One with good anxiety representation: Verona Comics by Jennifer Dugan @PRHGlobal #partner #comics #VeronaComics

Verona Comics by Jennifer Dugan book cover

Today I want to share with you my review for Verona Comics, a ya contemporary that talks about anxiety and first love, that took me by surprise.

It was published on April 21st 2020 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers. It has 352 pages.

I want to thank the team from Penguin Random House Global for sending me an e-galley of this novel (in an exchange for an honest review).

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About the book:

FROM GOODREADS / From the author of Hot Dog Girl comes a fresh and funny queer YA contemporary novel about two teens who fall in love in an indie comic book shop.

Jubilee has it all together. She’s an elite cellist, and when she’s not working in her stepmom’s indie comic shop, she’s prepping for the biggest audition of her life.

Ridley is barely holding it together. His parents own the biggest comic-store chain in the country, and Ridley can’t stop disappointing them—that is, when they’re even paying attention.

They meet one fateful night at a comic convention prom, and the two can’t help falling for each other. Too bad their parents are at each other’s throats every chance they get, making a relationship between them nearly impossible…unless they manage to keep it a secret.

Then again, the feud between their families may be the least of their problems. As Ridley’s anxiety spirals, Jubilee tries to help but finds her focus torn between her fast-approaching audition and their intensifying relationship. What if love can’t conquer all? What if each of them needs more than the other can give?

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Review:

When I got Netgalley widget for Verona Comics I was pleasantly surprised. I am in a reading mood for ya contemporaries lately, and this book showed up in just about right time.

Since I like to go into my books blind, I only read summary briefly, and thought this would fun ya romance.
Boy, was I wrong!

What I thought would be fluffy and cute love story turned into serious novel that talks about anxiety with suicidal thoughts in such a strong and realistic way.

Don’t get me wrong, this book still had lots of cute and heart warming scenes, especially at the beginning, but as the story progressed the serious tone was louder and louder.

I am not sure if this is own voices story, but from my perspective, as someone who suffers from anxiety even today, and had suicidal thoughts before, I can say that Ridley’s character was realistic.
I could totally understand him, so many of his thoughts and actions I found familiar, especially those what were written in italics.

Verona Comics also represents lgbtq community and POC.

Other then that, it also touches subject of family dynamics, which is very important for the story.

I enjoyed comics reference. Who would say that it is such a competitive business?
Then again, I guess all businesses are.

This novel is written in first person, following two perspectives: Ridley’s and Jubilee’s.

I enjoyed the story, but I have to admit that I didn’t feel the chemistry between two main characters, which took some enjoyment from my reading experience.
All the other parts of the story, from family relationships to friendships were well written.

This is fast paced story, and easy to read.

I think ya contemporary lovers will enjoy this one!

rating 3,5 hearts

Book Review: Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

finding audrey

Title: Finding Audrey
Author: Sophie Kinsella
Publisher: Penguin Random House UK Children’s
Date: June 9th, 2015
Pages: 288
Format: eARC
Source: from Publisher, for a review

 

Synopsis (from Goodreads): An anxiety disorder disrupts fourteen-year-old Audrey’s daily life. She has been making slow but steady progress with Dr. Sarah, but when Audrey meets Linus, her brother’s gaming teammate, she is energized. She connects with him. Audrey can talk through her fears with Linus in a way she’s never been able to do with anyone before. As their friendship deepens and her recovery gains momentum, a sweet romantic connection develops, one that helps not just Audrey but also her entire family.

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Review:

Once again, Sophie Kinsella reminded me why am I still so in love with reading books.
If you didn’t know, Kinsella is the one who got me into reading in the first place. With her Shopaholic series she showed me reading can be fun and now, years after reading her first book, I still enjoy spending my free time with a good book in my hands (or on my Kindle).

When I first heard she was about to publish a novel in my favorite genre, I just knew I had to read it immediately.
I had a great feeling about Finding Audrey and I was not wrong.

In her recognizable style that consists humor, Kinsella writes about serious topics such as anxiety and abusement.
I imagine it must have been hard work to touch those serious topics and stay true to her writing style without overdoing the fun parts and diverge from the direction the story was going to. She managed it very well.

Audrey, our main character, was a great narrator. She talked about her problems not quite openly but opened herself one step at the time trough the story. I liked that a lot. Even though she had some serious things on her way, it didn’t suppress her sense of humor.
I think the reason she was hiding behind the dark glasses was justified and I liked that part about her.

What I liked the most in this story were Audrey’s parents. They were like a fresh scent in the air in the YA genre which is full of dysfunctional families.

Frank was my favorite. I liked his obsession with video games and his adaptability when it comes to playing them.

Linus was an okay character. Very patient and likeable but I wish there were just something more about him that would make him more distinguish from all of love interests I was reading about in other books. I feel like I’m still missing that final touch that would make him get under my skin.

I also wish there were more situations with Felix.

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Spoiler Alert!!!

The reason I didn’t give this book a full five star rating is:

We never found out what really happened that triggered Audrey’s anxiety.
I also didn’t like the fact that Audrey got herself off the medications by herself. It is something not anyone should ever do, and in the real life the consequences could be really bad (trust me, I know). I just hope that someone who’s on medications while reading this book won’t find the courage to do the same thing because Audrey did it. 

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If you like Sophie Kinsella’s previous work, and if you like YA genre, you will (probably) definitely like this book.

It was a quick, easy read, perfect to read in one sitting for those who actually can read the book in one sitting.

I wish you all A-GREAT-TIME reading it!! 🙂

4,5