PUMPKINHEADS by Rainbow Rowell, Faith Erin Hicks — 🎃

October 30, 2021 ~ Ricardo ~ Leave a comment

Another Hallowe’en. Another year of reading this graphic novel. Another year of me gushing about this book. You probably know the drill by now.

This is my third year reading 𝑷𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔, the exceedingly charming graphic novel by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks (with colors by Sarah Stern). The last couple of times I’ve picked it up at the very start of the Hallowe’en season, feeling its lighthearted tone and quintessentially fall vibes made for a perfect way to kick off October. This time around I opted to wait until the end of the month, for no reason other than that is when the story is set and it felt right. As the weeks passed, I found myself anxious to fall back into it, but it was absolutely worth the wait. Reading this graphic novel feels like a homecoming now. Like catching up with friends you haven’t seen in over a year.

Josie and Deja, our preposterously beautiful protagonists, certainly feel like friends. I always finish this story wanting to read more about them. Rowell ends the story hinting at a Christmas reunion, and hopefully that’s more than a throwaway line and is actually in the cards because that’s something I would desperately want.

The autumn ambiance artists Hicks and Stern have illustrated define the season for me now. The images and colors they conjured up are what I see whenever I think of this time of year. Quite the feat seeing as how I live in a place with no proper fall.

Lastly, this book just makes me cry, dudes. “𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮,” never fails to hit me like a bag of bricks.

𝘗𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 is not remotely spooky. It’s all heart and mush and feelings, instead — notions not traditionally associated with the autumn months. But it means October to me, still.

KINDRED SPIRITS + THE PRINCE AND THE TROLL by Rainbow Rowell

December 19, 2020December 23, 2020 ~ Ricardo ~ Leave a comment

Hey so speaking of — did you know Rainbow Rowell once wrote a Star Wars story? Well, Star Wars-adjacent, at any rate. For World Book Day a couple of years ago she came out with a short little story about a group of fans waiting in line for the premiere of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘈𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘴. I read it a short while after the story came out and, like a lot of Rowell’s work, I pretty much loved it. Here’s a short review from an old blog:⠀
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𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚁𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚋𝚘𝚠 𝚁𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕. 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚛𝚔𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 (𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝘎𝘪𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴, 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚁𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔). 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚗𝚘 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕.⠀
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𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒔, 𝚊 𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚒𝚡𝚝𝚢-𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚙𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜, 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚙𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚠𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚔-𝚜𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚜. 𝙸𝚝’𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚐𝚒𝚏𝚝, 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢.⠀
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𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛 𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚐𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚗 𝙾𝚖𝚊𝚑𝚊 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘈𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘴. 𝙸𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕. 𝙸 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕-𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚝𝚑 𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚞𝚙. 𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚕.⠀
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Like every December since the first film in the sequel trilogy came out, Star Wars has been on my mind a lot, which is why I decided to revisit the slim volume. I enjoyed it just as much this time around, appreciating especially how it captures the eager, edgy excitement a lot of fans of the saga felt in the run-up of the release of TFA. You know, before the dark times. Before the 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦. This does tragically make the story act somewhat like a time capsule, however, portraying as it does a facet of fandom that seems quaint and innocent considering the meaningless gatekeeping and toxic rhetoric that is so maddeningly prevalent these days. Alas. ⠀
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You and I can still enjoy things, though. It’ll be our secret. ⠀
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Shortly after finishing the novella, I was made aware of a series of fairy tale retellings a bunch of prominent authors were doing for the Amazon Original Stories initiative. Rowell was one of these writers, contributing 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍, an odd little tale that doesn’t seem to be an interpretation of any one fable in particular but instead plays with the troll-under-the-bridge narrative. The story seems to be a blend of Rowell’s realistic contemporary style and the dark whimsy found in her fantasy fiction. This makes it a bit disjointed but it works for the most part. The aforementioned gift is once more in full display here as I also finished this peculiar yarn wanting to know more about the two protagonists, and about the world in specific, which appears to be a sort of post-climate apocalypse mythical land (that, you know, still has Starbucks). Also because once I read that title I just 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 Rowell would make them fall in love with each other and that I would buy it hook, line, sinker — and, reader, I 𝘥𝘪𝘥.

PUMPKINHEADS by Rainbow Rowell, Faith Erin Hicks

October 1, 2019July 24, 2020 ~ Ricardo ~ Leave a comment

Rainbow Rowell has made me cry. Yet again. I’ve read enough of her work for this to be expected, but everything about Pumpkinheads — her first graphic novel with the inimitable Faith Erin Hicks — sounded to me like it was just going to be a cute, fun romp.

And it was, you know? Pumpkinheads is the story of Josiah and Deja, two high school seniors who’ve spent the last couple of years working at their local pumpkin patch every Fall. Theirs is a seasonal friendship, but the bond they develop is strong and they consider themselves best friends. This is their last season working together, and once it wraps up they will both, for the last time, go their separate ways, towards college and new lives. So Deja is determined to have their last day (their last Hallowe’en together) be an adventure. “Friends,” she says at one point, “don’t let friends live small lives.”

Pumpkinheads is charming and adorable and the most fun, gentle read. As are most of Rowell’s stories. And like most of Rowell’s stories, it isn’t just any of those things. There’s always more. And there’s a lot of heart and soul in this graphic novel. A lot of true things about friendship and relationships and what it means to leave people and places behind. And quite a lot of Autumn. This is probably the most Fall book I’ve ever read. I could feel it wrapped around me like a light sweater, could practically smell the crisp October air. Quite the feat considering I live in Puerto Rico, and have never actually come across a proper, Midwestern Fall.

All of this is beautifully conveyed by Faith Erin Hicks’s beautiful, beautiful artwork. She’s drawn up a gorgeous and warm, welcoming world into which I desperately want to jump.

Hicks deserves a lot of recognition in terms of the story, too. The book’s back matter includes a conversation between the authors which makes note of the fact that the script Hicks received from Rowell was more screenplay-like in nature, lacking a lot of the beat-by-beat description that is usually found in most comic book scripts, and it was up to her to break down the panels and figure out the pacing of the story. A job she did marvelously — this is a fulfilling but very brisk read. (“There is a lot of skill,” Hicks says, “behind a ‘quick read.'”)

Hicks ends the same conversation with the following: “In the beginning, you’re trying to get to know them, who they are and how best to draw them so their personalities come through, visually. And by the time you’ve drawn the last page in their graphic novel, these characters are your best friends.” This is, of course, in reference to the drawing process, but it also perfectly encapsulates the experience of reading the story of these characters. You pretty much like Josie and Deja from the get-go, but you love them by the end. And then you understand, quite perfectly, just why they are so loathe to say good bye to their pumpkin patch.

I loved this book.