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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
This is one of those slow burn sort of graphic novels, where you don't know why the main character is behaving the way she is.
We only know that she keeps trying to read classics that don't speak to her, that her parents have had to leave her alone at home, while the¥ work, and that the only person she has to talk to is her landlord/downstairs neighbor, an elderly black woman Pearl.
Pearl tries to find her books that she can relate to, as she certainly doesn't relate to The Great Gatsby. She is lonely, hispanic, and has some kind of chronic illness, that isn't disclosed until much later in the story.
Each book that Pearl picks, is still white, and privileged, and out of touch with Harriet's world. She tries her on The Secret Garden , and Harriet just can't get into it. Then she tries her on Wendy and Peter Pan, and it comes a little closer, but still isn't there. It isn't until she comes up with The Color Purple, that she feels as though she has connected.
The pictures are lovely, as evident below.
A bit slow going, and there are things that are never quite explained, but not bad.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
We only know that she keeps trying to read classics that don't speak to her, that her parents have had to leave her alone at home, while the¥ work, and that the only person she has to talk to is her landlord/downstairs neighbor, an elderly black woman Pearl.
Pearl tries to find her books that she can relate to, as she certainly doesn't relate to The Great Gatsby. She is lonely, hispanic, and has some kind of chronic illness, that isn't disclosed until much later in the story.
Each book that Pearl picks, is still white, and privileged, and out of touch with Harriet's world. She tries her on The Secret Garden , and Harriet just can't get into it. Then she tries her on Wendy and Peter Pan, and it comes a little closer, but still isn't there. It isn't until she comes up with The Color Purple, that she feels as though she has connected.
The pictures are lovely, as evident below.
A bit slow going, and there are things that are never quite explained, but not bad.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
What a beautiful story that is centered on a character who lives with an invisible disability.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
✨ "Stories are good company, aren’t they? Always there for us when we need them."
This graphic novel follows Harriet, a teenager struggling with chronic illness, social isolation and loneliness, as well as other life changes after having moved cities.
I love how this book highlights invisible disabilities and it did a wonderful job in portraying Harriet’s perspective. However, I wished it was longer and had a deeper exploration into Harriet's story.
Well, this almost made my cry in the work break room. Very quick read--quicker than I expected. Excellent and touching.
Harriet comes to terms with her loneliness after moving to Chicago. Her parents struggle to establish themselves at their new jobs, which leads to the teenage Harriet spending massive amount of time by herself with only the downstairs owner of the house, Pearl, who is an elderly retired librarian. She tries to bond with Harriet over books, but Harriet is more interested in creative writing and sometimes expresses that in fantastical lies. Later, we learn Harriet suffers from MS and this leads not only to physical problems, but emotional ones as she struggles to make friends and has a bit of a quirky personality. She does manage to bond with Pearl, particularly through stories of her son Nicholas who suffered from a debilitating case of polio as a child. The ending sees her attend a creative writing class and hints maybe she is about to make her first friend and bond with someone who shares her actual interests.
Overall, the graphic novel start a little slow, but as I kept reading I found it really compelling and wonder what would happen to Harriet.
Overall, the graphic novel start a little slow, but as I kept reading I found it really compelling and wonder what would happen to Harriet.
Full review on: Flipping Through the Pages
I had some high expectations from Sincerely, Harriet considering the synopsis. But unfortunately, the actual book is quite different from what the synopsis talks about. The chronic illness angle was overshadowed by the personality disorder of the main character and that too was never addressed properly.
Sincerely, Harriet is the story of Harriet, a young Latinx girl who has recently shifted to a new city and found herself bored and lonely there. She does not know anyone in her new town and also her parents have to work overtime. Her friends from summer camp also weren’t responding to her postcards. She has an active imagination creating stories for the world around her but it was hard for her to differentiate the fact from fiction. She starts a relationship with Pearl, the older woman who lives downstairs. Pearl gave her different books to read to overcome her loneliness. She also talks about her son Nick who had been quarantined in the house during an outbreak of Polio in the 1950s. Soon we learn that Harriet suffers from MS (Multiple Sclerosis).
I loved the idea behind this graphic novel. The idea was to highlight the life of a teen with a chronic illness, but it wasn’t mentioned until half-way through the book. Also, I didn’t like the protagonist, Harriet. Her loneliness makes her a habitual liar with the poor attitude, so she’s not a likeable protagonist. But after she meets Pearl, we get to see some improvement in her attitude. She starts writing about her own experiences after she comes to know about Pearl’s son who experienced Polio.
But the format of the story itself is quite odd. Harriet doesn’t get to explain her feelings enough. Her inner feelings are often overshadowed with the other aspects of the story. Pearl gave different books to Harriet but it wasn’t clear what’s the purpose of each of the book and why those were specifically chosen for her. She doesn’t even read most of the books and we are in dark about her connection to those novels. I wish Harriet’s character was more developed. Also, I felt that the story could have been drawn out better. It ended rather abruptly, according to me.
