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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
I really wanted to like this book. And I did -- parts of it. The comics in the middle were interesting, and I liked how they summarized the feelings from the chapter. The story itself reminded me a lot of John Green, which is wonderful if you like him. If you don't (and I am not a fan), then I wouldn't recommend this book. At its base it is a book about a smart boy and a quirky "bad" girl that doesn't really fit in. They dance around each other, stuff happens, and a revelation happens and they get together...or they don't. It's not a bad book, and if you like that kind of plot, you'll probably really like this book. But I don't, so it just wasn't my cup of tea.
I wasn't very impressed by this book. I couldn't get into it properly. It started off okay but as it progressed, I became increasingly more bored.
I liked the little comic strips. I wish there had been more of that cuteness and humour infused into the story. I also enjoyed the way Evan's chapters were song titles from The Beatles and Lucy's chapters were song titles from The Beach Boys(well, I'm guessing this one because I'm not the biggest Beach Boys fan except for five or six songs I love by them).
I didn't really like Evan very much. Not as a romantic lead, anyway. I've known guys like him who go off on opinionated rambles and I've always found it annoying. Not that I don't like opinions but it's really annoying when someone talks about something you don't know anything about, like some movie you've never heard about. It's fine to say something like "Have you seen Pan's Labyrinth? It's amazing." but I asked someone that question and they said no, I'd probably just give up talking about it unless they demanded more information. You know? This whole paragraph was a pointless ramble.
Anyway, there was something about Evan that didn't click with me. I think it made the whole book pretty "meh" for me.
So, the biggest positive were the comic strips.
I liked the little comic strips. I wish there had been more of that cuteness and humour infused into the story. I also enjoyed the way Evan's chapters were song titles from The Beatles and Lucy's chapters were song titles from The Beach Boys(well, I'm guessing this one because I'm not the biggest Beach Boys fan except for five or six songs I love by them).
I didn't really like Evan very much. Not as a romantic lead, anyway. I've known guys like him who go off on opinionated rambles and I've always found it annoying. Not that I don't like opinions but it's really annoying when someone talks about something you don't know anything about, like some movie you've never heard about. It's fine to say something like "Have you seen Pan's Labyrinth? It's amazing." but I asked someone that question and they said no, I'd probably just give up talking about it unless they demanded more information. You know? This whole paragraph was a pointless ramble.
Anyway, there was something about Evan that didn't click with me. I think it made the whole book pretty "meh" for me.
So, the biggest positive were the comic strips.
Full review posted on Across the Litoverse
Winter break arrives with its usual patterns—snow drifts form on sidewalks, coloured lights brighten the evening hours, and Evan's Dad starts building his elaborate, mechanized winter town throughout the house. Upcoming papers and parental pressures are bearing down on Evan, but his routine's rattled after receiving a single text message from his childhood friend who's back in town…
Lucy moved south with her mother following her parents' divorce, and the last year has fostered nothing but silence between the two best friends. This time, the girl next door has morphed into New Lucy—a sullen girl with a nose stud, cropped black hair, and a strange Goth aesthetic. Evan dedicates himself to coaxing Old Lucy back into the world, even if it means pissing her off in the process. The two re-enter their fantastical childhood world, Aelysthia, and spin out new jam strips (one-page collaborative comics) to communicate where conversation fails. Slowly, the duo rediscover one another and fall into familiar patterns—until Lucy kisses Evan. Then, childhood friendship becomes ever-so complicated…
I was thrilled to find a North American example of a light novel—a YA book that incorporates original artwork and other graphic embellishments. I'm familiar with the Japanese conventions behind the light novel (which works as a wordier manga), but Emond creates a lively, indie-inflected work for all us North American kids. In particular, I loved the moment where Evan and Lucy create their first jam strip since Lucy's return home—the two sit in a diner, struggling to hold a decent conversation, yet their creativity and their comic panels allow them to speak where words won't form.
I also loved Aelysthia, the fantastical world the two created during their childhood. Each chapter ends with a fictionalized account of both Evan's and Lucy's current struggles, reframed through the elaborate lens of Aelysthia. Evan's comics were an excellent addition to the book and made for a lovely, multi-media reading experience overall.
Winter Town offers the perfect read for teens facing the crossroads of adulthood, and for childhood friends fighting to make their bonds stronger than before.
