Monday, 31 August 2015

Monthly Blog Recap : August




Hello everyone! 

 how was august for you? the last month of summer has come to the end, and the fall is approaching us! are you ready for a new school or university term? or is it that your holiday is ending and it's time to go to work again? 

 I'll be starting uni in only 28 more days, so i am getting ready both physically and mentally. I've been running around university all day today, and I finally chose my minor. this is going to be fantastic! It's marketing, i thought i needed to know more about it now that I started KC Book Promotions. Always thinking after doing :D But well, I wanted to take PR, but there was not an option like that, and the closest one to it was marketing, now the only thing to do is to look for the head of department and ask her for the signature. 

 nevertheless, if you are feeling sad, or just had a bad day, i hope you will still visit Katie's Corner, you'll always find something cheerful there. and if you missed anything from August, here's the complete list of everything i've done! so, look thought it and maybe there's you next favourite book or manga? who knows? 

 XOXO

 Katie

And now our blog recap:


Book reviews:

4.5 Leaves

4.5 Leaves  

5 Leaves


Manga Reviews:

4 Leaves

3.5 Leaves

3.5 Leaves

4.5 Leaves

4.5 Leaves

4.5 Leaves

4 Leaves 

4 Leaves

4.5 Leaves

4 Leaves

Manga Review : Secret Unrequited Love by Kotomi Aoki
5 Leaves

Release Day Blitz:


4.5 Leaves


Book Blitz:

Book Blitz : 3 Tymes Dirty: Chopp'd N' Skrewd by Darrell A. King KC Book Promotions

Book Blitz : Sands of Time by D. G. Thomas (Magic Chest Book Series #1) KC Book Promotions


Cover Reveal: 

Cover Reveal : The Libelle Papers by E.C. Hibbs (Tragic Silence #2) KC Book Promotions


Blog Tour: 

Book Tour : Wings of Darkness and Flame by Cassandra Stangle (KC Book Promotions)



Waiting on Wednesday: 

Waiting on Wednesday #54 Percy Jackson's Green Heroes



Random:




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Manga Review : Secret Unrequited Love by Kotomi Aoki




Title:  Secret Unrequited Love
Original Title: Boku No Hatsukoi O Kimi Ni Sasagu
Author: Kotomi Aoki
Artist: Kotomi Aoki

Year of Release: 2005
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Mature, School Life, Shoujo, Tragedy

Status: Completed
Chapters (Translated in English): 67

Volumes & Chapters: 

 Volume 1 Chapters 1-5.5            Volume 5 Chapters 22-27           Volume 9 Chapters 45-50
Volume 2 Chapters 6-10             Volume 6 Chapters 28-33           Volume 10 Chapters 51-56
Volume 3 Chapters 11-15.5        Volume 7 Chapters 34-38           Volume 11 Chapters 57-61
Volume 4 Chapters 16-21           Volume 8 Chapters 39-44           Volume 12 Chapters 62-67


Mangafox – Goodreads

Summary


Takuma and Mayu's story began when they were only 8 years old. During his childhood, Takuma was constantly hospitalised due to his heart condition. He soon became friends with Mayu, the daughter of the doctor in charge of his case. Day by day they grew closer and closer. However, the summer when Takuma was 8, he made a promise to Mayu that he couldn't keep... Their story unfolds as they grow older and their bond gets stronger...

----
Related to: BOKU WA IMOUTO NI KOI WO SURU

My Thoughts


Review covers 67 chapters 
Hello everyone and welcome back to Katie’s Corner! Today I’ll be covering the second drama story that made me cry from the very first page. I covered the first story one month ago, and if you would like to read the review, it’s here.

I believe this story is one of the best drama/tragedy that I have ever read. The plot is not that unique, but how the author describes the feelings and emotions of characters that’s something worth reading! The author describes both Takuma’s and Mayu’s feelings as if it was her in their place. And you understand both points of view. You get why Takuma wants to keep Mayu away from him, I mean, he’ll die when he turns 20. And at the same time you understand Mayu, because she loves him, she wants to be next to the person for as long as she can. You feel the sadness from every chapter, this premotions of something bad to happen. It doesn’t help that the majority of chapters start narrating in the past. The final chapter is also very controversial; I remember that the people who have read this story are divided into two fractions. One says that Takuma is alive and that’s their future, while others say that he died and that was juts his fantasy. The last chapter is titled “Will” and that also gives the confusion. What about me? To say the truth I believe that the author left it for us to decide, and that it’s just Takuma’s hopes, that it will be like that. I mean Mayu is still reading the will, when their kids are shown. However, deep in my heart I want to believe that Takuma lived through the operation and they lived together.

I do not know how the author does it, but all her works leave deep impact on me. I’ve read 3 of her works, (this one was the very first, and I have a fourth one on my reading list), and every time I feel the story pull me into it without any restrain. What really are fascinating about Aoki Kotomi’s works are her story itself and her story telling ability. All of her stories are very deep, especially this one. It covers the concept of death and life. And if in other similar stories you do not really see it, here it just stares at you from every page. All characters are very well developed, and they grow as people though out the story. The manga covers a big part of the their lives. They start at the age of 8 and go up to the age of 18. Sometimes we go from one time to another, and that gives the story more drama.

