Thanks to NetGalley & VIZ Media for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

HILARIOUS. The story is full of aware tropes but still full of heart. The art style and meme references are so funny I was genuinely laughing out loud throughout the book!!

I'm guessing dorito face boy is actually an alien....

The shoujo genre is a force to be reckoned with in anime and manga—to the point that parody is not only feasible, but frankly begged for. From the tropes to the art style to the occasionally unrealistic expectations of the lovestruck protagonists, there's a lot to deconstruct. On the surface, NOT SO SHOUJO LOVE STORY takes a crack at these. But, at least within the first volume, what promises to be a sapphic subversion of the genre fails to yield much fruit.

Our heroines are Rei and Hanna: the former a tomboyish-looking girl who dreams of romance, the latter a perfect rival-type who finds herself madly in love with Rei. But Rei only has eyes for Hansum, a classmate rendered in the pointy-chinned style of other parodies like Senpai Club. As Rei mistakes Hanna's advances for aggression, a group of four school bullies goes on the attack to keep Rei away from their beloved romantic lead.

Volume 1 is extremely by-the-numbers, and frankly feels like a carbon copy of so many shoujo manga parodies that have gone before. The art is great, and there's briefly promise of a plot that takes the parody aspect to interesting new heights. But, at least in this first volume, NOT SO SHOUJO LOVE STORY feels like a very surface-level parody: a rehash of old observations rather than anything especially interesting. Perhaps this will change in later volumes.

I've read and been following the Webtoon for a long time and I am SO excited we are getting a print version. This webtoon is funny, ridiculous and so so charming with all of its quirks and tropes. The art is beautiful and the characters are so complex and expressive and Rei and Hanna are so charming.

This yuri parody of popular shoujo manga is a little inconsistent. Like a lot of Webtoon content, it starts out a little rough as the artist works to find a consistent style. The art is a bit odd and not all of the jokes land, it's meme-intensive, which brings to mind Romantic Killer, whose first volume has some similar issues. However, it is pretty funny, and heartfelt. I look forward to future volumes.

While the story was humorous and the art was well-done, I think I'm not the target demographic for this book. The pacing was a bit too random, sometimes a bit too fast and sometimes it dragged, and the humor didn't align with my own.

I did not expect to enjoy this comic as much as I did reading it--it's just so hilarious! I relate to Rei a lot when I read shoujo romance manga and have cringey crushes, so seeing her reactions to everything cheered me up. The webtoon does deal with some more serious topics like bullying, but there is enough comedic relief (thank you memes and Hansum Ochinchin) for bringing the story back to being more lighthearted. I am rooting for Hanna and Rei and can't wait to read more of this series!

I am going to be honest, this was making me feel like I was going to book slump and I had to DNF it. I wasn’t connecting with the characters and it just was not for me.

This was a lot of fun! I found myself laughing the whole time I was reading this. The story was funny and the art matched the silly and light hearted nature of the manga. I loved the mcs and how they interacted. I can't wait to see where this story goes and what other antics these characters get into.

Unfortunately, I hated this! Just extremely juvenile and one-note in terms of the humor and the art was not appealing. Will not be reading onward in the series.

This was a weird read. It's not for me and probably meant for a younger audience. It is super cringe, but if hetero romances got to be mega cringe then the gay webtoons get to be cringe too.

Not So Shoujo Love Story is about two high school girls looking for love. Rei is obsessed with Hansum, the popular new boy at school who has a triangle chin. Hanna is in love with Rei but her confession goes awry. This was a struggle for me to finish. Based on the cover, I thought I'd enjoy the art style, but it was much more exaggerated in the actual story, and the humor was much more juvenile than I was anticipating. I'm sure younger readers who love Shoujo manga will find enjoyment from this as well. Thanks to VIZ media and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Yay! It got published.
I started this story a while ago and never picked it back up so I was shocked to see Viz publishing it.

I really enjoyed the story and how we got to see Rei be reflective/introspective although the story is so comedic. I'm really excited to see where the series goes. Also, is long chin an alien??