passionforfic - Tumblr blog

[passionforfic]

Almond by Won Pyung Sohn

I liked this Korean YA realistic fiction. I could visualize the places, the characts, and their interactions. It is an interesting combination: a boy who can't express emotions and another boy who felt them keenly. The story is told from the first person point of view, so we are seeing the events through the eyes of the boy who can't understand and express emotions. And I find it intereting to see how he connects his inability to understand emotions to his struggle understanding literature. He was able to question people's inability to help others. . . I liked his character, I felt sad for Gon and I liked Dora.

I hope these characters found what they needed, and their hearts were warmed by love.

[passionforfic]

It End's Wih Us Duoloy by Colleen Hoover

I have heard mixed reviews of these books, but I decided to give it a try. They are not perfect, but they are not bad either. It's a nice story with nice characters. If felt real, like this could happen to someone. It me, they read as one book since the second one starts literally where the first one ended. It truly gives closure to the situation because divorce never really equals "problem solved," especially if they share a child. I like that the titles don't really refer to Lilly and Atlas, but their connection to the children of their lives.

It Ends With Us, refers to Lilly and her daughter ending the cycle of abuse through her decision to end her marriage.

It Starts With Us, refers to Atlas and his little brother being each other's family.

Again, it's no masterpiece, but it definitely a nice read and I recommend it.

[passionforfic]

María y sus teorías conspiranóicas by Abraham Delgado

Delgado delivered a story that makes us laugh and reflect on how suceptible people are. It is a critique of how people are misinformed, and how people love to create fake news just because and also about political greed. Puerto Ricans that have lived in the island during hurricane Maria and everything else will remember all those theories, the poor government management and everything that makes this island a crazy and unbelievable place. I enjoyed the read.

[passionforfic]

Marry My Husband Webtoon vs Kdrama

As I watched the Korean Drama adaptation, I wondered which adaptation - the webtoon or the kdrama - was closer to the webnovel. I haven't read the original source, so I was not able to answer the question. I admit that there were things I liked more in the webtoon and others that I liked best in the kdrama. I was never happy to see that Ji Hyeok in the webtoon died because he committed suicide after Ji Won's death. I don't know if this is how it is in the webnovel, but I like how the drama worked this issue out and turned it into a car accident. I also like the story about how Ji Won and Ji Hyeok meet in the series, it is sweeter and their interaction is profound. I also like how they interact in the series a little bit more than in the webtoon, at least in the beginning. Although, I definitely like it more in the webtoon once she moves to the same apartment building and they start living together. I also like Mr. Yoo in the webtoon better than in the series since he was a cool grandfather in the webtoon.

Park Min Hwan and Jeong Soo Min are awful antagonists in both versions and I like their story line. Mrs. Park was also awful in both versions, just like Mr. Kim. In the kdrama, we have an additional antagonist, Oh Yoo Ra. At the beginning, I found it unnecessary to have this character in the plot line but later, towards the end, it sort of made sense. I think that the whole situation was clearer in the drama than in the webtoon. The drama was able to pin point where things were similar to what happened to Ji Won and Ji Hyeok in the future, it also makes sense her determination to have Soo Min marry Min Young.

But the one thing I really didn't like was how Yan Joo Ran was portrayed in the drama adaptation. In the webtoon she was actually the one that came up with the food kit idea, and she was more assertive than in the drama. She followed Ji Won's advice at work and about having her parents help with her daughter, but she was the one that had the spike to get divorced and she was never fooled by Soo Min, just like Hee Yeon never trusted her either.

I liked Yan Joo Ran's relationship with Lee Joon Seok, who becomes her friend and partner. He has a special relationship with Joo Ran's daughter too. In the series Lee Joon Seok's equivalent is Lee Seok Joon, Ji Kyeong's HR person and his grandfather's right hand. The sweetness and cuteness of that relationship was lost in the drama version.

Another relationship that lost its sweetness and we didn't really get to see blossom was Hee Yeon's and Baek Eun Ho's. In the drama he didn't own the café near the building and Hee Yeon didn't go to his place everyday to get dessert. In the series he was just a chef and later joined the company for the food kit project.

