Member Reviews
This subtly rendered graphic novel boasts a beautiful pastel colour palette and a faithful portrayal of a host of female characters at different ages and at different points in their lives. It broaches the difficult subjects of loveless marriage, self-discovery, and whether it is possible to be happy in oneself after a certain point in life. The author and artist have picked out intimate moments sans dialogue that capture the protagonist's inner life beautifully, and do not shy away from showing real bodies, laugh lines and all.
I found myself wishing for more exposition as well as more resolution - essentially, that the story was much longer! More context would have made it clearer as to why the reader should sympathize with Josy leaving her family in the first instance; the author and artist achieved this beautifully when it came to her chosen family and friend groups.
Sixty Years in Winter is a lovely if not somewhat lonely story of a woman that has a renewed vigor for finding some joy in life. Not content where she was, she seeks to broaden her boundaries to include new friends, laughter, and love in this compelling graphic novel. I cheered for her while she took brave steps toward acquiring things that her soul drew her toward after a long life of duty and obligation.
I really enjoyed this book. I wonderful story about a woman fighting against complacency in her life. Fighting to enjoy living. I think it had a wonderful message and I enjoyed the artistic style.
My only negative for the books was that it was too quick. The dramatic moments didn’t stretch to add weight to them they seemed to follow the same casual pacing as the rest of the book. A worthwhile story line, but not a brilliant book.
Thanks Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!
Sixty Years in Winter follows 60-year-old Josy who wants to gain her own freedom by leaving her family and embarks on a journey with her minivan. She meets lots of friends there !! I love the art and the sweet journey and storytelling. She finds a new love along the way, they were very cute. I was so sad when Christine died :(
TW: grief, car crash, death of loved one
Many thanks to Netgalley and Europe Comics for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This graphic novel was heartbreakingly beautiful. It was full of love, loss, grief and self-discovery. The way the story flowed was perfect and the art was *chefs kiss.
The significance of the name of the book becomes apparent from the first page. Josy our protagonist turns 60 and realizes she has been living in perpetual winter for some time now. As the day progresses, she cannot bear it any longer, so she packs up a bag and leaves in her minibus. The rest of the story portrays the strength it takes to take such a drastic step, the resilience and how much finding people who understand you and support you is critical in life.
The character arc is beautiful and freeing. I loved reading about an adult character behaving maturely and taking risks to live a happier life. The realization that Josy has, of how she has been living a loveless life and then her meeting people with similar life experiences, and then falling in love all over again only to lose it is both beautiful and painful. Her family treats her exactly how you will expect a heteronormative family in this patriarchal world to and it is almost a slap to your face, because you are both disappointed and also know that was to be expected.
All in all, it was a beautiful read that reminds you, that your life doesn't end because you are living in the second half of it and I hope more people will realize it and free themselves.
I absolutely adored this story. It’s a raw, powerful, and heart wrenching story about freedom, identity, longing, and found family. Josy looks around at her life on her 60th birthday and decided she’s not happy with how her world looks. So she takes matters into her own hands, hops in her old minibus, and sets out to find freedom and happiness. It was beautiful and so rich with detail. It’s a fairly short graphic novel so I hesitate to say more but I cannot recommend this more highly.
"Listen, if we could see the future, what would we do then? Would we live fully? Would we still cross bridges if we already knew what was on the other side?"
After 35 years of ho-hum married life, Josy has finally summoned the nerve to walk away from it all, and try to live her life on her own terms.
I can't exactly agree with the way Josy decided to scram - during her sixtieth birthday party, with all of her family there, and before even having cake! (Geez! Never pass up cake!) But, as a firm believer in YOLO, I get why she did it. She takes off in an old VW van to live in a parking lot not far from home. (Her one big mistake, as far as I'm concerned, as she keeps encountering unforgiving family members.) There she makes new friends, discovers herself, and encounters a surprising love interest.
I really liked this one. The artwork is beautiful; rendered in cool tones, it seems appropriate to the rather bittersweet story.
An unusual and very involving graphic novel.
This comic is the prove that is never to late to find your happiness, discover yourself, and try new things.
Josy in her 60th birthday decide to runaway.Leaving her ex husband, children and grandchildren behind. Camping in a minivan, and participating in a group of single ladies, she discovered a new love. But when her family find out, she ends the things with Christine, in which suddenly, in meeting with her sadness, she suffers a terrible car accident. Josy tries to give his family one more chance, and returns home. But there she realizes that life is no longer for her.
This comic It's a teaching for all people, you have the right to discover yourself, you have the right to start over, a new life, a new love... And that it's never too late or wrong to do any of these things.
In the middle of reading I found myself almost crying several times. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC
while beautifully illustrated and tender at times, there was something that felt a little emotionally contrived about this one.
i'm fond of messy characters finding their own way through life and did initially really enjoy following josy who, on her 60th birthday, abruptly leaves her unfulfilling marriage and ventures out on her own in a volkswagon minibus. following her as she finds community with a group of older women who, like josy, left their husbands to find their own fulfilment in life was a joy and the romance she found along the way was lovely too... up until a point. without going into spoilery detail, i was not pleased with the turn things took and though i can understand what the author was aiming for, i didn't find it emotionally impactful. it left me feeling a little shortchanged, honestly.
another point i struggled with was how josy handles things with what felt to me to be a great lack of maturity, cutting her family off very abruptly and being extremely defensive (or outright avoiding discussion) when confronted. i'd really hoped for either more of an exploration of how she'd ended up feeling this was necessary or more of a reconciliation or at the very least some growth and communication from both josy and her family but this book just ended on what felt like a very unfulfilling note all around.
