I don't often read mystery stories, but I decided to do something different and chose to read this book for a change of pace. And also the cover looks beautiful.

The story follows Yuri, the narrator of the book, solving the murder of her former classmate from high school, Reina, and the mystery of the serial killer's identity. Unlike most mystery stories, the readers already know who the serial killer is since his name is on the blurb on the book's back and is at the beginning (It's Higano). The real question the story is asking readers is if the serial killer is responsible for Reina's murder, and what is the truth?

The story was fast-paced and unpredictable. Every few chapters in the story, there are twists and more twists. However, most of these twists cause the story to become convoluted and hard to keep track of what is going on in the story. Fortunately, the very end (which actually takes place before the prologue of the story) clears most of the stuff up and explains why certain characters perform certain actions. But, the way it was handled is not great. It was just two characters, the killer and his victim, info-dumping to each other. There was so much information being dropped in the last section, I had a difficult time digesting the entire thing in my mind.

The characters were alright at best and forgettable at worst. The main character, Yuri, is the audience surrogate, but she is too bland, in my opinion. The character that stands out the most is Higano. Whenever he always steals the spotlight whenever he appears in the book. Especially when he talks about coffee and waxes philosophically about the meaning of truth.  

The book is not "put everything down and read it immediately" type of book. It's an entertaining book, but it's a quick book to read if you want to finish up a reading challenge.       

I needed something light and fluffy while I was reading The Song of Achilles. I usually read something light-hearted after or during something like TSOA. Go for it, Nakamura fits the former. 

The manga is about Nakamura who has a crush on his classmate, Hirose and his hilarious attempts to get close to him. Nakamura is an easy character to relate to in many ways, and he is adorable when he tries to make small talk. Hirose is also cute as well. I went "aww, so cute" during the aquarium scene. Not only is their interaction entertaining to read, but the other characters' as well. The ending might be off-putting for some people because it ends ambiguously. Nakamura and Hirose become friends, but the conclusion doesn't outright say if they become a couple though it looks like there is a high chance that they upgrade to a couple soon.

The art style reminds me of some the classic 80s and 90s manga I've seen in the past, but with some modern-day flavors. The rounded and soft style goes well with this sweet story of an awkward young man. I wish there were more color pages because the colors go well with the artwork. The artwork still looks vibrant in black and white. 

The author has another work available in English, and I'm hoping it is as good as this one shot.    

I enjoyed this book more than Circe, which I gave it the DNF mark. However, I had some difficulty engaging with the story during the first part of the book, but I got hook at the part where Achilles is introduced in the story. Then during the middle section, the pacing became too slow and tedious for me. I was close to DNFing the whole thing. Fortunately, the story's pacing improved when the Trojan War began. The Trojan War parts were my favorite because it combined the right amount of action, drama, and romance for me. Even though TSOA has much better pacing than Circe, it still has some problems of explaining stuff instead of showing thing happens. But, it didn't detract my enjoyment. I find the ending to be satisfying and avoids being too cheesy. 

Despite her small role, I enjoyed reading about Briseis and I felt sad when she died. Patroclus and Achilles's characters were hard to get into at first, but they eventually grew on me. It was the same for Thetis as well. It was heart-warming to read about her helping Patroclus reunite with Achilles after death.

As a stand alone romance book, I liked it. I don't think the story was mind-blowing, but it was a nice read to pass time during recess.

I first heard of this book at the J-Novel Panel at Anime Expo last year. What caught my attention the most during the announcement was that the titular short story started as a Love-Live fanfiction. I started reading the novel when the J-Novel club released different parts of the three short stories weekly before the full book came out. Before I began reading the weekly releases, I thought the stories were going to scream "moe" and filled with the kind of stuff I saw in some sci-fi anime with cute characters.

Wow, I was wrong about my predictions for this story collection. The stories were anything but ordinary sci-fi. Each story was bizarre but in a good way. My favorite mash-up in the story was the Evo Gals one which combined evolution with gacha games. Surprisingly both of those things mix well. Reading about the idol activities done in the title story was macabre but somewhat funny to those who don't mind dark humor. Reading about space whale mating and using the whale's body as a spaceship in Dark Seiyuu was amusing.

The author and the translator both do an excellent job of maintaining the right balance of describing objects and the characters' actions without being too convoluted. The way the destruction of the Earth in Dark Seiyuu when gravity ceases was vivid and took my breath away. So was the brain removal procedure featured in Last and First Idol. I can feel my eyeballs and brain popping out of my head.

After I finished reading the first time, I purchased the ebook version to read again. Reading the stories the second time made me appreciate the stories more since I gain a better grasp of the scientific terms mentioned in the stories. Even when I reread the book, I still feel the wonder I've experienced the first time.

I highly recommend buying this book and reading it multiple times.