2.5✨


The story is interesting, but at the same time, it bored me... I don't know how to explain it, haha. It's the first volume, so the story could probably be better, but for now, this volume didn't really convince me.
I saw the story is in Lezhin, so maybe I'll continue to find out how it ends, haha ​​(it's not very long).✨


Thanks izepress / netgalley for the arc✨

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

~

Murderous Lewellyn’s Candlelit Dinner, Vol. 1
by Art by MUK_BU, Adapted by 0L, Original story by Sumnagi
★★★★★



I was very excited to see this available on Netgalley! I remember reading the original comic on Lezhin, years ago, and loving it. But, between finances and getting the time to keep up with frequent updates, my ability to keep up with the app dwindled and I never got to finish the story. It's been a long time since then and I only really remember the basic premise of the plot and one or two minor plot details, so it felt like the right time to start over, now it's being published.

This was EVERY BIT as good as I remember! The story is full of mystery, with hints of potential future romance, and lots of low-key crime elements that hover in the background to make things just that little bit more sinister. There's an old school gothic vibe to the story that has always intrigued me.

Lewellyn is such a brilliant morally gray / dark soul character, with an infatuation with Shavonne. He's a master manipulator and incredibly skilled with gaslighting Shavonne. His odd fascination with onions is such an incredibly unusual obsession, but his claim that he uses them to gain Shavonne's interest, because he has a weakness for crying faces, is just so dramatic, manipulative and yet evilly genius that it begs belief.
Shavonne himself is a great character, because he's so down-on-his-luck and yet he tries so hard. He's the kind of MC you really want to succeed and do well, because everything that's been thrown at him in life is just so unfair. As a reader, it's really easy to relate to Shavonne, because we've all struggled to have enough money to get by, had a hard time getting that well-paying or even just badly paying job that can offer stability. We've also all been in a position where we've tried to report something to a figure of authority – if not the police, then a boss or teacher – only for the complaints to fall on deaf ears.

The pacing and development are great, the chemistry between the two MC's is off the charts, and the intriguing is so well built throughout each scene and exchange between Shavonne and Lewellyn that every Chapter only adds to the mystery.

I can't wait for the rest of the volumes to come out. This is definitely one I'll be collecting in paperback.

Murderous Lewellyn's Candlelit Dinner tells the story of Shavonne. A down on his luck, broke, serial romantic 28 year old guy, who lives in the dangerous neighbourhood of Southbunch. An area plagued by a serial killer. But could this killer be closer than expected?

"The world is incredibly vast... ...and so full of people... .. and yet I have nowhere to belong..."

This manwha is an engaging dark romance story. I honestly don't understand how it can be so easy to root for these characters to get together, but they are just so cute together. Of course you'll find some toxic tropes in here, but that's the name of the game with the darker romance genre. The art and colour palette fit the vibes of the story, and there are some genuinely tense and creepy moments in this.

"You need to look out for yourself, Shavonne. People are inherently bad. The only difference is whether they're bad to you."

Murderous Lewellyn's Candlelit Dinner is your next favourite manwha if you enjoy queer dark romance stories with an air of mystery. I'm very much looking forward to reading the next volume in this series!

This manwha had a cool concept and beautiful art but an extremely confusing story. I had no clue what was happening or what the plot was. There was tension, but the book's description was clearer than the actual book. As a Hannibal lover, I had high expectations, but I was disappointed.

This is an odd little book. A man has a neighbor who really likes onions and might be a serial killer. Stalking and romance ensue? The story takes a while to set in and I would have preferred to see the book in black and white instead of color, but I did find myself wondering what was going to happen next.

I wasn't in love with this book, but I certainly didn't hate it. I feel like this would be a good to read when multiple volumes are out.

3.5
In all honesty, the story was good, interesting and I liked the artsyle, but unfortunately I can't say much more about it because it felt like too much was missing from this first volume for me to get hooked or to know what to say

It's like I was given only the introduction of a story, while the more interesting part, where it truly begins, has been put in a another volume.

And this is why I think this volume 1 would have beneffited from having much more content in it because, as it is, it gives us too little to be entirely sure if we want to continue with the series.

