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Life could be horrible in the wrong trouser of time.
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MOVIE FEATURE: Die Beautiful
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MANGA: Kyou Kara Omega ni Narimashita
Kyou Kara Omega ni Narimashia – Maiki Sachi
Ordinary university student Kanade is a Beta. He secretly holds feelings for his neighbor and childhood friend Munechika. However, in this world, the typical trend is for an alpha and omega, and two betas to pair up. Because of that, Kanade thinks he’s not a match for Munechika who’s an Alpha, and stays with him as a friend. However, one day, Kanade feels a weird discomfort in his body…
I still don’t see the appeal of omegaverse.
Meh on Kanade and Munechika.
Rooting for sensei and sempai.
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REVIEW: Darkness On The Horizon by Christopher Renna
Darkness On The Horizon – Christopher Renna
All Morgan Fischer wants is to graduate high school and escape small-town Colby, Pennsylvania. Since the death of his mother, childhood friends have become his tormentors, and his father has become an absent and neglectful alcoholic. When lack of food forces Morgan to earn money, he develops a friendship with the new residents in town, Ava and Jonathan. They give Morgan the loving attention and guidance he doesn’t receive at home. As their bond deepens, he learns the older siblings have a dark secret. And because of his love for them, it’s a secret he promises to keep.
During the summer, a series of murders have rattled the small town. The arrival of a mysterious stranger from Ava and Jonathan’s past threatens danger. When the threat becomes too great, Morgan must alter his plans for the future and confront his fears. Thrust into a world of deception and murder, can Morgan summon the courage to survive?
This is one of those books where it’s best to go in blind or know as little as possible. Darkness On The Horizon packs a lot of surprises!
It starts with Morgan’s daily thankless task of having to wake his alcoholic father up in time for work. He tries to look for a summer job because there’s hardly any food in the house. He was hired by Ava and Jonathan to work on their lawn. His meeting and bond with the Astor siblings became the comfort of his miserable life as he found people who love and nurture him. It was all cozy enough and then came the big twist which completely caught me off guard and kicked the book up a notch.
It seems Morgan can’t take a break. He became part of a secret world that made him the target of a power hungry killer. The murders were all gruesome and violent which appeals to the horror fan in me but a slight niggle at Ava and Jonathan not taking action much sooner though they were in the best position to do something. The big confrontation with the killer kept me at the edge of my seat and had the book ended with Morgan’s life-changing moment, I would have been satisfied.
The book took an even darker turn when Ava, Jonathan and Morgan went to England. So much darker that I think it warrants trigger warnings for abuse and attempted rape. And while I appreciate all these twists and turns, overall, their unveiling tend to be too abrupt, feels disjointed or forced. I also think the England part is more suitable for a sequel and needs to be expanded to fully flesh out the English characters and their motives as well as develop the world-building because I couldn’t quite understand Morgan’s value to DuPont. The young man seemed more trouble than he’s worth. The saving grace of this story arc was Morgan’s revenge against DuPont where he wrecked all out bloodshed and mayhem. Turns out our boy Morgan could be a total bad-ass when he wants to. All these fun stuff almost made up for the banality of the characters’ interactions.
I enjoyed the Colby arc and I also love the fact that Christopher Renna amped up the horror on the England arc. However, the latter needs more polish while the former can stand by itself. Overall, this is a interesting debut.
P.S.
Before The Sun Rises, the follow-up installment, will be released Summer 2019
Thank you to the author, Christopher Renna for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating:
3 Stars – not exactly setting my world on fire but I liked itSoundtrack: Darkshines
Artist: Muse
Album: Origin of Symmetry -
SOUNDTRACK: Darkshines by Muse
Soundtrack to Darkness On The Horizon by Christopher Renna
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Passing by you light up my darkest skies
You’ll take only seconds to draw me in
So be mine and your innocence I will consumeDark shines
Bringing me down
Making my heart feel sore
Because it’s goodHold your hands up to your eyes again
Hide from the scary scenes, suppress your fears
So be mine and your innocence I will consumeDark shines
Bringing me down
Making my heart feel sore
Because it’s good
You’re dark shines
Bringing me down
Making my heart feel sore
Because it’s goodDark shines
Bringing me down
Making my heart feel sore
Because it’s good -
MOVIE FEATURE: The Passenger
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ABC BOOK CHALLENGE – A
This seems like a fun challenge to participate it. Let’s see how many letters I can get.
A is A.I., aliens and adventures.
MOST MEMORABLE READS WITH THE LETTER A:
review here Murderbot is one of the most relatable characters I have come across with. Anyone who would just rather Netflix and chill than mingle with the hoi poloi will see themselves nodding at Murderbot’s life-choices.
This is best experienced as an audiobook since it’s narrated by Kevin R. Free who always does a spot on job at bringing introverted curmudgeons and misanthropes to life. He is also the voice of Christopher ‘Kit’ Holmes, the over-thinking and self-absorbed amateur sleuth of the Holmes & Moriarity series by Josh Lanyon.This H.P. Lovecraft creation stood out not because I liked it but because it was such a mind-numbing litany of architectural details, I actually felt my brain going dry.