I can’t really say which character I loved more: Mayu or Takuma. I understand both of their intentions, though I guess I was more on Mayu’s side, as I knew how much Takuma loved her and that for them being apart was similar to death. I think I cried on this story more that I have cried in my whole life, and even though I’ve read it 3 times, I still cried from the very first page. It never lost its dramatism, even if I knew what was going to happen. Another amazing character is Kou. I still wonder when he fell in love with Mayu, but he was the one who finally made Takuma admit his feelings after 5 years of running away from Mayu. His story is also untold, because we still don’t know if he would ever wake up from his sleep.

I could be talking about this manga for hours, but it’s one thing me saying and another you actually reading it. I highly recommend everyone to read it, even if you are not a fan of manga. You will enjoy it for its idea behind the story. I hope you will read it, as it is story, which can happen to everyone. Read a story full of unrequited and at the same time mutual love, death and tragedy lurking in every corner! You still have doubts? Well, I can’t say anything except that you are losing an amazing experience of reading and understanding this story. Enjoy it to its fullest and don’t forget to share your thoughts below. Stay tuned for more reviews as well as promos! Don’t miss your next favourite book or manga. Happy reading!

XOXO

Katie 


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Saturday, 29 August 2015

Book Haul & Blog Weekly #61


Book Haul & Blog Weekly is a weekly featute here at Katie's Corner inspired by Stacking Shelves by Tynga's Reviews and The Sunday Post by Caffeinated Book Reviewer.


Book Haul:



Purchased/Freebies:


Our Miracle  by Kumeta Natsuo Vol 1-11




NetGalley/Edelweiss:

N/A

Author Request/Tour:



Angry Movie Guy by Izzy Church

Goodreads – Amazon 



N/A

Gifted:

N/A


Blog Weekly:


Manga Review : Red - The Colour of Love by Chiba Kozue
4.5 Leaves

 Release Blitz & Review : Angry Movie Guy by Izzy Church KC Book Promotions
4.5 Leaves

 Waiting on Wednesday #57 Firewalker

 Manga Review : Our Miracle by Kumeta Natsuo
4 Leaves

 Book Review: Taken at Dusk by C. C. Hunter (Shadow Falls #3)
5 Leaves

 Hello everyone!

 How was your week? Mine was okay, I got back to Tbilisi, had some fun time with my family, and got ready to move back to Nicosia for my 3rd year of University studies. 

 I am very excited to start this new year, though I will first have a full September to roam the streets and catch up with my friends. 

 Are you ready for the Fall to start? I kind of am. 

 What did you get this week? Anything interesting? 

 XOXO

 Katie

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Friday, 28 August 2015

Book Review: Taken at Dusk by C. C. Hunter (Shadow Falls #3)



Summary (from Goodreads)

Title: Taken at Dusk

Author: C. C. Hunter

Publication Date: April 10, 2012

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Goodreads – Amazon – Barnes & Noble






Summary:


Step into Shadow Falls, a camp for teens with supernatural powers.  Here friendship thrives, love takes you by surprise, and our hearts possess the greatest magic of all.


Kylie Galen wants the truth so badly she can taste it. The truth about who her real family is, the truth about which boy she’s meant to be with—and the truth about what her emerging powers mean.  But she’s about to discover that some secrets can change your life forever…and not always for the better.


Just when she and Lucas are finally getting close, she learns that his pack has forbidden them from being together.  Was it a mistake to pick him over Derek? And it’s not just romance troubling Kylie. An amnesia-stricken ghost is haunting her, delivering the frightful warning, someone lives and someone dies. As Kylie races to unravel the mystery and protect those she loves, she finally unlocks the truth about her supernatural identity, which is far different—and more astonishing—than she ever imagined. 


My Thoughts:


Hi everyone and welcome back to Katie’s Corner! I’m moving on with Shadow Fall Series and today I have the 3rd book for you. If you have never heard of this series then my advice: check it out right now, you can find my reviews for book 1 and book 2 just by clicking on them. If you are a fan or not so much, I appreciate if you keep reading and afterwards if you share your thoughts with me. Always love finding a person who loves the same series!

Now, let’s get back to the story. We have left Kylie wondering what kind of supernatural she is, as well as with a big boy problem at hand. Oh, add to the chaos that she is being hunted down by a weird supernatural, and you get her life at the beginning of the book. Does any of this improve? Let’s just say not really. She does find out what she is, but still doesn’t understand what it means, not spilling a secret here! She does choose the guy, and thank you for picking my choice – Lucas, though the guy acts most of the time like a total jerk, with his whole pack business and wanting Kylie to become the werewolf too much. Even though I like him, he still pissed me off in this book, though it was not as much when I first read it, as now I at least know what the problem he was dealing with. Getting to the juicy part! The villain is still on the run, wanting now Kylie dead more than ever, plus now FRU also wants Kylie to run some tests on her! What’s she going to do? That’s in the next book and for you to know. Though we get to see some good guys die as well as some bad guys coming to the “good” side.

