Bone Broth: A Graphic Novel

by Alex Taylor

In this coming-of-age queer thriller, the young transmasculine Ash begins his transition into adult life by landing his first job at a ramen-noodle shop in London, prepping the bone broth. But as the financial landscape shifts under Ash’s feet, and after months of bonding with a series of challenging co-workers, everything suddenly stops dead. Literally. At a drunken staff party, Ash’s bullying boss turns up dead, and everyone’s been taking selfies with the corpse. Good thing Ash has already spent a year on the job…

Genres: Graphic Novels, Horror, Queer, Cooking, Comics

208 pages, Paperback

Published December 2, 2025

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

This is Alex^Taylor, where ^=space. (default profile)

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ash is a trans man who starts working at a hole-in-the-wall ramen restaurant underneath a London railway arch. All he wants is to “pay for hormones, pay rent, [and] make enough to take a cutie on a date.” Bug’s Bones is run by an irascible elderly proprietor but staffed by a young multicultural bunch: Sock, Blue, Honey and Creamy. They quickly show Ash the ropes and within a month he’s turning out perfect bowls. He’s creeped out by the restaurant’s trademark bone broth, though, with its reminders of creatures turning into food. At the end of a drunken staff party, they find Bug lying dead and have to figure out what to do about it.

This storyline is in purple, whereas the alternating sequences of flashbacks are in a fleshy pinkish-red. As the two finally meet and meld, we see Ash trying to imitate the masculinity he sees on display while he waits for the surface to match what’s inside. I didn’t love the drawing style – though the full-page tableaux are a lot better than the high-school-sketchbook small panes – so that was an issue for me throughout, but this was an interesting, ghoulish take on the transmasc experience. Taylor won a First Graphic Novel Award.

Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[Larakaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

An uneasy read for me, but really well done.

[Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very charming and spooky comic of a trans man getting his life back on track by holding onto his new ramen chef job. But it all takes a dark turn after the big work party. I really liked how it went back and forth in the timeline with different colour schemes for past and present. It made what was happening in the present so much more of a gut punch when you see how cosy everything was. The art style is absolutely beautiful and packed with so much detail. I know when I read this again I will be able to pick out loads of details I inevitably missed first time round. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice little coming of age story/thriller. Not an enormous amount of plot considering its length, and I wasn't quite sure what to make of the ending. But Taylor's loose, expressive art is appealing and I'll be interested to see how it develops.

[Alec Telemakhos · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Illustrations are beautiful even in moments where the plot turns dark.

The Storytime-line seems a bit chaotic with the past and present mixibg up, so i was very glad it was devided with color changes.

[Jane Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Spooky and beautiful, couldn't put it down!

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was delightfully weird!

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Benedict · Rating 3 out of 5]

A graphic novel I stumbled upon when looking for LGBTQ books, Bone Broth follows trans man Ash in their new job at a London ramen shop. The story flits between their first days and weeks at the shop learning the trade and meeting the staff, and between the aftermath of a staff party a year into their employment when their boss is found dead.

The characters and art in this are great, the bustling nature of the place really comes across well and the horror got very unnerving. I guess my main problem was the jumping timeline making it unclear what was happening when... and then with the decisions made upon finding the dead body. I do not understand the logic behind the staff actions. Like, if there was motivations other than a knee-jerk shock reaction, it wasn't made clear enough. The whole thing is unsettling, as horror should be, but I was left feeling quite unsatisfied with the outcome.