The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! š
dananana's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Animal cruelty, and Grief
Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Minor: Incest
csevet's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Incest
cameronmh's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This book starts out confusing and slow, but it is absolutely so worth it to hang in there. Itās a very detailed world and I felt a little overwhelmed by how much was being thrown at me, but anything that is actually important will come up again, so donāt worry about memorizing all of the different people and logistics until a few chapters in!
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death of parent, Excrement, and Violence
Moderate: Grief and Incest
lapis's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
4.75 Stars for reasons Iāll get into.
Okay, things to know.Ā My brother, who is pretty good at Japanese (not just saying, he passed the top JLPT, so itās kinda hard to test him further) read the first volume of this, has the second, and watched the anime of this (I think itās under the title āBeast Player Erinā), so he knows the basic plot when I discussed it with him.Ā This, as sites say, is a compilation of the first two volumes.Ā
Iām shelving this as Young Adult, because I agree with Pushkin Press that it is.Ā However, itās sort of weird in tone for a Young Adult tone.Ā Maybe āNew Adultā would be a better term.Ā Itās very obsessed with biology, and it sort of sticks out in my mind compared to the typical English YA book I read.Ā Elin doesnāt really deal with love triangles for example. Romance is there and it does drive the plot, but not in the traditional YA sense.
The plot takes place over, roughly ten years (I may be off by a few).Ā Itās a bit slow-moving, especially for the majority of the first half/book, so if youāre looking for something fast, this may not be for you.Ā
The names are really interesting. Theyāre Romanized in a way thatās not difficult to say (though Iād personally write them with dashes or something for syllable breaks, but thatās preference, donāt mind me), but gives them a fantasy-feel.Ā I would love to pick Nahoko Uehashiās brains about the naming scheme in the book, not just for the characters, but for the terminology. I know she has an anthropology degree (excellent choice, but Iām biased), but I donāt know if she has any linguistics or foreign language background.Ā Part of why I want to pick the author's brains is that the back cover I have has the protagonist's name romanized as "Erin". In the books, it's "Elin".Ā I'm like 90% sure that it originally was Erin in the translation, and author approval changed it to Elin. I find this interesting, as while I don't know the Japanese terms for much, there's stuff like a character being born in spring called "Halumiya" and Elin being a name that derives from a specific Apple. Basically I'm saying I really don't believe Cathy Hirano put in all those l's in the prospective translation draft.Ā
Letās talk about Romanization of Japanese terms for a bit. I am by no means an expert (se habla espaƱol ), but this is basically why itās not a perfect 5 for me, because when I dug into this book, I could not understand why the decisions were made that were.
You have two main beasts (the kanji may be wrong; my brother wrote them from memory).Ā éč Tohda, ēē£ Oujuu.
The first translates as āWar Serpentā if you want a poetic name (Battle Snake would probably be more accurate but thatās kindaā¦ ) The Latter IS translated in the book as Royal Beast.Ā The former is left as āTodaā. I canāt figure out why both arenāt translated.Ā It seems inconsistent to me.Ā I assume this is the author's request, but I really want to know more!
To end with: Pushkin Press puts this in their children line. I think thatās thatās up for debate, but anymore I donāt think thereās any shame in reading Young Adult books as long as thatās not all youāre doing, like how literally no one cares if you watch anime except the people who also watch anime. Ā
READ THE BOOK.
Okay, things to know.Ā My brother, who is pretty good at Japanese (not just saying, he passed the top JLPT, so itās kinda hard to test him further) read the first volume of this, has the second, and watched the anime of this (I think itās under the title āBeast Player Erinā), so he knows the basic plot when I discussed it with him.Ā This, as sites say, is a compilation of the first two volumes.Ā
Iām shelving this as Young Adult, because I agree with Pushkin Press that it is.Ā However, itās sort of weird in tone for a Young Adult tone.Ā Maybe āNew Adultā would be a better term.Ā Itās very obsessed with biology, and it sort of sticks out in my mind compared to the typical English YA book I read.Ā Elin doesnāt really deal with love triangles for example. Romance is there and it does drive the plot, but not in the traditional YA sense.
The plot takes place over, roughly ten years (I may be off by a few).Ā Itās a bit slow-moving, especially for the majority of the first half/book, so if youāre looking for something fast, this may not be for you.Ā
The names are really interesting. Theyāre Romanized in a way thatās not difficult to say (though Iād personally write them with dashes or something for syllable breaks, but thatās preference, donāt mind me), but gives them a fantasy-feel.Ā I would love to pick Nahoko Uehashiās brains about the naming scheme in the book, not just for the characters, but for the terminology. I know she has an anthropology degree (excellent choice, but Iām biased), but I donāt know if she has any linguistics or foreign language background.Ā Part of why I want to pick the author's brains is that the back cover I have has the protagonist's name romanized as "Erin". In the books, it's "Elin".Ā I'm like 90% sure that it originally was Erin in the translation, and author approval changed it to Elin. I find this interesting, as while I don't know the Japanese terms for much, there's stuff like a character being born in spring called "Halumiya" and Elin being a name that derives from a specific Apple. Basically I'm saying I really don't believe Cathy Hirano put in all those l's in the prospective translation draft.Ā
Letās talk about Romanization of Japanese terms for a bit. I am by no means an expert (se habla espaƱol ), but this is basically why itās not a perfect 5 for me, because when I dug into this book, I could not understand why the decisions were made that were.
You have two main beasts (the kanji may be wrong; my brother wrote them from memory).Ā éč Tohda, ēē£ Oujuu.
The first translates as āWar Serpentā if you want a poetic name (Battle Snake would probably be more accurate but thatās kindaā¦ ) The Latter IS translated in the book as Royal Beast.Ā The former is left as āTodaā. I canāt figure out why both arenāt translated.Ā It seems inconsistent to me.Ā I assume this is the author's request, but I really want to know more!
To end with: Pushkin Press puts this in their children line. I think thatās thatās up for debate, but anymore I donāt think thereās any shame in reading Young Adult books as long as thatās not all youāre doing, like how literally no one cares if you watch anime except the people who also watch anime. Ā
READ THE BOOK.
Moderate: Incest, Suicide, and Violence
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