ARC from NetGalley.
This book was so sweet and filled with middle school angst even with its protagonists being 33 years old. Although it had those angsty vibes, it didn’t feel childish. It’s a great story about childhood first crushes and love and the complexities of realizing that you’ve fallen for someone of the same gender. The characters are sweet and I love the friend. Sometimes manga can be iffy with queer representation and this one isn’t perfect but it felt more accepting than a lot of other manga I’ve read. The issue is more with her being married and coming to terms with her sexuality rather than internalized homophobia. I would love to read the rest! It is an adult manga so I wouldn’t buy it for my library but it would be lovely in a personal or public library.

I knew I was going to love this manga but I didn't realize it was going to rip out my heart and stomp on it. I mean that in the best way. This was everything I wanted and so so much more. I am begging for the next volumes because I need to know what is coming next for these two!

This gave me so much stress! I spent the whole volume wondering if she'd mess up and cross that line that shouldn't be crossed 😭

Thank you to Viz Media and NetGalley for the DRC. So happy to see more LGBTQIA manga get published.

Okay, I don't know where this is going but I truly hope there is no <spoiler> cheating </spoiler>. Like I'm all for them rekindling but please, don't cross that line.

This is a pretty interesting premise and I'm excited to see where it goes. Childhood friends reconnect and one realizes she's low-key in love with the other and wants to kiss her...except she's seemingly happily married. The angst in this is going to be so brutal, I can already feel it. Regardless of how it ends, I'm seated.

I liked this volume a lot. The characters are interesting and I enjoyed seeing their tension and chemistry as the relationship grew. I

Thank you to Netgalley and VizMedia for my arc in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

I thought this was a very sweet introduction volume. The art is gorgeous and the writing itself is quite good. The story of an unrequited love, especially same sex, and figuring out one's sexuality, is really well done here. I'm definitely enticed into yearning for that second volume.

Thank you NetGalley and Viz Media for the digital ARC of “Pink Candy Kiss” by Ami Uozumi!

I just finished reading “Pink Candy Kiss” and it’s difficult to not just write an incoherent mess about how cute and bittersweet this first volume was and how much I want to read the next one. Takara is a great protagonist, and you really sympathize with her gay panic over realizing she has feelings for her childhood friend, a married friend! Ema is so cute and sweet, and you can totally understand why Taka would fall for her. The plot writing for this first volume was good, the romance is developing at a slow simmer but it gives you just enough small moments to satisfy lovers of the sapphic YEARN. So much romance manga is set during high school, and I get it, first love is very sweet, but as an adult reader it’s harder to relate to a teen. “Pink Candy Kiss” is just as sweet, but you have adult protagonists looking back on that first love with the added experience of age and other relationships. It’s *chef kiss*, very good. The art is also very pretty, I love the little added sparkle in some of the panels. The paneling also flows well as you read and adds to the emotion of different scenes. I feel like this manga would be a great starter for an adult romance manga reader wanting to try out the Yuri genre, or a Yuri reader who’s looking for a good Josei Yuri manga.