For a much more entertaining and readable version, I recommend Hoarfrost, Whyborne and Griffin‘s adventure in Alaska.review here Who could forget Charl, the pure and kind-hearted merchant who helped Damen and Laurent out of an awkward and very dangerous situation?
This has some of the funniest and fluffiest Captive Prince moments.
When horror master Clive Barker creates a children’s book, it comes out magical and extraordinary. I have always loved how over the top his imagination is and Abarat is a classic example of this.
Also I was shipping Candy and Christopher Carrion. Yeah, creepy. I know.
Always a favorite. I love how you can mine the Wonderland world with a lot of story ideas.
For the gay version, witness the Hatter fall in love in Mad About The Hatter by Dakota Chase.
BOOKS ON MY TBR
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Book Addiction Tag
Found this tag here.
1) What is the longest amount of time you can comfortably go without picking up a book?
A couple of days to a week when I am on a slump. The worst one was a 3 year-book slump in the early 2010s when every YA book seemed to feature special snowflake white girls, broody asshole love interests and the dreaded love triangles. Hooray for diversity!
2) How many books do you carry on your person (or kindle) at any one time?
I used to carry at least one small paperback but now I have my tablet so it packs A LOT. Funnily enough, I hardly read when I am out. Just the thought of all those books with me is a comfort though.
3) Do you keep every book you buy/receive or are you happy to pass them on to make space for more?
I hoard so no matter how bad the book is, it still has a place on my shelf. I even used to keep termite eaten books because I was so attached. I have reformed, somewhat.
4) How long would you spend in a bookshop on a standard visit?
We have only two sources of books in my town both of which are located inside major malls. One is a used book chain where I could browse as long as I want which can take 30 mins to a couple of hours. The other is a giant book store chain where the security guards seem to think I am a weirdo they need to constantly monitor which is not really conducive to leisurely browsing.
5) How much time per day do you actually spend reading?
An hour or two now that I have been warned by doctors after having dry eyes. Who knew dry eyes could cause serious migraines, vomiting and a stay in the hospital.
6) Where does the task ‘picking up a book’ appear on your daily to-do list?
Every time I step inside a mall, I have the urge to drop by the aforementioned bookstores so I really make a conscious effort to avoid them or else my budget is whacked!
7) How many books do you reckon you own in total (including e-books)?
More than a thousand is my guesstimate
8) Approximately how often do you bring up books in conversation?
I almost never do. Because hardly anybody reads around here. Also, I tend to keep my hobbies and interests to myself mostly because I know people are not interested in them.
9) What is the biggest book (page count) you have finished reading?
1110 pages of Caesar and Cleopatra by Colleen McCullugh. Gone were the days when I consider this light reading. Now, I’m all give me something short and gay
10) Is there a book you had to get your hands on against all odds (i.e searching bookshops, online digging, etc.)?
Still pining for that out of print edition of Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko. Also, I’m dying to get my hands on the Abarat books by Clive Barker and first editions of the Sandman comics by Neil Gaiman
11) A book you struggled to finish but refused to DNF?
There’s a bookmark stuck in the middle of The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch. It has been there for more than a year. I refuse to give up on Locke and Jean.
12) What are 3 of your main book goals for 2019?
- Take better care of my eyes so I can still read books when I’m old.
- Finish ARCs on time.
- Read more books from my TBR list rather than always starting randomly on any shiny new tome that catches my fancy. This is probably the most difficult goal of the three.
13) Have you ever had the privilege of converting someone into a reader (maybe via inspiration or incessant nagging)?
I am happy that my father and sister read some of my collection but like I said, hardly anybody around here is interested in reading. I have even offered to lend my Harry Potter books to younger relatives (something I never do under normal circumstances) but nobody budged.
14) Describe what books mean to you in five words.
It’s my cup of tea.
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MANGA: Servant & Lord
Servant & Lord – Lo & Lorinell Yu
Christian has always admired handsome, talented composer Daniel. Their shared appreciation for music marked the beginning of a friendship between a willful boy and a sophisticated young man…
But when tragedy strikes and circumstances twist around to put Daniel in the service of Christian’s wealthy family, their bond is tried in unexpected ways. Years ago, the universal language of music drew them toward one another.
Now, Christian has to hope it’s still enough to bridge the gap between their vastly different lives.
Servant & Lord is an age-gap story between the bratty rich kid Christian and his long suffering friend cum caretaker cum mentor and former composer Daniel.
Like all the good M&S tropes, the dynamics between Christian and Daniel is filled with USTs, and fervent longing. Christian is more open about his feelings and Daniel, being older and an employee of Christian’s father, kept his under tight reigns. The manga is mostly from Christian’s POV but I really liked it that there were some parts were presented from Daniel’s perspective.
The manga starts from the time Christian met Daniel as a child, to him as a high school student and finally as a university student. Through all these years, Daniel is in denial and maintains the illusion that Christian’s feelings were the affections of a child and therefore something he would outgrow. And so I threw big hurrah when Christian took matters in his own hands and made Daniel face his feelings.
Since I like slow burn stories, this is right up my alley. The artwork looks good and I had no problems following the story progression. Age-gap is not my jam but I have no issues with it here. The story is not the most unique but still interesting enough for me to enjoy. I’m looking forward to the sequel.
P.S.
I received a copy of Servant & Lord from Tokyo Pop via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
