3.5
I loved the original Tokyo Tarareba Girls series, so I lept to snag a copy of this! Just as in the original, this series focuses on a 30-something-year-old woman, struggling to find herself and her place in life. Everything in Reina's life has become mundane and monotonous. She works a dead-end job, is still stuck living with her parents, and is forever single. She has no dreams and her life is a never-ending loop of boredom, and she's tired of a dull cycle. Reina's desire to get herself out of the stagnation her life has become is highly relatable to most 30-year-olds! A lot of us face the same exact situation as she does, so she feels very much like a real person. Her goal of "finding a husband and living a good life" is also relatable but also kind of hilarious how she comes to that point. The story's pacing does feel a little off. It's a bit too much talking and not enough doing this early in the series. But, Akiko Higashimura is known for having wonderful character monologues within her stories, so it's excusable. The art of course, I adore. I adored it in the original Tokyo Tarareda Girls, in Princess Jellyfish, and in many of her other works. I really hope this story finds it's footing a bit more as the series continues!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!