Review: Cells at Work (Vol. 2) by Akane Shimizu

Title: Cells at Work: Vol. 2

Series: Cells at Work #2

Previous book in this series: Cells at Work #1

Author: Akane Shimizu

Genre: YA, manga, science, action

Publication date: December 2016

Published by: Kodansha Comics

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: Strep throat! Hay fever! Influenza! The world is a dangerous place for a red blood cell just trying to get her deliveries finished. Fortunately, she’s not alone... she’s got a whole human body’s worth of cells ready to help out! The mysterious white blood cell, the buff and brash killer T cell, the nerdy neuron, even the cute little platelets — everyone’s got to come together if they want to keep you healthy!

My rating: ★★★★★

This series is so much fun! I have loved the anime for such a long time, and I am really glad to finally be getting into the manga! I love it! It’s just so cute and informative, and it honestly does a relatively decent job of explaining medical things and making them easy to understand using these anthropomorphic cells.

Review: The Romara Confrontation (Colonial Explorer Corps #5) by Julia Huni

Title: The Romara Confrontation

Series: Colonial Explorer Corps #5

Previous books in this series: The Earth Concurrence (#1) | The Grissom Contention (#2) | The Saha Declination (#3) | The Darenti Paradox (#4)

Author: Julia Huni

Genre: Adult, sci-fi

Publication date: April 24th 2025

Published by: IPH Media

Source: eARC from author for review

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Synopsis: Two civilizations. One planet. No second chances.

Lieutenant Serenity “Siti” Kassis has trained her whole life for first contact missions, but nothing prepares her for this—arriving at a promising new world only to find it already inhabited by an advanced, spacefaring civilization. As acting commander, it’s her call whether to push forward or back away. One wrong move could spark a conflict neither side can afford.

On Lunesco, Quinn Templeton is expecting a quiet lunch with an old friend when the planetary defense system flags an unidentified ship in orbit. Since the revolution, she’s learned to negotiate, but first contact with an unknown species? That’s a whole new challenge.

Siti and Quinn could navigate mistrust, politics, and the weight of history to build something neither of their people expected—a future together. But they have to meet first. And something--or someone--is trying to keep them apart.

The Romara Confrontation is book 5 in the Colonial Explorer Corps, and follows Siti, Joss, and Derek Lee as they meet the heroes of the Krimson Empire. If you haven't read either series, I recommend you start with book 1 of the CEC series. If you're short on time, you can jump in at book 4. This book can be read without reading Krimson Empire first. (But I hope you'll read it, too!)

My rating: ★★★★★

I have been looking forward to reading this book since the author talked about writing a crossover between the Colonial Explorer Corps series and the Krimson Empire series. And it met all the expectations I had for this book. It was so good!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #423: Something Spooky

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Sunday Post #457: Library Fun

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

2025 Summer Library Program

One thing I look forward to every summer is our library's Summer Program. I've been participating in it for like 6 years now, I think? I'm always terrible at it, but I find it fun nonetheless. Lol. This year, the program goes from June 6th to August 15th.

Review: Cells at Work (Vol. 1) by Akane Shimizu

Title: Cells at Work: Vol. 1

Series: Cells at Work #1

Author: Akane Shimizu

Genre: YA, manga, science, action

Publication date: November 2016

Published by: Kodansha Comics

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: A BLOOD-PUMPING JOB

Strep throat! Hay fever! Influenza! The world is a dangerous place for a red blood cell just trying to get her deliveries finished. Fortunately, she's not alone... she's got a whole human body's worth of cells ready to help out! The mysterious white blood cell, the buff and brash killer T cell, the nerdy neuron, even the cute little platelets—everyone's got to come together if they want to keep you healthy!

My rating: ★★★★★

It has been a minute since I last read a manga, but I was very excited to read this one because I loved the anime when I watched it a couple years back. And the manga was just as good!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #422: I'll Get To It...

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Sunday Post #456: reMarkable

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #421: Spooky Books

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Sunday Post #455: Bittersweet Meeting

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Monthly Wrap-Up: May 2025

This was my worst reading month yet 😬 Read 3 books, which was a total of 679 pages... 1144 pages less than the previous month 🫣 Which is particularly funny because last month was my best reading month 🫠😂

• 2 were full-length novels (1 a re-read) and 1 manga
• 2 were part of a series, and 1 was a standalone
• I caught up on 1 series
• All 3 were finished copies
• All 3 were physical books
• 1 was a 4.5 stars, 1 was 4 stars, and 1 was 3 stars
• All 3 were traditionally published
• 1 was by a new-to-me author, and 2 were by authors I've previously read
• 1 was an adult book, 2 were YA
• 2 were horror, 1 was action

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #420: Mood Reading Strikes Again

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Sunday Post #454: In Limbo

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #419: Omg The Prom Queen!

