Jose Ben Ben itibaren Corofin, Co. Clare, İrlanda itibaren Corofin, Co. Clare, İrlanda

A sequel to Beautiful Lies, a little cheesy, but still a fun page-turner.

The end actually made me cry. For real.

** spoiler alert ** It turns out that Viz has published a translation of the Japanese hit novel Battle Royale by Koushun Takami. It's a thriller where 35 teens are forced (by the government) to kill each other till only one is left standing. They don't know in advance. They just get on a bus for a field trip and end up drugged, on an island, and given a random weapon (all different). They are required to kill their classmates, and if they don't play the game, then the collars fitted around their necks will start exploding heads. The book is, I expect, pretty neat in the Japanese. We follow one student (Shuya) throughout. He teams up with his (now dead) best friend's crush and with a guy who's new to the school. Turns out the new guy? Was the winner last year, so he has some experience and an escape plan. Shuya and co's travails are interspersed with what's going on elsewhere on the island---always 3rd person limited POV of another student. Every section ends with a body count, so you can keep track. 24 students remaining, and so on. The unfortunate problem with this book is that it's a pretty direct translation. Things that work stylistically in the Japanese just sound weird in English. And I'm saying that as a person who read a lot of j-rock fanfic back in the day. In fact, the style reminded me of the Chinese writers who wrote in English while trying to emulate the feeling of Japanese teenagery-ness. If Vanilla Mint's Dir En Grey archive were still up, I'd give you a link. The point is, when I say that the lack of localization is a problem for Battle Royale, I say that as a person who read thousands of similarly-styled stories in the past and been able to see through the non-native English while appreciating the flavor of the near-authentic Japanese-ness. Y'know, every few years (less often in recent years), I apply to Viz (the publisher) for an editorial position. Every time, I give them a great idea in my cover letter. And every time, I see that great idea carried out a few months later. (Makes me wonder if they don't just wait for my cover letters!) Whenever I write my next one, my suggestion is going to be small. (Usually, it's things like "Add a Shoujo line".) Nope, this time, it's just going to be, "Get someone to edit your translations! Not just for grammar, but for flow. In the corporate world, they call it localizing. Do that." Only, y'know, I'll write it more like, "Dear Viz, I am an editor and writer with experience blahblahblah. My first contribution to your new book publishing division will be to make sure translation contracts allow for localization and revamping. In your recently published translation Battle Royale ..." and so on. In short. Read the back cover, maybe watch the movie. Don't try to read Battle Royale. It's painful.