Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki

18 reviews

yaoipaddle's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective tense fast-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

It was pretty good. The author really illustrated a snapshot of being a young girl very well. I feel like many girls have been a Rose or a Windy at some point in their life. If you are looking for a deep plot or some kind of conclusive... conclusion? this may not be for you. I would enjoy this as almost a series of vignettes about "this one summer".

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Blood

heyshay07's review against another edition

emotional funny fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing and Grief

Minor: Miscarriage

paperstxrs's review against another edition

dark sad

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Blood

mezzoanddolce's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexism, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Cursing, Blood, and Alcohol

bexdorothy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Miscarriage, Grief, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Medical trauma

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism and Suicide attempt

Minor: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Miscarriage, Blood, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

windy and rose are basically bullying Jenny about her pregnancy. Dud and his friend group talk about drugs, sex and curse a lot. In the last few pages the mom talked about her miscarriage and a little blood is shown in that panel! If these are things that make u uncomfortable In any way I would definitely not recommend this book

noladunnaway's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

I really loved this book, it is not afraid to talk about topics that other books might be. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing

bookishlybecca's review against another edition

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:

1. The many small Ontario/Canadian references. (I particularly loved seeing the Tim Horton's cups. ;3)
2. The contrast between an unexpected (and, at least partially, unwanted) teen pregnancy and the loss of a very muchly wanted child.
3. 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:

1. 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.
2. 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. 
3. 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Medical content