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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
i skipped over 100 pages just to get it done. i would have quit completely had i not gotten it in a book exchange so i kept powering through because obviously someone i'm friends with really liked it. i ended up liking the ending, but i don't feel like i missed much by skipping.
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.
Winter Town was a good read! I liked: Evan and Lucy's characters, how they grew and changed throughout the novel, the comic strips after each chapter, and the parts where they talked about fantasy and adventure. :) I didn't like that some of the scenes felt rushed; I almost wished it was longer and more in depth. Like, what happened after Lucy went home? Overall, I enjoyed it!
Words I would use to describe this novel:
Meh
Okay
Fine
What I would say if you asked me what I thought of it:
"It was okay. I mean, I didn't feel like killing myself when reading it."
What I would look like while saying this:
Meh
Okay
Fine
What I would say if you asked me what I thought of it:
"It was okay. I mean, I didn't feel like killing myself when reading it."
What I would look like while saying this:
Rating 2 out 5 stars
Overall the book goes into the life of Evan Owen who has lived a life of safety and a planned life from his family (ivy league school, get a good career, meet a girl, settle down). Apart from that, each winter Evan looks forward to seeing his childhood friend Lucy for 2 weeks every year after she left when her parents divorces. This look good, till one year Lucy return with choppy black hair, a nose piercing, and hidden issues. From this surprised Evan tries to figure out what happens to her while Lucy become more distant from her old self
The premise of the book is what drew to start reading it. Thinking this was a "coming of age" story, but sadly it just fell short for me. It just felt like a mess with Lucy some what using Evan for further her from what's happened the past 11 months and not being honest with him about whats happened in her life. But I was very satisfied with how the ending is for both of these characters.
Overall the book goes into the life of Evan Owen who has lived a life of safety and a planned life from his family (ivy league school, get a good career, meet a girl, settle down). Apart from that, each winter Evan looks forward to seeing his childhood friend Lucy for 2 weeks every year after she left when her parents divorces. This look good, till one year Lucy return with choppy black hair, a nose piercing, and hidden issues. From this surprised Evan tries to figure out what happens to her while Lucy become more distant from her old self
The premise of the book is what drew to start reading it. Thinking this was a "coming of age" story, but sadly it just fell short for me. It just felt like a mess with Lucy some what using Evan for further her from what's happened the past 11 months and not being honest with him about whats happened in her life. But I was very satisfied with how the ending is for both of these characters.
I don't have much to say about Winter Town, I think because I can't even put my finger on why I didn't much like it. It was fairly well written and all, but there was a strange detachment to it such that I feel like I missed a couple chapters by mistake, or maybe fell asleep in the middle. It felt realistic, but almost TOO realistic-- like I was intruding into the lives of strangers, not people worthy of having a book written about them. Also it wasn't too exciting--nothing really happened-- and the characters and their stories weren't very compelling. Otherwise, though, I enjoyed it well enough.
Apologies for the sort of nonsensical review, but I'll end it by saying that I'm sure it's a likable book for someone who's not me, so it's definitely worth a try-- especially if you're a fan of graphic art (which I'm not, really).
Oh, and this really annoyed me (and probably me alone): the main character's name is Evan Owens. Evan and Owen are both forms of the name John. Ugh.
Apologies for the sort of nonsensical review, but I'll end it by saying that I'm sure it's a likable book for someone who's not me, so it's definitely worth a try-- especially if you're a fan of graphic art (which I'm not, really).
Oh, and this really annoyed me (and probably me alone): the main character's name is Evan Owens. Evan and Owen are both forms of the name John. Ugh.
Great read for winter, could recommend as a book to get your into the Christmas mood!
This was a 2.5 from me. The parts I loved were the illustrations and how his family (especially his Grandma) were described. I loved the extras parts like the playlists at the end too
The less good parts were the main story which felt a little muddled & it was hard to see sometimes what characters motivations were. A cute enough read but not a favourite
Edited to add: I forgot until I saw this in another review - there is a SERIOUSLY transphobic slur in the "extras" section at the end of the book which made me want to jam the book down this authors throat when I saw it.
The less good parts were the main story which felt a little muddled & it was hard to see sometimes what characters motivations were. A cute enough read but not a favourite
Edited to add: I forgot until I saw this in another review - there is a SERIOUSLY transphobic slur in the "extras" section at the end of the book which made me want to jam the book down this authors throat when I saw it.
I have complicated feelings about this book. There were parts of it that were great, and I love the concept behind it - integrating a graphic/comic component. Some well-drawn parental-type figures including the male protagonist's grandmother (Gram), who is lively and wonderful, and of course his two gay bffs are fun and funny. But there's something weirdly unbalanced about the book as a whole - Evan, as the overachiever sacrificing his desires to his fathers' wishes, is neither that interesting or that deep, while his love interest, tortured Lucy, is both Manic Pixie Dream Girl and bipolar goth all wrapped into one, so weighed down she collapses under a pile of her own (unoriginal) angst. I kept wanting her to get therapy, or at least some sort of solid support system that isn't her childhood best friend who she sees for 2 weeks a year, but Emond wraps it all up with a nice little bow at the end while somehow skipping the hard work part that depicts how they get there. It might have been better as an actual graphic novel, and it feels a little like it got picked up because of its cool concept instead of the quality of the story. Disappointing.
Meh. The book really seemed to be promising, but I just could not get into it. The characters didn't develop enough, and the storyline dragged. The ending chapters were abrupt, and the final scene was just a little too perfect.