bladelikesbooks's review
4.0
Life Outside the Circle by H-P Lehkonen (4⭐️)
‘Life Outside the Circle’ is a black and white, BL WebToon romance set in Ikkeläjärvi, Finland. A trans man from Helsinki moves to the outer circles of Finland after inheriting his mother’s house and falls in love with his neighbour.
This is a really sweet, very real romance story. One of the main characters, Juha, lives in the outer circle of Finland with his daughter. He ends up helping out Sami, his new neighbour and develops a huge crush on him. Sami finds out and teases Juha into making the first move and confessing. Its such an adorable romance and Juha is adorably awkward.
While its a very sweet romance, it also discusses a lot of real issues queer people experience daily. Juha’s community is very small and closed minded but Sami’s community is a lot more accepting and the author does a great job showing the differences. There are some homophobic scenes that happen and it’s done in a very real way. Its unfortunately something that we all have to deal with abd i think the author did a great job portraying it and the way the characters handled the situation was done really well.
Representation - Bisexual (MC); Gay (MC); Trans (MC); Fat (SC); Post top surgery scars (MC); Hijabi (SC)
TWs/CWs - Blood; Bullying; Death of a loved one (past); Homophobia; Pregnancy; Racism
ilovedannydarrow's review
5.0
One of my favorite things I read this year. Absolutely beautiful and sweet and awesome. How can I find a way to live the life described in this webcomic??
mjtal's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
bhavya_reads's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
libraryofpeculiar's review
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was absolutely adorable!
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia and Transphobia
soulofsam's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Sami being trans just did things to my heart I can't explain and I loved this comic so much.
hue's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
monique3's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.0
"New life, here I come!"
"I'll hold your hand through scary things any day"
- Sami is a little shallow and self absorbed with social media... that's #annoying, as he would say (at least he gets better) 😂
- Juha and Maiju, what a chaotic duo
- um, yes? I ship it! They're also great parents!
- oh I love this! Smiles all round
- when Juha said "I'm a potato. I don't know how to talk about feelings" I FELT THAT!
- I'm a little sad it's homophobia in the small community that pushes Juha away from his home and join Sami in Helsinki
- love the little extras and getting to know the artist and learn bits about Finland and the webtoon!
- the rainbows look great in the black and white colour scheme
- I love the Pride episodes and Juha finding more inclusivity in Helsinki, not so rigid/stiff in their ways as the smaller community, eye opening to him to see so much normalised diversity
- I hope things settle for Juha, Sami's back in his element but kinda leave Juha behind
- ah yes, parental Karens. Maiju is an absolute #hashtag gem
- oh man I hate when things get difficult, but it's a reality that breaks the heart warming face of the story. No more honey moon period.
- I really like Malik
- "I love you my sweet potato" H-P HOW DARE YOU AHBRJWJQ
- Markus getting the whole village together to support Juha against the homophobic cafe owner, aww maaan!
- Maiju is a force to be reckoned with and she's great. 10/10 would adopt her
- I was not prepared for them all growing up but it made me HAPPY
- light hearted, fun and meaningful. Really enjoyed this!
"I'll hold your hand through scary things any day"
- Sami is a little shallow and self absorbed with social media... that's #annoying, as he would say (at least he gets better) 😂
- Juha and Maiju, what a chaotic duo
- um, yes? I ship it! They're also great parents!
- oh I love this! Smiles all round
- when Juha said "I'm a potato. I don't know how to talk about feelings" I FELT THAT!
- I'm a little sad it's homophobia in the small community that pushes Juha away from his home and join Sami in Helsinki
- love the little extras and getting to know the artist and learn bits about Finland and the webtoon!
- the rainbows look great in the black and white colour scheme
- I love the Pride episodes and Juha finding more inclusivity in Helsinki, not so rigid/stiff in their ways as the smaller community, eye opening to him to see so much normalised diversity
- I hope things settle for Juha, Sami's back in his element but kinda leave Juha behind
- ah yes, parental Karens. Maiju is an absolute #hashtag gem
- oh man I hate when things get difficult, but it's a reality that breaks the heart warming face of the story. No more honey moon period.
- I really like Malik
- "I love you my sweet potato" H-P HOW DARE YOU AHBRJWJQ
- Markus getting the whole village together to support Juha against the homophobic cafe owner, aww maaan!
- Maiju is a force to be reckoned with and she's great. 10/10 would adopt her
- I was not prepared for them all growing up but it made me HAPPY
- light hearted, fun and meaningful. Really enjoyed this!