LGBT fiction

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Lenni Reviews: “Red and the Wolves: A Graphic Novel” by Cherry Zong

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Red is a talented hunter tasked with protecting her Grandmother and helping to exorcize the Nawa in the dying forest around them. On a hunt, she meets Sil, a wolf girl who got caught in a trap. They become friends, but the threat of the rot spreading through the land still looms, and Red is plunged into a more serious threat than she could have imagined.

Far be it from me to turn town a witch fantasy comic. This one is beautiful and fun with some exciting moments, but as an avid reader, the twist wasn’t as shocking to me as it would be to someone less experienced in the genre. The lore and characters are so well done, and I am SO happy this was towards 400 pages. The story had plenty of time to breathe and is so well paced. The art style handles action, sprawling fantasy settings, and quiet moments with ease, and I highly recommend it. 4.8 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Monster and Ghost” Vol. 1, by Himemiko

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Koton Tsubaki is ostracized at school due to his violent past but there’s one being that doesn’t care: Yuuki Kabuto, a ghost that decides to follow him around.

I guess that’s as good a reason as any to refuse to move on. 

The pace of this feels off somehow, but for a boys’ love comic, it’s SO sad. It gets dark and violent. Tsubaki is just chronically misunderstood and since Kabuto is dead, he can see beyond the tough exterior and eases Tsubaki’s loneliness. The art is fantastic and there’s no smut. The story does suck you in so I do want to read volume 2. 3.7 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Love in the Palm of His Hand” Vol. 1, by Rinteku

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

While on the train one day, Fujinaga has another man fall asleep on his shoulder. He doesn’t give it much thought until he sees the guy again at his school. His name is Keito, a fellow student who has congenital hearing loss. Through his journey to learn sign language to communicate with his new friend, Fujinaga also learns how to better express himself.

While this is cute and I’m rooting for the couple, I have hesitations about relating Keito’s struggle to communicate because of his hearing and Fujinaga’s struggle to communicate through acting. Having trouble acting in a way that pleases talent agents is not the same as actual hearing loss. There is an attempt to smooth this over by Keito outright appreciating how animated and expressive Fujinaga’s acting style is, but even so, it still doesn’t sit right with me, no matter how adorable they are. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Sleeping on Paper Boats” Vol. 1, by Teki Yatsuda

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

Set in Post-War Japan (1949) Keikitahara is a popular screenwriter who decides to quit when he realizes the people who inspired his characters ended up dead. He isolates himself, believing he is cursed. One night, he’s picked up after a fight by a photographer, Yoichi. Yoichi wants to get to know him, but Keikitahara tries to keep him away, thinking he will kill anyone he allows to get close to him.

Yoichi has his own thing going on, but holy shit, this is SAD. Kei clearly didn’t have any help dealing with the horrific trauma, and he is plagued with guilt. Yoichi kinda enables his worst ways to cope – spoiler/trigger warning for consensual choking during sex. But when they are happy together, it is so beautiful. The art is amazing at conveying all the wild emotions and the smut is light and suggestive. I recommend something light to read to cheer yourself up after reading this, though. 4.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “On and Off: Work-Life Imbalance” Vol. 1, by Shinnosuke Kanazawa

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Sotaro Amata is popular in the office where he works, but in his off hours, he dresses up in Lolita fashion in beautiful lace and ruffles. Akira Hanku is less popular in the office, but in her off hours, she’s a punk girl in leather and spikes. They may butt heads at work, but when they run into each other off hours without recognizing each other, their relationship is entirely different.

This first volume is just setting up the vast differences between our main leads and getting them to meet up. They seem like two people who have been lonely, keeping up this mask at work, but can enjoy each other’s company once those masks are gone. In fact, Akira outright dislikes Sotaro at work but is smitten with him when he’s in the Lolita clothes. I made it a point to link to what I mean here since Lolita has an entirely different context in this case. I do wonder if this will get super dramatic and angsty once Akira finds out who she’s hanging out with, but I really hope it stays light and fun. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “I Wanna Be Your Girl” Vol. 1, by Umi Takase

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Hime is in love with her childhood best friend, Akira. When Akira comes out to her and says he feels more comfortable in girls’ clothes, she is super supportive but wonders what to do with her romantic feelings.

