I enjoyed reading this book. To find different t ways of love. You can see that there will be some readers who can relate and will not relate.

After Himawari House and Love Languages, I have all my fingers crossed that contemporary slice-of-life, coming-of-age books about (especially Asian!) language/culture is becoming a thing!

The narrative quality of the storytelling distinctly made it feel like I was following along a biographical journey of a real person. It reminded me of artists I follow on social media that make comics about their lives. This sort of art style isn’t usually my thing, but I had to appreciate the lovely watercolor and attention to detail in the careful outlining and patterns. There is something European about the curvy lines and silhouettes, which is very well-suited to the French setting. I loved how vibrant colours would seep in whenever Ping appeared, or even just within Hong Kong, compared to the bleak monochrome of Paris, where Sarah hated living.

I enjoyed the way language (and the process of learning it) was portrayed in the speech bubbles, as well as the depiction of the loneliness/cultural dysphoria of being an expat, social anxiety, grappling with work-life, and the pressure to “succeed”. I think it also cleverly shows the sociopolitical centrism of white women, who tend to easily excuse the most vile behaviour from white men, plus feel the need to save face in front of them. Sarah’s initial embarrassment towards communication struggles was in stark contrast to Ping’s unabashed willingness to connect across their mutual language barriers. (The emojis!) I always felt that some western cultures *really* depend on certain social rhythms and coming off “cool”. Given Sarah’s anxiety (and her terrible job with American work ethic and French assholes that made me want to breathe fire), it just made *sense* that she found confort in Ping’s world of carefree, warm connection instead. Reading about characters quitting their jobs and beginning new lives will never not be heartwarming to me.

I enjoyed the lesbian awakening! It was just a few pages (and some earlier subtext) and yet it spoke volumes. (Attraction, possesiveness, desire, joy denial, acceptance, self actualisation.) Also greatly appreciated the much-needed rep of Asian pocket mascs! I was wondering if this book would portray the difficulties Ping may face in being a Hong Konger and queer, but in the end I’m glad the book left it where it did. Sarah definitely grew a lot! But I didn’t connect with the characters as much as I’d hoped, given how much I was excited for the premise (queer, sapphic, contemporary, Asian, language/culture, graphic novel). Still required reading in the genre IMO! 3.75⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and IDW Publishing for providing an Advanced Reader’s Copy for an honest review! This is my first one. 🥹

I really am greatful to receive this arc because it was just an amazing story and the artwork throughout the book was phenomenal, and seeing an unlikely relationship between two different languages spark into something more was very satisfying to see.

To start my review, I'd like to send a big, big thank you to the author, James Albon, IDW Publishing, and NetGalley for the privilege of being able to read an advanced digital copy of Love Languages by James Albon. I will share my review to Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble upon release. I LOVED this adorable graphic novel that told the story of Sarah and Ping, two immigrants living in Paris who find commonality in learning another language. As they discover more and more about each other, living in Paris, and their relationship, you'll fall in love with love. The way they have their own little ways of communicating with each other is so common in all relationships, really, but particularly with your significant other, it's fairly easy to develop your own little language - phrases/words that both of you have a context for that make no sense to others. When we develop relationships with others, we do this with language and also with every other aspect, like physical touch and even non-verbal communication. I loved how this story made me think deeper about love, relationships, sexuality, identity, and pursuing happiness and friendship. The illustrations were so beautiful and eye-catching, and brought the characters to life in such a way that I couldn't stop reading. I know I'll want to read this one more than once, just simply to enjoy the art again. If you enjoyed Saga by Brian K. Vaughn, Blankets by Craig Thompson, or the Heartstopper series by Alice Oseman, I think you'd like this one.

Major tropes & themes:

- love & relationships (lgbtq)
- art & being creative
- communication/language
- identity/immigration
- modern love
- miscommunication
- Paris is a character


4.6/5 stars

A really beautiful story of a growing friendship and more. The colours mirror the mood with more blue in the boring sad corporate life and more yellow when Ping comes in and brightens Sarah's life.

I love how the languages mix up, multilingual experiences and friendships aren't often shown in books and by offering translations and writing in the original conversation language we can follow along while still representing the confusion of so many languages mixing.

I really hated Sarah's colleagues and the mean mimes in the first pages. The drawing style makes them really ugly people in the inside and outside.

And of course I love the queer ending which is a beginning for them but the end of this story.

I was just a bit confused when they used "ami.e" to mean friend and boyfriend/girlfriend when for me that always means friend but "copain/copine" can mean either friend or boyfriend/girlfriend.

A delightful and beautiful story of love and language, "Love Languages" will make you fill your cup. The story follows two foreigners forging a relationship with bits and pieces of three different languages.
We read about Sarah and Ping's relationship with language and watch as their love grows with their efforts, and it become this wonderful love story. The beautiful artwork compliments their romance perfectly. Of course, no romance is without some kind of twist, so prepare your heart for a little heartache.
The artist portrayal of mix and match words is such a unique concept and was a delightful representation of their conversations.
A great graphic novel for any sapphic readers collection, I highly recommend grabbing a copy if you enjoy visual story telling as well as a cozy romance graphic novel. Have I mentioned how lovely the artwork is?