I think both adaptations have their good points and ones I didn't like much. The blend of both would have made it perfect for me. Again, I haven't read the webnovel and I know that LICO took some liberties to keep it short, so I don't know which one is more faithful to the original, still, I liked both adaptations, there were fun to read/watch and what I didn't like in the webtoon, I was happy to see it better in the series and those things that I didn't like in the series, I know I can just go back to the webtoon and relived them.

Either way, it is a good story.

Marry My Husband Webtoon

Marry My Husband Webnovel

Marry My Husband Korean Drama

[passionforfic]

Candy Candy: La historia definitiva by Keiko Nagita

Well, if you follow my blog, you know that the first anime I ever saw was Candy Candy in the early 1980s in the local tv channel. It was dubbed in Spanish. I have always loved this story. I love the anime, the manga and I finally found the novel. I just finished reading. This is not the original version of the novel, the author in a note inside the book said that this was the last edition and it had some changes. . . I loved it. The novel is divided into 3 parts, the first two are in narrative and the las one is all letters that gives the reader hints of what happened during her time in nurse school and later on. I loved the 2nd half which is about her time with Terry! I wish that the third one had been as detailed because that's when she spends more time with Albert but if it had been, it would have been a very long novel - though I wouldn't had minded. In any case, I have the anime where I can see her life with Terry and Albert. And I can see her childhood friends as well.

I never get tired of reading this story. I will never be too old to revisit it either. I will always treasure these three versions that make the story whole.

[passionforfic]

Perfect Marriage Revenge Webtoon & K-Drama

Well, I finished watching the Korean drama adaptation of the webtoon and I needed to post my thoughts. I liked both, the webtoon and the kdrama series. The webtoon was longer so it took its sweet time to develop the relationship between Ji Yoo and Do Gul. The kdrama was short (12 episodes long) so they took some liberties with the story, still I liked how they managed it. I also like the fact that the series was able to give us more information about Ji Yoo's father and grandfather at the end. They were part of her life, they had their closure with the past as well. The drama changed the accident scene, instead of three people coming back, there were only two. I would have liked it to be three of them, but since they changed Jae Won's storyline in the drama I guess it worked best that way. In fact, I like the changes they made in his storyline. In the end, he gets his father back.

In both I loved how the relationship between Do Guk and Ji Yoo grows and I like that Yoo Ra and her mother get what they deserve; and Jung Wook as well.

I loved both, the webtoon and the drama.

[passionforfic]

Marry My Husband Webtoon by LICO

This adaptation of the webnovel of the same title by Sung So Jak has 58 episodes and 10 spin-offs. It is fast-paced and has a good balance of drama and romance. I like the subplots related to Ju Ran and Hee Yeon. Su Min and Min Hwan are awful people! These antagonists are very well developed. I liked the main characters and how their lives were connected from the beginning. I also like that we are able to enjoy watching them have their happy live after all the struggles.

I would love to read the webnovel, but right now, I plan to watch the K-drama adaptation of this novel.

[passionforfic]

Perfect Marriage Revenge by Jeribol and Lee Beombae

Finished, reading this 125 episode long webtoon just now. This is not the first webtoon I read where people are given a second chance after dying; still, I Iiked how the author developed the plot to make it different. I liked the main characters and how these 3 people that came back to life were connected to each other.

Han Iju and Seo Do Guk helped each other overcome their different trauma as they fell in love with each other. I liked that the author gave us time to enjoy their happy ending, seeing them build a happy home and family. The revenge plot was consistent and worked well. But I think that the workplace subplot was abandoned towards the end. Once Iju gets the position at her father's company, we see people don't like her, and she needs to prove herself. Right before she was pushed into the ocean, she reached out to a potential future partner. After that, we know nothing about how work is doing. We don't get to see her win the employees' trust or meet with the potential partner to present the proposal. We see her working at home, but that's it. Then we saw her painting and having an exhibition, which is fine, but she made such a big issue about getting the company back, I thought we would see more of this. The same with Do Guk, he left his own business to go back to the family business and we don't see much of that either, apart from him taking a paternity leave which I think is super great. Another disappointing thing was Iju's father and her grandfather. Once Iju establishes that she is Mr. Han's daughter, he doesn't appear anymore. He rejects Yura and decides not to help her because of how helping her ould make Iju feel, but he is not part of the family. When she gave birth, he was not there. The only people who were always around were the Seo family and Iju's newly found mother. Her father was not around. Something similar happened to Iju's grandfather. All that fuss she made to protect him, once he gave her the position in the company, he fell ill, and nothing else was said about him. Did he die? I don't know; these inconsistencies made Iju a bit shallow.

