Tags: Comedy, Romance, Drama, Slice of Life, School Life

Sub-Tags: Cute, Strong Lead, Character Growth

A Romance of Sweet Nothings!

Sweet and sugary foreign sweet nothings constitute my latest review as I look at Yen Press’ newest rom-com – Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian.

The story revolves around Masachika and the problems he’s been having with his seatmate, Alisa. Seen by everyone as a beautiful yet solitary princess, she always greets her classmates with an icy stare and a cold comment. For Masachika, however, things are a little bit different. While she may be cold to him in Japanese, her true feelings come out in Russian. Words laced with love and affection that only he secretly understands. How will Masachika survive this sugary sweet onslaught?!

Alya, The Lonely Overachiever

Having finished the first volume, what strikes me most about the novel is that it feels more like a prologue to the series as a whole.

This is by no means a bad thing, in fact, it works in the volume’s favour allowing the author to ground the characters giving them depth and making them feel innately human. Both this and the series’ well-thought-out sweet romance make up the two overwhelming positives of the volume and the reason for the sub-headers of this review.

Alya is the main love interest of the series, and other than Masachika gets the majority of the deep character development of the volume. A smart overachiever, her drive and passion to better herself leads her to ever more challenging endeavours such as the race to become student council president.

Her high intelligence and drive, however, often cause problems. She’s always been alone, having never met someone who can reach her level she takes up too much by herself and fails at the last hurdle. It is this complex that leads to her eventual romantic feelings for Masachika.

Set out in a wonderfully placed flashback, it shows Alya and Masachika working together to get the school festival up and running. While Alya is shown to have the know-how and work ethic, it’s only with Masachika’s connections and people skills that everything is brought together.

Masachika, A light in the Shadows

Masachika, on the other hand, can be considered the exact opposite of Alya, often struggling to find his own drive. He puts on a slovenly performance believing that he’s undeserving of any meaningful achievements due to his lack of pure motives, doing it for others rather than himself.

Thankfully he’s put in his place by the current school council president. The president shows that impure motives, achieving something in light of a different goal, is just as valid, whether to become council president to confess to the woman you love or just to help a hard worker achieve her dreams.

This novel must be praised for showcasing the immediate reaction of Masachika to the president’s speech. Finding motivation and helping Alya deal with the constraints of her people skills so that she can go on to fight for the presidential position.

A Romance of Secret Communications

Stepping back from character development, it would be remiss of me to not mention one of the main reasons why you’d buy this book, the romance.

Much like its well-thought-out characters, the romance in this series is also firing on all cylinders. There’s an ever-present sugary-sweet atmosphere surrounding the two as they each go out of their way to get the other’s attention.

There’s plenty for rom-com lovers to sink their teeth into from the flirting in their everyday conversation to their mini-date event as she tries to give him a heart attack trying on different styles of outfit.

Featuring ample character growth and fluffy rom-com moments, Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings could give any series in the genre a run for its money. It strikes a good balance between the sugary-sweet and the serious, providing ample opportunities to create a depth of character and a couple that readers can route for. As the series moves forward into the student council arc, it has set itself in a great place for the drama to come.