It started so wonderfully.
I loved the multilingual speech bubbles & dialogues,
as well as the translations underneath. I only know a few basic words in French and never learned Cantonese, so this was nice to expand my vocabulary a bit. Especially the way they both started to learn the other’s native tongue, through pantomime and hand gestures, the way Ping explained some letters and James visually illustrated it. Beautiful.
I grew up bilingual, and with English being my third language, could relate to Sarah a lot. Also because I’m learning around 4 languages at the same time at the moment (well, not actively and with a lot of breaks, but still).
- How awkward small talk can become with a language barrier.
- How you struggle to find words in all languages you know because nothing describes what you’re feeling or you just forget them all (#byelingual) at once.
- How you forget your native tongue when you haven’t spoken it in a while.
- How your mind expands and the type of feeling you experience, once you’re on that level that makes you think & dream in that language. It’s quite indescribable, something one needs to experience it themselves, but James managed to find resonating words and pictures on how he at least perceives it.
Generally, James has a talent to describe and illustrate certain experiences and emotions. Poetically abstract, yet at the same time so greifbar (tangible).
I found it a bit sad when Sarah reached a level of almost-fluency where the overlapping bubbles weren’t needed anymore and it was only English. I prefer when dialogue is written in the original language they’re speaking in. But I guess it would’ve been too much for some readers, since at some point they only speak Cantonese.
As for their relationship,
I loved how realistic their first meetings were kept. None of the “I’ll bump into you now because I’m the main character and I’m thinking of you so you’ll magically appear” which never happens in real life, no matter how close you live to each other.
It was very sweet how they got to know each other. Since Ping already spoke a bit of English, it was mostly Sarah learning Cantonese. And quite incredible how fast she picked up on it. (Although it’s mostly Ping’s Cantonese she learned, as later seen with Ping’s friends. ;))
I really adored the slow slice of life, living in the moment, enjoying the little things. How their friendship slowly became something romantic. How Sarah slowly realized she’s sexually/physically attracted to Ping, not just friendly/platonically. Very smooth transitions, thanks to the slowness, because we could get to know the characters at the same pace as them. So beautifully done.
However, then there’s a turn, a bit of a drama towards the end.
The homophobia came a bit unexpected, although not surprising given their age. Still, the way it was handled was so cliche and such an overused trope … so contrasting, alienating to the first half. Realistic, sure, but unnecessary. So many other ways to do it and still keep the realism. There’s a happy end at least, but in-between their kiss and that ending there weren’t many pages, yet still could’ve been done so much better. More mature. Felt like I was suddenly reading a YA rather than (N)A. And I would’ve liked a deeper – or any – explanation from Ping.
That‘s unfortunately the reason why it got a 0.75 star less.
Other than that little part, I do love it.
Definitely a book I’d like to have in my shelves.
The art style is very nice too, fits the story.
The way the colors have been used as part of storytelling, especially the complementary contrasts in the first few pages (i.e., blue surroundings, while Ping has a yellow jacket). Amazing how it’s all drawn on paper with watercolors too. In today’s digital age, that’s a love letter in itself.
I also liked the pink lineart sometimes. Which is technically the actual skin color of white people, so should be used more often. xP
Ps. Love languages become a small topic when they’re discussing how love is expressed in those 3 languages. I really do find it interesting how most asian languages don’t use the direct “I love you”, whereas that’s so common in the west.
| Criteria | Scores | Our Score |
|---|---|---|
| Art | 1-5 | 5 |
| Pacing | 1-5 | 4 |
| Characters | 1-5 | 4 |
| Writing Style | 1-5 | 5 |
| Originality | 1-5 | 3 |
Finale Grade
A
Thank you to IDW Publishing on Netgalley for an eARC. The book is set to be released on May 6, 2025.
Finished reading: 5th May 2025
~Arden Skye
Check my other content on: Newsletter | Youtube | My books
Written By: Arden Skye
Favorite game/film/book: doesn’t have one, cause there are too many good ones!
About: generalist, who likes a bit of everything, but especially has a love for magic, queerness and melancholy. When they’re not arting, they’re probably dreaming/reading through another world, or spending time in nature with their dog.
Donate: https://ko-fi.com/timefliesaway
