Manga Review: A Little Snow Fairy Sugar and Fairy Cube

So, while I'm on my manga kick, I thought I'd share two trilogies that I just read.

A LITTLE SNOW FAIRY SUGAR was a sweet little story about a snow fairy (one type of season fairies) named Sugar and a human girl named Saga. Sugar needed help to become a full-fledged season fairy, and Saga was just the girl to help her. It started off okay. The two MCs were always yelling at each other over misunderstandings, but once that got out of the way, and they were able to find a place where they weren't fighting. In the end, I actually cried. I couldn't believe that I cried over such a silly story, but the ending was really sweet. This one is good for all ages.


FAIRY CUBE is not much like SUGAR. It's kinda the opposite. Meaning, it's not fluff. It is definitely not for kids. There is murder and sex, and I would recommend ages 14 and up. It had an interesting twist on some old folklore, but they stayed true to a lot of it. Which makes me happy.

Both of these are worth the read. The first is cute and fun and can be shared with kids. The second is dark and dangerous.

Graphic Novel Review: Kith and Rapunzel's Revenge

KITH by Holly Black was the second in The Good Neighbors series. The first one was good. This one was better. The story was much more involved, and much more interesting. If you like urban faeries and fantastic art check this one out. Third installment to come Fall 2010.


RAPUNZEL'S REVENGE was hysterical. Shannon Hale has done several fairy tale retellings, but this one was probably the most ingenious. As you may have guessed, it is set in a wild west setting, and Rapunzel uses her hair as a lasso. This isn't the watered-down fairy tale about a princess with long hair that is rescued by her prince. Nor is it entirely true to the original. Finally, a princess that rescues herself. It might not be something you're interested in, but it may suck you in just as it did me. Next one comes out in January: CALAMITY JACK.

Book Review: Demon Ex Machina

What would happen if Buffy the vampire slayer went into retirement, got married, and had kids, then was forced out of retirement. That's what happened to Kate Connor. I love this series. I just read DEMON EX MACHINA, book 5. The plot keeps getting more complicated and more twisted, and I love it. It's urban fantasy, but there's definitely comedic genius here. If you'd like to read the entire series:

CARPE DEMON
CALIFORNIA DEMON
DEMONS ARE FOREVER
DEJA DEMON

DEMON EX MACHINA

I can't wait for the next one. I hope there is a next one.

Synopsis:

Demon Hunter Kate Connor is having one hell of a month...

In between demon patrols and teaching self-defense classes to the local moms, Kate has to deal with a teenage daughter who's gung-ho on being a demon slayer in training and a toddler son entering a tantrum phase that rivals anything from the pits of Hell.

That's a lot for one woman to juggle, but on top of it all, Kate has to find a way to release the demon possessing her first husband, Eric, without destroying the man inside. Because if the demon within Eric gets free, it just might be more than one seriously stressed suburban mom can handle.

Manga and Anime

I've been reading a lot of manga recently. It all started with Melissa Marr's faery series, WICKED LOVELY, got a spin-off manga. VAMPIRE KISSES, THE FAERIE PATH, and CIRQUE DU FREAK are other young adult fantasy series that have done this. Usually, it’s only a small series. Three seems to be the golden number for these.


There are also several series by Marvel. But I have to recommend RETURN TO THE LABYRINTH or THE LEGEND OF THE DARK CRYSTAL, both based off of the Henson movies made in collaboration with the fantastic artists, Brian and Wendy Froud. Also, fans of World of Warcraft, there is a series called LEGENDS, and THE SUNWELL TRILOGY in manga form. One of my favorites was STAR TREK TNG, THE MANGA. I can’t wait to read MAXIMUM RIDE AND NIGHTSCHOOL.

“Real manga” (as I call it) was originally in Japanese. Which is why they’re “backwards”. We read left-to-right. They read right-to-left. So, to keep the book exactly the same when they translated it to English, they read right-to-left.

One of the most popular authors is Clamp, which is actually a group of four women. I’ve yet to read one of their manga, but as I’ve recently learned, a lot of manga has an animated series… anime! I recently discovered the anime station, Funimation. The only anime I’ve seen before this is Sailor Moon. Anyway, XXXHOLIC, is a very popular CLAMP manga, and I adore the anime. I have a small crush on Watanuki.

I recently read FAIRY CUBE by Kaori Yuki, and I loved it. I want to read another series of hers, ANGEL SANCTUARY. Now, I’m reading A LITTLE SNOW FAIRY SUGAR. Some are silly. Not all of them, but most. I’m anxious to get my hands on VAMPIRE KNIGHT and XXXHOLIC to name a few.

Other anime I've enjoyed is MoonPhase, Peach Girl, and School Rumble.