the_greywarren's reviews
185 reviews

Golden Sparkle, by Minta Suzumaru, 鈴丸みんた

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

(Note: Please be aware before going into this that the main characters are both 15 and there are sex scenes featuring them).
This was so cute!! I've been on a bit of a BL binge (thanks for that gender crisis) and I saw this one at the comic store and the cover just looked so soft and romantic which isn't necessarily a vibe you see often in BL manga. And despite sounding pretty raunchy just from the description it was actually really soft and sweet. It was so sweet watching Gaku come to terms with his sexuality and I really liked the way the portrayed the internalized homophobia that a lot of BL stories have, as in Gaku was more worried about dragging Himari down with him than any hate he might face, which I think is a pretty realistic concern. 
Ok but Himari is so stupid and I love it. Like my man knows absolutely nothing about his body or sex and it's very concerning like jeez mate. He seems very naïve, but considering the characters are meant to be 15 I think that's pretty normal. 

FANGS, Vol. 1, by Billy Balibally

dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I didn't really know what to think of this manga at first, so I read it again a few days later and it shot up from "hmmm it's okay" to "omg I love this I need the sequel now". The art is gorgeous, the characters are amazing and I absolutely love En and Ichii's relationship. En is such an adorable character, I love how innocent he is despite having clearly had a very hard life, and I hope we get to learn more about him in the future. He also felt very realistic to me. Ichii is a bit harder to read I think, but I feel like when we get more of his backstory it'll be easier. Ichii is clearly a very caring person though and I think it's really clear that he and En love each other despite any conflicting emotions going on. 

Madk, Vol. 1, by Ryo Suzuri

challenging dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was....something. I suppose I sort of knew what I was going into once I picked this up, my friend told me about it and about a certain scene involving a certain demon's throat, and it sounded interesting enough. And it wasn't bad, I will be picking up the second volume simply because my friend leant that to me too, but I'm not feeling super committed to it. I felt like J was a pretty interesting character and I liked the art style (even though it was sometimes hard to see what was going on), and Fjord was drawn absolutely beautifully, but the story didn't really capture me. Also like, all the trigger warnings mates. 

Spy x Family, Vol. 5, by Tatsuya Endo

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I loved how much we got to learn about everyone in this volume. For some reason I was not expecting Loid to actually work at a hospital but of course he does which I love. And the ex apprentice? I am concerned, I'm not super into a love triangle so I hope that arc doesn't drag on for too long. Anya and Yuri bonding was adorable as well. I didn't like the whole chapter with George Glooman though, it felt kind of out-of-place and disturbed the pacing.

Ice Planet Barbarians, by Ruby Dixon

adventurous dark funny relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Soooo....ummm.... I was not expecting this to be four stars but alas, here we are. I ate this up in one day while travelling home from london, and my god it was an experience. I really liked it weirdly enough, as I went into this hoping for some half decent porn and maybe a plot in there somewhere. I was not expecting there to be so much plot. I was expecting no plot. But I actually liked the plot?? It was also less spicy than expected but oh well. I guess the only thing that really put me off was the pregnancy in the end, but I suppose most breeding kink novels will include pregnancy (unfortunately)

Spy x Family, Vol. 4, by Tatsuya Endo

adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

You know I wasn't excepting to ever read about a plot to kill someone by strapping bombs to dogs, but here we are. Honestly this volume was so fun, Bond and Anya make such an excellent team and I don't think she could've gotten a better dog than him. I also love this series so much for how it deals with both silly and heavy subject matter. In one volume we got Damien burning Anya by saying she's an unfit pet owner for naming the dog Dog, and then Handler talking about the ugly and gruesome side of war. I can't wait to see where the story goes from here. 

Lysistrata, by Aristophanes, Donald W. Sutherland

funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This play is so fucking funny, it's just dick jokes upon dick jokes and apparently my humour really is that simple. The characters were amazing as well and the banter was immaculate. Again, I think reading it in English might work better for me, but hey I enjoyed the ride anyways.

Antigone, by Sophocles

dark emotional informative sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I will admit I struggled quite a bit while reading this. I don't know if it's the play itself or the translation I read but I just felt the language to be very hard to get and the story hard to connect with. After discussing it in class I do have a greater appreciation for it, which bumps it up to 2.5, so I might give it a go in a different translation in the future. 

The Epic of Gilgamesh, by Unknown

adventurous emotional funny informative fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

My favourite thing about reading this was knowing I was reading something that was written 4.000 years ago, it kind of blew my mind. I read excerpts of the Odyssey shortly afterwards and it felt so cool to see how similar they were.
The homoerotic energy is sooo strong in this one (but Enkidu really needs to see someone about that seven day erection).
I do wish I had enjoyed it more, but maybe I will when I read it a second time, and maybe I'll give the English translation a go then

Fjallið sem yppti öxlum - maður og náttúra, by Gísli Pálsson

informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

This book is fairly interesting, I liked the inside view the author had on the lead up and aftermath of the eruption in Heimaey, but I think I would've liked it more from the perspective of someone who was actually there and went through it themselves. I did like how he spoke about the connection between man and nature though.