Reviews with content warning for Body shaming - This One Summer

Second Read-through: July 2023
It's been many years since I first read this surprisingly complex and beautifully illustrated graphic novel. My thoughts and original review still hold up, for the most part, I think. The story portrayed through the gorgeous art and illustrations isn't exactly fun or easy to read and its subtlety almost makes it come off as bothersome and boring at times, but I think it perfectly portrays the lazy, whistful feelings of summer and confusing, sometimes scary feelings of growing up.

Things That Stood Out To Me This Time:

The many small Ontario/Canadian references. (I particularly loved seeing the Tim Horton's cups. ;3)
The contrast between an unexpected (and, at least partially, unwanted) teen pregnancy and the loss of a very muchly wanted child.
Rose's naive and youthful viewpoint on her parent's relationship and the relationship between two teen strangers.

Her opinion of both her parents changed over the course of this summer, for sure. I get the sense that she's started to have the realization that every child eventually does: that her parents are very muchly human and, therefore, make mistakes. They also feel things deeply (often secretly) and have a lot more going on than anyone else realizes.
She became very invested in the relationship between two teens as well, as I think they both fascinated and frustrated her. They seemed just as confusing to her as her parents, but she is more inclined to judge them at first, as they just seem like "dumb teenagers" to her and her friend Windy. It's not until later in the summer that she starts to understand that they also have a lot more going on and that their relationship (and the emotions involved in it) are just as complex and complicated as adults.

First Read-through: April 2015

Thoughts:

This was utterly stunning! The artwork/style in this graphic novel is absolutely gorgeous! I love the super-drawn feel of it. It makes the characters and landscapes feel that much more real. There's so much variety and creativity in the different styles used as well. Almost every page was laid out differently than the last. It made turning the pages that much easier and made the book feel different and unique. The variety of panels and use of the pages added to the story too.
Many reviewers seem to feel as though the story fell flat compared to the outstanding art, which, in a way, I'd agree with. The story and messages are very subtle, and there isn't an obvious resolution to anything. I, surprisingly, liked that though. I liked the subtlety and having to pick up on things that weren't as obvious; that the Tamaki cousins didn't directly turn a spotlight on to.
I also felt the characters were VERY real and did grow over the course of the book. It was more of a mental/observant growth than a physical/action-oriented growth, but growth nonetheless. You don't see that very often, particularly in graphic novels, which makes me appreciate this beautiful book even more. (I will admit to not becoming overly attached to any of the characters or feeling a real connection to this graphic novel at all though. :/ Maybe that's why I can't give it a full 5 stars at this point...)

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