Review by Booklist Review
Mourning the fact that she's no longer ""the darling of the creative writing department,"" recent grad Caroline is dealing with some serious existential and artistic angst. (And the drinking isn't helping.) Her peers admire that she hasn't sold out and gotten a nine-to-five, while her parents seem embarrassed by her commitment to roughing it not to mention their undisguised disappointment that she's queer. After finally finding inspiration from a badass wrestler called Cannonball, Caroline finishes a new project and learns that the only thing tougher than artistic struggle is commercial success. In her first book, Wroten, who frequently makes illustrations for NPR and the New Yorker, tells Caroline's story with simply expressive characters, a fetching bright palette, and dramatic shading. A perpetual halo-like sheen on Caroline's blue hair gives her a saintly, Joan of Arc vibe. When Caroline dreams or writes her own fantastic tale, Wroten keenly shifts style to clue readers into their new psychic surroundings. Fans of Julia Wertz and Nicole Georges will appreciate Wroten's funny-serious tale of choosing art, even when it's hard.--Annie Bostrom Copyright 2019 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Wroten (Crimes) skillfully explores youth, ego, and the doomed pursuit of artistic purity in her ambitious first full-length graphic novel. After graduating from college and moving out of her emotionally abusive parents' house, Caroline Bertram is going nowhere fast: her hopes of being a professional fiction writer have stalled, her binge drinking is getting out of hand, and, despite flings and unrequited crushes, she's still not over the girl who broke her heart in high school. Caroline's self-destructive tendencies worsen as she retreats into herself and becomes fixated on a pro wrestler named Cannonball-a heroic female character hailed for her strength and ability. As Caroline feverishly completes her young adult fantasy novel, Wroten stylistically blends ethereal dream sequences starring Cannonball with scenes from Caroline's novel, culminating in a final confrontation that's as unexpected as it is heartbreaking. Each page's vivid pastels and expressive cartooning lend emotional vibrancy to the characters' intellectual banter. Wroten's playful yet brutal meditation on the meaning of success, millennial anxiety about linking artistic profits to self-worth, and the vagaries of a creative spirit is bound to cement her place as a rising comics talent to watch. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
DEBUT Author/illustrator Wroten's first graphic novel focuses on recent college graduate Caroline Bertram, a queer, alcoholic, aspiring fiction writer prone to swinging wildly between delusions of grandeur and crippling anxiety. Opening as Caroline moves into her first apartment postcollege, the plot largely revolves around our protagonist's growing fascination with a female professional wrestler named Cannonball and an attempt at writing a YA novel that will prove her genius to her friends and family. But it's Caroline's misadventures--various flings, bad parties, awkward social encounters--that fascinate, as Wroten develops an incisive character study of a young woman who can't quite bring herself to accept that a sense of self-worth doesn't necessarily follow financial, creative, or romantic success. Is Caroline as talented as she insists she is? Will she sell out or somehow remain artistically pure? Is it even possible to avoid selling out? Is a consuming interest in such questions a sign of extreme immaturity? VERDICT Wroten's knack for character development and legitimately witty banter, combined with her expressive cartooning and exquisite use of pastel color, result in a highly engaging story about an occasionally abrasive but ultimately sympathetic character.
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