Book Review: “Sandymancer” by David Edison

Sandymancer by David Edison

LENGTH: 368 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Science Fiction, YA, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Tor Books

RELEASE DATE: 19 September 2023

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

A wild girl with sand magic in her bones and a mad god who is trying to fix the world he broke come together in SANDYMANCER, a genre-warping mashup of weird fantasy and hard science fiction.

All Caralee Vinnet has ever known is dust. Her whole world is made up of the stuff; water is the most precious thing in the cosmos. A privileged few control what elements remain. But the world was not always a dust bowl and the green is not all lost.

Caralee has a secret—she can draw up power from the sand beneath her feet. But when she does… she winds up summoning a monster: The former god-king who broke the world 800 years ago and has stolen the body of her best friend.

Caralee will risk the whole world to take back what she’s lost. If her new companion doesn’t kill her first.

Sandymancer is what happens when Oz meets armageddon, with failed gods, lost magics, and murderous gigantic steel harpies. Caralee has always longed to see more of this broken world—but as she stumbles upon its secret roots, she may discover that their doomsday wasn’t quite what everyone thought.

My Review

Sandymancer was one of the new releases of this year’s third quarter that I was really looking forward to. And, ugh, again I just didn’t care for it. I don’t know what’s wrong with me – usually I’m interested in books I end up liking.

I honestly don’t know how much of a review this is gonna be, cuz I kind of came away from this novel not really feeling much of anything. I didn’t exactly hate it, but I didn’t really like it either.

So, I’m gonna just go straight into the review.

Pros

The premise ▼

I thought that the idea and the world building of Sandymancer was super interesting. Whenever past and present or present and future mix, you can get a bunch of interesting interactions between characters. And there were some of these – even if I think they could’ve been done better.

The world ▼

As I mentioned, I really liked the background and world building here. I especially liked the setting itself. It was so cool. Edison really did a good job bringing the world to life – I had no trouble visualizing the way it looked.

I also really loved the different biomes. The summary makes it seem like the only places the novel will be taking you is around a desert, but the characters actually go through a few kinds of different places.

Cons

Everything else ▼

I didn’t really like anything else about the novel. Not that it was necessarily bad or anything, I just didn’t care for anything else. The characters were okay, but I didn’t really have any feelings about them either way. And the narrative didn’t really match the third person limited perspective of the main character.

Another thing I didn’t like was the flashback chapters that appeared every two chapters. They seemed redundant and annoying, and basically everything that happens in them eventually comes to light during the journey in the present. The flashbacks really felt unnecessary, and I wish they weren’t there. They always took me out of the story’s flow.

I also found that there was too much for such a small SFF novel. The world building felt like it was for a tale much bigger than the one we got, and it makes me wonder if this was originally intended to be a duology or a trilogy or something. There were just so many concepts introduced.

The ending was also subpar. I didn’t like it. I also didn’t like the sequel bait that the author snuck in – even if such a thing might expand the world and warrant the extensive world building. I just don’t care about this world enough, I guess.

Final Thoughts

All in all, Sandymancer by David Edison is an okay book. It’s definitely not for everyone, me included, but those who enjoy weird and unique science-fantasy and such might be interested in giving it a shot.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? Have you read any of the author’s other work?

As always, thank you for reading, and have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

MY LINKS:

Goodreads

Instagram

First Line Friday: 9/22

Okay, so explanation time. I got sick this week. It has majorly sucked. So that’s why I haven’t hardly posted this week at all. Now let’s move on to First Line Fridays.

First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words, but I saw it over at One Book More.

What if instead of judging a book by the cover, author or most everything else, we judged it by its content? Its first lines?

If you want to join in, all you gotta do is:

📚 Take a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open it to the first page
📝 Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
📙 Finally… reveal the book!

Here are the first lines:

Be still now, and I will tell you a tale.

It begins deep within Verloren, the land of the lost.

Do you know what book it is? Here’s a little hint. Or two or three, you know the drill by now.

Do you know the book now? If you don’t, here are some gorgeous pictures of novels to scroll through while you consider it…

Annnd the book is 🥁🥁… Cursed by Marissa Meyer!!

(Did you guess it?)

Cursed by Marissa Meyer

SERIES: Gilded Duology (Book #2)

LENGTH: 485 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, YA, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Feiwel & Friends

RELEASE DATE: 8 November 2022

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

New York Times-bestselling author Marissa Meyer concludes her young adult retelling of Rumpelstiltskin in this sequel!

