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

Kento is a broke college student who moves out of the dorms to abnormally cheap apartment to save money knowing the place has no heat or hot water. When he almost freezes to death outside, his neighbor, Soushi, saves him. They become friends but the outgoing Kento hasn’t told Soushi he’s gay. After a year of friendship, Kento vanishes; leaving Soushi to deal with some confusing feelings.

This manga takes place over three years and at 200 or so pages, there are some time skips that are pretty clear. I would classify their relationship as a slow burn but there’s not enough pages to get bogged in that. Since Kento works with kids, there’s some funny interactions he has with them and while it’s probably not the best to get relationship advice from a kid, their interaction was pretty funny. You have to get to the end to see any smut which is not overly detailed but you absolutely get what’s going on. And I’m not even going to pretend the metal head in me wasn’t biased towards the misunderstood shy guy who likes metal music. 4 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

June 1, 2024June 1, 2024 atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Engage” Vol. 1, by Yuu Minaduki

(Image Source)

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

Mei works had his family’s business, a taiyaki shop that gets really busy around an event called the Star Festival and has a long standing crush on a repeat customer named Naru. While Mai would love to confess his feelings, Naru may be more connected to Mei than he ever thought.

There’s a lot of intrigue going on here so if you’re looking for some quick smut, this isn’t it. Naru has a bunch of secrets and can’t seem to leave Mei alone; doing that strange thing of ‘I know I’m bad for this person and should leave them alone but I’m going to bring them close to me’ and not actually doing what could possibly be best for Mei. I was just left with this confusion thinking ‘where exactly is this going and do I care enough to keep reading and find out?’ But, we shall see. The first volume isn’t always the strongest start but there’s always the feeling of wanting the resolution. 3 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

March 22, 2024April 16, 2024 atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reivews: “Is Love the Answer?” by Uta Isaki

(Image Source)

High schooler Chika believes something is wrong with her because she’s never fallen in love and has no desire for intimacy; unlike her peers who incessantly talk about it. In college, she finally realizes there is nothing wrong with her at all.

While I get the goal of this manga is to teach the reader about how sexuality is a spectrum and you don’t have to claim a label and live in it forever, it doesn’t do it quite as well as Love’s in Sight or Perfect World. It has a lot of exposition and I got the feeling of being talked at rather than going on the same journey as Chika. It’s not bad but I think it could have been smoother in that respect. It’s probably not really fair to compare a series that has a bunch of time to grow rather than this small collection, though. 3.9 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.