ARC Review: How Could You by Ren Strapp
- literarybookishness
- Mar 22
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 23
Thank you Oni Press and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review!
Description from the book: College upperclassman Molly Song is set on getting over her ex this semester, but it's hard when she dumps you via email and posts all over social media about cozying up with her study-abroad roommate. After convincing her friend, Lou Kingston, that they should go to parties and find rebound girlfriends, Molly learns she should be careful what she wishes for when she starts to develop real feelings for someone she’s not sure feels the same way.
Meanwhile, Molly and Lou’s exes, Yona and Olene, have left their pasts behind as they study abroad in France. Together they see springtime in Marseille, find new friendships, and uncover new personal truths. Will their whirlwind trip bloom into a whirlwind romance, or will their journeys to self-discovery put them on different paths entirely?
Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ (2,5)
This graphic novel sadly didn't work for me.
I want to start by saying that I loved how the graphic novel looked! The usage of color was great and I could tell that the artist knows how to convey emotions through color. The illustrations were also very beautiful.
But darn, this book was a bit too messy for me. I understand that this graphic novel shows the complexity of us humans and how our lives aren't perfect and can be messy. However, this was the type of messy where I didn't root for most of the characters. Except for Lou dearest, our unproblematic bestie and Jackie, who was just trying to study. It felt a bit like too much drama in a small graphic novel.
I think that this story would've worked best as a series of graphic novels in which you could get to know each character better and subsequently zoom deeper into the messiness that is life.
Considering that this is Strapp's first graphic novel, I think that she has a lot of potential to grow. Even though this story wasn't for me, I look forward to maybe read a future graphic novel of hers.
Hozzászólások