Kara Dennison's Blog

MANGA REVIEW: Nana 25th Anniversary Edition, Vol. 2

NANA 25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION, Vol. 2
by Ai Yazawa
Available December 2

NANA has become something of a mainstay in the worlds of both manga and fashion. Ai Yazawa's influence is massive, with collabs far and wide for the manga's 25th anniversary. And, of course, the new anniversary edition of the manga is also available. It goes without saying — this is glorious. But I'm going to say it anyway.

Volume 2 clocks in at 376 pages, continuing the comedic and romantic adventures of odd couple Nana and Hachi (also called Nana). The volume also includes bonus chapters with reader questions and commentary from Yazawa.

If you've never encountered NANA before, these anniversary volumes are the perfect approach. Yazawa's gorgeous art is reprinted beautifully, and the translation remains solid. And on a re-read of the series, it's no wonder this manga has struck a chord with so many young people. Through the eyes of the two Nanas, we witness the many facets of becoming an adult, and in turn becoming your own person. How much space should someone else hold in your life? How do you cope with love that's passed, love that isn't returned, or love you shouldn't chase? While the chance meeting between Nana K. and Nana O. has definitely changed their lives forever, it's the secondary characters who really bring everything together.

Anything by Ai Yazawa is a fantastic read, but there's a reason NANA has achieved this level of renown and longevity. Its intersection of music and fashion is a perfect setting for self-discovery, and these two similar-but-different characters continue to bring out interesting new sides of each other. Take this opportunity to see what all the hype is about.

TEA PAIRING: Edgar Allan Poe Tea Bundle
This is another reading selection that feels like it needs two teas. The strong, intense Poet's Study (one of my personal favorites) and the sweet, dreamy Dream Within a Dream are perfect matches for Nana and Hachi. Use my code KARA15 for 15% off this and other book-inspired teas!

TEA REVIEW: Sugar Cookie Gifts

 

In the influx of gingerbread and peppermint flavored everything at this time of year (both of which I love!), one seasonal flavor tends to get underutilized. Simple sugar cookies are one of my favorite treats at this time of year, so I'm always delighted when a café or tea seller figures that into their seasonal blends. To that end, Chapters has added a decaf holiday blend to their listing: Sugar Cookie Gifts, a new take on rooibos for Christmas.
This new flavor takes its inspiration from the March family's cozy holiday in Little Women. Caffeine-free rooibos tea is paired with vanilla, honey, cinnamon, and rose petals to evoke Christmas cookies baking in the kitchen. And if you're trying to cut down on caffeine without cutting out cozy seasonal vibes, this could be a good alternative.
I've said this before, but it bears mentioning: I am very picky about rooibos. I'm one of that very small subset of people who tends to get a cough syrup taste off straight-up rooibos, so I put a lot of stock in good strong flavor to mask or otherwise temper that. So if you're like me and a little more sensitive to rooibos taste, you can trust me. We're the same, you and me.

Honey is the first scent to hit you when you open the bag, which is a pleasant surprise. I had a Bridgerton tea with a honey flavor profile, and I've been chasing that ever since. While it is the most forward scent, the honey blends into the overall flavor once this is steeped up, making for a very nice cookie flavor.

The medicine-y rooibos isn't fully masked, but it's definitely downplayed, to the point that the sugar cookie is first and foremost. I was surprised at the rose inclusion, since I'm a big fan of rose and generally immediately taste it anywhere it's used. But it sinks backward into the blend in a nice way, and I suspect that's a big part of what helps to even out the flavor.
I've only had this hot without milk or sugar, but I suspect this would make an excellent latte if steeped up strong enough. However you make it, I recommend serving it with Christmas cookies. It complements them perfectly.
Sugar Cookie Gifts is only available for a limited time. Use my code KARA15 for 15% off this and other teas from Chapters!

BOOK REVIEW: Fade Into You

 

FADE INTO YOU
by Amber Smith & Sam Gellar
Available now

The year is 1999, and teenagers Bird and Jessa are having multiple unique issues of their own when it comes to family and love. But these two strangers have one thing in common: their best friends are dating. As Bird watches Kayla start to act like an entirely different person, Jessa watches Dade become less and less interested in their usual music and movie get-togethers. After a rocky start, Bird and Jessa become uneasy allies in a shared venture: break up the new couple.

