Notice for Review Requests

I receive review requests weekly. However, my personal schedule is hectic and I no longer review actively. (I also manage another blog called The Toronto Cafe and Food Blog). I do read every request sent but I apologize in advance that I do not reply to them all.

If I do take on a request, I will forewarn that it may take some time before I can review it. I am now looking to review adult fiction and self-help books instead of young adult fiction because I have grown out of it. If you are to request a review for either adult fiction or self-help, I will more likely to give it a shot.

In the meantime, Stop, Drop, and Read! serves as an archive book review blog. When I have the time, I may post a review. Thank you for understanding.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

The Story of Saiunkoku by Kairi Yura and Sai Yukino

Title: The Story of Saiunkoku
Mangaka: Kairi Yura (Art) & Sai Yukino (Story)
Age Group: Teens
Series is: Ongoing with 6 volumes
Volume(s) Reviewing: 2
My Rating: 4.5/5

Shurei who has become the emperor's consort is eagerly trying to help him improve in his studies. When she realizes that he was pretending to be ignorant the entire time, she no longer wants to stay in the palace. Ryuki decides to lock her up in her room until she calms down. Except, he does not realize the danger he has placed Shurei in...

If you read my review here for the first volume, I predicted something would happen in this volume. And my manga intuition was correct! Shurei ends up getting kidnapped, creating a series of actions that gets the story ball rolling. It delves deeper into the backgrounds of all the side characters, painting a clearer picture of everyone's relationship with each other.

I honestly think that this manga should be turned into a Hong Kong/Chinese historical action drama. No joke. There are hidden agendas of those in palace, assassins, people with secret identities, and not to mention a beautiful setting to fit it all. I personally think reading it is not as exciting as it would be watching it live (live live, not anime). Which is why I gave this volume a higher rating than I should. I just pictured this perfect drama that I want to see so badly in real life because of how the story is set up and the variety of beautifully created characters.

This manga takes a lot more patience in order to enjoy because it is the kind of manga you have to take in bit by bit. If you don't mind that it takes awhile at first to develop to fully enjoy it, then I highly recommend it. It is just one of those mangas that you can not help but appreciate.

Review copy provided by Viz.
post signature

2 comments:

Liviania said...

This one looks right up my alley. I kind of like the slower, more political stories nowadays.

Laura said...

I really love this series. I think Shurei Hong is a great female lead.