general

• quick summary - in this volume, takaya unravels the nature of the relationship between kureno and akito (as well as some backstory on the later), the development of machi and yuki's friendship, and the aftermath of rin's efforts to break the curse.
• key themes - love, abuse, family, friendship.
• fav character - I feel kind of silly writing this since he was barely featured in these chapters but kyo- when he was, he reminded us of the plot!

interests

• what i found interesting - I enjoyed learning about machi's backstory and fawned over yuki (and the chalk scene!), although I might be getting a little bit tired of all the bad parents in the series. I liked to see kureno's perspective, but I do not care for akito nor I feel bad for them (the plotwist didn't surprise me because I had spoiled myself years ago lol); abuse does not excuse what you have been putting TEENAGERS and KIDS through (my dear rin and kisa). I like how we are closing to breaking the curse!

rating

• 4/5 - this volume was full of surprises and it definitely pushed the plot forward, although it was a very painful read. I love rin and haru together, but sometimes I wished takaya would have inserted some lgbt+ representation (haru is bi and loved yuki). I don't know how I could like shigure so much as teen, he's definitely a weirdo. I don't understand his relationship with akito, considering he slept with their mother...? I also do not care for the girls in yuki's fanclub and thought that whole chapter was boring and unecessary. I missed my loves kyo and tohru, as well as hitori and momiji. uo-chan and hana-chan are the best friends ever <3