I can.

Look, if you, like me, dislike romances that BEGIN with consent issues, this is going to, at BEST, toe the line for you. The Lonely Girl, Honda, says that she’ll only go to school if Sakurai agrees to do any one thing she wants every day. Sakurai desperately wants a recommendation letter from her teacher, the one who asked her to bring Honda back to school, so Sakurai accepts the deal.

The requests don’t go into a horror zone, no, but reimagining this situation with a guy making demands of the girl makes the whole idea icky. First, a kiss. A walk home. Staying the night at Honda’s place (no parents present). And several further kisses. Until Sakurai is (ugh) starting to fall for Honda.

It’s not all pure and cute and uwu just because it’s two girls.

I’m grateful to the publisher for giving me an ARC of this to review, but I can’t see myself continuing. I wouldn’t steer people AWAY from this, if they’re okay with the concept–which is explained just fine in the book blurb, so you’re not getting blindsided–but it’s not going to come to mind for a girls’ love series.

This was a genuinely sweet lesbian romance that originally starts as a blackmail situation to get a student to keep coming to school and our main starts figuring out “oh shit maybe I’m a lesbian”.

I struggled to get into this story, though. The dynamic in GL manga often has the same trope/vibe as this story, with one girl being gay and pushing an essentially straight girl to be interested. It feels really predatory, and I wish authors/publishers wouldn't lean so into romanticizing that kind of thing.

As a lesbian myself, I already struggle with the insecurity of being predatory. This is exactly it — this is why.

2.75 stars - There were certainly some odd things about this manga, like a teacher who hangs out in bushes and broom closets only to blackmail one of her students into getting another student to come to school in exchange for a letter to any school of her choosing. Then, the main female character is asked to comply with a request everyday, with the first one being a kiss. It just felt forced.

The illustrations were cute and I liked the cover, but the overall story was a bit lacking for me. I'm not sure if I will continue on...

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest opinion/review.

One of the first manga I read. After reading a few more yuri manga, consent seems to be overlooked often and I think that trope was present here as well.

A high school romance yuri with a cute art style that follows its predecessors in it's dubious consent, opposites attract trope, and good girl/bad girl dynamic. If you're looking for a simple GL story to escape into, this may be the book for you; however, outside of that demographic this book likely won't be your cup of tea. The characters and story are quite flat and the story is not memorable.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 2 ⭐️

All I liked about this was the art style, unfortunately. I couldn't get past the coercion, blackmailing and lack of consent. I did not like that at all. There are many ways to tell a fun, cute and romantic story and this isn't it. The story also felt very rushed. I'm disappointed and had higher expectations. I will not be picking up following volumes.

A straightforward enough manga where two school girls are kind of obsessed with one another. They're curious and also not-so-subtly horny, and the dialogue is funny and the art is well-drawn! A quick, easy, fun read.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Kodansha Comics and the author for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I Can't Say No to the Lonely Girl 1 follows the story of Sakurai who gets bribed into taking care of a classmate Honda who has been late to join the classes in exchange for a referral to her favorite university. Honda accepts to come to classes and do everything Sakurai wants her to do on the condition that she gets one demand everyday from Sakurai. This leads to a arrangement of convenience and small kisses to start with.

I will look forward to reading the next volumes

This was fun, but there is dub-con/blackmail so consider yourself warned. Other than that, it's very cute and sweet and I loved the characters, secondary ones included.

There isn't something new or special about this manga so far (maybe it will surprise me in the following volumes), but sometimes it's more important how a story makes you feel and this gave all sort of warm and fuzzy feelings. It's a sweet fluffy read.

Interesting book. Started off a little strange and creepy, but the art is beautiful and the story definitely gets better. Would be willing to continue the series.

Sakurai is the class prefect and concerned about her studies and her grades. When her teacher challenges her to help a struggling student called Honda she rises to the challenge not realising that Honda will actually challenge and attract her. This was ok. It is a budding romance story with good artwork. It will be interesting to see how this story develops.

2.75/5

I usually love GL manga. I think this fell a little flat. I am interested to see where it goes.

The beginning of the book wasn’t amazing to me, but I could see the relationship by the end.

The class president is bad at tests so the one teacher says they will write an amazing recommendation for them to the school of their choice if they can get Honda to come to school.

Most of the book is light-hearted and fun but Honda says I will go to school for a kiss and the class president Sakurai is too stunned to speak. They do kiss but it the premise of having to do a favor a day for Honda to come to school is odd. I do think they develop a good friendship/relationship as the book progresses, but it started in a weird place.

I would like to see where the story goes but the first book was not my favorite to read, hopefully it’s one of those once you get past the first book it becomes amazing.

I can't say that I was totally convinced by this story. Their relationship could have been cute if there was full consent. However, a big part of the story is just Honda holding power over Sakurai... I'm not against the bribery trope but in this story, the scheme was not convincing and appealing. I couldn't really get attached to either of them. It was a nice read but that's all.

I don't really know how to review it...
First, I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read a digital arc in exchange for an honest review. It was a lighthearted book, the characters are pretty good, but it felt flat to me. Also, felt weird.
Maybe 2.5/5.

This is my first time reading a GL manga and I enjoyed it. We follow Ayaka Sakurai a student known to be an excellent student. One of her teachers offers a recommendation letter if she could convince Sora Honda to attend school. I felt bad for Ayaka since everyone around her has high expectations of her.

There was two thing I didn't like. One is that Honda kissed Sakurai without her consent. The 2nd one is that Honda used an apportotunity to get Sakurai to do as she requested. I can't say more or I'll spoil it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for putting an arc available in change of an honest review.

I had a major issue with this manga and is that I would really like for these types of stories to have some normal plots, not “jokingly” treat some important issues as “feeling complied to do something” as if it was funny and quirky. It’s not. Younger me would have liked this very much because the characters, if given a better less problematic plot, they are so cute together. However nowadays, I could not say the same. I will no be continuing the manga, but if you don’t mind the plot this could work for the rest of you!!

I Can't Say No to the Lonely Girl is an adorable yuri romance story. The story does have a rough start, however I understand that this is just the first volume of this series and first volumes are always rough since they have to establish the characters and the setting. I cannot wait to see what happens next!

Rough start, but I'm interested to see where it goes. As it usually happens with yuri/manga it's too early to objectively judge the story or the characters, but I enjoyed it.

This book!!! Its joyous energy sets it apart, making it a standout read. From start to finish, the fun-filled narrative keeps you hooked, delivering an experience that's both entertaining and memorable. Excited to read more by this artist.