Nabari no Ou: Volume 12

by Yuhki Kamatani, 209 pages

Raikou overhears a disturbing conversation in the office of the Grey Wolves that undermines everyone's faith in Kotarou's motives all this time.  He, Raimei, and Gau also discover that the Grey Wolves have on their side a familiar deadly skill in the person of a being who seems to share the longevity of the Hakutaku.   A short time later, just as Kumohira and the others set out to reveal the past sensei has kept hidden in preparation for ridding Miharu of the Shinra Banshou once and for all, immortal Kouchi and Shijima's wish for death comes head-to-head with Raiko and Raimei's vow to stop anyone who tries to use the Shinra Banshou.

I think I'm just going to be on (or over) the verge of tears till the end of the series.  Everyone's so conflicted!  They care about each other, but they believe whole-heartedly in the rightness of their own puroses.  But I fear they will have to destroy one another to achieve them, and then how can any of them truly say they've prevailed?  Miharu's caught in the middle and doesn't yet know just how messy it's all gotten.  What will he do once he does?  Will it change his decision?  Do we even know what decision he's made that may be changed?  Waghhhh!

Nabari no Ou: Volume 11

by Yuhki Kamatani, 192 pages

Things have quieted down since Miharu gave in and used the Shinra Banshou, but it feels like the storm can't be too far off.  Yukimi tries to help the boy regain his anchor in the real world--and keep him from being desperate enough to use his power again--by making him his assistant, since taking photos for his articles is harder to do now that he only has one arm.  Meanwhile, Kumohira works with the others to find a way to free Miharu from his power before he's tempted to use it to either undo his first wish or help his two immortality-cursed acquaintances find their own closure.

Everyone's trying to put together their own pieces, but not all of their completely understandable desires are compatible and I don't know what I'm going to do when it comes down to having to take sides.  Well, except for the Grey Wolves guy and his stand-ins.  They're pretty much evil, even if they think they're in the right.  Also, watching Yukimi and Miharu navigate the pain of their shared loss, seeing the links they sense but don't recognize, just hurts; but it's all part of the grieving process and I can only hope they come out on the other side as at peace with what they have left as they can be.

Nabari no Ou: Volume 10

by Yuhki Kamatani, 207 pages

The Grey Wolves are still after Miharu, but he and Yoite aren't alone anymore.  And they never will be again.  Driven to the edge, Miharu finally gives in and uses the Shinra Banshou.  But what exactly is it he wishes for?

Pardon me while I go cry.

*watches her holds list for the next volume, tissues in hand*

Nabari no Ou: Volume 9

by Yuhki Kamatani, 209 pages

Miharu and Yoite burn their bridges with the head of the Grey Wolves and set out on their own.  Meanwhile, Yukimi--Yoite's guardian since he joined the Grey Wolves--goes looking for his quickly-fading charge's past.  When orders go out to retrieve Miharu and dispose of the now obsolete Yoite, Yukimi and the others must decide which is stronger--their allegiance to their leader, or their connection to a dying young assassin.

Everybody's finally letting their true selves out of their tightly corked little bottles and the result is an emotional rollercoaster for the reader.  Kamatani has done such a wonderful job of slowly building relationships and deepening bonds.  It's a pleasure to watch her characters gradually realize just how much they all care about each other, too.

Nabari no Ou: Volume 8

by Yuhki Kamatani, 192 pages

Little by little, Yoite has been losing his senses as his body shuts down, but he's also been losing the wall that holds in all the emotions he's been hiding--even from himself.  And Miharu's not the only one who notices, nor is he the only one who cares.

Clearly, Yoite doesn't understand the full scope of his influence on the lives of those around him.  But all those worried glances in his direction aren't about what terrible thing he might be planning to do to the world at large--they're about  what he might be planning to do himself.  And the more he unconsciously reveals to Miharu, the more the latter questions his promise to make it all go away--and the more the reader wants him to question it.  So good.

Nabari no Ou: Volume 7

by Yuhki Kamatani, 205 pages

As the situation at Alya Academy deteriorates, the Banten and Grey Wolves find themselves fighting side-by-side with one another--and even with a good many of their former Kouga attackers--to stay alive.  In the process, already-weakened Yoite is grievously wounded, igniting Miharu's protective instincts and stirring the power of the Shinra Banshou that lies within him.  Meanwhile, both groups discover that the Kouga's sought-after Daya may not be the panacea they had hoped.

