Week 39 Reviews: Ragna Crimson, Volume 1, Ragna Crimson, Volume 2, Ragna Crimson, Volume 3, Ragna Crimson, Volume 4

From Goodreads:

In this action-packed dark fantasy, humanity lives under the threat of annihilation by immensely powerful dragons. The dragon hunter Ragna embarks on a revenge-fueled quest to eliminate that threat once and for all!

Dragon hunters: warriors armed with special silver weapons who kill their prey for bounty. Lowest among their ranks is Ragna, who forms an improbable partnership with the young genius Leonica, a master dragon slayer with more kills to her name than almost any other. All Ragna wants is to stay by Leonica's side, but his dream is shattered by an attack from the deadliest dragon imaginable...

From Goodreads:

Set on victory at any cost, Ragna joins forces with Crimson, a powerful dragon and traitor to his kind. Crimson's motivations may be obscure, but he and Ragna share the same goal: to destroy the dragon monarchs. Their current target is Disas Trois, the "Tempest Cell," who is terrorizing a border town with his gruesome, wind-based attacks. Crimson rallies a band of dragon hunters to fight the Tempest Cell, but unbeknownst to them all, a massive disaster is unfolding in the royal capital.

From Goodreads:

Ragna and Crimson infiltrate the royal city of Celesviera in order to strike down the Winged Monarch, Ultimatia. Crimson summons his followers, Golem and Chimera, in order to devise a plan of attack. Meanwhile, Ragna is wandering the city alone and ends up in a chance encounter with Ultimatia! As he faces off against the time-controlling Winged Monarch, he makes a fateful choice…

From Goodreads:

Ultimatia, the Winged Monarch, uses her powers to rewind time, putting Ragna in terrible danger. Crimson manages to save him by executing an utterly brutal plan, but their escape lands them in the secret base of the kingdom's strongest fighting force, the Argentum Corps. There they encounter the commander of the corps, the Silverware Princess, a mighty wielder of silverine!

My Review:


Author: Daiki Kobayashi
Series: Ragna Crimson #1, 2, 3, 4
Read: September 22nd, 22nd, 22nd, 22nd, 2025  
Source: Online 
Reason Why: Sounded really good, and they're Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2025 Books! 
Publisher: Square Enix Manga
Published: February 23rd 2021, May 25th 2021, August 24th 2021, January 4th 2022

Ragna Crimson, Volume 1:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Ragna Crimson, Volume 2:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

 

Ragna Crimson, Volume 3:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Ragna Crimson, Volume 4:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 29 Review: Lore Olympus: Volume 8

From Goodreads:

Scandalous gossip, wild parties, and forbidden love—the Greek tale of Hades and Persephone gets a romantic modern update in the gorgeously illustrated, Eisner Award-winning Lore Olympus, including a brand new bonus short story!

"You have no authority here."

Revelations rock Olympus as Persephone's trial ends, threatening to throw the gods into a new war.

Though Persephone and Hades become closer than ever after she opens up to him about all she has endured, their peace is shattered when another truth is revealed: Apollo is Zeus's son. The announcement shocks the pantheon, and the king of the gods realizes that the would-be usurper wants Persephone's power to take the throne.

Zeus banishes Persephone to the Mortal Realm and, out of fear, cuts it off entirely from the rest of the gods. This decree succeeds in undercutting Apollo's plan, but also inadvertently begins a decade-long divine cold war when Hades strikes back by shuttering the Underworld. With the gods scattered and weakened, Kronos uses the ensuing bedlam to finally escape his imprisonment and begin staging his own coup.

Persephone has only one choice when she discovers all the realms on the verge of collapse: Descend into the Underworld to try to defeat the power-hungry Titan, claim her rightful place as queen, and reunite with her one true love.

This edition of Smythe's original Eisner Award–winning webcomic Lore Olympus features a brand-new, exclusive short story from creator Rachel Smythe and brings the Greek pantheon into the modern age in a sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel.

This volume collects episodes 180–206 of the #1 WEBTOON comic Lore Olympus.

My Review:
I had a great time reading these episodes again! 

Author: Rachel Smythe 
Series: Lore Olympus #8
Read: July 12th, 2025  
Source: Library  
Reason Why: Love her writing and this series, and it's a 2025 Retelling Reading Challenge 2025 Book, Historical Fiction 2025 Book, Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2025 Book and a WoW Book! 
Publisher: Inklore 
Published: May 6th 2025

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 48 Review: Lore Olympus: Volume 7

From Goodreads:

Scandalous gossip, wild parties, and forbidden love—the Greek tale of Hades and Persephone gets a romantic modern update in the gorgeously illustrated, Eisner Award-winning Lore Olympus, including a brand new bonus short story!

