My new obsession!
Nagi is a masc afab struggling with their sexuality
She has a bodily rejection to male touch but isnt 100% into girls
She meets an androgynous male model, Aran, who models as both masc and fem
They enter a contractional relationship to figure how to help Nagi's love life
Perfect mix of Pretty Woman meets Devil Wears Prada, it did remind me alittle of Misao and Kyo from Black Bird but with more communication
This was a healthy romance of self discovery, acceptance and happiness!
I cant wait for vol 2 and im gonna need a whole series

This first volume felt a little confusing to me in terms of vibe, as it’s intended for adults but reads more like YA at times. The art is pretty and reminds me of the style of manga I would read in high school, so maybe that’s impacting my impression as well. I enjoyed the fashion aspect of the plot, with outfit reveals and attention to detail in the illustrations. The premise didn’t end up hooking me as much as I had hoped, but fingers crossed that further volumes will play up more of the gender fluidity of both characters and go a little more in depth. The ending did take a turn with a much more jealous/controlling vibe and if that continues I don’t think this series is for me after all.

Nagi wants love and romance, but every time she touches a man, she gets goosebumps and freaks out. She knows exactly why and it has something to do with a past incident. When Nagi has the chance to meet her favorite model, Aran, she's surprised to find that the Aran she knows as a she, is actually very male. Aran though is very gender fluid (although for the book he's mostly male presenting). Nagi, who dresses simply and more boyishly, is surprised and Aran wants her to model with him. In exchange, she asks for him to be her temporary boyfriend so she can experience what a relationship is supposed to be. What begins as an arrangement looks like something more and a journey of self discover for Nagi.

This title hits all the right notes for fake romance. Aran is a surprisingly understanding partner. He doesn't push her physically and always respects her boundaries (despite teasing her relentlessly). Nagi's discovery of femininity while keeping what makes her, well, her, is deftly handled by the author. Aran is a great support to Nagi, although readers will think he's a little too overbearing at the end (granted, without volume 2, it's hard to tell exactly what's happening). The discussion of gender is well done. Not all men have to be masculine. Not all women have to be feminine. Aran shows her a different way of seeing what she already sees. A solid josei manga for adult readers and adult manga/comic collections. (Although I think this is only in eBook?)

Okay, LISTEN...

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this! It's so cute. I love Aran and Nagi together and I'm curious to see how they grow and learn more about themselves. I like that Nagi is comfortable telling Aran when she doesn't like something, and Aran actually listens to her and stops.

The only thing that was throwing me off was the fact that her name is Nagi and my favorite character from Blue Lock is Nagi. So my brain had to adjust to that. But that was a ME problem.

Thank you to Kodansha for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

I applaud the publisher for trying to give this a shorter title in English, but I don't love it. The original Japanese title almost qualifies as a light novel title/plot description. While the main characters are working adults, the plot and the way it's executed presents it more as an escapist fantasy at best, or a cheap thrill for teenage readers. The art is definitely pretty enough and I have a soft spot for androgynous character design, so sign me up for the next volume.

The story if very fasted pace and jumps right in. The fashion in this is very interesting. I want to see more of each character getting enhanced by the clothes they wear. I'm curious to see how they will further the plot outside of fashion.

This new Josei series is one that I really am enjoying so far! This first volume gave me everything I wanted from it, and more. The trope of getting used to the opposite gender by fake dating is my cat nip, so this one was already on my radar. Great characters and fantastic art too?? It left me wanting more, and the art is also fantastic! Help me get this gem out of digital jail please!!!

✨𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐈𝐓:
That Beauty Is A Tramp tells the story of Nagi, who is haunted by a past trauma involving a male friend who tried to touch her while drunk. Because of this, she trembles whenever a man touches or holds her, even accidentally. Nagi wants to date like anyone else, but she can't move past her trauma. Then, Aran-chan enters her life. When he touches her chin, her body doesn't react. Seizing the moment, Nagi asks Aran to be her temporary boyfriend for a month.

OMG!!! I never thought I’d get into this kind of genre. I usually go for slow-burn romances, but now I find myself enjoying fast-paced romance too, depending on the plot and how it keeps me hooked. I can’t get enough of Aran-chan and Nagi. They are so adorable together! Their chemistry is amazing as they get to know each other. How will Nagi handle her feelings? Holy guacamole! And to make things even more intense, Aran decides to move in with Nagi. Ughhh. I can’t wait to read the second volume already.

Overall, I highly recommend this to anyone over 18 because it’s a bit spicy. If you love romance, this is definitely worth your time!

✨𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄:
📌 TOMBOYISH FEMALE X ANDROGYNOUS MALE
📌 FAST-PACED ROMANCE
📌 FAKE DATING RELATIONSHIP
📌 HOT/CHARMING/FLIRTATIOUS MALE PROTAGONIST
📌 PRETTY/CHARMING/CUTE FEMALE PROTAGONIST
📌 A MODERATE AMOUNT OF SPICY

🖥️ GOODREADS REVIEW: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6732581940

💻 BLOG REVIEW: https://kimthebookdragon.wordpress.com/2024/08/06/arc-review-that-beauty-is-a-tramp-volume-1-by-hal-osaka/

The art style was beautiful, loved everything about that. The story itself was just weird. I'm not a huge fan of insta-love and the ending just gave me a huge ick. Too possessive, too controlling, too pushy. I'm sure there's an audience for this - It just wasn't for me.

