A very bittersweet bildungsroman graphic novel that left me wanting more of the sweet relationships detailed within. Great job.

DNF'd this one as I was really struggling to read the chosen font and otherwise struggling to follow the story arc.

CW: body dysmorphia.

I didn't normally read a lot of comics, but I loved this one. The drawing style and dialogues are prefect for me.

It's a heartwarming story. So beautiful. A fun quick read.

Highly recommend!

This was such a heartwarming story. I loved the art and it complimented the story narration beautifully. It steps into the territory of love and questions it - what is love? Is it jealousy? Does it have to be physical? The MC asks these. I loved following along with the journey on their vacation. A new romance, new experience, new unlikely friendships - a beautiful memory. If they wrote a full fledged novel on this, I'd 10/10 would love to read it!!

I wanna really thank Netgalley for giving me an ARC of this book, and as usual in exchange for my very honest review.


This is a graphic novel about one summer on the beach, we follow this girl called Viola who spends almost all of the summer with her friends and trying to answer some questions of her personal life, like: what is love?


The design of this graphic novel is Oh La La, very exquisite and beautiful, I fell in love because of the details everywhere, I looked at her and she looked beautiful and the same for Ireneo, and talking about him, I like the creativity of the author for giving him such a beautiful name with the meaning of peace.

This almost made me cry a little bit, I didn't want it to be that short but so meaningful, I loved how this story goes, and everything on it, I wish this would have been longer to enjoy it a little bit, but anyways I loved everything here, and i will give it some 5 stars, I hope I could see something like this again.

Remember this is just my own opinion, anyone can think differently about it.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE GRAPHIC NOVEL:

Forever is a standalone coming of age graphic novel by Assia Petricelli and Sergio Riccardi (its original title is Per Sempre and has been translated to English from Italian). The graphic novel follows Viola, a girl who is vacationing with her family during the summer in a resort close to the sea.

Viola faces struggles with body image and gender identity, as well as love. Throughout the novel it is evident that she is searching for the meaning of love; self love, romantic love, family love, platonic love. She meets new people, develops her relationship with her friends, and grows as a person through trial and error.

During this summer, she faces heartbreak and is confronted with situations that will ultimately reshape her as a person, granting her experiences she will never forget.


OPINION:

4/5 Stars

I had some reservations regarding the art style of the graphic novel, however, the more I read I got really attached to it. The colours and the line were very fitting and captivating. The structure of the panels made the story easy to read; the different panels, such as the journal entries gave insight on Viola’s personal thoughts she didn’t want to share with others.

The themes of the story were really engaging. It dealt with a toxic relationship, consent, controlling parents, death of a loved one, gender identity and body issues. I found myself relating to some of the topics, and I believe that Petrivelli and Riccardi did an amazing job portraying them.

Firstly, I was glad to see the realistic depictions of the girls bodies. Viola’s relationship with her friend was also very touching, and how they handled the negative comments was really empowering. It was interesting to see the characters in realistic situations, but instead of making them change themselves for others, they actually embrace who they are. The creators presented Viola’s image and gender struggles in subtle ways and although I found her journey very interesting, I think it could’ve been developed further.

Secondly, I would like to address the relationships Viola developed with the locals during her vacation (contains spoilers). The relationship she developed with the two women, Lili and Paola, was very touching. It was nice to see how she chose to get to know them even when the rest of her friends were making fun of them — possibly because she saw a little bit of herself in them. The romantic relationship with the local boy, Ireneo, was very cute; I was excited to watch them getting closer with each other as they found common interests. It was heart-warming to see her slowly trust him after being scared to show her real self to others. I was sad that their relationship ended so abruptly, however, I can see how that relates to the ending of the graphic novel.

“Maybe this is what ‘love is forever’ means: it’s not timeless, but it leaves a mark so deep that it accompanies us all our life.”

Thirdly, I found all the subplots engaging, and it would’ve been interesting if they were developed even further. Valeria’s toxic relationship showed that staying with someone because you feel obligated to do so is hurting yourself more than others. Viola’s relationship with her mother was depicted in a realistic way — a difficult mother daughter relationship, where the mother wants the best for her kids but she is not sure how to achieve that.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I was touched by the story, as it depicted realistic scenarios and addressed many issues or hardships people face on an everyday basis. The bittersweet ending contributed to this idea of life not being idealistic, and that sometimes ugly or sad experiences help us grow as a person.

PERSONAL RATING:
★★★★☆ Overall
★★★★☆ Characters
★☆☆☆☆ Tears Level
★★★★★ Art Style
★★★★☆ How Likely to Recommend

5/5 for realistic depictions of women's bodies.

I had reservations when I began reading this that the love depicted in this graphic novel was going to be toxic, and not well rounded.

This is not the case. The bad relationships are depicted as such, and the relationships that are healthy stress what help makes them work and what makes them shine.

This was a beautiful story about love and loss.

It is also gay on the side and it SLAPS!

This quote summarizes the whole book:
"... this is what "love is forever" means: its not timeless but it leaves a mark so deep that it accompanies us all our life"

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!]