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readingthroughinfinity's review against another edition
3.0
This is a fun coming-of-age tale about three friends who meet at university. Inspired by the graphic novel series of the same name, Giant Days follows Susan the part-time PI, Ether the goth, and Daisy the yoga fan, as they form an unlikely friendship and try to cruise through their first semester of university. As someone who went to the University of Sheffield, where this is set, I found a few flaws and inconsistencies with the world-building (some of the geography/directions didn't add up and the university gets called 'Sheffield University' all the way through the novel (it's 'University of')), but overall this was a fun read, with some pretty quirky and humorous moments.
jilljemmett's review against another edition
5.0
I recently discovered the Giant Days comics, and they are awesome!
I really liked reading about characters that I was already familiar with. I could imagine them perfectly, since I knew what they looked like, but it was also nice to see them do more than what they do in the comics. I found that each chapter was like one volume of the graphic novel. The chapters were fairly long and they covered one topic that they all participated in, such as community service or balancing their schedules.
The story takes place in a university in England. I live in Canada but I attend a university in England remotely, so I could relate to some of the terms that were used in this book. For example, their student council or government is called the student union, and their individual courses are called modules. I learned those terms in my classes, so I could relate to them in this book.
This book was also hilarious. There were drunken moments and romances. Ed Gemmell was still trying to date Esther and Susan was avoiding McGraw… most of the time. These similarities with the graphic novels made me feel a connection with the novel.
I loved this book! I recommend it for fans of the series and new readers!
I received a copy of this book from the publisher on NetGalley.
I really liked reading about characters that I was already familiar with. I could imagine them perfectly, since I knew what they looked like, but it was also nice to see them do more than what they do in the comics. I found that each chapter was like one volume of the graphic novel. The chapters were fairly long and they covered one topic that they all participated in, such as community service or balancing their schedules.
The story takes place in a university in England. I live in Canada but I attend a university in England remotely, so I could relate to some of the terms that were used in this book. For example, their student council or government is called the student union, and their individual courses are called modules. I learned those terms in my classes, so I could relate to them in this book.
This book was also hilarious. There were drunken moments and romances. Ed Gemmell was still trying to date Esther and Susan was avoiding McGraw… most of the time. These similarities with the graphic novels made me feel a connection with the novel.
I loved this book! I recommend it for fans of the series and new readers!
I received a copy of this book from the publisher on NetGalley.
adoubledareaway's review against another edition
4.0
I read the first Giant Days graphic novel around a year ago, and loved how absolutely charming it was. The story was funny and light, the artwork was beautiful, and the characters were just delightful. So, imagine my excitement when I heard that a novelization of the comics was coming out! I was excited to see how much more fleshed out the characters, and the story, and the setting could be when given an entire novel to play around with, instead of just one comic issue, and I was not disappointed.
The story focuses on three best friends, and their first year at university. Esther is the goth queen of darkness (but with a heart of gold), Daisy is the sheltered, sweet, and shy one, and Susan is the sarcastic, prickly-pear of the group (but she'll cut you if you mess with her friends). We follow each of the girls as they struggle to find their place at school, all the while dealing with everything that do, and maybe a few things that don't, come with living on campus, and being a freshman in college.
The real star of this show is the characters. Each girl is very unique in her own way, and her voice is very distinctive from the other. Considering how each of the girls can be classified into typical archetypes (the goth, the hippie, and the feminist), they never felt like an archetype, or a trope. Each girls personality really popped off the page, and made them stand out. And even though they are all so very different, you find yourself relating to each one so much. The things that each girl went through and struggled with, even though they were doing so in their own little niche group, are something that any young adult, going out into the world on their own for the first time, can relate to. College is hard. Making brand new friends, in a brand new environment, is hard. Finding a place where you feel like you belong, when you're not even entirely sure who you are, is hard. And these girls really get to the heart of that.
