Seong-Ji finds the true her in the streets of Seoul at night.

Seong-Ji, a young lady, is excited and nervous about starting college in Seoul. She and her best friend Ji-won promise to keep in contact despite being in different colleges, but the days stretch with no word from Ji-won. Seong-Ji worries about Ji-won in between her college program and a part-time job. During her part-time job, she meets a strange woman who shows her the true wonders of the night. Seong-Ji starts to learn more about herself and her true feelings...

This book was a deep read. It made you think and wonder about what you can see during the night, both mentally and physically. The art style was beautiful and well-done, and the color palette looked like it was done in watercolor. I also learned about the CSAT exam to get into South Korean colleges, where the South Korean government tests you to see which colleges you're fit to go to.

Seong-Ji was a rational and thoughtful character. It was beautiful to see her character development throughout the story. Ji-won could have been more friendly and a better friend. The woman Seong-Ji met looked like me and had a mysterious personality.

Give this book to people who need inspiration and love to see the wonders the world has in store for us.

Happy Reading, Paige ❤️ 📚

Thank you, @netgalley, for the complimentary ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

"Seoul Nights" immerses readers in the nocturnal odyssey of Seong-Ji as she grapples with lost friendships and discovers herself amidst the dreamlike streets of Seoul. As Seong-Ji navigates the rift between her and Ji-won, her encounters with the mysterious nocturnal artist open doors to a world of creativity and self-discovery. Through her exploration of empty homes and quiet spaces, Seong-Ji unravels not only the secrets of strangers but also the depths of her own identity. Yet, as she embraces the possibilities of the future, she must confront the ghosts of her past and the pain of her fractured friendship. With lyrical prose and poignant storytelling, "Seoul Nights" offers a mesmerizing journey of growth, loss, and the transformative power of the night.

I didn’t like the story it was really weird and also didn’t enjoy the art style.——————————————————————————————————-

This story was weird.. but I still enjoyed reading it.

The book tells the story of a young student who loses sight of her best friend when they split ways. Meanwhile she meets a possible new friend, but this one has very peculiar hobbies. Seong-Ji ultimately decides to join her new friend in her strange activities and finds the beauty in little things before sunrise.

The message of the book though is very beautiful and the artwork was a real vibe in this story.
I gave the book 3 stars.

The title and cover intrigued me, and I picked up this read on Netgalley. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.
It is a short story in graphic novel form,
The artwork is nice - A mix of cartoon style done in watercolor.
The story itself was a little dark, and I felt sad for the young girl at the end.
One way to look at it is that this is a cautionary tale, and the other is about the important of a strong support circle of multiple people and resources.

The story of a young girl as she progresses into adulthood and tries to figure out who she is and find her place in the world.

I liked the artwork and how the author kept the narrative short in Seoul Before Sunrise, but there isn't much else I enjoyed. It's a very introspective novel that doesn't reach any kind of conclusion, which I assume is part of the point. I understand young adults can feel confused and uncertain about their place in society, especially ones that already feel isolated or rejected by it, but the path to understanding isn't to crawl farther into the night where only a handful of people, and those likely not so great, spend their time. Given the epilogue has MC completely disappearing from the narrative, maybe that's also part of the point? I'm honestly not sure. However, I'm not a fan of novels that dwell on the self-centered idea that the answers to all your problems can be fixed if only you focus on yourself more. This novel just wasn't for me, unfortunately.

A coming of age story that aims to address issues like body shaming, adult responsibilities, increasing distance in friendship due to personal endeavours and loneliness.The characters are well developed and explored.The most engaging and eye-catching part is the beautiful illustrations through which the story moves freely.

Thank you NetGalley for an early copy of this comic. Two high school girls are inseparable until they start university. One of them feels lonely and feels nostalgic for her high school days. A stranger comes to her workplace at night and shows her the way to understanding herself better during their nocturnal escapades through the streets of Seoul. There are some points I didn’t like and I feel there’s something missing from the narrative.

