After reading The Airless Year I realized two things, first I had wanted to read it awhile back, but had forgotten about it; and second it was not what I expected. I was not sure what I thought this book was about, but not this.
Adam P. Knave, Valentine Barker, and Frank Cvetkovic have created one of the first (if not only) books I have read where the parental units are not all “lovey dove we believe in you happy happy you’re a genius” towards their child. There are some interesting twists and turns that some you see coming, but others are new. When we follow our main character, we see how she is struggling with school, loves playing the bass not just for her but her (unseen on the page) grandmother, and has interesting friends. We see the anxiety and issues she faces because of the real (and not so real) worries and situations she faces.
While the art makes it look for a younger audience, the story arc can be mature. Diversity of the characters is the norm and included smoothly, without being “in your face.” This is all just there, and occasionally it helps fill in a few spots that feel as if there are holes to the plot. Yet, I never completely “got into things” and the flow was off. However, this is a good story for at least 10 and up (maybe even up to 15-16).
A big takeaway for me was that I did not always like the characters, but could relate and tried to understand them. Even as an adult you can see yourself in at least one of the people we read about, or you know someone like them. I really wish I didn’t have to rate this book as it has a lot of pieces, a lot of points, so I averaged them out.