Sakurai Sayuki is the odd girl in school. Known for having sharp eyes that always make her look mean, Sakurai has not had a boyfriend ever. Now that she is in high school, things are different and she hopes for love.
*Short Review*
The thing about this manga is it is a very cliche romance. High school girl falls in love with a boy, she doesn’t realize is her home economics teacher (because she sleeps in that class). She goes through this back and forth of if her feelings are valid and if she should pursue the teacher.
Typical. . . completely. This manga was listed as a comedy but there wasn’t much humor to it. Sakurai was annoying and she over reacted to everything (well she is a high school girl in a manga). The surrounding characters were iffy because you really couldn’t put your finger on what type of people they were. There wasn’t enough personality coming out of them, even though they were pretty dominate within the story.
To be honest, I expected something different because there has been occasions that things were different. The art work was mediocre because everyone looked alike and it was hard to really tell them apart, especially the men. The story-line moved surprisingly very smooth. There was conflict but it fit within the plot very well.
Overall, it wasn’t a bad story. I know plenty of people that would enjoy it much more than me.
Wild Rose Press To Be Published Jan. 28, 2015 290 Pages
Lacy Telchev has just buried her much older husband but once he is buried all his secrets are being placed on displayed.
Now Lacy, determined to discover the truth about her husband and his past, goes across Europe being chased by mysterious men, meeting with three women from her husband’s past.
But the more she finds out about her husband, Lacy has to ask herself did she really know who he was?
Cliche that was the first thing I thought of when I began this and it was the last thing I thought of finished this book. The book was cute but it was cliche.
Lacy is a woman that married her Russian husband after six months and at the age of 27 she had to bury him. She knows almost nothing about her husband throughout the entire book I was surprised she knew more than when they first met. Lacy is a bit of a brat as well. When she was showing concern for her clothes, her designer purse and designer shoes, I had to laugh. You have men chasing you and you’re worried about what you look like. Nope. Nope. Nope.
The husband himself was a cliche as well. He was this man who was so amazing with women and no one can be mad at him for what he did and didn’t do. Bull crap. He had a life not a single one of them knew about and every woman had the right to be upset but no they praised him for his amazing eyes and sex skills.
*Spoiler*
He was a spy. . . . . OH WOW. A Russian spy who is amazing in bed -.- Another cliche.
But here what was good about this book. Although full of every cliche you can think of, the story was written well. The author has talent; that cannot be denied in any form. This talent made me finish the book because the story was written well although too simple and way too cliche.
Overall, this book could have been so much better but it wasn’t a horrible read.
Where do I begin! Where do I begin! How about the summary of the book?
St. Martin’s Press Published Feb 26 2013 325Pages
In 1986, Eleanor and Park meet on the school bus. Eleanor, who is tall (considers herself a giant) chunky and with curly red hair, is new to the school and sits next to Park. Park, who is half Korean, and in Eleanor’s eyes a perfect neat freak, doesn’t care too much for Eleanor and can’t stand the fact she sits next to him. To say the least he is embarrassed not just for himself but for her.
However, he isn’t mean to her; he just ignores her. But soon Eleanor and Park connect changing each others’ lives physically and emotionally.
I would have appreciated this book better if I was 14 and not 24. This book was a cute read. But it was full of puppy love clichés. There was so much I miss you, “no I don’t like you, I need you” that I was laughing saying Oh my GOODNESS WHY DID SHE PUT THAT IN THERE!
What I liked about the book was it wasn’t love at first sight. Park and Eleanor couldn’t stand each other but little things each other were doing kept building their like for each other. I liked that. That is usually how relationships start anyway, so I felt that was realistic.
I also liked the fact that Eleanor and Park had real problems at home. Their lives we’re perfect and yes Eleanor got teased in school badly but it didn’t ruin her life. Park had his share of issues at home with his Dad but his priority other than school was Eleanor and he made sure she knew that.
What I didn’t like was the cover and what it led me to believe. Eleanor and Park are wearing headphones on the cover . . . but that is not what connected them. It was comic books. They shared a love of comic books. Although there was exchanging of music and Park did make tapes for Eleanor it really didn’t matter. There were no music references beyond the exchanging of the tapes until the end which was completely unnecessary. Also neither one of them were misfits. Park had a decent social standing and no one like Eleanor because of how she looked. She didn’t act out nor was she dressed in all black. She was a shy large girl with a lot of red hair.
I also didn’t like the ending. Eleanor had a lot of home problems and it wasn’t as if she didn’t trust Park because she did. She didn’t trust herself and she lacked confidence. And she stilled lacked confidence at the end. How after everything you’ve been through you don’t even write the boy you love a letter . . . . You send him a post card after goodness knows how many letters he wrote you. And the post card only had three words on it. I didn’t like that. I was so frustrated with the ending not because it was a bad book but because it could have been so much better. I would have appreciated the book more if Eleanor actually showed some kind of progress.
Overall, the book gets 7 out of 10. It could have been developed more not for an adult reading a young adult book but just to be great book for all ages.
Tania Lasenburg is a communications major that plays video games and cyber stalks Gym Class Heroes. Follow her on twitter @mrztanyapickles
Making and breaking your favorite reads since 2017
Motif by Tanya 