Firstly, the art in this graphic novel is stunningly unique. The way the multilingual aspect of the book is represented visually is striking, and I like how integral that is to the story. Though I love a sapphic romance, I did not feel particularly invested in this one. I feel like it might have been the pacing; however, I did like it in the end. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Thus far one of my top two favorite books from 2025. It's honestly hard to believe that this was written by a man because the emotions of the female main characters are so realistic. Loved this. Gorgeous art and a beautiful, evocative story.

I think this was a really nice book. The art style was really nice and the depiction of language and the barriers and connection between languages was really nicely done. I will say for me, there wasn't a lot of chemistry in the love story for this book and the development of the love story didn't stand out as much as the other aspects of this graphic novel. I saw a lot of heart and story about being in a different country and trying to find community and connection and not necessarily a love story that transcends some of the barriers that language can create. Overall though I quiet liked this book. It was wholesome and very visually pretty. Thanks for sharing!

This book was so, so lovely. The art took my breath away — so full of color and emotion, it almost didn’t need words. You could just feel everything pouring off the page. I saw a lot of myself in Sarah — the sadness, the confusion, the quiet anger of being boxed in by someone else’s idea of who you are, before you’ve even figured it out yourself. That hit deep. The shifts in language threw me off a bit (maybe that was the point) but it still tugged me out of the story now and then. Even with that, this was such a tender, powerful read.

I liked the premise of this book and the multiple languages and work around for communication made it interesting.

A SWEET STORY!!!

I would definitely recommend it to anyone who needs a sweet moment to change the pace in between different novels! The Perfect palate cleanser!

“Love Languages” is a graphic novel by James Albon.

The novel effectively portrays the experience of a non-native speaker navigating multiple languages, shown through the artwork with translations placed either over the original language or next to the original as speech balloons.
Living abroad often brings an isolated feeling, even when surrounded by people, as vividly depicted with Sarah.

Highlights:
It is set in Paris.
The artwork complements the story.
The concept of the story is unique for me, with the multiple languages used in the speech balloons.
I have been working and living abroad, and I could relate to Sarah.


Overall:
The story is charming and courageous, as it inspires you to take the leap and do things that make you feel happy, such as going to the museum alone, learning new languages, and trying to communicate even when it's hard. Of course, follow your heart because you never know where it will lead.
This book will resonate with expat readers, fans of queer romance, or anyone seeking a feel-good story.
Thank you to Netgalley and IDW Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this graphic novel

“Love languages” is a graphic novel by James Albon, a sweet story of friendship and love in multi language.
Sarah is a British woman living in Paris, who works in an office overflowing with male colleagues and toxic masculinity; despite wishing for friendship and adventure in the french capital, she’s a bit of a loner, not engaging much with people outside of work.
One day, however, she meets Ping, a girl from Hong Kong who works as an au pair and they bond over their being foreigners in Paris: Sarah speaks a little bit of Cantonese and Ping wants to improve her English, so their conversations end up being a mix of French, English and Cantonese. Together they explore Paris, going to museums and markets, but more than that, they find someone they can count on in a foreign land.
But as their friendship develops and deepens, they found themselves out of their comfort bubble and faced with a world who doesn’t listen, no matter which language you speak.
The struggle shown here, of being an expat abroad, away from your language, family and friends, is real, especially the part where you feel like your learning the language is nothing until something finally clicks and you don’t have to think about words anymore, they flow simply and effortlessly.
I really liked the beautiful LGBTQ+ story, as well as the illustrations, so lively and complementing to the words. This is truly one of the sweetest graphic novels I’ve read in a long time, so cozy and wholesome in the relationship it portrays.
Highly recommend ❤️❤️❤️

"Love Languages" is a literary romance graphic novel about two women learning to communicate despite an initial language barrier. The water color illustrations do a great job at telling the story, and the colors used easily show the emotional journey the characters go on. If you like a slow, character based story, I think this will be a great choice for your next read.

Thank you to Netgalley and IDW Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this graphic novel
Honestly, this was an okay graphic novel. I liked the depth as far as learning new languages to communicate with someone important to you and the thoughts about what is going on at varying cultures and workplaces. I think my main issue with it was in the middle of the story. It felt like the story just didn’t know where it was going until the end, where it became the story that I wanted. I also want to tell people it didn’t bother me in this one, but it has in the past where the speech bubbles were a tad chaotic, and I was not sure who was speaking. Because of these points, I have to give this 3 out of 5 stars

⭐⭐⭐
Rep: Sapphic relationship, Chinese Love Interest

💗 Sapphic Romance
🌍 Set in France
😖 Trials of Living in New Country
🖌️ Watercolour Style Graphic Novel
😔 Dealing with Loneliness

What I Liked
1) I really loved the portrayal of the MC finally getting to live in 'beautiful Paris' and realising that she's not happy. I think everyone can relate to the experience of finally getting something you thought you wanted and realising that it's not everything you wanted it to be.

2) The illustrations of Hong Kong were absolutely gorgeous!!

3) I love how broken the dialogue is because they can't understand each other and then by the end it's written less sporadically as they can finally understand each other.

What I Disliked
1) I think when formatting a graphic novel, there should be too many words in one area as it gets pretty overwhelming and this book suffered from that issue. There were large paragraphs of text which is not what I'm looking for when I go into a graphic novel.