I started this short graphic novel really engaged and curious about what would come next for Seong-Ji. The beginning and middle were quite enjoyable and the artwork did a great job of setting the mood. The ending, however, just didn't work for me. I felt a bit of robbed of seeing Seong-Ji's next phase in life. Credit to the storytelling that made me so interested in her future though.

A quiet, reflective graphic novel that deals delicately and metaphorically with the process of coming to realize your own identity. During night shifts at her college job of convenience-store clerk, the main character finds herself growing slowly closer to a mysterious woman who may hold the keys to unraveling her self-awareness. The artwork is done is a soft watercolor style that blends well with the gentle, slow-paced tone of the story. I very much enjoyed the book and highly recommend it to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this eARC for unbiased review. This review will be cross-posted to my social media accounts closer to the book release date.

I think this graphic novel did a really good job of capturing that realization of intense female friendship actually being something more (romantic on at least one side) and the way it affects your life when a relationship like that falls apart before you’ve had the opportunity to really understand those feelings. I struggled a bit with following the fantastical symbolism between her and the “ghost” but the tone and emotion of the overall story was clear. The art style really worked well for conveying the mood.

Seong-ji, the main character, in this graphic novel experiences the little changes of transitioning to adulthood, to become a college student. No longer child anymore, she goes through what most adults go through; everyone has their own life to live and often times we fail to maintain friendships. As days go by without reconnection, often times the friendship changes as well and so does the value of it. While Jiwon became absent in Seong-ji’s life, Seong-ji fills her time working at the grocery store to help pay for school and there is where she met a strange lady (who I don’t recall if the story ever even provided her name???) who took Seong-ji to adventures around the block. With a weird excuse of wanting to observe people’s lives, the strange lady breaks into people’s apartments and hangs out there, no stealing or anything.

In a way, I felt like the strange lady is mental who took advantage of a young college student to go on these outrageous trips and perhaps even brainwashing Seong-ji to believe that this is ok to do and believe in the things the strange lady says.

Quote #1: “I’d often watch the boats leave the harbor and sail towards the intimidating immensity. I remember seeing two boats leave, seemingly heading in the same direction… watching from the beach, I’d often wonder when the human eye first begins to notice that they’ve begun to move away from each other. I think it’s a long time before we notice they’ve moved apart… that each is going its own way. When you think about it, it actually doesn’t take much. One or two little degrees difference. A tiny detail that changes everything.”
- Probably one of my favorite part of the book where the author uses two boats to create an analogy of how friendships drift apart over time. It is such an unique way of describing friendships!

Quote #2: Jiwon had joined the “adult world” long ago. The solitude she felt within her family life probably encouraged her early passage… into that world where people don’t linger over what doesn’t seem to work for them, over what doesn’t fit with where they’re going… without anyone around me, I was lost. I had the strange feeling that all my life I’d just been imitating other people.
- I felt this in my bones. I think especially growing up as an Asian person, we are prone to grow up faster and definitely be more independent and studious. There were already expectations inputted in us since we were born, following whatever our parents tell us to do, until we are left with making our own decisions. By then after being trained to listen for so long, it’s not surprising that one may seem like they have no idea what to do with themselves, like Seong-ji.

At the end of the book, I’m quite confused though. Did Seong-ji become officially mental? Because at the end, she started visiting other people’s places like what the strange lady did and when the strange lady found out, she felt like it was her fault for showing Seong-ji this. How come the author included this part and just ended the book like that?



Thank you to NetGallery for providing me with an advanced digital copy for review!

First things first, I want to thank NetGalley, Humanoids, and Samir Dahmani for the opportunity to read this Graphic Novel ARC .

When I applied for this novel, I was not expecting it to hit my feelings as hard as it did, but throughout my reading experience, I felt a sudden wave of nostalgia for my own time as a college student and figuring out my life. It does cover the topics of lost friendship, discovering yourself, struggling with your sexuality, sorting your life, and the excessive feeling of loneliness. 

