A review by midnightmarauder
Roaming by Jillian Tamaki, Mariko Tamaki

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

3.5

Roaming follows two childhood best friends, Zoe and Dani, who take a trip to New York together. Dani brings along her new friend from college, Fiona, and things go downhill from there.

There were a few things that I liked about this book. For starters, I liked the color scheme and the art style. There were only three colors used in the book—peach, powder blue, and black—and they were used in such a creative way. A pair of pants that Fiona wore, for instance, had the three colors used to make a swirling design.

But, there was so much that I didn't really enjoy about this book. For one, the characters felt very surface-level to me. For one, it never goes into too much detail about Zoe and Dani's friendship. How did they become friends? Has Dani always known that
Zoe was a lesbian? How did she react to her coming out?


Secondly, why did Dani allow Fiona to tag along on a trip that was just supposed to be for her and Zoe? And why was Fiona so rude all the time? She was extremely nasty to both Dani and Zoe, even after
her and Zoe slept together.
Her actions were never explained, which was weird to me. Why be an asshole for no reason, especially on a trip that you were invited on? Also, why did Zoe and Dani put up with her rudeness? Fiona was constantly acting as though she was too good to be around either of them, and she was never called out on it. I would've liked to see her be reprimanded for being so mean. 

All in all, this was an okay novel. The story and the ending didn't make too much sense to me, but the art and the colors make things a tiny bit better. 
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