Just reading the first Volume left my heart aching for more. A beautiful and heartwarming start to the series!

I loved this manga and thought it was so sweet and heartwarming. I thought the way Midori first gets involved with the boys was a tad bit random since the chairman gets involved, but after that I was totally rooting for her and loved the story. Her interactions with the boys was just so precious and I loved her creative attempts to get them to go to school. Also there's an adorable doggo so it's hard not to love this manga. I'm so excited for Volume 2! The format was also very easy to understand and the artwork was so cute!

TW for attempted sexual assault.
4.5/5 Stars

When you have a debt to pay and gotta ‘babysit’ three (hot) not-so-sweet guys, things can be tricky. However, when the right girl is on the job, chances are those guys’ life could turn upside down.

If Midori’s determination and perseverance is something those guys couldn’t anticipate, their kindness is what she would have never expected. Which brings up the question: are they really bad guys? Soon enough, the deal she made with the chairman of the school turns into a personal mission to stop the false rumours about them and, in the process, help them being more social. Although someone may not want that kind of attention . . . But the readers’ is kept constantly alive thanks to their different charm and Midori’s clumsiness and pure heart. So cute! Just like the most adorable corgi in here that you’ll find impossible not to want to spoil—when can I get one, too?

Interesting, sweet, and with a lovely art. A well delivered first volume that opens the door to a shōjo series that makes your heart skip a bit . . . Right, Midori?

I was approved to review a digital review copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This review will be cross-posted on my book blog, Bookmarked, and Goodreads after the publication date.

I picked this up with low expectations, and I've never been more satisfied. Thank you Kodansha Comics for this digital ARC!

What I Liked

I picked it up expecting an absolutely tried-and-tested, cliché romance, but I was very wrong. Although Nogiri uses well-established tropes, the overall feeling of this first volume is fresh. Since setting and story are common staples of the shōjo genre, this is probably due to its engaging cast of characters.

Midori is a joy to read: she may seem shy, but truly possesses a well of inner strength and determination that really gives her character three-dimensionality. Part of her character was also drawn out while interacting with her family, rather than just in reaction to her meetings with the boys. What may seem like hopeless (if not somewhat annoying) positivity is instead the fruit of a much darker family and economical struggle she is trying to overcome. Overall, she's a very relatable character and I look forward to seeing he grow and develop over the course of this series.

The initial reason for the three boys' rebellion was surprising, original and immediately established the strong friendship among them. I like how their group dynamic unfolded, and hope to see more of it in the future. Each one has their own distinct personality (albeit they are common personalities within the genre) and background, and I am excited to know more about them. There seems to be some darker things at play, and I'd love to see who they are beyond the rebelliousness and academic excellence! I'm curious as to whether the story will focus uniquely on Rei and Midori's relationship, or open up to other romances.

What I Liked a Little Less

These are more nitpicks than things I didn't like. I'd generally like to see more of the other boys come to the forefront (that cliffhanger ending was promising!), more family dynamics on Midori's side, and I personally really hope that Midori's friends are not forgotten and get to play a bigger part in the future to give her relationship web a bit more variety. Essentially, I'd like to see more of all their lives beyond the romance, to paint fuller pictures of them.

Although—I do think that the Principal's personal investment in the lives of these three boys is a bit exaggerated, and would, under normal circumstances, lead to some impartiality and professional integrity issues.




Overall, I am extremely excited about this new series and look forward to its publication! If you are a lover of shōjo manga, I would definitely recommend this new, promising series.

This manga got my attention right away with its pleasing art and soft hearted story. It’s only the first volume but I’m already hooked in the shojo and can’t wait to read more in the near future. Thank you so much NetGalley for letting me read something so sweet!

Sometimes I’m just in the mood for an adorable shojo manga.

