[ARC Review] Freaking Romance Volume One by Snailords
From the creator of Snailogy and Death: Rescheduled comes a sexy supernatural story about being out on your own, finding your dream apartment and discovering that your new place is haunted by a handsome spectral stranger from another dimension. Sure, he can’t see you and you can’t touch him, but who said every relationship starts out perfectly?
Freaking Romance is for fans of Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, This One Summer and Bloom.
This volume collects episodes 1–21 of the supernatural hit WEBTOON comic.
My thoughts: This collected volume of Freaking Romance isn't even the first time I've read this gorgeous story by Snailords; I was definitely one of the ones reading this weekly episodic romance on Webtoon, impatiently hitting refresh for the latest update on whether or not Zylith and Zelan would ever actually meet. But even though this isn't my first time in Zylith and Zelan's magical apartment, I still absolutely devoured this collected volume. Even knowing what drama lies ahead for these two, and Zylith's friend, Verose, I just couldn't get enough.
There are so many reasons to pick up Freaking Romance Volume One:
- The story. The story that Snailords created is amazing and can easily rival any full-length supernatural romance novel. This first volume only gives readers a taste of the romance to come, but the tension is already there. Zelan and Zylith are fully-formed characters with their own personality and problems. They take comfort in knowing the other is there, even if they seem to be worlds apart. Snailords creates hope in a seemingly impossible situation.
- The artwork. There were times during volume one that I had to simply pause and stare at the art on the page because Snailords rendered Zylith and Zelan so beautifully. Between the linework, flow, and coloring, so many of these pages are worthy of being hung up on the wall. I thought the art was beautiful when reading this story in its original format, but seeing all these panels in a larger and lengthier format made them certifiably ogle-worthy.
- The format. I don't think I truly understood the appeal of having Webtoon stories printed in a physical format under now. But being able to hold this beautiful story in my hands and turn pages rather than scroll for a little while each week was truly a superior experience when reliving this story.
- The length. I was initially worried when I saw that Freaking Romance would be broken up into multiple volumes. But, I do think Snailords and the publisher ended this first volume at a great spot in the story; obviously, the story isn't over, but the ending was more sweet than cliffhanger which I greatly appreciated.
No matter how you read it, Freaking Romance is an amazing story with some outright gorgeous art. But said art is only more vivid and beautiful in this printed format.
[A huge thank you to Webtoon Unscrolled for providing a review copy of Freaking Romance Volume One. All opinions are my own.]
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Release date: 9/26/23
Format: eARC
eARC provided via: NetGalley widget
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