Book Reviews

Truc Nguyen

‘Blood on the Tracks’ by Shuzo Oshimi

‘Blood on the Tracks or ‘Chi no Wadachi’ is a story about a boy named Seiichi Osabe, who witnesses his mother pushing his cousin off a cliff and then must deal with the aftermath. This manga series, despite it still being ongoing, uses beautiful imagery and symbolism to show the effect of Seiichi’s relationship with his evil mother. No little detail is left behind. 

For example, one day Seiichi remembers the dead cat that was found on the sidewalk during his childhood. After that, the story keeps returning to the dead cat, until you realise that it symbolises how Seiichi had died inside that day.There are, however, some things that I think could be improved such as how all the characters other than Seiichi and his mother are not memorable and seem more like plot devices for Seiichi’s character arc. For example, the girl called Fukiishi seems to be there so Seiichi has someone to relate to and can talk to, though her back story seems interesting. I would have liked the author to go a bit deeper into her character. Another thing is how some parts of the plot can be confusing and not clear. An example is how sometimes it is hard to tell whether parts of Seiichi’s story are hallucination, imagination, or reality. Despite that there are also a lot of things I like about the story, like everything that happens in the story does not come out of anywhere. That is because the author, Shuzo Oshimi, gives the reader plenty of hints throughout the whole series. 

Another thing I like was the facial expression on the characters and how clear it was, it is almost as if they were real people, real people with real emotions. I enjoyed the fact that Oshimi doesn’t use blood or gore imagery to emphasize the fact that it is a horror novel. Instead, he used the fact that this could happen in real life. We also see the point of view of the main character throughout the manga and the weight that he must carry because of his mother’s terrible crime. 

Do I recommend this manga? Well, it depends! If you are not okay with seeing somewhat inappropriate imagery like a corpse or a nude character (which is shown briefly), then it is best not to read it. However, if you enjoy psychological horror, then you should most definitely read it! You will enjoy it for sure! I give it about a 7.5 out of 10!

Book Review by Hasty Taee

‘It Ends with Us’ by Colleen Hoover 

It Ends With Us follows the story of Lily Bloom who has recently moved to Boston to pursue her dream of opening a flower shop, yes, a flower shop with that name. Thankfully, this was a comedic choice the author made and its ridiculousness of it is addressed in the book. Lily grew up in a home with domestic violence, her father would harm her mother often while Lily was home. 

Within the book there are two perspectives we see, the first one is present Lily who lives in Boston and the second one is from diary entries that Lily wrote when she was in high school. In the diary entries, we get pieces of a story that includes lily and a homeless kid a bit older than her, Atlas. Lily writes about how they met and how their relationship progressed as well as how much she wanted to leave her household because of her father. Lily states multiple times that she would never tolerate any abuse from a man like her mother does and often it seems as though she looks down at her mother for staying with her father. 

This view is not uncommon among children who grew up in similar households, but it lacks understanding of deep emotions of love and fear. Lily cannot seem to understand why her mother wouldn’t just leave even though it is quite scary to try when you’re in an abusive situation.While the story in the diary plays out, we see present-day Lily meet a neurosurgeon named Ryle (pronounced Rhyl not Riley) on a rooftop, they have a deep conversation about life and Ryle confides in Lily about a surgery case that plagues his mind. Ryle and lily meet six months later by coincidence and begin to have a quick start heavy romance. Lily decides to surprise Ryle by cooking for him and they drink and get distracted which then makes them forget about the food and it burns, Ryle goes to take the food out of the oven and forgets to wear gloves, he burns his hand which lily finds funny but in turn makes Ryle angry, causing him to strike her. Lily is disgusted by this and tells him that if he ever does that again she will leave him with no thought but as she falls deeper for him, he seems to become more abusive, and she begins to make excuses for him.

This book is made to show the journey a daughter takes to understand her mother more, it is meant to make those who ridicule women in situations like this more understanding. The concept for this book is great in my opinion, the author makes the reader fall in love with Ryle just as Lily does which makes it even more shocking when he turns out to be bad. Sadly, even with a smashing concept, I don’t think this book was very good, I think it was poorly executed which is not very surprising. 

Colleen Hoover wrote this because her mother was a victim of abuse and Colleen grew up not quite understanding it fully. This case of abuse wasn’t very realistic which is understandable for a work of fiction, but it is hard to believe it is meant to make people understand when in the end Lily seems to get a happy ending, which many women do not. The characters in the book don’t seem to hold Ryle accountable, his sister who is Lily’s best friend seems to sympathise with her brother instead of being distraught with his actions which would be realistic if she wasn’t Lily’s supposed best friend. Looking away from the plot, a few things that were added made it quite hard to be immersed in the book. Lily’s diary entries are cute, almost relatable even for a teenager, but each entry is in a letter format addressed to Lily’s idol, Ellen DeGeneres, which feels so specific and out of place for the story. 

