Reviews

Not Your Idol, Vol. 2 by Aoi Makino

whomever_0's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

3.0

There is a cliffhanger and it has been on hiatus since 2018 so...

lillanaa's review against another edition

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3.0

I'm still not sure how I feel about this one, it feels like it's trying to do too much in one series. Characters are fine, but they flip flop so much about what they're feeling that I'm not able to follow easily. It's alright, but kind of just anguish over and over.

draculaura21's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

2.75

I don't know if toxic femininity is a thing (a quick google search and, like, life experience tells me that it totally is), but being confronted with it so brazenly here was gut-wrenching. This was an uncomfortable read for sure and left me wide-eyes in bed with a fractured heart. Although, I suppose addressing any important social topic should be uncomfortable in some way. I hope Vol. 3 comes out soon (i.e. now) because, while I'm not entirely pleased with how this story is going, I desperately need to know where it's going.

perazo's review against another edition

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3.0

This series never finished, and so maybe I'm being extra harsh about feeling annoyed at how the second volume ended, instead of a weird assumption that this was a two-volume series. Shojo Beat almost never publishes unfinished series (there are, of course, big exceptions), so I couldn't help but feel like there was a situation in which the mangaka simply decided they wouldn't finish it. Ah, well, so it goes!

readingfromwhereiwant's review against another edition

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challenging dark fast-paced

3.0

haylisreading's review against another edition

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3.0

I need volume three and there’s no pub date in sight! :’(

banana83854's review against another edition

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3.0

Wooo, there is a lot to digest and unpack in this manga, but it's a little too dark for me sooo... I think I'm gonna drop it.

louandlife's review against another edition

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4.0

Advanced reader copy provided by the publisher on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger Warnings for sexual assault.


Check out my review of Not Your Idol Volume 1: https://youtu.be/B6j8Abpjv7I

I was so excited when I saw that this volume was available to request on NetGalley, and I really hoped that I would be approved because the first volume is quite literally one of the best mangas that I've read in 2020 so far. I even did a whole YouTube book review on it, which means that it's on a level higher than most of the books that I read in general because of the amount of extra time that I dedicate to promoting it. I ended up reading the manga as soon as I saw that I was approved, and finished it in one sitting!

Volume 2 continues to have the same tense, dark atmosphere of volume 1. It picks up from the cliffhanger of Volume 1 which makes the reader question Kamiyama's safety when she is with Horiuchi. The series continues to discuss sexual assault, however it starts to become more of a plot device in this volume. Hopefully I can explain this well. In the first volume it debates the idea of 'asking for it' with it being clear that the author does not believe that people ask for it. Yet, in this book sexual assault is used as a plot twist with one of the characters. I thought that this volume would have been perfect if it was edited out, because it didn't need to be in there. Apart from that, I thought that the plot was very good and made me really connect with Kamiyama's emotional pain. I liked seeing the developing friendships, and more of Kamiyama's life as an idol.

I would definitely recommend this series, but I would warn people about it's dark nature.

cfields98's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

juicelina's review against another edition

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3.0

This series makes me angry!! Like the way the girls are treated drives me crazy, but shit like this actually happens. Girls are sexually assaulted and blamed for it or their stories aren't believed and it's so frustrating. I will say the way the author handled the sexual assault in this was tastefully done. There's nothing that blatantly shows the assault, you just know it happens. Like you don't need to see all the details and traumatize the reader in order to get the point across.

I thought this was only a two volume series, but it's not concluded yet so there has to be more. It doesn't look like there's anything available yet (at least translated in english), but I do want to continue reading. I'm really curious about who the stalker is and his motives as well as what will happen with the mean girl.