Seconds by Bryan Lee O’Malley, Nathan Fairbairn

4.1 AVERAGE

witchy_woo_13's profile picture

witchy_woo_13's review against another edition

5.0
I have never read any of the Scott Pilgrim things but now I am seriously considering it. This book was simply fantastic. I couldn't put it down. I felt that the story was something that every mid-late 20 something can relate to, hell, even older than that I suppose. Give it a read.

i_dream_of_books's review against another edition

4.0
I love Bryan Lee O'Malley's characters. Seconds is a graphic novel about a chef named Katie that is in a major turning point in her life. She is opening her own restaurant but there is still a lot of construction left, so she still lives above the restaurant she was the head chef at called Seconds. Her life is at a standstill. One night she sees a girl with white hair (a house spirit named Lis) sitting on her dresser and it is weird, but when she wakes up the next day she forgets about it. She finds a small box in her dresser that contains a mushroom, a notebook with the words My Mistakes on the cover, and a card that says: A second chance awaits. Basically she is given a chance to take away a mistake she has made. I'm sure we've all had a time when we did something or said something, big or little, that we wish we could take back. Katie writes a mistake, eats a mushroom, and goes to sleep. When she wakes up, life has changed in a small way. When Katie finds more of the mushrooms she now has the opportunity to change more things. What would you change if you could? Who is Lis? And why does she keep appearing? What Katie doesn't realize is that while she's changing her mistakes, she is also changing herself.
bille's profile picture

bille's review against another edition

5.0
holy shit this was soooooo good! Like the plot and just the style and omo!

ndjrpgs's review against another edition

4.0
Quick fun read! The story was amusing yet darkish and I loved the artwork and the colours!
pepperzpages's profile picture

pepperzpages's review against another edition

5.0
adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

adoubledareaway's review against another edition

4.0
This book was adorable!!! It was funny and wacky yet also very real and kind of scary too. It makes you look at some very real fears and feelings in a magical and surreal way, but that doesn't lessen the meaning behind the story at all. THe characters were all a lot of fun and very relatable. The artwork was great and totally cute! The whole journey was just extremely fun and meaningful and it was just a great read overall.
essardeesam's profile picture

essardeesam's review against another edition

3.0
The book toyed with the never ending “what if” question we ask ourselves frequently as humans. I love this little butterfly effect simulated demonstration, but I felt that the ending felt a bit flat in the way the “lesson” was very outwardly addressing the audience point-blank.
eugisteaching's profile picture

eugisteaching's review against another edition

5.0
enjoy your life the way it is, change the future, cherish the past
marteslibrary's profile picture

marteslibrary's review against another edition

4.0
This might have a moral as old as time, but it is done in such a unique and fun way that I couldn't help but fall in love.
You're not a monster. You're a mirror

I had no idea what this was about; I only knew a lot of people loved it. So, I was in for a bucket full of surprises.

Actually, to say I was surprised by the dark and supernatural tones of this would be an understatement. More like shocked - but in a pleasant way.

The second surprise came with the narration of the story. It is written as if someone is reading you a fairy tale. However, the fairy tale's main character will sometimes interact with the one reading you the story. It felt like a breath of fresh air among the more conventionally told stories. It also allowed for some truly hilarious moments.

That was the third surprise: how funny it was. Very rarely will a book make me actually chuckle out loud, but this did. I can't put my finger on exactly what made certain parts so funny to me, but the small comments from both Katie (the main character) and the narrator had me cracking up every few scenes.

If I were to fault this on anything - which I obviously did since I didn't give it 5 stars - it would be the ending. After all the build up it felt a little rushed, as well as some things seeming contradictory to the moral of the story. The latter mostly refers to the relationship between Katie and her ex Max. If you ask me, it's not exactly what I would call a good relationship. It would argue it borderlines being outright toxic and unhealthy.

That being said, this is still one of my favorite graphic novels - at least among the few I have read so far.

aimeelm21's review against another edition

4.0
4.5/5 Stars