Review: Yo-kai Watch 10 (by Noriyuki Konishi)

 My Rating: 4 stars

 

As I mentioned during my review of Book 9 back in April, my nephew is a huge Yo-kai Watch fan and over the years, he has amassed quite a large collection of Yo-kai Watch memorabilia.  It just so happens that my nephew also loves to read and of course, being the bookworm that I am, my job is to read him a bedtime story every night.  One of the book series that we’ve been working through is the Yo-kai Watch manga series written and illustrated by Noriyuki Konishi.  Upon finding out that Book 10 is scheduled to come out early next year (in January 2019) and knowing that my nephew can’t wait to read the latest in the series, I’ve been checking Edelweiss religiously in the hopes that I would be able to obtain an advance copy.  Fortunately, Book 10 was indeed available and I was able to get approval pretty quickly (thank you Viz Media)!

Similar to the previous books in the series, each chapter features a different Yo-kai character and a backstory of sorts explaining how they come to meet Nate Adams and his trusty Yo-kai sidekick Whisper.  Our beloved cat Yo-kai Jibanyan is of course featured in every chapter (there is a segment in this book that pokes fun at the fact that Nate always summons Jibanyan, as though he is the only Yo-kai he knows, lol!) – which of course is perfectly fine for us (my nephew and myself), since Jibanyan is our favorite character.  One thing that stood out to us with this book is that it had a slightly different format than the ones before it in that this one has alternating chapters where only Jibanyan has an encounter with a new Yo-kai on his own and then when he is summoned by Nate in the next chapter, whatever state Jibanyan happened to be in from his previous encounter is carried into that chapter (for example, if Jibanyan had gotten into a fight with another Yo-kai in the “him only” chapter, he would appear in the next chapter with his face swollen from the fight) – so in a way, the chapters were linked up, with some chapters being continuations of the ones before it.  Both of us actually like this format, as it changes things up a bit, plus the “Jibanyan only” chapters are shorter and less wordy so are much funnier.

Of course, as usual whenever we read these Yo-kai comics, my nephew and I loved being able to spend some time with our favorite Yo-kai characters and laughing uncontrollably at their hilarious antics!  This entire comic series is a “must-read” for all Yo-kai watch fans!  Even if we don’t necessarily learn anything new or particularly profound when reading these (though some of the stories do have specific lessons and messages they try to get across), the pure fun and entertainment value – not to mention being able to spend quality time reading with my nephew – make this an absolutely worthwhile read.  As with the other books, we can’t wait to add the physical copy of Book 10 to our collection once it releases in January!

Received ARC from Viz Media and Level-5 via Edelweiss.

Review: Under My Skin (by Lisa Unger)

My Rating: 3.5 stars 

Last year, while searching for a book to complete an A to Z Author challenge I was doing, I came across author Lisa Unger's latest psychological suspense novel The Red Hunter, which ended up being a thrill-ride of a book that I enjoyed from beginning to end and found very difficult to put down.  Not surprisingly, when I heard that Unger would have a new book out this year, another psychologicaI suspense thriller entitled Under My Skin, I jumped at the opportunity to read an advance copy.  

The story revolves around Poppy Lang, whose husband Jack was brutally murdered a year ago, and even though on the surface it appears that she has moved on with her life, underneath she is actually still traumatized and broken, unable to return to the "normalcy" she had once known.  Still haunted by the mysterious circumstances of her husband's death as well as the few days immediately afterward when she herself disappeared, only to resurface later completely confused with no memory of where she had been or what had happened, Poppy begins to dive deeper and deeper into a life of chaos and confusion.  She starts to experience blackouts, moments where she would be lucid one minute but then completely lost the next minute, with things worsening as she dives deeper into a darkness where she is no longer able to distinguish between what is real and what is imaginary.  The only thing that keeps her grounded is the insistence on finding out the truth about her husband's death while also attempting to dig up memories of those lost few days.

