This is an interesting take on what happens when love dies. Not because of cruelty or abuse, but by absence, and not caring.

We follow Elena as she unravels her life from Jorge, leaving his parents house, to couch surf with very generous friends, until she finds a place of her own.

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It is slow and steady, as we go from place to place without Jorge, until she has a place of her own. Not so much a love story, as a finding herself story.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

This is a poignant and gentle story about a young woman whose partner has withdrawn from her. They live with his parents but he doesn't communicate with her and sometimes he doesn't bother to come home. She realises that she must move out and so begins her transition to single life. She has support from friends and her own family but she finds strength in herself and gradually she finds peace. Eventually the boyfriend looks for her but the woman he finds is not the woman he knew.

This is a gentle story about finding life and transitioning through difficult times. I thought the artwork was good and conveys the story well. I particularly liked the pages with no text because the drawings then speak instead.

Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

"Come to Me, My Melancholy Baby"

Frank Sinatra once referred to one of his albums of torch songs, ("No One Cares", 1959), as a "collection of suicide songs". A bit extreme, but one gets the point. He certainly captured the aimless and passive melancholy of the classic torch song - a lament for a lost love. That's what we get here, and like a Sinatra song it's elegant, understated, and packs a sneaky emotional punch.

We follow Elena as she comes to grips with the fact that Jorge has slipped/drifted away, and we watch her mope and cope. The narrative is minimal and appears at first to be superficial. But of course that's life for you, and the little bits eventually add up. There is sadness, but also humor, (the dismissal of advantage-taking wannabe boyfriend Mario is priceless), and especially the support, (spoken and unspoken), of family and friends.

I appreciated this story mostly because of its treatment of Elena. She is often passive and bland, but that felt like a natural and honest initial reaction to her situation. You get the impression you are watching her sort out her feelings and choose her direction, and you get the impression that after a few false starts she will make good choices. It's not in your face girrrl power, but you do get the feeling that Elena isn't going to play the sap for the next Jorge who comes along.

All of this is enhanced by the drawing decisions. Everything is pastel, with a few bits of meaningful and symbolic color here and there. Lines are soft, with a minimalist but effective approach to characters and background. Even in that soft and vulnerable pastel world, though, Elena is often drawn with more clarity and strength of line than the other characters, and that counts for something.

So, this looks at first like a pretty trifle, but it ends up being much more, and isn't that a nice find?

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

The start of story of Elena and Jorge is not one you see all that often and that was something I really liked about it. Whilst you're dropped in when Elena has already made up her mind it doesn't feel rushed or at all like a spur of the moment decision.

I think this is partly owing to the simplistic art style and lack of dialogue to start, this worked very well. In addition the muted colour scheme works beautifully throughout the whole piece and matches the story perfectly.

However, there were a few things that I did not enjoy as much. One being the characters looking so very similar (partly owing to simplistic art style) and therefore it was sometimes confusing as to who was talking and brought me away from the story to figure it out. Another was that sometimes the conversation didn't seem to be that of friends or family and didn't flow well, almost as if they were strangers.

Overall I enjoyed the beginning set up of the art style and thought that the art was lovely. 3.5 / 5.

A quiet, nicely illustrated graphic novel about a young couple going their separate ways (maybe). Not especially plot driven, but the illustrations do well at giving a sense of space and stillness.

Simple clean lines and art style in this graphic novel. It really lends itself to the story being told. I really enjoyed this one and will recommend it.

As someone who doesn't often go for graphic novels, this was a pleasant surprise for me. The narrative follows a young woman whose first relationship is on the rocks, as she searches for a new place for herself and considers her situation.

This is a story of love that doesn't run smoothly, and I appreciate that. It isn't filled with drama or passionate reunions (although there is a reunion of some sort in the final chapter), but takes place in the spaces between the events of the relationship.

One of my favourite things about the novel is how realistic all of the dialogue is. One particular line (unimportant as it is) stuck out to me: "Any more fridge food?"
That line just sits perfectly in the middle of the scene, grounding it in reality. This isn't a novel focused SOLELY on romance and relationships either; it really captures the ongoing debate in Elena's head, whilst focusing on her day to day life.

Since this is a graphic novel, I should probably comment on the art too - it's very simplistic, with a muted colour palette, which isn't to my tastes exactly, but fits perfectly with the narrative. I liked how the colours reflected Elena's mood throughout, being blue and grey towards the beginning, and vivid red at the end.

One thing that did bother me slightly was that I had issues distinguishing between certain characters. Initially I thought that Maria was the same person as Elena's younger brother, then got HIM mixed up with Jorge when he finally appeared. This was perhaps just an issue for me, however it did hinder the flow of the narrative a little.

(There are some more explicit images in the final chapter which didn't bother me, but may bother others so I figured I'd mention it)

All in all, I enjoyed reading this book; it's a very quick read, perhaps 20 minutes? If you're looking for something simple and moving, give Seven Places Without You a whirl :)