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noragrace89's review against another edition
5.0
I LOVED IT .. it’s a very good story that was beautifully illustrated and it didn’t back away from the serious issues.
rereader33's review against another edition
5.0
This should be required reading for everyone, especially young people. Topics include sexuality, abortion, infidelity, and others I'm sure I've overlooked. Seriously, this graphic novel is amazing, from the story, the characters, the writing, the artwork, everything. Freddy's growth from a purely selfish asshole to compassionate and sympathetic friend was great and believable. Laura Dean was a toxic and awful human being and seeing her get her just desserts at the end was so satisfying.
Something I want to discuss is that the teenagers in this graphic novel behave more their age than YA novels. What I mean is they're not made out to be flawless people or at least wholly good people. Each character has significant flaws that are realistic yet not all-consuming, like Freddy's selfishness, which shows ugly sides of their personalities without shame. I understand that most literature is meant to be a form of escapism and people want to follow good guy protagonists, but so many YA novels feature characters that are either so flawless they're hard to take seriously or so flawless they're boring. I'm personally more invested in characters with defining character flaws (I was going to list all of my favorite anime characters as examples, but that would take forever so just take my word for it) because watching them overcome their struggles WHILE MAINTAINING THEIR FLAWS is exceptionally rewarding. I just realized I kind of got off topic, but what I'm saying is that what I admired about this graphic novel was that the author was not afraid to make her characters unlikable because teenagers in real life are sometimes obnoxious and unlikable. So, yeah, sorry for the rant but that's effectively what I was trying to say.
Anyway, I loved this graphic novel, I would be so damn happy if everybody read it, please give it a chance it's definitely worth it.
Something I want to discuss is that the teenagers in this graphic novel behave more their age than YA novels. What I mean is they're not made out to be flawless people or at least wholly good people. Each character has significant flaws that are realistic yet not all-consuming, like Freddy's selfishness, which shows ugly sides of their personalities without shame. I understand that most literature is meant to be a form of escapism and people want to follow good guy protagonists, but so many YA novels feature characters that are either so flawless they're hard to take seriously or so flawless they're boring. I'm personally more invested in characters with defining character flaws (I was going to list all of my favorite anime characters as examples, but that would take forever so just take my word for it) because watching them overcome their struggles WHILE MAINTAINING THEIR FLAWS is exceptionally rewarding. I just realized I kind of got off topic, but what I'm saying is that what I admired about this graphic novel was that the author was not afraid to make her characters unlikable because teenagers in real life are sometimes obnoxious and unlikable. So, yeah, sorry for the rant but that's effectively what I was trying to say.
Anyway, I loved this graphic novel, I would be so damn happy if everybody read it, please give it a chance it's definitely worth it.
lupitaxmendez's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
loved the artwork but wanted more of the story
judasyndrome's review against another edition
3.0
desde hace años escuché de esta novela gráfica y venía con altas expectativas, no me disgustó del todo pero no es lo que esperaba leer, igual aprecio que se haya tocado el tema de relaciones tóxicas pero sinceramente no fue mi cosa favorita esta historia.
aprilthefrog's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
adriogg's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
taomeslibrary's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Cute art style, slightly insufferable story, simultaneously want more and less from it
linnaboobooks's review against another edition
4.0
It was hard for me to choose a star rating to the point I almost don't want to rate it at all. While I enjoyed it and found how Freddy going over her relationship with Laura Dean, trying to understand what she should do, I can't place it in any particular star-rating despite me tagging it as a four-star. I do think this does have important content that anyone can relate to in one way or another, whether it be Freddy, Doodle, or any of the other side characters, or perhaps even Laura Dean herself.
This is definitely worth the read if you like graphic novels, complicated relationships (however Freddy and Laura Dean's relationship is definitely toxic), and queer characters/relationships.
This is definitely worth the read if you like graphic novels, complicated relationships (however Freddy and Laura Dean's relationship is definitely toxic), and queer characters/relationships.
ellerypage's review against another edition
5.0
Very cute. I felt reminded to take care of everyone in my life, not to put romantic love over friend, and familial love.
graveyardpansy's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 - I enjoyed this, but it isn't my favourite? I feel like I knew where it was going the whole time, and I was right, so the plot didn't do much for me. Maybe because I'm a radical, but the framing of this within gay history felt very underdone and somewhat odd. The framing of the narration through the advice letters was also kinda lost on me. It wasn't bad necessarily, but it didn't entirely land personally. The exposition felt both too fast and not informative enough. The last somewhat disappointing thing: there's an unresolved plotline between two side characters that I was actually invested in and didn't really get a conclusion on. The art style is beautiful and I love the greyscale/monochrome-pink colours. I also loved the integration of the lesbian diner and the nerd spot/arcade settings, but the latter felt a bit underdone: genuinely didn't know at first if they meant DM in the D&D sense or in the BDSM dungeon way, and it wasn't explained for a while so I just rolled with it. As a whole, cute but predictable; and enjoyable, but not super memorable. The lesson is good, especially for a YA audience, but it is also super obvious because of the advice letter format. Wouldn't highly recommend it, but if you like comics, romance, and/or the colour pink, then this might be for you!