Book Review- King of Thorn vol 1 by Yuji Iwahara

Title: King of Thorn vol 1

 Author: Yuji Iwahara

Series:  King of Thorn #1

Published:  12 June 2007 by Tokyopop

Length:192 pages

Warnings: semi-graphic gore and violence

Source:Library

Summary : Twin sisters-separated by fate, drawn together by a horrific illness. Kasumi and her sister Shizuku were infected with the Medusa virus, which slowly turns the victims to stone-and there is no cure. Hope for salvation rests in Kasumi and a select few who are put into a cryorgenically frozen state until a cure is found. But Shizuku is left behind, and in the not too distant future, Kasumi awakes to find herself in an unfamiliar world with terrifying beings roaming the terrain. Resolving to unlock the mysteries of the disease and the fate of her twin sister, Kasumi struggles to survive in this treacherous world.

Review: Kasumi was infected with a virus called Medusa, an uncurable virus that turns its victim to stone. She is sent to be cryogenically frozen until a cure is found. Then she wakes up with thorns growing all around, and dinosaur-like creatures everywhere. The majority of the people waking up get eaten. She and a small group of survivors must work out what it takes to live in this new dangerous world. Kasumi is also looking for something else; her twin Shizuku who wasn't chosen to be frozen and saved. Kasumi now wants to know what became of her sister, which shouldn't be too difficult if they're in the near future. All this while slowly turning to stone.

The concept is very different to what I'd normally read. This is more an action/science fiction manga more than the romantic comedies I tend to read. So a bit different, but very good. The cover shows the main characters, a beast in the background, and a few thorns, without giving too much away.

The opening chapter happens very quickly, with the majority of the characters dying halfway through and a group of  survivors being established by the end. The rest of the book follows these survivors break out of the cryogenics centre, find somewhere to shelter, and uncover a few secrets regarding one of the character's backstories.

So yes, a lot happens. And it's happening throughout. The characters get a couple of pages to rest, then are thrown into another life or death situation.

The characters were interesting. They had very clear personalities, and stories could be worked out from looking at them and their actions. Which is good, as we aren't explicitly told exactly who they were. I found it interesting how we only get told three names-Kasumi, Shizuku and the tattooed guy, who's name and backstory would be a spoiler, so I won't include it. I'm still deciding whether the lack of names is good or bad.

The art is almost completely in black and white, the shading being done with lines varying distances from eachother, and very occasionally being done with screentone. The action scenes are fairly detailed, but leave a little to your imagination. Which, with the amount of action, is very good.

Overall: Strength 4 tea to an action manga series I'll definitely try and find the next volumes.

Links: | Goodreads | 

Waiting on Wednesday #22 The Vanishing Game by Kat Kae Myers.... and a rant to anons

Welcome to Death Books and Tea

Now before we start, I’d just like to say something about the various comments we received yesterday.

To anon 1, the random guy, thank you very much for spending x amount of your life writing a very long winded complaint about this blog, in particularly my review of Angel Sanctuary, which is manga, which is fiction, which is something I hardly think is worth you ranting for longer than the review went on.  All points have been received and noted, and will not be acted upon. Maybe they’d be given slightly more weight if you had not felt the need to hide behind anonymity. Thank you for voicing your opinion.

To anon 2, erm...thank you?

To anon 3, you receive google alerts for this sort of thing? Ok.... I honestly have no idea what to say.

To all three of you, will you please take your swearing and hating on everyone else somewhere else?

To everyone else, I’m sure the majority of you are nice people. And I’m sure none of you feel the need to hide behind anonymity. The comments have now been deleted and I’m disabling anonymous comments (not sure why I didn’t from the start. Oh well). Because some people can’t be trusted not to be cowardly and flame everyone else. Thank you for putting up with me. Now onto the fun....

 

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 Vanishing Game
Author: Kate Kae Myers
Release Date: 14 February 2012
Link to / Summary from Goodreads: Jocelyn's twin brother Jack was the only family she had growing up in a world of foster homes-and now he's dead, and she has nothing. Then she gets a cryptic letter from "Jason December"-the code name her brother used to use when they were children at Seale House, a terrifying foster home that they believed had dark powers. Only one other person knows about Jason December: Noah, Jocelyn's childhood crush and their only real friend among the troubled children at Seale House.

But when Jocelyn returns to Seale House and the city where she last saw Noah, she gets more than she bargained for. Turns out the house's powers weren't just a figment of a childish imagination. And someone is following Jocelyn. Is Jack still alive? And if he is, what kind of trouble is he in? The answer is revealed in a shocking twist that turns this story on its head and will send readers straight back to page 1 to read the book in a whole new light.