The synopsis also hints about an “unrequited crush” but it barely showed in the story. This side was totally neglected. Harriet relationship with her parents was something I was looking forward too but I was surprised to see how it was handled. Given that Harriet had MS, her parents should have been more careful about her and should have shared a more close relationship. But they barely spent time with her. I know they had multiple jobs to do, but still having a child with the medical condition needs special attention.
The highlight of this graphic novel was definitely the art. The style was quite unique and I loved the color palette the artist has used. It perfectly sets with the sad tone of the story. It captures the various mood of the characters perfectly.
Overall, I feel that the story definitely had a great concept but the execution felt rather flat to me. If you are looking for something light to read, you can definitely pick it up and you might end up enjoying it more than me 🙂
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I had some high expectations from Sincerely, Harriet considering the synopsis. But unfortunately, the actual book is quite different from what the synopsis talks about. The chronic illness angle was overshadowed by the personality disorder of the main character and that too was never addressed properly.
Sincerely, Harriet is the story of Harriet, a young Latinx girl who has recently shifted to a new city and found herself bored and lonely there. She does not know anyone in her new town and also her parents have to work overtime. Her friends from summer camp also weren’t responding to her postcards. She has an active imagination creating stories for the world around her but it was hard for her to differentiate the fact from fiction. She starts a relationship with Pearl, the older woman who lives downstairs. Pearl gave her different books to read to overcome her loneliness. She also talks about her son Nick who had been quarantined in the house during an outbreak of Polio in the 1950s. Soon we learn that Harriet suffers from MS (Multiple Sclerosis).
I loved the idea behind this graphic novel. The idea was to highlight the life of a teen with a chronic illness, but it wasn’t mentioned until half-way through the book. Also, I didn’t like the protagonist, Harriet. Her loneliness makes her a habitual liar with the poor attitude, so she’s not a likeable protagonist. But after she meets Pearl, we get to see some improvement in her attitude. She starts writing about her own experiences after she comes to know about Pearl’s son who experienced Polio.
But the format of the story itself is quite odd. Harriet doesn’t get to explain her feelings enough. Her inner feelings are often overshadowed with the other aspects of the story. Pearl gave different books to Harriet but it wasn’t clear what’s the purpose of each of the book and why those were specifically chosen for her. She doesn’t even read most of the books and we are in dark about her connection to those novels. I wish Harriet’s character was more developed. Also, I felt that the story could have been drawn out better. It ended rather abruptly, according to me.
The synopsis also hints about an “unrequited crush” but it barely showed in the story. This side was totally neglected. Harriet relationship with her parents was something I was looking forward too but I was surprised to see how it was handled. Given that Harriet had MS, her parents should have been more careful about her and should have shared a more close relationship. But they barely spent time with her. I know they had multiple jobs to do, but still having a child with the medical condition needs special attention.
The highlight of this graphic novel was definitely the art. The style was quite unique and I loved the color palette the artist has used. It perfectly sets with the sad tone of the story. It captures the various mood of the characters perfectly.
Overall, I feel that the story definitely had a great concept but the execution felt rather flat to me. If you are looking for something light to read, you can definitely pick it up and you might end up enjoying it more than me 🙂
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Amazon
ugh this book was SO CUTE. i want to meet harriet in real life and give her a hug
hopeful
medium-paced
2.75
As someone who also has invisible illnesses, I was really looking forward to this graphic novel. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. I appreciate the representation and the fact that young readers are going to be able to read from a perspective such as Harriet’s. However, I wish that we could have gotten more from the plot and Harriets character in general. I did enjoy the storyline with Pearl and her son, she was probably my favorite character. I loved how she was trying to get Harriet to learn more about herself through her favorite classics. I’m not sure on the intended demographic here, but it felt more elementary than Young Adult or Middle Grade. There was also a random page in the middle of the story that had empty text bubbles. I don’t know if that was an issue on my end, but it threw me off. Overall, I did enjoy this, but I wanted more.
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.
As someone who also has invisible illnesses, I was really looking forward to this graphic novel. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. I appreciate the representation and the fact that young readers are going to be able to read from a perspective such as Harriet’s. However, I wish that we could have gotten more from the plot and Harriets character in general. I did enjoy the storyline with Pearl and her son, she was probably my favorite character. I loved how she was trying to get Harriet to learn more about herself through her favorite classics. I’m not sure on the intended demographic here, but it felt more elementary than Young Adult or Middle Grade. There was also a random page in the middle of the story that had empty text bubbles. I don’t know if that was an issue on my end, but it threw me off. Overall, I did enjoy this, but I wanted more.
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.