Another thing that really made the girls stand out, was their flaws. All of these girls had me shaking my head, cringing, and feeling disappointed in them, at some point in the novel. Like I said earlier, college is all about finding out who you are, and where you belong. It's inevitable: you're going to mess up. You're going to hurt your friends. The important thing to remember is to fix your mistakes. The girls all mess up and hurt each other, but they manage to correct themselves, and make it right with each other. And even when they are messing up, it's still easy to understand how they got there. Even when they're not being their best selves, it's still easy to relate to them. Which is always a good sign of a great character.
As for the plot? It's just really fun. Sure, some of it might be lost on people who've never experienced the very surreal experience that is College Life, but I think that's to be expected. And even still, it's a fun ride to watch, and might even prepare future university students to what is awaiting them in the land of Higher Education.
Also: McGraw. Just, everything about McGraw. Just, yes. People, if you manage to get a McGraw in your life: sink your claws in and never let go. This has been a PSA.
While it's not necessary to read the comics before reading this novel, I think I would recommend it. If only because you get such a good feel of what the characters look like, and what their cute, little, physical quirks are, which really just make them feel that much more real. Also, the comics are just great.
I really loved this book. It's not often that I come across a YA book that focuses on college-aged protagonists, and even rarer that it's done so accurately. This book will have you feeling so many different things, each one hitting the heart-strings in just the right way. It's just a really fun, funny, wholesome story about friendship, and self-discovery, and who doesn't love that?
cjordahl's review against another edition
2.0
I love the comic that inspired this book so I was happy to spend a few days with Daisy, Susan, Esther and the boys in this novel. Easy breezy read. A handful of LOL moments. The translation from the comics into novel length prose was not entirely successful for me, though. The story (or rather stories... there are a handful of unrelated threads in the novel) would have suited handful of comics issues but felt a bit light for a novel. Scenes and situations that probably would have worked quite well in graphic form struck me as over-the-top in the novel. And I had some issues with how the girls in particular were written. The comic book Susan is lovably grumpy, but in the book she's just a mean jerk a lot of the time. Esther entirely loses her spine in her fawning pursuit of friendship with a peak goth princess. Mistakes and missteps that would have resolved in moments in the comics get stretched beyond plausibility in the novel. Plus also... I anticipated a good boss battle and it looked like we were going to get one, but it guttered to dark.
Having said all that... to be fair, I would never have picked up this book had I not already loved the comic. I wouldn't otherwise be interested in it, and it really isn't targeted to me in the first place. In other words, neither I nor the author (I assume) would have expected me to like it, and so it's no surprise to anyone that I sorta-kinda did but mostly didn't.
Having said all that... to be fair, I would never have picked up this book had I not already loved the comic. I wouldn't otherwise be interested in it, and it really isn't targeted to me in the first place. In other words, neither I nor the author (I assume) would have expected me to like it, and so it's no surprise to anyone that I sorta-kinda did but mostly didn't.
aquaflowerchild's review against another edition
In the last year, I discovered the graphic novel series Giant Days by John Allison, Lissa Treiman, and Whitney Cogar. I fell in love with the illustrations of the characters and the different personalities of Daisy, Susan, and Esther. Each character was vibrant and extreme: Daisy the innocent, organized, and colorful; Susan the sardonic, frumpy smoke addict; and Esther the dramatic, gothic attire wearer, and skipper of classes. Often the “college girl” is seen with a stereotypical appearance. The graphic novel broke that representation by giving diversity to its characters. I also liked that the characters faced real issues. So, when I found out that there was going to be a novella based on those same characters I felt I had to get my hands on it.
The novella delves deeper into portraying the characters and the issues they face. While I did miss the lovely illustrations that the graphic novel offered, Non Pratt captured university life with the gang beautifully. Often when a new work is released, and it is based off something else, the original gets lost. Sometimes there becomes a battle between the original and the new. With this novella, that is not the case. I felt Pratt kept the characters’ actions and thought processes closely to the original graphic novels. I loved both interpretations of the characters.