Ideal for: Comic book kids and manga fans who'd like a text-ier reading experience; Readers enamoured with pop culture shout outs, or folks who'd like to discover some excellent bands and fantasy books; Anyone with a childhood best friend they'd love to reconnect with in the future.
Winter break arrives with its usual patterns—snow drifts form on sidewalks, coloured lights brighten the evening hours, and Evan's Dad starts building his elaborate, mechanized winter town throughout the house. Upcoming papers and parental pressures are bearing down on Evan, but his routine's rattled after receiving a single text message from his childhood friend who's back in town…
Lucy moved south with her mother following her parents' divorce, and the last year has fostered nothing but silence between the two best friends. This time, the girl next door has morphed into New Lucy—a sullen girl with a nose stud, cropped black hair, and a strange Goth aesthetic. Evan dedicates himself to coaxing Old Lucy back into the world, even if it means pissing her off in the process. The two re-enter their fantastical childhood world, Aelysthia, and spin out new jam strips (one-page collaborative comics) to communicate where conversation fails. Slowly, the duo rediscover one another and fall into familiar patterns—until Lucy kisses Evan. Then, childhood friendship becomes ever-so complicated…
I was thrilled to find a North American example of a light novel—a YA book that incorporates original artwork and other graphic embellishments. I'm familiar with the Japanese conventions behind the light novel (which works as a wordier manga), but Emond creates a lively, indie-inflected work for all us North American kids. In particular, I loved the moment where Evan and Lucy create their first jam strip since Lucy's return home—the two sit in a diner, struggling to hold a decent conversation, yet their creativity and their comic panels allow them to speak where words won't form.
I also loved Aelysthia, the fantastical world the two created during their childhood. Each chapter ends with a fictionalized account of both Evan's and Lucy's current struggles, reframed through the elaborate lens of Aelysthia. Evan's comics were an excellent addition to the book and made for a lovely, multi-media reading experience overall.
Winter Town offers the perfect read for teens facing the crossroads of adulthood, and for childhood friends fighting to make their bonds stronger than before.
Ideal for: Comic book kids and manga fans who'd like a text-ier reading experience; Readers enamoured with pop culture shout outs, or folks who'd like to discover some excellent bands and fantasy books; Anyone with a childhood best friend they'd love to reconnect with in the future.
Do you like movies like "(500) Days of Summer" and "Garden State"? Do you fancy yourself a hipster? Then Winter Town is for you.
I actually do think this would be an ok read for teen boys even though it's heavier on romance. It's a good story for someone who is feeling ready to be different, ready to go to college and discover their future self while at the same time having no idea what they really want from their future.
The crazy troubled girl who ends up showing him things about himself he never knew just doesn't work for me the same way it works for other people, so I am willing to think this is just not the book for me, not necessarily not the book for someone else. Also, full disclosure, right before this book, I read another story of painful first love, and I was hoping to not read another one back to back. So this is a bit of wrong book/wrong time. Regardless, my first reaction is that it was a bit of a letdown.
I actually do think this would be an ok read for teen boys even though it's heavier on romance. It's a good story for someone who is feeling ready to be different, ready to go to college and discover their future self while at the same time having no idea what they really want from their future.
The crazy troubled girl who ends up showing him things about himself he never knew just doesn't work for me the same way it works for other people, so I am willing to think this is just not the book for me, not necessarily not the book for someone else. Also, full disclosure, right before this book, I read another story of painful first love, and I was hoping to not read another one back to back. So this is a bit of wrong book/wrong time. Regardless, my first reaction is that it was a bit of a letdown.
Good, but a little disappointed with the ending…could have been more detailed.
★ (1/5)
Elliot and Lucy have been best friends forever, even though, due to her parents’ divorce, for the past 5 years they only see each other during winter break. Elliot has been focusing on grades and keeping his family proud, but with Lucy back, with a new edgy look, his concentration is off. Both dying to make the other understand, it’s unsure if their relationship will ever be the same.
I’m trying really hard not to jump right in here. I have a lot of issues with this book- I’ll try not to drag it on. I would never read this book again, nor would I suggest it to even people who are far less judgmental readers than I am.