I didn't learn enough about the characters, about what could be going on and had the same amount of info on them at 30% of the book than I now have at 100% which was frankly kinda disappointing as I expected to get something more as I was reading

Ohhhhh, there is so clearly even more going on here than Lewellyn being a murderer. It's the sort of dramatic tension where you as the reader knows one thing about it that's not right, but there are so many unexplained other things that don't quite fit, and you're still on the edge of our seat as you read, waiting to find out just what's going on. While some of the panels and art were more confusing, I feel like they set the mood of this gloomy, desperate setting so well, and I'm so intrigued to know more.

I originally read this in it's webtoon form and, to be honest, didn't much care for it. I was hoping that re-reading it in book format would help, it did not. As with many webtoon based on a webnovel, I felt like something was missing from my understanding of what the hell was going on. Perhaps if I had read the original webnovel first I would have been able to get into it more, and maybe someday I will do that. I've had to do it before and it helped, so who knows. Anyway, Shavonne is a broke writer, Lewellyn is a murderer who peels onions on the stairs of their apartment building. There is also some sort of backstory going on in the background and it made it really took me out of the main story. Maybe if I had read further in the webtoon to know what's really going on it would have been better. But that is just too many maybes for me to like this one.

Fun premise but didn't live up to my expectations.

I really liked the idea of this manhwa, having a serial killer as a neighbour and dating hi Yes please. But the story itself is kinda boring.

My main problem is with the main character: he's so bland. To be honest, I'm not sure why Lewellyn didn't kill him yet. He's got zero personality. Every time he tries to do something, he ends up feeling sorry for himself.

The plot is moving slowly, so actually almost nothing happens in the volume. Hopefully the next ones will have more action.

The art style is very nice. I enjoyed looking at it. There were moments where panels were kinda confusing and chaotic.

Thank you, Netgalley and Yen Press. I enjoyed the first volume of "Murderous Lewellyn's Candlelit Dinner. " It had the elements I like: a graphic novel, boy love, and a mystery to solve.

This manga is strange. Billed as a thriller but more of a slow burn romance, a man finds out his neighbour is a murderer. Through a mixture of fear and poverty, the writer Shavonne continues to go on dates with Lewellyn. Pretty much exactly what the title suggests.

I have a real problem writing this review because it's such an oddball concept. On the one hand, I didn't hate it. I read it with a kind of morbid curiosity and I have a lot of questions. Our murderer seems omniscient which would usually irk me but I'm not convinced he's human, so instead I'm wondering what powers he might have. If he is human, I'll be very disappointed. I am invested in how this develops despite my better judgement.

The protagonist was, of course, an orphan. He's now a penniless author, surrounded by people who are unsympathetic and mostly unpleasant. Things are so over-the-top bleak and tragic that it lacks credibility. It's not dreadful but it's hard to believe an entire city lacks empathy and in turn, the reader struggles to empathise with him. For example, he has a job but can't afford to move. That's plausible. However, he has a rich friend who is conveniently away when he needs a place to stay. One who, when asked for support, simply dismisses his concerns and offers the shadiest advice. That's not a friend. There are no other friends. Who doesn't know more than one person?

The artwork is okay. It's very typical and doesn't 'wow' me but I don't have any complaints either. It's perfectly appropriate and gets the point across. I wouldn't buy this on artistic merit.

I can't say it's bad. I can't say it's good either. My interest is piqued. The best phrase I can come up with to describe Murderous Lewellyn's Candlelit Dinner is 'eccentrically mediocre' and that puzzles me most of all.

This review will be published by Pending Plays on 15th May 2025.

Thanks to NetGalley and Yen Press for the ARC copy. This has not affected my review at all, which are my own thoughts.

A series of murders has left the residents of Ira Street feeling uneasy, more than usual for a street full of trouble. Although that’s none of Shavonne’s business, a penniless author too busy dealing with deadlines and trying to secure future payments to pay any amount of attention to the matter. Moreover since he's also quite busy and interested in figuring out what is going on with his strange new neighbor: Lewellyn, a young and handsome man who spends his days peeling onions on the stairs right outside Shavonne’s apartment. Shavonne tries not to concern himself, but when a gruesome discovery at Lewellyn’s place during a candlelit dinner, both his neighbor’s eccentricities and the murders plaguing the community become harder to ignore.

