The art in Love Languages is beautiful and captivating, perfectly complementing the heartwarming story. I especially loved how the pages were laid out, from the evocative use of space to the vibrant colors and patterns, and how the speech bubbles evolved as the characters’ language skills grew. The story feels grounded, sweet, and full of hope, making it impossible not to root for Sarah and Ping. I also appreciate how the author explored complex dynamics without weighing down the narrative, which helped give a sense of reality to the characters.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the story, I think that the art is the book's real strength, it's just so expressive. Overall, it’s a wonderful read, perfect to give you a little bit of hope and warmth.

Rating: 3.5/5*

Pace: Medium
Driven by: A mix of plot and character development
Character Development: Strong
Loveable Characters: Yes
Diverse Cast: Yes
Character Flaws as a Focus: It's complicated

James Albon’s "Love Languages" is a heartfelt exploration of love, communication, and second chances. Blending strong character development with a meaningful plot, the novel presents a diverse cast of characters who are both relatable and deeply human. Their flaws add complexity to the story, making it more than just a simple romance.

At its core, the book delivers a powerful message: sometimes, having to start over with the ones you love is the best choice. It also serves as a reminder that life—and love—are worth the effort. Albon beautifully illustrates the importance of communication, whether through words, gestures, or even learning an entirely new language. Love isn't always obvious at first, but when it's real, it's worth the journey.

Though the novel has a lot to offer, it might not be for everyone. Some themes feel a bit complicated, and the balance between character flaws and resolution could leave readers with mixed feelings. Still, if you enjoy introspective, character-driven stories with a deep emotional core, *Love Languages* is worth picking up.

This was such a sweet graphic novel! I'm always a sucker for sapphic stories, but one that is also paired with some aspect of linguistics is just the perfect combination. It took a bit to really get going, but after that it was just fantastic. I loved how it portrayed the language barrier, both the graphic way it was implemented and dynamics between Sarah and Ping. The 'imperfect' art style also made it seem so much more lively, real and emotionally honest. It was just an absolutely wonderful experience.

3.5 stars! i enjoyed this story and artwork quite a bit. The artwork was so colourful and always showing such an interesting variety of people and scenes. The plot is kind of slice of life, which are often stories I love. I’m glad I ended up picking this up on a whim, not having heard anything about it.

The use of multiple languages in this was impressive, and you could tell the author knew a lot about how languages worked and the experience of learning languages and foundering a bit in those new experiences. It was interesting to see how learning multiple languages might look. It even made me remember a tiny bit of French, which was fun! (Oui! Je m'appelle Billie! Salut!)

i think what stopped me from loving this was the tipping point and conclusion. Most of the character growth and self-realizations happen so quickly and fast compared to the rest of the story. It would have been nice to see certain things drawn out and more developed.

All in all, this was a nice lesbian graphic novel with very interesting artwork that I liked a lot, which I think would be even more beautiful in a finished physical copy, and a fresh take on two women falling in love from very different cultures/worlds. (And it wasn’t centred on America at all, which I liked to see.)

Special thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the e-arc!! please check this book out on it’s publication on May 6th!

a sweet, stunningly-written sapphic romance of connecting across different languages

Sarah and Ping are two foreigners in Paris with very different jobs, lives, and barely a language in common - but a chance meeting at a park, a café, and then a museum forms a joyful connection and a slowly deepening romance.

graphic novel | sapphic love | travel | French-English-Cantonese | contemporary adult | watercolor art

This was a really well-done visualization of learning languages and cobbling together a special language between two people who are using three languages to communicate! The development of the relationship between Sarah and Ping was also thoughtfully done and it was a joy to follow their journey.

The mix of the graphic novel format with Sarah's narration was interesting and utilized well most of the time, but there were scenes where it's overdone and redundant - like when she's spilling coffee on herself near the beginning and describing what's happening as the illustrations are clearly doing the same. Other times not enough was explained - I felt like I missed something during the main conflict as the art was bringing out a lot of emotions, but I wasn't sure what exactly was going on. (Vague spoilers ahead) There was the obvious negativity with the coworkers but it seemed like Ping reacted to something Sarah did, but I couldn't tell what. This would have been fine if more dialogue had happened in the end to help clear the air between them.

Overall, this was a lovely read with a beautifully done focus on language and connection.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for granting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest rating!

This was just adorable!

Sarah and Ping are both so cute. I love how they have entirely different lived but they bond over their shared struggles about living Paris and learning French.

There's a little bit of Drama mixed in, but this mostly a heartwarming and lovely story. The art is beautiful too!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

As someone who speaks two languages and is attempting to learn a third, the utter chaos that was the mix of languages throughout this story hit superrr hard. Like, those visuals are what my brain feels like sometimes. I found the gradual development of understanding between Sarah and Ping to be very organic and fun to watch. Sarah's moment of realization that she was instinctually starting to think in Cantonese was so perfect—I remember the first time I ever dreamed in French and was conjugating in my sleep; it was such a cool yet also surreal experience!

That said, I didn't really find there to be romantic chemistry between Sarah and Ping at all. Even their friendship felt very slow to start. Ultimately, they felt like close friends, or the platonic equivalent of the "they were roommates" meme lol. So if you're inclined to pick this up because of the queer romantic subplot, you will likely be disappointed. And I also didn't love the art style, but that's just a preference thing. On the flip side, if you're someone who's really interested in languages or cross-cultural exchange, I would recommend picking it up!

thank you netgalley for giving me an earc

i really loved the themes and the art style but sadly i found it a bit boring

Thank you Netgalley for sending me an eARC of this book!

I have to start off by saying that I absolutely ADORE the art style, it is so pretty and cute.

Overall this was a very cute book and definitely something I'd recommend to anyone who wants a short and sweet sapphic comic about two women who find love despite a language barrier.

