The Altered History of Willow Sparks

This was a fun take on the be-careful-what-you-wish-for trope, touching also on bullying, beauty and gender standards, and friendship. In the end, though, I did want more detail to the story. (And, as a librarian of over 10 years and a former shelver in high school, I would like to ask: who leaves a teenager in charge of a library? Ever?)

Thanks to Oni Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book.

A timid iteration of the monkey paw/careful-what-you-wish-for trope. I was sort of getting drawn into the mythology and characters and might have gone for a three-star rating if not for the abrupt and nothing ending. If the characters are going to halfheartedly shrug things off, why shouldn't I as a reader?

Willow (Willy) Sparks and her friend Georgia Pratt are bottom feeders at high school, they are not popular and they try to remain unnoticed. Working at the library one night, Willy stumbles across a book that allows her to alter her life. She is quick to cease the chance to vanish the zits, have better clothes and move in the popular circles. However, everything comes with a cost.

This was a corker of a read, the drawing was fabulous and I loved the muted colour palette. The writing had humour and tenderness. The characters were believable and you found a connection with them. A really great coming of age story, with a lovely magical twist.

Yup. I disliked high school too.

Yup. I wished I could magically make myself into something wonderful.

Yup. We can take the past tense out of the last paragraph and switch it to a present tense too: I still wish I could magically make myself into something wonderful.

So Willow Sparks can, via what she finds in the super-secret room in her town library, where also the cool kids hang out. Do cool kids hang out at libraries? Of course, there are consequences because stories with monkey's paws need consequences, although no one dies (other than of embarrassment), and again, I realize, that I need to start mentally considering most graphic novels as short stories rather than novels because even with all their pages, most of the time they end show more up being more amuse-bouches for my brain than full meals. And, unlike the monkey's paw, non of the consequences are too severe, because the audience, I assume, is for middle-school/high school kids, and me (What would your high school senior quote be? my ten year old asked me yesterday. Didn't high school end eighteen years ago? I told her. That would be my quote. Didn't high school end eighteen years ago?).

So it's a cute, little morality tale. My middle-school child will like it. I liked it well enough too.

The Altered History of Willow Sparks by Tara O'Connor went on sale March 6, 2018.

I received a copy free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. show less

What happens when you can finally get everything you ever wanted?

Willow Sparks and her best friend Georgia Pratt are at the bottom of the social ladder at Twin Pines High School, just trying to get through each day relatively unscathed. But when Willow finds a mysterious book that allows her to literally change her life, it feels like her luck is finally turning. Becoming more and more popular with each entry into the book, her old life, including her friendship with Georgia, seems miles away. Yet as Willow will discover, every action has a reaction, and the future has unusual—even dangerous—ways of protecting itself.

MY THOUGHTS:

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
I am a huge fan of graphic show more novels, and have been said to be a meticulous critic about them too. The reason is because I have my own graphic novel series for children called, “The Adventures of Iggy Squiggles.” I’ve been creating graphic novels for over 20 years, and reviewing, editing them for almost the same amount of time. My medium is ink and watercolors, or graphic art-computer generated animations.

So when I see a graphic novel I’m interested in, I like to get my hands on it to see what others are doing.

This book is so great! I love the story, let alone the artwork and think it covers topics like fitting in, being popular, bullying, friendship, honesty and being happy with yourself perfectly. The art compliments the story helping to push the plot along perfectly. Clear, exciting and entertaining is how I’d describe the story and art, and, at the back of the book the author notes show how the Protagonist’s appearance changed to what it is now and goes on to explain how she altered other character’s appearances through the conceptual stages.

There’s a gay element to the story, a female bully, a magical element, and great self-imaging sections. I enjoyed this novel and for those out there that also like graphic novels, with a YA feel, then you should pick this book up to read! show less

Interesting premise, disappointing execution. The drawings were lovely, and the narrative style is actually pretty engaging. The problem is that the well-explored parts of the story are all pretty standard Mean Girls kind of stuff. The original part of the story could easily have been replaced with anything at all since there was very little explanation of the books, the magic, the process, etc. etc. The ending didn't really feel like much of a resolution either. It all felt too easy and too quick.

Willy is a typical teen, frustrated by life, her appearance, and the way she is treated at school by the popular kids. When she discovers her"book" in the secret basement of the library she sets about changing her future. But she discovers that getting what you want isn't always worth what you need.

I loved the three color design to these pages, the black, white, and blue do an excellent job of conveying mood.