(Slightly rounded up) A promising, if flawed, start for the series about a struggling writer and his mysterious onion-loving (and murderous) neighbour.

The art is really nice, if not as colourful as many other manhwas. The palette, however, feels organic for this particular setting, so the prevalence of browns, blacks and yellows did not bother me at all. For me personally, faces are quite important when I read manga/manhwa/comics - if something bothers me about the faces of the characters, I find it hard to get into the story (they do not have to be attractive, but I do have to find them interesting to look at) - and here the art really worked for me. The contrast with Lewellyn's goofy labrador-like smile and who he really is was quite fun, and Shavonne's grumpiness and insecurities were also nicely drawn.

The overall story/pacing felt a little too episodic for me - we jump from one scene to another to the next - and it did not flow as smoothly as I'd like it to.

The plot itself is quite interesting though - Lewellyn's identity and motivation, his intentions towards Shavonne and, ultimately the biggest mystery for me, the explanation for his onion obsession - I'd love to see where this all is going. I'd also like to find out more about Shavonne's past too, so I will be reading volume 2 for sure.

Overall, I liked the art style and the story intrigued me enough to want to read the follow-up, which I think is a win.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Shavonne lives on a sketchy street in a sketchy area that is being plagued with a string of murders. A creeper and/or Peeping Tom keeps leaving notes on his apartment door. The police are obviously more occupied and concerned with the murders than these weird notes being left on Shavonne’s door. One day, an odd new neighbor appears on the steps of their apartment building and keeps peeling onions every day. The new neighbor, Lewellyn, seems to be slightly infatuated with Shavonne and invites him to dinner.
I'm interested to see how their story will continue.

#ThxNetGalley #Sumnagi #MurderousLewellynsCandlelitDinnerVol1

Shavonne is a struggling ghost writer, barely making ends meet, living in a poor neighborhood that has recently been stalked by a serial killer. To make matters worse, he has an actual stalker who keeps leaving cryptic messages on his door and somehow things actually get worse, he has a strange new neighbor who spends all of his time in front of Shavonne's door peeling onions of all things. As Shavonne struggles to find a job to help him move as away from his weirdo neighbor, he discovers a dark secret about him, one that leaves him trapped and indebted to a murderer.

This definitely has some promise. It's interesting how Shavonne just kinda does whatever Llewellyn says even before he finds out he's a murderer. He really seems like such a pushover, and yeah I guess he's had a pretty hard life so I suppose it makes a bit of sense that he is attracted to this human that's showing him kindness but I think he gives in too quickly. Llewellyn is freaking weird, though. I mean, I can see him being both the serial killer and the stalker on one hand, but on the other, I really can't. I'd lean more towards the stalker than anything, though. Either way, he definitely creeps me out.


I was intrigued enough that I'll read volume two to see where this goes.

As always, thanks to NetGalley and Yen Press for the eArc!

I started reading this manhwa... I dropped it and then picked it up again. And I don't regret a thing. Bring in the doors, because there are plenty of handles.

This type of story has become very popular. There's something very shady going on here; the protagonist knows it, feels it, sees it... and yet there's something that won't let him leave that shady, toxic person. And here we're talking about murder.

The story starts off very slowly, which is why I put it down. But in the last three chapters, some very entertaining things happen, and the plot picks up a dizzying pace, ending with some of the most intense panels.

Eagerly awaiting the next volume. I need to know what happens!

Thank you, Yen Press, for the ARC I read on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ooh okay this was very mysterious! I really liked the characters and the strange onion obsession that kept reoccurring. One volume was not enough! I feel like I only got a taste of something delicious and now I want a whole slice.

I don't usually like making comps, but if you enjoy Hannibal, you need to freaking read this ASAP. 😂 I've only read the first volume, but the vibes and tension are immaculate! I loved everything about this volume which covers about 15~ ish episodes (from Lezhin) if you've been looking at the manhwa. It's an extremely slow pace, so you'll have lots of questions (because I did), but I definitely can't wait to continue because I just have to see how this dynamic evolves, and how Shavonne is able to keep up with Lewellyn as the stakes continue to amp up.

The art style is also very nice and I loved the expressions and coloring as well!!!

This was a darkly intriguing story that pulled me in right away. The characters are interesting and I can't wait for vol 2.

I kept seeing this and have been meaning to start it and now that I have I can’t wait to see where this goes. It’s got a mysterious element to it and it seems like one of those storylines where nothing is surface level and there is a deeper meaning to each interaction but we won’t know till later on. Although something like that can be confusing it’s not in this case. The story jumps around day by day but it still flows. The characters are intriguing and I badly want to know them even more. The setting is also perfect and I think it fits well into the theme of the plot. Finding out what is what and who is who is going to be fun.

I also enjoy how Shevon is nervous around Lewellyn but still intrigued by him. It shall make for an interesting romance if there is one.

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

Detective Conan grows up to be wooed by a blond devil. I loved every minute.

I worry the translator was unaware of the spelling "Siobhan". But that's okay, it's only the main character's name.

I actually read this series a while back and requested it once again to see if I would love it as much as I did. The answer, yes!

Although the plot is quite slow in this first book, I urge readers to keep an eye out for the rest of the series. This is a fantastic physiological thriller that feeds into not only ones paranoia but anticipation. The ambience is quite eerie as you begin to slowly piece together what makes this story. I also love the art, I think it fits incredibly well with the atmosphere.

Thank you NetGalley and Yen Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rep: LGBTQ+ (Achillean)

Murderous Lewellyn's candlelit Dinner is a story about Shavonne and his mysterious neighbour who seems like like to peel his onions on the stairs outside of their apartments.

