So, I am just flying through books at the moment so I have too many I want to talk about! So, we are back with ANOTHER mini review. This week I am focusing on two manga volumes I read recently that I loved!

Usotoki Rhetoric, Vol.1 – Ritsu Miyako

• Series: Usotoki Rhetoric #1
• Genre: Historical Mystery
• No. of pages: 189
• Dates read: 05.03.2023 – 05.03.2023
• Star Rating: 4 stars

Plot: Sixteen-year-old Kanoko Urabe knows that someone is lying if she can hear the strange, echoing sound of clanging metal in their voice. As a young and overly honest child, she would point out the lies of other villagers, and was ostracized as a result. She is eventually forced to leave her hometown and tries to find a place for herself in the city of Tsukumoya in 1920s Japan. In a chance encounter, Kanoko meets Souma Iwai, a gifted but penniless detective. After she is forced to demonstrate her ability, he expresses appreciation for what she can do and agrees to take her in, asking the girl to be his assistant. The Iwai investigation firm soon makes a name for itself helping clients by solving cases with Souma’s sharp wits and Kanoko’s power. In the process, Kanoko’s life is enriched by the various people she encounters in her investigations.

Now, when it comes to manga I have always stuck to the mainstream, well-known options like Fullmetal Alchemist and The Promised Neverland. But now that I am more versed in manga and know what I like etc. I found myself branching out and trying new things. Hence how I came across a series of which only one volume was out in the UK!

I went into this knowing virtually nothing and I loved every second that I read this book. I loved the characters, I loved the setting and I loved the mystery. I felt this volume was a really good set-up volume. Establishing the characters, the over-arching plot, the budding romance and the setting.

I loved being transported back to 1920s Japan an area of history I know virtually nothing about. It made the story fresh and exciting for me as not only I am learning about new characters etc. but I am exploring a place that I have no recollection of and I can learn so much!

The plot for volume 1 was fine. It felt that it was more on the back burner to focus more on the characters but what we did get I really enjoyed.

Spy X Family, Vol.1 by Tatsuya Endo

• Series: Spy X Family #1
• Genre: Thriller/Comedy
• No. of pages: 220
• Dates read: 10.03.2023 – 10.03.2023
• Star Rating: 5 stars

Plot: Master spy Twilight is the best at what he does when it comes to going undercover on dangerous missions in the name of a better world. But when he receives the ultimate impossible assignment—get married and have a kid—he may finally be in over his head! Not one to depend on others, Twilight has his work cut out for him procuring both a wife and a child for his mission to infiltrate an elite private school. What he doesn’t know is that the wife he’s chosen is an assassin and the child he’s adopted is a telepath!

Now, I cannot tell you how LONG it took me to get the first volume of this series. I ended up getting it on holiday in Amsterdam! A WHOLE OTHER COUNTRY! I needed to start this series as last year I somehow ended up on Spy X Family TikTok and the show was soooo good and then I heard it was confirmed for a 2nd season. So I needed to be up to date!

This series is super hyped and I 1000% get why. The characters are so good, the comedy is written so well and I found myself trying not to laugh out loud on the plane home and the plot is super engaging and exciting.

My favourite part as I am sure is everyones’ favourite aspect of the series is the fake family dynamic. Watching these 3 individuals fake being a family but slowly beginning to love each other and wanting to be a real one is the most engaging and beautiful part of the series. Adding them all the hi-jinks of telepathy, assassinations and hiding who they really are. It’s just super entertaining.

I knew instantly after I read the first volume that I needed the second one and I bought it instantly when I got back home!