The novella delves deeper into portraying the characters and the issues they face. While I did miss the lovely illustrations that the graphic novel offered, Non Pratt captured university life with the gang beautifully. Often when a new work is released, and it is based off something else, the original gets lost. Sometimes there becomes a battle between the original and the new. With this novella, that is not the case. I felt Pratt kept the characters’ actions and thought processes closely to the original graphic novels. I loved both interpretations of the characters.
_jessicah's review against another edition
3.0
3.5! I did enjoy this book. It was silly and quirky and I liked the writing. It was easy to read however it just didn’t grip me or hold my attention for very long when I was reading it. I’d read for 20 mins and then be ready to put it down.
The characters were just like the graphic novel, funny with great dialogue. More fleshed out which is the benefit of a novel.
I liked this but much prefer the graphic novel tbh.
The characters were just like the graphic novel, funny with great dialogue. More fleshed out which is the benefit of a novel.
I liked this but much prefer the graphic novel tbh.
jenna_birdy's review against another edition
4.0
I'm a HUGE fan of the Giant Days graphic novel, so when I saw that there had been a traditional book published for the series, I knew I had to read it. While I really enjoyed this book, and give it five stars for myself personally, I think I would struggle to recommend it more generally. Giant Days is funny, quirky, and extremely British and the art is a huge part of it's appeal. Reading about these characters without the accompanying art was...a unique experience at first, but I did get used to it and could practically picture the panels I would have expected after a few chapters.
The first chapter was the roughest to get through by far. It seems Non Pratt really struggled to strike a balance between introducing these characters to completely new readers and not boring fans of the graphic novels to tears, the results being a fairly rushed opening peppered with inelegant info dumps. I will say once everything is established it moves much more smoothly and naturally. It's just the first chapter that requires some extra effort.
I really feel for Non Pratt because Giant Days produces some hilarious visuals and that's really hard to translate to the written word. It's one thing to SEE Esther dramatically clawing at the sky in frustration, or Susan melting someone's internal organs with a death glare, but quite another to describe those events in such a way that they still come across as funny and not ridiculous (in a bad way). Don't get me wrong, I laughed a lot while reading this book! But occasionally things just didn't gel and it pulled me out of the story a bit.
I did really love the story and the characters (of course!). In typical fashion, one girl gets the main "plot," Daisy in this case, while Esther and Susan each have a smaller subplot to resolve. Everything comes together nicely at the end, (after going just slightly to the left of where you'd expect things to end up) with plenty of room for the next adventure. Giant Days is a traditional contemporary and the problems faced by the main characters are very relatable and handled realistically--hurt feelings from a (seemingly) ruined friendship, trying to impress someone who you desperately want to be friends with, trying to find where you best fit in after leaving home for the first time, doubts about new friendships and whether you're making the right choices. It's sweet and relatable and very genuine and I just love it!
Overall I'd recommend it most strongly to anyone who's a fan of the graphic novel, as well as anyone who loves stories that value female friendships. If you're on the fence about it I say give it a try and don't be discouraged by the first chapter.
The first chapter was the roughest to get through by far. It seems Non Pratt really struggled to strike a balance between introducing these characters to completely new readers and not boring fans of the graphic novels to tears, the results being a fairly rushed opening peppered with inelegant info dumps. I will say once everything is established it moves much more smoothly and naturally. It's just the first chapter that requires some extra effort.
I really feel for Non Pratt because Giant Days produces some hilarious visuals and that's really hard to translate to the written word. It's one thing to SEE Esther dramatically clawing at the sky in frustration, or Susan melting someone's internal organs with a death glare, but quite another to describe those events in such a way that they still come across as funny and not ridiculous (in a bad way). Don't get me wrong, I laughed a lot while reading this book! But occasionally things just didn't gel and it pulled me out of the story a bit.
