Gord’s Comments (group member since Apr 06, 2017)

Gord’s comments from the Vampires, Weres and Fae! group.

Time for my weekly update

Bofuri: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense., Vol. 8 (light novel) (Bofuri: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense. -3 Stars
Not a lot to really say about this one. This guild gets to the seventh layer and the new gimmick on this layer is pets. This book is basically about the guild members going out and finding pets. Since Maple and Sally already have pets their story is about finding upgrades for their pets. Oh and there is the preliminary for the next big even which should happen in the next book.

Skinwalker ⭐⭐⭐⭐
For digital books I'm alternating between a light novel from Hoopla and something else. I was scrolling through my TBR looking for something to read when I found this series again. I got up to one of the books in the teens and got distracted by something. Now that the series is done I have been meaning to go back and read through this for a while and now seems like a great time. Revisiting this one was a lot of fun. Jane/Beast is one of the great characters that got me into UF back in the day. In my opinion this novel still holds up well and I'm excited for my reread of this one.

The Dragon Factory ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I was looking for something different after all the fantasy and mystery/thrillers I had been listening to lately so I came back to this series. Sure it's a "thriller" but it's more action orientated then anything else. Basically this is about white supremacists creating genetically modified diseases to purge the planet of those they deem undesirable. This has a massive ticking clock element as it counts down to this big event where the master plan is initiated. Our MC's come into this conspiracy late and are racing the clock to save the world. In many ways this book delivered exactly what I wanted. Fast paced action, body horror, evil bad guys, etc. That being said there are some issues with this book. It takes half the book for the MC's to actual clue into the plot. There is just so much going on in this book and so many different plot lines on the go. There are so many different POV's in this book it's kind of nuts. There are flashbacks to event happening before the start of the book highlighting the plan and things that are in motion. There is also a plot point that is kind of overlooked by the end. So they stop the master plan from cooking off, no real big spoiler there, but as the book has highlighted, these genetically modified diseases are already out there. Sure it's not global but they were testing these diseases on live populations. What about all of that? Are we just supposed to believe that this was quietly taken care of off page? It just feels weird that we spent so much time setting this stuff for it to really go no where. Then there is death that just doesn't sit well with me. I'm not sure if it fits the "woman in a fridge" or "fridging" trope exactly but it really feels unnecessary. The main male lead has a romantic interest that started in the first novel. This romance continues to grow in this novel until her untimely death at the end. This female character kind of sits in this grey area between main character and side character. She is definitely not the main character but she feels like more of a side character. She also isn't just there for the romance either but a lot of her page time is spent on this. Especially in comparison to her partner. It feels like the author wanted to refocus the series on the action and just get rid of the romance. The death just felt weird and didn't sit right with me. I don't hate it but it just feels like it happened to early in the series for a proper emotional impact. I'm going to reserve judgement until I see where things go with this series.

Dog Days ⭐⭐⭐
This was a short novella following the above book. It's a short book aboutthe MC cleaning something up after the conclusion of the previous book. He also gets a dog to help with his grief. It's what one would expect from a .5 novella and it was a fun quick read.

Now for the comics and manga

Deepwater Creek: A Graphic Novel ⭐⭐⭐
This was a middle grade horror comic about a monster in a creek and a group of friends who love fishing. There is a lot of the expected tropes one would expect from a middle grade horror. It's not bad but it just didn't fully click with me either and I feel horrible for saying that. If you read the authors notes this comic was written after he went through a trying time in his life and this was a way for him to help process it. I can see how important this book is but for me as a reader it just didn't click with me.

His Majesty the Demon King's Housekeeper Vol. 10 ⭐⭐⭐
The series has shifted from the demon realm to the human realm as things are overrun with rust including a rusting of the heart. I like that the author is trying to shake things up a bit. Our MC and the party of demons are not instantly worshiped as the greatest thing ever. There is a lot of prejudice against demons and the human girl who works with them. it does make things kind of interesting but I'm also kind of done with this series. It just feels like the series is not really going anywhere. I don't know, I might be back, I might not.

