I loved this manga about one man’s journey to finding true connection. It was a sweet BL story that showed how you can find out so much about yourself no matter your age, if you stay open to it

This manga is a sweet adult slice of life romance. Learning what love is and seeing how there are many types of love was wonderful to see in this single volume. The author also had a sweet note in the back to help explain how she put this story together. Great for any public library and college collection.

Picked this up from NetGalley because of the wonderful cover and title, and intriguing summary.

The art is very cute, and the story is nice, if a bit wonky at times. I think part of that is down to the at times awkward English translation. There's even a typo on one of the early pages. The awkwardness makes the dialogue stilted in places. Certain ideas also aren't developed the best (e.g., <spoiler>the protagonist's worry about two men being seen as a couple</spoiler>), but I wonder if part of that is again down to the awkward translation.

It also feels a little rushed, with <spoiler>the protagonist's fear of being left behind feeling a bit out of the blue. In "I Didn't Mean To Fall In Love" by Minta Suzumaru, which starts with the protagonist turning 30, there's a lot of focus on aging, time passing, and feeling like a clock is running out, as well as the protagonist comparing himself to people who are younger (namely, his love interest). In this, though, the protagonist gets to his birthday at the climax of the story, and it feels like the fear of being left behind due to age is just... suddenly there. I love the idea, it's one of the reasons Suzumaru's graphic novel is one of my favorites, and a big reason TEI's manhua appealed to me. There's a lot of fear once you're past your 20s that your time as a romantic prospect or at least to find a partner are over, and tackling that fear and how adults in their 30s in particular handle that space is a really good one. But it feels really underdeveloped here, so it's kind of a letdown.

I don't think it helps that there's a bit of weirdness with the bisexuality plotline and maybe, perhaps unintentionally, asexuality. There's a weirdness at times in boys love with handling bisexuality, with authors sometimes attempting to tackle biphobia, though it can be difficult to tell if the work in question is a critique of biphobia or kind of embracing it. "The Liar Beside Me" by Shina Suzuka had this issue, where bisexual men are considered to be faking it for the easier life of being with a woman when they please, abandoning male lovers as needed, until they admit they really want to be with men and were maybe just gay all along. The protagonist of Confessions, Jason, for some reason feels obligated to men who have confessed to him until he is "left" before he's even said yes to them, which is weirdly parasitic. He does however note that it is more "sensible" to be with a woman. This seems to be tackling the reality of passing as straight being just easier mentally and on the whole than dealing with homophobia on the day-to-day when appearing publicly queer. But it also squishes in a bit of "bi men are just faking it until they find a woman" or something. It's hard to tell. Decisions about partners aren't only going to ever be one thing, so the complexity feels realistic, but it's also confusing to read. The story does conclude with that very nice explanation by Frank (which is still confusing to read), which is reassuring, and at no point are we shown that Frank is just faking it until he found the right woman, but it again harkens back to: Jason's insecurity that bi (or potentially bi) men are going to abandon him before he's even in a relationship with them. It's odd.

The bisexuality plotline is overt, but there's also a heavy undercurrent that Jason is asexual, in his repeated remarks that he isn't looking for physicality in a relationship. Perhaps due to the translation, it's unclear if this in the sense that he's not using apps to pick up women for one-night stands, friends-with-benefits relationships, or generally flings, or if he genuinely isn't interested in physicality at all. It's a neat choice to have an asexual protagonist - even perhaps an unaware one - in a boys love manhua, since that's even more rare in my experience than older m/m couples (e.g., Scarlet Beriko's "Jealousy" series is wonderful in the way it handles a much older m/m couple, and "Monster and the Beast" by Renji is another story with an older male partner, though it might be that older m/m is a lot rarer in manhua than it is in manga, and the only kind of asexual m/m manga I can recall is "Twittering Birds Never Fly" by Kou Yoneda, which isn't precisely that). It's just handled a bit awkwardly. I'm also unfortunately curious if censorship had any hand in why the comic veers into the "I'm not in this for sex" angle more than wanting to tell a story about someone who may not even know they're ace. But I do like to think this might just be about a character who's ace, doesn't realize it, and is navigating a bunch of feelings he hasn't had to deal with for a good chunk of his life, and it's interesting in that respect. I also like the way it handles alternate forms of intimacy, including couples sharing chores, being communicative, and simply looking after each other outside of sex and kisses</spoiler>.

The office workplace stuff was neat, and I do like the way it touches on superiors needing to look out for their juniors. There's a nice pushback against corporate hierarchies and how workplace abuse causes harm.

All in all, it's a neat little manhua that tackles a lot of topics to varying degrees of success, with two nice leads. Well worth the time if you have a little to spare. If you liked it or perhaps want something that handles the topics here better, try, "I Didn't Mean to Fall in Love" by Minta Suzumaru. "His Quiet Agent" by Ada Maria Soto also handles workplace romance with asexual characters very well.

It was ok. Kinda a little disappointing. The characters were just so so. The story was just ok and I was hoping for more.