And this fits it perfectly. It’s got all the usual tropes; handsome boys, a sweet main character, potential love rivalry, sparkly bubbles — sometimes you just want a familiar story, and I just loved this so much. It gave me Ao Haru Ride vibes, even the art style was reminiscent of it. The boys were handsome, and had a cool dynamic and friendship going on that had me invested, although I did think it was weird that the principal tried so hard to get them back to school. I think that’s going to explored later on, because I don’t know many schools that would try so hard. Maybe it’s a cultural difference, but I think it might have character or plot relevance later on.

I found myself more invested in the second half, after we established the setup, because that’s when the drama started to spice up. With the last few pages adding a new twist to the tale, I’m really intrigued. I think this manga has a lot of potential. It’s a perfect shojo manga to satisfy your romance tastes, and I’m eager to see where it may go.

Wow did I enjoy this so much more than I planned! I'm not much of a shoujo fan, but something about the art and description of this one intrigued me and I am so glad I read it. the main girl, for once, is not frustratingly naive or painful to read. There is not much to say on the boys so far as this is the first volume but they are really promising and I anticipate lots of amazing character development with them. The tropes in this volume, although overused and very frequent in shoujo mangas, still had a fun and fresh feel to them. Overall, I have high hopes for this series and will be reading the next instalments asap!!

5/5 stars

I received an ARC of this manga in exchange for an honest review.

On the first day of high school, Midori drops her wallet and some thugs attempt to take off with it. A boy named Ichijo steps in and saves it for her, but he leaves before she can thank him. He and his two friends suddenly stop attending school, and the rumors about them are wild! But Midori is caught working a part-time job (against the school's rules) and the chairman offers her a deal--he won't punish her if she can bring the boys back to school. Having no choice but to accept and wishing to thank Ichijo, Midori agrees. However, the boys are more stubborn than she expected!

This was so adorable! It was everything I had hoped it would be and more! I've read That Wolf-Boy is mine (which is by this mangaka) and I was excited to read this new series. It doesn't disappoint! As usual, her art is beautiful and the characters are so cute. The storyline is sweet! When I read shojo, this is exactly what I'm looking for! This manga put a smile on my face and left me wanting more! I can't wait for volume 2!

Manga readers who love shojo, especially cute and contemporary shojo, should read this! I highly recommend it!

Rating: 3.5

This manga was an enjoyable read, I really like the main female character. She reminds me of Thoru from Fruits Basket, she is cheerful and determined. I also love her little brother. My only critique is the first chapter seemed a bit to fast passed so it didnt feel like the story was being fully developed, this does improve in later chapters. If you like romance manga I would recommend it and I am looking forward to the second volume.

Many thanks to Netgalley for my review copy!

I received an e-galley of Those Not-So-Sweet Boys Volume 1 by Yoko Nogiri from Kodansha in exchange for an honest review.

Those Not-So-Sweet Boys is about a young teenage girl, Midori Nanami, who has just entered high school and already on the first day, she's run into trouble with losing her wallet. A young boy comes to her rescue and before she is able to thank him, he's walked off with his two friends. And thus starts Midori Nanami's interesting relationship with the trio of boys - Rei Ichijo, Chihiro Goshima, and Yukinojo Ieiri.

I was absolutely charmed by another manga series that I had read written by Yoko Nogiri - Love in Focus - and the style and storytelling that came from that story is present in this new manga series. I already adore Midori Nanami who is just the right amount of pure, clumsy and kind that you'd want from a heroine. And the three boys? Definitely each has their own charm and I can see readers choosing their favourites already. I'm not quite ready to choose a favourite amongst the boys myself - and I cannot wait to see how this story continues for these characters. Those-Not-So-Sweet Boys is sure to become a new manga favourite for readers, including myself.

Okay, this was way too cute.

I definitely went in expecting our main character Midori to have to deal with these 'bad boys' who aren't attending school, but I don't know why I wasn't expecting all the characters to be so well crafted.

I know this is just the first volume, but I'm loving the bits and pieces that we have seen of Midori and the boys so far, and how their friendship is just beginning to develop.