Blank-faced Miharu and Yoite have both been subtly growing more expressive, but this volume just jabs the reader right in the heart with desperate Yoite's frightened tears.  Gah!  No wonder Miharu's trigger flips.  Nobody even knows what the Shinra Banshou really does (well, maybe nobody but Kumohira-sensei, who's quick to tackle Miharu before he goes completely off the deep end), but you can't help but want to see it let loose if it will ease Yoite's pain.  If it's for Yoite, you trust Miharu's judgment even as you fear the unknown consequences.  There's a handful of emotional ups and downs and surprises this time around, but that one scene alone makes this volume well worth the read.

Nabari no Ou: Volume 6

by Yuhki Kamatani, 177 pages

In order to help fulfill his promise to Yoite, Miharu has defected to the Grey Wolves, pretending their charismatic leader's philosophy has swayed his allegiance.  His first assignment is to accompany Yukimi, Raikou, and Yoite to negotiations at an academy run by the Kouga ninja in order to obtain that clan's secret art scroll, Daya.  But when they arrive (after unpracticed Raikou drives Yukimi's tiny car into a lake), they find they're not the only ones to receive an invite, as a very surprised Kumohira-sensei and the Banten gang are there, too, and with a similar agenda.  When nightfall brings out the school's youthful assassins, both parties get caught up in the chaos of messy internal Kouga politics and have to focus on surviving the night before worrying about getting their hands on Daya.

Yoite thinks Miharu's only helping him to save his Banten friends, but that original threat seems to have less and less bearing on the pair's cooperation and attachment to one another.  And it's that quiet character development that really latches onto the reader and holds her attention, even when the details of the present conflict are anything but clear.

Nabari no Ou: Volume 5

by Yuhki Kamatani, 193 pages

Apathetic middle-schooler Miharu Rokujou is unfazed by the revelation that his body contains the nabari (or, hidden) world's most powerful and secret art, the Shinra Banshou.  So when various ninja and other clans' representatives start trying to protect / control / kill him, he's not overly concerned, much to the frustration of those trying to convince him they have his best interests at heart.  He does eventually settle for hanging out with the local Banten Village outfit, but largely because keeping their company offers the path of least resistance, since the familiar face of his kind teacher, Kumohira-sensei, is among them.  But when a quiet, expressionless young assassin from a different group, the Grey Wolves, secretly asks for his help independent of any clan, Miharu finds his habitual apathy shaken.  Yoite is dying.  His use of the nabari world's deadliest and most forbidden art, Kira, is quickly killing him.  Tired of knowing only emptiness and pain, Yoite wants Miharu to use the Shinra Banshou to erase his existence.  Miharu, sensing a kindred spirit, agrees to help.  But Kumohira-sensei, closely guarding his own painful secrets, is dead-set against the Shinra Banshou's use and vows to stop Miharu if he tries to invoke it--just as he has sincerely vowed to defend the boy with his life.

Meanwhile, Raimei Shimizu, one of Miharu's new friends and heir to a once-great samurai clan, is on the trail of her prodigal brother, Raikou, whom she believes murdered their family and destroyed their clan years ago.  But when she finally confronts him, will she be able to hear the truth he refuses to utter?

This is an emotionally involving series where the politics and mysticism confuse but the personal struggles of the protagonists draw you in and make you care, anyway.  The distinctive art's thin, fragile figures add to that attachment and make you worry all the more for the characters.  Frail, resigned Yoite makes me want to cry, and watching Miharu slowly emerge from his own self-imposed numbness to help him is bittersweet.

A Night Like This

by Julia Quinn, 373 pages

Anne Wynter is employed as governess to the rambunctious, independently-minded daughters of a well-to-do family, but the situation is exponentially better than the awkward, dangerous, and demoralizing past she's left behind.  She wants nothing but to maintain the status quo and not attract any undue attention, but when she catches the eye of a titled prodigal recently returned from exile, her plan to remain happily anonymous falls apart.  For his part, Daniel Smythe-Smith is tired of running away from his past and is content to follow his newly engaged heart, relieved at last to be home with a price no longer on his head...or so he thinks.  When danger once again seems to stalk him, and doesn't hesitate to drag those he loves into its nets, he believes he knows the culprit.  But whose past is catching up with whom?

