A review by obscurepages
Lunar Boy by Cin Wibowo, Jes Wibowo

emotional funny reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

FIRST READ OF 2025 AND I AM ABSOLUTELY NOT CRYING.

The vibes are like The Little Prince x Steven Universe, but make it queer and place it in an Indonesian background/setting. I thought this was so well-done—from the art itself (which was so beautiful) and the storytelling (profoundly wholesome!).

I loved the Indonesian rep! I don't think I've read a YA or MG mainly featuring Indonesian culture yet, so I really appreciated this one. I also appreciated how Indu's struggles with fitting in the community were highlighted and handled. The parts about passive fluency was also really interesting! (Which oddly enough I could relate to, because I could understand my parents' Ilonggo dialect, but I'm not that confident speaking it). And while the parts in Indonesian weren't exactly translated (and that's honestly fine with me, I love that), it's also funny and cool that I feel like I could see a few similarities between Bahasa Indonesia and Filipino.

The queer rep was also so good! Like almost everyone is queer?! Hell yes please. This story featured transmasc and transfem cast, nonbinary minor characters, aroace/lesbian questioning character, panromantic character. I don't know, but I really liked that I got to see all of these identities, because, like Indu, knowing someone is queer is some form of relief and awe for me. I could totally relate to that. I also really liked Indu discovering community and learning that he can share their history as well, and be a part of them moving forward. That particular scene when someone was telling Indu about queer people trying to fit in? Yeah, I cried in that one, thanks.

"In many of the old world's cultures, queer people used to be important leaders and spiritual figures.

So for the longest time, people on Earth thought there was something wrong with being queer.

When our ancestral homeland was colonized, invaders forced the queer people of our islands into hiding or worse.

After all that's happened, queer people today are just trying to figure out how we fit back into everything again."

Also I have to say, I also REALLY loved that one of the main points or lesson in this was that going through changes (whether painful or no) is okay. Because that's what it's like to be human. We change and we welcome it, much like Indu's experiences and the people around him.
Even the moon realized that.
 

Overall, I thought this was amazing. Maybe it's not that perfect? (like I wanted some more world-building elements), but I'm giving 5 stars just because of the overall story and how it made me feel. 🥺
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