charles_rowland's reviews
277 reviews

Castle Swimmer, Volume 1 by Wendy Martin

adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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

5.0

i received an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review


castle swimmer was my favorite webtoon in high school, 6ish years ago now, and when i saw its becoming a physical book (releasing on my birthday, at that) i was SO excited. i adore this story, the characters, the plot, and the author does an incredible job of explaining the plot and what’s happening while not having paragraphs of description. rereading it felt like visiting an old friend and id forgotten how wonderful this story is. i can not recommend it enough :) 

Manly Appetites: Minegishi Loves Otsu Vol. 3 by Mito

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

so cute

Manly Appetites: Minegishi Loves Otsu, Vol. 2 by Mito

funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

really enjoying this series!!! super excited for the last one 

Manly Appetites: Minegishi Loves Otsu, Vol. 1 by Mito

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i’ve been procrastinating this manga bc of my own ed stuff but i love it

Links by Natsuki Kizu

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

very enjoyable. had some trouble telling who each chara was but that’s mainly a me problem not the artist’s 

Bl First Crush Anthology: Five Seconds Before We Fall in Love by Kaori Tsurutani

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

i loved this but why were there a story about a dude and his KID COUSIN. what the fuck is up w that

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest

Voyage of the Damned by Frances White

adventurous funny 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

4.75

i LOVED this book. taking notes on what would come next is one of my favorite things with mysteries and this book was PERFECT for that. i had so much fun reading it and truly enjoyed it so much. reading through dee’s pov and learning and growing with him was incredible.

the only reason for 0.25 of a star off is i felt it difficult to connect w ravi as it didn’t feel like we had been following with him for most of the book, even if i know we had. it honestly could be a me thing but i def struggled to refocus on ravi and dee and not wyatt and dee.

overall this book was a BLASY and so so much fun, not to mention the incredible rep 

i received an ARC for free in exchange for an honest review 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Self harm

Suzume by Makoto Shinkai

adventurous emotional funny inspiring sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

i’m a huge makoto shinkai fan and absolutely loved the movie ‘suzume.’ i saw it in theaters 3 times and can easily say the manga definitely lives up to it. i love the softer more expressive art style that is used for the manga vs the movie, and seeing how the art was able to be more expressive and fluid because of it being a manga and not a movie was really rewarding

Puppy Love by Tsuchida Haru

funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

im gonna be super honest, i was super skeptical. i was worried abt age gap, the fact the dude was a dog, etc etc but it all worked out for a very cute story. one of my favorite manga ive read

Number Call by Nagisa Furuya

medium-paced

4.0

this is one of my favorite plots in a manga ive read, but the pacing was really off :(