As they work together to sabotage the romance, however, they begin to get closer themselves. Jessa is a lesbian who happens to have been outed unceremoniously by Bird's stepsister, and Bird had summer romances with both a boy and a girl. Over time, they begin to catch feelings for each other. But between their uneasy ongoing friendships with Dade and Kayla, their troubles at home, and Jessa's fear of Bird suffering the same bullying she has at school, it isn't smooth sailing. As New Year's Eve (and Y2K) approaches, both will have to come to terms with how they navigate love and friendships.

Reading Fade Into You was an interesting exercise, since I was the same age as the protagonists in the year the novel takes place. From a nostalgia standpoint, it was a bit odd. The slang was anachronistic, with the majority of the attempts to place the story in time being dedicated to what movies were playing and what bands were popular with different demographics. A lot of the attempts at integrating this into dialogue felt odd (one character telling another she "let [her] fingers do the walking" when asked how she found a phone number). At the same time, there didn't seem to be any attempts to have the characters speak like 90s characters. If anything, the dialogue felt oddly modern. All of this feels strange considering at least one of the two authors is, according to a bit of quick research, of the same sort of age as Bird and Jessa.

And here is where I'm divided on Fade Into You. Placing Bird and Jessa's story right on the edge of Y2K — a time when everyone feared the collapse of the world, but the world moved on, thanks to quiet hard work under the surface — is extremely pleasing on a symbolic level. Too, taking young readers outside the discourse-driven world of 2025 to a time when discussions on mental health and sexuality were a mess is a good and important thing to do. In that respect, the book gets things absolutely right. One of the book's subplots, following Jessa's sister Mack and her struggle with BPD, mirrors the stigma I personally recall surrounding not so much having a mental illness as being seen to have a mental illness.

The short version is, Fall Into You is an excellent story (more specifically, two good character pieces) couched in a world that is the 90s socially while feeling like a 90s replica culturally and aesthetically. For the book's demographic, this might be the way to go. For all I know, a teenager would not be able to take a book seriously if the characters talked the way we actually did back then. If you're looking for a throwback to the era you lived in, this isn't the book for you. But if you're looking for a turbulent love story that also happens to have strong message about how to care for others while looking after yourself, it's a strong yes.

TEA PAIRING: Sugar and Spice Chai Tea Bundle
Normally I pair books with one tea, but Chapters' new chai bundle fits the central couple of Fade Into You perfectly. A combo of sweet, bookish Vanilla Chai (for Bird) and strong, bold Spice Chai Mélange (for Jessa), this bundle also comes with a basket steeper and quill spoon. Use my code KARA15 for 15% off this and other orders from Chapters!

MANGA REVIEW: Gamera -Rebirth-: Code Thyrsos Vol. 1

GAMERA -REBIRTH-: CODE THYRSOS Vol. 1
by Hiroyuki Seshita and Cambria Bakuhatsu Taro
Available November 25

Like many, my first exposure to the kaiju legend that is Gamera was Mystery Science Theater 3000. Seeing the giant turtle beast make an honest-to-goodness comeback in recent years has been a lot of fun. And seeing that comeback extend to the world of manga, just two days before the franchise's 60th anniversary, is even better.

If you haven't seen Gamera -Rebirth-, you won't be completely in the dark. Heck, you won't be in the dark if you don't know a thing about the original monster. But if you know your kaiju, you're in for a treat as you watch them emerge in the world of this manga.

This prequel series takes place 100,000 years in the past, in the highly-advanced civilization of Elisitania. The upper echelons fight their battles using specially-manufacted kaiju. Protagonist Lucius watched his own father die in one such battle, and has been left scarred after protecting his sister Sica. Now, he's out for revenge — he plans to overthrow then entire system by immersing himself in the same research that tore his family apart.

While there are big monster fights to be had, and this story does indeed give us a backstory for the creature known as Gamera, this could easily be a stand-alone science fantasy. Cambria Bakuhatsu Taro's art is gorgeous, and the world of Elisitania will appeal to fans of high-tech historical legends like Atlantis. It's a very different approach to kaiju fiction, even in an era when kaiju fiction is going in all sorts of new directions, and it's as fun to look at as it is to read.

