A beautiful tale of fate and tragedy woven together and brought to life with the most stunning illustrations.

Reaper, with the assistance of his spirit helper Dog, is collecting souls for his term of 60 years. But he soon runs into a peculiar spirit, Waiting, whom he is drawn to and whom doesn’t wish to leave his side.

What unfolds is a story of knowing who you are and where you come from. Of remembering the past and of souls meant to be. Both Reaper and Waiting were nuanced characters with rich and tragic backstories and witnessing a love that transcends life was a true pleasure.

In fact, this was the first manga to make me cry. The emotions and imagery cutting deep and leaving me a little bit changed. A unforgettable experience.

What you’ll get:
•Reaper/Spirit
•Reincarnation
•Spirit Helper Dog
•Choosing to remember the past (or not)
•Fate
•Knowing who you are
•Tragic Pasts

“The Reaper and The Waiting” by January Sun (Jayessart) was a gorgeous and tragic little love story! Ruo Yang, a reaper with no memory of his past life, is accompanied by a sweet spirit who calls himself “Waiting”. “Waiting” remembers his past, their shared past. “Waiting” was called Weili, and they were both princes who had fallen in love, and then been torn apart by treachery and tragedy. Weili’s mission is to convince Ruo Yang to make the choice to remember after his time as a reaper is done, or be parted from him forever. But how can he do that when he can’t tell Ruo Yang anything about their past lives? The main draw of this book has to be the beautiful art and character design. The death scene especially, ah, Weili in that moment with the sword, what a great panel!! The character writing was adorable and sad, it had me giggling one moment and then making sad sighs the next.The reaper dog that tags along with Ruo Yang was a great addition to the story and added a bit of levity to the more tragic aspects of the story. I had a lovely time reading and was so pleased with that happy ending! I’ll be recommending this book to my teen graphic novel readers at my library, and I hope to see more stories from January Sun in future!

(Thank you Netgalley and WEBTOON Unscrolled for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!)

“If this is all the time we’re given…then we should take it, and cherish it.”

I’m sobbing. This was as good as the first time I read it on Webtoon several years ago. Everything this author creates is beautiful from the deeply emotional stories to the breathtaking art.
The Reaper and the Waiting is a soft romance with art as vivid as the tale it tells. It’s equal parts tragic and lovely with a little bit of humor as well. It’s the kind of story that you want to keep coming back to because it holds so much hope and longing. I could have read multiple books about Ruo Yang and Song Weili. And the dog, of course. I really loved the dog.

I love this style, the artwork is absolutely stunning! And this tragic love story had me in tears. Perfect read for a single-sitting finish with a gut punch and happily ever after.