That was.... a very abrupt ending. ( )

This is a very sad and hopeless book. ( )

This is a very sad and hopeless book. ( )

This is a very sad and hopeless book. ( )

there are too many holes here. i mean, i always want more depth out of the graphic books i read, but there were at least 3 instances where i thought i'd missed a page or two. there's just too much missing here. and at first i was disappointed in the story, that it ends so bleakly, especially as it's billed as a younger young adult book. but in retrospect i guess that's ok because it's realistic. i mean, adrian lives in such an oppressive place, maybe this escape is the only way for him. i don't know.

the art is utterly gorgeous. i love its simplicity and beauty, but do think it's missing the nuance of facial expressions that are so important when there are so few words. and the words are never enough, but maybe that's the translation.

the whole thing needs to be more fleshed out. adrian and jeremy needed to spend a lot more time talking in that tree if the title of the work is going to be adrian and the tree of secrets and if we're supposed to believe that they've cultivated a real friendship and possibly something more. i needed a reason for the aunt to come back to this town, although i think we got all we needed from the home life depicted. (or - was there a dad? where was he? driving the car that one time? should she have been a single mom?) i guess i would have liked to hear more, too, then about why the mom changed, what happened there. adrian - fairly, i think - doesn't care, but we as readers could be made to. i wanted more from the friendship with bruno as well. and much, much more from the facial expressions, even as the art really was wonderful otherwise. ( )