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A review by rereader33
Brave by Svetlana Chmakova
5.0
Wow, this was awesome! This was an absolute delight to read, and so important, too! It seems that Chmakova is interested in exploring bullying in her graphic novels, which was touched on in Awkward but took center stage in Brave. While I couldn't relate to Jensen as much as I could relate to Peppi, he was an enjoyable character to explore and received a healthy dose of character development in this novel. He was an endearing character with a lot of personality but has a difficult time expressing it, but he learns and grows throughout the novel. The other characters were fantastic as well, and I absolutely love the amount of diversity in this novel. It amazes me that a graphic novel contains more diversity than most novels, even in 2018. Not that this is a bad thing, it's just an interesting observation and destroys the whole "we don't have diverse characters in our books because they're hard to write/we have to do a lot of research to write them right" excuse. This book proves it's not that hard; they're ordinary people going about their lives. Simple as that.
One thing that might seem small to some people but I greatly appreciated is how Jensen is bullied by both boys and girls. If there is one thing that drives me nuts in fiction, no matter the medium, it's that when someone is bullied they are almost always exclusively bullied by boys or girls. The fact is, that's not accurate to real life. Yes, some people may have only been bullied by boys or girls, but from all of the bullying stories I have heard, most victims are bullied by both. Again, a minor detail, but I greatly appreciate it. Also, while I feel like the conflicts (Felicity getting suspended and Jensen's bullies) were handled a bit too positively (to my knowledge, it would be rare for a school to overturn a suspension due to a petition) I like how it gives readers hope and reminds them they have support.
Also, Sailor Moon reference. 10/10 just for that :)
Anyway, loved this book, I hear she has a third one coming out this year, so looking forward to it!!
One thing that might seem small to some people but I greatly appreciated is how Jensen is bullied by both boys and girls. If there is one thing that drives me nuts in fiction, no matter the medium, it's that when someone is bullied they are almost always exclusively bullied by boys or girls. The fact is, that's not accurate to real life. Yes, some people may have only been bullied by boys or girls, but from all of the bullying stories I have heard, most victims are bullied by both. Again, a minor detail, but I greatly appreciate it. Also, while I feel like the conflicts (Felicity getting suspended and Jensen's bullies) were handled a bit too positively (to my knowledge, it would be rare for a school to overturn a suspension due to a petition) I like how it gives readers hope and reminds them they have support.
Also, Sailor Moon reference. 10/10 just for that :)
Anyway, loved this book, I hear she has a third one coming out this year, so looking forward to it!!