What:

Author: Yoru Sumino

Two young people in their first year of university, drawn to each other’s passion, establish a secret society to pursue those ideals. But as time passes, the demands of a world that isn’t kind to dreamers threatens to force them apart, filling the space between them with shattered hopes and the fallout of lies. A tender, tragic tale about growing past pain and the cruelty of youth, by acclaimed author Yoru Sumino.

Where to Read: Purchase a copy at your favorite brick-and-mortar or online retailer (see Seven Seas Entertainment).

The Good:

• Characters are in college for once, and romance isn’t the key focus—the premise and setting are at least different from usual.

The Bad:

• Characters are neither interesting nor likable.
• Author/narrator attempts to make things sound tragic and mysterious, but it’s just a bunch of annoying, immature teenagers.

Overall: 2/5. While I was hoping for the author to deliver his usual tragedy/drama with a more mature take, instead I got something that was frankly boring.

Scale for reference:

• 1/5: not really worth looking into; you won’t see many of these because I’ll just drop it without bothering to review it.
• 2/5: probably not worth the time, but you may enjoy it regardless.
• 3/5: an average to above-average series; may be a 4/5 to fans of certain genres or themes.
• 4/5: a strong recommendation with some flaws or shortcomings.
• 5/5: a universal recommendation; one of my favorites. Not necessarily flawless, but has something extremely compelling.