Unapologetic Reviews

I read The Devil She Knows by Alexandria Bellefleur for prompt #40 of the 2026 PopSugar Reading Challenge, “A book outside your comfort zone”. Romance is very much outside my usual reading preferences, so this was a good opportunity to try something different. The premise immediately caught my attention. It is essentially a queer twist on Bedazzled . Chef Samantha "Sam" Cooper meets the demon Daphne after the two become trapped in an elevator together. Daphne offers Sam six wishes, which she plans to use to win back her ex-girlfriend. It is a fun setup, and I was looking forward to seeing how the wishes would spiral out of control. Unfortunately, my biggest issue with the novel was the pacing. The story takes almost the first fifth of the book just to get to the actual deal. Sam and Daphne spend a long time chatting in the elevator, Sam slowly discovers that Daphne is a demon, refuses to believe it, asks questions, and only then do they finally reach the part the premise pro...

I read Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert for the 2026 PopSugar Reading Challenge, prompt number 6, “A book with an overweight main character whose story isn't about losing weight”. I went into this expecting a light but eventful romantic comedy, something built around Chloe’s list and the idea of her stepping out of her comfort zone. What I got instead was a very slow, very internal, and very repetitive romance that did not work for me. I ended up giving it two stars. The premise is simple and promising. Chloe Brown is a wealthy woman living in the UK who, after almost being run over by a car, creates a list of things she wants to do to “get a life.” She has fibromyalgia, which limits her energy and shapes how she navigates the world. To complete her list, she enlists the help of Red, the building’s handyman, who is also a painter. From there, the story focuses almost entirely on their developing relationship. The problem is that the list, which should have driven the narra...

I read My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris, and this ended up being a much lighter, more playful read than I expected. I read it for the 2026 PopSugar Reading Challenge, prompt number 10, “A book about a horse or with a horse on the cover.” The premise is simple but immediately appealing. It is a Regency romance, but structured as a choose your own adventure. You step into the role of the heroine and make decisions that shape the story. Not just small choices, but major ones. You decide where to go, how to react, and most importantly, who to pursue romantically. There are four possible love interests, each leading to a different version of the story. What worked well for me is how naturally the format fits the genre. Regency romance already revolves around social choices. Who you speak to. Who you avoid. Which invitation you accept. Here, those choices are literal. You turn the page and commit to them. On Kindle, this works especially smoothly. You click, and th...

The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich is a short, self contained comic by Deya Muniz , inspired by her relationship with her wife . It is the kind of book you can read in one sitting. I read it on the bus home from work, yet it still manages to feel complete. The full story is available at the end of the book, so I will avoid spoilers here. The premise is simple and playful. In an alternative history world loosely reminiscent of seventeenth century France , a Countess presents as a Count. The reason why she needs to pretend to be a man is obvious, the Count has no male heirs, and that’s not a good thing even in this world. What really carries the book is its tone. The side characters are sweet and humorous. There is a lightness to the dialogue and the situations, and of course an abundance of grilled cheese sandwiches , that keeps everything warm and approachable. The art supports this perfectly. Soft lines , expressive faces , and a colour palette that feels very feminine ....

I listened to Ally Carter 's The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year as an audiobook. It is a blend of romance and mystery. I'm a huge fan of mysteries, especially the classic amateur detective story, but I'm not really a fan of romance. Still, I gave this a chance, as it was Christmas, and I wanted to read a book set during Christmas. Usually, I’m looking for a crime story that takes place during the holidays. I gave this book three stars because it was okay. It didn't blow me away; it wasn't terrible—it was just okay. The mystery has a couple of layers. The initial mystery in the story—well, the thing is, no one really cares about that part. The main characters do, but no one else seems to. Then there’s a secondary mystery, which was hard to figure out. The solution for that was... well, without spoiling it, let’s just say it really wasn’t what I thought it would be—in a bad way. Sometimes, a twist can work well if you don’t see it coming, but this felt like it was ...

In a way, I got desensitized by now against some aspects of this god awful story. The bad writing is a given. The facepalm moments with the Inner Goddess and the subconsciousness are also there. It never really stops being disturbing that Ana basically has three people in her head with their own personalities. Maybe she's actually a schizophrenic in a mental institution and all this is in her head. What an idea! Something like in Sucker Punch . She's actually being abused by a guy there, but in her head he's Grey, and they are having a love affair. You may be wondering what happens in Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James . Actually, I'm kind of wondering about that myself. The only way I could actually finish this thing was by listening to it being read out by Mark . This books is really boring, and about three things happen in it. The rest is sex. I think probably even a porn addict would be fed up. This is where it's obvious that the book used to be fanfict...

I eagerly waited for Shitsuren Chocolatier , because I'm a huge fan of MatsuJun . I also noticed that he happens to be extra cute when cooking or eating, and since he was going to play a Chocolatier in this drama, I hoped for many scenes like that. It didn't disappoint. The drama itself was very interesting. It was in a way centred around making chocolates, but not the technical side of it, rather the artistic one. As someone with an artistic disposition myself, some of the things discussed in it gave me thought. The other theme of the drama was relationships. Friendships, friends with benefits, love, marriage, unrequited love. The drama examines how relationships develop, and how people are in them. Learning to get out of the relationship what you want, and letting go when reality clashes with your hopes. This is more of an adult drama, as it has sex in it. Casual and non casual, and it's even discussed, which is pretty uncommon in Japanese dramas. However, I neve...

I wanted to watch a cute, funny and romantic drama, and that is just what I got. I do remember watching the previous version of Itazura na Kiss , but I don't remember much of it. It didn't seem to have much of an impact, and that version was only 9 episodes, while this one is 16. The story is a love triangle, sort of. From the start we know that Kotoko is in love with Irie-kun. It's also not hard to deduct that Kin-chan is in love with Kotoko. Irie-kun doesn't even seem to know that Kotoko exists, until she presents him with a love letter that of course, no surprise, he turns down. What happens after that is years and years of Kotoko being hopelessly devoted. Yes, this drama takes place over 3-4 years. Kotoko is in class F at the beginning, and Irie is in A. Fs, people who are perhaps not that book smart, and As, who are seem to be a world apart. Can two people so different find each other? Can it work? At one point Irie confesses that he had no troubles until...

Konkatsu !  (Marriage Hunt!) is a romantic drama with some comedy. It's about a Amamiya Kuniyuki finding a government job after many years of being unemployed, but lying about wanting to get married to his long-time girlfriend, since he doesn't even have a girlfriend. He gets hired specifically because the district president wants to promote marriage, and help the declining birthrates in her district. Therefore, Kuni goes on a marriage hunt along with some friends and co-workers to keep his job. The drama isn't just about a marriage hunt, but also Kuni's district, which is becoming abandoned. He doesn't want to leave, so he has to find ways to save it. The characters were generally likeable, and well acted, believable. I especially liked Ueto Aya 's performance. I have seen her in some other dramas and she always feels fresh, and sweet. Her character, Tobita Haruno , is a shining sun in the otherwise dreary sets of the declining district. She plays one...

Jotei is an adult drama. It has themes of sex, prostitution, yakuza and political corruption. For the non-Japanese viewer it's especially interesting as it gives us a glimpse of the Japanese way of thinking about sex and virginity. In a way it's a modern geisha story and sometimes made me think of the geisha books I've read. It's a story that can be most understood and appreciated by women. The main reason why I recommend it most for women is because the story is told as narrated by the main protagonist, a woman named Tachibana Ayaka. It is through her eyes that we see the problems she faces on her road to becoming a "Jotei"; an empress. A Jotei is a woman who is very important in the nightlife of Ginza , the main entertainment district of Tokyo . She starts out as a regular girl who looses her mother at 18 and is left alone. She then learns that her father is still alive and left them to become a powerful person. She decides to become powerful herself a...

