katlovesfries's manga / #quick read(69)

A story centred around the aspect of grief and losing the love of your life. This short story manages to convey the conflicted feelings of the characters, while also handling the subject of death, immortality and a second chance in a beautiful way. The shows the pain and process of acceptance and letting go. It shows how the MC slowly realises that grief and life does get better and that having a support system is a must.

Another age-gap story where non-con elements are a central aspect to the story. This could have been done in a nice way, if the author had gone about this differently. Theo and Lex are both perverted in their own, separate ways, though that doesn't excuse anything. Communication and the act of talking both exist for a reason, both of which are lacking here. The only thing I like is the art.

A twisted story centred around toxic relationships disguised as love and affection. With just five chapters, I'm surprised how many things are in this story. Toxic relationships are one thing, but the breaking of trust, lack of understanding and concern for your partner are different matters entirely. There's also homophobia thrown in here, which is never nice. All in all, everything is overly messy and poorly written.

A story about falling in love and navigating everything that comes with that--the new emotions, the possibility of rejection, the nervousness, the miscommunication and making up afterwards. This short story works, the art is pretty and the characters' dynamic is cute and funny at times.

A very cute story focused on childhood friends to lovers. The plot has a lot of potential, but because it is only ten chapters, it seems rushed to me. This could have been so good if the author had given themselves more chapters to work with. Even so, the art is beautiful and the petty fight between the characters is solved somewhat well. Some things could be better, but it is very enjoyable and pleasant overall.

A story about found family and falling in love. This is very adorable, though extremely fast paced. The characters themselves are very simple and one-dimensional, but I believe that is to be expected when the plot focuses on too many things at once--said things include conflicts and how to solve them, backstories, making friends and falling in love.

A paid dating arrangement turning into a relationship. This had the opportunity to be a great short story, but the author just had to include non-con elements. The younger uke has something close to a sex addiction, and doesn't know how to understand the word 'no'. The older seme seems like a pushover and is afraid of ending up alone, and therefore accepts his current relationship, though said relationship is so fucking sad.

A story focused on childhood friends reuniting after years. This is another short story that works very well. The author manages to set the scene, provide relevant background information and have the characters' relationship develop and evolve into something beautiful. The story does end a little abruptly. I want so much more.

An age-gap romance where the characters have known each other for years. The plot is 90% smut, leaving very little room for the story to develop, but I don't think the point of this story is to showcase a perfect age-gap romance. Instead, it focuses on intimacy between two people and the implications that arise from that. This is not the best thing I've read, but not the worst one either.