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Sunday Post #453: The Struggle is Real

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #418: Some Fun, Short Books

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Sunday Post #452: Finally Some Good News!

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #417: What I Read While on Vacation

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Sunday Post #451: Back From a Much Needed Vacation

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Monthly Wrap-Up: April 2025

I was hoping that April would be the month where I would start posting more... anyway, that didn't happen 😂 And I did miss the last couple of days because I was out of town visiting family, soo (I had a blast! I will probably talk a little bit more about it in my next Sunday Post). Anyway, in April I read 5 books again (that's been 5 books every month so far this year 😂). But this month it was 1823 pages, which is about 600 pages more than the previous month, AND also the month where I read the most, so that's progress!

• 4 were full-length novels, and 1 novella
• 2 were part of a series, and 3 were standalones
• I started 1 series, caught up on another, and finished 0 😅
• 3 were finished copies, and 2 were ARCs
• 1 was a physical book, 1 ebook, and 1 was a physical/audio combo
• 1 was a 5-star read, 1 4.5 stars, 1 4 stars, 1 3.5 stars, and 1 3 stars
• 4 were traditionally published, 1 was indie published
• 3 were by a new-to-me author, and 2 were by authors I've previously read
• All 5 were adult books
• 4 were sci-fi, 1 was horror

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #416: I Love Crossovers

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Sunday Post #450: A Mini Vacation

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #415: Some Sci-fi, Some Horror, Some Sci-fi Horror

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Sunday Post #449: I Thought I Was Getting a Break...

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Review: Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes

Title: Cold Eternity

Author: S.A. Barnes

Genre: Adult, sci-fi, horror

Publication date: April 8th 2025

Published by: Tor Nightfire

Source: eARC from publishers via Netgalley

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Synopsis: Halley is on the run from an interplanetary political scandal that has put a huge target on her back. She heads for what seems like the perfect place to lay low: a gigantic space barge storing the cryogenically frozen bodies of Earth’s most fortunate citizens from more than a century ago...

The cryo program, created by trillionaire tech genius Zale Winfeld, is long defunct, and the AI hologram "hosts," ghoulishly created in the likeness of Winfeld’s three adult children, are glitchy. The ship feels like a crypt, and the isolation gets to Halley almost immediately. She starts to see figures crawling in the hallways, and there’s a constant scraping, slithering, and rattling echoing in the vents.

It’s not long before Halley realizes she may have gotten herself trapped in an even more dangerous situation than the one she was running from...

My rating: ★★★★☆

I have really enjoyed the novels by S.A. Barnes. They aren’t quite 5-star reads for me, but they are definitely enjoyable and deliver on both the sci-fi and horror aspects! Plus, the mystery in this book was intriguing and I enjoyed trying to unravel it! And two pages into this book and I was already loving the premise of it as well! Halley has had it rough and accepts a shady job as a caretaker/security on this sort-of abandoned spaceship. And I say sort of because this ship holds a bunch of cryogenically frozen bodies.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #414: Am I Back?

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Sunday Post #448: What A Catch

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2025 Quarter Year Crisis Book Tag

I haven't had that great of a reading year so far, but I like this tag, so I thought I'd give it a whirl anyway this year and see what happens. Lol. This tag was created by Rosin’s Reading.

Monthly Wrap-Up: March 2025

I... don't even know where the month went 😅 I had a really rough time this month, but I think I'm finally getting out of my rut. In March, I only read 5 books (again), which was about 1274 pages. That's about 20 pages less than the previous month 😅

• 2 were full-length novels, and 3 manga
• 4 were part of a series and 1 was a standalone
• I finished 1 series this month!
• All 5 were finished copies
• 1 was a physical book and 4 were an ebooks
• 1 was a 5-star read, 3 were 4-star reads, and 1 was 3.5 stars
• All 5 were traditionally published
• 1 was by a new-to-me author and 4 were by authors I've previously read
• 1 was an adult book, and 4 YA
• All 5 were fiction books
• 1 was high fantasy, and 4 were action

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #413: Omg I Finished My First Novel of the Month

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Sunday Post #447: Oh the Chaos...