We meet some family members, and Kylie’s ghosts are as confusing as ever, but she’s finally getting a grip with her powers. Or better be said, she still in process and whatever her brain pattern shows right now doesn’t really help to solve the mystery. We get to see at least one relationship progress normally that’s Miranda and Perry. Those two finally get together. But before that happens, there are tons of awkward but also very fun moments. Especially someone turning into a kangaroo. I doubt you’ll be able to hold laughter when you know who was turned.

Finally there’s some development between Burnett and Holiday, I’m so rooting for those two! I hope you will grab your copy now, if you haven’t read it yet. You’ll love Shadow Falls camp, soon to be a boarding school. Enjoy it to its fullest and don’t forget to share your thoughts below! Stay tuned for more reviews as well as promos. Don’t miss your next favourite book or manga! Happy reading!

XOXO


Katie

My Rating:




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Thursday, 27 August 2015

Manga Review : Our Miracle by Kumeta Natsuo



Title: Our Miracle 
Original Title: Bokura No Kiseki
Author: Kumeta Natsuo
Artist: Kumeta Natsuo

Year of Release: 2008
Genres: Comedy, Fantasy, Gender Bender, Historical, Josei, Mystery, Psychological, Romance, Supernatural, School Life, Slice of Life

Status: Ongoing
Chapters (Translated in English): 36

Volumes & Chapters: 

 Volume 1 Chapters 0-3           Volume 5 16-18 Chapters          Volume 9 Chapters 28-30
Volume 2 Chapters 4-8           Volume 6 19-21 Chapters          Volume 10 Chapters 31-33
Volume 3 Chapters 9-12         Volume 7 Chapters 22-24.5        Volume 11 Chapters 34-36
Volume 4 Chapters 13-15.5    Volume 8 Chapters 25-27           Volume 12 Not yet released

Mangafox – Goodreads

Summary

From a young age, Minami Harusumi has had recurring dreams of Veronica, a princess whose kingdom is on the verge of destruction. He believes them to be recollections of his past life, and that he is her reincarnation. Because of this, he is ridiculed by his classmates. One day, when the mockery escalates into bullying, he rediscovers magic - something Veronica had studied and used. Reassured his past life is not merely a fantasy, Minami tries to learn more about his past memories and the reason behind them...

My Thoughts


Review covers 36 chapters 

Hello everyone and welcome back to Katie’s Corner! Today is a usual manga review day and I have a very interesting manga for you. What actually made me start reading it was a quite interesting idea behind the plot. It’s not all that new, but its still interesting. What is the idea? Heh, if you haven’t read the summary yet, the please listen carefully. Our main character Harusumi Minami (male), dreams of being a princess in the past - Veronica. No, I didn’t make a mistake anywhere. To cut the long story short; Harusumi was a princess in his past life and he remembers his past life. Not as if it was yesterday, but he remembers it very well. Strange? You haven’t heard all of it!

Try to imagine a whole class of such weirdoes, but their memories got triggered because of an incident. And now you have it. Past blending with the present. All of those who reincarnated only want to find answer to one question, as to why there was an assault on princess Veronica’s castle and made everyone remember their past lives and for what. We should not forget to add into the chaos of these things the ability to use magic by some of the characters. Now divide all of our characters into 3 or even 4 camps and the only thing there is left is to start a war. Wait they already started it in the latest volumes. Weird and fascinating doesn’t describe it anymore.

I enjoyed the story a lot, but what made me take off one leaf was nearly no progressing relationship between Harusumi and Yuu. In the latest volumes, they finally started showing that they’re actually going out. But well, they didn’t have a lot of time for themselves with all the chaos happening around them. It may annoy you, but there are too many talking. And I mean it, too much, even though the intrigues that mostly every character plots are fabulous, there’s too much talking. There were moments where I just wanted to jump over it, but then, I would have lost a bulk of new information.

The thrill that the author creates is s high as ever, and I don’t know about you, but I just have no idea who wither Eugene or Lucas is and that’s after reading 11 volumes. There were so many leads, but every time they were leading to nothing. I’m having this weird feeling, that even the author doesn’t know who Lucas or Eugene is. Though the latest suspect is still Zeze. I’m not really spoiling anything here.

Another thing that might frustrate you a lot, is too many characters. It’s only that you have to remember them, but that you have to remember who is who in the past. That can make your mind blow, though at the end of each volume is given a chart, it doesn’t help a lot. You can’t look there every time.

I hope you will find some time and read this great story. I’m not sure if I will do another review about it (it’s still ongoing). But nevertheless its really a must read. You’ll at least learn how to plot intrigues as Harusumi. He’s awesome in every aspect. Stay tuned for more reviews as well as promos. Don’t forget to share your thoughts below! Happy reading!

XOXO


Katie

Rating



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