A very first exciting volume to a series that could very well become a favorite of mine. I flew through it in a few hours, telling myself "just one more chapter", because I needed to know what happened next, until I finished it. And here we are.

I loved this one. The characters were amazing each in their own way, Shavonne's feelings toward Lewellyn were amazingly portrait and the world they inhabit is quite interesting. I hope we get to see more of Ira Street and its residents in future volumes, as well as the secondary characters; the one I definitely want to see again is Fawkes, Shavonne's only friend and mentor.

On the other hand, I'd like to talk more about each of the main characters.

So, first, Shavonne, our protagonist. A poor author that's spent years writing for others, living by scraps and day by day, barely been able to pay his rent. An orphaned man with no friends. no job and no idea in socializing. Probably an annoyance to the police and a man of values, like when he discovers a gruesome scene at Lewellyn's place and starts a dangerous game with him while his (Shavonne) mind tells him to go to the police. From this point on, their relationship goes up to the maximum level, because they're very aware of the other, what they do and, most probably, what they think after the incident. Moreover because there's is a slight chance that Lewellyn is also stalking him, and that sends actual shivers through his back (understandably so). Hilarious, relatable and quite probably the most reasonable person of this story, Shavonne is a character I'd follow anywhere gladly; though, preferably, the farthest away possible from Lewellyn😂

Seconf, Lewellyn, new neighbor and potential love interest to Shavonne, Weirdly obsessed with onions and with Shavonne, it is soon shown that this man could be a murderer, yet he treats Shavonne more nicely and with a warmth that anyone has ever shown to Shavonne, so of course, the poor man is confused. Just as Lewellyn is confusing to us, because of his changing nature that I loved to see and gave me as much goosebumps as it gave Shavonne, I'm sure. An unpredictable man, Lewellyn repels me and makes me want to know more about him all the same. These characters tend to walk a thin line, an anything could make me love him or hate him one sided, so I'll definitely read future volumes to see what happens with his character👀

What makes the story shine and really work for me is Shavonne and Lewellyn's relationship, how it goes from not knowing each other at all, to Shavonne getting used to see the other at his stairs, peeling onions, to dining together to this push and pull influence by the incindent at Lewellyn's house and how it defines how they will interact from then on. Even Shavonne says that, if that hadn't happened, maybe they would have had a very different relationship. It's all so good... the strongest point of the story, in my opinion, and what will make MLCD shine or deep dive to the ground and be quickly forgotten.

Finally, the art was okey-ish. Some panels were detailed amazingly, while others were more simple and could have used another angle, in my opinion. Overall, though there were some pages that could have been better, specially at depicting the characters, it didn't affect the story at all, still letting us (the readers) know exactly what was going on. So, not the biggest fan of the art just yet, but it is good for the story it is telling.

Also, I hope we get to know more about the murders, the modus operandi and such in next books, because it was what I came for😂
So, yes, I do recommend it. A story of murders where a romance could flourish amid the murders and personal desperation, sprinkled with great interactions and well-crafted characters is something I'm always up for reading

Oh Lewellyn, you crazy onion loving murderous scamp!

I really unexpectedly enjoyed this comic. I’m always a sucker for murdery psychos. (Hannibal is murder daddy). Lewellyn is still a mystery. We tag along with Shavonne who’s a permanently down on his luck ghost writer with a stalker and a, very probably murderous neighbor, Lewellyn. I mean he DID find a body inside Lew’s apt so… seems likely.

Shavonne is prickly and kinda disagreeable but he’s also kinda funny. Lew is quirky and seriously obsessed with onions 🧅.

The art is full color and cute with just the right level of darkness for this gritty setting. I’ll just be waiting here for however long it takes for the next vol to come out.

"Murderous Lewellyn's Candlelit Dinner, Volume 1" by Sumnagi shows a lot of promise, though it ultimately falls short of its potential. The manga follows Shavonne, a struggling ghostwriter, who is also dealing with personal challenges, including a breakup with his boyfriend. Meanwhile, his eccentric neighbor, Lewellyn, has a strange habit of peeling onions on the stairs outside their apartment. When Lewellyn invites Shavonne to dinner, it leads to a revelation—one that uncovers a hidden secret.