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #412: I'm Trying

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Sunday Post #446: Just Trying to Survive

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Review: Find Him Where You Left Him Dead (Death Games #1) by Kristen Simmons

Title: Find Him Where You Left Him Dead

Series: Death Games #1

Author: Kristen Simmons

Genre: YA, horror, Japanese mythology

Publication date: September 2023

Published by: Tor Teen

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: Four years ago, five kids started a game. Only four survived.

Now, at the end of their senior year of high school, the survivors—Dax, Maddy, Emerson, and Owen—have reunited for one strange and terrible reason: they’ve been summoned by the ghost of Ian, the friend they left for dead.

Together they return to the tunnel where their friendship ended with one goal: find Ian and bring him home. So they restart the deadly game they never finished—an innocent card-matching challenge called Meido. A game without instructions.

As soon as they begin, they're dragged out of their reality and into an eerie hellscape of Japanese underworlds, more horrifying than even the darkest folktales that Owen's grandmother told him. There, they meet Shinigami, an old wise woman who explains the rules:

They have one night to complete seven challenges or all of them, Ian included, will be stuck in this world forever.

Once inseparable, the survivors now can’t stand each other, but the challenges demand they work together, think quickly, and make sacrifices—blood, clothes, secrets, memories, and worse.

And once again, not everyone will make it out of Meido alive.

My rating: ★★★★☆

I enjoyed this book more than I was anticipating! Listen, horror books can be hit or miss, but this one was definitely a hit!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #411: Five Broken Blades

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Sunday Post #445: Trying to Relax

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #410: I Didn't Get To It Last Week

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Sunday Post #444: I'm so Tired

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #409: I'll Get To It This Week

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Sunday Post #443: Blind Date With a Book

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Monthly Wrap-Up: February 2025

Still not having a great time, but I technically did read more than last month. Lol. I ended up reading 5 books again, but this time it was around 1296 pages, which is about 200 pages more than last month!

• 2 were full-length novels, and 3 manga
• 4 were part of a series and 1 was a standalone
• I finished 1 series this month!
• All 5 were finished copies
• 1 was a physical book and 4 were an ebooks
• 3 were 4-star reads, 1 was 3.5 stars, and 1 was 3 stars
• All 5 were traditionally published
• 1 was by a new-to-me author and 4 were by authors I've previously read
• 1 was an adult book and 4 YA
• All 5 were fiction books
• 3 were adventure fantasy, and 2 high fantasy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #408: A Little Bit of Horror, Perhaps?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #442: I Backed Up My Kindle Books Because Amazon is Being Sketchy

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

2025 Bookish Prediction Tag

I've been doing this tag for the last couple of years and I just really like it. It's fun! It was created by Book Princess Reviews.

Review: Shadows of Truth (League of Liars #2) by Astrid Scholte

Title: Shadows of Truth

Series: League of Liars #2

Previous book in this series: League of Liars

Author: Astrid Scholte

Genre: YA, high fantasy

Publication date: February 2024

Published by: Allen & Unwin

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: After their dramatic escape from Vardean prison, Cayder and his friends leap into the unknown, tumbling headlong out of Telene and into the strange and mysterious world beyond the veil.

Leta – who grew up believing a world of dark fairytales existed on the other side of the veil – finds that the truth is more magical, and terrifying, than she could ever have imagined. And it's the worst possible place to discover your boyfriend has been mortally wounded.

Meanwhile, Cayder and Elenora learn that both this world and their own are teetering on the brink of destruction. Still reeling from Elenora's betrayal, Cayder must overcome his feelings and work with her to prevent an apocalypse. They have to make it home, and to do so they will need the help of their old enemy, Dr Bueter – as well as old friends they thought were lost forever.

This page-turning sequel to League of Liars takes us beneath the surface of the familiar world of Telene, and into the shadowy realm that is the source of both its magic and its nightmares.

My rating: ★★★⯪☆

I was SO excited to finally read this book! I have been really looking forward to reading it since I read the first book in the series back in the Summer of 2023. Unfortunately, I didn’t end up loving it as much as I was hoping (I gave League of Liars 5 stars!), and I honestly don’t even know what it was about this book.