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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
Sooo, I think Emond should stick with writing graphic novels. The graphic novel bits of this were really cute – it’s a humorous little fantasy storyline that the main characters Evan and Lucy make up. I liked it a lot and wanted to read more of it.
But the main storyline I thought was less well-done. It’s a very simplistic writing style that feels like it’s supposed to be surrounded by pictures – it’s a graphic novel level of writing. The dialogue was also pretty wooden. The characters were similarly bare-basics. Evan is a good kid from a loving father whose father has high expectations for him that makes him a little too straight-laced and frustrated! He has to learn to relax! Lucy is from a messed-up family who has gone “goth” because she doesn’t have a good sense of identity and is angry and self-conscious! She has to learn how to love and value herself!
Seriously, this should be turned into a straight-up graphic novel. It would be better, trust me.
But the main storyline I thought was less well-done. It’s a very simplistic writing style that feels like it’s supposed to be surrounded by pictures – it’s a graphic novel level of writing. The dialogue was also pretty wooden. The characters were similarly bare-basics. Evan is a good kid from a loving father whose father has high expectations for him that makes him a little too straight-laced and frustrated! He has to learn to relax! Lucy is from a messed-up family who has gone “goth” because she doesn’t have a good sense of identity and is angry and self-conscious! She has to learn how to love and value herself!
Seriously, this should be turned into a straight-up graphic novel. It would be better, trust me.
Un bon livre d'hiver lu sous des chaleurs caniculaires ... Stephen Emond a bien saisi l'idée de "l'adulescence" et ses sentiments exacerbés. La question du futur, de la famille, des amis, de l'acceptance de soi font partie intégrante du roman. Enfin, "l'hopeless romantic" que je suis a adoré l'évolution de la relation entre Lucy et Evan.
PS : J'ajouterai un bémol car le début du roman était assez lent et que je m'y suis uniquement réellement attachée dans la deuxième partie.
PS : J'ajouterai un bémol car le début du roman était assez lent et que je m'y suis uniquement réellement attachée dans la deuxième partie.
Super cheesy. Overly exaggerated gay kid stereotypes that started to get on my nerves because they very nearly, and may have, crossed the line at some parts (like, Tim and Marshall have no character traits other than ~excessively gay™️~. Lots of grammatical errors and poorly written sentences that kept distracting me from the story. Also, these people are way too witty in every line of dialogue to be realistic. Should have been written as a movie and the dramatic stereotypes may have been better received in that medium...
(also, why wasn’t this written in first person? It’s in third person but every dad is referred to as just “Dad” and it’s hard to tell which dad this actually is. 100% should have been in first person)
(also, why wasn’t this written in first person? It’s in third person but every dad is referred to as just “Dad” and it’s hard to tell which dad this actually is. 100% should have been in first person)
Evan and Lucy meet up every winter in Evan's town (and Lucy's former town) when Lucy comes to visit her dad for Christmas. This winter Lucy seems different to Evan, but he doesn't know why. The book is told in two parts, first Evan's and the Lucy's. I found the transition rather jarring. Other than that, this was a great book, chock full of fun illustrations, also done by the author. Which begs the question, why do grown up books not have illustrations any more? I can recall reading a goodly amount of books published in the early part of the last century that came with small illustrations. It would be nice to have that again. Anyway. Great contrast between the lives of the two main characters and an overall good book.
Oh man, did I enjoy this book. Winter Town is a young adult novel written and illustrated by Stephen Emond. The story follows two childhood best friends, Lucy and Evan. Lucy and her mom moved away years ago, and every December she comes back "home" to visit with her dad, but really just to see Evan. Together, these two go on wild adventures via their comic book style alter egos. Lucy has always been the cute girl next door, but this year she comes back looking "goth", black hair and nose ring included. This is a direct quote off the back of the book, "Old Lucy still exists, and he's determined to find her.... even if it means pissing her off". Also, the front of the book says, "One boy. One girl. One not-so-epic love story". As someone who has a love of best-friends-turned-more, I was sold. Obviously. Plus, if he's going to piss her off, that means it won't be super cheesy, right?
