Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

“Born a Crime,” a personal anecdote written by comedian Trevor Noah, is about Trevor’s childhood in South Africa during apartheid. Trevor is considered mixed, which leads to him being teased, and separated from the world around him. This book was cleverly written as it shows change as Trevor grew up. This book showcases the difference between South Africa and other modernized countries such as America extremely well. “Born a Crime” had sorrow, excitement, and hilarious moments all weaved into an amazing story.

Overall, I would recommend this book to people of all ages. This book is well written and would appeal to all kinds of people. The only setback of this book is because this book is an anecdote, it has no clear plot. I would rate this book a 9/10 because of the diverse invocation of emotions.

Neev P. – Rust Library

One Punch Man by Yusuke Murata

This story takes place in Japan, and has many superheroes living there and around the world to protect the citizens from extra terrestrial beings or villains in their own world.  It follows the main protagonist named Saitama, a superhuman heroic figure that can defeat any enemy with one singular punch, but this character often gets bored while doing this since there is no challenge for him whatsoever because of his overwhelming strength, so he seeks to find a worthy opponent that will give him a challenge. 

This is one of my favorite comedic/action-packed mangas I have read. It has fantastic art, great character designs, creative villains, and most importantly some legitimately intense action sequences. The manga never fails to make me laugh. It always has something comedic in every part, and somehow they make it actually well-written and even make it make sense. I also loved how they made the villains extremely overpowered making them galactical, or sometimes even universal, and Saitama (The Main Character) can easily wipe all of these characters with just one blow. It depicts such a strong Aura of the character yet he looks so goofy. He is a bald character with a silly outfit fighting crime. All of the other superheroes have very cool outfits and interesting powers but still fail to win against the strong opponents, next thing you know, you see a bald guy one punch them like it is nothing. It’s hilarious, and sometimes unpredictable because we never know when he will ever fail when fighting against an opponent.

Something that I did not like about One Punch Man is that it can get quite boring. The reason for this is because we always know Saitama is the strongest and can beat anyone. I did not really think much of this until a very strong opponent faced Saitama and somehow still won even with all of his immense power and strength. Yes, it is funny and entertaining but it can get repetitive and quite boring. It is something that you can’t read a lot, it’s when you’re in that “mood” and if you aren’t, it can get boring like I said before.

I recommend this manga if you like comedic action packed stories. If you are also interested in Dragon Ball Z/Super because of its strong characters, I most definitely think this manga would be worth checking out. This manga is fun, and has a nice plot that can be very interesting. If you also don’t mind if mangas are very predictable and just want to have an enjoyable time reading, read this manga, you’ll surely love it.

-Abyan Ahmed

Cascades Library

Berserk by Kentaro Miura

This manga is set in a medieval time period in Europe with a dark fantasy world. It centers around the life of a black swordsman, known as Guts. He is the main protagonist of this story and he is an orphaned mercenary warrior. His entire life from when he was born he has lived an extremely tragic life. Throughout the story we get to see his adventure, his revenge story, and what Guts had to go through.

This manga is a complete masterpiece due to the fact that it had no plot holes, or any extra story to explain how things work in the world, or any pointless character arcs. Every single character that is depicted in this story is very well-written with amazing backstories. What makes Berserk such a great manga is the usage of the two characters as plot devices, the main protagonist and the main antagonist, known as Guts and Griffith. Another main factor that makes it such a great manga is that this is one of the best revenge stories ever told in fiction. It makes a gruesome world and tells an amazing story about Gut’s main quest for revenge. This manga depicts a great story with pure emotion and strong characters that emit beautiful themes of rage.

Some things that I did not like about this manga is the amount of gore and gruesome parts to the story. Like I said before, Guts goes through a lot of things, and they are some pretty horrific things that he has to go through. It’s not your average gore with immense blood, there is definitely much more and it can disturb a reader like me for example. This manga is known for its traumatizing events, and it can truly make a reader uncomfortable and make the reader think about it for a while. I am more of a reader that likes jokes and some seriousness added into a manga, but this one has pure solemnity with no droplets of joy or jokes. 

I highly recommend this book to people that enjoy a well-written dark fantasy where the author does not hold back on the gore and gruesomeness. This manga is not well-suited for people that hold attach to characters, as many characters go through harsh cruel things and as well with death. This manga might be great for you if you are not distubred by those kinds of things. It has a lot of dark, mystery, and psychological themes, so if you’re into that, please check this manga out, you will not regret it as it is one of the best mangas to ever be released.

-Abyan Ahmed

Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto

This manga takes place in a fictional village named the Hidden Leaf Village that follows a young boy that goes by the name of Naruto Uzumaki, a young trouble-making ninja who seeks attention from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. Most of his classmates and the entire village hate him and find him rather annoying. The rest fear Naruto Uzumaki because he has a tailed beast sealed within him and think he is evil and a monster. The only one that gives him recognition and provides him a chance in becoming a great Ninja is his sensei, Iruka Umino.

This manga is one of my favorites of all time due it being an all time classic and the most nostalgic for me. I grew up reading Naruto and thought it was amazing. The power system in Naruto is one of the most creative I have ever seen in manga history. Also every character is good in the Manga, they are all well-written and all have their own type of goals. The antagonists in this manga are easily one of the best ones ever implemented in manga history. They have amazing backstories, and none of the antagonists were truly evil, they just had a bad backstory and thought their ideologies were the only way to save humanity. I also loved seeing Naruto change overtime throughout the manga since it is a very long book with over seventy-two volumes. It is a very action packed story with amazing villains and a very good plot. This is the most influential manga as it inspired many others since it was a very creative manga in general. The characters, the power system, the government system, the world building, etc. This manga in general motivated me in real life to be a better person and make sure I never give up. Naruto is one of the most joyful characters during the story and he never gives up. He is courageous, and brave and is always determined to meet his goals no matter what it is. The deuteragonist was very good too, and the dynamics between the protagonist and the deuteragonist is something everyone should read and experience.

Things that I did not like about the manga was that the plot was not consistent with being good. When the plot was getting very good with crazy action-packed parts and characters discovering their new powers, out of nowhere the plot would sink and it would get extremely boring. It would not even add anything to the plot, it was just there to be there. I was never sure why they did not but randomly the plot goes south after something crazy happens during it. There is also an excessive amount of flashbacks and it can get quite annoying as we already know what happened in the past but they continue to show the same flashbacks continually. Also the lack of character development in some of the side characters is immense. 

I recommend this manga to anyone that is starting to get into manga in general. It provides a good amount of action, good characters, and an amazing power system that shows how it works and provides good detail on where it came from. It gives you a great foundation on what other types of shonen-jump mangas will be like, because as I said before this manga has greatly inspired other mangas significantly. The story is very easy to understand and the majority of the characters are very likable. You will not regret picking up this manga and reading it.

-Abyan Ahmed

Cascades Library

Tokyo Ghoul by Shin Towada

This manga takes place in the city of Japan, Tokyo and follows a college student boy that goes by the name of Ken Kaneki. He goes on a date with a girl that he has great interest in but does not know that girl was actually a ghoul, a being that eats on human flesh specifically. She uses this as her advantage to try to eat Ken Kaneki but ultimately fails. Due to his injuries he had to get an organ transplant from the girl that attacked him, making him a part ghoul. Throughout the story we see how Ken Kaneki must overcome these challenges and must learn to live normally while being a ghoul in human society.

This is my favorite horror fiction/dark fantasy manga I have ever read. It is a fantastic seinen manga experience that is able to blend action with horror without it being too excessive. This manga has great character designs, writing, character development, dynamics, etc. The panels that are shown in this manga were exemplified in such a horrific yet beautiful way. I liked how the main character, Ken Kaneki was able to show so many different emotions, personalities, and different types of goals. The way the author wrote it was so creative and I loved it so much because we could see how much the main character was going through and what he had to do to overcome his battles and PTSD of torture from the first antagonist. I also like how they always switch up the main antagonist. There is no singular antagonist in the manga, different types of conflicts occur thus making new main antagonists.

Something that I did not like about this manga is the pacing. It could take a while to get to the point, and they would drag some arcs on for too long without any reason. This made me very bored sometimes, and it would take me a while for me to get through an arc. Another thing that I disliked about this manga was some of its plot holes. I felt like some things got cut out and they never picked it back up. There was also less action than I thought there would be. There is more talking than fighting. I have nothing really against that particularly but sometimes when they did not resort to fighting it would confuse me because some of the things they did in the manga were pretty gruesome or harsh, and the only thing they would do is just talk it out. 

I highly recommend this book to people that are highly interested in dark fantasy manga with an action packed adventure. Also, if you don’t mind an excessive amount of gore, this book might be for you. There are a lot of twisted things throughout the book, and Ken Kaneki’s hardships being a ghoul can be quite disturbing and uncomfortable at times, so if you don’t mind that either, I suggest you read this book. You will not be disappointed.

-Abyan Ahmed

Cascades Library

Death Note by Takeshi Obata

This manga takes place in Tokyo, Japan, and follows a high school student that is extremely academically-achieving in school. He is the main protagonist of the story, and his name is Light Yagami. One day, in class he notices a book that falls from the sky and the book’s name is called the “Death Note”. He decides to pick the book up and realizes the book has the power to kill anyone if their full name is written inside of it. Light Yagami uses this power to kill criminals in Japan for his difference of opinion against the justice system for criminals. 

I greatly enjoyed this manga series due to the fact it was a really creative story with amazing characters. The plot was incredibly well-written as well with the characters. One of the main factors that made me binge read this manga was the fact that the main character had very interesting ideologies against the judicial system in Japan. As I stated above, I said this character was very smart. In the manga, it shows all of his tactics to hide from the police and the main antagonist of the story, L Lawliet. All of these tactics that he was doing were incredibly  hard to do and smart, but the way the manga illustrates how Light Yagami completes these tasks was astonishing and smart. There were never any plot holes and it showed how he did it fully without it being absurd and not possible. It was realistic. I also love the antagonist. They made his character very unique, and possibly even smarter than the main character. The plot showed many dynamics and suspense between the protagonist and antagonist. I also enjoyed this manga greatly because they exemplified the development of a god complex and addiction after receiving super natural powers.

Something that I did not like about this magna series was the downfall of it. Towards the end of the story, there were some unnecessary things happening during the plot that should have not happened since it did not really make that much sense. Also, at one point in the manga they had a sequence that was very good and possibly a great ending to a great manga, but for some reason they did not end it during that certain part. I won’t state what it is since I do not want to spoil it, but you’ll see what I mean if you give this manga series a chance. The overall ending of the manga was very good, but it could have been much better if they changed the plot a bit towards the end of it. 

I would highly recommend Death Note towards people that are interested in mystery as it has a lot of that during the series. Almost every arc in the manga has a great amount of mystery and keeps the reader very intrigued and creates theories. I would also recommend this manga to people that are highly interested in psychological thrillers, or supernatural thrillers in general. The manga has a great way of telling us where the book came from, and how its powers work in its own supernatural way.

-Abyan Ahmed

Cascades Library

Attack On Titan by Hajime Isayama

This manga is set in a society where humanity is forced to live in towns that are enclosed within three large concentric walls that are named Sheena, Rose, and Maria to protect them from humongous man-eating human-like monsters that are collectively referred to as Titans in the story. The main protagonist that is followed throughout the manga series is Eren Yeager. He makes an oath to obliterate all Titans that still exist due to the fact the Titans took his hometown away from him, as well as his own mother.

