A fitting conclusion to both Charlotte and Jamie's character arcs. This book is entirely told from Charlotte's perspective and is such a contrast to what we have seen from her in the past. She has undergone massive character growth. We get to see her thoughts about Jamie and how much she really loves him. She also seems to have progressed in terms of dealing with her past sexual trauma. This is shown mostly through how she is more comfortable being affectionate with Jamie. She is no longer as hesitant or afraid of showing romantic affection and just being happy. This is largely due to an improvement in how she sees herself. Charlotte is no longer consistently feeling like she is a danger to Jamie and also no longer has feelings of self-loathing associated with her self-esteem. It is refreshing to see. Jamie is also the happiest he has ever been because he is dating Charlotte and they are figuring out their new relationship together. They both respect each other's boundaries but are also more willing to open up to the other. They are in college now, so we have a change of setting for both of them as well. 

Jamie's dad is separated from his wife and we briefly explore Jamie's complicated feelings about his father. Leander is dating someone new and leaves Jamie and Charlotte to their own devices for most of the story. There isn't as much focus on the plot, but it's clear that this book is mostly a conclusion for the characters and their progression. The plot is just a bridge to the end of the story and epilogue, which was done very well. Really love the ending and found this series to be incredibly enjoyable.

I love that after figuring themselves out individually Jamie and Charlotte were able to make their mutual dream come true. In the epilogue, they work together as colleagues solving mysteries in a private office. They also live together by the epilogue and I appreciated that the ending is hopeful; even if they are only together temporarily it is implied that they are likely to continue having overlapping paths for the rest of their lives. I can see them moving in together permanently in the future and I feel that their strong friendship will be a strong basis for their future long-term romantic relationship.

This seems like a promising start. The first volume is very fast-paced and skims over a lot of the training Tanjiro goes through. In most other shonen manga I've read that level and amount of training takes place over several story arcs, so I'm interested to see how the rest of this story develops. I still have questions about the world and demons that I would like answered, so we shall see.

I thought it would be interesting to pick up a polyamorous romance just to try something new. The plot was mostly focused on character development. I wish we had gotten to know the character backstories individually more. Most of the backstory we get for Jill is vague and heavily implied. I would have liked to have gotten a flashback with her ex-husband because I feel like it would have added to the story. As for Charley and Kane, we only really get to know them through their relationship with each other. I would have liked to see what their relationships with other people were like more to get more of an overview of their characters. The characters have a lot of thoughts about sex and sexually attractive they find each other. There is more of a focus on the sexual relationships between the men and Jill and most of the emotional relationships are explored between Charley and Kane. I usually prefer romances that are slower, spend more time with the characters individually so I can get to know them, and not as focused on sexual attraction. Hence, this rated lower for me than I would have liked. However, there are a reasonable amount of sex scenes that aren't badly written, so if you're more interested in that, this might be for you. 

Definitely liked this installment more than the previous one. Charlotte and Jamie had a falling out at the end of the last book and have not spoken in 1 year by the beginning of this book.  I really liked that we got to see Leander play the role of a mentor for Charlotte when she most needed it. Her family is terrible and have essentially left her alone to clean up the aftermath of August's death. She continues to struggle with unhealthy coping mechanisms including putting herself in harm's way and indulging in her drug addiction. This is all tied in with feelings of guilt and protectiveness surrounding Jamie. Leander acts as great support towards Charlotte and it made me appreciate his character even more. So far he is my favorite side character. 

We also get to learn more about his interesting friendship with Jamie's father, James. I'm actually hoping we get more of this in the next book because I really love their friendship and it's a subplot that went in a different direction than I expected. 

Jamie isn't faring super well on the other side of the pond either. He is dating Elizabeth and sort of hanging out with his friends, Lena and Tom, but you can tell his heart isn't invested wholeheartedly into anything. Internally he has a lot of emotional turmoil that is directly related to Charlotte.  He is also struggling with his own mental health issues. This all affects the progression of his other relationships and reflects the importance his friendship with Charlotte has had in his life. It also demonstrates that despite how much Jamie loves Charlotte, he wasn't balancing the rest of his relationships well because he was always so busy being around her. I think there is important commentary to be had about how you need different kinds of relationships in your life and how it's not healthy to be attached at the hip to a single person. Relationships need balance, and Jamie and Charlotte haven't really had that. There is a lot of character growth for him and Charlotte in this installment and a lot of the problems seen in their relationship in the last book are addressed. They are in a much healthier place by the end and I can't wait to see them continue to heal and grow in the next book. 