My only real critique with this book is that I wish it wouldn't have been so short because I would have loved to have seen more of Sarah but especially of Ping.

LoveLanguages by James Albon is a light hearted and adorable graphic novel about how two women who find love in a country they barely know. These two women ran in completely different circles, had stark differences in their circumstances but as they say that love always finds its way. Sarah, our protagonist, had always been an ambitious person. She achieved all the good grades and found herself in Paris away from home, leading a lonely life in the corporate rat race. She often found herself being the subject of her juniors' taunts and mockery because of two significant things- she was English and a woman. I mean how dare she? No?
The jeers never crushed her spirit but she definitely desired to socialise. The one thing that had always kept her from that was the language. She had learnt French from language apps and classrooms but are they ever enough when the locals start speaking? No. But one day she crosses paths with Ping, a Hong Kong resident, who was working as a nanny for a pair of wealthy parents living in Paris. What do they bond over? French, of course.
They start communicating in a concoction of French, English and Cantonese. They start creating the perfect blend of languages for themselves, a shared secret. And slowly their friendship blossom into love but there's the catch. Even with their personal dialect, they find it very difficult to confess their feelings.
This cutesy sapphic romance has the most delightful art throughout the book and I had such a wonderful time reading it.

Thank you NetGalley for my ARC!

I absolutely adored this book. Its speech bubbles are incredibly well designed, immersing the reader in the story while encouraging them to think about the act of switching between three languages.

The art was beautiful and the imagery tied the story together.

My only gripe is that I wanted more to the resolution. I wanted more to the ending. However, it has closure so I can’t complain too much!

Overall, this was so well done and such an interesting portrayal of love.

This is a gorgeously painted graphic novel about two women, one from England, the other from Hong Kong, who find each other while living in Paris and slowly fall in loves. There's some longer sections of text in here, which I really enjoyed because the writing was absolutely beautiful. Something about it didn't quite push it to a full five stars, but I highly recommend this beautiful book.

I absolutely adored this graphic novel. It shows that friendship and love can transcend all barriers. I related a lot to the main characters. It can be hard to find friends and love as an adult.

This book did a lovely job of depicting finding new friendships and love as an adult. I loved the way the artist depicted the low colourless feeling of being lonely and miserable at your job, and the vibrancy of feeling seen and understood. Can wait for more people to have the ability to read it, so grateful I was able to read it early!

Love Languages is a graphic novel that follows two foreigners, Sarah and Ping, who live in Paris and bond over their shared struggle with the French language. As the women grow closer they begin to rely on their own language — love.

The art in this book wasn't my favorite stylistically, however it tells the story really well. The use of color is incredibly well done. This is a love story, but it's also a story of self discovery. When Sarah is at work she's surrounded by dark blues almost as if she's adrift or drowning at sea. But then Ping arrives, dressed in yellow as a light to guide her to shore. By the end the colors are brighter and Sarah has found meaning professionally and personally.

The storytelling was interesting. I haven't read many graphic novels that use so many blocks of text. Albon inserts narration from Sarah so it almost reads like a mix of novel and graphic novel. It was a unique form of storytelling that feels perfect for a story about characters learning to communicate. Text and art are their own forms of communications after all, so it was really fitting.

I liked this one and would recommend it.

I enjoyed reading this book. To find different t ways of love. You can see that there will be some readers who can relate and will not relate.

After Himawari House and Love Languages, I have all my fingers crossed that contemporary slice-of-life, coming-of-age books about (especially Asian!) language/culture is becoming a thing!

The narrative quality of the storytelling distinctly made it feel like I was following along a biographical journey of a real person. It reminded me of artists I follow on social media that make comics about their lives. This sort of art style isn’t usually my thing, but I had to appreciate the lovely watercolor and attention to detail in the careful outlining and patterns. There is something European about the curvy lines and silhouettes, which is very well-suited to the French setting. I loved how vibrant colours would seep in whenever Ping appeared, or even just within Hong Kong, compared to the bleak monochrome of Paris, where Sarah hated living.

I enjoyed the way language (and the process of learning it) was portrayed in the speech bubbles, as well as the depiction of the loneliness/cultural dysphoria of being an expat, social anxiety, grappling with work-life, and the pressure to “succeed”. I think it also cleverly shows the sociopolitical centrism of white women, who tend to easily excuse the most vile behaviour from white men, plus feel the need to save face in front of them. Sarah’s initial embarrassment towards communication struggles was in stark contrast to Ping’s unabashed willingness to connect across their mutual language barriers. (The emojis!) I always felt that some western cultures *really* depend on certain social rhythms and coming off “cool”. Given Sarah’s anxiety (and her terrible job with American work ethic and French assholes that made me want to breathe fire), it just made *sense* that she found confort in Ping’s world of carefree, warm connection instead. Reading about characters quitting their jobs and beginning new lives will never not be heartwarming to me.

I enjoyed the lesbian awakening! It was just a few pages (and some earlier subtext) and yet it spoke volumes. (Attraction, possesiveness, desire, joy denial, acceptance, self actualisation.) Also greatly appreciated the much-needed rep of Asian pocket mascs! I was wondering if this book would portray the difficulties Ping may face in being a Hong Konger and queer, but in the end I’m glad the book left it where it did. Sarah definitely grew a lot! But I didn’t connect with the characters as much as I’d hoped, given how much I was excited for the premise (queer, sapphic, contemporary, Asian, language/culture, graphic novel). Still required reading in the genre IMO! 3.75⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and IDW Publishing for providing an Advanced Reader’s Copy for an honest review! This is my first one. 🥹

I really am greatful to receive this arc because it was just an amazing story and the artwork throughout the book was phenomenal, and seeing an unlikely relationship between two different languages spark into something more was very satisfying to see.