Finally, I got around to read some 香君 and reached page 100. Still quite a lot of politics so far, but the premise is getting quite exiting. At least, the beginning of chapter 2 is promising some development… although it might just be some more politics considering it will involve (I abstracted away all the spoilers, but hiding it just in case)the main character being sent to work for one group (faction?) by another faction while “pretending” to be a spy for a third faction instead (pretending meaning “hiding clumsily” fake links to said faction)
Actually, it even goes deeper than that, but it’s too rough to explain that way. I guess you’ll have to read it you are curious
I had the same reaction! I really liked this book, and the way she describes her emotions made them easy to relate to, even though I never thought I would be able to. I binge read it as well (took me two days though, haha)
I have been reading some more 香君 but 上橋菜穂子 pulled an 上橋菜穂子 and switched character on me. Twice. As usual, it just kills my flow.
I really like the story, though. I find the complexity of the interaction between political factions is really interesting so far. This book is my favorite among her work so far.
That being said, as is usual when she change the point of view, I just went ahead and started reading something else I could have kept reading any of the books I have already started. Or even any of the books in my 積読 pile, right? That would make sense.
BUT NO. I bought and went with 竜殺しのブリュンヒルド | L33 instead. To be fair, that book has been in my wishlist for quite a while (in fact, it was the only volume published at the time, so I thought it was a one shot… it is not, I guess).
I kinda like the writing, but damn the story is full of holes so far. It’s not much of a problem so far, but it’s annoying. For instance, we are told that the two main characters (so far?) are talking some kind of “one true language” that allows them to be perfectly understood by anyone (and even animals, although they may not have the mental capacity to do anything about it). Yet, they use that language as a “secret” language to talk to each other when other people are around. How does that work? Shouldn’t it be the exact opposite of a secret language, with literally everyone being able to understand what they are saying. Also, there’s at least one misunderstanding between the two of them (about romantic love versus familial love), which, by definition, is supposed to be impossible.
The weird Christian inspiration is also weird at times.
親と子の恋慕は、エデンに存する数少ない禁忌の一つなのである。
… I’d like to point out that that’s not just a garden of Eden thing.
Having not read the book, my thought process is reverting to what other fantasy books I’ve read have done; is it a case of “once you learn the language you’re good, but it’s still just a foreign language to the uninitiated”? Like, it’s a “perfect” language when you know it/can use it, but is otherwise just gibberish? I figure animals live in that special category of (for lack of a better term, no offense intended anywhere) “noble savage”, where, in this case, they lack the ability to output language but are capable of communication on a deeper, “mystical” level/are able to understand the fancy perfect language.
…And that I’ve got nothing for. Feels like a hole to me.
Finally finished 彼女が言わなかったすべてのこと | L31! I liked it a lot, and would definitely recommend it to people who are interested in how illness and disability are dealt with and talked about in society.
Since the 痴人の愛 book club starts at the end of October, and the WK 傲慢と善良 book club starts a few weeks after that, I don’t know if I have time to start something new. I guess short stories/essays or something very episodic could work, or else I’ll just keep reading リング.
I’ve been spending a lot of time reading in Japanese because I’m hoping to go back to Japan for a vacation in April, but I just recently realized that if I’m going to Japan, what I really need to work on is not my Japanese but my ability to walk several miles without getting too tired or winded (I had a bad time with covid last year; I’m mostly recovered, but I still get tired easily.) So maybe it’s time to do podcasts on the treadmill…
I started お嬢様のお気に入り 1 | L24?? randomly last week during a low brain energy day because it was free and now I need to decide whether or not it’s worth finishing during the time limit. I was amused by the premise (the main character is obsessed with The Castle of Otranto of all things) but it’s just proving to be frustratingly dull. It’s neither cute enough to be cute nor scary enough to be scary.
JP Wikipedia page for GL says ガールズラブ (girls love) → 百合 (ジャンル) (linking to the yuri page), which in turn lists GL / ガールズラブ as a synonym for yuri.
Contrary to that, the 少女愛 page specifies girllove (note the singular & all lowercase). There are two footnotes there pointing out that it’s different from GL
和製英語としてのガールズラブも存在するが、意味が異なる。
別名で「ガールズラブ」。なお、百合というジャンルには成人女性同士の関係を描いた作品も含む。
Also if you put GL into JP Bookwalker or Amazon, you get yuri results (I’m not going to try putting in 少女愛 to compare). Some of the results even use GL in the title
So I don’t think there’s anything to worry about there.