Why I want it: Foster homes? Mystery? Cryptic letters? Houses with dark powers? Stalkers? A shocking twist? Excellent. And the cover is very good too.

What are YOU waiting on this week?

Top 100 YA Books/Series

So, I came across this list from Mary @ The Book Swarm, and she got it from somewhere else, and so on. As the title suggests, it's a list of the top 100 YA books and series. How they worked this out, I don't know, but anyway.

In pink, I've highlighted books that I've read. Let's see what I've read....


1.Alex Finn – Beastly
2.Alice Sebold – The Lovely Bones
3.Ally Carter – Gallagher Girls (1, 2, 3, 4)
4.Ally Condie – Matched
5.Alyson Noel – The Immortals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
6.Anastasia Hopcus – Shadow Hills
7.Angie Sage – Septimus Heap (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
8.Ann Brashares – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (1, 2, 3, 4)
9.Anna Godbersen – Luxe (1, 2, 3, 4)
10.Anthony Horowitz – Alex Rider (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
11.Aprilynne Pike – Wings (1, 2, 3)
12.Becca Fitzpatrick – Hush, Hush (1, 2)
13.Brandon Mull – Fablehaven (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
14.Brian Selznick – The Invention of Hugo Cabret
15.Cassandra Clare – The Mortal Instruments (1, 2, 3, 4)
16.Carrie Jones – Need (1, 2, 3)
17.Carrie Ryan – The Forest of Hands and Teeth (1, 2, 3, 4)
18.Christopher Paolini – Inheritance (1, 2, 3, 4)
19.Cinda Williams Chima – The Heir Chronicles (1, 2, 3)
20.Colleen Houck – Tigers Saga (1, 2)
21.Cornelia Funke – Inkheart (1, 2, 3)
22.Ellen Hopkins – Impulse
23.Eoin Colfer – Artemis Fowl (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
24.Faraaz Kazi – Truly, Madly, Deeply
25.Frank Beddor – The Looking Glass Wars (1, 2, 3)
26.Gabrielle Zevin – Elsewhere
27.Gail Carson Levine – Fairest
28.Holly Black – Tithe (1, 2, 3)
29.J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
30.James Dashner – The Maze Runner (1, 2)
31.James Patterson – Maximum Ride (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
32.Jay Asher – Thirteen Reasons Why
33.Jeanne DuPrau – Books of Ember (1, 2, 3, 4)
34.Jeff Kinney – Diary of a Wimpy Kid (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
35.John Boyne – The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
36.John Green – An Abundance of Katherines
37.John Green – Looking for Alaska
38.John Green – Paper Towns
39.Jonathan Stroud – Bartimaeus (1, 2, 3, 4)
40.Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl – Caster Chronicles (1, 2)
41.Kelley Armstrong – Darkest Powers (1, 2, 3)
42.Kristin Cashore – The Seven Kingdoms (1, 2)
43.Lauren Kate – Fallen (1, 2, 3)
44.Lemony Snicket – Series of Unfortunate Events (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
45.Libba Bray – Gemma Doyle (1, 2, 3)
46.Lisa McMann – Dream Catcher (1, 2, 3)
47.Louise Rennison – Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
48.M.T. Anderson – Feed
49.Maggie Stiefvater – The Wolves of Mercy Falls (1, 2, 3)
50.Margaret Peterson Haddix – Shadow Children (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
51.Maria V. Snyder – Study (1, 2, 3)
52.Markus Zusak – The Book Thief
53.Markus Zusak – I am the Messenger
54.Mark Haddon – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
55.Mary Ting – Crossroads
56.Maureen Johnson – Little Blue Envelope (1, 2)
57.Meg Cabot – All-American Girl (1, 2)
58.Meg Cabot – The Mediator (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
59.Meg Cabot – The Princess Diaries (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
60.Meg Rosoff – How I live now
61.Megan McCafferty – Jessica Darling (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
62.Megan Whalen Turner – The Queen’s Thief (1, 2, 3, 4)
63.Melina Marchetta – On the Jellicoe Road
64.Melissa de la Cruz – Blue Bloods (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
65.Melissa Marr – Wicked Lovely (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
66.Michael Grant – Gone (1, 2, 3, 4)
67.Nancy Farmer – The House of the Scorpion
68.Neal Shusterman – Unwind
69.Neil Gaiman – Coraline
70.Neil Gaiman – Stardust
71.Neil Gaiman – The Graveyard Book
72.P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast – House of Night (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
73.Philip Pullman – His Dark Materials (1, 2, 3)
74.Rachel Caine – The Morganville Vampires (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
75.Rachel Cohn & David Levithan – Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
76.Richelle Mead – Vampire Academy (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
77.Rick Riordan – Percy Jackson and the Olympians (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
78.Rom LcO’Feer – Somewhere carnal over 40 winks
79.S.L. Naeole – Grace (1, 2, 3, 4)
80.Sabrina Bryan & Julia DeVillers – Princess of Gossip
81.Sarah Dessen – Along for the Ride
82.Sarah Dessen – Lock and Key
83.Sarah Dessen – The Truth about Forever
84.Sara Shepard – Pretty Little Liars (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
85.Scott Westerfeld – Leviathan (1, 2)
86.Scott Westerfeld – Uglies (1, 2, 3)
87.Shannon Hale – Books of a Thousand Days
88.Shannon Hale – Princess Academy
89.Shannon Hale – The Books of Bayern (1, 2, 3, 4)
90.Sherman Alexie & Ellen Forney – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
91.Simone Elkeles – Perfect Chemistry (1, 2, 3)
92.Stephanie Meyer – The Host
93.Stephanie Meyer – Twilight Saga (1, 2, 3, 4)
94.Sue Monk Kidd – The Secret Life of Bees
95.Susan Beth Pfeffer – Last Survivors (1, 2, 3)
96.Suzanne Collins – Hunger Games (1, 2, 3)
97.Suzanne Collins – Underland Chronicles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
98.Terry Pratchett – Tiffany Aching (1, 2, 3, 4)
99.Tonya Hurley – Ghost Girl (1, 2, 3)
100.Wendelin Van Draanen – Flipped