The Positives:
When I flipped through the book at the bookstore I was so excited to see that it was illustrated. There are comics at the end of every chapter, and the start of every chapter features a two-page illustration featuring that chapter's setting. One random page will have some drawings on it, relative to the story, that looks like the author/illustrator just started doodling on the page as he was writing. I like that, I like that a lot. I have to say, the illustrations were some of the best parts for me.
I am the first to admit that I like paranormal romance books, and even some fantasy books, where the events and the characters are really, really unrealistic and things happen that don't necessarily make sense. I can accept that, to a certain degree, because it's not regular fiction book featuring two regular fictional characters. If you give me a one-shot contemporary fiction and the characters, setting, or situations aren't realistic...
You can access the rest of my review at my blog Drunk On Pop - http://drunkonpop.com/2013/01/12/review-winter-town-by-stephen-emond/
The Positives:
When I flipped through the book at the bookstore I was so excited to see that it was illustrated. There are comics at the end of every chapter, and the start of every chapter features a two-page illustration featuring that chapter's setting. One random page will have some drawings on it, relative to the story, that looks like the author/illustrator just started doodling on the page as he was writing. I like that, I like that a lot. I have to say, the illustrations were some of the best parts for me.
I am the first to admit that I like paranormal romance books, and even some fantasy books, where the events and the characters are really, really unrealistic and things happen that don't necessarily make sense. I can accept that, to a certain degree, because it's not regular fiction book featuring two regular fictional characters. If you give me a one-shot contemporary fiction and the characters, setting, or situations aren't realistic...
You can access the rest of my review at my blog Drunk On Pop - http://drunkonpop.com/2013/01/12/review-winter-town-by-stephen-emond/
"Winter Town" is the illustrated story of longtime best friends Evan and Lucy. Evan's a future Ivy-Leaguer who'd rather be a cartoonist; Lucy is the girl next door (though the author doesn't elaborate much beyond that). Until, of course, Lucy returns to visit her father after a long absence. She's cut her hair, pierced several body parts--she certainly doesn't sounds like the Lucy Evan knew (and loved?). It's a boy know girl, girl changes, boy tries to change her back kind of story.
Which explains the low rating, really. I picked this one up at the library under a "ooh, pretty cover" impulse, and didn't bother to read the jacket until I was stuck with on a road trip. If I had, I wouldn't have bothered with it, simply because it's described as an "Indie movie in book form". I have nothing against indie movies, but lemme tell you: "Winter Town" would be THAT indie movie. The kind your super pretentious friend forces you to watch at the art festival. You inevitably play Angry Birds during this entire movie.
The Good
One thing I will give "Winter Town": it knows its main problem. Evan and Lucy are not a real love story. Both of these kids need to work on themselves, and this is acknowledged in-text. That's the only reason why I gave the novel an extra star.
The Bad
Trouble is, "Winter Town" doesn't get to the heart of this problem until near the end. So much of the book is spent plodding around a rather boring and irritating "love story". Everything is forced: the romance, the friendship, the humor. There's no natural chemistry between Evan and Lucy; they have a rather sexless relationship in terms of how they view each other. They never seem to look at one another in a romantic manner, excepting that age-old "well, we've been friends so long we might as well go there" kind of deal. And that's BORING.
The novel's also troperiffic in the worst kind of way. Oh, look, it's the overbearing dad. Oh, look, it's the wise old Grandma. The token gays. The damaged girl (OH THE DAMAGED GIRL). It's trying to be "500 Days of Summer" in that it deconstructs the manic pixie dream girl, but dear God, Stephen Emond is no John Green and OH he does not know how to deconstruct in an interesting, humorous way.