I finished クラスで2番目に可愛い女の子と友だちになった3 | L26 and am starting book 4. At this rate, I should finish before book 5 is out, which means I can get back to ソードアート・オンライン プログレッシブ 1 | L34 soon (then Log Horizon and/or Grimgar). I wonder if it will feel any easier now.
I read ナイト・ワーカー | L26 because I really liked 女の子がいる場所は | L19 by the same author. I didn’t enjoy this one as much, although I still read it in one go. The main story is kind of dreamy and not as grounded as 女の子がいる場所は or the second (and shorter) story, which I think made it harder for me to understand exactly what was being said at points. I was in a good mood for something darker, and it did deliver on that front as the main story is about a college woman being guided into exploring sex by her extremely manipulative and much more wild friend, while the second story is about a woman facing her past abuse.
I finished reading ##NAME## | L32! Since it’s a newer book and something I think a lot of readers here may enjoy, I also wrote a proper review to give it some exposure.
I’ve decided that I don’t feel like continuing 汝、星のごとく | L34, so it’s going back on my shelf for now.
Instead, I’ll start 少女地獄 | L40?? this weekend. I’m kind of nervous, since it’s from the same author who wrote ドグラ・マグラ | L52??, which is known as one of the hardest books ever™ Can’t be that bad though, right?!
It’s a children’s book and famous in Japan so I thought I should know it as well.
Although it’s above my level still I have begun reading it as it may be a good practice.
Thank you for the great review! Quick question, though: what is “Y/N fanfiction”? Is Y/N the name of the manga she’s reading in the book?
I remembered another one: Alice mare アリスメア | L29. The level looks high, but honestly I remember it being much easier than that. Small summary: a boy who lost his parents goes to an orphanage that houses strange children. One day, he falls into a new realm with a creepy rabbit and cat and must make his escape. So very Alice in Wonderland-inspired.
It’s reader-insert fanfiction. “y/n” tends to show up in them a lot since it’s short for “your name” (though my instinct is always “yes/no” lmao) though I feel like I came across some back when I actually read some that just used “[name]”
It actually is a one shot. Not sure what the rest of the series will be about…
I did not expect the plot to go the way it went when I bought the book (spoiler) the titular and main character is actually the vilain…
That was pretty nice, even though there were some basic plot holes. Those were easily fixable, though, so I just assumed in my head that they were fixed. I still decreased my evaluation from 4* to 3* because of them.
@enbyboiwonder answered already!
If you don’t fill in the name part of the fan fiction in the book, it displays your name as ##NAME## which is where the title comes from, as the main character leaves that field blank.
Weirdly this is the second book about Y/N fan fiction I’ve read this year, since I also read “Y/N” by Esther Yi in English - a somewhat absurd literary take on being a K-pop Stan. This is my year of fan fiction literature!
I can see that. It seems like one of those “trophy” books people read for the credit, like Ulysses or something.
I just finished 香君 上 西から来た少女 | L30?? and I really liked it! In terms of abstract plot, it felt really close to 獣の奏者, but with the fat trimmed down. The country has reached prosperity thanks to a certain thing™ but there’s a secret™ to the way the thing™ is produced. If you produce it in a different way a disaster™ will happen, however the details of why things have to be this way and the details of what will happen have been lost. In 獣の奏者, you only get the details at the very end, with a bunch of other stuff happening in between, while here things progress pretty smoothly. There’s some info dump at the very beginning, but things are fine once you push past it.
The only downside is that, due to said speed, the author doesn’t really get to develop the personality of the main character. She did feel a bit generic… Hopefully, there’s more time for that in the next volume.
I just noticed that the obi on my 押し、燃ゆ has this: “TikTok世代のキャッチャー•イン•ザ•ライ”. Had anyone who’s read both say for accurate that is? All I’ve heard of 押し、燃ゆ did not sound like CitR at all; I’ve read that book, and it was basically just Holden whining the whole time (granted, it’s been a while). I suppose it is timeless in it’s own way in that regard…
I could have kept reading any of the books I have already started. Or even any of the books in my 積読 pile, right? That would make sense.
Can’t be that bad though, right?!
