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A review by jenna_birdy
Giant Days by Non Pratt, Boom! Studios
4.0
I'm a HUGE fan of the Giant Days graphic novel, so when I saw that there had been a traditional book published for the series, I knew I had to read it. While I really enjoyed this book, and give it five stars for myself personally, I think I would struggle to recommend it more generally. Giant Days is funny, quirky, and extremely British and the art is a huge part of it's appeal. Reading about these characters without the accompanying art was...a unique experience at first, but I did get used to it and could practically picture the panels I would have expected after a few chapters.
The first chapter was the roughest to get through by far. It seems Non Pratt really struggled to strike a balance between introducing these characters to completely new readers and not boring fans of the graphic novels to tears, the results being a fairly rushed opening peppered with inelegant info dumps. I will say once everything is established it moves much more smoothly and naturally. It's just the first chapter that requires some extra effort.
I really feel for Non Pratt because Giant Days produces some hilarious visuals and that's really hard to translate to the written word. It's one thing to SEE Esther dramatically clawing at the sky in frustration, or Susan melting someone's internal organs with a death glare, but quite another to describe those events in such a way that they still come across as funny and not ridiculous (in a bad way). Don't get me wrong, I laughed a lot while reading this book! But occasionally things just didn't gel and it pulled me out of the story a bit.
I did really love the story and the characters (of course!). In typical fashion, one girl gets the main "plot," Daisy in this case, while Esther and Susan each have a smaller subplot to resolve. Everything comes together nicely at the end, (after going just slightly to the left of where you'd expect things to end up) with plenty of room for the next adventure. Giant Days is a traditional contemporary and the problems faced by the main characters are very relatable and handled realistically--hurt feelings from a (seemingly) ruined friendship, trying to impress someone who you desperately want to be friends with, trying to find where you best fit in after leaving home for the first time, doubts about new friendships and whether you're making the right choices. It's sweet and relatable and very genuine and I just love it!
Overall I'd recommend it most strongly to anyone who's a fan of the graphic novel, as well as anyone who loves stories that value female friendships. If you're on the fence about it I say give it a try and don't be discouraged by the first chapter.
The first chapter was the roughest to get through by far. It seems Non Pratt really struggled to strike a balance between introducing these characters to completely new readers and not boring fans of the graphic novels to tears, the results being a fairly rushed opening peppered with inelegant info dumps. I will say once everything is established it moves much more smoothly and naturally. It's just the first chapter that requires some extra effort.
I really feel for Non Pratt because Giant Days produces some hilarious visuals and that's really hard to translate to the written word. It's one thing to SEE Esther dramatically clawing at the sky in frustration, or Susan melting someone's internal organs with a death glare, but quite another to describe those events in such a way that they still come across as funny and not ridiculous (in a bad way). Don't get me wrong, I laughed a lot while reading this book! But occasionally things just didn't gel and it pulled me out of the story a bit.
I did really love the story and the characters (of course!). In typical fashion, one girl gets the main "plot," Daisy in this case, while Esther and Susan each have a smaller subplot to resolve. Everything comes together nicely at the end, (after going just slightly to the left of where you'd expect things to end up) with plenty of room for the next adventure. Giant Days is a traditional contemporary and the problems faced by the main characters are very relatable and handled realistically--hurt feelings from a (seemingly) ruined friendship, trying to impress someone who you desperately want to be friends with, trying to find where you best fit in after leaving home for the first time, doubts about new friendships and whether you're making the right choices. It's sweet and relatable and very genuine and I just love it!
Overall I'd recommend it most strongly to anyone who's a fan of the graphic novel, as well as anyone who loves stories that value female friendships. If you're on the fence about it I say give it a try and don't be discouraged by the first chapter.