TEA PAIRING: Spice Chai Mélange
This sci-fi-inspired blend from Chapters evokes far-off times and places and massive beasts... just like Code Thyrsos! It's a spicy rooibos chai that's great for any time of day, especially for those of us trying to lower our caffeine intake. Use my code KARA15 for 15% off this and other teas from Chapters!

How Your Television Show Finds Me

 

"My grades are good," I say loudly into the empty stairwell. "Grades are... great. I think I'm on track to ace my finals for the semester, actually."

There are, according to campus legend, a few ways to rile the ghost on the third floor of the English building. The main way is by being a good student... or, rather, by being open about being a good student. That makes her mad enough to appear and, sometimes, attack.

Hers was the boilerplate campus ghost story: honor-roll student dating a football player, he broke up with her, her life fell apart, she ended it all by jumping out that window there. I'm sure, if I asked students at other colleges, they'd have an identical version mapped out against a different building.

But that's not the point right now. The point is it's almost midnight, I'm in the stairwell just outside the third floor, and I have a ghost to piss off.

"Got friends," I add, since she also hates when people have a healthy social life. "I actually have friends who like to be around me. It's great."

I wipe at my eyes.

"So, you know. Things are going fantastic. No regrets."

And now, time to lock it in with the sentence that allegedly drives our ghost friend absolutely batshit. Never mind that it's not true. Never mind that, as of right now, I'm really not thinking about the future past this night. I've been lying my ass off 'til now, so what's one more?

"I think this might be my best semester yet."

The air pressure seems to drop all at once, sending me a little dizzy. There's a scraping sound from somewhere deep within the building... not on the third floor, not in the offices that were once the study room the ghost allegedly haunted. Further down. I feel it more than I hear it. A heavy, lurching noise, like someone dragging something large across metal.

You know that childhood memory that we all seem to have even though it can't possibly be real? That feeling of sailing down flights of steps, practically flying, feet barely touching as your hand grazes the banister? I swear I'm doing that, the worn souls of my sneakers barely skimming the metal-capped marble steps as I circle down the flight of stairs. It's not far — three stories in an Old Campus building is squat and scalable compared to the buildings on New Campus — but I still can't outrun the noise. By the time I'm in the atrium, windowed double doors separating me from the darkness of campus, the sound has come to a final decisive thump.

And it's on the floor below me.

There is a lower floor in the English building, but no one but English majors really has a need (or a desire) to go down there. The basement houses the archives, but it's nothing special unless you're writing a very narrowly focused paper for a literature class. Old theses and dissertations from past students, literary journals, alternate translations of epic poems, that sort of thing. Barely anyone goes down there for understandable reasons; there's certainly not anything down there that literally goes bump in the night. Unless, of course, there is. Unless it's her, and the rumors have gotten everything right except the floor she chooses to haunt.

The basement is down a separate stairwell at the back of the building. I stare at the door leading to the stairs, thinking about the cacophony that had just resounded beneath my feet. I don't know what ghosts are meant to sound like. They probably aren't meant to sound like a whole bit of world rearranging. It could be something, someone dangerous. But would that be so bad? Would the end result not be the same?

So I descend, slower this time, walking rather than flying. Not cautiously. Just dully. I swipe my ID card, listen for the click of the lock releasing, and pull the door open.

"Just squeeze around the side," a voice from beyond the blue box says. "Sorry, there's not really anywhere to park in here."

Maybe on some other night, I'd try to wrap my head around the fact that a giant wooden shed, phone booth sized and phone booth shaped, is blocking my way. But I do as the voice suggests, squeezing around it, and the door of the archives swings shut behind me. I look at it from the other side, the words POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX emblazoned across the top. It reminds me of the emergency campus police posts along the walking paths, little poles every few yards with a speaker in the side and a blue light perched on top, ready to summon help. I think back to last night, walking a back trail alone, wondering what asking for help might do for me. The nearest pole mocked me with an "OUT OF ORDER" sign. Underneath, someone had scrawled "KEEP RUNNING" in ball-point pen.