2) It was just a pretty surface level romance. It was cute but it's not memorable to me.

Thank you to Netgalley, IDW Publishing and James Albon for this eARC in exchange for an honest review

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-book for review through Netgalley. Content warning for homophobia.)

-- 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 where necessary --

Sarah is a Brit living in Paris. If we are to believe Netflix romcoms, her days should be filled with whimsy and romance ... instead, she is slogging away in a vaguely defined but soul-crushing job filled with unlikable alpha male types, further alienated by her poor grasp of French, and desperately lonely. That is, until a chance encounter with a Chinese au pair named Ping. Though they communicate in an elementary mix of English, French, Cantonese, and hand gestures, Ping seems to understand Sarah like no one else. Just as their relationship - and grasp of one another's languages - begins to blossom, Ping is fired from her job, forcing her to return to Hong Kong. Can Sarah go back to her old, pre-Ping life? Does she even want to?

LOVE LANGUAGES is a pretty interesting meditation on the complexities of human language, empathy, friendship, and love. As Sarah and Ping wander the streets of Paris, they - and we - overhear conversations taking place in myriad languages. Likewise, as they attempt to communicate, we're only privy to bits and pieces of their conversation, perhaps leaving the readers as disoriented at Sarah must be. The artwork and storytelling are lovely, though it sometimes feels like the beginning is a bit drawn out. (Just kiss already!) The ending makes it all worthwhile.

This book was like being kissed in a dream you didn’t know you were having. Love Languages is not just a romance—it’s a watercolor fever dream of longing, awkward translations, and that slow-burn ache when friendship tips into something deeper and scarier. James Albon paints emotion with such raw delicacy that I found myself rereading panels just to sit with the feeling a little longer. The way Sarah and Ping stumble through language—literal and emotional—felt so real it physically hurt (in the best way). It’s queer, it’s quiet, it’s devastatingly tender. If you’ve ever fallen in love in the pauses between words, this one will wreck you.

This is a gorgeously illustrated romantic graphic novel. I seriously enjoyed the story arch and the color choices that were made. Thank you to NetGalley for the arc! If you’re looking for a didn’t know you were queer until you met the person this is the one!

05/03/2025 || Love Languages by James Albon || #LoveLanguages #NetGalley #QueerReads #GraphicNovels #Sapphic #Lesbian

Thank you NetGalley, James Albon, and IDW Publishing | Top Shelf Productions for making this e-ARC available!

Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author and myself.
All of my thoughts are my own~

5 Stars

What worked for me:
Between the gorgeous story-telling and uniquely beautiful illustrations I was simply head over heels in love with this entire graphic novel and so glad I requested it! I have shared it's StoryGraph and GoodRead's informational pages with a handful of friends and book club group chats I am apart of!

Sarah and Ping meant the world to me while I was reading and I plan to buy a copy for my shelves!

I loved the cross culture and mixing and blending of languages. That is a true sign of love - the ability to find the middle, to work together to get the message across and helping one another find your voice and ability to speak!

I get goosebumps thinking about it!


What did not work for me:
How dare this graphic novel end!

Jokes aside, I hope Albon explores more lovely graphic novels like this and we get more amazingly gorgeous works like Love Languages

Sarah Huxley is an Englishwoman working for a business in Paris. One day, she meets Ping Loh, who works as an au pair for a Hong Kong couple living in Paris. The two bond over their shared struggle with picking up the French language. They start to learn each other’s languages, creating their own private dialect to communicate as they grow closer.

I enjoyed the story and the way the author chose to include the translations for many of the French and Cantonese phrases for clarity of the story while also providing a view of how they combined the languages together. Personally, I did not care for the artwork in this graphic novel, specifically the way people’s skins had random red blotches on them, like everyone was suffering from a rash.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Absolutely gorgeous artwork and a perfectly paced, sweet, quick romance. The art's way of depicting the multilingual conversations, as well as the change once things 'clicked', was clever and felt initmiately familiar to anyone with experience in language learning.

This was genuinely such a cute and endearing story about love and work and languages of course! The characters and their lives felt very real and close to home. I enjoyed the art style a lot as well. When Sarah and Ping are finally able to understand each other better because they've learned enough of each others languages thats when it really gets good because their communication goes way up! Of course they do have a very low point in the novel that is upsetting but watching them come back together again was beautiful.

This was a cute little graphic novel about two foreigners trying to make their own ways in France, despite a language barrier. I loved the art style the of the book. I also loved how multiple languages were represented throughout the book, underscoring just how much we all have in common despite what language we speak. As a twenty-something moving through the world and struggling to find my place and make friends, this book was a gentle reminder that people are people everywhere and that often it’s the little things that weave us together.

4/5 ⭐️s
🌶️ - very low spice, one slightly graphic image

LOVES:
- The way language and translations were done was really neat. There were so many languages throughout and it was fun to try to pick out ones that I recognized!
- The color story was beautiful and felt symbolic
- So relatable. The language barrier, loneliness, social media, job burnout, confusing feelings about art, the awkwardness of social interactions, gross work bros 🤮
- Sarah’s inner monologue is quite funny at times 😆 and again, so relatable
- The development of their relationship and the conclusion was so subtle and cute!

Thanks to NetGalley and Top Shelf Comix for the eARC 💝 Available now!