Recommendation by teresaelectro!
I think unlike many people, it took me a while to get into the artwork for this novel. On the other hand, I found the story quite compelling from the get go. As I went through it, though (and it’s a shorter graphic novel, so it did finish quite quickly), I found the artwork beautiful in its sparseness and details—and the story a bit lacking in nuance at the end.
There’s not much of a plot per se, although plenty of spoilers that you can read if you skim (ha) through reviews written here. Windy and Rose are young teenager girls (I didn’t realize how young, actually, until I was reading reviews—10 and 12, respectively) who are summering together on Lake Huron on the cusp of pregnancy and boys and finding themselves. To be clear, there is none of me in either of these two characters. At this age, my friends and I were happily occupied with ourselves and novels and all manner of nerdy pursuits (sharing secrets over candles lit on carpeted floors, we were not the smartest). And I don’t say that as a judgement at all, just to point out that I don’t have the bias of remembering summers/times like this nor comparing to my own experiences.
But nonetheless a story doesn’t need to be directly related to your own experiences to feel universal. Themes of liking a boy and ditching your friend (emotionally or literally), trying to figure out what attention means and whether you like it, slut-shaming…all interesting topics, all well worth exploring, and for the large part painted well with a broad brush. My biggest issue is with how Tamaki doesn’t draw the threads close towards the end as much, even though as I write this I think that there’s not really any answers to these sorts of larger, broader issues? I’m still struggling with balancing relationships and friendships and I’m much much older.