"An extra pair of hands will make this go more quickly," the voice goes on. It's English, gentle but assured, the sort of voice suited to reading audiobooks of Victorian tragedies. "Check those shelves over there."

I look up, and I see the speaker. Maybe it's my sudden immersion in English major life, but nothing about him strikes me as especially strange. A shoulder-length mop of hair, green velvet jacket, silk cravat pinned just so to flow into a matching waistcoat. Once your Shakespeare professor shows up for a 7am class yellow-stockinged and cross-gartered, nothing surprises you, I guess.

"These?" I point vaguely to the shelf to my right, which is filled with dissertations: some leather-bound, some ring-bound, some stapled.

The man looks up at me, beaming like an old friend. He nods, sending his messy locks bouncing briefly. "That's the one." And he turns back to the shelf he's perusing, fingers flying across the spines. "We're looking for Y Gododdin. Three D's. Not the actual poem, of course. A paper on it."

"Right." I don't actually remember agreeing to help him, but I also don't see a reason not to.

"Bit late at night to be doing research," he says pleasantly, still skimming through documents. It's conversational, not accusatory, and I'm not used to that. Where I grew up, how I grew up, every statement is layered with meaning, and every layer is a slightly different flavor of "You've done something wrong." I hear it at parties, I hear it in classrooms, whether it's intended or not. Somehow this stranger has fully avoided that, and for a moment I don't know how not to feel accused. Like it's my fault I'm missing the implication.

Apologizing isn't right here because he doesn't appear to be accusing, so I go for my second-string coping mechanism: humor. "Time's pretty meaningless on a college campus."

He chuckles. "Fair enough." He looks up at me, away, and up again. As though realizing for the first time that I'm here and he doesn't know me. "So sorry, I've gotten used to having someone around, I just took it for granted. I'm the Doctor."

"Which one?" There are more PhD's in the science-based departments, but I think we might have one or two.

"One of several," he says simply, and that's fair.

I introduce myself. First name only. He says it back to me, and it sounds so much nicer when he says it. I've never really been fond of my name, but now I'm starting to wonder if it's more that I'm not a fan of the tone most people say it in. I'm used to it being invoked only when something goes wrong, and otherwise never said at all. He says it like it's worth remembering.

"I thought I'd met all the professors in the department," I say, moving over a few shelves. Y Gododdin is Welsh poetry. I should be looking in a section broadly covering that sort of thing. "Are you new?"

"Oh, I don't work here," he says pleasantly.

"Then how did you get in?"

He gestures to the police box. "Usual way."

I have no idea what to make of this, even with my growing acceptance of campus oddities. I turn away to think it over, to decide where this all fits in my mind right now, and my hand rests on the spine of a leather-bound document. Y Gododdin: A Model for the Modern Heroic Elegy. "Is this it?"

The Doctor crosses the room to meet me, his swift step out of tune with his appearance. He's closer now, and harder to avoid looking at. As he pulls the dissertation off the shelf and leafs through it, I consider him. About my height. Age... thirties? Maybe? I'm terrible with guessing ages. He could be younger, or much, much older. And there's a lightness about him. Like a sad poet who suddenly remembered that there are nice things in the world and is absolutely bursting with the notion. Even now, he's clutching the dissertation like it's a birthday present.

"Yes! This is the one! Perfect, thank you." He beams at me. Then, like a puppy with too many inputs, all of them equally exciting, he shuffles briefly in place before hurrying to a battered doctor's bag on the floor nearby and tucking the book inside. "I'll return it once I'm done with it," he says, to me or to the air, I'm not sure.

"For research?" I ask, and even as the words leave my mouth I feel stupid. No, silly, for a bit of light reading. Obviously.

"Just to show it to someone," he says, rummaging in the bag a bit more. "Sometimes, people need to see what will be, to help them decide to keep going. Which reminds me." And he pulls out another book: smaller, paper-bound, and very new. The cover is black with colorful swirls. He holds it out to me, still kneeling by the bag. When I don't move, he shakes it a bit, encouragingly.

I take the book from his hands, peering at the title. I don't recognize it. But I recognize the author.

