I read 7 books in March! Pretty good with everything else that was going on in my life and all the new books I picked up. I am happy with what I read. Let's get into it:
1. Renegades by Marissa Meyer
Secret Identities.
Extraordinary Powers. She wants vengeance. He wants justice. The
Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies — humans with extraordinary
abilities — who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and
established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of
justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone...
except the villains they once overthrew. Nova has a reason to hate
the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets
closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes
in justice — and in Nova. But Nova's allegiance is to a villain who
has the power to end them both.
This is my first read of a Marissa Meyer book (I own Cinder and Scarlet), and I am impressed. There was one tiny flaw that bothered me, but as it only appeared twice in a 500+ page action novel, we won't dock any stars. It was very good. I read ~150 pages without realizing it, it was that engaging. That may have to do with my current infatuation with superhuman powers and hero-run society. Marissa is an excellent author. I get Nova. I do. I understand why the Anarchists were pissed and trying what they did. It was almost reasonable, but what did they expect the outcome to be? They want prodigies to be able to live in peace, so they make the whole city fear them? Seems counter-intuitive to me, but then, I'm not a prodigy. Nova hates the Renegades for not helping. How were they to know exactly when a group of villains would attack a household? Duh, they wouldn't have!! I liked how we get the glimpse into Nova's past then we go to present day. Makes her a great villain-turned-hero. I appreciated the fact that the world's most beloved superhero was gay and married to the world's number two hero. I couldn't help finding parallels to a manga I am reading as I go. Some characters (Captain Chromium) remind me of characters from the manga (All Might). The romance in the book was done wonderfully. It was there, but it wasn't pushed in your face, nor did it actually come to fruition. Something I liked as I am not a fan of insta-love, so this made me happy. I can't wait to see how it continues in Archenemies.
2. Assassination Classroom #9 by Yusei Matsui
When New Yorker Rachel
Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend,
Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home and quality time
with the man she hopes to marry. But Nick has failed to give his
girlfriend a few key details. One, that his childhood home looks like
a palace; two, that he grew up riding in more private planes than
cars; and three, that he just happens to be the country’s most
eligible bachelor. On Nick’s arm, Rachel may as well have a target
on her back the second she steps off the plane, and soon, her relaxed
vacation turns into an obstacle course of old money, new money, nosy
relatives, and scheming social climbers.
A cryptic dream, a
forbidden summoning, and the day that will change their lives
forever...Cecero is a 16-year-old wizard in training who lives in the
country of Grandome; The heart and soul of the mystic realm. He lives
in a dorm with his best friend, Sheko (who is possessed by a demon
and...is addicted to porn...), swooned over countless female admirers
(who have a very hard time keeping their hands to themselves), and is
the son and apprentice of the greatest sorceress in history! His is a
life of security, privilege, and wizardry-induced mayhem. But last
night a woman appeared to Cecero in a dream and delivered a message
to him; "Today's the day she'll give you your gift...You'll
finally prove to her that you're ready." When he awoke he knew
today would be different. What he didn't know was that after this
horrifying day, his life and the lives of his loved ones would be
forever changed, and an unthinkable chain of events would soon take
place; Events that will challenge their abilities, warp their
realities, and threaten everything they hold sacred.
2. Assassination Classroom #9 by Yusei Matsui
Nagisa risks life and
limb in an attempt to take down the mastermind behind a biological
attack. After the dust settles, Koro Sensei tries to ignite some
summer romances between the students of 3-E. Their teacher Irina
Jelavitch, at least, has her sights on someone…and everyone happily
conspires to bring them together! Back at school, one of the 3-E
students defects from the ranks for all the wrong reasons. How will
they bring him back before he inflicts irrevocable damage on them
all…?
It was okay. I liked the action in the beginning, but the rest was okay edging to meh. I, personally, am not in anyway interested in Irina's romantic affiliations and the only interaction I want with Gakuho Asano is pushing him from atop the nearest tall thing (building, overpass, ravine....) and watching him go splat at the bottom. He almost makes Takaoka look stable. They were right to give him a millipede as his most-like creature. Major point keeping the star rating up is Karma admitting that he's actually afraid of Nagisa because Nagisa presents as rather nonthreatening. Also Takebayashi learning that position isn't everything. Not sure anyone else but Karma would have pulled a stunt like that. No one else has the titanium balls necessary to dis Gakuho in front of the whole school. I'm very much looking forward to #10.
3. My Hero Academia #4 by Kohei Horikoshi
The U.A. High sports
festival is a chance for the budding heroes to show their stuff and
find a superhero mentor. The students have already struggled through
a grueling preliminary round, but now they have to team up to prove
they’re capable of moving on to the next stage. The whole country
is watching, and so are the shadowy forces that attacked the academy…
Horikoshi proved his skill as a writer in this installment of MHA. We only see two events, the cavalry battle and about 90% of the one-on-one match's first round. We get 7/8 of the fighting sequences and boy are they doozies. It's not a proper taste of what the students abilities are, but it does get us much closer than we were before. This volume is much less action-packed, but it has promise. Who will win the sports festival? Only one way to find out. On to volume 5!
4. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
When New Yorker Rachel
Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend,
Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home and quality time
with the man she hopes to marry. But Nick has failed to give his
girlfriend a few key details. One, that his childhood home looks like
a palace; two, that he grew up riding in more private planes than
cars; and three, that he just happens to be the country’s most
eligible bachelor. On Nick’s arm, Rachel may as well have a target
on her back the second she steps off the plane, and soon, her relaxed
vacation turns into an obstacle course of old money, new money, nosy
relatives, and scheming social climbers.
I am glad the book is satire. Otherwise it would have been rated even lower than it was. I couldn't stand any of the rich families in this book. They put money over everything, including the health and safety of their own families. I think my favorite characters among the "elite" was Nick in all honesty. He was very laid back and not concerned with his family's money or status. He just wants to be happy. I could never be happy in a family like those from the Singapore or China areas. They were too snooty and made an over-dramatic mess of everything. 3/5 because of the money. Hopefully the families get over themselves soon. Their fancy clothes and jewels won't help them in the face of a disaster.
5. Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott
Can you love someone
you can never touch? Stella Grant likes to be in control—even
though her totally out of control lungs have sent her in and out of
the hospital most of her life. At this point, what Stella needs to
control most is keeping herself away from anyone or anything that
might pass along an infection and jeopardize the possibility of a
lung transplant. Six feet apart. No exceptions. The only thing Will
Newman wants to be in control of is getting out of this hospital. He
couldn’t care less about his treatments, or a fancy new clinical
drug trial. Soon, he’ll turn eighteen and then he’ll be able to
unplug all these machines and actually go see the world, not just its
hospitals. Will’s exactly what Stella needs to stay away from. If
he so much as breathes on Stella she could lose her spot on the
transplant list. Either one of them could die. The only way to stay
alive is to stay apart. But suddenly six feet doesn’t feel like
safety. It feels like punishment. What if they could steal back just
a little bit of the space their broken lungs have stolen from them?
Would five feet apart really be so dangerous if it stops their hearts
from breaking too?
It was okay. I am not really satisfied with it. We follow teens with cystic fibrosis in a hospital. One of them has a rare-ish disease that could spell the end for all of them. Who thought this was a book we needed? This makes very little sense to be beyond a sort of Romeo + Juliet story. I'm not a fan. Stella jumps off the deep end. To the point where she essentially stops being Stella. She fails to do things that were once normal for her. I hated that. People do not just become idiots like that. Will on the other hand begins taking better care of himself. My guess is to impress Stella. The relationship is weird. For will it's the thrill of the chase. For Stella's it's being in complete control of her environment. There was one scene with Poe that nearly brought me to tears with how unfair it was to literally everyone. It was completely unnecessary! 3/5, unlikely to reread.
6. Sacred by Lizbeth Jimenez
A cryptic dream, a
forbidden summoning, and the day that will change their lives
forever...Cecero is a 16-year-old wizard in training who lives in the
country of Grandome; The heart and soul of the mystic realm. He lives
in a dorm with his best friend, Sheko (who is possessed by a demon
and...is addicted to porn...), swooned over countless female admirers
(who have a very hard time keeping their hands to themselves), and is
the son and apprentice of the greatest sorceress in history! His is a
life of security, privilege, and wizardry-induced mayhem. But last
night a woman appeared to Cecero in a dream and delivered a message
to him; "Today's the day she'll give you your gift...You'll
finally prove to her that you're ready." When he awoke he knew
today would be different. What he didn't know was that after this
horrifying day, his life and the lives of his loved ones would be
forever changed, and an unthinkable chain of events would soon take
place; Events that will challenge their abilities, warp their
realities, and threaten everything they hold sacred.
I enjoyed the idea of the book, but not the execution of it. Even if I am disregarding the spelling errors that may have simply been English as a second language or dyslexia...it was poor. We follow Cecero, a lordling at a magic school. He lives in the dorms with Sheko, a Demerian (read the book to find out what that means). Shit goes down and the book ends. We know he gets an extra power or something. It wasn't expressly clear, but Sheko "felt" Cecero's aura in it. I'm not sure I want to continue the series. It was fun, and probably should have come with a content warning for the surprise penis. I think I will at least try volume 2 before giving up completely. (I only bought the first volume of this because I saw the author at Zenkaikon...)
7. Seven Deadly Sins #3 by Nakaba Suzuki
Inside Baste Prison,
Meliodas has an explosive reunion with Ban, the Fox Sin of Greed.
However, trouble is on the horizon as their journey continues.
Another member of The Seven Deadly Sins appears and is dead set on
punishing Ban. The heroes clash as a feud is revived from their past!
All of the love. We are properly introduced to my #1 favorite character in the series: Ban the Undead. Greedy bastard! I don't know why I love him. It's likely his self-assured attitude. Anyway! This volume isn't as action packed as the others. The most we see is Ban v. King at the beginning and everyone v. Guila at the end. The rest was all character introductions and backstory. At present we are up to 4/7 Deadly Sins: Meliodas, Diane, Ban, and King. I know who/how/when for the others as I've already seen the anime series, but it is still worth it to read these and follow along the story. I'm looking forward to volume 4.
