*I received a free copy of Shinigami Eyes from Dark Cherry Press via Dark World Books. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *
Shinigami Eyes by Cheree and Adam Smith Published by Dark Cherry Press on 31 October 2014
Pages: 300
Format: eARC
Source: Dark World Books
Most children hope to grow out of their imaginary friends.
17-year-old Rin Waters’ only hope is that hers doesn’t kill someone, especially when said imaginary friend puts a boy in a coma. Finding herself shipped half-way around the world—to Japan, of all places—she is forced to live with grandparents she hasn’t seen for ten years and a cousin she can’t even remember.
Rin would rather just forget about the one night that ruined her life and pretend her imaginary friend doesn’t exist—if it was only that easy. When manga-obsessed otaku, Matt, won’t stop pestering her about a manga that sees the future and the tragic accident she’ll be involved in if she doesn’t listen to him, pretending becomes quite a challenge.
Suddenly mysterious accidents begin to happen to students in her school, and Rin has to wonder what length Matt is willing to go to prove his manga is real. Is it all a sham or is there really something that wants to see Rin and her new friends dead?
Shnigami Eyes follows Rin after her parents send her to Tokyo after an incident at her high-school dance in Australia, to help her get her life together. But it seems getting her life together isn’t all that easy.
Welcome to my stop on the Shingami Eyes blogtour! I have my review and favourite quotes as usual, and there’s also a tour-wide giveaway for you to participate in.
My Sinigami Eyes review:
From the start, Shinigami Eyes drew me in completely. Rin intrigued me, and so did a vision she had while on the train from the airport, sitting next to her cousin. She was sure she saw a boy push a girl in front of a train on the other platform, but when she looked again, all she could see was a fox doll with a creepy smile. The mysterious vibe was set. Having an imaginary friend who looks like a six-year-old girl bouncing around next to her didn’t help Rin when she wanted to show how calm and collected she was, and Haruka was soon wondering what was going on. As did I!
Things didn’t exactly get better for Rin once she arrived in Tokyo, the first evening, Haruka took her for a walk, and they met Haruka’s best friend Miki who was also bouncing around and always happy. They also met a mysterious boy who seemed to know who Rin was, and why she had arrived in Japan. On top of that, neither of her grand-parents seemed happy to have her living with them, so Shinigami Eyes is definitely not a cozy story where Rin gets to know her Japanese family better.
Soon, strange things start happening, and Rin is somehow in the center of it all. Matt continues to follow her and wants to show her his magic manga, where he found out about Rin in the first place. There was a little ‘Heroes’ in that manga for me – remember that TV show? Where a graphic novel tells the future, kind of? That’s how Matt’s manga worked, too, but nothing was really easy to find out from the drawings, and Rin wasn’t very good at reading Japanese. At times, I found Rin to act in a childish way, so it wasn’t always easy to believe she was 17 years old. And both her mom and her grand-parents grated on my nerves a lot! I would have probably run away if I was Rin.
Quite fast paced, written in first person past tense, Shinigami Eyes managed to surprise me at every turn, and it was not possible for me to figure out what was going on – I’m still not sure how everything that happened could happen, but I would definitely like to find out!
Some of my favourite Shinigami Eyes quotes:
Which means that after nearly a whole day spent on various planes and trains, I got to do more walking and catch more trains.
How can someone who looks, acts, and even feels so real, be nothing more than a hallucination? Sure, I’m the only one who can see her and she hasn’t changed one bit in all the time I’ve known her, but – I just wish she’d go away already. I don’t need an imaginary friend. All she does is mess up my life.
There are like 50’000 kanji, and I’ve never bothered to work on my reading and writing despite Mum’s insistence on it.
Shinigami Eyes Giveaway:
Cheree Smith
Cheree Smith lives in the coastal city of Newcastle in Australia where she is studying graphics design and photography. When she is not hard at study, she is busy writing paranormal, horror and dark stories for young adults. She enjoys listening to and learning about legends and myths, watching scary movies and dreaming up new worlds where monsters can come alive. When she is not in her writing cave she can be found listening to music, even dabbling in the occasional writing of music or reading.
Adam Smith
Adam Smith has always loved the Japanese culture, which began with his love of anime and manga. This helped him accomplish his goal of moving to Japan to become an ALT (assistant language teacher) in Iwate, Japan. When he’s not reading, writing or speaking Japanese, he is working on paranormal, horror and dark stories for young adults with his sister, Cheree.
Thanks for stopping by today! Good luck in the giveaway 🙂
About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
YAY!! I’m so happy you loved it, Lexxie! 🙂 It’s quite different from every other read, don’t you agree? And that is something I particularly appreciate. Thanks for reviewing!
Shinigami Eyes is definitely different, and I think that the way the story was told along with that originality is why I loved it so much, Silvia 🙂
I read a manga where you can influence the future, especially people’s death, “Death note” : great series ! I love japanese culture and novels, so I’ll give this one a try, thanks for sharing 🙂
Nice, Iza! I loved that Shinigami Eyes made me think of Heroes! The fact that a person, hidden somewhere, is able to create something that will happen is so intriguing!
Twitter: bmreviewsohmy
This sounds very intriguing. 🙂
It was really well done Stormi! I never was able to guess what would happen next, and Rin tried really hard to help me out 🙂
Shinigami Eyes sounds really good, Lexxie. I like the mystery and that it kept you guessing is a good thing. I’m sad that Rin’s family was so awful though. I’m thinking Sky would really like this one as she’s a manga fan. Anyway, I’ll have to check it out sometime.
I hope you’re having a fabulous Friday – enjoying your first day off! 🙂 **BIG HUGS**
Towards the end, I understood why Rin’s family acted that way, though, Brandee. And I could really see both you and Sky enjoying this story.
And yes, I had a fabulous first day off 🙂 I need a full week before I start thinking about my assignments… *BIG HUGS*
Great review Lexxie! This sounds like a creepy and unpredictable book. Not sure if it’s a book for me, but it sounds really intriguing.
Yes, it was pretty creepy at times, Lola, and the way the culture as well and the manga were woven into the story was really well done 🙂
Twitter: talksupeblog
This is a great “bridge” book for people who don’t read manga (like me), I’m sure after reading this at least one will be compelled to check out some and get into japanese graphic novels.
I don’t read manga, either, Braine, and the story of Shinigami Eyes has a lot more to it than manga! I really enjoyed the characters, and the way the manga played a role in the unfolding of events 🙂