The Decagon House Murders, Vol. 1 - Yukito Ayatsuji & Hiro Kiyohara

5/5 ⭐

Based on the best-selling novel by the same name, this manga adaptation of the Decagon House Murders will keep you entrapped until the very end.

I love a good mystery. It tends to be my go-to genre for reading. But there is something, just exciting about a mystery/thriller manga. I didn't hesitate to request this one when I saw it and I devoured it in one sitting.

Opening up with the arrival at an island littered with tragedy, the introduction of the peculiar mystery club is nothing short of dramatic and attention-grabbing. The reveal that each member adopts the moniker of a famous mystery author made the story even more entertaining.

This first volume focused on building the plot and introducing the cast of this mystery as well as a previous, unsolved mystery. The going back and forth between the members on the island and the two members that stayed behind and how the mysteries intertwined kept the plot moving and the reader engaged.

Now for the art, It is amazing. I tend to be picky about art style, but that is just because I have a preference, not that it's bad art. This, however, was beautiful and I loved the character design and settings so much.

For the characters, there is the usual cast of characters, the hothead, the beauty with the brains, the mysterious one, and so on. But at the same time, it didn't feel as if they were just your usual cast of characters. They felt unique and different from the story. Which made it that much more enjoyable.

I cannot wait to see this continued and I already have plans to read the novel in the meantime.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the ARC!

8/19/21

*This review was previously posted on my Google Site.

Comments

The Family Plot - Megan Collins

4/5 ⭐ A family brought up learning about everything through the lens of true crime. Murder, mayhem, and death are the Lighthouse family's close companions. I was looking forward to this book since reading the summary. I have a mild interest in true crime and was interested in seeing how this story would incorporate such a widely talked about topic. For some, true crime is overdone and saturates media. And if anything, I think Collins does a fantastic job of acknowledging that fact and takes on true crime in a new and unique fashion. We are immediately introduced to the main setting, Blackburn Island, home to a serial killer who was never caught and the home of the 4 Lighthouse children and their... peculiar parents. I thought that Collins did a good job with the characters introducing them one right after another without it feeling rushed or like we were missing something. If anything it felt as though we learned a lot about the family within just the first few chapters. Without ...

Cleopatra's Dagger - Carole Lawrence

3/5 ⭐ While this story started great and had some really great qualities, it, unfortunately, fell flat for me. I tend to avoid historical fiction and I had hoped that the murder mystery aspect would help. And I think it would have if it had actually been about the murders. But instead, they became almost an afterthought. I was drawn in by the attention to detail and well-developed prose but after a while, it was overwhelming and tedious. It felt like it took forever to get to the point and while some build-up is good, this was too much. This is definitely for someone, but not me. 6/7/22 *This review was previously posted on my Google Site.

Certain Dark Things - Silvia Moreno-Garcia

5/5 ⭐ A fresh take on the old classic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia manages to reimagine vampire lore into something completely unique. Take whatever previous notions you have of vampire stories and toss them out the window. She managed to introduce such an interesting take on vampires, ones that take on aspects from their cultures like Alt with ties to Aztec mythology and so on. All of these subspecies of vampire builds on the richness of the world Moreno-Garcia created. Alt flees to Mexico City, a closed nation free from any vampire after her family is killed by a rival gang of Necro vampires(a deadly European subspecies of vampires). With only Cualli, her loyal and deadly dog, and a garbage boy named Domingo helping her, she has to flee both the Necros and human gangs who wish her dead. Vampire gangs are definitely a new one for me. The characters come to life on the page within the excellent worldbuilding. You just get lost in the story, captivated until the very end. The ...

In The Solarium

Search This Blog