Reviews

Getting It Together, Volume 1 by Sina Grace

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harrietj's review

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4.0

Sina Grace never fails to deliver hilarious and relatable slice-of-life stories that I love to read.

ariellesbooked's review

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2.0

I have been in a little bit of a graphic novel slump lately. I go through phases with it. Sometimes I'm more interested in reading novels. Sometimes I am really vibing on audiobooks.

However, I had high hopes for [b:Getting It Together, Volume 1|54232642|Getting It Together, Volume 1|Sina Grace|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599568688l/54232642._SY75_.jpg|84624812]. I thought for sure that this would be a story I'd fall in love with. The artwork was fantastic. And that cover? Obviously, an updated, more diverse and representative take on FRIENDS had me feeling all kinds of hyped up.

That said, this did not work for me. It might work for someone else. But I did not enjoy the way the story was presented. It felt incredibly disjointed and hard to follow. While the characters and arcs had promise, they weren't developed enough for me to become invested. I gave it two stars because I'm happy to see attempts made at inclusivity. But I'd be much happier with well-written inclusive stories.

hopetking's review

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adventurous emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I enjoy a slice of life but found Lauren one of the less interesting characters in this book. I liked the art style, but it seems to get more polished over the issues included, which was unnecessary and took off some of the character.

Content Warnings

gabbyreadswithtea's review

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3.0

The pacing for this graphic novel was way off. I feel like if this story was adapted into a manga series, these events would have been spread over at least 7 volumes. There was so much happening all at once, and it was hard to keep track of. Even the characters who were vastly different seemed to blend in together.
I did enjoy how the story was set around a group of friends, some of which are in a rock band. It reminded me of the manga series Nana which I love. I also loved the LGBTQ+ characters and themes. Random side note but I have the same haircut as Annie and I love that.

I received an e-copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

ericawrites's review

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3.0

This was cute, but the story less cohesive than it could've been. For four issues, it would've made more sense to focus on one character than an entire cast.

irayred's review

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2.0

The premise of it is that we see a group of friends struggling with break ups, dating apps that lead to hook ups. Them working on their own career and everyday problems that +20 y/o have to face. Plus, it had something to do with music (which is always a fav theme of mine!) So, in a few words, we’re talking about Millenial FRIENDS. I had high hopes and I was sure I was going to love this contemporary graphic novel.

Unfortunately, this was one of those stories that didn’t work for me. The main reason that made me not like this one was the MC. She is the vocalist and the creator of the band and though she might be good with her music, her personality is just plain awful. I couldn’t feel sympathy for someone so selfish and who didn’t actually care about the people around her, even when she was the one who hurt them.

The side characters were kind of OK but since the main focus is on Lauren, I was disappointed to say the least. We didn’t get to explore the depth of characters like her gay brother, or even her ex-boyfriend (who seemed to deal with depression) and the other band members.

Now, I’m not a prude and I take a few drinks from time to time but the use of drugs has never been on my radar so it’s kind of sad that people think everybody needs to use them in order to feel good. You can literally go to the movies, spend quality times with your friends and s/o and never need of anything like that.

I guess, the only thing I liked about this story was the fact that they were open about different kinds of relationships, romantic or not. Though in here, most of them were toxic and they raised a bunch of red flags for me.

The art wasn’t my favorite thing either but it wasn’t that bad ‘cause at least it gave us different people to look at. The scenery was interesting and the coloring add different vibes to the scenes.

Overall, I would have enjoyed it more if it weren’t so focused on such a dislikeable MC.

I received an e-book ARC via Diamond Comic Distributors in exchange for an honest review.