An ingenious take on the Greek Pantheon, Lore Olympus is a modern update on the story of Hades and Persephone. Follow the propulsive love story of two Greek gods, told with lavish artwork and contemporary sensibilities.

This full-color edition of Smythe's original Eisner Award-winning webcomic Lore Olympus features exclusive behind-the-scenes content and brings Greek mythology into the modern age in a sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel.

This volume collects episodes 153-179 of the #1 WEBTOON comic Lore Olympus.

My Review:
I had a fantastic time reading this volume! I love this series so much, and events are really heating up in this volume, so much has been built, and it was phenomenal to see all that start to pay off. I had to keep reading and consuming this story again! The chicks are starting to come home to roost, and this is where the snowball starts rolling! 

We're finally at the episodes that I had to wait for, and oh, it was just a delight to read them again! From dealing with turning Minthe into a potted plant, dealing with Leto and Apollo being the worst again, as well as Persephone's first therapy season, yeah, these episodes pack a punch. Oh, and the moment when Hades called her his wife! I remember the speculation about what that meant, so it was great to read it again!

There were so many awesome moments in this volume, for when Persephone and Hades accept each other's differences, to when they were flirting with one another with a plant as Ares and Hephaestus were having a conversation, that was a nice, light moment that was really needed! Especially with what happened with the arrows and what happened next. Another funny moment was when Hermes was going on about how great his mom was and Zeus gave a very Zeus response and their faces afterwards. This really is it's own story based on myths, and brought to life with this take on these characters! 

I loved the bonus short story, to see them spend a little more time after the shopping just having fun, with no pressures, yeah, I'm really glad that they got that time, because boy, things are just heating up now, and it's a heck of a ride! 

Loved reading this volume, and I can't wait for the next!  

Author: Rachel Smythe 
Series: Lore Olympus Volumes #7 
Read: November 23rd, 2024
Source: Library 
Reason Why: Love her writing and this series, and it's a 2024 Retelling Reading Challenge 2024 Book, Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2024 Book and a WoW Book! 
Publisher: Inklore
Published: October 1st 2024

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 46 Reviews: Spy×Family, Volume 8, Spy×Family, Volume 9, Spy×Family, Volume 10, Spy×Family, Volume 11, Spy×Family, Volume 12, Spy×Family, Volume 13

From Goodreads:

Master spy Twilight is unparalleled when it comes to going undercover on dangerous missions for the betterment of the world. But when he receives the ultimate assignment—to get married and have a kid—he may finally be in over his head!

Yor is assigned to be a bodyguard for a mafia family on a cruise ship by the secret organization Garden. But with Lloyd and Anya also on board thanks to a giveaway they won, Yor is starting to have doubts about her secret life as an assassin…

From Goodreads:

Master spy Twilight is unparalleled when it comes to going undercover on dangerous missions for the betterment of the world. But when he receives the ultimate assignment—to get married and have a kid—he may finally be in over his head!

Yor's on assignment and finds herself up against a gang of assassins on board a luxury cruiser. Meanwhile, Loid and Anya each discover that bombs have been planted throughout the ship! Will their best efforts be enough to save the vessel?

From Goodreads:

Master spy Twilight is unparalleled when it comes to going undercover on dangerous missions for the betterment of the world. But when he receives the ultimate assignment—to get married and have a kid—he may finally be in over his head!

As a child, [REDACTED] lived an unremarkable life with his parents, playing war games with his friends and quarreling with his father. It never occurred to young [REDACTED] that the life he'd taken for granted might one day end…

From Goodreads:

Master spy Twilight is unparalleled when it comes to going undercover on dangerous missions for the betterment of the world. But when he receives the ultimate assignment—to get married and have a kid—he may finally be in over his head!

Threatened by Yor's relationship with Melinda Desmond, Anya gets serious about her own friendship scheme. On the way to a museum field trip, however, she and her class become the target of political activists looking to free their political allies…

From Goodreads:

An action-packed comedy about a fake family that includes a spy, an assassin and a telepath!

Master spy Twilight is unparalleled when it comes to going undercover on dangerous missions for the betterment of the world. But when he receives the ultimate assignment—to get married and have a kid—he may finally be in over his head!

