Mariah Johnston

Trigger Warnings: death, hospitals, self-harm, suicide, panic attacks, PTSD, underage drinking, drug use, abuse, eating disorders What. A. Book. Packed with emotion, How to Make Friends with the Dark is a hard to read novel that gives us a raw, messy, and relatable look at grief. When I picked this novel up I thought I knew what I was getting myself into since I had previously read, and loved, Kathleen Glasgow’s debut Girl in Pieces, but I wasn’t completely prepared. Glasgow does a service to her readers by not holding anything back, instead choosing to take us deep into Tiger’s mind as she begins to try and figure out how to live a life she never expected. While I have never been in a situation remotely like Tiger’s, there were still pieces of the story I was able to relate to. After the death of her mother, Tiger decides to exclusively wear the dress her mom had bought her for an upcoming school dance. She refuses to wear anything else until eventually the dress becomes smelly and begins to fall apart. Other ways she finds to cope is through self-harm and unhealthy eating habits. These were all things I experienced in my own way after the death of my nana in 2010. All of the characters were great. Not a single one of them was perfect, but you could tell how much they were all trying their best to handle the ridiculous hands that were being dealt to them. I especially loved Tiger’s best friend Cake. It was so plain to see how out of her element Cake was, but she refused to leave Tiger’s side and stood by her even when it was difficult. She forgave when Tiger would lash out in grief and anger and apologized when she said things she shouldn’t have due to a lack of understanding. Glasgow also included LGBTQIAP+ rep in two of the side characters. I don’t remember it ever being explicitly stated what they identify as, but one of the girls does have a girlfriend and the other says she’s into girls and boys. My only real issue with this story was the pacing. This is a book that’s on the longer end and I feel like it didn’t entirely need to be. For the first maybe 60% things moved very slowly. Once I got past this point though the pace picked up a little and moved along at a more satisfying rate. During the slow bits, I would find myself starting to zone out a little and get bored, but it was never to the point where I was tempted to put the book down and not finish it. Though I wish the pace had been consistently good throughout the entire novel, it’s still worth reading and pushing through. Usually, when I read something, there will maybe be one line, if any, that jumps out at me enough to the point I want to make a note of it. This novel was an exception though as it had several impactful quotes. I kept reading sentences that really hit me and made me read them over and over again before continuing. There was also mention of Taylor Swift’s song Style which we all know completely made my day. How to Make Friends with the Dark really is a can’t miss read. Tiger’s story demands to be told and it deserves to be known. What she goes through is a reality that many teens face, and I really believe that this book has the ability to help a lot of people process the grief they are experiencing and figure out where to go from here. A digital ARC was provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sheets ripped my heart out, punched and kicked it a few times, and then graciously replaced it inside my gaping chest. The way that Marjorie and Wendell's stories meet and intertwine was beautiful and uplifting. Marjorie, dealing with the sudden death of her mother, is left to run the family's laundry business when her dad is overcome with grief. She goes through school feeling like an outcast and a ghost, then comes home and gets walked all over by the plethora or rude customers that think they're better than her. She is feeling downtrodden and hopeless, two emotions I was able to relate to on a very deep level. Wendell on the other hand is dealing with his death at a very young age. Death therapy is ineffective and he doesn't understand what his purpose is in the afterlife. He feels lost and confused, two more emotions that were incredibly relateable. Thummler's art style was unlike any I had ever seen. The cover of this book instantly drew me in and I knew immediately that I needed to read it. Her illustrations of the characters faces included so much emotion and really helped me understand exactly what they were feeling or thinking. Her attention to detail in the backgrounds and small details scattered around was amazing. I loved studying the different locations that were featured. One of my favorite things about the art was the color palettes that were chosen. The entire graphic novel was blue and purple toned which really fit the story exceptionally well. It's quite impressive that Sheets is Thummler's first original graphic novel. This honestly felt like something done by an author that had been perfecting their craft for a few years. I'm so thankful I happened upon this story, because it was exactly when my heart needed. Is it filled with sadness, feeling lost, confusion, and hurt? Absolutely. But it's also filled with hope, perseverance, friendship, and love. And at the end of the day, those things overshadow everything else.