Star Collector, Volume 1

Art: 4Plot: 3½
Characters: 3½Total rating: 4

This manga was so pretty to look at, wow. The soft watercolours on the art pages are so beautiful, and the style lends itself really well to the overall theme of the story. Anna Backhausen is a very talented artist. Plus, thanks to the excellent character design, the two leads were unique and stood out from one another, which made them memorable and endearing.

In all honesty, I'm a sucker for anything that has to do with stars/astronomy/space, so when I saw this title I knew I absolutely had to give it a go. I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed, and I was happy to see that the space-theme was central to the plot (as opposed to being just a quirk of one of the characters).



The story revolves around Fynn, an unmotivated, chain-smoking, lazy student who was recently dumped by his girlfriend, Zoe, and Niko, a newbie in school who has a passion for astronomy and who is surprisingly friendly and popular in school despite his appearance. The two randomly meet one night on a hill top and become friends despite their obvious differences. Eventually, Fynn makes a move, but Niko's turbulent past keeps him from giving in and sabotages his hopes of having a relationship with Fynn. Both are damaged in their own way, but together they make one another better. Fynn gives up his smokes and starts to attend his classes again, and Niko learns to trust someone with his heart even though it's a scary process.

Niko's past remains obscure throughout the manga, which I assume will be the focus of volume 2 instead. However, this doesn't keep him from his HEA with Fynn, and all of this is cemented through their shared love of the night sky (and the Perseid in particular).

I look forward to reading the next volume and seeing where their relationship goes. Even though the pacing was off in some places, the plot was interesting enough to keep me hooked and wanting more of Fynn and Niko.

Vol. 1 ★★★★★
Vol. 2 ★★★★☆

I kind of adored this. The artwork is beautiful, the characters are lovable and flawed and sweet, and the romance is slow but simple and precious. There's definitely a lot that doesn't get explained in Niko's back story here, but I'm hoping that's going to be explored further in the next volume. Bits of the story are surprisingly bittersweet (like the secrecy behind Niko's scar and his home life, or Zoe's deep love for Fynn despite their breakup), and it definitely adds to the depth of the book overall. I can't wait for Volume 2. ♥

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!