Appearances first - the art is beautiful, especially the colored pages. Totally gorgeous.

I liked this story a lot, I think it's a relatable storyline even if the way it plays out is less conventional. Having a bad experience with anything, not just a relationship can totally put you off of something. So for our FMC, she has a bad experience with a guy, and while she loves the idea of being in a relationship actually being in one is very different. Enter our MMC. I liked him a lot, his personality is very much the type of guy I like in a book or manga. I love the dynamic they have going - their relationship wasn't what either of them were expecting - but I find that most of the time we get what we need not necessarily what we think we want. This reading experience felt very sensual and sexy, without being overtly smutty if that made sense, but it isn't really romantic either. It was like the perfect balance of tension for both the reader and the characters in the story. Will definitely be reading more of this series as it comes out.

Thanks to #NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for an e-copy of #ThatBeautyIsaTramp to read and review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for giving me this eArc to review.

This manga had such a good premise but I feel like it was executed so poorly. Feelings and actions happened too quickly and if everything was explored more it would have felt more natural and less rushed.

The art and the fashion within the book was great and there were a few moments between the two characters that was nice but overall it felt generic (sort of) shy girl with no self worth and a guy who gets far too possessive far too quick.

3.5
This story was pretty cute, but it's very surface-level to me. I do enjoy the fact that the male lead is androgynous, I feel like I haven't seen a romance with an androgynous male lead before. The main plot trope is "Fake Dating" but it's more of "Fake Dating that's actually Exposure Therapy". It's always a fun concept. Also, this story has several moments that get way more spicy than I thought they would be. For a split second, I thought I'd accidentally started reading a H-manga. I did enjoy this story, so I will be seeking out more volumes if I can.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

So thankful I had the opportunity to read this manga, but ultimately wasn't a good fit for me.

I had a hard time connecting with either characters and wish we had just a couple of more pages building up the FMC's back story and building up the request from the MMC. I didn't feel like either of the characters had much chemistry together and felt like the characters weren't robust. I think there's a large audience that would enjoy this book, but I couldn't get into it.

A big thank you for allowing me to read this one... sadly we didn't click.
I loved the idea of her having a reflex when it came to men due to a bad experience... but at least make it more believable. Not when the first hot guy arrives (who she thought was a girl for most of the time until his debut here) and touches her and then nothing happens and then later even less happens. And even if you remove the bad experience it didn't seem to take her that long to not be bothered that much as this was not just instalove but also instalust. She wanted more of him. Was already thinking of things to do with him. Didn't want him to stop. It just didn't make sense. Not to mention the pacing also felt off and scenarios were strange. Why would he want her, a total stranger, to do all sorts of sexy photographs with him without even telling her what is happening? How did anyone think he was a girl? Maybe his head, but otherwise, not really. XD
The art was pretty though. But that is not something that makes me keep reading if the story sucks.

The cover of this manga is what drew me to it, knowing nothing about the plot, so I was definitely a little confused going into it. I liked how it started but then things got a little rushed. We don’t know what the protagonist’s job is nor why Aran picked her, it all feels very surface level.

The art style was gorgeous and I liked a few of the later plot developments such as him moving in with her but I definitely feel like we skipped lots of chapters where the author could have spent time developing the characters as a whole as well as the plot and skipped straight to fake dating which is frustrating because I love that trope and would’ve really enjoyed this more if it was better written. I will still be reading volume 2 when it is available simply because despite my issues with this volume, it hasn’t taken away my interest in the story.

2.75 stars - I loved the colored graphic pages and would have liked to see all the pages in a similar art style. The story was not doing it for me though...Aran was way too pushy and borderline r*pey at times (no different that the guy who physically assaulted her in the beginning...he's just hot). I'm not sure I will be continuing this one.

Thanks to NetGalley for an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest opinion/review.

Gosh I just adored this one!!!

The art is so amazing. So, so pretty. And you get a few, gorgeous colored pages throughout which was a nice surprise.

These characters are both so loveable. I wasn't sure what to expect because I went in blind, but gender bending Aran absolutely stole my heart. And Nagi is very fun too. Lots of great tension building, cute scenes, and very character focused. I would absolutely read more from this series!

I loved the troupes, art style, characters, and writing. This book was one that I had a hard time putting down. I like seeing characters who are out of the norm and this brought that with the female lead representing tom boys and the male lead representing androgynous men. I am looking forward to seeing how this story grows ion future books. Something I would love to see the author do is dive more into Nagi's backstory more. This part of the story felt a little rushed for an introductory book, but I look forward to reading more in future volumes.

Wow this was a really nice read.
The artstyle and the outfits the chatacters wear look great.
I'm invested into the plot and can't wait to find out more and see them progress.

Review posted to:
Goodreads as Montana
StoryGraph as MontyLearoy

3.5⭐️ rounded up

I don't read a lot of manga but I was taken by the cover (because we do judge books and only books by their covers)

I'm so happy I stepped out of my comfort zone with this get. The characters were interesting from the very beginning and the critique and exploration of gender presentation is a thought-provoking addition.

The way they're smitten with each other and the little things that start to happen as they get more and more used to each other.

I am enraptured with this storyline and can't wait to see where the story goes!