Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

A new fact about me for blog readers: I'm the anime club sponsor at my school (well, one of two). This week, I've invited club members over to Imaginary Reads to talk about their favorite manga. This is the unveiling of the secret files straight from the minds of the Round Table of Otaku Knights. Some of them are club favorites (like One Punch Man , which we reviewed as a club here ). Others are hotly debated (and shall not be named here). In fact, some have been so hotly debated , that club members have asked YOU  to vote for your favorite manga in the comments below. Our Question of the Day is two-fold: What is your favorite manga from the list presented below?  What is a manga (or anime) that is not on the list and you would like to recommend to us? {Fantasy} Boku no Hero Academia (My Hero Academia) by Horikoshi Kohei Genres: Action , Superhero Kris's Thoughts:  What do you do if you dream of being a hero but don't have the innate talent? What do you do when you'...

With our second Disney Star Wars film, it has become clear that they intend to take the franchise in a safe, nostalgic direction. Being the first of the new standalone films for the franchise,  Rogue One  is free to work away from the direct plot, allowing it to take liberties that both help and hinder it in the end. Rogue One takes place directly before Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope . It tells the story of the Death Star’s completion and the Rebel Army’s acquisition of its plans, finally answering the question of why the Empire’s super weapon had such a glaring weakness. Nevertheless, the story of Rogue One is all too familiar. Consider the following tropes: an orphaned hero, a hologram bringing an important message, seeking an aging mentor for help, the comic relief droid, the super weapon destroying a planet, and the perilous journey to fight evil. Being a standalone film, Rogue One should be a breath of fresh air. It holds the potential to explore new parts of the...

A world where the very elements of the land are out for human blood? Where young women must put their lives on the line to train to become the next queen that protects humanity? Speak no more and let me read this awesome book in peace .  (Seriously, I carried this book everywhere I went until I finished it.) I don't remember the last time I was this excited to read a book. Longtime followers of this blog know that fantasy was my first love, and it still holds a special place in my heart. While it has its flaws,  The Queen of Blood  contains many elements that I look for in an epic fantasy. I need book two yesterday. WHAT I LIKED Don't trust the fire, for it will burn you. Don't trust the ice, for it will freeze you. Don't trust the water, for it will drown you. Don't trust the air, for it will choke you. Don't trust the earth, for it will bury you. Don't trust the trees, for they will rip you, rend you, tear you, kill you dead. - a child's chant in Renth...

Quite frankly, it was this gorgeous cover that piqued my interest in this novel. I'm in love with it, and I can't begin to express this love in coherent words. It's beautiful and says so many things about this novel. I was also interested by the promise of "elements of Jane Austen's beloved  Pride and Prejudice " (as advertised in the synopsis), but I wasn't prepared a full-blown retelling. That came as a surprise. I wasn't thrilled by how closely this novel follows the original storyline as it made the romance and general plot much too predictable (the author has crafted a fascinating world, and I was hoping to be more surprised by it). That said, there so many other compelling elements of this world that it more than made up for it. (And I can see other readers enjoying the P&P retelling much more than I did.) Fascinating World Building My favorite aspect of this novel is the world itself. Elle Katherine White has crafted a fascinating world in w...

WHAT I LIKED The characters are real The characters' talk and mannerisms look like real people in urban communities. I'm a teacher in an urban school district (with a predominantly Hispanic and black population), and it was refreshing to read about teenagers who look and act like my students. It feels weird to be happy about having real characters. I wish that we had more minority authors and more books with real minority characters whose lives reflect those of living, breathing minorities. Mary has big dreams There's a stereotype nowadays that you can't have a baby and pursue your dreams. Mary is pregnant, wants to keep her baby (and take care of him eventually), and  she hasn't given up on her dreams of going to college. #rolemodel #respect It talks about real issues There are issues on top of issues on top of issues, some of which I've listed in the content section at the end of this review (so no spoilers right now). This novel gets into the heart of urban l...

The Goblin's Puzzle  by Andrew S. Chilton Published by  Knopf on January 19, 2016 Genres: Fantasy ,  Middle Grade Pages:  279 Pages Format:  Hardcover Rating:  ★★★★★ THE BOY is a nameless slave on a mission to uncover his true destiny. THE GOBLIN holds all the answers, but he’s too tricky to be trusted. PLAIN ALICE is a bookish peasant girl carried off by a confused dragon. And PRINCESS ALICE is the lucky girl who wasn’t kidnapped. All four are tangled up in a sinister plot to take over the kingdom, and together they must face kind monsters, a cruel magician, and dozens of deathly boring palace bureaucrats. They’re a ragtag bunch, but with strength, courage, and plenty of deductive reasoning, they just might outwit the villains and crack the goblin’s puzzle. Review The Goblin's Puzzle  is a delightfully clever read that breaks away from traditional fairy tales to encourage young readers to consider logical questions, fate, slavery, and gender roles. A...

Doctor Strange Directed by Scott Derrickson Genre: Superhero Running time: 115 minutes Released: 2016 Produced by Marvel Studios After his career is destroyed, a brilliant but arrogant surgeon gets a new lease on life when a sorcerer takes him under his wing and trains him to defend the world against evil. Once again, Marvel has managed to deliver a solid superhero film. While it certainly had its own charm, however, Doctor Strange lacks the distinct Marvel charm that I’ve grown to love in their other films. Dr. Steven Strange is a brilliant but arrogant and self-centered surgeon who lives his life in luxury. After a car accident cripples his hands and modern medicine is unable to restore them, he visits the mystical Kamar-Taj for a miracle. There, he studies sorcery under the Ancient One and grows both as a sorcerer and as a person over time—until the world is thrust into danger and Strange must step up to save the world from an interdimensional threat. As typical of superhero films,...

The Crown Kiera Cass Series: The Selection #5 Genre: YA  Dystopian ,  Romance Hardback: 279 Pages Publication: May 3, 2016 by Harper Teen When Eadlyn became the first princess of Illéa to hold her own Selection, she didn’t think she would fall in love with any of her thirty-five suitors. She spent the first few weeks of the competition counting down the days until she could send them all home. But as events at the palace force Eadlyn even further into the spotlight, she realizes that she might not be content remaining alone. Eadlyn still isn’t sure she’ll find the fairytale ending her parents did twenty years ago. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you…and soon Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more impossible—and more important—than she ever imagined. Review My favorite part about The Selection  series is that I can count on the books for a light, fluffy read that doesn't require much thinking. (That said, it's also my least favorite part about the series...