YA romance

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Lenni Reviews: “A Star Brighter than the Sun” Vol. 2, by Kazune Kawahara

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

Sae decides to get over her crush on Koki since she knows he has feelings for someone. It sounds easy, but they still have to spend time together.

Sae may have decided to temper her feelings and support Koki with his crush, but they’re in the same class. As such, this volume is just that: various situations in which they are forced to work together. It happens over and over for all of it. It feels like no progress is made for either of them. It’s meandering through each encounter they have, and while Sae may say things are going to be different, that doesn’t happen. A little disappointing. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Komi Can’t Communicate” Vol. 34, by Tomohito Oda

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

Rumiko still hasn’t responded to Wakai’s confession and Komi gets accepted to her first-choice school. Their class is gearing up for another festival and decides to do a ramen stand.

The ramen stand was a funny event. Komi’s come a long way from not speaking at all to leading the class to play for an event and having a great time. I like that this volume keeps most of the focus on this event with only a couple side stories like Rumiko and Wakai. The volumes with a ton of different little stories have been hit or miss but this volume was just some cozy fun. 4.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Sakura, Saku” Vol. 7, by Io Sakisaka

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

Iryu is tempted to interfere with Haruki’s relationship; meanwhile, Saku thinks Haruki still has feelings for Hazuki.

Okay, I know they’re teenagers but seriously. Saku has doubts about Haruki so she snubs him and immediately goes to the other guy who likes her? And to just dismiss him when he says what’s past is past? Spoilers I guess, but to me, it felt like she was doing her hardest to sabotage this relationship. It really annoyed me because Haruki was so earnest and open with Saku, and she just closed it off. This is seven volumes in now, you’d think she’d know him better than that. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Like a Butterfly” Vol. 11, by Suu Morishita

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

While Suiren is helping Aya with relationship issues, Kawasumi is seriously considering his future, as chasing his dreams means moving away from Suiren.

Ah, another high school romance comes to an end as your characters enter their senior year and graduation, thinking about what their future will hold. This is the last official volume of the story and while Suiren does have dreams of her own, they still feel like an afterthought and loving Kawasumi is still her main trait. Her interest in baking very much feels like it was tacked on and I never really got to know her before it ended. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Wolf Girl and Black Prince” Vol. 12, by Ayuko Hatta

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

Kyoya happens to run into Erika while she’s venting to Terasaki, who confesses his feelings for her.

Okay… I’m gonna spoil things. Fuck it. Even if Erika wasn’t taking Kyoya’s concerns seriously, he was WAY over the line with how he behaved.

And Terasaki? He can fuck all the way off. “I’m trying to save you. I got carried away.” If I ever think, “Ugh, that’s something my ex-husband used to say.” throw the whole ass man out. Or BOY in this case. The both of them are red flags and for Erika to blame herself? What the actual fuck.

Ma’am, you said no, HE HIT YOU and refused to take no for an answer. Then the whiplash of going into the school trip and I’m back to not wanting Erika to bother with Kyoya anymore. That shit pissed me off. 2 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Komi Can’t Communicate” Vol. 33, by Tomohito Oda

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

Tadano is encouraging Komi to try more things, so she tries winning the sports festival and becoming class president. Meanwhile, Manbagi is still grappling with a response for the boy who confessed to her.

The story of Komi befriending the nice older lady, Tazumi Michita, was absolutely adorable. It’s great to include other than teenagers in her possible friendships. It’s also good to see Komi branching out to things that don’t include Tadano. No offense to that precious bean but sometimes when a couple gets together in stories liked this, the individual characters vanish and it’s just all about their relationship. I became invested not just for them, but to see Komi blossom into her own person and reach her goal of making friends. The sports day stuff did feel like it ran a little long, though. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “A Star Brighter than the Sun” Vol. 1, by Kazune Kawahara

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

Sae and Koki have been friends since they were kids but now that they’re older, their dynamic has changed from her always having to protect him from teasing to Koki being the most popular boy in school. Sae realizes how attractive he is and has developed feelings for him.

This is another light hearted high school romance with really likeable characters. It’s a soft start with – spoiler-ish I guess – no real villainous character. It’s more about these kids not ready to confess their feelings and Saw working through having to share her friend with so many other people. The softness of the art style is relaxing and flows well with the cozy plot. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “My Special One” Vol. 9, by Momoko Koda

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

Sahoko and Kata go on a trip with Emiko tagging along, wishing Kanato could be there with her.

It starts off with the trip but the standout here is Emiko freaking out about being intimate with Kanato but she’s a virgin. These two are gonna rot my teeth they’re so sweet. They still have a few misunderstandings but it’s nowhere near as bad as when they first were trying to get together. It’s an entire volume about how lovey-dovey they are and while sweet, it’s very slice of life. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “I Wanna Do Bad Things with You” Vol. 4, by Yutaka

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

When Soshi falls ill during their study session, Kei goads Mamori into taking care of him. Unsure of herself, Mamori asks Ichika – Soshi’s intended fiancee – to assist her and they all end up staying over to study for the upcoming exams.

In addition to the study session and sleep-over shenanigans, we get some back story on Mamori’s mother and more of Soshi and Koichi’s father; who both suck. The dad just needs a mustache to twirl and the mom is a dismissive, unsupportive, absentee parent. This makes Mamori and Soushi’s friendship a breath of fresh air. They’re just the right amount of clueless and innocent to keep me entertained and empathize with them. I’m attached enough to them to be so glad they have each other since their parents are so terrible. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Rainbow Days” Vol. 14, by Minami Mizuno

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

Not that the second term has started, the boys are thinking about college. Keiichi has no motivation to grow up and Tsuyoshi’s plans may not be in line with his girlfriends’s.

This volume really gives you the feeling of going from the small world of your high school to realizing how big the world is outside of it. It’s all the bittersweetness of growing up. Other volumes in this series have been hit or miss; some are dryer than others but this one is great at handling all the different emotions. 4 out of 5.

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