If you don't drink wine or alcohol, I don't recommend watching Kami no Shizuku . This is the kind of story where you learn a lot on a subject, in this case wine, mostly French wines . It does drive you to drink, though do be careful, it's easy to overindulge in wine while watching it. The story itself is interesting as well. Kanzaki Shizuku is the son of a famous wine critique , but he doesn't drink wine for an emotional reason. When his father dies, he has compete with Tomine Issei, who is also a wine critique adopted by his father shortly before he passed away. The competition is made up of seven riddles written by the father that all lead to a wine. The one who gets the most right gains the wine collection worth 2 billion yen. Though Shizuku doesn't want the money, he ends up competing anyway in order to learn more about the father he never understood while alive. Issei is not really interested in the money either, he wants to surpass the old man. Kanz...

Not long ago I was asked why I love Japanese dramas so much. I answered that it's because they're different from what I'm used to. The American dramas always have complex stories and a lot of sex, everyone ending up in bed together. Latin-American soaps have confusion over parenthood, a lot of shouting and passion. All are predictable and after a while boring. What I failed to say was that I always learned something from Japanese dramas. So, the question is, what did I learn from Virgin Road ? I have learned many things from this drama. First of all, I learned what it means to be a father. I always knew from experience that being a father not only meant donating a sperm, but careing. Kissing bruised knees. A father is someone who loves his daughter unconditionally. Someone who stands beside her no matter what. The same goes for a family. A family is a group of people who love each other unconditionally, blood not being an issue. I also learned that mothers are th...

The frame of Love Shuffle is that eight people, four women and four men, date each other for a week to find out what they want out of their love lives. As is usual for a Japanese drama ; it ends up being about more than just love. It discusses our motivations to live and love , what we really look for in a relationship. Sometimes you just need to give people a chance, and find out who they really are. In the beginning you may think you have it all figured out, but the ending will surprise you. Half the fun is trying to predict who will be with whom. This is also a drama about finding friends, and then letting them help in the course of their lives. No one is left untouched by the shuffle. Tanihara Shosuke plays the psychologist Kikuta Masato . He is in a way the main character and motivator in the shuffle. As the oldest member of the team he pulls the strings, and helps the others deal with the hurdles in their lives. I do have to note that Daigo , the singer of BREAKERZ ...

Sapuri mostly takes place at an advertising agency . While part of it is about the actual work, you also get insight into some of its workers' lives. The main character, Fuji-san (Ito Misaki) is a woman of 28. It's a difficult time for women and a lot of the drama centers around that fact. She is faced with the decision of what is more important in life; work or romance. Being unmarried and recently single, she puts all her effort into work. She lives alone, and mostly works alone, at her own pace. That is convenient as she doesn't have to deal with others, but also lonely. Yu-kun is the other main character, who is played by KAT-TUN member Kazuya Kamenashi . He is young and inexperienced, drifting from one job to the other, not really knowing what he wants to do. To him, a beautiful day is wasted in the office. He still has to take the part-time job at Fuji-san's firm and slowly, guided by Fuji-san he realises that advertising is actually something that inte...

I started to watch Star No Koi as my latest Japanese drama because it introduced the story as the Japanese take on Notting Hill . I remembered liking that movie, and I wanted to watch something romantic, so I started it. It may resemble the American movie, but it's just so much more. Why do you fall in love with a story? There are some love stories, that you like, or find interesting. Some are cute. But there are still others, that just manage to touch something inside you that others may not. To each its own and no two people are affacted in the same way by a story. This one did manage to touch something inside me. I could never explain why, but I'm glad it did, because it will be a drama I will always cherish. Anyone who knows me may find that strange, as I'm not a romantic type, and generally detest love stories. There was, however, something so pure in this story, that it even broke through my barriers. A strange thing is that what I will always remember the m...