My Solo Exchange Diary Vol 2 Graphic Novel Review

My Solo Exchange Diary Vol 2

Erica Gives This Comic Four StarsMy Solo Exchange Diary Vol 2 by Nagata Kabi

This is a sequel to My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, which off the top, I liked the first one better. And no, this doesn’t have to do with the lower amount of content about sex and sex work. Perhaps I read My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness during a down moment in my own life and could better identify with the loneliness and depression throughout the book.

My Solo Exchange Diary continues to cover loneliness and depression, plus Nagata’s struggles to move from her parents’ home and the changes in her career. This book expands on the career component when it comes to her being out of the closet with her parents and honest about the sexually explicit nature of her work, how she speaks about her family, and in general, being a lesbian. Anyone who’s ever written autobiographical content has struggled with this. It’s extremely pivotal for Nagata that she’s able to move away from her parents’ house and get out from under that dynamic as her family reads and experiences her work. Continue reading “My Solo Exchange Diary Vol 2 Graphic Novel Review”

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness Manga Review

My Lesbian Experience with LonelinessErica gives this comic five starsMy Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Nagata Kabi

First, I want to say that as a reviewer, I find it difficult to critically rate someone’s life experience. Most memoirs or autobiographical prose I’ve read either is well-written (or well-drawn) or it’s not. There’s not room for “oh, that action wasn’t believable” or “wow, that character made an out-of-character decision.”

That said, I flipped flopped around a bit on this book if I should’ve given it five or four stars. Obviously, I went with five. Typically, what makes a book go from a four to a five, for me, is an emotional component that speaks to me.

I spend the first chunk of this book utterly identifying with Nagata’s struggles with depression, isolation, anxiety, and loneliness. She portrays the honest reality of what it looks like to struggle. And to fail too.

My internal experiences have never put me where Nagata’s put her, but I couldn’t help but nod my head. I couldn’t help, but tear up at her scenes. Nagata’s vulnerability creates an automatic intimacy with the reader. Even if the book opens with her first escort experience as a flash-forward and hook for the reader. Continue reading “My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness Manga Review”