It's my name. Well, sort of my name. The first name is mine. But the last is one I've mulled around in my head for a while: one that's easier to pronounce on sight, that sounds less "ethnic," that wasn't "comically" mispronounced by prank callers and my grandfather's coworkers during the Gulf War. I told myself if I ever became an actress, or a writer, or something that gave me worth, that would be the name I used. The key word being myself. I hadn't told anyone else.

I start to open the book, but the Doctor takes it back gently. "Ah... best you not look inside."

"How..." I blink at this stranger with his blue box, with a book that can't exist, with a name I've been guarding in my mind.

"There are a few of these," he says casually. "And others."

If it's a prank, it's an amazing one, and I don't think anyone would fault me for letting myself lean into it. "Do they mean anything?"

"Everything means something to someone." He snaps the bag shut and hops to his feet. "Everything is someone's favorite something. And that means everything, don't you think?"

"What are you actually doing here?" I ask.

The Doctor walks over to the big blue box, opening the door. "Same as you," he says cheerfully. "Ghost hunting. Except I prefer to leave behind a little more than footprints." He pats the bag. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have another young lady to speak to."

He closes the door, and I watch the blue light on top of the box illuminate, hear the scraping of metal, and the box fades away. And then I walk back to the dorm and slide into bed, any previous plans forgotten.

Maybe it's a dream, and maybe it's not. Maybe that Doctor really did slip backwards in time and showed another young woman on the edge that she not only graduated, she threw her whole heart and mind into something. And maybe something about it would mean as much to her as mine did to me, and the legends of the ghost on the third floor would vanish, replaced with one of the other dozen ghost stories that haunt the campus.

Or maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and realize I went to bed sad, and my subconscious patched things up with characters from a video I borrowed from the boy down the hall. (I should borrow some more.)

But I'm not sure that matters. What matters is that the Doctor finds you and leaves you changed, whether it's during an alien invasion in your hometown or on the worst night of your life through a little television stacked on top of packing crates. And ideally, we are better for it.

BOOK REVIEW: MindWorks: An Uncanny Compendium of Short Fiction

MINDWORKS: AN UNCANNY COMPENDIUM OF SHORT FICTION
by Neal Shusterman
Available Now

A really good short story is tough to write. You want to encompass a world and a concept in a brief space, but the word count available to you means something has to go. Will you pare down worldbuilding to focus everything to a single moment? Sacrifice characterization to paint a picture of a setting, or vice-versa? Or will you try to maintain a little bit of everything, potentially crowding the payoff of your story against the back wall? There is no one single answer, and finding the right answer for each story is one of the trickiest parts of the process.

In other words, I admire someone who can write not just one or two solid short stories, but a whole anthology's worth. And while I may not have seen eye to eye with Neal Shusterman on his novel All Better Now, I find myself enchanted by the selection of short fiction in MindWorks.

The stories Shusterman authors and co-authors in this anthology are broadly what one might call "genre fiction," running the gamut from hard sci-fi to magical realism. The majority fall closer to the latter category: normal worlds in which one thing has gone a bit skewiff. The stories cover a broad span, but are grouped by topic: covering themes like fate and destiny, death and undeath, monsters, strange buildings, and transformations. The final two inclusions hail from his Scythe stories, with which I am only familiar by word-of-mouth, but which are self-contained enough to draw in new readers.

It would be difficult to rate every single story in an anthology spanning more than 500 pages; so instead, I will highlight a few favorites.

"Smells Like Kafka": My personal favorite of the anthology, a story of a girl named Bettina Plinth and her beloved teddy bear, Kafka. While her negligent parents are away on yet another trip, her teddy comes to life as a very real, very large bear. The upshot of the story is a surprisingly wholesome one, and one that will hit home for a very specific subset of readers.

The Ralphy Sherman Stories: This trio of stories, about the strange lives of Ralphy and his sister Roxanne, remind me of a somewhat friendlier version of Junji Ito's Hikizuri family. The siblings claim that their father is a spy, their mother has been abducted by aliens, and Nessie lives in their jacuzzi... to name just a few things. These are surreal and playful, and I love the childlike view of the bizarre events that dip in and out of their lives.

