Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Roaming: Fünf Tage in New York

A realistic look at the evolution of friendships. As always the art was top tier and the storytelling was masterful. I didn't love the ending but I loved how this felt like a sequel to This One Summer.

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betweentheshelves's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.5

I love Jillian Tamaki's art, honestly. It really stands out in this book, with the color scheme and the characters and the setting. There are just some really gorgeous panels in here, drawing you into the New York scene.

But that doesn't take away from the writing! This is about how friendships might change after high school, about reconnecting and figuring out that maybe you're not sure what the future holds. The characters are all well developed, each of them growing in different ways by the end of the story. The story itself is a bit quiet, focusing more on the characters than the overall plot. But that's my favorite kind of story, honestly, and both Mariko and Jillian Tamaki excel at that.

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dananana's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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midnightmarauder's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Roaming follows two childhood best friends, Zoe and Dani, who take a trip to New York together. Dani brings along her new friend from college, Fiona, and things go downhill from there.

There were a few things that I liked about this book. For starters, I liked the color scheme and the art style. There were only three colors used in the book—peach, powder blue, and black—and they were used in such a creative way. A pair of pants that Fiona wore, for instance, had the three colors used to make a swirling design.

But, there was so much that I didn't really enjoy about this book. For one, the characters felt very surface-level to me. For one, it never goes into too much detail about Zoe and Dani's friendship. How did they become friends? Has Dani always known that

Zoe was a lesbian? How did she react to her coming out?

Secondly, why did Dani allow Fiona to tag along on a trip that was just supposed to be for her and Zoe? And why was Fiona so rude all the time? She was extremely nasty to both Dani and Zoe, even after

her and Zoe slept together.

Her actions were never explained, which was weird to me. Why be an asshole for no reason, especially on a trip that you were invited on? Also, why did Zoe and Dani put up with her rudeness? Fiona was constantly acting as though she was too good to be around either of them, and she was never called out on it. I would've liked to see her be reprimanded for being so mean.

All in all, this was an okay novel. The story and the ending didn't make too much sense to me, but the art and the colors make things a tiny bit better.

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