Series Review: Fruits Basket Vols 1 - 23 (by Natsuki Takaya)

My photo: volumes 1 & 23

Series: Fruits Basket
Author: Natsuki Takaya
Genre: Shojo Manga
Overall Series Rating: 5/5

Volume One Synopsis:
A family with an ancient curse...

And the girl who will change their lives forever...

Tohru Honda was an orphan with no place to go until the mysterious Sohma family offered her a place to call home. Now her ordinary high school life is turned upside down as she's introduced to the Sohma's world of magical curses and family secrets.

My Background (with the series):
I first was introduced to this series through the anime, by some friends in middle school (I can't remember for the life of my what year, it was 7th or 8th grade, I think). And completely adored it, fell it in love, and needed to read the entire manga (since I know that, mostly, the anime only covered the earlier ones).

I did read them all, back then, back to back. I just reread them recently(June), in an unhealthily short amount of time, and just thoroughly enjoyed myself again. I already loved these characters, so getting to relive their story was fantastic. This is going to be a review of the manga - but I also highly suggest the anime, by the way.

Review:
This is a shojo manga - which means it's manga specifically for teenage girls, which focuses on relationships and love and stuff. I haven't read a lot of this type of manga, this might be the only one, definitely the only full series, but my experience with the genre (anime included) is that it tends to make fun of itself in a lighthearted, fun way - which is one of the things I adore.

The other is the characters and how this whole premise is slightly ridiculous. People who turn into zodiac characters when hugged by a member of the opposite sex? Sure - totally not random and strange. But saying that, when I first heart that, I was just like that sounds awesome and weird, I have to watch/read that, and it's kind of still my response to it.

This whole manga, though, is really about the characters - about their lives, their loves, their troubles, and ups and downs. And I loved that. It's a large cast of characters, too. Tohru, our main character, her best friends, all of the zodiacs (and the cat), and the people that surround them (mostly family) - and it's a lot of fun.

Overall, obviously I love this series, and a lot of people do (the average rating for the series on Goodreads is 4.38 out of 270,112 ratings). I'd, honestly, probably recommend this to anyone - check out the first few volumes if you like funny, strange, well written shenanigans with a 'love triangle' that, in my opinion, isn't a love triangle.

Series Review: The Infernal Devices (by Cassandra Clare)

Series: The Infernal Devices
Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: Young Adult - Historical Fantasy
Overall Series Rating: 5/5
Books:
Clockwork Angel (4/5)
Clockwork Prince (5/5)
Clockwork Princess (5/5)

Book One Synopsis (Goodreads):
In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them....

My Background (with the series):
I started this series right when it first came out - because it was new Clare in the shadowhunter world and it looked like it'd be steampunk-esque (it does have those elements, but not heavily, just tidbits), and I thought the first book was - alright, on that first readthrough, it was fun and interesting. I read the second book, also, when it first came out. And then procrastinated the third because that's, apparently, what I tend to do for trilogies.

And then this year I read the whole thing, in a short period of time (I read this series and most of The Mortal Instruments series such a short period of time it was probably unhealthy), and it changed my opinion on them. The first one, I still think, is just an introduction - and then the next to destroy your heart.

Review:
I love these books - I love these books so much. If you haven't read this series, then you need to read it, because so good oh my god.

Now to try and be coherent, because I hear that's important. My hands down, favorite thing, about this book series is the characters. I just connected to all of them in a way I didn't really the TMI characters. Maybe it was the way things were written, how they spoke to each other (specifically this for the boys), and how everything was described. And these characters are definitely more mature, probably due to the time period it's set it, I feel like a lot of stuff is because of that.

The main trio in this book - Tessa, Will, and Jem - are a fantastic set and I never really thought of them as a love triangle until it hit me that they technically were that, but I didn't mind them as that because it was perfect. I don't know what it was, but these three were perfect together. Will and Jem were just fantastic - parabati (this brotherly, fighting bond) and so ridiculously close from that.

And their relationship was why I loved this book so much, also them with Tessa (and Henry, Charlotte, the Lightwood boys, Sophie - all the characters were fantastic), but specifically the boys. It was one of the reasons I didn't mind their love triangle thing because the boys weren't jealous of each other, didn't want to hurt the other, loved each other. It was - ridiculous and painfully beautiful, which sounds ridiculous but that's the only way I can think to describe it. The time period that this is set it - made it so that their exchanges, the things they could say to each other that present day guys wouldn't was probably what made their friendship (brothership?) so perfect to me.

There's a series arc about automatons and stuff going down, which is also awesome, and parts of it can be completely ridiculous (the worm scene in Clockwork Princess, what was that?), but it was a ton of fun. And definitely a series to read for the characters - and all of the characters, like I said, not just the main three.

I think, to get the most out of this series and The Mortal Instruments - that you should read this series before you read books four to six of TMI, definitely before you read the last one because you'll miss things/not understand them, and it'll ruin the ending of this series for you.

The Mortal Instruments series review