Anya's friendship scheme seems to be taking a turn for the better in the aftermath of the failed hijacking. Meanwhile, Operation Strix and Loid's true identity are in danger—a mole has been uncovered, but not before they went underground!

From Goodreads:

Twilight is on the ropes after his battle with an Ostanian spy! Can Nightfall save Twilight from disaster? Will WISE manage to recover their stolen secrets? And what will become of Loid and Yor's marital crisis? Meanwhile, Anya's friendship scheme gets thrown off by an unexpected gift from Damian!

My Review:
I absolutely loved reading these volumes! I've really fallen in love with this series, I adore this cobbled together family with the secrets that they're keeping, and the shenanigans that they get into! It's over the top, and just a delight to read these stories! 

A lot happens in these volumes, from the boat trip that's a won vacation for Loid and Anya, and a work trip for Yor to protect a lady, where Yor figures out why she does what she does. We also see Loid as a child, and why he's trying so hard to prevent war, and I loved getting that backstory. 

Of course there's also developments in Project Strix, between another Tonitrus Bolt but also another Stella Star, because of her actions when their school bus is hijacked. Her back and forth with Damien, which Anya becomes more invested in after Yor meets Mrs. Donovan, which was pretty interesting. Her interactions, and the times that we got her thoughts, she seems pretty complex. 

And then there was volume 12, with the stolen data, and that cliffhanger ending. I loved being able to go straight to volume 13, it was just so good! Loved how it was resolved, that was pretty intense! And so well done, I just had to keep reading! 

One of my favourite moments is when Damian tries to give Anya the cake that he thinks that she wants because of an early misunderstanding. That she also now wants the cake? Yeah, that was fun, and watching his henchmen, and Becky, chase the pair, was so hilarious! Especially with how it ended, that was so cute! 

These were so great to read and I can't wait for more, that ending of volume 13 is another cliffhanger, I need to know! 

Author: Tatsuya Endo
Series: Spy×Family #8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
Read: November 14th, 14th, 14th, 14th, 14th, 14th, 2024 
Source: Library, Edelweiss 
Reason Why: Love this series, and they're Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2024 Books, and Spy×Family, Volume 13 is a WoW Book! 
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC
Published: September 20th 2022, March 21st 2023, October 17th 2023, March 19th 2024, August 6th 2024

Expected Publication: January 14th 2025

Spy×Family, Volume 8:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Spy×Family, Volume 9:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Spy×Family, Volume 10:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Spy×Family, Volume 11:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Spy×Family, Volume 12:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Spy×Family, Volume 13:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 46 Review: The Possessed

From Goodreads:

Can loyalty and love transcend a history of betrayal and blood?

Maika, Kippa, and Ren return to their own world to discover a full year has passed in their absence—and Zinn is back in the clutches of Maika's father, the megalomaniacal Lord Doctor. From the relative safety of the pirate-controlled Spice Islands, Maika and her friends must regroup, recover, and find a way to stop the Lord Doctor's murderous rampage before he destroys the Known World.

Collects MONSTRESS #49-54

My Review:
This was another great volume of the series! I really enjoyed reading the issues collected together! They might be very gruesome and dark, but they are such a great story and one that I can't get enough of! And after that ending of the last one, things are changing, and I was so excited to see what was going on!

I really enjoyed watching these characters as they recovered from being away, their bodies being severely malnourished. Like the fact that Maika had lost Zinn to the Lord Doctor, and he's been waging war, it's pretty grim. 

We also had the cats that had been trapped in the other realm for all this time, who knew more about the world before everything seems to have become a secret. So I really enjoyed watching them deal with that and try to figure out what they're gonna do in this world that things have changed so much from what they knew. I still want to learn more of what's been hidden, they know, but they have to tell us now that they're here. We've only gotten hints, just bits and pieces and I can't wait to see more of the bigger picture.  

That ending, though has me so excited to see where the series is gonna go from here as things are getting worse and worse. I can't wait to see what Maika's plan might be to deal with her father, as well as rescuing her pseudo father. I need him to be rescued, he can't stay where he is, that one scene with his leg was horrible.

This was another great read from the series and I can't wait for the next one! 

Author: Marjorie Liu, Illustrated by Sana Takeda
Series: Monstress #9
Read: November 14th, 2024
Source: Ebook.bike 
Reason Why: Love her writing and this series, and it's a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2024 Book and a WoW Book! 
Publisher: Image Comics
Published: November 13th 2024

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars