Book Review- Trade Me by Courtney Milan

Trade Me is a new young adult novel by Courtney Milan. 

Here is the blurb: Tina Chen just wants a degree and a job, so her parents never have to worry about making rent again. She has no time for Blake Reynolds, the sexy billionaire who stands to inherit Cyclone Systems. But when he makes an offhand comment about what it means to be poor, she loses her cool and tells him he couldn’t last a month living her life.

To her shock, Blake offers her a trade: She’ll get his income, his house, his car. In exchange, he’ll work her hours and send money home to her family. No expectations; no future obligations.

But before long, they’re trading not just lives, but secrets, kisses, and heated nights together. No expectations might break Tina’s heart...but Blake’s secrets could ruin her life.

The two things that made me interested in this book were 1) the premise of trading lives. I wanted to see how this would work out. 2) Interracial romance- I am always interested in these. 

It starts off okay. I have to admit though, I found it a bit hard to like Tina in the beginning and even in the end. Blake, however, I liked from the start. He is sweet, sensitive and mature. I found Tina a bit too difficult to understand and stubborn and always using her poverty to become defensive about everything. 

But anyway, on to the story. The story was well paced and there was some interesting stuff going on. A lot of it is similar to other contemporary romances, in how you would expect it to develop. Towards the end is when it becomes really exciting as  many secrets about the characters start surfacing.  Also, this could  just be my opinion, but I found Tina's poverty a bit too exaggerated and becoming the theme of every conversation in one way or the other. 

The supporting characters, especially Blake's father and Tina's father and Tina's roommate  were very well fleshed out and I probably liked them even more than the main characters.  However, I found Tina's mother just as annoying and stubborn as her in her ways. I guess it's genetic. 

But flaws aside, this series has an interesting backdrop and some really good characters whom I hope to read more about in future books (especially Blake and Tina's fathers). If you are interested in new adult romances and anything with the word 'billionaire', this book is a good read. 

Ratings 

Characters-4/5

Story- 3/5

Writing style- 5/5

NOTE- I received this book for review. However the opinions are not influenced by this in any way. 

Author Interview with Courtney Milan

                                    

Hi there, everyone. I am excited to present to you an author interview with historical (and now contemporary) romance writer Courtney Milan. 
TRIVIA

Favorite color- Blue/Red

Zodiac sign- Cancer

Place of your dreams- I like variety, so if I could go back and forth between London and Telluride I'd be happy.

Favorite writer(s)- Way too many to list! I have a list on my website, though: http://www.courtneymilan.com/whattoread.php

Favorite romance novel(s)- Agh, again, how am I supposed to restrict myself? I love Tessa Dare's A Week to be Wicked. And my latest obsession is Nalini Singh--and I don't think there's anything better than Heart of Obsidian.

Now the questions: 

RC- Trade Me is your first contemporary romance. How was writing a contemporary new adult romance different from writing a historical romance? 

CM-That is a really difficult thing to describe. For me, I felt like I had a lot more direct experience that I could bring to bear in writing the contemporary. For my historicals, I have to do a little more extrapolation of "what would this feel like" and "how would we deal with it" and that kind of stuff.

I also had to do a lot more research for my contemporary--everything from current video technology to reading biographies of, for instance, Larry Ellison and Bill Gates, to reading multiple books and articles about modern-day China.

RC-The main characters Tina and Blake are pretty much polar opposites: Rich-poor, good looking-average looking etc. Generally, what kind of main characters do you like to create or read about?

CM-I don't think Tina and Blake are polar opposites in many ways. Yes, Blake is rich, and yes, Tina is poor. That's just about it. 

I don't think Tina and Blake differ so much in objective attractiveness, except to the extent that Blake has had stylists picking his clothing and doing his hair since he was a kid and so has always presented himself as the most attractive version of himself.

Tina and Blake are actually quite similar: being at the extremes of wealth as they are, they've both been put into positions of responsibility that are unusual for their ages, and they respond to that in each other. In that sense, they're older than their peers.

RC-Is the life of a writer how you imagined it to be? How is it different?

CM- I don't know that I ever imagined what a writer's life would be like except in the very abstract. There's certainly a lot more time wasting, and a lot less time spent furrowing my brow over word choice. I spend a lot of time figuring out what I'm writing.

RC- What is a typical day in the life of a writer like?

CM-It varies. I have no typical days. And I'm sorry if that sounds like a cop-out, but there are days I get nothing done and don't even try, and there are days I work 19 hours and sleep furtively because I have things I need to do.

RC- What hobbies/interests do you have other than writing?

CM-I walk, a lot--right now I'm training up for a walking half-marathon that I'm doing with friends. So after I hit send on this, I'm going to go out and get an eleven mile walk in.

I do a lot of reading, and I try to read on lots and lots of random topics.

RC- Please tell the readers more about what they can expect from this series and from you in the future. 

CM- Readers can expect (a) more of Cyclone Systems, (b) more of Adam Reynolds, the foul-mouthed founder of Cyclone, even though he won't be sitting in the CEO position, and (c) more characters in interesting situations who I hope you will relate to.

Her latest book Trade Me has just been released. You can find out more about this book and her other works on her website- http://www.courtneymilan.com. I will shortly be reviewing Trade Me on Review Carnival.

Drama Review- 101st marriage proposal

This is a very old drama released in 1991. It had very high vieweship ratings (around 36%) and became a defining japanese drama. The theme song is 'Say Yes' by Change and Aska which became one of the best selling singles in japanese music history. This song fits the theme of the drama very well and is a great song that is worth buying. It became the best selling single for Chage and Aska.

The story is about a man called Hoshino san (Takeda Tetsuya) a supervisor for a construction company who has not got a promotion for twenty years. He lives with his brother. His love luck is as bad as it can get. He has gone through 99 omiai or arranged dates with the intention of marriage but has been rejected everytime. His confidence is not existant and he gives up too easily. He meets Kaoru Yabuki, cellist at his 100th omiai and knows that it would fail. She is beautiful and graceful and cannot forget her dead fiance. However, when he tells her of his terrible luck, she encourages him to keep going and never give up. He mistakes it for love but she rejects him over the phone the next day. However, he doesn't give up and keeps pursuing her to the end. She finally agrees for marriage but breaks the engagement on seeing someone who looks like her dead fiance. Still, he keeps going and in the end manages to capture her heart. The last scene is great! He ends up losing his bonus, promotion and job all for Kaoru but she marries him in the end as a jobless man who failed in law entrance.

I will start with the pros as usual. The story was good. I loved the second episode when he loses money in horse racing for Kaoru. It was touching. All the love scenes in the drama were great. It was very touching and emotional and felt like true love. The last scene was excellent and gave a meaning to this drama. However, when they return to normal life, it seems like a dream. It is not sustained and doesn't influence their life.

Hoshino's brother and Karou's sister could make a good couple but did not fall in love. Fujii san was just a test for their love.
Hoshino san's character is good as he is selfless and considerate. Karou seems to be fluctuating always and she cries for almost everything which seems rather absurd. She is also a little selfish. Naoto was bad in the beginning and became good. His role was done well. Momoko san is the cupid who always tells Hoshino to pursue Kaoru.

I like how Hoshino sacrifices everything for the sake of love and never gives up. From his side, the love seems true. But Kaoru takes a long time to make up her mind but in the end, leads to an unforgettable ending. I don't want to spoil the fun by giving a description of the ending.


The theme 'Say Yes' is the saving grace of this drama. Whenever this songs plays, the moment suddenly becomes special. It plays during all the touching scenes.

As for cons, the actress was terrible. She cried too much which is very irritating. She cries for things that are trivial. She looks blank sometimes too. The actor was nothing great but at least lived up to the role. The two were an unlikely pair. Their faces were not in the least similar. The side characters were better at acting than the main ones.
The characters were realistic and three dimensional. The story is easy to relate to. It maintains a good pace and keeps going well till the last episode. I didn't like episodes 7-10 but these are some important episodes in the course of the drama.

I watched Kekkon dekinai otoko, kurosagi, Abarenbo mama, Beach boys and this drama together and this one clearly had the best ending. TThe ending is what makes this one unforgettable and the others inferior. The ending is an examples of true love where the female lead marries a bankrupt male lead with no job prospects or great looks for love. The last scene was not a church or something grand. It looked like a poor, cheap wedding but that's what makes it unique and unforgettable.


Story- 4.4/5
Acting 4.1/5
Setting- 4/5
Script- 4.2/5
Overall- 4.1/5

Might be good for people who can't get married for a long time and even those who are married. Generally targeted at older audience even though it contains no adult content. It is an inspirational drama worth watching.

Pros

Story/ script
Ending
Theme song 'Say Yes'
Realistic and three dimensional characters

Cons

Inconsistency
Acting

Anime Review- Itazura na Kiss

Itazura na kiss (playful kiss) is a popular shoujo manga and is considered a shoujo classic. The mangaka, Kaoru Tada died before completing the manga and it was halted abruptly at 23 volume. When the anime was made, her husband told the animators about the ending Kaoru Tada was planning and urged them to end this anime in the way she had pictured. Therefore, logically, the anime is the only complete version of this story. It was adapted into a drama form.

The story is a classic shoujo manga story- Kotoko, a complete ditz falls for the most popular and amazing boy in school- Irie who is one year her senior. When she finally gathers the courage to give him her love letter, he rejects her off hand. However, fate has other plans. Kotoko's house is destroyed in an earthquake and she moves with her father to his friend's house who coincidentally turns out to be Naoki Irie's father. His mother is convinced that she'll make a perfect bride for Naoki although he thinks otherwise. He helps her study and become better although she remains a ditz throughout most of her studying life.

The story is quite long as it progresses from high school days to marriage and children.

The story overall was quite good. Though Kotoko progressed from a ditz to a responsible working woman.The change in Naoki was not that drastic. He only admitted hisn feelings in the end.

The love doesn't appear rushed because the story covers a long timeline. Even after marriage, Kotoko decides to transfer to nursing school and Naoki transfers to medical department from engineering department. They gradually have children and go back to Naoki's grandfather's house with the child.

It started out pretty well with the classic shoujo plot and went well until marriage. It is strange that Naoki should ignore Kotoko when he married her out of love. He changes in the end but for most of the episodes, Kotoko is the one who makes all the adjustments.

Kotoko's weakness is terribly annoying and irritating especially in the beginning. How can someone be so pathetic and useless?- a disgrace to the female race. However, as the story progressed, she did show some character development. She tried hard at nursing and became a good wife. She also works hard as a nurse and teaches us the very essential lesson- our roles at school and college are trivial in life. A ditz in school and college can become a respected nurse.
Her tenacity and jealousy are the good things about her.
After marriage, I felt that Naoki was the lucky one. Kotoko is infinitely selfless and tries to be a good wife. She makes too many sacrifices, another annoying point. She is not one bit demanding and this gives the feeling that the love always remained one sided. Naoki's feelings are never prominent. She is always afraid of losing him even after marriage and does nothing to annoy him. Only near the last episode does Naoki admit he loves Kotoko eternally. He admits that in the middle (before marirage) but gets submerged in his profession and starts ignoring her after marriage.

Story- 3/5 (genric)
Characters- 4.2/5
Illustrations- 4.4 (for anime), 3.2 (for manga)
Overall- 4.1



Kotoko's mother in law, father in law, Kin Chan, Chris, Matusmoto, her lover and her father were good and realistic supporting character. As Rumiko Takahashi's Maison Ikkoku , in this manga everyone had a happy ending, which is quite unrealistic (that's why it is shoujo).

The events were good and the story progressed well. The best thing about it was the fact that it progressed from school to college to marriage and children. This is what makes the story complete.

Also, the anime was much much better than the manga. I read the manga and watched the anime and the manga had terrible illustrations (very old) which made it hard to read on. The anime is also complete and the manga is not.

Even though the story is pretty genric and the characters are either too strong or too weak, it was good overall. When I finished watching the anime, I felt undescribably happy though I found it genric. It is like knowing the characters personally. Also, the good thing was that all the characters had a happy ending. The story felt complete since it progressed from school to children. Though the love was unrealistic, the story overall was realistic. The settings, supporting characters and the conclusions were realistic just like we see around us. The characters showed development, especially Kotoko which made it worthwhile. I would recommend the anime over the manga.

All the shoujo manga lovers will like this one. It is a shoujo manga classic. Only half of the story is about high school and college life (1-14 eps.), the other half follows Naoki and Kotoko's life after marriage.

Pros

Long timeline over which the story takes place
Realistic
Supporting characters
Happy ending

Cons

Hero
Cliched plot
Too much role of fate

Best bargains

DMP had launched an omnibus edition of Itazura na kiss manga which is a good bargain.

Anime

Soasianstyle.com sells the full anime for around $24 and charges $4 for shipping (15 days).

Books Review- Barbara Cartland- Lessons in Love

This is one of the generic governess novels by Barbara Cartland. The governess-employer romance semms to be one of her favourites since I have read five books from her with the same story. This one's a little better version of some.

Lady Marisa Berrington-Crecy (Marisa for short) inherited her father's hatred for the corrupt and heartless high society and is determined to reveal their low behaviour through writing a controversial book. She masquerades as a governess, Miss Mitton and eneters the house of Duke of Miverley, who has a lonely child.

Marisa tried to teach the child with love and patience and in no time becomes good friends with her. However, she finds the duke's lack of interest in his own child annoying and insulting. The Duke is always busy with ladies and seems to pay no attention to his daughter. Marisa's determination to write the book is cemented by the disinterest of the Duke towards his own daughter.

However, one unfortunate day, the Duke discovers Marisa's manuscript and in infuriated. When she enters her own room, she is shocked to see him standing there with her manuscript. He tells her that his life is loveless and such behaviour is only justified. He also confesses to her and they share a kiss.

The next day she decides to leave the Duke's residence and return to her house. Without informing the duke, she leaves which leaves him furious and he searches for her.
Finally, they are united. He marries her and his daughter accepts. They live happily ever after.

Yeah, pretty classic.

This one was quite the classic Barbara Cartland novel. The story picks up towards the end but starts out plain and boring with little interaction between Marisa and the Duke.
The love is passionate when it actually takes off.

The heroine is a little inconsistent and weak willed. She didn't go ahead with publishing the novel. She is swayed by emotions are becomes weaker progressively. Not very work oriented.
The hero was rather detached. He didn't show any feelings until the ending.
Supporting characters were not any speical. The child was too easily influenced but I guess that is okay because this is not a human drama and is a romance novel.

Overall, still a good read for something light.

3.6/5

Pros

Romance

Cons

Genric
Slow
Weak heroine

Best bargains-

Rare as all other books. Can be found only on some sites like ebay.com and flipkart.com.

Book Review- Barbara Cartland- Tears of Love

You must be thinking I am crazy reviewing one of Barbara Cartland's seven hundred+ books. This one is one of the best ones from her that I have read. I will obviously not review all her books but I'll be reviewing some.

Well, the story is a little different from her other books.

Canuela lives with her poor, sick mother and has no money to pay her mother's hospital bills. She is the beautiful daughter of an Argentine aristocrat who was banished from his country because of rumours that he had betrayed his own country. Her father died soon after the unfortunate incident and her mother fell sick. Canuela is forced to take on the job of a secretary to pay her mother's hospital bills. She hides her beautiful eyes under tight fitting black glasses.
She obtains the post of secretary to the famous Ramon de Lopez, one of the famous argentine busniessmen who abandoned her father in his hour of need. She hates him and makes it very clear that she is working for him only because of the unfavourable financial circumstances. She is always hostile towards him.

Ramon de Lopez finds her a very efficient secretary because she is well versed in many languages and produces instant and amazing results. He requests her to accompany him to Buenos Aires and she refuses directly. However, her mother needs to go to Switzerland for medical treatment and she is forced to take on the job.
Throughout the journey, there is a clash of egos and unfortunately, Ramon de Lopez sees her beautiful eyes without glasses once. He then requests her to not hide them at least in front of him.
On reaching Buenos Aires, Ramon de Lopez has a grand party to which Canuela is invited but she refuses directly saying that she is only a superior servant and his esteemed guests would not want to mingle with the likes of her. However, she secretly attends the ball.
The next day, he is abducted and she saves him from guerillas. She later decides to flee to England but he finds her, clears misunderstandings, and as ever, love conquers all. Happy ending.

What is different about this book is that the heroine is strong. This is something that is rare for Barbara Cartland. More importantly she is constantly strong. Some heroines become weak as soon as they find love, but Canuela always stays strong and egoistic. The mind duels between her and Ramon de Lopez and their clash of egos is quite amusing.

This is a classic novel of the hatred-turned-love type. I enjoyed it very much mainly because of the passionate hero, strong heroine and plenty of conflict. Even though I knew from the beginning that love would conquer all, I found it a good and memorable read. This is rare for Barbara Cartland novels. Her novels are too short to be memorable but I enjoyed this one so much that I read it four times and I can still read it more.

This kind of book will appeal to Hana Yori Dango fans and those who like happy ending romance books with a strong heroine.

The novel, like most of Barbara Cartland's works, had plenty of emotion and love is not forced or fake. It is every bit emotional, true and fulfilling. It is one of the very good romance novels.

The cover art was not very good. Barbara Cartland books usually have good covers but this was rather generic. Also, there was a little political talk which is not very romantic or appealing but it is minimal and never gets in the way of the story. In fact, that's one of the good things about Barbara Cartland- she doesn't give too much importance to historical setting and detail and her books can be understood by everyone.

Overall, a great book to enjoy. It is only around 188 pages, still, it is wonderful.

Pros

Characters
Conflict
Not generic

Cons

Cover art (what was the artist thinking?)

As for best bargains, most of Barbara Cartland's books are out of print (it is not easy keeping 700+ books in print). You can find it on ebay or flipkart.com since the indian publisher Rupa is reprinting the books. Here's a site that gives information on all her books.
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/barbara-cartland/tears-of-love.htm

Drama Review- GTO

GTO was a very popular seinen manga in Japan. It tells the story of Onizuka Eikichi, a biker in a motorcycle gang who wants to become a teacher. He got a degree from a third rate university and ever since has joined the motorcycle gang. But he has only one dream- to become a great teacher.

The drama starts when his co-wroker tells him about a school that is hiring teachers. Onizuka hurriedly rushes to the interview. He fails in the interview and later goes to the school cafeteria where he meets the lunch lady who is the director.
While going back, he spots some students fighting with the interview pannel. They tell him to save them from these wild students and say that they'll grant him the job in return. They tell him that these students are 'trash' which infuriates Onizuka who believes that every child is special. Instead of the students, he hits the interview pannel and tells them about his beiefs.

The director, who is watching all this is impressed by Onizuka and to his surprise, gives him the job.

However, he is the homeroom teacher of the infamous 3-D that is filled with reckless, wild students who have no faith in teachers due to one of their teachers betraying one of their classmates.
Their previous teacher landed up in the hospital ICU and the one before that joined a cult. The director believes that somebody like Onizuka can make these troublemakers see light.

Onizuka meets Fuyutsuki sensei (Nanako Matsushima) with whom he falls in love. In real life, they fell in love during the shooting and married later. They have two daughters and are still married.
However, Fuyutsuki sensei has no interest in teaching. She wanted to become an air stewardess but failed the entrance. She just tolerates the kids for the sake of her pay. She finds Onizuka very easygoing and immature. She finds him disgusting in the beginning because of his lack of seriousness and his graduation degree from a third rate university. In the school, there are teachers who have graduated from Todai and other elite universities.

However, the students are not happy with him and from the very first episode start making trouble to get him out of the school. But, he in turn scares them off with his motorcycle gang.
One girl however, has a very troubled life at home with the relations between her parents breaking down. Onizuka goes to her house and helps her out. Fuyutsuki sensei also witnesses this heart warming event of Onizuka breaking down the wall between the girl's parents' rooms and her impression of him goes up.

The next day, the students create more trouble and her impression of him comes back to square one.

Onizuka's class boycotts him and he tries to get them back by winning the trust of each student. Fuyutsuki sensei is inspired by Onizuka's passion for teaching and starts taking her career seriously.

Their love life progreses quite well with hate turning to love. Fuyutsuki starts to see talents in Onizuka and is inspired by his dedication. There are some hurdles but these are cleared.

Story- 4/5
Characters- 4.5/5
Acting- 4.5/5
Overall- 4.2/5

One problem with the series was lack of seriousness. In Gokusen, the children are seen studying while here, they are never seen studying. That paints a rather hopeless picture of Onizuka's teaching abilities. Children don't come to school to fool around.

There was also too much focus on romance which is hardly required in a teaching, inspirational drama. This drama was much better in the manga form but the drama was good as well. A lot of rubbish has been cut down.

Takahashi Sorimachi's acting was the saving grace of this drama. His goofy expressions and serious acting in serious scenes was pretty well done. I can't believe that he has never received an acting award in his life when most of his dramas were super hit and he acts quite well. In additon to acting, he sings the theme Poison for the drama.

The best thing about this drama was the sentimental scenes. The ending of every episode is sentimental and heart warming.

The movie was quite good as well. I'll review it some other time. The special focuses more on Onizuka's relationship with Fuyutsuki sensei.

Overall, a good teaching/inspirational drama to watch. Gokusen and Dragon Zakura fans might like it although I liked both more than this. However, in manga form, GTO was better than both.
The drama is good but I'll recommend the manga over it. The drama is good for those who don't have the time to read the long GTO manga.
The movie is pretty good and I'll recommend it to anyone. The special was nothing spectacular.

If you're looking for inspiration, GTO is the thing for you. I'll recommend this and Gokusen and Dragon Zakura to anyone wanting to enter the teaching profession.

Pros

Takahashi Sorimachi
Story
Emotional scenes
Script
Complete with special and movie

Cons

Lack of seriousness in some parts where it is expected

Manga Review- Aishiteruze baby

Aishiteruze baby is a well known name among shoujo manga fans.
It is about the life of Kippei, a flirtateous high schooler who is saddled with the responsiblily of looking after his five year old cousin because her mother abandons her. Yuzu craves for Kippei's attention and gets jealous when she sees any girl around him. She plays around at the nursery and makes friends while constantly her memories of her mother are eroded and replaced. She starts forgetting her mother's face. Kippei in the meanwhile looks after Yuzu and goes steady with Kokoro, a girl in his class.

The series had a good idea but was too short. Kippei and Kokoro's feelings were not given time to develop and even Yuzu's feelings towards him were not allowed to develop. This manga could have easily dragged on for three more years. Kokoro's personality is also conflicting and she loves and hates Kippei at the same time. But the overall events balanced the manga.

The nursery events are one of the best in this manga. Yuzu's friends have some serious problems with mothers and sisters and she takes time to solve them. The brief appearance of Kippei's cousin was also nice. The nursery and side events were much more serious than the romance.

The romance is the biggest drawback of this manga. It keeps going back and forth. Kippei is not able to fix on one girl. Though he admits liking Kokoro, their relationship is presented only occassionally. Yuzu's romance is given importance but gradually transforms into sisterly love. In the end however, Kippei decides to live with Kokoro.

The nursery events and non-romantic events were more emotional compared to the romance.
The illustrations are good. The plot was good. It reminded me of Akachan to Boku (Baby and me). This plot was better than Akachan to Boku which had very young characters and was hard to relate to.

Story- 4.1/5
Characters- 3.8/5
Illustrations- 4.2/5
Overall- 4.0/5 (Note- overall score is not the average)

The ending was rushed up and I couldn't help thinking that the mangaka was in a hurry to finsih the manga. The end was rather abrupt. Yuzu's mother appears out of nowhere and Yuzu goes with her. The very last pages were emotional (when Yuzu sends a letter).

This will appeal to any shoujo manga fan and younger readers too. It is okay for a light read.

Pros

Story
Illustrations

Cons

Ending
Little conflict
Romance

Book Review- Judith Mcnaught- Almost heaven

Judith Mcnuaght is a New York Times bestselling author. She has sold more than 30
million books and is a popular author among romance fiction readers.

Almost heaven was the first book I read by Judith Mcnaught. It was wondeful! Currently, it is the only one. But I will read more from her in the future.

Almost heaven falls under the historcial romance genre.

The female protagonist of this story is Elizabeth Cameron (lady) who is defamed and blacklisted by society when she is discovered in the arms of Ian Thornton, a gambler with a bad reputation. She meets him in her fiance's house and falls in love with him. He invites her to a secluded cottage and she meets him there. However, the next day she receives a note from him telling her to meet him the the greenhouse, when she meets him, her brother arrives and is infuriated at the sight of them. He challenges Ian Thornton to a duel and the news of the duel spreads throughout England. After the duel, Elizabeth's brother disappears and she spends two years in her her house paying off her brother's gambling debt.
However, she is unable to forget Ian Thornton.

Her uncle wants to marry her off so he gives her a list of three men to choose from. One of them is Ian Thornton! The other two are hopless. Elizabeth meets them one by one until the choices narrow down to Ian Thornton.
Her love for him is rekindled and she strives to improve her reputation as he strives to tell her the truth he is hiding from her.

The story is well plotted with very good humour and emotion. The book is five hundred pages long and therefore has a lot of story/plot. It begins from her present, moves into her past (flashback), somes to present and takes time to develop love. It progresses even after marriage.

The book immediately draws you in and is wonderfully paced. Over the considerably lomg length and enxtended stroyline, it maintains the reader's interest and never bores.

Judith Mcnaught's writing style is very good and she describes very detail well without boring the reader. Also, the emotion, gestures, love are depicted well. The book provides an accurate account of victorian society.

The heroine, unlike most romance novel heroines is strong. Some romance novelists make their heroine defiant and repulsive to make her seem strong but Judith Mcnaught doesn't do anything of that sort. The heroine is not unrealistically strong. She is intellectual and firm.

The hero is perfect as all heros are. Alluring, handsome, passionate, forgiving when it comes to love, persuasive, cold, ruthless, successful and faithful. He keeps up with the heroine and the story well. The charcterisation, especially the main characters, is good. Lucinda Throckmorton Jones, Elizabeth's chaperpon is a strong supporting character. Her vanity and fuss contribute to comedic relief.

The plot has lots of twists and turns but it is wasted on a romance novel where the reader knows that love will conquer all. There is no uncertainity or suspense just like any other romance novel. That is what this genre is famous for- happy endings.

The story develops well and does not appear forced, abrupt, rushed or unrealistic at any stage. The cover art is average. She could have made a better cover for such a wonderful book.

Overall-4.9/5

Pros-

Plot
Characters
Development
Emotion
Setting
Writing style (easy to understand)

Cons-

Length (500+ pages. It took me two days to read this novel. But it was worth it.)
Stererotype romance

Manga Review- Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge

Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge (Perfect Girl Evolution) or The Wallflower is a shojo manga written by Tomoko Hayakawa. It is ongoing.

The Wallflower is the story of four handsome, popular guys, who are looking for accomodation while attending school. They find a huge mansion where they live for a while. The houseowner is also very kind. But one day she decides to go abroad and leaves them with her niece who has just arrived from Hokkaido- Sunako Nakahara.

She tells the four guys that if they turn Sunako into a lady, they will be allowed to live in the apartment for free. The boys agree. After all, how difficult can it be?

But enter Sunako. She is ugly, her face is covered by her hair which she hasn't cut. She never looks at the mirror. She is aggoraphobic and she has no desire to change or beautify herself. If that's not enough, she stays locked up in her dark room decorated with skulls all day and watches horror movies.

But soon she opens up a little to Kyouhei- a hot-headed and handsome student. She tells him about her past when she was rejected in the past by a guy who called her 'ugly'. After that, she stopped bothering about beauty.

The series shows the four boys' struggle to change Sunako into a lady. In a few chapters, she actually dresses up and all, but soon after, reverts back to her old, reclusive self.

She also starts developing feelings for Kyohei. But these feelings are there in one chapter- and completely disappear in the next.

This series has many cons. Firstly, the art was very cluttered and difficult to read or interpret. Secondly, it became very annoying after a while how Sunako never completely changed. After every chapter, she goes back to being the way she was in the first chapter and it is like hitting the reset button every time you read a new chapter.

Even in the 98th chapter, I had no idea where the story was going. Everything was exactly like it had been in the first chapter. There is zero character development and this was one of the most disappointing thing about the manga.

This manga had a good story, interesting characters and everything but after a while it becomes very frustrating. I felt like I was starting from game over after every chapter.

Pros
Interesting characters
Humour
Story had potential

Cons'
Artwork is very cluttered
No character development
Becomes annoying after a while

Though I will be looking foward to reading the further chapters because I would like to know the end, this manga didn;t impress me at all.

Manga Review- High School Debut

High School Debut (高校デビュー, Kōkō Debyū?, also known as Koukou Debut) is a shōjo romantic comedy manga by Kazune Kawahara (河原 和音, Kawahara Kazune?). It was serialized in Japan by Shueisha in Bessatsu Margaret from 2003 to 2008 and collected in 13 bound volumes. The series was adapted as a drama CD and as a series of six light novels written by Yuu Kuramoto. The manga is licensed in North America by Viz Media, which published English editions of all 13 volumes between January 2008 and February 2010.

The series follows the relationship between Haruna Nagashima, an enthusiastic former softball star, and Yoh Komiyama, the cool boy she convinces to coach her in romance. It has been praised by reviewers as a standard shōjo manga premise made highly entertaining by Kawahara's handling of the characters, particularly the romantic leads, and artwork. (Taken from Wikipedia.org)

I started High school debut with great enthusiasm because at that time, I had no other shojo manga to read. It was pretty good in the beginning.

Haruna (the main character) tries to wear girly clothes and act cute so that she gets noticed by a guy and can begin her own high school romance. This, however, doesn't happen. No guy looks at her twice because she looks so boyish and unattractive.

Haruna is disappointed. One day in school, he hears about a guy called Yoh Koyama who can make any girl get noticed by a guy. She pleads him for help but he refuses. Determined to show him that she can get noticed too, she goes to a spot where even teh clumsiest girls have found a boyfriend. She waits there till sundown but no one even talks to her. When she is about to go home, Yoh arrives there and tells her that he is ready to help her. Haruna is ecstasic on hearing this. But Yoh has oen condition: she must never fall in love with him.

The next day, he helps her choose clothes and teaches her some things. Things start to look beter when a guy in a supermarket asks her out. Yoh is suspcious of his intentions but Haruna forgets caution in joy. Yoh tries to warm her to think over it carefully, but she goes on a date with teh other guy without informing Yoh. The other guy, turns out to be a delinquent. Yoh rushes to save her at a critical moment. Haruna realizes that she loves Yoh but is afriad to tell him her feelings.

Later, she does tell him her feelings and he accepts them. This series is so stereotypical that you don't even have to read it to guess what happens. That is one major drawback. The heroine is the classic clumsy, happy-go-lucky shojo manga heroine and Yoh is the cool, smart, perfect shojo manga hero.

While this manga is not bad, it fails to be original and is too predictable. Also, a few chapters about the school sports day dragged on so much that I skipped those altogether.

Ratings

Story-2
Characters-2
Plot-2
Art-3

Pros
Good starting
Good art

Coms
Stereotypical heroine and hero
Predictable and unoriginal plot
The chapters about the school sports day are sheer page waste

Overall, too standard to be interesting. I am sure there are other better shojo manga out there.

Drama review- Nodame Cantabille

Nodame Cantabille is a famous manga by Tomoko Ninomiya about a girl called Nodame who is a student at the prestigious Momogaoka academy of music. She is a clutz and not serious about her piano playing.
Chiaki is a complete opposite. He is smart, very serious about playing the piano and all the girls at Momogaoka are crazy over him. He comes from a family with a musical history and his father is a world-famous pianist.

Nodame, like all the other girls at Momogaoka, has a crush on Chiaki.

In the drama, Juri Ueno plays Nodame. I think that she was a perfect fit for this role because she looks a lot like how Nodame is supposed to look. Tamaki Hiroshi who plays Chiaki, is also a perfect fit for the both physically and in terms of his character.

The story starts with potraying a normal day in Momogaoka Academy. Chiaki talks to his piano teacher about his wish to quit piano. This is because he wants to become a conductor. His teacher harrasses him. He finally escapes and comes across Nodame who is playing her piano beautifully. He notices that there are many minor flaws in her technique. Here, their funny and awkward realtionship begins.

The drama was wonderful and totally funny. I laughed a lot in every episode. The fun is enhanced even more when a world-famous conductor arrives at Momogaoka.

In the course of the drama, Nodame improves her piano playing and enters competitions, Chiaki takes up conducting seriously and meets other people and forms an amateur orchestra. Their love relationship develops along the way.

The drama really touched my heart and made me want to play the piano too. It is especially great for those who enjoy comedy.

Ratings

Story-4
Characters-4.5
Plot-4
Acting-4.5
Settings-4.6
Direction-4
Script-4.3

Pros
Great comedy
Interesting characters
Good development of story

Cons
Mismatched protagonists
Some scenes are fillers

Overall, a good comedy drama worth watching at least once.

Anime Review- Ultra Maniac

Ultra manaic is originally a manga by Wataru Yoshizumi. It was adapted into a famous anime series.

This was one of the animes I saw with Daa! Daa! Daa! and I loved it. It is a shoujo anime/manga with a fantasy twist.

Nina, a witch from the magical kingdom comes to earth with her cat Rio, to collect jewels that were scattered by the prince of the magic kingdom. The girl who collects these jewels first, will be the one to marry the prince. On earth, she meets Ayu Tateishi, a seventh grader who eventually discovers a secret. Nina and Ayu become best friends and start their magical adventures together. Ayu is in love with Kaji, a popular boy in school. Maya, another girl from magic kingdom competes with Nina. She uses black magic to collect the jewels.

Might sound like hardcore fantasy but it is a high school, romantic comedy. It is really funny and exciting. The plot develops well and the ending is good.
The anime runs 26 episodes long. It is worth a try as it is funny and romantic. It has its good moments.
Ayu and Nina's friendship is motivating.

As the story develops, more and more people from Magic Kingdom start coming to earth. Nina starts to have feelings for Tujiai, Kaji's friend and Ayu confesses to Kaji.

Wataru Yoshizumi's works are mostly about middle school kids thereofore, characters seem to concentrate more towards family and friendship than love. Mint na Bokura and Marmalade boy follow this pattern too. Her works are enjoyable but not epic due to their short length.

The high school adventures combined with magic is what keeps this anime going. Wataru Yoshizumi's sense of humour is good too. Her works mostly stand out because of her good sense of humour.

Ultra Maniac has very good art and music. The opening 'Kagami no naka' is very energetic and uplifting. A good way to start an anime like Ultra Maniac.

Art- 4.5
Story-4.3
Characters-4.5
Overall-4.4

Some cons might again be that the anime is stereotypical. A classic shoujo with a hint of fantasy.

However, the high school/middle school life of the characters is the saving grace.

I think it might be a good idea to give this anime a try. It is above average and can lift your spirits.

Pros

Comedy
Art
Characters
High school life
Fantasy twist
Good ending

Cons

Stereotypical
Romance lacks depth (Nina's)

Anime review- La Corda D'Oro ~Primo passo~

La Corda D'oro is a classical music themed anime. It was originally a game that was adapted into anime.

It follows the life of Kahoko Hino who studies in Seisou academy which is famous for its musical talent. There are two types of kids in school- ones that belong to the music club and the others who do not pursue music. The music students are considered elit and the girls in school are crazy about the boys in the music division. Hino Kahoko is a normal girl who knows nothing about music. However, one day she is late to school. While trying to run, she is out of breath and sits near the fountain to rest. There, she sees a fairy called Lily who bestows her with a magic violin and forces her to participate in the annual school concert. Kahoko is reluctant at first but later agrees to the fairy's request. She discovers that one of her friends, Ryoutaro secretly plays the piano and urges him to join the concert.

It is a good musical anime. The selection of pieces is good. The character design and animation style is good too.
The romance is all over the place. Everyone in the music club has their eyes on Kahoko so , in the end the viewer is confused. Kahoko does not show feelings for anyone.
The concours are good but generally, the anime lacks any suspense.
The anime appears too short as the results of the last concert are unannounced. Also, in the end, Kahoko has no definite lover. Everyone in the series becomes friends.

Art-4.1
Story-4.1
Characters-3.6
Overall-3.9

Certainly, the anime is not something memorable. It inspired me to learn violin because the pieces were good but the anime is not very special. Unlike Nodame Cantabile, the romance is not serious and the anime lacks any comedy. It completely focuses on music with terrible results.
It is something you can see when you have nothing else to do.

Pros

Music
Art

Cons

Nothing special
Romance is unfocused
Characters are not strong
Keichi and Fuyumi never do well
Not a very good ending

Anime Review- Princess Tutu

Princess Tutu is one of the not-so-famous animes. It was adapted from a manga series which received worse reception. It is still good in its own way.

Princess tutu narrates the life of Ahiru, a duck who transforms into a ditz called Ahiru to save Prince Mytho from a terrible curse. He has lost his heart and looks dull and morose. She helps him find the pieces of his heart so that he can love again. She goes to a ballet academy where she resides (in the hostel). She transforms into Princess Tutu to save Mytho. Ru, another girl in the ballet academy, who is good at ballet, competes for Mytho's affections with Tutu. Fakir, Mytho's overprotective friend also strives to save Mytho. However, little do they realize that they live in a story which is written by the sinister Drosselmeyer who is determined to make this a tragedy. Later, Fakir discovers that he too has the power to write and change stories.

The atmosphere of this story is remarkable. It is what saves this tale. It is set in an oldish society. Ballet is the most important element in this world. The animation tones are dull, soft and classy and give a sophisticated touch to this anime. The mood is mostly dark. Classical pieces like Swan Lake are often played in the background. The opening is good too. There is grace in the chracters.

As the story progresses, Fakir develops feelings for Ahiru and she discovers that once Mytho has his heart back, she'll go back to being a duck. Ru gets to know of her past and discovers that she's not Raven. Edel (realted to Drosselmeyer) makes a few appearances. Dosselmeyer's power increases and the story strives towards a dramatic climax.
The tone, mood and atmosphere make all the scenes dramatic and more special than they really are. The story too is well themed and plotted.

Art- 4.3
Characters-4.2
Story- 4.6
Overall- 4.1

The manga has been heavily critisized in Japan.
The anime's cons....mmmmm.....well, it requires patience. It is not recommended for action fans and impulsive people. The series progresses very slowly and all actions, movements and plot and character development is slow. It requires patience but I can't really say that the wait is worth the ending. The ending though happy is not very satisfying.

Pros

Atmosphere
Plot
The dramatic music/ drama
Climax

Cons

Might seem average to some viewers
Requires patience/ progresses slowly and unsatisfactorily

Meg Cabot Being Nikki

I usually review trilogies together, but since all the books in this series came out after a long gap (I still don't have the last one)I am making an exception.

Airhead left off with Em being caught up in the body of supermodel Nikki Howard. I felt that some parts of the first book really dragged.

In being Nikki, we see Em getting along with her friends Lulu and trying to win back Christopher's heart while managing the busy schedule of a supermodel. When, things with Christopher finally start to look up, Nikki's long lost brother turns up saying that their mother is sick or has died or something (I read it long ago, I don't really remember.

Then Brandon, the son of Stark enterprises chairman, starts liking Nikki. Amidst all this, Christopher finally descovers that Nikki is Em. But she suddenly discovers a secret- that Nikki is alive, or rather, her brain is alive in the body of another person.

Being Nikki was a great thriller. I never expected teh story to take such a suspenseful turn. I really am waiting to get my hands on Runaway now.

Rating

Story-4
Plot-4.6
Characters-4
Style-4.3

Pros
Unexpected twists and turns
The fast pace of the story
Writing style

Cons
The first few pages are a bit boring and the story really gets into gear a bit later.
The cliffhanger ending (she didn't have to make me so desperate to read Runaway)

Great book, though!And coming from me, that's a lot.

First Author Review- Barbara Cartland

Hello, this is the first author review posted on Review Carnival.

Barbara Cartland- Have you ever heard this name?
Some might have vaguely heard it while others have no clue about this person. She is not a very recent writer so many of you might not be knowing about her.
Let's start with biography.

Barbara Cartland was born on 9th July, 1901 (a cancerian). She is a British author and the highest selling romance novelist (shocking data. Wait until you hear the next line). She has sold one billion books worldwide and is outsold by only Shakespere, Agatha Christie and the bible. She is famous for charity and fought for better salary and living conditions for nurses and midwives. She was a very popular celebrity during her golden years and is noted for her preference to pink, heavy makeup and fast writing speed. She was once the author who released the most number of books in a year (25, I think) certified by Guinness. She was described by Vogue Magazine as the 'True Queen of Romance' (no argument there. She died in 2000 at the age of ninety eight or ninety nine.

I started reading Barbara Cartland when I was eleven or twelve. Though I did not like the first book I tried, I liked the second one. As I expanded my Barbara Cartland collection, I grew more and more fond of her books. Now, she is my favourite author.

Her genre is historical romances. Some of you might stop reading at the sight of 'historical' since she was from the victorian era. However, her language though pleasing and sophisticated is simple and she does not complicate the story with too many references to history.
Most of her heroines are pure and innocent while a small potion of them are rebellious and bold. Her heros are usually rich and perfect and even if they are poor, they become rich eventually by acquiring a dead relative's property. Lots of her books have stories of governesses and Marquises.

She has writen over seven hundred novels in her career so many of her stories are similar. Also, her novels are very predictable and have that happy ending we all love.
Idealism is prevelant in all her novels.

Her novels are filled with emotion and that is why I like them very much. Even if half of her novels are copies of the other half, they still never lose the magic, the beautiful feeling of love, joy, satisfaction, discovery and happiness (which Stephanie Meyer's novels greatly lack).
Her novels are clean and contain no adult rated matter.



Rating

Story- 2 (rehashed plots)
Writing style- 4.9 (wonderful!)
Overall- 4.7 (recommended)

However, I must tell you about the cons too.
Thirty percent of her novels are nothing special and you might begin to hate her if you read that 30 percent.
Her plots as I alrady said are too repetitive. They are only wonderful because of the feeling and emotion Barbara Cartland stuffs into the story.
Most of her heroines are extremely weak and innocent. Although innocence is refreshing, weakness is not very encouraging especially coming from a feminist like her.
Her novels are very short (150-230 pages)so, not particularly memorable that's why I reviewed the author and not individual books.
Her novels emphasize on innocence and true love as spiritual and fulfilling and not physical.

Overall, I would recommend this author. She is much better than Nora Roberts, Danielle Steel, Janet Daily and other recent romance writers who do not live upto her standards. If you want to try romance, she is the right author to start with. She absolutely deserves to be the highest selling romance writer because she is, as Vogue said, 'The True Queen of Romance' and delivers quality. If there's a shining star in the world in the world of romance, it is Barbara Cartland.

Pros

Emotion
Her deep perception of love
Short novels
Great cover art
language/expression
And of course, the happy endings

Cons

Repetitiveness
Slight inconsistency
Weak heroines

Book review- Nora Roberts Three Sisters Island Trilogy

Everyone knows Nora Roberts. If you don't, you can check out her wikipedia entry. Three sisters island is a trilogy about three women who are descendants of witches. Mia Devlin is a bookstore owner, Ripley Todd is the town's deputy sheriff and Nell Channing is a woman who runs from her abusive husband. I liked the idea of making the story unique by including magic. I will review the three books one by one.

1. DANCE UPON THE AIR tells the story of Nelll Channing, a woman who is running from her abusive husband. Her husband, who is a celebrity lawyer, assumes that she is dead because of her staged death a few months ago. With little money, Nell arrives in Three Sisters Island. She thinks about looking for work, and walks into the Island's bookstore owned by resident witch Mia Devlin. Coincidentally, teh cook at the bookstore's cafe is leaving. Nell offers to be the chef and Mia employs her because of the circumstances. Nell works very hard and impressed by her work, Mia employs her permanently. From here, she meets the town's sheriff and falls in love with him. She also discovers that she is a witch and with Mia's help, tries to hone her skills. Everything goes well but her abusive husband finds out that she is alive and chases after her.
The story was pretty original for Nora Roberts's standard but teh romance was slow and didn't seem special enough. At times, it doesn't even appear as if the two are in love. The villian is unrealistically obsessed with his ex-wife. Overall, not bad.

