Lenni Reviews: "The Artist and the Soldier" by Angelle Petta

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is recommended for mature readers.

In this sprawling tale, we have Max Amsel and Bastian Fisher who meet as teens in Camp Seigfried then again as adults in the thick of World War II.

First off, I dunno if I was taught this in school and forgot or just wasn't taught this but I was SHOCKED that the Nazi Camp Siegfried was a real place in NY! I honestly didn't realize such camps existed and kudos to this book for teaching me that.

This book is almost perfect. It focuses more on the war itself and how it's affecting everyone, not just our main characters. A great deal of the plot is plucked straight from history. The writing is compelling, the action is well done, and the romance did tug at my heart. If you like historical fiction with a bit of angst, I recommend this despite the ending being a bit of a drop-off. But you can tell a lot of love went into this book. 4.7 out of 5.

Lenni Reviews: Ayako by Osamu Tezuka

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Any otaku worth their salt knows Osamu Tezuka. He’s the godfather of manga, a master storyteller, and is known for some of the most influential manga and anime ever created. When presented with “Ayako”, I was very excited to read something of Tezuka’s I’d never read before.

In terms of sheer scope and power, “Ayako” does not disappoint. Ayako, the product of an incesuous relationship between the head of the Tenge clan and his son’s wife, sees too much of the family’s dark side and ends up imprisoned in a basement to keep the family sins quiet. Tezuka’s telling of this poor woman’s life from childhood to adulthood is unmercifully dark and cruel, almost beyond belief.

The backdrop is post war Japan when an occupied Japanese government is dividing up the properties of wealthy landowners like the Tenge family to give to tenant farmers. In the fight to keep what they can, the family is willing to do anything to save face, including kill, blackmail, and keep a little girl a prisoner for her entire life.

There are times where the machinations you see are just unreal. It difficult to believe anyone could be so cruel but there are rays of hope and snippets of humor that keep the book from being completely depressing. Tezuka’s art is in rare form, providing an eerily cartoonish display for such a dark story.

While it is a great book, Lenni advises reading it in spurts with a more upbeat book in the wings to break up the sadness. “Ayako” is a fantastically rendered trip through the darkest parts of humanity so I advise a literary flashlight, so to speak. You won’t regret reading it, though.

Lenni Reviews: Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms by Fumiyo Kouno

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Towards the tail end of WWII, the US made the decision to drop nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As you can imagine, it changed the course of history for the entire world. Any history class will teach you the political and military implications of such an event but what about the day to day lives of the survivors? There are many tales, including the groundbreaking Barefoot Gen by Keiji Nakazawa. Unlike the gritty realism in Nakazawa’s work, Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms takes us ten years later to the lives of ordinary citizens and how the end of the war affected them.

First we meet a young woman named Minami Hirano, a young woman living in Hiroshima. She goes about her everyday life not wanting to think about the bomb, why she survived, and how it has changed her. Then we meet Nanami Ishikawa and follow her has she visits her friends in the hospital as a young girl, then go back to visit Hiroshima when she’s grown to deal with not only her father's memories, but her own.

I did enjoy this book. The dichotomy between the light and breezy art style and the very serious subject matter (warning: you may tear up) tugs at your heartstrings. Despite the melancholy, the book ends with a feeling of hope that will make you smile. The book is a poignant sigh you can hold in your hands; calm, painful, but beautiful and I highly recommend picking this book up.