Books 72-73
I Hear the Sunspot: Limit, Volume 2 by Yuki Fumino
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I appreciate that this a more realistic depiction of gay relationships than say the BL subgenre of manga. That said this is almost too slow burn for me. I think my issue stems from the whole miscommunication causing problems tropes because that one annoys me. That said it certain can and does happen.
Taichi and Kohei have a widening distance between them in this volume between Taichi's new job and Kohei's studies but more importantly there is the whole deaf cultural barrier between them. Both young men fall in with new friends who happen to be brothers (Kohei because the younger brother is deaf and Taichi because the older brother is a coworker).
Kohei starts listening to the younger brother who does believe that the deaf people should stick with other people with hearing issues because those with normal hearing just can't 'get it.' He's also not a fan of people getting 'fixed' with cochlear implants (all arguments I've been through with my deaf cousins and their friends) So there is a lot of realism there and obviously no easy answers. But it does serve to add strain to Kohei and Taichi's relationship. I'm curious to see what happens next.
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There Will Come a Darkness by Katy Rose Pool
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Firstly I owe the author/publisher an apology. I got this in a giveaway and then I got in an accident that took me out of the game for a while. Also my parents fixed up my place for me to get around in post-accident and I literally just found this book again.
I really struggled to rate this. It probably deserved four stars but a) I put this down several times to read other things b) it took 500 pages for not a whole lot to happen (and in writing this I looked, this is a trilogy now). There are tons of characters each getting their own chapters and only a few of them come together in fulfilling the prophecy. Also I think this was a bad time for me to be reading about one religion rising up and abusing people and marginalizing a group if you get my meaning.
The Graced have magic. The hierophant wants to burn this magic out of them literally with Godfire and it's a battle to see who will win. We have these characters.
Hassan - a prince in hiding from the hierophant and his minions
Anton - a seer in hiding from his brother he believes wants to kill him not to mention hiding from his own Grace
Ephyra & Beru - sisters with a dark secret
Jude - the leader of a secret group (think Knights Templar) who want to protect the prophet.
Plus all the people surrounding them. It's a lot. It made me long for the old days when you got a short fantasy series with lots of smaller books. Ephyra & Beru's story is interesting in its own right, ditto Anton but they get a bit lost in the grand scheme of things. I will get Pool props for pulling all these characters together but at the end of the nearly 500 pages it felt like mere set up for what was to come and not too many story lines were resolved at all.
I really wanted to connect to the characters (Anton came the closest) but somehow I didn't and I don't know why. they're all well drawn. Will I read further? Probably but not right away. I need a bit of a break. Also I'm not up for such long books any more. I don't know why but the older I get the less I want books over 400 pages.
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