young adult

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Lenni Reviews: “Insomniacs After School” Vol. 14, by Makoto Ojiro

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

As Isaki checked into the hospital for her surgery, Ganta deals with the stress from that and exams by closing himself off from the whole friend group.

Yup, gonna spoil it: Isaki gets to graduate with all her friends and is still dating Ganta in this final volume. For those who prefer their media to have a happily ever after, you’ll get one here. I’m left with just this happy feeling, knowing a brighter future awaits for most of the cast; not counting the ones we don’t know much about. While I’d love to know more about their adult lives, I’m satisfied with this ending. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “A Star Brighter than the Sun” Vol. 6, by Kazune Kawahara

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

Sae and Koki are officially dating and the whole school has opinions about it.

We also dip into Koki’s backstory about his feelings for Sae. We’re at the stage of a YA romance where they’re figuring out what dating actually means for them. Sae is overthinking things and most of this is Koki remembering how long he’s wanted to be with Sae. Since they’re fumbling a bit, there isn’t much progress. Not a bad volume, especially if you’re looking forward to finally seeing these two together. 3.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Let’s Do It Already!” Vol. 9 by Aki Kusaka

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

Keiichiro is given an ultimatum and is disowned for one year. While Yuri is happy they can live together, it is a major adjustment.

I’m sure at this point, being disowned temporarily doesn’t really matter because clearly, these two are so in love, these punishments are not really punishments. The family is trying to enforce their rules while also being pulled into the orbit of this lovey-dovey couple. As this is the last volume, it wraps up on a happy note, and I’m glad it ended here. There are only so many times the dance of “we have to abide by the rules, we didn’t, fallout, resolution” can only go on so long before it gets old. This is a cute series. If you like YA romance, it’s not a bad one to pick up, especially if you like it silly. 3 out of 5.

 

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Lenni Reviews: “A Star Brighter than the Sun” Vol. 5, by Kazune Kawahara

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

The closing of the school festival is a fireworks show, an ideal setting for Sae to confess her feelings.

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say if you’re familiar with this genre at all and you’ve read through this series so far, (spoilers) that you know they’ve both had feelings for each other the whole time, right? So, with everything out in the open, where do we go from here? Will there be more drama, will we have more flashbacks to their past, or will we just bask in their awkward cuteness? I dunno about the flashbacks but it’s all sweet enough either way to enjoy this volume and look forward to the next. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “My Special One” Vol. 11, by Momoko Koda

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

Emika and Kanato have been dating for 4 months, and despite being madly in love, they still don’t quite communicate properly.

This volume also goes back to Sahoko and Kouta (finally). In my opinion, the confession between them towards the end is kinda flat. It did not feel natural to the characters, more like it was to entertain the reader rather than make sense for who we watched them grow into. Kinda like Friends, where a character will do something to make the studio audience laugh. It’s okay but I was a little let down. Still happy for the good ending, though. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “A Star Brighter than the Sun” Vol. 4, by Kazune Kawahara

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

Sae decides to confess to Koki at the school festival, but it all goes wrong, and Koki ends up comforting another girl.

This dragged, going back and forth with trying to find the right moment to confess while prepping for the school festival, and we’re no closer to that by the end of the volume. It felt like we were just circling, and that could have been summed up in a couple of pages, not an entire volume. I’m not a fan of stretching out something like this so long, and I don’t feel like the story moved forward. I feel meh about the whole volume. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Tsumiki Ogami’s Not-So-Ordinary Life” Vol. 6, by Miyu Morishita

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

Tsumiki and Yutaka start their student council duties, where they meet Student Council President: Raizen, a lightning dragon with a strict temperament. They prepare for the last event of the year – the Sports Festival – and then they head into the Christmas season.

We still get tiny glimpses of how lonely Yutaka’s past was, and while it does show how far he’s come, I feel like I need more. I’m so ready for a long flashback session where maybe Tsumiki meets more old classmates of his? Eh, even if we never get that, the slice of life with mythical creatures is still entertaining and heartwarming at times. I enjoy wondering what they’ll get up to next. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Rainbows After Storms” Vol. 9, by Luka Kobachi

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

Final exams are over and with Winter Break in full swing, the friend group decides to have a Christmas party. Nanoha searches for a goal to work towards for after graduation. 

What Nanoha will decide to do seems to be a ball that just keeps getting kicked down the line in favor of more slice-of-life events like New Year’s or Valentine’s Day. Those scenes are fine, but the way things are going, it’s just gonna be a bigger problem later on. Also, the way it’s just tucked in between Christmas parties and cookie baking makes me wonder if this will actually be a thing or if it just fizzle out. Guess we’ll see. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Spacewalking With You” Vol. 1, by Inuhiko Doronoda

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

Kobayashi is an underachiever, completely apathetic towards school, and can’t seem to focus. When a new student, Uno, arrives, Uno is overly enthusiastic and on the spectrum, opening Kobayashi’s eyes to different ways of thinking and doing things.

After so much yaoi and romance, I can’t express how refreshing this beautiful friendship is. I know what I pick to read, and I’m not ashamed of it, but I will say this is a breath of fresh air. I admit to tearing up. So far, the whole cast is fantastic and positive. Uno has his breakdowns, and the art represents this as well as a neurotypical person like me can say they do. Those are the most intense parts. It’s as if you took the romance (and possible death omens) out of Insomniacs After School and replaced it with mismatched friends. I love it! 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Komi Can’t Communicate: Making Friends and Not Scaring People” by Tomohito Oda

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

This book is a Komi-themed guide to opening up and making new friends.

This is really cute, and while it is absolutely idealistic, it’s very digestible. It’s a fun way to learn a bit and relive some classic moments from the manga series. If you are a huge fan, this may be a worthwhile addition to your collection or maybe a gift to a young fan who’s a bit shy. I think these types of books are fun! I wonder if Food Wars will come out with an official cookbook (one lazy search brought up some independently published ones). 4.7 out of 5 since it’s a fun little extra book for fans.

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