott
Release Date: 4 July 2013 by Walker
Link to / Summary from Goodreads: When fifteen year old Mio Yamato furtively sneaks the katana - an ancestral Japanese sword - out of its hiding place in her parent's attic to help liven up her Christmas party costume, she has no idea of the darkness she is about to unleash on modern day London, or the family secrets that she is going to uncover.

The paralysing paranoia that descends on her before she gets to her friend's party is her first clue. The vivid and terrifying visions that nearly get her killed are a pretty good warning too.

The giant nine-tailed cat demon that comes after the sword and tries to rip her throat out? Overkill.

Seconds away from becoming kitty-food, Mio is saved by Shinobu, a mysterious warrior boy. But it's already too late. Mio has ruptured the veil between the mortal realm and the Underworld, and now the gods and monsters of ancient Japan stalk the streets of London, searching for her and the sword. 

With the help of her best friend Jack, a fox spirit named Hikaru - and the devoted protection of the betwitchingly familiar Shinobu - Mio attempts to discover the true nature of the sword and its connection to the Yamato family. Because if she doesn't learn how to control the katana's incredible powers, she's in danger of being overwhelmed by them. And if she can't keep the sword safe from the terrible creatures who want it for their own, she'll lose not only her own life... but the love of a lifetime.
Why I want it: I really really enjoyed Frostfire (which still needs to be reviewed on here some day) because the plot and characters and writing were beautiful. Another from Zoe? Heck yes.

What are YOU waiting on this week?

Book Review: Zombie Powder by Tite Kubo

Title: Zombie Powder: The Man With the Black Hand volume 1

Author: Tite Kubo

Source: Wherever Nina got it from

Length: 208 pages

Published: September 5th 2006

Publisher: Viz Media LLC

Warnings: Violence

Other notes: You may (or may not) know Tite Kubo as the man who wrote (then RUINED!!!!) Bleach. It seems to me that several characters from Zombie Powder have been recycled into Bleach like Gamma into Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez.

Spoiler Is Needed To Explain Plot.

Summary from Goodreads: They say that if you find all twelve rings of the dead, you can obtain the power of immortality for the living, or bring back someone from the dead. People who search for the rings are called Powder Hunters, and Gamma is one of them, searching for the power of immortality.

Review: S-0 criminal Gamma is a powder hunter, one who seeks the rings of the dead to obtain zombie powder which will grant him immortality or the power to bring back someone from the dead. So, it had a good start. Gamma arrives by train in wild west looking town in a rather spectacular fashion (the kind of "woah, look at that weird guy with his badass clothes and massive weapon" kind of spectacular), and the gets his clothes stuck in the train. And the hilarity continues. The mighty Gamma gets stabbed with a fork while eating some food, and then gets his wallet stolen by Elwood, a teenager who has joined a local gang to earn money to help is sickly older sister. Then Elwood gets caught and takes Gamma to eat at his house because he ruined his meal and then other gang members see Elwood taking Gamma to his house and they think that Elwood is trying to keep the bounty on Gamma's head all to himself. This leads to the whole gang bursting into Elwood's house and a bunch of crazy stuff happening which results in *SPOILER* Elwood's sister dying. (Sorry! It's a major part of the plot, it can't really be avoided) *SPOILER* . So Elwood decides to join Gamma on his quest to find the zombie rings so he can bring back his sister.

I quite like the characters. They're rather simplistic, and are drawn in a quite "roughish" style. Ranewater Calder and C. T. Smith who show up quite late in the volume. They're enigmatic characters and are very different to the rest of the characters who are mainly wild west styled. First of all, let's start with C. T. Smith. He looks like a London banker, he sings (or hums or something like that) while he kills, he's apparently ambidextrous and he pretended to work for the antagonists and the got Gamma and Elwood out of the gang jail. Yay! He makes a good contrast to Gamma who is too badass to do anything interesting other than show off his strength. Ranewater is the leader of the Ash Daughter bandits and looks like a little girl but is actually an old man. I thought it was a typo when they referred to him as male until Smith actually called him an old man. Calder takes some sort of drug to keep him young. With his hair down, he looks quite a bit older.