Also: "Winter Town" is really, really predictable. If you don't see every twist and turn at least twenty pages before it comes--you must not read a lot of YA. And that's okay, by the way. I'm not trying to call you silly or stupid if this book sHoCkEd you. I just doubt that it would surprise most Goodreads readers.
The Ugly
For the most part, "Winter Town" is just annoying. It enters truly troubling territory when it comes to the characterization of Lucy and Evan's reaction to her "change".
Firstly, I didn't understand why Evan freaked out so much at Lucy's so-called transformation. She dyed and cut her hair, changed her wardrobe, and got an attitude. Big deal...? She's a teenage girl...?
The novel, however, wants to frame Lucy as Damaged Girl 101. Evan instantly swoops in to help her, to CHANGE her. He keeps on talking about Old Lucy, and Lucy does, too. It's a textual thing. No. This is LUCY. Not old or new. She's the same girl she was before; she's just gone through different things. There was this eerily misogynistic tone throughout the novel in the manner through which it dictated Lucy's self. Evan kept on railing about how he'd make her who she used to be, and that disturbed me?
Another thing: when the big "reveal" of Lucy's tragedy, the big secret that had been looming over her was done... I wasn't impressed. It was something the novel had been building up to, and it was quite anticlimactic. It only served to justify my belief that Lucy hadn't really changed overmuch; she was just going through a tough time. The novel just hammered us with this notion that she wasn't as good as Evan, and that simply grossed me out.
The Verdict
Not the worst book in the world, simply because it is somewhat self-aware. But it certainly counts among one of the most annoying.
Which explains the low rating, really. I picked this one up at the library under a "ooh, pretty cover" impulse, and didn't bother to read the jacket until I was stuck with on a road trip. If I had, I wouldn't have bothered with it, simply because it's described as an "Indie movie in book form". I have nothing against indie movies, but lemme tell you: "Winter Town" would be THAT indie movie. The kind your super pretentious friend forces you to watch at the art festival. You inevitably play Angry Birds during this entire movie.
The Good
One thing I will give "Winter Town": it knows its main problem. Evan and Lucy are not a real love story. Both of these kids need to work on themselves, and this is acknowledged in-text. That's the only reason why I gave the novel an extra star.
The Bad
Trouble is, "Winter Town" doesn't get to the heart of this problem until near the end. So much of the book is spent plodding around a rather boring and irritating "love story". Everything is forced: the romance, the friendship, the humor. There's no natural chemistry between Evan and Lucy; they have a rather sexless relationship in terms of how they view each other. They never seem to look at one another in a romantic manner, excepting that age-old "well, we've been friends so long we might as well go there" kind of deal. And that's BORING.
The novel's also troperiffic in the worst kind of way. Oh, look, it's the overbearing dad. Oh, look, it's the wise old Grandma. The token gays. The damaged girl (OH THE DAMAGED GIRL). It's trying to be "500 Days of Summer" in that it deconstructs the manic pixie dream girl, but dear God, Stephen Emond is no John Green and OH he does not know how to deconstruct in an interesting, humorous way.
Also: "Winter Town" is really, really predictable. If you don't see every twist and turn at least twenty pages before it comes--you must not read a lot of YA. And that's okay, by the way. I'm not trying to call you silly or stupid if this book sHoCkEd you. I just doubt that it would surprise most Goodreads readers.
The Ugly
For the most part, "Winter Town" is just annoying. It enters truly troubling territory when it comes to the characterization of Lucy and Evan's reaction to her "change".
Firstly, I didn't understand why Evan freaked out so much at Lucy's so-called transformation. She dyed and cut her hair, changed her wardrobe, and got an attitude. Big deal...? She's a teenage girl...?
The novel, however, wants to frame Lucy as Damaged Girl 101. Evan instantly swoops in to help her, to CHANGE her. He keeps on talking about Old Lucy, and Lucy does, too. It's a textual thing. No. This is LUCY. Not old or new. She's the same girl she was before; she's just gone through different things. There was this eerily misogynistic tone throughout the novel in the manner through which it dictated Lucy's self. Evan kept on railing about how he'd make her who she used to be, and that disturbed me?
