cold series by konohara narise
Apr. 4th, 2007 10:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Did a really quick first read of the Cold series by Konohara Narise (btw, it was frickin' expensive to buy used!). The short and unspoilerly reaction first:
Cold Sleep: Er...next?
Cold Light: Best book of the series. So sweet!
Cold Fever: Um...okaaay...
Overall, not my favorite books by Konohara-sensei. I don't dislike them, but at least for my first reaction I have a lot more to bitch about than praise/squee. The pacing was so out of whack for me. The only reasons I read beyond book 1? First, I had the other two right there and second, I'm a Konohara Narise fan. That first volume didn't make me clamor for more, it just left me with a "geez, I hope it gets going" feeling. Book 2 had its problems, but overall I enjoyed it the most out of them all. Book 3...what can I say that isn't spoiler? :P So...with no further ado...
Okay, I understand Konohara-sensei is about surprising twists and/or some rather bleak situations that aren't overly romanticized, but...The whole background and "betrayal" thing (which I knew about in a "there's a betrayal and bad things happen" kind of a way, but didn't know any specifics of) was so...silly? I wish it had been related with more angst-wringing so that I could feel more free to mock it. Instead I could only think WTF?? But Cold Fever just killed me. Toru's violence got old pretty fast. It was like he was conditioned dog, needing to lash out all the time whether he had any "good" reason or just felt crummy at the time. But at least we know he has past trauma that made him the unthinkingly violent guy that he was. I think the problem was that Cold Fever was in Toru's POV. I couldn't even begin to understand Fujishima's tolerance of the abuse. Well, I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised considering the genre, but it still irritated me to no end. At least if we had a chance to get into his head we could...sympathize with him? Without that I just felt like he might as well be a rag doll.
Also, by the end I longed for more amnesiac Toru. I suppose that personality was the Toru that could've been had he not been so terribly scarred in life, but he was so much more sympathetic and understandable. The many-years gap between volumes 2 and 3 made me wish volume 2 was double its length so that we could have gotten more of the two as a happy couple. I had loved how Toru had worn Fujishima down with his straightforward love, and we get treated to...pre-amnesia stereotypically violent seme Toru abusing stereotypically passive uke Fujishima? The only thing part about Toru regaining his old memories that was really of interest to me was his view of his "other self" and how he couldn't help but think of that other self as some alien. (Reminds me of that manga "Dear Myself," actually.) The whole thing with the totally different interests was cool, and how all that amnesiac Toru had built (his burgeoning career as a pastry chef) became dust in the wind made total sense.
I wonder how my view of this series will change with time and rereading. I've had harsh initial reactions to books that I later ended up loving. Don't know if this will end up in that camp, though.
Cold Sleep: Er...next?
Cold Light: Best book of the series. So sweet!
Cold Fever: Um...okaaay...
Overall, not my favorite books by Konohara-sensei. I don't dislike them, but at least for my first reaction I have a lot more to bitch about than praise/squee. The pacing was so out of whack for me. The only reasons I read beyond book 1? First, I had the other two right there and second, I'm a Konohara Narise fan. That first volume didn't make me clamor for more, it just left me with a "geez, I hope it gets going" feeling. Book 2 had its problems, but overall I enjoyed it the most out of them all. Book 3...what can I say that isn't spoiler? :P So...with no further ado...
Okay, I understand Konohara-sensei is about surprising twists and/or some rather bleak situations that aren't overly romanticized, but...The whole background and "betrayal" thing (which I knew about in a "there's a betrayal and bad things happen" kind of a way, but didn't know any specifics of) was so...silly? I wish it had been related with more angst-wringing so that I could feel more free to mock it. Instead I could only think WTF?? But Cold Fever just killed me. Toru's violence got old pretty fast. It was like he was conditioned dog, needing to lash out all the time whether he had any "good" reason or just felt crummy at the time. But at least we know he has past trauma that made him the unthinkingly violent guy that he was. I think the problem was that Cold Fever was in Toru's POV. I couldn't even begin to understand Fujishima's tolerance of the abuse. Well, I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised considering the genre, but it still irritated me to no end. At least if we had a chance to get into his head we could...sympathize with him? Without that I just felt like he might as well be a rag doll.
Also, by the end I longed for more amnesiac Toru. I suppose that personality was the Toru that could've been had he not been so terribly scarred in life, but he was so much more sympathetic and understandable. The many-years gap between volumes 2 and 3 made me wish volume 2 was double its length so that we could have gotten more of the two as a happy couple. I had loved how Toru had worn Fujishima down with his straightforward love, and we get treated to...pre-amnesia stereotypically violent seme Toru abusing stereotypically passive uke Fujishima? The only thing part about Toru regaining his old memories that was really of interest to me was his view of his "other self" and how he couldn't help but think of that other self as some alien. (Reminds me of that manga "Dear Myself," actually.) The whole thing with the totally different interests was cool, and how all that amnesiac Toru had built (his burgeoning career as a pastry chef) became dust in the wind made total sense.
I wonder how my view of this series will change with time and rereading. I've had harsh initial reactions to books that I later ended up loving. Don't know if this will end up in that camp, though.