timefliesaway's Reviews (588)

Audioversion dieser Rezi: https://youtu.be/RKxR0kShaLs?si=qERf2dJDL2Zt7_Ee 

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Das Buch und ich hatten leider keinen so guten Start, dafür aber ein tolles Ende! Mir kamen sogar ein wenig die Tränen.

Ich mochte vor allem sehr die Chemie der Charaktere. Die Devils waren zwar teils echt nervig, vor allem in der ersten Hälfte, dafür waren aber alle anderen Charaktere super. Nicht perfekt, doch jede*r hatte besondere Eigenschaften, und selbst die Nebencharaktere stachen heraus: Mia, Elif, Paul, Ben – die vier waren nicht lange anwesend, spielten aber doch eine wichtige Rolle auf deren Reise. Jule ist eine tolle Nerd-Schwester, die gut darin ist, eine liebevolle Klugscheißerin zu sein und die ihrer kleinen Schwester auch mal zuhört. Ronni, einer der Devils, hat übrigens auch echt gute Sprüche drauf.
Die Dynamik zwischen Stella und ihren Angels-Freundinnen, und zwischen der Familie Vogel war definitiv die beste. Auch wieder nichts perfekt, und natürlich gab es kleine Auseinandersetzungen hier und da, aber nichts Ernstes oder Großes, und sie konnten immer alle gut miteinander reden. Wie ich in anderen Rezensionen auch immer wieder erwähne: "Communication is the key" („Kommunikation ist der Schlüssel“) – und das war hier der Fall. Fan.

Mein Lieblingsmoment der Angels-Freundinnen war, glaube ich, als sie über ihre Zukunft fantasiert und über ihre Traumberufe geschwärmt haben – „Stella Bird, die rollende Reporterin“! Das hat mich selbst in meine Kindheit zurückversetzt und mir wurde wirklich warm ums Herz. Hoffe, die drei bleiben noch lange Freundinnen und können ihre Träume tatsächlich so oder ähnlich erleben! <3

Und wenn die Jungs mal nicht den Mädchen auf den Geier gingen, konnten die Dangels auch echt gut zusammenarbeiten. Weiter so!

Leider waren die Devils überwiegend total nervig und unfair. Was ich gar nicht mochte, war vor allem, als sich die Angels wegen einer kleinen Sache entschuldigen mussten, und richtig krass rausgeholt haben dafür. Wozu? Die Devils entschuldigen sich doch auch nie, und würden nicht mal annähernd daran denken. Ein bisschen Balance muss schon sein...
Ebenso fand ich die angespielte Romanze zwischen Stella und Eric schrecklich. Dass die Lehrerin sie auch noch verkuppelt hat, und das ganze mit der Hochzeit … Nicht mit mir. Die sind doch gerade mal 11!

Dafür hat mir am Ende hin ein Charakter das Herz erobert, und die 2 negativen Punkte oben vorzeitig vergessen lassen. Beziehungsweise das Shipping des Charakters. Applaus für Andrea, bitte!
Gehört zu einer queeren Beziehung mit dem nicht-langwierigen Antagonisten. Das war eine super Überraschung! Und dann ist einer der beiden auch noch Vegetarier/Veganer! Wundervoll. 😍 

Die Illustrationen sind auch klasse und passen echt gut zum Schreibstil der Autorin. Gefallen haben mir die kleinen Illustrationen bei Kapitelanfang, aber auch zwischendurch. Und natürlich auch das Cover. Das mit den Hauptcharakteren auf der Buchinnenseite ist übrigens auch eine prima Idee.
Der Schreibstil der Autorin liest sich super flüssig – perfekt für Kinder, aber sicher auch Erwachsene. Zwar gab es des Öfteren Umgangs- oder Jugendsprache, was manche vielleicht stören mag, aber am Ende hin auch nicht weiter schlimm. Stella hat dafür guten Humor und ist für eine Protagonistin hervorragend geeignet!