Soara and the House of Monsters Vol. 1 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was another random snag from the library and I hit gold with this one. The story is about a young girl who designs houses for monsters. So a cozy slice of life story set in a fantasy realm. Cool, sounds like a story for me. I was not expecting what I found. Soara was an orphan who was taken in by knights and crafted to be the perfect killing machine against the monster invasion. She dedicated her life to studying everything about them and honing her fighting skills to the peak of perfection. When she presents herself to the king to get her first mission it is announced that peace has been reached between the humans and the monsters. The war is done and to quote the king "she can go home to her friends and family". The very things she doesn't have. She then wanders the country trying to find meaning to her life when she stumbles across a group of Dwarven architects building a home for a clan of goblins. Due to her training she is immediately suspicious of them and starts to trail them to figure out what they are up to. She then slowly gets recruited into this merry band of dwarfs as they travel the country building houses for monsters.

I love this set up. I love the darker backstory, I love the monsters view point, I love the creativity when it comes down to building the houses and the materials used. This first volume just hits for me and I am really looking forward to reading more in this series.

Now, what is next.


I am currently listening to She Drives Me Crazy and loving it so far. I should have that done in the next day or two and after that I am rolling over into the next Shannara book.


These are my current books that I have on the go. I'm not sure where things go after that but I have a couple ideas but I'll deal with when I get there

I knew this was going to happen sooner or later but it looks like I've hit a bit of a weight loss plateau. Looking at things and I might have gotten a bit lax on some measurements, maybe a bit heavy handed on the sauces. I should be able to fix this with a couple tweaks here and there. Or at least that's what I hope.

We are well on that path. The temps are dipping, leaves are turning colors, days are definitely getting shorter.

That walk this morning felt really chilly. It was a whopping 3c/38f out there this morning and that grass had a certain sparkle to it.

Alright lets try this again. I nearly had this done when I accidentally closed the tab losing everything I had typed up. I was nearly done when I lost everything and it was a wee bit frustrating.

This Fallen Prey ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I'm back with the next entry in this series and this one had an interesting premise. Basically a dangerous individual is dropped off in Rockton and our cast of characters are told to sit on him for six months. Of course we get little to no info and the validity of that info is called into question. For the most part I really enjoyed this book but it did feel like it dragged a bit in the middle. It felt like the author had a great idea how to start the book and how to end things but wasn't too sure what to do in the middle. The flip flopping on the bad guys innocence started to grate on me after a bit. It wasn't the beginning of the book where the author was creating doubt in the narrative. It wasn't the end of the book where the facts are getting all laid out and we are finally getting answers. The continuous flip flopping in the middle of the book just felt pointless. There was also a section in the middle of the book where we spend some time with Storm and our MC. This felt like one of those .5 novellas that you get between the main books except it was in the middle of book where they are actively hunting for a dangerous person. Also the middle of the book was just a lot of tromping around out in the woods looking for people. Once we got into the final act and all the cards started getting revealed the book really picked up and we ended with so many new questions that are, of course, unanswered. Now that our buddy read is over I definitely plan to continue with this series as well as the spin off.

The Gingerbread Witch ⭐⭐⭐
This was a coming of age/retelling of the classic Hansel and Gretel story. With the MC being a person created by the witch who is killed by Hansel and Gretel. Our MC has to go on a journey to find a way to bring back her teacher. This book was perfectly fine. It didn't bore me, it didn't rock my world, it kept me entertained and having a good time. There is one more book in the series and I'll be checking it out.

The Moor ⭐⭐⭐
I picked up this book for a challenge and this book was so boring. It has been a good long while since I read the last book in this series but I remember enjoying things. This book was about Holmes getting called back to the moors by one of the original characters from The Hound of Baskervilles. There are strange things afoot on the moor and that person needs answers. This book can basically be summed up as "talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, walk about the moors, talk some more, more walking, more talking, and more walking" and it was just so boring. Honestly, it felt like an advertisement for hot baths and the moor. It just so happens that there is also a mystery taking place somewhere off page, in the background. I am really not sure about continuing with this series. Several of the reviews I've read mentioned that this was the lowest point for the series and that things get better. I'm just not sure if I care enough to return or if I should just find a different Victorian era mystery novel with a female detective.

Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill: Volume 3 ⭐⭐⭐
I'm back with the next book in this series and it can basically be split into two parts. There is the part before they go into the dungeon that involves a lot of food prep and then there is the section where our main group just steam roll this poor dungeon. Oh and more food stuff as well. This was just a fun little read and I can't wait for more. Especially as the next one will have the fallout from them clearing this dungeon.

Now for the manga/comics I read this week

The Stoneshore Register ⭐⭐⭐
This is yet another random snag from the library and I have some really mixed feelings about this one. This one is about a young immigrant woman coming to small town in the Pacific Northwest looking for refuge from something in her past. She gets a job at the local newspaper office and each story is piece in the paper about something happening in town. This book dabbles in the magic realism realm of things and falls face first into one of my least favorite tropes. Each story builds up that there might be something spooky and supernatural happening only to do the whole cop out at the end where the supernatural stuff is just waved away as nonsense. I just loathe this trope so much. It feels like an author who wants to write fantastical stuff but doesn't want to get away from contemporary novels. I loathe the whole not committing one way or the other to if the fantastical actually exists or not. Then there is the final chapter which is a political message about immigration. Not a bad message or anything but I felt like there should have been a chapter or two more to get to this point. The final chapter before this one shows that our MC is not well liked in town because of some of the questions she has been asking. Suddenly, in the final chapter, everyone loves her and is defending her when immigration comes looking for her because small town and what not. Again, not a bad message or anything but I really would have loved to have seen a chapter or two in between showing a transition between those two points.

RuriDragon, Vol. 2 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
More slice of life about a young girl discovery that she is half dragon and having to learn how to deal with all the new powers that come with it while also trying to be a normal high school girl.

The Nefarious Nights of Willowweep Manor ⭐⭐⭐⭐
If you loved the first book then you will love this one as well. This one introduces a new genre of characters to Willowweep Manor and all the tropes that goes along with it. Oh and there are two Cuthbert's now. Two of these lovable idiots feeding off of each others stupidity is just hilarious.

Nue's Exorcist, Vol. 1 ⭐⭐⭐
I snagged this from the library because I need some books for a spelling challenge that start with the letter N. After reading the first volume that challenge might be the only reason I'm going to keep reading any more. This wasn't a horrible manga but it just felt so bog standard for me. MC is a young man with super low self esteem. Each chapter introduces a new, super attractive, girl who wants to be friends with our MC. He also suddenly gets off the charts powers to battle the generic threat that just happens to pop up where he is. I feel really weird complaining about things being generic considering my interest in Isekai but this one just did not grab me.

Now, what am I working on next


This is my current audiobook and it's what I needed at this point. I just needed a bit of a reset that wasn't a mystery or a fantasy novel.


I'm reading more digital novels now and I decided to revisit/finish the Jane Yellowrock series between my light novels from Hoopla. After Bofuri I have a few more manga and comics I need to get through as well.

I knew there was a dominant eye from when I learned how to shoot

Stairs are evil in general. I hate when I'm walking down stairs and suddenly my brain just forgets how to walk on stairs and tries to take two steps at once or to step on the edge of the stairs. To be young and bulletproof once again.

coveralls

Engine

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

"In the midst of life, we are in death." Ever the skeptic, you aren't inclined to take things at face value. You notice humanity's flaws and are constantly looking to solve life's mysteries.

Box

My Love Story is probably one of my all time favorite manga

I kind of like the corner to be honest.

Alright, I got

You're the misunderstood best friend!

Yikes! This tells me that you are super caring, loyal, and smart, yet you always get put into a corner. Find better friends!!

Oh no, not again, what madness am I going to get labelled with now.

The middle of the room *shudder*. Only if there is an alcove there for me to hide in

Is it the corner for the confused and mislabeled?

If you can't find them, look at the center of the room. Their charm and warmth can be felt for miles. They can always talk themselves into or out of anything, and their inviting smile begs you to come along for the ride. They're a walking social network, with the ability to forge connections with anyone lucky enough to meet them. While some may think this is all a ruse for popularity, they're far from shallow. Loyalty, warmth, and, yes, insecurity follow them wherever they go. No matter what is going on underneath, they always find a way to hold their head high and be a friend to everyone.


Uhhhhhhhh, I think that quiz might be broken. Charm? Center of the room? Smooth talker? Sure, if you are describing my opposite maybe

Blep

Dog