Another thing: when the big "reveal" of Lucy's tragedy, the big secret that had been looming over her was done... I wasn't impressed. It was something the novel had been building up to, and it was quite anticlimactic. It only served to justify my belief that Lucy hadn't really changed overmuch; she was just going through a tough time. The novel just hammered us with this notion that she wasn't as good as Evan, and that simply grossed me out.
The Verdict
Not the worst book in the world, simply because it is somewhat self-aware. But it certainly counts among one of the most annoying.
This book made me smile. It seemed to drag a bit in the middle, but I really liked the end. Very creative and thought provoking as well.
Word Fest
At the risk of sounding like an Apprentice contestant on a book marketing task, the USP of Winter Town has to be its combination of prose and images. Think the opening visuals of Juno, and then go darker, add wry humour and more than a little heart, and leave to soak into your brain grapes for 300 plus pages. Result? Book Love. Emond’s writing style itself is fairly straightforward and unshowy, like a low-key John Green or David Levithan, with all the filmic. music and literary references that you might expect from that particular sub-genre.* Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? Check. Salinger? Check. On prose alone, then, Winter Town, is a good, sweet, clever read. But — and big butts do not lie — Emond’s illustrations are beautiful and/or hilarious and it is these, and their role in the narrative, that make Winter Town a great read. I particularly liked how Lucy and Evan are shown to have different styles, in keeping with their personalities and backgrounds, and the way in which Aelysthia, Evan and Lucy’s made-up world and Evan’s comic strip, mirrors their real life coming of age journey (yes, this maybe the most hokey word in existence but it has a context. Believe me. Actually, don’t stop believing.)
* Not going to label sub-genre as any attempt will be reductive and may negate my very real and abiding love for hyper articulate teenagers who are smarter and cooler than me, and occasionally, and for the good of us all, write and star in musicals.
Wonder Boy?
In real life, I think I would probably make Evan cry, or at least cause him to draw a very chin-heavy caricature of me. The Goodreads blurb name checks Garden State which is apt, since Evan definitely gives off a sensitive, hipsterish Zach Braff, these are my 500-days-of-Summer-how-soon-is-now, vibe. He’s a good guy, perhaps too good. Like in John Green’s Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns, the male protagonist has unfair preconceptions and expectations of his … friend? love interest? other shudder half? that say more about his personality than hers.
Evan: Take off the beanie and then we’ll talk. Briefly.
Despite a slightly sketchy backstory (one dimensional mother and loutish jock boyfriend), Lucy is a more interesting, spikier character. She is arguably more self-aware than Evan, and her section of the book was a welcome reprieve from Evan’s occasionally annoying neurosis (read whining).
Lucy: Wonder Girl but not Evan’s Wonder Girl.
The Terry Crabtree Award for Best Supporting Character
After strong competition from Evan’s zombie filmmaking friends Tim and Marshall, and Marshall’s emotional uber-dad, the winner has to be —cue suspenseful music please — Evan’s sexually supportive Gram!
Lady, I’m not the tattoo type but you’ve got yourself a slow clap.
The Love Parade
Once Evan and Lucy enter into boyfriend-girlfriend territory, Emond segues into a nice balance of angst and sweetness. He does not ignore the fact that Evan and Lucy have become very different people, and that in their current situations, are not entirely right for each other. Because I am a grumpy old lady, I would have liked their relationship to remain platonic, or at least less sudden, though I’m sure to be in the minority on that. I did love the creative connection that Evan and Lucy shared, especially the wink to The Bridge of Terabithia in their creation of Aelysthia. Just so you know, what happens in Terabithia does not happen here, okay? Nor will Vada be worrying about Thomas J.’s vision anytime soon. Yeah, I need to work on my vagueness.