Despite Jamie trying to live his life as disconnected from trouble and the Holmes', trouble has a way of finding him. Plot-wise, there was more organization compared to the last book with more linear investigations. I felt like I knew each character's motive for the most part while still having a sense of intrigue as far as what would happen next. It's probably as good as the plot of the first book and I'm hoping I feel the same about the next one.

I know we found out that Leander was gay in the last book, but I didn't think that we would also find out that he is in love with James Watson. Worst of all, James Watson didn't even realize Leander was in love with him until he began having marital problems with Abigail because it's implied that he is spending more time with Leander than her. Leander seems to be pretty sure he is a heterosexual man; however, based on his admission to Jamie that Leander is indeed his favorite person it is left open to interpretation that he may be biromantic or homoromantic as well. He is going to have to sift through those feelings at some point and I'm looking forward to seeing where that goes in the next book. My prediction is that his marriage probably isn't going to last long. I'm sure he cares about his wife and children, but if he does have feelings for Leander I don't think it's fair to his wife to stay in a monogamous relationship with him if he isn't sure about his feelings and priorities. He needs to figure that out first before they continue their current relationship.

For most of this series Charlotte has been the one to be pinned as less in touch with her emotions and how she treats those around her and Jamie has usually been painted to be more the empathetic one. However, due to his increased trauma and his unresolved feelings about Charlotte, he gets called out by his friends (Tom and Lena) for neglecting them. Jamie for once is seen as the insensitive one and adequately has to face his friends about it. He doesn't currently have the emotional energy for other relationships and had not realized that Charlotte had become pretty much his only strong relationship. Again, this is unhealthy, but Jamie is becoming more self-aware. I have to say Elizabeth in this book is great in that respect. She tells Jamie that just because he recognizes what he did wrong doesn't make him less of a jerk. This is very true. He needs to take active steps to improve himself as he is healing from the breaking off of his relationship with Charlotte. 

Charlotte on the other hand misses Jamie and she definitely has romantic feelings for him. It is clear she has skewed view of love, but she has also learned through Jamie and Leander what healthy forms of love can look like. Yes, Jamie and her have a sort of unhealthy dynamic, but his feelings for her are not tied to her accomplishments, but simply who she is as a person. She doesn't have a high emotional intelligence to begin with and now fears hurting Jamie more by getting close, so she is keeping her distance. Her history of sexual assault also adds to the intimidation of beginning a romantic relationship with him. She knows that if she does enter a relationship with him that she'll be asking for a lot of patience from him. Many forms of affection that are normal for a lot of couples are tied to trauma for her. She is definitely more worried about how Jamie will perceive her reactions than Jamie is worried about this being a problem as their relationship progresses to being romantic. This is a great reflection of the experience of a lot of sexual assault victims have after the fact in their relationships I'm sure. A lot of them feel like they can be a burden to their new partners because of how their trauma affects their new relationships. It's a very interesting topic explored here, especially because we are in Charlotte's head more than in the previous books.

As I mentioned before I liked the plot in this one. I was not expecting Lucien to marry Jamie's mother when I started this book. However, I did see it coming as I was reading the story because it was pretty obvious from how mysterious his mother's new suitor was. Still, an interesting twist that was appreciated.

I am sad to say that this installment fell short of the first one. There were a lot of ongoing subplots and mysteries that weren't developed as fully as I would have wanted. Besides that, it seemed like all of the concurrent mysteries were meant to overlap and connect at some point, but when they finally do it is very confusing. I actually had to reread the last few sections a second time to make sure I followed. The Holmes and Moriarty's have a long bitter relationship and that is the main point of contention that drives the plot forward. However, by the end it's difficult to tell who needs more therapy because both families are messed up. It felt sloppy and rushed and I would have preferred to spend more time wrapping up the plot, but still enjoyable once I was able to tie all the threads together.

Despite shortcomings in the plot, I appreciated the character development for both Charlotte and Jamie. Charlotte has to grapple with her past trauma and how that affects her ability to enter into a romantic relationship with Jamie. Jamie has to deal with his feelings of inadequacy and jealousy around Holmes that are due to him often selling himself short. He is respectful of her boundaries and abstains from being affectionate with her more than he would want to; however, t is clear that his romantic feelings for Charlotte are strong. I think some people may argue that he idolizes her,  but I beg to differ. Jamie and Charlotte argue a lot and he sees her flaws and likes her anyway. I really like their relationship dynamic overall. Other characters observing them see them argue a lot and even comment on it, but in a way it is how they communicate. Their arguments can be very angsty when they are serious, but we get both of their perspectives and it is clear that their inner insecurities are what are causing  the miscommunication. I know this will probably annoy some readers, but I would kindly remind them that this is often the cause of conflicts in real life relationships. In addition, they are teenagers who are both still trying to figure things out, so that also helped make me a lot more empathetic towards them.  Charlotte in particular is bad at expressing her emotions and it is greatly out of fear of ruining what she has with Jamie. I feel that this made her more human this time around and helped me understand her as a character better.