I like this as a start to the series. The focus isn’t on how Akira feels as a trans girl; it’s about Hime’s role as a friend and ally. She’s not perfect, blowing up at people and not considering how her actions make Akira feel or impact how her classmates feel about the whole thing. Then there’s Hime’s romantic feelings throwing a spanner in the works. I’m glad for the representation, but I get this very superficial feeling. A nugget of wisdom will get dropped and then we move swiftly on without really diving into it. Maybe it will get more depth as we go on. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Orlando: A Graphic Novel Adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Queer Classic” by Susanne Kuhlendahl & Virginia Woolf

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

This graphic novel is an adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s novel, which tells the story of a young nobleman traveling through time in the body of a woman. It’s a pretty good adaptation and a great way to introduce classic literature to a new audience. But the really flowy, beautiful art didn’t always mesh well with the words on the page. The art is what I enjoyed most about this, how the pages just flowed, the selective use of color, all of it worked fantastically. It’s lovely to look at. Some of the events are glossed over, which gives some odd pacing in parts. I did have fun reading this and I kinda wanna go back and read the book again. 3.5 out of 5.

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Flame Con 2025

I’ve already posted a bit of my experience this year over at O&G (I should be posting there more often…), but I figured I’d talk about it a bit here, too. I can’t believe in the year of our Lord and Lady 2025, I feel the need to attend panels about fighting fascism, but here we are. It did get me thinking about digitizing some old stuff, like union pamphlets from back when my grandmother was fighting for the garment workers and old articles about her. We do need to preserve whatever we can; especially in the age of companies not bothering with physical media, claiming the rights to your digital media whenever they want (so you paid for it but don’t own it), or letting legacy media just die under the weight of relentless drive towards newer technology. But let’s not be a complete downer and take a look at what I brought home.

I had a lot of fun picking out random things to get and everything in that first picture is signed! I can’t tell you how much I nerd out about being able to get my stuff signed by the creator. Speaking of which:

I waited YEARS to get volume 5 of Starfighter simply because at a previous Flame Con, I’d gotten the first 4 and they were signed. I was tempted to just buy it online, but as they were generous to give me a press pass this year and Hamletmachine was going to be there, I was stoked to complete my collection. I probably embarrassed myself by squealing like an idiot, but I’m just some nobody, so she won’t remember.

I’m excited to dig into these and maybe review them for the blog. We’ll see. Sometimes I just like to read something and sit with it, but if there’s something here you want me to dive into, let me know.

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Lenni Reviews: “Megumi & Tsugumi” Vol. 6, by Mitsuru Si

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

Tsugumi has transferred to Megumi’s school but as an omega, he’s in danger from all the alpha’s around him and Megumi’s father hatches a plan to use a teacher to drive the couple apart.

The teacher, Mr. Nagaro, is a creep. The story tries to play it off as a joke, but nah, I wouldn’t want him around my kid. While this is about omegas in an alpha school and the school trip, the sex scene in this seems a bit forced in. I wouldn’t have minded if it had been left out to have more time with our main couple navigating this new situation, while Megumi’s father tries to interfere. The sweet moments in this are where the volume really shines because Megumi is so earnest, while Tsugumi is a food-driven, deadpan goofball. I also wish the sex scene was skipped because Mr. Nagaro spied on them. Gross. 3.9 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Planeta” by Ana Oncina

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Valentina lives in a cabin in the woods with her dog, Soup. Every night, she dreams of living on an isolated planet with a woman named Ane. Their relationship seems perfect, but the world around them is strangely barren, making Valentina wonder where reality ends and dreams begin.

This is so wistful and sad. But it is beautiful. The way the color palette reflects the two different worlds is such a simple thing, but so damn effective. The writing makes it easy to get attached to the characters, even the side characters, and the love story is so sweet. While the story leaves it up to the reader to determine what is real or not, my head canon is that the sci-fi story is all dreams, and our couple gets to live happily ever after with that adorable dog. 4 out of 5 for making me sad because I’m probably wrong.

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