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juicybooks's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Wonderful to see a story addressing elements of fandom, queerness, and disability in a realistic and approachable manner. The banter between mother and daughter was hilarious. As for the romantic elements, I was disappointed at the lack of "closure" or even any possible future meetup for the lovebirds. But I suppose this way is more realistic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Medical content, and Outing
Moderate: Cancer and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Pregnancy
Pregnancy: One character jokes that she'll plan to get pregnant at the convention. Outing: A main character tells someone the sexual orientation of another main character, in an attempt to be "ally" Medical content: Discussion/imagery of needles/injections as well as pills. One protagonist is an amputee and uses crutches at some parts and a prosthetic leg in other parts of the story. Ableism: An unnamed minor character tells Maisie (at length) that she is "so inspiring", etc.novella42's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Bullying
Moderate: Cancer and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Medical content and Injury/Injury detail
ellington_rist's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism, Chronic illness, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
softgalaxy's review
hopeful
lighthearted
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? No
5.0
This is why representation is so important!!! If only I had something like this when I was a teenager…I think I would accepted my queerness and disabilities much faster.
Seeing disabled characters be disabled, and not have it magically disappear, healed something in me. Disabled people live normal lives, we can be nerdy too. I’m really glad that Maisie’s mum wasn’t holding her back from things, and giving her agency to do things on her own, as you often see in stories with disabled characters.
Having chronic pain and represented made me feel seen. It really showed how inaccessible fandom spaces can be - comic cons are big place but so many people. Showing how overstimulating cons can be was validating - I really liked the way they illustrated Maisie’s panic attack.
I was a bit stunned when Maisie’s mum outed her as bisexual to Ollie - that was a bit weird and unnecessary. Parents can be intense, I guess.
I liked the silly offbrand references to franchises, very relatable.
I’d honestly read another story about Maisie and maybe her continuing connection to Ollie.
Seeing disabled characters be disabled, and not have it magically disappear, healed something in me. Disabled people live normal lives, we can be nerdy too. I’m really glad that Maisie’s mum wasn’t holding her back from things, and giving her agency to do things on her own, as you often see in stories with disabled characters.
Having chronic pain and represented made me feel seen. It really showed how inaccessible fandom spaces can be - comic cons are big place but so many people. Showing how overstimulating cons can be was validating - I really liked the way they illustrated Maisie’s panic attack.
I was a bit stunned when Maisie’s mum outed her as bisexual to Ollie - that was a bit weird and unnecessary. Parents can be intense, I guess.
I liked the silly offbrand references to franchises, very relatable.
I’d honestly read another story about Maisie and maybe her continuing connection to Ollie.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, and Outing
Moderate: Chronic illness, Mental illness, and Medical content
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, and Injury/Injury detail
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This was an absolutely adorable graphic novel. There's a lot of great representation in this: disability, chronic pain, queer rep (bisexul and nonbinary). Plus, it's a YA that has younger teen characters (14 & 15) which seems to be pretty rare as of late. So yay for that!
This graphic novel is chuck full of fandom references, all slightly tweaked to reflect different fandoms in our own world. Those felt really clever to me! It is a bit insta-love, but that's partly to be expected when they're teenagers. It felt real and authentic to me, even if it's not my favorite thing in a story.
The art was also great! I liked the way the characters were drawn, and all the different comic con constumes included throughout. Just an overall really lovely graphic novel!
This graphic novel is chuck full of fandom references, all slightly tweaked to reflect different fandoms in our own world. Those felt really clever to me! It is a bit insta-love, but that's partly to be expected when they're teenagers. It felt real and authentic to me, even if it's not my favorite thing in a story.
The art was also great! I liked the way the characters were drawn, and all the different comic con constumes included throughout. Just an overall really lovely graphic novel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Chronic illness and Outing
Minor: Bullying, Cursing, and Medical content
sophie42's review
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Bullying and Medical content
emily_mh's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I love love love when I find a book by an Aussie author that I adore!! What a fab read. My love for this book is because of four things:
1) The art style! It was cartoony which was fun, but the thing that really shone was the creative and original panel arrangement.
2) The depiction of fandom culture. There were all kinds of parody pop culture references which were amusing. The actual con itself made me want to go to one really bad. Also, I loved how the author made up two TV shows - Twisted Beasts and Midnight Girls - and created parallels between the shows and the lives of Maisie and Ollie. I ended up really wanting to watch the shows even though they obviously don't exist.
3) The relationships! Definitely the star element of the story. The one between Maisie and her mum was fantastic. It was very realistic and filled with so much fondness. I loved that Jo showed so much understanding and support for Maisie and that this was shown as completely normal. And of course, I especially enjoyed Maisie and Ollie's relationship. It was such a sweet, shy, exploratory bond that was kind of insta-lovey BUT done the right way. I actually found their connection believable because its development was given so much space to breathe - they had proper and conversations as well as many shared interests.
4) The queer and disabled joy! While there were discussions of exclusion, this story wasn't about ableism and queerphobia. It was about a queer, disabled teen who gets to go to a fancon and explore her passions, and finds an HFN at the same time. It has a hopeful, happy ending. I just ADORE this kind of rep!! My favourite quote in regards to the disabled rep was: "Accessibility isn't a perk." I need to remind myself (and others) of this.
In terms of negatives, I wasn't expecting this to be in black-and-white. While I actually think it didn't hinder my enjoyment too much, I'm still of the opinion that black-and-white only really works if it's an intentional stylistic choice. I also think that there were some bloated parts in the beginning that could have been cut down or eliminated to give more space showcasing the relationships. Obviously these criticisms didn't weigh too much in my rating, as this book is still definitely worth 4.5 stars!
1) The art style! It was cartoony which was fun, but the thing that really shone was the creative and original panel arrangement.
2) The depiction of fandom culture. There were all kinds of parody pop culture references which were amusing. The actual con itself made me want to go to one really bad. Also, I loved how the author made up two TV shows - Twisted Beasts and Midnight Girls - and created parallels between the shows and the lives of Maisie and Ollie. I ended up really wanting to watch the shows even though they obviously don't exist.
3) The relationships! Definitely the star element of the story. The one between Maisie and her mum was fantastic. It was very realistic and filled with so much fondness. I loved that Jo showed so much understanding and support for Maisie and that this was shown as completely normal. And of course, I especially enjoyed Maisie and Ollie's relationship. It was such a sweet, shy, exploratory bond that was kind of insta-lovey BUT done the right way. I actually found their connection believable because its development was given so much space to breathe - they had proper and conversations as well as many shared interests.
4) The queer and disabled joy! While there were discussions of exclusion, this story wasn't about ableism and queerphobia. It was about a queer, disabled teen who gets to go to a fancon and explore her passions, and finds an HFN at the same time. It has a hopeful, happy ending. I just ADORE this kind of rep!! My favourite quote in regards to the disabled rep was: "Accessibility isn't a perk." I need to remind myself (and others) of this.
In terms of negatives, I wasn't expecting this to be in black-and-white. While I actually think it didn't hinder my enjoyment too much, I'm still of the opinion that black-and-white only really works if it's an intentional stylistic choice. I also think that there were some bloated parts in the beginning that could have been cut down or eliminated to give more space showcasing the relationships. Obviously these criticisms didn't weigh too much in my rating, as this book is still definitely worth 4.5 stars!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Ableism, Bullying, Cursing, Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing
Moderate: chronic pain Minor: child birth, divorce
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