Serilda and Gild attempt to break the curses that tether their spirits to Adalheid’s haunted castle before the Endless Moon, when the Erlking means to capture one of the seven gods and make a wish to return his lover, Perchta, from the underworld. But as the story progresses, it becomes clear he doesn’t want just one god – he wants to capture all seven, and force them to bring down the veil that keeps the Dark Ones separate from the land of the mortals. Serilda and Gild must try to thwart his plans, all while solving the mystery of Gild’s forgotten name, freeing his younger sister who is trapped inside Gravenstone Castle, and trying to protect their unborn child.

Romance, adventure, and Serilda’s journey to finding her power as a woman, a mother, and a partner make this a retelling that Meyer fans – old and new – will treasure.

What books have you been reading lately? What’s on your TBR that you’re most excited about?

As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you have an excellent day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Majestic Monday #15

Oh my gosh. It’s been waaayy too long since I’ve done this post. Not to mention how MIA I ended up being last week, to boot. Ah well, it’s in the past now.

For anyone unfamiliar, Majestic Mondays are when I highlight an awesome looking book cover and talk about what I like about it.

This week, in honor of a spinoff and sequel releasing next week, I’m gonna gush about one of my favorite books. Again. That’s right – A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab!

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

SERIES: Shades of Magic (Book #1)

LENGTH: 400 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Tor Books

RELEASE DATE: 24 February 2015

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

A Darker Shade of Magic, from #1 New York Times bestselling author V.E. Schwab

Kell is one of the last Antari–magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.Kell was raised in Arnes–Red London–and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.

Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.

Cover Rating: ❤️🩶🤍🖤❤️ • 5 colorful hearts

The Fragile Threads of Power is releasing next week, and the new covers for the first trilogy have already come out, so I thought it was past time to gush about the original ones. Especially since I much prefer them to the new ones, even if they now match the one for the new book.

This cover (and the covers for the rest of the Shades of Magic trilogy) incorporate the “colors” of the four Londons featured in the series. It’s also a unique art style, and it conveys the main mechanic of the novel.

I love the way the colors are used here – to Kell’s red coat, to differentiate the two Londons Kell is traveling between, and even in the letters of the title. I even like the way that the negative space looks, despite the emptiness. It makes the universe of A Darker Shade of Magic feel very vast.

Do you like the cover art of the Shades of Magic trilogy? What are your favorite book covers?

As always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Birthstone Book Covers: September 2023

Since I didn’t have any surprise vacations this month, I was able to participate in one of my favorite monthly posts in a reasonable amount of time, lol. And this time I did waaayy better in finding covers for Birthstone Book Covers.

Leslie @ Books Are the New Black created a fun monthly post called Birthstone Book Covers. Each month, she features book covers that are either the same color of that month’s birthstone or include the color in the title.

September has one birthstone – Sapphire.

Rules:

📚 Mention the creator (Leslie @ Books Are The New Black) and link back to her so she can check out your post.
📚 Pick 5+ book covers that match the current month’s Birthstone.
📚 HAVE FUN!
📚 Nominate people if you want!

**The Titan’s Curse** **by Rick Riordon**

**The Great Gatsby** **by F. Scott Fitzgerald**

**Daughter of Smoke and Bone** **by Laini Taylor**

**A Curse So Dark and Lonely** **by Brigid Kemmerer**

As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you have an terrific day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Book Review: “Blood Stain” by Linda Sejic

Somewhere in the asscrack of the mediterranean…

Blood Stain by Linda Sejic

COMIC: Blood Stain (Volumes 1 – 4)

LENGTH: 512 pages (all together)

GENRES: Horror, Contemporary Fiction, Graphic Novel, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Image – Top Cow

RELEASE DATE: 13 April 2016

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Elliot Torres is kind of in a rough patch. With no career, a seemingly useless chemistry degree, and a near pathological addiction to online gaming, Elly needs something in her life to go right especially when her family asks her to start pitching in with the rent.

Enter Doctor Vlad Stein. After a series of failed part time jobs, Elly desperately answers Dr. Stein’s ancient classified ad: ASSISTANT NEEDED. But when the doctor ~who, according to rumor, is the creepiest mad scientist in human history demands an in-person job trial at his spooky lab, making ends meet might be the least of Elly’s worries. Or maybe she’s been playing too much survival horror.

