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izzys_internet_bookshelf's review
2.0
2/5
It was alright. The romance was ok to me. I just felt like not a lot happened
It was alright. The romance was ok to me. I just felt like not a lot happened
geekwayne's review
3.0
‘Sunburn’ by Andi Watson with illustrations by Simon Gane is a graphic novel about a young girl coming of age on an exotic vacation.
Rachel lives a bland life with her parents with the same summer camping holiday looming. When family friends invite her to spend the summer in Greece, she reluctantly agrees. The friends have no children and attend parties most nights. Rachel learns to drink, meets a boy, and learns some hard lessons about life along the way.
This book has a creepy undercurrent from the start. I wasn’t sure where it was going to go, and fortunately I was wrong. It definitely has an unsettling quality to it and I have no idea what kind of parents would send a daughter off with another couple for a whole summer. The art is good, but had some odd disjointed qualities at times.
Rachel lives a bland life with her parents with the same summer camping holiday looming. When family friends invite her to spend the summer in Greece, she reluctantly agrees. The friends have no children and attend parties most nights. Rachel learns to drink, meets a boy, and learns some hard lessons about life along the way.
This book has a creepy undercurrent from the start. I wasn’t sure where it was going to go, and fortunately I was wrong. It definitely has an unsettling quality to it and I have no idea what kind of parents would send a daughter off with another couple for a whole summer. The art is good, but had some odd disjointed qualities at times.
nettles's review
dark
medium-paced
1.0
👀😬 I'm sorry what was that reveal??
Getting one star bc the content is genuinely harmful but let it be known that the art deserves 5 and the writing deserves zero!!!
Absolutely stunning art. Simon Gane, this book did not deserve you!
The story is so unsettling and creepy and ending anticlimactic that I had to check the other comments on here to make sure I wasn't reading this wrong...????
Summary
(aka me trying to make sense of this plot)
So Rachel gets invited to spend a summer in Greece with her dad's estranged friends out of the blue. While she's there, the wife, Diane, gives her revealing clothing and lipstick and sets her up with a local boy.
The vibes are OFF. The town talks about how Diane has a new young guest every year. Rachel is kinda dating that boy Ben, but she knows something is up between him and Diane.
The big reveal? Diane and Ben are sleeping together??? It's implied that the couple invites young people every year to prey on them, but Rachel was invited this year to be in a fake relationship with Ben to keep down rumors.
And most commenters are either confused but the ambiguity because it is VERY unclear. Or they seem to have this same understanding and don't find this absolutely disgusting for some reason...?
Rachel is mad at Ben even tho he is a victim. It's unclear if it's and adult/minor relationship--I think it is--but the power dynamic is entirely wrong. Ben has no money to leave, he feels indebted to Diane for getting him a ticket to Greece in the first place. Rachel says "I would never do what you are doing!" As if he wasn't trafficked.!????
Diane tells Rachel not to make a big deal and implies her husband knows so it's okay? !!!!!????
Rachel leaves and tells everyone she had a great trip and she would love to go back to Greece????????
The problem isn't that it has dark content. The problem is that it's dealt with horribly/not at all. Even if we show Rachel is uncomfortable and powerless, she doesn't seem disturbed.
Idk. Wtf
Getting one star bc the content is genuinely harmful but let it be known that the art deserves 5 and the writing deserves zero!!!
Absolutely stunning art. Simon Gane, this book did not deserve you!
The story is so unsettling and creepy and ending anticlimactic that I had to check the other comments on here to make sure I wasn't reading this wrong...????
Summary
(aka me trying to make sense of this plot)
The vibes are OFF. The town talks about how Diane has a new young guest every year. Rachel is kinda dating that boy Ben, but she knows something is up between him and Diane.
The big reveal? Diane and Ben are sleeping together??? It's implied that the couple invites young people every year to prey on them, but Rachel was invited this year to be in a fake relationship with Ben to keep down rumors.
And most commenters are either confused but the ambiguity because it is VERY unclear. Or they seem to have this same understanding and don't find this absolutely disgusting for some reason...?
Rachel is mad at Ben even tho he is a victim. It's unclear if it's and adult/minor relationship--I think it is--but the power dynamic is entirely wrong. Ben has no money to leave, he feels indebted to Diane for getting him a ticket to Greece in the first place. Rachel says "I would never do what you are doing!" As if he wasn't trafficked.!????
Diane tells Rachel not to make a big deal and implies her husband knows so it's okay? !!!!!????
Rachel leaves and tells everyone she had a great trip and she would love to go back to Greece????????
The problem isn't that it has dark content. The problem is that it's dealt with horribly/not at all. Even if we show Rachel is uncomfortable and powerless, she doesn't seem disturbed.
Idk. Wtf
Content Warnings
Graphic: Trafficking and Adult/minor relationship
arthomancy's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
aoosterwyk's review
3.0
Amazing artwork and a mature YA story. A young woman on the edge of adulthood, manipulated with an ulterior motive by friends of her parents, she’s never met, with a trip to Greece. Appropriate for older HS kids.
whimsofmin's review against another edition
4.0
Recommend if you like: beach reads, romance, greek islands, slow burn, mystery, hot, graphic novels
Intriguing with summer vibes and lush illustrations; the blue of Greece.
Intriguing with summer vibes and lush illustrations; the blue of Greece.
balletbookworm's review
4.0
Lots of beautiful two-page spreads with a limited, sundrenched palette (Agean-blue, sand brown, light olive green, gray) and pops of red to draw the eye. The coming-of-age plot is kind of predictable but the art definitely sticks with me.