Nowhere Books Bingo – Graphic novel
Official plot summary, because once again I have waited to long to review the book: Laura Dean, the most popular girl in high school, was Frederica Riley’s dream girl: charming, confident, and SO cute. There’s just one problem: Laura Dean is maybe not the greatest girlfriend.
Reeling from her latest break up, Freddy’s best friend, Doodle, introduces her to the Seek-Her, a mysterious medium, who leaves Freddy some cryptic parting words: break up with her. But Laura Dean keeps coming back, and as their relationship spirals further out of her control, Freddy has to wonder if it’s really Laura Dean that’s the problem. Maybe it’s Freddy, who is rapidly losing her friends, including Doodle, who needs her now more than ever. Fortunately for Freddy, there are new friends, and the insight of advice columnists like Anna Vice to help her through being a teenager in love.
This is one of those books that I heard a lot about when it came out and bought as soon as it was available in paperback (I don’t like reading comics and graphic novels digitally), then put on my bookshelf and forgot. Since we have a full floor to ceiling bookshelf dedicated entirely to comics and graphic novels, once something is shelved there, it’s no longer out in the open to remind me. I probably shouldn’t have waited years to read it, but at least it didn’t disappoint once I got to it.
The only other graphic novel I’ve read by Mariko Tamaki was This One Summer, which was lovely, but had a subplot that hit a bit too close to home for me and made it a rather painful reading experience for me. This one, with its focus on (tragic) romance and friendship was more to my taste. I started reading it during a day I actually had quite a lot to do and had only intended to make a start on it, but instead ended up having to rearrange my schedule, because I once I started, I couldn’t really put it down. In This One Summer, the illustrations are done by Mariko’s sister Jillian, here she collaborates with Rosemary Valero-O’Connell, who captures the characters beautifully. A really good story accompanied by bad art can be enjoyed, but it’s so much better when both the writing and art are both high quality.
Full review