Written and Illustrated by Carole Maurel
Adapted by Mariko Tamaki
Published by Humanoids
Released 6/20/18 / $29.95
This is a very different type of a book than we normally see from Humanoids. But it totally makes sense why they would want it in their line. It’s a well written and well drawn story of romantic self discovery with big themes and elements of science fiction.
A young Luisa steps off a bus in the opening scene. She seems confused about where she is.
Then the story cuts to an older and jaded Luisa. She is through with the modern world of dating and just has a bleak outlook on the world.
You just know these two will eventually cross paths!
Young Luisa is confused at first why she is in the future. She then meets somebody who is a neighbor to the older Luisa. She is trying to piece why she is there. This leads to the aforementioned meeting between the two Luisas.
The older Luisa starts to question who this young Luisa actually is She calls her brother to see if her parents had another child. No dice. We get a flashback and then it leads to the rest of the plot: The neighbor convinces the older Luisa to watch the younger Luisa while she is away.
This leads to some funny and endearing situations. For example, the younger Luisa asks the older Luisa why she curses so much. The older Luisa calls the younger one a pain in the ass. It’s endearing and it’s little touches like this that make the book a stand out.
The plot and the pacing of it are both well handled throughout. The best part is that it’s a fairly quick read for being both wordy and close to 300 pages! Wow!
Eventually, we learn that the younger Luisa is struggling as she is discovering she is a lesbian. And the younger Luisa teaches the older one an important lesson of how her life could be better. It’s a tale we have seen before but told in a beautiful and vibrant new way.
The art is as wonderful as the writing and compliments it well. Mariko Tamaki is credited as helping with the translation and you can see her fingerprints all over the work. This is one of the best books of the year for sure and one I’ll be proud to have in my collection.
RATING: A