Originally published on DeviantArt as a bit webcomic, and even adapted by fans into a YouTube audio drama, this is the first print collection of the hilarious series from rising star writer/artist LINDA SEJIC (Tales of Honor, Wildfire).

My Review

“I heard from a friend of a friend… that that guy… is a mad scientist!”

I’ve been kind of getting into graphic novels and webcomics recently, so when this came up on my feed it looked right up my alley. Dark, mad scientist aesthetic? Comedy-horror? Yes, please!

Alas, it just… didn’t live up to my expectations. A huge part of said anticipating was, of course, my fault, but I still had a different idea as to what kind of graphic novel Blood Stain was, as opposed to what it ended up being.

But let’s start off with what I liked about it…

Pros

The characters ▼

The characters were the star of the show here. (As they should – they’re characters! – but whatever.) Out of everything in these graphic novels, the cast was what shone the brightest. Particularly our leading lady, Elliot Torres.

Elliot Torres is a recent chemistry graduate who’s currently experiencing the first big hurdle of a young adult – finding and keeping down a job. As someone who’s been in her situation before (rather recently, in fact) she was extremely relatable. She’s also a spunky nerd who loves video games, which also helped me like her – as I too am a spunky nerd who loves video games. I also loved how her family (aka: her motivation) is always first in her mind, and how much she throws herself into everything she does, so as to help them out.

Vlad Stein – accidently christened “Blood Stain” by Elliot, hence the title – is our protagonist’s new workaholic, socially awkward boss. And no, sorry to burst everyone’s bubble, but despite his name, he isn’t a vampire. He’s a bit of a mad scientist though… At least, he has the aesthetic for it. I know, I know, I was a little disappointed as well (particularly since the covers and synopsis seem to imply supernatural connotations that don’t seem to exist). He was an okay character, one that I neither like nor dislike.

I really liked Serge though. He seems a bit out of place at first – like seriously, why is he here? But he’s a difficult character not to like, and I fell hard and fast. His purpose also becomes clear somewhat quickly in the story, which also helps. He worked as an excellent straight man to balance out Vlad’s and Elliot’s different kinds of weirdness.

The art ▼

The art is so good, guys. And the character designs were awesome. I also really liked the way that Sejic draws environments and backgrounds.

I also really liked how the panels would sometimes just change fantastically for seemingly no reason (at first). Elliot’s hyperactive imagination and weird dreams were always hilarious to witness.

Cons

The dialogue▼

I didn’t really like the dialogue at first. It felt very clunky to me. The conversations between characters didn’t always come off as natural, or how people talk at all. It did improve a little bit as the story went on, though.

The genre ▼

As for the genre… Contemporary fiction isn’t bad or anything like that, it’s just not my preference. But the covers of these graphic novels kind of like to you, and the summary is vague enough that certain things… might be inferred.

For example, I was sure Vlad was gonna be a vampire or something, and that there’d be other subtle supernatural stuff hanging around in the background. But. No dice. This is simply a very non-supernatural, slice-of-life comedy.

Final Thoughts

Blood Stain by Linda Sejic is pretty fun so far, if you like contemporary, dark comedy. Its illustrations are also beautiful – Sejic is really a talented artist.

This might also be a good comic to curl up on the couch with during October. Though it’s not supernatural, and not quite a horror, it still has a dark aesthetic perfect for spooky season.

As always, thank you so much for reading, and have an excellent day/night!

See ya ~Mar

MY LINKS:

Goodreads

Instagram

Spell the Month in Books: September 2023

Sooo… This was supposed to be out yesterday, but my dumbass crashed before I could put my finishing touches on it. Hee hee. Whoops. But I’m posting it now – just several hours later than the end of Saturday.

It’s probably obvious from my featured image, but the post is Spell the Month in Books. Spell the Month in Books is a monthly post created and hosted by Jana @ Reviews from the Stacks. I started participating in it last month. It’s typically a Saturday post (as I might have mentioned above), but let’s all agree the Mar had a busy day yesterday and maybe, accidentally fell asleep before they could post.

Anyway, let’s spell September with book titles!

S

E

P

T

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

E

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

M

Mysteries of Thorn Manor by Margaret Rogerson

B

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

E

An Echo of Things to Come by James Islington

R

What books did you choose to spell September with? Did we choose any of the same ones? Have you read any of the books I chose?

