I received an e-ARC and am giving my honest review!

I am a MASSIVE fan of The Summer Hikaru Died manga, first read the first volume back in 2023 and have honestly thought about it every day since. I just wrote my final in my last English class on it, as well.

To start off, the novel starts with a chapter from the real Hikaru’s perspective as he is dying. I can’t remember if there is one in the manga, but I know that wasn’t how it started and I really liked that refreshing beginning. Not only to it add some background to Hikaru and “Hikaru,” but it gives the reader more insight on how much Yoshiki and Hikaru’s relationship is reciprocated. We don’t see many scenes between the real Hikaru and Yoshiki, and none from Hikaru’s POV. This certainly adds to the part of the story that is around Yoshiki and Hikaru’s relationship, and made “Hikaru’s” existence a bit more sweet than bitter, in some ways.

I don’t know if I just don’t remember as much as I thought I did, but this novel definitely felt like it leaned into the romantic aspects of this story more than the manga does. Which isn’t a bad thing! It was definitely a side I’m interested in, my previously mentioned essay was about devotion shown through the selfishness Yoshiki feels in being unable to kill “Hikaru” because fake Hikaru is better than no Hikaru.

It was incredibly interesting to read with descriptions of surroundings and especially that of the scene in the storage room. I felt like that was really able to grow in regards to the reader understanding how both Yoshiki and “Hikaru” felt during it. The manga is obviously incredible, and the artwork is to die for, this was just a new and unique perspective we hadn’t gotten before!

This is incredible novel adaptation of Mokumokuren’s manga and am anxiously awaiting the next volume translated to novel form! Super excited for the anime coming out this summer on Netflix as well. This is one of those can’t miss one-in-a-million series I can never recommend enough, no matter what media it’s in.

When I first heard of this series, it was an announcement for the upcoming anime, which immediately had me interested. When I saw that there was a light novel version, I had to pick it up and boy, am I glad I did. This story had me feeling chills. Being in Yoshiki's head as he navigates his friendship with "Hikaru" is such a fascinating ride. I can't wait to read more.

Thank you NetGalley and Yen Press for letting me read this early!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!!

This series means everything to me and I’m so glad we are giving it more attention. I mean more and more please. Hikaru is my son and I will love this monster boy until my dying breath.

absolutely devoured this novel!
if you watched the anime and read the manga then I highly recommend the novel. the art style in this novel is stunning and the flow of the novel is amazing. this horror mystery is one of a kind!