Reviews with content warning for Bullying - This One Summer

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This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki

14 reviews

lilaceous's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated

3.5

characters - .5⭐️

illustrations - ⭐️

effective storytelling - ⭐️

engaging to read - ⭐️

would recommend -

well… being an adolescent is definitely tough. this was a bit too bleak in my opinion, though. the main character is going through a lot, including general teenage angst, but she just constantly rains anger and hate on the world and people around her and that’s.. pretty much the whole book :/

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michachi's review

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relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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picklesoup's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

this one was weird honestly

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frances_frances's review

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

Beautifully written and illustrated. The authors captured that strange time between childhood and adolescence so perfectly. The mix of silly playfulness and an increasing awareness of the complexities of teen and adult relationships. This book was subtle but powerful, understated but impactful. And like real life, feelings and relationships are left ambiguous.

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frantic_vampire's review

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

Somehow this book captures the essence of summer. The vacation, the lake, and late night scary movie sessions with your friends. There was family drama, there was small town drama, and all the adventures a pre-teen on summer vacation could want. Though at times it felt like Rose was a little callous towards a lot of the things that were happening around her. But on the other hand, that’s kind of the way teens and pre-teens can be. My feelings on this one are all over the place. I loved it, I hated it, it made me long for the summers of my childhood. So I think I’m giving this one three and a half stars.

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itsjadenbaby's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced

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

1.5

Really did not connect to any of the characters. I found all of them to be quite frustrating. Only finished reading because it’s a quick finish.

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travelseatsreads's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

For a graphic novel to work both the narrative and the graphics need to marry and compliment each under and unfortunately in This One Summer the stunning graphics grossly outshone the narrative.

The story unfortunately fell completely flat and left me with with an overwhelming 'meh' feeling by the end. Rather than there being a lack of plotting, the plotting just stopped dead without any sense of growth or closure being found. The coming of age concept married with the summer of firsts should have been fun and engrossing with some lessons learnt however it was full of slut shaming and a character that seemed to overflow with an unexplained meanness. I feel the last line, when Rose is thinking to what could be in her future, pretty much summed up the sincerity of the story "maybe I will have massive boobs. Boobs would be cool."

It pained me to write such a negative view because the artwork is absolutely beautiful. The palette is a one of hazy lavender blue hues which at times feel dream-like or like a distant recalled memory. The tones very much matched the floating sense of melancholy throughout the book and the different page layouts from comic style squares to splash pages really kept the book moving. Each character is very much drawn as a distinct individual and there a lots of tiny details to keep you lingering on each page. There were so many gorgeous pages that, if I had owned the book, I would have ripped out to display.

Would I recommend it? If you want some stunning art work to look at and even possibly cut out and keep yes! If you want a meaningful coming of age story with growth then definitely no.

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