I'm enamored already. I definitely need to get my hands on this first volume for my collection, and I for sure will be continuing with this series.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a cute slice of life high school romance! It definitely requires a suspension of disbelief that the chairman of a high school would assign a high school girl to wrangle a group of delinquents into coming back to school, but if you can get past that little burble it's pretty smooth sailing from there.

Midori is such a sweet and joyful girl, but as the boys say she can be a bit... slow. The chemistry between her and Rei and the other guys is such so cute. I definitely felt mt heart go ba-bump at several of the swoony moments! In volume 1 we already get some great manga/anime staples like taking care of a sick love interest and the school sports festival! I can't wait wait volume 2!!

Artwork: 5/5
Story: 4/5

I don't know why but when I saw this cover I thought it would be a BL. Maybe is because of the 3 guys in the cover looking so good, but at first, I thought it will be a BL. And I was wrong! This is a normal drama/comedy shojo. I love this kind of story so much, to be honest. Our main character, Nanami, is a schooler poor girl, his father left the family with debt and her mum has to apply for so many jobs to get the family forward. But, Nanami works as well in a bar during the afternoons, something that is against the school rules. In order to not get rid of the school and her scholarship, she has to help some handsome rich guys. Maybe her warm heart can change them.
I really like this first volume, I love the characters and how they are with each other, the relationship of friendship between them. Rei and Eiri are my potential crushes and Goshima is my baby boy. I want the second volume so bad!

This was fun! I enjoyed our characters and I'm a sucker for a cute corgi. I already know what guy I'm rooting for, but I like them all. The artwork was good and I'm anticipating volume 2!

As one would expect, the story of ‘misunderstood delinquent boys’ is not the most original plot, however, I still enjoyed this manga. The initial story of finding the boys and convincing them to come back to school did seem to move pretty quickly within the first volume, however, it is also clear that this isn’t the main plot of this story, the relationships between Midori and the three boys is, and it’s just starting to be introduced.

The characters are all charming in their own way and there have already been hints at more depth and emotions behind each one. It’s also nice to see that not all the characters are as good as you would expect and even have some mistrust in Midori – which in the real world would be totally reasonable!

All being said, I’m now intrigued and can’t wait to see how the story develops in the next instalment. Will relationships strengthen and grow? What will the next plot twist be? Overall, this was a pretty decent start to what could be a great lil’ romance and ‘good-feel’ story.

I haven't read a shojo manga in a while so this was a refreshing read for me. I've read some of author Yoko Nogiri's other works and have enjoyed them, and this is no exception. The artwork is lovely and the main character Midori is super cute. The story takes place in a high school, which is a little overworked for me in regards to shojo but I enjoyed it nevertheless. I'm interested to find out why Yukinojo is slightly abrasive towards Midori. Maybe it will be in the next volume!

4 stars! (coming out Feb 16, 2021!!!)

**ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review.**
#ThoseNotSoSweetBoys1 #NetGalley

Pros: 3 "misunderstood" high school boys & 1 hardworking and relentlessly positive high school girl (MC), guy saving girl x3, a very cute older sister-little brother relationship, Sports Day, working an illegal job (high school doesn't allow it), the MC repairing the boys' reputations, I immediately wanted to read the next volume, which doesn't exist yet T_T

Cons: potential love triangle, that one jealous friend

Vibes: a bit of Ouran High School Host Club and a bit of Kaichou wa Maid-sama

TW: parental abandonment, school bullying, parent death (off-page)

Thank you to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for the opportunity to read and review this manga. This is a manga author that is the same as love in focus that I have read and it has the same feel of that series but it also gives me Waiting for Spring vibes at the same time only less happy-go-lucky if that makes sense. I think this is definitely worth the read. Trigger warnings though for prejudice, smoking, attempts at rape, and bullying. Because of these points, I have to give this manga a 4 out of 5 stars

This manga has a lot of similarities to other mangas I have read which was good! Most of the tropes I have enjoyed and it was cool to see a different spin on them in this one.

