Laurie's review

The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl
by Barry Lyga

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/257445.The_Astonishing_Adventures_of_Fanboy_and_Goth_Girl?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173207676m/257445.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/257445.The_Astonishing_Adventures_of_Fanboy_and_Goth_Girl?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/150484.Barry_Lyga">Barry Lyga</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/32209639?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 5 of 5 stars Barry Lyca’s The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl was so captivating I lost track of time as I read. I found myself sucked into the emotional angst of a teenage boy and his struggle to find his identity and confidence. I chanted “Go Fanboy!” as he worked on Schemata and had his first encounter with Bendis. I cheered as he made out with Dina, and pleaded with him when he talked to Goth Girl about her need for help. I couldn’t believe how caught up in the story I got until it was over and I read the most touching line of the whole book, “Can I feel?”
 
 I thought about the title of the book, and it seems appropriate that Fanboy is the main characters name. He’s a fan. He doesn’t participate in life, but he’s a fan, watching, waiting for the right moments to cheer, but ultimately going through the motions and remaining unnoticed. Fanboy moves away from just being a fan in the last few pages of the book. Kyra’s angry picture and message inform the reader that Fanboy has grown up, and found an identity and place in the world. Fanboy is a “you,” a “he,” and his mom calls him “sweetie” with the look of maternal care that Dina could not muster. He takes a step in the direction of the unknown without the security of his safety bullet and finds he is able to be an individual with confidence. The world seems clearer at this 
 point.
 
 When Fanboy was suffering from his migraine the world was crashing around him. He lost his best friend, his could be girl friend, his chance of going to the comic convention, and his mother to the step fascist. Nothing was okay anymore and Lyca did a fantastic job of showing this. When Fanboy moved away from the migraine the following day it was as if the fog was beginning to lift on his life, only he didn’t know it yet; a fantastic job of foreshadowing and symbolism on behalf of Lyca. 
 
 What makes Fanboy’s character so appealing to me is the realness of his thoughts, and motivations. I could be wrong, but I don’t think Fanboy was given any other name. His “real” name was never mentioned, which made it easier for me to really get into his character; even though I’m a female. I love it when authors do this; allowing the reader to put his or herself into the position of the main character and go through each page as if they were the character. 
 
 Lyca did an amazing thing with this book. He hooked a graphic novel and comic book avoider into his world of comics and graphic novels. This hook was so effective it made me look up the comics mentioned and the Giant Size X-Men #1 poster to see what was so special about them that a teenage boy could get so inspired. I’ll admit, I still don’t completely understand the appeal, but I do understand passion and the power of inspiration. 
 
 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1431048?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Laurie's review
rating:

bookshelves: favorites-
recommended for: Anyone, especially those who love comics or graphic novels
status: Read in September, 2008

Barry Lyca’s The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl was so captivating I lost track of time as I read. I found myself sucked into the emotional angst of a teenage boy and his struggle to find his identity and confidence. I chanted “Go Fanboy!” as he worked on Schemata and had his first encounter with Bendis. I cheered as he made out with Dina, and pleaded with him when he talked to Goth Girl about her need for help. I couldn’t believe how caught up in the story I got until it was over and I read the most touching line of the whole book, “Can I feel?”

I thought about the title of the book, and it seems appropriate that Fanboy is the main characters name. He’s a fan. He doesn’t participate in life, but he’s a fan, watching, waiting for the right moments to cheer, but ultimately going through the motions and remaining unnoticed. Fanboy moves away from just being a fan in the last few pages of the book. Kyra’s angry picture and message inform the ...more Barry Lyca’s The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl was so captivating I lost track of time as I read. I found myself sucked into the emotional angst of a teenage boy and his struggle to find his identity and confidence. I chanted “Go Fanboy!” as he worked on Schemata and had his first encounter with Bendis. I cheered as he made out with Dina, and pleaded with him when he talked to Goth Girl about her need for help. I couldn’t believe how caught up in the story I got until it was over and I read the most touching line of the whole book, “Can I feel?”

I thought about the title of the book, and it seems appropriate that Fanboy is the main characters name. He’s a fan. He doesn’t participate in life, but he’s a fan, watching, waiting for the right moments to cheer, but ultimately going through the motions and remaining unnoticed. Fanboy moves away from just being a fan in the last few pages of the book. Kyra’s angry picture and message inform the reader that Fanboy has grown up, and found an identity and place in the world. Fanboy is a “you,” a “he,” and his mom calls him “sweetie” with the look of maternal care that Dina could not muster. He takes a step in the direction of the unknown without the security of his safety bullet and finds he is able to be an individual with confidence. The world seems clearer at this
point.

When Fanboy was suffering from his migraine the world was crashing around him. He lost his best friend, his could be girl friend, his chance of going to the comic convention, and his mother to the step fascist. Nothing was okay anymore and Lyca did a fantastic job of showing this. When Fanboy moved away from the migraine the following day it was as if the fog was beginning to lift on his life, only he didn’t know it yet; a fantastic job of foreshadowing and symbolism on behalf of Lyca.

What makes Fanboy’s character so appealing to me is the realness of his thoughts, and motivations. I could be wrong, but I don’t think Fanboy was given any other name. His “real” name was never mentioned, which made it easier for me to really get into his character; even though I’m a female. I love it when authors do this; allowing the reader to put his or herself into the position of the main character and go through each page as if they were the character.

Lyca did an amazing thing with this book. He hooked a graphic novel and comic book avoider into his world of comics and graphic novels. This hook was so effective it made me look up the comics mentioned and the Giant Size X-Men #1 poster to see what was so special about them that a teenage boy could get so inspired. I’ll admit, I still don’t completely understand the appeal, but I do understand passion and the power of inspiration.

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