The 💩 on Our Shoes: (Yes, that is the actual published title, emoji and all.) While "Smells Like Kafka" is my favorite, I would argue that this one is the best of the anthology. Set on a spacecraft carrying members of the human race to a new home, the story follows students Lowell and Maeve as they uncover devastating secrets about the soon-to-be-completed space mission. This is a fantastic demonstration of vast but balanced worldbuilding in a confined space, all without losing the drama of meaning of the story along the way.

Aside from having great stories in it, the book itself looks absolutely gorgeous. It never hurts to have something nice-looking on your shelf. And for a book like this, which is extremely re-readable, that's a bonus.

TEA PAIRING: Magical Library Butterbrew
The stories in MindWorks are all very different from each other — like a vast library in and of itself — so this creamy butterscotch blend inspired by magical libraries feels like the best fit for this broad spectrum. Use my code KARA15 at checkout for 15% off this and other teas!

MANGA REVIEW: Sanda Vol. 2

SANDA Vol. 2by Paru Itagaki
Available November 18

Seeing Paru Itagaki follow the success of BEASTARS with the success of SANDA has been delightful. Her father, Baki the Grappler creator Keisuke Itagaki, recently praised her work publicly and added that the character of Legoshi will keep her fed for life. Volume 2 of Santa-centric fighting manga SANDA shows Itagaki has plenty of strong stories left in her. And this second volume drives home that this manga isn't just about a gimmick: there's a lot of story to tell here.

The series takes place in a future where youth isn't celebrated so much as it is jealously guarded. The extremes to which this is taken become more evident in these new chapters. Too, we get a closer look at the character of Shiori, whose quest to find her missing-presumed-dead friend kicked off Sanda's "curse" and this whole adventure. The true nature of Shiori and Ichie's relationship begins to come to light, presenting yet another facet of this hypothetical future's view of youth and coming of age.

Itagaki's art style is really magnificent, and her character designs have an almost gothic vibe to them. They're rough and emotional, and the young cast looks simultaneously childlike and weary. Naturally it's great for action scenes, but this run of chapters also lets the art shine in quieter, more personal moments.

Whether you're watching the anime adaptation as it airs or are completely new to the title, I do very much recommend SANDA. The anime stays very true to the art style, but there's something visceral about Itagaki's work on the printed page.

TEA PAIRING: Gingerbread Bookshop
Christmas and Santa may no longer be a thing for the kids of SANDA, but they're doing their best to bring that magic back. Gingerbread Bookshop is a limited-edition holiday tea from Chapters that fits that festive vibe perfectly. Use my code KARA15 at checkout for 15% off your order!

BOOK REVIEW: Coldwire

COLDWIRE
by Chloe Gong
Available Now

As more and more of our interactions — work, school, and social — move to online spaces, Chloe Gong's Coldwire imagines a future where such a setup becomes not just accepted, but necessary. The opening book of the StrangeLoom trilogy imagines a world divide in two: downcountry, the real world becoming less and less inhabitable; and upcountry, a fully-immersive VR space that mimics reality in every way that matters. And when immersed in this space for months at a time, what's "real" becomes more and more difficult to parse.

Coldwire throws the narrative between two agents of NileCorp, the conglomerate with a monopoly on reality as the world knows it. Both are wards of the state, orphans from the country of Medaluo who will be pressed into service when they come of age. Lia is fresh out of training, having spent her academic career competing with fellow top student Kieren. For their first mission out, the two are sent on a secret mission together to upcountry Medaluo.

Eirale works for NileCorp downcountry, where she runs afoul of young anarchist Nik. When Nik's cohorts frame her for murder, she's press-ganged into helping them with their goals. Nik's aim? Bring down NileCorp. But it seems Eirale's bosses want her to follow Nik's lead, making capture of the rebel easier.

Both heroines have their own struggles with reality. Lia constantly struggles with her sense of reality: a condition known as Wakeman's Syndrome, in which downcountry can feel artificial. Eirale, meanwhile, has major gaps in her memory after coming off her last mission. And as both young women move toward their goal — following the same path in two levels of reality — their pasts and futures become inextricably tied together.

