So, “Before You Go Extinct”. I like its message of life not needing to be productive to have value and even if there is no clear meaning, it isn’t meaningless. The chapter on culture was my favorite. Not everything needs to produce results to be necessary or enjoyed, it can just exist for fun.
Big things happening in this one. I can’t believe I didn’t really like this series when I started it, but now that I have a better handle on Ema, I really like “Pink Candy Kiss” A LOT.
Just finished “Melody of the Boundary” and it was a nice story. It has good themes, like learning to live with grief and it never being too late to chase your dreams, and while it’s not that deep, I think it does well in the few pages it has. I also think it’s going to make a good anime.
Read “River's Edge” today and it might be my favorite out of Kyoko Okazaki’s works I have read so far. Maybe because it had less of an absurdist bend than the others. To me the most prominent theme was probably alienation from yourself, others or society and the various shades it can take.
Finished “Radiant Star” and of course like it. It’s very interesting how it intertwines politics and religion and it introduces a new planet/culture within the world we already know which was cool. The writing felt low key, despite lots of things happening, which felt kind of right and fitting, too.
Read “Hum” today, and I think it’s unsettling in how it depicts things we are dealing with today only in a more heightened way. Though, because of that, it also didn’t need to be speculative fiction at all, except for the Hums. Anyway, I thought it was good, but it lost me a little at the end.
I’ve been kind of busy the last few days, but I managed to read “Good Girl” by Aria Aber and really liked it. The writing and atmosphere especially. I never highlight anything, but I did with this book. The plot was not new, but seeing the world through the main characters eyes was so interesting.
I’ve started reading “Stray Cat & Wolf” yesterday and it’s not reinventing the wheel, but I am enjoying it. I do like the characters and so far, there aren’t any storylines that feel forced, so I’d say it’s pretty solid overall. Maybe I should pick up “Cheeky Brat” again eventually.
And the last new series for now: “The Delinquent and the Transfer Student” was more silly than I expected but very cute. It’s very loud though, lots of yelling and excitement and different fonts, which I find stressful to read, but since it’s only three volumes, I want to continue reading anyway.