I am always drawn to a book about friends, especially when they are closed off from others besides the ones in their circle. Midori has her work cut out for her when it comes to them because they can be quite stubborn but she is also determined as ever!

Even though the school sees the three boys as troublemakers. I liked how the manga starts us off with a different look at them before jumping into the troublemaker aspect. It shows that everyone isn’t as they appear and Midori will see them for who they truly are.

There is also a difference in how they have grown up since the boys come from wealthy families and Midori has to work to help pay off her father’s debt who left her family with it. I am sure it will play a big role in future but it does come into play once so far.

The illustrations are amazing and I love the little corgi. 😍

Overall, this was cute and is a very promising start to this series. I will definitely be keeping my out for the next as it does end with a cliffhanger.

*Thank you to the publisher, Kodansha, and to NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC of this in exchange for an honest review!*

This was my first foray into manga after years of not reading it, and the more I read of this volume, the more I loved it. This story is a slice-of-life shoujo manga that follows our main character, Midori, as she unwittingly gets involved in the life of three boys at her high school, eventually becoming friends and maybe falling for one of them.

Midori's character was a really interesting shoujo heroine: she is the eldest daughter of a woman who became a single mum after the family father abandoned her, her daughter and her little son. Between the three of them they make do: the youngest son is in charge of cooking, and between the mother's full-time night shifts and Midori's part-time salary, they manage. Midori had gone through her own share of hardships, and this had made her a kinder person. I loved the way she was not naive or dumb just for the sake of being cute or sweet. She was perceptive, yet gentle, and she had the emotional struggles of a teen. When we see her develop feelings for one of the love interests, she can't identify them as romantic feelings immediately. I really liked this, as it felt very natural, and not at all like insta-love, which shoujo manga tends to fall into. Midori's relationships with the boys she meets start as friendship first of all, in a very platonic, everyday, school-classmate way. It's so nice to read how that evolves, over the course of the volume, into something that she finally starts recognising as romantic attraction. But this takes its time, and it's only at the end of the volume that it happens! It's nice to see a comic that takes its time building the connections between characters.

The boys were all very charming and nice people, all in their different ways. Their characterisation sometimes veered towards archetypal (especially Chihiro's), but it didn't fully fall into manga-love-interest stereotypes, and I ended up really loving them all for different things. The addition of a dog into the group was truly adorable as well.

Additionally, the adults (Midori's mum, the chairman of her high school, her work boss...) tend to be kind people, a refreshing take. I was ready for all the kids to not like their elders, because that's what edgy teens do... but not really. Even the three boys, who are textbook-edgy, have a very good relationship with Miyuki, the boss at the restaurant that Midori works at. We don't see a lot of complexity from them yet, partly because they have a pretty secondary role and partly because most of the story is told from our heroine's point of view. However, we are shown that there's more to them than we know just yet, so I'm looking forward to seeing them in future volumes.

And the art... my goodness, the art was beautiful. The use of screentones (halftone dots, shading) was masterful and it created a really tangible sense of atmosphere and setting. The technique really was at the service of the story, and it made intimate moments feel magical, delicate, and almost otherworldly. The lineart was also really soft and delicate: lovely hair is almost a guarantee with any shoujo manga, but on top of that, the facial and bodily expressions were so well-realised that they really conveyed the personality of each character.

I enjoyed the second half of the volume a lot more than the first one, where we dwell on the introductory details a little too long. At the same time, I recognise that it was a requirement to spend time developing the friendship between Midori and the three boys, and all the buildup started paying off in the second half. We were also left with some open ends and an understated but very interesting cliffhanger at the very end of the volume, which cemented my need to read the second instalment of this! I truly thought this would be a basic 3-star shoujo manga with more style than substance, but the characters and the handling of the plot were so well-done that they bumped my rating to 4-stars. Bravo, Yoko Nogiri! Really excited to read the next one and get back into manga.