First off, this book markets itself as a romance. This book is not a romance. I mean, it gets to be one (kind of?????) but at that point the book is more than half over. There is literally nothing but friendship and personal issues for the vast majority of the book. So, as a romantic who was hoping for lots of winter confessions of love, I was disappointed.
Now, as anyone who’s read some other reviews I’ve done knows, I really enjoy non-romance books, even though I’m a romantic. In fact, I tend to prefer books that are marketed as cheesy romances winding up being about more intense stuff than that. So why do I take issue with this one in particular? Because it feels like everything is second to Elliot and his issue, and then once they get together, second to their romance. Lucy has a lot of issues- like, a lot of issues. And yeah, we hear about them, but for like 2 minutes. How can you spend an entire half a book wondering and working up to what’s going on with Lucy, and then just nonchalantly state it and move on?? It irks me.
More on Elliot now. I hate him. Hate him. He’s entitled to the frigging max. I almost put this book down so many times in the first 50 pages, because most of it is Elliot being snarky and rude about Lucy’s new look. Excuse you, dude, you don’t get to dictate the way your friend (who you see for like 2 weeks every year) looks. Even when he says he’s cool with it, he still goes on about how she’s prettier without makeup. Shut upppp. Plus, he’s so interested in his own life, and that life isn’t interesting. It’s sad that his dad’s a dick, I’ll agree, but that’s his only real problem. Well, other than the fact that he’s spineless. Like so spineless. If you don’t want to do something, don’t do it! I mean, obviously that doesn’t work for everything, but it does for his problems. Also, he totally holds himself up as like an idol. It’s just the way he acts or talks about himself or anything. Obviously the author wants us to see him as perfect. It doesn’t work.
Stereotyping is a big issue with this book too. He has gay friends and they are the gayest frigging things for no reason. Like, annoyingly. This person clearly has never met a gay/queer person, because he doesn’t see them as normal people, he sees them as New York-bound costumers with shirtless men on their walls. Like. Alright. No, but alright. And all the characters in general feel like stock characters. There’s the quirky academic and…. wait. Nope. Just two quirky academics. Lucy doesn’t even seem edgy or upset or anything. Just…. moody? Maybe? She’s happy and eccentric and nerdy except when she’s not, and when she’s not, she’s nothing. I don’t feel like they have developed characters.
Lastly, this entire thing is written like a fanfic. I love fanfic, I do, but it has its tropes and its general writing moods and, well, that’s this book. The constantly naming songs/bands, the random hyper/quirky characters, the whole secret issues that don’t really affect anything… This is fanfic through and through, in ways it can’t shake.
Now, what did I like? Well, I like Doug. Doug is Lucy’s sad, British, divorced father. Somehow, even though he doesn’t have that much time in the book, he’s the most characterized. I also like the concept of only seeing each other 2 weeks a year. The comic panels and extra illustrations are a nice touch too, I really like that. And I like Tess, someone else who isn’t really in the book. She seems interesting. Plus, I like that (maybe because of the fanfic style) it was easy to read quickly.
Favorite part: the end of the comic itself
Least favorite part: Elliot’s reaction to Lucy’s last request
What I’d change: focus on Lucy, not Elliot
How long it took to read: a day
Elliot and Lucy have been best friends forever, even though, due to her parents’ divorce, for the past 5 years they only see each other during winter break. Elliot has been focusing on grades and keeping his family proud, but with Lucy back, with a new edgy look, his concentration is off. Both dying to make the other understand, it’s unsure if their relationship will ever be the same.
I’m trying really hard not to jump right in here. I have a lot of issues with this book- I’ll try not to drag it on. I would never read this book again, nor would I suggest it to even people who are far less judgmental readers than I am.
First off, this book markets itself as a romance. This book is not a romance. I mean, it gets to be one (kind of?????) but at that point the book is more than half over. There is literally nothing but friendship and personal issues for the vast majority of the book. So, as a romantic who was hoping for lots of winter confessions of love, I was disappointed.
Now, as anyone who’s read some other reviews I’ve done knows, I really enjoy non-romance books, even though I’m a romantic. In fact, I tend to prefer books that are marketed as cheesy romances winding up being about more intense stuff than that. So why do I take issue with this one in particular? Because it feels like everything is second to Elliot and his issue, and then once they get together, second to their romance. Lucy has a lot of issues- like, a lot of issues. And yeah, we hear about them, but for like 2 minutes. How can you spend an entire half a book wondering and working up to what’s going on with Lucy, and then just nonchalantly state it and move on?? It irks me.
