Sheets

(English below) Die „Sheets“-Serie hatte ich schon so lange auf meiner Liste. Teil 1 hat mich sehr berührt und ich habe manche Seiten lange angeschaut und wirken lassen. Die Farbgebung spricht so stark wie die Handlung und teilweise noch mehr als die Sprechblasen. Emotionen kommen so sehr stark rüber: Traurigkeit, Trauer und Einsamkeit der Protagonistin. Genau so stark wirkt dann aber auch die behutsam aufgebaute Verbindung zu einer zweiten Figur. Dass der erste Teil nicht tragisch abschließt habe ich dringend gebraucht. Und das Ende hat mir auch eine große, positive Gänsehaut gegeben.

Teil 2 und 3 warten schon schon auf dem Reader auf mich ✨

(English) The ‘Sheets’ series had been on my list for so long. Part 1 moved me deeply, and I spent a long time looking at some of the pages and letting them sink in. The colour scheme is as powerful as the plot, and in some cases even more so than the speech bubbles. The emotions come across very strongly: the sadness, grief and loneliness of the protagonist. But the carefully constructed connection to a second character is just as strong. I really needed the first part not to end tragically. And the ending gave me heavy, positive goosebumps.

Parts 2 and 3 are already waiting for me on my reader ✨

I couldn't put it down... it really lives up to the hype

I really liked this. Moreso the first half, if I'm being completely honest. I was already feeling sorta melancholy before I started reading, and the sadness of the main character (and the rest of their family) really seeps out of the pages. It's depressing, yes, but so are the issues being presented.

I realize this is a graphic novel aimed at (probably) young adults, (or possibly even younger), but I'll review it (perhaps overly critically) from my own perspective.

Despite dealing with issues that are really complex and have no simple solution, the book does end positively, and I think it sorta suffers for that. Similarly, it felt cheapened by the relationship subplot, which just paled in importance next to the rest of the heavy topics at work here.

I do want to re-emphasize that I did enjoy the book overall.

[I got access to this graphic novel through NetGalley]

Have you ever seen a sad ghost? Because I have and it breaks my heart that someone forgot him. I read this graphic novel in one go, I was so captivated. Brenna uses beautiful colors and still the panels can show you the depressing boredom, the sad day to day life, making it palpable without words. A skill of show don’t tell that many movie directors don’t have. The main character seems to be multi-dimensional, although there isn’t much description and is unpretentious, but still a fighter. There’s a lot of subtext and room for wonderful interpretations as well as some puns. A simple, heart-warming and tear-inducing story that seems a wonderful fantasy.

Quotes

She died this past spring, and then Dad sort of did, too. He’s still 100% opaque, but slightly less visible.

Kevin will probably get new shoes, right? ‘Cause he has a mom.

Grown-ups are skilled at making terrible things seem great.