Book Review: The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl

Book: The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl by Melissa Keil with illustrations by Mike Lawrence

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

Alba loves her life just as it is. She loves living behind the bakery and waking up in a cloud of sugar and cinnamon. She loves drawing comics and watching bad TV with her friends. The only problem is she's overlooked a few teeny details. Like, the guy she thought long gone has unexpectedly reappeared. And the boy who has been her best friend since forever has suddenly gone off the rails. Even her latest comic book creation is misbehaving. Also, the world might be ending -- which is proving to be awkward. As doomsday enthusiasts flock to idyllic Eden Valley, Alba's life is thrown into chaos. Whatever happens next, it's the end of the world as she knows it. But when it comes to figuring out her heart, Armageddon might turn out to be the least of her problems.



Rating: 5 stars

Review:

I really like The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl, it's a geeky little novel that is set in Australia. It has friendship, humor, drama, romance, self-discovery and little bit of holiday cheer.

What do you do when you're not quite sure what to do with your life? After graduating from high school, Sarah Jane Albany or as everyone calls her "Alba" was trying her best to avoid moving on with her life. With most of her friends (Tia, Petey, Caroline, Grady and Eddie) have their sights set on going to college, Alba wants everything to be just as it was with all her friends still hanging out in their small town of Eden Valley. The more her best friend Domenic Grady or as every calls him "Grady" tries to get her to see beyond their small town, it overwhelms her and she doesn't want to deal with it.

Alba has a love for comic books and drawing, so much so that she is working on creating her own comic book Cinnamon Girl. But aside from that, trying to figure out what to do with her life is bad enough without the possibility that the Earth may be coming to an end. According to a supposed soothsayer The Original Ned Zebadiah, he states that on New Year's Eve the world was going to end with the only place that will be safe is Eden Valley.

Soon the small town is inundated with people trying to stay safe from the impending doom. Eden Valley seems to be filling up daily with all sorts of people including Alba and Grady's old friend Daniel Gordon who is now a some what successful B-grade television actor.

As the countdown to the end of the world approaches, the town is quickly turning into a circus. And add to that something is up with Grady, he seems to be acting different and avoiding Alba.

Although this is Literature, I also included it in the Comic Novel category because not only are there wonderful illustrations by Mike Lawrence that precede each chapter. But also well placed references to comic books and characters (as well as other pop culture items). Reading this, doesn't feel like the author just went online and found some random comic book stuff to toss into the book. All the things Alba talks about, genuinely feel like things the character would be interested in. This was a fun read and I like all the characters.

The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl was very well-written with the author giving voice to the uncertainty and fear of the unknown. Not everyone knows what they want to do with their life regardless of how old (or young) you may be. I really like how this story turned out.