On her sixtieth birthday Josy leaves her husband, two adult children and grandchildren, and takes off in her camper van. This is her chance to start a new life. Her marriage is stale, her adult children are selfish and she can’t take it any more.
Her new life begins when she parks the camper van in a town car park next to a young single mother. They strike up a friendship and she is introduced to a group of women who have left their marriages and are making lives for themselves. Josy navigates this new life and the pull of her old one. She is surprised when she has a relationship with a woman and a new possibility emerges on the horizon, but will she take it?
This is a lovely story with great artwork. I enjoyed reading it and seeing how Josy navigated her two worlds and the different chances. I thought the end was rather sudden and sad, but at the same time hopeful. I enjoyed reading this.
Copy provided by Europe Comics in exchange for an unbiased review.
An emotional and deeply potent graphic novel with gorgeous artwork and a story with so, so much heart.
Thank you for this ARC!
I loved the way the author dealt with the topic of falling out of love after being married for so long and also finding love again at an older age. As a daughter, it was enlightening to read this and think about my own parents as people. I'll definitely be more understanding of them outside of this idea of a perfect family at all costs. Everyone should have a right to happiness.
This was an inspiring but quite heartbreaking graphic novel! I liked the representation of an older protagonist and how she explores her sexuality, but I'm not a big fan of the ending of their relationship.
This book was heartbreaking, the entire time. I'm not sure that then small amount of happiness at the end made it any better. It felt like every time Josy's life was getting where she wanted it to be something tragic happened to change that. The illustrations were beautiful, and I loved the characters that Josy met.
Sixty Years in Winter is a wonderful graphic novel that follows Josy as, as the age of 60, she leaves her husband and family to live her life for herself. She takes off in a minibus and meets new people, experiences friendship, love, and tragedy, and finds her place in the world.
This is a truly excellent graphic novel. The story is great, Josy is a wonderfully complicated protagonist, and the artwork is beautiful. I read this so fast and now I want to go back and drink in all the details.
Highly recommended!
Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to use this website and thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me to read this book and give an honest review.
This was a beautiful graphic novel about grief, love, loss and finding yourself. The main female lead turns sixty and realises that she is not happy or content with her life so she packs up her suitcase and goes out on an adventure on her own. I think that the character arc of the main female lead was amazing and heartfelt it didn't seem demeaning or offensive it was beautiful and heartbreaking. She then realises that she fell out of love with her husband years ago and only stayed with him out of love for her children not out of love and she meets another woman in the group of divorced women and falls in love which is beautiful until they break your heart in two. The relisation that your family and those closes to you are the most critical people of your life was shocking as well as seeing how someone can turn on you so quickly.
Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for this eARC!
This graphic novel tells the stor of Josie, a 60-year-old grandmother who has decided it's time to leave at her 60th birthday party and drives off in a Volkswagon minibus.
The story doesn't shy away from anything and depicts, confusion, anger, heartbreak and grief in an honest manner. However this story isn't all doom and gloom, it also shows the joy and liberation of Josie from a life that made her unhappy.
Incredibly touching, gripping and loving, this story is absolutely worth a read for readers of all ages.
Wow, wow, wow.
I absolutely LOVED this graphic novel.
This book follows Josie, a 60-year-old grandmother who has decided, at her 60th birthday party, it's time to finally live the life she wants in a Volkswagon minibus. Through this story, we see Josie's struggle with her family, explaining to others and herself the why behind it all, and her new relationships along the road.
I feel for Josie. I can't think of any woman in my life who hasn't had that moment of wanting so desperately to leave yet finding a million obligations to stay. I personally really loved the internal look into Josie's heartbreak, depression, and release from the "life" everyone believes she should be living, and the story of her finally making a decision for herself and only for her. Throughout her journey she finds friends, love, and challenges from her family as she decides she needs to do something for herself for what seems like the first time in her life.
This book is so extremely unique- I have never read anything like it. I think telling the stories of those of us who are older is an extremely important mantle that few authors have taken up. This book is about finding yourself when most people assume it is too late to even begin looking. An absolutely incredible and heartbreaking read.
Also, can I say how in LOVE I am with the artwork? It was absolutely stunning and the style felt so appropriate for the story. I really would read more graphic novels like these if not just for how absolutely stunning this art is.
My only critique is that I wish this graphic novel was longer! I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when it came to Josie interacting with her family. I wish there was a bit more background to Josie's life before she decided to risk it all for her minibus freedom. Other than that, I am happy and broken-hearted for Josie, and I hope she lives her best life, if only for my sanity.
-Disclaimer: I received this book for free through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.-
Emotional & unapologetic.
Josy is a character that refuses the narrative but has a hard time moving on to something new. I loved that the novel focuses on older people for a change.
The graphic novel could have used a couple more emotional scenes to make it feel more resolved. Or a follow-up would be even better! It would be great to get more backstory. Also, the artwork, expressions, and coloring are well done. All-in-all, this was much better than I thought it would be.
That was lovely, the artwork is beautiful and reflects the tone of the nerrative so well. I don't usually read stories about older protagonists and it's such an interesting perspective. This made me think a lot about how there's a "mold" do fit your life in after you reach a certain point, and most people get stuck in it, retreating into themselves bit by bit every day. Josy's journey into freeing herself from that mold was so interesting, even though it could seem a little unrealistic at certain points due to the shortness of this work.
My thanks to Europe Comics and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.