4 stars

A coming of age, summer vacation story about sexuality, young love, friendship, & identity.

[What I liked:]

•I like the movement in the art style. There are some creative panels/pages with borders, showing background music, & ones that look like journal entries or letters. The colors are vibrant, like I’d imagine southern Italy to be like.

•The story touches on consent, unhealthy & healthy relationships, parent-teen relationships, etc. without being didactic. It was interesting to see Viola, the MC, engaging with the thoughts & views of others & over time processing & synthesizing (or rejecting) them to build her own views of love.

•The story is very touching, especially Viola’s friendship with Lili & Paola, & her relationship with Ireneo. I think the ending is very fitting, a good note to end on that gives closure & shows how much Viola has grown.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•At the very end, Viola says in a letter that the summer changed her whole family, but it’s not clear how it affected anyone but her. I needed some more clarity on that. I’m also not clear on why she decided not to keep in touch with Ireneo.

CW: jealous/controlling relationship, physically abusive relationship, controlling/abusive parents, terminal illness, doctor assisted death

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]