Still, I liked the webtoon and will watch the series to see how they adapt it and what they focus on.

[passionforfic]

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Finished reading this novel for book club. Can't wait for our discussion on it! It transports readers to the Hollywood of the late 20th century and takes readers into a roller coaster that feels private and public at the same time. Complicated characters, so gray you don't know what to think or feel about them. It is a really good read.

[passionforfic]

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

OMG! What the heck! That ending! I'm still in shock because, really, once he said that he knew the Sage was waiting for him, I started thinking - wait a minute! Xaden knows the Sage?! It seems he did, or at least at some point, they had a heated conversation. Now the Sage is dead, but Xaden turned. This second book was really good, a lot of secrets and mysteries among themselves. New charaters and old come together to fight agains a common enemy.

I can't wait to read the next installment!

[passionforfic]

Books Read in 2023 Recap

I'm really glad to see I did a lot of reading this year. Some of the books were awesome, others were good, others okay - but I enjoyed the read. Here they are!

[passionforfic]

2023 Webtoon & Manga Recount

I like taking a look at the year before finally saying goodbye. I'm surprised to see that I have been busy reading books, webtoons and manga. I tend to read romantic webtoons, but there is some suspense ones, and fantasy. Some of these are ongoing and others I read the complete story.

Some of these have Korean Drama adaptations and the manga have their anime. I have see their adaptations and some I love and others like.

Here is a recap of the webtoons and manga I read this year!

[passionforfic]

A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber

I finished the trilogy! Out of the three books, the second one was my favorite. This ending left me with a couple of questions, but it also helped me make sense of other things. I like how the author connected Caraval to this trilogy. One of my favorite characters in Caraval was Jacks; and he was the reason why I decided to read this triloy. I wanted him to have a happy ending as well. Evangeline is kind of annoying as a characters especially in the first book. But this trilogy has a good set of interesting characters that make up for the protagonist's annoying attitude at the beginning of the trilogy.

This last installment felt kind of slow at the beginning, but once she regains her memories, the story picked up the pace, hooking me up. Still, I enjoyed the read and liked the ending.

[passionforfic]

El infinito en la plama de la mano by Gioconda Beli

This is the second novel by this author that I read. I loved her retelling of this Bibliocal characters, their reactions and train of thoughts as they experienced things for the first time and tried to understand Elokim's decisions. The serpent is more friendly than Elokim in many ways, as it explains things to Adam and Eva. I likes these characters, how their roles are created, how they learn about good and evil and the so many gray areas in life.

It is a novel that gives the reader a lot of fruit for thoughts. I liked it, but not as much as the first novel I read by her, still, I definitely recommend it.

[passionforfic]

The Novels That Made It Into the Boruto Anime

The first wave of Naruto novels made into the last episodes of Naruto Shippuden; the same happened with the new wave of novels that came out towards the end of the 2010s. Many people complain that the Boruto anime is full of fillers, making it a reason why they say the anime is weak. I differ. The Boruto manga is action pack from the very beginning; but it doesn't give the reader a moment to appreaciate the accomplishments of the Great Five Kage at the end of the 4th Great Ninja War. The Boruto anime opens the lense to show us what the ninja life is like in times of peace, but these arcs are no fillers since most of them are based on manga and novels related to Naruto. In a previous post, I wrote about the Sasuke's Story: The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust and how it was integrated into the anime; today, I want to write about the other five books that came out around the same time as the previous one.