I should mention that despite Charlotte's character growth, the amount of lying she was willing to do to cover up for her family shows that she definitely still has a lot of growth to do. I'm hoping that we get more insight into what has made her so severely loyal to her family in this unhealthy way. It sees like she did not have the most loving childhood and does not truly understand what true love looks like (platonic or not). I am looking forward to that being explored more in the next book.

I'm looking forward to see the continued progression of the relationship between Charlotte and Jamie. Not this author's best work, but I'm hoping it gets better as the series goes on.

We are finding out more about Lucy's backstory in this volume. Fairy Tail has been attacked by Phantom Lord and is having trouble fighting them off. The attack seems to be related directly to Lucy, which is an interesting plot point. We didn't really get much information about Lucy when she was first introduced as a character; now we are learning that she may have connections that have large implications for Fairy Tail as a guild. The ending of this volume does give us some answers, but there are still some questions left unanswered.

This story feels like an Anastasia retelling within a fantasy world. Princess Anastacya Mikhailov is on the run as she has been framed for her father's murder. The story has a pretty fast pace as we start off with her going in disguise to a prison. She is there to question Ramson, a convicted criminal who may have information about the potential culprit of her father's murder. To say that Ramson and Ana don't like each other is an understatement. However, they end up having to work together to escape the prison and make a deal that is mutually beneficial for them. The beginning of their relationship like this gave an easy way to kickstart the plot. You are given the information you need to understand what's going on and left to learn the rest as you go along with the story. I sometimes appreciate this form of storytelling more than having an info-dump, especially in young adult fiction. However, that is just up to preference.

There are different kinds of magic in this world called Affinities and those who have these abilities are often trafficked illegally for profit. This aspect of the world is supposed to be analogous to human trafficking in China according to the author (the author is Chinese). Her familiarity with the topic shows through the world-building. I felt like it was reasonably well done.

The main weakness I found in the story was Ana's character development. Her worldview often felt naive and sheltered. She has had a very privileged life and has not been exposed to the corruption present in the empire, but I feel that for her age she should be more self-aware of the political system her family was overseeing. There are women in positions of political power in the story, so her lack of access to this information secondary to her gender isn't really at play here. Her awareness of human trafficking within the empire also makes it harder for me to believe that she is surprised by other forms of corruption within the empire. This wasn't a detail terrible enough to ruin the story for me, but it did suspend my disbelief a bit.

Overall, I feel like this story has a lot of potential to be developed more in the second book. I'm looking forward to seeing the relationship between Ransom and Ana change as their priorities have changed after this first book. 

This first volume is mostly an introduction to the main character and the set-up for the plot. Kosei was a piano prodigy and abruptly stopped playing the piano in 6th grade following the death of his mother. Kosei is now 14 years old and he seems to have some form of depression. His mother forced him to play the piano competitively and he associates playing it with negative memories of her. This has become a barrier to him picking up the hobby again. He has a strong friendship with Tsubaki and Wataki and they bring some light into his life despite his depression. When he is introduced to Kaori, it's interesting to see the contrast in how she plays an instrument (the violin) to how Kosei played the piano. Kosei had it drilled into him that music could only be done competitively. When he meets Kaori those barriers start to break down. She does not place importance on competition and cares more about the experience of playing the violin in front of an audience. She is also happier for it and Kosei can see it. When she finds out he used to play the piano, she encourages him to pick up the piano again in quite a humorous way. They do have a heart-to-heart moment at the end of the first volume where she invites him to accompany her to play live in front of an audience. This is a heartwarming story about friendship, loss, and healing. If you like stories focused on those things, I would recommend picking this first volume up. This isn't usually the type of manga I gravitate towards, but I'm willing to continue reading to see where it goes since it is interesting.

I feel like this arc was resolved a bit too easily. However, I appreciate the moments we got with Natsu and Gray. Those are always enjoyable. Lucy has gained another rare key. It will be interesting to see her use them in future battles. Fairy Tail has been attacked by a rogue guild, so I guess we'll find out more about what's going on there next volume.

You would think there would be more consequences for a guy like Lyon for trying to set a calamity monster free. But hey, at least he might find some use for those powers of his and join a guild.  It was interesting to find out that there is just a village of demons living in this place.