Burkely Hermann is a writer, researcher, and former metadata librarian. His reviews can be read on Pop Culture Maniacs or his personal WordPress blog. He can be followed on Instagram, Bluesky, or on Mastadon communities such as library.love, glammr.us, genealysis.social, and historians.social.

After a street fight, Faye Scott has to do community service in a local library’s literary club, for a six-month-period. This annoys her because she detests reading. That all changes when she meets another twenty-something young woman named Atlas Valentine, and wants to give reading a try. Atlas tries to get to know her better, aware she is not there willingly, and hopes that Faye will find a “sense of community” while working there. Faye reveals she got her fighting skills from her late father and that she has no friends apart from her black cat Dani.

Literary Link, a slice-of-life comic, with romantic themes and rated for teens and up, follows the growing relationship between these two young women, involving shelving and preparing for the book club at the local library. At one point, Atlas worries she scared Faye away, as she is overthinking, based on how people have treated her in the past, but Faye returns! Previously, a short video feature for the comic was shown on a visual art site named Glow Art, as were various other yuri webcomics on Webtoon including Unleashed, Susuhara is a Demon, Diamond Dive, and Pick Me prior to Glow Art shutting down in late July of this year for unknown reasons. The latter could be related to Google cutting off web traffic. Following the site’s closure, Glow Art fired all existing staff and ended agreed-upon contracts. Luckily, creators could keep their intellectual property so it isn’t trapped on the site.

The yuri themes are central to this webcomic, whether with Atlas and Faye blushing at each other, Atlas treating Faye’s wounds, or working together on tasks. As they continue working in the library, side-by-side, they learn more about one another. Faye even beats up guys who take the book that Atlas gave her, while Atlas embarrasses Faye by showing up at the bakery, BakedKitty, where she works. It is made worse, for Faye, when the shop owner, Ethan, strikes up a conversation with Atlas. She also begins occasionally hanging out at the bakery, rather than just at the library, surprising Faye.

Their friendship, with romantic undertones, is strained when the other person doing community service, Vega Blutfield, shows up. It turns out that he is the person that Faye beat up before. Even so, they end up getting along, despite their denials, and later act competitive. In fact, in one of the Glow Art episodes, Vega teases Faye about her crush on Atlas, even proposing she write a love letter to her, after a love letter was discovered (which wasn’t even to Atlas, but someone else). Despite all of that, Atlas and Faye enjoy each other’s company, even dressing up for Halloween, Faye acting sweet toward Atlas (like giving her a new cupcake flavor made at the bakery), and Faye having a romantic dream about Atlas, thinking it is a “nightmare.”

The background Yenzu provides for Faye, about her grandmother, who hasn’t come to the library for a while because she got sick, gives the story more depth, as do the presence of the other characters hanging out in the library, or Faye’s grandmother appearing in the library. The series is no longer just centered around Faye and Atlas. At another point, Faye helps Atlas write a romantic story for a writing contest, when Atlas gets writer’s block. 

Later on, Ethan teases Faye about making Atlas her girlfriend (or “more than a friend” as he suggests), which she pushes off. However, she undoubtedly has feelings for her, and vice versa. She soon realizes he was right, letting her guard down, but remembering people on “the street” dislike her. Some time after, she even reads the completed romantic story Faye submits for a contest, and saves her from Vega’s ex-friends, who are bullies.

Yenzu often features fanart by fans, or herself, including one of Faye as Adora and Atlas as Catra in an adaptation from a new-”classic” She-Ra and the Princesses of Power scene from Season 5, sketches at the end of each comic, and highlights comments by readers, plus occasional shorter comics to keep the story going. Other short comics are more holiday-themed like Atlas giving Faye a cheek kiss under the mistletoe. Merenge does a great job with coloring this webcomic and helps make the characters come to life in this cute, fluffy comic. Literary Link is also available in Spanish language under the name “Vínculo Literario.”

There are currently plans by Yenzu to move Literary Link to Webtoons Originals as various other webcomics on the site have done. She said the new version of the comic will be improved and that the story will “bloom.” Recently, she said she is working hard on the originals version. Hopefully, the version on Webtoons Canvas stays intact and is not overridden. I say this because sometimes when comics move from Webtoons Canvas to Webtoons Originals, the original version disappears into the ether and can’t be re-read. This can be good for the author, as they can start over the story, and change it, but not necessarily the reader, as you can’t re-read the story ever again. In any case, I look forward to the improved Literary Link and plan on reading it whenever it comes out, seeing what Yenzu has changed, or kept the same.

Ratings:

Art: 7
Story: 8
Characters: 
Service: 1 (or maybe even zero as this is pretty mild)
Yuri: 3 or 4, as not much has happened yet
Hanging out in libraries: 10, as this series is centered around hanging out in a library, although not all of it occurs there.
Cuteness: 8

Overall: 9 (it’s a nice, enjoyable comic apart from the fights Faye has with others, which are not a major focus of the story)

You can enjoy Literary Link on Webtoons Canvas. It can be supported on Patreon, Ko-fi, or Red Bubble (has pins and stickers for characters from The Owl House).