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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
This is one of the first graphic novels I have read that has a female-female romance but is not a memoir. To be honest I preferred it. When its someone's life experience it changes how too read the story. I was able to enjoy the light moments in this a lot more, get annoyed at the characters, and not feel like im being judged by the author....i hope that makes sense. I found this graphic novel, funny, paced, entertaining, infuriating at times, all in all a really great experience.
My only criticism was some of it seemed a little far fetched and I did not like Cas as a character and thought her friends treated her terribly so knowing she forgave them was a little off for me.
Otherwise I highly recommend this.
My only criticism was some of it seemed a little far fetched and I did not like Cas as a character and thought her friends treated her terribly so knowing she forgave them was a little off for me.
Otherwise I highly recommend this.
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
So I was feeling grumpy and was reading something very dark. And I went through my pile and picked this up instead. And it is interesting to look at other reviews who clearly read a different book. I generally hate high school romance books of all sorts. The drama. The triangles. The miscommunication. The bullying. But for me this felt different. And I bought the out-of-orderness. And the reframing of who people were. This is a story told of the past in the order of the story and not the order it happened. The characters were believable. The story was believable. And even with telling some of it up front, there were still interesting twists and turns. And I liked the art. And I liked the ending. 4.5 of 5.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia
Minor: Domestic abuse, Outing
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoyed this! I didn't know anything about it before reading; I only knew it was queer. I was surprised when the first half wasn't centered around anything LGBT+, and more focused on something strange happening to Mads' family circumstances. But as things unfolded and Mads' worldviews were dissected, I started liking the story more and more. Religion especially was used in a way I'd never really seen before--the main character interacts with members of the church who are bigoted, but still attends mass because she feels it's a place where she is part of a community and things can really feel safe for her. I thought the story was really well done, and even the more disrespectful aspects of the characters' views were portrayed super well and wrapped up neatly. So glad I read this, it was awesome.
Quotes I liked:
"Was it worse to leave him like that or to tell him he was ust part of a sciece experiment? A baking soda volcano, thrown together last minute, without thought. Without care." (p. 237)
"I could have pushed harder, gotten mom to let me stay home. But maybe I wanted to be judged. Maybe I knew the scale of 1 to 10 didn't even come close to being able to rank what I had done." (p. 244)
"Or I can just be myself, and tell people, 'Hey, I'm Amanda! And I happen to be gay!' Maybe even reverse it. 'Hey, I'm gay! And I happen to be Amanda!'" (p. 262).
"Dad was right. Always choose flying over invisibility." (p. 271).
"We don't get to choose who we love. But sometimes we get lucky and fall for someone wonderful." (p. 280).
"Kinda crazy that I had ever thought I was alone." (p. 291).
Quotes I liked:
"Was it worse to leave him like that or to tell him he was ust part of a sciece experiment? A baking soda volcano, thrown together last minute, without thought. Without care." (p. 237)
"I could have pushed harder, gotten mom to let me stay home. But maybe I wanted to be judged. Maybe I knew the scale of 1 to 10 didn't even come close to being able to rank what I had done." (p. 244)
"Or I can just be myself, and tell people, 'Hey, I'm Amanda! And I happen to be gay!' Maybe even reverse it. 'Hey, I'm gay! And I happen to be Amanda!'" (p. 262).
"Dad was right. Always choose flying over invisibility." (p. 271).
"We don't get to choose who we love. But sometimes we get lucky and fall for someone wonderful." (p. 280).
"Kinda crazy that I had ever thought I was alone." (p. 291).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia
Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
I hated a lot of this book! This was the kind of reading experience that I enjoyed a lot more once I got to the end and could read the backmatter where Venable and Crenshaw talk more about the project. That, for me, was where a lot of the pieces finally gelled. But that should have been happening during the actual reading experience. It doesn't make sense to me that the story takes place in 2004 which, to me, largely feels like it's happening because that happened to be when Venable started writing the story.
A lot of the characterization felt thin. Why does Amanda hate her mother? Hell if I know. Which, yes, can be an authentic teen moment but I wanted more in the context of this story. Why does she have a crush on Cat? Incredibly unclear because Cat is one of the worst people I have ever encountered in a book. Which also brings me to Cat's artwork. I hated it. It was othering--you can even see from the cover that Cat doesn't even look like she's drawn in the same style. Is this because she is the object of Amanda's affections? Probably. Do any of her other crushes in the book share the same illustration style? No.
Also reading that Venable added a trans character because she wanted to have more trans representation while, to my knowledge, not living that life experience herself gives me serious pause. The story is also filled with slurs and hateful language which is never resolved which again is realistic in some ways but not, perhaps, the messaging that is most needed at this moment in time.
This was never going to be a me book because stories with this much religion give me hives. Some parts are interesting and the story ended stronger than it started but I think it tried to tackle way too much in one volume to do all of it well. This is a heavy, nuanced story that they tried to tie together with a high concept gimmick (the kisses) but that too ultimately lost focus in the middle of the story.
A lot of the characterization felt thin. Why does Amanda hate her mother? Hell if I know. Which, yes, can be an authentic teen moment but I wanted more in the context of this story. Why does she have a crush on Cat? Incredibly unclear because Cat is one of the worst people I have ever encountered in a book. Which also brings me to Cat's artwork. I hated it. It was othering--you can even see from the cover that Cat doesn't even look like she's drawn in the same style. Is this because she is the object of Amanda's affections? Probably. Do any of her other crushes in the book share the same illustration style? No.
Also reading that Venable added a trans character because she wanted to have more trans representation while, to my knowledge, not living that life experience herself gives me serious pause. The story is also filled with slurs and hateful language which is never resolved which again is realistic in some ways but not, perhaps, the messaging that is most needed at this moment in time.
This was never going to be a me book because stories with this much religion give me hives. Some parts are interesting and the story ended stronger than it started but I think it tried to tackle way too much in one volume to do all of it well. This is a heavy, nuanced story that they tried to tie together with a high concept gimmick (the kisses) but that too ultimately lost focus in the middle of the story.