More on Elliot now. I hate him. Hate him. He’s entitled to the frigging max. I almost put this book down so many times in the first 50 pages, because most of it is Elliot being snarky and rude about Lucy’s new look. Excuse you, dude, you don’t get to dictate the way your friend (who you see for like 2 weeks every year) looks. Even when he says he’s cool with it, he still goes on about how she’s prettier without makeup. Shut upppp. Plus, he’s so interested in his own life, and that life isn’t interesting. It’s sad that his dad’s a dick, I’ll agree, but that’s his only real problem. Well, other than the fact that he’s spineless. Like so spineless. If you don’t want to do something, don’t do it! I mean, obviously that doesn’t work for everything, but it does for his problems. Also, he totally holds himself up as like an idol. It’s just the way he acts or talks about himself or anything. Obviously the author wants us to see him as perfect. It doesn’t work.
Stereotyping is a big issue with this book too. He has gay friends and they are the gayest frigging things for no reason. Like, annoyingly. This person clearly has never met a gay/queer person, because he doesn’t see them as normal people, he sees them as New York-bound costumers with shirtless men on their walls. Like. Alright. No, but alright. And all the characters in general feel like stock characters. There’s the quirky academic and…. wait. Nope. Just two quirky academics. Lucy doesn’t even seem edgy or upset or anything. Just…. moody? Maybe? She’s happy and eccentric and nerdy except when she’s not, and when she’s not, she’s nothing. I don’t feel like they have developed characters.
Lastly, this entire thing is written like a fanfic. I love fanfic, I do, but it has its tropes and its general writing moods and, well, that’s this book. The constantly naming songs/bands, the random hyper/quirky characters, the whole secret issues that don’t really affect anything… This is fanfic through and through, in ways it can’t shake.
Now, what did I like? Well, I like Doug. Doug is Lucy’s sad, British, divorced father. Somehow, even though he doesn’t have that much time in the book, he’s the most characterized. I also like the concept of only seeing each other 2 weeks a year. The comic panels and extra illustrations are a nice touch too, I really like that. And I like Tess, someone else who isn’t really in the book. She seems interesting. Plus, I like that (maybe because of the fanfic style) it was easy to read quickly.
Favorite part: the end of the comic itself
Least favorite part: Elliot’s reaction to Lucy’s last request
What I’d change: focus on Lucy, not Elliot
How long it took to read: a day
Was enjoying this for the most part (nothing too extraordinary, but a quick read), until I got to the sketch in the extras that is labelled "Adam's apple = tr*nny". Except without the censoring, obviously. Just needless hateful transmisogyny. It soured the whole book for me. There were other parts that I thought were questionable, like Lucy calling Evan's gay friends her "gay boyfriends", but I was giving them the benefit of the doubt. Now I'm just annoyed that this was my last read of the year.
"It was hope that was the problem. Hoping feelings wouldn't be hurt, hoping love would blossom, that was painful. But committing yourself to misery, that was just a dead feeling. It was pulling the Band-Aid and embracing the pain."
I loved Winter Town. What compelled me to buy it are the drawings that are part of the story. I found them interesting and actually cute. Upon reading the book , the drawings aren't simply placed there just to be "cute". They deeply connect to the story and its characters, Evan and Lucy.
Simply put, Winter Town is an enjoying read. It tackles about reality. About how it really feels to be seventeen and in love and living with your parents and deciding what to do after high school and generally, what to do with life. Self-discovery. Love. Friendship. Heartbreaks. Giving up. Starting new. Thanks for a heartful of a book, Stephen Emond.
I loved Winter Town. What compelled me to buy it are the drawings that are part of the story. I found them interesting and actually cute. Upon reading the book , the drawings aren't simply placed there just to be "cute". They deeply connect to the story and its characters, Evan and Lucy.
Simply put, Winter Town is an enjoying read. It tackles about reality. About how it really feels to be seventeen and in love and living with your parents and deciding what to do after high school and generally, what to do with life. Self-discovery. Love. Friendship. Heartbreaks. Giving up. Starting new. Thanks for a heartful of a book, Stephen Emond.