I don’t know if this is something personal to the author or maybe I’m too picky, but it was not enjoyable to imagine a 16-year-old writing to a TV personality. Another thing that was very odd to me is Lily's theme for her flower shop, which she describes as ‘steampunk’ because she wants the shop to stand out as a 'flower shop for people who hate flowers’, as she puts it. It just feels very weird to add that in. I understand that it could be a way of making the character unique or creative but, honestly, it just makes me think of something I would think of as an eight-year-old.

I think in the end I would recommend this book if you already understood abusive situations because this isn’t what you want to be your first view of them. I enjoyed this book, believe it or not, and I was entertained but while reading I had to take several pauses to keep my sanity. 

Book Review by Gabrielle Phelan

‘The Last Unicorn’ by Peter S. Beagle

The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone. She was very old, though she did not know it, and she was no longer the careless color of sea foam, but rather the color of snow falling on a moonlit night. But her eyes were still clear and unwearied, and she still moved like a shadow on the sea.

Written in 1982, Peter S. Beagle’s ‘The Last Unicorn’ became an instant cult classic. It is a fantasy novel which plays with the traditional fairy tale structure, and poses some thought-provoking philosophical ideas, including what it means to ‘be’, identity and gender roles.

The Last Unicorn is about a unicorn, who believes that she is the last of her kind. She goes on a journey to find where the other unicorns have gone, alongside a kind Molly and a magician, Schmenrick. Together, the three of them head toward King Haggard’s castle, where it is rumoured that he has captured and trapped all of the unicorns with the help of the menacing Red Bull.

On the way to the castle, the Red Bull sensed the unicorn was coming, and began to chase her with the intention of trapping her in the sea. This is where things get interesting…out of fear and desperation, Schemdrick the Magician uses magic to transform the unicorn into a human woman.

Dismayed by her new form, the unicorn, named Amalthea has to grapple with human emotions, human relationships and the ever-present existential dread. What is her purpose now she is a human? After developing a relationship with King Haggard’s son, Amalthea must decide if she wants to stay in her human form, or if she will ultimately return to the form of the unicorn. The story is a nostalgic, melancholic tale of the meaning of life. It is bizarre, but endearing and whilst it sounds a bit strange, I could not recommend it more for anyone who enjoys fantasy or philosophy!

Book Review by Prue Smith

‘Alexandria, The Quest For the Lost City’ by Edmund Richardson

4 July 1827.  Dawn smelled of sweat, incense and horseshit.  Private James Lewis, an unremarkable member of the British East India Company’s army, awoke in Agra. In India, but not of it, the army camp was a miniature world of snoring soldiers, cooking fires, cannonballs and gunpowder. In the distance, with flocks of tiny birds whirling around its dome, the Taj Mahal loomed up in silhouette. By 6am., the sun was well over the horizon, breaking through the mist on the Yamuna River, and turning the ancient red walls of Agra Fort to flaming gold. At the top of the fort’s towers, the last of the night’s bats flapped home. For Lewis, it was independence day. He pulled on his uniform, walked out of the gate past the sleepy guards and never went back. By evening, he would be a wanted man. 

Have you ever wished that you could walk away from your ordinary life, out into adventure, risk and possibly danger?  

This is the extraordinary true story of an ordinary man who lived on the edge of life, hounded by his own country, travelling with a motley crew of other adventurers and charlatans, and learning to survive any way he could.  

His was not an easy life, coming from poverty in London, to the hard and brutal life of a British soldier. Growing tired of his soldier life he left India and travelled to Afghanistan where he started his hunt for the lost city of Alexandria lost in the sands of time and conflict.

Afghanistan of the early 1800’s is described as a wonderfully wild and beautiful country. Cultured, exotic, sophisticated in some ways and ancient in others. Kabul, a cosmopolitan, fascinating, and diverse city where people from all over the world gathered to explore the delights of the region. Artists, artisans, musicians, soldiers, explorers, traders, merchants, and rogues all living and struggling to make a living.

I love adventure stories, and this is one of the best I have every read! It describes a time in history when discoveries of lost cities, treasures and ancient cultures lost in time were still possible.

To James Lewis…thank you for leaving us the knowledge of your discoveries and for your perseverance and determination to discover Alexander’s city.