lawbooks600's review
3.0
I really don't like disjointed novels, after I read the Making Friends series, by Kristen Gudsnuk, so I don't have high hopes for this book. Still, I'll try to read it.
Update: I knew it wasn't going to be great... I read the novel, and it was way too fast paced and disjointed. For example, in one scene, the characters were in a school, and then it cuts straight to a house scene. If you like graphic novels, try The Tryout instead of this.
Update: I knew it wasn't going to be great... I read the novel, and it was way too fast paced and disjointed. For example, in one scene, the characters were in a school, and then it cuts straight to a house scene. If you like graphic novels, try The Tryout instead of this.
rainbow_reader's review
4.0
a nice little graphic novel about dealing with friendship and changing circumstances in middle school. plus the additions of the fantasy story were also quite nice
jkenna90's review
3.0
While I did enjoy this graphic novel it was all over the place. There wasn’t any separation like chapters and it would just abruptly go from being at the mall to at school the next day. I didn’t really care for that aspect at all. It really would take me out of the story. The artwork was nicely done and like I said earlier the story was enjoyable. Overall, I think if you’re looking for a graphic novel about growing up there are better ones out there.
ashra's review
4.0
ok this ok... ok... ok this felt like a call out post
I don't know if I've ever been so completely and wholly *seen* by a narrative before. I did go into this knowing it was a memoir, but the way the pages spread like snapshots and revealed little snippets of those biting moments -- I just recognized it, deep in me, too.
In middle school and some of high school as well, my coping mechanism was also delving into my written world in order to avoid the pain. (Okay I do this to cope TODAY sometimes too but not ALL the time-) The way that Sharp captured it was just masterful. How Tori would undergo a certain traumatic event- I keep thinking about hiding out in the mall - and then plant her little fairy character Talia in the same situation to watch her go through it. Ooooh I *felt* that! How many times have I done that?
And her characters are so cute! Talia and Penny are adorable. I'm really fascinated by their world, and I would genuinely read an entire other graphic novel just about their story. The magic system isn't super detailed but what we do see is gripping and symbolic. I love it. Talia might be my favorite character in the whole book, she is just so cute and so lost and my heart aches for her.
I did lose a little bit of the sense of time toward the end there. Is it summer vacation? Early high school? Even later in the narrative? I'm curious about that.
And there were some moments here and there that just felt-- *just* cut off from the real meat of the moment. I wish we saw a little more interiority from Tori during those moments, because there were a lot of them and boy did they hurt. Even just expanding on a handful of them would have really helped us into her mind as readers.
But all in all this was lovely and I highly recommend it. I don't know if I've ever felt myself so deeply within someone else's narrative before.
I don't know if I've ever been so completely and wholly *seen* by a narrative before. I did go into this knowing it was a memoir, but the way the pages spread like snapshots and revealed little snippets of those biting moments -- I just recognized it, deep in me, too.
In middle school and some of high school as well, my coping mechanism was also delving into my written world in order to avoid the pain. (Okay I do this to cope TODAY sometimes too but not ALL the time-) The way that Sharp captured it was just masterful. How Tori would undergo a certain traumatic event- I keep thinking about hiding out in the mall - and then plant her little fairy character Talia in the same situation to watch her go through it. Ooooh I *felt* that! How many times have I done that?
And her characters are so cute! Talia and Penny are adorable. I'm really fascinated by their world, and I would genuinely read an entire other graphic novel just about their story. The magic system isn't super detailed but what we do see is gripping and symbolic. I love it. Talia might be my favorite character in the whole book, she is just so cute and so lost and my heart aches for her.
I did lose a little bit of the sense of time toward the end there. Is it summer vacation? Early high school? Even later in the narrative? I'm curious about that.
And there were some moments here and there that just felt-- *just* cut off from the real meat of the moment. I wish we saw a little more interiority from Tori during those moments, because there were a lot of them and boy did they hurt. Even just expanding on a handful of them would have really helped us into her mind as readers.
But all in all this was lovely and I highly recommend it. I don't know if I've ever felt myself so deeply within someone else's narrative before.
zepysgirl's review against another edition
4.0
It was fine! I didn’t realize it was a memoir until quite a ways in, but that maybe explains the weird pacing. I think I liked the fantasy parts best tbh.