Eat-Man Volume 1 by Akihito Yoshitomi

Found this on the shelf at the library and was intrigued. I usually don’t go near "classic" manga, but I thought it might be worth a try.

Summary: Bolt Clank is an Explorer able to ingest a weapon or object and subsequently transform the flesh of his arm into it. With the help of many beautiful women he goes in search of rare items – for a price, of course. With the exception of a two-parter, each chapter is a stand-alone story.

Reality Check: This is a very original and fun story that I quite enjoyed. As a classic old manga, the art is classic old-school in my opinion – simple yet detailed – but not rough on the eyes.

Conclusion: I definitely recommend it as a light, fun read, and would love to get my hands on more volumes someday.

out of 4 Paws Up

Genre: Young Adult Adventure

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

I absolutely adored Stephanie’s debut novel Anna and the French Kiss. Such a light, clean romance in these times of dark and dreary subjects. I awaited Lola with great excitement, and after many tries and fails to get my hands on an ARC it was released and I got it from the library. I did ponder purchasing it, but now I’m glad I didn’t.

Summary: Lola, a high school girl who never wears the same crazy outfit twice, adores her rock star boyfriend Max, a “man” of 22 years. But when her first crush Cricket – who broke her heart – and his family move back in next door, Lola finds that she – and her old crush – have more feelings for each other than they should.

Reality Check: My expectations for Lola were great, which may have been part of the reason I was so disappointed. Lola is the complete opposite of Anna, the MC from Stephanie’s first book, which wouldn’t mean much but it’s because they are complete opposites that it felt forced. Like Stephanie made her as “Anna’s opposite” instead of a unique, individual character. The whole story was like that, actually – setting, situation, family, relationships. It felt like Stephanie was so afraid to have similarities with Anna that she was meticulous that every detail be completely different.

And then there was Anna and St. Clair as secondary characters in the story. Sure we loved them and wanted them to make an appearance, but it was like Stephanie was “giving the reader what they wanted,” which isn’t always what’s best for us. Anna and St. Clair’s story was over – we didn’t need a running epilogue of them cutting into Lola’s story. Especially when all we’re being told is they’re blissfully happy. Bor-ring.

Character-wise, I found Lola annoying and didn’t take to her. Max made my skin crawl, and Cricket – what a name… – was a wimp. As for the story, it was very bland and melodramatic. Where Anna shone with simplicity and romance, Lola fell flat. It was too simple, and any romance was drowned in carnal passion that made me roll my eyes. There are times to be hands-on, but there are also times to be still. Lola (and her boys) had never heard of the concept of being still, and that made both relationships feel cheap and temporary.

All that said, Stephanie is a very good writer and while I was disappointed by the content I breezed through Lola in three days (quite a feat right now).

Conclusion: Compared to Anna, Lola is a horrible flop of a second book. But by itself, it is a well written, relatively light and (relatively) clean teen romance that should not be overlooked. And I will still give any future Stephanie books the excitement and anticipation they deserve.

out of 4 Paws Up

Rating: PG-13 for suggestive content and situations, and some language

Genre: Young Adult Romance

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

I’ve been following Maureen on Twitter for several months now and thought it was about time I read one of her books. 13 Little Blue Envelopes looked intriguing as a good place to start and I was dying for a travel story, so I decided to give it a try.

Summary: Ginny receives a mysterious package of 13 letters from her deceased Aunt Peg that send her on a great adventure all over the world making new friends, doing some crazy things, inevitably falling in love, and most of all discovering herself.

Reality Check: I wanted to love this book, and I did – for the first third. I was caught up in the excitement of the travel – which feels heavily researched so therefore very realistic – and adventure of it all, and I devoured every word.

And then the character got in the way. Maureen is amazing at story ideas and setting, but her characters leave much to be desired. Ginny was whiny and boring and flat and bland as flour. Where she should have been having an amazing adventure she was simply “doing” and not “experiencing,” going through the motions until halfway through she just gave up caring at all. I never felt like I got to know her – I have no idea what she is like normally. She was just a shell that we followed around to see the sights. Like a travel bus – it sees everything and shows you it all, but what does it care?

And the writing wasn’t quite there. It was third person but felt very first person, which resulted in constant sudden halts where I was yanked out of the story with strong reminders that it wasn’t in fact “I” but “She.” It was not a pleasant journey of a read.

Favorite Place: Harrods. How have I never heard of this place before? When I finally get to London, I know where I’m going.

Conclusion: It was a great premise and an exciting adventure, but there were too many things to continually ruin it for me. I made myself finish it just to finish it, but if it hadn't been a softcover I would’ve given up. I am still contemplating if I want to read the sequel, The Last Little Blue Envelope. Sequels usually revolve even more around the character, and that would be a nightmare for me. But it has been over five years – perhaps Maureen has gotten better? Who knows.

out of 4 Paws Up

Genre: Young Adult Adventure