Reviews with content warning for Bullying - This One Summer

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki

14 reviews

her_littleclouds's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Windy was the only character I sort of liked but even that is putting it really lightly! Rose was an absolute bitch to windy, Jenny and her mom, it really didn’t feel justified too. There are scenes where windy and Jenny just like stand and listen to other peoples conversations and then gossip about them and it was really uncomfortable to read. I was thinking about dnf’ing this book multiple times while I read it! There was really nothing likeable about it tbh. Wouldn’t recommend to anyone

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carleesi's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

I enjoyed how this book dealt with some very heavy issues from the perspective of a pre-teen. It made it a really unique window into very adult situations.

I find it hard for snapshot books like this because I wanted to see the protagonist deal with her sexism and her hectic “pick me” vibes. It wasn’t unrelatable, I think a lot of teenagers go through this, but it was hard to read without a resolution.

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bookishlybecca's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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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nadia_logue's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book let me down a lot. This graphic novel took me in a direction I was not planned for. With graphics novels you have the story and art. The art was amazing. I loved how everything was drawn out and shown for a better idea of what was happening. You needed that with this story because the story itself made no sense. So much was going on and you heard about it and that was the end of it really. The plots of each thing going on never grew and there was no conclusion to anything besides everyone leaving for the summer. I don’t know how to feel about this book but definitely not a new favorite and a bit of a disappointment.

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