Familiar Diversions

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 [b:Bleach|2880|Bleach, Volume 1 Strawberry and the Soul Reapers|Tite Kubo|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348191936s/2880.jpg|1854946]), 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 [a:Tite Kubo|1977|Tite Kubo|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1253238688p2/1977.jpg], 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.)