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vaiomo's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you to the publisher for giving me a free copy of this comic in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed this. I thought it was interesting that the author wrote a memoir about herself in the form of a comic. I loved that idea so I decided request this and luckily I got requested.
I thought the story was very fun and relatable. I myself had some trouble thinking about what I wanted to do in life and I know for a fact that many of my friends around me had this same problem in high school when the time came to pick the courses you wanted to do your final exam in. I thought this comic perfectly described it and in such a way that it was enjoyable to read about. Very nice.
The Art in this comic is very simple yet very clear. It's very pleasing to the eye and doesn't require much thought when it comes to the story and what you're supposed to take away from this. I loved it.
Definitely would recommend this comic to many people who are interested I think it's very fun :D
I really enjoyed this. I thought it was interesting that the author wrote a memoir about herself in the form of a comic. I loved that idea so I decided request this and luckily I got requested.
I thought the story was very fun and relatable. I myself had some trouble thinking about what I wanted to do in life and I know for a fact that many of my friends around me had this same problem in high school when the time came to pick the courses you wanted to do your final exam in. I thought this comic perfectly described it and in such a way that it was enjoyable to read about. Very nice.
The Art in this comic is very simple yet very clear. It's very pleasing to the eye and doesn't require much thought when it comes to the story and what you're supposed to take away from this. I loved it.
Definitely would recommend this comic to many people who are interested I think it's very fun :D
ljrinaldi's review against another edition
3.0
While I enjoyed this memoir of the author's life growing up in a house on the school property where her father was principal, I felt that there was stuff left out. The ending seems abrupt.
The insights were interesting, however, as were her observations about how her mother and her father thought.
We see her trying to become an artist, against her parents wishes. The one thing she is passionate about, they want her to give up.
It is disheartening to see it.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
The insights were interesting, however, as were her observations about how her mother and her father thought.
We see her trying to become an artist, against her parents wishes. The one thing she is passionate about, they want her to give up.
It is disheartening to see it.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
amumreads's review against another edition
3.0
The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was an enjoyable graphic memoir of a little girl growing up with her family in France. The stories shared about her life with her parents, her friends and her love of art were adorable. I found the art style and colouring to suit the tone of the book and it is something that I would share with my daughter.
This was an enjoyable graphic memoir of a little girl growing up with her family in France. The stories shared about her life with her parents, her friends and her love of art were adorable. I found the art style and colouring to suit the tone of the book and it is something that I would share with my daughter.
bookswithmichellee's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free digital copy of this book for exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.
Sylvie follows the life of the author between childhood and their first year of college. She and her family live in the school her father is the principal of with her three siblings and parents. Her mother is a school teacher and thinks Sylvie should marry rich and follow the "practical" subjects in school like math and science when Sylvie just wants to make art. The graphic novels shows her struggles with her parents, her love of art, and personal growth and acceptance.
Reading a memoir in form of a graphic novel was a cool experience and thought it was done fairly well. It was really great to see her personal growth shown their the character on the pages and how she dealt with different aspects of life - including parental pressure and being Jewish.
I thought the art was well done and is a unique style. I was not as much of a fan of the writing. I thought the writing could use some work . I understand it is a MG novel but it seemed it could be aimed at a younger audience because of some of the writing. The writing did not necessarily take away from the novel as it still showed emotion and pain. However, at times it was slow and parts did not seem to be fully needed to tell the overall narrative
Sylvie follows the life of the author between childhood and their first year of college. She and her family live in the school her father is the principal of with her three siblings and parents. Her mother is a school teacher and thinks Sylvie should marry rich and follow the "practical" subjects in school like math and science when Sylvie just wants to make art. The graphic novels shows her struggles with her parents, her love of art, and personal growth and acceptance.
Reading a memoir in form of a graphic novel was a cool experience and thought it was done fairly well. It was really great to see her personal growth shown their the character on the pages and how she dealt with different aspects of life - including parental pressure and being Jewish.
I thought the art was well done and is a unique style. I was not as much of a fan of the writing. I thought the writing could use some work . I understand it is a MG novel but it seemed it could be aimed at a younger audience because of some of the writing. The writing did not necessarily take away from the novel as it still showed emotion and pain. However, at times it was slow and parts did not seem to be fully needed to tell the overall narrative
panda_incognito's review against another edition
3.0
I thought that this graphic novel memoir sounded interesting, but it took me a long time to get through it, because it is very slow-moving. Even though this book is 352 pages long, it does not have a plot or a character arc, and is just a series of anecdotes and reflections strung together in chronological order. Even though I love slice-of-life stories, this didn't work for me, because there wasn't enough going on, and there was never any sense of structure.
