Life choices, second chances and changing the past are major themes in Seconds. That’s why I think it’s a graphic novel that appeals to a wide audience, even if the medium isn’t something one usually reads. It’s natural to wish things had gone differently, lamenting that everything could’ve turned out better, dwelling on the perpetual if only…
THE RULE OF THIRDS (Pippa Greene #1) by Chantel Guertin
Let’s start with the best part of The Rule of Thirds: photography is front and centre! Pippa Greene loves photography. She lives and breathes it, is in the school photography club and is gearing up to take part in a photography competition. As someone who loves photography, I’m always sad at the lack of it in the books I’ve read. A lot has been written about music and art but photography has mostly been missing. Well, here we have a good book in The Rule of Thirds.
THIS ONE SUMMER by Jillian Tamaki & Mariko Tamaki
Flip open This One Summer and you’ll be greeted by beautiful graphics. They’re art pieces in and of themselves. The illustrations are set in monotone though rather than black ink, dark blue has been chosen. This adds softness to the images fitting for the contemporary summer setting of this graphic novel. I could stare at the pages over and over again, allowing my eyes to feast upon the beauty. Sadly, that’s all that my two stars are for.
16 THINGS I THOUGHT WERE TRUE by Janet Gurtler
16 Things I Thought Were True is a misnomer. The proper title should have been 17 Things I Thought Were True. Yes, there were 17 things, not 16. Each of there were numbered, so I wonder why the title wasn’t changed or if it was too late to change the title, why the hashtag #thingsithoughtweretrue wasn’t capped at 16 times. The 17th occurrence could have used a different hashtag—one that could’ve ended this book with a bang.
VIRTUOSITY by Jessica Martinez
I can’t remember the last time I loved a book that made me so so angry! Virtuosity did it for me. I must say I experienced a roller coaster ride of emotions. There were moments I felt happy and mesmerised and others where I felt sad and furious. Martinez writes beautifully and knows how to surprise her readers, which I already said about her second book, The Space Between Us. They are moving stories with beautiful prose and lots of surprises.