Weiter empfehlenswert? Definitiv! 
Werde ich die nächsten Bände auch lesen? Oh ja! Bin gespannt, was die Angels oder Dangels als Nächstes erleben.

Ingesamt: 4 Sterne.

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Vielen Dank an den Maximum Verlag für ein Reziexemplar!

-Ayxan Solongo, 23.10.2023

As it's a collection of 6 short stories, I'll be reviewing them separately.

I want to leave behind a miraculous love
As the two last humans on earth, Nika and Sayu worry about what will happen when one of them dies. Then they find a spaceship, that has just the solution to their problem... 
Truly a dream come true for some same-sex couples.
I really loved the language barrier representation and how they could show their feelings to the other. Didn't expect the spaceship tbh, but it was cool. Wouldn't mind a whole series of their story.
- Story: 9/10
- Characters: 9/10

The case of Eko and Lisa
Eko is a mangaka who draws tentacle hentais and uses her sex-bot Lisa for posing. One day she receives a call from her manager, who asks her to draw less tentacles and more Yuri. Lisa proposes to help her, but Eko isn't so sure about that.
The idea of sex-bots and humans having relationships in the future, isn't anything new, but I still loved how it was consensual between the two, even though Lisa kept pressing Eko to use her full services. I'm not sure I would've been into that for a whole series, but as a short story it was good.
- Story: 7/10
- Characters: 7/10

Top or Bottom? The showdown!
Five girls in a friend group run out of conversation topics, so they then think about who would be a Top and who a Bottom. One of them doesn't agree with being labeled a bottom.
Not a fan of "top and bottom" labels, as I've mentioned in other reviews already, but it wasn't that serious here at least. And kinda funny how they were "competing" for top.
I mostly loved how the girls group was shipping the boys group, and then it turns out the boys too were shipping the girls.
- Story: 6/10
- Characters: 6/10

An Infidelity revisited
Midori and Azusa meet again in their 30s after not having seen each other since Highschool. And some things apparently never change...
Mm, no, didn't like this one. Felt bad for Midori, and I really hope they won't meet again, but I have a feeling they will, rip. Let's just hope that Azusa by then has matured.
- Story: 4/10
- Characters: 5/10

Heir to the Curse
Ichika is the heir of an old curse, inherited to every woman in her family. None of the villagers know about that, however. Not even Ichika's one and only childhood friend. Years later, when Ichika writes Yui a letter that she's about to marry, Yui soon finds out about the curse...
This could've been a really sweet story about two women being able to have a normal family like hetero couples, but they had to ruin it... It's really a disappointment. The idea with the "curse" is good, but the execution could've been less rape-y.
At least it has a happy end.
I wouldn't mind if this was a series, where characters could've been explored more and certain things changed for the better. It could be actually really good, if developed the right and healthy way.
- Story: 7/10
- Characters: 6/10

Eternity 1 and 2: Eve and Eve
Two women (Eve and her nameless partner, soon to be called Eternity 1 and Eternity 2) want to be together forever, even beyond death, so they partake in a scientific experiment that keeps their brain alive forever. And while their "souls" are in space, they record the love of other couples on Earth. But with time, they realize that this might not be what they imagined under "eternal love".
I'm not sure I understood the experiment completely – they basically wanted to make themselves immortal, but why were they in space recording other couples' love?
I think it would be a really interesting plot, if made into a series, where the author could flesh out the science part more.
- Story: 8/10
- Characters: 8/10

Eve and Eve: Epilogue
A prequel to the first short story, Nika and Sayu find an old newspaper as they wander through the world. The title of an article in there is a title of another chapter.
I loved the reference! That way all the short stories are connected and (might) mean it all plays in the same universe. Love when authors do that.

Overall: 
There are some interesting ideas which could potentially be made into a whole series. I'd love to revisit and explore some of them, so I really hope the author picks some up again.
The artstyle is the same for every story, so I didn't rate individually.

-21.10.2023

Well, that was a wild ride...

At first it basically seemed like "The Hunger Games", kinda a copy. There were differences, of course, but I wasn't sure what to make of it. And because there were so many characters introduced all at once (21), it got pretty confusing as to who is who. Sometimes the author wrote the name under a character though, if that character hasn't been on-screen for a while, so that helped a lot, lol.

It's basically a psychological story, similar to the Hunger Games, but unlike THG, it's not because they are fighting for their district. The outside world doesn't know this game is going on, except for a few rich spectators, who watch it for gambles. It gets pretty dark very soon, everyone starts getting mad and no one knows anymore who to trust. Teams form, but of course there's at least one character who plays teammates and other teams against each other, for their own survival. A lot of character-drama.
Then a new character gets introduced, apparently the survivor from the first game. And the revelation hits: even if you survive, you can't escape this island. But not many care about it, as they still want to survive and the producers of this game are making sure they will continue to fight.

It got really mad in-between with that much killing and betrayal. I'm normally a binge-reader, but couldn't binge this, because of how tiring it sometimes was. Not in a boring way, quite the opposite. Too many emotions from so many characters all at once. And because *some* of the characters were really annoying.
I was actually thinking of dropping it once, or at least taking a longer break, but the curiosity in me didn't want to. I don't know if I should be glad or not, cause it really gets even more bloody in the second half.

But the plot twist in the last quarter was pretty interesting and really changed the whole thing. Got some similarities to "The Maze Runner" – I'm not gonna say what exactly, read it yourself.
The ending was brutal and sad, and while I am happy about who survived, it isn't that much of a happy ending because of how many have died and how they have died. The whole thing really is just sad. But interesting. And scary to have that thought.

I'd recommend it if you like THG or TMR or both. Generally if you're into psychological themes, especially those that are about survival and the human mind, this might be for you. Just gotta stick through the confusion of the characters' names in the beginning.

Also, this Manhua is completely in full-color, so huge respect for the art team! Each chapter has about 8 pages, sometimes more, so overall around 950-1k pages, that's a lot. 

"If you think about sad, gloomy stuff too much, then sad, gloomy stuff is gonna happen!" ~ Shiva.
Wise words from a wise soul.

Another cliffhanger, although a positive one this time.
Or is it, really? Maybe danger awaits them at their destination... Well, let's hope not.

Religious people are back in the story, unfortunately, and have proven to be the villain. No surprise there.

A lot of revelations have been made, especially from the dark children, and I have lots of theories. Here are some: (only view when you've read volume 4 or more!)

So, basically, the real curse here is the human body.
The souls were all once from the Mother of "darkness", but the god of light stole them from her, and is now manipulating his human followers into thinking that their Mother (whom they don't remember) is the evil one.

Reminds me a lot of the Benfro book series...

I  do wonder though, what happens to the souls in the human bodies, that are killed as a human? Are they forever trapped between life and death, unable to return to their mother? Or will they be reborn as a human again, hoping that this time they get found by a black child and can return to their own?

Also, I'm guessing the "black curse" only affects those, who are children of Mother. Meaning, Shiva is not Mother's child, therefore she can't get "cursed" because she doesn't need to return anywhere. But she can still spread the curse, for some reason...
Or: she is Mother's child, but simply with a body that very closely resembles a human body and has a wider limit.
Or maybe she was born while her birth mother had the "curse" already in her? For a long enough time so that it passed onto Shiva and since she was born with it, her soul belongs to Mother and she doesn't need to return with a "black body". Sth like that.

I wish this series was read to children as a Good-Night-Story. It has so many good lessons, especially two very valuable in this volume:
- don't keep things from a loved one, just because you think they couldn't handle the truth. That's not your choice to make, especially if it concerns someone that they love.
- Let your anger out, verbally, instead of swallowing all your emotions. But both people need to let it out, otherwise it won't work. Just talk.

-18.10.2023

Welp, I guess every volume ends in a cliffhanger. 

As Shiva's aunt accepts and settles into her new life, there are a few ups and downs, but there is great character development. But things don't stay all too happy for long...

None of the church or the people on the inside have been present in this volume, and I'm more than grateful for it. I really can't stand them and I wouldn't mind if the next volume didn't include them either. Although at some point they will be an important part of the plot (well, they already are, but I mean they'll get more "screen-time").

The art continues to be beautiful and I can't wait to start with volume 5. (Should be coming tomorrow!)

-17.10.2023

... And it ended on a cliffhanger again. Although at least not that much of a "gasp" cliffhanger as the other two volumes.

This volume felt a little more rushed, compared to the previous ones. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I didn't mind the rather slow & melancholic pace. This was rather tense.

The ending kind of explains a lot, yet at the same time also not.

It continues to be very interesting and, what I really love in mystery books, you can make lots of theories. Also, the art style still is very mesmerizingly beautiful.

The church keeps being brutal as well.

Omg not a cliffhanger again! TwT

It keeps being really really good. Getting a bit more creepy, so not sure if I'll sleep tonight, but I just can't put it back. And I'm still so in love with the art!!

I swear the church is the real villain here. Wouldn't surprise me; it's just like the witch trials.

Damn, that cliffhanger! 0.0

I'm absolutely in love with the art. It captures the sinister and dark and mysterious atmosphere so so well!! Also an incredible inspiration for Inktober right now.

Getting christian witch trials vibes from the kingdom – alas, a group of people with power sentencing other people to death because they <i> think </i> they <i> might </i> be cursed, but don't really have proof. 
I know there will be lots of revelations later on, that most of the tales about the beasts are lies. Definitely.
Well, maybe also not, who knows, but it's very likely.

Other than that, the story is really interesting and the two main characters are lovely. Not much yet revealed about them, but they're already in my heart. I'm begging the author not to let them suffer too much.

Das war toll!
Ehrlich gesagt fand ich es etwas langweilig am Anfang, da es teilweise so ganz und gar nicht das war, was ich mir bei dem Cover und Titel vorgestellt hatte, aber ab ca. Seite 50, als Minty dann den Baum entdeckt hatte, wurde es richtig spannend! Zwar war es immer noch nicht das, was ich mir vorgestellt hatte, aber trotzdem nicht schlecht.

Die Message ist super und ich kann es allen empfehlen, die nach Abenteuern und Freundschaften suchen.
Es ist ein wenig ähnlich zu "Die Penderwicks" – wer das Buch also mag, der sollte sich dieses definitiv reinziehen! Ich mochte den ähnlichen Vibe sehr, außerdem waren die Charaktere toll, wenn auch nervig manchmal. Jeden konnte ich mehr oder weniger nachvollziehen.

Find die Idee mit den Geheimnissen auch echt gut. Und was Minty am Ende gelernt hat.
Zwischendurch konnte man auch immer wieder mitfiebern und überlegen, wem die Geheimnisse wohl gehören. Ich liebe sowas.

Für Kinder sowie Erwachsene zu empfehlen!

- 13.10.23

That went way too fast. 
Did the author not get a contract for more than 2 volumes? Or didn't want to continue? Because this really had potential for a whole series. So many things happened in the second half all at once and then it just... ended. The epilogue was just suddenly there, a huge time jump with almost no explanation whatsoever.

I'm not even angry, just sad, because it's really good and had the potential. And there aren't enough queer horror stories.

Also, the art, especially the background, improved a lot. As the author mentioned in the afterword: they hired a background artist for volume 2, and you can really see the difference! Not that volume 1 was bad, but there's still some positive difference.

Even with the sad conclusion, I'd still recommend this short manga series to basically anyone who's up for some GL, slight horror, bit of yandere, or all of it.

- 12.10.23