Review: Seconds

Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley
Publication Date: July 15, 2014
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Format: hardcover
Source: a friend :)
Pages: 323


Note: All spoilers will be highlighted with black and surrounded with these [ ].














Katie’s got it pretty good. She’s a talented young chef, she runs a successful restaurant, and she has big plans to open an even better one. Then, all at once, progress on the new location bogs down, her charming ex-boyfriend pops up, her fling with another chef goes sour, and her best waitress gets badly hurt. And just like that, Katie’s life goes from pretty good to not so much. What she needs is a second chance. Everybody deserves one, after all—but they don’t come easy. Luckily for Katie, a mysterious girl appears in the middle of the night with simple instructions for a do-it-yourself do-over:
 
1. Write your mistake
2. Ingest one mushroom
3. Go to sleep
4. Wake anew
 
And just like that, all the bad stuff never happened, and Katie is given another chance to get things right. She’s also got a dresser drawer full of magical mushrooms—and an irresistible urge to make her life not just good, but perfect. Too bad it’s against the rules. But Katie doesn’t care about the rules—and she’s about to discover the unintended consequences of the best intentions.

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Seconds was my first graphic novel so honestly I didn't know what to expect. I'd always thought it'd be cool to read something like it but I decided to go for it when my roommate gave this book to me for my birthday. :) 

As an artist, I have to talk about the art (the cartoons) at least a little bit. The art was soooo pretty. The colors were bold and bright. The drawing style was simple yet descriptive (and the characters were drawn so cute). Honestly, I'd love to be able to draw like Bryan Lee O'Malley. 

All the characters were so hilarious and real except for mister I'm-so-cool-cause-I-wear-a-leather-jacket aka the ex-boyfriend. The chef-in-training wore a snapback and hightops, which I approve of 100%. Katie wasn't the most cuddly or loving character (no matter how cuddly she looked) but she was hilariously real and blunt about everything. I loved her! [I REALLY REALLY wanted Andrew and Katie to end up together. My ship did not sail though. *le sobs*] I feel like O'Malley pretty much tackled all the common types of personalities that exist in the most hilarious way. 

The plot was incredible as well. At first it was just good-- cute and sarcastic. But talk about exceeding my expectations. As the story went on, it delved into more serious themes and twists. It's complicated mixture of light storytelling and darkness...I like it. The story also could've gotten repetitive with the new wishes happening every so often, but the author did a great job of showing what needed to be shown to grab the reader's attention (and move the plot) and omitting the unnecessary details. And can I talk about the whole tackling-concepts-of-time-and-space-and-where-am-I? [Seconds pretty much blew my mind with the whole my restaurant is a restaurant but then it's actually a tree but not really because the tree is also my dresser thing. Color me confused and in awe.] 

   

Although Katie is not like me at all (she does remind me of a friend though ;) ), the humor in the book and just some of the ways she dealt with things made me giggle so much because it was so ACCURATE. Just yes. I feel so understood right now.

I'm pretty sure the author is secretly also an awkward, socially anxious teenage girl who loves all the fandoms and memes. I connected on all the levels and it was great to experience that. :)

I'm trying a new format for my book reviews! It seems super convenient to be able to see the book information as you're seeing the cover. I dunno, what do you think? Also, do you like graphic novels? Are there any that I must absolutely read?

Disclaimer:  I was not reimbursed for this review in any way. All opinions or thoughts expressed are my own.