Govind

This was a really fun, simple read. There isn’t much to complain about, and there is no unnecessary nudity that adds nothing to the story like the last ARC manga I read. Here, the art was great, it’s easy to read, and I loved the conversations the characters had. The characters have pretty good chemistry, and the author sprinkled in a fair share of cultural references and discussion about cars in a natural way to keep it interesting. There are surprisingly some very well done fourth wall breaks, and it was funny how the author justified a certain decision they took through that wall breaking. Overall, it is a decent book. Nothing too special, but it is not bad either.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced review copy.

I had huge hopes for the book. It started out great, and up until the last quarter, it was going well. The author was juggling a lot of topics smoothly, until it all combined into a mess by the end. The ending ruined the novel. It took away the progress and kind of made the story feel meaningless. Even though the ending was realistic, the epilogue/last chapter’s time skip and the sudden foray into science fiction ruined the story’s groundedness, making it even more unsatisfying. I have never experienced a tone shift like that in a novel before.

The characters don't have much chemistry, but you could feel it increasing, and when it felt like it was improving, the author put a stop to it. It felt like the queer character here is used as a token. She is written as shallow and one dimensional. There isn't much character development. The other lead also isn’t properly fleshed out. Even though the author did a fair bit of research and integrated many topics well, there is a fair share of stereotypes in the book. From the stereotype of the strong, cold, career oriented woman who is depicted as not caring for her partner, to several others.

The novelist favours a traditionalist narrative. This wasn't apparent at first, but as the novel goes on, it becomes clear where the book is headed, and the story becomes predictable. Even then, I hoped the author wouldn't take the easy way out and do something creative but that wasn't the case here.

Well written literary fiction with good romance is one of my favourite genres to read and this book had the potential to become one of the best l had read all year, but ultimately, it fell short. Though there were plenty of genuinely enjoyable moments and the writing flowed well at times, I finished the book feeling disappointed.

Thank You NetGalley for the advanced review copy.

This was a short, quick read. The story had a lot of promise, but it could have been much better. The relationship honestly was a bit bland, and throughout the story, the taller male lead takes most of the initiative. The smaller guy is portrayed as slightly meek and passive. The story and the chemistry feel built upon heteronormative notions. I don't really like the reinforcement of stereotypes, so that took away some of my enjoyment. That said, if you overlook those issues, it was actually an easy, wholesome read, and the artwork was good. I'm giving it 3 stars here, but it is more of a 2.5 than a 3.

Also content warning: Unlike usual romance Mangas, this book leaves nothing to the imagination and contains explicit sex scenes.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced review copy.

The book is a quick read. It dumbs down many of the complex cyber security concepts into an accessible manner, with diagrams and charts. Anyone would get it regardless of their familiarity with the matter. I liked how the author incorporated details about Asian culture and religious harmony in a great, tasteful way, especially with the interaction between the friends.

The author gave an unnecessary backstory for a side character, I felt that could have been avoided. Coming to the story itself, it’s kind of weak. The fast pace feels alright at the start, but by the end, it feels like everything resolved too quickly. Plus, the story is too simple to be really engaging. I feel like if they raised the stakes up and the made the novel a little longer and fleshed out, it would have been much better. So overall, it falls flat and can only serve as a quick, simplified PSA about the scope of new age cyber crimes, something which is a little more for fun and warm to read than an article.

Thank you NetGalley for providing the advanced copy for review.