School Library Journal review - part of Spring 2025 Fiction Made Simple, "8 Manga Fiction Series with Emotion, Drama, and All the Feels"
Sara's Rating: 8/10 Suitability Level: Grades 10-12 Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1*, vol 2*, vol 3 Publisher: Kodansha Publication Date: January 14, 2025 ISBN: 9781646092802 (Paperback) Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: High School, Manga, Romance, LGBTQ+, School Life, Friendship, Square Enix
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Booklist review
Sara's Rating: 8/10 Suitability Level: Grades 10-12 Publisher: Square Enix Publication Date: November 19, 2024 ISBN: 9781646093113 (Paperback) Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: High School, Manga, Art, Action Adventure, Humor, Magic, Square Enix 
In continuing to figure out their feelings and sort through their gender discovery, Hinase and best friend Shiori have a bit of a falling out after Shiori feels at fault for Hinase getting injured. Shiori decides to take a backseat and let other best friend Rita take lead, even if that means sacrificing his own feelings and having the end result of Hinase ultimately becoming male. Hinase and Ritsu walk home after Ritsu’s tennis practice, but holding Ritsu’s hand makes Hinase sweat and fill with dread just as much as holding Shiori’s hand. Hinase cannot deal with all of the chemical cocktail of anxiety and attraction welling up inside them!
Illustrated by PIG3rd and Teddy
Booklist review Sara's Rating: 8/10 Suitability Level: Grades 9-12 Publisher: Square Enix Publication Date: April 8, 2025 ISBN: 9781646093618 (Paperback) Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: High School, Manga, Demons, Magic, Square Enix 
Wakana Kinme can’t remember anything about her life previous to two years ago, except how to wash clothes. She runs a local specialty cleaning service that does wet cleaning, stain removal, polishing of leather, and more. Kinme even offers to pick up or drop off items, which is a popular service for her aging clients given the hilly community in which they live. After a long day of work, nothing hits the spot more than a dip in the hot bath or a hot spring, something her small town is known for.
Yuru and his daemon pair have confronted the Kagemori clan in the hopes of getting some answers about the attack on his village and what’s going on with his twin sister, Asa. After a fight that more or less ends in a stalemate, Yuru agrees to come back to the Kagemori compound even though it might be a trap. No sooner do they arrive than strange daemons begin to attack everyone and attempt to capture both Yuru and Asa! But these daemons don't belong to the Kagemori clan, so Yuru and the Kagemoris team up to try to protect everyone from these interfering forces.
High schooler Amane lives alone in a small apartment and clearly has no life skills - he eats convenience store food or take out, rarely cleans his apartment, and seems perfectly fine mixing his clean and dirty laundry around his home. He also happens to live next door to Shiina, the class “Angel” who is perfect — she’s beautiful, poised, and put together. The two are in completely different leagues, and Amane wouldn’t dare to approach her even if they are neighbors. When he sees her sitting on a swing in the rain one day, he can’t help but intervene, causing an odd-couple friendship that brings Shiina into his messy life in the form of dinner leftovers, apartment cleaning, and inspiration to get his act together.
Fuyutsuki is an office worker whose coworker, Himuro, is descendant from a frost spirit, so every day is a new adventure. Himuro has a tendency to freeze over if he gets nervous, and his emotions can impact the temperature and weather conditions inside the office as well. For her part, Fuyutsuki does her best to help Himuro experience life to the fullest even when his chilly nature may get in the way. Fuyutsuki’s thoughtful nature causes Himuro to catch feelings for his coworker, but Fuyutsuki isn’t sure how to feel about her supernatural companion.
Ills by Kaki Nagato
Booklist review Sara's Rating: 9/10 Suitability Level: Grades 7-12 Publisher: Square Enix Publication Date: November 26, 2024 ISBN: 9781646093083 (Paperback) Tags: Rating: 9/10, Suitability: Middle School, Suitability: High School, Manga, Romance, Humor, Action Adventure, Square Enix 
Illustrated by Nekokurage
After buying Jinshi buys her contract, Mao Mao finds herself employed as one of his personal maids in the outer court. She has to steer clear of the East Wing where the soldiers are barracked, but otherwise can come and go on his errands and try to find medicinal herbs around the grounds, a difficult task during the winter months. Being close on hand to Sir Jinshi means plenty of mysteries come her way, like an explosion in a food storeroom, a case of potential food poisoning that has her unnaturally interested, and a strangely written will that has three brothers on edge after the death of their skilled tradesmen father. |
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