A review by kellylynnthomas
The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga
4.0
If you have ever been a comic book nerd, gothy, weird, or gone to high school, you can probably relate to these characters. I happened to have been all at once, so I super related to the characters. Sometimes Fanboy got a little too "nobody understands me because I don't like sports and do like comics waaaaah" but he does have a mini awakening toward the end, that hey, high school is rough and people make fun of you regardless of what you like.
The dynamic between Fanboy and Kyra (Goth Girl) is interesting and thankfully not a typical romance. I'm not sure how I felt about Kyra flashing her boobs all the time, but she does clearly have some issues and knows more about life than she lets on to Fanboy in the beginning (as he discovers). Even so, the boob flashing seemed a little too comic booky, and I feel the author could have found a better way for her to express what she was trying to express without taking her shirt off in certain scenes (I was okay with her taking her shirt off the first time--the second I thought was just ridiculous).
The most rewarding thing about this book is how Fanboy grows. And he does grow quite a bit. He learns some important things about his family, himself, and his friends, and also how the comic book industry works. I'd give this book to any teen in a second. The only thing I can't figure out is why the heck they put giant lips on the cover--that is not a book a teenage dude is likely to pick up, whether he likes sports or superheroes. But that doesn't change the quality of the book inside, which is quite high.
The dynamic between Fanboy and Kyra (Goth Girl) is interesting and thankfully not a typical romance. I'm not sure how I felt about Kyra flashing her boobs all the time, but she does clearly have some issues and knows more about life than she lets on to Fanboy in the beginning (as he discovers). Even so, the boob flashing seemed a little too comic booky, and I feel the author could have found a better way for her to express what she was trying to express without taking her shirt off in certain scenes (I was okay with her taking her shirt off the first time--the second I thought was just ridiculous).
The most rewarding thing about this book is how Fanboy grows. And he does grow quite a bit. He learns some important things about his family, himself, and his friends, and also how the comic book industry works. I'd give this book to any teen in a second. The only thing I can't figure out is why the heck they put giant lips on the cover--that is not a book a teenage dude is likely to pick up, whether he likes sports or superheroes. But that doesn't change the quality of the book inside, which is quite high.