Publisher's Weekly Review
The Tamaki cousins (This One Summer), winners of Eisner and Caldecott awards, reunite for a shrewd and wistful coming-of-age story that may be their best work yet. Set over the course of a few days in 2009, the adventure follows three Canadian college students spending their spring break in New York City. Zoe and Dani have been good friends for years but attend separate universities; they're joined by Fiona, an art major who lives in Dani's dorm. The trio share a room at a hostel, eat greasy pizza, down shots at a dive bar, and take in the Met. But as Zoe, who is queer, flirts with free-spirited Fiona, fissures between the three friends form and slowly widen. For all the big emotions laid bare in the narrative, and all its wonderfully rendered teenage dialogue riddled with pseudo-profundities, the script (by Mariko) plays out subtle and naturalistically spare. Readers, especially ones who've already come of age, will recognize the life-changing shifts and signals even when the characters don't. Art (by Jillian) augments the mood via the scale of Manhattan--its museums and Uniqlo stores are rendered gargantuan compared to the girls, a visual metaphor for their youth. It's all brushed in alternating hues of almost-gold and melancholy blue, the nostalgic palette of an old Polaroid shot. Playful yet plaintive, this is an elegant study of young women caught between the comforts of the past and the promise of what comes next. Agents: (for Jillian Tamaki) Steven Malk, Writers House; (for Mariko Tamaki) Charlotte Sheedy, Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency. (Sept.)
Library Journal Review
Award-winning creators (and cousins) Jillian Tamaki (Boundless) and Mariko Tamaki (Batman: Detective Comics) reunite for their first collaboration since 2014's Eisner, Ignatz, and Caldecott prizewinner This One Summer. The story is set in 2009 and concerns three young women from Canada visiting NYC over spring break. Zoe and Dani are childhood friends who fear they're drifting apart since attending different colleges. They hope that exploring New York together will reestablish their bond; a reasonable expectation, but complicated by the presence of Dani's new friend Fiona, a stylish force of nature with whom Zoe quickly becomes romantically entangled. A tender examination ensues of young adults unsure whether to forget the past in order to navigate an uncertain future. Rather than being bogged down in pensive navel-gazing or melodrama, the novel emphasizes the exhilaration of youth; how exhilarating it is to be young, to be in love, to explore new places and aspects of yourself, and to experience each emotion, good or bad, so very intensely. VERDICT An elegantly illustrated, immersive tale that isn't so much about discovering yourself as it is about embracing who you have been and may one day be.