As always, thank you to anyone who read and enjoyed my post. Regardless, I hope anyone and everyone has a really good day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Book Review: “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” by V.E. Schwab

What is a person, if not the marks they leave behind?

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

LENGTH: 444 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Tor Books

RELEASE DATE: 6 October 2020

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

In the vein of The Time Traveler’s Wife and Life After Life, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is New York Times bestselling author V. E. Schwab’s genre-defying tour de force.

France, 1714: In a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever – and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

My Review

It is sad, of course, to forget. But it is a lonely thing, to be forgotten. To remember when no one else does.

So, confession: I’ve never really had any intention of reading this book. I don’t really know why exactly – I guess I’ve just never thought it might be a book for me. But I absolutely adored A Darker Shade of Magic and loved the Shades of Magic trilogy as a whole, so when my mom wanted to buddy read it, I decided why the heck not?

And, spoiler alert, I loved it. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is just… so beautiful, but also heartbreaking. Aside from it being a more slower paced book, which are books that I sometimes annoying for me to get through, there was only one caveat I really had with this novel. But I’ll get into that in a bit. Let me sing its praises a little bit first.

My Praises

And the first thing I gotta gush about Addie LaRue is how much I love how the relationships are written. Not the romance, even though I liked that as well. But the relationships as a whole.

Every time someone forgot Addie, my heart cracked just the slightest bit, even though I knew it was coming. But when someone Addie loved so fiercely forgot her (ex: her father), my heart really started to break. This book made me cry twice, and one of the times was about Addie’s relationship with another character.

The second thing I really enjoyed were the characters. Though there is a little bit of a plot, I found the book to be primarily character driven.

“I remember you.” Three words, large enough to tip the world.

Addie is our MC of course, and even though a lot of her earlier decisions (as in, a lot of the choices that she made in the flashbacks), she did grow on me, and I really began to feel for her later on. (Though she did still annoy me at certain points.)

I also really liked Henry. I think it’s because he’s different compared to other male main characters that I usually come across while reading, and it was refreshing for me in a way. His and Addie’s budding friendship (and romance) was very sweet. And at first it might feel as if they’re moving too fast – but circumstances are revealed later on that recontextualize many earlier scenes.

Never pray to the gods that answer after dark.

And then there’s Luc. Ah, Luc. I have a lot of feelings about this demonic entity. He’s intentionally written as attractive and he has one of those kinds of personalities, but I still kind of hated him. I don’t really know what it was about him exactly, but I think part of it was that I found it a little hard to comprehend how a creature that existed from the beginning of the universe, could become so thirsty for a human girl. It just didn’t make sense to me. And yeah, I know part of it was because he wanted to run the deal, but he was still thirsty for Addie.

The Caveat

“Nothing is all good or all bad,” she says. “Life is so much messier than that.”

I really didn’t like the ending.

As I read through The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, I fell in love with it more and more. Of course, I knew from almost the beginning that this was most likely going to be a four star read (because I cried), I thought that that would be it. (If a book makes me cry, I usually give it at least three and a half stars.)

But that ending, it was just so… neutral. Undetermined. It kind of almost felt like Schwab didn’t really know how to end the novel, honestly. But yeah, basically the end of the book disappointed me. It wasn’t necessarily bad, it just didn’t vibe with me.

In fact, I originally rated Addie LaRue four stars because the ending bothered me the way it did. But after some distance from finishing the book, and reflecting on the novel as a whole, I decided to alter my rating. Because it really was a good book, and I really did ultimately enjoy it a lot. (Even if what I considered to be the main conflict of the book was never resolved.)

Closing Thoughts

And there in the dark, he asks if it was really worth it.

Were the instants of joy worth the stretches of sorrow?

Were the moments of beauty worth the year of pain?

And she turns her head, and looks at him, and says “Always.”

Even though I thought the ending sucked, ultimately The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab is a very good book. It’s one that I heavily recommend as well, particularly if you like character driven slow-burns with just a dash of fantastical romance.

Also, before I close it off, there’s one other thing I forgot to mention. The back-and-forth between the past and present was really well done. And I’m usually really iffy about this type of storytelling. It’s always either hit or miss – and I guess this was a hit for me.

As always, thank you all so much for reading, and I hope you have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

MY LINKS:

Goodreads

Instagram

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: “Godkiller”

Good morning/afternoon/any other time of day everyone! It’s been a… month, I think, since the last time I did a Can’t-Wait Wednesday? Yeah. And there’s a couple of books releasing in the coming weeks, so I thought it was time to do it again.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings (and was previously hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine where it was known as Waiting on Wednesday) to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. They’re usually books that have not yet been released.