Despite its flaws as a story, this book does have several appealing elements. Sylvie's father is the principal of a French school, and when she is a child, she and her family live in the school. That was unique and interesting, and because the family is Jewish, the memoir also incorporates details related to their background. I liked this aspect, but even though the author explores her mother's mixed messages about their Jewish heritage and her own sense of social awkwardness about not sharing her peers' holidays and other traditions as a child, the story never delves into any of these topics in a deep or meaningful way.
This book also addresses different issues in Sylvie's home, such as her frustrations with her mother and her parents' martial conflict. Again, these are interesting topics, but the book only explores them in a very surface-level way. This book skims along the surface of years and years of Sylvie's life without any depth or deeply engaging content, and even though children with similar family dynamics may find it helpful to see their experiences reflected here, the book does not provide any particular insight about these problems or how to deal with them. These are just snapshots of life, with no particular meaning or message to derive from them.
Sylvie's interest in art plays a significant role in the story, but because this is a just a loose collection of anecdotes, her artistic aspirations are yet another slice-of-life detail, not a driving force in a plot. I never felt any sense of suspense or urgency for the character, even when she was dealing with her mother's dismissive comments about her interests, because the story was too shallow, random, and meandering to evoke any real pathos or interest in how things worked out for her.
I am not sure who this book is best suited for. As a child, I definitely would have found it boring, and I don't know if I would have even finished it. The primary things that I enjoyed about it, such as the cultural and historical elements, primarily appealed to me from an adult perspective, but because this book only engages with issues in a very shallow, surface-level way, it does not have the sophistication or depth to appeal to an adult audience overall.
Also, this book ends very abruptly, just when it appears that the story is about to take an interesting turn. It is possible that the author plans to produce a sequel and continue the story, but if not, this was a very unsatisfying ending. I know that it would be very difficult to end this book in another way, since there is no central plot or character arc to draw to a meaningful, satisfying conclusion, but I wish that there had been some kind of conclusion. I just went on to the next page in my ebook, and was shocked to see that there was no more.
Ultimately, this book could have been much better than it was, and even though I don't regret spending my time on it, since I learned interesting things and enjoyed the historic and cultural elements, I would not recommend it to children or adults unless they had a particularly strong interest in France, Jewish culture, or stories of aspiring artists.
I received a temporary digital copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Despite its flaws as a story, this book does have several appealing elements. Sylvie's father is the principal of a French school, and when she is a child, she and her family live in the school. That was unique and interesting, and because the family is Jewish, the memoir also incorporates details related to their background. I liked this aspect, but even though the author explores her mother's mixed messages about their Jewish heritage and her own sense of social awkwardness about not sharing her peers' holidays and other traditions as a child, the story never delves into any of these topics in a deep or meaningful way.
This book also addresses different issues in Sylvie's home, such as her frustrations with her mother and her parents' martial conflict. Again, these are interesting topics, but the book only explores them in a very surface-level way. This book skims along the surface of years and years of Sylvie's life without any depth or deeply engaging content, and even though children with similar family dynamics may find it helpful to see their experiences reflected here, the book does not provide any particular insight about these problems or how to deal with them. These are just snapshots of life, with no particular meaning or message to derive from them.
Sylvie's interest in art plays a significant role in the story, but because this is a just a loose collection of anecdotes, her artistic aspirations are yet another slice-of-life detail, not a driving force in a plot. I never felt any sense of suspense or urgency for the character, even when she was dealing with her mother's dismissive comments about her interests, because the story was too shallow, random, and meandering to evoke any real pathos or interest in how things worked out for her.
I am not sure who this book is best suited for. As a child, I definitely would have found it boring, and I don't know if I would have even finished it. The primary things that I enjoyed about it, such as the cultural and historical elements, primarily appealed to me from an adult perspective, but because this book only engages with issues in a very shallow, surface-level way, it does not have the sophistication or depth to appeal to an adult audience overall.
Also, this book ends very abruptly, just when it appears that the story is about to take an interesting turn. It is possible that the author plans to produce a sequel and continue the story, but if not, this was a very unsatisfying ending. I know that it would be very difficult to end this book in another way, since there is no central plot or character arc to draw to a meaningful, satisfying conclusion, but I wish that there had been some kind of conclusion. I just went on to the next page in my ebook, and was shocked to see that there was no more.
Ultimately, this book could have been much better than it was, and even though I don't regret spending my time on it, since I learned interesting things and enjoyed the historic and cultural elements, I would not recommend it to children or adults unless they had a particularly strong interest in France, Jewish culture, or stories of aspiring artists.
I received a temporary digital copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.