I must say, the plot was very slow and tedious in the beginning half and a lot of the mystery surrounding Shavonne's neighbour fell away quite fast when Shavonne stumbled across a pretty significant secret. This resulted in pacing issues where I was a bit bored with the plot in the middle, but the end seemed to pick the plot back up. However, the second half of the book is completely different in theme than the first half, which I found quite confusing.

I think the characters could do with some more dimension, but it's also only the first volume and the end made it promising for both of the characters to grow.

lastly, the art style was OK. sometimes shots were very detailed and I could enjoy myself scanning all of it, but most of it was a bit bland without details. furthermore, the colours used are browns and blacks, which are widely used for this kind of story, but I think it would've been more impactful to have it black and white, or with more lively colours, like using more contrast.

all in all, I think it's a decent story with a promising ending for a sequel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Yen Press for allowing me to read the first volume of this Manhwa!

Age demographic 15+, there's enough blood and sexual references that I wouldn't recommend this to younger readers
Who I would recommend this to: Hannibal (tv show) fans, older YA fans of psychological thrillers, dark romances fans, readers interested in BL manga\manhwa\graphic novels, readers interested in Korean thrillers
If I were to make a display with this book: Serial Killer leads, international thrillers
I found it to be a serviceable manhwa with some pacing issues/repetitive plot points. I enjoy Shavonne as a our main protagonist and his inner voice, but his chemistry with Lewellyn has much to be desired, though I can acknowledge that this is the first volume, so perhaps their dynamic will change in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and Yen Press for the ARC!

The art in the book is fine, however It seems too early still to judge how to story will go, as it seems this is more of a slow start / slow reveal to the plot. The character interactions are a bit of a hit or miss. Sometimes their snarkiness is justified, while other times it feels uncalled for. I'll still continue to read and follow the plot for now since i'm pretty interested in where the story goes.

This was delightfully weird and unique. It had definite Hannibal vibes, with the weird neighbour, and a prominent serial killer.

Ahh yes, I too hate it when I just want to do my job as a ghostwriter and my neighbor keeps sticking notes with atrocious spelling on my door and he is always peeling onions in the hallway, and he also might be a serial killer, how annoying. Anyway, this is what the main character Shavonne has to keep up with in this manhwa, and he is also broke and currently having a rough time altogether, for the last 28 years or so. Enter his handsome but super weird and murderous neighbor Lewellyn who seems to have a more than usual interest in Shavonne. The manhwa explores their relationship and while this was really only the beginning, I couldn't look away. I shamefully have to admit that I kinda ship it, and I especially liked the approach that all people are inherently bad, but is someone specifically bad to you? I'm very interested in how their relationship develops and how much of a dark and toxic romance this will be.

The art was fine but nothing special, and the color palette was mostly grey and brown. While that may fit the story, it was also a little dull and it might be disappointing if you pay for the full color volume. But it would be interesting to see if more colors are added as the story continues. I also didn't love that every other character than Shavonne and Lewellyn was almost comically rude, and all authority like the police or the homeowner was incompetent and unhelpful. And there was a moment when Shavonne was super dumb (when he couldn't possibly know who sent the letters at the end), and I hope that whole situation isn't drawn out for too much longer. Anyway, I see a lot of potential with this story, and I think I'm going to continue at some time. It's only six volumes in total, so it's not never-ending like many other manhwa / webtoons, and that sounds good to me too.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Yen Press for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

I mean th idea is fine but the whole story is just so messy. I get that the author wanted to build suspense but it just ended up being a badly executed idea with one-dimensional characters that were written to seem deep but really are not.

It was just plain boring.

The artstyle was fine though, no problems on that front.

I'd like to send my thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a free pdf version of this manga in exchange for an honest review.

Murderous Lewellyn's Candlelit Dinner is an intriguing manhwa following a struggling writer and his mysterious next-door neighbour. I am interested in reading more volumes in the future, but I felt that this was quite a slow start to the series. The artwork really captured a sherlock-esque vibe, which I liked a lot.

I also enjoyed the interactions between the two main characters and felt that Shavonne's inner feelings were shown well to the reader. It made me more sympathetic to his struggles. This was just the start of the story, so I am interested to see how the relationship evolves after such a rocky start!

Thank you NetGalley and Yen Press for the opportunity to read the first Volume in the Murderous Lewellyn's Candlelit Dinner series.

I am hooked. I want to read more, I need to know how the story continues to play out. I'm left with so many questions that I hope will be answered in the later volumes.

I loved that this was a bit earie, I loved that the manga is coloured instead of it being in black and white. I love that Lewellyn has teddy bear vibes but is so unsettling at the same time. Is there a significance to his gold eyes (other than it being a rare colour), will we find out why his finger nails are kinda gross and rough? Is there a significance to his love for onions and peeling onions?

He's a 10 but he's a blonde and needs a manicure.

I'm keen to discover more secrets and horror alongside Shavonne and what he will do next and how he will process it and keep himself safe.

Thank you to NetGalley and Yen Press for my auto approval!!

This is such a weird and interesting story and I’m invested. I feel like Shavonne is not as freaked out as he should be. Like things just work out for Lewellyn and he just kind of ignores it. Like he seems to be worried about him but not to the degree he needs to me. I have a lot of questions but my number 1 is why do Lewellyn‘s fingernails look so ragged, why does he always peel onions but never smell like them, and why does he get away with everything.

I loved this I think the story was engaging and I loved the art. The characters are well rounded and I enjoy learning about them with every passing page .