This is another historical romance set in the same circles as Quinn's What Happens in London, with Daniel's family being responsible for the traditional talentless musical performances through which the ton suffers every year.  I liked Daniel's and Anne's backstories and found them a little more interesting and involving than the present goings-on (though Anne's is a little more cheezily melodramatic).  But the fact that Quinn actually bothers to give her characters some history and "character" that are more than just thin window dressing makes it easier to forgive the typical yet fun fluff of the main story.  If she'd only carry more of that depth into the central plot, instead of just using it as set-up, I'd like her even more.  Her interconnected tales and characters give a sense of substance to her fictional version of romance-minded English society and she does a nice job of balancing the needs of first-time readers with the rewards for repeat visitors.  Snappy dialogue, a pleasant cast of side characters, and a happy ending, of course.

Morning Glories: Volume 1: For a Better Future

by Nick Spencer (words), Joe Eisma (art), Rodin Esquejo (covers), Alex Sollazzo (colors), Johnny Lowe (letters), and Tim Daniel (design), 288 pages

Six gifted sixteen-year-olds make the cut to get into the very exclusive Morning Glories Academy, only to find, once inside, that the curriculum could kill them--if the teachers don't get them first.

I don't know what's going on here!  The school is baaaad news, both for the students and their families on the outside.  There's some nununununess harking back at least to the Spanish Inquisition, some weird spinning physics experiment in the attic, a murderous ghost (?) with free rein over truants, and a lot of scary, faithful-to-the-mission (whatever it is) faculty members.  The set-up draws you in and the kids are an interesting mix of well-behaved youngsters and potentially bad seeds, with the most interesting wild card so far being the self-serving rich boy (if this were D&D, he'd be chaotic neutral, I think).  We don't know much about most of them yet, though, so we'll have to wait to see how they do or don't come together as a team (if they survive--unbrainwashed--long enough to get that far).

Artwise, the largely soft, pastel-hued interior art seems an ok fit for the school's cheerful veneer, as are the covers (with the exception of blonde Casey's weird skirt and legs on the front cover--they just don't look right to me at all).  I do wonder at the decision to relay all the swearing (and there's a good deal of it) with the traditional smattering of let-your-imagination-fill-in-the-blanks symbols, yet there's no hesitation to show things like the faces of unfortunate individuals having their eyeballs pushed out of their sockets from behind by intrusive semi-ghostly fingers (this happens at least twice and it isn't pretty either time).  Personally, I'd rather the gory violence be off-panel or merely strongly suggested and the text offer up the colorful metaphors without the squiggles and dollar signs, but that's just me.  I'm squeamish about things grisly and unbothered by foul language as long as it belongs, which it mostly does here.

I can't decide if I want to read more or not.  Some bits really bother me, others intrigue me, and I can't tell which will win out in the end.  Hrmmmmmmm.

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

by Alison Bechdel, 232 pages

This is a memoir of the author's complicated childhood with her closeted gay father who may or may not have intentionally jumped in front of a bread truck when she was nineteen.

Bechdel relates the gaps between her father's public and private lives and how his secrets affected her and her family over the years.  Despite his many affairs (some possibly with minors) and lifelong obsessions (art, architecture, gardening, literature) that seemed to take priority over emotionally connecting with his wife and children, he was still her father, and losing him shortly after coming out, herself, has left a hole in her life.

This cuttingly honest and thoughtful analysis of an imperfect life through the author's memories made me cry when I got to the last page.

Stitches: A Memoir

by David Small, 329 pages

This graphic memoir recounts the childhood and adolescence of the author as he deals with the dysfunction of his family and the loss of his voice due to thyroid cancer.

There's a lot of pent-up anger and bitterness in these pages and the reader feels both sympathy and antipathy towards just about everybody, including the narrator.  But she understands that, in the real world, bad situations do not bring out the best in everyone and she pities the struggles these people deal with, even if they don't always deal with them constructively.  She also hopes that, after all this suffering, they have the chance to do and be better in less sad and frightening futures.  The fact that this book exists at all may be evidence that, at least in some way, they have.