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rosemaryandrue's review
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
3.0
In an effort to untangle her complicated feelings about the loss of her cosmic twin, author Axelle decides to unspool her life in an off-kilter autobiographical comic.
This is a surreal and funny graphic novel which depicts a year in young Axelle's life as she starts going to school, forms a strange connection with the forest by her home, and begins to suffer in the grip of acute anxiety. The art is both atmospheric and humorous, and I enjoyed the many visits present-day Axelle makes to reinterpret past events and emotions. Axelle's siblings are absolute scene-stealers, and I loved every time they appeared on the page.
However, it's definitely a slow moving story, and while there's some strange elements upfront (alien parents, Tonio's imaginary friend who may be more demonic than imaginary), the cosmic twin and other elements are only briefly shown or discussed. They'll probably be expounded upon in future installments, but in the meanwhile we are left with a lot of questions and very few answers, which made the reading experience of this volume less satisfying for me.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
yuyine's review
4.75
Que ce soit par son dessin doux ou par son ton frais, original et parfois sarcastique lorsque l’autrice interpelle son lectorat, Trompe-l’œil est un récit intime à la portée universelle qui nous propose de découvrir le portrait d’une fillette et autrice atypique et remarquable. Une magnifique ode à l’enfance, à la sincérité brute de cette période aux émotions fortes, teinté d’un imaginaire surprenant qui nous emporte sans faillir.
Critique complète sur yuyine.be (https://yuyine.be/review/book/passages-secrets-tome-1-trompe-l-oeil)!
Critique complète sur yuyine.be (https://yuyine.be/review/book/passages-secrets-tome-1-trompe-l-oeil)!
jkenna1990's review against another edition
4.0
Secret Passages follows the author, Axel, as she starts first grade. Throughout the book she plays with her brothers, talks to the forest, and (mostly) listens to her parents. I really loved the surrealism in the book. She portrayed her parents as aliens and her little brother had an imaginary friend that's a demon. Overall, I really enjoyed this graphic novel. The story was interesting and the artwork was fantastic! I can't wait to read more from this author.
jmanchester0's review
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
5.0
Hilarious and suspenseful, Axelle is a gifted writer. I feel like I had sooooo much in common with little Axelle. Except dodgeball. I wasn’t good at throwing it at people’s faces like Axelle was. I was just good at getting it thrown at my face. I hope you love this memoir as much as I did. And props to her translators who did an amazing job translating this from the French.
moonpie's review
4.0
Secret Passages was a very solid four stars for me. I've never read anything by Lenoir before and I don't remember why I picked this up, but I'm glad I did. It's a graphic memoir that covers a year in the author's childhood. It feels emotionally true but it's also surreal (cosmic twins, alien parents) and has a lot of adult-author asides in it—they're more frequent as the book goes on.
Lenoir is the same age as me, which always adds a fun element to memoirs. I loved the art in this book, and I enjoyed the author's voice, too. The book as a whole is funny and charming, and it gave me a bit of a zine vibe, which made for an excellent hit of nostalgia.
The plot meanders a bit (intentionally) and Secret Passages ends like it's the first part in a series. I don't know if it's actually the first part in a series or not, BUT I am going to look for other books by Lenoir and if I see 1986-1987 on a shelf one day in the future, I'll pick it up, too.
Lenoir is the same age as me, which always adds a fun element to memoirs. I loved the art in this book, and I enjoyed the author's voice, too. The book as a whole is funny and charming, and it gave me a bit of a zine vibe, which made for an excellent hit of nostalgia.
The plot meanders a bit (intentionally) and Secret Passages ends like it's the first part in a series. I don't know if it's actually the first part in a series or not, BUT I am going to look for other books by Lenoir and if I see 1986-1987 on a shelf one day in the future, I'll pick it up, too.
iliyenzio's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
2.0
I just wasn't a fan. I just couldn't get into it.