Everything the main character went through seemed so familiar and relatable, hitting close to home on most parts, that the reading experience was, albeit short, very brutal and emotional. 

The art was absolutely breathtaking and fit the vibe of the novel, allowing the reader to fully dive into the story and get away from reality for a moment. 

The twist at the end was entirely unexpected, and frankly, it made me personally thirsty for more. 

The Graphic Novel is set to come out on May 21,2024.

This story follows a girl who has recently lost touch with her best friend, and the emotional impact that has on her. Slowly she begins to explore Seoul and understand herself better.

It’s a very quiet and self contained story and you can very clearly see the hurt that the loss of this friendship has caused. I found the message about self reflection, coming to terms with hard realities, and identity very sincere. I also enjoy stories told about that transitional phase from high school to your first year of university/ college. It id such a big change and you can really feel that in this book. Living in a new city, independently, getting a job,…

The art Style was absolutely beautiful, and I cannot sing its praises enough. Truly a visual treat on every page.

Narratively I wanted a little more closure and maybe just a little more depth when exploring the topics, though I think the story now is very elegantly told.

Would definitely recommend if you want a short and heartfelt story with absolutely stunning art.

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC

Such a touching story, which at a first look seemed ordinary. The artwork was simply amazing, it was like getting lost into a water painting. The symbols of the FMC's road to maturity were so nicely described, like the "fixing" of her biggest insecurity (the nosejob) to the acceptance of her feelings towards Jiwon. The woman who guides the FMC through her initiation in life itself is a "ghost"- "It was almost as if, through her visits, my ghost had guided me to the different places inside myself, shown me the hidden areas of my innermost heart". This quote at the end of the book sums up my experience with this story: a story about finding yourself, loneliness and friendship.

I received an ARC and this my sincere opinion.

I love quiet stories like this which focus on self discovery and introspection. The art in this book was beautiful. I absolutely love graphic novels done in watercolor and this is no different. I think this water colour artatyle might be my most favourite art style ever. The story itself was very realistic and relatable. The characters were really interesting, I loved them. If the epilogue didn't exist this would have been a five star read. But the epilogue was so confusing. I have no idea what it meant. It just kinda ruined the story and it's beautiful ending.

I didn't know anything about this book upfront, just that it was a graphic novel and it was about life in Seoul, both of which I usually like.

The author Samir Dahmani's name is obviously not Korean, so when I figured out that this was a story that takes place in Seoul, has only female Korean characters, and is actually about a queer experience between those characters, I got pretty skeptical. I thought that maybe the author lived there for a very long time (he didn't, as far as I could tell) or maybe he's queer. I wasn't able to find too much information about the author so I won't judge these aspects for now but I'm still not sure why he felt like telling this particular story and not something he experienced as a foreign person when he lived there.

I also wasn't sure what the point of this story was. It had quite a few problematic elements and it actually paints queer relationships in a pretty bad light.

What I did like was the art style, I just love the dreamy watercolor. The fact that the entire story takes place during the nighttime also appealed to me, as well as the moody, lonesome cityscapes.

I didn't really mind reading this as it took less than an hour to finish but it's not something I'll ever return to or gained a lot from.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Humanoids Inc, and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

*****Thank you Net Galley for this e-arc*****
I enjoyed the muted artwork and the main theme of this story, but I don't think this was as impactful as it was meant to be. I wanted to end this book with some kind of after though but all I though was, "okay what did I just read?". So, I am not sure how to feel about this one. The artwork was beautiful and the muted colors helped present the sadness of the story and growing pains.

Sorry, this was a bad choice on my part. The water colours were the best because the airy fairy ghost painting walls was to far out for me. The lesbian story at the start and the convoluted coming of age did not help.
An independent review for NetGally /+ Life Drawn

I didn't really enjoy this one much, it was too surreal and didn't explain enough of what was going on. I had a hard time connecting with the main character, and couldn't really follow the relations between some of these characters, or the reasons behind some of their actions. The art was the best point for me, it was very atmospheric, relying on dark colors and cool tones which seemed to match the mood really well.