And we are back with more reviews! I have a very serious post in the works right now that will hopefully be out some time this month but in the meantime, let's check in on some new releases.
I received free advance copies from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.
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Title: Once Was Willem
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Author: M. R. Carey
Rating: 4/5
Published by Orbit Books and available March 4, 2025, Once Was Willem is something I thought I'd never find a good example of -- a fantasy story set in a real medieval era. This story follows a revenant (a reanimated corpse) and his found family of shape-shifters and spirits as they fight to defend the town's children from an evil sorcerer. The book combines dark fantasy, medieval folklore, and Gnosticism for the worldbuilding, and I was really impressed. I'm not particularly a fantasy fan and I've read too many bad attempts to mix fantasy with the Middle Ages but this was not one of them. There was a major historical error, referencing the so-called Children's Crusade before it was said to have happened, but that was all I caught, and for the most part the historical detail is really nice. This will appeal to fans of both dark fantasy and realistic depictions of the Middle Ages, as well as those of you who are monster lovers (hey, I'm one too!)
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Title: Dogsred Vol. 1
Author: Satoru Noda
Rating: 4/5
Published by Viz Media and available March 18, 2025, Dogsred Vol. 1 is the first volume of a new series by the author of Golden Kamuy. This series follows Rou, an ice skater looking for a second chance playing hockey. So yes, it is a sports manga. If that makes you think it's a story only for sports fans, you must never have read a sports manga. These are more often than not actually really exciting and full of emotion. Dogsred looks like it'll be no exception. The art is fantastic and conveys the speed and action of skating and I was immediately invested in Rou's story as he comes off tragedy and a breakdown to try to rebuild his life. I've never skated on ice but now I want to try it. This series will appeal to fans of action manga and stories about redemption, and maybe even the readers of all those hockey romances (assuming they actually like hockey).
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Title: Kai and the Kappas
Author: Stefanie Gamarra
Illustrator: Marta Pilosio
Rating: 4/5
Self-published and available March 20, 2025, Kai and the Kappas is a picture book about a monster-loving boy in a retelling of the folktale of The Boy Who Cried Wolf (Perry Index # 210) It's very cute and will appeal to monster kids. The art is nice and looks almost like paper cutouts. I did think some of the text passages where a bit long, which depending on the age of the reader might lose them a bit, but that was just a few pages. This is a good retelling of a familiar fable and I like that it uses a non-Western creature, in this case a Japanese Yōkai. I'll definitely suggest it to our picture book selector.
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Title: Viral Hit Vol. 1
Author: Taejun Pak
Illustrator: Kim Junghyun
Rating: 2.5
Published by Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group and available April 1, 2025, Viral Hit is a Korean webtoon now being published physically. I can't seem to get into webtoons/manwa but I look into them for work and these reviews. This series follows a bullied high schooler as he goes viral for fighting bullies on stream. The art is pretty good -- manwa tends to have pretty impressive realistic art and this is no exception. The premise will appeal to people interested in streaming culture and heroes starting from zero, but it just didn't interest me. The constant profanity, which is censored with asterisks, feels like they're trying too hard to be edgy and just looks dumb. It was funny seeing a kimchi slap right out of a K-drama (like this iconic video) though.
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Title: Men of the Harem Vol. 1
Authors: Alphatart (original story), Herelee (adaptor)
Illustrator: Yeongbin
Rating: 3/5
Published by Yen Press and available December 10, 2024, Men of the Harem Vol. 1 is already out but is still up on NetGalley and I requested it not noticing the release date. Oh well. Men of the Harem is another webtoon but I was more interested in this than Viral Hit. It follows a female emperor as she solidifies her power and plans to break with tradition and gender norms and gather a male harem for herself. I enjoy polyamory and gender subversion in fiction so I was interested. The art is very nice and I think the premise will be fun to see play out in future volumes. It takes place in a fantasy world, so silly names are all over the place. Despite her weird name, I do like the main character, Latrasil, and I can't wait to see her with her harem of pretty boys.
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Title: Semantic Error Vol. 1
Author: J. Soori
Illustrator: Angy
Rating: 4/5
Published by Yen Press and available November 19, 2024, Semantic Error is another book still on NetGalley that I failed to see the publishing date of. It's also another webtoon/manwa. This time it's a boy's love series, centered around two college students, one who has it out for the other after his graduation plan is ruined. So yes, it's one of those enemies-to-lovers stories that are all the rage lately. The art isn't as good as I've seen in other manwa (one of the main characters consistently has a huge body, making his head out of proportionally small). I've had little success with finding a manwa that interests me, but I think I like this one. The characters actually feel fleshed out and the plot is engaging. I can see why this is considered one of the best Korean BL.
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