The presentation of Coldwire is excellent, squirreling away little details for big reveals that pay off in the books last hundred pages or so. The worldbuilding is also surprisingly believable, roping in public opinion of various technological advances to make this massive jump in lifestyle relatable. (For example, the decision to maintain the illusion of bodily functions in upcountry, while great from a standpoint of realism, absolutely would result in the sort of memes and dunks the book describes.)

The only true downside of Coldwire is scope. There's so much to unpick and unwind in the final act, and the big reveal deserves a bit more room to breathe and expand. The nature of the reveal (and yes, I am being hugely cagey because I don't want to give anything away) means this warrants a second and perhaps a third read, to truly appreciate how deeply interwoven these two stories are. It's just a bit of a shame that the revelation didn't have more room at the end before we hurried to the cliffhanger. That said, "I wish there had been more" is one of the least bad critiques a book can get.

Coldwire is a promising introduction to what will hopefully be an equally strong trilogy. In an era when sci-fi becomes increasingly difficult to write well because the impossible is constantly becoming more and more possible, Gong's writing roots itself in our understanding of the here and now to create a future we can wrap our head around. It interlocks ancient human tendencies with contemporary ethical quandaries in a way many modern writers simply cannot do.

TEA PAIRING: A Date with Mr. Darcy
Given the nature of Lia and Kieren's relationship, this tea's nod to Pride & Prejudice seems all too appropriate. This particular blend, an Earl Grey upscaled with rose and vanilla, reminds me a bit of the nature of upcountry: accurate to the original, but shinier. Use my code KARA15 for 15% off this and more teas from Chapters!

AFTERNOON TEA REVIEW: Prince Tea House (Virginia Beach)

Location: Prince Tea House, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: $30 for one, $56 for two, $84 for three
Reservations: N/A
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The confidence with which I'm starting an "afternoon tea review" subheading is either stunning or ridiculous. The fact of the matter is, I love it. I will go out of my way for it wherever I go. And when I can treat someone to something nice, this is my favorite way to do it. Since I plan to treat myself (and others) more, because life is short and tea is lovely, hopefully look forward to more of these.

A few Sundays ago, my friend Phoenix and I were celebrating our friend Katy's birthday, which was in two parts: an escape room (Phoenix's contribution) and afternoon tea (mine). I'd been to the Prince Tea House in Virginia Beach twice before and loved it both times, but I'd never actually done the full afternoon tea spread. We'd all had a look around online and got a general sense of what it was like, but ultimately it would be something of a surprise for all of us. A good surprise, thankfully.

The Tea

Prince Tea House has their own line of tea blends, and I've loved everything I had there. Each person gets their own small pot of tea and chooses their own blend. I went with the Du Hammam Leaf Black Tea (rose, berries, and rhubarb), which was extremely nice. The flavor was more berry-centric than floral. I am an enjoyer of rose-flavored things, but if you don't like things that taste floral, be reassured that the rose in this is subtle. (If you're like me, the Rose Lover Milk Tea will be your best bet.)

The Sandwiches (etc.)

The spread came with four types of sandwiches, as well as wasabi deviled eggs. As noted by other, more experienced afternoon tea connoisseurs, open-faced sandwiches aren't how it's "done." And if that is a deal-breaker for you, that's fair to note. But I certainly didn't mind, nor did either of my friends. And the open-faced style made for a very pretty presentation.

Pastrami with Swiss Cheese: I'm never been big on pastrami because I'd never had non-gristly pastrami before (and I don't do well with gristly meat). But this was extremely lean, and the melted Swiss on top was perfect.Smoked Salmon with Avocado: I'm also not a fan of avocado, but I was determined to try every sandwich as presented and not upset the balance of the menu. I still don't like avocado, but the smoked salmon took center stage in this sandwich and was fantastic.Cucumber with Tzatziki: I love a good cucumber sandwich. This was fine, but it didn't really stand out for me. Compared to the other sandwiches it was served with, it was a little bland. Not bad, but nothing special.Crabmeat with Garlic Aioli: For me, this was the winner among the sandwiches. The crabmeat was surprisingly light, and the very thin slice of lemon on top was a perfect complement.Wasabi Deviled Egg: While the crabmeat was the best sandwich, this was the best savory. I love strong wasabi, so I wouldn't have minded if it was overpowering, but the balance was excellent — enough to enhance the flavor, not enough to cause a visceral reaction.