Verdict
Whilst I have reservations about the ending (a little too…see title of author’s first novel), Winter Town is an enjoyable story bolstered by truly brilliant illustrations.
At the risk of sounding like an Apprentice contestant on a book marketing task, the USP of Winter Town has to be its combination of prose and images. Think the opening visuals of Juno, and then go darker, add wry humour and more than a little heart, and leave to soak into your brain grapes for 300 plus pages. Result? Book Love. Emond’s writing style itself is fairly straightforward and unshowy, like a low-key John Green or David Levithan, with all the filmic. music and literary references that you might expect from that particular sub-genre.* Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? Check. Salinger? Check. On prose alone, then, Winter Town, is a good, sweet, clever read. But — and big butts do not lie — Emond’s illustrations are beautiful and/or hilarious and it is these, and their role in the narrative, that make Winter Town a great read. I particularly liked how Lucy and Evan are shown to have different styles, in keeping with their personalities and backgrounds, and the way in which Aelysthia, Evan and Lucy’s made-up world and Evan’s comic strip, mirrors their real life coming of age journey (yes, this maybe the most hokey word in existence but it has a context. Believe me. Actually, don’t stop believing.)
* Not going to label sub-genre as any attempt will be reductive and may negate my very real and abiding love for hyper articulate teenagers who are smarter and cooler than me, and occasionally, and for the good of us all, write and star in musicals.
Wonder Boy?
In real life, I think I would probably make Evan cry, or at least cause him to draw a very chin-heavy caricature of me. The Goodreads blurb name checks Garden State which is apt, since Evan definitely gives off a sensitive, hipsterish Zach Braff, these are my 500-days-of-Summer-how-soon-is-now, vibe. He’s a good guy, perhaps too good. Like in John Green’s Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns, the male protagonist has unfair preconceptions and expectations of his … friend? love interest? other shudder half? that say more about his personality than hers.
Evan: Take off the beanie and then we’ll talk. Briefly.
Despite a slightly sketchy backstory (one dimensional mother and loutish jock boyfriend), Lucy is a more interesting, spikier character. She is arguably more self-aware than Evan, and her section of the book was a welcome reprieve from Evan’s occasionally annoying neurosis (read whining).
Lucy: Wonder Girl but not Evan’s Wonder Girl.
The Terry Crabtree Award for Best Supporting Character
After strong competition from Evan’s zombie filmmaking friends Tim and Marshall, and Marshall’s emotional uber-dad, the winner has to be —cue suspenseful music please — Evan’s sexually supportive Gram!
“Oh, Evan, no one’s judging,” Gram said. “Be young! That’s all I’m saying. You should be proud you have a family so open and who cares about you. You could date a man who’s a different colour and turn your willy into a hoo-hoo for all I care. I’ll love you just the same!” Evan imagined that last part, though it didn’t sound out of place (p. 21-22).
Lady, I’m not the tattoo type but you’ve got yourself a slow clap.
The Love Parade
Once Evan and Lucy enter into boyfriend-girlfriend territory, Emond segues into a nice balance of angst and sweetness. He does not ignore the fact that Evan and Lucy have become very different people, and that in their current situations, are not entirely right for each other. Because I am a grumpy old lady, I would have liked their relationship to remain platonic, or at least less sudden, though I’m sure to be in the minority on that. I did love the creative connection that Evan and Lucy shared, especially the wink to The Bridge of Terabithia in their creation of Aelysthia. Just so you know, what happens in Terabithia does not happen here, okay? Nor will Vada be worrying about Thomas J.’s vision anytime soon. Yeah, I need to work on my vagueness.
Verdict
Whilst I have reservations about the ending (a little too…see title of author’s first novel), Winter Town is an enjoyable story bolstered by truly brilliant illustrations.
mleh...there were a lot of loose ends, things that should have been developed...more stream-of-consciousness than story for me