This week’s book is:

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner!

I’ve had my eye on this one for a couple of months, ever since I saw the cover like in… April? May? Yeah. It’s so good. And the premise sounds fantastic. How could I not be interested in it?

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

SERIES: Godkiller (Book #1)

LENGTH: 300 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Fiction

PUBLISHER: HarperVoyager

RELEASE DATE: 12 September 2023

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Gods are forbidden in the kingdom of Middren. Formed by human desires and fed by their worship, there are countless gods in the world—but after a great war, the new king outlawed them and now pays “godkillers” to destroy any who try to rise from the shadows.

As a child, Kissen saw her family murdered by a fire god. Now, she makes a living killing them and enjoys it. But all this changes when Kissen is tasked with helping a young noble girl with a god problem. The child’s soul is bonded to a tiny god of white lies, and Kissen can’t kill it without ending the girl’s life too.

Joined by a disillusioned knight on a secret quest, the unlikely group must travel to the ruined city of Blenraden, where the last of the wild gods reside, to each beg a favor. Pursued by assassins and demons, and in the midst of burgeoning civil war, they will all face a reckoning. Something is rotting at the heart of their world, and they are the only ones who can stop it.

Are you looking forward to Godkiller? What books are you excited for coming out in the near future?

As always, thank you all so much for reading, and I really hope that you have a awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Monthly Wrap-Up: August Reading 2023

Wow, this is kind of late. I’m pretty sure I’ve never posted a monthly wrap-up five days into a new month. Yet. Well, until now, lol.

August was so much better than July, in terms of reading books. Not as productive on the blog post front, but that’s mostly because I took a much needed break. Regardless, I’m pretty satisfied with everything I got done last month.

But yeah, without further ado, let’s get into my states for The StoryGraph for my August Reading 2023!

August 2023 Reading

I read 5 books and 1431 pages

😐 MOODS: Adventurous was the biggest slice of pie, as it always is. There are so many more Moods than in July, so it’s a very colorful pie graph this time around. The second biggest slice here is Emotional, which isn’t a surprise, as it usually tends to be. There are several other Moods though: Mysterious, Hopeful, Funny, and Dark.

👢 PACE: Unlike last month, I read two different kinds of paced books: fast and medium.

🔢 PAGE NUMBER: Everything I read was either between 300 and 499 pages (the majority), or it sad under 300 pages.

📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: It was once again all fiction this month.

🎭 GENRES: Fantasy, as usual, was the biggest part of the graph this time. There were several more Genres on the bar graph compared to July, though. Historical was surprisingly second place, followed by LGBTQIA+ and Romance.

📄 FORMAT: This little StoryGraph pie chart is incorrect. For the first time in like three months! Only one of the books I read was a physical print copy.

⭐ RATING: My median star rating for last month was 3.9. It was cuz I rated five different books five different star increments.

📉 PAGES READ DAILY: I read a lot during the first couple of weeks, but dipped down in the middle until near the end of August. I read a bunch the last couple of days, however.

The Books I Read in August

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson

★★★★★ • my review

★★★★☆

★★★✫☆ • my review

My Happy Marriage: Volume #1 by Akumi Agitogi

★★★✬☆ • my review

★★★☆☆ • my review

★★★★✯

Wrapping Up the Wrap-Up

So, August was a huge improvement from July, concerning books and reviews. I think I’m finally out of my reading slump – this time for sure. And I don’t know why, but for whatever reason it feels like some sort of weight (stress?) has been lifted off my shoulders because of it.

I’m hoping to post better/more often than I did in August, just cuz I’m not planning on taking any impromptu vacations again in the near future. I’m also hoping I’ll keep up this reading and reviewing streak. But we’ll just have to see what happens together.

And so, the August 2023 Reading Wrap-Up comes to a close. As per usual, thank you all so much for reading and have a wonderful day/night! What books did you guys read in August? What did you think of them? What genres did you read?

See ya ~Mar

Book Review: “My Happy Marriage” by Akumi Agitogi

“Don’t apologize. Do it too often, and it loses its meaning.”

My Happy Marriage: Volume #1 by Akumi Agitogi

LENGTH: 160 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Historical, Romance, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Yen On

RELEASE DATE: 18 January 2022 (English Version)

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

IS THIS MARRIAGE A BLESSING? OR A CURSE?