I did really love the story and the characters (of course!). In typical fashion, one girl gets the main "plot," Daisy in this case, while Esther and Susan each have a smaller subplot to resolve. Everything comes together nicely at the end, (after going just slightly to the left of where you'd expect things to end up) with plenty of room for the next adventure. Giant Days is a traditional contemporary and the problems faced by the main characters are very relatable and handled realistically--hurt feelings from a (seemingly) ruined friendship, trying to impress someone who you desperately want to be friends with, trying to find where you best fit in after leaving home for the first time, doubts about new friendships and whether you're making the right choices. It's sweet and relatable and very genuine and I just love it!
Overall I'd recommend it most strongly to anyone who's a fan of the graphic novel, as well as anyone who loves stories that value female friendships. If you're on the fence about it I say give it a try and don't be discouraged by the first chapter.
lou88's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this up at Yalc on a whim and because the author was signing.
I had no idea that there were graphic novels so I jumped straight in.
And I loved it and would highly recomend
I had no idea that there were graphic novels so I jumped straight in.
And I loved it and would highly recomend
sionna's review against another edition
2.0
*I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*
2.5 stars
I'm so BUMMED!
I absolutely adore the graphic novel series this book is based off of, but just couldn't get into this. The book reads much like how the comic is... which I just don't think worked. I don't like POV switches mid-chapter without warning or division (might have just been the ARC or e-book copy but it was one paragraph about Susan then switched to Esther, then after 2 paragraphs to Daisy-- repeat and there was nothing to show clear division of change).
I also thought things were going too quickly and we could have slowed down to enjoy some of it more. The scenes don't always feel connected, but rather are just segments featured out of their lives, which I think works better for the comics.
Also, there is some overlap with the comics. Some things that happen in the comics are written out here and other things are talked about which happened in the comics, but you wouldn't know that if you hadn't read the comics. So, I wish they would have picked if this was a companion or not.
I did laugh a few times, I smiled at a few scenes, and my heart warmed when I recognized scenes or knew exactly what the characters would look like or would be doing because I'd read some of the comics. And while I mention that things go by quickly or feel more like featured segments, there is an overarching theme and a connecting thread, so that felt like it brought the story together more.
So, super bummed about how I just wasn't interested in this... maybe I hyped it too much??? At this point, I think I'd recommend the graphic novels over reading the book, but fans might enjoy this and have fun with reading about these characters in a different format.
2.5 stars
I'm so BUMMED!
I absolutely adore the graphic novel series this book is based off of, but just couldn't get into this. The book reads much like how the comic is... which I just don't think worked. I don't like POV switches mid-chapter without warning or division (might have just been the ARC or e-book copy but it was one paragraph about Susan then switched to Esther, then after 2 paragraphs to Daisy-- repeat and there was nothing to show clear division of change).
I also thought things were going too quickly and we could have slowed down to enjoy some of it more. The scenes don't always feel connected, but rather are just segments featured out of their lives, which I think works better for the comics.
Also, there is some overlap with the comics. Some things that happen in the comics are written out here and other things are talked about which happened in the comics, but you wouldn't know that if you hadn't read the comics. So, I wish they would have picked if this was a companion or not.
I did laugh a few times, I smiled at a few scenes, and my heart warmed when I recognized scenes or knew exactly what the characters would look like or would be doing because I'd read some of the comics. And while I mention that things go by quickly or feel more like featured segments, there is an overarching theme and a connecting thread, so that felt like it brought the story together more.
So, super bummed about how I just wasn't interested in this... maybe I hyped it too much??? At this point, I think I'd recommend the graphic novels over reading the book, but fans might enjoy this and have fun with reading about these characters in a different format.
yvonneiswriting's review against another edition
3.0
I can’t say much, considering I be only read one volume of the graphic novel, but it had so much more charm than this. Possibly because of the emotive illustrations and the ease of the graphic novel, but it was much more endearing.
Sad to say.
Sad to say.