The Scones
What surprised me about the scones was that they were very crunchy on the outside. Not burned or overcooked, just crunchy and sugary like a cookie. The insides were very soft, perfect for spreading the jam and clotted cream. It's not the way I'm used to scones being made, but it was surprisingly nice.
The Desserts
Prince Tea House has a massive menu of amazing desserts, so I was looking forward to seeing which they put forward. Sadly, despite having seen little samples of their crepe cakes featured in photos of the afternoon tea, there wasn't any to be had here. That was fine, though, because what was on offer was great.
Macarons: We each got one out of chocolate, vanilla, and pistachio. They were good macarons, but if you're an even half decent bakery or tea room, it's hard to flub a macaron.Panna Cotta: I love panna cotta, so this was an easy sell for me. Each little serving came with fruit on top, which I liked but which my friends were a little more picky about. I imagine the fruit selections are seasonal, so your mileage may vary.Chocolate Lava Cake: I was actually relieved these servings were small, because they were rich. It was very, very good. But much more than we got might have been too much.
The serving sizes were just right per person. Some afternoon tea orders can be a bit too generous; this may sound like a nice problem to have, but not so much when afternoon tea tends not to be a cheap outing and you don't want to waste food. We didn't leave hungry, but we also didn't leave anything behind (except out of preference). I do wonder if going with open-faced sandwiches, and having just a bit less bread, helped with that.
If you're looking for a 100% traditional English-style afternoon tea, this is not it. But also, if you're that stringent about sandwich presentation and dessert selection, there aren't many places in the US you'll be happy. I'm personally not a huge stickler for traditionalism, and I actually enjoy when each venue puts their own spin on their afternoon tea menu and showcases what they do best.
If you're a very picky eater, bring a friend and swap sandwiches with each other. But speaking as a picky eater myself, I'd recommend that you let yourself be pleasantly surprised by the selection.
Visit the Prince Tea House website.

MANGA REVIEW: The Raven Dark Hero Vol. 1

The Raven Dark Hero: From White Knight to Villain Vol. 1
by Tonkye and Akira Mitsuya
Available November 4

The more anime and manga I tear through, the more I realize that certain stories in certain subgenres go in phases. A while back, we had our "overworked by an abusive company" boom. Right now, we seem to be in a "revenge for being underestimated" boom — especially in, but not limited to, the realm of isekai. The Raven Dark Hero is one of those rare non-isekai series veering into that trend, centering a character whose abilities fall short but who will turn out to be a force to be reckoned with.

Suou Kouki lives in what appears to be a darker spin on the My Hero Academia universe: one in which people develop superpowers by a certain age and use them to either protect the weak or go full villain mode. He's dreamed of developing a power and joining up to do his part: a dream that begins to fray as his (alleged) friend jumps on just that opportunity. But a dangerous encounter soon reveals that Suou may be more powerful than he thought.

Now, with an ability that evolves in an unconventional (and frankly terrifying) way, Suou is on the path to becoming a hero... or perhaps a villain. Because the two aren't that far apart.

This first volume of The Raven Dark Hero sets an intriguing stage in a superpowered world, hinting that even walking down the path of heroism may not be all it's cracked up to be. The introductory phase of a put-upon protagonist at the mercy of a fair-weather friend feels a bit overdone in the current anime and manga climate. That said, Suou's unique ability and how he contends with it will be what carries this story. An angsty, put-upon protagonist isn't a crime, but a strong story that makes his rivalry more than envy and revenge will make all the difference.

All that aside, the art is very nice. Some action-based manga can only do solid character art or solid action, with nothing in between. But Mitsuya has struck a very good balance that makes this story visually appealing.

Whether The Raven Dark Hero makes good on the more appealing aspects of its story remains to be seen. At this early stage, it could go either way. But fans of dark superhero stories will want to get on board early.

TEA PAIRING: Poet's Study
This dark, moody Earl Grey is the perfect fit for Suou's new morally grey superhero life. Use my code KARA15 for 15% off this and other bookish teas!