Three out of the six novels that came out are about Naruto's illness:

1. Kakashi's Story: the Sixth Hokage and the Fallen Prince

2. Sasuke's Story: The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust

3. Naruto's Story: Uzumaki Naruto and the Spiral Destiny

These three can be read interconnected, starting with the epilogue and first chapter of the Naturo one, then reading Kakashi's book, then Sasuke's, and then ending with the rest of Naruto's novel. In the anime arc, the story focuses on Sasuke's and Sakura's mission, mentioning Kakashi's part in the effort and then explaining that Naruto will be okay. I like what they did in the anime, since putting all three novels into the arc would have been too much, still I enjoyed reading all three books, specially becasue I got to see my favorite characters interact and work together as a team. It's kind of sad, though, how Naruto decides not to confide on Hinata about his illness because he doesn't want to worry her and their children, still she knows something is going on and she tells Naruto and we definitely see it in what she says to Sasuke. I love how Naruto and the others work with Orochimaru even when they don't really trust him and how Yamato - while keeping watch - has become part of the lives of those living with Orochimaru, even Mitsuki when he goes to visit his parent. . .

The other three novels take place before Naruto's illness, and Boruto and his friends have a bit more exposure. In Sasuke's Story: Star Pupil, we see Sasuke training Team 7 while Konohamaru is in the hospital after a mission. Here, we can see Boruto's conflict with the use of science in the ninja world. Boruto doesn't want to be connected to anything related to science since what happened at the chunn exams but, here Sasuke tells him the importance of knowing physics and other science facts. Plus, we also get to see father and daughter work together in a mission, while Sasuke reflects about his role as sensei and team work. This story is not part of the anime, and I think they made the right decision. I enjoyed reading the novel, but I don't think that it was necessary in the anime.

Shikamaru's Story: Mourning Clouds is a very interesting novel, and we see a Shikamaru that is willing to do anything to keep peace; and we also get to see him and Sasuke actually have a one-on-one conversation that makes them realize that they want the same things. But I also like this novel because we get to see the dynamics in the Nara household: Shikamaru's relationship with Temari and Shikadai. This story is partly incorporated into the anime, although the episodes in the anime focus more on Boruto's involvement, and we don't see the political situation behind the feudal leader's visit, it's there and that's when we start to learn more about the mark Boruto has in his hand.

Naruto's Story: Family Day is completely incorporated into the anime in a couple of fun and sweet episodes where we see Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Choji, and Sai spend time with their children. I like the novel's story about Hinata spending the day with her father and her sister. And I like the anime adapatation's Naruto-Boruto moment. This novel and its adaptation give us a look into the family dynamics, our favorite characters' relationship with their children.

There are other manga that are incorporated into the Boruto anime that are wonderful:

1. Naruto: Konoha's Story - the Steam Ninja Scrols: The Manga - which focuses on Mirai's journey to finding herself while traveling with Gay and Kakashi.

2. Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring, where Sarada faces her parents and questions their relationship.

These novels and manga are great, and the incorporation of most of these stories into the Boruto anime gives depth to the story, intensifing our sadness and desperation when we see Boruto face Kawake and the distruction of the village. They also give space for character development, we get to see the young generation mature and transform, from carefree children to teens that have to mature in order to deal with what is coming.

The five novels that I read this month were full of action, intrigue, fun, and unforgetable interactions that strength characters' relationships with each other.

[passionforfic]

Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson

Finished reading this rom com that felt like a Korean drama of the early 2000s when the love interests are cute and the chemistry is there, but you only get to see the kiss right at the end. I liked it. It was refreshing, and I liked how it the novel itself as telling of their "true story."

It's sweet and funny. I recommend it.

[passionforfic]

The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarrros

Started reading this book because a couple of my book club friends insisted I had to. I just finished this first book, and it left me with my mouth open. This fantasy-romantic story has a lot of action. We have a heroine whose body is not strong, and she has to battle with her fragility in order to survive a school where students die every day. As a reader, we get our hearts broken as we lose characters we grow attached to.

I like where this is going and I can't wait for the second book.