Manga Review – A Bride’s Story Vol 4 by Kaoru Mori (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Manga/Historical Fiction/Seinen
Length: 192 pages
Publisher: Yen Press
Release Date: January 22, 2013
ISBN-13: 978-0316232036
Stand Alone or Series: 4th book in A Bride’s Story series
Source: Birthday Gift
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Acclaimed creator Kaoru Mori’s tale of life on the nineteenth-century Silk Road turns westward, following Englishman Mr. Smith on his long journey to Ankara. Passing through a fishing village along the Aral Sea, Smith and his guide encounter a pair of spirited young girls named Laila and Leily-identical twins who are fishing not for sturgeon, but for husbands! Despite their efforts to find two wealthy, healthy, and handsome brothers to wed, Laila and Leily’s plans generally only land them in loads of trouble!”

Series Info/Source: This is the fourth volume in A Bride’s Story series. I received this book as a birthday gift.

Story (4/5): Most of this story is focused around Mr. Smith again as he tries to continue his journey to Ankara. When he falls off his camel into the ocean, Mr. Smith is saved by two precocious young women, the twins Laila and Leily. Most of this book deals with Laila and Leily as they try to find husbands and are eventually married to two brothers who they have grown up with. The story also talks about some issues with Amir’s tribe and the Russians to the north, I wasn’t a huge fan of these political talks. Again, this is very much “a day in the life of” type of story; I enjoyed it but it isn’t really all that exciting.

Characters (5/5): I continue to enjoy watching Mr. Smith navigate these foreign cultures, he’s a fun character and watching him serve the town as a doctor (which he is not) was entertaining. Laila and Leily were incredibly fun as well and full of energy. Seeing their goals and ambitions and how they fit in this culture was entertaining. All the characters in this series have been great to read about, they are generally caring and kind and just fun to read about.

Setting (4/5): The seaside small town setting was fun and I continue to enjoy the look into the culture and history of this region and time.

Writing/Drawing Style (4/5): This is well written and absolutely beautifully drawn. It is an incredibly high quality manga and I have been enjoying reading it. I am adjusting to the fact that this is more of a wandering “a day in the life” type of series. I would still love to see some more action in here, but this just isn’t that kind of story.

My Summary (4/5): Overall this is a very well done manga that is beautifully drawn and well written. I enjoy it but I don’t love it because the pace is a bit slow for me. I do enjoy the look into the history of a different culture and the characters are well done. I would highly recommend this to those who really like “a day in the life of” types of historical fiction. I personally don’t plan on picking more of these volumes up, they are a bit expensive and hard to get and I don’t love them enough to keep making that sort of investment in them.