I've not really read that much compared to some guys out there...Oh well. I seem to get halfway through a series sometimes without reading the rest of it...and some of these books I've never heard of....

What's everyone else read? Did you enjoy them? What do you think? Tell me!

The End of Summer

Yep...last day of freedom. Doesn’t seem like yesterday that I was saying about how I had much to read and everything... but it’s been six weeks. So here’s a final summer round-up as to what I’ve read and what I haven’t.

READ FROM ORIGINAL LIST

1. Teeth, Vampire Tales  (review here)
2. The Bell Jar (review here)
3. How to Be A Woman (mini review here)
4. The Vampire Blog (review here)
5. Lord of the Flies (review here)
6. Acadia (e-book) (review here)
7. Vampire Doll vol 1 (review here)
8. Dead Streets
9. Mail vol 2
10. Black Swan Rising (review here)
11. Zombies of the World (review here)
12. Descended by Blood (review here)
13. Quest of the Demon (review to come)
14. Dr Faustus
15. Empire of the Rising Sun
16. Pride and Prejudice
17. To Kill A Mockingbird (review to come)
18. Tantalise (review to come)
19. Skin Hunger (review to come)
20. Halo  (review to come)
21. Spooks-the Apprentice (review to come)
22. The Invention of Murder
23. Monster Island
24. Johannes Cabal the Necromancer(review here)
25. The Undertaker’s Gift
26. Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman? (review here)
27. Angel Sanctuary (review here)
28. Godchild (review here)
29. Think of a Number
30. Crescendo (review to come)
31. The Resistance (review to come)
32. Undead and Unwelcome
33. Mercy (review here)
34. Periodic Tales
35. Life as We Knew It (review to come)
36. A Study in Scarlet
37. Much Ado About Nothing (graphic novel)
38. Virals (review here)
39. Haruhi 3
40. Haruhi 4
41. Haruhi 5

AND I READ BECAUSE I FOUND IT SOMEWHERE AND DEEMED IT MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHAT I  HAD AND/OR HAD NOTHING ELSE (in my mind) TO READ

42. Slights by Kaaron Warren
43. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K Dick
44. Schoolgirl Milky Crisis by Jonathan Clements
45. King of Thorn vol 1 by Yuji Iwahara (review to come)
46. How Hard Can It Be? By Jeremy Clarkson
47. Death: At Death’s Door by Jill Thomson and (kind of)Neil Gaiman (review to come)
48. The Maze Runner by James Dashner (review to come)
49. Texas Gothic  by Rosemary Clement-Moore (review to come)
50. The Legend of Sakura-Hime by Arina Tanemura

DIDN’T READ

• Catalyst (e-book)
• Carrie
• Pegasus and the Fight for Olympus
• Wish Me Dead

STILL HALFWAY THROUGH

• The Divine Comedy

NOT GOT YET

• Hetalia 1

I think I did pretty well here...

Book Review-Angel Sanctuary by Kaori Yuki

Title: Angel Sanctuary

 Author: Kaori Yuki

Series:  Angel Sanctuary #1

Published:    10 March 2004 by Viz Media under a Shojo imprint

Length: 198 pages

Warnings: graphic violence, a little gore, incest, demons, angels

Source: Library

Other info: Kaori Yuki

Summary :When Sara's classmate, Ruri, received a computer disk from a strange man, Setsuna shows up to whisk her away from him. After lecturing Ruri about talking to weirdos, Setsuna comments she's much cuter without glasses, which she dropped in the confusion. Unfortunately, neither of them have been watching the news which reports of mysterious deaths occurring in connection with the CD-ROM "Digital Angels." The disk Ruri received is this same "Digital Angels" disk, and without knowing the danger, Setsuna lets her keep it. As soon as Ruri uses the program, her personality starts to change, and strange things begin to happen as Evils and angels seek the Setsunas's soul for their own mysterious motives...

Review: Setsuna doesn’t know it, but he’s actually the reincarnation of the angel Alexiel, who has been sentenced to reincarnation into the mortal world until she has paid for her sins. So then two demons turn up praising him as Alexiel, and he obviously doesn’t know what’s going on. On a side note, Ruri, after being blinded in an accident, communicates with an angel called Raziel, who is Alexiel’s brother and almost-murder-victim, via means of a computer game she received from a stranger, called Angel Sanctuary. The game that is, not the stranger. On another note, Setsuna has feelings for Ruri’s friend Sara. Who happens to be his sister.

The plot is very confusing. It doesn’t help that half the characters look extremely similar to eachother, and that that was the intended effect. Demonic, or in this case, angelic, possession is not the best topic to approach in manga, when you can easily be confused and your understanding of the characters comes mainly from the art work and how they look. Differentiating the characters is something you need to be able to do to understand it.

When I read this last year, I gave this two stars out of five. This was on the basis that while I liked the art and could pick out little bits, following the main story is impossible. Now, I managed to string together a plot by being fully awake when reading. Just about. This is not a book for whne you want a quick light read.

The characters are easy to distinguish if you pay attention to their personality. Which, when reading manga, I don’t.  Some of these characters are very likeable, some of them aren’t, and some of them change as you read through the story. For example, at first I liked Ruri, but when she XXXXXX(you’ll probably understand if you’ve read it) I started to hate her. Even though I didn’t particularly like the person she wanted it to happen to. But anyway.

I love the art. As always, Kaori Yuki’s unique style fits with the story, and the detailed style makes it look  realistic.

Overall: Strength 3 tea to a manga with a long winded plot that improves a little if you get through the first few chapters.

Links: Goodreads | 

Book Review- Mercy by Rebecca Lim

Title: Mercy

 Author: Rebecca Lim

Series:  Mercy #1

Published:  28 October 2010 by HarperCollins

Length:281 pages

Warnings: angels,(highlight for possible spoiler)implied rape and abuse, a little romance,

Source: Library

Other info: Book 2, Exile is now out. Muse is expected for later this year and Fury should be out next year.

Summary : There’s something very wrong with me. I can’t remember who I am or how old I am, or even how I got here. All I know is that when I wake up, I could be anyone. It is always this way. There’s nothing I can keep with me that will stay. It’s made me adaptable. I must always re-establish ties. I must tread carefully or give myself away. I must survive.

Mercy doesn’t realise it yet, but as she journeys into the darkest places of the human soul, she discovers that she is one of the celestial host exiled with fallen angel, Lucifer. Now she must atone for taking his side. To find her own way back to heaven, Mercy must help a series of humans in crisis and keep the unwary from getting caught up in the games that angels play. Ultimately she must choose between her immortal companion Lucifer and a human boy who risks everything for her love.

Book Hop #15

Another week gone, another book hop hosted by Crazy For Books. So you got to Death Books and Tea. Thank you! Here we  review young adult books, mainly horror, manga, dystopian and the like, or really anything we can get hold of. Please settle down, look around and enjoy your time here.

I mean, we've got Part 1 of the Skyship Academy tour, with possibly the chance of winning a book. Go have a look!

And on for this weeks question...
What are you most looking forward to this fall/autumn season – A particular book release? Halloween? The leaves changing color? Cooler temperatures? A vacation? (If your next season is other than fall/autumn, tell us about it and what you are most looking forward to in your part of the world!)”
Well there's quite a lot... There's the release of Curtis Rx's album Dead Beat (completely unrelated to books but oh well)...There's the release of that steampunk anthology book, and some more books I can't be bothered to think of right now...There's Halloween, for which I am planning a week long event with a giveaway... and my birthday... and probably some other stuff.

What about you? What are you excited for in this coming season? Tell me!

Blog tour- Skyship Academy:The Pearl Wars and 10 Things You Didn’t Know About SKYSHIP ACADEMY.

Opening the blog tour for the first book in the Skyship Academy series, The Pearl Wars, by Nick James. It’s a book I’m really excited about, and I hope that throughout the tour, you'll get just as excited too.  So to start with, here’s  10 Things You Didn’t Know About SKYSHIP ACADEMY.