The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl

*I received this ebook from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl by Melissa Keil features a group of friends in a small Australian town during a possible apocalypse. Yep, you read that right. A small Australian town has been singled out as a place that would survive an impending end of the world. The narrator is an aspiring comic book writer/artist Sarah Jane Albany AKA Alba. Alba chronicles the everyday adventures of her and her friends – Grady, Caroline, Tiahnah, Eddie, and Pete – during the tumultuous weeks after graduating and before the awaiting doomsday. Since it’s set in Australia, the beginning of summer refers to the last two weeks of December for us from the northern hemisphere. The main character is an artist, so the novel features line drawings from her comic book about Cinnamon Girl (hence the title!). My ebook edition had them in black and white, I presume they will stay like that in the final version.

I have been reading a lot of books lately that are either actual comics or dealing with the history of them. Still, I have no shame in claiming I am a complete newbie in the genre, so unfortunately a lot of Alba’s references went over my head. However,  I still really enjoyed her enthusiasm and obvious love for the comic books and graphic novels. We should all be so lucky as to have a passion like this.

The novel is set a few weeks after the majority of the group of friends has graduated, so it doesn’t necessarily deal with any unexpected themes. They await their admissions results from universities, answers to job applications, and realise friendships and relationships are under pressure from moving in different directions. I guess you could really see the end of the year – and possibly the world – as a great metaphor for the end to an important chapter in their life. Or, you know, it could mean the merpeople from Mars will actually attack and kill all living beings on Earth. You will really have to read the novel to find out.

In itself, the book is cute, adorable, and will give you the warm and fuzzies, despite the possibly grim setting. I love the atmosphere the author created for this small town that is to survive the apocalypse and thus sees an influx of new inhabitants. It was stifling – partly due to the summer heat – but never completely terrifying, and this balance was very well done, I think. Although this is more a novel of friendship, there was also some romance, which was incredibly well done. Nothing completely innovative, but it was very sweet (gave me Fangirl vibes in its essence).

The only main problem with this reading experience – aside from my own lack of knowledge about comics, and a slight lag in pace in the middle of the book – was that the ebook I read had a lot of formatting issues. I presume because it was an ARC and I am certain those bugs and glitches were fixed in the final product. There were also some minor instances where I was a little confused as to the explanations about the past, but they didn’t really reduce my enjoyment of the novel.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this novel for people who love contemporaries but also know a little about comics, but it isn’t completely necessary, of course.  It is a solid 4,5 star read, although I rounded it up to 5 on Goodreads. Also, I will read everything else Melissa Keil writes.

“[M]ost stories can only start when you place yourself in them.”