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juliat2006's review against another edition
3.0
3/5 stars. Anya's ghost is about a Russian immigrant living in America, who runs away from home and encounters an old ghost (Emily) after falling down an empty well. After being rescued from the hole, she introduces Emily into the life of a school girl the 21st century, and she tries to help Anya achieve her goals. What could possibly go wrong?
Let's start with what I liked. The art style is nice, and the character designs were diverse - each person having a distinctive look. I found this book to be funny at parts, with the especially with quotability of Anya "I could lose myself forever in that dark hair and those sweet love handles". The message of the book is in the right place: about being your true self and not caring about the opinions of others. Being an immigrant from another country who moved to an English-speaking country, I also faced the insecurity of having an accent because I was scared that I would be mocked for it. Thankfully, that was not the case for me, and I am rather proud of my heritage. Although, the way this message was shown could be considered cheesy (the ending).
I found this book promising at the start, however, the further the plot progressed, the less engaged I faced. I started to care less about the ghost section. Not to mention, I thought that the transition of Emily's character felt a little rushed, with her turning from sweet and well-meaning to obsessive and wicked a little jarring. I also thought that the ending was rather abrupt, after the fast paced section to preceded it. Talking about rushed, Anya's opinions (ex: being jealous over her crush, to believing that people should be left alone in a relationship) changed rather fast without much evidence for character growth. For example, Anya was super jealous over Elizabeth for being with her crush and being generally pretty, and only realised it was wrong when she read about Emily's story. Even by the end of the story, the issues with Anya's body dysphoria is left unmentioned and unresolved. It was as if her personality changed (or rather were ignored) to fit the story narrative and prove Emily's convictions wrong.
Nevertheless, it was a fast-paced read but I don't think I will be re-reading it anytime soon, if ever. I did not care for most characters, apart from Dima, and Anya's family, and the positives of this book don't persuade me to ever come back to this either. That is all.
Let's start with what I liked. The art style is nice, and the character designs were diverse - each person having a distinctive look. I found this book to be funny at parts, with the especially with quotability of Anya "I could lose myself forever in that dark hair and those sweet love handles". The message of the book is in the right place: about being your true self and not caring about the opinions of others. Being an immigrant from another country who moved to an English-speaking country, I also faced the insecurity of having an accent because I was scared that I would be mocked for it. Thankfully, that was not the case for me, and I am rather proud of my heritage. Although, the way this message was shown could be considered cheesy (the ending).
I found this book promising at the start, however, the further the plot progressed, the less engaged I faced. I started to care less about the ghost section. Not to mention, I thought that the transition of Emily's character felt a little rushed, with her turning from sweet and well-meaning to obsessive and wicked a little jarring. I also thought that the ending was rather abrupt, after the fast paced section to preceded it. Talking about rushed, Anya's opinions (ex: being jealous over her crush, to believing that people should be left alone in a relationship) changed rather fast without much evidence for character growth. For example, Anya was super jealous over Elizabeth for being with her crush and being generally pretty, and only realised it was wrong when she read about Emily's story. Even by the end of the story, the issues with Anya's body dysphoria is left unmentioned and unresolved. It was as if her personality changed (or rather were ignored) to fit the story narrative and prove Emily's convictions wrong.
Nevertheless, it was a fast-paced read but I don't think I will be re-reading it anytime soon, if ever. I did not care for most characters, apart from Dima, and Anya's family, and the positives of this book don't persuade me to ever come back to this either. That is all.
christopher_dilts's review against another edition
4.0
A heartwarming tale about an entitled teenager with body image and self-esteem issues who meets a ghost who eventually teaches her how to act like a responsible and critically-minded person.
I enjoyed this story and it was an excellent brief and prosaic graphic novel with a style reminiscent of Persepolis Marjane Satrapi. This is an excellent book for international students trying to fit into another culture, or anywhere. There was a positive message with this book but it wasn't laid on too heavily.
The plot was interesting and surprisingly not obvious, with a clever twist. After reading many stories and being able to guess the ending in the first one or two pages, this story was able to tell something different without it being too weirdly awkward. Well done!
I enjoyed this story and it was an excellent brief and prosaic graphic novel with a style reminiscent of Persepolis Marjane Satrapi. This is an excellent book for international students trying to fit into another culture, or anywhere. There was a positive message with this book but it wasn't laid on too heavily.
The plot was interesting and surprisingly not obvious, with a clever twist. After reading many stories and being able to guess the ending in the first one or two pages, this story was able to tell something different without it being too weirdly awkward. Well done!
tx2its's review against another edition
4.0
Reading 2020
Book 1: Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol
First book of 2020 and a graphic novel. I will be continuing on my graphic novel kick for a while as I currently have about 20 checked out from the library.
Book 1: Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol
First book of 2020 and a graphic novel. I will be continuing on my graphic novel kick for a while as I currently have about 20 checked out from the library.
vmartin23's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
smfields's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
gigitru's review against another edition
4.0
Don't let that cartoon-y image fool you, this was is spooky. Incredible story and fantastic graphics make this one fabulous read.
jenieceism's review against another edition
4.0
Anya's Ghost ended up being a lot creepier than expected...and than I'd like to admit. Totally goes from 0 to 60, from typical sullen teengirl meets Casper the Friendly Ghost hijinks to SWF. Loved it, looking forward to finding more like it.
soniuz's review against another edition
2.0
I didn’t expect this to get so violent, wasn’t really for me