A big thank you to the author and NetGalley for sending me an advance review copy for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I got this graphic novel as an ARC from Net galley.

It starts out very slow in my opinion and the writing style is a little odd with a combination of English, French, and Mandarin being used in combination. This makes it slow to read and follow. However, later in the book this goes away and then it really flew by for me.

The story itself is really heart warming though!

I absolutely adored this graphic novel about two strangers meet each other far from home and slowly build a home together.

Love Languages follows Sarah as she navigates a lonely life in Paris where she barely knows the language, hates her job, and is generally just not having a good time. Enter Ping, a Chinese au pair that enters Sarah's life like a hurricane and never leaves. They may not exactly speak the same language, but they are determined to understand each other.

I loved the inclusion of all of the languages being spoken around the main characters, and how translations were only used when necessary to point the reader to what was most important.

Ping and Sarah's story was adorable, and real and heartbreaking in the best way.

I loved the different languages that have been added. And the art it self is so gorgeous, I wish we got more of their love story but over all is very autumn season read for me. Which I love🤍

I would definitely recommend this to the people who want a chill read.

This was such a nuanced, heartfelt story of finding joy and companionship amid unfamiliarity. The art and dialogue styles really guided the reader through the emotions and narrative beats allowing us to feel lost and alone, then cautiously optimistic, socially doom-spiralling, etc. I loved all the ways language was used to denote tone of the setting, relationships, and indicate character and growth. Overall, a phenomenal story, well told and shared through emotionally evocative art.

What a sweet and tender sapphic story about two different women coming together despite their differences!! Ugh, my heart!! I loved the language representation here and the best part for me was admiring the beautiful artwork that James created!

Two women meet by chance in Paris, and while they barely speak each others' language, they learn together. A sweet queer love story for the linguaphile at heart.

beautifully illustrated book. reminded me of Love Actually and how love is all around, that no matter what, language isn't a barrier to love. The illustrations reflected the emotions of the characters as the story progressed.

I quite enjoyed this graphic novel, the story was so cute and fast paced! The characters were so fun with their love story being very entertaining and heartwarming. The writing style was interesting and also informative as you would see different languages and their translations. While the art isn't my normal style, I found myself enjoying it and how different it was to what I'm used to reading. I could definitely see myself looking up this author for more works as well as recommending it to others!

I was happy to read this comic. It is a very interesting story and the way Language difficulties with making communication work when you have a connection with someone no matter what are very well presented. The art style is unique, even tho it is not my personal taste.

Love Languages is more of an adult title, an LGBTQ+ romance. The incorporated French was difficult for me, and the font style didn't read well in digital format. I struggled to finish this title, but it was more from the text style than the story itself.

Love Language is a beautifully crafted comic that explores connection, identity, and self-discovery through the lens of language. What stood out to me most was how language wasn’t just for communication: it helped both characters understand themselves better. Learning new words and switching between languages reflected their personal growth in terms of capturing this budding romance between them. The feeling of not fully belonging in a foreign country mirrored their journey of discovering themselves.

Set around an office worker from London that's living in France and who stumbles in a blossoming friendship with a Chinese Au Pair. Both fluent in their first languages and very limited French, they still find a way to communicate and connect. In all honesty, this is a book I felt so much joy while reading. It was sweet while they clumsily worked their way into each others cultures and the languages, showing there doesn't have to be a barrier when you genuinely like a person's character.

Publishing date: 06.05.2025 (DD/MM/YYYY)
Thank you to NetGalley and IDW Publishing for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

TLDR: A woman moves to Paris for a job, meets a foreigner and becomes close friends. But it isn't easy making a stable life for yourself in a foreign country. 4 stars.

Sarah has moved to Paris because of a job, finding a boring and colorless everyday life. Soon she meets Ping. The two connect ove their difficulties with French and create their own amalgamation of three languages to understand each other.

I adored the relationship between Ping and Sarah. It felt very much akin to friendships I have had myself where we don't quite understand each other, but we keep on communicating anyways. The way they communicate is also so similar to me and my husband's way, a combo of multiple languages. How beautiful that we can bridge gaps with something so different but so alike all the same.

The story has the typical ups and downs of "person moves to another country" stories. The excitement, the boredom, the new relationship, a struggle brewing, chaos, and lastly sadness. I did enjoy the story greatly, but it felt like something I had read before.

The art here is stunning. Beautiful colors, flowing lines, and creative way of speech-bubbles. The way the colors conveyed emotion and excitement was a really nice touch. Whenever Sarah was with Ping the colors were vibrant and diverse. When she was alone, the colors were dull and few. Stunning.

Also, great and realistic LGBTQ+ rep here. I feel like this is the best portrayal I have seen so far. Lesbians for the win.

Audience is young adult to adult. Anyone with an interest in language will enjoy this. People who have moved to other countries might find it relatable. And if you are a girl-kisser with the need for some cozy romance this might hit the spot.

I am giving this 4 stars. Stunning art, cute story, lifted my mood. Highly recommend it.

graphic novel about translanguaging for linguistics enjoyers. very fun visual representations of translation but not too interesting of a story. there were a handful of french grammar mistakes that really pissed me off both in the artwork and the text (genre je suis /y/ allé) these will hopefully be fixed in the final edition or the french might just revolt again! thanks netgalley for the arc.