[New review after rereading in 2021. Rating downgraded from 4 stars to 3.]

I originally reviewed this back in 2010, but my style was a lot different back then, and my feelings about this volume are less gushy than they originally were. I decided it'd be worth writing a new review.

Cree is looking for a replacement bass player for her band when she stumbles across Izsak, a homeless guy, doing an amazing job playing one of her mother's songs. She convinces him to come home with her and be part of her band in exchange for a place to stay. She also convinces her fellow bandmates to accept him - some, like Rail, take a little more convincing. However, Izsak has more going on than Cree initially realizes. He has no memory of his life prior to five years ago, he has some kind of mysterious illness, and Rail thinks he might even be a murderer.

The first half of this volume was pretty rough. Lijewski leaned a little too hard on the "Cree and Char are energetic, fun, and quirky" stuff. I'm intrigued by the mystery of Izsak's past, though, and I'm looking forward to finally reading the rest of this series after so many years. I might not enjoy it as much now as I did when I first tried it, but I think it'll at least be a decent read.

Although Lijewski's character designs are indeed attractive, her art had some issues I don't think I noticed when I first read this. I still suspect that Lijewski was very influenced by Tite Kubo's artwork. You can see it in the way she drew a lot of the characters' faces. However, her layouts could have used some work in places, to make certain scenes more effective, and there were times when her anatomy was a little off - the panel with Izsak standing in front of a mirror was a good example of that, and I noticed one panel in which Cree appeared to have a pinky where her right thumb should have been. There were a few action shots that could have been done a lot better too.

But I did like the scene with Laurent and Rail, and, like I said, I'm looking forward to finding out more about Izsak's past, his supposed "illness," and the reason why he's being followed.

Extras:

A short message from the author, and character profiles for Cree, Rail, Izsak, and Char. And speaking of Char, a thing I had forgotten: she appears to be trans (and is misgendered and deadnamed by her brother, FYI).

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

-----

[Original review from 2010 included below. The rating I used with this review was 4 stars.]

Ohmigod, ohmigod, I have to buy more volumes of this! Well, actually, I have the first two volumes, and it turns out there are only three total, so I guess I only need to get one more. While I'm happy I won't need to make a huge monetary investment to own all of this, I'm already sad that this series is so short. Because, ohmigod, it's good.

Ok, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that you should drop everything and go out and buy this - just because I love this series so far doesn't mean you're going to. I can't even say that this is a very original series, because this is another one of those where it's pathetically easy for me to come up with read-alikes. However, this series has so many things I tend to like in a series that it just brings me all kinds of joy.

First, there's the pretty guys. Izsak is not only gorgeous, he's nice. The mystery surrounding him origins and even what he is (I'm guessing vampire, but can it really be that simple?) makes him even better. Rail is also gorgeous, although his other appealing characteristics are different. He's got the scowling delinquent look down pat (think Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach), and yet he's got a cute, sweet secret thing for Cree (how cute and sweet you think it is all depends upon how you tend to feel about "sibling-by-marriage" romance stories - I'm usually not that wild about them, which is why I'm rooting more for Izsak than Rail). Also, according to his bio at the end of the volume, he's pretty smart. As a reader, both guys seem fairly yummy to me. Izsak doesn't have all the "but we're siblings!" baggage, while Rail is probably better for Cree in terms of long-term health and piece-of-mind. I'm still rooting for Izsak, though.

Second, there's the artwork. It took me longer than it should have to place what I think is Lijewski's biggest artistic influence, but I'm guessing it's Tite Kubo, the artist and author of Bleach. I can see that influence most clearly in Rail. It's something about his eyes. And his scowl. Anyway, I love both Tite Kubo and Lijewski's artwork. Lijewski (as she was when she created this volume) could stand to improve her full-body anatomy skills, but hoo boy does she draw abs nicely.

Ahem.

Ok, moving past the whole drooling fangirl stuff. Third, I really like the overall mix of romance, mystery, and supernatural. I can't wait to learn more about Izsak and see where things go with him and Cree. Who are the two mysterious stalkers, and what do they want with Izsak? Who killed Ashley?

While I may have a few complaints about this volume, those complaints are very minor in comparison with all the things I loved about it. I can't wait to read volume 2, and it looks like I'll be adding volume 3 to the list of things I'll be spending my Amazon.com gift certificate on.

Extras:

Bio pages for Cree, Rail, Izsak, and Char that include age, date of birth, height, birthplace, hair color, eye color, style mode (not sure what this means, but then I'm style-less), major (for those characters who are in college), and a bulleted list of extra tidbits. Also, a few paragraphs from Lijewski.

(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )