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A review by graybulla
It Helps with the Blues by Bryan Cebulski
5.0
this book!!!! it's wild how much emotional depth is packed into so few pages. it's also wild just how deeply this book stuck with me since initially reading it.
in the months between reading this book and writing this review, IT HELPS WITH THE BLUES has stayed with me, floating around in my brain, popping up every now and then to be like "hey, remember me?" the scenes with estelle in particular stuck with me - i was so intrigued by their dynamic with the narrator, and the characters' brief flirtation was heart-warming and a bit heart-breaking at the same time, but more than anything, it felt real and complicated. and that's one of the things that i think this book does best: it always has authenticity and subtlety and complexity at its forefront.
this book is low-key and introspective and pulls no punches, and it's so good precisely because of those things. if this were written by someone else, i can see the actions taking place in this book being played up for melodrama, hammed up for an audience, made Bigger and Cinematic--but instead of treating these characters like they're in a movie, this book treats them like they're people, and i don't know about y'all, but that is one of the things i absolutely love when reading (and it's one of the things i hope to achieve in my own writing). plus, i've always loved a nick carrawy-esque narrator, and this book achieves that effortlessly.
if you're in the market for an introspective, emotionally-nuanced, beautifully written, coming-of-age YA novella, definitely pick up IT HELPS WITH THE BLUES. <3
in the months between reading this book and writing this review, IT HELPS WITH THE BLUES has stayed with me, floating around in my brain, popping up every now and then to be like "hey, remember me?" the scenes with estelle in particular stuck with me - i was so intrigued by their dynamic with the narrator, and the characters' brief flirtation was heart-warming and a bit heart-breaking at the same time, but more than anything, it felt real and complicated. and that's one of the things that i think this book does best: it always has authenticity and subtlety and complexity at its forefront.
this book is low-key and introspective and pulls no punches, and it's so good precisely because of those things. if this were written by someone else, i can see the actions taking place in this book being played up for melodrama, hammed up for an audience, made Bigger and Cinematic--but instead of treating these characters like they're in a movie, this book treats them like they're people, and i don't know about y'all, but that is one of the things i absolutely love when reading (and it's one of the things i hope to achieve in my own writing). plus, i've always loved a nick carrawy-esque narrator, and this book achieves that effortlessly.
if you're in the market for an introspective, emotionally-nuanced, beautifully written, coming-of-age YA novella, definitely pick up IT HELPS WITH THE BLUES. <3