Ratings

Plot-3
Story-4
Characters-2.8
Style-4.5

Pros
Good setting
Concept of witches was creative
Writing style

Cons
Romance seems half hearted
Weak antagonist

2. HEAVEN AND EARTH- is the second book is the Three Sisters Island Trilogy. Dr. MacAllister Booke is a scientist who researches on the supernatural and moves to three sisters Island after he discovers that there are witches here. Here he meets the town's deputy sheriff Ripley Todd who is also a witch and controls earth (hence the name Heaven and Earth). He is attracted to her rebellious and outspoken character. But Ripley is afraid of her own powers and cannot acknowledge the fact that she is a witch. Gradually, she gains understanding of her powers through the course of the novel.
The hero was pretty good but Ripley was not a good heroine. I love bold and outspoken heroines but she was outspoken to the point of being insensitive and insulting. She cannot differentiate between good and bad intentions and seems to be too rigid for her own good (or rather, the novel's)

Ratings
Story-2
Characters-3
Plot-2
Style-4.5

Pros
Interesting hero
Magical element, so it is more creative than Nora's usual novels
Style of writing

Cons
Unlikeable heroine
Many useless scenes and page wasting by writing about unimportant things.

I would have adviced you to skip this book altogether, but since it is part of teh trilogy and the other two are not that bad, maybe you should read it to maintain teh continuity.


3. FACE THE FIRE- Is the story of the final witch of Fire- Mia Devlin who acccording to me, was the best character in this trilogy and I had been waiting to read her story. Also, the idea of her long-time lover who leaves her coming back was intriguing. Sam Logan, however is pretty much the standard slick talking, good looking, hard-working hero. There is nothing special about him and at some time, I began to wonder why someone like Mia would actually love a guy like him.
The events in the story are interesting as the realtionship grows and Mia gradually accepts Sam back.
I strongly felt that this book could have been better if the hero had been more interesting. I couldn't help feeling that McAllister and Mia would make a better pair.

Rating
Story-3
Characters-3
Plot-2
Style-4.6

Pros
Interesting setting
Heroine is a witch
Strong female lead

Cons
Hero was too stereotypical to be interesting
He lacked a 'third dimension' which would have made him real.
Unrealistic at some points
Mia took too long to trust him (it was only in the end of the book)

Well, the trilogy as a whole was pretty interesting and unique. Nora Roberts's stories are never so unique. Worth trying if you like romance and Nora Roberts.

Nora Roberts Vision in White

Nora Roberts is a very famous romance writer who has had many New York Times #1 bestsellers. She writes futuristic suspense under the pen name J.D. Robb.

I have read many books by Nora Roberts before. Her Three sisters triolgy was pretty good which encouraged me too try her books further. However, her other books have disappointed me very much. They are so much like each other that at one point, it seems as if she's just changed the name of the main characters and produced a new book. Many of her plots lack originality and are generic romantic plots written in her style. Thankfully, her writing style is good, which, I expect is the reason behind her success.

Vision in White is the first book of her Bride Quartet. It is about a group of friends who run a Wedding Planning agency and their love lives.

The protagonist of Vision in White is a wedding photographer who is part of the wedding agency I talked about in the previous paragraph. One day, in her apartment, she comes across an English teacher who just walked in there by mistake. This sparks off a romance between the two (as I had predicted. Nora Roberts should make her stories less predictable)

The rest, I think, any Roberts fan will be able to guess. It follows Nora Roberts' generic romance novel patttern.The end, as expected, is a happy ending. It also includes Nora Roberts's much used blackmailing mother cliche. God, I am tired of this one.

Vision in White is an average romance novel and exactly what Nora Roberts is expected to write. I really wish that she would give up on these cliches and become more original. She writes so well.....why should her stories be mediocre and unoriginal?

Scores

Plot-2
Characters- 3 (The heroine was too cliched, but the hero was acceptable)
Style- 4.5
Cover- 5 (It was totally gorgeous)

Overall rating- 3 Average

Pros
Her writing style
Idea of wedding photographer
Cover

Cons
Weak protagonist
Too generic and uninventive
Some unnecessary events which made the story boring

Manga Review- Maison Ikkoku

Rumiko Takahashi is extremely popular in Japan and America. So, I decided to give her a try. I read Ranma 1/2. It started off well but then went to stupidity and cheesiness. I left reading after the sixteenth volume. I began to wonder why she is so popular. Ranma was nothing spectacular.
I then deicded to give her another chance and try Maison Ikkoku. The story was pretty simple.
Yusaku Godai, an indecisive, good for nothing, hopeless ronin lives in a ramshackle apartment called Maison Ikkoku. He is tormented by his mad, drunkard neighbours who want to have driking paries every night and as a result, he has never managed to clear the university entrance exams. One day however, a beautiful widow, Otonashi Kyoko arrives and explains that she is the new manager of Maison Ikkoku. Yusaku is instantly infatuated and throughout the series tries to win her affections while facing tough competition from coach Mitaka who is Kyoko's tennis coach. Frequent misunderstandings and bad luck make this journey bumpy. Still, Yusaku never gives up.

Pretty average isn't it?
Rumiko Takahashi has chosen to demonstrate her world wonderful story telling ability in this simple story. I personally consider this her masterpiece and her most mature work. There is no cheesiness or violence in this beautiful story.
The pace is rather slow and the character development is great. It follows Yusaku through college, job, marraige and children. Maison Ikkoku therefore, does not appear rushed up even though it ended in fifteen volumes.

I find the later volumes better.

Also, the main character is easy to relate to and sympathise with. The story has its share of comedy and sentimental scenes.
While the earlier volumes are more comic and less romantic, the later volumes focus greatly on Kyoko and Yusaku's relationship. The art is good and the neighbours frequently appear and lighten the mood.
The character development is one of the strongest aspects of this manga. Yusaku develops from a hopeless, good for nothing, wishy washy ronin to a responsible working man who is a little more decisive.

Art- 4.2
Story- 3.0 (nothing special)
Characters- 4.7
Overall- 4.6

Maison Ikkoku doesn't have too many weak and useless characters. All the characters are memorable. It is a simple romantic comedy but still very enjoyable. It has a wide appeal. This is Rumiko Takahashi's first seinen manga.

However, there are some cons too.
Some readers might find this story very ordinary like I did on reading the synopsis. But never judge a book by its cover. Try this manga and you won't be sorry.
Another weakness might be lack of idealism. Though realism makes this story more sentimental.There are some really heart warming, touching lines in the later volumes.
The third weakness is Yusaku's bad luck which never leaves him. It might get too boring after some time.

The anime is okay but the drama is not good. The manga is the best version.

Overall, I recommend this manga. It sold 32 million+ This is Rumiko Takahashi at her best!

Pros

Character development
Strong characters
Comedy
Setting

Cons

Frequent misunderstandings which get repetitive
Story plot