Adachi and Shimamura

Two high school girls tentatively navigate their budding romance in this simple, oddly voyeuristic light novel from Iruma (Bloom into You), inexplicably being marketed to adults. Adachi and Shimamura meet while they both happen to be skipping class and hiding out in the school gym. They immediately strike up an easy friendship, but both girls secretly want more. Unsure what to do with these new feelings, they haltingly inch their relationship forward. The bulk of the plot is taken up by hesitant flirtation and blushing eye contact. This character-driven love story is hampered by the lack of psychological complexity of its protagonists, who read as flimsy adult fantasies of teenage girls. Iruma is more concerned with describing their appearances than their internal lives: “In contrast to Adachi, my hair was visibly bleached to a tawny copper color, and I put more effort into my makeup,” Shimamura tells the reader. While this pubescent love story might appeal to a teen readership, it fails as a work for adults. (June)