Lucy the Octopus

Although I did enjoy this comic book quite a bit, especially more towards the end of the story, I did find that there were some frames that could be found as offensive, particularly because the projected readers are listed as children 9+. I honestly feel like I would've enjoyed it more if I knew that the targeted audience was 16+. I still felt like many people will get a laugh of of Lucy and her never ending struggles to be liked for who she is, and can see myself recommending it to certain people in the future.

I quit reading “Lucy the Octopus” on page 15 because I couldn’t handle the intense bullying (it seemed gratuitous and like it was supposed to be funny, but failed.) I hope that a lesson showed up later, but I couldn’t read any more to find out, unfortunately. The art was colorful and I did like that.

This is a fun, easy read, but it's more than what you might guess. Lucy the Octopus is a comic strip collection that tells the story of an unloved, bullied, young octopus named Lucy. She struggles at school, at home, and pretty much everywhere in life, despite what the reader knows- that's actually a pretty cool girl. Read this book to find out if Lucy can make some friends, share her rockin' musical talent, and make her family see her as a part of them.

The illustrations in this story are lovely, but I felt like the bullying and abuse that Lucy took at the hands of family, peers, and pretty much everyone was a bit too much. Over the top even though I'm sure that there are some children out there who are bullied to this degree. I guess I just didn't need it hammered over my head quite as much. I think that almost half of the book could have been edited out and we'd have understood how awful people were being to her and how she was such a nice and decent individual.

Even so, the visuals are so appealing that it made me keep reading the story just to see how things rolled out, whether things turned around for Lucy, etc. In the end, I'm glad I did stick with it, because the ending is worth the ride. And for that alone, I bumped it up to 3 stars.

I am highly disappointed in this book. Lucy is picked on by everyone. Her siblings, her schoolmates, her parents. She does make a friend, but wants to be a secret friend so the cool kids don’t find out. I thought things would pick up once Lucy earned the spot as the lead guitarist for her favorite band, but nope. She has to wear a watermelon helmet so her Uncool does not rub off on others. It doesn’t matter that she is the best guitar player, only how she looks. But it’s not just that. The author has other characters call Lucy and “fag”, a “dike”, etc. It just gets on my nerves. I almost didn’t finish this book. It was really close. Yes it does redeem itself in the end, but it takes over ¾ of the book for that to even begin. Just UGHHHH and NO!

Overstuffed with bullying and too little redemption too late in the book. About half of this book could have been paired down.

And not once did I actually see Lucy with 8 legs. Some octopus.

I have a thirteen year old who is smart, talented and popular, but still feels like a Lucy. Because of that she ended up anorexic. Her talent at dance made her a target of mean girls and their mothers. Preteen and early teen years are hard enough without wearing a target for others to take shots at. Aside from different emotions and deeper knowledge there are mean girls and clueless boys. Everyone feels like a Lucy occasionally.
Lucy is different and that makes her an easy target. What makes you special or makes you stand out also makes those mean girls jealous. They'll make fun of and shame the girls who have something they want. Beauty? Brains? A cool tattoo? (Just kidding).
Lucy the Octopus is an awesome story of a unique girl who doesn't fit in. Kids need to learn that different is good. Weird is great. Show who you are and be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. And for crying out loud take up for the underdog. I had my daughter read this book. She loved it. The story keeps young teens attention and the artwork is precious. I will be purchasing this book for her to read and plan to add it to my list of young girl birthday gifts.

This is a fun, easy read but it tackles a tough topic. I believe this is a great comic for kids to teach them the results of bullying. I very much enjoyed the art style and the portrayal of Lucy. I would recommend this comic

The illustrations in this book were well done. The book had its humorous moments and in the beginning, the bullying by peers and family did not seem that extreme but as the book progressed the bullying just seemed to be overdone. I am guessing this book is supposed to show that you can go through anything and still be a be a good person, that in the end you can overcome anything and things will get better. I would have enjoyed the book more if the positive aspects would have started earlier in the book. The end of the book was more enjoyable and things for our main character were more positive in the end. The illustrations and the end of the book are the only things that redeemed this book for me.

I voluntarily agreed to read a copy of this book supplied by NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own and in no way have been influenced.