timefliesaway's Reviews (588)

Uff, bin ich froh, endlich fertig damit zu sein. Hat mich ja nur 6 Monate gekostet, vielleicht auch länger. 

An sich ist es gut geschrieben, die Prämisse ist interessant und spannend, und es liest sich leicht, wenn auch die Wortwahl manchmal fragwürdig ist. 
Alles andere... uff, ne. Die Charaktere sind nicht gerade liebenswert, ich mochte eigentlich nur Juro. 
Typisch hetero-"Liebes"-Geschichte, Richtung Disney-Prinz-Prinzessin (vor allem die alten Filme wie "Sleeping beauty" und "Schneewittchen"), aber doch nochmal kitschiger. 
Auf einer Seite ist die Story ziemlich düster, auf der anderen Seite klingen manche Sätze so cringe, dass ich mich mehrmals übergeben wollte. 

Beispiel – Achtung kitschig: "Es gibt eine Art von Zauberei, die man mühsam erlernen muss: das ist die, wie sie im Koraktor steht, Zeichen für Zeichen und Former für Formel. Und dann gibt es eine, die wächst einen aus der Tiefe des Herzens zu: aus der Sorge um jemanden, den man lieb hat."

Wenn es dabei um Familienmitglieder ginge – Geschwistern, Eltern, Kinder, was auch immer – alles schön und gut. Aber zwei Leute, die sich erst zweimal getroffen haben, und vielleicht 5 Sätze insgesamt miteinander gesprochen haben, und nicht mal einander Namen oder sonst was wissen? Das ist vielleicht ein Crush, aber nichts weiter. "Lieb haben" ist da sehr weit entfernt von. <i> Kotz. </i>

So, where do I begin?

Everyone knows the story of the Titanic, so of course there were no plot-twists regarding that. The iceberg was a paid actor, and it was only sooner than later that the ship would crash into it. 
Obviously I wasn't very emotional when it got to that part... but– but at the same time I knew the author wouldn't let all four of them die, and neither would she let all four of them survive. So, in the end, it was quite dreading; hoping my favorite characters survive, hoping most of them make it out alive, hoping the others won't have a painful death.

The character I had rooted for, the most, had survived, and that I'm grateful for. 

The person I wanted to see dead the most (not one of the 4), sadly didn't have a death scene but also wasn't mentioned to be alive. I can only hope he had a very slow and painful death, as he deserves, or, if he is alive, at least have a miserable life, wishing he had died on the ship. 

The others, who haven't survived... well, it does hurt, honestly. They deserved it more than ever, especially the one who had given up her seat on the lifeboat for a little boy she didn't know. To be a literal hero and yet die... 
Well, technically... there was no explicit scene confirming them being dead. Hinted, yes, but not for a hundred percent. It would be very much impossible to think they had somewhat a chance of surviving, but if Rose survived on a mere door, then let me believe that they somehow also survived swimming. I can't accept the fact that they died, honestly. 
And it feels so wrong for the ones who did survive. I don't know. 

I didn't think this book would leave me so wrenched in the end, even though I knew, before even opening the book, that a lot of people would die. Ironic, but definitely screams talent from the author. 

PS: as an artist myself, I found one page particularly nice. It was when Emilie met a famous painter on the ship and asked him for help, kind of. Because she had to be so vague of her circumstances, it makes it even better for the reader to relate to her problem. It's kind of about artist's block but also a general block, not knowing what to do or where to go. 
The answer from the painter, really did help me in that moment. As I've been feeling very stuck lately, not just with art but generally with my life, I'm very grateful for this. Thank you, Adiba.

And thank you to my book club, Page Wanderers, for picking this book in June. I might've not read it otherwise anytime soon.

Hm.
It's still sweet and I love how consensual it is, which is pretty unusual for a BL (sadly), but overall their energies didn't match at all in this volume. The whole time there was tension leading up to a sex scene – and it was just annoying, for me at least. 
Saeki is "cool as a cucumber" all the time (Wataru's words), displays barely any emotions except his love for Wataru; and Wataru is mostly happy, except when it comes to being lovey-dovey, then he completely freezes up. I totally get being nervous and I also get Saeki for wanting to do it, but the unbalanced energies really mess it all up. 
They'd need to work on that first, before going any further in their relationship.

From chapter 1 to 5, I shipped them less and less, but the bonus chapter at the end somehow brought their sweetness back. I don't know.
I'll be reading the next volumes, but not with much excitement. Really hope they're gonna get on the same level soon, because I do want to enjoy this.

On a positive note, I really love Gucchi's energy and his friendship with Wataru. 

It started out real sweet and natural, sadly turned very annoying in chapter 3-4, but chapter 5 had a very good ending.

What annoyed me was Saeki and his guilt tripping. Confesses pretty soon although unexpected, says he doesn't want to date or anything, but continues to bring it up and make things awkward. I get the part that he might be unsure, but it wasn't just that. 
His whole "mysterious" and "secretive" vibe was the most eye-roll probably. I really hate when people do this. It may work at the beginning of a relationship, but not when you know each other a year already, and when it's so forced. 

At the end, he did explain and apologized though, so, that's nice. 
And there was also no homophobia or anything related to that. Sweet and natural, as I said.

Although the kiss was a bit too soon, I think.

This was so cute!!
Both of them are so sweet (no pun intended)!

What's really great about this story is that he doesn't have body-dysphoria. It's nice reading a book where the protagonist doesn't hate themselves or their body. Especially when it doesn't fit the norm.
He does have some worries and isn't over-confident or anything, but that's kept to a minimum and also not related to his body at all. He even says he doesn't mind being chubby! And there's no fat-shaming from others either. <3

Lovely and comfortable volume, really recommendable. 

And gaahh it ends on a cliffhanger! TwT
I need more of them, now!

Sweet ending!

It’s incredible and crazy how much I relate to each of the characters views, even though they’re so different.
The author’s amazing. I feel like they interviewed me before making the manga and then made a character out of each of my opinions, lol.

Although it was a bit cliche at times, and started with the toxic hetero trope, overall the representation is great. You can tell the author did lots of research. 
It's not that the protagonist simply concludes that she's ace, but the fluidity of sexuality also is explained. That asexuality is an umbrella term and that there are so many different kinds of labels underneath it, and everyone feels different about it. 
Aro/Ace identity is probably the only one section of attraction that is so unique to each person. It's not like being gay where it's just "oh yea i only like the same gender", but really is much more complicated. Some still feel sexual attraction, but don't act on it; some masturbate, but wouldn't want to have sex with someone else; others really don't feel any attraction; some want to feel that way but can't; others do but don't want to; and so much more. Which the author also digs into.
It’s also probably the only time I’ve seen a gay character (in manga) mention bisexuality. Oh and there's also an agender character. <3

There's also unlabeled representation. 
You feel that label might fit you, but also not. You don't want a label, you just want to be "you". 
I've said it so many times already, and it's nice to finally see another likeminded person (the author/character). 

I found this Manhua through an instagram page, which recommends yuri stories. The title was kinda sus, ngl, but the picture looked promising, so I had to check it out. 
And don't get fooled by the title, because oh boy, this is actually so wholesome.

<u> The plot: </u>
Yvonne has been isekai'd into an otome game as the villain. The villain. The villain that causes the most harm to the heroine. 
However, Yvonne isn't a fan of hurting others, especially not innocent people. Every now and then a message pops up in front of her (that no one else can see), giving options to earn points. The more points she earns, the better her life will turn out, of course. But even though her father is already in prison because Yvonne went against the villain system once (by saving the heroine), she just can't hurt her. No matter how many times the villain system is forcing her. 
Elsa (the heroine) sees right through that. Yvonne keeps repeating for Elsa to stay away from her and threatens to bully her if not, but Elsa knows that Yvonne's "bullying" just means something harmless. Hence why she loves getting "bullied" by her, since it's not really bullying. 
Yvonne played that game once and therefore knows the story. By saving her, she changed the plot slightly though. In order to keep the storyline, she told Elsa what to do in order to get her destined soulmate (in the game, there are 7 possible men that may end up with her, depending which route the player chooses). 
Yvonne wasn't specific about all that of course, so Elsa instead interpreted it as Yvonne being her destined soulmate. (Since, you know, Yvonne literally saved her from dying.) When Yvonne gets exiled from the country after her father is put in prison, Elsa decides to follow her. 

<u> My thoughts: </u>
It's really wholesome because of how Yvonne makes sure that nothing bad happens to Elsa. Even though she has barely any choice but to obey the villain system, she makes sure it causes as little harm as possible. (For example, she once had to splash water on Elsa, but after that immediately dried her up. Or lock her into a dark room, but since nothing was specified, Yvonne went with her and locked them both up from inside.)
It's a genuinely sweet and healthy twist, which you definitely would not expect from the title.

Honestly, the villain system is actually a matchmaker, if you ask me. Without it, the two might've never come this close.

The Manhua is still ongoing, so I might update my review as it goes, but that's it for now! Really recommend it, it gave me so many butterflies! 
Bilibili comics recently licensed it, so make sure to read it there and help support the creators. There's also a Discord server (called "Please bully me, Miss Villainess! Fans"). <3

I need volume 4!!

No clickbait, you get what the title says.
I'm not very satisfied with the ending (no pun intended), because I'd rather had it going a bit different, but overall it's good.

And it's actually really wholesome, which I definitely did not expect.

Okay, first up: I LOVE the GAYNESS, or generally the QUEERNESS. The main couple is gay, the enemy couple is gay, and there's a lesbian couple, that possibly will shift to the hero side as well. I'M ALL HERE FOR THE GAYS! Plus, the robo-bird is trans. And that big robo might be poly.

Apart from that, I also love the concept – what makes someone human. It's nothing new and has been used many times now, but it's still interesting.

The characters are very deep and thought-through. While I don't like lots of them or get annoyed by pretty much all of them a lot, I still understand them. I think I've understood and emphasized with all characters so far? Not all the time, but at the end of the day. I get where they're coming from. And that's not easy to achieve as an author, so kudos to them.

It's getting so intense!!
Especially that cliffhanger at the end, oh my god.
I really loved the space setting here, mainly because all the alien creatures are so amazing. I just live for the designs.

I can't wait for season 3!!