A Devil and Her Love Song: Volume 4

by Miyoshi Tomori, 211 pages

Maria's managed to gain the support of most of the class, but how will they choose to act on that?  And with their insecure, desperate teacher still firmly in the "blame Maria for everything" camp, the choir competition and Maria's future at school remain vulnerable.

So cheezy, this, but I'm still reading it.  Maria seems to be singing "Amazing Grace" in solo a cappella every other chapter, and music is hard to translate into emotion on paper alone so it plays more hokey than anything.  Also, somebody needs to fire her teacher.  Sheesh.

A Devil and Her Love Song: Volume 3

by Miyoshi Tomori, 205 pages

Hana's the cutest, sweetest, most diplomatic person in the whole classroom, but she's been out ill since before Maria transferred.  Now that the two finally meet, will Maria be able to count Hana as a friend?

Maria's misunderstood bluntness is further complicated by others actively trying to poison her reputation and isolate her.  Hana's a nice enough girl, but nobody's immune to pride, insecurity, and jealousy.  Maria's solution, though, is surprisingly creative.  It's getting easier to see what her little pod of real friends see in her.  A little uneven, this series, but worth the sit-down to read if you've nothing better to do and want a break from heavy reading.

A Devil and Her Love Song: Volume 2

by Miyoshi Tomori, 197 pages

Yusuke continues to try to coach Maria on being more "lovely" (that is, cute and girly) in her behavior and gestures in order to smooth her way with others, but such artifice does not come naturally to her.  Of course, sometimes being "lovely" just means considering other people's feelings before you open your mouth, which Shin does his best to get her to understand, too.  Meanwhile, an inter-school choir competition is coming up and Maria's teacher really has it out for her.

This volume is a marked improvement over the first one.  The character development of the lead quartet is coming along nicely and it's interesting to see how Maria's perceptive nature brings out the truth (and often the best) in the people who give her a chance and stick by her.  She's a little flat herself, still, but little glimmers of growth and expression surface here and there as she deals with and learns from those around her.

A Devil and Her Love Song: Volume 1

by Miyoshi Tomori, 188 pages

High school transfer student Maria Kawai does not get off on the right foot with her new classmates.  She's beautiful, she's blunt, and she got expelled from her last school for hitting a teacher (doubly shocking in that it was a private Catholic school and the teacher was a nun).  Not exactly a recipe for making friends.  In fact, they rather quickly label her "Maria the devil."  Is there any hope of a normal, happy high school life for this chilly misfit?

This is shojo manga, so of course there's hope.  Firstly, it takes the shape of two boys, the outgoing nice-guy blond and the broody abrasive dark-haired boy, both of whom find themselves drawn to her awkward honesty--even when her critical words are directed at them.  But other than that, the popular girls hate her.  The boys (including her insecure teacher) feel threatened by her.  And Maria quickly discerns that the one girl who seems to be nice to her is hiding a lot of her real, less agreeable personality.

There are some surprisingly apt philosophical and emotional comments here, but this first volume is a little all over the place as it tries too hard to set up the premise.  There's enough newness and humor buried beneath the standard choppy elements to get me to try the next one, but I hope it improves soon.