It's quite easy to see why, in terms of plot, this series got cancelled. It's rather repetitive as people want to to attack Gamma, but they attack Elwood because they think Elwood is his

weakness and then Gamma completely annihilates them. You never really get enough time to hate (or like) gang members because they die too quickly. Perhaps it's too early to really say that the plot is bad when the volume was only a few chapters long.

Rating: 2 I'm hoping that things will be better next volume.

Japanese YA Week review- Kamikaze Girls by Novela Takemoto

Title: Kamikaze Girls

 Author: Novala Takemoto

Series:  Kamikaze Girls #1

Published:   English, 2006 by Viz Media

Length: 208 pages

Source: Library

Other info: There is apparently a sequel, which isn’t out in English, and also a manga, which is. Kamikaze Girls has also been made into a film rated 12 which is popular with people like me.

Summary : Life in the boondocks of rural Ibaraki prefecture is anything but glamorous, and so Momoko, a Lolita, daydreams about the Rococo period, Versailles, and dresses in the finest and frilliest of 18^th century haute couture from an expensive Tokyo speciality store. Her dreams of an idyllic existence are rudely interrupted by the appearance of Ichiko/Ichigo, a tough talking Yanki motorcycle chick on a worn  out moped. Together, this unlikely duo strikes out to find a legendary embroiderer, pachinko parlours, chic boutiques, and epic bike punk battles. This is more than a quirky coming of age tale, its a new way of life.

Review: Before we go any further, you all need to understand a little terminology. In this book, "lolita" is a style of fashion in which the wearer dresses in frills and dresses inspired by France, the 18th century and everything that is cute. A "yanki" is harder to explain, but its garish fashion, sloppy and the general opposite of Lolita. For more information, go here for lolita and here for yanki. And the Tokyo Specialty Store mentioned in the summary really exists. Look up Baby the Stars Shine Bright and you will find a real shop. Actually, don’t. The clothes are 1)expensive, 2)impractical and 3)only somewhat pretty.

Momoko is a Lolita obsessed with Baby the Stars Shine Bright and embroidery and Ichiko(born Ichigo, changed name because a tough yanki girl shouldn't have a name meaning strawberry) is a Yanki obsessed with her highly customised scooter and her girl biker gang. Through various chains of events that stem from Momoko's birth, they meet. They have adventures, they fall in love (Ichigo only, with the guy who'll be getting married to the ex-leader of the gang and her idol) they gamble(underage) at pachinko places and win a lot of money(Momoko only-Ichigo, despite being self-proclaimed "pro", never gets anything out the machines). Through various events, Momoko and Ichigo develop a lasting friendship, despite the fact they have completely different fashion and logic.

The entire thing is told from Momoko's point of view, which gives us a good insight into her character. As for Ichigo, you can get a good enough idea of her character as a)She talks enough and b)Momoko is repeatedly making remarks as to her opinion on Ichigo's outlandish fashion and attitude.

Both of the girls have very strong characters fixed in their beliefs as yankis and lolitas. They also undergo serious character development, with Momoko deciding on how she's going to live her life without *spoiler, so can't tell. It's not that she'll live without Lolita though* and deciding she may just be a little more outgoing, and Ichigo getting enough courage to leave the gang(which isn't easy, considering the ways these gangs make you "draw the line") and ride on her own.

You get a lot of insight to Lolita and Yanki lives, and rural Japan in general. Some things were new, such as pachinko, but it was easy to guess what was happening (it helped that I saw the film before too).

The ending is great. I'd love to tell you what exactly happened, but that would spoil it for you. It's kind of tied into what's been happening throughout, but it's so unpredictable and is generally great.

I love the tight friendship that eventually forms between Ichigo and Momoko. The fact they are completely different in all respects just makes it better and proves that you don't have to be alike to form a great friendship.

The film of this book is also really good(Do you want a separate film review, despite the fact this is a book blog? You decide...) and I enjoyed the manga spin off. I really want to get hold of the sequel(there is one. Novala Takemoto said so in the afterword), but I think that depends on Shojo Beat translating and publishing that, as I can't read Japanese.

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a great book of laughs, friendship, frills.

Links:Goodreads |