Publisher's Weekly Review
Award-winning author MariNaomi (Kiss and Tell) returns with this charming and intimate collection of vignettes and meatier personal histories. Most of the pieces appeared on TheRumpus.net and detail the author's adventures through various life stages from childhood to the present day. The mixed-bag effect of a whole life jumbled together lets the reader get to know the author much faster than in a traditional narrative. Though she was a high school dropout and a teenage runaway, and suffered through explosive relationships and crushing disappointments, she never once falls into self-deprecation. One story shows the depressing transformation of a childhood bully, while quietly backgrounding MariNaomi's equally dispiriting transformation from a wild, fierce youth to a tamped-down bank teller. "The Rebound" traces a relationship as her boyfriend moves from relentless stalker to jealous baby. Though her art technique varies throughout the book, the best are stark black-and-white images often surrounded by a hefty amount of ominous white space, accurately reflecting the themes of isolation, confusion, and personal difficulty the author has slogged through. The book is utterly absorbing, funny, intimate, and even philosophical. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Naomi's Smoke in Your Eyes web comic (originally on TheRumpus.net) translates beautifully to book format. Her black-ink cartoons leave lots of white space on virtually every page, creating a sense of time as well as perspective. The vignettes are arranged in autobiographical order, beginning with her goody-two-shoes grade-school persona, traveling though her teen years as a high-school dropout and self-educated artist, and progressing through friendships and affairs and finally her marriage, a couple years ago. Her perspective on relationships is an underlying theme throughout, whether she is documenting middle-school bullying, an irritating stranger on the London Tube, a boyfriend whose sublet is teeming with bedbugs, or her rediscovery of her adolescent affection for Duran Duran when she's past 30. Her minimalist style effortlessly captures racial and class differences as well as emotions. Stunningly, her precise, compact storytelling style produces a nuanced and unexpectedly rich narrative. She'll be compared with Marjane Satrapi stylistically, and it fits.--Goldsmith, Francisca Copyright 2014 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Following her highly successful graphic memoir Kiss & Tell, MariNaomi returns with another batch of autobiographical comics. As in the novelist's previous work, she devotes quite a bit of content to the highs and lows of relationships, but this anthology also includes childhood memories and slice-of-life observations delivered with the same poignant touch. Many of these stories first appeared online, and those origins can be seen in a few cases of excessive white space and odd page layouts. Aside from that minor detail, the art sparkles, combining bold, clean lines with wonderfully expressive faces. Add in a great ear for dialog, and the result is a winning collection that brings the reader genuine laughs and a powerful emotional punch. MariNaomi is definitely a name to watch in the years to come. Verdict Highly recommended for fans of Alison Bechdel or Craig Thompson, as well as midsize to large graphic novels collections.-Neil Derksen, Pierce Cty. Lib. Syst., Tacoma (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
