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A review by travelseatsreads
This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
For a graphic novel to work both the narrative and the graphics need to marry and compliment each under and unfortunately in This One Summer the stunning graphics grossly outshone the narrative.
The story unfortunately fell completely flat and left me with with an overwhelming 'meh' feeling by the end. Rather than there being a lack of plotting, the plotting just stopped dead without any sense of growth or closure being found. The coming of age concept married with the summer of firsts should have been fun and engrossing with some lessons learnt however it was full of slut shaming and a character that seemed to overflow with an unexplained meanness. I feel the last line, when Rose is thinking to what could be in her future, pretty much summed up the sincerity of the story "maybe I will have massive boobs. Boobs would be cool."
It pained me to write such a negative view because the artwork is absolutely beautiful. The palette is a one of hazy lavender blue hues which at times feel dream-like or like a distant recalled memory. The tones very much matched the floating sense of melancholy throughout the book and the different page layouts from comic style squares to splash pages really kept the book moving. Each character is very much drawn as a distinct individual and there a lots of tiny details to keep you lingering on each page. There were so many gorgeous pages that, if I had owned the book, I would have ripped out to display.
Would I recommend it? If you want some stunning art work to look at and even possibly cut out and keep yes! If you want a meaningful coming of age story with growth then definitely no.
The story unfortunately fell completely flat and left me with with an overwhelming 'meh' feeling by the end. Rather than there being a lack of plotting, the plotting just stopped dead without any sense of growth or closure being found. The coming of age concept married with the summer of firsts should have been fun and engrossing with some lessons learnt however it was full of slut shaming and a character that seemed to overflow with an unexplained meanness. I feel the last line, when Rose is thinking to what could be in her future, pretty much summed up the sincerity of the story "maybe I will have massive boobs. Boobs would be cool."
It pained me to write such a negative view because the artwork is absolutely beautiful. The palette is a one of hazy lavender blue hues which at times feel dream-like or like a distant recalled memory. The tones very much matched the floating sense of melancholy throughout the book and the different page layouts from comic style squares to splash pages really kept the book moving. Each character is very much drawn as a distinct individual and there a lots of tiny details to keep you lingering on each page. There were so many gorgeous pages that, if I had owned the book, I would have ripped out to display.
Would I recommend it? If you want some stunning art work to look at and even possibly cut out and keep yes! If you want a meaningful coming of age story with growth then definitely no.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Sexism, Body shaming, Mental illness, Abortion, Bullying, Misogyny, and Suicide attempt