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A review by pastelwriter
Check, Please! Book 2: Sticks & Scones by Ngozi Ukazu
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I have...conflicting feelings about this second and final installment in this series.
I will start by addressing the things that made this a not so perfect reading experience. One of the things I don't like about this graphic novel is the ratio of dialogue to art. There is sooooo much dialogue in this! Some pages are so overwhelming to look at because they're stuffed full of words. Like my art friend said, a decision needed to be made: either the art had to take up more of the page so all the words wouldn't look so crammed together OR there needed to be less words. Personally, I feel like there is too much telling in this volume. There are not enough moments where the artwork just speaks for itself.
The second issue I had was with the pacing of this. It moved far too quickly. Some chapters ended abruptly, and then the next chapter was a time skip. It just made the reading experience feel like a car jerking abruptly forward and backward. It was just jarring. I definitely felt like each year of Bitty's life could have been its own volume which was then carefully developed. Cramming two years of his life into one volume just made this feel very dense.
The other thing about this series is that...there are far too many characters. I could not keep up at all. This is more of a me issue than an issue with the graphic novel...but it affected my reading experience. Visually, I could perfectly tell the characters apart, but most of them I could not remember their names for the life of me. Were the side characters cute? Yes. Fun? Yes. Enjoyable? Yes. Do I know the names of anyone that isn't Shitty and Lardo? No.
Ultimately, though, I cannot deny that this book gave me feels. I came out of the first volume loving Bitty a lot, and my love for him certainly continued in this installment. His fear of coming out to his parents, and his desire to share the joy of his relationship with his friends made me want to scream. Bitty being especially afraid of his dad's reaction to him being gay? I cry every day and every night. Like I'm not gonna lie, every time Bitty cried I wanted to cry with him. I just want good things for Bitty! He deserves the world!
Jack in this volume also really won me over. He was so sweet and gentle with Bitty. He understood Bitty's frustrations and didn't hold them against him. Jack comforted Bitty and was just in his corner as much as Bitty was in Jack's corner. It made my heart melt completely. And how nervous Jack got when he met Bitty's dad? Be still my heart!
At the end of the day, I had a lot of fun reading this (apart from my issues with it). I settled on a 3.5 star rating because what was good in this volume was really good, but the things that bothered me were not easily ignored. Ultimately, I would still recommend the series for anyone looking for a relatively light read with a sweet romance at the heart of it.
I will start by addressing the things that made this a not so perfect reading experience. One of the things I don't like about this graphic novel is the ratio of dialogue to art. There is sooooo much dialogue in this! Some pages are so overwhelming to look at because they're stuffed full of words. Like my art friend said, a decision needed to be made: either the art had to take up more of the page so all the words wouldn't look so crammed together OR there needed to be less words. Personally, I feel like there is too much telling in this volume. There are not enough moments where the artwork just speaks for itself.
The second issue I had was with the pacing of this. It moved far too quickly. Some chapters ended abruptly, and then the next chapter was a time skip. It just made the reading experience feel like a car jerking abruptly forward and backward. It was just jarring. I definitely felt like each year of Bitty's life could have been its own volume which was then carefully developed. Cramming two years of his life into one volume just made this feel very dense.
The other thing about this series is that...there are far too many characters. I could not keep up at all. This is more of a me issue than an issue with the graphic novel...but it affected my reading experience. Visually, I could perfectly tell the characters apart, but most of them I could not remember their names for the life of me. Were the side characters cute? Yes. Fun? Yes. Enjoyable? Yes. Do I know the names of anyone that isn't Shitty and Lardo? No.
Ultimately, though, I cannot deny that this book gave me feels. I came out of the first volume loving Bitty a lot, and my love for him certainly continued in this installment. His fear of coming out to his parents, and his desire to share the joy of his relationship with his friends made me want to scream. Bitty being especially afraid of his dad's reaction to him being gay? I cry every day and every night. Like I'm not gonna lie, every time Bitty cried I wanted to cry with him. I just want good things for Bitty! He deserves the world!
Jack in this volume also really won me over. He was so sweet and gentle with Bitty. He understood Bitty's frustrations and didn't hold them against him. Jack comforted Bitty and was just in his corner as much as Bitty was in Jack's corner. It made my heart melt completely. And how nervous Jack got when he met Bitty's dad? Be still my heart!
At the end of the day, I had a lot of fun reading this (apart from my issues with it). I settled on a 3.5 star rating because what was good in this volume was really good, but the things that bothered me were not easily ignored. Ultimately, I would still recommend the series for anyone looking for a relatively light read with a sweet romance at the heart of it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Suicidal thoughts