Born talentless to a noble family famous for their supernatural abilities, Miyo Saimori is forced into an existence of servitude by her abusive stepmother. When Miyo finally comes of marriageable age, though, her hopes of being whisked away to a better life crumble after she discovers her fiancé’s identity: Kiyoka Kudou, a commander apparently so cold and cruel that his previous would-be brides all fled within three days of their engagements.

With no home to return to, Miyo resigns herself to her fate-and soon finds that her pale and beautiful husband-to-be is anything but the monster she expected. As they slowly open their hearts to each other, both realize the other may be their chance at finding true love and happiness.

My Review

He wanted someone who would genuinely enjoy living in his forest cottage as his wife, not simply relish his status or wealth. And Miyo would do that. He had no intention of letting go of her.

My Happy Marriage was a sweet little Cinderella-esque romance. I discovered it via the anime version that began airing this past summer. After it made me cry nearly once an episode, I decided that I had to read the original material.

This was the first time I was reviewing a book on my blog that was originally in another language as well, so I was pretty excited about that, too. (Though it’s not the first I’ve mentioned reading, as I read a few mangas a year, and I talked about Another on my list of books with spooky vibes from last fall.)

And… I didn’t like it nearly as much as I’d hoped to. The story is nearly the same, and the anime followed it almost to a T, but I didn’t like it nearly as much. I suspect it was the translation, but I’ll get into that in a bit. First, I’m gonna discuss some of the things I liked about it.

Pros

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Miyo Saimori.”

Miyo Saimori is our protagonist here, and she’s very unconventional when compared to many western female MCs. She’s quiet and nervous, and she keeps to herself, but this is all mostly a result of her abusive upbringing. We see small pieces of her true personality, but on very few occasions. Her true self is still reserved, but she’s also determined and stubborn and brave. (But she’s not a sassy teenager that’s inexplicably good at everything, and that everyone likes, so she’s still different.)

Kiyoka Kudou is Miyo’s new fiancee, as well as her love interest. He appears cold on the surface, but this is merely a facade that he puts up. He’s actually quite similar to Miyo in several ways, but he’s far more confident, as he had a completely different upbringing. He’s still shy when it comes to interacting with Miyo at several points in the first half, but after it’s revealed that she’s his first real romantic relationship, it all makes sense.

“I don’t think I deserve you… but I want to stay with you forever and help you somehow.”

“You can.”

“I need to… do better, so that I can support you for as long as possible.”

“I would appreciate anything you do.”

Their romance was also very sweet, and was one of my two favorite things about this book. They’re both very tentative and gentle with one another, and it’s extremely wholesome. They also have real, actual relationship goals, like communication and working in tandem as a team, and working to keep each other happy. It’s also a bit of a slow-burn, so fans of that will probably enjoy it.

The other thing I really liked was the supernatural stuff that was going on in the background. It was very interesting, and was what drew me into the anime to begin with. I wish the world building and supernatural aspects had been as prevalent as they were in said anime, but that’s just my preference.

Cons

The translation. As I’m not sure how good the original text is, as I cannot read Japanese, I have no choice but to blame my issues with the writing with the translation.

The prose just doesn’t flow naturally for the majority of the light novel. It’s kind of clunky and awkward at several points. The dialogue is also a little weird at times, and it doesn’t always come across as normal human interactions.

There also wasn’t a lot of plot going on. Most of it is just characters and description, until the last quarter of the novella. Which isn’t too bad, as it isn’t that long a book, but I have to say: the anime is definitely superior as an adaptation. For me, at least.

Final Thoughts

“Everything you did for me was necessary.”

“Miyo…”

“And I’m delighted you went to such lengths on my behalf.” Having someone who cared about her, who was willing to do something – anything – for her, was a blessing. She’d forgotten that joyous feeling until recently. It was Kiyoka, Yurie, and everything that happened since she’d met him that had allowed her to experience that feeling again.

All in all, I thought that My Happy Marriage was fine. I neither adored it nor did I hate it – I just found it to be okay. I really, really liked the anime adaptation for it, though.

Those who like shorter, bite-sized novels and novellas, as well as supernatural romances will probably find some enjoyment from it. People who like middle grade and YA will probably be okay with the slightly jenky writing, as well.

And as always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a great day/night!

See ya ~Mar

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