A fun story that ends a smidgen abruptly was what I felt about Super Boba Café V01 by Nidhi Chanani. However, this is (as the volume one notes) a graphic novel which is the first book and you know that there will be more to come because of that. Not to mention the very last page has that “dun dun dun” ending where, “That’s all … for now … Folks!” should be added.
If you want to find out what that ending is, you need to read a story about multiple generations, family, friendships, and the monsters (real and the human kind) that try to control us. We follow Aria, and her grandmother Jing Li, as they run the boba shop, play with cats and kittens, and try new things. Even if there is a struggle to get Aria’s grandmother to go along with the new ideas. Because, if things change, there might be consequences nobody can handle, That might seem extreme until you learn that the grandmother has one monstrous secret. A secret that could cause the end of the city.
The big issue I had with this book was that it introduces a concept, but does not flesh it out. We deal with the real monster, but not the human one. The concept is older, I felt, than what is given via the action, conversations and what the illustrations portray. I am not sure of the coloring of the images in the final version (due late October 2023), as I read this via an online reader copy, but they feel almost as bubbly as bubble tea!