Reviews tagging 'Grief'

A Map to the Sun by Sloane Leong

7 reviews

escapinginpaper's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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? Yes

3.5

A coming-of-age story about the angst of teenage-hood, following a group of friends who struggle with their separate difficult home lives and traumas, and how they bond with each other and find commonality through playing together on their basketball team. The story focuses on two girls in particular: 

• Ren, an LA native, whose older sister struggles with drug addiction, and whose parents just got divorced over it.
• Luna, a free-spirited girl from Hawaii, who has to return there suddenly when her mother becomes very ill. 

Ren and Luna become fast friends one summer before high school starts, they bond over their mutual love of basketball and the ocean. Ren is upset with Luna's sudden departure back to Hawaii, and her lack of communication. When Luna returns later, she's ready to pick up where they left off, but Ren, not so much. They find themselves flung together when their impoverished high school starts a basketball team, and both they and others in their friend group all join. 

The narrative in this story felt a bit disjointed, and I had a hard time following it at times because of all the different plotlines, and sometimes, because of the art style, it was difficult to tell the characters apart. I also felt the resolution was too quick and simple, especially considering the main problems that took up the majority of the story.

I did enjoy the tenderness of the coming-of-age aspects, which felt realistic and relatable despite the experience of being a teenager is getting to be a while ago for me. Also, 10/10 for use of color in the artwork, this book is a scream of color and I really loved just flipping through. Color definitely acts as a divider for the story – as a scene or as the plot shifts, the colors change and I really enjoyed that. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Bullying, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Death of parent, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Self harm, and Sexual content

Moderate: Drug use, Dysphoria, Sexism, Alcohol, Addiction, Drug abuse, Grief, and Death

Minor: Blood, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Cursing

One of the characters is a minor who smokes, another minor consumes alcohol on-page through several scenes. Several of the characters (all minors) attend a house party. An overweight character struggles with bullying, body image and her relationship with food on-page throughout the book.

Another minor is depicted in a sexual relationship with a teacher, with on-page scenes involving kissing, and with off-page sexual activity implied.

One character commits self-harm on-page in reaction to an abusive parent.

Ren's sister is drug addicted and appears ~halfway through the book. She manipulates their father, emotionally abuses Ren, steals from them, and sets the house on fire at the end. It's implied her sister is in an abusive relationship with someone, but the abuse occurs off-page.

town_scar's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, Dysphoria, Bullying, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Addiction, Infidelity, Drug abuse, Transphobia, and Drug use

eamily's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Abandonment, Addiction, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Dysphoria, Self harm, and Sexism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, and Vomit

temporarilyhuman's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Gaslighting

Minor: Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Drug abuse

pucksandpaperbacks's review

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A slice of life, coming-of-age graphic novel about Black, Brown, Asian, & Hawaiian girls existing in their 9th-grade year of high school. The girls all bond through basketball and learning the game together. There are great conversations in this, especially about girl's sports teams not being seen as important as opposed to boy's teams. The illustrations were beautiful and intricate!

However, the cast of characters was very large and I tended to get confused at times trying to keep up with the large cast. 

I really enjoyed this one!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Misogyny

vonni's review

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Child abuse

Minor: Death of parent

Most of these graphic and moderate content warnings are either challenged by the main characters or explored in supportive ways (towards the survivors) by various characters.

annalisaely's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The illustrations are gorgeous, the themes are moving and fascinating, including sexism in sports, friends that come and go, how different people deal with stressful and toxic home lives while trying to go to school, the unifying power of working as a team, and the power women have when they stand by each other. It's a slice of life story, not heavy on plot, but there is a progression from the beginning to the end.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Self harm, and Sexism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Toxic relationship