I am incredibly in love with this story due to it being so well written. All of the characters that are depicted in this story which includes side characters, the protagonist and deuteragonist, are amazingly well written. They all have their own back stories, their own types of advantages and disadvantages with mentality and physical abilities, and even their own goals. Each character has their own type of character building/development and how the story executes it is very interesting. The story itself is also well-written as well. It has a creative plot, and the story keeps you on the edge of your chair. It emits great suspense with almost every sequence that occurs in each panel. The author that created the manga series arguably created one of the best plot twists in fiction history. 

Some things that I did not like about this book is the overall pacing. At times, it can be slow to get to the point especially in the first couple of chapters. Although later in the story this is not an issue whatsoever, the beginning can be tough to get through. It can be boring, but it needs this “Boringness” to build the characters personality, goals, and the overall plot. The first couple of chapters also have poor art. If you compare it to the newer chapters you can see the art is very off, as well with the characters. They look very odd and sometimes not noticeable anymore when you compare it to the other new chapters released. People that are interested in manga with great art will find this as a huge flaw.

I highly recommend this manga series to people that are interested in dark fantasy with an action packed adventure. I can also recommend this to people that are interested in supernatural beings that are the antagonist. People that are interested in manga series where the author does not care which characters die (Non-Existing Plot Armor) will extremely like this book as many characters die in this book very tragically and randomly to depict a more realism on the survival aspect.

-Abyan Ahmed

Cascades Library

The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich

The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich is a young adult novel revolving around Caden, a love interest. Love interests are part of a secret organization that creates teenage spies to get close to important people and gain valuable secrets. There are two types of love interests: a Nice and a Bad. Caden is a Nice, which is the perfect boy next door, and his rival, Dylan, is a Bad, the brooding, troubled-soul guy. They are pitted against each other to be chosen by their target, Juliet. Once Juliet picks one of them, the other dies by the hands of the Stalker. However, their feelings for one another conflicts with the mission at hand.

The Love Interest has a good pace to help connect with the main character and sets the scene beautifully. The plot has twists which are found compelling, but towards the ending the problems were resolved too quickly. Despite that, the focus on the setting provides a clear image of how the secret organization operates and the relationship between all the characters in the love triangle. Also, the take on the love triangle was unique and refreshing.

-Isamarie Irizarry

Cascades Library

A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sarah Barnard

A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard revolves around Steffi who has selective mutism. She faces a new year of high school without her best friend Tem, who’s going to a new school. Steffi’s teacher introduces her to Rhys who’s deaf because she BSL. As Steffi starts to spend time with him, she develops feelings for Rhys. Meanwhile, Steffi also has been working on her mutism and other conditions such as glossophobia and anxiety with the help of Tem and Rhys.

A Quiet Kind of Thunder focuses on the deaf community and other people who cannot communicate in the hearing community’s world. How Steffi struggles to speak and branch out into becoming more independent is amazing to read. Her relationship with Rhys is sweet and how they are able to communicate without needing words is wholesome. However, there are scenes between them which were resolved too quickly and there wasn’t any depth at times. Despite that, many would enjoy the book, especially if they like slice of life romance books.

-Isamarie Irizarry

Cascades Library

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

“The Catcher in the Rye” is a novel about Holden Caulfield, a troubled young man who refuses to grow up. He is constantly trying to fit in with an older crowd while still trying to avoid growing up, which often leaves him depressed and lonely. Holden cannot fit in with his peers and is often trying to distance himself from them. The only people he truly cares for are children because he believes them to still have their innocence before they become “phony” in adulthood.

Overall, I would only recommend this book to people who believe that they would identify themselves closely to Holden. Otherwise I would not recommend this book as it seems boring and the plot is hard to understand. I would rate this book a 5/10 because even though it is written well, it is a dull and monotonous book.

Neev P. (Rust)