Awesome, all options look great!
I actually tried Kiki as my first book in japanese and for some reason I couldn’t understand anything (might be the lack of kanji? Or the whimsical writing?) but it probably makes sense to revisit! I will read samples of all the proposed books and see which one speaks to me the most, but I’m pretty sure one of them will do it.
Thanks a lot!
I read this book early on and really struggled too! For me it was harder than コンビニ人間 | L29 and https://learnnatively.com/book/b26291e5b3/ . Glad I’m not the only one!
I’d recommend this in general, and also the audiobook was super high quality! I also read the book first and listened to the audiobook afterward. If you can manage the level I’d definitely recommend giving it a try. The only downside I think is that it’s pretty long, around 550 pages.
I don’t remember much about 時をかける少女 | L25 to be sure whether it fits the content bill, but I remember seeing an audio book for it on Audible.
edit: Ah, wait, it’s romance.
I watched the anime ages ago, so it might be nice to revisit anyway, even if anime and novel differ from each other. Thanks for bringing it up!
I’m a bit intimidated by the length, but on the other hand, that might be good so I can really get used to the style and get more out of the audiobook through that.
I am finishing another book that I’m currently reading tomorrow, so I’ll decide for something from the recs here latest by sunday when I start my next book 
Does anyone have any recommendations (preferably fiction) with harder grammar (around N2) but relatively simple vocabulary? Genre doesn’t matter.
I wanna practice grammar but don’t like to spend a lot of time looking up rare and unfamiliar words.
Thanks in advance!
Having read in quick succession 女装してめんどくさい事になってるネクラとヤンキーの両片想い (series) | L25 and 魔法少女事変 (series) | L27 , I realized that I need more gender-bendy “characters switch back and forth between genders” types of stories.
If anyone needs other recommendations like that as well, on top of the previous two, I did like 放浪息子 (series) | L27 and 不可解なぼくのすべてを (series) | L22 (although that’s a bit borderline). I also liked リボンの騎士 上巻 | L25 but keep in mind that it’s an old manga, so some views can be a bit annoying to a modern audience (for instance, the main character is incapable of fighting as a woman, because women don’t do that or something). If I’m being honest, I had as much fun reading the story as I had fun being angry at the story.
Yes, finally someone else has read 魔法少女事変！ (I really need to finish the last volume that just came out haha.) I love the constant switching too so glad you appreciated that. I also like fast-paced, crazy stories like this where you have no idea what’s coming next (reminds me of 藤本タツキ in that way) so this series really checks all the boxes as far as I’m concerned.
I didn’t even notice it had just come out. 
I kinda commented on it in the “what are you reading today” thread, but the last volume reeks of rushed wrapping up due to a series’ cancellation by the publisher.
Honestly, the extended omake at the end shows some of what the series could have been and it makes me sad.
Anyway, it was the first proper manga series from the author, so I have hopes for the future! (Maybe… last time I thought that about an author, his subsequent series failed and he quit being a mangaka altogether, so I’d rather not jinx it )
there’s 魔法少女俺 which is a similar concept to 魔法少女事変
ベルサイユのばら (series) | L31 is a gender-bend classic of course, though from what I’ve read it doesn’t really focus on that as a plot point (at least early on).
Hmmmmm the preview makes it to be a parody of the 魔法少女 genre, but honestly the jokes aren’t really landing for me.
(NB: 魔法少女 or magic do not need to be involved, by the way)
Oh! I have heard of it, but don’t know anything about it (or, more specifically, don’t remember anything about it; I think I remember the character focus changes at some point or something? Or was it one character becoming more relevant? No clue anymore, which is exactly what I want; nobody answers that)
Edit to avoid spamming the thread:
Looking around to answer my own request, I also randomly came across a light novel titled “女嫌いの公爵子息に「女装して妻のフリをしてくれ」と頼まれましたが、私は男装中の女です！” which does seem to sum up the plot. It… does not seem great? So maybe not? But I’m going to check the preview anyway.
I don’t know if this fits what you’re looking for, but have you tried 放課後保健室 (series) | L24???
Yes! I read it in French wayyy back when, but I really loved that series. That would be exactly what I am looking for… but I read it already. More like that please.
What’s this one about?
From MAL:
Mashiro Ichijou, an attractive and popular high school student, has always lived his life as a boy. However, nobody notices that deep down, he resents the fact that his body is half female. He has decided to conceal his femininity from those around him, while in reality, he is insecure about who he is supposed to be.
One day, an unfamiliar nurse asks Mashiro to follow her to the school’s infirmary in the basement—an office that has never existed until now. Little does he realize that the moment he steps into the mysterious room, he will never be capable of returning to being the person he was before.
As he struggles to find his true identity, Mashiro must face the disquiet in his own heart, all while protecting himself from the prying eyes of his classmates. Slowly but steadily, the unbecoming truth of the world is laid bare: all its lies and deceit engulfed in nightmares that only unfold in broad daylight.
ベルばら is GOATed and my favorite manga series of all time! +1 for this, shame you’ve already read it though @Naphthalene! 
Kind of a tangent recommendation but If you like BL, 木原音瀬 has some highly distressing but great books that feature gender bending stuff and where it intersects with sexuality - specifically 美しいこと and 灰の月 (warning: this book is not safe for life lol), and to a lesser extent 月に笑う. 
Ah, @Naphthalene, there’s also Claudine (manga) - Wikipedia by the same author as Rose of Versailles. Not yet on Natively, though I just requested it.
