Reviews
BL Library | February 2024 Haul
Manga Review | A Dominating Prince and His Naughty Habits by Owal
Top Prince Allows a Peasant to Top Him
Manhwa Review | The Words In Your Snare by Chepali
Title: The Words In Your Snare
Jooin is just trying to enjoy his life. He’s running a little cafe in the middle of the country, enjoying spending time with the locals. But more than anything, he enjoys the words, and that doesn’t mean conversation. One of the main reasons Jooin enjoys the conversation so much is because he can read minds. His ability is limited to physical words that spawn off people and linger around where they hang out. In the city, Jooin was often bombarded with negative and positive thoughts. In the rural areas, Jooin sees more positive words than any other kind, and there are fewer, making his life much more peaceful.
However, that peace is disrupted when a strange bag of coffee beans appears at his cafe. Not long after, a group of police officers and a handsome man in a suit come looking for that bag of coffee. It’s an odd scenario for a random bag of coffee, but nothing is stranger than the man who, for whatever reason, doesn’t give off any words at all. Jooin has never encountered anyone whose thoughts he couldn’t see, but no matter how much he looks, he can’t see any of his thoughts. Things only get stranger as the man returns time and time again, lingering around Jooin for a reason he can’t even fathom. The man then makes a request, one that Jooin has no intention of complying with.
This stranger, Mookya, wants to date Jooin.
Thankfully, Mookya works hours away in the city, so Jooin plans to let their odd relationship fade away. But then a young man with a knife drops by, looking for drugs. Jooin can only assume that the random bag of coffee beans was actually a bag of drugs, and after subduing the young man, Jooin has no choice but to go back to the city. He ends up right back where he started, working alongside the police to read possible criminal’s minds. Unlike before, though, Mookya is there, too. As Jooin spends more and more time in the city, with the gangster Mookya wooing him, Jooin feels himself softening up to the mystery man, but love can’t cover up the dark feelings and thoughts lurking around the city Jooin has left behind.
Manga Review | I’m a Pop Star, Now Expose Me! by Hokke Shima
Title: I'm a Pop Star, Now Expose Me!
Yukinari Miyata is a photographer for a tabloid. He spends most days staking out hotels, looking for celebrities so he can report on their personal and intimate lives. This wasn’t the life he expected to have, as his dream was always to report on sports. But the tabloids are always busy, and getting a job in that department was much easier than any other. With the promise of the chance to transfer if he gets a big scoop, Yukinari swallows his pride and stalks celebrities.
It’s another night of no new scoops when he sees the popular idol Subaru Nagare, known as “The White Prince” because of his impeccable reputation, with a woman, another celebrity, on his arm. Seeing this as his chance, Yukinari panics and pulls out his phone, inadvertently alerting the couple to his presence due to the shutter sound. Subaru approaches, telling him to delete the picture, but just as Yukinari tries to devise a way to keep his evidence, Subaru exclaims, “Hey, I know you!” As it turns out, Subaru’s real name is Kota Adachi, and he went to school with Yukinari.
Yukinari has no memory of Kota but goes along with it. Unfortunately, Kota does get to delete the image during their interaction, much to Yukinari’s chagrin. But not all is lost. After grabbing a drink with Kota to catch up, Yukinari and Kota end up at a hotel together, and the two have sex. In the midst of it all, Kota tells Yukinari to film him, giving Yukinari the scoop of a lifetime on a silver platter. But when all is said and done, Yukinari isn’t sure he should expose Kota. Is Yukinari’s dream worth destroying the life of someone else?
Manhwa Review | Bye Bye by SORIM
Title: Bye Bye
Seoyu is standing on the edge of a bridge. This bridge was where his happy life ended years before, when he survived a plunge in the river below, while his parents and brother did not. Ever since, he’s lived with survivor’s guilt, doing the bare minimum to get through day after day. Now that he’s the same age his brother was when he died, Seoyu sees no point in continuing on in life. Just as he’s about to climb over the guardrail, a car comes flying up, crashing into it.
Seoyu rushes over to help the driver, only to find a perfectly fine young man. As it turns out, he wasn’t supposed to drive the car yet. Fearing his brother’s reaction, he begs Seoyu to help him lie and get out of any trouble in exchange for a nice chunk of change. Though only a few moments before, Seoyu was ready to move on from life. But his determination has waned, and he’s agreed to meet the young man’s brother. Seoyu doesn’t expect to meet a very dominant alpha, and a hot one at that.
There’s no way this guy would ever be attracted to a recessive omega like him, but that doesn’t stop Seoyu from imagining it. How surprising it is when those dreams come true, and he is actively pursued by the hot alpha Sunghoon Choi. But is he deserving of such love from someone like Sunghoon?
Manga Review | My Pudgy Co-worker Is a Snack by Haikin
Title: My Pudgy Co-worker Is a Snack
Fukuyama is an office worker. He’s well-integrated into his office and well-liked by pretty much everyone. However, one coworker that Fukuyama doesn’t necessarily perfectly work with is Takahashi. Takahashi is a bit of an enigma, aloof and standoffish, entirely counter to the kind of person Fukuyama is. After hearing Takahashi harshly correct a subordinate, Fukuyama inadvertently speaks his mind, sharing his recommendations on how Takahashi could be a better superior. Expecting his opinions to be taken poorly, Fukuyama is shocked when Takahashi takes it in stride – surprised but not upset.
Fukuyama never expected this side of Takahashi, and he finds it very cute, but now he wants nothing more than to see more sides of the reserved Takahashi. He finally gets his chance while drinking with him and another coworker. As it turns out, Takahashi is a lightweight, and by the time they’re ready to leave, it’s too late to catch a train. So the two head to a love hotel. Fukuyama has every intention of just going to sleep, but then Takahashi makes a demand:
Make love to me.