At this point, I expected the story to pick up momentum, but instead, the narrative felt lackluster and lacked the suspense I was hoping for. The build-up to Lewellyn’s secret felt flat, and Shavonne's character, unfortunately, became increasingly dull and hard to relate to. Supporting characters, too, often seemed out of place, contributing little to overall plot development. Pacing was another issue, especially in terms of moving the story forward, which left me feeling frustrated.

While the series has an intriguing premise, it misses the mark on delivering a gripping experience. The darker elements could have been much more impactful, and I feel that with better development, this manga could have been much more engaging. Despite these flaws, I’m willing to give the second volume a chance, hoping that Sumnagi can address these issues and get the series back on track.

I thought this comic was alright. I like the characters and am interested in the story, but not a whole lot happens in this volume. We get some good suspense and intrigue, but the pacing is kind of slow which makes it drag. This volume was mostly just set up, so I feel like the next one should be a more exciting and/or suspenseful read. Also, not that big of a deal, but the ending of this volume was odd. I feel like the editors should have tried to find a spot in the comic that felt more like a natural end. Anyway, while I wasn't super into this story, it has an interesting premise and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this digital ARC

This review is only for the English translation of Volume 1 of Murderous Lewellyn's Candlelit Dinner

I did not know about this being already published and I went into this story expecting a mystery thriller as it was tagged as such. The mystery element is pretty low and most of the story revolves around 2 characters Shavonne, a broke ghost writer struggling to earn money and Lewellyn, possibly a serial killer who is obssessed with onions.

Now, most of my issue stems from not knowing this is a series leading to romance between these two characters and maybe we will get more backstory and reasons for the characters' behaviour in next volumes, based on what we have got here it was uncomfortable. This could be something that works for others who wouldn't mind weird dynamics and characters who ignore every red flag. If this was only a thriller, i could see how the book successfully creates a creepy unlikeable character but volume 1 still fails to create a dynamic start to a series with most of it's settings all being on the apartment floor of the two characters. The art style is good and easy to understand.

Thank you to NetGalley and Yen Press/Ize Press for the e-book copy!

Murderous Lewellyn's Candlelit Dinner follows Shavonne, an author looking for his next paycheck. He catches the attention of his new neighbor, Lewellyn who harbors a secret. The beginning of this story starts off slow but once it picks up it grabs your attention. I wanted to believe Lewellyn was not what he seemed but as the story developed the more I was convinced. I like Shavonne as a main character he was cynical but had moments where he showed fear for his situation. I am going to continue with this series for now and I can't wait to see what will happen next.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc!!
This is BL with no spice in a murder mystery kind of setting. It’s definitely intriguing, the art is lovely and can’t wait to read more

This is the first in a multi-volume graphic novel collection, and the ending has me hungry to know what happens next.

Shavonne lives in the bad part of town, where multiple recent murders have occurred. He’s a down on his luck ghostwriter that is barely scraping by. He’s also becoming more and more paranoid because someone is mysteriously leaving notes for him. One day, he encounters a man peeling onions on the stairs outside his apartment door. While cautious about getting to know the man, Lewellyn, better, he does accept an invitation to a candlelight dinner at the man’s apartment, which ends up being next to his. While at the dinner, Shavonne makes a discovery which will help guide the remainder of this volume of the story.

I enjoyed this graphic novel. The artwork was all in darker and muted tones to play into the themes of the story, and did a great job supporting the dialogue. I am very curious about where this story is going to go moving forward.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher/author for this copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

We follow the story of a young man living in a city with a serial killer on the loose. Our main character is being stalked and at the same time being semi-courted by his neighbor. Lewellyn is a strange man, with strange qualities, could he be our serial killer? And who is our stalker?

I will say I found our narrator Bo be slightly annoying with how many times he wondered if Lewellyn was a serial killer or even a killer in herbal but then NEVER did anything about it. His inner musings were just frustrating and I flet he would get caught up in a lot of things for way longer than was necessary.. Hoping the next books provide clarity into his mind and clarity about Lewellyn.