What if I told you that heroes lived among us, that a US government agency had grown these super-powered children in labs, raising them to be super soldiers? What if the technology got out? What if the tech made it all the way to Asia? You probably wouldn’t believe me. You would probably would tell me that I was crazy, or that I was some type of conspiracy theorist, that there was no way that a person could turn themselves invisible, or teleport, or morph into a terrible monster. But you would be dead wrong. What started on a dark and stormy night when a beautiful psychic shifter showed up on my doorstep has bloomed into an unbelievable adventure that spans the globe. So strap in—it only gets crazier from here. This is the seventh book in the Cherry Blossom series, but it was written in a way that you can start it without reading the other six books, similar to the way you can start a comic book series on a new arc. Be sure to read the section labeled “The Story Thus Far” if you want a refresher, if you fell off somewhere in the series in the middle of the first six books, or if you are starting fresh from Book Seven. Cherry Blossom Girls 7 contains a harem; LitRPG humor/stats; superpowers used in ways they weren't designed to be used; metafiction. This series was inspired by The Tick, Stranger Things, Deadpool, Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions, and the anime Elfen Lied.
Harmon Cooper is the author of over sixty fantasy works. His bestselling series include Pilgrim, War Priest, Cowboy Necromancer, and Tokens and Towers.
His series, The Feedback Loop, is one of the earlier GameLit works first published in 2015. An earphone award winner for the series Death's Mantle, Harmon won the LitRPG/GameLit Audiobook of the Year award for Sacred Cat Island, narrated by Legends and Lattes author Travis Baldree.
Harmon write progression fantasy, cultivation fantasy, and LitRPG/GameLit.
This is the perfect place to start this series if you haven't read it before, or if you fell by the wayside and thought you couldn't catch up again... There's a 'Story Thus Far' section at the start, then you're all set.
The book starts as it means to go on. An all-out-and-in-your-face first few pages. Yeah! Not telling you anything about it, though.
I laughed so much at Gideon learning a new skill with Dorian's unique fear-inducing teaching method™ that I almost woke my husband up because the bed was shaking. See, this is what reviews don't warn you about. *In the extreme, reading any Harmon Cooper book in bed may lead to divorce. In any case, hubby will be majorly grumpy if wakened.
It's called 'International' for a reason, the CBGs and singular CBB are in Japan chasing the Lord. No, not that one. The other one. The reader has the usual Cooper antics to look forward to, tears, tricks, giggles (*see above), outrageousness, battles, shocks, not forgetting the sexy interludes. You won't be able to guess - or believe - what's between these pages.
The author makes the storytelling seem effortless, so the reader just turns the pages and soaks up the words like it is the last thing they are ever going to read, not stopping for anything. Food, toilet, sleep. Who needs them? That's the sign of a great book, and an excellent series.
I chose an early copy which I voluntarily read and honestly reviewed. All opinions are my own.
I really thought on my review for this title. To be honest, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this series thus far, and admire this author’s works. However, as I read through CBGI, I kept recalling a review I’d read years ago from one of my favorite reviewer/critics about a popular video game I was planning to purchase, and felt it parralled my thoughts on this book. ‘The action and combat scenes are great; intense and thoroughly satisfying. But, you walk into a room, kill everything in sight, go to the next room. Rinse and repeat. Over. And over. And over.’
Don’t get me wrong; I still enjoyed the book. I (mostly) like the character Gideon, and truly enjoy how characters and group interactions are being developed. But there’s a predictable ‘sameness’ to scenes throughout this installment that have also been done in previous installments.
Having said that, there’s still a lot to like about this most recent episode of CBG. New villains, new wrinkles to old enemies, and some surprises make it a worthwhile read.
After the events of the previous books our erstwhile heroes have become a lot more proficient with their powers and have gained a lot more enemies as well. With the fight now going to Japan there is a whole new host of enemies and even some fremenies. You can pick up from here being new to the CBG series or carry on from previous books as Cooper has written it as such. Either way we have kick ass characters, some humour and twists typical of what you may have enjoyed from his previous writings. I'm just happy that he continued this series and took it to new countries as he fights to get recognition and acceptance for the superpowered community.
If you haven't read any of the Cherry Blossom Girls books, you can start with this one as it offers a recap on the previous adventures, or for more fun you can go back to book one. Either way this book is a wacky, adult superhero adventure with game lit elements that will probably crack you up (assuming it doesn't offend you too much for you to get through it). The book has some pretty out there graphic sex scenes and violence galore, so if that's not your thing, this book's not for you (recommended for adults only).
I received a complimentary copy of this book. This is my honest and voluntary review.
I enjoyed reading this book and I was entertained by the way that the story is evolving into a unique tale. The author has continued to make the characters powers grow as they explore new ways to use them. The MC is starting to learn how to use his powers in a helpful way and the advancement of the supporting characters is fun to read about. Overall another fun read.
Harmon Cooper is an incredible author. I love all the books he writes. This series is very fun to read and is hard to put down. I am working my way through all of his books, I hope he continues them as they are all very interesting and entertaining. What a diverse collection of universes to write in. Keep up the great writing.
For how it started out, I am glad I stuck with it as it is now one of my favorite series. I enjoyed seeing the team head to Japan. Can't wait for the next one.
I love the CBG series. It's fun and inventive, with a lot of action and humor. This time, they go international on a trip to Japan. I enjoyed the heck out of it and look forward to the next book.
This series is great in places and not so good in others. Finally when the CBG's get a win it seems to always backfire to a loss. Damn, give them a definitive win for a change!
Stopped part way through. To be honest, I wasn't that into this story and not really liking the direction it was taking. I'm sure others felt it was the best path it wasn't something I wanted to keep reading. Mostly because it was getting to hard to keep up.
We see the CBG team head across the ocean, into far away lands where they continue the mission, as usual filled with everything that made the earlier books so fun to read. Keep up the great work.
This was a ok read, a lot of filler with a little action thrown in. I guess we can call it character development. I hope that the next book has more action and less filler
Thanks ,author COOPER! Now they're "international hotties" super powered,and on a mission..Love it,love the author's attention to characters,and world-building,with wit and snark..keep em coming!