This book was a bit of a maze, with quite a few twists and turns as well as a couple red herrings thrown in to mix things up a little.  Out of the many books in this particular genre that I've read in recent months, I would have to say that this one comes closest to  what I would consider a "true" psychological thriller / suspense novel – Poppy's constantly confused psychological state, the concept of dreams versus reality scattered throughout the story, complex characters who all seemed to have another side to them that no one else is able to see, endless mind games and twists, etc.  All of this, coupled with the fact that the narrative is told entirely from Poppy's first person perspective, lent the story a bit of a chaotic, slightly disjointed feel, which I will admit bothered me a little at first – the jumping back and forth between past and present, the difficulty in distinguishing between events that actually happened versus those imagined by Poppy in her confused state of mind, etc. – this made the story slightly difficult to follow at times.  It wasn't until I finished the book that I realized perhaps the story was structured this way intentionally to better flush out Poppy's character and her mindset.

Overall, I did like this one, as it was well-written and both the story as well as the characters were interesting, however compared to Unger's previous book that I had read, I didn't seem to connect with this one as much.  I felt like there was a bit of repetitiveness in some parts which dragged the plot a little, especially in the middle section of the book, to the point that when I actually did have to put the book down in order to attend to personal matters, I didn't feel the pull of urgently wanting to get back to reading.  Perhaps I had different expectations going into this one given that the previous book of hers I had read was so good….or perhaps I'm just burned out with psychological thrillers given how many I've read over the past few months.  With that said though, I would still recommend this one, as it's definitely highly readable, but if this is your first time reading a Lisa Unger novel, I would say start with her previous ones first. For me, I still intend on reading her other works, it's just finding the time to get to them…

Received ARC from Park Row via Edelweiss

Review: The Dream Daughter (by Diane Chamberlain)

My Rating:  4.5 stars

I’m not a huge fan of books about time-travel, as I oftentimes end up feeling lost and confused trying to remember the different timelines and the back-and-forth sequence of events that usually occur with these types of books -- so when I first read the blurb for this book and saw that there would be a time travel element to it, I was a little hesitant.  Add to this the fact that I had never read a book by Diane Chamberlain before (though I had heard a lot about her and do have several of her books on my TBR), I really didn’t know what to expect going into this.  Now that I finished reading this book, I am tremendously glad that I decided to go forward with it, as I ended up really really enjoying it! 

The summary uses the word “genre-spanning” to describe this book and I have to say that is a perfect description, as it truly is impossible to fit this into just one category – the time travel element seems to put it into science fiction but then again, that was only a small portion of the story (think of the time travel piece as a means to an end rather than the main arc of the story); there were also historical fiction elements with references to real historical events and a portion of the story taking place in the 1960s and 70s.  Mostly though, this story is about a young mother’s tremendous love for her unborn daughter as well as for her family, which puts her on a path that she never imagined possible – it is also a story about faith, hope, courage, sacrifice, and the lengths a mother would go through to save her own child.  In this sense, it would probably more appropriately fit into women’s fiction, but with a lot more depth to the story, plot, and characters.

I’ve heard that Diane Chamberlain is a masterful storyteller and after reading this book, I absolutely agree!  The writing was fantastic and the plot was amazingly well-thought out, with enough detail to make the story believable (despite the time travel element) and a surprising amount of twists and turns that kept the story lively and engaging.  What I liked most about this book though were the characters – Hunter, Patti, and of course Carly, whom the story mainly revolves around.   I love stories with strong female protagonists at their core and Carly absolutely fit the bill – her tremendous strength and courage  in the face of the situation she found herself in and the many difficult choices as well as sacrifices she had to make, one after the other, this was a character I not only admired, but also connected with on an emotional level.  Carly was such a well-developed character that I often felt I was right there alongside her as she embarked on her journey and as I got to know her throughout the course of the story, she ended up being a character that I didn’t want to let go.

Heartfelt, poignant, and emotional, this is a story that made me shed a tear or two throughout the read, but at the same time, it also made me smile and laugh in a few places. I deliberately went light on the plot with this review, as this is a wonderful story that everyone should experience for themselves, so I didn’t want to spoil anything.  This one is highly recommended!

Received ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley