I’ve always wanted to read one of these Mills & Boon Manga editions, so when the opportunity to request one via Net-Galley came along, I thought I’d gI’ve always wanted to read one of these Mills & Boon Manga editions, so when the opportunity to request one via Net-Galley came along, I thought I’d give it a go.
The reading backwards thing was easier to master than I thought it would be. I thought it would take a little getting used to at least but I found I was doing it no worries after the first page.
I didn’t have any issues with the illustrations either. I felt they were all exactly how I imagined a Manga book’s drawings should be depicted. That is, sometimes a little dramatic and exaggerated but essentially fun.
Mortimer’s story, however, was the weak point for me. I’ve read a lot of crazy plots in Mortimer books but this one really takes the cake.
Jacquii was married to Rafe (there’s a classic M&B hero name if there ever was one!) and they had a baby before they divorced. Soon after, Jacquii was involved in a car accident. Rafe was such a tyrant during their marriage and subsequent divorce that Jacquii lets him think she’s died in the accident. While she’s in the hospital being attended to by doctors, she asks them to perform plastic surgery on her face. The plan is to change her features completely so that she can return to live near Rafe and see her son without his knowledge.
Yes, Jacquii becomes Brooke and moves in next door so she can see her son. Okay, I understand a woman doing anything for her kids but surely in this case plastic surgery was a little extreme. No one in the hospital suggested a visit from a psychiatrist? Or checked to see if reruns of Return to Eden were being shown?
As much as I usually enjoy Mortimer’s books (she’s easily my most read Mills & Boon writer), I certainly won’t be racing to read the normal edition of this book. I did wonder whether the publishers deliberately look for over the top plots like this for their manga editions. I’ll have to read another couple to work out if this is the case.
2 out of 5 The book was a quick read and the manga drawings enjoyable due to their uniqueness but the storyline was just too whack for me.
Merged review:
I’ve always wanted to read one of these Mills & Boon Manga editions, so when the opportunity to request one via Net-Galley came along, I thought I’d give it a go.
The reading backwards thing was easier to master than I thought it would be. I thought it would take a little getting used to at least but I found I was doing it no worries after the first page.
I didn’t have any issues with the illustrations either. I felt they were all exactly how I imagined a Manga book’s drawings should be depicted. That is, sometimes a little dramatic and exaggerated but essentially fun.
Mortimer’s story, however, was the weak point for me. I’ve read a lot of crazy plots in Mortimer books but this one really takes the cake.
Jacquii was married to Rafe (there’s a classic M&B hero name if there ever was one!) and they had a baby before they divorced. Soon after, Jacquii was involved in a car accident. Rafe was such a tyrant during their marriage and subsequent divorce that Jacquii lets him think she’s died in the accident. While she’s in the hospital being attended to by doctors, she asks them to perform plastic surgery on her face. The plan is to change her features completely so that she can return to live near Rafe and see her son without his knowledge.
Yes, Jacquii becomes Brooke and moves in next door so she can see her son. Okay, I understand a woman doing anything for her kids but surely in this case plastic surgery was a little extreme. No one in the hospital suggested a visit from a psychiatrist? Or checked to see if reruns of Return to Eden were being shown?
As much as I usually enjoy Mortimer’s books (she’s easily my most read Mills & Boon writer), I certainly won’t be racing to read the normal edition of this book. I did wonder whether the publishers deliberately look for over the top plots like this for their manga editions. I’ll have to read another couple to work out if this is the case.
2 out of 5 The book was a quick read and the manga drawings enjoyable due to their uniqueness but the storyline was just too whack for me....more
Boring and unoriginal and so long for no reason at all and I just can't go on.
The plot is just Beauty and the Beast without any of that story's conflBoring and unoriginal and so long for no reason at all and I just can't go on.
The plot is just Beauty and the Beast without any of that story's conflict (eg, the hero is not repulsive to look at and shunned by everyone; instead he's just wearing a stupid mask and I can't even). The only interesting plotline is that of one of the supporting characters and, even then, it's not that interesting for me to read on.
I think you need to be much younger than I am to enjoy this. Then, I fret that a younger reader would be influenced by the basically drug addled rape scene sold as 'sexy'. (I also have to mention that the female lead excuses the hero's behaviour in this scene and repeats several times that he wasn't acting like his usual funny and sweet self. This was hilarious, considering that up to this point he had only just grunted and brooded in her general direction. I'm pretty sure she is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome...)
Overall, I don't know why people feel like they can mock romances from Harlequin/Mills and Boon and yet praise this type of book which is a corny prince/harem/hurt-comfort romance.
I was so close to the end but I've thrown in the towel. I'm not sure why I read as much as I did. ...more
Audible is offering the James Bond series for free at the moment, so I got curious and tried the first book, knowing it would probably be dated and (fAudible is offering the James Bond series for free at the moment, so I got curious and tried the first book, knowing it would probably be dated and (from most reports) sexist etc. But…
I was actually pleasantly surprised. I can actually see how Fleming was such a successful writer. Apart from the obvious (his character of Bond and the spy scenarios), he really is a very adept and descriptive writer. His action scenes, such as car chases etc, are particularly great. And, despite the short word count, he certainly fit a lot into the book (take note, modern writers/publishers who insist on obnoxiously long books full of nothing).
The character of Bond is not as suave or self assured as he is in the film franchise. He plays the cards in the casino with no certainty of winning and knows if he does, it will simply be luck. He doesn’t really get himself out of any deadly situations with aplomb but, again, survives due to plain dumb luck and the occasional helping hand from another agent/ally.
Weirdly, the book is almost a romance for the last third of the book, which is where the modern reader gets to tussle with the 1950s sexist attitude. Okay, it is there. I would say the supporting character is more of an issue though. He basically pimps the female operative onto Bond. Yes, Bond does say a couple of things about her which, these days, would not be acceptable but I felt like Fleming added these words (well, one word, not the worst word but still when it was used--twice--it was really jarring) as a way to show Bond’s state of mind, especially at the end of the book. But, again, this was now published just over 70 years ago, so one would hope we’ve moved on slightly.
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