While the story seems decent and the premise intriguing as well as something I’d like to continue with, the review copy is just too difficult to read. Multiple pages are laid out side by side, making the text extremely small with no apparent ways to enlarge it. Also, being a Tokyopop title but not overtly advertised as such, this is something I’ll be picking up in Japanese from now on.

Koimonogatari is definitely a slow-burn story. I liked the premise and, for the most, I liked the artwork, although a few characters looked similar which was, at times, a bit confusing. I think it's fair to say that this first volume really is about introducing the characters and setting the scene. Not a lot happens in terms of major action and the piece is dialogue heavy. In the e-ARC copy I received the text was very grainy, so it was hard on the eyes with so much to read, but I assume that wouldn't be an issue with a final, physical copy. I would be interested to see what direction this story ends up taking; however, this first volume didn't grip me enough that I will be desperately awaiting volume two. As such, I am giving it three stars. I didn't dislike it, but neither did it thrill me.

The dialogue of this arc was particularly grainy and hard to read which possibly led to my emotional disconnection from the story. As a concept, I like it. A casually homophobic dude realizing the gays are people too is always nice, and I like how the choice to come out isnt as simple as "I don't trust you not to be an asshole." One line I both love and think is silly was "I hate being a minority". I love it because #mood. I hate it because, yeah bro that's kinda how it works. This is a book I would pick up at the library but probably wouldn't buy for myself unless the subsequent volumes turn out something amazing.

Yeah this wasn't good. I honestly just stuck it out to see how it ended. The literal only character I liked was Yamato. The rest of them were all either casually homophobic or just annoying. I almost wish I hadn't read this.

I was intrigued by the concept of this book and curious to see how the friendship would grow between the two boys. Unfortunately the ARC was difficult to read due to formatting issues. It caused me to miss a lot of important dialogue and I found myself feeling lost rather quickly in the story.

I really enjoyed the first volume. The art is absolutely gorgeous. I was a bit confused at times because there were quite a few characters who looked similar to one another. The whole atmosphere of the manga is really calm and somehow ethereal. The pace was occasionally a bit slow but it fit the atmosphere really well. I will definitely continue with this manga!

This graphic novel seemed really cute, however, I had big problems trying to read it. I tried on different devices and it was very difficult to see the whole page. From what I could gather, it looked like an adorable journey of self-discovery and acceptance of others. I'm sure it would be a very good read for younger readers.

I decided to dip my toes more into graphic novels as I have never read them before and I will definitely continue with the genre in the future.

A refreshing take on gay/straight relationships. I really like how the story portrayed one person’s struggle to understand the other who was, in turn, trying to understand themself. I’m assuming the two leads probably get together eventually but there is no insta-love and honestly their friendship is enough to make me want to read more. I can’t wait to share this with my readers.

Beautiful, cute and the graphics are really nice to look at! The detail is great and i love the LGBT as well.

<i>A huge thank you to NetGalley for letting me read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.</i>

I am so sad. I had such high hopes for this one, but it has sadly let me down. Putting aside the terrible formatting of the eARC, which made it near impossible to read at times, the story was just confusing. On top of that there was a lot of talking and thinking, and it kept going nowhere; just round and round in circles. I love emotions in my stories, but this seemed excessive and convoluted. I have since found out this manga falls into the category of 'boy love', written by women for women, and that matches my thoughts of 'this sounds like a woman trying her very best to write a gay man'.

It's full of stereotypes about both girls and boys, and the fourth wall breaking was just very annoying. Still, there were some amazing quotes in there, that I have written down.

It was very hard to connect to these characters, and the ending really doesn't make me want to read on. This one wasn't for me, sadly.

This is a very cute and realistic dialogue that happens while both men and women discover their sexuality. If you enjoy a slow burn with a steady plot then you have found your book. While I was drawn in to the character development (loved it!) of this series I felt short ended with the plot as I have seen it many times.

I am a huge fan of anime and manga, and this is a really cute love story with amazing illustrations (one of my favourite styles) and nice characters. My only complaint is that the digital copy is almost impossible to read (bad quality).

The story was sweet and the art was nice and clear. The characters seemed realistic and likeable. However, the digital copy cut off a portion of each page so I couldn’t get a proper sense of the manga.

A sweet, but rather short piece of manga about two male students exploring their feeling for each other. The copy I was provided by NetGalley was a little difficult to read, so it took away a little from the experience. But both characters were pleasantly drawn. I also wish that background would also be more detailed, but that could be the problem of the quality of the file I received. Cannot wait to get my hands on the second part!

I love the premise here and enjoyed what I read: there are some really nice moments in this volume and the promise of some great character interactions and development to come. Unfortunately I was unable to fully read the volume because of the format of the review copy: a section at the bottom of each page is cropped off (no amount of changing size formatting was able to display it). I was able to follow along for a while, but this really became a problem as the story progressed and it was clear that I was missing out on some important dialogue.

I'm so happy I could read this wonderfully moving story. It's really sweet and more about friendship than romance. The main character and a supporting character are coming to terms with their sexuality and dealing with the homophobia around them, though often subtle and from various sources.

Cw for homophobia, sexual harassment and outing (nothing explicit)

It's seems to be a series as opposed to a single volume so nothing is really satisfying resolved yet. It was still enjoyable!