3.5 stars rounded up

Confessions of a 35 year old follows 2 office workers who become roommates for convenience (money and location) and their blooming relationship. As a one volume piece, I overall liked the graphic novel as Jason learns more about himself and overcomes his insecurities with Frank's support. I wish there was an epilogue chapter, but the ending was satisfactory for me.

This was a charming BL manga about a 35 year old figuring out his life and sexuality as he welcomes his coworker into his home. It was cute seeing the two open up to each other and I appreciated the talk about identity, sexuality, adulthood, and work life balance. The romance was cute and the artwork was nicely done. Overall, this was a quick and sweet read.

Thanks NetGalley for my arc!

Simple but enjoyable. As a pretty constant BL reader, it's always refreshing to see some older male leads.

I thought this was quite the cute read and the formatting was easy to follow. It did take some time for me to get into this and right when it was going well, it was the end. Definitely needed a bit more and it would have been a solid four star for me, I’ll keep a lookout for this author’s backlist.

This is a more mature BL manga which I did appreciate, but other than that, there was nothing that really stood out for me.

Disjointed at times, I didn't know if I have missed something or panels were missing. I would flip between pages to try and make sense of it.

It was nice to see some bisexual rep here and even some discussion about that.

The romance was nice and easy to root for. They really managed to balance each other out in a nice way which did save this some. It's one that with a little more editing and length I think it could have been a really nice manga.

This was a sweet BL manga about a male who grew up believing that he couldn’t be loved by anyone let alone a man. Some parts did feel rushed and the connection between the two male MC’s felt a little forced at times, but was still a sweet quick read.

A fun manga relatable to this grumpy millennial.

As Jason finds love out of reach, a new coworker in his office may just surprise him. As he and Frank get to know each other, including actual attempts at communication, they may just surprise each other at how easily love finds them.

I enjoyed reading this and thought the characters were rather relatable and sweet together. The manga reads well and the story progresses at a steady pace.

This was a very sweet graphic novel that centered on coming to terms with sexuality in adulthood and work/life balance. As someone in my early thirties, it really made me feel seen that not all people process sexuality and romance at the same pace as everyone else.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review!

I flew through this one! This was a warm and cozy boy love one shot! I loved it! It somehow captured so many of life’s feelings all in one short volume.

This was just a short, sweet glimpse into the life of an office-worker who is still figuring out his sexuality, even though he's 35, and the new guy at work who patiently waits for him to decide how he feels. The art is lovely and the story is nicely-paced. It's very G-rated. Just a nice, pleasant, heartwarming short story. I wish it were available in paperback and not just e-book.

I didn't realize before reading that this is a Taiwanese manhua, not a Japanese manga. I know from watching Asian TV shows that in Taiwan it's common for people to have English-style nicknames, but some people might not know that Shuhui goes by Lisa, for example, and even I am not sure why that's the case, I just know vaguely that it is a thing... Manga often have translation and culture notes at the end of the book to explain things like that, so I wish that had been the case with this standalone. I did see a couple typos/grammar mistakes but nothing major. I really loved this story and would love to read more graphic novels by this author. Unfortunately, Amazon seems to have them mixed up with another TEI and all kinds of random books come up with you search their name. Anyway, highly recommend if you'd be interested in a cozy little romantic self-discovery LGBT title.

This was a quick smooth read. Nothing about it was particularly standout but it was a sweet story about an older man who has given up on finding someone to love. It's a story of coming out of your shell to take risks. It about is choosing happiness.

Thank god there's finally a gay/queer men manga that doesn't fall into all the fetishy tropes. It feels like a genuine non-hypersexualized love story between men. Good stuff!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this earc in exchange for review!

35 year old Jason has spent the majority of his adult life wondering if something was wrong with him. As he approaches his 36th birthday, he finds his mind wandering back to the time in college when he was confessed to- by another man! He wonders if he made the wrong decision in panic back then, and finds himself stalking his old friend on social media, confused by the fact he is now married to a woman. As Jason drowns himself in his work life, and dodges a mother that keeps trying to set him up, he finds himself becoming roommates with his new 28 year old coworker, Frank. Frank is an introvert to the max, but as the two spend more time together- the story leads up to a confession that no one really saw coming. As Jason struggles with his identity and sexuality, maybe Frank ends up a bigger part of his life than he realizes.

Overall this was a cute story! I enjoyed the pace of the novel, and it avoided the normal BL tropes that frustrate me in a romance. This was fluffy, realistic, and wholesome. 4/5 stars.

Just when it was getting good it ended 😞
I feel like this could easily be expanded on and become amazing!

Confessions of a 35 Year Old is a straightforward romance. It was cute, but often felt a little disjointed. I am not sure if I missed something, but it took a bit for me to figure out who was who and the context of the story. Overall, it was a pleasant read and I would recommend it as a book to check out if you like the sound of the plot.

A very cute slice-of-life one-shot fluffy romance!

Jason is 35 years old and seems to be going through a bit of a mid-life crisis in regards to his love life. The way he expresses his feeligns and thoughts as he discovers who he is is so sweet and realistic. He expresses so many thoughts and feelings that I feel most readers can connect with! An all around great story!!